Date: 04/05/2025 04/06/2025
Location: Star River Meditation Center
Teacher: Yunquan Huang
Dharma Talk
The Unflinching Upasena
One time, the Venerable Upasena and the Venerable Sāriputta arrived at the outskirts of the capital Rājagaha in the kingdom of Magadha. They stayed near a place called Snake-Head Rock.
Snake-Head Rock had caves, and venomous snakes frequently roamed the area.
On this day, the Venerable Upasena was meditating alone inside a cave. Unfortunately, a small venomous snake fell from above, landed on him, and bit him.
The snake’s venom quickly took effect. The Venerable Upasena knew he had been bitten, but the poison had already paralyzed his body. Unable to move, he called out to the Venerable Sāriputta, who was sitting under a tree not far outside the cave, and said:
“Friend Sāriputta! A venomous snake has fallen onto me and bitten me. Hurry inside and move my body outside. This poisoned body is like a handful of rice husks held in the hand—now that the hand has loosened, it is about to scatter apart.”
The Venerable Sāriputta entered the cave and looked at him. However, he saw no change in Upasena’s body or facial expression. Puzzled, he asked:
“Friend Upasena! But I see that your appearance and body look just as usual. Why do you say that your body has been poisoned, is about to decay, and that I should move you outside? What is going on?”
The Venerable Upasena replied:
“Friend Sāriputta! If someone believes that their six senses—including their eyes—are ‘self’ or ‘mine,’ then perhaps when bitten by a venomous snake and nearing death, their body and complexion would change. But I do not hold such a view. So, friend Sāriputta, why would my body or facial expression change?”
The Venerable Sāriputta understood and praised him:
“Indeed, friend Upasena! You have long been free from self, from possessiveness, from conceit. You are free from all attachments and have severed them at the root—just like a tala tree whose roots have been cut and will never grow again. So how could your body or facial expression possibly change?”
Then, the Venerable Sāriputta carried the Venerable Upasena’s body outside the cave. At that moment, the Venerable Upasena entered final Nirvana. His body, like a handful of loosened rice husks, crumbled and dispersed.
