L. D. Barnett - Freedom of Will

Lord Brahma

Freedom of Will.

It follows that in so far as man shares in the empiric world his whole moral and physical life is at every instant strictly predestined. But at the same time his Self is implicitly free, inasmuch as in essence it is one with the Absolute Brahma, no matter how it be empirically sunk in the phenomenal world; and as soon as he attains the knowledge of this fundamental unity which is itself salvation, his freedom is complete; he is the One Absolute Brahma, and beside him there exists no empiric world.

Brahma Knowledge, by L. D. Barnett, [1911]

Read more  Here

David Paul Boaz - Zen and Dzogchen

On the Nondual View of Dzogchen and Zen:

Because the sugatagarbha (Buddha Nature) consists in the
qualities of enlightenment, which are spontaneously present
from the very beginning, all the various paths that may be
implemented serve only to render these qualities manifest...
The paths simply render the primordial luminosity of the
dharmakaya manifest. They do not create (cause) it. . . When
the mandala of the primordial ground—the authentic nature
of primordial buddhahood—is realized, the mind becomes
inseparable from the wisdom of all the Buddhas of the three
times (past, present, future). The irreversible ground of
realization is thereby achieved. In that very instant supreme
mastery is found—in which the ground and fruit are
inseparably united.
Jamgön Mipham (2007)

In terms of the source, the root of all phenomena, there is no such thing
as an observer and an object to observe. All the phenomena of
existence, without exception, abide in the supreme source in a
condition of birthlessness . . . As the supreme source (Samantabhadra),
pure and total consciousness, I am the mirror in which all phenomena
are reflected. Although lacking self-nature everything exists clearly;
without need for a view, the nature shines clear. Understanding the
essential unborn condition is not an object to observe dualistically. This
is the great understanding!
-Kunjed Gyalpo, The Supreme Source (trans. Namkhai Norbu)

From the beginning all beings are Buddha . . . If we turn inward and
prove our true nature, that true self, is no-self . . . our form now being
no-form... our thought now being no-thought . . . this earth where we
stand is the pure lotus land, and this very body the body of Buddha.
-Hakuin Zenji (trans. Philip Kapleau)

The essence of all the Buddhas exists prior to samsara and nirvana . . . it
transcends the four conceptual limits and is intrinsically pure; this original
condition is the uncreated nature of existence that always existed, the ultimate
nature of all phenomena. . . It is utterly free of the defects of dualistic thought
which is only capable of referring to an object other than itself. . . It is the base of
primordial purity. . . Similar to space it pervades all beings. . . The inseparability
of the two truths, absolute and relative is called the ‘primordial Buddha’. . . If at
the moment the energy of the base manifests, one does not consider it something
other than oneself . . . it self-liberates. . . Understanding the essence . . . one finds
oneself always in this state. . . dwelling in the fourth time, beyond past, present
and future. . . the infinite space of self-perfection. . . pure dharmakaya, the
essence of the vajra of clear light.
- Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, The Supreme Source, (1999)

Zen and Dzogchen: Unifying the Ground and Result
David Paul Boaz

PDF  Here

Socrates - On free will

Free Will and Predetermination
Alan Adams Jacobs

Aeshines - A Newly Discovered Socratic Dialogue

SOCRATES Hail to Thee, Aeschines! From where do you return to visit us now?

AESCHINES I have just returned from my father's kitchen where I was assisting him in making his famed spiced meat delicacies.

S. Yes! Charinus makes the finest sausages in all Athens, that is beyond dispute.

A. Thank you, Socrates. Next to my father, I love you dearly. I hope I shall never leave you. Strike me with your staff, for you will find no wood hard enough to keep me away from you, so long as I think you've something to say.

S. Only the sausage-maker's son knows how to honour me.  I wish all my friends were as loyal as you, Aeschines. In some ways, your respected profession has often appealed to me as most enviable. You assist your Father whom you love, earn an honest livelihood, exercise great care and attention keeping the restless mind in check, and what is more, create delicacies for the citizens of Athens to enjoy with wine and fill their bellies, which when digested, turns to thought and hopefully beneficial actions.

A. Thou speakest truth as always, Socrates. I have toiled to excel at this work, selecting the choicest herbs, learning to pound the cooked rare meats into a paste and blend them, pack them in an edible skin and make them look as appetising as possible.

S. I am persuaded of your eminent skill, Aeschincs. I trust you will not refuse me a sample of your labours.

A. Here is one of Father's latest concoctions, a mixture of lamb and rabbit flavoured with honey, thyme and black pepper.

S. Thank you. I shall relish it more after our conversation but now ask me whatever you will.

A. You said earlier that my food after being digested, stimulates thought which leads to action.

S. I recall having said that.

A. Does this mean I am indirectly responsible for my clients' thoughts and deeds?

S. After a fashion, partially, but not completely. Thoughts need food stuff to make them happen.

A. But surely Socrates, man is responsible for his own thoughts and actions, and has the freedom to decide his acts?

S. Dear boy, I hope you will not be shocked when I tell you that man has no freedom of will, and is not responsible for his actions.

A. But surely Socrates, this goes against the 'consensus gentium' of educated people and their commonsense. I feel and I know that I am responsible for my acts. When I think to do something, I carry it out.

S. Are you so sure, my dear fellow? Let us examine this matter more closely. Sit down a while. You say you think; where does the thought that you have, come from, in the first instance? Where does it arise?

A. From me, of course.

S. From Me. Tell me, who is this Me? Can you find him inside? Now watch closely. Where do thoughts actually come from? Be very honest.

A. Well, surprisingly they seem to arrive from nowhere, out of the blue. From the Gods, perhaps.

S. Now you see that you did not create the initial thought. It arrives from you know not where. Then what happens?

A. It commences the faculty of reasoning.

S. Yes. It touches your mind, and either the thought is rejected as unworthy or accepted as useful, according to needs, standards of upbringing and so forth; and it starts a process called thinking.

A. But surely I start the process of reasoning.

S. Are you sure? Look closely now. See what actually happens. A thought arrives from nowhere, touches the mind which reacts according to its patterns of education and what it believes to be the right response, and some more thought weighs the matter up.

A. But surely in the weighing I choose from the alternatives offered by commonsense and reason?

S. I mistrust your commonsense and conventional opinion, the so-called reason of the masses. Only the philosophers understand the nature of choice, and not too many of them, I suspect.

A. Do you mean I didn't choose?

S. What happens if you watch, dear sausage maker, is that the mind or thoughts present alternatives, and according to your disposition you choose what you consider to be the most practical, pleasurable and in the best interest for you. But there is no daemon inside to choose. The choice happens mechanically, like an abacus, and then the mind foolishly ascribes it to itself as "a free agent", boasting arrogantly "I CHOOSE."

A. Please continue, Socrates. This is most illuminating.

S. Truly the choice was inevitable. The so-called act of choosing was part of the structure of predetermination. The choice was inevitable, because it appealed to your hidden tendencies of pleasure, and what you believe to be appropriate. In fact there was never any freedom to choose anything other than that which was chosen.

A. But surely if a man does good deeds, they are his own, just as the man who does evil deeds?

S. Again, Aeschines, let us examine very closely. Watch how everything happens. A train of inevitable events leads one man to the good, another to the so-called evil.

A. How is that?

S. One man is born into a noble womb, with refined educated parents, another into an uncaring home of ignorance. Patterns of behaviour are laid down like a mosaic, by example and imitation. What you call good and bad habits are largely mimicry.

A. But surely, Socrates, there are innate tendencies of good and evil that men are born with?

S. Yes. Souls are transmigrated with these tendencies laid down.

A. So what determines this behaviour of these souls?

S. Examples from parents, family, teachers, people you meet, heroes, reading, and so forth. You are determined all the time, by each new event.

A. Is this the way the Gods control our destiny?

S. Broadly, yes.

A. I see. So when I choose, I imagine I'm choosing, but really it's all predetermined.

S. Exactly. You are beginning to see the point.

A. Then tell me, Socrates, the idea that I can do anything of my own free will, is that falsely imagined?

S. Yes.

A. Then how do I live?

S. Choose as if you have choice, knowing you really have none. This is a step towards freedom and the Good. It will remove guilt, and stop you from blaming others for their so called bad deeds, and stop you from flattering others for their so called good deeds, according to society's approval or disapproval.

A. If this was generally understood, what would our tragedians have to write about?

S. Very little. But about good and bad, the Nubian, Libyan and Egyptian have quite different standards to we Greeks, neither better nor worse except according to our opinion. Moreover, each tragedy illustrates a chief characteristic which prevents the hero from coming to Self knowledge. Such was the blindness of Oedipus.

A. But how will I live, knowing all this?

S. Enjoy yourself, my boy. Be happy. Love your work, and study philosophy, but don't attribute your actions to an imaginary ME who doesn't actually exist which is the real slavery.

A. Thank you Socrates. But…

S. There are always 'buts' - listen! This idea that men can act independently of the Gods is at the root of their bondage, and enslaves master and boy alike. To be free, a man must know this clearly. This is my point. I hammer it home continuously.

A. How do I see this clearly?

S. Some time, reflect on major events of your day and examine how much they really happened through your free will? This will undermine your vanity and your pride.

A. Thank you.

S. The tyrant is the imaginary ME who has usurped the Good which is our birthright of freedom. Sacrifice him to the Gods, and all will be well, I promise.

A. Thank you again, Socrates.

S. Come, my dear friend, let us enjoy your sausage with some Cypriot wine; Ah! I can see Alciabides approaching.

~~~

 A newly discovered Socratic Dialogue. Aeschines was a friend of Socrates who recorded many dialogues, but unlike Plato's his have largely been lost to posterity. The translation is by Alan Adams Jacobs.

~~~

Source: here

Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon - Witness of Thoughts

Cameron Gray

Note that the following commentary is provided by Ananda Wood, a disciple of the sage Atmananda Krishna Menon (1883 - 1959). The material is not copyrighted and may be freely used by any true seeker. It is extracted from a discussion, led by Ananda, on the Advaitin Egroup during Nov - Dec 2003 and the text for the complete discussion may be downloaded by members.

In the statement 'I am consciousness', there are two parts. As anyone experiences the world, these two parts get differently expressed. The 'I' gets expressed as a changing personality. And 'consciousness' becomes expressed in changing perceptions of many different objects. This results in two further prakriyas. One prakriya examines personal perceptions, reflecting back into their changeless witness. The other prakriya examines objects, reducing them to consciousness.

The witness prakriya starts out with a negative. A person's body, senses and mind are not always present with the self. The outwardly waking body and its senses are not present in the dreams that mind imagines inwardly. And neither outwardly perceiving body nor inwardly conceiving mind is present in deep sleep. So, no one's self can truly be a body, nor any senses, nor a conceiving mind. Accordingly, a process of elimination is begun, to distinguish what exactly is true self. One's own true identity is that from which one can never be apart, which can never move away. Anything that can be distanced must be eliminated from consideration as the truth of one's own self.

The elimination is progressive. It starts with one's physical identity, as a body in an outside world. But that outside body disappears from experience, in dreams and deep sleep. Even in the waking state, the body disappears when attention turns to other objects or to thoughts and feelings in the mind.

In fact, the body that perceives a world is present only fitfully, in actual experience. Most of the time, it's gone away. On some occasions when it appears, it is identified as self -- thereby claiming that it continues present all along, even when attention turns elsewhere. But this claim of bodily identity is clearly false, in actual experience. When the mistake is realized, the body is eliminated from one's sense of self.

As bodily identity proves false, the sense of self falls back into the mind. Then self appears identified as that which thinks a stream of thought experiences, as they succeed each other in the course of time.

At any moment in the stream, only a single thought appears. For in that moment, there's no time to think two thoughts or more. Nor is there time to think of different things, in that single moment. To think of more than just one thing, there must be more thoughts than one, taking place at different times.

So when the mind thinks of itself, it's there alone, thought momentarily, in a passing moment. Most of the time attention turns to other things, and then the mind has gone away. In its own stream of thought, mind only shows up now and then -- as a passing thought of ego, where the mind conceives itself. On the occasions when this fitful ego-thought appears, mind identifies it as a self that knows experience. This passing ego-thought thus claims that it somehow carries on, even when it gets replaced by many other thoughts which keep succeeding it in time.

This thought of ego is self-contradictory, confused and absurdly inflated in its claims. Most people realize there's something wrong with ego, in the way that it centres what they see and feel and think upon their partial bodies and their shifting minds. But then, what exactly is the problem? And how might it be corrected?

The problem is that when mind thinks, it does not really know. The thoughts of mind are only changing acts, each of which distracts attention from the others. Each drowns out the others with its noisy clamouring. As these thoughts replace each other, knowing is what carries on. It is a silent witnessing that is completely detached and impartial, not at all involved with any changing action.

The self that knows is thus a silent witness to all thoughts which come and go. As mind and body do their acts, the witness only witnesses. Its witnessing is not a changing act. In its pure and quiet knowing, it does not do anything. It just stays the same, utterly unchanged and unaffected, completely free and independent of what is witnessed.

By the mere presence of that silent witness, what appears gets illuminated and recorded. On that witness, everyone depends, for all memory and communication. To remember or communicate, there has to be a standing back into its quiet knowing presence, which is shared in common by all changing times and different personalities. From there, all things are known, impartially and truly.

Thus, to correct the partialities and the confusions of ego, all that's needed is a change of perspective, achieved by realizing that all knowing stands in the silent witness. That is the only true perspective -- standing as the silent knower, quite detached from thinking mind, perceiving senses, doing body, happy or unhappy personality.

In the end the detachment does not come from any physical or mental change, nor from any forced renunciation. It comes just by taking note of where in fact one stands, as that which witnesses all happenings that appear. That witness is by nature unattached: quite unchanged and unaffected by the changing doings of body, sense and mind, in personality and world.

This is clearly a position that is endorsed by traditional advaita scriptures. In many places, they do so with a different emphasis, upon a cosmic witness of the world. But they also allow for the individual approach -- which first reduces world to a succession of thoughts in the sadhaka's mind, and then goes on to ask what witnesses those thoughts. In the end, the witness is of course the same, whether cosmic in the world or individual in the microcosmic personality. 

Rumi - Like a ladder

Within people there is a longing and a desire such that, even if a hundred thousand worlds were theirs to own, still they would find no rest or comfort. They try every trade and craft, studying astronomy, medicine and every other subject, but they reach no completion, for they have not found their true desire. Poets call the Beloved “heart’s ease,” because there the heart finds ease. How can we find peace and rest in anything but the Beloved?

All these pleasures and pursuits are like a ladder. The rungs of a ladder are not a place to make one`s home ; there are for passing by. Fortunate are those who learn this. The long road becomes short for them , and they do not waste their lives upon the steps.

Jiddu Krishnamurti - Not projected by thought./Ecstasy of Emptiness

It appears that man has always escaped from himself, from what he is, from where he is going, from what all this is about – the universe, our daily life, the dying and the beginning. It is strange that we never realize that however much we may escape from ourselves, however much we may wander away consciously, deliberately or unconsciously, subtly, the conflict, the pleasure, the pain, the fear and so on are always there. 

They ultimately dominate. You may try to suppress them, you may try to put them away deliberately with an act of will but they surface again. And pleasure is one of the factors that predominate; it too has the same conflicts, the same pain, the same boredom. The weariness of pleasure and the fret is part of this turmoil of our life. You can’t escape it, my friend. 

You can’t escape from this deep unfathomed turmoil unless you really give thought to it, not only thought but see by careful attention, diligent watching, the whole movement of thought and the self. You may say all this is too tiresome, perhaps unnecessary. But if you do not pay attention to this, give heed, the future is not only going to be more destructive, more intolerable but without much significance. All this is not a dampening, depressing point of view, it is actually so. 

What you are now is what you will be in the coming days. You can’t avoid it. It is as definite as the sun rising and setting. This is the share of all men, of all humanity, unless we all change, each one of us, change to something that is not projected by thought.

~~~

Ecstasy of Emptiness  

Sai Baba of Shirdi - Ubiquity

Ubiquity

 I am formless and everywhere.

I am in everything.

I am in everything and beyond.

I fill all space. All that you see taken together

is Myself- I do not shake or move.

 All that is seen is my form :- ant, fly, prince,

pauper.

 I am in the water, in dry places, in woods,

amidst crowds, and in the solitary wilderness. I am in

the fire and in ether. I am not limited to any place,

 Feeding the hungry bitch is feeding me.

I have the feeling of my hunger being satisfied, when

hers is satisfied.

Baba to Laxmibai Scindhe :^-I am hungry.

L. S:-Shall I go and bring food?

Baba:-Do.

L. S. then brought food; Baba took nothing from it

and placed the entire plate before a hungry bitch.

L.S:-Baba, why do you do so?

Baba:-Is not the bitch also a Jiva? We talk, bitches

do not. She is hungry; she and I are one and the same,.

It is the same if I eat or she eats.

 I am still belching with the heavy feeding you

gave the dog this morning. I am also in the mire

besmirched pig (that you did not feed, though it came

to you).

To serve me, give up differentiation,

 Sometimes I come as dog, sometimes as pig.

The devotee who recognises me in each form and

treats me adequately is blessed.

 You have been with me eighteen years. Does

"Sai** mean to you only this 34 cubits height of body?

I am in the ant and fly.

Whenever you see this sign, remember that I am 

there and that I can eat food through ants, flies etc. 

« I went as a cat to drink this man's curds to save

him, despite his cussedness. But he beat me to day.

I was the black dog.

I was the sickly sudra. I am in everything, and

beyond.

I was the fakir who begged of you at Bombay.

I was the spirit you saw at midnight under the tree.

[I am Akkalkote Maharaj.J I gave you Rs. 2, Pitale.

download Sri Sai Baba`S:Charters And Sayings as PDF HERE

Eihei Dogen -"The Actualization of Enlightenment"

Alfred, Lord Tennyson - Thou canst not prove

Thou canst not prove the Nameless, O my son,   
Nor canst thou prove the world thou movest in,   
Thou canst not prove that thou art body alone,   
Nor canst thou prove that thou art spirit alone,          
Nor canst thou prove that thou art both in one:   
Thou canst not prove thou art immortal, no   
Nor yet that thou art mortal—nay my son,   
Thou canst not prove that I, who speak with thee,   
Am not thyself in converse with thyself,          
For nothing worthy proving can be proven,   
Nor yet disproven: wherefore thou be wise,   
Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt,   
And cling to Faith beyond the forms of Faith   
She reels not in the storm of warring words,          
She brightens at the clash of ‘Yes’ and ‘No’,   
She sees the Best that glimmers thro’ the Worst,   
She feels the Sun is hid but for a night,   
She spies the summer thro’ the winter bud,   
She tastes the fruit before the blossom falls,          
She hears the lark within the songless egg,   
She finds the fountain where they wail’d ‘Mirage’!

From ‘The Ancient Sage’
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson  (1809–1892)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson - poems - PDF   HERE

Sri Adi Sankaracharya - Bhavani Ashtakam

By Sri Adi Sankaracharya, Translated by P. R. Ramachander

This great Sthothra by Adhi Sankara would move any one who reads it to tears. If a great soul like Him, had to describe himself, thus, Imagine the state of an ignoramus like any one of us.

Na thatho, na matha, na bandur na datha,
Na puthro, na puthri , na bruthyo , na bartha,
Na jayaa na Vidhya, na Vruthir mamaiva,
Gathisthwam, Gathisthwam Thwam ekaa Bhavani.

Neither the mother nor the father,
Neither the relation nor the friend,
Neither the son nor the daughter,
Neither the servant nor the husband,
Neither the wife nor the knowledge,
And neither my sole occupation,
Are my refuges that I can depend, Oh, Bhavani,
So you are my refuge and my only refuge, Bhavani.

Bhavabdhava pare , Maha dhukha Bheeru,
Papaatha prakami , pralobhi pramatha,
Kam samsara pasa prabadha sadaham,
Gathisthwam, Gathisthwam thwam ekaa Bhavani.

I am in this ocean of birth and death,
I am a coward, who dare not face sorrow,
I am filled with lust and sin,
I am filled with greed and desire,
And tied I am, by the this useless life that I lead,
So you are my refuge and my only refuge, Bhavani.

Na Janaami Dhanam, Na cha dhyana yogam,
Na janami thathram, na cha sthothra manthram,
Na janami poojam, na cha nyasa yogam,
Gathisthwam, Gathisthwam thwam ekaa Bhavani

Neither do I know how to give,
Nor do I know how to meditate,
Neither do I know Thanthra*,
Nor do I know stanzas of prayer,
Neither do I know how to worship,
Nor do I know the art of yoga,
So you are my refuge and my only refuge, Bhavani

Na janami Punyam, Na janami theertham,
Na janami mukthim, layam vaa kadachit,
Na janami bhakthim, vrutham vaapi maatha,
Gathisthwam, Gathisthwam, thwam ekaa Bhavani.

Know I not how to be righteous,
Know I not the way to the places sacred,
Know I not methods of salvation,
Know I not how to merge my mind with God,
Know I not the art of devotion,
Know I not how to practice austerities, Oh, mother,
So you are my refuge and my only refuge, Bhavani

Kukarmi, kusangi, kubudhi, kudhasa,
Kulachara heena, kadhachara leena,
Kudrushti, kuvakya prabandha, sadaham,
Gathisthwam, Gathisthwam, thwam ekaa Bhavani.

Perform I bad actions,
Keep I company of bad ones,
Think I bad and sinful thoughts,
Serve I Bad masters,
Belong I to a bad family,
Immersed I am in sinful acts,
See I with bad intentions,
Write I collection of bad words,
Always and always,
So you are my refuge and my only refuge, Bhavani.

Prajesam, Ramesam, Mahesam, Suresam,
Dhinesam, Nisidheswaram vaa kadachit,
Na janami chanyath sadaham saranye,
Gathisthwam, Gathisthwam thwam ekaa Bhavani

Neither Do I know the creator,
Nor the Lord of Lakshmi,
Neither do I know the lord of all,
Nor do I know the lord of devas,
Neither do I know the God who makes the day,
Nor the God who rules at night,
Neither do I know any other Gods,
Oh, Goddess to whom I bow always,
So you are my refuge and my only refuge, Bhavani

Vivadhe, Vishadhe, pramadhe, pravase,
Jale cha anale parvathe shatru madhye,
Aranye, saranye sada maam prapahi,
Gathisthwam, Gathisthwam, thwam ekaa Bhavani.

While I am in a heated argument,
While I am immersed in sorrow,
While I am suffering an accident,
While I am traveling far off,
While I am in water or fire,
While I am on the top of a mountain,
While I am surrounded by enemies,
And while I am in a deep forest,
Oh Goddess, I always bow before thee,
So you are my refuge and my only refuge, Bhavani

Anadho, dharidro, jara roga yuktho,
Maha Ksheena dheena, sada jaadya vakthra,
Vipathou pravishta, pranshata sadhaham,
Gathisthwam, Gathisthwam, thwam ekaa Bhavani.

While being an orphan,
While being extremely poor,
While affected by disease of old age,
While I am terribly tired,
While I am in a pitiable state,
While I am being swallowed by problems,
And While I suffer serious dangers,
I always bow before thee,
So you are my refuge and only refuge, Bhavani

 

http://www.sankaracharya.org/index.php

The Buddha on Non-Duality - Ancient Teachings on Nonabiding

Ancient Teachings on Nonabiding

This principle of nonabiding is also contained within the ancient
Theravada teachings. It wasn’t just Ajahn Chah’s personal insight
or the legacy of some stray Nyingmapa lama who wandered
over the mountains and fetched up in northeast Thailand 100
years ago. Right in the Pali Canon, the Buddha points directly
to this. In the Udana (the collection of “Inspired Utterances”
of the Buddha), he says:

There is that sphere of being where there is no earth,
no water, no fire, nor wind; no experience of infinity
of space, of infinity of consciousness, of no-thingness,
or even of neither-perception-nor-non-perception; here
there is neither this world nor another world, neither
moon nor sun; this sphere of being I call neither a coming
nor a going nor a staying still, neither a dying nor
a reappearance; it has no basis, no evolution, and no
support: it is the end of dukkha. 

Rigpa, nondual awareness, is the direct knowing of this. It’s
the quality of mind that knows, while abiding nowhere.

Another teaching from the same collection recounts the story
of a wanderer named Bahiya. He stopped the Buddha on the
street in Savatthi and said, “Venerable Sir, you are the Samana
Gotama. Your Dharma is famous throughout the land. Please
teach me that I may understand the truth.”

The Buddha replied, “We’re on our almsround, Bahiya. This is
not the right time.”

“Life is uncertain, Venerable Sir. We never know when we are
going to die; please teach me the Dharma.”

This dialogue repeats itself three times. Three times over, the
Buddha says the same thing, and Bahiya responds in the same
way. Finally, the Buddha says, “When a Tathagata is pressed
three times, he has to answer. Listen carefully, Bahiya, and
attend to what I say:

In the seen, there is only the seen,
in the heard, there is only the heard,
in the sensed, there is only the sensed,
in the cognized, there is only the cognized.
Thus you should see that
indeed there is no thing here;
this, Bahiya, is how you should train yourself.
Since, Bahiya, there is for you
in the seen, only the seen,
in the heard, only the heard,
in the sensed, only the sensed,
in the cognized, only the cognized,
and you see that there is no thing here,
you will therefore see that
indeed there is no thing there.
As you see that there is no thing there,
you will see that
you are therefore located neither in the world of this,
nor in the world of that,
nor in any place
betwixt the two.
This alone is the end of suffering.”

Upon hearing these words, Bahiya was immediately enlightened.
Moments later he was killed by a runaway cow. So he was
right: life is uncertain. Later Bahiya was awarded the title of
“The Disciple Who Understood the Teaching Most Quickly.”

Read more  HERE