Notes on the life of Shakyamuni Buddha
written by Vova, a layman and yogi.
-19-
The honorable Maudgalyayana was experienced in the ways of the siddhas He was already in charge of one of the communes established by the Buddha's disciples when he encountered a difficulty requiring him to seek council from his grey-haired preceptor.
"My parents left this world," he explained o the Buddha.
“While penetrating subtle realms with an Awakened eye, I discovered that my father reincarnated in a pure heavenly abode, but my mother in a fiery hell. No matter how hard I tried to cool the hellish flames and save her from torment, they fire kept flaring-up again and again driving me to exhaustion and despair."
"Maudgalyayana! You are trying to destroy hell itself instead of saving your own mother. Isn't that so?"
"It is true, Lord!" replied the astounded student.
"What inclination steered your mind in this direction?
"I don't know, Lord."
"It is an inclination to escape from contact with your mother. It is an animosity and repulsion from unforgiven grievances that, like growing weeds, have steered your mind in an unskillful way."
"Indeed, this is how I am seeing this now, Lord!"
"How can one overcome this inclination to escape and the aversion that causes it?" asked the Buddha.
"Because we act in a similar way in relation to our bodily perceptions, we can use the same approach to overcome these obstacles. This technique is becoming aware, re-examining, changing and releasing, Lord".
"True, Maudgalyayana! Embrace with an aware mind the painful and suffering-filled perception which connects you with your mother. "
"In embracing it, I see that my exhaustion and despair is the actual perception of it."
"Do you feel relieved, friend?"
"I feel great relief, Lord."
"What caused this relief?"
"I felt how the animosity in my attitude towards my mother left me. This is like being healed from a severe illness, o, Bhagavan!"
"What is happening to this animosity now?"
"It is remaining without support. Without fuel it is dissolving as it is no longer fed by delusion."
"Good. It is well-realized, friend. Can you see your mother with your Awakened eye now?"
"I see her leaving the abode of suffering. She feels repelled by hatred and she is moving towards rebirth in a family that honors the Dharma of the Awakened One."
"Good! It is skillfully realized, friend."
After conversations with his students the Buddha rested and purified his mind from any aversion or attachment caused by his interaction. He saw within the heat of his mind the formation and growth of self-conception, like a fire emerging from the interaction of consciousness and worldly phenomena.
He recognized the feeling of self as that which accumulates delusions and follows extremes. To the Awakened One, however, there was no room for self perception, the builder of samsara. Turning his mind inward he dissolved this stream of ignorance and let his mind become pure awareness.