Refuge
An
Introduction to the
Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha
by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff)
Copyright
© 2001 Thanissaro Bhikkhu
For free distribution only.
You may print copies of this work for your personal use.
You may re-format and redistribute this work for use on computers
and computer networks,
provided that you charge no fees for its distribution
or use.
Otherwise, all rights reserved.
Third
edition, revised, 2001
They
go to many a refuge,
to mountains, forests,
parks, trees, and shrines:
people threatened with danger.
That's not the secure refuge,
that's not the highest refuge,
that's not the refuge,
having gone to which,
you gain release
from all suffering and stress.
But
when, having gone for refuge
to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha,
you see with right discernment
the four Noble Truths --
stress,
the cause of stress,
the transcending of stress,
and the Noble Eightfold Path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
That's the secure refuge,
that, the highest refuge,
that is the refuge,
having gone to which,
you gain release
from all suffering and stress.
--
Dhammapada, 188-192
Contents
Preface
This
book is a short introduction to the basic principles of Buddhism:
the Buddha, the Dhamma (his teachings), and Sangha (the community
of his noble disciples), also known as the Triple Gem or the
Triple Refuge. The material is divided into three parts: (I)
an introductory essay on the meaning of refuge and the act
of going for refuge; (II) a series of readings drawn from
the earliest Buddhist texts illustrating the essential qualities
of the Triple Gem; and (III) a set of essays explaining aspects
of the Triple Gem that often provoke questions in those who
are new to the Buddha's teachings. This last section concludes
with an essay that summarizes, in a more systematic form,
many of the points raised in the earlier parts of the book.
The readings on Dhamma form the core of the book, organized
in a pattern -- called a graduated discourse (anupubbi-katha)
-- that the Buddha himself often used when introducing his
teachings to new listeners. After beginning with the joys
of generosity, he would describe the joys of a virtuous life,
followed by the rewards of generosity and virtue to be experienced
here and, after death, in heaven; the drawbacks of sensual
pleasures, even heavenly ones; and the rewards of renunciation.
Then, when he sensed that his listeners were inclined to look
favorably on renunciation as a way to true happiness, he would
discuss the central message of his teaching: the four noble
truths.
My hope is that this introduction will help answer many of
the questions that newcomers bring to Buddhism, and will spark
new questions in their minds as they contemplate the possibility
of developing within their own lives the qualities of refuge
exemplified by the Triple Gem.
Thanissaro
Bhikkhu
Metta Forest Monastery
Valley Center, CA 92082-1409
U.S.A.
I.
Introduction
Going
for Refuge
The
act of going for refuge marks the point where one commits
oneself to taking the Dhamma, or the Buddha's teaching, as
the primary guide to one's life. To understand why this commitment
is called a "refuge," it's helpful to look at the history
of the custom.
In pre-Buddhist India, going for refuge meant proclaiming
one's allegiance to a patron -- a powerful person or god --
submitting to the patron's directives in hopes of receiving
protection from danger in return. In the early years of the
Buddha's teaching career, his new followers adopted this custom
to express their allegiance to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha,
but in the Buddhist context this custom took on a new meaning.
Buddhism is not a theistic religion -- the Buddha is not a
god -- and so a person taking refuge in the Buddhist sense
is not asking for the Buddha personally to intervene to provide
protection. Still, one of the Buddha's central teachings is
that human life is fraught with dangers -- from greed, anger,
and delusion -- and so the concept of refuge is central to
the path of practice, in that the practice is aimed at gaining
release from those dangers. Because the mind is the source
both of the dangers and of release, there is a need for two
levels of refuge: external refuges, which provide models and
guidelines so that we can identify which qualities in the
mind lead to danger and which to release; and internal refuges,
i.e., the qualities leading to release that we develop in
our own mind in imitation of our external models. The internal
level is where true refuge is found.
Although the tradition of going to refuge is an ancient practice,
it is still relevant for our own practice today, for we are
faced with the same internal dangers that faced people in
the Buddha's time. We still need the same protection as they.
When a Buddhist takes refuge, it is essentially an act of
taking refuge in the doctrine of karma: It's an act of submission
in that one is committed to living in line with the principle
that actions based on skillful intentions lead to happiness,
while actions based on unskillful intentions lead to suffering;
it's an act of claiming protection in that, by following the
teaching, one hopes to avoid the misfortunes that bad karma
engenders. To take refuge in this way ultimately means to
take refuge in the quality of our own intentions, for that's
where the essence of karma lies.
The refuges in Buddhism -- both on the internal and on the
external levels -- are the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, also
known as the Triple Gem. They are called gems both because
they are valuable and because, in ancient times, gems were
believed to have protective powers. The Triple Gem outdoes
other gems in this respect because its protective powers can
be put to the test and can lead further than those of any
physical gem, all the way to absolute freedom from the uncertainties
of the realm of aging, illness, and death.
The Buddha, on the external level, refers to Siddhattha Gotama,
the Indian prince who renounced his royal titles and went
into the forest, meditating until he ultimately gained Awakening.
To take refuge in the Buddha means, not taking refuge in him
as a person, but taking refuge in the fact of his Awakening:
placing trust in the belief that he did awaken to the truth,
that he did so by developing qualities that we too can develop,
and that the truths to which he awoke provide the best perspective
for the conduct of our life.
The
Dhamma, on the external level, refers to the path of practice
the Buddha taught to this followers. This, in turn, is divided
into three levels: the words of his teachings, the act of
putting those teachings into practice, and the attainment
of Awakening as the result of that practice. This three-way
division of the word "Dhamma" acts as a map showing how to
take the external refuges and make them internal: learning
about the teachings, using them to develop the qualities that
the Buddha himself used to attain Awakening, and then realizing
the same release from danger that he found in the quality
of Deathlessness that we can touch within.
The
word Sangha, on the external level, has two senses: conventional
and ideal. In its ideal sense, the Sangha consists of all
people, lay or ordained, who have practiced the Dhamma to
the point of gaining at least a glimpse of the Deathless.
In a conventional sense, Sangha denotes the communities of
ordained monks and nuns. The two meanings overlap but are
not necessarily identical. Some members of the ideal Sangha
are not ordained; some monks and nuns have yet to touch the
Deathless. All those who take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma,
and Sangha become members of the Buddha's four-fold assembly
(parisa) of followers: monks, nuns, male lay devotees,
and female lay devotees. Although there's a widespread belief
that all Buddhist followers are members of the Sangha, this
is not the case. Only those who are ordained are members of
the conventional Sangha; only those who have glimpsed the
Deathless are members of the ideal Sangha. Nevertheless, any
followers who don't belong to the Sangha in either sense of
the word still count as genuine Buddhists in that they are
members of the Buddha's parisa.
When taking refuge in the external Sangha, one takes refuge
in both senses of the Sangha, but the two senses provide different
levels of refuge. The conventional Sangha has helped keep
the teaching alive for more than 2,500 years. Without them,
we would never have learned what the Buddha taught. However,
not all members of the conventional Sangha are reliable models
of behavior. So when looking for guidance in the conduct of
our lives, we must look to the living and recorded examples
provided by the ideal Sangha. Without their example, we would
not know (1) that Awakening is available to all, and not just
to the Buddha; and (2) how Awakening expresses itself in real
life.
On
the internal level, the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha are the
skillful qualities we develop in our own minds in imitation
of our external models. For instance, the Buddha was a person
of wisdom, purity, and compassion. When we develop wisdom,
purity, and compassion in our own minds, they form our refuge
on an internal level. The Buddha tasted Awakening by developing
conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, and discernment.
When we develop these same qualities to the point of attaining
Awakening too, that Awakening is our ultimate refuge. This
is the point where the three aspects of the Triple Gem become
one: beyond the reach of greed, anger, and delusion, and thus
totally secure.
II.
Readings
'Indeed,
the Blessed One [the Buddha] is worthy and rightly self-awakened,
consummate in knowledge and conduct, well-gone, an expert
with regard to the cosmos, unexcelled as a trainer for those
people fit to be tamed, the Teacher of divine and human
beings, awakened, blessed.'
'The
Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One, to be seen
here and now, timeless, inviting verification, pertinent,
to be realized by the wise for themselves.'
'The
Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples who have practiced
well... who have practiced straight-forwardly... who have
practiced methodically... who have practiced masterfully
-- in other words, the four types of noble disciples when
taken as pairs, the eight when taken as individual types
-- they are the Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples: worthy
of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy
of respect, the incomparable field of merit for the world.'
A
X.92
Buddha
[The
Buddha speaks:] I lived in refinement, utmost refinement,
total refinement. My father even had lotus ponds made in
our palace: one where red-lotuses bloomed, one where white
lotuses bloomed, one where blue lotuses bloomed, all for
my sake. I used no sandalwood that was not from Varanasi.
My turban was from Varanasi, as were my tunic, my lower
garments, and my outer cloak. A white sunshade was held
over me day and night to protect me from cold, heat, dust,
dirt, and dew.
I had three palaces: one for the cold season, one for the
hot season, one for the rainy season. During the four months
of the rainy season I was entertained in the rainy-season
palace by minstrels without a single man among them, and
I did not once come down from the palace. Whereas the servants,
workers, and retainers in other people's homes are fed meals
of lentil soup and broken rice, in my father's home the
servants, workers, and retainers were fed wheat, rice, and
meat.
Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total
refinement, the thought occurred to me: "When an untaught,
run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to aging, not beyond
aging, sees another who is aged, he is horrified, humiliated,
and disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject
to aging, not beyond aging. If I -- who am subject to aging,
not beyond aging -- were to be horrified, humiliated, and
disgusted on seeing another person who is aged, that would
not be fitting for me." As I noticed this, the [typical]
young person's intoxication with youth entirely dropped
away.
Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total
refinement, the thought occurred to me: "When an untaught,
run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to illness, not
beyond illness, sees another who is ill, he is horrified,
humiliated, and disgusted, oblivious to himself that he
too is subject to illness, not beyond illness. And if I
-- who am subject to illness, not beyond illness -- were
to be horrified, humiliated, and disgusted on seeing another
person who is ill, that would not be fitting for me." As
I noticed this, the healthy person's intoxication with health
entirely dropped away.
Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total
refinement, the thought occurred to me: "When an untaught,
run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to death, not beyond
death, sees another who is dead, he is horrified, humiliated,
and disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject
to death, not beyond death. And if I -- who am subject to
death, not beyond death -- were to be horrified, humiliated,
and disgusted on seeing another person who is dead, that
would not be fitting for me." As I noticed this, the living
person's intoxication with life entirely dropped away.
A III.38
The
Quest for Awakening
Before
my Awakening, when I was still an unawakened Bodhisatta,
being subject myself to birth, aging, illness, death, sorrow,
and defilement, I sought [happiness in] what was subject
to birth, aging, illness, death, sorrow, and defilement.
The thought occurred to me: "Why am I, being subject myself
to birth... defilement, seeking what is subject to birth...
defilement? What if I... were to seek the unborn, unaging,
unailing, undying, sorrowless, undefiled, unsurpassed security
from bondage: Unbinding."
So at a later time, when I was still young, black-haired,
endowed with the blessings of youth in the first stage of
life, I shaved off my hair and beard -- though my parents
wished otherwise and were grieving with tears on their faces
-- and I put on the ochre robe and went forth from the home
life into homelessness.
Having gone forth in search of what might be skillful, seeking
the unexcelled state of sublime peace, I went to where Alara
Kalama was staying and, on arrival, said to him: "I want
to practice in this doctrine and discipline."
When this was said, he replied to me, "You may stay here.
This doctrine is such that a wise person can soon enter
and dwell in his own teacher's knowledge, having realized
it for himself through direct knowledge."
I quickly learned the doctrine. As far as mere lip-reciting
and repetition, I could speak the words of knowledge, the
words of the elders, and I could affirm that I knew and
saw -- I, along with others.
I thought: "It isn't through mere conviction alone that
Alara Kalama declares, 'I have entered and dwell in this
Dhamma, having realized it directly for myself.' Certainly
he dwells knowing and seeing this Dhamma." So I went to
him and said, "To what extent do you declare that you have
entered and dwell in this Dhamma?" When this was said, he
declared the dimension of nothingness.
I thought: "Not only does Alara Kalama have conviction,
persistence, mindfulness, concentration, and discernment.
I, too, have conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration,
and discernment. Suppose I were to endeavor to realize for
myself the Dhamma that Alara Kalama declares he has entered
and dwells in..." So it was not long before I entered and
dwelled in that Dhamma, having realized it for myself through
direct knowledge. I went to him and said, "Friend Kalama,
is this the extent to which you have entered and dwell in
this Dhamma, having realized it for yourself through direct
knowledge?"
"Yes..."
"This
is the extent to which I, too, have entered and dwell in
this Dhamma, having realized it for myself through direct
knowledge."
"It
is a gain for us, a great gain for us, that we have such
a companion in the holy life... As I am, so are you; as
you are, so am I. Come friend, let us now lead this community
together."
In this way did Alara Kalama, my teacher, place me, his
pupil, on the same level with himself and pay me great honor.
But the thought occurred to me, "This Dhamma leads not to
disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling,
to direct knowledge, to Awakening, nor to Unbinding, but
only to reappearance in the dimension of nothingness." So,
dissatisfied with that Dhamma, I left.
M 26
"Now,
Aggivessana, these three similes -- spontaneous, never before
heard -- appeared to me. Suppose there were a wet, sappy
piece of timber lying in the water, and a man were to come
along with an upper fire-stick, thinking, 'I'll light a
fire. I'll produce heat.' Now what do you think? Would he
be able to light a fire and produce heat by rubbing the
upper fire-stick in the wet, sappy timber lying in the water?"
"No,
Master Gotama..."
"So
it is with any priest or contemplative who does not live
withdrawn from sensuality in body and mind, and whose desire,
infatuation, urge, thirst, and fever for sensuality is not
relinquished and stilled within him: Whether or not he feels
painful, racking, piercing feelings due to his striving
[for Awakening], he is incapable of knowledge, vision, and
unexcelled self-awakening...
"Then
a second simile -- spontaneous, never before heard -- appeared
to me. Suppose there were a wet, sappy piece of timber lying
on land far from water, and a man were to come along with
an upper fire-stick, thinking, 'I'll light a fire. I'll
produce heat.' Now what do you think? Would he be able to
light a fire and produce heat by rubbing the upper fire-stick
in the wet, sappy timber lying on land?"
"No,
Master Gotama..."
"So
it is with any priest or contemplative who lives withdrawn
from sensuality in body only, but whose desire, infatuation,
urge, thirst, and fever for sensuality is not relinquished
and stilled within him: Whether or not he feels painful,
racking, piercing feelings due to his striving, he is incapable
of knowledge, vision, and unexcelled self-awakening...
"Then
a third simile -- spontaneous, never before heard -- appeared
to me. Suppose there were a dry, sapless piece of timber
lying on land far from water, and a man were to come along
with an upper fire-stick, thinking, 'I'll light a fire.
I'll produce heat.' Now what do you think? Would he be able
to light a fire and produce heat by rubbing the upper fire-stick
in the dry, sapless timber lying on land?"
"Yes,
Master Gotama..."
"So
it is with any priest or contemplative who lives withdrawn
from sensuality in body and mind, and whose desire, infatuation,
urge, thirst, and fever for sensuality is relinquished and
stilled within him: Whether or not he feels painful, racking,
piercing feelings due to his striving, he is capable of
knowledge, vision, and unexcelled self-awakening...
"I
thought: 'Suppose that I, clenching my teeth and pressing
my tongue against the roof of my mouth, were to beat down,
constrain, and crush my mind with my awareness'... So, just
as if a strong man, seizing a weaker man by the head or
the throat or the shoulders would beat him down, constrain
and crush him, in the same way I beat down, constrained,
and crushed my mind with my awareness. As I did so, sweat
poured from my armpits. But although tireless persistence
was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established,
my body was aroused and uncalm because of the painful exertion.
But the painful feeling that arose in this way did not invade
my mind or remain.
"I
thought: 'Suppose I were to become absorbed in the trance
of non-breathing.' So I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths
in my nose and mouth. As I did so, there was a loud roaring
of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar
of winds coming out of a smith's bellows... So I stopped
the in-breaths and out-breaths in my nose and mouth and
ears. As I did so, extreme forces sliced through my head,
just as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a
sharp sword... Extreme pains arose in my head, just as if
a strong man were tightening a turban made of tough leather
straps around my head... Extreme forces carved up my stomach
cavity, just as if a butcher or his apprentice were to carve
up the stomach cavity of an ox... There was an extreme burning
in my body, just as if two strong men, grabbing a weaker
man by the arms, were to roast and broil him over a pit
of hot embers. But although tireless persistence was aroused
in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my body was
aroused and uncalm because of the painful exertion. But
the painful feeling that arose in this way did not invade
my mind or remain.
"Devas,
on seeing me, said, 'Gotama the contemplative is dead.'
Other devas said, 'He isn't dead, he's dying.' Others said,
'He's neither dead nor dying, he's an arahant, for this
is the way arahants live.'
"I
thought: 'Suppose I were to practice going altogether without
food.' Then devas came to me and said, 'Dear sir, please
don't practice going altogether without food. If you go
altogether without food, we'll infuse divine nourishment
in through your pores, and you will survive on that.' I
thought, 'If I were to claim to be completely fasting while
these devas are infusing divine nourishment in through my
pores, I would be lying.' So I dismissed them, saying, 'Enough.'
"I
thought: 'Suppose I were to take only a little food at a
time, only a handful at a time of bean soup, lentil soup,
vetch soup, or pea soup.' So I took only a little food at
a time, only handful at a time of bean soup, lentil soup,
vetch soup, or pea soup. My body became extremely emaciated.
Simply from my eating so little, my limbs became like the
jointed segments of vine stems or bamboo stems... My backside
became like a camel's hoof... My spine stood out like a
string of beads... My ribs jutted out like the jutting rafters
of an old, run-down barn... The gleam of my eyes appeared
to be sunk deep in my eye sockets like the gleam of water
deep in a well... My scalp shriveled and withered like a
green bitter gourd, shriveled and withered in the heat and
the wind... The skin of my belly became so stuck to my spine
that when I thought of touching my belly, I grabbed hold
of my spine as well; and when I thought of touching my spine,
I grabbed hold of the skin of my belly as well... If I urinated
or defecated, I fell over on my face right there... Simply
from my eating so little, if I tried to ease my body by
rubbing my limbs with my hands, the hair -- rotted at its
roots -- fell from my body as I rubbed...
"I
thought: 'Whatever priests or contemplatives in the past
have felt painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their
striving, this is the utmost. None have been greater than
this. Whatever priests or contemplatives in the future...
in the present are feeling painful, racking, piercing feelings
due to their striving, this is the utmost. None is greater
than this. But with this racking practice of austerities
I have not attained any superior human state, any distinction
in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there
be another path to Awakening?'
"I
thought: 'I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working,
and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree,
then -- quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from
unskillful mental qualities -- I entered and remained in
the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal,
accompanied by directed thought and evaluation. Could that
be the path to Awakening?' Then, following on that memory,
came the realization: 'That is the path to Awakening...
So why am I afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to
do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental
qualities?' I thought: 'I am no longer afraid of that pleasure...
but it is not easy to achieve that pleasure with a body
so extremely emaciated...' So I took some solid food: some
rice and porridge. Now five monks had been attending on
me, thinking, 'If Gotama, our contemplative, achieves some
higher state, he will tell us.' But when they saw me taking
some solid food -- some rice and porridge -- they were disgusted
and left me, thinking, 'Gotama the contemplative is living
luxuriously. He has abandoned his exertion and is backsliding
into abundance.'
"So
when I had taken solid food and regained strength, then
-- quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful
mental qualities, I entered and remained in the first jhana:
rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by
directed thought and evaluation. But the pleasant feeling
that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.
With the stilling of directed thought and evaluation, I
entered and remained in the second jhana: rapture and pleasure
born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed
thought and evaluation -- internal assurance... With the
fading of rapture I remained in equanimity, mindful and
alert, and physically sensitive of pleasure. I entered and
remained in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare,
'Equanimous and mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.'...
With the abandoning of pleasure and pain -- as with the
earlier disappearance of elation and distress -- I entered
and remained in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity and
mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. But the pleasant
feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or
remain.
"When
the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished,
rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained
to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of recollecting
my past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives, i.e.,
one birth, two... five, ten... fifty, a hundred, a thousand,
a hundred thousand, many eons of cosmic contraction, many
eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction
and expansion: 'There I had such a name, belonged to such
a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my
experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my life.
Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too
I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an
appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure
and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that
state, I re-arose here.' Thus I remembered my manifold past
lives in their modes and details.
"This
was the first knowledge I attained in the first watch of
the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness
was destroyed; light arose -- as happens in one who is heedful,
ardent, and resolute. But the pleasant feeling that arose
in this way did not invade my mind or remain.
"When
the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished,
rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained
to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the
passing away and reappearance of beings. I saw -- by means
of the divine eye, purified and surpassing the human --
beings passing away and re-appearing, and I discerned how
they are inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate
and unfortunate in accordance with their kamma: 'These beings
-- who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, and
mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong views and undertook
actions under the influence of wrong views -- with the break-up
of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the plane
of deprivation, the bad destination, the lower realms, in
hell. But these beings -- who were endowed with good conduct
of body, speech and mind, who did not revile the noble ones,
who held right views and undertook actions under the influence
of right views -- with the break-up of the body, after death,
have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the heavenly
world.' Thus -- by means of the divine eye, purified and
surpassing the human -- I saw beings passing away and re-appearing,
and I discerned how they are inferior and superior, beautiful
and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their
kamma.
"This
was the second knowledge I attained in the second watch
of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose;
darkness was destroyed; light arose -- as happens in one
who is heedful, ardent, and resolute. But the pleasant feeling
that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.
"When
the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished,
rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained
to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the
ending of the mental effluents (asava). I discerned,
as it was actually present, that 'This is stress... This
is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of
stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress...
These are effluents... This is the origination of effluents...
This is the cessation of effluents... This is the way leading
to the cessation of effluents.' My heart, thus knowing,
thus seeing, was released from the effluent of sensuality,
released from the effluent of becoming, released from the
effluent of ignorance. With release, there was the knowledge,
'Released.' I discerned that 'Birth is ended, the holy life
fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this
world.'
"This
was the third knowledge I attained in the third watch of
the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness
was destroyed; light arose -- as happens in one who is heedful,
ardent, and resolute. But the pleasant feeling that arose
in this way did not invade my mind or remain."
M
36
Through
the round of many births
without reward,
without rest,
seeking the house builder.
Painful is birth again
and again.
House builder, you're seen!
You will not build a house again.
All your rafters broken,
the ridge pole destroyed,
gone to the Unformed, the mind
has attained the end of craving.
Dhp
153-54
The
Buddha's Passing Away
Now
at that time Subhadda the Wanderer was staying in Kusinara.
He heard that 'Tonight, in the last watch of the night,
the total Unbinding of Gotama the contemplative will take
place.' Then this thought occurred to him, 'I have heard
the elder wanderers, teachers of teachers, saying that only
once in a long, long time do Tathagatas -- worthy ones,
rightly self-awakened -- appear in the world. Tonight, in
the last watch of the night, the total Unbinding of Gotama
the contemplative will take place. Now there is a doubt
that has arisen in me, but I have faith that he could teach
me the Dhamma in such a way that I might abandon that doubt.'
So he went to the Mallan Sal Tree grove and, on arrival,
said to Ven. Ananda, 'I have heard the elder wanderers,
teachers of teachers, saying that only once in a long, long
time do Tathagatas -- worthy ones, rightly self-awakened
-- appear in the world. Tonight, in the last watch of the
night, the total Unbinding of Gotama the contemplative will
take place. Now there is a doubt that has arisen in me,
but I have faith that he could teach me the Dhamma in such
a way that I might abandon that doubt. It would be good,
Ven. Ananda, if you would let me see him.'
When this was said, Ven. Ananda said to him, 'Enough, friend
Subhadda. Do not bother the Blessed One. The Blessed One
is tired.'
For a second time... For a third time, Subhadda the Wanderer
said to Ven. Ananda, '...It would be good, Ven. Ananda,
if you would let me see him.'
For a third time, Ven. Ananda said to him, 'Enough, friend
Subhadda. Do not bother the Blessed One. The Blessed One
is tired.'
Now, the Blessed One heard the exchange between Ven. Ananda
and Subhadda the Wanderer, and so he said to Ven. Ananda,
'Enough, Ananda. Do not stand in his way. Let him see the
Tathagata. Whatever he asks me will all be for the sake
of knowledge, and not to be bothersome. And whatever I answer
when asked, he will quickly understand.'
So Ven. Ananda said to Subhadda the Wanderer, 'Go ahead,
friend Subhadda. The Blessed One gives you his leave.'
Then Subhadda went to the Blessed One and exchanged courtesies,
and after the exchange of courtesies sat to one side. As
he was sitting there, he said to the Blessed One, 'Lord,
these priests and contemplatives, each with his group, each
with his community, each the teacher of his group, an honored
leader, well-regarded by people at large -- i.e., Purana
Kassapa, Makkhali Gosala, Ajita Kesakambalin, Pakudha Kaccayana,
Sañjaya Belatthaputta, and the Nigantha Nathaputta:
Do they all have direct knowledge as they themselves claim,
or do they all not have direct knowledge, or do some of
them have direct knowledge and some of them not?'
'Enough,
Subhadda. Put this question aside. I will teach you the
Dhamma. Listen, and pay close attention. I will speak.'
'Yes, lord,' Subhadda answered, and the Blessed One said,
'In any doctrine and discipline where the noble eightfold
path is not found, no contemplative of the first... second...
third... fourth order [stream-winner, once-returner, non-returner,
arahant ] is found. But in any doctrine and discipline where
the noble eightfold path is found, contemplatives
of the first... second... third... fourth order are
found. The noble eightfold path is found in this doctrine
and discipline, and right here there are contemplatives
of the first... second... third... fourth order. Other teachings
are empty of knowledgeable contemplatives. And if the monks
dwell rightly, this world will not be empty of Arahants.
At age twenty-nine I went forth,
seeking what might be skillful,
and since my going forth
more than fifty years have past.
Outside of the realm
of methodical Dhamma,
there is no contemplative.
And no contemplative of the second... third... fourth order.
Other teachings are empty of knowledgeable contemplatives.
And if the monks dwell rightly, this world will not be empty
of Arahants.'
Then Subhadda the Wanderer said, 'Magnificent, lord, magnificent!
In many ways has the Blessed One made the Dhamma clear --
just as if one were to place upright what has been overturned,
to reveal what has been hidden, to point out the way to
one who is lost, or to set out a lamp in the darkness so
that those with eyes might see forms. I go to the Blessed
One for refuge, and to the Dhamma and to the community of
monks. Let me obtain the going forth in the Blessed One's
presence, let me obtain admission.'
'Anyone,
Subhadda, who has previously belonged to another sect and
who desires the going forth and admission in this doctrine
and discipline must first undergo probation for four months.
If, at the end of four months, the monks feel so moved,
they give him the going forth and admit him to the monk's
state. But I know distinctions among individuals in this
matter.'
'Lord, if that is so, I am willing to undergo probation
for four years. If, at the end of four years, the monks
feel so moved, let them give me the going forth and admit
me to the monk's state.'
Then the Blessed One said to Ven. Ananda, 'Very well then,
Ananda, give Subhadda the going forth.'
'Yes, lord,' Ananda answered.
Then Subhadda said to Ven. Ananda, 'It is a gain for you,
Ananda, a great gain, that you have been anointed here in
the Teacher's presence with the pupil's anointing.'
Then Subhadda the Wanderer received the going forth and
the admission in the Blessed One's presence. And not long
after his admission -- dwelling alone, secluded, heedful,
ardent, and resolute -- he in no long time reached and remained
in the supreme goal of the holy life, for which clansmen
rightly go forth from home into homelessness, knowing and
realizing it for himself in the here and now. He knew: 'Birth
is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There
is nothing further for the sake of this world.' And thus
Ven. Subhadda became another one of the Arahants, the last
of the Blessed One's face-to-face disciples...
Then the Blessed One addressed the monks, 'I exhort you,
monks: All processes are subject to decay. Bring about completion
by being heedful.' Those were the Tathagata's last words.
Then the Blessed One entered the first jhana. Emerging from
that he entered the second. Emerging from that, he entered
the third... the fourth... the dimension of the infinitude
of space... the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness...
the dimension of nothingness... the dimension of neither
perception nor non-perception... the cessation of perception
and feeling.
Then Ven. Ananda said to Ven. Anuruddha, "The Blessed One,
sir, has entered total Unbinding."
"No,
friend, the Blessed One has not entered total Unbinding.
He has attained the cessation of perception and feeling."
Then emerging from the cessation of perception and feeling,
the Blessed One entered the dimension of neither perception
nor non-perception... the dimension of nothingness... the
dimension of the infinitude of consciousness... the dimension
of the infinitude of space... the fourth jhana... the third...
the second... the first jhana. Emerging from the first jhana
he entered the second... the third... the fourth jhana.
Emerging from the fourth jhana, he entered total Unbinding
in the interim...
When
the Blessed One had attained total Unbinding, Sakka, ruler
of the gods, uttered this stanza:
How inconstant are compounded things!
Their nature: to arise and pass away.
They disband as they are arising.
Their total stilling
is bliss.
D
16
Dhamma
Basic
Principles
Phenomena
are preceded by the heart,
ruled by the heart,
made of the heart.
If you speak or act with a corrupted heart,
then suffering follows you --
as the wheel of the cart,
the track of the ox that pulls it.
Phenomena are preceded by the heart,
ruled by the heart,
made of the heart.
If you speak or act with a calm, bright heart,
happiness follows you,
like a shadow that never leaves.
Dhp
1-2
Heedfulness:
the path to the Deathless;
Heedlessness: the path to death.
The heedful do not die;
The heedless are as if
already dead.
Knowing this as a true distinction,
those wise in heedfulness
rejoice in heedfulness,
enjoying the range of the noble ones.
Dhp
21-22
There
are these five facts that one should reflect on often, whether
one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained. Which five?
"I
am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging"...
"I
am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness"...
"I
am subject to death, have not gone beyond death"...
"I
will grow different, separate from all that is dear and
appealing to me"...
"I
am the owner of my actions (kamma), heir to my actions,
born of my actions, related through my actions, and have
my actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or
for evil, to that will I fall heir"...
These are the five facts that one should reflect on often,
whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.
Now, based on what line of reasoning should one often reflect...
that "I am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging"?
There are beings who are intoxicated with a [typical] youth's
intoxication with youth. Because of that intoxication with
youth, they conduct themselves in a bad way in body... in
speech... and in mind. But when they often reflect on that
fact, that youth's intoxication with youth will either be
entirely abandoned or grow weaker...
Now, based on what line of reasoning should one often reflect...
that "I am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness"?
There are beings who are intoxicated with a [typical] healthy
person's intoxication with health. Because of that intoxication
with health, they conduct themselves in a bad way in body...
in speech... and in mind. But when they often reflect on
that fact, that healthy person's intoxication with health
will either be entirely abandoned or grow weaker...
Now, based on what line of reasoning should one often reflect...
that "I am subject to death, have not gone beyond death"?
There are beings who are intoxicated with a [typical] living
person's intoxication with life. Because of that intoxication
with life, they conduct themselves in a bad way in body...
in speech... and in mind. But when they often reflect on
that fact, that living person's intoxication with life will
either be entirely abandoned or grow weaker...
Now,
based on what line of reasoning should one often reflect...
that "I will grow different, separate from all that is dear
and appealing to me"? There are beings who feel desire and
passion for the things they find dear and appealing. Because
of that passion, they conduct themselves in a bad way in
body... in speech... and in mind. But when they often reflect
on that fact, that desire and passion for the things they
find dear and appealing will either be entirely abandoned
or grow weaker...
Now, based on what line of reasoning should one often reflect...
that "I am the owner of my actions (kamma), heir to my actions,
born of my actions, related through my actions, and have
my actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or
for evil, to that will I fall heir"? There are beings who
conduct themselves in a bad way in body... in speech...
and in mind. But when they often reflect on that fact, that
bad conduct in body, speech, and mind will either be entirely
abandoned or grow weaker...
Now, a noble disciple considers this: "I am not the only
one subject to aging, who has not gone beyond aging. To
the extent that there are beings -- past and future, passing
away and re-arising -- all beings are subject to aging,
have not gone beyond aging." When he/she often reflects
on this, the [factors of the] path take birth. He/she sticks
with that path, develops it, cultivates it. As he/she sticks
with that path, develops it and cultivates it, the fetters
are abandoned, the latent tendencies destroyed. (Similarly
with each of the other contemplations.)
A
V.57
The
non-doing of any evil,
the performance of what is skillful,
the cleansing of one's own mind:
This is the Buddhas'
teaching.
Not disparaging, not injuring,
restraint in line with the Patimokkha,
moderation in food,
dwelling in seclusion,
commitment to the heightened mind:
This is the Buddhas' teaching.
Dhp
183, 185
I
do not see any one quality by which unarisen skillful qualities
arise, and arisen unskillful qualities subside, like friendship
with admirable people. When a person is friends with admirable
people, unarisen skillful qualities arise, and arisen unskillful
qualities subside.
A I.72
Now what, TigerPaw (Byagghapajja), is friendship with admirable
people? There is the case where a lay person, in whatever
town or village he may dwell, spends time with householders
or householders' sons, young or old, who are advanced in
virtue. He talks with them, engages them in discussions.
He emulates consummate conviction [in the principle of kamma]
in those who are consummate in conviction, consummate virtue
in those who are consummate in virtue, consummate generosity
in those who are consummate in generosity, and consummate
discernment in those who are consummate in discernment.
This is called friendship with admirable people.
A
VIII.54
A
female noble disciple who grows in terms of these five types
of growth grows in the noble growth, grasps hold of what
is essential, what is excellent in the body. Which five?
She grows in terms of conviction, in terms of virtue, in
terms of learning, in terms of generosity, in terms of discernment.
Growing in terms of these five types of growth, the female
noble disciple grows in the noble growth, grasps hold of
what is essential, what is excellent in the body.
Growing in conviction and virtue
discernment, generosity, and learning,
a virtuous female lay disciple
such as this
takes hold of the essence within herself.
S XXXVII.34
'Kamma should be known. The cause by which kamma comes into
play should be known. The diversity in kamma should be known.
The result of kamma should be known. The cessation of kamma
should be known. The path of practice for the cessation
of kamma should be known.' Thus it has been said. Why was
it said?
Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma
by way of body, speech, and intellect.
And what is the cause by which kamma comes into play? Contact...
And what is the diversity in kamma? There is kamma to be
experienced in purgatory, kamma to be experienced in the
realm of common animals, kamma to be experienced in the
realm of the hungry shades, kamma to be experienced in the
human world, kamma to be experienced in the celestial worlds...
And what is the result of kamma? The result of kamma is
of three sorts, I tell you: that which arises right here
and now, that which arises later [in this lifetime], and
that which arises following that...
And what is the cessation of kamma? From the cessation of
contact is the cessation of kamma...
And what is the way leading to the cessation of kamma? Just
this noble eightfold path: right view, right resolve, right
speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right
mindfulness, right concentration.
Now
when a noble disciple discerns kamma in this way, the cause
by which kamma comes into play in this way, the diversity
of kamma in this way, the result of kamma in this way, the
cessation of kamma in this way, and the path of practice
leading to the cessation of kamma in this way, then he discerns
this penetrative holy life as the cessation of kamma.
A
VI.63
The
Buddha: What do you think, Rahula: What is a mirror for?
Rahula: For reflection, sir.
The Buddha: In the same way, Rahula, bodily acts, verbal
acts, and mental acts are to be done with repeated reflection.
Whenever you want to perform a bodily act, you should reflect
on it: 'This bodily act I want to perform -- would it lead
to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both?
Is it an unskillful bodily act, with painful consequences,
painful results?' If, on reflection, you know that it would
lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or
to both; it would be an unskillful bodily act with painful
consequences, painful results, then any bodily act of that
sort is absolutely unfit for you to do. But if on reflection
you know that it would not cause affliction... it would
be a skillful bodily act with happy consequences, happy
results, then any bodily act of that sort is fit for you
to do.
(Similarly with verbal acts and mental acts.)
While you are performing a bodily act, you should reflect
on it: 'This bodily act I am doing -- is it leading to self-affliction,
to the affliction of others, or to both? Is it an unskillful
bodily act, with painful consequences, painful results?'
If, on reflection, you know that it is leading to self-affliction,
to affliction of others, or both... you should give it up.
But if on reflection you know that it is not... you may
continue with it.
(Similarly with verbal acts and mental acts.)
Having performed a bodily act, you should reflect on it...
If, on reflection, you know that it led to self-affliction,
to the affliction of others, or to both; it was an unskillful
bodily act with painful consequences, painful results, then
you should confess it, reveal it, lay it open to the Teacher
or to a knowledgeable companion in the holy life. Having
confessed it... you should exercise restraint in the future.
But if on reflection you know that it did not lead to affliction...
it was a skillful bodily act with happy consequences, happy
results, then you should stay mentally refreshed and joyful,
training day and night in skillful mental qualities.
(Similarly with verbal acts.)
Having performed a mental act, you should reflect on it...
If, on reflection, you know that it led to self-affliction,
to the affliction of others, or to both; it was an unskillful
mental act with painful consequences, painful results, then
you should feel horrified, humiliated, and disgusted with
it. Feeling horrified... you should exercise restraint in
the future. But if on reflection you know that it did not
lead to affliction... it was a skillful mental act with
happy consequences, happy results, then you should stay
mentally refreshed and joyful, training day and night in
skillful mental qualities.
Rahula,
all the priests and contemplatives in the course of the
past who purified their bodily acts, verbal acts, and mental
acts, did it through repeated reflection on their bodily
acts, verbal acts, and mental acts in just this way.
All the priests and contemplatives in the course of the
future... All the priests and contemplatives at present
who purify their bodily acts, verbal acts, and mental acts,
do it through repeated reflection on their bodily acts,
verbal acts, and mental acts in just this way.
Therefore, Rahula, you should train yourself: 'I will purify
my bodily acts through repeated reflection. I will purify
my verbal acts through repeated reflection. I will purify
my mental acts through repeated reflection.' Thus you should
train yourself.
That is what the Blessed One said. Pleased, Ven. Rahula
delighted in the Blessed One's words.
M
61
These
five things are welcome, agreeable, pleasant, and hard to
obtain in the world. Which five? Long life... beauty...
pleasure... status... rebirth in heaven... Now, I tell you,
these five things are not to be obtained by reason of prayers
or wishes. If they were to be obtained by reason of prayers
or wishes, who here would lack them? It is not fitting for
the noble disciple who desires long life to pray for it
or to delight in doing so. Instead, the noble disciple who
desires long life should follow the path of practice leading
to long life. In so doing, he will attain long life, either
human or divine. (Similarly with beauty, pleasure, status,
and rebirth in heaven.)
A
V.43
I
have heard that at one time the Blessed One was staying
in Savatthi at Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery.
Then a certain deva, in the far extreme of the night, her
extreme radiance lighting up the entirety of Jeta's Grove,
approached the Blessed One. On approaching, having bowed
down to the Blessed One, she stood to one side. As she was
standing there, she addressed him with a verse.
"Many
devas and humans beings
give thought to protective charms,
desiring well-being.
Tell, then, the highest protective charm."
[The Buddha:]
"Not
consorting with fools,
consorting with the wise,
homage to those deserving of homage:
This is the highest protective charm.
Living in a civilized land,
having made merit in the past,
directing oneself rightly:
This is the highest protective charm.
Broad knowledge, skill,
well-mastered discipline,
well-spoken words:
This is the highest protective charm.
Support for one's parents,
assistance to one's wife and children,
consistency in one's work:
This is the highest protective charm.
Giving, living in rectitude,
assistance to one's relatives,
deeds that are blameless:
This is the highest protective charm.
Avoiding, abstaining from evil;
refraining from intoxicants,
being heedful of the qualities of the mind:
This is the highest protective charm.
Respect, humility,
contentment, gratitude,
hearing the Dhamma on timely occasions:
This is the highest protective charm.
Patience, composure,
seeing contemplatives,
discussing the Dhamma on timely occasions:
This is the highest protective charm.
Austerity, celibacy,
seeing the Noble Truths,
realizing Unbinding:
This is the highest protective charm.
A mind that, when touched
by the ways of the world,
is unshaken, sorrowless, dustless, secure:
This is the highest
protective charm.
Everywhere undefeated
when acting in this way,
people go everywhere in well-being:
This is their highest protective charm."
Sn
II.4
Generosity
These
are the five rewards of generosity: One is dear and appealing
to people at large, one is admired by good people, one's
good name is spread about, one does not stray from the rightful
duties of the householder, and with the break-up of the
body at death, one reappears in a good destination, in the
heavenly worlds.
A V.35
What the miser fears,
that keeps him from giving,
is the very danger that comes
when he doesn't give.
S I.32
No
misers go
to the world of the devas.
Those who don't praise giving
are fools.
The enlightened
expresse their approval for giving
and so finds ease
in the world beyond.
Dhp
177
If
beings knew, as I know, the results of giving and sharing,
they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain
of miserliness overcome their minds. Even if it were their
last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without
having shared, if there were someone to receive their gift.
But because beings do not know, as I know, the results of
giving and sharing, they eat without having given. The stain
of miserliness overcomes their minds.
Iti
26
Now
on that occasion Princess Sumana -- with an entourage of
500 ladies-in-waiting riding on 500 carriages -- went to
where the Buddha was staying. On arrival, having bowed down,
she sat to one side. As she was sitting there, she said
to the Blessed One, "Suppose there were two disciples of
the Blessed One, equal in conviction, virtue, and discernment,
but one was a giver of alms and the other was not. At the
break-up of the body, after death, they would reappear in
a good destination, in the heavenly world. Having become
devas, would there be any distinction, any difference between
the two?"
"Yes,
there would," said the Blessed One. "The one who was a giver
of alms, on becoming a deva, would surpass the other in
five areas: in divine life span, divine beauty, divine pleasure,
divine status, and divine power..."
"And
if they were to fall from there and reappear in this world:
Having become human beings, would there be any distinction,
any difference between the two?"
"Yes,
there would," said the Blessed One. "The one who was a giver
of alms, on becoming a human being, would surpass the other
in five areas: in human life span, human beauty, human pleasure,
human status, and human power..."
"And
if they were to go forth from home into the homeless life
of a monk: Having gone forth, would there be any distinction,
any difference between the two?"
"Yes,
there would," said the Blessed One. "The one who was a giver
of alms, on going forth, would surpass the other in five
areas: He would often be asked to make use of robes; it
would be rare that he wouldn't be asked. He would often
be asked to take food... to make use of shelter... to make
use of medicine; it would be rare that he wouldn't be asked.
His companions in the holy life would often treat him with
pleasing actions... pleasing words... pleasing thoughts...
and present him with pleasing gifts, and rarely with unpleasing..."
"And
if both were to attain arahantship, would there be any distinction,
any difference between their attainments of arahantship?"
"In
that case, I tell you that there would be no difference
between the two as to their release."
"It
is awesome, lord, and astounding. Just this is reason enough
to give alms, to make merit, in that it benefits one as
a deva, as a human being, and as a monk."
A V.31
Virtue
There
are these five gifts, five great gifts -- original, long-standing,
traditional, ancient, unadulterated, unadulterated from
the beginning -- are not open to suspicion, will never be
open to suspicion, and are unfaulted by knowledgeable contemplatives
and priests. Which five?
There is the case where a noble disciple, abandoning the
taking of life, abstains from taking life. In doing so,
he gives freedom from danger, freedom from animosity, freedom
from oppression to limitless numbers of beings. In giving
freedom from danger, freedom from animosity, freedom from
oppression to limitless numbers of beings, he gains a share
in limitless freedom from danger, freedom from animosity,
and freedom from oppression...
Abandoning taking what is not given (stealing), he abstains
from taking what is not given...
Abandoning illicit sex, he abstains from illicit sex...
Abandoning lying, he abstains from lying...
Abandoning the use of intoxicants, he abstains from taking
intoxicants. In doing so, he gives freedom from danger,
freedom from animosity, freedom from oppression to limitless
numbers of beings. In giving freedom from danger, freedom
from animosity, freedom from oppression to limitless numbers
of beings, he gains a share in limitless freedom from danger,
freedom from animosity, and freedom from oppression... This
is the fifth gift, the fifth great gift -- original, long-standing,
traditional, ancient, unadulterated, unadulterated from
the beginning -- that is not open to suspicion, will never
be open to suspicion, and is unfaulted by knowledgeable
contemplatives and priests.
A
VIII.39
Cleansing
with regard to the body, Cunda, is threefold; cleansing
with regard to speech is fourfold; and cleansing with regard
to the mind, threefold. And how is cleansing with regard
to the body threefold? There is the case where a certain
person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from the
taking of life. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife
laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare
of all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not
given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does
not take the ungiven property of another, whether in a village
or in the wilderness, with thievish intent. Abandoning sensual
misconduct, he abstains from sensual misconduct. He does
not get sexually involved with those who are protected by
their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters,
their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those
who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers
by another man. This is how cleansing with regard to the
body is threefold.
And how is cleansing with regard to speech fourfold? There
is the case where a certain person, abandoning false speech,
abstains from false speech. When he has been called to a
town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives,
his guild, or of the royalty [i.e., a court proceeding],
if he is asked as a witness, 'Come and tell, good man, what
you know': If he doesn't know, he says, 'I don't know.'
If he does know, he says, 'I know.' If he hasn't seen, he
says, 'I haven't seen.' If he has seen, he says, 'I have
seen.' Thus he doesn't consciously tell a lie for his own
sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward.
Abandoning divisive speech, he abstains from divisive speech.
What he has heard here he does not tell there to break those
people apart from these people here. What he has heard there
he does not tell here to break these people apart from those
people there. Thus reconciling those who have broken apart
or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights
in concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord.
Abandoning abusive speech, he abstains from abusive speech.
He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are affectionate,
that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing & pleasing
to people at large. Abandoning idle chatter, he abstains
from idle chatter. He speaks in season, speaks what is factual,
what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, and the
Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable,
circumscribed, connected with the goal. This is how cleansing
with regard to speech is fourfold.
And how is cleansing with regard to the mind threefold?
There is the case where a certain person is not covetous.
He does not covet the property of another, thinking, "O,
if only what belongs to another were mine!" He is not malevolent
at heart or destructive in his resolves. He thinks, "May
these beings -- free from animosity, free from oppression,
and free from trouble -- look after themselves with ease."
He has right views and an unperverted outlook. He believes,
"There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed.
There are fruits and results of good and bad actions. There
is this world and the next world. There is mother and father.
There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are priests
and contemplatives who, living rightly and practicing rightly,
proclaim this world and the next after having directly known
and realized it for themselves." This is how cleansing with
regard to the mind is threefold.
A
X.176
There
are these five benefits in being virtuous, in being consummate
in virtue. Which five? There is the case where a virtuous
person, consummate in virtue, through not being heedless
in his affairs amasses a great quantity of wealth... His
good name is spread about... When approaching an assembly
of nobles, priests, householders, or contemplatives, he
does so unabashed and with assurance... He dies without
becoming delirious... With the break-up of the body, after
death, he reappears in a good destination, in the heavenly
world. These are the five benefits in being virtuous, in
being consummate in virtue.
D
16
This is to be done by one skilled in aims
who wants to break through to the state of peace:
Be capable, upright, and straightforward,
easy to instruct, gentle, and not proud,
content and easy to support,
with few duties, living lightly,
with peaceful faculties, masterful,
modest, and no greed for supporters.
Do not do the slightest thing
that the wise would later censure.
Think: Happy and secure,
may all beings be happy at heart.
Whatever beings there may be,
weak or strong, without exception,
long, large,
middling, short,
subtle, blatant,
seen & unseen,
near & far,
born & seeking birth:
May all beings be happy at heart.
Let no one deceive another
or despise anyone anywhere,
or through anger or irritation
wish for another to suffer.
As
a mother would risk her life
to protect her child, her only child,
even so should one cultivate
a limitless heart
with regard to all beings.
With good will for the entire cosmos,
cultivate a limitless heart:
above, below, & all around,
unobstructed, without enmity or hate.
Whether standing, walking,
sitting, or lying down,
as long as one is alert,
one should be resolved on this mindfulness.
This is called a sublime abiding here & now.
Not taken with views,
but virtuous & consummate in vision,
having subdued desire for sensual pleasures,
one never again will lie in the womb.
Sn
I.8
Heaven
Blinded
this world --
how few here see clearly!
Just as birds that have escaped from a net are
few, few
are the people who make it to heaven.
Dhp
174
The
Buddha: "Suppose that a Universal Monarch possessed the
seven treasures [the treasure of a divine wheel, the treasure
of an ideal jewel, the treasure of an ideal elephant, the
treasure of an ideal horse, the treasure of an ideal wife,
the treasure of an ideal steward, and the treasure of an
ideal counselor] and the four forms of prowess [he is surpassingly
attractive, he has a surpassingly long life, he is surpassingly
free from illness, and he loves his subjects and is loved
by them]. Now what do you think? Would he... experience
pleasure and joy?"
The monks: "Yes, lord."
Then, taking a small stone, the size of his hand, the Blessed
One said, "What do you think? Which is larger, this small
stone that I have taken, the size of my hand, or the Himalayas,
king of mountains?"
"It
is minuscule, the small stone... It does not count beside
the Himalayas, the king of mountains. It is not even a small
fraction. There is no comparison."
"In
the same way, the pleasure and joy that the Universal Monarch
experiences on account of his seven treasures and four forms
of prowess do not count beside the pleasures of heaven.
They are not even a small fraction. There is no comparison."
M 129
Drawbacks
Now
what is the allure of sensuality? There are, monks, these
five strings of sensuality. Which five? Forms cognizable
via the eye -- agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing,
fostering desire, enticing. Sounds cognizable via the ear...
Aromas cognizable via the nose... Flavors cognizable via
the tongue... Tactile sensations cognizable via the body
-- agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire,
enticing. Now whatever pleasure or joy arises in dependence
on these five strings of sensuality, that is the allure
of sensuality.
And what is the drawback of sensuality? There is the case
where, on account of the occupation by which a clansman
makes a living -- whether checking or accounting or calculating
or plowing or trading or cattle tending or archery or as
a king's man, or whatever the occupation may be -- he faces
cold; he faces heat; being harassed by mosquitoes, flies,
wind, sun, and creeping things; dying from hunger and thirst.
Now this drawback in the case of sensuality, this mass of
stress visible here and now, has sensuality for its reason,
sensuality for its source, sensuality for its cause, the
reason being simply sensuality.
If the clansman gains no wealth while thus working and striving
and making effort, he sorrows, grieves and laments, beats
his breast, becomes distraught: 'My work is in vain, my
efforts are fruitless!' Now this drawback too in the case
of sensuality, this mass of stress visible here and now,
has sensuality for its reason...
If the clansman gains wealth while thus working and striving
and making effort, he experiences pain and distress in protecting
it: 'How shall neither kings nor thieves make off with my
property, nor fire burn it, nor water sweep it away nor
hateful heirs make off with it?' And as he thus guards and
watches over his property, kings or thieves make off with
it, or fire burns it, or water sweeps it away, or hateful
heirs make off with it. And he sorrows, grieves and laments,
beats his breast, becomes distraught: 'What was mine is
no more!' Now this drawback too in the case of sensuality,
this mass of stress visible here and now, has sensuality
for its reason...
Furthermore, it is with sensuality for the reason, sensuality
for the source, sensuality for the cause, the reason being
simply sensuality, that kings quarrel with kings, nobles
with nobles, priests with priests, householders with householders,
mother with child, child with mother, father with child,
child with father, brother with brother, sister with sister,
brother with sister, sister with brother, friend with friend.
And then in their quarrels, brawls, and disputes, they attack
one another with fists or with clods or with sticks or with
knives, so that they incur death or deadly pain. Now this
drawback too in the case of sensuality, this mass of stress
visible here and now, has sensuality for its reason...
Furthermore,
it is with sensuality for the reason, sensuality for the
source... that (men), taking swords and shields and buckling
on bows and quivers, charge into battle massed in double
array while arrows and spears are flying and swords are
flashing; and there they are wounded by arrows and spears,
and their heads are cut off by swords, so that they incur
death or deadly pain. Now this drawback too in the case
of sensuality, this mass of stress visible here and now,
has sensuality for its reason...
Furthermore, it is with sensuality for the reason, sensuality
for the source... that (men), taking swords and shields
and buckling on bows and quivers, charge slippery bastions
while arrows and spears are flying and swords are flashing;
and there they are splashed with boiling cow dung and crushed
under heavy weights, and their heads are cut off by swords,
so that they incur death or deadly pain. Now this drawback
too in the case of sensuality, this mass of stress visible
here and now, has sensuality for its reason, sensuality
for its source, sensuality for its cause, the reason being
simply sensuality.
And what is the emancipation from sensuality? Whatever is
the subduing of passion and desire, the abandoning of passion
and desire for sensuality, that is the emancipation from
sensuality.
M
13
Which
do you think is greater: the tears you have shed while transmigrating
and wandering this long time -- crying and weeping from
being joined with what is displeasing, from being separated
from what is pleasing -- or the water in the four great
oceans?... This is the greater: The tears you have shed...
Why is that? From an inconceivable beginning comes transmigration.
A beginning point is not evident, although beings hindered
by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating
and wandering on. Long have you thus experienced stress,
experienced pain, experienced loss, swelling the cemeteries
-- long enough to become disenchanted with all conditioned
things, enough to become dispassionate, enough to be released.
S
XV.3
Renunciation
Janussoni:
I hold that there is no one who, subject to death, is not
afraid or in terror of death.
The Buddha: There are those who, subject to death, are afraid
and in terror of death. And there are those who, subject
to death, are not afraid or in terror of death.
And who is the person who, subject to death, is afraid and
in terror of death? There is the case of the person who
has not abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever,
and craving for sensuality. When he comes down with a serious
disease, the thought occurs to him, "O, those beloved sensual
pleasures will be taken from me, and I will be taken from
them!" He grieves and is tormented, weeps, beats his breast,
and grows delirious...
Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has not
abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and
craving for the body. When he is touched by a serious disease,
the thought occurs to him, "O, my beloved body will be taken
from me, and I will be taken from my body!" He grieves and
is tormented, weeps, beats his breast, and grows delirious...
Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has not
done what is good, has not done what is skillful, has not
given protection to those in fear, and instead has done
what is evil, savage, and cruel. When he comes down with
a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, "...After
death I am headed for the destination of those who have
done what is evil, savage, and cruel." He grieves and is
tormented, weeps, beats his breast, and grows delirious...
Furthermore, there is the case of the person in doubt and
perplexity, who has not arrived at certainty with regard
to the True Dhamma. When he comes down with a serious disease,
the thought occurs to him, "How doubtful and perplexed I
am! I have not arrived at any certainty with regard to the
True Dhamma!" He grieves and is tormented, weeps, beats
his breast, and grows delirious. This is another person
who, subject to death, is afraid and in terror of death.
And who is the person who is not afraid or in terror of
death? There is the case of the person who has abandoned
passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and craving for
sensuality... who has abandoned passion, desire, fondness,
thirst, fever, and craving for the body... who has done
what is good, what is skillful, has given protection to
those in fear, and has not done what is evil, savage, or
cruel... who has no doubt or perplexity, who has arrived
at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma. When he comes
down with a serious disease... he does not grieve, is not
tormented, does not weep or beat his breast or grow delirious.
This is another person who, subject to death, is not afraid
or in terror of death.
A
IV.184
Now
at that time, Ven. Bhaddiya Kaligodha, on going to a forest,
to the foot of a tree, or to an empty dwelling, would repeatedly
exclaim, "What bliss! What bliss!" Many monks heard him...
repeatedly exclaim, "What bliss! What bliss!" and on hearing
him, the thought occurred to them, "There's no doubt but
that Ven. Bhaddiya Kaligodha is not enjoying the holy life,
for when he was a householder he enjoyed royal pleasures,
so that now, on recollecting them, he is exclaiming, "What
bliss! What bliss!" They went to the Blessed One... and
told him... and he told a certain monk, "Come, monk. In
my name, call Bhaddiya, saying, "The Teacher calls you,
my friend."
"Yes,
lord," the monk answered...
Then Ven. Bhaddiya went to where the Blessed One was staying
and, on arrival, having bowed down, sat to one side. As
he was sitting there, the Blessed One said to him, "Is it
true, Bhaddiya that, on going to a forest, to the foot of
a tree, or to an empty dwelling, you repeatedly exclaim,
"What bliss! What bliss!"
"Yes,
lord."
"What
do you have in mind that you repeatedly exclaim, "What bliss!
What bliss!"
"Before,
when I was a householder, maintaining my reign, I had guards
posted within and without the royal apartments, within and
without the city, within and without the countryside. But
even though I was thus guarded, thus protected, I dwelled
in fear -- agitated, distrustful, and afraid. But now, on
going alone to a forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an
empty dwelling, I dwell without fear, unagitated, confident,
and unafraid -- unconcerned, unruffled, my wants satisfied,
with my mind like a wild deer. This is what I have in mind
that I repeatedly exclaim, "What bliss! What bliss!"
Ud
II.10
The
Four Noble Truths
Now
this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful,
aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation,
pain, distress, and despair are stressful; association with
the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is
stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short,
the five aggregates for sustenance are stressful.
And this, monks, is the noble truth of the origination of
stress: the craving that makes for further becoming -- accompanied
by passion and delight, relishing now here and now there
-- i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming,
craving for non-becoming.
And this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of
stress: the remainderless fading and cessation, renunciation,
relinquishment, release and letting go of that very craving.
And this, monks, is the noble truth of the way leading to
the cessation of stress: precisely this Noble Eightfold
Path -- right view, right intention, right speech, right
action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness,
right concentration.
Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge
arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things
never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of stress'...'This
noble truth of stress is to be comprehended'...'This noble
truth of stress has been comprehended'...
'This is the noble truth of the origination of stress'...'This
noble truth of the origination of stress is to be abandoned'...'This
noble truth of the origination of stress has been abandoned'...
'This is the noble truth of the cessation of stress'...'This
noble truth of the cessation of stress is to be directly
experienced'...'This noble truth of the cessation of stress
has been directly experienced'...
'This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation
of stress'...'This noble truth of the way leading to the
cessation of stress is to be developed'...'This noble truth
of the way leading to the cessation of stress has been developed.'
And, monks, as long as this knowledge and vision of mine
-- with its three rounds and twelve permutations concerning
these four noble truths as they actually are -- was not
pure, I did not claim to have directly awakened to the unexcelled
right self-awakening... But as soon as this knowledge and
vision of mine -- with its three rounds and twelve permutations
concerning these four noble truths as they actually are
-- was truly pure, then did I claim to have directly
awakened to the unexcelled right self-awakening... The knowledge
and vision arose in me: 'Unshakable is my release. This
is the last birth. There is now no further becoming.'
S
LVI.11
The
First Truth
I
have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying
at Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed
the group of five monks:
'Physical form, monks, is not the self. If physical form
were the self, this physical form (body) would not lend
itself to dis-ease. One could get physical form to be like
this and not be like that. But precisely because physical
form is not the self, it lends itself to dis-ease. And one
cannot get physical form to be like this and not be like
that.
'Feeling is not the self... Perception is not the self...
Mental fabrications are not the self...
'Consciousness is not the self. If consciousness were the
self, this consciousness would not lend itself to dis-ease.
One could get consciousness to be like this and not be like
that. But precisely because consciousness is not the self,
it lends itself to dis-ease. And one cannot get consciousness
to be like this and not be like that.
'What do you think, monks -- Is physical form constant or
inconstant?' -- 'Inconstant, Lord.' -- 'And whatever is
inconstant: Is it easeful or stressful?' -- 'Stressful,
Lord.' -- 'And is it right to assume with regard to whatever
is inconstant, stressful, subject to change, that "This
is mine. This is my self. This is what I am"?' -- 'No, Lord.'
'...Is feeling constant or inconstant?... Is perception
constant or inconstant?... Are mental fabrications constant
or inconstant?...
'Is consciousness constant or inconstant?' -- 'Inconstant,
Lord.' -- 'And whatever is inconstant: Is it easeful or
stressful?' -- 'Stressful, Lord.' -- 'And is it right to
assume with regard to whatever is inconstant, stressful,
subject to change, that "This is mine. This is my self.
This is what I am"?' -- 'No, Lord.'
'Thus, monks, any physical form whatsoever -- past, future,
or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle, common
or sublime, far or near: every physical form -- is to be
seen as it actually is with right discernment as: "This
is not mine. This is not my self. This is not what I am."
'Any feeling whatsoever... Any perception whatsoever...
Any mental fabrications whatsoever...
'Any consciousness whatsoever -- past, future, or present;
internal or external; blatant or subtle, common or sublime,
far or near: every consciousness -- is to be seen as it
actually is with right discernment as: "This is not mine.
This is not my self. This is not what I am."
'Seeing
thus, the instructed noble disciple grows disenchanted with
the body, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception,
disenchanted with mental processes, and disenchanted with
consciousness. Disenchanted, he grows dispassionate. Through
dispassion, he is released. With release, there is the knowledge,
"Released." He discerns that "Birth is ended, the holy life
fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this
world."'
That is what the Blessed One said. Glad at heart, the group
of five monks delighted at his words. And while this explanation
was being given, the hearts of the group of five monks,
through not clinging (not being sustained), were released
from the mental fermentations.
S
XXII.59
The
Second and Third Truths
If
this sticky, uncouth craving
overcomes you in the world,
your sorrows grow like wild grass
after rain.
If, in the world, you overcome
this sticky, uncouth craving,
sorrows roll off you,
like water beads
off a lotus.
Dhp
335-336
If
its root remains
undamaged and strong,
a tree, even if cut,
will grow back.
So too if latent craving
is not rooted out,
this suffering returns
again
&
again.
Dhp
338
And what is the noble method that is rightly seen and rightly
ferreted out by discernment? There is the case where a noble
disciple notices:
When
this is, that is.
From the arising of this comes the arising of that.
When this isn't, that isn't.
From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that.
In other words:
From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications.
From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness.
From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-and-form.
From name-and-form as a requisite condition come the six
sense media.
From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes
contact.
From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling.
From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving.
From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance.
From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes
becoming.
From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth.
From birth as a requisite condition, then old age and death,
sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair come into
play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress
and suffering.
Now
from the remainderless fading and cessation of that very
ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications. From the
cessation of fabrications comes the cessation of consciousness.
From the cessation of consciousness comes the cessation
of name-and-form. From the cessation of name-and-form comes
the cessation of the six sense media. From the cessation
of the six sense media comes the cessation of contact. From
the cessation of contact comes the cessation of feeling.
From the cessation of feeling comes the cessation of craving.
From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance.
From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation
of becoming. From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation
of birth. From the cessation of birth, then old age and
death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair
all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of
stress and suffering.
This is the noble method that is rightly seen and rightly
ferreted out by discernment.
A
X.92
Stress
and suffering have birth as their prerequisite,
conviction has stress and suffering as its prerequisite,
joy has conviction as its prerequisite,
rapture has joy as its prerequisite,
serenity has rapture as its prerequisite,
pleasure has serenity as its prerequisite,
concentration has pleasure as its prerequisite,
knowledge and vision of things as they actually are present
has concentration as its prerequisite,
disenchantment has knowledge and vision of things as they
actually are present as its prerequisite,
dispassion has disenchantment as its prerequisite,
release has dispassion as its prerequisite,
knowledge of ending has release as its prerequisite.
S
XII.23
The
Fourth Truth
Monks,
what is the noble eightfold path? Right view, right resolve,
right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort,
right mindfulness, right concentration.
And what is right view? Knowledge with regard to stress,
knowledge with regard to the origination of stress, knowledge
with regard to the cessation of stress, knowledge with regard
to the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress:
This is called right view.
And what is right resolve? Being resolved on renunciation,
on freedom from ill will, on harmlessness: This is called
right resolve.
And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive
speech, from abusive speech, and from idle chatter: This
is called right speech.
And what is right action? Abstaining from taking life, from
stealing, and from unchastity. This is called right action.
And what is right livelihood? There is the case where a
noble disciple, having abandoned dishonest livelihood, keeps
his life going with right livelihood: This is called right
livelihood.
And what is right effort? There is the case where a monk
generates desire, endeavors, arouses persistence, upholds
and exerts his intent for the sake of the non-arising of
evil, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen... for
the sake of the abandoning of evil, unskillful qualities
that have arisen... for the sake of the arising of skillful
qualities that have not yet arisen...(and) for the maintenance,
non-confusion, increase, plenitude, development, and culmination
of skillful qualities that have arisen: This is called right
effort.
And what is right mindfulness? There is the case where a
monk remains focused on the body in and of itself -- ardent,
alert, and mindful -- putting aside greed and distress with
reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings in
and of themselves... the mind in and of itself... mental
qualities in and of themselves -- ardent, alert, and mindful
-- putting aside greed and distress with reference to the
world. This is called right mindfulness.
And what is right concentration? There is the case where
a monk... enters and remains in the first jhana... the second
jhana... the third jhana... the fourth jhana: purity of
equanimity and mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. This
is called right concentration.
S
XLV.8
Right
View
Then
Anathapindika the householder went to where the wanderers
of other persuasions were staying. On arrival he greeted
them courteously. After an exchange of friendly greetings
and courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there,
the wanderers said to him, 'Tell us, householder, what views
the contemplative Gotama has.'
'Venerable sirs, I don't know entirely what views the Blessed
One has.'
'Well, well. So you don't know entirely what views the contemplative
Gotama has. Then tell us what views the monks have.'
'I don't even know entirely what views the monks have.'
'So you don't know entirely what views the contemplative
Gotama has or even that the monks have. Then tell us what
views you have.'
'It wouldn't be difficult for me to expound to you what
views I have. But please let the venerable ones expound
each in line with his position, and then it won't be difficult
for me to expound to you what views I have.'
When this had been said, one of the wanderers said to Anathapindika
the householder, 'The cosmos is eternal. Only this
is true; anything otherwise is worthless. This is the sort
of view I have.'
Another wanderer said to Anathapindika, 'The cosmos is
not eternal. Only this is true; anything otherwise is
worthless. This is the sort of view I have.'
Another wanderer said, 'The cosmos is finite...'...'The
cosmos is infinite...'...'The soul and the body are the
same...'...'The soul is one thing and the body another...'...'After
death a Tathagata exists...'...'After death a Tathagata
does not exist...'...'After death a Tathagata both does
and does not exist...'...'After death a Tathagata neither
does nor does not exist. Only this is true; anything
otherwise is worthless. This is the sort of view I have.'
When this had been said, Anathapindika the householder said
to the wanderers, 'As for the venerable one who says, "The
cosmos is eternal. Only this is true; anything otherwise
is worthless. This is the sort of view I have," his view
arises from his own inappropriate attention or in dependence
on the words of another. Now this view has been brought
into being, is fabricated, willed, dependently originated.
Whatever has been brought into being, is fabricated, willed,
dependently originated, that is inconstant. Whatever is
inconstant is stress. This venerable one thus adheres to
that very stress, submits himself to that very stress.'
(Similarly for the other positions.)
When
this had been said, the wanderers said to Anathapindika
the householder, 'We have each and every one expounded to
you in line with our own positions. Now tell us what views
you have.'
'Whatever has been brought into being, is fabricated, willed,
dependently originated, that is inconstant. Whatever is
inconstant is stress. Whatever is stress is not me, is not
what I am, is not my self. This is the sort of view I have.'
'So, householder, whatever has been brought into being,
is fabricated, willed, dependently originated, that is inconstant.
Whatever is inconstant is stress. You thus adhere to that
very stress, submit yourself to that very stress.'
'Venerable sirs, whatever has been brought into being, is
fabricated, willed, dependently originated, that is inconstant.
Whatever is inconstant is stress. Whatever is stress is
not me, is not what I am, is not my self. Having seen this
well with right discernment as it actually is present, I
also discern the higher escape from it as it actually is
present.'
When this had been said, the wanderers fell silent, abashed,
sitting with their shoulders drooping, their heads down,
brooding, at a loss for words. Anathapindika the householder,
perceiving that the wanderers were silent, abashed... at
a loss for words, got up and left.
A
X.93
There
is the case where an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person...
does not discern what ideas are fit for attention, or what
ideas are unfit for attention. This being so, he does not
attend to ideas fit for attention, and attends instead to
ideas unfit for attention... This is how he attends inappropriately:
'Was I in the past? Was I not in the past? What was I in
the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what
was I in the past? Shall I be in the future? Shall I not
be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall
I be in the future? Having been what, what shall I be in
the future?' Or else he is inwardly perplexed about the
immediate present: 'Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I?
Where has this being come from? Where is it bound?'
As this person attends inappropriately in this way, one
of six kinds of view arises in him: The view I have a
self arises in him as true and established, or the view
I have no self... or the view It is by means of self
that I perceive self... or the view It is by means
of self that I perceive not-self... or the view It
is by means of not-self that I perceive self arises
in him as true and established, or else he has a view like
this: This very self of mine -- the knower that is sensitive
here and there to the ripening of good and bad actions --
is the self of mine that is constant, everlasting, eternal,
not subject to change, and will endure as long as eternity.
This is called a thicket of views, a wilderness of views,
a contortion of views, a writhing of views, a fetter of
views. Bound by a fetter of views, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill
person is not freed from birth, aging, and death, from sorrow,
lamentation, pain, distress, and despair. He is not freed
from stress, I say.
The well-taught noble disciple... discerns what ideas are
fit for attention, and what ideas are unfit for attention.
This being so, he does not attend to ideas unfit for attention,
and attends instead to ideas fit for attention... He attends
appropriately, This is stress... This is the origin of
stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the
way leading to the cessation of stress. As he attends
appropriately in this way, three fetters are abandoned in
him: identity-view, doubt, and grasping at precepts and
practices.
M
2
Kaccayana:
'Lord, "Right view, right view," it is said. To what extent
is there right view?'
The Buddha: 'By and large, Kaccayana, this cosmos is supported
by (takes as its object) a polarity, that of existence and
non-existence. But when one sees the origination of the
cosmos as it actually is with right discernment, "non-existence"
with reference to the cosmos does not occur to one. When
one sees the cessation of the cosmos as it actually is with
right discernment, "existence" with reference to the cosmos
does not occur to one.
'By and large, Kaccayana, this cosmos is in bondage to attachments,
clingings (sustenances), and biases. But one such as this
does not get involved with or cling to these attachments,
clingings, fixations of awareness, biases, and latent tendencies;
nor is he resolved on "my self." He has no uncertainty or
doubt that, when there is arising, only stress is arising;
and that when there is passing away, stress is passing away.
In this, one's knowledge is independent of others. It is
to this extent, Kaccayana, that there is right view.'
S
XII.15
Right
Mindfulness & Concentration
Visakha:
Now what is concentration, what qualities are its themes,
what qualities are its requisites, and what is its development?
Sister Dhammadinna: Singleness of mind is concentration;
the four frames of reference [ = the objects of right mindfulness]
are its themes; the four right exertions [ = right effort]
are its requisites; and any cultivation, development, and
pursuit of these qualities is its development.
M
44
Mindfulness
of in-and-out breathing, when developed and pursued, brings
the four frames of reference to their culmination. The four
frames of reference, when developed and pursued, bring the
seven factors for Awakening to their culmination. The seven
factors for Awakening, when developed and pursued, bring
clear knowing and release to their culmination.
Now how is mindfulness of in-and-out breathing developed
and pursuedso as to bring the four frames of reference to
their culmination?
There is the case where a monk, having gone to the wilderness,
to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building, sits down
folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect, and
setting mindfulness to the fore. Always mindful, he breathes
in; mindful he breathes out.
(1) Breathing in long, he discerns that he is breathing
in long; or breathing out long, he discerns that he is breathing
out long. (2) Or breathing in short, he discerns that he
is breathing in short; or breathing out short, he discerns
that he is breathing out short. (3) He trains himself to
breathe in sensitive to the entire body, and to breathe
out sensitive to the entire body. (4) He trains himself
to breathe in calming bodily fabrication, and to breathe
out calming bodily fabrication.
(5) He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to rapture,
and to breathe out sensitive to rapture. (6) He trains himself
to breathe in sensitive to pleasure, and to breathe out
sensitive to pleasure. (7) He trains himself to breathe
in sensitive to mental fabrication, and to breathe out sensitive
to mental fabrication. (8) He trains himself to breathe
in calming mental fabrication, and to breathe out calming
mental fabrication.
(9) He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to the mind,
and to breathe out sensitive to the mind. (10) He trains
himself to breathe in satisfying the mind, and to breathe
out satisfying the mind. (11) He trains himself to breathe
in steadying the mind, and to breathe out steadying the
mind. (12) He trains himself to breathe in releasing the
mind, and to breathe out releasing the mind.
(13) He trains himself to breathe in focusing on inconstancy,
and to breathe out focusing on inconstancy. (14) He trains
himself to breathe in focusing on dispassion (literally,
fading), and to breathe out focusing on dispassion. (15)
He trains himself to breathe in focusing on cessation, and
to breathe out focusing on cessation. (16) He trains himself
to breathe in focusing on relinquishment, and to breathe
out focusing on relinquishment.
Now,
on whatever occasion a monk breathing in long discerns that
he is breathing in long; or breathing out long, discerns
that he is breathing out long; or breathing in short, discerns
that he is breathing in short; or breathing out short, discerns
that he is breathing out short; trains himself to breathe
in... and... out sensitive to the entire body; trains himself
to breathe in... and... out calming bodily fabrication:
On that occasion the monk remains focused on the body
in and of itself -- ardent, alert, and mindful -- subduing
greed and distress with reference to the world. I tell you,
monks, that this -- the in-and-out breath -- is classed
as a body among bodies, which is why the monk on that occasion
remains focused on the body in and of itself -- ardent,
alert, and mindful -- putting aside greed and distress with
reference to the world.
On whatever occasion a monk trains himself to breathe in...
and... out sensitive to rapture; trains himself to breathe
in... and... out sensitive to pleasure; trains himself to
breathe in... and... out sensitive to mental fabrication;
trains himself to breathe in... and... out calming mental
fabrication: On that occasion the monk remains focused on
feelings in and of themselves -- ardent, alert, and
mindful -- subduing greed and distress with reference to
the world. I tell you, monks, that this -- close attention
to in-and-out breaths -- is classed as a feeling among feelings,
which is why the monk on that occasion remains focused on
feelings in and of themselves -- ardent, alert, and mindful
-- putting aside greed and distress with reference to the
world.
On whatever occasion a monk trains himself to breathe in...
and... out sensitive to the mind; trains himself to breathe
in... and... out satisfying the mind; trains himself to
breathe in... and... out steadying the mind; trains himself
to breathe in... and... out releasing the mind: On that
occasion the monk remains focused on the mind in
and of itself -- ardent, alert, and mindful -- subduing
greed and distress with reference to the world. I don't
say that there is mindfulness of in-and-out breathing in
one of confused mindfulness and no alertness, which is why
the monk on that occasion remains focused on the mind in
and of itself -- ardent, alert, and mindful -- putting aside
greed and distress with reference to the world.
On whatever occasion a monk trains himself to breathe in...
and... out focusing on inconstancy; trains himself to breathe
in... and... out focusing on dispassion; trains himself
to breathe in... and... out focusing on cessation; trains
himself to breathe in... and... out focusing on relinquishment:
On that occasion the monk remains focused on mental qualities
in and of themselves -- ardent, alert, and mindful -- subduing
greed and distress with reference to the world. He who sees
clearly with discernment the abandoning of greed and distress
is one who oversees with equanimity, which is why the monk
on that occasion remains focused on mental qualities in
and of themselves -- ardent, alert, and mindful -- putting
aside greed and distress with reference to the world.
This
is how mindfulness of in-and-out breathing is developed
and pursued so as to bring the four frames of reference
to their culmination.
And how are the four frames of reference developed and pursued
so as to bring the seven factors for Awakening to their
culmination?
(1) On whatever occasion the monk remains focused on the
body in and of itself -- ardent, alert, and mindful
-- putting aside greed and distress with reference to the
world, on that occasion his mindfulness is steady and without
lapse. When his mindfulness is steady and without lapse,
then mindfulness as a factor for Awakening becomes
aroused. He develops it, and for him it goes to the culmination
of its development.
(2) Remaining mindful in this way, he examines, analyzes,
and comes to a comprehension of that quality with discernment.
When he remains mindful in this way, examining, analyzing,
and coming to a comprehension of that quality with discernment,
then analysis of qualities as a factor for Awakening
becomes aroused. He develops it, and for him it goes to
the culmination of its development.
(3) In one who examines, analyzes, and comes to a comprehension
of that quality with discernment, unflagging persistence
is aroused. When unflagging persistence is aroused in one
who examines, analyzes, and comes to a comprehension of
that quality with discernment, then persistence as
a factor for Awakening becomes aroused. He develops it,
and for him it goes to the culmination of its development.
(4) In one whose persistence is aroused, a rapture not-of-the-flesh
arises. When a rapture not-of-the-flesh arises in one whose
persistence is aroused, then rapture as a factor
for Awakening becomes aroused. He develops it, and for him
it goes to the culmination of its development.
(5) For one who is enraptured, the body grows calm and the
mind grows calm. When the body and mind of an enraptured
monk grow calm, then serenity as a factor for Awakening
becomes aroused. He develops it, and for him it goes to
the culmination of its development.
(6) For one who is at ease -- his body calmed -- the mind
becomes concentrated. When the mind of one who is at ease
-- his body calmed -- becomes concentrated, then concentration
as a factor for Awakening becomes aroused. He develops it,
and for him it goes to the culmination of its development.
(7) He oversees the mind thus concentrated with equanimity.
When he oversees the mind thus concentrated with equanimity,
equanimity as a factor for Awakening becomes aroused.
He develops it, and for him it goes to the culmination of
its development.
(Similarly with the other three frames of reference: feelings,
mind, and mental qualities.)
This is how the four frames of reference are developed and
pursued so as to bring the seven factors for Awakening to
their culmination.
And
how are the seven factors for Awakening developed and pursued
so as to bring clear knowing and release to their culmination?
There is the case where a monk develops mindfulness
as a factor for Awakening dependent on seclusion... dispassion...
cessation, resulting in relinquishment. He develops analysis
of qualities as a factor for Awakening...persistence
as a factor for Awakening...rapture as a factor for
Awakening...serenity as a factor for Awakening...concentration
as a factor for Awakening..equanimity as a factor
for Awakening dependent on seclusion... dispassion... cessation,
resulting in relinquishment.
This is how the seven factors for Awakening are developed
and pursued so as to bring clear knowing and release to
their culmination.
M
118
[On
attaining the fourth level of jhana] there remains only
equanimity: pure and bright, pliant, malleable and luminous.
Just as if a skilled goldsmith or goldsmith's apprentice
were to prepare a furnace, heat up a crucible, and, taking
gold with a pair of tongs, place it in the crucible. He
would blow on it periodically, sprinkle water on it periodically,
examine it periodically, so that the gold would become refined,
well-refined, thoroughly refined, flawless, free from dross,
pliant, malleable and luminous. Then whatever sort of ornament
he had in mind -- whether a belt, an earring, a necklace,
or a gold chain -- it would serve his purpose. In the same
way, there remains only equanimity: pure and bright, pliant,
malleable, and luminous. He (the meditator) discerns that
'If I were to direct equanimity as pure and bright as this
toward the dimension of the infinitude of space, I would
develop the mind along those lines, and thus this equanimity
of mine -- thus supported, thus sustained -- would last
for a long time. (Similarly with the dimensions of the infinitude
of consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor
non-perception.)'
He discerns that 'If I were to direct equanimity as pure
and bright as this toward the dimension of the infinitude
of space and to develop the mind along those lines, that
would be fabricated. (Similarly with the dimensions of the
infinitude of consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception
nor non-perception.)' He neither fabricates nor wills for
the sake of becoming or un-becoming. This being the case,
he is not sustained by anything in the world (does not cling
to anything in the world). Unsustained, he is not agitated.
Unagitated, he is totally unbound right within. He discerns
that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task
done. There is nothing further for this world.'
M
140
Liberation
There
is that dimension where there is neither earth, nor water,
nor fire, nor wind; neither dimension of the infinitude
of space, nor dimension of the infinitude of consciousness,
nor dimension of nothingness, nor dimension of neither perception
nor non-perception; neither this world, nor the next world,
nor sun, nor moon. And there, I say, there is neither coming,
nor going, nor stasis; neither passing away nor arising:
without stance, without foundation, without support (mental
object). This, just this, is the end of stress.
Ud
VIII.1
Where
water, earth, fire, and wind have no footing:
There the stars do not shine,
the sun is not visible,
the moon does not appear,
darkness is not found.
And when a sage, a worthy one, through sagacity
has known (this) for himself,
then from form and formless,
from pleasure and pain,
he is freed.
Ud
I.10
Aggivessana
Vacchagotta: 'But, Venerable Gotama the monk whose mind
is thus released: Where does he reappear?'
Buddha: '"Reappear," Vaccha, doesn't apply.'
'In that case, Venerable Gotama, he does not reappear.'
'"Does not reappear," Vaccha, doesn't apply.'
'...both does and does not reappear.'
'...doesn't apply.'
'...Neither does nor does not reappear.'
'...doesn't apply.'...
'At this point, Venerable Gotama, I am befuddled; at this
point, confused. The modicum of clarity coming to me from
your earlier conversation is now obscured.'
'Of course you're befuddled, Vaccha. Of course you're confused.
Deep, Vaccha, is this phenomenon, hard to see, hard to realize,
tranquil, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle,
to-be-experienced by the wise. For those with other views,
other satisfactions, other aims, other teachers, it is difficult
to know. That being the case, I will now put some questions
to you. Answer as you see fit. What do you think, Vaccha:
If a fire were burning in front of you, would you know that,
"This fire is burning in front of me"?'
'...yes...'
'And suppose someone were to ask you, Vaccha, "This fire
burning in front of you, dependent on what is it burning?"
Thus asked, how would you reply?'
'...I would reply, "This fire burning in front of me is
burning dependent on grass and timber as its sustenance."'
'If the fire burning in front of you were to go out, would
you know that, "This fire burning in front of me has gone
out"?'
'...yes...'
'And suppose someone were to ask you, "This fire that has
gone out in front of you, in which direction from here has
it gone? East? West? North? Or south?" Thus asked, how would
you reply?'
'That doesn't apply, Venerable Gotama. Any fire burning
dependent on a sustenance of grass and timber, being unnourished
-- from having consumed that sustenance and not being offered
any other -- is classified simply as "out."'
'Even so, Vaccha, any physical form by which one describing
the Tathagata would describe him: That the Tathagata has
abandoned, its root destroyed, like an uprooted palm tree,
deprived of the conditions of existence, not destined for
future arising. Freed from the classification of form, Vaccha,
the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard-to-fathom, like the
sea. "Reappears" does not apply. "Does not reappear" does
not apply. "Both does and does not reappear" does not apply.
"Neither reappears nor does not reappear" does not apply.
'Any feeling... Any perception... Any mental fabrication...
'Any [act of] consciousness by which one describing the
Tathagata would describe him: That the Tathagata has abandoned...
Freed from the classification of consciousness, Vaccha,
the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard-to-fathom, like the
sea.'
M
72
Sangha
The
Rewards of the Contemplative Life
There
is the case where a Tathagata appears in the world, worthy
and rightly self-awakened. He teaches the Dhamma admirable
in its beginning, admirable in its middle, admirable in
its end. He proclaims the holy life both in its particulars
and in its essence, entirely perfect, surpassingly pure.
A householder or householder's son, hearing the Dhamma,
gains conviction in the Tathagata and reflects: 'Household
life is confining, a dusty path. The life gone forth is
like the open air. It is not easy living at home to practice
the holy life totally perfect, totally pure, like a polished
shell. Suppose I were to go forth?'
So after some time he abandons his mass of wealth, large
or small; leaves his circle of relatives, large or small;
shaves off his hair and beard, puts on the saffron robes,
and goes forth from the household life into homelessness.
When he has thus gone forth, he lives restrained by the
rules of the monastic code, seeing danger in the slightest
faults. Consummate in his virtue, he guards the doors of
his senses, is possessed of mindfulness and presence of
mind, and is content...
Now, how does a monk guard the doors of his senses? On seeing
a form with the eye, he does not grasp at any theme or variations
by which -- if he were to dwell without restraint over the
faculty of the eye -- evil, unskillful qualities such as
greed or distress might assail him. (Similarly with the
ear, nose, tongue, body, and intellect.)
And how is a monk possessed of mindfulness and alertness?
When going forward and returning, he acts with alertness.
When looking toward and looking away... when bending and
extending his limbs... when carrying his outer cloak, his
upper robe, and his bowl... when eating, drinking, chewing,
and tasting... when urinating and defecating... when walking,
standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and
remaining silent, he acts with alertness.
And how is a monk content? Just as a bird, wherever it goes,
flies with its wings as its only burden; so too is he content
with a set of robes to provide for his body and alms food
to provide for his hunger. Wherever he goes, he takes only
his barest necessities along.
He seeks out a secluded dwelling: a forest, the shade of
a tree, a mountain, a glen, a hillside cave, a charnel ground,
a jungle grove, the open air, a heap of straw. After his
meal, returning from his alms round, he sits down, crosses
his legs, holds his body erect, and brings mindfulness to
the fore. He purifies his mind from greed, ill will, sloth
and torpor, restlessness and anxiety, and uncertainty. As
long as these five hindrances are not abandoned within him,
he regards it as a debt, a sickness, a prison, slavery,
a road through desolate country. But when these five hindrances
are abandoned within him, he regards it as unindebtedness,
good health, release from prison, freedom, a place of security.
Seeing that they have been abandoned within him, he becomes
glad, enraptured, tranquil, sensitive to pleasure. Feeling
pleasure, his mind becomes concentrated.
Quite
withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful mental
qualities, he enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture
and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed
thought and evaluation. He permeates and pervades, suffuses
and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born
from withdrawal. Just as if a skilled bathman or bathman's
apprentice would pour bath powder into a brass basin and
knead it together, sprinkling it again and again with water,
so that his ball of bath powder -- saturated, moisture-laden,
permeated within and without -- would nevertheless not drip;
even so, the monk permeates... this very body with the rapture
and pleasure born of withdrawal. There is nothing of his
entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from
withdrawal. This is a reward of the contemplative life,
visible here and now, more excellent than the previous ones
and more sublime.
Furthermore, with the stilling of directed thought and evaluation,
he enters and remains in the second jhana: rapture and pleasure
born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed
thought and evaluation -- internal assurance. He permeates
and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the
rapture and pleasure born of composure. Just like a lake
with spring-water welling up from within, having no inflow
from the east, west, north, or south, and with the skies
supplying abundant showers time and again, so that the cool
fount of water welling up from within the lake would permeate
and pervade, suffuse and fill it with cool waters, there
being no part of the lake unpervaded by the cool waters;
even so, the monk permeates... this very body with the rapture
and pleasure born of composure. There is nothing of his
entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born of composure.
This, too, is a reward of the contemplative life, visible
here and now, more excellent than the previous ones and
more sublime.
And furthermore, with the fading of rapture, he remains
in equanimity, mindful & alert, and physically sensitive
of pleasure. He enters and remains in the third jhana, of
which the Noble Ones declare, 'Equanimous and mindful, he
has a pleasurable abiding.' He permeates and pervades, suffuses
and fills this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture.
Just as in a lotus pond, some of the lotuses, born and growing
in the water, stay immersed in the water and flourish without
standing up out of the water, so that they are permeated
and pervaded, suffused and filled with cool water from their
roots to their tips, and nothing of those lotuses would
be unpervaded with cool water; even so, the monk permeates...
this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture. There
is nothing of his entire body unpervaded with pleasure divested
of rapture. This, too, is a reward of the contemplative
life, visible here and now, more excellent than the previous
ones and more sublime.
And
furthermore, with the abandoning of pleasure and stress
-- as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress
-- he enters and remains in the fourth jhana: purity of
equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure nor stress.
He sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness.
Just as if a man were sitting covered from head to foot
with a white cloth so that there would be no part of his
body to which the white cloth did not extend; even so, the
monk sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness.
There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by pure,
bright awareness. This, too, is a reward of the contemplative
life, visible here and now, more excellent than the previous
ones and more sublime...
With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, he
directs it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental
fermentations. Just as if there were a pool of water in
a mountain glen -- clear, limpid, and unsullied -- where
a man with good eyesight standing on the bank could see
shells, gravel, and pebbles, and also shoals of fish swimming
about and resting, and it would occur to him, 'This pool
of water is clear, limpid, and unsullied. Here are these
shells, gravel, and pebbles, and also these shoals of fish
swimming about and resting.' In the same way, the monk discerns,
as it is actually present, that 'This is stress... This
is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of
stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress...
These are mental fermentations... This is the origination
of fermentations... This is the cessation of fermentations...
This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations.'
His heart, thus knowing, thus seeing, is released from the
fermentations of sensuality, becoming, and ignorance. With
release, there is the knowledge, 'Released.' He discerns
that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task
done. There is nothing further for this world.' This, too,
is a reward of the contemplative life, visible here and
now, more excellent than the previous ones and more sublime.
And as for another visible fruit of the contemplative life,
higher and more sublime than this, there is none.
D
2
Aids
to Awakening
Then
Ven. Assaji, arising early in the morning, taking his robe
and bowl, entered Rajagaha for alms: gracious in the way
he approached and departed, looked forward and behind, drew
in and stretched out his arm; his eyes downcast, his every
movement consummate. Sariputta the wanderer saw Ven. Assaji
going for alms in Rajagaha: gracious... his eyes downcast,
his every movement consummate. On seeing him, the thought
occurred to him: "Surely, of those in this world who are
arahants or have entered the path to arahantship, this is
one. What if I were to approach him and question him: 'On
whose account have you gone forth? Who is your teacher?
Of whose Dhamma do you approve?'"
But then the thought occurred to Sariputta the wanderer:
"This is the wrong time to question him. He is going for
alms in the town. What if I were to follow behind this monk
who has found the path for those who seek it?"
Then Ven. Assaji, having gone for alms in Rajagaha, left,
taking the alms he had received. Sariputta the wanderer
approached him and, on arrival, having exchanged friendly
greetings and courtesies, stood to one side. As he stood
there he said, "Your faculties are bright, my friend, your
complexion pure and clear. On whose account have you gone
forth? Who is your teacher? Of whose Dhamma do you approve?"
"There
is, my friend, the Great Contemplative, a son of the Sakyans,
gone forth from a Sakyan family. I have gone forth on account
of that Blessed One. That Blessed One is my teacher. It
is of that Blessed One's Dhamma that I approve."
"But
what is your teacher's teaching? What does he proclaim?"
"I
am new, my friend, not long gone forth, only recently come
to this doctrine and discipline. I cannot explain the doctrine
in detail, but I can give you the gist in brief."
Then Sariputta the wanderer spoke thus to the Ven. Assaji:
Speak a little or a lot,
but tell me just the gist.
The gist is what I want.
What use is a lot of rhetoric?
Then
Ven. Assaji gave this Dhamma exposition to Sariputta the
Wanderer:
Whatever phenomena arise from cause:
their cause
& their cessation.
Such is the teaching of the Tathagata,
the Great Contemplative.
Then to Sariputta the Wanderer, as he heard this Dhamma
exposition, there arose the dustless, stainless Dhamma eye:
Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to
cessation.
Mv
I 23 5
Then
Mahapajapati Gotami [the first nun, and the Buddha's foster
mother] approached the Blessed One and on arrival, having
bowed down, stood to one side. As she was standing there,
she said, "It would be good if the Blessed One would teach
me the Dhamma in brief so that I, having heard the Dhamma,
might dwell alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, and resolute."
"...Gotami,
the qualities of which you may know, 'These qualities lead
to dispassion, not to passion; to being unfettered and not
to being fettered; to self-effacement and not to self-aggrandizement;
to modesty and not to ambition; to contentment and not to
discontent; to seclusion and not to entanglement; to the
arousing of persistence and not to laziness; to being unburdensome
and not to being burdensome': You may definitely hold, 'This
is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's
instruction.'"
[According to the commentaries, Mahapajapati Gotami gained
arahantship soon after receiving this instruction.]
Cv X 5
Sister
Sona on Aging
Ten
children I bore
from this physical heap.
Then weak from that, aged,
I went to a nun.
She taught me the Dhamma:
aggregates, sense spheres, elements.
Hearing the Dhamma,
I cut off my hair and ordained.
Having purified the divine eye
while still a probationer,
I know my previous lives,
where I lived in the past.
I develop the theme-less meditation:
well-focused singleness.
I gain the liberation of immediacy --
from lack of clinging, unbound.
The five aggregates, comprehended,
stand like a tree with its root cut through.
I spit on old age.
There is now no further becoming.
Thig
V.8
Punna
on Death
Punna:
"Lord, I am going to live in the Sunaparanta country."
The Buddha: "Punna, the Sunaparanta people are fierce. They
are rough. If they insult and ridicule you, what will you
think?"
"...I
will think, 'These Sunaparanta people are civilized, very
civilized, in that they don't hit me with their hands.'
That is what I will think..."
"But
if they hit you with their hands...?"
"...I
will think, 'These Sunaparanta people are civilized, very
civilized, in that they don't hit me with a clod'..."
"But
if they hit you with a clod...?"
"...I
will think, 'These Sunaparanta people are civilized, very
civilized, in that they don't hit me with a stick'..."
"But
if they hit you with a stick...?"
"...I
will think, 'These Sunaparanta people are civilized, very
civilized, in that they don't hit me with a knife'..."
"But
if they hit you with a knife...?"
"...I
will think, 'These Sunaparanta people are civilized, very
civilized, in that they don't take my life with a sharp
knife'..."
"But
if they take your life with a sharp knife...?"
"...I
will think, 'There are disciples of the Blessed One who
-- horrified, humiliated, and disgusted by the body and
by life -- have sought for an assassin, but here I have
met my assassin without searching for him.' That is what
I will think..."
"Good,
Punna, very good. Possessing such calm and self-control
you are fit to dwell among the Sunaparantans. Now it is
time to do as you see fit."
Then Ven. Punna, delighting and rejoicing in the Blessed
One's words, rising from his seat, bowed down to the Blessed
One and left, keeping him on his right side. Setting his
dwelling in order and taking his robe and bowl, he set out
for the Sunaparanta country and, after wandering stage by
stage, he arrived there. There he lived. During that Rains
retreat he established 500 male and 500 female lay followers
in the practice, while he realized the three knowledges.
At a later time, he attained total (final) Unbinding.
M 145
Sister
Patacara on Awakening
Washing
my feet, I noticed
the
water.
And in watching it flow from high
to
low,
my heart was composed
like a fine thoroughbred steed.
Then taking a lamp, I entered the hut,
checked the bedding,
sat down on the bed.
And taking a pin, I pulled out the wick:
Like the flame's unbinding
was the liberation
of awareness.
Thig
V.10
III.
Essays
Buddha
The
Meaning of the Buddha's Awakening
The
two crucial aspects of the Buddha's Awakening are the what
and the how: what he awakened to and how he did it.
His Awakening is special in that the two aspects come together.
He awakened to the fact that there is an undying happiness,
and that it can be attained through human effort. The human
effort involved in this process ultimately focuses on the
question of understanding the nature of human effort itself
-- in terms of skillful kamma and dependent co-arising --
what its powers and limitations are, and what kind of right
effort (i.e., the Noble Path) can take one beyond its limitations
and bring one to the threshold of the Deathless.
As the Buddha described the Awakening experience in one of
his discourses, first there is the knowledge of the regularity
of the Dhamma -- which in this context means dependent co-arising
-- then there is the knowledge of nibbana. In other passages,
he describes the three stages that led to insight into dependent
co-arising: knowledge of his own previous lifetimes, knowledge
of the passing away and rebirth of all living beings, and
finally insight into the four Noble Truths. The first two
forms of knowledge were not new with the Buddha. They have
been reported by other seers throughout history, although
the Buddha's insight into the second knowledge had a special
twist: He saw that beings are reborn according to the ethical
quality of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and that this
quality is essentially a factor of the mind. The quality of
one's views and intentions determines the experienced result
of one's actions.
This insight had a double impact on his mind. On the one hand,
it made him realize the futility of the round of rebirth --
that even the best efforts aimed at winning pleasure and fulfillment
within the round could have only temporary effects. On the
other hand, his realization of the importance of the mind
in determining the round is what led him to focus directly
on his own mind in the present to see how the processes in
the mind that kept the round going could be disbanded. This
was how he gained insight into the four noble truths and dependent
co-arising -- seeing how the aggregates that made up his "person"
were also the impelling factors in the experience of the world
at large, and how the whole show could be brought to cessation.
With its cessation, there remained the experience of the unconditioned,
which he also termed nibbana (Unbinding), consciousness without
surface or feature, the Deathless.
When we address the question of how other "enlightenment"
experiences recorded in world history relate to the Buddha's,
we have to keep in mind the Buddha's own dictum: First there
is the knowledge of dependent co-arising, then there is the
knowledge of nibbana. Without the first -- which includes
not only an understanding of kamma, but also of how kamma
leads to the understanding itself -- no realization, no matter
how calm or boundless, that doesn't result from these sorts
of understanding can count as an Awakening in the Buddhist
sense. True Awakening necessarily involves both ethics and
insight into causality.
As for what the Buddha's Awakening means for us now, four
points stand out.
1)
The role that kamma plays in the Awakening is empowering.
It means that what each of us does, says, and thinks does
matter -- this, in opposition to the sense of futility that
can come from reading, say, world history, geology, or astronomy
and realizing the fleeting nature of the entire human enterprise.
The Awakening lets us see that the choices we make in each
moment of our lives have consequences. The fact that we are
empowered also means that we are responsible for our experiences.
We are not strangers in a strange land. We have formed and
are continuing to form the world we experience.This helps
us to face the events we encounter in life with greater equanimity,
for we know that we had a hand in creating them, and yet at
the same time we can avoid any debilitating sense of guilt
because with each new choice we can always make a fresh start.
2) The Awakening also tells us that good and bad are not mere
social conventions, but are built into the mechanics of how
the world is constructed. We may be free to design our lives,
but we are not free to change the underlying rules that determine
what good and bad actions are, and how the process of kamma
works itself out. Thus cultural relativism -- even though
it may have paved the way for many of us to leave our earlier
religious orientations and enter the Buddhist fold -- has
no place once we are within that fold. There are certain ways
of acting that are inherently unskillful, and we are fools
if we insist on our right to behave in those ways.
3) As the Buddha says at one point in describing his Awakening,
"Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed;
light arose -- as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, and
resolute." In other words, he gained liberating knowledge
through qualities that we can all develop: heedfulness, ardency,
resolution. If we are willing to face the implications of
this fact, we realize that the Buddha's Awakening is a challenge
to our entire set of values. The fact that the Unconditioned
can be attained forces us to re-evaluate any other goals we
may set for ourselves, any worlds we may want to create, in
our lives. On an obvious level, it points out the spiritual
poverty of a life devoted to wealth, status, or sensual pursuits;
but it also forces us to take a hard look at other more "worthwhile"
goals that our culture and its sub-cultures tend to exalt,
such as social acceptance, meaningful relationships, stewardship
of the planet, etc. These, too, will inevitably lead to suffering.
The interdependence of all things cannot be, for any truly
sensitive mind, a source of security or comfort. If the Unconditioned
is available, and it's the only trustworthy happiness around,
the most sensible course is to invest our efforts and whatever
mental and spiritual resources we have in its direction.
4) Even for those who are not ready to make that kind of investment,
the Awakening assures us that happiness comes from developing
qualities within ourselves that we can be proud of, such as
kindness, sensitivity, equanimity, mindfulness, conviction,
determination, and discernment. Again, this is a very different
message from the one we pick up from the world telling us
that in order to gain happiness we have to develop qualities
we can't take any genuine pride in: aggressiveness, self-aggrandizement,
dishonesty, etc. Just this much can give an entirely new orientation
to our lives and our ideas of what is worthwhile investment
of our time and efforts.
The
news of the Buddha's Awakening sets the standards for judging
the culture we were brought up in, and not the other way around.
This is not a question of choosing Asian culture over American.
The Buddha's Awakening challenged many of the presuppositions
of Indian culture in his day; and even in so-called Buddhist
countries, the true practice of the Buddha's teachings is
always counter-cultural. It's a question of evaluating our
normal concerns -- conditioned by time, space, and the limitations
of aging, illness, and death -- against the possibility of
a timeless, spaceless, limitless happiness. All cultures are
tied up in the limited, conditioned side of things, while
the Buddha's Awakening points beyond all cultures. It offers
the challenge of the Deathless that his contemporaries found
liberating and that we, if we are willing to accept the challenge,
may find liberating ourselves.
Dhamma
Life
Isn't Just Suffering
You've
probably heard the rumor that Buddhism is pessimistic, that
"Life is suffering" is the Buddha's first noble truth. It's
a rumor with good credentials, spread by well-respected academics
and meditation teachers alike, but a rumor nonetheless. The
real truth about the noble truths is far more interesting.
The Buddha taught four truths -- not one -- about life: There
is suffering, there is a cause for suffering, there is an
end of suffering, and there is a path of practice that puts
an end to suffering. These truths, taken as a whole, are far
from pessimistic. They're a practical, problem-solving approach
-- the way a doctor approaches an illness, or a mechanic a
faulty engine. You identify a problem and look for its cause.
You then put an end to the problem by eliminating the cause.
What's special about the Buddha's approach is that the problem
he attacks is the whole of human suffering, and the solution
he offers is something human beings can do for themselves.
Just as a doctor with a surefire cure for measles isn't afraid
of measles, the Buddha isn't afraid of any aspect of human
suffering. And, having experienced a happiness that's totally
unconditional, he's not afraid to point out the suffering
and stress inherent in places where most of us would rather
not see it -- in the conditioned pleasures we cling to. He
teaches us not to deny that suffering and stress, or to run
away from it, but to stand still and face up to it. To examine
it carefully. That way -- by understanding it -- we can ferret
out its cause and put an end to it. Totally. How confident
can you get?
A fair number of writers have pointed out the basic confidence
inherent in the four noble truths, and yet the rumor of Buddhism's
pessimism persists. I wonder why. One possible explanation
is that, in coming to Buddhism, we sub-consciously expect
it to address issues that have a long history in our own culture.
By starting out with suffering as his first truth, the Buddha
seems to be offering his position on a question with a long
history in the West: is the world basically good or bad?
According to Genesis, this was the first question that occurred
to God after he had finished his creation: had he done a good
job? So he looked at the world and saw that it was good. Ever
since then, people in the West have sided with or against
God on his answer, but in doing so they have affirmed that
the question was worth asking to begin with. When Theravada
-- the only form of Buddhism to take on Christianity when
Europe colonized Asia -- was looking for ways to head off
what it saw as the missionary menace, Buddhists who had received
their education from the missionaries assumed that the question
was valid and pressed the first noble truth into service as
a refutation of the Christian God: look at how miserable life
is, they said, and it's hard to accept God's verdict on his
handiwork.
This debating strategy may have scored a few points at the
time, and it's easy to find Buddhist apologists who -- still
living in the colonial past -- keep trying to score the same
points. The real issue, though, is whether the Buddha intended
for his first noble truth to be an answer to God's question
in the first place and -- more importantly -- whether we're
getting the most out of the first noble truth if we see it
in that light.
It's hard to imagine what you could accomplish by saying that
life is suffering. You'd have to spend your time arguing with
people who see more than just suffering in life. The Buddha
himself says as much in one of his discourses. A brahman named
Long-nails (Dighanakha) comes to him and announces that he
doesn't approve of anything. This would have been a perfect
time for the Buddha, if he had wanted, to chime in with the
truth that life is suffering. Instead, he attacks the whole
notion of taking a stand on whether life is worthy of approval.
There are three possible answers to this question: (1) nothing
is worthy of approval, (2) everything is, and (3) some things
are and some things aren't. If you take any of these three
positions, you end up arguing with the people who take either
of the other two positions. And where does that get you?
The
Buddha then teaches Long-nails to look at his body and feelings
as instances of the first noble truth: they're stressful,
inconstant, and don't deserve to be clung to as self. Long-nails
follows the Buddha's instructions and, in letting go of his
attachment to body and feelings, gains his first glimpse of
the Deathless, of what it's like to be totally free from suffering.
The point of this story is that trying to answer God's question,
passing judgment on the world, is a waste of time. And it
offers a better use for the first noble truth: looking at
things, not in terms of "world" or "life," but simply identifying
suffering so that you can comprehend it, let it go, and attain
release. Rather than asking us to make a blanket judgment
-- which, in effect, would be asking us to be blind partisans
-- the first noble truth asks us to look and see precisely
where the problem of suffering lies.
Other discourses make the point that the problem isn't with
body and feelings in and of themselves. They themselves aren't
suffering. The suffering lies in clinging to them. In his
definition of the first noble truth, the Buddha summarizes
all types of suffering under the phrase, "the five aggregates
of clinging": clinging to physical form (including the body),
feelings, perceptions, thought constructs, and consciousness.
However, when the five aggregates are free from clinging,
he tells us, they lead to long-term benefit and happiness.
Of course, by "happiness" he isn't here referring to the arts,
food, travel, sports, family life, or any of the other sections
of the Sunday newspaper. He's talking about the solid well-being
that comes when we treat the aggregates as factors in the
path to the Deathless. The aggregates in themselves are neutral.
The role they play in leading to true happiness or suffering
lies in whether or not we cling.
So the first noble truth, simply put, is that clinging
is suffering. It's because of clinging that physical pain
becomes mental pain. It's because of clinging that aging,
illness, and death cause mental distress. How do we cling?
The texts list four ways: the clinging of sensual passion,
the clinging of views, the clinging of precepts and practices,
and the clinging of doctrines of the self. It's rare that
a moment passes in the ordinary mind without some form of
clinging. Even when we abandon a particular form of clinging,
it's usually because it gets in the way of another form. We
may abandon a puritanical view because it interferes with
sensual pleasure; or a sensual pleasure because it conflicts
with a view about what we should do to stay healthy. Our views
of who we are may expand and contract depending on which of
our many senses of "I" is feeling the most pain, expanding
into a sense of cosmic oneness when we feel confined by the
limitations of our small mind-body complex, shrinking into
a small shell when we feel wounded from identifying with a
cosmos so filled with cruelty, thoughtlessness, and waste.
When the insignificance of our finite self becomes oppressive
again, we may jump at the idea that we have no self, but then
that becomes oppressive.
So our minds jump from clinging to clinging like a bird trapped
in a cage. And when we realize we're captive, we naturally
search for a way out. This is where it's so important that
the first noble truth not say that "Life is suffering,"
for if life were suffering, where would we look for an end
to suffering? We'd be left with nothing but death and annihilation.
But when the actual truth is that clinging is suffering, we
simply have to look to see precisely where clinging is and
learn not to cling.
This
is where we encounter the Buddha's great skill as a strategist:
He tells us to take the clingings we'll have to abandon and
transform them into the path to their abandoning. We'll need
a certain amount of sensory pleasure -- in terms of adequate
food, clothing, and shelter -- to find the strength to go
beyond sensual passion. We'll need right view -- seeing all
things, including views, in terms of the four noble truths
-- to undermine our clinging to views. And we'll need a regimen
of the five ethical precepts and the practice of meditation
to put the mind in a solid position where it can drop its
clinging to precepts and practices. Underlying all this, we'll
need a strong sense of self-responsibility and self-discipline
to master the practices leading to the insight that cuts through
our clinging to doctrines of the self.
So we start the path to the end of suffering, not by trying
to drop our clingings immediately, but by learning to cling
more strategically. In other words, we start where we are
and make the best use of the habits we've already got. We
progress along the path by finding better and better things
to cling to, and more skillful ways to cling, in the same
way you climb a ladder to the top of a roof: grab hold of
a higher rung so that you can let go of a lower rung, and
then grab onto a rung still higher. As the rungs get further
off the ground, you find that the mind grows clearer and can
see precisely where its clingings are. It gets a sharper sense
of which parts of experience belong to which noble truth and
what should be done with them: the parts that are suffering
should be comprehended, the parts that cause of suffering
-- craving and ignorance -- should be abandoned; the parts
that form the path to the end of suffering should be developed;
and the parts that belong to the end of suffering should be
verified. This helps you get higher and higher on the ladder
until you find yourself securely on the roof. That's when
you can finally let go of the ladder and be totally free.
So the real question we face isn't God's question, passing
judgment on how skillfully he created life or the world. It's
our question: how skillfully are we handling the raw
stuff of life? Are we clinging in ways that serve only to
continue the round of suffering, or are we learning to cling
in ways that will reduce suffering so that ultimately we can
grow up and won't have to cling. If we negotiate life armed
with all four noble truths, realizing that life contains both
suffering and an end to suffering, there's hope: hope that
we'll be able to sort out which parts of life belong to which
truth; hope that someday, in this life, we'll come to the
point where we agree with the Buddha, "Oh. Yes. This is the
end of suffering and stress."
*
* *
No-self
or Not-self?
One
of the first stumbling blocks that Westerners often encounter
when they learn about Buddhism is the teaching on anatta,
often translated as no-self. This teaching is a stumbling
block for two reasons. First, the idea of there being no self
doesn't fit well with other Buddhist teachings, such as the
doctrine of kamma and rebirth: If there's no self, what experiences
the results of kamma and takes rebirth? Second, it doesn't
fit well with our own Judeo-Christian background, which assumes
the existence of an eternal soul or self as a basic presupposition:
If there's no self, what's the purpose of a spiritual life?
Many books try to answer these questions, but if you look
at the Pali Canon -- the earliest extant record of the Buddha's
teachings -- you won't find them addressed at all. In fact,
the one place where the Buddha was asked point-blank whether
or not there was a self, he refused to answer. When later
asked why, he said that to hold either that there is a self
or that there is no self is to fall into extreme forms of
wrong view that make the path of Buddhist practice impossible.
Thus the question should be put aside. To understand what
his silence on this question says about the meaning of anatta,
we first have to look at his teachings on how questions should
be asked and answered, and how to interpret his answers.
The Buddha divided all questions into four classes: those
that deserve a categorical (straight yes or no) answer; those
that deserve an analytical answer, defining and qualifying
the terms of the question; those that deserve a counter-question,
putting the ball back in the questioner's court; and those
that deserve to be put aside. The last class of question consists
of those that don't lead to the end of suffering and stress.
The first duty of a teacher, when asked a question, is to
figure out which class the question belongs to, and then to
respond in the appropriate way. You don't, for example, say
yes or no to a question that should be put aside. If you are
the person asking the question and you get an answer, you
should then determine how far the answer should be interpreted.
The Buddha said that there are two types of people who misrepresent
him: those who draw inferences from statements that shouldn't
have inferences drawn from them, and those who don't draw
inferences from those that should.
These are the basic ground rules for interpreting the Buddha's
teachings, but if we look at the way most writers treat the
anatta doctrine, we find these ground rules ignored. Some
writers try to qualify the no-self interpretation by saying
that the Buddha denied the existence of an eternal
self or a separate self, but this is to give an analytical
answer to a question that the Buddha showed should be put
aside. Others try to draw inferences from the few statements
in the discourse that seem to imply that there is no self,
but it seems safe to assume that if one forces those statements
to give an answer to a question that should be put aside,
one is drawing inferences where they shouldn't be drawn.
So, instead of answering "no" to the question of whether or
not there is a self -- interconnected or separate, eternal
or not -- the Buddha felt that the question was misguided
to begin with. Why? No matter how you define the line between
"self" and "other," the notion of self involves an element
of self-identification and clinging, and thus suffering and
stress. This holds as much for an interconnected self, which
recognizes no "other," as it does for a separate self. If
one identifies with all of nature, one is pained by every
felled tree. It also holds for an entirely "other" universe,
in which the sense of alienation and futility would become
so debilitating as to make the quest for happiness -- one's
own or that of others -- impossible. For these reasons, the
Buddha advised paying no attention to such questions as "Do
I exist?" or "Don't I exist?" for however you answer them,
they lead to suffering and stress.
To
avoid the suffering implicit in questions of "self" and "other,"
he offered an alternative way of dividing up experience: the
four Noble Truths of stress, its cause, its cessation, and
the path to its cessation. Rather than viewing these truths
as pertaining to self or other, he said, one should recognize
them simply for what they are, in and of themselves, as they
are directly experienced, and then perform the duty appropriate
to each. Stress should be comprehended, its cause abandoned,
its cessation realized, and the path to its cessation developed.
These duties form the context in which the anatta doctrine
is best understood. If you develop the path of virtue, concentration,
and discernment to a state of calm well-being and use that
calm state to look at experience in terms of the Noble Truths,
the questions that occur to the mind are not "Is there a self?
What is my self?" but rather "Am I suffering stress because
I'm holding onto this particular phenomenon? Is it really
me, myself, or mine? If it's stressful but not really me or
mine, why hold on?" These last questions merit straightforward
answers, as they then help you to comprehend stress and to
chip away at the attachment and clinging -- the residual sense
of self-identification -- that cause it, until ultimately
all traces of self-identification are gone and all that's
left is limitless freedom.
In this sense, the anatta teaching is not a doctrine of no-self,
but a not-self strategy for shedding suffering by letting
go of its cause, leading to the highest, undying happiness.
At that point, questions of self, no-self, and not-self fall
aside. Once there's the experience of such total freedom,
where would there be any concern about what's experiencing
it, or whether or not it's a self?
*
* *
Nibbana
We
all know what happens when a fire goes out. The flames die
down and the fire is gone for good. So when we first learn
that the name for the goal of Buddhist practice, nibbana (nirvana),
literally means the extinguishing of a fire, it's hard to
imagine a deadlier image for a spiritual goal: utter annihilation.
It turns out, though, that this reading of the concept is
a mistake in translation, not so much of a word as of an image.
What did an extinguished fire represent to the Indians of
the Buddha's day? Anything but annihilation.
According to the ancient Brahmins, when a fire was extinguished
it went into a state of latency. Rather than ceasing to exist,
it became dormant and in that state -- unbound from any particular
fuel -- it became diffused throughout the cosmos. When the
Buddha used the image to explain nibbana to the Indian Brahmins
of his day, he bypassed the question of whether an extinguished
fire continues to exist or not, and focused instead on the
impossibility of defining a fire that doesn't burn: thus his
statement that the person who has gone totally "out" can't
be described.
However, when teaching his own disciples, the Buddha used
nibbana more as an image of freedom. Apparently, all Indians
at the time saw burning fire as agitated, dependent, and trapped,
both clinging and being stuck to its fuel as it burned. To
ignite a fire, one had to "seize" it. When fire let go of
its fuel, it was "freed," released from its agitation, dependence,
and entrapment -- calm and unconfined. This is why Pali poetry
repeatedly uses the image of extinguished fire as a metaphor
for freedom. In fact, this metaphor is part of a pattern of
fire imagery that involves two other related terms as well.
Upadana, or clinging, also refers to the sustenance
a fire takes from its fuel. Khandha means not only
one of the five "heaps" (form, feeling, perception, thought
processes, and consciousness) that define all conditioned
experience, but also the trunk of a tree. Just as fire goes
out when it stops clinging and taking sustenance from wood,
so the mind is freed when it stops clinging to the khandhas.
Thus the image underlying nibbana is one of freedom. The Pali
commentaries support this point by tracing the word nibbana
to its verbal root, which means "unbinding." What kind of
unbinding? The texts describe two levels. One is the unbinding
in this lifetime, symbolized by a fire that has gone out but
whose embers are still warm. This stands for the enlightened
arahant, who is conscious of sights and sounds, sensitive
to pleasure and pain, but freed from passion, aversion, and
delusion. The second level of unbinding, symbolized by a fire
so totally out that its embers have grown cold, is what the
arahant experiences after this life. All input from the senses
cools away and he/she is totally freed from even the subtlest
stresses and limitations of existence in space and time.
The Buddha insists that this level is indescribable, even
in terms of existence or nonexistence, because words work
only for things that have limits. All he really says about
it -- apart from images and metaphors -- is that one can have
foretastes of the experience in this lifetime, and that it's
the ultimate happiness, something truly worth knowing.
So the next time you watch a fire going out, see it not as
a case of annihilation, but as a lesson in how freedom is
to be found in letting go.
Sangha
The
Economy of Gifts
According
to the Buddhist monastic code, monks and nuns are not allowed
to accept money or even to engage in barter or trade with
lay people. They live entirely in an economy of gifts. Lay
supporters provide gifts of material requisites for the monastics,
while the monastics provide their supporters with the gift
of the teaching. Ideally -- and to a great extent in actual
practice -- this is an exchange that comes from the heart,
something totally voluntary. There are many stories in the
texts that emphasize the point that returns in this economy
-- it might also be called an economy of merit -- depend not
on the material value of the object given, but on the purity
of heart of the donor and recipient. You give what is appropriate
to the occasion and to your means, when and wherever your
heart feels inspired. For the monastics, this means that you
teach, out of compassion, what should be taught, regardless
of whether it will sell. For the laity, this means that you
give what you have to spare and feel inclined to share. There
is no price for the teachings, nor even a "suggested donation."
Anyone who regards the act of teaching or the act of giving
requisites as a repayment for a particular favor is ridiculed
as mercenary. Instead, you give because giving is good for
the heart and because the survival of the Dhamma as a living
principle depends on daily acts of generosity.
The primary symbol of this economy is the alms bowl. If you
are a monastic, it represents your dependence on others, your
need to accept generosity no matter what form it takes. You
may not get what you want in the bowl, but you realize that
you always get what you need, even if it's a hard-earned lesson
in doing without. One of my students in Thailand once went
to the mountains in the northern part of the country to practice
in solitude. His hillside shack was an ideal place to meditate,
but he had to depend on a nearby hilltribe village for alms,
and the diet was mostly plain rice with some occasional boiled
vegetables. After two months on this diet, his meditation
theme became the conflict in his mind over whether he should
go or stay. One rainy morning, as he was on his alms round,
he came to a shack just as the morning rice was ready. The
wife of the house called out, asking him to wait while she
got some rice from the pot. As he was waiting there in the
pouring rain, he couldn't help grumbling inwardly about the
fact that there would be nothing to go with the rice. It so
happened that the woman had an infant son who was sitting
near the kitchen fire, crying from hunger. So as she scooped
some rice out of the pot, she stuck a small lump of rice in
his mouth. Immediately, the boy stopped crying and began to
grin. My student saw this, and it was like a light bulb turning
on in his head. "Here you are, complaining about what people
are giving you for free," he told himself. "You're no match
for a little kid. If he can be happy with just a lump of rice,
why can't you?" As a result, the lesson that came with his
scoop of rice that day gave my student the strength he needed
to stay on in the mountains for another three years.
For a monastic the bowl also represents the opportunity you
give others to practice the Dhamma in accordance with their
means. In Thailand, this is reflected in one of the idioms
used to describe going for alms: proad sat, doing a
favor for living beings. There were times on my alms round
in rural Thailand when, as I walked past a tiny grass shack,
someone would come running out to put rice in my bowl. Years
earlier, as lay person, my reaction on seeing such a bare,
tiny shack would have been to want to give monetary help to
them. But now I was on the receiving end of their generosity.
In my new position I may have been doing less for them in
material terms than I could have done as a lay person, but
at least I was giving them the opportunity to have the dignity
that comes with being a donor.
For
the donors, the monk's alms bowl becomes a symbol of the good
they have done. On several occasions in Thailand people would
tell me that they had dreamed of a monk standing before them,
opening the lid to his bowl. The details would differ as to
what the dreamer saw in the bowl, but in each case the interpretation
of the dream was the same: the dreamer's merit was about to
bear fruit in an especially positive way.
The alms round itself is also a gift that goes both ways.
On the one hand, daily contact with lay donors reminds the
monastics that their practice is not just an individual matter,
but a concern of the entire community. They are indebted to
others for the right and opportunity to practice, and should
do their best to practice diligently as a way of repaying
that debt. At the same time, the opportunity to walk through
a village early in the morning, passing by the houses of the
rich and poor, the happy and unhappy, gives plenty of opportunities
to reflect on the human condition and the need to find a way
out of the grinding cycle of death and rebirth.
For the donors, the alms round is a reminder that the monetary
economy is not the only way to happiness. It helps to keep
a society sane when there are monastics infiltrating the towns
every morning, embodying an ethos very different from the
dominant monetary economy. The gently subversive quality of
this custom helps people to keep their values straight.
Above all, the economy of gifts symbolized by the alms bowl
and the alms round allows for specialization, a division of
labor, from which both sides benefit. Those who are willing
can give up many of the privileges of home life and in return
receive the free time, the basic support, and the communal
training needed to devote themselves fully to Dhamma practice.
Those who stay at home can benefit from having full-time Dhamma
practitioners around on a daily basis. I have always found
it ironic that the modern world honors specialization in almost
every area -- even in things like running, jumping, and throwing
a ball -- but not in the Dhamma, where it is denounced as
"dualism," "elitism," or worse. The Buddha began the monastic
order on the first day of his teaching career because he saw
the benefits that come with specialization. Without it, the
practice tends to become limited and diluted, negotiated into
the demands of the monetary economy. The Dhamma becomes limited
to what will sell and what will fit into a schedule dictated
by the demands of family and job. In this sort of situation,
everyone ends up poorer in things of the heart.
The
fact that tangible goods run only one way in the economy of
gifts means that the exchange is open to all sorts of abuses.
This is why there are so many rules in the monastic code to
keep the monastics from taking unfair advantage of the generosity
of lay donors. There are rules against asking for donations
in inappropriate circumstances, from making claims as to one's
spiritual attainments, and even from covering up the good
foods in one's bowl with rice, in hopes that donors will then
feel inclined to provide something more substantial. Most
of the rules, in fact, were instituted at the request of lay
supporters or in response to their complaints. They had made
their investment in the merit economy and were interested
in protecting their investment. This observation applies not
only to ancient India, but also to the modern-day West. On
their first contact with the Sangha, most people tend to see
little reason for the disciplinary rules, and regard them
as quaint holdovers from ancient Indian prejudices. When,
however, they come to see the rules in the context of the
economy of gifts and begin to participate in that economy
themselves, they also tend to become avid advocates of the
rules and active protectors of "their" monastics. The arrangement
may limit the freedom of the monastics in certain ways, but
it means that the lay supporters take an active interest not
only in what the monastic teaches, but also in how the monastic
lives -- a useful safeguard to make sure that teachers walk
their talk. This, again, insures that the practice remains
a communal concern. As the Buddha said,
Monks, householders are very helpful to you, as they provide
you with the requisites of robes, alms food, lodgings, and
medicine. And you, monks, are very helpful to householders,
as you teach them the Dhamma admirable in the beginning,
admirable in the middle, and admirable in the end, as you
expound the holy life both in its particulars and in its
essence, entirely complete, surpassingly pure. In this way
the holy life is lived in mutual dependence, for the purpose
of crossing over the flood, for making a right end to suffering
and stress.
Iti
107
Periodically,
throughout the history of Buddhism, the economy of gifts has
broken down, usually when one side or the other gets fixated
on the tangible side of the exchange and forgets the qualities
of the heart that are its reason for being. And periodically
it has been revived when people are sensitive to its rewards
in terms of the living Dhamma. By its very nature, the economy
of gifts is something of a hothouse creation that requires
careful nurture and a sensitive discernment of its benefits.
I find it amazing that such an economy has lasted for more
than 2,600 years. It will never be more than an alternative
to the dominant monetary economy, largely because its rewards
are so intangible and require so much patience, trust, and
discipline in order to be appreciated. Those who demand immediate
return for specific services and goods will always require
a monetary system. Sincere Buddhist lay people, however, have
the chance to play an amphibious role, engaging in the monetary
economy in order to maintain their livelihood, and contributing
to the economy of gifts whenever they feel so inclined. In
this way they can maintain direct contact with teachers, insuring
the best possible instruction for their own practice, in an
atmosphere where mutual compassion and concern are the medium
of exchange; and purity of heart, the bottom line.
Summary
A
Refuge in Skillful Action
Is
human action real or illusory? If real, is it effective? If
it is effective, does one have a choice in what one does?
If one has a choice, can one choose to act in a way that will
lead to genuine happiness? If so, what is that way? These
are questions that lie at the heart of the way we conduct
our lives. The way we answer them will determine whether we
look for happiness through our own abilities, seek happiness
through outside help, or abandon the quest for a higher-than-ordinary
happiness altogether.
These questions were precisely the ones that led Siddhattha
Gotama -- the Bodhisatta, or Buddha-to-be -- to undertake
his quest for Awakening. He felt that there was no honor,
no value in life, if true happiness could not be found through
one's own efforts. Thus he put his life on the line to see
how far human effort could go. Eventually he found that effort,
skillfully applied, could lead to an Awakening to the Deathless.
The lessons he learned about action and effort in the course
of developing that skill, and which were confirmed by the
experience of his Awakening, formed the basis of his doctrine
of kamma (in Sanskrit: karma). This doctrine lies at
the heart of his teaching, and forms the essence of the Triple
Refuge. Put briefly, it states that action is real, effective,
and the result of one's own choice. If one chooses to act
skillfully and works to develop that skill, one's actions
can lead to happiness, not only on the ordinary sensory level,
but also on a level that transcends all the dimensions of
time and the present. To understand this doctrine and get
a sense of its full implications, we must first have some
background on how the Buddha arrived at it. This will help
us to see how kamma can act as a refuge, and what kind of
refuge it provides.
Background
People
often believe that the Buddha simply picked up the doctrine
of kamma from his environment, but nothing could be further
from the truth. Northern India at his time was a place of
great intellectual activity, and -- as science made new advances
and called many of the old, established beliefs into question
-- all of the great philosophical and religious issues of
human life were up for grabs. The foremost science at that
time was astronomy. New, precise observations of planetary
movements, combined with new advances in mathematics, had
led astronomers to conclude that time was measured in eons,
incomprehensibly long cycles that repeat themselves endlessly.
Philosophers of the time tried to work out the implications
of this vast temporal frame for the drama of human life and
the quest for ultimate happiness. These philosophers fell
into two broad camps: those who conducted their speculations
within the traditions of the Vedas, orthodox religious and
ritual texts; and other, unorthodox groups, called the Samanas
(contemplatives), who questioned the authority of the Vedas.
By the time of Siddhattha Gotama, philosophers of the Vedic
and Samana schools had developed widely differing views of
the laws of nature and how they affected the pursuit of true
happiness. Their main points of disagreement were two:
1)
Personal identity. Most Vedic and Samana philosophers
assumed that a person's identity extended beyond this lifetime,
eons before birth back into the past, and after death on into
the future. There was some disagreement, however, as to whether
one's identity from life to life would change or remain the
same. The Vedas had viewed rebirth in a positive light, but
by the time of Prince Siddhattha the influence of the newly
discovered astronomical cycles had led those who believed
in rebirth to regard the cycles as pointless and confining,
and release as the only possibility for true happiness. There
was, however, a Samana school of hedonist materialists, called
Lokayatans, who denied the existence of any identity beyond
death and insisted that happiness could be found only by indulging
in sensual pleasures here and now.
2)
Action and causality. The ancient Vedas had formulated
a doctrine of kamma, or action, which stated that correctly
performed actions played a causal role in providing for one's
happiness in the life after death. The primary actions recognized
by these texts, though, were ritualistic: ritually performed
sacrifices, often involving the slaughter of animals, and
gifts to priests. To be effective, the ritual actions had
to be correctly performed. This concern for correct performance
led the Vedists to compose ritual manuals prescribing in minute
detail the proper things to do and say in the course of their
rituals. They even included special chants and spellsto compensate
for any inadvertent mistakes in the course of a particular
ritual, so great was their conviction that the quality of
an act depend on its physical expression.
The
Samana schools rejected the Vedic teachings on kamma, but
for a variety of different reasons. One set of Samana schools,
called the Ajivakas, asserted that an individual's actions
were not in the least bit responsible for the course of his/her
life. One branch of the Ajivakas taught that all action in
the cosmos is illusory, as the only truly existing things
are the unchanging substances of which the cosmos is made.
Thus there is no such thing as right or wrong, good or evil,
for in the ultimate sense there is no such thing as action.
Another branch of the Ajivakas taught that action was real
but totally subject to fate: deterministic causal laws that
left no room for free will. Thus they insisted that release
from the round of rebirth came only when the round worked
itself out. Peace of mind could be found by accepting one's
fate and patiently waiting for the cycle, like a ball of string
unwinding, to come to its end. Although these two positions
derived from two very different pictures of the cosmos, they
both led to the same conclusion: good and evil were illusory
social conventions, human beings were not responsible for
their acts, and human action had no role in shaping one's
experience of the cosmos.
The Lokayatans came to a similar conclusion, but for different
reasons. They agreed with the Vedists that physical action
was real, but they maintained that it bore no results. There
was no way to observe any invariable cause-effect relationship
between events, they said; as a result, all events were spontaneous
and self-caused. This meant that human actions had no consequences,
and thus there were no such things as good and evil because
no action could have a good or evil effect on anything else.
They concluded that one could safely ignore moral rules in
one's pursuit of sensual pleasure, and would be a fool to
deny oneself immediate gratification of one's desires whenever
the opportunity appeared.
Another school, the Jains, accepted the Vedic premise that
one's actions shaped one's experience of the cosmos, but they
differed from the Vedas in the way they conceived of action.
All action, according to them, was a form of violence. The
more violent the act, the more it produced effluents, conceived
as sticky substances that bound the soul to the round of rebirth.
Thus they rejected the Vedic assertion that ritual sacrifice
produced good kamma, for the violence involved in killing
the sacrificial animals was actually a form of very sticky
bad kamma. In their eyes, the only way to true happiness was
to try to escape the round of kamma entirely. This was to
be done by violence against themselves: various forms of self-torture
that were supposed to burn away the effluents, the "heat"
of pain being a sign that the effluents were burning. At the
same time, they tried to create as little new kamma as possible.
This practice would culminate in total abstinence from physical
action, resulting in suicide by starvation, the theory being
that if old kamma were completely burned away, and no new
kamma created, there would be no more effluents to bind the
soul to the cosmos. Thus the soul would be released.
Despite the differences between the Vedic and Jain views of
action, they shared some important similarities: Both believed
that the physical performance of an action, rather than the
mental attitude behind it, determined its kammic result. And,
both saw kamma as acting under deterministic, linear laws.
Kamma performed in the present would not bear fruit until
the future, and the relationship between a particular action
and its result was predictable and fixed.
These
divergent viewpoints on the nature of action formed the backdrop
for the Bodhisatta's quest for ultimate happiness. On the
one side stood the Ajivakas and Lokayatans, who insisted for
various reasons that human action was ineffective: either
non-existent, chaotic, or totally pre-determined. On the other
side stood the Vedic and Jain thinkers, who taught that physical
action was effective, but that it was subject to deterministic
and linear laws, and could not lead to true happiness beyond
the round of rebirth. The Buddha's position on kamma broke
from both sides of the issue, largely because he approached
the question from a radically new direction.
The
Principle of Skillful Action
Instead
of arguing from abstract science, the Bodhisatta focused directly
on the level of immediate experience and explored the implications
of truths that both sides overlooked. Instead of fixing on
the content of the views expressed, he considered the actions
of those who were expressing the views. If views of determinism
and total chaos were followed to their logical end, there
would be no point in purposeful action, and yet the proponents
of both theories continued to act in purposeful ways. If only
physical acts bore consequences, there would be no point in
teaching a proper understanding of the nature of action --
for the mental act of understanding, right or wrong, would
have no consequences -- and yet all sides agreed that it was
important to understand reality in the right way. The fact
that each side insisted that the other used unskillful forms
of observation and argumentation to advance its views implied
that mental skills were crucial in determining the truth.
Thus the Bodhisatta looked directly at skillful mental action
in and of itself, followed its implications in developing
knowledge itself as a skill -- rather than as a body of facts
-- and found that those implications carried him all the way
to release.
The most basic lesson he learned was that mental skills can
be developed. As one of the Pali discourses notes, he found
that thoughts imbued with passion, aversion, and delusion
were harmful; thoughts devoid of these qualities were not
harmful; and he could shepherd his thoughts in such a way
to avoid harm. The fact that he could develop this skill meant
that mental action is not illusory, that it actually gives
results. Otherwise, there would be no such thing as skill,
for no actions would be more effective than others. The fact
of skillfulness also implies that some results are preferable
to others, for otherwise there would be no point in trying
to develop skills. In addition, the fact that it is possible
to learn from mistakes in the course of developing a skill
-- so that one's future actions may be more skillful -- implies
that the cycle of action, result, and reaction is not entirely
deterministic. Acts of perception, attention, and intention
can actually provide new input as the cycle goes through successive
turns.
The important element in this input is attention. Anyone who
has mastered a skill will realize that the process of attaining
mastery requires attention to three things: (1) to pre-existing
conditions, (2) to what one is doing in relation to those
conditions, and (3) to the results that come from one's actions.
This threefold focus enables one to monitor one's actions
and adjust them accordingly. In this way, attention to conditions,
actions, and effects allows the results of an action to feed
back into future action, thus allowing for refinement in one's
skill.
In the first stage of his practice, the Bodhisatta refined
the skillfulness of his mind until it reached a state of jhana,
or concentrated mental absorption, marked by perfect equanimity
and mindfulness. The question that occurred at that point
was how much further the principle of skillful action could
be applied. Did intentional action directly or indirectly
explain all experience in the world, or only some of it? If
all of it, could the same principle be used to gain escape
from the suffering inherent in the world, or were the Jains
right in saying that action could only keep one bound to the
cycle of suffering?
As the texts tell us, the Bodhisatta's first attempt to answer
these questions was to direct his mind -- now stable, bright,
clear, and malleable -- to knowledge of previous lifetimes.
If it were true that he had been born before, his actions
from past lives might explain experiences in this life --
such as the circumstances into which he was born -- for which
no actions in this life could account. He found that he could
indeed remember previous lives, many thousands of them: what
he had been born as, where, what his experience of pleasure
and pain, how he had died and then experienced rebirth as
something else.
This
first insight, however, did not fully answer his question.
He needed to know if kamma was indeed the principle that shaped
life, not only in terms of the narrative of his own lives,
but also as a cosmic principle effecting the lives of all
beings. So he directed his mind to knowledge of the passing
away and arising of beings throughout the cosmos, and found
that he could indeed see beings dying and gaining rebirth,
that the pleasure and pain of their new lives was shaped by
the quality of their kamma, and the kamma in turn was dependent
on the views that gave rise to it. Right views -- believing
that good kamma, based on skillful intentions, gave rise to
happiness -- lay behind good kamma, while wrong views -- not
believing these principles -- lay behind bad.
Even this second insight, however, didn't fully answer his
question. To begin with, there was no guarantee that the visions
providing this knowledge were true or complete. And, even
if they were, they did not tell whether there was a form of
right view that would underlie a level of skillful kamma that
would lead, not simply to a pleasant rebirth within the cycle
of rebirth, but to release from the cycle altogether.
Here was where the Bodhisatta turned to look again at the
events in the mind, in and of themselves in the present, and
in particular at the process of developing of skillfulness,
to see if it offered any clues as to what a right view leading
out of the cycle of rebirth might be. As we noted above, the
process of skillfulness implies two things: a non-linear principle
of cause and effect, involving feedback loops to allow for
greater skillfulness; and the fact that some results are preferable
to others. The Bodhisatta used these principles, in their
most basic form, to divide experience into four categories
based on two sets of variables: cause and effect on one hand,
and stress and its cessation on the other. He then dropped
the categories in which the first two knowledges had been
expressed. In other words, he dropped the sense of "self"
and "others" in which the narrative of the first knowledge
had been expressed; and the sense of "beings" inhabiting a
"world" in which the cosmology of the second knowledge had
been expressed. In his place, he analyzed experience in categories
empty of those concepts, simply in terms of the direct experience
of stress, its cause, its cessation, and the path of mental
factors leading to its cessation.
In the first round of this new insight, he was able to identify
each of these categories: stress, in ultimate terms, was attachment
to anything that might be identified as a "self." The cause
of stress was craving, which in turn was based on ignorance
about the true nature of stress. The cessation of stress was
the total abandoning of craving, while the path to the cessation
of stress was a cluster of eight factors: right view, right
resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right
effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. In the
second round of this insight, he realized the duties that
had to be performed with regard to each of these categories.
Stress was to be comprehended, its cause abandoned, its cessation
realized, and the path developed. He then pursued those duties
until the mental powers of the path were so fully developed
that stress was totally comprehended. This meant that there
were no more objects on which craving could land, and so it
was naturally abandoned. Thus in the third round of this insight
he realized that the duties with regard to all four truths
had been fulfilled. At that point there was nothing further
for the mind to do -- there was nothing more it could
do in these terms. Right view and concentration -- the mental
qualities lying at the heart of the path -- had done such
a thorough job of ferreting out stress and craving that, as
their final act, they detected the subtle stress and craving
inherent in the act of right view and right concentration
themselves. Thus, as its final act, the mind let go even of
these path factors, just as a carpenter would let go of his
tools when they had finished their job.
As
a result, all present mental input into the processes of experience
naturally came to a halt in a state of non-fashioning. This
state opened onto an experience of total liberation, called
Unbinding (nibbana; in Sanskrit, nirvana). Realizing
that this Unbinding was the total cessation of suffering and
of the processes of death and rebirth as generated in the
mind, the Bodhisatta, now the Buddha, knew that his questions
had been answered. Skillful action, based on right view in
the form of the four categories based around stress -- which
he termed the four noble truths -- could indeed bring about
a total happiness free from the limitations of birth, aging,
illness, and death.
The
Teaching of Right View
The
texts tell us that the Buddha spent the first seven weeks
after his Awakening experiencing that happiness and freedom.
Then he decided to teach the way to that happiness to others.
His teachings were based on the three insights that had led
to his own experience of Awakening. Because right view lay
at the heart of his analysis of kamma and the way out of kamma,
his teachings focused in particular on the two forms of right
view that he learned in the course of those insights: the
form he learned in the second insight, which led to a favorable
rebirth; and the form he learned in the third insight, which
led out from the cycle of death and rebirth once and for all.
The first level of right view the Buddha termed mundane right
view. He expressed it in these terms:
There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed.
There are fruits and results of good and bad actions. There
is this world and the next world. There is mother and father.
There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are priests
and contemplatives who, faring rightly and practicing rightly,
proclaim this world and the next after having directly known
and realized it for themselves.
M
117
This
passage means that there is merit in generosity; that the
moral qualities of good and bad are inherent in the universe,
and not simply social conventions; that there is life after
death; that one has a true moral debt to one's parents; and
that there are people who have lived the renunciate's life
properly in such a way that they have gained true and direct
knowledge of these matters. These beliefs form the minimum
prerequisite for following the path of skillful action that
will lead to happy results within the cycle of rebirth. Thus
this might be termed right view for the purpose of a happy
rebirth.
The second level of right view, which the Buddha termed transcendent
right view, he expressed simply as:
Knowledge in terms of stress, knowledge in terms of the
origination of stress, knowledge in terms of the cessation
of stress, knowledge in terms of the way of practice leading
to the cessation of stress.
D
22
In
other words, this level of right view consists of knowledge
in terms of the four noble truths, and might be called right
view for the purpose of escaping from rebirth altogether.
Just as the third insight grew out of the first two insights,
the second level of right view grows out of the first. Its
purpose is impossible to fathom if taken outside of the context
of mundane good and bad kamma and their good and bad results.
Together, the two levels of right view provide a complete
and complementary picture of the nature of kamma as viewed
from two different perspectives. The first level views kamma
as a cosmic principle at work in the narrative of each individual's
many lives. The second form views kamma as a principle at
work in the present moment, approached from a frame of mind
empty of the categories of self and other, being and non-being,
which lie at the essence of narratives and cosmologies.
To see how these two levels of right view complement one another
in shaping the form and content of the Buddha's teachings,
we can look at his most common mode of presenting his teachings:
the "graduated discourse" (anupubbi-katha), beginning
with the principle of good and bad kamma and gradually building
up through the topics of generosity, virtue, heaven, drawbacks,
and renunciation, ending with the topic of the four noble
truths. There were several reasons for this gradual approach,
but primarily they came down to the fact that the four truths
were too abstract to appear immediately relevant, and the
goal of escape from rebirth made no sense unless viewed in
the proper context. The role of the graduated discourse was
to provide that sense of relevance and context.
Starting with the first level of right view, the Buddha would
describe good actions under two main categories: generosity
and virtue. Together, the two categories could be stretched
to cover almost any type of good physical, verbal, or mental
deeds. For example, generosity covers not only the giving
of material gifts, but also generosity with one's time, knowledge,
gratitude, and forgiveness. Virtue begins with the five precepts
-- against killing, stealing, illicit sex, lying, and taking
intoxicants -- includes prohibitions against five forms of
wrong livelihood -- selling slaves, intoxicants, poisons,
weapons, and animals to be killed for food -- and goes on
to cover abstention from all forms of harmful behavior. Thus
good behavior, taken under the categories of generosity and
virtue, means both refraining from harmful behavior and performing
actions that are beneficial.
Having described good actions, the Buddha would describe their
rewards, as results of the cosmic principle of kamma. The
rewards here include both those visible in this world and
those to be anticipated in the next. The Buddhist texts contain
glowing descriptions both of the sense of well-being in the
immediate present that results from good actions, and of the
exquisite pleasures that rebirth in heaven entails. Implicit
in these descriptions is the dark side of the principle of
kamma: the inherent punishments that come from bad behavior,
again both in this world and in the next: in the various levels
of hell and other lower births -- such as a common animal
-- and again in this world on one's return to the human state.
However
-- because finite actions can't produce infinite results --
the rewards of kamma, good or bad, are not eternal. This point
led naturally to the next topic in the discourse: the drawbacks
of the cycle of rebirth as a whole. No happiness within the
cycle is permanent; even the most refined heavenly pleasures
must end when the force of one's good kamma ends, and one
is forced to return to the rough and tumble of lower realms
of being. The changeablility of the mind lying behind the
creation of kamma means that the course of an individual's
life through the realms of rebirth is not necessarily ever
upward. In fact, as the Buddha saw from his remembrance of
his own lives, the course leading from one rebirth to another
is filled with aimless ups and downs, like a stick thrown
into the air: sometimes landing on this end, sometimes on
the other end, sometimes in the middle. The amount of suffering
and stress suffered in the course of these many throws is
more than can be measured.
These considerations led naturally to the next topic of the
discourse: renunciation. Having realized the fleeting nature
of even the most refined pleasures in the round of rebirth,
the sensitive listener would be prepared to look favorably
on the idea of renouncing any aspiration for happiness within
the round, and cultivating the path to release. The texts
compare this mental preparation to the act of washing a cloth
so that it would be ready to take dye. This was when the Buddha
would take the listener beyond the level of mundane right
view and broach the transcendent level.
The texts describing the steps of the graduated discourse
describe this step simply as "the teaching special to the
Buddhas: stress, its origination, its cessation, and the path,"
i.e., the four noble truths. However, the four noble truths
are simply one out of three interrelated versions of transcendent
right view taught in the texts: (1) this/that conditionality
(idappaccayata), (2) dependent co-arising (paticca
samuppada), and (3) the four noble truths (ariya sacca).
In order to gain a full picture of the Buddha's teachings
on the nature of kamma, we should look at all three.
This/That
Conditionality
The
most basic version of right view is simply the causal principle
of feedback loops that the Buddha found in the process of
developing skillful action. He called this principle "this/that
conditionality" because it explains experience in terms that
are immediately present to awareness -- events that can be
pointed to in the mind as "this" or "that" -- rather than
principles hidden from awareness. He expressed this principle
in a simple-looking formula:
"(1)
When this is, that is.
(2) From the arising of this comes the arising of that.
(3) When this isn't, that isn't.
(4) From the stopping of this comes the stopping of that."
A
X.92
Of
the many possible ways of interpreting this formula, only
one does justice both to the way the formula is worded and
to the complex, fluid manner in which specific examples of
causal relationships are described in the texts. That way
is to view the formula as the interplay of two causal principles:
one diachronic, acting over time; and the other synchronic,
acting in a single instant of time. The two principles combine
to form a non-linear pattern. The diachronic principle --
taking (2) and (4) as a pair -- connects events over time;
the synchronic principle -- (1) and (3) -- connects objects
and events in the present moment. The two principles intersect,
so that any given event is influenced by two sets of conditions:
input from the past and input from the present.
Although each principle seems simple, their interaction makes
their consequences very complex. To begin with, every act
has repercussions in the present moment together with reverberations
extending into the future. Depending on the intensity of the
act, these reverberations can last for a very short or a very
long time. Thus every event takes place in a context determined
by the combined effects of past events coming from a wide
range in time, together with the effects of present acts.
These effects can intensify one another, can coexist with
little interaction, or can cancel one another out. Thus, even
though it is possible to predict that a certain type of act
will tend to give a certain type of result -- for example,
acting on anger will lead to pain -- there is no way to predict
when or where that result will make itself felt.
The complexity of the system is further enhanced by the fact
that both causal principles meet at the mind. Through its
views and intentions, the mind keeps both principles active.
Through its sensory powers, it is affected by the results
of the causes it has set in motion. This allows for the causal
principles to feed back into themselves, as the mind reacts
to the results of its own actions. These reactions can form
positive feedback loops, intensifying the original input and
its results, much like the howl in a speaker placed next to
the microphone feeding into it. They can also create negative
feedback loops, counteracting the original input, in the same
way that a thermostat turns off a heater when the temperature
in a room is too high, and turns it on again when it gets
too low. Because the results of actions can be immediate,
and the mind can react to them immediately, these feedback
loops can sometimes quickly spin out of control; at other
times, they may provide skillful checks on one's behavior.
For example, a man may act out of anger, which gives him an
immediate sense of dis-ease to which he may react with further
anger, thus creating a snowballing effect. On the other hand,
he may come to understand that the anger is causing his dis-ease,
and so immediately attempt to stop it. However, there can
also be times when the results of his past actions may obscure
his present dis-ease, so that he doesn't immediately react
to it at all. This means that, although there are general
patterns relating habitual acts to their results, there is
no set one-for-one, tit-for-tat, relationship between a particular
action and its results. Instead, the results are determined
by the entire context of the act, shaped by the actions that
preceded or followed it, and by one's state of mind at the
time of acting or experiencing the result.
In
this way, the combination of two causal principles -- influences
from the past interacting with those in the immediate present
-- accounts for the complexity of causal relationships on
the level of immediate experience. However, the combination
of the two principles also opens the possibility for finding
a systematic way to break the causal web. If causes and effects
were entirely linear, the cosmos would be totally deterministic,
and nothing could be done to escape from the machinations
of the causal process. If they were entirely synchronic, there
would be no relationship from one moment to the next, and
all events would be arbitrary. The web could break down totally
or reform spontaneously for no reason at all. However, with
the two modes working together, one can learn from causal
patterns observed from the past and apply one's insights to
disentangling the same causal patterns acting in the present.
If one's insights are true, one can then gain freedom from
those patterns. This allows for escape from the cycle of kamma
altogether by developing kamma at a heightened level of skill
by pursuing the noble eightfold path.
In addition, the non-linearity of this/that conditionality
explains why heightened skillfulness, when focused on the
present moment, can succeed in leading to the end of the kamma
that has formed the experience of the entire cosmos. All non-linear
processes exhibit what is called scale invariance, meaning
that the behavior of the process on any one scale is similar
to its behavior on smaller or larger scales. To understand,
say, the large-scale pattern of a particular non-linear process,
one need only focus on its behavior on a smaller scale that
is easier to observe, and one will see the same pattern at
work. In the case of kamma, one need only focus on the process
of kamma in the immediate present, in the course of developing
heightened skillfulness, and the large-scale issues over the
expanses of space and time will become clear as one gains
release from them.
Dependent
Co-arising
The
teaching on dependent co-arising helps to provide more detailed
instructions on this point, showing precisely where the cycle
of kamma provides openings for more skillful present input.
In doing so, it both explains the importance of the act of
attention in developing heightened skillfulness, and acts
as a guide for focusing attention on present experience in
appropriate ways.
Dependent co-arising shows how the cosmos, when viewed in
the context of how it is directly experienced by a person
developing skillfulness, is subsumed entirely under factors
immediately present to awareness: the five aggregates of form,
feeling, perception, mental fabrication, and consciousness,
and the six sense media -- i.e., the five senses plus the
mind. The standard list of causal factors runs as follows:
the suffering and stress of aging, illness, and death depend
on birth; birth in turn depends on becoming; and so on down
through clinging, craving, feeling, sensory contact, the six
senses, name and form (mental and physical phenomena), sensory
consciousness, mental fabrications, and ignorance. Although
the list reads like a linear pattern, the precise definitions
of the terms show that it is filled with many feedback loops.
Because it is non-linear, it thus functions on several scales:
"birth," for instance, refers both to the birth of a physical
organism and to the birth of a sense of being in the mind.
Included in this list is the Buddha's ultimate analysis of
kamma and rebirth. For instance, the nexus of kamma, clinging,
becoming, and birth accounts for the realm in which birth
takes place. Kamma (covered under the factors of name and
form) gives rise to the five aggregates, which form the objects
for craving and clinging. Once there is clinging, there is
a "coming-into-being" in any of three realms: the sensual
realm, the realm of form, and the formless realm. These realms
refer not only to levels of being on the cosmic scale, but
also to levels of mental states. Some mental states are concerned
with sensual images, others with forms, and still others with
formless abstractions. The relationship between birth and
becoming can be compared to the process of falling asleep
and dreaming. As drowsiness leads the mind to lose contact
with waking reality, a dream image of another place and time
will appear in it. The appearance of this image is called
becoming. The act of entering into this image and taking on
a role or identity within it -- and thus entering the world
of the dream and falling asleep -- is birth. The commentaries
to the Pali texts maintain that precisely the same process
is what enables rebirth to follow the death of the body. At
the same time, the analogy between falling asleep and taking
birth explains why release from the cycle of becoming is called
Awakening.
Once there is birth in a particular realm, the nexus of name-and-form
with consciousness accounts for the arising and survival of
the active organism within that realm. Without consciousness,
the mental and physical organism would die. Without the mental
and physical organism, consciousness would have no place to
land and develop. This nexus also explains the feedback loops
that can lead to skillful action. "Name" includes the sub-factors
of attention, intention, feeling, perception, and contact,
which are precisely the factors at work in the process of
kamma and its result. The first lesson of skillfulness is
that the essence of an action lies in the intention motivating
it: an act motivated by the intention for greater skillfulness
will give results different from those of an act motivated
by greed, aversion, or delusion. Intention, in turn, is influenced
by the appropriateness or inappropriateness of the act of
attention to one's circumstances. The less an act of attention
is clouded by delusion, the more clearly it will see things
in appropriate terms. The combination of attention and intention
in turn determines the quality of the feeling and the physical
events ("form") that result from the act. The more skilled
the action, the more refined these results will be. Perceptions
arise with regard to those results, some more appropriate
than others. The act of attention selects which ones to focus
on, thus feeding back into another round in the cycle of action.
Underlying the entire cycle is the fact that all its factors
are in contact with consciousness.
This
interplay of name, form, and consciousness provides an answer
to the quandary of how the stress and suffering inherent in
the cycle of action can be ended. If one tried simply to stop
the cycle through a direct intention, the intention itself
would count as kamma, and thus as a factor to keep the cycle
going. This double bind can be dissolved, however, if one
can watch as the contact between consciousness and the cycle
naturally falls away. This requires, not inaction, but more
and more appropriate attention to the process of kamma itself.
When one's attention to and mastery of the process becomes
fully complete, there occurs a point of equipoise called "non-fashioning"
(atammayata), in which the contact between the processes
of kamma and consciousness -- still fully conscious -- naturally
becomes disengaged. One modern teacher has compared this disengagement
to that of a fruit naturally falling, when fully ripened,
from the tree. This is how the cycle of action comes to an
end in the moment of Awakening.
As this analysis shows, the most important obstacle to release
is the ignorance that keeps attention from being fully perceptive.
As the Buddha traced the element of ignorance that underlay
the processes of mental fabrication, he found that it came
down to ignorance of the four noble truths: the identity of
the truths, the duties appropriate to each, and the mastery
of those duties. When this ignorance is fully overcome, the
craving that keeps the cycle going will have nothing to fasten
on, for all its possible objects are seen for what they are:
suffering and stress. With no place to land, craving disappears,
and the cycle can come to an end.
The
Four Noble Truths
Because
knowledge in terms of the four noble truths is what ends ignorance
and craving, the Buddha most often expressed transcendent
right view in their terms. These truths focus the analysis
of kamma directly on the question of stress and suffering:
issues at the heart of the narratives that people make of
their own life experiences. As the Buddha noted in his second
insight, his memory of previous lives included his experience
of pleasure and pain in each life, and most people -- when
recounting their own lives -- tend to focus on these issues
as well. The four truths, however, do not stop simply with
tales about stress: they approach it from the problem-solving
perspective of a person engaged in developing a skill. What
this means for the meditator trying to master heightened skillfulness
is that these truths cannot be fully comprehended by passive
observation. Only by participating sensitively in the process
of developing skillful powers of mindfulness, concentration,
and discernment -- and gaining a practical feel for the relationship
of cause and effect among the mental factors that shape that
process -- can one eradicate the ignorance that obstructs
the ending of kamma. Thus, only through developing skillfulness
to the ultimate degree can the cycle be brought to equilibrium
and, as a result, disband.
The
Knowledge of Unbinding
The
truth of the Buddha's understanding of the processes of kamma
-- as informed by this/that conditionality, dependent co-arising,
and the four noble truths -- was confirmed by the knowledge
of Unbinding that followed immediately on his mastery of heightened
skillfulness. He found that when skillfulness is intentionally
brought to a point of full consummation, as expressed in the
direct awareness of this/that conditionality, it leads to
a state of non-fashioning that opens to a level of consciousness
in which all experience of the cosmos has fallen away. When
one's experience of the cosmos resumes after the experience
of Awakening, one sees clearly that it is composed entirely
of the results of old kamma; with no new kamma added to the
process, all experience of the cosmos will eventually run
out -- or, in the words of the texts, "will grow cold right
here." This discovery confirmed the basic premise that kamma
not only plays a role in shaping experience of the cosmos,
it plays the primary role. If this were not so, then even
when kamma was ended there would still remain the types of
experience that came from other sources. But because none
of the limitations of the cosmos -- time, space, etc. -- remain
when all present kamma disbands, and none resume after all
old kamma runs out, kamma must be the factor accounting for
all experience of those limitations. This fact implies that
even the limiting factors that one encounters in terms of
sights, sounds, etc., are actually the fruit of past kamma
in thought, word, and deed -- committed not only in this,
but also in many preceding lifetimes. Thus, even though the
Buddha's development of heightened skillfulness focused on
the present moment, the resulting Awakening gave insights
that encompassed all of time.
Faith
in the Principle of Kamma
From
this discussion it should become clear why kamma, as an article
of faith, is a necessary factor in the path of Buddhist practice.
The teaching on kamma, in its narrative and cosmological forms,
provides the context for the practice, giving it direction
and urgency. Because the cosmos is governed by the laws of
kamma, those laws provide the only mechanism by which happiness
can be found. But because good and bad kamma, consisting of
good and bad intentions, simply perpetuate the ups and downs
of experience in the cosmos, a way must be found out of the
mechanism of kamma by mastering it in a way that allows it
to disband in an attentive state of non-intention. And, because
there is no telling what sudden surprises the results of one's
past kamma may still hold in store, one should try to develop
that mastery as quickly as possible.
In its "empty" mode -- i.e., focusing on the process of action,
without referring to questions of whether or not there is
a self or a being behind the processes -- the teaching on
kamma accounts for the focus and the terms of analysis
used in the practice. It also accounts for the mental qualities
needed to attain and maintain that level of focus and analysis.
In terms of focus, the principle of scale invariance means
that the complexities of kamma can be mastered by giving total
attention to phenomena in and of themselves in the immediate
present. These phenomena are then analyzed in terms of the
four noble truths, the terms used in observing and directing
the experience of developing the qualities of skillful action.
The most immediate skillful kamma that can be observed on
this level is the mastery of the very same mental qualities
that are supporting this refined level of focus and analysis:
mindfulness, concentration, and discernment, together with
the more basic qualities on which they are based. Thus, these
mental qualities act not only as supports to the focus and
analysis, but also as their object. Ultimately, discernment
becomes so refined that the focus and analysis take as their
object the act of focusing and analyzing, in and of themselves.
The cycle of action then short-circuits as it reaches culmination,
and Unbinding occurs.
It is entirely possible that a person with no firm conviction
in the principle of kamma can follow parts of the Buddhist
path, including mindfulness and concentration practices, and
gain positive results from them. For instance, one can pursue
mindfulness practice for the sense of balance, equanimity,
and peace it gives to one's daily life, or for the sake of
bringing the mind to the present for the purpose of spontaneity
and "going with the flow." The full practice of the path,
however, is a skillful diverting of the flow of the mind from
its habitual kammic streams to the stream of Unbinding. As
the Buddha said, this practice requires a willingness to "develop
and abandon" to an extreme degree. The developing requires
a supreme effort aimed at full and conscious mastery of mindfulness,
concentration, and discernment to the point of non-fashioning
and on to release. A lack of conviction in the principle of
kamma would undercut the patience and commitment, the desire,
persistence, intent, and refined powers of discrimination
needed to pursue concentration and discernment to the most
heightened levels, beyond what is needed for a general sense
of peace or spontaneity. The abandoning involves uprooting
the most deeply buried forms of clinging and attachment that
maintain bondage to the cycle of rebirth. Some of these forms
of clinging -- such as views and theories about self-identity
-- are so entrenched in the narrative and cosmological modes
in which most people function that only firm conviction in
the benefits to be had by abandoning them will be able to
pry them loose. This is why the Buddha insisted repeatedly
that conviction in the fact of his Awakening necessarily involves
conviction in the principle of kamma, and that both forms
of conviction are needed for the full mastery of the kamma
of heightened skillfulness leading to release.
There are many well-known passages in the Canon where the
Buddha asks his listeners not to accept his teachings simply
on faith, but these remarks were directed to people just beginning
the practice. Beginners need only accept the general principles
of skillful action on a trial basis, focusing on the input
that their intentions are putting into the causal system at
the present moment, and exploring the connection between skillful
intentions and favorable results. The more complex issues
of kamma come into play at this level only in forcing one
to be patient with the practice. Many times skillful intentions
do not produce their favorable results immediately, aside
from the sense of well-being -- sometimes clearly perceptible,
sometimes barely -- that comes with acting skillfully. Were
it not for this delay, the principle of kamma would be self-evident,
no one would dare act on unskillful intentions, and there
would be no need to take the principle on faith. The complexity
of this/that conditionality is the major cause of the confusion
and lack of skill with which most people live their lives.
The ability to master this process takes time.
As one progresses on the path, however -- and as the process
of developing skillfulness in and of itself gradually comes
to take center stage in one's awareness -- the actual results
of developing skillfulness should give greater and greater
reason for conviction in the principle of kamma. Except in
cases where people fall into the trap of heedlessness or complacency,
these results can spur and inspire one to hold to the principle
of kamma with the increasing levels of firmness, focus, and
refinement needed for Awakening.
This,
then, is the sense in which kamma, or intentional action,
forms the basic refuge for the person on the path. On the
one hand, as a doctrine, it provides guidance to the proper
path of action, and encouragement to muster the energy needed
to follow the path. On the other hand, as the actual principle
by which skillful action is brought to a pitch of non-fashioning
on the threshold of the Deathless, it provides the mechanism
by which human effort and action can bring about the ultimate
in genuine happiness.
Glossary
Arahant:
A "worthy one" or "pure one;" a person whose mind is free
of defilement and thus is not destined for further rebirth.
A title for the Buddha and the highest level of his noble
disciples. The lower three levels of disciples are, in descending
order: non-returners, those whose minds are freed from sensuality
and will be reborn in the highest levels of heaven, there
to attain nibbana, never again to return to this world; once-returners,
those who will be reborn in this world once more before attaining
nibbana; and stream-winners, those who have had their first
glimpse of nibbana, leading them to abandon three fetters
that bind them to the round of rebirth -- self-identity views,
doubt, and attachment to precepts and practices -- and who
are destined to be reborn at most only seven more times.
Asava:
Fermentation; effluent. Four qualities -- sensuality,
views, becoming, and ignorance -- that "flow out" of the mind
and create the flood of the round of death and rebirth.
Bodhisatta
(Bodhisattva): "A being (striving for) Awakening;" the
term used to describe the Buddha from his first aspiration
to become a Buddha until the time of his full Awakening.
Deva:
Literally, "shining one." An inhabitant of the heavenly
realms.
Dhamma
(Dharma): Event; phenomenon; the way things are in and
of themselves; their inherent qualities; the basic principles
underlying their behavior. Also, principles of human behavior,
qualities of mind, both in a neutral and in a positive sense.
By extension, "Dhamma" is used also to denote any doctrine
that teaches such things. Thus the Dhamma of the Buddha denotes
both his teachings and the direct experience of the quality
of nibbana at which those teachings are aimed.
Jhana:
Mental absorption. A state of strong concentration focused
in a single sensation or mental notion.
Kamma
(Karma): Intentional acts that results in states of becoming
and rebirth.
Nibbana
(Nirvana): Literally,
the "unbinding" of the mind from passion, aversion, and delusion,
and from the entire round of death and rebirth. As this term
also denotes the extinguishing of a fire, it carries connotations
of stilling, cooling, and peace. "Total nibbana" in some contexts
denotes the experience of Awakening; in others, the final
passing away of an arahant.
Pali:
The canon of texts preserved by the Theravada school and,
by extension, the language in which those texts are composed.
Patimokkha:
Basic code of monastic discipline, composed of 227 rules
for monks and 310 rules for nuns.
Sangha:
On the conventional (sammati) level, this term
denotes the communities of Buddhist monks and nuns; on the
ideal (ariya) level, it denotes those followers of the Buddha,
lay or ordained, who have attained at least their first glimpse
of nibbana.
Tathagata:
Literally, "one who has become real (tatha-agata),"
or one who is "really gone (tatha-gata)"; an epithet
used in ancient India for a person who has attained the highest
religious goal. In Buddhism, it usually refers specifically
to the Buddha, although occasionally it also refers to any
of his disciples who have attained the Buddhist goal.
Vinaya:
The monastic discipline, whose rules and traditions comprise
six volumes in printed text. The Buddha's own term for the
religion he founded was "this Dhamma-Vinaya."
Abbreviations
A
...... Anguttara Nikaya
Cv ..... Cullavagga
D ...... Digha Nikaya
Dhp .... Dhammapada
Iti .... Itivuttaka
M ...... Majjhima Nikaya
Mv ..... Mahavagga
S ...... Samyutta Nikaya
Sn ..... Sutta Nipata
Thig ... Therigatha
Ud ...... Udana
References
to D, M, and Iti are to discourse. References to Dhp are to
verse. References to Mv and Cv are to chapter, section, and
sub-section. References to the remaining texts are to chapter
(vagga, nipata, or samyutta) and discourse.
Sabbe
satta sada hontu
Avera sukha-jivino
Katam puñña-phalam
Sabbe bhagi bhavantu te.
May all beings always live happily
Free from animosity
May all share in the blessings
Springing from the good I have done.
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