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The Discourse on the White-Clad Disciple
The Tathagata is one who has come from the path of truth, relying on the true way to attain right awakening, or one who comes from wondrous reality (truth) and will return to that reality, meaning coming from nowhere and going nowhere. The ten epithets of the Tathagata include:
- The Tathagata;
- The Worthy One (Arhat, one worthy of offerings, killer of thieves, unborn);
- The Rightly and Universally Knowing (right and universal understanding);
- Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct (complete in wisdom and action);
- The Well-Gone (skillfully going to the other shore);
- The Knower of the World (understanding the world thoroughly);
- The Unsurpassed One (the highest one whom no one surpasses);
- The Tamer of Men (the one who tames those needing transformation);
- The Teacher of Gods and Humans;
-
The Buddha (The World-Honored One, the one honored in the world).
All living beings possess the seeds of these ten qualities, just as Buddha nature exists in all beings, animate and inanimate.
True recollection of the Buddha is recollection of the Dharma, bringing mindfulness, understanding, and love into daily life, similar to the concept of the Kingdom of God or the Holy Spirit in Christianity. True love, as described in the Letter to the Corinthians, is patience, kindness, no envy, no pride, no hatred, and never ending. Catholic practices such as confession and the Eucharist share similarities in content with the Dharma door of repentance (Beginning Anew) and eating in mindfulness in Buddhism. The spirit of Protestantism regarding “only faith can save people” and the direct connection with God is also illuminated, corresponding to Bodhicitta and taking refuge in the island within, not relying too much on forms or church authority if the true substance is lacking.
Recollection of the Sangha is directing the mind toward the community traveling on the right path, accomplishing precepts, concentration, Prajñā, liberation, and the knowledge and vision of liberation. A true Sangha is a beautiful field of merit for investment and service, regardless of background. According to the Discourse on the White-Clad Disciple, a lay friend who practices the Five Precepts and the four recollections (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, Precepts) will end the fall into the three lower realms of hell, hungry ghosts, and animals; attain the fruit of Stream-entry, and only need to return at most seven times in the realms of gods and humans to reach the frontier of complete liberation. The true value of a human being, like the carrying capacity of an ox, lies in ability and virtue, not in color or caste origin.