{"collection":"Anguttara Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_an10.95/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_an10.95","id":"suttacentral_an10.95","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/an10.95/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Anguttara Nikaya","Early Buddhist Texts"],"text":"Then the wanderer Uttiya went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to the Buddha, \u201cWorthy Gotama, is this right: \u2018The cosmos is eternal. This is the only truth, anything else is futile\u2019?\u201d \u201cThis has not been declared by me, Uttiya.\u201d \u201cThen is this right: \u2018The cosmos is not eternal. This is the only truth, anything else is futile\u2019?\u201d \u201cThis has not been declared by me, Uttiya.\u201d \u201cThen is this right: \u2018The cosmos is finite \u2026\u2019 \u2026 \u2018The cosmos is infinite \u2026\u2019 \u2026 \u2018The soul and the body are one and the same \u2026\u2019 \u2026 \u2018The soul is one thing, the body another \u2026\u2019 \u2026 \u2018A realized one still exists after death \u2026\u2019 \u2026 \u2018A realized one no longer exists after death \u2026\u2019 \u2026 \u2018A realized one both still exists and no longer exists after death \u2026\u2019 \u2026 \u2018A realized one neither still exists nor no longer exists after death. This is the only truth, anything else is futile\u2019?\u201d \u201cThis has not been declared by me, Uttiya.\u201d \u201cWhen asked about all these points, worthy Gotama says that they have not been declared by him. So what then has been declared by Worthy Gotama?\u201d \u201cUttiya, I teach my disciples from my own insight in order to purify sentient beings, to get past sorrow and crying, to make an end of pain and sadness, to end the cycle of suffering, and to realize extinguishment.\u201d \u201cBut when the worthy Gotama teaches in this way, is the whole world saved, or half, or a third?\u201d But when he said this, the Buddha kept silent. Then Venerable \u0100nanda thought, \u201cThe wanderer Uttiya must not get the harmful misconception: \u2018When the ascetic Gotama was asked this all-important question he falters without answering. He just can\u2019t do it!\u2019 That would be for his lasting harm and suffering.\u201d Then \u0100nanda said to the wanderer Uttiya, \u201cWell then, Reverend Uttiya, I shall give you a simile. For by means of a simile some sensible people understand the meaning of what is said. Suppose there was a king\u2019s frontier citadel with fortified embankments, ramparts, and arches, and a single gate. And it has a gatekeeper who is astute, competent, and intelligent. He keeps strangers out and lets known people in. As he walks around the patrol path, he doesn\u2019t see a hole or cleft in the wall, not even one big enough for a cat to slip out. He doesn\u2019t know how many creatures enter or leave the citadel. But he does know that whatever sizable creatures enter or leave the citadel, all of them do so via this gate. In the same way, it\u2019s not the Realized One\u2019s concern whether the whole world is saved by this, or half, or a third. But the Realized One knows that whoever is saved from the world\u2014whether in the past, the future, or the present\u2014all have given up the five hindrances, corruptions of the heart that weaken wisdom. They have firmly established their mind in the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. And they have truly developed the seven awakening factors. That\u2019s how they\u2019re saved from the world, in the past, future, or present. Uttiya, you were just asking the Buddha the same question as before in a different way. That\u2019s why he didn\u2019t answer.\u201d","title":"With Uttiya","tradition":"Anguttara Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":560}