[Shakyamuni admonished his followers on how they should react to outside criticism or praise of the Three Treasures]:

“O brothers, you must not be disappointed or angry or harbor ill will against others who slander the Buddha, the Law, and the Order, for if you do, you will lose the calm that enables you to judge rationally whether what the person has to say is true or false.

“In instances of slander, you must remain cool so that you can distinguish between truth and error and be able to say, ‘For this reason, what he says is different from the truth. In this point he fails to reach the truth. We are not as he says we are.’

“Similarly, you must not be quick to rejoice and be glad when an outsider praises the Three Treasures, for if you become carried away with being lauded, you will lose the calm that enables you to judge rationally whether the praise is true or erroneous. In cases of praise, too, you must remain cool so that you can judge facts as facts and can say, ‘For this reason, what he says is a fact. In this point he has reached the truth. We do have the characteristics he attributes to us.’

“In many instances, praise of an outsider is directed toward trivial, superficial aspects and not to the basic doctrines of Buddhism. Therefore, since they do not praise the things that are truly praiseworthy, you must not rejoice or be elated by what people speaking in this way have to say.” (Page 131)

Shakyamuni earnestly explained the rational way to eliminate delusion and the fires of suffering. Deeply moved by what he heard, Vappa said, “World-honored One, a person who engages in the horse trade to become rich and fails to make a profit overworks and suffers greatly. Similarly, in search of merit, I became a Jainist, and when I failed to attain merit, I overworked and suffered. Now that I have heard the teaching of the World-honored One, for the first time I have attained merit. I will blow away my Jainist faith, as with a great wind, and will cast it into the rapid stream. I entrust myself to the Buddha, the Law, and the Order. Please accept me as a lifelong believer in the Buddhist faith.”

At another time, when Shakyamuni was teaching in a town named Devadaha, the issue of karma was being discussed. In those times, in India, there were five explanations for the causes of present happiness and unhappiness:

1. Everything, happiness and unhappiness, is determined by karma from previous existences.
2. All fate is determined by the will of an all-powerful deity who created and controls the world.
3. Human fate is determined by the good or bad ways in which the elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—constituting the fleshly body are combined.
4. The fate of the entire life of an individual is determined by the social class and family into which he was born.
5. Human fate does not depend on any of these definite causes but is determined, from minute to minute, by completely accidental occurrences.

From the Buddhist standpoint, all of these explanations either are deterministic and fatalistic or rely purely on chance and therefore deny the significance and value of education and training and fail to take into account the importance of free will in efforts to determine and develop fate. For the sake of a correct interpretation of cosmic workings, Buddhism proposed doing away with these explanations and offered in their place the Law of Causation and the Four Noble Truths as accurate explanations of the world and of human life. (Page 127)

Shakyamuni said he was willing to engage in debate if Upali was truly serious. Upali said that he was. Shakyamuni then proceeded to prove by means of many actual examples that good or bad mental motivation is more important than actual actions and words. Moreover, he proved this from the Jainist standpoint, calling upon examples taken from Jainist teachings.

In one instance, Shakyamuni countered Upali’s insistence that the physical act takes precedence in importance over the mental motivation in the following way. He asked what would happen to a Jainist who, out of respect for the minute living creatures in cool water, refused to drink it, even when suffering from a high fever, and consequently died. Upali said that attachment to the mind at the time of death would result in the man’s being born again in a heaven for those who remain attached to mind. In other words, mental attachment and not the actual act of drinking or not drinking cool water produced the effect.

Jainism strictly forbids the taking of life, even that of the small creatures living in water. But, should a person unwittingly step in a puddle of water on the road and kill some of these creatures, according to Jainism his sin is not grave, since he was unaware of what he was doing. In adopting this standpoint, Jainism tacitly puts greater emphasis on mental motivation than on physical result and thus contradicts itself.

Upali found it impossible to reply to these demonstrations of Jainist inconsistencies and at once became a believer in Buddhism. (Page 125-126)

Then for Pukkusati’s sake Shakyamuni preached a sophisticated sermon, probably because he perceived that this man was of intellectual capacity sufficient for him to understand difficult Buddhist theories. The sermon was a detailed, logical presentation showing that human beings have six senses–sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and thought–for perceiving six objects: earth, water, fire, wind, air, and knowledge. From this operation of perception are born the sixteen kinds of emotions and sensations, including pain and pleasure and joy and sorrow. Knowledge of the nature and sources of these emotions lead to understanding of the truth that there is no permanent self and that there should be no attachments to conditioned phenomena. This in turn leads to paramount wisdom and the realization that nirvana is the ultimate Noble Truth. The person realizing this can attain the highest realm of tranquility by abandoning all things that cause delusions and by breaking with the three poisons of covetousness, anger, and delusion.

The chief of the Buddha’s followers, Ananda, attained the Eye of the Law at the first sermon he heard. Though for the next twenty-five years of active missionary life he heard Shakyamuni preach daily and was familiar with all major and minor points of his teachings, Ananda did not attain ultimate arhat enlightenment until three months after Shakyamuni’s death. In the collection of moral teachings known as the Dhammapada it is said, “Though a fool attend on a wise man all his life, he will no more comprehend the Law than a spoon understands the taste of the soup. An intelligent man who spends only a short time with a wise man will at once comprehend the Law, as the tongue understands the taste of the soup.” In spite of the importance of causes from previous existences, however, the suitability—or lack of it—of the person’s guide and the method of training and eagerness of the person himself affect the speed with which enlightenment is attained. (Page 118)

Shakyamuni then said, “Sona, just now were you not thinking these thoughts?” And Shakyamuni enumerated the distractions that had been running through Sona’s mind. Sona admitted that all this was true.

Shakyamuni then asked Sona if he had played the lute when he lived at home. Sona said he had played it, and Shakyamuni asked, “If the strings are stretched too taut, will the lute produce a pleasing sound?”

“If the strings of the lute are too slack, will the instrument produce a pleasing sound?”

“No.”

“But if the strings are neither too taut nor too slack, but just right, the lute will produce a pleasant sound?”

“Yes, it will.”

“Well, Sona, in Buddhist discipline, if one is too eager, the mind will be shallow and unsettled. If one is too lax, the mind will become lazy. The proper way is to be neither too eager nor too lax but to make spiritual efforts and progress at a suitable pace.”

When he had heard this highly appropriate metaphor of the lute, Sona acquired the ability to go on with disciplines at a suitable pace and thus to abandon illusions and hindrances and finally to attain the ultimate enlightenment of the arhat.

No matter how eager and assiduous a person is in religious training, achieving enlightenment depends on primary and secondary causes from previous existences. For people with the right causes, the opportunity for enlightenment will come readily; for people without them, the opportunity will probably not develop. Although it is true that the buddha-nature is inherent in all sentient beings, the speed with which enlightenment is reached depends on the causes from previous existences and the causes in the present life. (Page 166-117)

Then Shakyamuni, perceiving their reaction, taught them in his customary stage-by-stage manner, beginning with almsgiving, abiding by the moral precepts, and the assurance that good acts are rewarded by rebirth in a blessed state. He went on to teach the doctrine of cause and effect, to show the error of adhering to desire, and to emphasize the merit of renouncing it. Finally, when he saw that they were purified in heart, he taught them the basic Buddhist doctrine of the Four Noble Truths. The result of this teaching was that the overseers were enlightened to the correct Buddhist views of the world and of human life, were freed of all delusions, and attained the spotless Eye of the Law. They became lay believers in Buddhism for the rest of their lives and took refuge in the Buddha, the Law, and the Order.

Ancient Buddhist writings containing the following description of Śākyamuni may be accepted as typical of the rumors that were spread about him during his lifetime.

“The following is the reputation of this Gotama: Worshipful, All Wise, Perfectly Enlightened in Conduct, Well Departed, Understander of the World, Peerless Leader, Controller, Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, and the World-honored One. He has himself been enlightened and teaches his knowledge to all sentient beings, including gods, demons, and ordinary mortals, as well as samanas and Brahmans. He teaches the well-ordered, formally expressed Law that is excellent in the beginning, excellent in the middle, and excellent in the end. He makes clear the perfect, indispensable, pure discipline of the Buddhist way. Thus, it is very good to associate with such a noble man.”