Saṃyuktāgama (287), Part Five

(5) Original text:我时作是念。我得古仙人道。古仙人迳。古仙人道迹。古仙人从此迹去。我今随去。譬如有人。游于旷野。披荒觅路。忽遇故道。古人行处。彼则随行。渐渐前进。见故城邑。古王宫殿。园观浴池。林木清净。彼作是念。我今当往白王令知。即往白王。大王当知。我游旷野。披荒求路。忽见故道。古人行处。我即随行。我随行已。见故城邑。故王宫殿。园观浴池。林流清净。大王可往。居止其中。王即往彼。止住其中。丰乐安隐。人民炽盛。

Explanation: The Buddha said: After I had deliberated upon and thoroughly comprehended the twelve links of dependent origination from beginning to end, this thought arose in my mind: I am now walking on the path walked by the ancient sages, walking on the route traversed by the ancient sages; the ancient sages went along this route, and I am now following after them. It is like a person traveling in the deep mountains and wilderness, cutting through the wild grass in search of a road, who suddenly finds an old road, a place where people of ancient times once walked; so this person follows along the places where the ancients walked. Walking forward little by little, he sees an ancient city with the palace of an ancient king, with grand gardens and bathing pools, and the mountain forests and shrubs are all pure and tranquil.

This person then thinks: I should now go to the palace and report to the great king so that he will know. So he goes to see the great king and tells him: Your Majesty should know that I was traveling in the wilderness, cutting through the wild grass in search of a way, when I suddenly saw an ancient old road, a path walked by people of ancient times, and I followed along this road. As I walked along, I saw an ancient city with an ancient royal palace, inside of which there were grand gardens and springs and bathing pools, with pure and tranquil trees and streams. Your Majesty, you may go there and dwell within it. Thereupon the great king went to the palace and took up residence there, and governed the country; from then on the country became prosperous and abundant, and the people were wealthy, secure, and happy.

The Buddha spoke these words as an analogy for his own process of investigating the twelve links of dependent origination, which was the same method used by the ancient sages of the past; they walked the very same path, the results of their investigation were the same, and the conclusions they reached were identical. The ancient sages realized the truth, and the Buddha likewise realized the same truth; both attained liberation, escaped the great peril of birth and death, reached the city of nirvāṇa where there is peace and security, and enjoyed tranquil happiness. The path of the ancient sages refers to the Noble Eightfold Path, and the ancient city and the palace of the ancient king represent the realm of nirvāṇa. Following the path of the ancient sages, I walked to the very end of ignorance; having extinguished ignorance, birth, aging, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress were extinguished. Traveling in the wilderness and cutting through the wild grass in search of the road represents that the path of cultivating the twelve links of dependent origination is extremely arduous and difficult; it requires indomitable perseverance and continual groping and exploration before one can investigate the source and mystery of birth and death, thereby cutting off the source of birth and death and attaining nirvāṇa and liberation.