"A FLOWER AND LOFTY NIBBANA"

Nayaka Myittha Sayadaw,
VEN. U VASAVA

Mahasi Meditation Centre, Yangon, Myanmar, 1999

         To-day's dhamma talk is entitled " A flower and Lofty Nibbana.' This discourse was expounded by the Lord Buddha over 2500 years ago, while he was residing at the Jetavana monastery of Savatthi in India, with reference to a young bhikkhu who was the disciple of Venerable Sariputta Mahathera.

         There lived in Savatthi, a young handsome man, son of a goldsmith. Out of the reverence for the Sariputta, Mahathera, he entered the Sangha Order under the preceptorship of the Mahathera Sariputta. The Elder thera after reflecting that the young bhikkhu being handsome and at the prime of his youth, may well be inclined to craving for sensual pleasures, decided to give him the asubha bhavana (contemplation on loathsomeness of the body) as meditation object to curb sensual craving.

         Here, it is to be noted that as the meditation subject given by the Elder did not suit the young bhikkhu's propensities, he cannot progress in his practice even for the whole length of three months raining retreat in the forest.

        It has been affirmed in the Buddhist texts that, an individual's dormant proclivities cannot be penetrated by any one but only by the Buddha. The Elder, realising this fact, took the young bhikkhu to the Lord Buddha and related the matter.

         Thereupon the Lord Buddha scrutinized the matter and read the thoughts of the young bhikkhu's mind for his inherent idiosyncrasies and gave him the suitable meditation object. The Buddha created a beautiful golden lotus flower by using his psychic powers and said to the Young bhikkhu "Dear Son bhikkhu, take this golden lotus flower to a secluded corner of the monastery, sit cross-legged, intent on strenuous effort, gaze at the flower and contemplate incessantly by verbal label as "Lohitakam, Lohitakam golden-red, golden-red".

         The reason why the Buddha gave this particular meditation object to the young bhikkhu was that, in his previous five hundred existences prior to this present one, he was born as a goldsmith's son successively and the attachment for the golden-red colour was latent in his heart. "Salvage the drifting boat by another boat" as the saying goes, the Buddha used the golden-red colour of the lotus as the object of meditation to attract and fix the young bhikkhu's mind in concentration.

        Thus intently contemplating, the young bhikkhus mind was cleansed of the mental defilements (or Kilesas) and as his concentration became strong and deep he attained access concentration and thence all the four stages of absorption concentration or appana samadhi in succession.

         But what he had attained was just mundane Samatha Jhana only and it surely was not the final goal of his meditation. For the attainment of the final goal of Nibbana through Path and Fruition knowledge one must practise the insight meditation (Vipassana Bhavana) that of contemplating on the three characteristics of all psychophysical phenomena, impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and egolessness (Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta) and there by successively acquiring the various stages of insight knowledge.

         "Buddhas arise in this world for the benefit of all the living beings. "The Buddha kept the meditating young bhikkhu under surveillance to access the progress or otherwise and guide through his contemplation. When the Buddha found out the young bhikkhu's inability to further progress, the Buddha by dint of the psychic power willed that the lotus flower be faded and fell petal by petal to the ground.

         This incident touched the young bhikkhu's heart causing emotional apprehension that "even such a flower, a product of the seasons had to fade and fell to the ground, what have to become of my body aggregate, compounded by the four conditions of kamma, Citta (mind or consciousness), Season and nutriment. With that moral fear he contemplated intently and incessantly, clearly perceiving the impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactonness (dukkha) and egolessness (anatta) characteristics of all the psycho-physical phenomena. That is in accordance with the aphorism quoted by our late Benefactor, most venerable Mahasi Mahathera: -" When true nature of the impermanence is clearly perceived the remaining two characteristics are also comprehended"

         As the young bhikkhu's meditation gathered momentum, the Lord Buddha by using psychic powers radiated the aura of light from Jetavana Monastery and exhorted the message thus: - O dear Son Bhikkhu! Like an autumnal lotus flower is crumpled to destruction by hand, you as a meditator extirpate all the mental defilements by cultivating path (Magganana) knowledge. The Buddha expounded that "the cessation of craving is the true bliss of Nibbana". So you should incessantly and perseveringly develop the Noble Eight Fold Path."

         On receiving the Buddha's admonishment the young bhikkhu, by applying the simile of" Lotus Flower". ardently contemplated on the aggregates to clearly perceive the impermanent nature of mind and matter. He attained successive stages of insight knowledge and realised the Lofty Nibbana Dhamma through the four stages of Path and Fruition knowledge.

         May you all meditators, like this young bhikkhu be able to apply the nature of impermanent characteristic of the external objects to that of one's aggregate of mind and matter, and contemplate to clearly perceive the impermanent characteristic, thereby realising the lofty dhamma - Nibbana, the complete extirpation of craving.

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!