Śāriputra

187.

Mendicants, I do not see a single other individual who rightly keeps rolling the supreme wheel of Dhamma that was rolled forth by the realized one like Sariputta.

Sariputta rightly keeps rolling the supreme wheel of Dhamma that was rolled forth by the realized one.

I will not romanticize the loss of those gone, but also who can doubt his mind was like one of the geese that flew south last month with their long wild calls, which made us toiling below look up for a moment at a sun that touched our cheeks with such gentle light.

And to finish with one line from Sariputta, he was asked, in this dispensation, what's hard to do? Going forth is hard to do.

When one has gone forth, what's hard to do? To be satisfied.

To be happy is hard to do.

And then in his old age, he had chronic back pain.

And he would turn to Mahakachana or Sariputta or Ananda and say, Ananda, my back is paining me.

The assembly is still wide awake.

I'm going to go and stretch my back.

Kwan Tzu Tse, a Venerable Bodhisattva, while dwelling deeply in the practice of Prajnaparamita, clearly saw that all the five standards are empty, thus transcending all suffering and distress.

Shariputra, form is no different from is true for feelings, perceptions, volitional formations and consciousness.

Sariputra, the nature of all dhammas, is emptiness, no arising, no ceasing, no impurity, no purity, no increase, no decrease.

Thus, in emptiness there is no form, no feelings, no perceptions, no volitional formations or consciousness, no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body or mind, no form,

But I'm going to give you an example from the Buddha to see that.

This is the story of Sariputra.

So it was Ananda, so the disciple of the Buddha, and one of my favorite disciple of the Buddha, Ananda.

So Ananda.

And he wanted to practice.

He wanted to do a solitary retreat.

He wanted to go to the forest, like the, you know, the big guys, you know, like a Sariputra, Mahapogayana, that they go to the forest and do solo retreats and very deep meditation.

And then he was asking for permission to say, I want to go to the forest to practice.

1.

What is Nibbana? At one time, Venerable Sariputta was staying in the land of the Magadans, near the little village of Nalaka.

Then the wanderer, Jambukadaka, went up to the Venerable Sariputta and exchanged greetings with him.

When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to Sariputta, Reverend Sariputta, they speak of this thing called extinguishment.

What is extinguishment? Reverend, the ending of greed, hatred and delusion is called extinguishment.

But Reverend, is there a path and a practice for realizing this extinguishment? There is, Reverend.