old-path-white-clouds-thich-nhat-hanh

past, what your feelings were then, what rank and position you held, what happiness or suffering you experienced then. Giving rise to such
thoughts entangles you in the past.
“Bhikkhus, what is meant by ‘losing yourself in the future’? To lose yourself in the future means to lose yourself in thoughts about the
future. You imagine, hope, fear, or worry about the future, wondering what you will look like, what your feelings will be, whether you will
have happiness or suffering. Giving rise to such thoughts entangles you in the future.
“Bhikkhus, return to the present moment in order to be in direct contact with life and to see life deeply. If you cannot make direct contact
with life, you cannot see deeply. Mindfulness enables you to return to the present moment. But if you are enslaved by desires and anxieties
over what is happening in the present, you will lose your mindfulness and you will not be truly present to life.
“Bhikkhus, one who really knows how to be alone dwells in the present moment, even if he is sitting in the midst of a crowd. If a person
sitting alone in the middle of a forest is not mindful, if he is haunted by the past and future, he is not truly alone.”
The Buddha then recited a gatha to summarize his teaching:
“Do not pursue the past.
Do not lose yourself in the future.
The past no longer is.
The future has not yet come.
Looking deeply at life as it is
in the very here and now,
the practitioner dwells
in stability and freedom.
We must be diligent today.
To wait until tomorrow is too late.
Death comes unexpectedly.
How can we bargain with it?
The sage calls a person who knows
how to dwell in mindfulness
night and day
‘one who knows
the better way to live alone.’”
After reading the gatha, the Buddha thanked Thera and invited him to be seated again. The Buddha had neither praised nor criticized
Thera, but it was clear that the bhikkhu now had a better grasp of what the Buddha meant by being self-sufficient or being alone.
During the Dharma discussion that took place later that evening, Svasti listened to the senior disciples say how important the Buddha’s
words had been that morning. Venerable Ananda repeated the Buddha’s discourse, including the gatha, word for word. Svasti was always
amazed at Ananda’s memory. Ananda even spoke with the same stress on words as the Buddha. When Ananda was finished,
Mahakaccana stood up and said, “I would like to suggest that we make a formal sutra of the Buddha’s teaching this morning. I further
suggest that we name it the Bhaddekaratta Sutta, the Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone. Every bhikkhu should memorize
this sutra and put it into practice.”
Mahakassapa stood up and voiced his support for Mahakaccana’s idea.
The next morning when the bhikkhus were out begging, they encountered a group of children playing by the rice paddies. The children
had caught a crab which one boy held down with his forefinger. With his other hand, he ripped one of the crab’s claws off. The other
children clapped their hands and squealed. Pleased with their reaction, the boy ripped the other claw off. Then he tore all of the crab’s legs
off, one by one. He tossed the crab back into the paddy and caught another one.
When the children saw the Buddha and bhikkhus arrive, they bowed their heads and then returned to tormenting the next crab. The
Buddha told the children to stop. He said, “Children, if someone ripped off your arm or leg, would it hurt?”
“Yes, Teacher,” the children answered.
“Did you know that crabs feel pain just as you do?”
The children did not answer.
The Buddha continued, “The crab eats and drinks just like you. It has parents, brothers, and sisters. When you make it suffer, you make
its family suffer as well. Think about what you are doing.”