Page:Henry Mulford Tichenor - The Buddhist Philosophy of Life.djvu/52

 50 ting away thoughts of self, she buried her child in the forest, and returned to the Buddha; and the Buddha said to her:

"The life of mortals is troubled and brief. All who are born must die. As all vessels made by the potter are at last broken, so is the life of man. Young and old, fools and wise, all come to death. A father cannot save his child, nor kinsmen their relatives. As the world is full of death and decay, therefore the wise do not grieve, knowing that it is the law of life.

"Not from weeping nor grieving will any find peace of mind, nor are the dead returned by lamentations. We pass away, and our fate is according to our deeds. He who seeks peace must lose self; he who overcomes sorrow will be free from sorrow.

The Buddha spoke to his disciples saying:

"Those who do not know me, call me Gotama; but you call me Buddha, the Enlightened. You do well, for in this life I have entered Nirvana, while the life of Gotama has been extinguished.

"Self has disappeared, and the truth has taken its abode in me. This body of mine is Gotama's body, and will be dissolved; and after its dissolution no one, neither God nor man, will see Gotama again. But the Buddha will remain; the Buddha will not die; it will be like a flame in a great body of fire; the