Buddhism a concise introduction

5/28/2018 Buddhism a concise introduction

1/81

BuddhismA Concise Introduction

Are you a god? they asked.No.

An angel?No.

A saint?No.

Then what are you?Buddha answered, I am awake.

Sampuran Das


2/81

The decline & rediscovery of Buddhism in India

The Pala Empire (750 AD to 1174 AD) was the last major Buddhist Dynasty in India.

The Palas adherents to Mahayana Buddhism were generous patrons of Buddhist temples

and Mahaviharas of Nalanda, Odantapura, Sompura and Vikramashila. It was through

their missionaries that Buddhism was established in Tibet. Celebrated Buddhist monk

Atisha- the Principal of Vikramshila reformed Tibetan Buddhism. The Palas maintained

cordial relations with the Burma and Shailendras Dynasty of Indonesia. The Nalanda

inscription (860 AD) mentions King Devapaladeva of Bengala had granted the request of

Sri Maharaja of Suvarnadvipa (Buddhist Shailendra Dynasty of Sumatra) Balaputra, to

build a Buddhist monastery near Bodh Gaya1. The Pala Empire disintegrated in the 12th

century weakened by Hindu Sena dynasty followed by Islamic invasion under Bakhtiyar

Khilji.2

In 1193 Buddhist Mahaviharas like Vikramshila, Odantapura, Somapura, andNalanda was sacked by the fanatic Turkish Muslim invader Bakhtiyar Khilji. The Persian

historian Minhaj-i-Sira records state thousands of monks were burned alive and

thousands were beheaded as Khilji tried his best to uproot Buddhism and plant Islam by

the sword. Nalandas library continued to burn for several months- "smoke from the

burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills."3The last principal

of Nalanda, Shakyashribhadra, fled to Tibet in 1204 CE at the invitation of the Tibetan

translator Tropu Lotsawa.

Mr. Hodgson was the English resident of Nepal from 1833 to 1843, and he was the first

to collect original manuscripts on which a sober account of the religion could be based.

He sent 85 bundles to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 85 to the Royal Asiatic Society of

London, 30 to the India Office Library, 7 to the Bodleian Library of Oxford, and 174 to

the Societe Asiatique in Paris. The genius of Eugene Burnouf breathed life into these

dead manuscripts, and his "Introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism," published in

1844, was the first rational, scientific, and comprehensive account of the Buddhist

religion. The fame of the eminent scholar and the great ability and philosophical acumen

with which he treated the subject attracted the attention of learned Europe to this

wonderful religion, and the inquiry which Burnouf started has continued to the present

day.4

Cds, George (1996). The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. University of Hawaii Press

Scott, David (May 1995). "Buddhism and Islam: Past to Present Encounters and Interfaith LessonsTabaquat-I-Nasiri

History of Civilisation of Ancient India, Romesh Chunder Dutt


3/81

Alexander Csoma Korosi, Hungarian scholar, revived Buddhism from the Tibetian

Buddhists literature. He set forth from Bucharest in 1820, without friends or money, and

travelled on foot or by water on a raft to Bagdad, on caravan to Teheran and in 1822 he

came to Kabul and he travelled through Kashmir to Ladakh, and settled in Tibet. In 1832

he came to Calcutta, where he was kindly received Mr. James Prinsep, and resided many

years. In 1842 he left Calcutta again to go to Tibet, but died at Darjeeling. The Asiatic

Society of Bengal has raised a monument on his grave in Darjeeling.

Rev. Samuel Beal is credited for procuring a complete collection of Chinese works on

Buddhism. The Japanese ambassador to England, on his return to Tokio ordered the

entire collection known as "The Sacred Teaching of the Three Treasures" to be sent to

England. The collection contains over 2000 volumes, and represents the entire series of

sacred books taken during successive centuries from India to China, as also works and

commentaries of native Chinese priests.

8thcentury Pala Period, Somapura Mahavihara, Bangladesh


4/81

Buddhism an agonistic philosophical system

All Religions in Nietzsches view make a thousand promises but keep none; while

Buddhism makes no promises but keeps them all. There are six typical features

authority, ritual, speculation, tradition, grace, and mystery which contributes towards

development of a systemized view or thought into a religion; as seen in all worldreligions.

5

Authority-Some people of superior spiritual content either by birth orthrough practice; whos delivered counsel is to be followed by people.

Fidelity to individual who occupy positions of power within religious

institutions.

Rituals- religions cradle, for anthropologist believe religion arose out ofcelebration.

Speculation -Whence do we come, whither do we go, why are we here? Grace-Religion says that the best things are the more eternal things. Mystery. Being finite, the human mind cannot begin to fathom the Infinite,

which it is drawn to.

The fact that Buddhism as a religion emerged devoid of each of the above mentioned

ingredients; without which we would suppose that religion could not take root, is a fact

so striking that it warrants documentation.

1. Buddha preached a religion devoid of authorityDo not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon

tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon the

consideration, The monk is our teacher.. Rather, he said, test ideas and

actions in your own laboratory of common sense: When you yourself know they

lead to harm or ill, abandon them; when you yourself know they lead to benefit

and happiness, adopt them.

2. Buddha preached a religion devoid of ritual.

5Buddhism a concise introduction by Smith & Novak


5/81

Buddha criticized Brahmin rites as superstitious petitions to ineffectual gods.

To seek to win peace through others, as priests and sacrificers, is the same as if

a stone were thrown into deep water, and now people, praying and imploring

and folding their hands, came and knelt down all around saying: Rise, O dear

stone! Come to the surface, O dear stone! But the stone remains at the bottom.

3. Buddha preached a religion that discouraged excessive metaphysicalspeculations

4. Buddha preached a religion devoid of tradition.Do not go by what is handed down, nor on the authority of your traditional

teachings. When you know of yourselves: These teachings are not good: these

teachings when followed out and put in practice conduce to loss and

sufferingthen reject them.

5. Buddha preached a religion of intense self-effort.Buddhas only point the way. Work out your salvation with diligence. Buddha

was against the notion that only brahmins could attain enlightenment, Letpersons (any caste) of intelligence come to me, honest, candid, straightforward;

I will instruct them, and if they practice as they are taught, they will come to

know for themselves and to realize that supreme religion and goal.

6. Buddha preached a religion devoid of the supernatural.He condemned all forms of divination and forecasting, though he concluded

from his own experience that the human mind was capable of powers now

referred to as paranormal, he refused to allow his monks to play around with

those powers.

By this you shall know that a man is not my disciplethat he tries to

work a miracle.

It is because I perceive danger in the practice of mystic wonders that

I strongly discourage it.


6/81

Buddha himself answer

Are you a god? they asked.No.

An angel?No.

A saint?No.

Then what are you?

Buddha answered, I am awake.

His answer became his title, for this is what Buddha from sanskrit root budh denotes

both to wake up

Takht-e Rustam, Buddhist Stupa (between Mazar-e Sharif and Kunduz), Afganistan


7/81

Progressive agnosticism in Indian philosophy

The Nasadiya Sukta in Rigveda 10th Mandala, 129

thSukta, oldest Aryan Text dating 1700 BC. It speculates

on cosmology and the origin of the universe; similar to modern day understanding of Big Bang. The hymn

has been interpreted as one of the earliest accounts of skeptical inquiry and agnosticism.

nsadsnno sadsttadnm nsdrajono vyomparo yat |

kimvarvakuhakasyaarmannabhakimsdgahanagabhram ||1||Then was neither being nor non-being; there was no realm of air nor sky beyond. What covered

it, and where? what sheltered it? Was cosmic water there, unfathomed depth of cosmic water?

na m tyur sdamta na tarhina rtry ahna astpraketa |

n dav ta svadhay tadeka tasm ddh nyanna para kicansa ||2||

Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal; no sign was there, nor day's and night's

divider. That One being, breathless, breathed by its own nature: apart from it there was nothing

else

tama as ttama sg hamagre praketa sa lila sarva mida |

tucchyenbhvapi hita yads ttapa sastanma hinj yataika || 3 ||

Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness all was indiscriminate chaos. All that existed

then was void and formless: by the great power of warmth was born that unit.

kmastadagresama vartatdhimana soreta prathama yads t |

sato bandhumasa tinira vindan h di praty kavayo man ||4||Thereafter rose desire in the beginning, desire, the primal seed and germ of spirit. Seers who

searched their heart for wisdom discovered the kinship between the being and non-being

tiracnovita to ramire madha svi d s 3 dupari svids 3 t |

retodha sanmahimna asantsvadh vast tpraya ti parast t ||5||

Transversely was their severing line extended: what was above it then, and what below it? There

were seminal begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder

ko addhve daka iha pra vo catkutaaj t kuta iya vis i |

arvgdevasya visarja nenth ko ve dayata ababhva ||6 ||

Who knows and who can say, whence it was born and whence came this creation? The Gods are

later than this world's creation. Who knows then whence it first came into being

iya vis iryata ababhvayadi vdadhe yadi v na |

yo asydhya ka parame vyo mantso aga ve dayadi v na veda || 7 ||

He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not, He who surveys it all from

his highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps even he does not!

Translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith


8/81

The life of Sakyamuni Buddha

The story which is told of the young Prince of Kapilavastu named Siddharta Gautama

was married to Yasodhara, daughter of the chief of Koli, about the age of eighteen. Ten

years after his marriage, Gautama resolved to quit his home and his wife for the study of

philosophy and religion.

He renounced all this, and rode away to become a poor student and a homeless wanderer.

His faithful servant Channa asked to be allowed to stay with him and become an ascetic,

but Gautama sent him back, and repaired alone to Rajagriha. Gautama attached himself

first to one Alara, and then to another Udraka, and learnt from them all that Hindu

philosophers had to teach.

He retired therefore into the jungles of Uruvela, near the site of the present temple of

Buddha Gaya, and for six years, attended by five disciples, he gave himself up to the

severest penances and self-mortification. His fame spread all round, for the ignorant and

the superstitious always admire self-inflicted pain but Gautama did not obtain what he

sought. At last one day he fell down from sheer weakness and his disciples thought he

was dead. Left alone in the world, Gautama wandered towards the banks of the

Niranjara, received his morning meal from the hands of Sujata, a villager's daughter, and

sat himself down under the famous Bodhi tree or the tree of wisdom and attained

enlightenment.

The firstvassaor rainy season after attainment of enlightenment (522 BC)

Buddha's old teacher Alara was dead, and he went therefore to Benares to proclaim the

truth to his five former disciples. In Benares, in the hermitage of Migadaya (Sarnath) the

Supreme Wheel of the Empire of Truth has been set rolling by the Blessed One,-that

wheel which not by any Saman or Brahman, not by any god, not by any Brahma or Mara,not by anyone in the universe, can ever be turned back.

6 Vasa, son of the rich Sethi

(banker) of Benares, was his first lay disciple.

At Uruvela, Buddha achieved distinguished success by converting three brothers named

Kasyapa, who worshipped fire in the Vedic form, and had high reputation as hermits and

philosophers. The conversion of the Kasyapas created a sensation, and Buddha with his

new disciples and a thousand followers walked towards Rajagriha, the capital of

6Dhamma Chakka Ppavattana Sutta


9/81

Magadha. News of the new prophet soon reached the king Bimbisara, surrounded by

numbers of Brahmans and Vaisyas, went to visit Buddha.

Seeing the distinguished Uruvela Kasyapas there, the king could not make out if that

great Brahman had converted Gautama, or if Gautama had converted the Brahman.

Gautama understood the king's perplexity, and in order to enlighten him, asked Kasyapa,

"What knowledge have you gained, 0 inhabitant of Uruvela, that has induced you, who

were renowned for your penances, to forsake your sacred fire." Kasyapa replied that he

had seen the state of peace," and" took no more delight in sacrifices and offerings." The

king was struck and pleased, and, with his numerous attendants, declared himself an

adherent of Buddha, and invited him to take his meal with him the next day.

The secondvassaor rainy season after attainment of enlightenment (521 BC)

The fame of Buddha had now travelled to his native town, and his old father expressed a

desire to see him once before he died. Buddha accordingly went to Kapilavastu, but,

according to custom, remained in the grove outside the town. His father and relations

came to see him there; and the next day Buddha himself went into the town, begging

alms from the people who once adored him as their beloved prince and master! The story

goes on to say that the king rebuked Buddha for this act, but Buddha replied, it was the

custom of his race. " But," retorted the king, "we are descended from an illustrious raceof warriors, and not one of them has ever begged his bread." ., You and your family,"

answered Buddha, "may claim descent from kings, my descent is from the prophets

(Buddhas) of old."

The king took his son into the palace, where all the members of the family came to greet

him except his wife. The deserted Yasodhara, with a wife's grief and a wife's pride,

exclaimed, "if I am of any value in his eyes, he will himself come, I can welcome him

better here." Buddha understood this and went to her, with only two disciples with him.

And when Yasodhara saw her lord and prince enter,-a recluse with shaven head and

yellow robes,-her heart failed her, she flung herself to the ground, held his feet, and burst

into tears. Then, re membering the impassable gulf between them, she rose and stood

aside. She listened to his new doctrines, and when, subsequently, Buddha was induced to

establish an order of female Bhikkhunis. Yasodhara became one of the first Buddhist

nuns. At the time of which we are now speaking, Yasodhara remained in her house, but

Rahula, Buddha's son, was converted. Buddha's father was much aggrieved at this, and


10/81

asked Buddha to establish a rule that no one should be admitted to the Order without his

parents' consent. Buddha consented to this, and made a rule accordingly.7

The fifthvassaor rainy season after attainment of enlightenment (517 BC)

Buddha revisited Kapilavastu and was present at the death of his father, then ninety-

seven years old. His widowed step-mother Prajapati Gautami, and his no less widowed

wife Yasodhara, had now no ties to bind them to the world, and insisted on joining the

Order established by Buddha. The sage had not yet admitted women to the Order, and

was reluctant to do so. But his mother was inexorable and followed him to Vaisali and

begged to be admitted. Ananda pleaded her cause and asked- "Are women, Lord, capable

when they have gone forth from the household life and entered the homeless state, under

the doctrine and discipline proclaimed by the Blessed One, are they capable of realizing

the fruit of conversion or of the second path or of Arhatship? " "They are capable,

Ananda," replied the sage. And Prajapati and the other ladies were admitted to the Order

as Bhikkhunls.8

In the sixth vassa Buddha returned to Rajagriha and Kshema- the queen of Bimbisara

was admitted to the Order. Fifteenth vassa from the date of his proclaiming his creed, he

visited Kapilavastu again, and addressed a discourse to his cousin Mahanama, who had

succeeded Bhadraka, the successor of Suddhodana, as the king of the Sakyas. Buddha'sfather-in-law, Suprabuddha, king of Koli, publicly abused Buddha for deserting

Yasodhara, but is said to have been swallowed up by the earth shortly after.

Mahapari Nibbana: the fourty fifth vassa or rainy season after attainment of

enlightenment (477 BC)

In Pava. There, Chunda, a goldsmith and ironsmith, invited him to a meal, and gave him

sweet rice and cakes and a quantity of dried boar's flesh. Buddha never refused the poor

man's offering, but the boar's flesh did not agree with him. " Once had eaten the food

prepared by Chunda, the worker in metal, there fell upon him a dire sickness, the disease

of dysentery, and sharp pain came upon him even unto death. But the Blessed One,

mindful and self-possessed, bore it without complaint."On his way from Pava to

Kusinagara, Buddha converted a low-caste man Pukkusa. At Kusinagara, eighty miles

due east from Kapilavastu, Buddha feIt that his death was near. With that loving anxiety

7lIfalulvagga8Ctullamgga


11/81

which had characterized all his life, he tried on the eve of his death to impress on his

followers that Chunda was not to blame for the food he had supplied, but that the humble

smith's act, kindly meant, would redound to length of life, to good birth, and to good

fortune.

On the night of Buddha's death, Subhadra, a Brahman philosopher of Kusinagara, came

to ask some questions, but Ananda, fearing that this might be wearisome to the dying

sage, would not admit him. Buddha, however, had overheard their conversation, and he

would not turn back a man who had come for instruction. He ordered the Brahman to be

admitted, and with his dying breath explained to him the principles of his religion.

Subhadra was the last disciple whom Buddha converted, and shortly after,. at the last

watch of the night, the great sage departed this life,-with the exhortation to his brother

men still on his lips,-" Decay is inherent in all component things; work out your salvation

withdiligence. "

The body of Buddha was cremated by the Mallas of Kusinagara who surrounded his

bones "in their councilhall with a lattice-work of spears and with a rampart of bows; and

there, for seven days, they paid honour and reverence and respect and homage to them

with dance and song and music, and with garlands and perfumes." It is said that the

remains of Buddha were divided into eight portions. Ajatasatru of Magadha obtainedoneportion, and erected a mound over it at Rajagriha. The Lichchavis of Vaisali obtained

another portion, anderected a mound at that town. Similarly the Sakyas of Kapilavastu,

the Bulis of Allakappa, the Koliyas ofRamagrama, the Mallas of Pava, the Mallas of

Kusina gara, and a Brahman Vethadipaka obtained portions of the relics and erected

mounds over them. The Moriyans of Pipphalivana made a mound over the embers, and

theBrahman Dona made a mound over the vessel in which the body had been burnt.

In Indian thought, Dharma is the truth about the world: the underlying nature of things,

the way things are in reality. Reality, as seen in Buddhism, doesnt contain persons and

substances, but rather an assemblage of interlocking physical and mental processes that

spring up and pass away subject to multifarious causes and conditions and that are always

mediated by the cognitive apparatus embodied in the operation of the five aggregates

(khandhas). A framework of thought that hinges on the ideas that sentient experience is

dependently originated and that whatever is dependently originated is conditioned

(sankhata), impermanent, subject to change, and lacking independent selfhood.9

9Buddhist Philosophy- Essential Readings, Edelglass and Garfield


12/81

The Upanishads are essentially metaphysical speculation on the nature of reality

conceptualized as Bramha -the Supreme Being as pure sense, intellect, thought.

"Like the sun and other luminaries, seemingly multiplied by reflection though really

single, and like space apparently subdivided in vessels containing it within limits, the

Supreme Light is without difference or distinction..there is none other but He"

As Rhys Davids puts it, "the Buddhist heaven is not death, and it is not on death, but on a

virtuous life here and now. Buddha has not inspired in his followers any hopes of

heaven, beyond Nirvana, which is the Buddhist's heaven and salvation.

Sarnath (Isipatana deer park), place of Lord Buddhas first sermon


13/81

Buddha the reformer sage

Buddha delivered discourses in which he emphatically rejected caste.

The grass and the trees, the worms, moths, and ants, the quadrupeds, snakes, fishes, andbirds are all divided into species which are known by their distinguishing marks. Man,

too, has his distinguishing mark, and that is his profession. For whoever amongst men

lives by cow-keeping, know this, oh Vasishtha, he is a husbandman, not a Brahman. And

whoever amongst men lives by different mechanical arts . . . is an artisan, not a Brahman.

And whoever amongst men lives by trade is merchant, not a Brahman. And whoever

amongst men lives by serving others..... is a servant, not a Brahman..And whoever

amongst men lives by archery ... is a soldier, not a Brahman. And whoever amongst menlives by performing household ceremonials ... is a sacrificer, not a Brahman. And

whoever amongst men possesses villages ... is a king, not a Brahman. And I do not call

one a Brahman on account of his birth, or of his origin from a particular mother.but

the one who is possessed of nothing and seizes upon nothing, him I call a Brahman. . . .

The man who is free from anger, endowed with holyworks, virtuous, without desire,

subdued, and wearing his last body, him I call a Brahman. The man who like water on a

lotus leaf, or a mustard seed on the point of a needle, does not cling to sensual pleasures,

him I call a Brahman" 10

Assalfiyana, came to controvert Buddha's opinion that all castes were equally pure.

Buddha, asked Brahmans were not subject to all the disabilities of child birth like other

women. "Yes," replied Assalayana."Were there not differences in color among the people

of adjacent countries like Bactria and Afghanistan," asked Buddha, and yet could not

slaves become masters, and masters as slaves, in those countries? "Yes," replied

Assalayana. "Then if a Brahman is a murderer, a "thief, a libertine, a liar, a slanderer,violent or frivolous in speech, covetous, malevolent, given to false doctrine, will he not

after death be born to misery and woe, like any other caste?" Yes," said Assalayana, and

he also admitted that good works would lead to heaven irrespective of caste.

.Buddha argue that when a mare was united with an ass, the offspring was a mule,

but the offspring of a Kshatriya united to a Brahman resembled its parents, and the

Vasettha Sutta


14/81

obvious conclusion, therefore, was that there was really no difference between a

Brahman and a Kshatriya!....11

As the great streams, 0 disciples, however many they may be,-the Ganga, Yamuna,

Asiravatl, Sarabhu, and Mahi when they reach the great ocean lose their old name and

their old descent, and bear only one name, the great Ocean"-so also do Brahmans,

Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras lose their distinctions when they join the Order

Compare this with Brahmanic religious books- The Bhagavad Gita, intended for mass

consumption and not just for the elite, was an all-around cosmologicalphilosophical

justification, for a new Indian society based on varnashramadharma.

Of brahmans, ksatriyas and Vaisyas, and of Sudras, scorcher of the foe, the actions are

distinguished. According to the strands that spring from their innate nature; Calm, self -

control, austerities, purity, patience and uprightness, theoretical and practical knowledge,

and religious faith are the natural-born actions of brahmans.

Heroism, majesty, firmness, skill, and not fleeing in battle also, are the natural-born actions

of warriors. Agriculture, cattle-tending and commerce are the natural-born actions of

Vaisyas; action that consists of service is likewise natural-born to a Sudra(Translation by Edgerton 1944: 87)

A depiction of of membership of the Sangha12

:

Why does the Buddha mention the farmer caste first? Because farmers have the least

pride and they are largest in number. Often the monks from a Ksatriya family are proud

of their learning; those from low castesare unable to continue long in the order. But the

young farmers plough their land while all their bodies are running with sweatTherefore

they are not proud. From the other families not very many become monks; from the

farmers, many

Assalayana Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya12Visuddhimagga Buddhaghoshas famous fifth century commentary on the Vasetthasutta


15/81

Buddhas socio-economic vision

Now there is one method to adopt to put a thorough end to this disorder. Whosoever

there may be in the kings realm who devote themselves to keeping cattle and the farm, to

them let his majesty the king give food and seed-corn. Whosoever there may be in thekings realm who devote themselves to trade, to them let his majesty the king give capital.

Whoever there may be in the kings realm who devote themselves to government service,

to them let his majesty the king give wages and food. Then those men, following each his

own business,will no longer harass the realm; the kings revenue will go up; the country

will be quiet and at peace; and the populace, pleased with one another and happy,

dancing their children in their arms, will dwell with open doors

(Digha Nikaya I, 11).

13

This depicts a society without much servitude, one of traders, farmers and government

employees; except for the absence of factories, its very modern.

The Samana cults and the Brahmanic tradition emerged as two major contending and

conflicting forces in the Indian society of the first millennium BCE. All samana cults

denied the authority of Brahmans and the Vedas.The story of Shambuk in the Ramayana

illustrates the conflict. After Lord Ramas return from the war with Ravana, a Shudra

named Shambuk takes to asceticism in the kingdom of Ayodhya, and because of this sin

a Brahman boy in the kingdom dies. When his father makes an appeal, Lord Rama

enforces the law of varnashrama dharma by killing Shambuk. (OFlaherty 1983) Not

only is Rama, the ideal king, depicted as killing Shambuk in order to protect the laws of

varna; he is also shown as killing the rakshasas of the forests at the urging of the

Brahman Rishis. The difference with the ideals of Hindu varnashrama dharma is

striking. The term dasa-kammakara in the Buddhist texts simply indicates people doingthe work of service (for pay or in bondage)

14

In Rhys Davids translation ofDasakammakaras:

In five ways does an Ariyan master minister to his servants and employees as the

nadir:by assigning them work according to their strength; by supplying them with food

Kutadanata Sutta

Buddhism in India,Gail Omvedt


16/81

and wages; by tending them in sickness; by sharing with them unusual delicacies; by

granting them leave at times [explained as constant relaxation so that they need not work

all day, and special leave with extra food and adornment for (festivals). In these ways

ministered to by their master, servants and employees love their master in five ways:

they rise before him, theylie down to rest after him; they are content with what is given to

them; they do their work well; and they carry about his praise and good fame

Employee- employer relationship is humanized and especially when it transcends slavery

with wages and labor rights.

Buddhist ethics on creation of wealth:

The wise and moral man shines like a fire on a hilltop, making money like the bee, who

does not hurt the flower. Such a man makes his pile as an anthill, gradually. The man

grown wealthy thus can help his family and firmly bind his friends to himself. He should

divide His money in four parts; on one part he should live, with two expand his trade,

and the fourth he should save against a rainy day. (ibid.: 26). This indicates an

acquisitive society and a phenomenal rate of reinvestment and savings growth suggesting

a rapidly growing economy (Basham 1958: 125n)

Buddhist ethics in household life:

A husband should serve his wife as the western quarter in five ways; by honoring her, by

respecting her; by remaining faithful to her; by giving her charge of the home; and by

duly giving her adornments. And thus served by her husband as the western quarter a

wife should care for him in five ways: she should be efficient in her household tasks; she

should manage her servants well; she should be chaste; shes hould take care of the goods

which he brings home; and she should be skillful and untiring in all her duties(Digha

Nikaya III, 30)15

Sigalavada Suttanta


17/81

In Buddhist systems of ethics, the cultivation of knowledge and wisdom is necessary for

making informed ethical choices.

I declare, monks, that actions willed, performed, and accumulated will not become

extinct as long as [their fruits] have not been experienced, be this in this life, in the next

life, or subsequently. And as long as [the fruits of] these actions willed, performed, and

accumulated have not been experienced, there will be no making an end of suffering

(dukkha-), I declare.16

Someone with such pure conduct, with unshakeable confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma,

and Sangha, and unbroken virtue, will be a Stream-enterer, free of any subhuman

rebirths, and bound to attain enlightenment within a limited number of lives.17

Mahapajapati Gotami (Buddhas foster mother) wandering in stages, she arrived at

Vesali; then she stood there outside the porch, her feet swollen, her limbs covered with

dust, sad and unhappy, crying, her face in tears. Venerable Ananda saw her standing

there . . . and so asked her, Why, Gotami, why are you standing here . . . your face in

tears? Because, venerable sir, the Blessed One does not allow womens going forth

from the home life into homelessness in the doctrine and discipline made known by the

Tathagata.

Anada said to the Blessed One, Venerable sir, if a woman were to go forth from the

home life into homelessness in the doctrine and discipline made known by the Tathagata,would she be able to realize the fruit of stream-entry, once returning, non-returning, or

arahantship?

Yes, Ananda, she would

In that case, venerable sir, Mahapajapati Gotami has been of great service to the

Blessed One. She was the Blessed Ones aunt, foster mother, nurse, giver of

milk.(Buddha reluctantly agrees) Ananda, if Mahapajapati Gotami accepts eight rules

of respect, that will be her full Acceptance(Buddha relents) But, Ananda, if women

had not obtained the Going-forth from the home life into homelessness in the doctrine

and discipline made known by the Tathagata, the holy life would have lasted long, the

true Dhamma would have lasted one thousand years. But now that they have gotten to go

forth . . .this holy life will not last long, the true Dhamma will last only ve hundred

years.. 18

Anguttara Nika ya, The Tens, SuttaFrom the Velu-dvareyya Sutta (Discourse to People of the Bamboo Gate)

Cullavagga


18/81

Buddhas Dhamma

Buddha says This Dhamma that I have attained is profound, hard to see and hard to

understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be

experienced by the wise. But this generation delights in adhesion [to sense pleasures],takes delight in adhesion, rejoices in adhesion. It is hard for such a generation to see this

truth . . . . If I were to teach the Dhamma, others would not understand me, and that

would be wearying and troublesome for me .Hence, the Buddha was inclined

to inaction rather than to teaching theDhamma.

Legend say, at that moment, the Brahma Sahampati appeared and declared to the

Buddha: There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are wasting through nothearing theDhamma. There will be those who will understand theDhamma In response

to this appeal, the Buddha decided to teach what he had learned out of compassion for

beings19

He was aged thirty-five and would spend the remaining forty-five years of his life

teaching the Dhamma to all who would listen so that they themselves might achieve

enlightenment and overcome suffering.

1. The Four Noble Truths are the centerpiece of the Buddhas message. Animportant commentary in the Theravada tradition, Buddhaghosas The Pathof

Purification, makes explicit what is clearly implicit in the presentation of thesetruths: The truth of suffering is like a disease, the truth of origin is like the

cause of the disease, the truth of cessation is like the cure of the disease, and the

truth of the path is like the medicine (Buddhaghosa 1999: 520; cf. M 61516

and 867)

First Noble Truth:Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering,

aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is

suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is

suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.20

Majjhima Nikaya

Samyutta Nikaya (Connected Discourse)


19/81

Key term dukkha, It is ordinarily translated into English as suffering. This is correct in

part, but it is misleading.

Second Noble Truth:Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is

this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking

delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence,

craving for extermination.

attitudes towards them. We have arrived at the next Truth:

We need to examine the meaning the term craving translates tanha as well as the

three spheres of craving here described: sensual pleasures, existence, and extermination.

The Buddha suggests that craving is like a fire that inflames every facet of our being:

Bhikkhus, all is burning. And what, bhikkhus, is the all that is burning? The eye is

burning, forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, and

whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition whether pleasant or painful or

neither painful-nor-pleasant that too is burning.

Burning with what?

Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hatred,with the fire of delusion;Burning with birth, aging and death; with sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and

despair,

I say

Third Noble Truth:Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering:it

is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and

relinquishing of it, freedom from it, non-reliance on it.

Fourth Noble Truth: Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the way leading to the

cessation of suffering. It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is right view, right intention,

right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right

concentration.

Gowans draws a distinction between two conceptions of selves substance-selves and

process-selves and suggest that the Buddha taught that substance-selves have no reality

in any sense, while process-selves have no independent reality but do have a form of


20/81

dependent reality. Specifically, the existence of a persons process-self depends on

certain beliefs and attitudes the person has, but may and should abandon. In the absence

of these, the process-self ceases to exist. This is what happens when Nibbana is fully

attained: the relevant beliefs and attitudes are given up, and so there is no longer a

process-self. Since there never was a substance-self, there is no self at all. there is no selfat all.

2. Doctrine of Annata (or no Amta) Non Self or No Soul: Buddha says: Sincea self and what belongs to a self are not apprehended as true and established,

then this standpoint for views like - The self and the world are the same; after

death I shall be permanent, everlasting, eternal, not subject to change; I shall

endure as long as eternity would it not be an utterly and completely foolish

teaching?21 (These views question the emerging ideas of the Upanisads)

Buddha distinguishes three schools of thoughts those who describe an existing self that

is unimpaired after death, those who describe the annihilation, destruction, and

extermination of an existing being (at death), and those who assertNibbana here and

now which is the middle path proposed by Buddha.

Addressing his son, Rahula, the Buddha says, develop meditation on the perception ofimpermanence, for when you do this, the conceit I am will be abandoned (M 531).

About himself, he says, It is by knowing thus, seeing thus, friends, that in regard to this

body with its consciousness and all external signs, I-making, mine-making, and the

underlying tendency to conceit have been eradicated in me(M 908). Once enlightenment

has been achieved, there will no longer be occasion to think in terms of such self

referring concepts as Iand mine.

Buddha maintains: Material form is not self, feeling is not self, perception is not self,

formations are not self, consciousness is not self .. . all things are not self (M 324)

To conclude in words of the Buddha, It is impossible, it cannot happen that a person

possessing right viewcould treat anything as self there is no such possibility (M 928)

Majjhima Nikaya-232


21/81

St Francis Xavier arrived in Japan in 1549. He was befriended by a Zen abbot; Xavier

was uneasy with the apparent Buddhist denial of an eternal soul; to his dismay, during

discussions of the souls immortality with his Zen friend, the latter would sometimes say

yes and sometimes no. And Xavier was appalled by the Buddhist indifference to a

personal Creator God. The Japanese irked by Xaviers proselytizing, twisted Deus,Xaviers Latin term for God, into Daiuso, meaning Great Lie.

In what ways, Ananda, does one who regards Self regard it? (1) Regarding Self, he

regards it to be feeling: My Self is feeling, or (2) My Self is not feeling, my Self is

without experience, or (3) My Self is not feeling, but my Self is not without

experience, my Selffeels,it has the attribute of feeling.

(1) Now Ananda, one who says My Self is feeling should be told, There are three

kinds of feeling, friend: pleasant, painful, and neither-pleasant-nor painful [neutral].

Which of these three feelings do you regard as Self? When a pleasant feeling is felt, no

painful or neutral feeling is felt, only pleasant feeling. When a painful feeling is felt, no

pleasant or neutral feeling is felt, Only painful feeling. When a neutral feeling is felt, no

pleasant or painful feeling is felt, only neutral feeling. Pleasant feeling is impermanent,

conditioned, dependently originated, subject to destruction, to passing away, to fading

away, to cessation. The same applies to painful and neutral feeling. So anyone who, onfeeling a pleasant feeling, thinks This is my Self, must, at the cessation of that pleasant

feeling, think My Self has departed! The same applies to painful and neutral feeling.

Thus, whoever thinks My Self is feeling is regarding as Self something that in this

present life is impermanent, a mixture of pleasure

and pain, subject to arising and passing away.

Therefore it is not fitting to maintain My Self is feeling.

(2) But anyone who says, My Self is not feeling, my Self is without experience should

be asked, If, friend, no feeling existed, could there be the thought, I am? [To this he

would have to reply] No, venerable sir. Therefore, it is not fitting to maintain My Self

is not feeling, my Self is without experience.

(3) And anyone who says, My Self is not feeling, but my Self is not without experience,

my Self feels, it has the attribute of feeling should be asked, Well, friend, if all feelings

entirely and completely ceased without remainder, could there be the thought this am


22/81

I? [To this he would have to reply] No, venerable sir. Therefore, it is not fitting to

maintain My Self is not feeling, but my Self is not without experience, my Self feels, it

has the attribute of feeling.

From the time, Ananda, when a monk no longer regards Self as feeling, or Self as withoutexperience, or My Self feels, it has the attribute of feeling, not so regarding, he clings

to nothing in the world; not clinging, he does not tremble; not trembling, he personally

experiences nirvana, and he understands, Destroyed is (re-)birth, the holy life has been

lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more for this state of being.22

It is important to remember that the not-self doctrine is only part of the Buddhas

teaching about the nature of human persons. His full teaching may be summarized as

follows:

We are not substance-selves in any sense. We are process-selves in a dependent sense and hence have better or worse, but

always unsatisfactory, rebirths in accord with the morality of our actions.

We are that which has the opportunity to escape the cycle of rebirth and attainNibbana.

The distinctive idea of the Buddha is that the dependent reality of process selves is the

only reality of selves there is. Substance-selves have no reality- this view is further

expanded in the doctrine of sunyata or emptiness by Nagarjuna. We are dependently

process-selves because we mistakenly think we are substance-selves. As a result, we

suffer through repeated rebirths. Completely liberated from this delusion, we attainNibbana, the highest form of happiness

Process conception of the self - there are no substance-selves. Rather, the phenomena the

previous account described as substances-selves are in fact process-selves. The world

should be understood as consisting solely of processes. Whereas the substance

conception takes (apparently) discrete and stable objects such as moons and monoliths as

Mahanidana SuttaGreat Discourse on Causal Links


23/81

its paradigms of what is real, the process conception suggests that the proper paradigms

are occurrences such as whirlpools and wind storms that are obviously interdependent on

their environment and ever-changing. But ordinarily a process is not random: it manifests

an ordered, lawful causal development. Specfically, a process-self is a structured nexus of

continuous, interacting processes that are not ontologically distinct from other processes

and that are in constant change in every respect. The specific processes that constitute the

process-self are typically the aforementioned undergoings and doings of the self. But

instead of describing these as necessary Properties of a substance, the process conception

says a self is nothing but a Nexus of processes such as experiencing, remembering,

imagining, feeling, desiring, thinking, and acting, and so on.

3. Doctrine of Impermanence (anicca) of 5 aggregates: As there are scientificlaws that govern the physical world, such as the law of gravity, are permanent.

The Buddha does not deny that there are unchanging laws that govern changes

in the world. In fact, the doctrine of kamma(Karma) affirms such a law.

Bhikkhus, what do you think? Is material form permanent or impermanent?

Impermanent, venerable sir.

Is what is impermanent suffering or happiness?

Suffering, venerable sir.Is what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, fit to be

regarded thus: This is mine, this I am, this is my self ?

No venerable sir.

The same exchange occurs concerning the other four aggregates.

The Buddha continues:

Therefore, bhikkhus, any kind of material form whatever, whether

past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferioror superior, far or near, all material form should be seen as it actually is

with proper wisdom thus: This is not mine, this I am not, this is not myself.23

The Buddha regularly speaks of the perception of non-self in all things without

exception (N 177). Crucial to this claim is the contention that all things we experience

in the world are impermanent (anicca).

Majjhima Nikaya-232


24/81

Consider what the Buddha means by the aggregates (khandhas)- are everything we

typically take to be involved in a person, though the five aggregates are distinguished,

they interact with one another.

Material form (rupa) concerns our physical nature. It refers to our entire bodyand in particular those aspects of it that make possible the five senses. The

remaining aggregates are all mental in nature.

Feelings (vedana) have to do with our sensations, whether originating from themind or the body, and their quality as pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent.

Perceptions (saa) go beyond sensations and involve judgments about theworld (for example, that there is a red book in front of me).

Formations (sankhara) refer to anything that moves us to act desires, wishes,volitions, and so on. They are classified as being ethically good, bad, or neutral

(and thus are related to kamma).

Consciousness (viana) concerns the general fact that we are aware, either ofthe world, or of ourselves as having the other aggregates.

Buddhas contention is observation of meditation reveals that what is ordinarily regarded

as a person is encompassed by one or more of the five aggregates, and each of these

aggregates is impermanent.

Bhikkhus, suppose that this river Ganges was carrying along a great lump of foam. A

man with good sight would inspect it, ponder it, and carefully investigate it, and it would

appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in a

lump of foam? So too, bhikkhus, whatever kind of form there is, whether past, future, or

present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: a bhikkhu

inspects it, ponders it, and carefully investigates it, and it would appear to him to be void,

hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in form?24

Samyutta Nikaya (Connected Discourse)


25/81

In another sutta, Buddha says,

Whatever in oneself, belonging to oneself, is solid, solidified, and clung to (organic),

such as head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin; flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow,

kidneys; heart, liver, midriff, spleen, lights; bowels, entrails, gorge, dung, or whatever

else in oneself, belonging to oneself, is solid, solidified, and clung to: that is called earth

element in oneself. Now earth element in oneself and external earth element are only

earth element. Whatever in oneself is water, watery, and clung to, such as bile,

phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat; tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, urine, or

whatever else in oneself is water, watery, and clung to: that is called water element

in oneself. Now water element in oneself and external water element are only water

element. Whatever in oneself is fire, fiery, and clung to, such as that whereby one is

warmed, ages, and is consumed, and whereby what is eaten, drunk, chewed and tasted

gets digested and assimilated, or whatever else in oneself is fire, fiery, and clung to:

that is called fire element in oneself. Now fire element in oneself and external fire

element are only fire element. Whatever in oneself is air, airy, and clung to, such as

upgoing winds (forces), down-going winds (forces), winds (forces) in the belly and in the

bowels, winds (forces) that pervade all the limbs, in-breath and out-breath, or whatever

else in oneself is air, airy, and clung to: that is called air element in oneself. Now air

element in oneself and external air element are only air element. Also whatever inoneself is space, spatial, and clung to, such as ear-hole, nose-hole, mouth-door,

and that (aperture) whereby what is eaten, drunk, chewed, and tasted is swallowed,

and that wherein it is contained, and that whereby it passes out below, or whatever else in

oneself is space, spatial, and clung to: that is called space element. Now space element

in oneself and external space element are only space element And space element has

nowhere any standing of its own. (MN 62)

The same point is made with respect to the other aggregates.

4. Dependent Origination doctrine (paticca samuppada). Sariputta saysunderstanding this doctrine is equivalent to understanding the Buddhas

teaching as a whole. In brief When this exists, that comes to be; with the

arising of this, that arises. When this does not exist, that does not come to be;

with the cessation of this, that ceases25

(M 655; cf. 927).

25Majjhima Nikaya-232


26/81

A process is always in a state of becoming: from not existing it arises into existence, then

ceases back into non-existence. It is important to note that Buddha applied this to

persons; however dependent origination may be applicable to all processes in the world, a

thought which was proposed in Abhidharma and Mahayana doctrines.

On the metaphysical plane, the Buddha said All exists, (Kaccana) this is one extreme.

All does not exist, this is the second extreme. Without veering towards either of these

extremes, the Tathagata teaches theDhammaby the middle26

The two extremes refer to

eternalism and annihilationism. The middle way is the twelvefold formula of dependent

origination.

Dependent origination in persons is elaborated by Buddha via a twelvefold formula

of conditioning links27

.

How a bhikkhu can be called skilled in dependent origination. The Buddha responds:

With ignorance (avijja) as condition (paccaya), formations (sankhara) , comes to be;

with formations as condition, consciousness (viana);

With consciousness as condition, mentality-materiality (namarupa);

With mentality-materiality as condition, the sixfold base (sala yatana) (the senses and the

mind);

With the sixfold-base as condition, contact (phassa);With contact as condition, feeling (vedana);

With feeling as condition, craving (tanha)

With craving ascondition, clinging (upadana);

With clinging as condition, being(bhava);

with being as condition, birth (jati);

With birth as condition,aging and death (jara maran)

sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, anddespair come to be

Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering

Buddhas argument is addressed to those in his culture (upanishadic, brahmic traditions)

who held that our true self (Atman) is identical with the ultimate ground of reality

(brahman). The views expressed in the Upanishads that what appears to be our self may

suffer, but our true self (Atman) cannot suffer, further the true self was thought to be both

permanent and beyond.

Samyutta Nikaya (Connected Discourse)544

27Majjhima Nikaya-927


27/81

Buddha establishes in the doctrine of (annata) that this alleged true-self cannot be found

in connection with any of the aggregates and by showing that each of the aggregates is

impermanent, and hence no beyond suffering.

With the remainderless fading and cessation of ignorance there is cessation of

formations; with cessation of formations, cessation of consciousness with cessation of

birth, ageing and deathcease, and also sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair;

that is how there is a cessationto this whole aggregate mass of suffering. This is called

the noble truth of the cessation of suffering. AN 3:61


28/81

Milindapanha (Questions of Milinda)

Milindapaha is a text that records a series of conversations between a Greco Bactrian

King Milinda or Menandro (reigned 155130 BCE) and the Buddhist monk Nagasena; It

gives an excellent exposition of underlying Buddhist Philosophy and Ethics28

How is the venerable one known? . . .

Sire, I am known as Nagasena. . . . But though (my) parents gave (me) the name

Nagesena or Surasena or Virasena or Sihasena, yet it is but a denotation, appellation,

designation, current usage, for Nagasena is only a name, since no person is apprehended

here.

Then King Milinda spoke thus, Good sirs . . . is it suitable to approve of that? . . . If,

venerable Nagasena, the person is not apprehended, who then is it that gives you the

requisites of robe-material . . . who is it that makes use of them? Who is it that guards

moral virtue, practices meditative development, realizes . . . nirvana? Who is it that kills a

living thing? . . . Therefore, there is no wholesome action, no unwholesome action, there

is no doer of wholesome or unwholesome actions, or one who makes another act thus,there is no fruit or ripening of action (karma) well or ill done. If, venerable Nagasena,

someone killed you, there would be no onslaught on a living being for him. Also,

venerable Nagasena, you would have no teacher, no preceptor, no ordination.

If you say, Fellows in the holy life address me, sire, as Nagasena, what here is

Nagasena? Is it, venerable sir, that the hairs of the head are Nagasena? O no, sire.

That the hairs of the body are Nagesena? O no, sire. That the nails . . . the teeth, the

skin, the esh, the sinews, the bones, the marrow, the kidneys, the heart, the liver, the

membranes, the spleen, the lungs, the intestines, the mesentery, the stomach, the

excrement, the bile, the phlegm, the pus, the blood, the sweat, the fat, the tears, the

serum, the saliva, the mucus, the synovic uid, the urine, or the brain in the head. Are

(any of them) Nagasena? O no, sire. Is Nagasena material form, venerable sir? O

no, sire. Is Nagasena feeling . . . perception . . . the constructing activities, or

consciousness? O no, sire. But then, venerable sir, is Nagasena form-feeling-

perception-constructing-activities-and-consciousness? O no, sire. But then, venerable

Harvey, Peter. (2000)An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues. Cambridge University Press


29/81

sir, is there Nagasena apart from form-feeling-perception-constructing-activitiesand-

consciousness? O no, sire. Though I, venerable sir, am asking you repeatedly, I do

not see this Nagasena. Nagasena is only a sound, venerable sir. For who here is

Nagasena? You, venerable sir, are speaking an untruth, a lying word. There is no

Nagasena. Then the venerable Nagasena spoke thus to King Milinda: You, sire, are a

noble, delicately nurtured. . . . Now, did you come on foot or in a conveyance?

I, venerable sir, not come on foot, I came in a chariot. If, sire, You came by chariot,

show me the chariot. Is the pole the chariot, sire? O no, venerable sir. Is the axle the

chariot? O no, venerable sire Are the wheels .the body of the chariot, the flagstaff,

the yoke, the reins, or the goad the chariot? O no, venerable sir. But then, sire, is the

chariot the pole-axle-wheels-body-flagstaff-yoke-reins-and-goad? O no, venerable sir.

But then, sire, is there a chariot apart from pole-axle-wheels-body-flagstaff-yoke-reins-

and-goad? O no, venerable sir. Though I, sire, am asking you repeatedly, I do not see

the chariot. Chariot is only a sound, sire. For what here is the chariot? You sire, are

speaking an untruth, a lying word. There is no chariot. You, sire, are the chief raja of the

whole of India. Of whom are you afraid that you speak a lie? . . .

I, venerable Nagasena, am not telling a lie, for it is dependent on (paticca) the pole,

dependent on the axle [and the other parts] . . . that chariot exists as a denotation,

appellation, designation, as a current usage, a name. It is well; you, sire, understand achariot. Even so is it for me, sire, it is dependent on the hair of the head, and on the hair

of the body . . . and dependent on the brain in the head, and dependent on material form,

and on feeling, on perception, the constructing activities, and dependent on consciousness

that Nagasena exists as a denotation, appellation, designation, as a current usage,

merely as a name. But according to the highest meaning, a person is not apprehended

here. This, sire, was spoken by the nun Vajira face to face with the Blessed One.

The King said: Venerable Nagasena, for whom is there a greater karmically harmful

action: he who does an evil action knowingly, or he who does an evil deed

unknowingly? Nagasena said: Great King, there is a greater karmically harmful action

for one who does an evil action unknowingly. . . . What do you think about this, sire? If

one (person) should unknowingly take hold of a red-hot ball of iron, aglow, a ame,

ablaze, and another should take hold of it knowingly,which would be the more severely

burnt? He who took hold of it unknowingly, venerable sire, would be the more severely

burnt. Even so, sire, there is a greater karmically harmful action for one who does an

evil action unknowingly.


30/81

You are dexterous, venerable Nagasena.

Sire . . . there is a difference in meaning here. What is this? There is, sire, a type of

offense where acquittal is related to perception, there is a type of offense in which

acquittal is not related to perception. It was with reference to the first of these that the

Blessed One said, There is no offense for one who does not know.

The second selection is a response to the apparent contradiction between the first passage

and Vinaya passages that say that a monk cannot break a rule against killing an animal or

human unknowingly. The issue hinges on what kind of unknowing is involved. It isnot morally blameworthy (unless culpably careless) to perform an action that one does

not know may bring harm to a living being and so kill it, nor does it break a monastic

rule. However, to deliberately act when one knows that it is killing a sentient being, but

does not know or recognize this to be an evil act, is to act in the most blameworthy way.


31/81

Qualifications of his teaching

The Blessed One was once living at Kosambi in a wood of simapa trees. He picked up a

few leaves in his hand, and he asked the bhikkhus: How do you conceive this,

bhikkhus, which is more, the few leaves that I have picked up in my hand or those on thetrees in the wood? The leaves that the Blessed One has picked up in his hand are few,

Lord; those in the wood are far more. So too, bhikkhus, the things that I have known by

direct knowledge are more: the things that I have told you are only a few. Why have I

not told them? Because they bring no benefit, no advancement in the holy life, and

because they do not lead to dispassion, to fading, to ceasing, to stilling, to direct

knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbana. That is why I have not told them. And what

have I told you? This is suffering; this is the origin of suffering; this is the cessation ofsuffering; this is the way leading to the cessation of suffering. That is what I have told

you. Why have I told it? Because it brings benefit, and advancement in the holy life, and

because it leads to dispassion, to fading, to ceasing, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to

enlightenment, to Nibbana.So, bhikkhus, let your task be this: This is suffering, this is

the origin of suffering, this the cessation of suffering, this is the way leading to the

cessation of suffering. SN 56:31

When a bhikkhu travels in many countries, learned people of all stations will

ask him questions. Learned and inquiring people will ask What does the venerable

ones teacher tell, what does he preach? Rightly answering you can say: Our teacher

preaches the removal of desire and lust. And if you are then asked Removal of desire

and lust for what? you can answer: Removal of desire and lust for form (and the

rest). And if you are then asked But what inadequacy (danger) do you see in those

things? you can answer: When a person is not without lust and desire and love and

thirst and fever and craving for these things, then with their change and alteration, sorrowand lamentation, pain, grief, and despair arise in him. And if you are then asked And

what advantage do you see in doing thus? you can answer: When a person is free from

lust and desire and love and thirst and fever and craving for form, feeling, perception,

formations, and consciousness, then, with their change and alteration, no sorrow and

lamentation, pain, grief, and despair arise in him. SN 22:2

The Buddha did not claim to give a complete account of human nature, he refused to

make a declaration about the truth of the following ten propositions: the world is

eternal, theworld is not eternal, the world is finite, the world is infinite, the soul


32/81

(jiva)is the same as the body, the soul is one thing and the body another, afterdeath a

Tathagata exists, after death a Tathagata does not exist, after deatha Tathagataboth

exists and does not exist, and after death a Tat hagataneither exists nor does not exist

(M 533). These are often referred to as the undetermined questions. The last six plainly

concern human nature.

Two reasons are commonly given to explain the Buddhas silence concerning these

propositions.

1. Knowing whether they are true or false does not enable us to overcomesuffering: this is the explicit point of the simile of the man wounded by the

arrow.

2. The last six propositions contain a false presupposition namely, that asubstance-self or soul now exists that stands in some relationship to the body

and that, once enlightened, either will or will not exist after death.

Despite its apparent importance, the twelvefold formula is perplexing in several respects.

First, it seems to imply that ignorance is the first cause of suffering. But the Buddha does

not think there are first causes, and he clearly says: A first beginning of ignorance . . .

cannot be discerned . . . yet a specific condition of ignorance is discerned. Ignorance, too,

has its nutriment29

(N 254) in this respect, the twelvefold series is incomplete.

Similarly, Buddha did not give any specific regarding these propositions (in the context

of Nirvana)30

After death a Tathagata exists: only this is true, anything else is wrong.

After death a Tathagata does not exist; only this is true, anything else is wrong.

After death a Tathagataboth exists and does not exist: only this is true,

anything else is wrong.

After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist: only this is

true,anything else is wrong.

29Anguttara Nikaya (Numerical Discourses)- 254

Majjhima Nikaya-591


33/81

And the Buddha says his teaching is hard to understand . . . unattainable by mere

reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise. He then offers a simile: if we asked

about an extinguished fire To which direction did it go: to the east, the west, the north,

or the south?, the proper answer would be That does not apply. The Buddha concludes:

So, too, Vacchagotta, the Tathagata has abandoned that material form by which one

describing the Tathagata might describe him . . . .The Tathagata is liberated from

reckoning in terms of material form, Vacchagotta, he is profound, immeasurable, hard to

fathom like the ocean. (The term reappears does not apply in any negative or positive

form)

The ultimate goal of the Eightfold Path is to become an Arahant. However the Buddha

envisioned three preliminary stages of progress towards this goal:

The stream-enterer (sotapanna),

The once-returner (sakada gamin)

The non-returner (anagamin)

In each case, there is a distinction between both within this lifetime and through several

lifetimes.

According to the Buddha: Just as the great ocean slopes away gradually, falls gradually,

inclines gradually, not in an abrupt way like a precipice; even so, Paharada, is this

Dhamma and Discipline: there is a gradual training, gradual practice, gradual progress;

there is no penetration to final knowledge in an abrupt way.

31

Anguttara Nikaya (Numerical Discourses)- 203


34/81

The enumeration of Eight Fold Path in the word of the

Buddha

To inquire into the meditative training that leads to this life, the Buddha proposes the

eight fold path:

Wisdom (paa)

Right View (sammaditthi)

Right Intention (samma sankappa)

Virtue (sila)

Right Speech (sammavaca)

Right Action (samma kammanta)Right Livelihood (sammaajiva)

Concentration (samadhi)

Right Effort (sammavayama)

Right Mindfulness (sammasati)

Right Concentration (samma samadhi)

The Eightfold Path explained in the words of the Buddha:

Lord, right view, right view is said. What does right view refer to?

Usually, Kaccayana, this world depends upon the dualism of existence and non-

existence. But when one sees thworlds origin as it actually is with right understanding,

there is for him none of (what is callednon-existence in the world; and when he sees the

worlds cessation as it actually is with right understanding, there is for him none of (what

is called) existence in the world.

Usually the world is shackled by bias, clinging, and insistence; but one such as this (who

haright view), instead of allowing bias, instead of clinging, and instead of deciding about

my selfwith such bias, such clinging, and such mental decision in the guise of

underlying tendency tinsist, he has no doubt or uncertainty that what arises is only arising

suffering, and what ceaseis only ceasing suffering, and in this his knowledge isindependent of others. That is what right view refers to. (An) all exists is one

extreme; (an) all does not exist is the other extreme. Instead of resorting to either


35/81

extreme, a Perfect One expounds the Dhamma by the middle wayIt is with ignorance as

condition that formations come to be; with formations as condition, consciousness; with

consciousness (And so on with both arising and cessation.) SN 12:15

The untaught ordinary man who has no regard for noble ones gives unreasoned

(uncritical) attention in this way: Was I in the past? Was I not in the past? What was I in

the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what was I in the past? Shall I be in

the future? Shall I not be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in

the future? Having been what, what shall I be in the future? Or else he wonders about

himself now in the presently arisen period in this way: Am I? Am I not? What am I?

How am I? Whence has this being come? Whither is it bound? When he gives

unreasoned attention in this way, then one of six types of view arises in him as true and

established: My self exists or My self does not exist or I perceive self with self or I

perceive not-self with self or I perceive self with not-self or some such view as This is

my self that speaks and feels and experiences here or there the ripening of good and bad

actions; but this my self is permanent, everlasting, not subject to change, and will

endure as long as eternity. This field of views is called the thicket of views, the

wilderness of views, the contortion of views, the vacillation of views, the fetter of

views. The untaught ordinary man bound by the fetter of views is not freed from birth,ageing and death, sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair: he is not freed from

suffering, I say. MN 2

What is right intention?It is the intention of renunciation, the intention of non-ill will,

the intention of non-cruelty: this is called right intention.

When a noble disciple has clearly seen with right understanding, as it actually is, how

little gratification sensual desires provide and how much pain and despair they entail,

and how great is their inadequacy, and he attains to happiness and pleasure dissociated

from sensual desires and unwholesome states, or to something higher than that, then he

is no more interested in sensual desires. MN 14

What is right speech?Abstention from lying, slander, abuse, and gossip; this is called

right speech.

He abandons slander: as one who is neither a repeater elsewhere of what is heard here

for the purpose of causing division from these, nor a repeater to these of what is heard


36/81

elsewhere for the purpose of causing division from those, who is thus a reuniter of the

divided, a promoter of friendships, enjoying concord, rejoicing in concord, delighting

in concord, he becomes a speaker of words that promote concord. He abandons abuse:

he becomes a speaker of such words as are innocent, pleasing to the ear and lovable, as

go to the heart, are civil, desired of many and dear to many.He abandons gossip: as

one who tells that which is seasonable, factual, good, and the Dhamma and

Discipline, he speaks in season speech worth recording, which is reasoned, definite,

and connected with good. MN 41

What is right action? Abstention from killing living beings, stealing, misconduct in

sensual desires: this is called right action.

When a lay follower possesses five things, he lives with confidence in his house, and he

will find himself in heaven as sure as if he had been carried off and put there. What are

the five? He abstains from killing living beings, from taking what is not given, from

misconduct in sensual desires, from speaking falsehood, and from indulging in liquor,

wine, and fermented brews.AN 5:17273

What is Right Livelihood? Scheming (to deceive), persuading, hinting, belittling, and

pursuing gain with gain; this is called wrong livelihood (for bhikkhus). MN 117 Thereare five trades that a lay follower should not ply. What five? They are: trading in

weapons, living beings, meat, liquor, and poisons. AN 5:177 The group of factors, right

speech, action, and livelihood (virtue or sila) constitute is the preliminary stage of the

path.

What is right effort? Here a bhikkhu awakens desire for the non-arising of unarisen

evil unwholesome states, for which he makes efforts, arouses energy, exerts his mind,

and endeavours. He awakens desire for the abandoning of arisen evil unwholesome

states, for which he makes efforts. He awakens desire for the arising of unarisen

wholesome states, for which he makes efforts. He awakens desire for the

continuance, non-corruption, strengthening, maintenance in being, and perfecting, of

arisen wholesome states, for which he makes efforts, arouses energy, exerts his mind, and

endeavours: this is called right effort. SN 45:8; DN 22


37/81

What is right mindfulness?32

Here a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware and

mindful, having put away covertousness and grief for the world.

He abides contemplating feelings as feelings, ardent.

He abides contemplating consciousness as consciousness, ardent.

He abides contemplating mental objects as mental objects, ardent, fully aware and

mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world.

This is called right mindfulness.

How does a bhikkhu abide contemplating the body as a body?

Here a bhikkhu, gone to the forest or to the root of a tree or to a room that is void,

sits down; having folded his legs crosswise, set his body erect, and established

mindfulness in front of him, just mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.

As a skilled turner or his apprentice, when making a long turn, understands I make a

long turn, or when making a short turn, understands I make a short turn, so, breathing

in long, the bhikkhu understands I breathe in long, or breathing out long, he understands

I breathe out long; breathing in short, he understands I breathe in short, or breathing

out short, he understands I breathe out short. He trains thus: I shall breathe in

experiencing the whole body (of breaths); he trains thus: I shall breathe out

experiencing the whole body (of breaths). He trains thus: I shall breathe in

tranquillizing the bodily formation (function); he trains thus: I shall breathe out

tranquillizing the bodily formation (function). He abides contemplating the body as a

body in this way either in himself, or externally, or in himself and externally.

Or else he contemplates in the body either its factors of origination, or its factors of fall,

or its factors of origination and fall. Or else mindfulness that There is a body is

established in him to the extent of bare knowledge and remembrance of it while he


38/81

abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world.That is how a bhikkhu abides

contemplating the body as a body.

Again, when walking, a bhikkhu understands I am walking; or when standing,

he understands I am standing; or when sitting, he understands I am sitting; or when

lying down, he understands I am lying down. Or whatever position his body is in, he

understands it to be so disposed.

He abides contemplating the body as a body externally. Or else he contemplates

the factors or origination and fall. Or else mindfulness not clinging to anything in the

world. That also is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body. Again, a

bhikkhu is fully aware in moving to and fro, in looking ahead and away, in flexing and

extending the limbs, in wearing the outer cloak of patches, the bowl and other robes, in

eating, drinking, chewing, and tasting, in evacuating the bowels and making water, and

he is fully aware and mindful in walking, standing, sitting, going to sleep, waking,

talking, and keeping silent. He abides contemplating.

That also is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body.

Again, as though there were a bag with two openings full of many sorts of grain, suchas hill rice, red rice, beans, peas, millet, and white rice, and a man with good sight had

opened it and were reviewing it: This is hill rice, this is red rice, this is beans, this is

peas, this is millet, this is white rice; so too a bhikkhu reviews this body up from the

soles of the feet and down from the top of the hair as full of many kinds of filth: There

are in this body head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin; flesh, sinews, bones, bone-

marrow, kidneys; heart, liver, midriff, spleen, lights; bowels, entrails, gorge, dung;

bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat; tears, grease, spittle, snot, oilof-the-joints, and urine.

He abides contemplating.

That also is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body. Again, as though

a skilled butcher or his apprentice had slaughtered a cow and were seated at the four

crossroads with it cut up into pieces; so too, in whatever position a bhikkhu finds this

body, he reviews it according to the elements: There are in this body earth element,

water element, fire element, and air element.


39/81


That also is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body. Again, a bhikkhu

judges this same body as though he were looking at a corpse thrown on a charnel ground,

one-day dead, two-days dead, three-days dead, bloated, livid, and oozing with matter:

This body too is of such a nature, will be like that, is not exempt from that.

He abides contemplating.That also is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body

as a body.

Again, a bhikkhu judges this same body as though he were looking at a corpse thrown

on a charnel ground, being devoured by crows, kites, vultures, dogs, jackals, and the

multitudinous varieties of worms: as though he were looking at a corpse thrown on a

charnel ground, a skeleton with flesh and blood, and held together by sinews: a

fleshless skeleton smeared with blood and held together by sinews: a skeleton without

flesh or blood, held together by sinews: bones without sinews, scattered in all

directions, here a hand-bone, there a foot-bone, there a shin-bone, there a thigh-bone,

there a hip-bone, there a back-bone, there a skull: bones bleached white, the colour

of shells: bones heaped up, more than a year old: bones rotted and crumbled to

dust: This body too is of such a nature, will be like that, is not exempt from that.


And how does a bhikkhu abide contemplating feelings as feelings?

Here, when feeling a pleasant feeling, a bhikkhu understands I feel a pleasant

feeling; when feeling a painful feeling, he understands I feel a painful feeling; when

feeling a neither painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he understands I feel a neither-painful-nor-

pleasant feeling.

When feeling a materialistic pleasant feeling, he understands I feel a materialistic

pleasant feeling; (and so with the other two). When feeling an unmaterialistic

pleasant feeling, he understands I feel an unmaterialistic pleasant feeling; (and so

with the other two). He abides contemplating feelings as feelings in this way either in

himself, or externally, or inhimself and externally. Or else he contemplates in feelings

either their factors of origination, or their factors of fall,or their factors of origination and

fall. Or else mindfulness that There are feelings is established in him to the extent of


40/81

bareknowledge and remembrance of it while he abides independent, not clinging to

anything in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating feelings as feelings.

And how does a bhikkhu abide contemplating consciousness as consciousness?

Here a bhikkhu understands consciousness affected by lust as affected by lust, and that

unaffected by lust as unaffected by lust. He understands consciousness affected by

hate as affected by hate, and that unaffected by hate as unaffected by hate. He

understands consciousness affected by delusion as affected by delusion, and that

unaffected by delusion as unaffected by delusion. He understands contracted

consciousness as contracted, and distracted consciousness as distracted. He

understands exalted consciousness as exalted, and that unexalted as unexalted. He

understands surpassed consciousness as surpassed, and that unsurpassed as

unsurpassed. He understands concentrated consciousness as concentrated, and that

unconcentrated as unconcentrated. He understands liberated consciousness as liberated,

and that unliberated as unliberated. He abides contemplating consciousness as

consciousness in this way either in himself, or externally, or in himself and externally.

Or else he contemplates in consciousness its factors of origination, or its factors of fall,

or its factors of origination and fall.

Or else mindfulness that There is consciousness is established in him to the extent ofbare knowledge and remembrance of it while he abides independent, not clinging to

anything in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating consciousness as

consciousness.

And how does a bhikkhu abide contemplating mental objects as mental objects? Here,

a bhikkhu abides contemplating mental objects as mental objects in terms of the five

hindrances.

How is that done? Here, when there is desire for sensuality in him, he understands There

is desire for sensuality in me; or when there is no desire for sensuality in him, he

understands There is no desire for sensuality in me; and also he understands how there

comes to be the arising of unarisen desire for sensuality, and how there comes to be the

abandoning of arisen desire for sensuality, and how there comes to be the future non-

arising of abandoned desire for sensuality. When there is ill will in him When there is

lethargy and drowsiness in him When there is agitation and worry in him When

there is uncertainty in him he understands how there comes to be the future non-


41/81

arising of abandoned uncertainty. He abides contemplating mental objects as mental

objects in himself, or externally, or in himself and externally. Or else he contemplates

in mental objects either their factors of origination, or their factors of fall, or their factors

of origination and fall. Or else mindfulness that There are mental objects is established

in him to the extent of bare knowledge and remembrance of it while he abides

independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides

contemplating mental objects as mental objects in terms of the five hindrances.

Again, a bhikkhu abides contemplating mental objects as mental objects in terms of the

five aggregates affected by clinging. How is that done? Here a bhikkhu understands:

Such is form, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is feeling, such its origin, such

its disappearance; such is perception, such its origin, such its disappearance; such are

formations, such their origin, such their disappearance; such is consciousness, such its

origin, such its disappearance.


That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating mental objects as mental objects in terms of

the

five aggregates affected by clinging. Again, a bhikkhu abides contemplating mentalobjects as mental objects in terms of the six bases in oneself and external. How is that

done? Here a bhikkhu understands the eye and visible forms and the fetter that arises

owing to both; he understands how there comes to be the arising of the unarisen fetter,

and how there comes to be the abandoning of the arisen fetter, and how there comes to be

the future non-arising of the abandoned fetter. He understands the ear and sounds the

nose and odours the tongue and flavours the body and tangibles the mind and

mental objects and the fetter that arises owing to both; and he understands how comes

to be the future non-arising of the abandoned fetter.


That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating mental objects as mental objects in terms of

the six bases in oneself and external. Again, a bhikkhu abides contemplating mental

objects as mental objects in terms of the seven enlightenment factors. How is that

done? Here, when there is the mindfulness enlightenment factor in him, a bhikkhu

understands There is the mindfulness enlightenment factor in me; when there is no

mindfulness enlightenment factor in him, he und

Documents

Buddhism a concise introduction