The Process of PAPAÑCA

 

The notion of multiplicity, various emotional projections, as well as the habit of thinking in dualistic concepts is called in Pali papañca.¹ Through past conditioning the perception of things is coloured and distorted (papañca-saññā). At the root of papañca is the notion of “I” and “mine”.²* Because papañca invests objects with various projected characteristics, it prevents us from seeing things as they are (yathabhūta-ñāņa-dassana). “The world is attached to a dualistic way of thinking.”³ According to the commentaries⁴ there are three forms of papañca: taņhā-papañca, diţţi-papañca and māna-papañca. Taņhā-papañca means various, largely unconscious projections with which desire invests obejcts so that they appear attractive and `desirable´. The unconscious expectations, demands and projections directed towards other people, which are based on unfilfilled needs, also fall under taņhā-papañca.

The Buddha, speaking about the understanding of sensuality (kāma), said: “Sensuality does not lie in the pleasant objects; they are only the “raw materials” for sensuality (kāma-guņa). Sensuality is the desire in the mind (sankappa-rāgo purisassa kāmo). Never mind about the beautiful objects in the world, but the sages give up the desire for them.”⁵ If all the projections are withdrawn, the world of phenomena ceases to be desirable. Diţţi-papañca means that the mind jumps to conclusions or forms opinions and concepts in order to feel secure; prejudices and preconceived ideas are another aspect of diţţi-papañca. Māna-papañca means that one identifies oneself with various objects or experiences, it also includes pride and conceit. It appears, though, as if the traditional commentary list of three papañcas should be supplemented by at least two more: bhaya-papañca would be the distortion of objects out of fear, out of the desire to avoid the recurrence of painful feelings. All the phobias and unconscious defence mechanisms would fall under this category. We could also add dosa-papañca which would be the projection of aversion and hatred distorting the perception of things.

 

In the following passage from the Suttas we find a detailed explanation of the process of perception and papañca . Since it is a very important, though amittedly difficult, passage I shall analyze it sentence by sentence. I shall give the Pali text first, then the translation and in brackets I shall try, where necessary, to clarify the meaning. Cakkhuñ ca paţicca rūpe ca uppajjati cakkhu-viññāņam. “Dependent on the eye and material sharpes arises cakkhu-viññāņa“. (Cakkhu-viññāņa means the assimilition of bare sense data, for example, mere patches of colour which are not yet identified by the mind.) Tiņņam sangati passo; passa-paccayā vedanā. “If these are there, there is contact; dependent on contact is feeling.” (Due to past emotional associations – which already involve memory a certain feeling or emotion arises regarding this sense impression.) Yam vedeti tam sañjānāti. “What one feels one perceives.” (The sense datum which was at the state of cakkhu-viññāņa a mere patch of, let us say, blue colour, is by now identified as, perhaps, a motorcar. That one recognizes it as a car definitely involves memory but does not mean that, as some people assert, saññā is memory.)⁶Yam sañjānāti tam vitakketi. “One has thoughts about that which one perceives.” (Vitakka in this connection means associations, memories, plans and other thoughts connected with this particular object.) Yam vitakketi tam papañceti. “Out of these associations papañca is `manufactured´.” (Papañca means that due to these associations which are loaded by emotions one arrives at particular notions about the object which are coloured and distorted by all sorts of largely unconscoius projection, preconceived ideas, prejudices, identifications, desires and so on and so on.) Yam papañcetitato-nidānam purisam papañca- saññā-sankhā samudcāaranti atītânāgata-paccuppannesu cakkhu-viññeyyesu rūpesu.

“What is turned into papañca , due to that papañca- saññā-sankhā assail him in the form of material shapes cognizable by the eye, belonging to past, present or future.” (These notions which are concerned about the past, present or future and distorted by all this mess of desires, emotions and projections, hopes, fears and expectations, identifications and prejudices – the term papañca- saññā-sankhā denotes all that – assail and overwhelm a person who has no insight and no awareness of this process.)⁷

 

Defining the term sankhārakkhandha the Buddha said the sankhāras are the six kinds of cetanā (volition) with regard to the objects of the senses: rūpa-sañcetanā, sadda- sañcetanā, etc.⁸ The abovementioned passage which we have examinated in detail throws some light on the meaning of these six kinds of cetanā. Rūpa-sañcetanā is the reaction to any visible object, it is the liking or disliking of it, the interest in it and the whole attitude towards it; the various projections (tanhā- papañca) by which our past conditioning determines our attitude towards the object and distorts it, is another aspect of rūpa-sañcetanā. In the Satipaţţhāna sutta is said: “He is aware of the six senses and the objects of the six senses and also of the fetter that arises.”⁹ The fetter is, of course, not the object – which is quite neutral – but desire for the object or aversion for it.^10*

 

The Guarding of the Senses

 

In order to prevent the arising of desire and aversion for the objects of the senses, the Buddha taught the guarding of the senses (indriya-samvara). He said: “When he has become aware of an object, he should neither grasp at the sense impression (nimitta) nor at the anuvyañjana.”¹¹ The commentaries say that anuvyañjana means the details or particularsof an object.¹² That is quite correct but I think the word anuvyañjana has still another meaning which is deeper and has more significance concerning the practise of guarding the senses. I believe anuvyañjana means also the associations connected with an object. Then the above-mentioned passage about the guarding of the senses would mean: When he has become aware of an object, he should neither grasp at the sense impression nor at the details or the associations connected with an object.” In other words: If he does not grasp at vitakka and papañca and the various reactions to the objects, then liking and disliking and other forms of attachment would find no foothold in the mind. They find a foothold as long as there is unwise attention (ayoniso manasikāra). Guarding the sense means to stop being occupied with sense objects and “with past and future but to see things here and now with detachment and in clarity” (atītam nânvāgameyya, n´appatikankhe anāgatam ... paccuppannam ca yo dhammam tattha tattha vipassati...)¹³ Most people spend most of their time thinking either about the past or the future, day-dreaming or carrying on with imaginary discussions. Few are they that are fully awake to the present and live in the `here and now´ with detachment and clarity. “This, briefly, is the characteristic of total awareness: the continual examination of the state of body and mind.”<sup>14</sup> “A state of mind should be developed which rests on no thing whatever” (apratisţhitam cittam bhāvayitavyam).<sup>15</sup> When the mind does not take its stand on anything, it is “boundless and immeasurable” (appāmana-cetaso).<sup>16</sup> “Keep your minds from dwelling on anything whatsoever: keep them for ever still as the void and utterly pure.”<sup>17</sup> “What I mean by not letting the mind dwell upon anything whatsoever is keeping your minds free from hatred and love. This means that you must be able to see attractive things without love for them arising in your minds, which is termed having minds free from love; and also that you must be able to see repulsive things without hatred for them arising in your minds, which is termed having minds free from hatred. When these two are absent, the mind is unstained and the nature of forms is seen as void.”<sup>18*</sup> “The Perfect Way is only difficult for those who pick and choose. Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear.....If you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be `for´or `against´. The struggle between `for´and `against´ is the mind´s worst disease.”¹⁹ “He who feels attachment or loathing for anything does not know emptiness.”²⁰ “Wisdom neither loves or hates,”²¹ it is “beyond liking and disliking” (anurodha-virodha-vippahīna,^22*anurodha-virodhâpagata).²³ “The characteristic of the Perfection of Wisdom is non-attachment.”²⁴

 

“Wether he walks or stands, sits or lies down, talks or remains silent, his concentration does not leave him. He does not fidget with his hands or feet, or twitch his face; he is not incoherent in his speech, confused in his senses, exalted or uplifted, fickle or idle, agitated in body or mind. Calm is his body, calm is his voice, calm is his mind. His demeanour shows contentment, both in private and in public. . . . He is frugal, easy to feed, easy to serve, of good life and habits; though in a crowd he dwells apart; even and unchanged, in gain and loss; not elated, not cast down. Thus, in happiness and suffering, in praise and blame, in fame and disrepute, in life or death, he is the same unchanged, neither elated nor cast down. And so with foe or friend, with what is pleasant or unpleasant, with holy or unholy men, with noises or music, with forms that are dear or undear, he remains the same unchanged, neither elated nor cast down, neither gratified nor thwarted. And why? Because he sees all dharmas as empty of marks of their own, without true reality, incomplete and uncreated.”²⁵ “He abides in peace who does not abide anywhere.”²⁶ “When one is not leaning on anything, that is the development of perfect wisdom.”²⁷

 

“Whereon should the mind settle and dwell? – It should settle upon non-dwelling and there dwell. – What is this non-dwelling? – It means not allowing the mind to dwell upon anything whatsoever. – And what is the meaning of that? – Dwelling upon nothing means that the mind is not fixed upon good or evil, being or non-being, inside or outside or somewhere between the two, void or non-void, concentration or distraction. This dwelling upon nothing is the state in which it should dwell; those who attain to it are said to have non-dwelling minds – in other words, they have Buddha-minds.”^28*

 

“He who sees the DHAMMA, sees the BUDDHA”

 

Once the Buddha visited a bhikkhu who was very ill. When the monk said that he had long wished to see the Buddha but had been to weak to do so, the Buddha replied: “Never mind about that. What is there to be seen in this impure body? He who sees the Dhamma, sees me; and he who sees me, sees the Dhamma” (yo dhammam passati so mam passati. Yo mam passati so dhammam passati).²⁹ In other words: whoever sees the asankhata dhamma, the Unconditioned, realizes the Buddha-nature because the Buddha-nature is the Unconditioned. Therefore, it is said: “The Buddha is the embodiment of the dhamma (Dhamma-kāya), the embodiment of the Absolute (brahma-kāya); he is one with the Dhamma (dhamma-būhta), one with the Absolute.” (brahma-būhta)^30* The Buddha also said even if someone would walk behind him and grasp the hem of his robe, if that person were greedy, full of lust, corrupt in mind and purpose, confused and distracted, without recollection and concentration, then that person would be far from him, and why? “Since he does not see the Dhamma, he does not see me.”³¹ “He who is still immersed in Samsāra (the `cycle of birth and death´), does not see the Truth.”³²

 

The saying “He who sees the Dhamma, sees the Buddha” is interpreted by many peopla thus: whoever understands the doctrine of the Buddha, sees the Buddha. Usually they are not too explicit as to what is meant by the phrase `seeing the Buddha´. Some think it implies having a vision of a Buddha-image. If the Buddha had really meant only the understanding of the doctrine, it is most unlikely that he would have used the expression `sees the Dhamma´. He was always very precise in his expressions; more likely he would have used the words `he who understands the doctrine´(viññāta-sāsana.)<sup>33</sup> If it needs only an intellectual understanding of the main tenets of Buddhism in order to see the Buddha, there would be a super-abundance of people who had seen Him. For those who have `eyes to see and ears to hear´, these passages show quite unmistakably that `seeing the Buddha´ can only mean realizing the Buddha nature which is the Unconditioned.

 

Reading the Mahāyāna scriptures it is fairly obvious that their authors had a deep understanding of these sayings of the Buddha. They say: “If anyone by form sees me by voice seeks me, he walks the false path and cannot see the Tathāgata.”³⁴ An interesting parallel to this passage from the Diamond Sutra is found in the Pali Canon: “Those who identify me with form (rūpa) or who follow me because of words (literally: voice), are really under the influence of their own desires and attachments. They do not know me.”³⁵ “The Uncreated – that is a synonym of the Buddha.”³⁶ “Nirvāna is the name for the Dharma-kāya of the Tathāgata.”³⁷ “ The Tathāgata is Suchness.” (Ya cā tathatā sa Tathāgatah).^38* “The Buddha is to be seen through the Dhamma, because the Enlightened one is the embodiment of the Dhamma.”³⁹ “The Tathāgata is one with the Absolute” (dharma-dhātus Tathāgatah,^40*dharma-dhāture eva Bhagavān,⁴¹dharma-kayas Tathāgatah).⁴² “Those who wisely know the true nature of the Tathāgata, are near to full enlightenment, they have the perfection of wisdom.⁴³

 

After the Buddha had realized complete enlightenment, this thought came to him: “I have found this deep and superb (paņīta) Dhamma which is difficult to see and to awaken to, which is subtle and beyond the reach of thought (atakkâvacara), full of peace and obvious to the wise.”⁴⁴ Very often the word Dhamma in this and in similar passages is translated by `Norm´ or `Doctrine´ or something like that. It is most unlikely that a doctrine revealed itself to the Buddha in the night of awakening. What he found was not a doctrine but the asankhata dhamma, the Unconditioned,^45* the dhammnirūpadhi,⁴⁶ the Absolute. In finding It he had become the Buddha, the Enlightened one or the Awakened one, because he awakened to the ever present (sarvatraga)⁴⁷ reality of the Unconditioned. Sakulā Therī said while she was still leading a household life she heard one day a bhikkhu expounding the doctrine and she “saw Nibbāna, that Immaculate Dhamma, the realm beyond change” (addasam virajam dhammam nibbānam padam accutam).⁴⁸ The asankhata dhamma, the Unconditioned, the dhamma nirūpadhi, the Absolute, is the Buddha-dhamma in the deepest sense of the word. The Buddha-dhamma does not only mean – as many Buddhists seem to think – the doctrine of the Buddha but also the Unconditioned. “Those who have faith in the Dhamma have faith in the best. . . . and that dhamma is Nibbāna.”^49* “As the ocean has only one taste, namely the taste of salt, so this Dhamma and the practice (leading to the realization of this Dhamma) have only one taste – the taste of liberation.”⁵⁰ “It is said that Nirvāna has only one taste, the taste of Wisdom and Liberation.”⁵¹ It is said that all the Buddhas revere the Dhamma.⁵² The Dhamma which is revered by the enlightened ones is the asankhata dhamma, the Unconditioned.

 

Out of all insights (vimutti-ñāņa-dassana) the Buddha gained in the night of awakening he formulated a doctrine and a spiritual discipline (dhamma-vinaya). Many people think that vimutti-ñāņa-dassana means the full awareness of liberation, but such an interpretation misses the deeper meaning of that word which is the insight and apprehension of Absolute Truth gained in seeing the Unconditioned. One could hardly say the doctrine of the Buddha is `beyond the realm of thought´ (atakkâvacara), since the Buddha has frequently emphasized that one should reflect over the doctrine (dhammam anuvicintayam, dhammam anussaram).^53* The asankhata dhamma, though, is beyond the realm of thought, it is “the freedom (from all conditioned things), the real, beyond the sphere of thought, eternal, unborn, unproduced, the sorrowless, immaculate realm” (nissaranam santam atakkâvacaram dhuvam ajātam asamuppannam asokam virajam padam)⁵⁴. Thought cannot reach the Unconditioned; it is not the key which opens the door to the Deathless. “Only when no thought arises are the dharmas without blame. . . . The more you think about It, the further from It you go. Stop talking, stop thinking, and there is nothing you will not understand.”⁵⁵ “With a mind free from thoughts (vitakkūpasamena cetasā) he has found the realm of peace” (santi-pada) which is Nibbāna.⁵⁶ “It is by preventing the rise of conceptual thought that you will realize enlightenment; and when you do, you will just be realizing the Buddha who has always existed in your own Mind! Aeons of striving will prove to be so much wasted effort.”⁵⁷ The Buddha said: “Whoever, whether standing or walking, sitting or lying down, calms his mind and strives for that inner stillness in which there is no thought, he has the prerequisite to realize supreme illumination.”^58*

 

Did the Buddha teach annihilation ?

 

Already at the time of the Buddha some people thought he was teaching annihilation, and this misunderstanding has persisted ever since. But the Buddha said that it is only in one sense true that he teaches annihilation, namely the eradication of desire, aversion and delusion.⁵⁹ Speaking of a person completely freed from all attachment, he gave the simile of a lamp or a fire which goes out when no fuel is added.⁶⁰ Misunderstanding this simile quite a few people came to the conclusion that the Buddha was teaching nihilism and annihilation, but the real meaning of this simile is quite different. When in the realization of Truth (saccâbhisamaya)⁶¹ the first of desire, aversion and delusion is extinguished and there is no identification left with anything in the world, then there is only the Unconditioned about which nothing could be said since it is utterly beyond words. “There is no (possibility) to measure him who has reached the goal. No words apply to him. When all things have come to an end, all ways of speaking cease.”⁶² “Absolute Truth goes beyond the realm of speech, of thinking and discrimination.”⁶³ “When there is no more attachment to the objects of the senses, (the world of phenomena) comes to an end, but that has nothing to do with nihilism. Then the realm of Suchness reveals itself which is the domain of the enlightened ones.”⁶⁴ “Free from the notion of body and mind (and the identification with them) is the Enlightened One deep, immeasurable and unfathomable as the great ocean.”^65* “The Enlightened One is like Suchness” (yathā ca tathatā tathā caisa Tathāgatah).⁶⁶ He is as immeasurable and unfathomable as the Unconditioned, he has “transcended everything” (sabba-dhammāna pāragū).⁶⁷

 

Very often the phrase bhava-nirodho nibbānam ⁶⁸ is translated as `the cessation of existence is Nibbāna´. This might give the impression that Nibbāna is annihilation. But bhava-nirodho nibbānam does not mean annihilation at all; it means that any notion of being something or becoming something becomes completely meaningless when the Deathless is seen (khemâbhipassam). The notion of existence (bhava) dissolves because it is seen that all so-called `existence´ is unreal (sabbam vitatham inam)⁷⁰ and Nibbāna is the only Reality (ekam eva bhavet satyam nirvānam).⁷¹ Thus, the illusion of the ego and existence (bhava) and the identification with them cease when Nibbāna is reached (khemappatta).⁷² He who has opened his eyes to the ever present reality of the asankhata dhamma, the Unconditioned and therefore does not identify himself with anything, was called by the Buddha atammaya ⁷³ or akincana; ⁷⁴ such a person is nothing, does not become anything, has nothing, does not want anything and does not take his stand on anything.75*

 

Once a bhikkhu, whose name was Yamaka, came to the conclusion that Nibbāna meant annihilation. Sāriputta went to see him and talked the matter over with him. He asked Yamaka whether he thought that the body or feeling or perception or the impulses or consciousness were the Enlightened One. Yamaka said one could not maintain such a thing. Then Sāriputta asked whether the Tathāgata be in the five Khandhas or outside of the five Khandhas or be without body or feeling or perception or the impulses or consciousness, and each time Yamaka answered: “no”. Then Sāriputta asked him: “Since in the world of phenomena the Tathāgata is untraceable, would it be meaningful to hold the view that an Enlightened One is annihilated after death?” Then Yamaka had a deep insight into the Truth (dhamma abhisameta) and he saw how he had before completely misunderstood the meaning of Nibbāna.⁷⁶

 

The Realization of the Unconditioned

 

The Buddha said: “Nibbāna is the highest bliss” (nibbānam paramam sukham)^77* because no worldly happiness is comparable to the bliss and peace of seeing the Unconditioned (amānusīraī hoti, sammā dhamam vipassato;⁷⁸satyâbhisamayāt sukham ⁷⁹). “With a mind free from thoughts he experiences the supreme bliss of enlightenment.”⁸⁰ “Blessed are those who have found the Peace of the Unconditioned.”⁸¹ “There is no happiness higher than peace” (natthi santi-param sukham) and⁸² seeing the Unconditioned is the “highest peace” (paramā santi).⁸³ “For the sages the dissolution of the (illusion of) personality in seeing (the Unconditioned) is pure bliss (`sukhan` ti dittham ariyehi sakkayass` uparodhanam), but the whole world abhors it.”<sup>84</sup> “The cessation of conditioned things in reaching the `Realm of Peace´ is bliss” (adhigacche padam santam, sankhārūpasamam sukham).^85*

 

Awakening, which is the very goal and essence of Buddhism, is the sudden breakthrough into the Unconditioned in which it is seen that this Ultimate Reality (uttamā dhammatā)^86* which is Nibbāna, was there all the time but one “did not see it, one missed it for countless aeons of time” (adittham abbhatītam bahukehi kappa-nahutehi);⁸⁷ one was blind to the ever present reality of the Unconditioned, blind to the true nature of things, and this blindness is called avijjā.⁸⁸ “Not knowing how near the Truth is, people seek it far away; what a pity! They are like him who, in the midst of the water, cries out in thirst so imploringly.”⁸⁹ “The Dhamma which is difficult to realize (dhamma durājāna),⁹⁰ difficult to awaken to (nâyam dhammo susambuddho),⁹¹ is to the wise as obvious as is light to a clear-sighted person; but the foolish do not see it though it is so near.”⁹² When the Eye of Wisdom is opened, all of a sudden and everywhere there is seen only Unconditioned (khemam passati sabbadhi)^93* and an extraordinary, supermundane peace and detachment is felt. “Whether we see It or fail to see It, It is manifest always and everywhere”^94* “As to seeing It, the seeing is clear enough, but no objects are here to be seen.”^95* “Paradoxically stated, when seeing is no-seeing there is real seeing.”⁹⁶ “In that limitless, completely radiant consciousness which makes nothing manifest (anidassana), the four elements do not find a foothold. There (all notions of) long or short, gross or subtle, beautiful or     ugly, mind and body completely cease”.⁹⁷ “Here there is nothing to be removed and absolutely nothing to be added; the Truth must be seen as it really is, and he who sees the Truth is liberated.”⁹⁸ “There is that realm where there is neither earth nor water, fire or air, where there is neither the sphere of infinite space or of infinite consciousness, of nothingness or the borderline of perception, where there is neither this world nor another world, neither sun nor moon, where there is neither coming nor going nor abiding, neither arising nor passing away. It does not rest on anything and knows no continuity and no object.”⁹⁹ “For him who discerns this, the world of phenomena ceases” (evamsametassa vibhoti rūpam).¹⁰⁰ “For him who sees (the Truth, this world of phenomena) is nothing” (passato natthi kiñcanam,¹⁰¹ * evam dharmān vijānanto na kimcit pratijānati).¹⁰² When in the vision of Nibbāna (nibbānam abhipassato)¹⁰³ it is realized that the world of phenomena is empty and unreal, then the ‘end of the world’ is seen “where there is neither arising nor passing away, neither birth nor old age nor death.”¹⁰⁴ “Without having reached the ‘end of the world’, “ the Buddha says, “ one cannot reach the cessation of suffering. “¹⁰⁵“He who has seen the ’end of the world’ with perfect wisdom cannot take the world as real.”¹⁰⁶ “He knows this whole living world is like a mock show.”¹⁰⁷ *

 

Freedom from PAPAŇCA

 

Those who know only the world of phenomena, the ‘world of multiplicity’, know nothing about that Dhamma which is Truth. “They are attached to papañca, but the enlightened ones are free from papañca”(papañcâbhirata pajā, nippapañcā Tathāgatā).¹⁰⁸ “Freed from the notion of multiplicity he lives in peace” (ñanātva-samjñā-vigato upasānta-cāri).¹⁰⁹ “This Dhamma is only for those who find happiness in being free from papañca, it is not for those who are attached to papañca” (nippapañcārā-massâyam dhammo, nâyam dhammo papañcarāmāssa).¹¹⁰ “There is no need to seek Truth, only stop having views. “¹¹¹ King Milinda asked Nāgasena: “What is this state which is free from papañca?” Nagasena replied: “The realization of any one of the four stages of awakening – that is nippapanca¹¹². When one sees the Unconditioned, the pada asankhata,¹¹³all notion of duality and multiplicity ceases. Nāgārjuna said: “In (the realization of) emptiness papaãca ceases” (prapaãcas tu śūnyatāyām nirudhyate).¹¹⁴ “He who has given up papañca and has (found) the bliss of that realm which is free from papañca, has reached Nibbāna, the supreme peace.”¹¹⁵The Buddha said the highest form of gnosis is to see everything in its suchness.¹¹⁶ To see everything in its suchness (yathābhūta-ñāna-dassana) means to see everything without attachment, without identification and free from all duality. The mind must be free from all these distortions to see things as they are and then there is “in the seeing only the seeing (ditthe dittha-mattam), in hearing there is only the hearing (sute suta-mattam) etc.”¹¹⁷

 

Non-dual Gnosis (ADVAYA_JĀŇŇA)

 

In the well-known simile of the raft the Buddha says that even the good should be abandoned. Elsewhere he says that when liberation is attained, then even virtue or goodness is dissolved.¹¹⁹ “Him I call a sage for whom there exists neither ‘this shore’ nor ‘the other shore’.”¹²⁰ “Having a mind free from the concepts of ‘delivered’ and ‘undelivered’ is called real deliverance.”¹²¹ How is all this to be understood? In the experience of the Highest Reality it is seen that in the Unconditioned there is no time, - “for it is not a thing with extension in Time and Space; a moment and an aeon for It are one.”¹²²* Neither is there good nor evil, neither beauty nor ugliness, neither birth nor death, neither coming nor going, neither arising nor passing away, neither ‘inner’ nor ‘outer’, neither this world nor another world, neither bondage nor liberation from bondage. In reality there is also no such thing as attainment or development. In the vision of Truth one goes beyond good and evil (puññañ ca pāpañ ca…upaccagā),¹²³ beyond all duality and “the mind does not take its stand on anything” (appatitthita-citta)¹²⁴* When the “Deathless is realized” (amatam sacchi katvā)¹²⁵ it is seen that there is really no multiplicity there is only the Unconditioned. “In the Dharma there are no separate dharmas, only the foolish cleave to their own preferences and attachments.”¹²⁶ “All the fetters dissolve when the sage goes beyond all duality.”¹²⁷* ”In the Perfection of Wisdom there is no discrimination.”¹²⁸* “As long as there is a dualistic way of looking at things there is no emancipation.”¹²⁹ Meister Eckhart, the German mystic, said: “Such a man is free from distraction and multiplicity, for he is one in that One in which all multiplicity is one and a non-multiplicity.”¹³⁰ What characterizes “a Tathāgata is the Perfection of Wisdom, the non-dual gnosis” (prajñā-paramitā jñānam advayam sā Tathāgatah).¹³¹ “When discrimi-nation no longer takes place, and when one abides in the suchness of things, there is the realization of the Vehicle of Oneness or the One Way” (eka-yāna).¹³² “When the sage is nowhere established, neither in inferior, nor in mediocre or exalted things, neither in the conditioned nor in the unconditioned, neither in the real nor in the unreal when he does not discriminate ‘this is a woman’ and this is a man, when he examines all things but does not find anything because all things are unborn, then he is on the way of those dedicated to enlightenment.”¹³³ The Buddha said: “The abode of great men is Emptiness” (mahāpurisa-vihāro h’esa, Sāriputta, yadidam suññatā),¹³⁴ and urged us to strive to abide in that “pure, supreme, ultimate Emptiness (tasmātih’ Ānanda, parisuddham paramânuttaram suññatam upasampajja viharissāmi ti-evam hi vo, Ānanda, sikkhi-tabbam).¹³⁵ The Theravāda tradition has always interpreted the word suññatā only in the meaning of anattā, while the Mahāyāna gave the word a much deeper meaning. For them it was a synonym of Nirvana (… varnayanti Tathāgatāh śūnyatām eva nirvānam…).¹³⁶ The above-mentioned passages from the Pali Canon seem to indicate quite clearly that also for the Buddha suññatā meant sometimes more than just anattā.

 

Holiness is beyond Good and Evil

 

The Buddha said; “One cannot say that holiness (suddhi)¹³⁷ consists of virtue or of any practices, nor does it consist of views, of knowledge or of understanding. (But one cannot say either that holiness) is without virtue or practices, without understanding, knowledge or insight. Leaving all these (completely unreal things) behind, (the sage) is at peace and without taking his stand on anything, he does not hanker after (any realm of ) existence” (bhava).¹³⁸* That, of course, was spoken from the standpoint of Absolute Truth (paramârthasatya) and it is not surprising that the Brahmin Māgandiya with whom the Buddha was conversing, did not understand the Buddha at all. Since he – like most unenlightened people – could imagine holiness and perfection only as the perfection of moral qualities or attainments, he felt completely bewildered and said that a doctrine which maintains that holiness has nothing to do with the perfection of certain qualities but is utterly beyond good and evil, must be a very confused doctrine. The Buddha often said that an Arahant “has gone beyond good and evil” (puñña-pāpa-pahina),¹³⁹ that he is undefiled by good and evil (puññe ca pāpe ca anūpalitto)¹⁴⁰ just before his death Hui-Neng said: “Imperturbable and serene the ideal man practises no virtue. Self-possessed and dispassionate, he commits no sin. Calm and silent, he gives up seeing and hearing. Even and upright his mind abides nowhere.”¹⁴¹

 

The Pure Radiant Mind of Suchness (PABHASSARA CITTA)

 

He who reaches Nibbāna (nibbānam adhigacchati)¹⁴² experiences the clear, radiant mind (pabhassara citta) of suchness which in its natural state “is utterly free from defilement” (āgantukehi upakkilesehi vippamuttam¹⁴³ prakrtis cittasya prabhasvara¹⁴⁴*). He sees that “intrinsically all dharmas are pure, radiant and uncontaminated” (prakrtyābhāsvarā dharmā ādi-śuddhā hyanāvilāh).¹⁴⁵ * The Buddha said this pure mind is realized by the wise but the unenlightened person (puthujajana) knows nothing about it and does not understand it as it really is.¹⁴⁶ “Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure, and if we knew our mind and realized what our nature is, all of us would attain Buddhahood.”¹⁴⁷* “This pure Mind… shines forever and on all with the brilliance of its own perfection. But the people of the world do not awake to it, regarding only that which sees, hears, feels and knows as mind. Blinded by their own sight, hearing, feeling and knowing, they do not perceive the spiritual brilliance of the source-substance. If they would only eliminate all conceptual thought in a flash, that source-substance would manifest itself like the sun ascending through the void and illuminating the whole universe without hindrance or bounds.”¹⁴⁸* “The essence of mind is only awareness or consciousness. When the ego, however, dominates .it, it functions as the reasoning, thinking or sensing faculty.. The cosmic mind being not limited by the ego, has nothing separate from itself and is therefore only aware.¹⁴⁹ “There is no trace of particular marks to be noted in it, as it is the sphere that transcends thoughts and is in harmony with enlightenment alone,”¹⁵⁰ “Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure, and the reason why we are perturbed is because we allow ourselves to be carried away by the circumstances we are in.”¹⁵¹ “If you students of the Way do not awake to this Mind substance, you will overlay Mind with conceptual thought, you will seek the Buddha outside yourselves, and you will remain attached to forms, pious practices and so on, all of which are harmful and not at all the way to supreme knowledge.”¹⁵²

 

The Experience of ‘Stream-Entry’

 

The Buddha said there are four stages of awakening. The first is called ‘stream-entry’ and the person who realizes it is known as Sotāpanna. It is said that he has “entered the stream of the Dhamma” (dhamma-sotam samāpanno)¹⁵³ and is free from three fetters: belief in personality (sakkāya-ditthi), doubt (vicikicchā) and attachment to virtue and practices (sïlabbata-paramasa). The person who realizes the second stage is called ‘once-returner’ (sakadāgāmin) because he returns only once more to this world. With him the fetters of sensual desire and aversion have become very weak. Reaching the third stage a person is called ‘Non-returner’ (anāgāmin) because he will not be reborn in this world. In him the experience of the Highest Truth has led to the complete annihilation of all sensual desire and aversion. He who has reached the fourth stage, which is complete liberation and in which “the Truth is seen all the time” (sabbadā ājānāti dhammam),¹⁵⁴* is called Arahant.

 

Since many sincere Buddhist strive to reach at least the level of stream-entry, it might be useful to examine this experience of stream-entry and the different explanations which have been advanced at various times. One well-known teacher in Thailand has said: “If a Buddhist cannot at least become a Sotāpanna in this very life, he can indeed be said to have wasted his entire existence.”¹⁵⁵ “Better than absolute sovereignty over the earth, better than going to heaven, better than even lordship over all the worlds is the realization of stream-entry. “¹⁵⁶ In the Discourses of the Buddha we find the following account of the experience of stream-entry: “As a clean cloth free from dirt will easily take the dye, even so, as he was sitting on that very seat (and listening to the Buddha), there arose in him the stainless, purified ‘Eye of the Dhamma’ (and he saw): “Whatever is subject to arising, all that is subject to passing away.’ Seeing the Dhamma, reaching the Dhamma, realizing the Dhamma, merging in the Dhamma he had gone beyond doubt, was free from uncertainty and independent of others as far as the teaching of the Master was concerned.”¹⁵⁷ The word Dhamma in this context means again the asankhate dhamma, the Unconditioned. The central issue in this passage is not so much the insight into the impermanence of all conditioned things, but rather the realization of the Unconditioned, which is a mystical,¹⁵⁸ a lokuttara (supermundane) experience. In that experience of seeing the Truth it is realized that the Unconditioned is the Only Reality and that all conditioned things are empty and unreal “like a mirage or bubbles of water.”¹⁵⁹ The dyeing of the cloth in the passage above is a simile for the fundamental transformation taking place in the depth of the mind when the Truth is realized (dhamma-dhātu suppatividdhā).¹⁶⁰ Elsewhere it is said: “Those who see the Dhamma are established in (the realization of) the first stage of awakening” (dhammaddasā pathamapphale patitthitā).¹⁶¹

 

“As soon as the Eye of the Dhamma opens in him and he gains insight (into the Truth), the three fetters are dissolved.”¹⁶² “You will know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free.”¹⁶³ “For that higher vision poisons all meaner choice for evermore.”¹⁶⁴ “He who sees the Deathless” (amataddasa),¹⁶⁵ that “Realm of Peace which is free from all conditioning” (padam santam anūpadhïkam),¹⁶⁶ realizes how absurd it is to identify oneself with body and mind and thus the belief in a personality dissolves. Fathoming the “Highest Truth” (dhamma settha)¹⁶⁷ one cannot consider anything as ‘I’ or ‘mine’ and one no longer discriminates between ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ because such discrimination has lost all meaning. When the eyes are opened to the Truth (yathātatham dhammam viditvā),¹⁶⁸ there is no more room for doubt about the Truth. Most people, because they are lacking in understanding, are dependent on all sorts of authorities. The Sotāpanna in the vision of the Unconditioned gains an extraordinary amount of deep supermundane insights (aññ’indriya)¹⁶⁹ and “as soon as (the true nature of) things is revealed to him, all doubts vanish” (Yadā have patubhavanti dhammā…ath’assa kankh vapayanti sabbā).¹⁷⁰ “He has seen the Truth; it is for him not a matter of hearsay” (sakkhi dhammamañitiham adassi)¹⁷¹ and the religious texts dealing with Absolute Truth have suddenly become self evident. Because he has “profound understanding” (asādhāranena ñānena samannāgato),¹⁷² “when he listens to the Dhamma he understands the meaning immediately”.¹⁷³*

 

Following Buddhaghosa who interpreted sïlabbata-parāmāsa rather trivially as meaning attachment to certain absurd forms of behaviour and practice among the ascetics at the time of the Buddha,¹⁷⁴ most Theravādins translate and explain sïlabbata-parāmāsa as ‘attachment to rules and rituals.’. Since the Buddha frequently says that an Arahant is endowed with sïla-vata (sïlav tupapanna),¹⁷⁵ it is obvious that the usual interpretation as ‘attachment to rules and rituals ’brings out only the most superficial aspects of the meaning of this word and overlooks the deeper meaning and significance. This interpretation has been conducive to a great deal of confusion because it has led people to imagine they are free from this fetter when in fact they are not. Some people have wondered, if sïlabpata-parāmāsa means only the attachment to rules and rituals, why the Buddha had included it among the fetters which a Sotāpanna is free from. The reason for the widespread misinterpretation of such an important term is simply that an unenlightend person does not and cannot know the deep significance of this word and he has not the faintest idea what is the realization which frees the Sotāpanna from this fetter. “Realizing the Realm of Peace” (santam padam abhisamecca)¹⁷⁶ the Unconditioned, the Sotāpanna sees how impossible it is through virtue or any practices to add anything whatsoever to the timeless, all-embracing perfection of the Unconditioned. When one looks at the Pharisees, the Puritans and others who have a very rigid code of morality one can see how often such strictness of behaviour is accompanied by considerable conceit, narrow-mindedness and self-righteousness. Very often sincerely religious people get attached to particular forms of behaviour and certain practice and in this way they strengthen their ego. For the unenlightened person it is difficult to get rid of the delusion that everything depends on making himself perfect. And how much frustration and hypocrisy and self-deception are created by this attempt to make himself perfect! When the Sotāpanna realizes the Deathless (amatam adhigata)¹⁷⁷ he sees that perfection is not to be found in virtues or in practices but only in the vision of the Unconditioned. He sees that the real perfection and blessedness of his spiritual life does not lie in making himself perfect, but to live in, share in, the timeless perfection of the Unconditioned.¹⁷⁸* This realization frees him from the attachment to virtues and practices.

 

The Buddha said a Sotāpanna has virtues which lead to freedom and to peace of mind.¹⁷⁹ That means he has such virtues but he does not identify himself with them (sïlava hoti no ca sila-mayo).¹⁸⁰ “He does not consider virtue to be the highest and does not make it an end in itself (na sïla-parama),¹⁸¹* he also does not identify with his meditation practice” (na samādhi-tanmaya).¹⁸² The type of virtue which the Pharisees and those similar to the Pharisees practise leads only to conceit and self-righteousness and to other forms of attachment, but not to freedom and to peace of mind. The Buddha said that a Sotāpanna has unshakeable confidence in the Dhamma.¹⁸³ Because he “knows the Highest” (varaññũ),¹⁸⁴ the Uncreated (akataññũ),¹⁸⁵ the Sotāpanna has unshakeable confidence in the doctrine of the Buddha and he also has unshakeable certainty regarding the Unconditioned.

 

In the vision of the Unconditioned the Sotāpanna knows: this is the liberation of the mind, the liberating gnosis, and if this state is not just a transient one, then this is the end of all suffering, complete liberation. The Sotāpanna, the Once-returner and the Non-returner in seeing Nibbāna experience temporarily the state of liberation. Therefore, this experience is called ’temporary liberation’ (sāmāyikā vimutti).¹⁸⁶* “When we have realized the Essence of Mind even for one Moment only, then Truth is known to us.”¹⁸⁷

 

All Buddhist schools agree that the attainment of any of the four stages of awakening is a supermundane experience in which Nibbāna is realized. If the realization of the four stages of awakening consisted only – as quite a few Buddhists maintain – in overcoming certain fetters, then it would hardly be justified to call that a supermundane experience, because the overcoming of certain attachments outside of the vision of Truth is not a supermundane experience. If there has been no deep, mystical experience bringing about a profound transformation how can one be certain that the fetters have really been overcome? On the higher levels of an intensive course of Stipatthāna meditation the meditator gains such a depth of concentration and awareness that he is fully aware of every feeling, every thought and perception (viditā vedanā, vitakkā, saññā uppajjanti, vidita upatthahanti, viditā abbhattham gacchanti).¹⁸⁸ “If he experiences a pleasant, a painful or a neutral feeling, he experiences it with detachment.”¹⁸⁹ Therefore, none of the lower fetters¹⁹⁰ have a chance to strike root in the mind. In this way the meditator “ has his mind under control but is not under the control of his mind”.¹⁹¹ The fact that his meditation is on such a high level that the fetters do not arise does not mean that he is completely free from them. The tendencies (anusaya)¹⁹² which lead to the arising of the fetters, are still there and can only be ‘burnt out in the fire of insight’ (ñān’agginā daddha,¹⁹³* jhapita)194 gained in the vision of the Unconditioned. “All enlightened men – from the Sotāpanna upto the Buddha – are transformed through the Unconditioned” (asamkrta-prabhāvitā hyāya-pudgalāh).¹⁹⁵ “From this Source are all the Saints of all the ten quarters descended.”¹⁹⁶ *

 

Many books on Buddhism assert that the four stages of awakening are realized through an intuitive insight into the three characteristics of existence, i.e. that all conditioned things are impermanent (sabbe sankhārā aniccā), in reality unsatisfactory and leading to suffering (sabbe sankhara dukkhā) and that everything is not to be considered as ‘I’ or ‘mine’ (sabbe dhammā anattā). The insight into these three characteristics of existence is without any doubt a genuine vipassana (insight) experience and is, as the Buddha has frequently stressed,¹⁹⁷ very helpful for the development of detachment and equanimity. But we should not forget that only through “seeing the Unconditioned is one liberated from the conditioned” (asamskŗtam ca sampaśyam samskŗtāt parimucyate)¹⁹⁸ The Buddha said that Nibbāna is the Unborn and Unconditioned, and if there were not the Unconditioned then it would not be possible ever to reach liberation.¹⁹⁹ “Having realized the Truth (the asankhata dhamma) he is free from all attachment” (ñatvā dhammam anissito).²⁰⁰

 

There are some meditation schools which claim that certain experiences occurring during the course of practice are the attainment of stream-entry. These often are remarkable meditation experiences but are in no way related to the true experience of stream-entry which is nothing other than the seeing of Nibbāna. Some schools of vipassanā meditation say that a particular experience in which the meditator looses consciousness is the experience of stream-entry. This may have some significance but the genuine experience of stream-entry is something quite different. Considering these various explanations of stream-entry it really does seem that the genuine experience has become rather rare. “Few are they that get a taste of reality (attha-rasa), a taste of the Dhamma (dhamma-rasa), a taste of liberation” (vimutti-rasa).²⁰¹ Most people seek security in some form or another; some seek it in material things, others in religion. The Buddha said that a Sotāpanna could not be reborn in the lower realms of existence and would certainly within seven life-times realize complete liberation.202*Because of this people, seeking security, imagine all sorts of insights and unusual experiences to be stream-entry and so delude themselves.

 

SAMATHA and VIPASSANÃ

 

Up till today there have been taught some rather dubious meditation practices which have been held to be samatha, but are in fact often merely trance states. Due to this, the word samatha got a bad name. Therefore, probably, more than a few meditation teachers nowadays speak against samatha and talk only about developing vipassanā. Unfortunately, many people use the words samatha and vipassanā just like slogans without being aware of their true meaning and significance. Let us now see what the Buddha taught with regard to samatha and vipassanā. Vipassanā has two aspects: a sudden intuitive understanding (something like Satori) and a sustained contemplation in which one sees from moment to moment into the true nature of things. The word samatha has a much more profound meaning than many Buddhists seem to think. Samatha means stillness of the mind (santa-citta,²⁰³ santam tassa manam hoti)²⁰⁴ in shich “all discursive thinking has come to an end” (upasamanti vitakkā).²⁰⁵ “He who has calmed his mind will find peace.”²⁰⁶ This ‘freedom from discursive thinking’ (avitakka) is called ‘the holy silence’ (ariya tunhïbhāva).²⁰⁷ “He who is dedicated to calming his thoughts (vitakkūpa same ca yo rato) will cut Mara’s fetters.”²⁰⁸* He who lives in peace (santa-vutti), is free from restlessness and dedicated to stillness of mind (cetosamatham anuyutto), will attain the cessation of suffering.”²⁰⁹ “He whose body, speech and mind are calm, whose concentration is well developed and who has spewed out all worldly concerns, is truly called ‘peaceful’.”²¹⁰ The Buddha said that he who has developed vipassanā but has not yet found peace of mind should also try to develop samathā.²¹¹ H also said that samathā leads to citta-bhāvanā (development of the mind), and if there is citta-bhāvaā then all desire is overcome.²¹² In the highest sense citta-bhāvanā means the realization of clear, radiant mind (pabhassara citta) of suchness. (pabhassaram idam, bhikkhave, cittam tañ ca kho āgantukehi upakkilesehi vippamuttam. Tam sutavā ariya-sāvako yathābhūtham pajānāti; tasmā sutavato ariya-sāvakassa citta-bhavanā atthi ti vadāmi).²¹³ All desire stems from a lack and a need. When the Truth is realized in which there is all perfection and in which nothing is wanting, all desire dissolves²¹⁴ “What could perturb him for whom there is neither birth nor death, and what should he desire?”

 

The JHĀNAS

 

Defining Sammā-samādhi, right contemplation, the last of the ’Noble Eightfold Path’ the Buddha said that Sammā-samādhi is the realization of the four jhānas.²¹⁵* Throughout the Sutta-pitaka the Buddha emphasizes the importance of the four jhānas: “The wise man/woman devotes himself to the jhānas” (jhāna-pasuto dhiro, 216 samāhito dhyāna-ratah sumedhah),²¹⁷* the sincere bhikkhu) “ is dedicated to the jhānas” (jhānānuyutta),218 “those who are dedicated to the jhānas are not interested in sensual pleasures” (yeşā dhyāna’rata citta kamās teşā na vidyate).²¹⁹In spite of the fact that the Buddha said the jhanas are the direct way to enlightenment (eso`va maggo bodhāya),²²⁰* nowadays many meditation teachers, probably misunderstanding the jhānas to be some sort of trance states, speak against them. They call them samatha and detrimental to the development of insight. But the Mahāmālunkyasutta of the Majjhima-nikāya leaves no doubt that the jhānas are not att all incompatible with deep insight.²²¹ In the Suttas it is frequently mentioned that many of those who easily reach the jhānas had also developed various ‘psychic powers’ (iddhi). It is probably because many people were trying to develope the jhānas in order to gain psychic powers. Wise men consider the various psychic powers only as an epiphenomen of the contemplative life and do not attach too much significance to psychic powers. The great Zen masters understood the close relationship between the jhānas and the insight into the true nature of things. The Zen master Shen-hui said: “Where no thoughts are awakened, and emptiness and nowhereness prevails, this is Right Dhyāna. When this nonawakening of thought, emptiness and nowhereness are the object of perception, there is right Prajñā (wisdom). Where this takes place we say that Dhyana… is the Body Prajñā and is not distinct from Prajñā and is Prajñā itself; and further that Prajñā… is the Use of Dhyāna and is not distinct from Dhyāna and is Dhyāna itself.”²²² This is certainly a remarkable parallel to the verse from the Dhammapada: “There is no jhāna for him who lacks wisdom, there is no wisdom in him who lacks contemplation; but he who has (developed) the jhānas and has wisdom is indeed close to Nibbāna” (natti jhana apaññassa, paññā natthi ajjhāyato; yamhi jhnañ ca paññ ca, ve nibbna-santike).²²³ “Therefore the sage should strive after (that oneness of) contemplation and wisdom” (tasmād dhyana tathā prajñām anuyujyeta pañditah)²²⁴

 

   Those who are far advanced in the contemplative life and maintain stillness of mind all the time (Jhāyino sātatikā)²²⁵are always in one of the jhānas. It is for them the ‘natural’ state of mind. The Buddha once said that even the Arahants who are asekha (there is no need for them to practice anything) are ‘practicing’ Satipaţţhāna.²²⁶ That means that for the Arahants the state of ‘total attention’ or ‘choiceless awareness’, as Krishnamurti calls it, which is the quintessence of Satipaţţhāna and the jhānas, is the ‘natural’ state of mind. “A bhikkhu whose mind is perfectly liberated is always in the following state of mind: Whatever he experiences makes him neither glad nor sad and he abides with equanimity, mindfulness and recollection” (upekkhako viharati sato sampajāno.)²²⁷In the description of the third jhāna the same expression is used upekkhako ca viharati sato ca sampajāno. “Samādhi must be the natural life of every one… Having once experienced the Bliss of Peace no one would like to be out of it or engage himself otherwise.”²²⁸

 

 

The Brahma-vihāras

 

In the Visuddhi-magga Buddhagosa says one should develop the four brahma-vihāras (love, compassion, joy and equanimity) by calling up the image of a person and developing love and compassion for that person;²²⁹ then one should gladden the mind by thinking about the merits or achievements or attainments of that person and finally one should develop equanimity towards that person. Later one is told to expand one’s love, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity until they become immeasurable and boundless. If one reads the Visuddhi-magga critically one cannot help but get the impression that Buddhaghosa was not a man of practice. What he has to say about the jhānas or the brahma-vihāras or any other aspect of the practice does not seem to stem from practice, but seems to be just his ideas about the practice. It is interesting to notice that, so far as I know, in the Sutta-pitaka the Buddha nowhere says that one should develop the four brahma-vihāras in the way Buddhaghosa has explained it. The Buddha’s approach is quite different: he tells us first to develop a state of mind which is steady and not subject to evil tendencies.²³⁰ If the mind has reached a high level of steadiness (cittam subhāvitam)²³¹ of peace and detachment, then love and compassion, joy and equanimity may arise spontaneously, and they are immeasurable (appamāņa) and independent of any person or any object. The four brahma-vihāras are the ‘natural attitude’ of a mind in which there is detachment and freedom from self-centeredness. “In the Aksayamatisutra it is said: ‘At the beginning of the spiritual life Love (maitrī, Pali Mettā) is directed towards beings. With those who are further advanced on the path Love is based on the Dharma and for those who have seen the Unconditioned Love is not based on anything.”²³² “They give rise to the great compassion, which is, however, free from any notion of a being. This is the life of wisdom, the highest perfection.”²³³ Buddhaghosa explains upekkhā in the four brahma-vihāras as meaning equanimity with regards to living beings. He again misses the deeper meaning which is the ‘holy indifference’ with regards to everything.²³⁴

 

The meaning of Muditā

Almost everybody seems to accept Buddhaghosa’s explanation that muditā means `sympathetic joy´ though there are passages in the Suttas which leave no doubt that this interpretation is rather limited and overlooks the deeper meaning and significance of the word muditā. In the Siksa-samuccaya, which is the Mahāyāna equivalent of the Visudhi-magga, is a long list of synonyms of muditā which gives one an idea of the wide range of meaning of that word. Among many other things Sāntideva explains muditā as serenity, gladness, exaltation of the mind, delight in giving, being uplifted by the virtuous, elation at being able to help even those whose conduct is evil, always a smiling face, no frowning, a habit of always praising and the joy of the Dharma. <sup>235</sup> In the Mahārāhulovāda-sutta of the Majjhima-nikāya <sup>236</sup> and in several other places the Buddha said if muditā is developed, the all dissatisfaction (arati) is overcome. If one is dissatisfied with leading a monastic or spiritual life, then- according to Buddhaghosa’s explanation <sup>237</sup> – he could and should overcome that dissatisfaction by rejoicing at other people’s attainments or achievements. It is most unlikely that such a remedy would work, but if instead through meditation and insight he would find deep spiritual joy, then dissatisfaction would be an unlikely problem. If one examines critically and with an open mind all the passages where the Buddha speaks about muditā, it becomes fairly obvious that the main meaning of muditā is `spiritual joy´. “At such a time the bhikkus abide in the brahma-vihāra, namely in that joy which liberates the mind (muditā-cetovimutti). In him who has joy, rapture is born (pamuditassa piti jāyati). In one who experiences this rapture, the body is calmed and he experiences happiness. The mind of one who is happy is recollected.” ²³⁸ “He who is full of joy and faith in the Buddha’s teaching, will reach the state of peace.”²³⁹ “Those are always happy who know neither like or dislike of anything.”²⁴⁰  

 

In the Śiksā-samuccaya is a very moving and profound account of the real depth of spiritual joy and happiness: “There is a type of contemplation which finds happiness everywhere. When the Bodhisattva (one dedicated to enlightenment) acquires it, he feels in all things pain as pleasant, not painful ²⁴¹ nor indifferent. Even when he is subjected to some devilish treatment, the contemplation of happiness continues…And why is that? Because the Bodhisattva practiced for a long time, this attitude was developed in him: ‘may those who give me food and protect me, who honour and respect me, all participate in the happiness of tranquility. And may those who beat and abuse me, who maltreat me and even kill me with knives, all receive the bliss of enlightenment and gain the supreme awakening’. With these thoughts and actions and these aspirations, he seeks and ensures, he cherishes and multiplies the feeling of joy in relation to all beings; and by the ripening of this course of action he obtains the contemplation that finds happiness everywhere. At the time when the Bodhisattva has obtained the contemplation that finds happiness everywhere, he becomes imperturbable.”²⁴²

 

The Interpretations of the Commentaries

 

It seems to be a peculiar feature common to all Buddhist schools that they neglect the Buddha’s words and Discourses and that books written much later assumes a position of authority. Though the Ăgamas (corresponding to the Pali Nikāyas) were translated into Chinese, they do not seem to have exerted as much influence as the later Mahāyāna-sũtras. Most of the Mahāyāna-sũtras were translated into Tibetan, but very few of the Discourses of the Buddha were translated. The Theravādins are very proud that they have preserved the original teaching of the Buddha and have not changed so much as other schools have. It was much easier for them because they were cut of from the mainstream of Indian culture, religion and spirituality and unlike other schools in India or China were never confronted by a highly developed religion or culture. But where there is no such challenge, there is always the danger of stagnation and ossification.

 

In Theravāda the trend has often been to follow later scriptures, occasionally even to the point of regarding the Suttas as ‘stories for children’. Many Theravādins follow mainly Buddhaghosa’s explanations. They do not seem to know that sometimes his explanations may be found to be contrary to the Buddha’s words. For instance, the commentaries say there are two duties for a bhikku: either the study of the scriptures (gantha-dhura) or the development of insight (vipassanā-dhura). This stands in sharp contrast to the Buddha’s attitude and of all others who have realized the Truth. A bhikku once asked the Buddha how one might live in accordance with Dhamma (dhamma-vihāri). The Buddha replied: “If a bhikku studies scriptures all the time, but neglects contemplation and makes no attempt to calm his mind, then one could say of such a man that he is one who studies a great deal, but he is not one who lives according to the Dhamma.” ²⁴³ In spite of this unequivocal statement of the Buddha we generally find in the Theravāda countries that the studies of the scriptures is divorced from meditation. Therefore, it is fairly common that the learned bhikkus return to lay life. They would probably not do so if they had besides their studies also developed meditation and through meditation had gained peace of mind. “If, instead of pacifying our minds, we rely on Scriptures to achieve Enlightenment, we are undertaking the impossible.”²⁴⁴ Ramana Maharashi was asked whether the study of the sacred books will reveal the Truth. “That will not suffice,” he replied. “Why not? – “Samādhi alone can reveal it.²⁴⁵* Thoughts cast a veil over Reality and so it cannot be clear in states other than Samādhi.”²⁴⁶ Even in the times of the Buddha there seems to have been a tendency to specialize in studies or in contemplation.²⁴⁷ The Buddha frequently praised those who have a thorough knowledge of the Dhamma (bahussuta), a deep insight, and who do not neglect contemplation. He recommended a very broad, balanced approach; these days, unfortunately, such a comprehensive approach is rarely to be found or appreciated.

 

The Scholastic Approach

 

It is a great pity that the Suttas with all their extraordinary subtlety and clarity, profundity and comprehensiveness, have been so much neglected and many Theravāda Buddhists rely more on the commentaries, the and on later writings. The Buddha, speaking about what is going to happen, said: “The monks will no longer wish to hear and learn the Suttānas proclaimed by the Tathāgata, wich are deep, profound in meaning, reaching beyond the world (lokuttara), dealing with the Void (suññatā-patsamyuttā) but will only lend their ear to the trivial writings of the disciples, made by poets and verse-mongers, adorned with beautiful words and syllables.”²⁴⁸ It seems that soon after the Paranirvāna of the Buddha many learned bhikkhus got lost in the labyrinth of purely scholastic approach. Realization of the Truth was replaced by scholasticism. In the Theravāda countries many people believe that the Buddha taught the Abhidhamma. However, there is not there is not the slightest historical evidence for such a belief. In fact the story that the Buddha taught the Abhidhamma in Tusita Heaven was most likely put forward in order to give authority to the Abhidhamma exactly the same way as some of the later Mahāyāna-sũtras were said to be taught by the Buddha himself. For if the Buddha had really taught the Abhidhamma to his mother in Tusita Heaven it would seem most likely that he would have taught it to the monks afterwards as well. Actually, it is widely agreed that the Abhidhamma books were written much later. The Hinayāna schools all had quite different Abhidhamma. If the Buddha had himself taught the Abhidhamma, the different schools would have had the same Abhidhamma.

 

The attitude of deep veneration for the Abhidhamma which is so wide-spread in the Theravāda countries, is not without dangers. Scholasticism and the concern over scholastic categories may cause people to forget that the essence of the Buddha’s teachings is the realization of Nibbāna. To be caught in scholasticism is to be caught in views and as long as one is caught in views one will never reach Supreme Enlightenment. Wise men were aware of the attachment to views and opinions (ditth’updāna) which is so common and widespread among ascetics and they have warned against it. In the scholastic approach to religion this attachment to views and opinions is, quite frankly, allowed to run riot. When one sees how those who are mainly interested in the Abhidhamma explain Buddhism it is obvious that there is another danger inherent in the scholastic approach of the Abhidhamma. Many of the followers of the Abhidhamma conceive of several ‘ultimate realities’ (param’attha-dhamma).

They teach a realistic pluralism which is quite foreign to the original teachings of the Buddha as we find it in the Suttas. Unenlightened people, busying themselves with classifying conditioned things into various categories and making more and better charts of these categories, only too easily lose sight of the essence of Dhamma and come to interpret the Buddha’s teaching as some sort of realistic pluralism.

 

For the Buddha there was only One Ultimate Reality, Nibbāna (ekam eva, bhiksavaah, paramam satyam yaduta apramosa-dharma nirvāanam, ekam hi saccam),²⁵⁰ and therefore he taught us to consider the world of phenomena as empty and unreal (sunnato lokam avekkhassu,²⁵¹ sunyatah sarva-samskaram prajnaya passyate yada…^252*sabbam vitaham idam); he told us to see that everything in the world is “like a mock show (maya) or a mirage or bubbles of water.”²⁵³ The difference for the enlightened and unenlightened people is that for the enlightened, Nibbāna is the Only Reality, while scholars, philosophers and theologians who have never seen the Unconditioned will take many things for real which to the enlightened are unreal (mosa-dhamma). ²⁵⁴ Prof. Murti says: “The inadequacy and inconsistency of the Abhidharma system -the theory of the elements- led to the Madhyamika dialectic, “²⁵⁵ and de la Vallée Poussin says: “There is a great deal of Madhyamika philosophy in the Pali Canon.”²⁵⁶ Only the ‘typical Theravāda approach’ as manifested in the Abhidhamma, the Pali commentaries and the later Theravāda writings has so much ignored this aspect of the Buddha’s teaching that many people are very surprised if someone points out how many of the ‘Mahāyāna ideas’ are already to be found in the Pāli Canon.

 

All those concepts which loom so very large in many Mahayānā writings – that the Buddha is the Dharma-Kāya, that the world of phenomena is unreal and Nibbāna is the only reality, the intrinsically pure, radiant min (pabhassara citta), non-duality, Absolute Truth, Emptiness as synonym for Nirvāna, the importance of freedom from discursive thinking etc. – they can all be found in the Pali Canon, but one looks in vain for any of them in any of the later Theravāda writings. Somehow the Theravāda tradition has managed to disregard all these important aspects of the Buddha’s teachings which interestingly enough are at the very core of Mahayāna thought, and the really ‘orthodox Theravādins’ reject these ideas when they hear about them. It is significant that all these aspects of the Buddha’s teaching which the Theravādins have ignored are of a very profound nature. They are inaccessible to unenlightened people and to a merely intellectual understanding. Buddhaghosa himself admitted that he was only a puthujjan. Therefore, he could not possible know what these things mean. It really does seem that the ‘typical Theravāda approach’ with its scholastic bias was formulated and maintained by very learned, very intelligent, but unenlightened monks. It is inevitable that unenlightened men present the doctrine of the Buddha in a way which is considerably different from the way enlightened men would. In the Suttas we find that experienced bhikkhus like Mahakācāna were frequently asked to explain terse sayings of the Buddha. Mahakācāna’s explanations reveal great wisdom, clarity and depth of understanding. Unfortunately, the later commentaries don’t reflect any of the same profundity and clarity. This shows that without enlightenment even the greatest learning and intelligence is not sufficient to fathom the real depth and essence of the Buddha’s teaching. The Buddha said that if a person teaches the Dhamma to others just as he learnt it, but he himself is without wisdom and does not understand the deeper meaning, then (one could say of) such a person that he has a lot of concepts, but is not living with the Dhamma (paňňatti bahulo no dhamma-vihara).^258* Such a person “has only grasped the letter, but not the real meaning”²⁵⁹ and “ the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.”^260*

 

Many intelligent people interested in Buddhism find the scholastic approach prevalent in the Theravāda writings rather dry and barren. Unfortunately, hardly any of the translations from the Pāli Canon convey anything of the depth, the clarity and the inspiring quality of the original but tend to be rather tedious, shallow and uninspiring. This may well be one of the reasons that many Buddhists turn to Zen Buddhism. In Zen they find something lively and dynamic because the great Zen masters were vitally concerned only with the essence of Buddhism which is enlightenment. Even in Thailand which is traditionally a Theravāda country many critical, intelligent people show an interest in Zen Buddhism.

 

 

The significance of the KĀLĀMA-SUTTA

 

In the Kālāma-sutta the Buddha tells the people of Kālāma that they should not thoughtlessly accept and follow any tradition which has been handed down to them, but they should examine it critically. ²⁶¹ Though many Buddhists are very found of quoting this Sutta which shows the liberal and enlightened attitude of the Buddha, very few seem to apply this critical approach to their own traditions. Merely to quote this Sutta witout applying these things in one’s own life is, though fairly common, not very helpful. Such an attitude was compared to a physician who gives medicin to others but does not cure his own illness. Admittedly, to become aware of the conditioning influence of our environment and society is not easy because many of our value judgements were absorbed early in life and later taken for granted. But the awakening to a life of full awareness, a living in the here and now, includes a growing awareness of the conditioning influences of authority and tradition. If there had been more of this critical, intelligent attitude which the Buddha impressed on us it is most unlikely that the Pāli commentaries could have achieved so much authority and influence. Without such a critical attitude which tries to keep to the very essence of religion, there is always the danger stagnation, decadence, fossilization and many devious bypaths. To stem the further decline of Buddhism it would be of vital importance to reduce the influence of the commentaries and the Abhidhamma and return to what the Buddha himself said regarding the spiritual life and emphasise that without practice, without contemplation a merely intellectual, theoretical and philosophical approach to Buddhism is quite inadequate. When Ānanda asked the Buddha shortly before his Parinirvāna for some final instructions, the Buddha told him that each one, by relying on the Dhamma, has to find the Truth in and for himself (tasmatih’nanda, Āatta-dipa viharatha atta-sarama ananna sarana ananna-sarana; dhamma-dipa dhamma-sarana ananna-sarana).^262* And the way to do this is the practice of awareness (satipaţţhana).

 

 

Theravāda and Mahāyāna

 

Quite a few people identify Theravāda with the Pali tradition, but that is misleading. We should make a distinction between the Suttas and the later commentaries and traditions and reserve the name for the commentaries and the approach as it has evolved in the Theravāda countries. All the early Buddhist schools had their own collection of Sūtras, though, unfortunately, only the texts of a few schools have survived. The others are probably irretrievably lost. There have been some interesting studies showing that the Chinese collection of Sūtras – though grouped differently – is in remarkable agreement with the Pali Sūttas. Therefore non of the Buddhist schools can claim the Discourses of the Buddha to be their exclusive property.²⁶³ The different schools of Buddhism have each a different interpretation of the doctrine of the Buddha as contained in the Sutta-piţaka and the Agamas. Each school emphasizes certain aspects and neglects others, but perhaps this is – unavoidable. Unfortunately, in the Theravāda countries there are many prejudices about the Mahayana, and in the Mahāyāna there are equally many just as unfounded prejudices about the Theravāda. Those Theravādins who rely mostly on the scholastic writings of the Abhidhamma and the commentaries, find the scriptures vague and lacking in precision. Not having any access to the realm of Absolute Truth, they do not understand the paradoxical sayings of Absolute Truth in which the Zen and Mahāyāna scriptures abound and consider them as downright and deplorable errors. An openminded study of all Buddhist schools and traditions seems to be fairly rare. This is a very regrettable situation because a Theravādin could learn quite a lot from studying the Mahāyāna scriptures open-mindly. If the followers of Mahāyāna would also take the trouble tostudy the Pali Suttas, they would very likely discover far more depth than they have attributed to them.Those who know only the the tenets of their own particular religious group, are very often somewhat narrow-minded in their approach. An open-minded study of other religions may not only widen one’s outlook, but very often help to understand one’s own religion better.

 

Though one can speak of Theravāda and Mahāyāna doctrines and interpretations of the doctrine of the Buddha, the essence of the Buddha’s doctrine and of all schools is awakening and enlightenment. Nāgārjuna said: “When in Mahāyāna (we refer) to sūnyatā (we call it ‘non-arising) (anutpāda) and the other (schools call it ) ‘cessation’; but it should be (clearly ) understood that they mean the same thing.”²⁶⁴ If we would disregard all our preconceived ideas, we could not fail to see to what an extraordinary extent the great Tibetan sages and Chinese Zen masters are in complete agreement with the teachings of the Buddha found in the Pāli Canon. Sometimes one cannot help feeling that they, being enlightened men, have preserved far more of the real depth and essence of the Dhamma than the commentators of the Pāli traditions, who were probably just scholars without the experience of enlightenment.

 

Relative and Absolute Truth

 

Both the Theravāda and the Mahāyāna hold that there are two kinds of truth: relative truth and absolute truth. Buddhagosa in one of his commentaries ²⁶⁵ quotes from an unknown source: “The fully enlightened One…declared two truths – the relative and the absolute.” For most Theravādins paramattha-sacca means precise philosophical terminology. This is a rather trivial interpretation which fails to fathom the real depth of meaning of that word. When the Buddha says that an enlightened sage (muni) is a paramattha-dassi,^{266 *} he obviously does not mean that the sage has had an insight into philosophical terminology, but that he sees into the ultimate nature of things and if he expresses the insights which he has gained in the vision of the Unconditioned, then one says that he speaks from the standpoint of Absolute Truth. Very often something was condemned as heresy or notion because men could not discriminate between relative and absolute truth, that means, they had erroneous wisdom. Nāgārjuna said: “Those who are unaware of the distinction between these two truths are incapable of grasping the deep significance of the teaching of the Buddha.”^267* For those who have not the Eye of Wisdom the expression of relative and absolute truth appear to be irreconcilable. For the wise they are just different way of speaking which have both their value and significance. Postulating these two truths it is not too difficult to arrive at a synthesis between the Pali Canon and the later Zen and writings. In the Pali Canon, especially in the Sutta-nipāta, we can find quite a few examples of Absolute Truth (Paramattha-samhita) ²⁶⁸ and in Zen and Mahāyāna here are even more. Many translators do not understand those passages where the Buddha speaks from the standpoint of Absolute Truth and often make a complete mess of it. Or they translate and so literally we get translations which are faithful to the letter but have utterly killed the meaning. Some of the deepest sayings of the Buddha lie buried under rather meaningless literal translations.

 

   Since Absolute Truth is difficult to understand (na hi saccam suddasanam)²⁶⁹ for unenlightened person, he might conclude that all those paradoxical statements of the mystics which seem to contrsdict the commonly accepted relative truths, be false or heretical. “To a frog living in a well one cannot speak about the ocean,” says Chuang-tze, “because it knows nothing but its well.” All the paradoxical and seemingly nonsensical expressions which the great mystics use and which are so incomprehensible to unenlightened people are not opinions but attempts to express the Unnameable and formulate their insights into the ultimate nature (uttamârtha) of things. They are attempts to put into words what is utterlybeyond words, concepts and opinions (diţţhinam samatikkama). ²⁷¹ Therefore, Seng-Ts’an, the Third Zen Patriarch of China, said: “I have spoken, but in vain; for what can words tell of things that have no yesterday, tomorrow or today?”²⁷² To those who had an insight into the ultimate nature of things (nipuņ’attha-dassi)²⁷³* a new dimension is revealed (sūksmam padam abhijňāya)²⁷⁴ about which “unenlightened people who are blind” to the Truth (andhabhûtā puthujjana)²⁷⁵ know nothing. Seng-Ts’an, speaking about the realm of the Absolute Truth, said:” At the ultimate point, beyond which you can go no further, you get to where there are no rules, to where thought can accept Impartiality, to where effect of action ceases, doubt is washed away, belief has no obstacle. Nothing is left over, nothing remembered; space is bright, but self-illumined; no power of mind is exerted. Nor indeed could mere thought bring us to such a place. Nor could sense or feeling comprehend it. It is the Truly-so, the Transcendent Sphere, where there is neither He nor I. For swift converse with this sphere use the concept ‘Not Two’; in the ‘Not Two’ are no separate things, yet all things are included. The wise throughout the Ten Quarters have had access to this Primal Truth; for it is not a thing with extension in Time or Space; a moment and an aeon for it are one. Whether we see it or fail to see it, it is manifest always and everywhere:” ^276*

 

In one of the Suttas the Buddha said the view that there is neither this nor another world is micchā diţţhi, a wrong view. ²⁷⁷ On another occasion he spoke about the Unconditioned and said: “In Nibbanā there is neither this world nor another world.” ²⁷⁸ The explanations for these seemingly incongruous sayings is quite simple. From the standpoint of relative truth it is wrong to say that there is neither this nor another world, but from the standpoint of Absolute Truth it is true, because everybody who had reached Ultimate Reality (uttadam dhammatam patto) ²⁷⁹ knows that there is really neither this nor another world.

 

Again and again in the Suttas one comes across such exhortations: “Therefore, stir up even more energy for attaining the unattained, for winning what is not yet won, for realising the unrealised.”²⁸⁰

The Buddha also said there is a gradual process in the spiritual path and realisation.²⁸¹ This is, of course, relative truth. Since many great Zen masters emphasized that there is only sudden enlightenment, some people feel a bit bewildered but the apparent contradiction. Hui-Neng said: ”Those who are wise realize the truth in a flash, while those who are under delusion have to train themselves gradually…..Therefore, these terms ‘gradual’ and ‘sudden’ are not really opposed to each other.”²⁸² It is interesting to note that the Theravāda is in complete agreement with Zen as far as ‘sudden enlightenment’ is concerned. ²⁸³ When the Buddha speaks about a gradual process he refers to the gradual maturation of the mind and when Zen masters speak about ‘sudden enlightenment’, they refer to the sudden breakthrough into the Unconditioned which of necessity cannot be gradual. So the contradiction is more apparent then real. Huang Po, speaking from the standpoint of Absolute Truth, says: “When al last, in a single flash, you attain to full realisation, you will only be realizing the Buddha-nature which has been with you all the time; and by all the fore-going stages you will have added to it nothing at all. You will come to look upon those aeons of work and achievements as no better than unreal actions performed in a dream. That is why the Tathāgata said: I truly attained nothing from complete, unexcelled enlightenment.”^284* But only a man to whom the Unconditioned revealed itself, can fully grasp the meaning of such baffling statements.

 

The core of the Buddha’s teaching are the ‘Four Noble Truths’: suffering, origin of suffering, cessation of suffering and the way leading to the cessation of suffering. Yet in the Heart-sūtra (Prajňāpāramitā-hŗ daya-sǔtra) it is said: “In śūnyatā (emptiness) there is no suffering, no origin (of suffering), no cessation (of suffering) and no way (leading to the cessation of suffering).”²⁸⁵ Some might think what is expressed in the Heart-sūtra must be a mistaken and untenable opinion because it contradicts what the Buddha has taught. They do not understand that when the Buddha speaks about the Four Truths he speaks from the standpoind of relative and what is said in the Heart-sūtra is Absolute Truth, and Absolute Truth does not admit any duality because “non-duality is the characteristic of enlightenment” (bodhir advaya-lakşaņā).^286* In the Heart-sūtra it is also said: The five Skandhas are śūnyatā, and śūnyatā is the same as the five Skandhas; the five Skandhas are not different from śūnyatā, nor is śūnyatā different from the five Skandhas.” A little later in the same Sūtra one reads: “In śūnyatā there is neither body, nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulses, nor consciousness.” In the vision of the Unconditioned it is seen that the world of phenomenena is not different from the Unconditioned, and at the same time it is seen that there is only the Unconditioned and that the world of phenomena is utterly unreal. The great mystics often use such paradoxical, seemingly illogical statements to express their insights into the ultimate nature of things.

 

Out of compassion the Buddha taught his doctrine so that beings aimlessly wandering in Samsāra might reach the end of Samsāra by realizing Nibbāna.²⁸⁷ Many Theravādins become rather furious when they hear that in the Mahāyāna writings it is said that Samsāra is not really different from Nirvāna, and they immediately and often fiercly reject that. Not understanding the difference between relative and absolute truth, they jump to the conclusion that it is a completely fallacious view. In this they are quite wrong because for those who first spoke of the identity of Samsāra and Nirvāna²⁸⁸* it was a matter of fact which they had seen directly when they had seen the Deathless. It was not a speculation and not just an idea or an opinion, but a mystical insight into Absolute Truth and it belongs to those things which are “difficult to see and to realize and beyond the reach of the intellect” (duddasā duranubodhā... atakkâvacarā).²⁸⁹* Mystical insights into Absolute Truth cannot be judged by unenlightened people from the worm's eye view of book-learning, and a little book-knowledge does not really entitle anyone to pass judgement on mystical experiences. People who have not yet seen the Unconditioned are in no position whatsoever to determine whether such sayings are true or not. Unenlightened people should not be so presumptuous to pass judgement on mystical experiences which are beyond their ken. When the Buddha says that by the full comprehension of the Four Truths²⁹⁰ and by realizing (Nibbāna) one will be liberated from Samsāra he speaks from the viewpoint of relative truth. Some Buddhist scholars try to prove logically that Samsāra is not different from Nibbāna by arguing that one realizes Nibbāna if the mind is even temporarily free from defilement. That interpretation would only be correct if Nibbāna meant nothing more than the allayment of various defilements. But Nibbāna is the Unconditioned and to explain away one of the profoundest and most difficult Mahāyāna teachings in such a purely ethical sense is a complete misunderstanding. When unenlightened people who know only relative truth try to explain statements which were spoken from the point of view of Absolute Truth, they are like blind men speaking about colours. "The more you talk about It, the more you think about It, the further from It you go."²⁹¹

 

The Goal and Essence of Spiritual Life

 

In a few similes the Buddha showed how easily a person who originally was seeking for Nibbāna gets stuck by identifying himself with virtue, with certain levels of contemplation or even with understanding. Then he goes on to say: "The essence of spiritual life does not lie in virtue, meditation or understanding. The unshakable liberation of the mind – that is the essence, the goal and the perfection of spiritual life." (iti kho, bhikkhave, nayidam brahmacariyam... silasampad 'ānisamsam na samādhisampad' ānisamsam na ñānadassan' ānisamsam yā ca kho ayam, bhikkhave, akuppā ceto-vimutti – etad-attham idam, bhikkhave, brahma-cariyam etam-sāram etam-pariyosānam)²⁹²* So easily we tend to lose sight of the real goal of the spiritual quest²⁹³ by identifying ourselves with any attainmant and in that way we arrive at inner stagnation. Although many people believe they are searching for Nibbāna, they are really only seeking security in one form or another. As soon as they feel secure they stop going any further. If any discontent arises they often smother it by pursuing the objects of their desires without seeing that they cannot solve the problem in that way. Only he can go very far on the spiritual path who can keep alive the discontent²⁹⁴ with anything which he has attained short of the highest goal. The Buddha said he had always kept two things in mind: never to become content with (the development of) good qualities and not to become lax in his spiritual quest²⁹⁵ "As long as the bhikkhus do not stop half-way by being content with some minor attainments, they can go far and will not fall back."²⁹⁶

 

   Consciously or unconsciously, many Buddhists hold the view that in this unfavourable time it is not possible to reach Nibbāna and therefore they do not exert themselves overmuch. "Far, far away is enlightenment for those who are lazy."²⁹⁷ "As long as there is real dedication to the Dharma, Buddhism will not disappear."²⁹⁸* "This, the Deathless, has been reached by many and even now it can be won, but only when there's total dedication. Strive not and you will not attain!"²⁹⁹* "The realization of Nibbāna – that is the Highest Blessing."³⁰⁰*

 

Nibbāna-sacchikiriyā ca – etammangalamuttamam

 

Bhikkhu Vimalo

 

 

 

 

NOTES

 

In these notes I have tried to give a few examples of the considerable consensus among the great mystics regarding the experience of the Highest Truth. The popular forms of religion and their various brands of scholasticism differ widely, but all the great mystics affirm that there is only One Ultimate Reality. In some religions this Ultimate Unconditioned Reality is called 'God', in India it was called Brahman or Sat-cit-ānanda. Plotinus called it 'The One', the Taoists call it Tao, the Buddha called it Nirvāna and in Mahāyāna they call it Sūñyatā (emptiness) or Tathatā (suchness): but they all mean the same thing. They are all one in saying that this Ultimate Reality is there all the time, "but the people of the world do not awake to it." – Those interested in comparative religion will find the following little book useful: D. E. Harding: Religions of the World. A Liberal Studies Book, Heinemann, London.

 

All quotations from Pali texts refer to the editions of the Pali Text Society.

The following abbreviations are used:

A         Anguttara-nikāya

Ast       Aşţasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, (BST. vol.4)

BST     Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, edited by the Mithila Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, Darbhanga, India.

D         Dīgha-nikāya

Dh       Dhammapada

It          Itivuttaka

La        Lankāvatāra-sūtra (BST.3)

M         Majjhima-nikāya

S          Samyutta-nikāya

Si         Siksā-samuccaya (BST.11)

Sn        Sutta-nipata

Th        Thera-gāthā

Thi       Theri-gāthā

Ud       Udāna

Uv       Udāna-varga, edited by F. Bernhard, Goettingen, Germany, 1965

Vaj      Vajracchedika-sūtra (in BST.17)

 

1. 1.Those who are interested to study this in greater detail are advised to read "Concept and Reality" by Bhikkhu Nānananda, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Ceylon
2. 2.Cp. Sn. 916:"Let him completely cut off the root of papañca-sankhā, namely the notion 'I am the thinker (or the experiencer)..."
3. 3.S.12.15; II.P.17
4. 4.Mahāniddesa p. 280
5. 5.A. 6.63; III. p.411
6. 6.Saññā corresponds very closely to perception, and though perception involves a certain amount of memory, one should nevertheless not confuse the two.
7. 7.M. 18; I.p. 111
8. 8.S. 22.56; III. p. 60
9. 9.M.10; I.p.61. D.22; II.p.302
10. 10.see S. 41.1; IV. p. 283
11. 11.D. 2; I.p.70; Si.12.p.112. M.39; I.p.273
12. 12.Visuddhi-magga p.20
13. 13.M. 131; III.p.187
14. 14.Bodhicaryāvatāra 5.108; BST.12 p.80
15. 15.Vaj. 10; p.78
16. 16.S.35.132; IV.p.120
17. 17.The Zen Teaching of Hui Hai on Sudden Illumination, J. Blofeld, Rider, p.78
18. 18.ibid. p.85.Cp. "Having perceived anything pleasant he does not desire it and he has no aversion for the unpleasant things" (M38;I.p.270. S.35.202; IV.p.186). Similarly at S.46.6; V.p.74 and Bhagavad-Gitā 5.20
19. 19.Seng-Ts'an: On Trust in the Heart, transl. by A. Waley in 'Buddhist Texts Through the Ages', edited by E. Conze and others, Cassirer Oxford, p. 295. 'For' and 'against' mean desire and aversion.
20. 20.Si.14; p.140
21. 21.Seng Ts'an, op. cit. (19) p.297
22. 22.Sn.362. M.38; I.p.270. Cp. Saundarananda 17.67 and Bhagavad-Gitā 2.57: "Where there is neither like nor dislike, there wisdom is firmly established" (nâbhinandati na dvesti, tasya prajñā pratişţhita)
23. 23.Si.12; p.112
24. 24.Ast.22; p.198
25. 25.Si.12; p.112. Transl. by Conze in "Selected Sayings from the Perfection of Wisdom", London, p.69 and op. cit. (19) p.138
26. 26.Vaj.9; p.78. Cp.Sn.949
27. 27.Saptasatikā Prajñāpāramitā; BST.17. p.342
28. 28.Hui Hai, op.cit. (17) p.45. For this 'dwell upon nothing' see M.143; III.p.259
29. 29.S.22.87; III.p.120
30. 30.D.27; III.p.84 Cp. Bhagavad-Gitā 5.24: "That yogi who has become one with Brahman reaches Nirvāna (which is) Brahman" (sa yogī brahma-nirvānam brahma-bhūto dhigacchati).
31. 31.It.3.5.3; p.90
32. 32.Th.1174
33. 33.A.6.10; III.p.285
34. 34.Vaj.25; p.87. transl. by S. Ogata in "Zen for the West", Apollo Editions, p.14
35. 35.A.4.65; II.p.71. Th.469. Uv.22.12
36. 36.La.3; p.78
37. 37.Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantra'sāst-ra, ed. by E.H. Johnston,Pata, India, 1950, p.56
38. 38.Ast.31; p.253. Cp. the saying of Jesus: "I Am Who I Am" (John 8.24). Also Hui-Neng said: "The Essence of Mind or Tathatā (Suchness) is the real Buddha." (Sutra spoken by the Sixth Patriarch on the High Seat of 'The Treasure of the Law', transl. by Wong Mou-lam, chapter 10)
39. 39.Vaj.26; p.87
40. 40.Suvarņaprabhāsa-sūtra 2; BST.8.p.9. Already in the Pali Canon dhamma-dhatu means the Highest Truth, see S. 12.32; II. p.56. M. 58; I. p.396. D. 14; II. p.8
41. 41.Saptaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā; BST.17. p.347
42. 42.Ast.31; p.253
43. 43.Ast.31; p.254
44. 44.M.26; I. p.167
45. 45.In the account of the Buddha's enlightenment in the Buddhist Sanskrit scriptures it is said that the Dharma which the Buddha found was asamskrta, the Unconditioned and paramārtha, Absolute Truth. (Lalitavistara25; BST.I.p.286)
46. 46.A.5.57; III.p.75. Ud.5.6; p.59. Uv. 28.4
47. 47.Vimalakīrtinirde'sa-sūtra 3.6
48. 48.Thi.97
49. 49.It. 3.5.1;p.88. The Buddha said of the Dhamma and also of Nibbāna (A.3.55; I.p.159) that they are obvious, timeless and the wise have to realize it in and for themselves.
50. 50.Culla-vagga 9.1; Vinaya II.p.239
51. 51.Ratnagotravibhagā, op.cit. (37) p.59
52. 52.S.6.2; I.p.140
53. 53.Dh. 364. It. 3.4.7; p.82 Cp. A. 3. 100: I.p.254: dhamma-vitakkā; A. 6. 43; III.p.346: vimamsā dhamma-cintanā.
54. 54.It. 2.2.6; p.37
55. 55.Seng-Ts'an, op.cit. (19) p. 296
56. 56.It.3.4.8; p.83
57. 57.The Zen Teaching of Huang Po on the Transmission of Mind, J. Blofeld, Rider, p.38
58. 58.It.4.11; p.118. A.4.11: II.p.14. In one of the really great Christian books on contemplation it is said: "He who has no prayer free from thoughts has no weapon for battle." (Philokalia, Faber, London, p.283)
59. 59.A.8.11; IV.p.174
60. 60.M.72; I.p.487. Sn.1074, Schopenhauer, speaking about Nirvāna, said: "What remains after complete cessation of attachment is nothing for all those who are full of desires. Vice versa is this socalled real world with all its suns and galaxies nothing for all those who have transcended attachment." (end of 'Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung')
61. 61.Thi.338. Uv.20.2
62. 62.Sn.1076
63. 63.La.2; p.37
64. 64.La.3; p.60
65. 65.M.72; I.p.487. "To say that an enlightened one is after death is as impossible as to say that he is not." (S.44.I; IV.p.376)
66. 66.Saptaśatikā Prajnāpāramitā; BST.17.p.349
67. 67.Sn.992, 1105. Th.1253
68. 68.S.12.68; II.p.117
69. 69.Sn.896
70. 70.Sn.9-13. Uv.32.55
71. 71.La.3; p.61
72. 72.A.3.35; I.p.142. Uv.30.17
73. 73.see A.3.40; I.p.150. M.113; III.p.43. Sn.846
74. 74.S. 6.3; I.p.141. Ud. 2.6; p.14. Dh. 88, 221. Sn. 176,455,501,645. Uv. 16. 14,20.1, 30.40
75. 75.In the doctrine of Jesus Christ the term 'Poverty of Spirit' corresponds to akiñcana. He said: "Blessed are those who have the Poverty of Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 5.3) The Kingdom of Heaven, of course, does not mean devaloka, but the Unconditioned.
76. 76.S. 22.85; III.p.109
77. 77.Dh. 203, 204. Uv.26.6. Cp. Bhagavad-gītā 6.28: "He experiences the infinite bliss of the realization of Brahman" (brahmasamsparśam atyantam sukham asnute).
78. 78.Dh. 373 Uv. 32.9
79. 79.Uv. 20.2
80. 80.Uv. 12.18
81. 81.Uv .30.17
82. 82.Dh. 202
83. 83.It. 3.3.8; p.69. Uv. 30.11. Bodhicariyāvatāra, p.200
84. 84.Sn.761
85. 85.Th.11 Uv. 32.21 Cp. Thi. 350: "They have reached unshakable happiness" (pattá te acalam sukham); also at Uv. 30.36
86. 86.Th. 712: uttamam dhammatam patto: cp. Uv. 33.33: uttamartham anupraptām, both mean 'having reached the Highest Reality'.
87. 87.Mahāvagga 23.5; Vin.I.p.40. When an old Sufi mystic, Bāyazid Bisţāmi, was asked how old he was, he replied "Four years". "How is that?" "For seventy years I lived under the veil of this world. For only four years I have been seeing Him. Those veiled years I do not count as part of my life." (The Persian Šūfis, C.Rice, O.P.Allen and Unwin, London, p.86)
88. 88.In the Visuddhi-magga (p.582)avijjā is compared to a blind man and in the Tibetan Samsara-cakra avidyā is always represented by a blind person.
89. 89.Hakuin's Song of Meditation, in Ogata, op.cit. (34) p.15
90. 90.Sn.762
91. 91.Sn.764
92. 92.Sn.763. To illustrate the sudden seeing of the Unconditioned, the reader is referred to an ambiguous picture which the Gestalt psychologists and therapists use. (see "Gestalt Therapy" by Peris, Hefferline and Goodman, Pelican, p.53; this book gives also very helpful exercises and suggestions aimed at living with greater awareness in the here and now). This picture consists in reality of two pictures, but most people are able to see only one. When it is pointed out that in that picture there is still another picture which they had completely overlooked, they are often able to suddenly see that other picture as well. The Gestalt therapists call that the 'aha' experience. In the same way it is with seeing the Unconditioned. He who suddenly sees it, realizes that it was there all the time but he was not aware of it. He also realizes that the world of phenomena is not different from the Unconditioned, and by a slight switch of attention he sees there is only the Unconditioned.
93. 93.Sn. 953. The Mahāniddesa (p.130) explaining the word khema-dassi (Sn.809) says: khemam vuccati amatam nibbānam, khema means Nibbana, the Deathless. Also at S. 43.28; IV. p.371 khema is used as synonym of Nibbana. Cp. Thi.350: "Having reached the realm of khema (i.e. the Deathless) they are liberated" (khemattaneā vimutta)
94. 94.Seng-Ts'an, op.cit.(19) p.298. Chuang-Tse was asked: "Where is that what you call Tao?" He replied: "It is everywhere." (chapter 22)
95. 95.from Yung-chia's 'Realization-way Song', transl. by D.T.Suzuki. Meister Eckhart said: "When he saw nothing, then he saw God." (Quint: Meister Eckehart, Deutsche Predigten und Traktate, Hanser Verl. p. 333)
96. 96.D.T. Suzuki: The Zen Doctrine of No Mind, Rider, p.29
97. 97.D. II; I.p. 223
98. 98.Ratnagotravibhāga I. 154; op.cit. (37) p. 75
99. 99.Ud. 8.1; p. 80
100. 100.Sn. 874
101. 101.Ud. 7.10; p.79. Uv. 27.6 Cp. Dh. 421 and La. 10.120: p. 115: "According to relative truth all things exist, but not in Absolute Truth" (sarvam vidyati samvrtyām, paramārthe na vidyate)
102. 102.La. 10.33; p. 109
103. 103.A. 3.39; I. p. 147
104. 104.A. 4.45; II. p. 48. S. 2.3.6; I.p. 62
105. 105.S. 35.116; IV. p. 96
106. 106.S. 12.15; II. p. 17
107. 107.Rantagunasamcayagāthā 1.19; BST.17. p.354, similarly at S. 22.95; III.p.140
108. 108.Dh. 254. Uv. 29.38: prapañcâbhitatā bālā........
109. 109.Rantagunasamcayagāthā 1.14; BST. 17.p.354
110. 110.A. 8.30; IV. p.235
111. 111.Seng-Ts'an, op.cit. (19) p. 296
112. 112.Milinda-pañhā p.262
113. 113.It. 2.2.7; p. 39
114. 114.Mādhyamika-kārikā 18.5; BST. 10.p.149
115. 115.A. 6.15; III.p.295. Th. 990.
116. 116.A. 10.22; V.p.37
117. 117.S. 35.95; IV. p.73. Ud. 1.10; p.8. Uv. 26.17
118. 118.M. 22; I.p.134. Vaj. 6; p. 77. Hui Hai. op.cit. (17) p.82
119. 119.M. 78; II. p. 27
120. 120.Dh. 385. Uv. 33.26
121. 121.Hui Hai, op.cit. (17) p. 81
122. 122.Seng Ts'an, op.cit. (19) p. 298. There are some delightful stories how Zen masters expressed the timelessness of the Unconditioned: "Shuo-shan Shih-chieh was asked by a general, 'What is the age of Shuo-shan?' 'Same as vacuity of space.' 'What is the age of space?' 'Same as Shuo-shan.' (D.T. Suzuki: Essays in Zen Buddhism, II, p.195). Cp. also Huang Po,p. 97, and John 8.58: "Before Abraham was born, I Am."
123. 123.Dh. 412. Uv. 33.29. Cp. Dh. 267. Sn. 520
124. 124.S. 46.6; V. p.74. Vaj. 10; p.78. Cp. S. 22.55; III.p.58, and Kāśyapaparivarta-sūtra 103: "In that realm there is no (notion of) inferior, medium or exalted states; and why? Because that realm is like space (everywhere) the same, without any discrimination, because there all things have only one taste." (see 50 and 51)
125. 125.A. 6.119; III. p.450
126. 126.Seng-Ts'an, op.cit. (19) p. 297
127. 127.Dh. 384. The commentary explains yada dvayesu dhammesu paragu hoti... thus: "When in two things, namely samatha and vipassana, he has crossed to the other shore..." (sic) Surely, this means "he who has transcended all duality". Cp. Bhagavad-gītā 5.3: "He who is free from duality is easily liberated from bondage" (nirdvandvo hi...sukham bandhāt pramucyate).
128. 128.Ast. 26; p. 218. Cp. Gauadpadaā's Kārikā 1.18 (Māndūkya Upanişad): "For the wise there is no duality" (jñāte dvaitam na vidyate), only "unenlightened people (literally 'fools') are attached to a dualistic way of thinking" (balah kalpa-dvaye ratāh). La. 10.49; p. 110
129. 129.Hui-Neng, quoted by Suzuki, op.cit. (96) p. 36
130. 130.Eckehart, op.cit.(95) p. 59. Cp. Bŗhadārayņaka Upanişad 4.4.19: "In it there is no multiplicity whatsoever" (neha nānā'sti kimcana)
131. 131.Prajñāpāramita-piņdârtha 1; BST. 4. p.263
132. 132.La. 2; p. 55
133. 133.Sadharmapuņdarika-sūtra 13; BST. 6. p. 168
134. 134.M. 151; III. p. 294
135. 135.M. 121; III. p. 109
136. 136.Catuhśataka 12.23
137. 137.according to Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary suddhi means also holiness.
138. 138.Sn. 839. Cp. Sn. 900.1082
139. 139.Dh. 39. Uv. 11.12, 28.6
140. 140.Sn. 790
141. 141.Hui-Neng, op.cit. (38) chapter 10
142. 142.A. 3.57; I. p. 162
143. 143.A. 1.5.10; I. p. 10
144. 144.Ast. I; p. 3. Cp. La. 10.253; p. 124: "The (intrinsic) nature of the mind is pure." (cittasya dharmatū śuddhū)
145. 145.Jñanasiddhi, 84. Cp. Gaudapāda's Kārikā 4.98 (Māndūkya Upanisad) "All dhardmas are intrinsically pure and not under any veil" (alabodh'ūvaranāh sarve dharmāh prakŗti-nirmalāh) and the Heart-sutra: "All dharmas have the characteristic of sūnyatā" (sarva-dharmāh Śūnyata-lakşanā)
146. 146.A. 1.6.1; I. p. 10
147. 147.Hui-Neng, op.cit. (38) ch. 2. In La. 10.750; p. 156 it is said that this intrinsically radiant mind is the immaculate womb of the Tathāgata (prakŗti-prabhāsvaram cittam garbham Tathāgatam śubham)
148. 148.Huang Po, op.cit. (57) p. 36. Tao-Hsin, the Fourth Zen Patriarch of China, said: "Let the mind together with its world be quietened down to a perfect state of tranquillity; let thought be cast in the mystery of quietude, so that the mind is kept from wandering from one thing to another. When the mind is tranquillized in its deepest abode, its entanglements are cut asunder... The mind in its absolute purity is the Void itself... It abides in the utmost purity of the Dharmakāya." (Suzuki, op.cit. (122) Third Series, p. 28)
149. 149.Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Tiruvan­namalai, India, volumes I-III, p. 155
150. 150.The Awakening of Faith, transl. by Y.S. Hakeda, Columbia University Press, p. 35
151. 151.Hui-Neng, op.cit. (38) chapter 5
152. 152.Huang Po, op.cit. (57) p. 31
153. 153.S. 12.50; II. p.80. A. 6.10; III. p. 285
154. 154.Sn. 536. Cp. S. 8.8; I. p. 193: "Those who see the Dhamma are firmly established in the Deathless."
155. 155.Ven. Chao Khun Upālī (Siricando)
156. 156.Dh. 178
157. 157.M. 56; I.p.380. D.3; I.p.110. Ud. 5.3; p.49
158. 158.Since many Buddhists have prejudices against some religious terms, they are reminded that mysticism – which is, after all, the real essence of religion – means the spiritual apprehension of Truth, the insight into the true nature of things.
159. 159.Cp. Dh. 170. Uv. 27.15. S. 22.95; III p. 140
160. 160.M. 58; I. p. 396. S. 12.32; II. p. 56
161. 161.Vim‾na-vatthu 147; p. 13
162. 162.A. 3.92; I. p. 242
163. 163.The Gospel according to John, 8.32
164. 164.George Eliot
165. 165.A. 6.120; III. p. 451. Th. 296,336
166. 166.Mahāvagga 22.5; Vin. I. p. 36
167. 167.Sn. 1064
168. 168.Sn. 368
169. 169.D. 33; III. p.219. S. 48.23; V. p. 204
170. 170.Ud. 1.2; p. 1. Uv. 33.77
171. 171.Sn. 934
172. 172.A. 6.97; III. p. 441
173. 173.M. 48; I. p. 325. Cp. "He who realizes that Dhamma which is beyond all duality (i.e. Nirvāna) understands the teachings of the enlightened ones." (Suvikrantavikrami­pari­prccha 1; BST. 17, p. 11) because he "has reached the essence of the Dhamma" (dhamma-saradhigama). It.2.2.7;p.39. S. 55.43 V. p.402
174. 174.Visuddhi-magga p. 659
175. 175.Sn. 212. Th. 12. It. 3.4.5; p. 80
176. 176.Sn. 143
177. 177.Mahavagga 23.6; Vin. I. p. 41
178. 178.I would interpret the saying of Jesus, "Be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5.48) similarly: that we should participate in the timeless perfection of the Unconditioned. Meister Eckhart said: "Know that all perfection and all blessedness depends on whether man can transcend all conditioned things and all time and all existence and enter that ground which is no ground." (op.cit. (95) p. 342)
179. 179.D. 33; III. p. 227. S. 55.4; V. p. 347
180. 180.M. 78; II. p. 27
181. 181.Cp. Sn. 898
182. 182.Kāśyapaparivarta-sūtra 137. Cp. M. 113
183. 183.A. 9.27; IV. p. 406
184. 184.Sn. 234
185. 185.Dh. 97, 383. Uv. 33.60
186. 186.Cp. A. 6.44; III. p. 351 where it is said that he who has attained to 'temporary liberation' is said to be carried along by the 'stream of the Dhamma'.
187. 187.Hui-Neng, op.cit. (38) chapter 10
188. 188.S. 47.35; V. p. 180. M. 123; III. p. 124
189. 189.M. 140; III. p. 244. S. 36.6; IV. p. 209
190. 190.i.e. the delusion of personality, doubt, attachment to virtue and practices; sensual desire, all-will
191. 191.M. 32; I. p. 214. Si. 6; p. 68
192. 192.M. 64; I. p. 434
193. 193.Mahāniddesa p. 433 (Sn. 948). In the Bhagavad-gītā (4.19) a very similar expression occurs: "The wise call him a sage whose whole Karma is 'burnt out in the fire of wisdom'" (jñānâgni-dagha).
194. 194.Th. 67
195. 195.Vaj. 7; p. 27
196. 196.The Faithful Mind, by Seng-Ts'an, transl. from the Chinese by T. Prince, verse 31. Cp. Bŗhadāranyaka Upanişad 4.4.22: "He who has seen This (Highest Truth) is a sage."
197. 197.Dh.277-279.Uv.12.5-8.D.16,II.p.79.A. 7.16.17; IV. p. 13,14. Ud. 4.1; p.37
198. 198.Uv. 26.21
199. 199.It. 2.2.6; p. 37. Ud. 8.3; p. 80
200. 200.Sn.947.Cp.Uv.28.4: jañātvā dharmanirau­pad­him
201. 201.A.1.19.1; I.p.36
202. 202.A.9.12; IV. p.381. It is said that there are three kinds of Sotāpannas: the first will be reborn seven times, the middling three to five times and the best will reach Parinirvāna in this life. (La.2;p.48)
203. 203.Th. 671. It. 2.2.8; p. 39. Uv. 32.40
204. 204.Dh. 96. Uv. 31.45
205. 205.Th. 50
206. 206.It. 3.4.7; p. 82
207. 207.Th. 650,998. S. 21.1; II. p. 273
208. 208.Dh. 350. Cp. Uv. 3.2
209. 209.It. 2.1.10; p. 30
210. 210.Dh. 378. Uv. 32.24
211. 211.A. 4.93; II. p. 93
212. 212.A. 2.3.10; p. 61
213. 213.A. 1.6.2; I. p. 10
214. 214.Sn. 902
215. 215.S. 45.8; V. p. 10. Cp. S. 48.10; V. p. 198
216. 216.Sn. 709. Dh. 181. Uv. 21.9
217. 217.Uv. 31.34. Cp. S. 4.3.3; I.p.122. Sn. 1009
218. 218.Sn. 972
219. 219.Uv. 31.47
220. 220.M. 36; I.p.246. Cp. Buddha-carita 12.106: "Through the practice of Dhyāna are developed those dharmas which lead to the highest, timeless Realm of peace, the Deathless, which is difficult to realize.
221. 221.M. 64; I. p. 435
222. 222.D.T. Suzuki, op.cit. (96) p. 47
223. 223.Dh. 372. Uv. 32.25
224. 224.Uv. 32.26
225. 225.Dh. 23. Th. 1011. It. 3.4.2; p. 74. Uv. 4.12
226. 226.S. 47.4; V. p. 145
227. 227.A. 4.195; II. p. 198
228. 228.Ramana Maharshi, op.cit. (149) p. 123,124
229. 229.Visuddhi-magga p. 297
230. 230.A. 8.63; IV. p. 299
231. 231.see A. 10.208; V. p. 299
232. 232.Si. 12; p. 117
233. 233.Ratnaguņnasamcayagāthā 1.24; BST.17.p.355
234. 234.Visuddhi-magga p. 317
235. 235.Si. 9; p. 102
236. 236.M. 62; I. p. 424
237. 237.Visuddhi-magga p. 316
238. 238.A. 3.93; I. p. 243
239. 239.Dh. 381
240. 240.Si. 11; p. 107
241. 241.following the Tibetan translation
242. 242.Si. 9; p. 101
243. 243.A. 5.73; III. p. 86. Bodhidharma, the First Zen Patriarch of China, is reported to have said: "How about those moderners who, being able to discourse only a few Sūtras and Sāstras, regard themselves as exponents of Buddhism? They are truly simple-minded ones... To see directly into one's original Nature, this is Zen. Even if you are well learned in hundreds of the Sūtras and Sāstras, you still remain an ignoramus in Buddhism when you have not yet seen into your original Nature." (D.T. Suzuki, op.cit. (122) I. p. 234,235)
244. 244.Hui Hai, op.cit. (17) p. 77
245. 245.Cp. S. 22.5; III. p.13: "He who has Sāmadhi sees things as they are or in their Suchness" (samāhito...yathābhūtam pajānāti)
246. 246.Ramana Maharshi, op.cit. (149) p. 178
247. 247.see A. 6.46; III. p. 355
248. 248.S. 20.7; II. p. 267
249. 249.quoted from a Sūtra by Prajñākaramati in his commentary to Bodhicaryāvatāra, BST. 12. p.175
250. 250.Sn. 884
251. 251.Sn. 1119
252. 252.Uv. 12.7 Candrakirti (Prasannapada, BST.10. p.104) quotes a saying of the Buddha which in Pāli is somewhat shorter: "All conditioned things are unreal and of deceptive appearance. The Highest Reality,which is Nirvāna, is free from all illusiveness" (tan mŗşā moşa-dharma yad idam samskŗtam; etaddhi khalu bhikşacah paramam satyam yad idam amoşa-darma nirvāņam). Cp. M. 140; III. p. 245
253. 253.S. 22.95; III. p. 140. Dh. 170
254. 254.Sn. 739, 757
255. 255.T.R.V. Murti: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism, Allen and Unwin, London, p. 57
256. 256.quoted by Murti, ibid. P. 53
257. 257.see M. 18, 133, 138. S. 22.3; III. p. 9
258. 258.A. 5.74; III. p. 88. The Buddha said that a man sunk in the mire cannot pull out another who is in the same predicament, and an unenlightened man cannot lead others to enlightenment. (M. 8; I. p.45)
259. 259.A. 4.140; II. p. 139
260. 260.2 Corinthians 3.6. It was probably because one finds so often that learned but unenlightened people distort the teaching of the Buddha that led a Zen master to say if unenlightened people give lectures about Buddhism, they help to kill Buddhism. (P. Reps: Zen Flesh, Zen Bones; Pelican, p. 63) "Even this Dhamma which was so well taught will be distorted by men who have no wisdom" (sudesitam imam dhammam kilesessanti dummati) (Th. 954)
261. 261.A. 3.65; I. p. 189
262. 262.D. 16; II. p. 100. S. 47.9; V. p. 154. Cp. the saying of Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." (Like 17.21)
263. 263.in the Nālandā-Devanagārī-Pāli-Series, Majjhimanikāya, p. xvii
264. 264.Ratnāvalī 4.86; BST. 10. p. 309
265. 265.to M. 5. Similarly at La. 2; p. 53
266. 266.Sn. 219. He has "a supermundane insight inaccessible to unenlightened people" (ñāņam, ...ariyam lokuttaram asādhāranam puthujjanehi); (M. 48; I. p. 323) this supermundane insight is the insight into Absolute Truth, also called vimutti-ñāna-dassana. Because he has this insight, he is called a papramatthadassī. It is a completely new way of seeing the world which brings about a deep transformation (parāvŗtti) of the mind. (see La. 22; p. 41) Jesus said: " I tell you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3.3)
267. 267.Mādhyamika-kārika 24.9; BST. 10.p. 215. in all mystical religions one can find relative and absolute truth, though it may not be expressed in this way. But where religion has degenerated to blind belief or scholasticism, Absolute Truth is not to be found. In the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam it was often dangerous for a mystic to speak from the standpoint of Absolute Truth. When Jesus said: "Before Abraham was born, I am," (John 8.58) the Jews picked up stones to throw at him. And when he said on another occasion: "The Father and I are one," (John 10.30) the Jews wanted to stone him again. Meister Eckhart, who was one of the greatest and most eloquent of Christian mystics, also said: "God and I, were one." (op. cit. p.186) He was condemned as a heretic because he spoke too often from the standpoint of Absolute Truth. Because he said quite a few things which to all enlightened men are obvious and self-evident but to blind, deluded, unenlightened men sound like dangerous heresies and outrageous blasphemies, H.H. the Pope regretted that Meister Eckhart had "turned his ear away from the truth". When one of the Sufi mystics, Manşūr al Hallāj, said, "I am God", the pious believers were enraged and thought it was their holy duty to kill him for such a blasphemy, and they did it, and it was all for the greater glory of God.
268. 268.Thi. 210
269. 269.Ud. 8.2.; p. 80. Uv. 26.14
270. 270.Uv. 33.33
271. 271.Thi. 185
272. 272.Seng-Ts'an, op.cit. (19) p. 298
273. 273.Th. 372. Since nipuņa according to Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary means also 'perfect, complete, absolute', nipuņattha-dassī is a synonym of paramattha-dassī (see 266 n.). Dr. Suzuki said: "There is no Zen without satori" (enlightenment). (op.cit. (122) I.p.229) This is very true, but not only for Zen but for the whole of Buddhism because there is not much left of the real essence of Buddhism if there is no more any enlightenment.
274. 274.Uv. 33.57
275. 275.Thi. 353. Uv. 18.13
276. 276.Seng-Ts'an op.cit.(19) p. 298. Cp. Gaudapāda's Kārikā (1.18) (Māņdūkya Upanişad): "All this duality is just like a mock-show. From (the standpoint of) Absolute Truth there is only non-duality" (māyā-mātram idam dvaitam, advaitam paramārthatah). Many 'orthodox Theravadins' reject the term Māyā as not fitting into the Buddhist way of thinking. It may not have been used in the commentaries, but it is already in the Pāli Canon. (see S .22.95; III.p.142)
277. 277.M. 41; I. p. 287
278. 278.Ud. 8.1; p. 80
279. 279.Th. 712. Uv. 33.33
280. 280.M. 118; III. p. 79
281. 281.M. 70; I. p. 479. Ud. 5.5; p. 54
282. 282.Hui-Neng, op.cit. (38) chapter 4
283. 283.see Kathā-vatthu p. 212
284. 284.Huang Po, op.cit. (57) p.35. This is a quotation from Vaj. 10; p. 78. Cp. Sankara (Viceka-cudāmaņī 228): "When the Supreme Truth (paramartha-tattva), which is non-dual, is fully realized, nothing else remains." (see 100-107) Enlightened men have expressed their insight into the intrinsically pure, radiant mind (pabhassara citta) and the timeless, all embracing perfection of the Unconditioned by saying that "ordinary man is Buddha" (Hui-Neng, op.cit. (38) ch. 2), but he does not know it and that is his blindness (avidyā). (When in the Bible (Psalm 82.6, John 10.34) it is said: "You are gods", it may very well be that something like this was meant). Seeing Nibbāna a Sotāpanna is inclined to smile or laugh at all his previous deluded ideas. Ramana Maharshi once said: "A day will dawn when you will yourself laugh at your past efforts. That (namely the Unconditioned) which will be on the day you laugh is also here and now." (op.cit. (149) p. 130)
285. 285.Prajñāpāramitāhŗdaya-sūtra; BST.17, p.97, 98
286. 286.Bodhicaryāvatāra; BST.12, p.200. One Sufi mystic said: "I never saw anything without seeing God in it" and another Sufi said: "I saw nothing at all but God." (op.cit. (87) p. 87) Cp. Bhagavad-gītā 6.30
287. 287.S. 15.1-20; II. p.178 f. Dh. 153
288. 288.Mādhyamika-kārikā 25.19, BST. 10, p.234. At La. 2; p. 19 it is said the Bodhisattvas reach fairly soon (that stage where they see intuitively) the identity of Samsāra and Nirvāņa (samsāra-nirvana-samatāprāpta).
289. 289.D. 1; I. p. 17. When some of the great sages in Mahāyāna had in the vision of the Unconditioned seen that even the evil is not different from the all-embracing perfection of the Unconditioned, they expressed this insight by saying: "Kleśa (defilement) is Bodhi (enlightenment)". (Hui-Neng, op.cit. ch. 2) Independently Milarepa said the same thing (G.C.C.Chang: The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, University Books, New York, vol. 2, p. 389) Meister Eckhart said something very similar (p. 450) and it is not surprising that it was condemned as heresy. Of all the paradoxical expressions of Absolute Truth this is for most unenlightened people the most outrageous. There is no doubt that such sayings can be dangerous because some foolish, deluded people might use them as rationalizations.
290. 290.D. 16; II. p. 90
291. 291.Seng-Ts'an, op.cit. (19), p. 296
292. 292.M. 29;I. p.197. Cp. Dh. 271-272. Uv. 32.31-32
293. 293.For the Buddha's account of his own spiritual quest see M. 26
294. 294.Krishnamurti has written something very valuable about discontent. See his 'Commentaries on Living', three volumes, and "First and Last Freedom", Gollancz, London
295. 295.A. 2.1.5; I. p. 50
296. 296.D. 16; II. p. 78. A. 7.22; IV. p. 22
297. 297.Si. 16; p. 146
298. 298.La. 3; p. 79. The Buddha said we should be heirs to the Dhamma, not just recipients of material things (dhamma-dāyādāme, bhikkhave, bhavatha mâ āmisa-dāyādā) (M.3; I. p. 12) This expression 'heir of the Dharma' can of course be interpreted in different ways but it is most unlikely that any of the really great Zen masters would have accepted any unenlightened person as a true 'heir of the Dharma'. (see 243n. 582,260n. and 273n.)
299. 299.Thi. 513. Aśvaghoşa says: "I deem that the highest aim of the human being to reach that realm where there is neither birth nor old age nor death, where there is no fear, no illness and no sorrow." (Buddha-carita 11.59)
300. 300.Sn. 267. Cp. Sn. 182. Uv. 10.3: "Of all tastes, the taste of Truth is the sweetest and a life dedicated to wisdom is the best."