Grasping leaves in hand.

 The Simsapā Forest.

One day, the Blessed One dwelt in Kosambi, in the forest of Simsapā. He picked up a few Simsapā leaves, and told the monks:

"What do you think, what is more, the number of Simsapā leaves I have in my hand, or the number of leaves in the forest of Simsapā?"

"The Simsapa leaves that you hold in your hand are too few, and the number of leaves in the Simsapan forest is too much."

"Bhikkhus, just as what I know well does not teach you too much; And what I taught was too little. Why do not I teach all that? Because there are things that are not related to the purpose, not the basis for the noble life, do not lead to cups, glasses, kill, calm, victory, enlightenment, Nirvana. Therefore, I do not teach them.

"Bhikkhus, what do I teach? 'This is suffering', which I teach. 'This is the heavens', which I teach. This is the cessation of suffering, which I teach. 'This is the Path leading to the cessation of suffering', which I teach.

"But why am I teaching these things? Because these things are related to the purpose, the basis for the noble life, leading to the cup, the glass of desire, the destruction, calm, victory, enlightenment, Nirvana. Therefore, I teach them.

"Therefore, bhikkhus, you must strive to know: 'This is the nature of suffering,' it is necessary to strive to know: 'This is the heavens', it is necessary to make an effort to know:' Here cessation of suffering, "it is necessary to strive to know: 'This is the Path leading to the cessation of suffering.'"

Some reflections:

In the sutta, the Buddha says that he knows so much, about life, about the cosmic world, about everything in the world, but he does not preach all that. He does not teach us to be aware of all things in the world, because there is no truth in the relationship, no help for the path to liberation. This is an important point that practitioners on the path of learning need to remember.

What he preached, as recorded in the Nikāya and the Aśvatan Nikāya - includes important, necessary, valuable topics for us to understand, think, and apply. . This is a great blessing for us, as almost all of that tradition has been preserved by monks, passed down through generations, and today translates into modern language for us to learn. and remember. Although some of the sutras have the same content, it seems overlapping, but that proves that these topics are indeed the number of leaves in the fist of the forest for us to focus on.

The countless leaves in the forest are what the Buddha did not teach his disciples - but today we often find them collected in the Buddhist literary treasure. In this implied treasure, we find many commentaries, commentaries, postmodern doctrines of all schools, sects developed since the Buddha's passing, including metaphysical treatises theories of humanity, meticulous elaborations of mind and mind movements, heavens and bodhisattva divisions, transcendental forms of rebirth, mantras, forms of doubt complex ritual, commentaries beyond the content of the suttas, etc.

It does not mean that the materials are completely misleading or completely unfounded. However, whether they are true or not, there is no benefit to the path of liberation. If they were indeed beneficial for the practice, the Buddha would have taught his disciples - because the Buddha declared he had preached the Dhamma clearly, as a teacher with extended hands, Not secret, not hidden (the Bat-nirvana, Truong Bo), and from there are memorized and transmitted in the suttas, and is collected in the Sutra.

Meditating on the teachings of the Buddha in the Simsapah can save us time. We do not waste time pursuing useless questions. We avoid being attached to wilderness, utopian ideas. The sutta reminds us to focus on the Buddha's essential teachings, and apply them in practice. We do not need to debate many different theories, no need to waste time figuring out them. Time is precious, life is short, human birth is rare, and we must know how to use the time and effort to benefit on the spiritual path.

When we understand that what was not taught by the Buddha when he was in the world is not related to the ultimate goal of liberation, we immediately recognize that there are no secret doctrines, no theories have is hidden in a certain world to reappear later, or the teachings he was preached in a certain heaven, etc. Buddha taught as true, as the foot. He has clearly and fully provided for us on this earth, for those who come to hear.

There were many of his disciples who remembered, understood, practiced, and entered the Order of liberation - and even these did not yet have learned the whole of the Sutra. Forget about the suttas and the demands of the doctrines developed beyond what the Buddha taught is not aware of the profound meaning of what He really taught the saintly disciples.

So, we do not need to be entangled in anything else. Our task is to do what the Buddha has explained clearly in the sutta: "... It is necessary to strive to know: This is suffering. Effort must be made to know: This is the source of suffering. Efforts must be made to know: This is the cessation of suffering. Efforts must be made to know: This is the path of practice to eliminate suffering. "What the Buddha taught during the 45 years of propagating the Dharma - from the first sutra to the last Sutta - is related to This task is to penetrate, understand, and realize the Four Noble Truths. What he did not teach, we should leave them in the jungle.END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.THE MIND OF ENLIGHTENMENT.VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN LOTUS MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.23/3/2018.