Verses of the Senior Monks 8.3

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1. Verses of the Senior Monks 8.3
2. The Book of the Eights
3. Chapter One
4. Mahāpanthaka
5. When I first saw the Teacher
6. who fears nothing from any quarter,
7. I was struck with a sense of urgency,
8. seeing the supreme among men.
9. Anyone who, having found such a Teacher,
10. would lose them again,
11. is like one who, when approached by Lady Luck,
12. would ward her off with their hands and feet.
13. Then I left behind my children and wives,
14. my riches and my grain;
15. I had my hair and beard cut off,
16. and went forth to homelessness.
17. Endowed with the monastic training and livelihood,
18. my sense faculties well-restrained,
19. paying homage to the Buddha,
20. I meditated undefeated.
21. Then a wish occurred to me,
22. my heart’s truest wish:
23. I wouldn’t sit down, not even for a short while,
24. until the dart of craving was plucked.
25. As I meditate like this,
26. see my energy and vigor!
27. I’ve attained the three knowledges,
28. and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
29. I know my past lives,
30. my clairvoyance is clarified;
31. I’m perfected, worthy of offerings,
32. liberated, free of attachments.
33. Then, at the end of the night,
34. as the rising of the sun drew near,
35. all craving was dried up,
36. so I sat down cross-legged.