Dharma Wheel

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“Lord, allow me to ask you a question”, inquired a disciple.

“Ask, my friend.”

“What will happen to the Awakened One after his physical death?”

“To answer your question please permit me to pose one in return. What troubles and torments you?”

“My lack of experience of nirvana troubles and torments me. I wish my contemplations would result in a taste of nirvana, but such experience is unknown to me.”

“Your troubles are not dependent on the subject of your experience but rather on the nature of your thinking. Are you not worried and tormented by the fact that when seeking experience of nirvana you are fettered by the triple craving – the desire for existence, the desire for non-existence and the desire for sense pleasures?”

“Perhaps it is so, Lord.”

“Isn’t it true that even in everyday thoughts, which are experiences well known to you, the triple craving troubles and torments you?”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Then, shouldn’t your thinking be free from dependency on experience, free from the triple craving?

“Indeed it is so.”

“When contemplating nirvana realize it to be free and untainted by the triple craving.”

“I have another doubt, Lord.”

“Speak, Friend.”

“The actions of the Awakened One do not lead to a new incarnation. Yet even in the funeral pyre there remain ashes and cinder. What are the remainders that the world will inherit after the Tathagata’s passing?”

“These remainders will be like a well-made vessel.”

“How can one preserve this vessel? How can it manifest its wondrous qualities?”

“The heavenly form^[33] preserves these qualities like a vessel and is a sanctuary for Brahmas, the creators, and Maras turned to the Dharma. When their offerings fill the vessel to its brim, it will manifest itself in samsara as the Maitreya Buddha (the Buddha of Loving Kindness). He will manifest the qualities of the Buddhas of the three epochs. He will teach with his body, speech, and mind. Such are the future consequences of the Tathagata’s departure. Such are his remainders left for samsara.”

“I am delighted and overwhelmed, Bhagavan. I see the wheel of samsara that is stopped by Dharma. I see Maitreya Buddha who is like merciful rain. ”

“It is well-realized, friend. Untie the knots of ignorance one by one, end the triple craving, and strengthen your striving for virtue.”

“After the explanations of the Awakened One I experience clarity and peace. But in my solitude I feel helplessness as well. What can I do, Lord?”

“Just as the appearance and texture of a knot provide support to the person untying it, so too can you maintain your focus and concentration by practicing deeper awareness of the obstacles you encounter on your way. Realize your weaknesses, understand which desires engender them, and identify what kinds of virtue can overcome them. Indeed, nothing but desire conceals one’s weaknesses, and nothing but virtue can replace them. ”

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