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03 - Gotama - Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse · Philosophy and Faith

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  Speaker 1: Chapter three, Gattama. In the town of Savathi, every child
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  Speaker 1: knew the name of the Exalted Buddha, and every house
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  Speaker 1: was prepared to fill the arms dish of Gatama's disciples.
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  Speaker 1: The silently begging ones near the town was Gatarmah's favorite
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  Speaker 1: place to stay, the grove of Jetavana, which the rich
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  Speaker 1: merchant Anatha Pindika, an obedient worshiper of the Exalted One,
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  Speaker 1: had given him and his people for a gift. All
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  Speaker 1: tales and answers which the two young aesthetics had received
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  Speaker 1: in their search for Gatama's abode, had pointed them towards
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  Speaker 1: this area, and arriving at Savathi. In the very first house,
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  Speaker 1: before the door of which they stopped to beg food
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  Speaker 1: has been offered to them, and they accepted the food,
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  Speaker 1: and Sadartha asked the woman who handed them the food,
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  Speaker 1: We would like to know, oh, charitable one, where the
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  Speaker 1: Buddha dwells, the most venerable one. For we are two
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  Speaker 1: Somanas from the forest and have come to see him,
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  Speaker 1: the perfected One, and to hear the teachings from his mouth.
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  Speaker 1: Quoth the woman here, you have truly come to the
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  Speaker 1: right place. You somanas from the forest. You should know
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  Speaker 1: in Jettavana, in the garden of Anatha Pindika is where
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  Speaker 1: the Exalted One dwells. There, you pilgrim shall spend the night,
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  Speaker 1: for there is enough space for the innumerable who flock
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  Speaker 1: here to hear the teachings from his mouth. This made
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  Speaker 1: Govinda happy and full of joy. He exclaimed, Well, so
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  Speaker 1: thus we have reached our destination and our path has
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  Speaker 1: come to an end. But tell us, o, mother of
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  Speaker 1: the pilgrims, do you know him, the Buddha? Have you
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  Speaker 1: seen him with your own eyes? Quoth the woman. Many
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  Speaker 1: times I have seen him, the Exalted One. On many
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  Speaker 1: days I have seen him walking through the alleys in silence,
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  Speaker 1: wearing his yellow cloak, presenting his arms dish in silence
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  Speaker 1: at the doors of the houses, leaving with a filled dish. Delightedly,
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  Speaker 1: Govinda listened and wanted to ask and hear much more,
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  Speaker 1: but sa' Darthur urged him to walk on. They thanked
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  Speaker 1: and left and hardly had to ask for directions, for
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  Speaker 1: rather many pilgrims and monks as well from Gautama's community
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  Speaker 1: were on their way to the Jettevanna, and since they
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  Speaker 1: reached it. At night, there were constant arrivals, shouts, and
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  Speaker 1: talk of those who sought shelter and got it. The
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  Speaker 1: two Somanas, accustomed to life in the forest, found quickly
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  Speaker 1: and without making any noise, a place to stay, and
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  Speaker 1: rested there until the morning. At sunrise, they saw with
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  Speaker 1: astonishment what a large crowd of believers and curious people
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  Speaker 1: had spent the night here on all paths of the
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  Speaker 1: marvelous grove. Monks walked in yellow robes under the trees.
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  Speaker 1: They sat here and there in deep contemplation or in
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  Speaker 1: a conversation about spiritual matters. The shady gardens looked like
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  Speaker 1: a city full of people, bustling like bees. The majority
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  Speaker 1: of the monks went out with their arms dish to
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  Speaker 1: collect food in town for their lunch, the only meal
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  Speaker 1: of the day. The Buddha himself, the Enlightened One, was
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  Speaker 1: also in the habit of taking his walk to beg
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  Speaker 1: in the morning. Siddartha saw him, and he instantly recognized him,
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  Speaker 1: as if a god had pointed him out to him.
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  Speaker 1: He saw him a simple man in a yellow robe,
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  Speaker 1: bearing the arms dish in his hand, walking silently. Look here,
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  Speaker 1: said Arthur, said quietly to Govinda, this one is the Buddha. Attentively,
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  Speaker 1: Govinda looked at the monk in the yellow robe, who
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  Speaker 1: seemed to be in no way different from the hundreds
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  Speaker 1: of other monks, and soon Govinda also realized this is
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  Speaker 1: the one, and they followed him and observed him. The
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  Speaker 1: Buddha went on his way, modestly and deep in his thoughts.
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  Speaker 1: His calm face was neither happy nor sad. It seemed
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  Speaker 1: to smile gently and inwardly, with a hidden smile, quiet calm,
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  Speaker 1: somewhat resembling a healthy child. The Buddha walked, wore the robe,
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  Speaker 1: and placed his feet, just as all of his monks
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  Speaker 1: did according to a precise rule. But his face and
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  Speaker 1: his walk, his quietly lowered glance, his quietly dangling hand,
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  Speaker 1: and even every finger of his quietly dangling hand expressed peace,
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  Speaker 1: expressed perfection, did not search, did not imitate, breathed softly
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  Speaker 1: in an unwithering calm, in an unwithering light, an untouchable peace.
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  Speaker 1: Thus Gottarma walked toward the town to collect arms, and
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  Speaker 1: the two Somanas recognized him solely by the perfection of
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  Speaker 1: his calm, by the quietness of his appearance in which
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  Speaker 1: there was no searching, no desire, no imitation, no effort
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  Speaker 1: to be seen, only light and peace. To day, we'll
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  Speaker 1: hear the teachings from his mouth, said Govinda. Sir Arthur
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  Speaker 1: did not answer. He felt little curiosity for the teachings.
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  Speaker 1: He did not believe that they would teach him anything new.
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  Speaker 1: But he he had, just as Govinda had heard the
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  Speaker 1: contents of this Buddha's teachings again and again, though these
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  Speaker 1: reports only represented second or third hand information. But attentively
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  Speaker 1: he looked at Gatama's head, his shoulders, his feet, his
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  Speaker 1: quietly dangling hand, and it seemed to him as if
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  Speaker 1: every joint of every finger of this hand was of
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  Speaker 1: these teachings, spoke of, breathed, of inhaled, the fragrance of
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  Speaker 1: glistened of the truth. This man, this Buddha, was truthful
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  Speaker 1: down to the gesture of his last finger. This man
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  Speaker 1: was holy. Never before Siddartha had venerated a person so much,
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  Speaker 1: Never before he had loved a person as much as
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  Speaker 1: this one. They both followed the Buddha until they reached
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  Speaker 1: the town, and then returned in silence, for they themselves
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  Speaker 1: intended to abstain from food. On this day, they saw
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  Speaker 1: Gautarma returning what he ate could not even have satisfied
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  Speaker 1: a bird's appetite, And they saw him retiring into the
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  Speaker 1: shade of the mango trees. But in the evening, when
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  Speaker 1: the heat cooled down and everyone in the camp started
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  Speaker 1: to bustle about and gathered around, they heard the Buddha teaching.
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  Speaker 1: They heard his voice, and it was also perfected, was
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  Speaker 1: of perfect calmness, was full of peace. Gautama taught the
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  Speaker 1: teachings of suffering, of the origin of suffering, of the
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  Speaker 1: way to relieve suffering. Calmly and clearly. His quiet speech
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  Speaker 1: flowed on suffering. Was life full of suffering, was the world.
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  Speaker 1: But salvation from suffering had been found. Salvation was obtained
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  Speaker 1: by him who would walk the path of the Buddha.
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  Speaker 1: With a soft yet firm voice. The Exalted One spoke,
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  Speaker 1: taught the four main doctrines, taught the eightfold path. Patiently,
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  Speaker 1: he went the usual path of the teachings, of the
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  Speaker 1: examples of the repetitions. Brightly and quietly. His voice hovered
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  Speaker 1: over the listeners like a light, like a starry night.
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  Speaker 1: When the Buddha night had already fallen, ended his speech
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  Speaker 1: man near Pilgrim stepped forward and asked to be accepted
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  Speaker 1: into the community, sought refuge in the teachings, and Gatama
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  Speaker 1: accepted them by saying, you have heard the teachings, well
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  Speaker 1: it has come to you. Well, does join us and
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  Speaker 1: walk in holiness to put an end to all suffering. Behold.
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  Speaker 1: Then Govinda the shay also stepped forward and spoke, I
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  Speaker 1: also take my refuge in the Exalted One and his teachings.
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  Speaker 1: And he asked to be accepted into the community of
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  Speaker 1: the disciples and was accepted. Right afterwards, when the Buddha
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  Speaker 1: had retired for the night, Govinda turned to Siddhartha and
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  Speaker 1: spoke eagerly, said, Arthur, it is not my place to
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  Speaker 1: scold you. We have both heard the Exalted One, and
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  Speaker 1: we have both perceived the teachings. Govinda has heard the teachings,
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  Speaker 1: he has taken refuge in it. But you, my honored friend,
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  Speaker 1: don't you also want to walk the path of salvation?
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  Speaker 1: Would you want to hesitate? Do you want to wait
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  Speaker 1: any longer? Sad Arthur awakened as if he had been
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  Speaker 1: asleep when he heard Govinda's words for a long time.
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  Speaker 1: He looked into Govinda's face. Then he spoke quietly in
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  Speaker 1: a voice without mockery. Govinda, my friend, Now you have
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  Speaker 1: taken this step. Now you have chosen this path always,
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  Speaker 1: Oh Govinda, you've been my friend. You've always walked one
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  Speaker 1: step behind me. Often I have thought, won't Govinda for
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  Speaker 1: once also take a step by himself without me out
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  Speaker 1: of his own soul. Behold, now you've turned into a
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  Speaker 1: man and are choosing your path for yourself. I wish
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  Speaker 1: that you would go it up to its end, oh,
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  Speaker 1: my friend, that you shall find salvation. Govinda, not completely
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  Speaker 1: understanding it yet, repeated his question in an impatient tone.
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  Speaker 1: Speak up, I beg you, my dear, tell me, since
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  Speaker 1: it could not be any other way, that you, also,
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  Speaker 1: my learned friend, will take your refuge with the exalted Buddha.
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  Speaker 1: Saird Arthur placed his hand on God's shoulder. You failed
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  Speaker 1: to hear my good wish for you, oh Govinda, I
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  Speaker 1: am repeating it. I wish that you would go this
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  Speaker 1: path up to its end, that you shall find salvation.
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  Speaker 1: In this moment, Govinda realized that his friend had left him,
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  Speaker 1: and he started to weep, said Darthur. He exclaimed lamentingly,
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  Speaker 1: Sir Arthur kindly spoke to him. Don't forget, Govinda, that
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  Speaker 1: you are now one of the Samanas of the Buddha.
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  Speaker 1: You have renounced your home and your parents, renounced your
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  Speaker 1: birth and possessions, renounced your free will, renounced all friendship.
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  Speaker 1: This is what the teachings require, This is what the
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  Speaker 1: Exalted One wants, This is what you wanted for yourself. Tomorrow,
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  Speaker 1: oh Govinda, I'll leave you for a long time. The
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  Speaker 1: friends continue walking in the grove. For a long time.
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  Speaker 1: They lay there and found no sleep, and over and
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  Speaker 1: over again. Govinda urged his friend he should tell him
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  Speaker 1: why he would not want to seek refuge in Gotama's teachings,
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  Speaker 1: what fault he would find in these teachings. But Saiddartha
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  Speaker 1: turned him away every time and said, be content, Govinda,
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  Speaker 1: very good are the teachings of the Exalted One? How
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  Speaker 1: could I find a fault in them? Very early in
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  Speaker 1: the morning, a follower of Buddha, one of his oldest monks,
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  Speaker 1: went through the garden and called all those to him
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  Speaker 1: who had, as novices taken their refuge in the teachings,
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  Speaker 1: to dress them up in the yellow robe, and to
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  Speaker 1: instruct them in the first teachings and duties of their position.
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  Speaker 1: Then Govinda broke loose, embraced once again his childhood friend,
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  Speaker 1: and left with the novices. But Siddarthur walked through the
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  Speaker 1: grove lost in thought. Then he happened to meet Gautama,
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  Speaker 1: the Exalted One, And when he greeted him with respect,
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  Speaker 1: and the Buddha's glance was so full of kindness and calm,
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  Speaker 1: the young man summoned his courage and asked the Venerable
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  Speaker 1: One for the permission to talk to him. Silently, the
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  Speaker 1: Exalted One nodded his approval. Quoth Siddarthur, yesterday, oh Exalted One,
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  Speaker 1: I had been privileged to hear your wondrous teachings together
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  Speaker 1: with my friend. I had come from Afar to hear
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  Speaker 1: your teachings. And now my friend is going to stay
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  Speaker 1: with your people. He has taken his refuge with you.
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  Speaker 1: But I will again start on my pilgrimage as you please.
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  Speaker 1: The Venerable Worm spoke politely. Too bold is my speech,
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  Speaker 1: said Arthur, continued, but I do not want to leave
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  Speaker 1: the Exalted One without having honestly told him my thoughts.
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  Speaker 1: Does it please the Venerable One to listen to me
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  Speaker 1: for one moment longer. Silently, the Buddha nodded his approval.
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  Speaker 1: Quoth said Arthur, One thing, O most venerable one, I
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  Speaker 1: have admired in your teaching. Most of all, everything in
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  Speaker 1: your teachings is perfectly clear, is proven. You are presenting
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  Speaker 1: the world as a perfect chain, a chain which is
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  Speaker 1: never and nowhere broken, an eternal chain, the links of
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  Speaker 1: which are causes and effects. Never before this has been
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  Speaker 1: seen so clearly, Never before this has been presented so irrefutably. Truly,
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  Speaker 1: the heart of every Brahman has to be stronger with
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  Speaker 1: love once he has seen the world through your teachings,
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  Speaker 1: perfectly connect, without gaps, clear as a crystal, not depending
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  Speaker 1: on chance, not depending on God's whether it may be
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  Speaker 1: good or bad, whether living according to it would be
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  Speaker 1: suffering or joy. I do not wish to discuss. Possibly
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  Speaker 1: this is not essential, but the uniformity of the world,
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  Speaker 1: That everything which happens is connected, That the great and
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  Speaker 1: the small things are all encompassed by the same forces
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  Speaker 1: of time, by the same law of causes, of coming
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  Speaker 1: into being and of dying. This is what shines brightly
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  Speaker 1: out of your exalted teachings, Oh perfected one, but according
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  Speaker 1: to your very own teachings, this unity and necessary sequence
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  Speaker 1: of all things is nevertheless broken in one place through
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  Speaker 1: a small gap. This world of unity is invaded by
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  Speaker 1: something alien, something new, something which had not been there before,
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  Speaker 1: and which cannot be demonstrated and cannot be proven. These
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  Speaker 1: are your teachings of overcoming the world of salvation. But
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  Speaker 1: with this small gap, with this small breach, the entire
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  Speaker 1: eternal and uniform law of the world is breaking apart
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  Speaker 1: again and becomes void. Please forgive me for expressing this
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  Speaker 1: subjection quietly. Gautama had listened to him unmoved. Now he
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  Speaker 1: spoke the perfected one with his kind, with his polite
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  Speaker 1: and clear voice. You've heard the teachings, O, son of
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  Speaker 1: a Brahman, and good for you that you've thought about
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  Speaker 1: it thus deeply. You've found a gap in it, an error.
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  Speaker 1: You should think about this further. But be warned, oh
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  Speaker 1: seeker of knowledge, of the thicket of opinions and of
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  Speaker 1: arguing about words. There is nothing to opinions. They may
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  Speaker 1: be beautiful or ugly, smart or foolish. Everyone can support
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  Speaker 1: them or discard them. But the teachings you've heard from
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  Speaker 1: me are no opinion and Their goal is not to
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  Speaker 1: explain the world to those who seek knowledge. They have
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  Speaker 1: a different goal. Their goal is salvation from suffering. This
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  Speaker 1: is what Gautama teaches nothing else. I wish that you, oh,
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  Speaker 1: Exalted One, would not be angry with me, said the
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  Speaker 1: young man. I have not spoken to you like this
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  Speaker 1: to argue with you, to argue about words. You are
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  Speaker 1: truly right. There is little to opinions. But let me
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  Speaker 1: say this one more thing. I have not doubted in
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  Speaker 1: you for a single moment. I have not doubted for
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  Speaker 1: a single moment that you are Buddha. That you have
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  Speaker 1: reached the goal, the highest goal towards which so many
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  Speaker 1: thousands of Brahmins and the sons of Brahmans are on
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  Speaker 1: their way. You have found salvation from death. It has
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  Speaker 1: come to you in the course of your own search,
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  Speaker 1: on your own path, through thoughts, through meditation, through realizations,
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  Speaker 1: through enlightenment. It has not come to you by means
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  Speaker 1: of teachings. And thus is my thought, O Exalted One,
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  Speaker 1: nobody will obtain salvation by means of teachings. You will
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  Speaker 1: not be able to convey and say to anybody, O
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  Speaker 1: Venerable One, in words and through teachings, what has happened
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  Speaker 1: to you in the hour of enlightenment. The teachings of
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  Speaker 1: the Enlightened Buddha contain much. It teaches many to live righteously,
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  Speaker 1: to avoid evil. But there is one thing that these
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  Speaker 1: so clear, these so venerable teachings, do not contain. They
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  Speaker 1: do not contain them mystery of what the Exalted One
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  Speaker 1: has experienced for himself, he alone among hundreds of thousands.
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  Speaker 1: This is what I have thought and realized when I
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  Speaker 1: have heard the teachings. This is why I am continuing
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  Speaker 1: my travels, not to seek other better teachings, for I
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  Speaker 1: know there are none, but to depart from all teachings
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  Speaker 1: and all teachers, and to reach my goal by myself,
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  Speaker 1: or to die. But often I'll think of this day,
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  Speaker 1: oh Exalted One, and of this hour when my eyes
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  Speaker 1: beheld a holy man. The Buddha's eyes quietly looked to
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  Speaker 1: the ground, quietly, in perfect equanimity. His inscrutable face was smiling.
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  Speaker 1: I wish the Venerable One spoke slowly, that your thoughts
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  Speaker 1: shall not be in error, that you shall reach the goal.
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  Speaker 1: But tell me, have you seen the multitude of my somanas,
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  Speaker 1: my many brothers who have taken refuge in the teachings,
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  Speaker 1: And do you believe, oh stranger, O Somana, do you
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  Speaker 1: believe that it would be better for them to abandon
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  Speaker 1: the teachings and to return into the life of the
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  Speaker 1: world and of desires. Far is such a thought from
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  Speaker 1: my mind, exclaimed said Arthur. I wish that they shall
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  Speaker 1: stay with the teachings, that they shall reach their goal.
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  Speaker 1: It is not my place to judge another person's life.
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  Speaker 1: Only for myself. For myself alone, I must decide, I
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  Speaker 1: must choose. I must refuse. Salvation from the self is
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  Speaker 1: what we Samanas search for, Oh exalted One. If I
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  Speaker 1: merely were one of your disciples, O Venerable One, I'd
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  Speaker 1: fear that it might happen to me that only seemingly,
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  Speaker 1: only deceptively, myself would be calmed and be redeemed, but
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  Speaker 1: that in truth it would live on and grow. For
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  Speaker 1: then I had replaced myself with the teachings, my duty
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  Speaker 1: to follow you, my love for you and the community
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  Speaker 1: of the monks. With half of a smile, with an
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  Speaker 1: unwavering openness and kindness, Gautama looked into the stranger's eyes
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  Speaker 1: and bid him to leave with a hardly noticeable gesture.
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  Speaker 1: You are wise, o Samana, the venerable one spoke, You
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  Speaker 1: know how to talk wisely, my friend, but be aware
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  Speaker 1: of too much wisdom. The Buddha turned away, and his
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  Speaker 1: glance and half of a smile remained forever etched in
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  Speaker 1: said Arthur's memory. I have never before seen such a
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  Speaker 1: person glance and smile, sit and walk this way, he thought. Truly,
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  Speaker 1: I wished to be able to go glance and smile,
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  Speaker 1: sit and walk this way too, Thus free, thus venerable,
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  Speaker 1: thus concealed, thus open, thus childlike, and mysterious. Truly, only
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  Speaker 1: a person who has succeeded in reaching the innermost part
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  Speaker 1: of his self would glance and walk this way. Well,
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  Speaker 1: So I also will seek to reach the innermost part
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  Speaker 1: of myself. I saw a man, said Arthur, thought, a
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  Speaker 1: single man before whom I would have to lower my glance.
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  Speaker 1: I do not want to lower my glance before any other,
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  Speaker 1: not before any other. No teachings will entice me any more.
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  Speaker 1: Since this man's teachings have not enticed me. I am
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  Speaker 1: deprived by the Buddha, thought, said Arthur. I am deprived,
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  Speaker 1: and even more he has given to me. He has
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  Speaker 1: deprived me of my friend, the one who had believed
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  Speaker 1: in me and now believes in him, who had been
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  Speaker 1: my shadow and is now Gautama's shadow. But he has
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  Speaker 1: given me Saddhartha myself and of chapter three