“Brother, I cannot.”
“And if separately they are not, are they when united the saint?”
“Brother, no.”
“Then what think you, brother Yamaka? If you cannot prove the very existence of the saint in this world of forms and appearances, is it reasonable for you to say that at death the saint is annihilated and does not exist.”
And holding down his head for shame Yamaka answered:
“Brother Sariputta, it was through ignorance I held that wicked heresy, but now I have acquired the True Doctrine.”
For Sariputta the Great taught as did his Master that the true being is detached from each of these delusive selves of consciousness, sensation, perception, and predispositions, and the saint who has attained has detached himself even in this life from belief that these are himself—his ego. How then should it be that the essential perishes when these dissolve with the dying brain in death? Yet has this wicked heresy been spread, though clear as day must it be made to those who tread the way that it is a lie and no truth.
For thus have I heard. After the death of the Perfected One, the King of Kosala, journeying from Savatthi, met with the learned nun Khema, renowned for wisdom, and the King, respectfully saluting her, asked her of the Teaching.
“Venerable Lady, the Perfect One is dead. Does he exist after death?”
“Great King, the Exalted One has not declared that he exists after death.”