THE CAUSES OF QUARRELLING By Venerable Bhikkhu Sujato.

THE CAUSES OF QUARRELLING
By Venerable Bhikkhu Sujato.

So I have heard. At one time Venerable Mahākaccāna was staying at Varaṇā, on the bank of the Kaddama Lake.

Then the brahmin Ārāmadaṇḍa went up to Mahākaccāna, and exchanged greetings with him. 

When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to Mahākaccāna:

“What is the cause, Master Kaccāna, what is the reason why aristocrats fight with aristocrats, brahmins fight with brahmins, and householders fight with householders?”

“It is because of their insistence on sensual desire, their shackles, avarice, and attachment, that aristocrats fight with aristocrats, brahmins fight with brahmins, and householders fight with householders.”

“What is the cause, Master Kaccāna, what is the reason why ascetics fight with ascetics?”

“It is because of their insistence on views, their shackles, avarice, and attachment, that ascetics fight with ascetics.”

“Master Kaccāna, is there anyone in the world who has gone beyond the insistence on sensual desire and the insistence on views?”

“There is, brahmin.”

“Who in the world has gone beyond the insistence on sensual desire and the insistence on views?”

“In the eastern lands there is a city called Sāvatthī. There the Blessed One is now staying, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. He, brahmin, has gone beyond the insistence on sensual desire and the insistence on views.”

When this was said, the brahmin Ārāmadaṇḍa got up from his seat, arranged his robe over one shoulder, knelt on his right knee, raised his joined palms toward the Buddha, and expressed this heartfelt sentiment three times:

“Homage to that Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!

Homage to that Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!

Homage to that Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!

He who has gone beyond the insistence on sensual desire and the insistence on views.

Excellent, Master Kaccāna! Excellent! As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with good eyes can see what’s there, Master Kaccāna has made the teaching clear in many ways. I go for refuge to Master Gotama, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Saṅgha. From this day forth, may Master Kaccāna remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”