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A soldier came to Hakuin and asked "Is there really a paradise and a hell?" "Who are you?" inquired Hakuin. "I am a samurai," the warrior replied. "You, a samurai!" exclaimed Hakuin. "What kind of ruler would have you as his guard?... continue...

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AFTER-DEATH EXISTENCE & BELIEF TO THE BUDDHA
A wandering monk called Vaccha asked the Buddha if the Buddha would still exsist after death. The Buddha replied:
"Vaccha, the idea that I would exist or not exist after death - such ideas lead to dense jungles and arid deserts, to entanglements as though caught by thorns. They bring about anger, delusion, and argument and they do not bring about peace, knowledge, or wisdom leading to enlightenment. I do not take up any of these ideas."

"Then has the Buddha any belief of his own?"
"Vaccha, I have nothing to do with beliefs or theories, but declare what I know. I declare the nature of form, how it arises and how it perishes; the nature of perception, how it arises and how it perishes. And because I have completely abandoned all fantasies, false ideas, and imaginings about the nature of self or anything to do with the self, I am freed from self."

From Digha Nikaya of the Buddha
Edited by Anne Bancroft

Chon Tri 01/02/2011

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