aids to advancement so much used in
the Buddha's teachings? It is very confusing to a beginner._

A. It is to help us to obtain knowledge of ourselves, by training our
minds to think out every subject in detail. By following out this
system of self-examination, we come finally to acquire knowledge and
see truth as it is. This is the course taken by every wise teacher to
help his pupil's mind to develop.

249. Q. _How many of the Buddha's disciples were specially renowned
for their superior qualities?_

A. There are eighty so distinguished. They are called the Asiti
Maha Savakas.

250. Q. _What did the Buddha's wisdom embrace?_

A. He knew the nature of the Knowable and the Unknowable, the Possible
and the Impossible, the cause of Merit and Demerit; he could read the
thoughts of all beings; he knew the laws of Nature, the illusions of
the senses and the means to suppress desires; he could distinguish the
birth and rebirth of individuals, and other things.

251. Q. _What do we call the basic principle on which the whole of
the Buddha's teaching is constructed?_

A. It is called Paticca Samuppada.[14]

252. Q. _Is it easily grasped?_

A. It is most difficult; in fact, the full meaning and extent of it is
beyond the capacity of such as are not perfectly developed.

253. Q. _What said the great commentator Buddha Ghosha about it?_

A. That even he was as helpless in this vast ocean of thought as one
who is drifting on the ocean of waters.

254. Q. _Then why should the Buddha say, in the Parinibbana Sutta,
that he "has no such thing as the closed fist of a teacher, who keeps
something back"? If his whole teaching was open to every one's
comprehension why should so great and learned a man as Buddha Ghosha
declare it so hard to understand?_

A. The Buddha evidently meant that he taught everything freely; but
equally certain is it that the real basis of the Dharma can only be
understood by him who has perfected his powers of comprehension. It
is, therefore, incomprehensible to common, unenlightened persons.

255. Q. _How does the teaching of the Buddha support this view?_

A. The Buddha looked into the heart of each person, and preached to
suit the individual temperament and spiritual development of the hearer.

[1] Mr. Childers takes a highly pessimistic view of the Nirvanic
state, regarding it as annihilation. Later students disagree with him.

[2] _Saranam_. Wijesinha Muda