Gospel of Buddha (1917)/Secrecy and Publicity

by Paul Carus

 

XLIV.

SECRECY AND PUBLICITY.

The Buddha said: "Three things, O disciples, are characterized by secrecy: love affairs, priestly wisdom, and all aberrations from the path of truth.1

"Women who are in love, O disciples, seek secrecy and shun publicity; priests who claim to be in possession of special revelations, O disciples, seek secrecy and shun publicity; all those who stray from the path of truth, O disciples, seek secrecy and shun publicity.2

"Three things, O disciples, shine before the world and cannot be hidden. What are the three?3

"The moon, O disciples, illumines the world and cannot be hidden; the sun, O disciples, illumines the world and cannot be hidden; and the truth proclaimed by the Tathāgata illumines the world and cannot be hidden. These three things, O disciples, illumine the world and cannot be hidden. There is no secrecy about them."4