#2. The Garden of Delight

A deity tries to tempt a monk to first enjoy sensual pleasures and then go forth. So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in the Hot Springs Monastery. Then Venerable Samiddhi rose at the crack of dawn and went to the hot springs to bathe. When he had bathed and emerged from the water he stood in one robe drying himself. Then, late at night, a glorious deity, lighting up the entire hot springs, went up to Samiddhi, and, standing in the air, addressed him in verse: “Mendicant, you seek alms before you eat; you wouldn’t seek alms after eating. [Read More]

Do you have a little hut and a little nest—or are you free?“Don’t you have a little hut? Don’t you have a little nest? Don’t you have any networks? Aren’t you free of shackles?” “Indeed I have no little hut. Indeed I have no little nest. Indeed I have no networks. Indeed I’m free from shackles.” “What do you think I call a little hut? What do I call a little nest? [Read More]

Does anyone have a sense of conscience and shame?“Can a person constrained by conscience be found in the world? Who shies away from blame, like a fine horse from the whip?” “Few are those constrained by conscience, who live always mindful. Having reached the end of suffering, they live smoothly in the rough. [Read More]

Life is hard for an unrestrained ascetic; they should draw in their thoughts like a tortoise.“Hard to do, hard to endure, is the ascetic life for the inept, for it has many narrow passes where the fool founders.” “How many days could an ascetic live without controlling the mind? They’d founder with each step, under the sway of thoughts. A mendicant should collect their thoughts as a tortoise draws its limbs into its shell. [Read More]

Laziness is an obstruction to the path.“Sleepiness, sloth, and yawning, discontent, and grogginess after eating: because of this the noble path doesn’t shine for creatures here.” “Sleepiness, sloth, and yawning, discontent, and grogginess after eating: when this is energetically fended off, the noble path is purified. [Read More]

The quiet murmuring of the jungle can be scary—but not to the Buddha.“In the still of high noon, when the birds have settled down, the formidable jungle whispers to itself: that seems so scary to me!” “In the still of high noon, when the birds have settled down, the formidable jungle whispers to itself: that seems so delightful to me! [Read More]

A god’s worldly values are improved by the Buddha’s version.“An aristocrat is the best of bipeds, an ox is the best of quadrupeds, a maiden is the best of wives, and a first-born the best of sons.” “A Buddha is the best of bipeds, a thoroughbred, the best of quadrupeds, a good listener is the best of wives, and the best of sons is loyal. [Read More]

Like many of these discourses, here the Buddha repeats a god’s verses with a subtle twist towards the Dhamma.At Sāvatthī. Standing to one side, that deity recited this verse in the Buddha’s presence: “There’s no love like that for a child, no wealth equal to cattle, no light like that of the sun, and of waters the ocean is paramount.” “There’s no love like that for oneself, no wealth equal to grain, no light like that of wisdom, and of waters the rain is paramount. [Read More]

We think our attachments bring us happiness, but they really bring sorrow.At Sāvatthī. Standing to one side, that deity recited this verse in the Buddha’s presence: “Your children bring you delight! Your cattle also bring you delight! For attachments are a man’s delight; without attachments there’s no delight.” “Your children bring you sorrow. Your cattle also bring you sorrow. For attachments are a man’s sorrow; without attachments there are no sorrows. [Read More]

Even the divine Garden of Delight is impermanent.So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this: “Once upon a time, mendicants, a certain deity of the company of the Thirty-Three was amusing themselves in the Garden of Delight, escorted by a band of nymphs, and supplied and provided with the five kinds of heavenly sensual stimulation. [Read More]