Once upon a time, the Buddha, his bhikkhu senior disciples and a group of monks were traveling through Magadha, one of the countries in ancient India. They planned to transit through the capital Rajagaha and visit Nalanda Village. Traveling behind the Buddha and his disciples were wanderer Suppiya and his pupil Brahmadatta. They were heading for the same village and followed closely with the Buddha and his group. On their way to the village, Suppiya was finding fault in all sorts of ways with the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, whereas his pupil Brahmadatta was speaking in various ways in their praise. And so these two, teacher and pupil, directly opposing each other’s arguments, followed close behind the Lord and his order of monks.

Then the Lord stopped for one night with his monks at the royal park of Ambalatthika. And Suppiya too stopped there for the night with his pupil Brahmadatta. And Suppiya went on abusing the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, while his pupil Brahmadatta defended them. The Buddha’s disciples could not help but talking about the strange teacher and pupil. Everybody thought that in contrast to the wanderer who had no understanding of his pupil, the Buddha’s insight into people’s aspiration and interest was indeed rare and hard to come by.

Then the Lord, being aware of what those monks were saying, came to the Round Pavilion and asked his disciples what they were discussing about. The disciples therefore reported to the Buddha the reasons behind their discussions.

The Buddha told the disciples that if anyone should speak in disparagement of the Buddha, of the Dharma or of the Sangha, they should not be angry, resentful or upset on that account. For if others disparage the Buddha, the Dharma or the Sangha, and you are angry or displeased, can you recognize whether what they say is right or not? On the other hand, everyone should not be pleased and happy upon hearing others praising the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha because it could only generate obstacle and unable to judge truly what others saying is reasonable or incorrect.

Continuing, The Buddha said that the ordinary people could only praise the Tathagata from the standpoints of his observing the travail, insignificant and worldly precepts such as the five precepts, the ten good deeds, living in a frugal and strict way, begging for foods and collecting no personal wealth; but failed to praise the Tathagata from the standpoints of his proving the brightest, profound and subtle Dharma. The Buddha said that the true way of praising the Tathagata is to praise him from the standpoints of his proving the brightest, profound and subtle Dharma.

What is the brightest, profound and subtle Dharma? When the Buddha was living, all the ascetic and Brahman possessed numerous wrong views and heresies. To sum up, these wrong views and heresies included holding the view of total eternalism; the view of partial eternalism; the theory of chance-originationists; the theory of possess and dispossess; the theory of uncertain sophistry; the theory of perception and no perception; neither perception and nor no-perception; the theory of annihilation, destruction and non-existence of beings; and the erroneous theory of nibana here and now. There were a total of ten categories and 62 wrong views known as “62 views”. The Buddha’s ability to sum up the 62 views is like casting a huge fishing net into a small pond, whereby no pernicious talks and wrong views, just like the fishes in the small pond, could get away from the net. The Buddha’s proving the brightest, profound and subtle Dharma, departed from the 62 views enabled us--in the process of cognition, by utilizing the six sense faculties to get in touch with the six realm--to understand the true reason behind our cognition, sensations and how to uproot whatever causing the vexation as the results of our cognition and sensations. For instance, how the touch and sensations lead us to fall into the trap of clinging to joy because of craving; and how this craving turns into misfortune because of the nature of impermanent; how the sages avoid and disconnect the touch and sensations. Using the method of avoidance and disconnection, the Tathagata was able to break the root which causing the circle of birth and death. It is resemblance to cutting the root of a Tala tree full of leaves and branches, the tree would soon wither up and never growing again. These were what the brightest, profound and subtle Dharma, which Buddha had proved. If we could use these viewpoints to praise the Buddha, that is the true way to praise the Buddha.

按語：

一、本則故事取材自《漢譯南傳大藏經》（元亨寺本，下略）《長部第一梵網經》，以及《佛光大藏經》（佛光出版社，下略）《長阿含第二一梵動經》。

Notes:

1. This story was derived from the Chinese translation of Brahmajala Sutta (Yuen Heng Temple Edition); Buddha Light Brahmajala Sutta (Buddha Light Publication) and Dirghagama 21st Brahmajala Sutta)

2. According to the Buddha’s teaching described in this story, we understand that Dharma cannot be dwelled upon strict precepts. The advantage of true Dharma is the right view, and the right behavior-- departing from vexation, attachment to self and breaking the circle of birth and death--developed from the right view. Examples listed in the sutra are the processes of “the origin, the passing away, the gratification, the danger and the escape” between the “six touch” and “sensation”. This is beginning of the “Four Noble True”; and also the right behaviors developed from the “right view of cause and effects”.

3.It is noteworthy that the pure precepts practiced by the Buddha included not engage in any forms of divination, ritual of burning, fortune telling, magical incantation, and medication.

4. Also, three of the four “eternalism” stances listed in the sutra have close relationship with the experience of samadhi. The ability of perceiving past life obtained by practitioner through samadhi enable one to perceive details of each life traced back to hundreds or thousands times, even to the duration of forty Kalpa of one’s past life. Hence gave him the erroneous view of self and the world are passing on without change from past life, present life, to future life. The experience obtained from samadhi was so real; it often reinforced his wrong view. Therefore, the negative influence of samadhi lacking right view will be greatly increased. Samadhi is like a sharp knife: samadhi with right view solidifies right view and generates wisdom; just like a life-saving scalpel on the operation table. To the contrary, samadhi without right view is like a knife in the killing field, which harms people. The so called “samadhi generates wisdom” cannot be achieved without the foundation of right view.

5. Further introspection on this story reveals that the rise and fall of Buddhism could not be judged from the number of Buddhists, scope of business in Buddhism, or from the degree of popularity on Buddhism activities, more importantly; it is derived from whether or not the precious intrinsic core of Dharma has been promulgated; whether or not the Buddhism believers could understand and receive the core ideas of Dharma.

Once upon a time, the Buddha, his senior disciples and a group of monks (the Sangha) were traveling through Magadha, one of the countries in ancient India. They planned to transit through the capital Rajagaha and visit Nalanda Village. Traveling behind the Buddha and his disciples were wanderer Suppiya and his pupil Brahmadatta. They were heading for the same village and followed closely with the Buddha and his group. On their way to the village, Suppiya was finding fault in all sorts of ways with the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, whereas his pupil Brahmadatta was speaking in various ways in their praise. And so these two, teacher and pupil, directly opposing each other’s arguments, followed closely behind the Buddha and his order of monks.

Then the Buddha stopped for one night with his monks at the royal park of Ambalatthika. And Suppiya too stopped there for the night with his pupil brahmadatta. And Suppiya went on abusing the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, while his pupil Brahmadatta defended them. The Buddha’s disciples could not help but talking about the strange teacher and pupil. Everybody thought that in contrast to the wanderer who had no understanding of his pupil, the Buddha’s insight into people’s aspiration and interest was indeed rare and hard to come by.

Then the Buddha, being aware of what those monks were saying, came to the lecture hall and asked his disciples what they were discussing about. The disciples therefore reported to the Buddha the reasons behind their discussions.

The Buddha told the disciples that if anyone should speak in disparagement of the Buddha, of the Dharma or the Sangha, they should not be angry, resentful or upset on that account. For if others disparage the Buddha, the Dharma or the Sangha, and you are angry or displeased, can you recognize whether what they say is reasonable or incorrect? On the other hand, everyone should not be pleased and happy upon hearing others praising the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha because it could only generate obstacle, hence unable to judge truly what others saying is reasonable or incorrect.

Continuing, The Buddha said that the ordinary people could only praise him from the standpoints of his observing the travail, insignificant and worldly precepts such as the five precepts, the ten virtuous deeds, living in a frugal and strict way, begging for foods and collecting no personal wealth; but failed to praise the Buddha from the standpoints of his verifying the brilliant, profound and subtle Dharma. The Buddha said that only from the standpoints of his verified the brilliant, profound and subtle Dharma is the true way to praise the Buddha.

What is the brilliant, profound and subtle Dharma verified by the Buddha? When the Buddha was living, all the ascetic and Brahman possessed numerous wrong views and heresies. To sum up, these wrong views and heresies included holding the view of Total Eternalism; the view of Partial Eternalism; the theory of Chance-originationists; the theory of Possess and Dispossess; the theory of Uncertain Sophistry; the theory of Perception and No-perception; Neither Perception Nor No-perception; the theory of Annihilation, Destruction and Non-existence of Beings; and the erroneous theory of Enlightenment Here and Now. There were a total of ten categories and 62 wrong views known as “62 views”. To sum up the 62 views is like casting a huge fishing net into a small pond, whereby no pernicious talks and wrong views, just like the fishes in the small pond, could get away from the net. The Buddha’s verifying the brilliant, profound and subtle Dharma, departed from the 62 views enabled us--in the day-to-day process of cognition, by utilizing the six sense organ to get in touch with the six realm--to understand truthfully the real reason behind arousal of our cognition, sensations and how to uproot whatever causing the vexation as the results of our cognition and sensations. For instance, how the touch and sensations lead us to fall into the trap of clinging to joy because of craving; and how this craving turns into misfortune because of the nature of impermanent; how the sages avoid and disconnect the touch and sensations. Using the method of avoidance and disconnection, the Buddha was able to break the root, which lead to the cycle of birth and death. It is resemblance to cutting the root of a Tala tree full of leaves and branches, the tree would soon wither up and never grow again. These were what the brilliant, profound and subtle Dharma, which Buddha had verified. If we could use these viewpoints to praise the Buddha, that is the true way to praise the Buddha.

按語：

一、本則故事取材自《漢譯南傳大藏經》（元亨寺本，下略）《長部第一梵網經》，以及《佛光大藏經》（佛光出版社，下略）《長阿含第二一梵動經》。

1. This story was derived from the Chinese translation of Brahmajala Sutra (Yuen Heng Temple Edition); Buddha Light Brahmajala Sutra (Buddha Light Publication) and Dirghagama 21th Brahmajala Sutra)

2. According to the Buddha’s teaching described in this story, we understand that Dharma cannot be dwelled upon strict precepts. The advantage of true Dharma is the right view, and the right behavior-- departing from vexation, attachment to self and breaking the cycle of birth and death--developed from the right view. Examples listed in the sutra are the processes of The Origin, the Passing Away, The Gratification, The Danger and The Escape between the Six Touch and Sensation. This is beginning of the Four Noble True; and also the Right Behaviors developed from the Right View of Cause and Conditions.

3. It is noteworthy that the pure precepts practiced by the Buddha included not engage in any forms of divination, ritual of burning, fortune telling, magical incantation, and medication.

4. Also, three of the four Eternalism stances listed in the sutra have close relationship with the experience of meditative concentration (Samadhi). The ability of perceiving past lives obtained by practitioner through Samadhi enable one to perceive details of each life traced back to hundreds or thousands, even to the duration of forty Kalpa of one’s past lives. Hence gave him the erroneous view of self and the world are passing on without change from past lives, present life, to future lives. The experience obtained from Samadhi was so realistic; it often reinforced his wrong view. Therefore, the negative influence of Samadhi lacking right view will be greatly increased. Samadhi is like a sharp knife: Samadhi with right view solidifies right view and generates wisdom; just like a life-saving scalpel on the operation table. To the contrary, Samadhi without right view is like a knife in the killing field, which harms people. The so-called “Samadhi Generates Wisdom” (Prajna) cannot be achieved without the foundation of Right View.

5. Further introspection on this story reveals that the rise and fall of Buddhism could not be judged from the number of Buddhists, scope of business in Buddhism, or from the degree of popularity on Buddhism activities, more importantly; it is derived from whether or not the precious intrinsic core of Dharma has been promulgated; whether or not the Buddhism believers could understand and receive the core ideas of Dharma.