(Part
Two) 25. The Mirror of the Dharma
From
Rajagaha the Buddha, accompanied by Venerable Ananda and
a large number of his disciples, started the journey to the
north. They would stop a while at every city and village,
and the Buddha would teach the Dharma.
They
stopped at a place called the Brick Hall in a little village
called Nadika. It happened that some monks and lay devotees
had passed away at this village, and Venerable Ananda wanted
to know the future states of those who had passed away.
The
Buddha revealed that as they had been practising what he had
taught, all of them had attained at least one of the stages
of sainthood. He continued, "Now, it is natural for human
beings to die; but if you ask this question each time a person
dies, it wearies me. So I will give you a discourse called
'The Mirror of the Dharma or Truth'. With this, a noble
disciple can predict for himself, 'There is no more suffering
for me, no more evil and low states. I am a sotapanna and
I am not subject to falling back to the lower states. I shall
be assured of final enlightenment.'
"What,
O Ananda, is the Mirror of the Dharma? Herein a noble disciple
has absolute confidence in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Because of his confidence, he spends much time to reflect
or think about the great qualities of the Triple Gem. These
reflections will help him develop the great qualities within
himself and the power to concentrate the mind. These results
will help him attain the first stage of sainthood (sotapanna).
"Possessing
this Mirror of Dharma, a noble disciple shall be able to predict
for himself that he shall not fall back to lower states like
hell, the animal world, the ghost world and other sorrowful
and unhappy states."
After
delivering this discourse at Nadika, the Buddha and his disciples
then proceeded to Vesali.
