99. THE POISONED ARROW

108 Buddhist Parables

Once monk Malunkyaputta asked the Buddha, “If the Blessed One knows whether the world is eternal, whether the world is finite, whether the life principle and the body are the same, whether an enlightened person continues to exist after death, please teach me about these things.”

The Buddha answered, “Malunkyaputta, I never said ‘Follow me and I will answer your questions!’ nor did you say ‘I will follow the Blessed One because he will explain these matters!’ You are like a person shot with a poisoned arrow who says, ‘I will not have this arrow removed until I know who shot it, his name, his family, whether he is tall or short, young or old and so on and so forth…’ If this person were to attend to these questions before pulling out the poisonous arrow, he would probably die.

“Malunkyaputta, the religious life does not depend on dogma. Whether the world is eternal or not, whether the world is finite or not, whether the life principle and the body are or are not the same, and whether or not an enlightened person continues to exist after death, there undoubtedly do exist sorrow, discontent, grief and despair, the overcoming of which I teach.”

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