- Refuge
- An Introduction to the
Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff)
Copyright © Thanissaro Bhikkhu, 1997
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,
one gains release
from all suffering and stress.
But a person who, having gone for refuge
to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha,
sees the four Noble Truths
with right discernment --
stress,
the cause of stress,
the transcending of stress,
and the Noble Eightfold Path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
That is the secure refuge,
that is the highest refuge,
that is the refuge,
having gone to which,
one gains release
from all suffering and stress.
-- Dhammapada, 188-192
Abbreviations ![[go to toc]](return-to-text.gif)
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.
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) a pair
of introductory essays 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. The
readings on Dhamma form the core of the book and are 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 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
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 the conduct of one's life. To
understand why this commitment is called a "refuge," it is 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, the Buddha's teachings center on the realization that human
life is fraught with dangers -- from greed, anger, and delusion -- and so the concept of
refuge is a central part of the path of practice, in that the practice is aimed at gaining
release from those dangers. Because both the dangers and the release from them come
ultimately from the mind, 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 is an
act of submission in that one is committed to living in line with the belief that actions
based on skillful intentions lead to happiness, while actions based on unskillful
intentions lead to suffering; it is an act of claiming protection in that one trusts that
by following the teaching one will not fall into 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
his 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" is
essentially 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 it is widely
believed 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, those followers who
do not 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 one's
life, one must look to the living or 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 the varied aspects of
everyday life.
On the internal level, the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha are the skillful qualities that
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.
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 level of 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 bring about an Awakening to the Deathless. The lessons
he learned about action and effort in the course of developing that skill, and which were
certified 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 all of the great philosophical and religious
issues of human life were up for grabs, as science made new advances and called many of
the old, established beliefs into question. The foremost science at that time was
astronomy. New, precise observations of planetary movements, combined with newly developed
means of calculation, had led astronomers to conclude that time was measured in eons,
incomprehensibly long cycles that repeat themselves endlessly. Taking up these
conclusions, 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.
Already by the time of Siddhattha Gotama, philosophers of the Vedic and Samana schools
had developed widely differing interpretations of what the laws of nature were and how
they affected the pursuit of true happiness. Their main points of disagreement were two:
1) Survival beyond death. Most Vedic and Samana philosophers assumed that
a person's identity extended beyond this lifetime, eons before birth back into the past
through the cycles of time, 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
(in Sanskrit, karma), or purposeful 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 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 that prescribed in incredibly minute detail the proper
things to do and say in the course of their rituals. They even included special chants and
spells that were supposed to 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 that it was 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 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, is what 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 it
was 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; that thoughts devoid of these qualities were not harmful; and that he could
shepherd his thoughts in such a way to avoid harm. The fact that he could develop this
skill means 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, one's 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 action (kamma) 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 be held accountable. 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, did not fully answer his question. To begin with,
there was no guarantee that the visions that gave him 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.
It was here that 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 proceeded to pursue those duties until the mental powers of the path
were so fully developed that stress was totally comprehended that there were no more
objects where craving could land, and thus 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 nosing 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 him 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 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 these two categories,
means both refraining from harmful behavior and performing actions that are positively
beneficial.
Having described good actions, the Buddha would describe their rewards, as results of
the cosmic principle of kamma that good actions lead naturally to pleasure, and bad
actions to pain. The rewards here include both visible rewards in this world and rewards
to be anticipated in the next, i.e., in the various levels of heaven and in this world on
one's return to a human birth. Scattered throughout the Buddhist texts are 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 was the dark side of the principle of kamma: the inherent punishments
that come from bad behavior, again both those visible in this world and those that could
be anticipated 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.
The fact that the rewards of good kamma were not eternal -- in line with the fact that
the actions that engendered them were not eternal -- led naturally to the next topic in
the discourse: the drawbacks of the cycle of rebirth as a whole. No happiness to be found
within the cycle is permanent; even the most refined heavenly pleasures have to 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 up into the air: sometimes it lands 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 that the round of
rebirth has to offer, 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
that would lead 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 give 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, it is useful to 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 at work 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 in terms of 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
There are many possible ways of interpreting this formula, but 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, rather than objects, 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 acting from the past and input acting from the present.
Although each principle seems simple, the fact that they interact 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 takes a causal
role in keeping both principles in action. Through its sensory powers, it is affected by
the results of the causes it has set in motion. This creates the possibility for the
causal principles to feed back into themselves, as the mind reacts to the results of its
own actions. These reactions can take the form of 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, much like the action of a thermostat that 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 then react to them immediately,
these feedback loops can at times quickly spin out of control; at other times, they may
act as 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 does what he can to stop it. However, there
can also be times when the results of his past actions may obscure the dis-ease he is
causing himself in the present, so that he does not immediately react to it one way or
another. This means that, although there are general patterns relating habitual acts to
corresponding 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 context of
the act, both in terms of actions that preceded or followed it and in terms 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 as they function 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 allowance opens the possibility for
escape from the cycle of kamma altogether by means of a fourth type of kamma, in addition
to good, bad, and a mixture of good and bad. This fourth type of kamma leads to the ending
of kamma by developing heightened skillfulness through the pursuit of 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, which means 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 the fourth type of kamma, 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 that are immediately present to awareness: the five aggregates of form, feeling,
perception, mental fabrication, and consciousness, and the six sense media. 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 (counting ideation as the sixth), 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 shows 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 makes the mind 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 element of
ignorance that keeps the act of attention from being fully perceptive. As the Buddha
traced the element of ignorance that underlay the processes of mental fabrication that
kept the cycle of kamma going, 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 the possible objects that it might fasten on
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 that tie in
immediately with 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 the
fourth type of kamma 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 proven by
the knowledge of Unbinding that followed immediately on his mastery of the fourth type of
kamma. 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-action, or non-fashioning, that forms the threshold 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 being 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 proved 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 remained when all present kamma disbanded, and none would resume after all old
kamma ran out, kamma would have to be the necessary 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 the fourth type of kamma 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 at work
in the complexities of kamma means that their essential processes 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 keep one
bound 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. Such people need only accept the general principles of skillful
action on a trial basis, focusing on the input that their actions 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 further on the path, however -- and as the process of developing
skillfulness in and of itself comes more and more to take center stage in one's awareness
-- the actual results of one's 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 the guidance one
needs to know the proper path of action, and the encouragement one needs in order 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.
II. Readings
'Indeed, the Blessed One [the Buddha] is pure 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 sphere 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 sphere 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, Ven. sir...."
"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, Ven. sir...."
"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, Ven. sir...."
"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
I wandered without finding
the house builder I was seeking.
Painful is birth again
and again.
House builder, you are seen!
You will not build a house again.
All your rafters broken,
the ridge pole destroyed,
gone to the Unfabricated, 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 down to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to the Blessed One,
'Venerable sir, 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 Belatthitaputta, 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, venerable sir,' 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, venerable sir,' 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 sphere of the infinitude of
space...the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness...the sphere of nothingness...the
sphere 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
sphere of neither perception nor non-perception...the sphere of nothingness...the sphere
of the infinitude of consciousness...the sphere 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 mind,
ruled by the mind,
made of the mind.
If one speaks or acts with a corrupted mind,
suffering follows one,
as the wheel of the chariot follows
the foot of the draught ox.
Phenomena are preceded by the mind,
ruled by the mind,
made of the mind.
If one speaks or acts with a bright mind,
happiness follows one,
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 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 live dependent on my actions. 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 live dependent on my actions. 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 reviling, not injuring,
restraint in line with the Patimokkha,
moderation in food,
dwelling in seclusion,
devotion 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: How do you construe this, 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 park. 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.
Generosity, 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 are found
in the world of the devas.
Those who don't praise giving are fools.
The wise person expresses 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 have 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 one wasn't. 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....
These are the five gifts, five great gifts -- original, long-standing, traditional,
ancient, unadulterated, unadulterated from the beginning -- that are not open to
suspicion, will never be open to suspicion, and are 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 emnity 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
This world is blinded.
Hardly anyone here sees 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 strands 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 strands 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!" A
large number of 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 doesn't enjoy the holy life, for when he was a householder he knew the
bliss of kingship, so that now, on recollecting that, 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 the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him,
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 meaning do you have in mind that you repeatedly exclaim, "What bliss!
What bliss!"
"Before, when I has a householder, maintaining the bliss of kingship, 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.
'How do you construe thus, 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,
your sorrows grow like wild grass
after rain.
If 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 again.
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 sexual
intercourse. 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 down 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 completion. The four frames of reference, when developed and pursued,
bring the seven factors of awakening to completion. The seven factors of awakening, when
developed and pursued, bring clear knowing and release to completion.
Now in what way does a monk develop and pursue mindfulness of in-and-out breathing so
that it brings the four frames of reference to completion?
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 of 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 of 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 of 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 of 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 of 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 of
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 of 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 of 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 of awakening to their culmination.
And how are the seven factors of 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 of awakening dependent on seclusion...dispassion...cessation, resulting in
relinquishment. He develops analysis of qualities as a factor of awakening...persistence
as a factor of awakening...rapture as a factor of awakening...serenity as a
factor of awakening... concentration as a factor of awakening... equanimity
as a factor of awakening dependent on seclusion... dispassion... cessation, resulting in
relinquishment.
This is how the seven factors of 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 sphere
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 spheres 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
sphere of the infinitude of space and to develop the mind along those lines, that would be
fabricated. (Similarly with the spheres 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 sphere where there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor wind;
neither sphere of the infinitude of space, nor sphere of the infinitude of consciousness,
nor sphere of nothingness, nor sphere 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. How do you construe this,
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 crowded, 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 sensual pleasures, 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, one-pointedness 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 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 and
fully aware, and physically sensitive of pleasure. He enters and remains in the third
jhana, and of him 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 engaged in polite conversation, 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: "Ven. sir, 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 round of experience and 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 -- any realization, no matter how calm
or boundless, that does not 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. We are not
strangers in a strange land. We have formed and are continuing to form the world we
experience. The fact that we are empowered also means that we are responsible for our
experiences. 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, whatever worlds we 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 is the only trustworthy happiness around, it only makes
sense that we 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
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.
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."
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.
http://world.std.com/~metta/lib/modern/refuge.html