Dhamma Talks - The Escaper :: Buddhapadipa Thai Temple

Written by Dhammacaro on 10/31/2004

The Buddha’s word: A swan follows the way of the Sun, a sage follows the sage’s way which is not under Mara’s power and leads him out off the suffering of the world.

“A swan follows the way of the Sun” means, a man who is not attached to place or food is like a swan that leaves the pond after making a living, or a man who knows his way (duty in life), and takes responsibility for his duty like the swan knowing its way and the Sun knowing its way; rising in the east and setting in the west. “A sage” means a student will learn and practise according to his teacher’s advice. He will not refuse his teacher’s teaching, or agree with him without investigating it thoroughly himself. The real meaning of “follows” in the Buddhist sense is the investigation of the teaching. “A sage’s way” means the middle way (eightfold path) leading to the cessation of suffering. “Mara” means a destroyer of good virtue and Visuddhimagga gives five meanings to it:

Khandhamara
Kilesamara
Abhisankharamara
Majjumara
Devabuttamara

They are explained in brief as follows:
1. Khandhamara is a destroyer because it is the cause of old age, sickness and death, especially as it reveals itself obviously to old people, it is very hard for them to maintain good health.
2. Kilesa (defilement) is a destroyer because when anyone falls under its power, he will be controlled or defeated. Usually the winner will hurt the loser and it will bring about trouble and suffering.
3. Abhisankhara is the unwholesome action which destroys wholesomeness and it will cause the mind to loose the potential for good action.
4. Majju is death which cuts off good deeds or the opportunity to do good, for example the two teachers of the Buddha who passed away when the Buddha started seeking them to teach. If they had not died they would have listened to the teachings of the Buddha and become enlightened.
5. Devabutta means wrong view which deludes a man to do evil action or to go wrong. “Suffering world” means attachment to material things. To escape from the world is the view and the idealism of a sage because he sees that this world should not be attached to and if anything is attached to, it always brings about suffering in some form or another.

These words the Buddha said to the monks when he was staying at the Jetavana temple, in Savatthi city. One day there were 30 monks who came seeking the Buddha and at that time it was Ananda Thera who was in charge of looking after the Buddha. When he saw the monks waiting to see the Buddha, he thought that he would let them see the Buddha first then he would see him afterwards so he waited outside until they had finished their audience. The Buddha received the monks and gave them Dhamma talk. The monks had the ability to develop their potential and needed just a little help so they became enlightened during the course of the talk. They paid respect to the Buddha and went back to the forest temple.

As for Ananda, he was waiting for a long time, but never saw them coming out so he decided to go into the room. He did not see the monks but instead saw there was only the Buddha sitting there. He paid respect to him, and asked him where the monks had gone. The Buddha told him, “Ananda, they all have gone away.” He asked the Buddha to where and when they had gone. The Buddha said to him, “Ananda, they have nowhere to go because they are the enlightened ones, and they have gone without any trace just as a swan flies in the sky.” He asked the Buddha, “Lord Buddha, when they came, I could see them. Why could I not see them when they had gone?” “Ananda, when they came, they were not Arahants (enlightened ones) yet so you could see their traces (defilements) but when they listened to my Dhamma and reflected on it and then became enlightened so you could not see their traces (defilements) like you cannot see the way of the Sun”, the Buddha said to him, “A swan follows the way of the Sun, a sage follows the sage’s way, which is not under Mara’s power and leads him out off the suffering of the world.” He said, “Thank you Lord Buddha for the excellent explanation. Now I understood it.”

It is said that the human mind is complicated but sometimes it can be traced and it can be conquered easily by defilements and desire, this is perhaps especially so nowadays. What we can do is to learn and practise the way of a sage who has committed his life to the investigation of the truths and discover the path leading to emancipation from defilements and desire. To find the way is very important in life. When the way is known, the destination seems to be possible, to do so the path is just followed with confidence.
: The path of Dhammapada, Vasin Indasara

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