"Open for them, are the doors to the Deathless. Let those who have ears, release faith." - Ariyapariyesana S.,M.N. To the all-compassionate Buddha surveying the world with his Buddha-eye after his attainment to Buddhahood, the world appeared like a pond of lotuses. In a pond of lotuses - blue, red or white - some lotuses grown in the water remain immersed in the water, without rising out of it. Some others come up to the surface of the water and stay at that level. Yet others rise well out of the water and stand clear, unsmeared by it. Like lotuses in a pond, beings in this world are in various stages of their spiritual unfoldment. Some are keen-witted, some are dull-witted. Some are good-natured, some are evil-natured. Some are receptive to the truth, some shrink from it. All the same, the lotuses are in the process of their growth from bulb to full-bloom. So too are beings in the world as they pass through the three grades in their Samsaric maturity. I Gratification (assada) II Peril (adinava) III Stepping-out (nissarana) Blinded by ignorance, beings seek gratification within the endless round of births and deaths. But there comes a time when they realize the peril in this whirling Samsaric ‘merry-go-round’. Then they seek an exit from it and cry for a halt through the din of the five-fold orchestra-the pleasures of the five senses. ‘Lead me from untruth to truth! Lead me from darkness to light! "Open for them are the doors to the Deathless. Let those who have ears, release faith." |