Jesus In India — Page 153
APPENDIX burning; the tongue is burning, tastes are burning; the body is burning, objects of sense are burning. The mind is burning; thoughts are burning. All are burning with the fire of passions and lusts. Observing this, O monks, a wise and noble disciple becomes weary of (or disgusted with) the eye, weary of visible things, weary of the ear, weary of sounds, weary of odours, weary of tastes, weary of the body, weary of the mind. Becoming weary, he frees him- self from passions and lusts. When free, he realizes that his object is accomplished, that he has lived a life of restraint and chastity (brahmaćariyam), that re-birth is ended. It is said that this fire-sermon—which is a key to the meaning of Nirvana-was suggested by the sight of a con- flagration. It was Gautama's custom to impress ideas on his hearers by pointing to visible objects. He compares all life to a flame; and the gist of the discourse is the duty of extinguishing the fire of lusts, and with it the fire of all existence, and importance of monkhood and celibacy for the attainment of this end. Contrast in Christ's Sermon on the Mount the words addressed to the multitude (not to monks), 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The Buddha and his followers next proceeded to Rājagriha. 143