“All that I have explained to you is from my own experience. I can only tell you as much
as I am capable of conveying, so that you know what it is like. From now on, you must
find a way to experience it for yourselves. The most complete knowledge is the
knowledge gained from personal experience. Knowledge based on what others tell you
is not yet true knowledge,” the Buddha replied.

“But if we do not have your knowledge, how will we know if what we experience is
correct or incorrect, Lord?” Achita continued to ask.

“I will compare this to playing a sport that is taking place in a competition arena.
Happiness from the first to the third levels is like the scores or rewards you achieve
while participating. Because you take turns losing and winning, when you score, you
are happy, while at the same time, you cause the other side to be sad for their defeat.But some players will suddenly realize, ‘Why am I playing this sport?’ because they
begin to see that the happiness they gain is based on the suffering of others. So they
decide to stop playing and sit down to rest in a corner of the field. This is the first peace
that arises. After that, they further realize that there are many people who have lost
and are in need, so they give some things to those people. And when they discover that
besides the happiness that comes from giving, there is also happiness in watching
themselves sitting in the corner of the field.”

“But even so, you are still one of the players in that arena; you have only stopped
playing and see yourself having stopped. But one day, you will discover that in reality,
there is another part of you that is outside the arena and is looking down at the field
where you are a player. That being is beyond any rules or regulations. If that being
knows and understands that it is all just a game, that the place where it sits outside the
arena is the true state, whenever you can communicate with that part of you outside
the arena, and can see yourself for who you are from the perspective of that being
outside the arena, you will become one who ‘knows’ where they come from and how to
break free from the various rules.”

“And happiness beyond all happiness will arise within you. At this moment, I wish for
you to prove for yourselves what it is like to realize that you are Buddha, that you are
the Divine. Hearing and listening to my explanations is merely my knowledge. In any
case, it will not be as clear as what you see or realize for yourselves,” the Buddha
explained.

“And when will we attain such a state of supreme bliss, Lord?” Achita asked.

“Now… immediately, the moment you decide to be Buddha or the Divine Mind,” the
Buddha replied.

“Is it really that easy, Lord? I have painstakingly journeyed to follow you for many years
in order to discover profound truth. I thought you would have some method that could
lead us into this state, Lord,” Upasiva the ascetic asked.

“As long as you hold such a belief, you will never understand this.”

“What belief, Lord?” Upasiva the ascetic continued to ask.

“You have two beliefs: first, you believe that what you seek must not be easy and must
involve complex processes, which is a result of your past learning methods, step-bystep teachings, or external knowledge. This is the method used by teachers who have
not yet attained enlightenment to teach you, in order to make you feel that the reason
you have not yet succeeded is because you have not tried hard enough, you have not
been patient enough, and therefore you have not achieved results. In reality, those who
teach you have not achieved results either. I know this because I have realized that it
does not work. I have tried everything I needed to do until I exhausted all possibilities,
until I knew that it was not the path that would lead me to my goal.”

“The second belief is that you believe someone must lead you by the hand to do it. This
belief is the opposite of what I am trying to tell you. As long as you hold such a belief,
you will remain far from the goal. I tell you that you must do it yourself, you must
experience it yourself, and most importantly, you must decide for yourself. Simply by
deciding that you are Buddha yourself, that is what you must determine. I cannot
determine or decide for you. I cannot hold your hand and make you Buddha. You must
be the one to decide to ‘be’ yourself. This is the meaning of the words, ‘you must rely on
yourself.’”

“I understand now! I understand now!” exclaimed a handsome young Brahmin, about
25 years old, amidst the conversation.

“Kaccayana, you understand? Understand what? Tell us,” Upasiva turned to ask the
young Brahmin who had followed Achita’s group from the city of Ujjeni, sent by King
Candappajjota of Ujjeni to invite the Buddha to teach him as well.

“It’s not difficult at all, Lord. How is it difficult to simply feel that you are Buddha? I am
more surprised that you all do not yet feel it,” Kaccayana said.

“Why are you so sure that you can be Buddha? What indicates this?” Upasiva asked
again.

“What has arisen within me at this moment is a state of certainty that I am Buddha. This has caused me to see things differently. Now, I no longer see you, Ascetic Upasiva,
as Ascetic Upasiva. I no longer see you, Ascetic Punnaka, as Ascetic Punnaka. I no
longer see my servants as servants. I no longer see those who have harmed me as
enemies.

What I see now is that everyone is a spirit that has come to share experiences. We are
all brothers and sisters. We are all the same Buddha-mind.

I see those who have done evil to me as those who have been virtuous and sacrificed
themselves to show that evil to me.

Now, I see no one higher, no one lower, no one better, no one worse, because now my
vision has changed, because I have become Buddha, have become the Divine Mind,”
Kaccayana said.

“Kaccayana, you have understood…” the Buddha said.

“I understand…” Achita the ascetic exclaimed as well.

“Achita, you have understood,” the Buddha said.

“Venerable Ascetic, I ask, will the beings in this world, beings in other worlds, including
spirits in the Brahma realms, know about these matters that you have told us? You are
wise and capable of solving this problem. If the attainment of truth is this easy, will
young children soon be attaining Arhatship, Lord?” Moghara the ascetic, the eldest in
Achita’s group, observed.

“Anyone who is mindful, can tell themselves, can use imagination to determine their
feelings, that person can equally enter this highest state of truth. But they must be able
to express their gross mind or human mind in conjunction with their pure spirit, or
what is called the ‘Buddha-spirit,’” the Buddha further explained.

“In that case, those who are Pretas, Asuras, wandering spirits, or Deva spirits cannot
attain this truth, Lord?”