Throughout his ministry of forty-five years, the Buddha, the Supremely Enlightened One, worked ceaselessly to expound the Dhamma, the Truth he had realised. This, he did out of compassion for the world, for the welfare and happiness of humanity. The Buddha's faithful attendant-disciple Ananda, endowed with almost superhuman powers of memory, had asked a boon that the Master would repeat every discourse that had not been uttered in the former's hearing. The Venerable Ananda has himself stated that he knew 84,000 utterances of the Buddha. There were of course some other disciples who were associated with the Buddha from the very beginning and who had also memorized faithfully the sayings of the Buddha with incredible devotion. These erudite and holy disciples had a historical sense in that they recognized the importance of recording accurately not only the utterances but also the circumstances under which the Enlightened One proclaimed the various aspects of his Teaching. So great was their concern for authenticity that barely three months after the Buddha's Maha Parinibbana (the Great Passing Away) they held a Council where the noble members of the Sangha, the Consummate Ones (Arahants), assembled to recite, codify and collate the sum total of the Buddha's Teachings, so that they could be handed down for posterity with no room for misinterpretation, distortion or adaptation.

Cover Picture - Seated Buddha From Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India: Late 5th - early 6th century A.D.: Churiar sandstone: H. 160 cm: Sarnath Museum. The hands make the preaching gesture i.e. 'Turning of the Wheel of the Doctrine (dharmacakra-pravartana). The wheel is shown on the front of the throne with figures worshipping it. (Courtesy: "Image of the Buddha." - SERINDIA PUBLICATIONS/UNESCO).

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A box without thines, key or lid, Yet a golden treasure inside is hid.

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Alive without breath, As cold as death; Never thirsty, ever drinking, All in mail never clinking.s

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