Aug 26, 2007 20:35
In the
Mahasihanada Sutta, someone criticizes the Buddha for not practicing
asceticism. Part of the response is this passage, which I find
singularly amusing.
“Such was my asceticism, Sariputta, that I went naked,
rejecting
conventions, licking my hands, not coming when asked, not stopping when
asked; I did not accept food brought or food specially made or an
invitation to a meal; I received nothing from a pot, from a bowl, across
a threshold, across a stick, across a pestle, from two eating together,
from a pregnant woman, from a woman giving suck, from a woman in the
midst of
men, from where food was advertised to be distributed, from where a
dog was waiting, from where flies were buzzing; I accepted no fish or
meat, I drank no liquor, wine or fermented brew. I kept to one house, to
one morsel; I kept to two houses, to two morsels;…I kept to
seven houses, to seven morsels. I lived on one saucerful a day, on two
saucerfuls a day…on seven saucerfuls a day; I took food once a day,
once every two days…once every seven days, and so on up to once every
fortnight; I dwelt pursuing the practice of taking food at stated
intervals. I was an eater of greens or millet or wild rice or
hide-parings or moss or ricebran or rice-scum or sesamum flour or grass
or cowdung. I lived on forest roots and fruits, I fed on fallen fruits.
I clothed myself in hemp, in hemp-mixed cloth, in shrouds, in refuse
rags, in tree bark, in antelope hide, in strips of antelope hide, in
kusa-grass fabric, in bark fabric, in wood-shavings fabric, in head-hair
wool, in animal wool, in owls’ wings. I was one who pulled out hair and
beard, pursuing the practice of pulling out hair and beard. I was one
who stood continuously, rejecting seats. I was one who squatted
continuously, devoted to maintaining the squatting position. I was one
who used a mattress of spikes; I made a mattress of spikes my bed.
I dwelt pursuing the practice of bathing in water three times
daily
including the evening. Thus in such a variety of ways I dwelt pursuing
the practice of tormenting and mortifying the body. Such was my
asceticism.”
buddhism,
humor