The Buddha's last wishes for His Disciples and His Teachings

Venerable Pa-Auk Sayadaw

On the day the Buddha declared his relinquishment of the will to live, he declared to the Bhikkhu Sangha: �Bhikkhus, you, to whom I have made known the Truths about which I have direct knowledge, having thoroughly learnt them, should cultivate them, develop them, and frequently practise them.� The Buddha taught the Dhamma about which he had direct experience. Here the Buddha declared his wishes for his Teachings Sangha, and lay Buddhists as follows:

1.            They should learn the Buddha�s teachings by heart thoroughly, but learning by heart alone is not enough.

2.            He instructed them to cultivate the Dhamma. It means that we must try to know this Dhamma in practice again and again.

3.            Finally, he instructed them to develop the truths. When we cultivate, growing and progress is necessary. What does that mean? When we practise the Dhamma, only wholesome dhamma must occur in our thought-process. That is, wholesome virtue dhamma, wholesome concentration dhamma and wholesome wisdom dhamma. These wholesome dhamma must occur successively without a break until the attainment of arahantship. If a disciple of the Buddha attains arahantship his practice is fulfiled.

These are the duties of all Buddhists. If one is a Buddhist one must follow these three instructions. If one does not follow them then one is a Buddhist in name only. Not a real Buddhist. If one follows these three instructions thoroughly, then one is a real Buddhist. If we do that, it can be said that we breathe according to the Buddha�s instructions. Why should we do that? �For the welfare and happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the welfare and happiness of devas and humans.� If we practise according to the Buddha�s instructions, we will be able to give the Dhamma to future generations as an inheritance. We will be able to teach devas and humans the following:

            1.            To learn the Buddha�s teachings by heart.

2.            To practise the teachings in order to know it through personal experience.

3.            To practise Dhamma until the arahant stage.

            By doing that, those devas and humans will receive benefits and happiness in this world, up to the attainment of Nibbana. But if we do not learn the teachings by heart, and do not practise those teachings, how can we teach devas and humans to learn the teachings of the Buddha, and teach them how to practise those teachings, since we have no knowledge of those teachings. So if we have strong enough faith in the teachings of the Buddha, we Buddhists should try to learn those teachings by heart, cultivate them in practice, and develop them until the arahantship stage.

            Do you have strong enough faith in the teachings of the Buddha?

            There is a statement in the Samannaphala Sutta commentray: �Real devotees of the Triple Gem can show their devotion through practice.� If one cannot show devotion then we cannot say that he or she is a real devotee. If you have real faith in the Buddha�s teachings, you should learn those teachings thoroughly, practise them, and not stop before attaining arahantship. These are important words of the Buddha before he passed away. If we have faith in the Buddha we should obey their instructions. So, what are those teachings? They are:

1.         The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

2.         The Four Right Efforts

3.         The Four Bases of Success

4.         The Five controlling faculties

5.         The Five Powers

6.         The Seven Factors of Enlightenment

7.         The Noble Eightfold Path

About the Venerable

Venerable Pa-Auk Sayadaw is a renowned Burmese meditation master who have published several books, commentaries and treatises on meditation and the Pali scriptures. The Pa-Auk Forest Monastery in Mawlamyine, Myanmar has more than 500 monks and laypersons practising the Pa-Auk system of meditation.