The Buddha’s Last Days

Sāriputta, there are certain Ascetics and Brāhmins whose doctrine and view is this: As long as this good man is still young, a black-haired young man endowed with youthfulness, in the prime of life, so long is he perfect in his clear wisdom.

But when this good man is old, aged, burdened with years, advanced in life, and come to the last stage, being eighty, ninety, or a hundred years old, then the clarity of his wisdom is lost. But it should not be regarded so. I am now old, aged, burdened with years, advanced in life, and come to the last stage: my years have turned eighty.

Now suppose that I had four disciples with a hundred years lifespan, perfect in mindfulness, recall (of The Teachings), memory, and clarity of wisdom. Just as a skilled archer, trained, practiced, and tested, could easily shoot a light arrow across the shadow of a palm tree, suppose that they were even to that extent perfect in mindfulness, recall (of The Teachings), memory, and clarity of wisdom.

Suppose that they continuously asked me about The Four Foundations of Mindfulness and that I answered them when asked and that they remembered each answer of mine and never asked a subsidiary question or paused except to eat, drink, consume food, taste, urinate, defecate, and rest in order to remove sleepiness and tiredness. Still The Tathāgata’s explanation of The Teachings, his explanations of factors of The Teachings, and his replies to questions would not yet come to an end, but meanwhile those four disciples of mine with their hundred years lifespan would have died at the end of those hundred years.

Sāriputta, even if you have to carry me about on a bed, still there will be no change in the clarity of The Tathāgata’s wisdom.

Rightly speaking, were it to be said of anyone: A being not subject to ignorance/delusion has appeared in the world for the welfare and peacefulness of many, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare, and peacefulness of gods and humans, it is of me indeed that rightly speaking this should be said.

Then the Venerable Ānanda approached The Perfectly Enlightened One.

Having approached and paid homage (respect), while massaging The Perfectly Enlightened One’s limbs, he said to him: ‘It is wonderful, Venerable Sir! It is amazing, Venerable Sir!’

‘The Perfectly Enlightened One’s complexion is no longer pure and bright, his limbs are all flimsy and wrinkled, his body is stooped, and some alteration is seen in his sense bases in the eye sense base, the ear sense base, the nose sense base, the tongue sense base, and the body sense base.’

So it is, Ānanda! In youth one is subject to aging; in health one is subject to sickness; while alive one is subject to death. The complexion is no longer pure and bright, the limbs are all flimsy and wrinkled, the body is stooped, and some alteration is seen in the sense bases - in the eye sense base, the ear sense base, the nose sense base, the tongue sense base, and the body sense base.

This is what The Perfectly Enlightened One said. Having said this, The Fortunate One, The Teacher, further said this:

Yuck on you, pitiful aging,

Aging which makes beauty fade!

So much has the charming puppet

Been crushed beneath advancing age.

One who might live a hundred years

Also has death as destination.

Death spares none along the way

But comes crushing everything.

And now again, Ānanda, The Tathāgata has today at Chapala’s Shrine consciously and deliberately rejected the rest of his allotted term of life.

And when he had thus spoken the Venerable Ānanda addressed The Fortunate One, and said: Grant us the privilege, Venerable Sir, to remain during the eon: live on through the eon, O Fortunate One! for the good and the peacefulness of the great multitudes (many people), out of pity for the world, for the wholesome and the gain and the well-being of gods and men!

‘Enough now, Ānanda, beg not The Tathāgata!’ was the reply. ‘The time for making such a request has past’.

(And again, the second time and the third time, the Venerable Ānanda begged The Fortunate One (in the same words). And he received from the Fortunate One the same reply).

(In that when a suggestion so evident and a hint so clear were thus given to you, by The Tathāgata, you would be incapable of comprehending them.)

If you should have then so begged The Tathāgata, The Tathāgata might have rejected the appeal even to the second time, but the third time he would have granted it. You, therefore, O Ānanda, are the fault, you are the offense!

But now, Ānanda, have I not formerly declared to you that it is in the very nature of all things, near and dear unto us, that we must divide ourselves from them, leave them, sever ourselves from them? How, then Ānanda, can this be possible - whereas anything whatever born, brought into being, and organized, contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution - how then can this be possible that such a being should not be dissolved? No such condition can exist!

All conditioned things must grow old.

Work out your salvation with diligence. The final extinction of The Tathāgata will take place before long.

At the end of three months from this time The Tathāgata will die.

My age is now full ripe, my life draws to its close: I leave you, I depart, relying on myself alone! Be diligent then, O brethren, holy, full of thought!

Be steadfast in dedication!

Keep watch over your own hearts!

Who becomes tired not,

But holds fast to this truth and natural law,

Shall cross this sea of life, shall make an end of grief.

(Reference: MN 12 & DN 16)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares that he will die in three (3) months and that although the body is old and aged, the mind is crisp and sharp with wisdom.

A Practitioner can conclude that while the physical body of an Enlightened being will grow old due to impermanence, the mind of an Enlightened being does not grow old. It is crisp and sharp, the mind is permanently liberated from craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) with deep wisdom.

You can observe that his close Student Ānanda is not yet Enlightened at this point as he attempts to beg The Buddha three (3) separate times to not die as he still has craving/desire/attachment to The Buddha. It is reported that Ānanda did not attain Enlightenment until after the death of The Buddha, most likely due to Ānanda’s mind being attached to The Buddha.

Gotama Buddha provides guidance that Students should remain dedicated in their learning and practice of The Teachings that lead to Enlightenment and to never give up.

For some people, they consider the mind to be inside the heart. So when you see a statement such as “keep watch over your own hearts!”, this can also be a way to refer to the mind.

The mind is non-physical in nature. Whether the mind is in the heart, in the head, or even outside the body does not matter. The location of the mind cannot be determined because it is non-physical. You cannot physically touch the mind so an exact location cannot be determined.

The exact location does not matter. The fact is, the unEnlightened mind is discontent and it needs to be trained to attain Enlightenment to eliminate 100% of all discontentedness. If the mind is in the heart, in the head, outside the body, or some other location, it does not matter as the mind still needs to be trained no matter what its location. But again, the mind is non-physical it is intangible and a physical location cannot be determined. But, eliminating discontentedness from the mind is not based on determining where the mind is located.

If the mind is in the heart, ok, it still needs to be trained.

If the mind is in the head, ok, it still needs to be trained.

If the mind is outside the body or some other location, ok, it still needs to be trained.

A wise Practitioner will focus on training the mind not spending time to locate the mind as its location is non-physical and intangible. Even if one was able to locate something that is non-physical and intangible, it does not matter because it still needs to be trained.

Focusing on training the mind is what will produce benefits, not figuring out its location.