Says Nagasena, the Buddhist sage:
"He who is not free from passion experiences both the taste of food, and
also the passion due to that taste; while he who is free from passion
experiences the taste of food but no passion."
Hence we discover that the state of Illumination, _samadhi_, or _mukti_,
according to the most enlightened and logical interpretation, means a calm
and peaceful consciousness, undisturbed by passion. But we should not
interpret the word "passion" as here used, to mean absence of all
sensation, feeling or knowledge.
There is absolutely no arbitrary interpretation or translation of the words
of Buddha, nor can there be. The same is true of Confucius; of Mohammed; of
Krishna; of Laotze; of Jesus; of all the teachers and philosophers of the
world.
Who of you who read these words has not listened to debates and endless
discussions as to what even so modern a writer as Emerson or Whitman, or
Nietzche or Kobo Daisi, or some other, may have meant by certain
statements?
In the Samyutta Nikaya we read:
"Let a man who holds the Self clear, keep that Self free from wickedness.
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