The Magic of Radical Attention
TO CONTEMPORARY readers, the Pali suttas can sometimes seem unapproachable. They are almost as old as Greek tragedy, and we lack many of the cultural references that make such writings relevant. Then there are so many of them that it can be confusing where to start. Finally, much of the canon isn’t epic storytelling but rather a collection of situational records and loosely grouped snippets of teaching. If you read and savor these snippets carefully, though, it’s possible to recognize the humanity of the men and women who practiced so long ago. They were touched by something big and yet lived, in many ways, ordinary lives and had ordinary hearts and emotions. And sometimes they needed help.
As Shariputta, one of the foremost of the Buddha’s disciples, was approaching death, the novice Chunda stayed with him through his illness. When Shariputta died, Chunda was bereft. He took his teacher’s robe and bowl to Ananda and told him Shariputta had entered parinibbana. Ananda and Chunda, both hit hard by this news, then went together to tell the Buddha.
Ananda said, “Venerable sir, since I have learned from Chunda that Shariputta has attained final nibbana, it is as if my body has been drugged. I have become disoriented. The teachings are no longer clear to me.” Ananda was confused—he was experiencing the powerful somatic impact of sudden grief. Today we would say he was in shock.
Hearing this, the Buddha said, “Well, Ananda, when Shariputta became fully extinguished, did he take away your entire spectrum of ethical conduct, of unification, of wisdom, of freedom, or of the knowledge and vision of freedom?”
“No, sir, he did not,” replied Ananda. “But Venerable Shariputta was my adviser and counselor. He educated, encouraged, fired up, and inspired me. He never tired of teaching the Dhamma, and he supported his spiritual companions. I remember the nectar of the teaching, the riches of the teaching, the support of the teaching given by Venerable Shariputta.”
The Buddha basically said, “Ananda, Shariputta’s death has not deprived you of your realization.” Yet Ananda, sensing that while the Buddha’s statement was true there was something missing, persisted: “I have lost something. There is something that has changed.”
The Buddha then continued, “Ananda, did I not prepare you for
