101. BUDDHA SPEAKS ABOUT TEACHINGS

108 Buddhist Parables

“O Monks, there are various kinds of assemblies: assemblies of nobles, of brahmins, of householders, of monks, and of other beings. When I enter any assembly, I always speak in the voice of the audience. I speak to them in their language and then with a discourse I instruct and inspire them.

“I teach a doctrine that is like the ocean, having the same eight wonderful qualities. Both the ocean and my doctrine become gradually deeper. Both preserve their identity under all changes. Both cast out dead things upon the dry land. As the great rivers, when falling into the main, lose their names and are reckoned as the great ocean, so all the castes, having renounced their lineage and entered the Sangha, become monks. As the ocean is the goal of all streams and of the rain from the clouds, so my doctrine is the goal for all beings. As the great ocean has only one taste, the taste of salt, so my doctrine has only one flavor, the flavor of liberation. Both the ocean and my doctrine are full of gems, pearls and jewels. Both the ocean and my doctrine afford a dwelling-place for mighty beings.

“Dharma is pure and it makes no discrimination between rich and poor. This doctrine is like water which cleanses all without distinction. This doctrine is like fire which consumes all things that exist between heaven and earth, great and small. This doctrine is like unto the heavens, for there is ample room in it for the reception of all.”

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