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WHAT IS SADDHAMMA ?
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wash the body of the mendicant and attend to his maladies.
Then the earth shook, and the whole place was filled with a supernatural light, so that the king and the ministers, and all the heavenly host (Devas, Nagas, etc.) flocked to the place, and paid adoration to Buddha.
Having done so, they all addressed the Worldhonoured, and inquired how one so highly exalted could lower himself to such offices as these, on which Buddha explained the matter thus :
“The purpose of Tathagata in coming into the world, is to befriend those poor and helpless and unprotected, to nourish those in bodily affliction, whether they be Samanas or men of any other religion—to help the impoverished, the orphan and the aged, and to persuade others so to do.”
§ 3. Dhamma is Saddhamma only when it Teaches that More than Karuna what is Necessary is Maitri
The Buddha did not stop with teaching Karuna.
Karuna is only love for human beings. Buddha went beyond and taught Maitri. Maitri is love for living beings.
The Buddha wanted man not to stop with Karuna but to go beyond mankind and cultivate the spirit of Maitri for all living beings.
This he has well explained in a Sutta when the Blessed One was staying in Shravasti.
Speaking about Maitri, the Blessed Lord told the almsmen:
“Suppose a man comes to dig the earth. Does the earth resent?”
“No, Lord,” the almsmen replied.
“Supposing a man comes with lac and colours to paint pictures in the air. Do you think he could do it?”
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