| by Basil Fernando
[ October 04, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian]
1.
Advice to a King
A King was planning a war
He wished to conquer a neighboring land
where, he had heard,
the people were prosperous.
Wanting to be sure of victory,
he summoned his senior minster,
bade him to go before the Wise One.
And after letting the wise one know
the King's intentions,
to ask for his thoughts
on the venture's success.
The minister did as he was told
And waited for the wise one's words,
who then spoke, saying,
People of that land, I have learned
Hold assemblies, talk to each other
Such is the secret of their prosperity
Such a nation can not be conquered.
Minster brought these word to the King
and the King replied,"The wise one
Always tells the truth,"
and abandoned his planned warfare.
2.
Removing the arrow
A Disciple came before the wise one
and asked, sir, I will commit myself to be your disciple
and follow you,
if only you answer the following questions,
Is the world eternal
or is it not,
Has the world an ending
or has that not,
Is the life same as the body
or is it not,
Does the wise one exist after death
or does he not,
Does the wise one exist
or does he not exist,
Or does he neither exist
nor not exist.
The wise one replied to the disciple,
Finding answers to these
is no condition for living a good life.
Waiting for answers to such questions
is like a man, struck by an arrow
not wanting to remove it,
Wanting to find out the nature of the arrow
or who sent out the arrow.
A good man instead would remove the arrow
and cure the wounded one.
3
Idle Talk
An eager disciple approached the wise one
And said, "Oh, you master
You are the greatest of all sages,
Greater than those went before
and those that are to come."
The wise one answered,
“Have you studied and understood
everything that every sage of the past has said?"
The disciple answered, "No, great one,
I have no such knowledge."
“How have you studied and understood
what all the learned ones will say
in the future?"
The disciple answered,
"No master, I know not
what they might say."
Then the wise one asked
"Have you so thoroughly understood
My mind, my teachings?”
"No great master, I have not,"
said he and added,
"May I thank you, oh, wise one.
For teaching me
not to engage in idle talk."
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