The Bodhisatta's Search

Alara and Uddaka were renowned as teachers among the Brahmans,

and there was no one in those days who surpassed them in learning

and philosophical knowledge.



The Bodhisatta went to them and sat at their feet. He listened to

their doctrines of the atman or self, which is the ego of the

mind and the doer of all doings. He learned their views of the

transmigration of sou s and of the law of karma; how the souls of

bad men had to suffer by being reborn in men of low caste, in

animals, or in hell, while those who purified themselves by

libations, by sacrifices, and by self-mortification would become

kings, or Brahmans, or devas, so as to rise higher and higher in

the grades of existence. He studied their incantations and

offerings and the methods by which they attained deliverance of

the ego from material existence in states of ecstasy.



Alara said: "What is that self which perceives the actions of the

five roots of mind, touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing? What

is that which is active in the two ways of motion, in the hands

and in the feet? The problem of the soul appears in the

expressions 'I say,' 'I know and perceive,' 'I come,' and

'I go' or 'I will stay here.' Thy soul is not thy body; it is

not thy eye, not thy ear, not thy nose, not thy tongue, nor is it

thy mind. The I is the one who feels the touch in thy body. The

I is the smeller in the nose, the taster in the tongue, the

seer in the eye, the hearer in the ear, and the thinker in the

mind. The I moves thy hands and thy feet. The I is thy soul.

Doubt in the existence of the soul is irreligious, and without

discerning this truth there is no way of salvation. Deep

speculation will easily involve the mind; it leads to confusion

and unbelief; but a purification of the soul leads to the way of

escape. True deliverance is reached by removing from the crowd

and leading a hermit's life, depending entirely on alms for food.

Putting away all desire and clearly recognizing the non-existence

of matter, we reach a state of perfect emptiness. Here we find

the condition of immaterial fife. As the munja grass when freed

from its horny case, as a sword when drawn from its scabbard, or

as the wild bird escaped from its prison, so the ego, liberating

itself from all limitations, finds perfect release. This is true

deliverance, but those only who will have deep faith will learn."



The Bodhisatta found no satisfaction in these teachings. He

replied: "People are in bondage, because they have not yet

removed the idea of the ego.



"The thing and its quality are different in our thought, but not

in reality. Heat is different from fire in our thought, but you

cannot remove heat from fire in reality. You say that you can

remove the qualities and leave the thing, but if you think your

theory to the end, you will find that this is not so.



"Is not man an organism of many aggregates? Are we not composed

of various attributes? Man consists of the material form, of

sensation, of thought, of dispositions, and, lastly, of

understanding. That which men call the ego when they say 'I am'

is not an entity behind the attributes; it originates by their

co-operation. There is mind; there is sensation and thought, and

there is truth; and truth is mind when it walks in the path of

righteousness. But there is no separate ego-soul outside or

behind the thought of man. He who believes that the ego is a

distinct being has no correct conception of things. The very

search for the atman is wrong; it is a wrong start and it will

lead you in a false direction.



"How much confusion of thought comes from our interest in self,

and from our vanity when thinking 'I am so great,' or 'I have

done this wonderful deed?' The thought of thine ego stands

between thy rational nature and truth; banish it, and then wilt

thou see things as they are. He who thinks correctly will rid

himself of ignorance and acquire wisdom. The ideas 'I am' and

'I shall be' or 'I shall not be' do not occur to a clear

thinker.



"Moreover, if our ego remains, how can we attain true

deliverance? If the ego is to be reborn in any of the three

worlds, be it in hell, upon earth, or be it even in heaven, we

shall meet again and again the same inevitable doom of sorrow. We

shall remain chained to the wheel of individuality and shall be

implicated in egotism and wrong.



"All combination is subject to separation, and we cannot escape

birth, disease, old age, and death. Is this a final escape?"



Said Uddaka: "Consider the unity of things. Things are not their

parts, yet they exist. The members and organs of thy body are not

thine ego, but thine ego possesses all these parts. What, for

instance, is the Ganges? Is the sand the Ganges? Is the water the

Ganges? Is the hither bank the Ganges? Is the farther bank the

Ganges? The Ganges is a mighty river and it possesses all these

several qualities. Exactly so is our ego".



But the Bodhisatta replied: "Not so, sir! If we except the water,

the sand, the hither bank and the farther bank, where can we find

any Ganges? In the same way I observe the activities of man in

their harmonious union, but there is no ground for an ego outside

its parts."



The Brahman sage, however, insisted on the existence of the ego,

saying: "The ego is the doer of our deeds. How can there be karma

without a self as its performer? Do we not see around us the

effects of karma? What makes men different in character, station,

possessions, and fate? It is their karma, and karma includes

merit and demerit. The transmigration of the soul is subject to

its karma. We inherit from former existences the evil effects of

our evil deeds and the good effects of our good deeds. If that

were not so, how could we be different?"



The Tathagata meditated deeply on the problems of transmigration

and karma, and found the truth that lies in them.



"The doctrine of karma," he said, "is undeniable, but thy theory

of the ego has no foundation.



"Like everything else in nature, the life of man is subject to

the law of cause and effect. The present reaps what the past has

sown, and the future is the product of the present. But there is

no evidence of the existence of an immutable ego-being, of a self

which remains the same and migrates from body to body. There is

rebirth but no transmigration.



"Is not this individuality of mine a combination, material as

well as mental? Is it not made up of qualities that sprang into

being by a gradual evolution? The five roots of sense-perception

in this organism have come from ancestors who performed these

functions. The ideas which I think, came to me partly from others

who thought them, and partly they rise from combinations of the

ideas in my own mind. Those who have used the same sense-organs,

and have thought the same ideas before I was composed into this

individuality of mine are my previous existences; they are my

ancestors as much as the I of yesterday is the father of the

I of to-day, and the karma of my past deeds conditions the fate

of my present existence.



"Supposing there were an atman that performs the actions of the

senses, then if the door of sight were torn down and the eye

plucked out, that atman would be able to peep through the larger

aperture and see the forms of its surroundings better and more

clearly than before. It would be able to hear sounds better if

the ears were torn away; smell better if the nose were cut off;

taste better if the tongue were pulled out; and feel better if

the body were destroyed.



"I observe the preservation and transmission of character; I

perceive the truth of karma, but see no atman whom your doctrine

makes the doer of your deeds. There is rebirth without the

transmigration of a self. For this atman, this self, this ego in

the 'I say' and in the 'I will' is an illusion. If this self

were a reality, how could there be an escape from selfhood? The

terror of hell would be infinite, and no release could be

granted. The evils of existence would not be due to our ignorance

and wrong-doing, but would constitute the very nature of our

being."



And the Bodhisatta went to the priests officiating in the

temples. But the gentle mind of the Sakyamuni was offended at the

unnecessary cruelty performed on the altars of the gods. He said:



"Ignorance only can make these men prepare festivals and hold

vast meetings for sacrifices. Far better to revere the truth than

try to appease the gods by shedding blood.



"What love can a man possess who believes that the destruction of

life will atone for evil deeds? Can a new wrong expiate old

wrongs? And can the slaughter of an innocent victim blot out the

evil deeds of mankind? This is practising religion by the neglect

of moral conduct.



"Purify your hearts and cease to kill; that is true religion.



"Rituals have no efficacy; prayers are vain repetitions; and

incantations have no saving power. But to abandon covetousness

and lust, to become free from evil passions, and to give up all

hatred and ill-will, that is the right sacrifice and the true

worship."