cogenesis: At Savatthi. Then King Pasenadi Kosala approached the Blessed One in the middle of the day and, on arrival, having bowed down, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, the Blessed One said to him: “Well now, great king, where are you coming from in the middle of the day?” “Just now, lord, I was engaged in the sort of royal affairs typical of head-anointed noble-warrior kings intoxicated with the intoxication of sovereignty, obsessed by greed for sensual pleasures, who have attained stable control in their country, and who rule having conquered a great sphere of territory on earth.” “What do you think, great king? Suppose a man, trustworthy and reliable, were to come to you from the east and on arrival would say: ‘If it please your majesty, you should know that I come from the east. There I saw a great mountain, as high as the clouds, coming this way, crushing all living beings [in its path]. Do whatever you think should be done.’ Then a second man were to come to you from the west… Then a third man were to come to you from the north… Then a fourth man were to come to you from the south and on arrival would say: ‘If it please your majesty, you should know that I come from the south. There I saw a great mountain, as high as the clouds, coming this way, crushing all living beings. Do whatever you think should be done.’ If, great king, such a great peril should arise, such a terrible destruction of human life — the human state being so hard to obtain — what should be done?” “If, lord, such a great peril should arise, such a terrible destruction of human life — the human state being so hard to obtain — what else should be done but Dhamma-conduct, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious deeds?” “I inform you, great king, I announce to you, great king: aging and death are rolling in on you. When aging and death are rolling in on you, great king, what should be done?” “As aging and death are rolling in on me, lord, what else should be done but Dhamma-conduct, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious deeds? “There are, lord, elephant battles [fought by] head-anointed noble-warrior kings intoxicated with the intoxication of sovereignty, obsessed by greed for sensual pleasures, who have attained stable control in their country, and who rule having conquered a great sphere of territory on earth; but there is no use for those elephant battles, no scope for them, when aging and death are rolling in. There are cavalry battles… chariot battles… infantry battles… but there is no use for those infantry battles, no scope for them, when aging and death are rolling in. In this royal court there are counselors who, when the enemies arrive, are capable of dividing them by their wits; but there is no use for those battles of wits, no scope for them, when aging and death are rolling in. In this royal court there is abundant bullion and gold stored in vaults and depositories, and with such wealth we are capable of buying off enemies when they come; but there is no use for those battles of wealth, no scope for them, when aging and death are rolling in. As aging and death are rolling in on me, lord, what else should be done but Dhamma-conduct, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious deeds?” “So it is, great king! So it is, great king! As aging and death are rolling in on you, what else should be done but Dhamma-conduct, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious deeds?”Pabbatopama Sutta: The Smile of the MountainsTranslated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu 
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cogenesis:

At Savatthi. Then King Pasenadi Kosala approached the Blessed One in the middle of the day and, on arrival, having bowed down, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, the Blessed One said to him: “Well now, great king, where are you coming from in the middle of the day?”

“Just now, lord, I was engaged in the sort of royal affairs typical of head-anointed noble-warrior kings intoxicated with the intoxication of sovereignty, obsessed by greed for sensual pleasures, who have attained stable control in their country, and who rule having conquered a great sphere of territory on earth.”

“What do you think, great king? Suppose a man, trustworthy and reliable, were to come to you from the east and on arrival would say: ‘If it please your majesty, you should know that I come from the east. There I saw a great mountain, as high as the clouds, coming this way, crushing all living beings [in its path]. Do whatever you think should be done.’ Then a second man were to come to you from the west… Then a third man were to come to you from the north… Then a fourth man were to come to you from the south and on arrival would say: ‘If it please your majesty, you should know that I come from the south. There I saw a great mountain, as high as the clouds, coming this way, crushing all living beings. Do whatever you think should be done.’ If, great king, such a great peril should arise, such a terrible destruction of human life — the human state being so hard to obtain — what should be done?”

“If, lord, such a great peril should arise, such a terrible destruction of human life — the human state being so hard to obtain — what else should be done but Dhamma-conduct, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious deeds?”

“I inform you, great king, I announce to you, great king: aging and death are rolling in on you. When aging and death are rolling in on you, great king, what should be done?”

“As aging and death are rolling in on me, lord, what else should be done but Dhamma-conduct, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious deeds?

“There are, lord, elephant battles [fought by] head-anointed noble-warrior kings intoxicated with the intoxication of sovereignty, obsessed by greed for sensual pleasures, who have attained stable control in their country, and who rule having conquered a great sphere of territory on earth; but there is no use for those elephant battles, no scope for them, when aging and death are rolling in. There are cavalry battles… chariot battles… infantry battles… but there is no use for those infantry battles, no scope for them, when aging and death are rolling in. In this royal court there are counselors who, when the enemies arrive, are capable of dividing them by their wits; but there is no use for those battles of wits, no scope for them, when aging and death are rolling in. In this royal court there is abundant bullion and gold stored in vaults and depositories, and with such wealth we are capable of buying off enemies when they come; but there is no use for those battles of wealth, no scope for them, when aging and death are rolling in. As aging and death are rolling in on me, lord, what else should be done but Dhamma-conduct, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious deeds?”

“So it is, great king! So it is, great king! As aging and death are rolling in on you, what else should be done but Dhamma-conduct, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious deeds?”

Pabbatopama Sutta: The Smile of the Mountains
Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu 

Source: cogenesis

Kisa Gotami - Grief and the Death of a Child In due time Kisa Gotami became pregnant, and after ten lunar months gave birth to a son. But the child died as soon as he was able to walk. Kisa Gotami had not known death before, and when they came to remove the child’s body for cremation, she refused to let them do so, saying to herself: “I will get medicine for my son.” Placing the dead child on her hip, she went from house to house, asking: “Do you know a cure for my son?” Everyone said to her: “Woman, you are completely mad in seeking medicine for your son,” but she went away, thinking: “Truly, I will find someone who knows the right medicine for my child.” Now, a certain wise man saw her and thought to himself: “I must help her.” So he said: “Woman, I do not know if there is a cure for your child, but there is one who will know, and I know him.” “Sir, who is it who will know?” “Woman, the Lord will; go and ask him.” So, she went to the Lord, paid reverence to him, stood at one side, and asked: “Venerable sir, is it true as men say that you know a cure for my child?” “Yes, I know.” “What then do I need?” “A few mustard seeds.” “I will get them, Venerable sir, but in whose house?” “Get them from a house where no son or daughter or any other person has ever died.” “Very well, sir,” Kisa Gotami said, and having paid reverence to the Lord, and having placed the dead child on her hip, she went to the village and stopped at the very first house. “Have you any mustard seeds? They say they will cure my child.” They gave her the seeds, and then she asked: “Friend, has any son or daughter died in this house?” “What do you ask, woman? The living are few and the dead are many.” “Then take back your seeds, for they will not cure my child,” she said, and gave back the seeds they had given her. In this way she went from house to house but never did she find one that had the mustard seed that she needed, and she thought: “Oh! It is a difficult task that I have. I thought it was only I who had lost a child, but in every village the dead are more than the living.” While she reflected, her heart which had quivered now become stable. (Image and text courtesy of Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple, Buddha Vacana - Sacred Literature of Buddhism, Aug 30, 2009) For more on Kisa Gotami, see: “Kisagotami Theri” (Thig 10), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, August 8, 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/thig/thig.10.01.than.html. “Gotami Sutta: Sister Gotami” (SN 5.3), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, June 16, 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn05/sn05.003.than.html. “Inspiration from Enlightened Nuns”, by Susan Elbaum Jootla. Access to Insight, June 7, 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/jootla/wheel349.html.
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Kisa Gotami - Grief and the Death of a Child

In due time Kisa Gotami became pregnant, and after ten lunar months gave birth to a son. But the child died as soon as he was able to walk. Kisa Gotami had not known death before, and when they came to remove the child’s body for cremation, she refused to let them do so, saying to herself: “I will get medicine for my son.” Placing the dead child on her hip, she went from house to house, asking: “Do you know a cure for my son?”

Everyone said to her: “Woman, you are completely mad in seeking medicine for your son,” but she went away, thinking: “Truly, I will find someone who knows the right medicine for my child.” Now, a certain wise man saw her and thought to himself: “I must help her.” So he said: “Woman, I do not know if there is a cure for your child, but there is one who will know, and I know him.”

“Sir, who is it who will know?”

“Woman, the Lord will; go and ask him.”

So, she went to the Lord, paid reverence to him, stood at one side, and asked: “Venerable sir, is it true as men say that you know a cure for my child?”

“Yes, I know.”

“What then do I need?”

“A few mustard seeds.”

“I will get them, Venerable sir, but in whose house?”

“Get them from a house where no son or daughter or any other person has ever died.”

“Very well, sir,” Kisa Gotami said, and having paid reverence to the Lord, and having placed the dead child on her hip, she went to the village and stopped at the very first house. “Have you any mustard seeds? They say they will cure my child.” They gave her the seeds, and then she asked: “Friend, has any son or daughter died in this house?”

“What do you ask, woman? The living are few and the dead are many.”

“Then take back your seeds, for they will not cure my child,” she said, and gave back the seeds they had given her. In this way she went from house to house but never did she find one that had the mustard seed that she needed, and she thought:

“Oh! It is a difficult task that I have. I thought it was only I who had lost a child, but in every village the dead are more than the living.”

While she reflected, her heart which had quivered now become stable.

(Image and text courtesy of Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple, Buddha Vacana - Sacred Literature of Buddhism, Aug 30, 2009)

For more on Kisa Gotami, see:

WHY STUDY RELIGION

If I had it to do over, I would make the same decision I made 17 years ago as a college freshman.

Atma Shatakam by Adi Shankara

(perhaps you’d also enjoy listening in song, in Sanskrit)

1) I am not mind, nor intellect, nor ego, 
    nor the reflections of inner self (chitta). [more]
I am not the five senses. [more] 
I am beyond that.
I am not the ether, nor the earth, 
    nor the fire, nor the wind (the five elements). 
I am indeed, 
    That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
    love and pure consciousness. 

2) Neither can I be termed as energy (prana), 
    nor five types of breath (vayus), [more]
    nor the seven material essences, [more]
    nor the five coverings (pancha-kosha). [more]
Neither am I the five instruments of elimination, 
    procreation, motion, grasping, or speaking. [more]
I am indeed, 
    That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
    love and pure consciousness.

3) I have no hatred or dislike, 
    nor affiliation or liking, 
    nor greed, 
    nor delusion, 
    nor pride or haughtiness, 
    nor feelings of envy or jealousy. 
I have no duty (dharma), 
    nor any money,
    nor any desire (kama), 
    nor even liberation (moksha). 
I am indeed, 
    That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
    love and pure consciousness.

4) I have neither merit (virtue), 
    nor demerit (vice). 
I do not commit sins or good deeds,
    nor have happiness or sorrow, 
    pain or pleasure. 
I do not need mantras, holy places, 
    scriptures (Vedas), rituals or sacrifices (yagnas). 
I am none of the triad of
    the observer or one who experiences,
    the process of observing or experiencing,
    or any object being observed or experienced. 
I am indeed, 
    That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
    love and pure consciousness.

5) I do not have fear of death,
    as I do not have death.
I have no separation from my true self, 
    no doubt about my existence, 
    nor have I discrimination on the basis of birth.
I have no father or mother,
    nor did I have a birth. 
I am not the relative, 
    nor the friend, 
    nor the guru, 
    nor the disciple. 
I am indeed, 
    That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
    love and pure consciousness.

6) I am all pervasive. 
I am without any attributes, 
    and without any form. 
I have neither attachment to the world, 
    nor to liberation (mukti). 
I have no wishes for anything 
    because I am everything, 
    everywhere, 
    every time,
    always in equilibrium. 
I am indeed, 
    That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
    love and pure consciousness.

Source: swamij.com

Brahman is beyond personality and impersonality, beyond being and non-being

The teacher said: If you think: “I know Brahman well,” then surely you know but little of Its form; you know only Its form as conditioned by man or by the Gods. Therefore Brahman, even now, is worthy of your inquiry.

The disciple said: I think I know Brahman. The disciple said: I do not think I know It well, nor do I think I do not know It. He among us who knows the meaning of “Neither do I not know, nor do I know” - knows Brahman.

He by whom Brahman is not known, knows It; he by whom It is known, knows It not. It is not known by those who know It; It is known by those who do not know It.

Brahman is known when It is realised in every state of mind; for by such Knowledge one attains immortality. By the Self one obtains strength; by knowledge, immortality.

If a man knows Atman here, he then attains the true goal of life. If he does not know It here, a great destruction awaits him. Having realised the Self in every being, the wise relinquish the world and become immortal.

- Chapter 2, Kena Upanishad

Thank you to mountainofgod and of course to the Sanatana Dharma.

Source: mountainofgod