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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<br />
Way of Liberation will continue for centuries.”<br />
“Lord, great numbers of bhikkhus diligently memorize and recite the sutras. If future generations of monks continue to study and recite<br />
the teachings, your loving kindness and your insight will surely extend far into the future.”<br />
“Sariputta, transmitting the sutras is not enough. It is necessary to practice what is contained in the sutras. It is especially important to<br />
observe the precepts. Without that, the Dharma cannot last long. Without the precepts, the true Dharma would quickly fade.”<br />
“Is there a way of putting the precepts into a form that can be preserved for thousands of lives to come?”<br />
“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<br />
sangha, we didn’t have any precepts. Gradually, because of shortcomings and errors committed by brothers, we have created precepts.<br />
Now we have one hundred twenty precepts. That number will increase over time. The precepts are not yet complete, Sariputta. I believe<br />
the number may rise to two hundred or more.”<br />
The final day of the retreat arrived. The merchant Agnidatta returned from his travels and was shocked to learn how much the bhikkhus<br />
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<br />
Buddha delivered his final talk of the season, the bhikkhus headed south.<br />
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<br />
the cool forests, they continued to walk each day. Sometimes they remained several days in a village where the people were especially<br />
delighted to receive the teaching. At night, the monks studied and recited the sutras before meditation and sleep.<br />
One afternoon, Svasti came across a group of young buffalo boys leading their buffaloes home. He stopped and talked to them,<br />
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,<br />
Bhima. He still wondered if it was proper for a bhikkhu to think about the family he had left. Of course, Rahula t<strong>old</strong> him that he had missed<br />
his family too.<br />
Svasti was twenty-two years <strong>old</strong>. He preferred the company of younger people, feeling more at ease with them. He enjoyed time spent<br />
with Rahula the most. They often shared their innermost thoughts. Svasti t<strong>old</strong> Rahula about his life as a buffalo boy. Rahula had never had<br />
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.<br />
Svasti assured him that water buffaloes were the gentlest of animals. He t<strong>old</strong> Rahula of the countless times he had lain on a buffalo’s back<br />
as they walked home along the banks of the river. He would look up at the blue sky and drifting <strong>clouds</strong>, enjoying moments of peaceful<br />
leisure on the warm, smooth back of the buffalo. Svasti also t<strong>old</strong> Rahula about the games he played with other buffalo boys. Rahula loved<br />
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<br />
riding on a buffalo’s back, and Svasti promised him that he would somehow arrange it.<br />
Svasti wondered how he could arrange a buffalo ride for Rahula. They were both ordained monks! He decided that when they traveled<br />
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.<br />
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<br />
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 <strong>old</strong><br />
days.<br />
The next year, the Buddha spent the retreat season on the stony mountain Calika. It was the thirteenth retreat season since the Buddha’s<br />
Enlightenment. Meghiya was serving as the Buddha’s assistant. One day Meghiya confided to the Buddha that when he sat alone in the<br />
forest, he was disturbed by thoughts of desire and passion. He was concerned because the Buddha encouraged the bhikkhus to spend time<br />
alone in order to meditate, but whenever he meditated in solitude, he was confronted by mental obstacles.<br />
The Buddha t<strong>old</strong> him that practicing in solitude did not mean to live without the support of friends. Wasting time in idle chatter and<br />
useless gossip with others was not beneficial to the spiritual life, but receiving the support of friends in one’s practice was most important.<br />
Bhikkhus needed to live in communities to support and encourage each other. That was the meaning of taking refuge in the sangha.<br />
The Buddha also t<strong>old</strong> him, “A bhikkhu requires five things. The first is understanding and virtuous friends who share the <strong>path</strong>. The second<br />
is precepts to help the bhikkhu maintain mindfulness. The third is ample opportunity to study the teaching. The fourth is diligence. And the<br />
fifth is understanding. The last four conditions are closely linked to and depend upon the presence of the first condition—having friends to<br />
practice with.<br />
“Meghiya, practice the contemplations on death, compassion, impermanence, and the full awareness of breathing:<br />
“To overcome desire, practice the contemplation on a corpse, looking deeply at the nine stages of the body’s decay from the time the<br />
breathing ceases to the time the bones turn to dust.<br />
“To overcome anger and hatred, practice the contemplation on compassion. It illuminates the causes of anger and hatred within our own<br />
minds and in the minds of those who have precipitated it.