THE FORMULA OF
CONFESSION
I seek refuge in the Buddha.
I seek refuge in the Law.
I seek refuge in the Church.
♦ The Path ♦ “This, O Recluses, is the noble truth concerning the WAY which leads to the destruction of suffering. Verily it is this noble Eightfold Path; that is to say:—
Right Views.
Right Aspirations.
Right Speech.
Right Conduct.
Right Livelihood.
Right Effort.
Right Mindfulness.
Right Rapture.
Let no man think that this path is one easy to be trodden. At its entrance, after the Understanding which is the first step, and the Right Aspirations which is the entrance upon the Path, the candidate for Arahatship—sainthood—leads a life of constant, untiring watchfulness and self-culture.”
♦ Hindrances ♦ One by one the Hindrances must be overcome as he treads the Eightfold Path:—
The belief in the Self.
Doubt of the Teaching.
Trust in works of merit, or in religious ceremonies.
The desires of the body.
The love of life.
The desires after the earth life.
The desires after a future life.
Pride.
Self-righteousness.
Ignorance.
Each of these fetters which bind to the Self-life is loosened only at the cost of long strenuous discipline; and a glance must show the student that only one who has broken the bonds which bind him to the world-life, and has become a monk, is competent to practise it.
“Come, look at this world glittering like a royal chariot: the foolish are immersed in it, but the wise do not touch it.”
“Look upon the world as you would on a bubble, look upon it as you would on a mirage, the King of death does not see him who thus looks upon the world.”
♦ Self-mastery the ideal ♦ “Self is the lord of self, self is the refuge of self: therefore curb thyself as the merchant curbs a noble horse.”
“By oneself is evil done, by oneself one suffers: by oneself evil is left undone, by oneself one is purified. The pure and the impure by themselves; no one can purify another.”
“If one man conquer in battle a thousand times ten thousand men, and if another conquers himself he is the greatest of conquerors. One’s own self conquered is better than all other people: not even a god, ... could change into defeat the victory of a man who has vanquished himself, and always lives under restraint.”
“Like a well-guarded frontier fort, with defences within and without, so let a man guard himself. Not a moment should escape, for they who allow the right moment to pass, suffer pain when they are in hell.”
“If a man holds himself dear, let him watch himself carefully: during one at least out of the three watches a wise man should be watchful.”
♦ The last Message ♦ “Therefore, O Ananda, be ye lamps unto yourselves. Hold the truth as a lamp. Hold fast to the lamp of truth. Hold fast as a refuge to the truth. Look not for refuge to any besides yourselves.”
♦ The goal is Nirvana ♦
Sainthood is attained through long struggle. The writings tell of the
thirty-seven stages which must be passed before the Eightfold Path is
trod,—stages which represent the severest Self-discipline, but which
lead out to the life of entire freedom and serenity, until in the end
emancipation from the Self-life with all its attendant evils, and the
repose of Nirvana in at-one-ment with the Universe, has been
attained.
“This is the ultimate goal. Caught in the vortex of evolution there is no rest from birth to death even in highest heaven; and until you realize Nirvana, this changefulness must go on. On earth the purified perfected nature enjoys Nirvana, and after the dissolution of the physical body there is no further birth in an objective world. Neither man nor gods see him again.”