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“Sariputta, if the bhikkhus grasp the true meaning of sutras and practice what the sutras teach, if they sincerely follow the precepts, the
Way of Liberation will continue for centuries.”
“Lord, great numbers of bhikkhus diligently memorize and recite the sutras. If future generations of monks continue to study and recite
the teachings, your loving kindness and your insight will surely extend far into the future.”
“Sariputta, transmitting the sutras is not enough. It is necessary to practice what is contained in the sutras. It is especially important to
observe the precepts. Without that, the Dharma cannot last long. Without the precepts, the true Dharma would quickly fade.”
“Is there a way of putting the precepts into a form that can be preserved for thousands of lives to come?”
“That is not yet possible, Sariputta. A finished set of precepts cannot be created in one day or by one person. In the first years of the
sangha, we didn’t have any precepts. Gradually, because of shortcomings and errors committed by brothers, we have created precepts.
Now we have one hundred twenty precepts. That number will increase over time. The precepts are not yet complete, Sariputta. I believe
the number may rise to two hundred or more.”
The final day of the retreat arrived. The merchant Agnidatta returned from his travels and was shocked to learn how much the bhikkhus
had suffered from hunger. He felt ashamed and organized a meal offering at his home. He also offered each bhikkhu a new robe. After the
Buddha delivered his final talk of the season, the bhikkhus headed south.
It was a lovely journey. The bhikkhus walked without haste. They rested nights and begged in the mornings. After their meal and a rest in
the cool forests, they continued to walk each day. Sometimes they remained several days in a village where the people were especially
delighted to receive the teaching. At night, the monks studied and recited the sutras before meditation and sleep.
One afternoon, Svasti came across a group of young buffalo boys leading their buffaloes home. He stopped and talked to them,
reminiscing about his own youth. Suddenly he was seized with a longing to see his family. He missed Rupak and Bala, and most of all,
Bhima. He still wondered if it was proper for a bhikkhu to think about the family he had left. Of course, Rahula told him that he had missed
his family too.
Svasti was twenty-two years old. He preferred the company of younger people, feeling more at ease with them. He enjoyed time spent
with Rahula the most. They often shared their innermost thoughts. Svasti told Rahula about his life as a buffalo boy. Rahula had never had
an occasion to sit on a water buffalo’s back. He had a hard time believing that so large a creature could be as docile as Svasti claimed.
Svasti assured him that water buffaloes were the gentlest of animals. He told Rahula of the countless times he had lain on a buffalo’s back
as they walked home along the banks of the river. He would look up at the blue sky and drifting clouds, enjoying moments of peaceful
leisure on the warm, smooth back of the buffalo. Svasti also told Rahula about the games he played with other buffalo boys. Rahula loved
to hear these stories. It was a life he had never known, since he had been raised in a palace. Rahula said he wished he could experience
riding on a buffalo’s back, and Svasti promised him that he would somehow arrange it.
Svasti wondered how he could arrange a buffalo ride for Rahula. They were both ordained monks! He decided that when they traveled
in the vicinity of his home village, he would ask the Buddha’s permission to go and see his family. He would ask if Rahula could join him.
Then, when no one else was around, he would ask Rupak to let Rahula climb on the back of one of the buffaloes Rupak tended. Rahula
could ride along the banks of the Neranjara River. Svasti planned to take off his monk’s robe and ride on a buffalo too, just like in the old
days.
The next year, the Buddha spent the retreat season on the stony mountain Calika. It was the thirteenth retreat season since the Buddha’s
Enlightenment. Meghiya was serving as the Buddha’s assistant. One day Meghiya confided to the Buddha that when he sat alone in the
forest, he was disturbed by thoughts of desire and passion. He was concerned because the Buddha encouraged the bhikkhus to spend time
alone in order to meditate, but whenever he meditated in solitude, he was confronted by mental obstacles.
The Buddha told him that practicing in solitude did not mean to live without the support of friends. Wasting time in idle chatter and
useless gossip with others was not beneficial to the spiritual life, but receiving the support of friends in one’s practice was most important.
Bhikkhus needed to live in communities to support and encourage each other. That was the meaning of taking refuge in the sangha.
The Buddha also told him, “A bhikkhu requires five things. The first is understanding and virtuous friends who share the path. The second
is precepts to help the bhikkhu maintain mindfulness. The third is ample opportunity to study the teaching. The fourth is diligence. And the
fifth is understanding. The last four conditions are closely linked to and depend upon the presence of the first condition—having friends to
practice with.
“Meghiya, practice the contemplations on death, compassion, impermanence, and the full awareness of breathing:
“To overcome desire, practice the contemplation on a corpse, looking deeply at the nine stages of the body’s decay from the time the
breathing ceases to the time the bones turn to dust.
“To overcome anger and hatred, practice the contemplation on compassion. It illuminates the causes of anger and hatred within our own
minds and in the minds of those who have precipitated it.