The History of Buddhist Thought c18.38

c18.38

The undetermined questions are often made the basis of a discourse, in which Buddha gives reasons for refusing to answer them. He declares that it is not on the truth of any of these alternatives that the practice of the religious life depends. “ There is still birth, there is old age, there is death, grief, lamentation, suffering, sorrow, and despair, of which I preach the destruction even in this present life. Therefore, bear in mind what I have not determined as being undetermined . . . And why have I not determined them ? Because they are not useful, do not belong to the principle of the religious life, and do not tend to revulsion, absence of passion, cessation, tranquillity, insight, enlightenment, Nirvāṇa.” ²