NO. 1 : CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION

 

                                                          CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION

1.1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH :      

                For the forty-five years of his missionary work, the Buddha preached the Dhamma countless times to various groups of people ranging from beggars to kings. He taught them by different methods according to their tendencies, different places and circumstances. The Buddha’s teachings were compiled and called the Tipitaka (Three Baskets). However, by focusing on the essence of the Dhamma our eyes are drawn to the Four Noble Truths. 

                Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, the distinguished monk-scholar of Thailand, has classified the Dhamma (Buddha’s teachings) into four categories : 

                1. Nature Itself 

                2. The Law of Nature 

                3. The Duty to Act in Accordance with the Law of Nature 

                4. The Benefits to be derived from Acting in Accordance with the Law of Nature.1

              The main teachings of the Dhamma have been summarized by the Blessed One in four propositions, which are generally know as the Four Noble Truths (Cattāri Ariyasaccāni).2 They contain the philosophy and morality of Buddhism. They are as follows : 

              1. Dukkha : The Noble Truth of the Suffering is associated with all stages and conditions of conscious life. Birth, age, illness, death etc. lead to suffering. It is painful when we are not to obtain what we desire. It is painful when we joined with that which we do not like. More painful still is the separation from that which we love. Briefly stated, the five groups of physical and mental processes that make up the individual are due to grasping and are the objects of grasping. These five groups of grasping lead to Dukkha. 

                2. Samudaya : The Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering is the grasping of desire to live for selfish enjoyment. Sensations begotten by the surrounding world create the illusion of a separate self. This Illusory self manifests its activity in the craving to thing for selfish enjoyment which entangles man in pain and suffering. Pleasure is the deceitful siren which lures to pain. 

                3. Niroda : The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering is possible by abandoning selfish craving. When it is destroyed, then there is necessarily an end for suffering. This truth represents Nibbāna, the goal of every Buddhist endeavor. Nibbāna is a state of mind where ignorance and craving are replaced by wisdom and compassion. 

                4. Magga : The Noble Truth of the Eightfold Path (ariya atthańgika-magga) or the path which leads to the cessation of suffering. It is the means by which man can get rid of all selfish cravings and attain perfect freedom from suffering. He who has fathomed the Dhamma will necessarily walk in the right path, and to him salvation is assured. 

                Let us connect the Four Noble Truths to the four categories of the Dhamma mentioned by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. 

               1. Sacca-Dhamma : It means the nature itself, the law of nature and the benefits to be derived from acting in accordance with the law of nature. The Buddha  acknowledged, disclosed, and expounded upon the nature and the law of nature. They are not subject to the concepts of good and bad ; rather, they deal with the simple reality of things as they are : viz., truth. For example he preached about the law of human life, the reality of existence. In relation to the Four Noble Truths, Sacca-Dhamma deals with the Truth of Suffering (Dukkha), the Truth of Cause of Suffering (Samudaya), and the Truth of Cessation of Suffering (Nibbāna). These first three truths are path of the natural process of life and not judged as either good or evil. 

                 2. Cariya-Dhamma : It means the duty to act in accordance with the law of nature. In the relation to the Four Noble Truths, Cariya-Dhamma directly refers to the Truth of Path which leads to the Cessation of Suffering or the Noble Eightfold Path (Magga) which deals with issues of right or wrong, good and evil. This Noble Eightfold Path is the essence of Buddhist ethics.3

                In this thesis, Sacca-Dhamma will be discussed under the term “Existence,” while Cariya-Dhamma will be discussed under the term “Enlightenment.” 

 

1.1.1. The Buddhist Concept of Existence (Metaphysical Doctrine) 

               In Buddhism, all existing entities, namely, animals, persons, things etc. are only the streams of tangible states which are composed of a number of sub-elements within other sub-elements. All are dependently conditioned by causes, and relating to each other by their circles of existing and distinction. All those streams of states alter their formations all the time. We can easily say that what is called a person is the composition of all streams of mental-objects which is known by the term “the five aggregate.” 

                Man’s position in Theravada Buddhism is the state that completely refutes superstition, but derives from the Dependent Origination, that is, after existed, all states then gradually decline under the process of conditioned arising. This is the reality of human life.4

                In the process of human development, Buddhism accepts the ability of human-beings and judges human as the creatures which are more capable of developing and purifying their own minds than gods, or even of training themselves towards the state of the Buddha.5 Moreover, Buddhism praises the person with self-training as an excellence. 

                 Briefly saying, human beings are their own masters, their minds which are the most dominant conductors are capable of creating what they want without any aid from any outside factors. 

                  By the generality of an ordinary man, one is always processed with ignorance, craving, clinging which transform his wisdom into the opposite and bring impurities into his life, that eventually result in his own mind’s confusion and melancholy, and also the unclear or distorting sight of things. Besides, with all those mental-defilements, men will be held under attachments. When ignorance, craving and clinging are abolished or extinct, knowledge or transcendental wisdom will become transparent, one can see things or the world and his own life as they really are, not as what he wants them to be or to see them in their disguised form. With this kind of considering ability, one’s acknowledgement of life and the world will be changed, together with his feelings and actions towards other things and also his personality. The mind of the person with all this views will be broadly opened, delightfully liberal, fresh and clean, refined and profound, under the state denominated ‘Nirvāna.’ 

 

1.1.2. The Buddhist Concept of Enlightenment (Ethical Doctrine) 

            Nibbāna is beyond all terms of duality and relativity. It is therefore beyond our conception of good and evil, right and wrong, existence and non-existence. Even the word ‘happiness’ which is used to describe Nibbāna has an entirely different sense here. 

            The way leading to the cessation of suffering or Nibbāna is known as the ‘Middle Path’, because it avoids two extremes : one extreme being the search for happiness through the pleasure of the senses, which is ‘low, common, unprofitable and the way of the ordinary people’ ; the other being the search for happiness through self-mortification in different forms of asceticism, which is ‘painful, unworthy and unprofitable.’6 

             The Buddha discovered through experience the Middle Path ‘which gives vision and knowledge, which leads to Calm, Insight, Enlightenment - the ‘Nibbāna.’ This Middle Path is generally referred to as the Noble Eight-fold Path, because it is composed of eight categories or divisions : namely, 

              1. Right Understanding (Sammā ditthi) 

              2. Right Thought (Sammā sańkappa) 

              3. Right Speech (Sammā vāca) 

              4. Right Action (Sammā Kammanta) 

              5. Right Livelihood (Sammā ājīva) 

              6. Right Effort (Sammā vāyāma) 

              7. Right Mindfulness (Sammā sati) 

              8. Right Concentration (Sammā Samādhi).7

               The whole ethical teaching of the Buddha deals in some way or other with the Path. He explained it in different ways and in different words to different people, according to the stage of their development and their capacity to understand and follow him. But the essence of those many thousand discourses scattered in the Buddhist scriptures is found in the Noble Eight-fold Path. These eight factors aim at promoting and perfecting the three essentials of Buddhist training and discipline, namely :- 

1. Sīla ; Ethical Conduct or Morality 
2. Samādhi ; Mental Discipline or Concentration, and 
3. Paññā ; Wisdom.8 

                According to Buddhism, for a man to be perfect, there are two qualities that he should develop equally : compassion (Karunā) on one side, and wisdom (Paññā) on the other. Here compassion represent love, charity, kindness, tolerance and such noble qualities on the emotional side, or qualities of the heart, while wisdom would stand for the intellectual side or the qualities of the mind. If one develops only the emotional neglecting the intellectual, one may become a good-hearted fool : while to develop only the intellectual side neglecting the emotional may turn one into a hard-hearted intellect without feeling for others. Therefore, to be perfect one has to develop both equally. That is the aim of the Buddhist way of life. 

1.1.3. The Purpose and Scope of this Research Work : 

                   The teachings of the Buddha, as presented in this thesis are divided into two groups : a) metaphysical (Sacca-Dhamma) and b) ethical (Cariya-Dhamma). Of these teachings, ethical doctrines, namely the doctrines which lead one to the cessation of human suffering, are based on metaphysical doctrines. These metaphysical teachings are not directly practical in ordinary life, but they are the philosophical foundations of the practical teachings. Without these foundations ethical teachings in Buddhism must be baseless as a tree without roots. 

                   Therefore the purpose of this research project is to study the concept of existence or metaphysical doctrines (Sacca-Dhamma) and the concept of enlightenment or ethical doctrines (Cariya-Dhamma) in Theravāda Buddhism. Especially, the final goal of the thesis is to study the relations between the metaphysical and ethical doctrines or existence and enlightenment. 

     The scope of the research work would be mainly the examination of the following points. 

1. The explanation of metaphysical concept (Sacca-Dhamma) and ethical concept (Cariya-Dhamma) as found in Buddhist philosophy. 
2. To study the relation between Existence and Enlightenment as found in the primary sources (Abhidhamma and Nikāyas). 
3. The application of existence and enlightenment to solve the problems of the world in the present day context.

1.1.4. The Methods and Sources of Research 

                The method of research is the descriptive and analytic. The concepts of metaphysics and ethics will be studied by means of a documentary examination and investigation as well as by its analysis. The study and presentation of the materials found from the primary sources and the secondary sources are : 

                 1. The information in the primary sources ; The Pāli Nikāyas and the Pāli Abhidhamma as well as their translations. Besides, their commentaries (Atthakathā), sub-commentaries (Tikā) and sub-subcommentaries (Anutikā). 

                   Later renowned Pāli scriptures as Milindapanhā, Visuddhimagga, Abhidhammatta-Sańgaha also are carefully looked into, as they are treated as the systematic works on Buddhism. 

                  2. The information in the secondary sources : The explanatory works on Buddhism written by various scholars and supporting literature. 

 

1.2. THE BACKGROUND OF BUDDHISM 

 

1.2.1. The Life of the Buddha 

              Buddhism is the Western term for the teachings of the Buddha or the religion founded by the Buddha. In the East it is known as the Buddha-Sāsana. 

              ‘Buddha’ is not a name. It is a title, meaning the Enlightened One or the Awakened One. The Buddha’s personal name was Siddhattha (Skt. Siddhārtha) and his clan name was Gotama (Skt. Gautama). Thus he was sometimes called Siddhattha Gotama. Few people, however, now make use of these names. They simply call him the Buddha or Gotama the Buddha. 

               The Buddha lived twenty-five centuries ago in North India. He was born a prince of the Sakyan kingdom which was located at the foot of the Himalaya. His father, who was the king ruling over the Sakyas, was called Suddhodana. The Queen who was the Prince’s mother was called Maya. As a prince, he grew up in the midst of luxury, led the happy life of a privileged youth and married Princess Yasodara, his beautiful cousin, who bore him a son, Rahula. 

                The princely luxurious life, however, could not shut the eyes of a wise and thoughtful person like him from the realities of life. Thus, in spite of his father’s efforts to keep his mind attached to the world and satisfied with the enjoyment of the sensual pleasures within the palace gates, he became aware of the dark side of life, the sorrows of his fellow beings and the fleeting nature of all worldly things. 

                 This happened for the first time when he took chariot rides in the streets of his father’s capital, Kapilavastu. Then he saw four sights which altered his whole life. The first three of them- a man feeble with old age, another with a grievous disease, and a corpse- filled him with a longing to find some way to help his follow men and to discover the true meaning of life. The fourth sight, a monk, gave him a hope of the possibility of learning about Truth and finding a way out of suffering. 

                  Then, at the age of 29, Prince Siddhattha left his father’s palace, left his dearly loved wife and newborn son, and led the life of a wandering ascetic, devoting himself to finding someway of overcoming suffering. 

                  First of all, he went to two foremost Brahmin ascetics who taught him the highest stages of the Yoga mystic practices. Unsatisfied with these teachers, he went on to the practice of self-mortification until he realized that such practices were foolish and useless. Six years of experiment in the forest led him to the conclusion that the well-worn paths of Yoga and asceticism did not lead to wisdom. He then gave up these practices and went in his own way, applying the reflective thought of conscious meditation to a rational simple life of moderation. 

                    On full moon day of May, forty-five years before the Buddhist Era, while sitting under the Bodhi tree at Gaya, he found his answer and attained Enlightenment. The Great Man, now known as the Buddha, went first from Gaya to Sarnath near Benares where he gave his first sermon in the Deer Park. From then through the remaining 45 years of his life, he wandered from place to place teaching his discoveries to all who would listen to him and organizing his followers who renounced the world to form the Sańga.

                     At last, at the age of eighty and in the year 543 B.C., the Buddha fell ill while on his way to Kusinara, capital of the Malla State. Even in the face of death his mind moved towards others. He told Ananda, his faithful attendant, to console Cunda, the poor black smith from whose house the Buddha ate his last meal with indigestible pork, that his food-offering was of great fruit and merit and that he should not blame himself for the food. On his deathbed under two Sal trees in the Sala Grove of the Mallas, he explained to his disciples that they would not be left without the Teacher, for “the Doctrine and Discipline I have taught you, that shall be your Teacher, when I am gone.”9 And his last words were : “Behold now, monks, I exhort you. Subject to decay are all component things. Work out your salvation with diligence.”10 

                      Though it is now more than 2500 years since the passing away of the Buddha, the Dhamma he taught remains our Teacher as he himself named it. The Sańgha which consists of the followers who study, practice and disseminate the Dhamma, has received his torch of light from the torchbearer himself and carried it on and on to us throughout lands and countries. The three of them – the Buddha, the founder; the Dharma, the teaching; and the Sańgha, the Order of disciples – form the Triple Gem which all the Buddhists value the best of all precious things, and the Threefold Refuge which guides them on the Path of the true good life. Each year on the Visakha Full Moon, throughout the world, millions of men and women gather together to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and passing away of this Great Man. 

                      The Birth reminds them of the fact that a man, by training himself through his own effort and intelligence, can achieve supreme attainments even to be a Buddha; the Enlightenment, that only through the discovery of the Buddha did the timeless Dharma become known to the world; and the Passing Away, that though the Buddha as a person was gone, the light of the timeless Dharma will still be kept shining so long as there is the Sańgha, a community of righteous followers, to carry on the torch by treading the path of self-enlightenment themselves and helping others towards the same goal. 

 

1.2.2. The Early Buddhist Councils 

           1.2.2.1. The First Council 

               In the life-time of the Buddha the Sańgha remained united. Even Devadatta, the Buddha’s cousin tried to create schism among the members of the Sańgha by submitting the five practices (pañca-vatthūni)11 to them, but he could not succeed. Three months after the Buddha’s demise the first Council of monks was held at Rajgriha to draw up the canonical text and the creed in their pure form. Mahakassapa Thera presided over the council, Upali Thera and Ananda Thera were in charge of the recitation of Vinaya Pitaka and Sutta Pitaka respectively which were approved by the 500 Arahants. There is no ground for holding the view that Abhidhamma Pitaka was complied in the council. The king Ajatasatru of Magadha is said to be the great patron of the synod. 

                   The scripture tells us that Purana Thera accompanied by a number of his followers was not invited to take part in the Council. When he was asked to accepted it, he is said to have told them that he would prefer to abide by what he himself had heard from the lips of the Master (Buddha) rather than accept the canon fixed by the group of monks.12

 

1.2.2.2. The Second Council 

                About 100 years after the death of the Buddha (A.B.), Vajjain monks (vajjīputra), according to the Pāli source, started ten practices (dasa-vatthūni) such as storage of salt in a horn (sińgilona-kappa), taking meals immediately after midday when shadow fingers broad (dvańgula-kappa), drinking of toddy (jalogi ñpatum) and acceptance of gold and silver (jātarūpa-rajata) etc.13 Yasa Thera is reported to have persuaded Sambhuta Thera and Revatta Thera and other seven hundred Arahants to conduct the Council which was presided over by Sabbakami Thera under the patronage of the king Kalasoka of Vaisali. 

                 Vajjain monks had rejected the verdict of the Theras and held another Council of their own which was attended by the greater number of monks, so that the Council was called “Mahāsangīti” (Great Council) and they came to be known as “Mahāsańgītika” or “Mahasańghika” (Skt. Sthavīra). Here Buddhism was divided into two schools, i.e. Theravāda and Mahāsańghika. According to Huen Tsang, Mahāsańgīti was attended by ten thousand monks and they compiled separate canons, i.e., Vinaya, Sutra, Abhidharma, miscellaneous and Dhārani.14 And the main cause of convoking the council, according to Tibetan and Chinese tradition, was the five-fold dogma which was put forward by the eminent monk named Mahādeva : For example, an Arahant may commit sin by unconscious temptation, one may be an Arahant but not know of it, and an Arahant can also have doubt about the doctrine etc.15 

 

1.2.2.3. The Third Council 

                 About 218 years after the Buddha’s Nirvāna, according to Pāli source, Buddhism was supported by the Emperor Asoka as the state religion. Then onwards it has become a very much flourishing religion. Monks found it easy to get their requisites such as food and cloth. Then the outside heretics (theyya-sańvāsa) moved by the desire for material gains took to robes without proper permission and preached their own heretical doctrines. The pious monks were pained to observe the corrupt practices that crept into Sańgha. It resulted in the discontinuance of Uposatha (observance) and Pavāranā (invitation) for seven years. Then the third council was held to establish the purity of canons, to subdue and to expel the sectarians from the Sańgha. Moggalliputta Tissa Thera presided over the council. And the great royal patron was the Buddhist monarch, Priyadarsī Aśoka. One thousand Arahants attended the synod where Abhidhamma Pitaka was compiled. Tissa Thera was credited to have composed one of seven books of Abhidhamma entitled ‘Kathāvatthu.’16 At the end of the council the nine groups of Buddhist missionaries were sent forth to the different countries to propagate the Buddha-Dhamma such as Mahinda Thera who headed other monks went to Tambapanni-dīpa (Ceylon), and Sona Thera and Uttara Thera went to convert the people of Suvanna-bhūmi (South-East Asia) etc.17

 

1.2.3. The Buddhist Scriptures 

            1.2.3.1. Pāli Tipitaka and its Atthakathā 

The Tipitaka is an extensive body of Canonical Pāli literature in which are enshrined the Teachings of Gotama Buddha expounded for forty-five years from the time of his Enlightenment to his parinibbāna. The discourses of the Buddha cover a wide field of subjects and are made up of exhortations, expositions and injunctions. 

                The general discourses and sermons intended for both the bhikkhus and lay disciples, delivered by the Buddha on various occasions (together with a few discourses delivered by some of his distinguished disciples), are collected and classified in a great division known as the Suttanta Pitaka. 

                  The great division in which are incorporated injunctions and admonitions of the Buddha on modes of conduct, and restraints on both bodily and verbal action of bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs, which form rules of discipline for them, is called the Vinaya Pitaka. 

                   The philosophical aspect of the Buddha’s Teaching, more profound and abstract than the discourses of the Suttanta Pitaka, is classified under the great division known as the Abhidhamma Pitaka. Abhidhamma deals with ultimate Truths, expounds ultimate Truths and investigates Mind and Matter and the relationship between them. 

                   All that the Buddha taught forms the subject matter and substance of the Pāli Canon, which is divided into these three divisions called Pitakas – literally baskets. Therefore Tipitakas mean three baskets or three separate divisions of the Buddha’s Teaching. 

                  As it was discussed, the Tipitakas were properly compiled in the Third Council (about 3rd century B.C.) and have been handed down through oral recitation by chapters of monks. The record of them in the book form (of palm-leaves) was done in the Fifth Council which was held in Sri Lanka during the reign of the king Vattagāminī Abhaya (101-77 B.C.). Moreover, the Sinhales tradition also believes that all Atthakathā (commentaries on Tipitaka) were also revived, recast and arranged (for subject like) in the Council.18

 

1.2.3.2. Buddhaghosa (500 C.E.) 

                   In the field of Pāli literature no one can match Ācariya Buddhaghosa. All Buddhists are greatly indebted to him for his commentation and interpretation of Buddha-vacana. According to Sańgītivańsa, the sixth Council was held in Ceylon in the reign of King Mahānāma (B.E. 516) in which all Atthakathā have been translated from Singhalese into Māgadhī (or Pāli) by him.19 According to Mahāvańsa, Buddhaghosa was born near Bodhgaya, Bihar (500 C.E.). Having become a monk and being urged by his teacher, Revata Thera, Buddhagosa proceeded to Sri Lanka for rejuvenation of Pāli and retranslation of Atthakathā. Among his important works Visuddhimagga stands supreme. And the other works Atthasālinī, Samanta-pāsādikā, Jātaka atthakathā and Dhammapada-attakathā are also worthy of mention. 

 

1.2.3.3. Anuruddha (800-1200 C.E.) 

                 He was properly a native of South India. According to Saddhamma sańgaha, Ācaraya Anuruddha wrote Paramattha-vinicachaya when he was staying in Kancipuram.20 Apart from this, Abhidhammattha-sańgaha and Nāmarūpa-vinicachaya are his very important works as has been confirmed by both Sāsanavańsa and Ganthavańsa.21

                   In addition to this, Ācarya Buddhadatta (contemporary to Buddhagosa) who wrote Abhidhammāvatāra and Madhurattha-vilāsinī etc. and Ācarya Dhammapāla (post Buddhagosa) who wrote Nettipakarnam and Paramattha-dīpanī etc., are also the great Pāli Commentator from South India. 

 

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1 Donald K. Swearer, (Ed.), Me and Mind : Selected Essays of Bhikkhu Buddhadasa, Delhli : Sri Satguru Publication, 1991, p.128.

2 Vin. 1-9 ; D. II. 305 ; S.V. 421 ; Vism. 498 ; Vbn. 99.

3 Vide. P. Somwang Kaewsufong, A Critical Study of the Ethics of Early Buddhism, (Ph.D. Thesis, Banaras Hindu University, 1998), pp.26-27.

4 Phrarajavaramuni, Buddha-Dhamma, Bangkok : The Dhamma Mobilization Party, 1982, p.16.

5 Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, Bangkok ; Haw Trai Foundation, 1999, p. 1.

6 Ibid., p. 45.

7 D. II. 312 ; M. I. 61 ; M. III. 251 ; Vbh. 235.

8 Rahula, Walpola, op.cit., p. 46.

9 D. II. 154.

10 Ibid.

11 Vide Vin. III. 196-7.

12 Ibid., 289-90.

13 Ibid., 294.

14 Quoted in L.M. Joshi and Others, Buddhism, Panjab University, Patiala (India), 1969, p.7.

15 Vide Jiryo Masuda, Origin and Doctrines of Early Indian Buddhist Schools, (A Translation of the Hsuan Chwang Version of Vasumitra’s Treatise), Leipzig, Verlage Der Asia Major, 1925, pp. 14-15.

16 P.V. Babat, (Ed.), 2500 Years of Buddhism, Delhi : Publication Division, Govt. of India, 1987, p. 39 ff. 

17 Geiger Wilhelm (Ed.), The Mahāvańsa, London : Pali Text Society, 1908, p. 94 ff.

18 P.V. Babat, op.cit. pp. 44,45.

19 Quoted in Ibid, p. 186.

20 Saddhamma-sańgaha, Saddhananda (Ed.), London : Pali Text Society, 1890, p. 62.

21 Sāsanavańsa, Bade Bode (Ed.), London : Pali Text Society, 1897, p. 34 ; Ganthavańsa, Minayoff (Ed.), London : Pali Text Society, 1886, p. 61.