Path To Liberation
The Story of Novice Monk Tissa of the Forest Monastery
Chapter 5: Fools • Verse 16
The Story of Novice Monk Tissa of the Forest Monastery
Chapter 5: Fools • Verse 16
One is the quest for worldly gain, and quite another is the path to Nibbana. Clearly understanding this, let not the monk, the disciple of the Buddha, be carried away by worldly acclaim, but develop detachment instead.
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke this verse with reference to Tissa, a novice monk who lived in a forest monastery.
Tissa was the son of a rich man of Savatthi. His father often offered alms-food to the Chief Disciple Sariputta at their home, so Tissa had met the Chief Disciple many times as a child. At the age of seven, he became a novice under Venerable Sariputta.
While Tissa was staying at the Jetavana Monastery, many friends and relatives came to see him, bringing gifts and offerings. Finding these visits tiresome, he took a meditation subject from the Buddha and left for a forest monastery.
Whenever a villager offered him anything, Tissa would simply say, 'May you be happy, may you be liberated from the ills of life' (Sukhita hotha, dukkha muccatha), and go on his way.
At the forest monastery he practised meditation ardently and diligently, and at the end of three months attained Arahatship.
After the rainy season, with the Buddha's permission, Venerable Sariputta, accompanied by Venerable Mahamoggallana and other senior disciples, went to visit Tissa. All the villagers came out to welcome them and asked Venerable Sariputta for a discourse.
The Chief Disciple declined, and instead asked his pupil Tissa to speak. The villagers protested that their teacher could only say 'May you be happy, may you be liberated from the ills of life,' and asked for another monk instead.
But Venerable Sariputta insisted, telling Tissa to speak to them about the Dhamma and show them how to gain happiness and how to be liberated from the ills of life.
Obeying his teacher, Tissa mounted the platform and explained the aggregates (khandhas), the sense bases and their objects (ayatanas), the factors of enlightenment (Bodhipakkhiya), and the path leading to Arahatship and Nibbana. He concluded that those who attain Arahatship are freed from all the ills of life and know perfect peace, while all the rest continue to wander in the round of rebirths.
Venerable Sariputta praised Tissa for expounding the Dhamma so well. Dawn was approaching when he finished, and the villagers were deeply impressed.
Some were surprised that Tissa knew the Dhamma so well when he had said so little about it before; others were simply happy to find their novice monk so learned, and felt fortunate to have him among them.
The Story of Novice Monk Tissa of the Forest Monastery
Chapter 5: Fools • Verse 16
One is the quest for worldly gain, and quite another is the path to Nibbana. Clearly understanding this, let not the monk, the disciple of the Buddha, be carried away by worldly acclaim, but develop detachment instead.
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke this verse with reference to Tissa, a novice monk who lived in a forest monastery.
Tissa was the son of a rich man of Savatthi. His father often offered alms-food to the Chief Disciple Sariputta at their home, so Tissa had met the Chief Disciple many times as a child. At the age of seven, he became a novice under Venerable Sariputta.
While Tissa was staying at the Jetavana Monastery, many friends and relatives came to see him, bringing gifts and offerings. Finding these visits tiresome, he took a meditation subject from the Buddha and left for a forest monastery.
Whenever a villager offered him anything, Tissa would simply say, 'May you be happy, may you be liberated from the ills of life' (Sukhita hotha, dukkha muccatha), and go on his way.
At the forest monastery he practised meditation ardently and diligently, and at the end of three months attained Arahatship.
After the rainy season, with the Buddha's permission, Venerable Sariputta, accompanied by Venerable Mahamoggallana and other senior disciples, went to visit Tissa. All the villagers came out to welcome them and asked Venerable Sariputta for a discourse.
The Chief Disciple declined, and instead asked his pupil Tissa to speak. The villagers protested that their teacher could only say 'May you be happy, may you be liberated from the ills of life,' and asked for another monk instead.
But Venerable Sariputta insisted, telling Tissa to speak to them about the Dhamma and show them how to gain happiness and how to be liberated from the ills of life.
Obeying his teacher, Tissa mounted the platform and explained the aggregates (khandhas), the sense bases and their objects (ayatanas), the factors of enlightenment (Bodhipakkhiya), and the path leading to Arahatship and Nibbana. He concluded that those who attain Arahatship are freed from all the ills of life and know perfect peace, while all the rest continue to wander in the round of rebirths.
Venerable Sariputta praised Tissa for expounding the Dhamma so well. Dawn was approaching when he finished, and the villagers were deeply impressed.
Some were surprised that Tissa knew the Dhamma so well when he had said so little about it before; others were simply happy to find their novice monk so learned, and felt fortunate to have him among them.