18. SARIPUTTA AND MOGGALLANA

108 Buddhist Parables

At that time Sariputta and Moggallana, two brahmin priests, led a very religious life. They had promised each other that the one who first attains enlightenment shall tell the other one.

Once Sariputta saw monk Assaji who was dignified in manners and was begging for alms modestly keeping his eyes to the ground. Sariputta exclaimed, “Truly this monk has entered the right path; I will ask him in whose name he has retired from the world and what doctrine he professes.”

Being addressed by Sariputta, Assaji replied, “I am a follower of the Buddha, the Blessed One, but being a novice I can tell you the substance only of the doctrine.”

Sariputta exclaimed, “Tell me! It is the substance I want.”

Then Assaji recited this stanza:

Nothing we seek to touch or see

Can represent Eternity.

They spoil and die: then let us find

Eternal Truth within the mind.

Having heard this stanza, Sariputta said, “Now I see clearly, whatsoever is subject to origination is also subject to cessation. If this is the doctrine, I have reached the state to enter the path of liberation which before has remained hidden from me.”

Then Sariputta went to Moggallana and told him about the Buddha’s teachings, and both decided to go to the Blessed One.

When the Buddha saw Sariputta and Moggallana coming from afar, he said to his disciples, “These two monks are highly auspicious.” The two friends had taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha and became loyal and virtuous disciples.

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