…Come, Ānanda, let’s go to the Great Wood, the hall with the peaked roof.”
“Yes, sir,” Ānanda replied.
So the Buddha went with Ānanda to the hall with the peaked roof, and said to him, “Go, Ānanda, gather all the mendicants staying in the vicinity of Vesālī together in the assembly hall.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Ānanda. He did what the Buddha asked, went up to him, bowed, stood to one side, and said to him, “Sir, the mendicant Saṅgha has assembled. Please, sir, go at your convenience.”
Then the Buddha went to the assembly hall, where he sat on the seat spread out and addressed the mendicants:
“So, mendicants, having carefully memorized those things I have taught you from my direct knowledge, you should cultivate, develop, and make much of them so that this spiritual practice may last for a long time. That would be for the welfare and happiness of the people, out of sympathy for the world, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans. And what are those things I have taught from my direct knowledge? They are: the four kinds of mindfulness meditation, the four right efforts, the four bases of psychic power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven awakening factors, and the noble eightfold path.
These are the things I have taught from my direct knowledge. Having carefully memorized them, you should cultivate, develop, and make much of them so that this spiritual practice may last for a long time. That would be for the welfare and happiness of the people, out of sympathy for the world, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans.”
Then the Buddha said to the mendicants:
“Come now, mendicants, I say to you all: ‘Conditions fall apart. Persist with diligence.’ The full extinguishment of the Realized One will be soon. Three months from now the Realized One will be fully extinguished.”
That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:
“I’ve reached a ripe old age,
and little of my life is left.
Having given it up, I’ll depart;
I’ve made a refuge for myself.Diligent and mindful,
be of good virtues, mendicants!
With well-settled thoughts,
take good care of your minds.Whoever meditates diligently
in this teaching and training,
giving up transmigration through rebirths,
will make an end to suffering.”…
Read the entire translation of Dīgha Nikāya 16 Mahāparinibbānasutta: The Great Discourse on the Buddha’s Extinguishment by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on DhammaTalks.org, Ancient-Buddhist-Texts.net or AccessToInsight.org. Or listen on PaliAudio.com or SC-Voice.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.
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