Page 181 - Mystic Pathways through the Bible

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through deep meditation, he eventually attained Enlightenment. He then re ected for a long period of time. Now that he had attained Nirvana and ended his own suffering, he thought that he would dissolve his physical body and remain immersed in the Bliss of Nirvana forever.
However, almost immediately after entertaining this thought, his compassionate heart asserted itself: “I have created a boat with great effort that has carried me across the stream of the world-process. Shouldn’t I allow that boat to ferry other people across as well?” The moment that idea arose within his mind, Buddha refrained from dissolving his body. From that time on, he led a very active life, teaching others as his act of compassion.
The great Indian Sage, Valmiki, was a robber in his early days. Through the in uence of great Sages, he transformed himself and became a devotee of Lord Rama. After a prolonged practice of devotion and samadhi (superconsciousness), he emerged as a totally different personality. One who had been so insensitive to others’ miseries became so profoundly compassionate in his heart that when he saw a bird being separated from her mate by the cruel arrow of a hunter, he felt an upsurge of compassion. The outward event to him became a mirror re ecting the miseries of all living beings. Inspired by this Divine feeling, he composed the magni cent poetic work,