Pasenadi

Um, and it's called Dear, is the name of the sutta [chuckles] Dear.

And it's King Pasenadi, who is a student of the Buddha or follower of the Buddha, speaking to the Buddha, and the Buddha, um, eventually responded.

But this is what King Pasenadi said and, and the Buddha approved, I will say, "Those who engage in misconduct of body, speech and mind treat themselves as a foe.

Even though they may say, we regard ourselves as dear, still they treat themselves as a foe.

For what reason? Because of their own accord, they act toward themselves in the same way that a foe might act toward a foe." Well, I'll, I'll finish it up because he does the other side.

Uh, the- these, both these suttas are about self-love.

This is a classic one.

Um, and, and here King Pasenadi is talking to his w- one of his, his Queen Mallika, one of his wives.

At Sāvatthī.

King Pasenadi of Kosala sat to one side, and the Buddha said to him, "So, great king, where are you coming from in the middle of the day?" "Sir, there are anointed aristocratic kings who are infatuated with authority and obsessed with greed for sensual pleasures.

They have attained stability in the country, occupying a vast conquered territory.

Today, I've been busy fulfilling the duties of such kings." And this is so mundane.

You have to sort of, um, take your hat off to King Pasenadi 'cause he's, he's saying, yes, he's obsessed with power and sensuality and enjoying worldly things, and he's just come from running around doing all of these important things all day.

He's been busy fulfilling the duties of such kings.

But the Buddha replies, okay? To, to sort of cut into his running on the treadmill.

And the Buddha then asks, "Should such a dire threat arise, a grim loss of human life when human birth is so rare, what would you do?" So these aren't just words, right? This is reality, right? It's a dire threat.

And the king decided this was so important, he would go out to the Buddha's encampment himself and see what was going on.

So the king, King Pasenadi, came out in his fine carriage, got down from his carriage, walked toward the Buddha's hut.

As he was walking, he saw a monk who was teaching a small group of monks.

And this monk, his face radiated great peace and wisdom.

The beautiful alchemy of different voices, the way in which we learn and develop because we are seeing things from different angles and sharing that, is so valuable.

And, you know, I want to come back again to this idea of, you know, when the Buddha talked about friendship, um, being 100% of the holy life, and he repeated this teaching to King Pasenadi, I believe it was.

He talked about how he was the best friend.

You know, he, he had a, a really huge community of monastics, and thousands of monks and nuns.

And he says in Samyutta Nikaya 325, the simile of the mountains.

The Buddha asks King Pasenadi to imagine immense mountains approaching from four directions, from every direction the great mountains are approaching.

And they're going to crush all life on their paths.

you get the sense that this is pretty, yeah, it's like the end of life.

It's very beautiful, but it's her inner joy flowing into song, which I'll also return to, And her life was completely changed.

So now King Pasenadi.

King Pasenadi, the mightiest monarch of his day, leaves his chariot, the trappings of his wealth and position, and like a simple, ordinary man, walks on foot to the lodging of the Buddha.

And the Buddha opens the door to him.

Having entered the dwelling, King Pasenadi bent low before the Blessed One with his head on the ground and kissed the Blessed One's feet, embracing them with his hands.

I am Pasenadi, Lord, the King of Kosala.

I am Pasenadi, Lord, the King of Kosala.

And the Buddha sees the depth of his feelings, but he doesn't feel pain.

But if, uh, the Buddha need the Sangha to realize his dream, and then Obama also needs a strong Sangha in order to realize his dream, because his dream is a collective, collective one.

And we should lend a helping hand in one way or another and how? When the Buddha, uh, met, uh, King Prasenajit the last time, that took place in, uh, northern Kosala.

During that last meeting, the king was able to tell the Buddha, "Lord Buddha, every time I see your Sangha, I have confidence in you more and more." It's a very strange, uh, statement.

Every time I see your Sangha moving around, I have more confidence in you.