At this time there was Anāthapindika, a man of unmeasured wealth, visiting Rājagaha. Being of a charitable disposition, he was called "the supporter of orphans and the friend of the poor." 1
Hearing that the Buddha had come into the world and was stopping in the bamboo grove near the city, he set out in the very night to meet the Blessed One. 2
And the Blessed One saw at once the sterling quality of Anāthapindika's heart and greeted him with words of religious comfort. And they sat down together, and Anāthapindika listened to the sweetness of the truth preached by the Blessed One. And the Buddha said: 3
"The restless, busy nature of the world, this, I declare, is at the root of pain. Attain that composure of mind which is resting in the peace of immortality. Self is but a heap of composite qualities, and its world is empty like a fantasy. 4
"Who is it that shapes our lives? Is it Iśvara, a personal creator? If Iśvara be the maker, all living things should have silently to submit to their maker's power. They would be like vessels formed by the potter's hand; and if it were so, how would it be possible to practise virtue? If the world had been made by Iśvara there should be no such thing as sorrow, or calamity, or evil; for both pure and impure deeds muse come from him. If not, there would be another cause beside him, and he would not be self-existent. Thus, thou seest, the thought of Iśvara is overthrown. 5
"Again, it is said that the Absolute has created us. But that which is absolute cannot be a cause. All things around us come from a cause as the plant comes from the seed; but how can the Absolute be the cause of all things alike? If it pervades them, then, certainly, it does not make them. 6
"Again, it is said that Self is the maker. But if self is the maker, why did it not make things pleasing? The causes of sorrow and joy are real and objective. How can they have been made by self? 7
"Again, if we adopt the argument that there is no maker, our fate is such as it is, and there is no causation, what use would there be in shaping our lives and adjusting means to an end? 8
"Therefore, we argue that all things that exist are not without cause. However, neither Iśvara, nor the absolute, nor the self, nor causeless chance, is the maker, but our deeds produce results both good and evil according to the law of causation. 9
"Let us, then, abandon the heresy of worshipping Iśvara and of praying to him; let us no longer lose ourselves in vain speculations of profitless subtleties; let us surrender self and all selfishness, and as all things are fixed by causation, let us practise good so that good may result from our actions." 10