The Questions of Hemaka

“Those who have previously answered me,”

said Venerable Hemaka,

“before Gotama’s teaching,

said ‘thus it was’ or ‘so it shall be’.

All that was just the testament of hearsay;

all that just fostered speculation:

I found no delight in that.

But you, sage, explain to me

the teaching that destroys craving.

Having understood it, one who lives mindfully

may cross over clinging in the world.”

“The removal of desire and lust, Hemaka,

for pleasant things

seen, heard, thought, or cognized here

is extinguishment, the state that does not pass.

Those who have fully understood this, mindful,

are quenched in this very life.

Always at peace,

they’ve crossed over clinging to the world.”