To reach Post 1 which is the beginning of the text, begin by clicking on "Older Posts" at the bottom of this "Contents" page. Continue clicking on "Older Posts" at the bottom of ensuing posts until you arrive at Post 1. To move forward from any post click on "Newer Posts" at the bottom of any post.
Contents
======
Source Abbreviations
Buddhism in a Jiffy
Preface
POST 1
Enlightenment - Four Noble Truths - Noble Eightfold Path - The Three Characteristics of Existence - The Good and Peaceful - Summary of the First Discourse
POST 2
The Competitors - Hindus (Brahmins/Upanisadists) - Vedas - Hymn to Vata - Hymn of Creation - To Purusa Vanna/Caste/Color System - Upanisads - The Search for the Self/Soul - Atman-Brahman - Jains
POST 3
Materialists - The Materialist Figures - Skeptics and Agnostics - The Dasyus - Conclusion to Buddhism's Competitors
POST 4
Life and Death of the Buddha - The Sutta Pitaka - THE INDIVIDUAL SUTTAS - Suttas on the human personality - Five Aggregates - Suttas on Causality - Dependency - The Ten Powers Formula
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Source Abbreviations
AN Anguttara Nikaya - The Numerical Discourses
Bhikkhu Bodhi
AP4 Asian Philosophies 4th Edition
John Koller
Bhikkhu Bodhi
AP4 Asian Philosophies 4th Edition
John Koller
BCP The Buddha and the Concept of Peace
David Kalupahana
BP Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis
David Kalupahana
BPS The Great Discourse on Causation
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Buddhist Publication Society
DN Digha Nikaya - Long Discourses of the Buddha
Maurice Walshe
EB Early Buddhism: Doctrine and Discipline
C. H. S. Ward
EBO Early Buddhism and its Origins
Vishwanath Prasad Varma
EEB Ethics in Early Buddhism
David Kalupahana
HBP History of Buddhist Philosophy: Continuities and
Discontinuities
David Kalupahana
HC Hymn of Creation (Nasadiya Sukta, Rigveda, X, 129)
Vasuveda S. Agrawala
IM Indian Materialism
Mishra, Umesha
IP Indian Philosophy
Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
KN Khuddaka Nikaya - Division of Small Books
LS The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom
Edward Conze
MN Majjhima Nikaya - Middle Length Discourses
Bhikkhus Bodhi and Nanamoli
NAG Nagarjuna The Philosophy of the Middle Way
David Kalupahana
OP Oriental Philosophy
BP Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis
David Kalupahana
BPS The Great Discourse on Causation
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Buddhist Publication Society
DN Digha Nikaya - Long Discourses of the Buddha
Maurice Walshe
EB Early Buddhism: Doctrine and Discipline
C. H. S. Ward
EBO Early Buddhism and its Origins
Vishwanath Prasad Varma
EEB Ethics in Early Buddhism
David Kalupahana
HBP History of Buddhist Philosophy: Continuities and
Discontinuities
David Kalupahana
HC Hymn of Creation (Nasadiya Sukta, Rigveda, X, 129)
Vasuveda S. Agrawala
IM Indian Materialism
Mishra, Umesha
IP Indian Philosophy
Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
KN Khuddaka Nikaya - Division of Small Books
LS The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom
Edward Conze
MN Majjhima Nikaya - Middle Length Discourses
Bhikkhus Bodhi and Nanamoli
NAG Nagarjuna The Philosophy of the Middle Way
David Kalupahana
OP Oriental Philosophy
John Koller
OP2 Oriental Philosophy 2nd Edition
John Koller
PBP The Principles of Buddhist Psychology
David Kalupahana
PTI The Philosophical Traditions of India
P.T. Raju
OP2 Oriental Philosophy 2nd Edition
John Koller
PBP The Principles of Buddhist Psychology
David Kalupahana
PTI The Philosophical Traditions of India
P.T. Raju
SAD Saddharma Pundarika Suttra
H. Kerns
SIP A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy
Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan & Charles Moore
SN Samyutta Nikaya
Bhikkhu Bodhi
SN1 Sagatha Vagga (book) with Verses
SN2 Nidana Vagga (book) of Causation
SN3 Khanda Vagga (book) of Aggregates
SN4 Salayatana Vagga (book) of the Six Sense Bases
SN5 Maha Vagga (book) the Great Book
WBT What the Buddha Taught
Walpola Rahula
SIP A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy
Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan & Charles Moore
SN Samyutta Nikaya
Bhikkhu Bodhi
SN1 Sagatha Vagga (book) with Verses
SN2 Nidana Vagga (book) of Causation
SN3 Khanda Vagga (book) of Aggregates
SN4 Salayatana Vagga (book) of the Six Sense Bases
SN5 Maha Vagga (book) the Great Book
WBT What the Buddha Taught
Walpola Rahula
Monday, May 3, 2010
Buddhism in a Jiffy
What is the source book of Buddhism?
===========================
The Sutta Pitaka, the original discourses of the Buddha. This means for the most part "Ideas in Buddhism" is devoted to the ideas of original/early Buddhism. The words originating in the Sutta Pitaka are the words of Siddhatha Gotama and not those of other Buddhas appearing later in Buddhist history [Mahayana]. The Sutta Pitaka is one of three baskets [pitakas] of the Tipitaka [the Three Baskets] of the Pali Canon. The second pitaka is the Vinaya Pitaka which holds the Rules of Discipline for the Sangha [the community of Bhikkhus [monks] and Bhikkhunis [nuns] ] and the third is the Abhidhamma Pitaka, the philosophical treatment of the Sutta Pitaka.
What is the language of Buddhism?
========================
The language the Buddha spoke is unknown. The orally transmitted Sutta Pitaka was recorded by monks in the Pali language in Sri Lanka in the 1st Century BCE.
What are the most important ideas in Buddhism?
===================================
The Four Noble Truths:
1) All this is suffering
2) Suffering is caused by this craving
3) Suffering is removed by removing this craving
4) The way to the removal of suffering is this Noble Eightfold Path
*** Right view
*** Right intention
*** Right speech
*** Right action
*** Right livelihood
*** Right effort
*** Right mindfulness
*** Right concentration
Other important ideas are Causality, The Three Characteristics of
Existence - Impermanence (anicca), Suffering (dukkha), and
Non Substantiality/Non Self (anatta)
What is the objective of Buddhism?
=========================
The removal of suffering which is the equivalent of the attainment of Nibbana/Enlightenment. Nibbana is the complete removal of ignorance, craving and attachment in a person, or, more precisely it is the "Destruction of lust, hatred and delusion (SN4.251)".
The objective of Buddhism is the removal of individual suffering, but, Buddhism also has social objectives. High among these objectives are the seeking for the welfare and well being of society.
Is Buddhism a religion?
=================
Buddhism is most often described as the teachings of the Buddhist religion. This description may be true of the later self described transcendent Mahayana. Today, all of the major religions of the world are transcendental---Judaism, Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam and Mahayana Buddhism. However, it is difficult to find any commonality between the original [Theravada] Buddhism and religion. Among the thousands and thousands of religions in the world, are there any that refutes a personal relationship between an individual soul and a God or gods or some other kind of an ultimate reality? Original Buddhism, alone, maintains there is no such relationship nor are there any divine laws maintaining such a relationship. Does it make any sense to label a teaching religious when it is neither transcendental nor divine? Well, the original Buddhism is neither.
===========================
The Sutta Pitaka, the original discourses of the Buddha. This means for the most part "Ideas in Buddhism" is devoted to the ideas of original/early Buddhism. The words originating in the Sutta Pitaka are the words of Siddhatha Gotama and not those of other Buddhas appearing later in Buddhist history [Mahayana]. The Sutta Pitaka is one of three baskets [pitakas] of the Tipitaka [the Three Baskets] of the Pali Canon. The second pitaka is the Vinaya Pitaka which holds the Rules of Discipline for the Sangha [the community of Bhikkhus [monks] and Bhikkhunis [nuns] ] and the third is the Abhidhamma Pitaka, the philosophical treatment of the Sutta Pitaka.
What is the language of Buddhism?
========================
The language the Buddha spoke is unknown. The orally transmitted Sutta Pitaka was recorded by monks in the Pali language in Sri Lanka in the 1st Century BCE.
What are the most important ideas in Buddhism?
===================================
The Four Noble Truths:
1) All this is suffering
2) Suffering is caused by this craving
3) Suffering is removed by removing this craving
4) The way to the removal of suffering is this Noble Eightfold Path
*** Right view
*** Right intention
*** Right speech
*** Right action
*** Right livelihood
*** Right effort
*** Right mindfulness
*** Right concentration
Other important ideas are Causality, The Three Characteristics of
Existence - Impermanence (anicca), Suffering (dukkha), and
Non Substantiality/Non Self (anatta)
What is the objective of Buddhism?
=========================
The removal of suffering which is the equivalent of the attainment of Nibbana/Enlightenment. Nibbana is the complete removal of ignorance, craving and attachment in a person, or, more precisely it is the "Destruction of lust, hatred and delusion (SN4.251)".
The objective of Buddhism is the removal of individual suffering, but, Buddhism also has social objectives. High among these objectives are the seeking for the welfare and well being of society.
Is Buddhism a religion?
=================
Buddhism is most often described as the teachings of the Buddhist religion. This description may be true of the later self described transcendent Mahayana. Today, all of the major religions of the world are transcendental---Judaism, Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam and Mahayana Buddhism. However, it is difficult to find any commonality between the original [Theravada] Buddhism and religion. Among the thousands and thousands of religions in the world, are there any that refutes a personal relationship between an individual soul and a God or gods or some other kind of an ultimate reality? Original Buddhism, alone, maintains there is no such relationship nor are there any divine laws maintaining such a relationship. Does it make any sense to label a teaching religious when it is neither transcendental nor divine? Well, the original Buddhism is neither.
The Buddha said many times Buddhism is not a faith or a belief . In saying so, he unequivocally stated Buddhism is not a religion. So did Mogalliputtatissa, Buddhism's first great philosopher in his most well known work the Kathavathu. The Kathavathu rejected the Brahmanical [Brahmin/Hindu] description of the Buddha as permanent and eternal (HBP p. 123). More importantly, it reveals the human models most opposed by the Buddha---the Personalists, the Realists and the Transcendentalists. There never has been a consensus among Buddhists that Buddhism in fact is a religion. So, if Buddhism is not a religion, and it is not, what is it? Central to Buddhist thought is its ethics, which is tied directly to its objective, the removal of suffering. All the "components" of Buddhism serve only as supports for its ethical views, which primarily argues against the attachment based ethics of the transcendentalists and favors its own non-attachment/detachment based ethics.
The "components" of Buddhism include its 1) philosophy, 2) its world view and 3) its psychology all tailored to assist Buddhist ethical views, each in its own way. While transcendent religion need only to say their claims are of "divine origin" to validate their claims, Buddhist philosophy must justify every claim it makes. The Buddha was an Indian philosopher and rigorously applied reasoning and argumentation to his views. His views were also global and he consequently used philosophy's standards of investigation and reflection to any problem he faced. The Buddha encouraged his listeners to have confidence [saddha] in the Dhamma which is quite different from saying Buddhism is a faith or a belief. Buddhism is a confident teaching. It does not expect faith or belief from its followers.
If Buddhism is anything else it is a world view. In the Buddha's own words, Buddhism is the "middle way". The middle way is the middle way of impermanence, Buddhism's major world view. Impermanence is the first of the "Three Characteristics of Existence". The remaining are Dukkha [suffering] and Anatta [non-self/non-substantiality]. In the Buddha's time, the prevailing world view was that of "existence and non-existence". The Middle Way is the complete refutation of such a world view. No, the world is not explained by existence nor non-existence; it is the middle way of impermanence between these extremes which correctly describes the world and the self.
Buddhist ethics nor any of Buddhism's "components" are mutually exclusive. It's causality [paticasamupaddha] could be said to be a characteristic of existence and also foundational to its philosophy and ethics as well. Its psychology is also unique to Buddhism. Buddhism's empirical psychology was never practiced prior to the arrival of Buddhism anywhere in the world---not in India, China or Greece. It provided for the Buddha his understanding of the human mind which in turn led to his ethical views and for the need of his philosophy to validate his ethical views.
Of the Buddha himself, he was born a human, lived a human and died a human. Siddhattha Gotama attained enlightenment and then nibbana at age 35 and thereafter was addressed as Buddha, an Awakened One. He was not divine but awakened. Unlike an ordinary person, he had eliminated the causes of bondage which are ignorance, craving and attachment. Any notion of the Buddha's divinity will be dispelled once you are aware he is also remembered a "radical empiricist".
To this day, Buddhism still means different things to different people. The source of these differing views probably could be traced back to a statement the Buddha often made: "Do not accept my law from faith or reverence, don't take my word for it, test the Dhamma [teachings] for yourself." "Testing the Dhamma" requires knowing what the Dhamma says in the first place. Thus, in the Sutta Pitaka (DN iii. 128), the Buddha encourages followers to study the Dhamma "...meaning beside meaning and expression beside expression, without dissension..." This means the best way to understand original Buddhist teachings is to study the Sutta Pitaka and the other two sections of the Pali Cannon, the Abhidhamma Pitaka and Vinaya Pitaka.
It is inevitable the study of the Sutta Pitaka would result in many different interpretations of the Dhamma. These differing interpretations were later spread through two vehicles [yana], Hinayana [Theravada] and Mahayana; and a third distinct vehicle, the Vajrayana. Every Buddhist should have some knowledge of these vehicles and of the original Buddhism as embodied in the Sutta Pitaka. The interpretations of the Tipitaka by various philosophers of these vehicles comprises the history of Buddhism.
Does that ethic include an afterlife?
=========================
Of the Buddha himself, he was born a human, lived a human and died a human. Siddhattha Gotama attained enlightenment and then nibbana at age 35 and thereafter was addressed as Buddha, an Awakened One. He was not divine but awakened. Unlike an ordinary person, he had eliminated the causes of bondage which are ignorance, craving and attachment. Any notion of the Buddha's divinity will be dispelled once you are aware he is also remembered a "radical empiricist".
To this day, Buddhism still means different things to different people. The source of these differing views probably could be traced back to a statement the Buddha often made: "Do not accept my law from faith or reverence, don't take my word for it, test the Dhamma [teachings] for yourself." "Testing the Dhamma" requires knowing what the Dhamma says in the first place. Thus, in the Sutta Pitaka (DN iii. 128), the Buddha encourages followers to study the Dhamma "...meaning beside meaning and expression beside expression, without dissension..." This means the best way to understand original Buddhist teachings is to study the Sutta Pitaka and the other two sections of the Pali Cannon, the Abhidhamma Pitaka and Vinaya Pitaka.
It is inevitable the study of the Sutta Pitaka would result in many different interpretations of the Dhamma. These differing interpretations were later spread through two vehicles [yana], Hinayana [Theravada] and Mahayana; and a third distinct vehicle, the Vajrayana. Every Buddhist should have some knowledge of these vehicles and of the original Buddhism as embodied in the Sutta Pitaka. The interpretations of the Tipitaka by various philosophers of these vehicles comprises the history of Buddhism.
Does that ethic include an afterlife?
=========================
Even to an untrained eye, informed only by popular science, plants seem to biologically sense [as do all living things] that they are food for other living things and take defensive measures to assure their survival. Animals also seem to instinctively sense they are food for other animals and likewise are aware they can be harmed. Like humans, some animals also appear to be conscious of suffering, but, it is only human consciousness that allows humans to know of time, past, present and future and thus consciously know we are not immortal.
This knowledge brings existential suffering to humans leading many to wonder what the future will bring to them, giving rise to a variety of afterlife theories. Most theories involve the relationship between a soul and a God or some other kind of an ultimate power. Buddhism does not. Many pertain to a heavenly or hellish after-life.
The Buddhist version of the after-life, Samsara or rebirth into a new life, would fall into the hellish category since rebirth would not be a happy experience for most, amounting to nothing more than continued suffering in a new life. We are here because our Kamma, the individual ethical causal process, is baggaged by craving and attachment, tying us to repeated rounds of Samsara as long as ignorance, craving and attachment are present in our Kamma.
This means Kamma can be altered, therefore Samsara is not permanent nor is it nihilistic, as the ethical process of removing ignorance, craving and attachment will lead one out of Samsara or repeated rebirths. In this way Buddhism explains human continuity causally and ethically. This says that life is an opportunity to improve one's Kamma. Samsara should be recognized as such. Does Samsara mean Buddhism is a religion? In my opinion, it only means personal ethical continuity does not end with death.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Preface
The greatest discovery of the Hindu Upanisads is the unity of Atman (self/soul) and Brahman (God)--- "I am Brahman!" (SIP p. 78). While Atman and Brahman are both absolute and eternal, Atman also is of two natures, the ultimate and the empirical. The Maitri Upanisad (SIP p. 95) describes in several entries this empirical aspect of Atman, the "bhutatman [SIP p. 93], the changing or elemental self". At the same time, it gives a general description of the empirical world and of ultimate reality as in the following passage:
1 ) "Now, where knowledge is of a dual nature, there, indeed, one hears, sees, smells, tastes, and also touches; the self knows everything. 2 ) Where knowledge is not of a dual nature, being devoid of action, cause, or effect, unspeakable, incomparable, indescribable---what is that? It is impossible to say!"
Section 1), of course, is a description of the empirical world of the senses, excepting the reference to the all-knowing self. Section 2) is a description of ultimate reality. The empirical world is the world of causality and change, whereas, the divine is outside of cause and effect, and therefore is, indefinable, incomprehensible and indescribable. The Buddha was familiar with supernatural and metaphysical teachings, but, his world is the world of cause and effect, a world that can be described via language. This is exactly what he did in the Sutta Pitaka, the Discourses of the Buddha.
And, this is a problem for the non-scholar. Although much of the Tipitaka, the Three Baskets of the Pali Canon, has been translated into English, understanding the nuances of the Buddha's language and its concepts is not an easy task. For an adequate understanding of the subject, it is really necessary for a non-scholar to rely on a commentator he/she feels in tune with.
A scholar I've relied on greatly is David Kalupahana whose books I feel captures the Buddha's intent with a thoroughness few others do. Among his earliest, A History of Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis, begins his exploration of Buddhist ideas. Although Dr. Kalupahana is a philosopher and emphasizes the philosophy of Buddhism, a non-philosopher will find his interpretation of Buddhist history and philosophy completely sensible and of great interest.
For those inclined to develop an interest in the Dhamma [teachings], you will find Buddhism is truly "beautiful in its beginning, beautiful in its middle, beautiful in its ending" (Samanaphala Sutta DN i. 63).
1 ) "Now, where knowledge is of a dual nature, there, indeed, one hears, sees, smells, tastes, and also touches; the self knows everything. 2 ) Where knowledge is not of a dual nature, being devoid of action, cause, or effect, unspeakable, incomparable, indescribable---what is that? It is impossible to say!"
Section 1), of course, is a description of the empirical world of the senses, excepting the reference to the all-knowing self. Section 2) is a description of ultimate reality. The empirical world is the world of causality and change, whereas, the divine is outside of cause and effect, and therefore is, indefinable, incomprehensible and indescribable. The Buddha was familiar with supernatural and metaphysical teachings, but, his world is the world of cause and effect, a world that can be described via language. This is exactly what he did in the Sutta Pitaka, the Discourses of the Buddha.
And, this is a problem for the non-scholar. Although much of the Tipitaka, the Three Baskets of the Pali Canon, has been translated into English, understanding the nuances of the Buddha's language and its concepts is not an easy task. For an adequate understanding of the subject, it is really necessary for a non-scholar to rely on a commentator he/she feels in tune with.
A scholar I've relied on greatly is David Kalupahana whose books I feel captures the Buddha's intent with a thoroughness few others do. Among his earliest, A History of Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis, begins his exploration of Buddhist ideas. Although Dr. Kalupahana is a philosopher and emphasizes the philosophy of Buddhism, a non-philosopher will find his interpretation of Buddhist history and philosophy completely sensible and of great interest.
For those inclined to develop an interest in the Dhamma [teachings], you will find Buddhism is truly "beautiful in its beginning, beautiful in its middle, beautiful in its ending" (Samanaphala Sutta DN i. 63).
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Post 1
".....(The mental) natures are the result of what we have
thought..."(Dhammapada SIP p. 292)
Hello everyone! Welcome to Ideas in Buddhism. The objective of this blog is to discuss the Buddha's central ideas, his thoughts on the nature of the self and the nature of the world. My name is Koji Takakuwa, I am not an instructor, I am a follower of Buddhism and hope to acquaint others of this always thoughtful and gentle teaching. The Dhamma [teaching] is fascinating to learn, the Buddha thought in ways unlike anyone before him and I would say unlike anyone after him. You will find his views reasonable, practical, useful, insightful and his creativity without bounds. I am very often surprised by the turns of his thoughts and believe you will also find his thinking remarkable.
In this blog I would like to introduce individual Suttas [discourses] of the Buddha which are both notable and interesting. I would also like to mention it is a work-in-progress, expect alterations here and there. Although the blog is not primarily instructive, I will begin the first section with a little bit of background on Buddhism to get you acquainted with where the Buddha is coming from.
The most significant event in the Buddha's life [see Post 4 for the story of the Buddha's life and death] was his Enlightenment in a small Indian village called Uruvela, now known as Bodhgaya. There, along the River Neranjara under a bodhi tree, Siddhatha Gotama achieved his long sought goal, Nibbana/Enlightenment [the complete removal of ignorance, craving and attachment] and thereafter was addressed as the Buddha, the Awakened One. Shortly after his Enlightenment, the Buddha traveled to Benares wishing to extend to others what he had discovered. His first discourse was given to the five ascetics, with whom he had spent a period of time after his entry into homelessness six years before.
This first discourse is recorded in the Saccasamyutta Mahavagga SN5. 421. It is called the Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta, Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma. The contents of this first discourse are essentially the foundations of the Buddha's message. Many of his subsequent discourses are extensions and elaborations of the ideas appearing in this very first discourse. In this sutta [discourse] the Buddha described his enlightenment in this way: "...knowledge and vision arose in me: 'Unshakable is the liberation of my mind...'" So, what knowledge and vision did he impart to the five ascetics? It was in sum the knowledge of his discovery of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path summarized as follows:
1. All this is suffering
2. The origin of suffering is this craving
3. Suffering is removed by removing this craving
4. The way to the removal of suffering is this Noble Eightfold Path
The Four Noble Truths are in total the Buddha's great examination into human suffering. It is where he put front and center the problem of suffering in human existence. Actually, the Buddha was not unique in doing this as the Upanisadists [Brahmins/Hindus] and Jains who preceded him had for long searched for solutions to human suffering. The Buddha was unique, however, in that he did not relate human suffering to a "soul" or "self" as did the Hindus and Jains.
Instead, he said to look at suffering itself rather than to look for suffering in a self or a soul (Kaccanagotta SN2. 17, HBP p. 85). Put very simply, he is saying "there is suffering but none who suffers (Vajira SN1. 135)". The Buddha's statement, "look at suffering itself", means to look for suffering in the human mind and its psychology and not to look for suffering in a metaphysical soul. In other words, the Buddha's examination into suffering was a strictly empirical endeavor. Nor is it absolute or universal. Note that when he begins the First Noble Truth with "All this" he is referring to "all conditioned phenomena [all that we experience]" and nothing more (Dhamma Niyama AN1. 286).
His empiricism led the Buddha to label his Truths "The Four Noble Truths". These were truths "about existence...a psychological truth", never about absolute or ultimate truths. Nor does "noble" mean "higher", but, "beneficial or fruitful". Noble suggested a value and moral content for the Buddha, thus, the Four Noble Truths are "factual truths with moral relevance (HBP p. 85)". The objective of Buddhism is an empirical objective, the removal of the psychological states of craving and attachment, the unethical states of mind leading to suffering. The path to the removal of suffering consists of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. Now, let's take a look at the Four Noble Truths.
First Noble Truth
============
"Now this bhikkhus [monks], 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 (SN5. 421)."
Usually, when people speak of human suffering, they mean it is the "I" or the "Self" who suffers. In the First Noble Truth, the Buddha introduces an idea which is completely at odds with this notion---the Five Aggregates. His concept of a human person does not include a "Self/Soul", the human person is in total only the Five Aggregates of Existence [khandas] : 1) body, 2) feeling, 3) perception, 4) mental formations and lastly, 5) consciousness [Mahasatipatthana DN ii. 307].
Because the Five Aggregates does not include a "Soul" you can imagine there were many who found fault with such an idea. Often, the fault finders did not take the Five Aggregates at face value and instead saw them as objects to be clung to or the possessions of a "self". Notice, the First Noble Truth does not state the Five Aggregates themselves are suffering, it is the clinging associated with them that is suffering. If the human personality is perceived as a possessor of a soul it is likely there will be clinging for both the aggregates and the soul (HBP p. 87).
The Buddha had a number of other descriptions of a person, including this somewhat materialist model, "earth, water, fire, air, space and consciousness (Dhatuvibanga MN iii. 239)". However, the Five Aggregates remains the Buddha's most favored description of the person. Each of these aggregates are defined in the Sutta Pitaka [discourses of the Buddha] at length.
The Fourth Aggregate, mental formations, is a little more complicated than the others. It is said to consist of two parts, Cetasika [mental faculties] and Sankhara [dispositions and volitional formations]. The category of Cetasika includes reasoning, memory, thought, examination and other mental functions. Sankhara is used in the sense of "dispositions or volitional formations" as Buddhism has no word for "will". "There is no one single term in the Buddhist texts that could be considered the equivalent of the term "will" (EEB p. 49)". Rather, sankhara is identified as the source of human action and decision making, both of which are caused rather than willed. Generally, mental formations are seen to consist of reason and dispositions (EEB p. 49 - 51).
The Five Aggregates are a factual description of a human person who is subject to clinging and therefore is subject to suffering. The many instances of suffering we all experience are described in the First Noble Truth, including the entire life process from birth to aging to illness to death. Of these events, birth is often seen as "...the greatest good and death the worst evil...(HBP p. 87)". However, the Buddha did not dissociate birth from suffering in life. For this emphasis on suffering, Buddhism is often labeled pessimistic, a criticism which misses the point of the First Noble Truth. That point being to examine the fact of suffering and to not sweep it under the rug. For the Buddha, to evade the issue of human suffering is to evade life itself. The Buddha did not see suffering in life a tragedy, he perceived the addressing of suffering an opportunity to improve upon the human condition (HBP p. 87).
While the First Noble Truth is the Buddha's first step into his examination of suffering, he also did recognize in other suttas that pleasure and happiness are also a part of life. With the demonstrative "this" he points to some major instances of suffering; he is not in any way saying life is without pleasure or happiness. On the contrary, he accepted "any kind of pleasure wherever and in whatever way it is found (Bahuvedanya MN i. 400)". He was not willing to speak of happiness in an abstract way (HBP p. 100) and recognized both "...divine [god/heaven] sensual pleasure...and human sensual pleasure... (Magandiya MN i. 505)".
Relative to these pleasures of the senses, the Buddha maintained the pleasure found in meditation is the highest happiness (Bahuvedaniya MN i. 399). It is very likely meditators throughout the world are practitioners because of the happy results of meditation. The most well known symbol of Buddhism, the Buddha in meditation, represents just how highly the Buddha valued meditative practice.
However, happiness and pleasure are not the topics of the First Noble Truth. Its objective is to introduce two basic Buddhist ideas, 1) the fact of suffering and 2) the object of suffering, the five aggregates of existence. The following Second Noble Truth should be looked at carefully, as it introduces a number of other fundamental Buddhist ideas.
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."
According to the First Noble Truth, the Five aggregates are suffering because of clinging or attachment. It makes perfect sense that clinging is caused by craving of one kind or another (HBP p. 76, Origination SN2. 5). Therefore, the Second Noble Truth concludes "craving is the cause of suffering". With this formula---craving--->clinging--->suffering---Buddhism's fundamental idea was introduced, the idea of causality, the central conception of Buddhism (BP p. 29). From the Second Noble Truth emerged these also major Buddhist ideas:
1) The Second Noble Truth states craving, the source of suffering, leads to renewed existence. If renewed existence brings suffering, the end of renewed existence should bring an end to suffering. The phrase "renewed existence" is the Buddha's reference to Samsara, Buddhist rebirth into a new life after death.
How does Samsara come about? Samsara is caused by Kamma, the individual ethical causal order. Kamma is with us throughout all our lives, bringing about Samsara, the rebirth of Kamma into the next life, as contrasted with Hindu reincarnation, the rebirth of a soul into the next life. The way Samsara works is that as long as ignorance, craving and attachment are present in Kamma, rebirths will continue endlessly. The aim of Buddhism is to remove all ignorance, craving and attachment---i.e., to achieve the attainment of Nibbana---and bring an end to the ceaseless rounds of births, deaths and rebirths. In the First Noble Truth, the Buddha describes the many instances of physical and mental pain, but, the problem of human suffering goes much further. It is a problem of "...existential suffering, the suffering of bondage to the round of repeated birth and death... (BPS p. 3)".
2) Another fundamental Buddhist idea appears in the ending phrases of the Second Noble Truth, "craving for existence, craving for extermination (non-existence)". These phrases are the Buddha's introduction to his famous Middle Way of Buddhism. The Middle Way is the Buddha's answer to the most extreme of desires, the craving for existence at one extreme and the craving for nonexistence at the other. These cravings are even deeper cravings than are the cravings for sense pleasures, as they are directly related to human existence itself. The craving for existence is the craving for life and, as many believe, the soul which experiences that life. For those attached to existence, suffering results when the time has come for one to depart life. For those attached to non-existence, suffering results from rejecting life, or the desire to leave life for any reason.
Existence and non-existence are also challenged by Buddhism's conception of impermanence. Impermanence says things do not exist absolutely without change nor do things absolutely not exist. It is the middle way between existence and non existence. How can anything either exist or not exist if everything is in a state of becoming and change? Single handedly the middle way of impermanence dismantles the long standing dualism of existence and non-existence. Impermanence will be discussed later in the discussion on the Fourth Noble Truth. Impermanence is the primary characteristic in the grouping called the Three Characteristics of Existence.
Here, in the Second Noble Truth, a number of major Buddhist ideas are introduced, none more central to Buddhism than causality. Causality is central to Buddhism as all suffering is caused by craving and its removal is the objective of Buddhism. It is the task of the Third and Fourth Noble Truths to rid from human life the causes of suffering, this craving and attachment.
Third Noble Truth
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"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, nonreliance on it."
The Third Noble Truth---suffering is removed by removing craving---is the Buddha's introduction to Nibbana, enlightenment, Buddhism's highest fruit. It is a very simple statement: if you want to get rid of suffering you have to remove craving. There is no way you can get around this obstacle, craving is the boulder blocking the path to Nibbana. Now, there are those who will challenge this idea. They will ask, "How can anyone give up craving? There will always be a need for food, water, clothing, shelter, etc., in order to lead a satisfactory life." It is true, certain necessities are required to lead a satisfactory life, but, craving for the Buddha meant desires causing the attachment or the clinging to these things. He did not mean we should do without or even that we are able to do without. In this way he "...carefully distinguished between human need and human greed (EEB p. 121)."
Most importantly, the Buddha did not make a distinction between good or bad attachments. Attachments of any kind are hindrances to Nibbana, he states in the Third Noble Truth and in the Simile of the Raft: "...you should abandon even good states, how much more so bad states (Alagaddupama MN i. 135)". In the Third Noble Truth and the Simile of the Raft the Buddha manages to define Nibbana and at the same time recognize detachment or non attachment is the supreme ethic in Buddhism. That detachment/non-attachment is the objective of Buddhism's ethical path is clearly defined in the first three of the Four Noble Truths.
The formula, suffering is removed by removing craving, is a simple formula, but, the actual task of removing craving is an unimaginably difficult one. Well, just how difficult is it? The Punnovada Sutta (MN iii. 267) is a sutta which provides a clue. It is the story of Punna, a resident of an area called Savathi who asks the Buddha for advice prior to his departure to a country named Sunaparanta. The first question the Buddha asks of Punna is, "...the people of Sunaparanta are fierce and rough. If they abuse and threaten you, what will you think then?"
Punna's response is, "Venerable sir, if the people of Sunaparanta abuse and threaten me, then I shall think: 'These people of Sunaparanta are excellent, truly excellent, in that they did not give me a blow with the fist.' Then I shall think thus, Blessed One; then I shall think thus, Sublime One."
Thereafter follows several additional hypothetical scenarios where the Sunaparantans threaten to assault Punna with successively more dangerous blows of fist, clod, stick and still Punna's responses remains the same: "...'These people of Sunaparanta are excellent, truly excellent, in that they did not give me a blow with [a fist, a clod, a stick]...'" Finally, the Buddha asks Punna, "...if the people of Sunaparanta do take your life with a sharp knife, what will you think then?"
Punna's final response is, "Venerable sir, if the people of Sunaparanta do take my life with a sharp knife, then I shall think thus: 'There have been disciples of the Blessed One who, being repelled, humiliated, and disgusted by the body and by life, have sought an assailant. But I have obtained this assailant even without a search.' Then I shall think thus, Blessed One; then I shall think thus, Sublime One."
To Punna's response, the Buddha says, "Good, good, Punna! Possessing such self-control and peacefulness, you will be able to dwell in the Sunaparanta country. Now, Punna, it is time to do as you think fit."
Punna's final response clearly states his planning is not guided by suicidal thoughts, but, as the Buddha correctly recognizes, he is guided by self control and peacefulness. Punna's self control and peacefulness will not allow him to retaliate, not for any reason, not even in self defense!!? Why did the Buddha say this? A major reason he did so is to impress upon his listeners he was not issuing a commandment, but, expected his followers to rely on mental discipline leading to detachment and practicing restraint of the senses for their decisions and actions.
In comparison, transcendentalists are guided by divine instructions, the soul and free will. A Buddhist arrives at "do not kill" not from the influence of any outer power or agent, but, by taking control of the craving and attachment present in the mind. This means taking control of the reptilian, instinctive part of the brain. Now, this is an incredibly difficult task to even contemplate. It is unimaginable anyone could restrain their instinct for survival and desire to live to this extent, but, this is exactly what Punna has accomplished through self control and peacefulness in the Punnovada Sutta. Punna knows a desire of any sort to cause harm will produce feelings of hatred in his mind. Most profoundly, he is not attached to his mortal life nor to his fear of dying.
Another reason the Buddha said "do not retaliate" is that once there is established a justification for killing, war, torture, assault or anything else, we have embarked on a "slippery slope" of unending justifications. This is certain to happen, no matter the justification. In Punna's case, it is his self control and peacefulness which has kept him from taking the path of retaliation.
As difficult as the path of removing craving sounds, the history of Buddhism shows the Buddha did attain this goal as did many others. This most difficult objective in Buddhism is described in the Third Noble Truth as freedom---"freedom from it (craving)". The Buddha said many times Nibbana/Enlightenment/Freedom is the removal of craving itself. Curiously enough, later definitions would give nibbana a transcendental interpretation. This notion is put to rest by the definition of nibbana in the PTS Pali-English Dictionary: "Nibbana is purely and solely an ethical state...It is therefore not transcendental". The way to achieve this highest of Buddhist goals is examined in the Fourth Noble Truth, the Noble Eightfold Path.
Fourth Noble Truth
===========
"And what, bhikkhus, is the middle way awakened to by the Tathagata (Buddha), which gives rise to vision...which leads to Nibbana? It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This, bhikkhus, is that middle way awakened to by the Tathagata, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, which leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to Enlightenment to Nibbana."
The Fourth Noble Truth begins with the Buddha dubbing it the middle way of life (DN ii. 312, SN5 v. 421), a description drawn from his life experiences. The Buddha had spent his early years in relative prosperity, a prince of the royal Sakhya family and was well aware of the availability and temptations of sense pleasures. He also had spent six years a homeless ascetic, at times experiencing extreme deprivation and was equally aware of the harshness of an ascetic existence.
He discovered both of these lifestyles hindered his path to nibbana. His criticisms of these lifestyles comes at the beginning of his first discourse: the "pursuit of sensual happiness in sensual pleasures" he said is "...low, vulgar, the way of worldlings, ignoble, unbeneficial". On the other hand, "the pursuit of self mortification...is painful, ignoble, unbeneficial (SN5 v. 421)". Avoid these unbeneficial extremes, the Buddha advised, and seek the "safety, security, peace, well being, happiness, joy and its goal, freedom" of the middle way, the Noble Eightfold Path (EEB p. 77, Dvedhavitakka Sutta MN i. 118):
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
The first thing you will notice about the Noble Eightfold Path is that each entry is prefaced by "Right" which is used in the sense of being fruitful, beneficial and useful just as it does in the word "noble (ariya)". "Ariya" was at first a word used to describe the Aryans, the invaders of India, but, the Buddha removed any racial meaning and used it only in a moral sense (EEB p. 77). He wanted to give the Noble Eightfold Path a moral tone by adding nobility as a characteristic of the way (EEB p. 78). For example, right view would mean a fruitful view, fruitful both for oneself and for others.
The Noble Eightfold Path is accordingly "Brahmacariya", the "noble life" or "brahmayana" the "noble way of life" or "dhammayana the way of morals" (EEB p. 65). Originally, Hindu "brahma" and "dhamma" implied "moral absolute" and "caste duty" respectively, but, as he did with the word "ariya", the Buddha redefined those words into "the moral life (EEB p. 65)". Thus, the Noble Eightfold Path is a fruitful, useful, beneficial, peaceful path, a moral path, a noble way of life.
thought..."(Dhammapada SIP p. 292)
Hello everyone! Welcome to Ideas in Buddhism. The objective of this blog is to discuss the Buddha's central ideas, his thoughts on the nature of the self and the nature of the world. My name is Koji Takakuwa, I am not an instructor, I am a follower of Buddhism and hope to acquaint others of this always thoughtful and gentle teaching. The Dhamma [teaching] is fascinating to learn, the Buddha thought in ways unlike anyone before him and I would say unlike anyone after him. You will find his views reasonable, practical, useful, insightful and his creativity without bounds. I am very often surprised by the turns of his thoughts and believe you will also find his thinking remarkable.
In this blog I would like to introduce individual Suttas [discourses] of the Buddha which are both notable and interesting. I would also like to mention it is a work-in-progress, expect alterations here and there. Although the blog is not primarily instructive, I will begin the first section with a little bit of background on Buddhism to get you acquainted with where the Buddha is coming from.
The most significant event in the Buddha's life [see Post 4 for the story of the Buddha's life and death] was his Enlightenment in a small Indian village called Uruvela, now known as Bodhgaya. There, along the River Neranjara under a bodhi tree, Siddhatha Gotama achieved his long sought goal, Nibbana/Enlightenment [the complete removal of ignorance, craving and attachment] and thereafter was addressed as the Buddha, the Awakened One. Shortly after his Enlightenment, the Buddha traveled to Benares wishing to extend to others what he had discovered. His first discourse was given to the five ascetics, with whom he had spent a period of time after his entry into homelessness six years before.
This first discourse is recorded in the Saccasamyutta Mahavagga SN5. 421. It is called the Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta, Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma. The contents of this first discourse are essentially the foundations of the Buddha's message. Many of his subsequent discourses are extensions and elaborations of the ideas appearing in this very first discourse. In this sutta [discourse] the Buddha described his enlightenment in this way: "...knowledge and vision arose in me: 'Unshakable is the liberation of my mind...'" So, what knowledge and vision did he impart to the five ascetics? It was in sum the knowledge of his discovery of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path summarized as follows:
1. All this is suffering
2. The origin of suffering is this craving
3. Suffering is removed by removing this craving
4. The way to the removal of suffering is this Noble Eightfold Path
The Four Noble Truths are in total the Buddha's great examination into human suffering. It is where he put front and center the problem of suffering in human existence. Actually, the Buddha was not unique in doing this as the Upanisadists [Brahmins/Hindus] and Jains who preceded him had for long searched for solutions to human suffering. The Buddha was unique, however, in that he did not relate human suffering to a "soul" or "self" as did the Hindus and Jains.
Instead, he said to look at suffering itself rather than to look for suffering in a self or a soul (Kaccanagotta SN2. 17, HBP p. 85). Put very simply, he is saying "there is suffering but none who suffers (Vajira SN1. 135)". The Buddha's statement, "look at suffering itself", means to look for suffering in the human mind and its psychology and not to look for suffering in a metaphysical soul. In other words, the Buddha's examination into suffering was a strictly empirical endeavor. Nor is it absolute or universal. Note that when he begins the First Noble Truth with "All this" he is referring to "all conditioned phenomena [all that we experience]" and nothing more (Dhamma Niyama AN1. 286).
His empiricism led the Buddha to label his Truths "The Four Noble Truths". These were truths "about existence...a psychological truth", never about absolute or ultimate truths. Nor does "noble" mean "higher", but, "beneficial or fruitful". Noble suggested a value and moral content for the Buddha, thus, the Four Noble Truths are "factual truths with moral relevance (HBP p. 85)". The objective of Buddhism is an empirical objective, the removal of the psychological states of craving and attachment, the unethical states of mind leading to suffering. The path to the removal of suffering consists of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. Now, let's take a look at the Four Noble Truths.
First Noble Truth
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"Now this bhikkhus [monks], 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 (SN5. 421)."
Usually, when people speak of human suffering, they mean it is the "I" or the "Self" who suffers. In the First Noble Truth, the Buddha introduces an idea which is completely at odds with this notion---the Five Aggregates. His concept of a human person does not include a "Self/Soul", the human person is in total only the Five Aggregates of Existence [khandas] : 1) body, 2) feeling, 3) perception, 4) mental formations and lastly, 5) consciousness [Mahasatipatthana DN ii. 307].
Because the Five Aggregates does not include a "Soul" you can imagine there were many who found fault with such an idea. Often, the fault finders did not take the Five Aggregates at face value and instead saw them as objects to be clung to or the possessions of a "self". Notice, the First Noble Truth does not state the Five Aggregates themselves are suffering, it is the clinging associated with them that is suffering. If the human personality is perceived as a possessor of a soul it is likely there will be clinging for both the aggregates and the soul (HBP p. 87).
The Buddha had a number of other descriptions of a person, including this somewhat materialist model, "earth, water, fire, air, space and consciousness (Dhatuvibanga MN iii. 239)". However, the Five Aggregates remains the Buddha's most favored description of the person. Each of these aggregates are defined in the Sutta Pitaka [discourses of the Buddha] at length.
The Fourth Aggregate, mental formations, is a little more complicated than the others. It is said to consist of two parts, Cetasika [mental faculties] and Sankhara [dispositions and volitional formations]. The category of Cetasika includes reasoning, memory, thought, examination and other mental functions. Sankhara is used in the sense of "dispositions or volitional formations" as Buddhism has no word for "will". "There is no one single term in the Buddhist texts that could be considered the equivalent of the term "will" (EEB p. 49)". Rather, sankhara is identified as the source of human action and decision making, both of which are caused rather than willed. Generally, mental formations are seen to consist of reason and dispositions (EEB p. 49 - 51).
The Five Aggregates are a factual description of a human person who is subject to clinging and therefore is subject to suffering. The many instances of suffering we all experience are described in the First Noble Truth, including the entire life process from birth to aging to illness to death. Of these events, birth is often seen as "...the greatest good and death the worst evil...(HBP p. 87)". However, the Buddha did not dissociate birth from suffering in life. For this emphasis on suffering, Buddhism is often labeled pessimistic, a criticism which misses the point of the First Noble Truth. That point being to examine the fact of suffering and to not sweep it under the rug. For the Buddha, to evade the issue of human suffering is to evade life itself. The Buddha did not see suffering in life a tragedy, he perceived the addressing of suffering an opportunity to improve upon the human condition (HBP p. 87).
While the First Noble Truth is the Buddha's first step into his examination of suffering, he also did recognize in other suttas that pleasure and happiness are also a part of life. With the demonstrative "this" he points to some major instances of suffering; he is not in any way saying life is without pleasure or happiness. On the contrary, he accepted "any kind of pleasure wherever and in whatever way it is found (Bahuvedanya MN i. 400)". He was not willing to speak of happiness in an abstract way (HBP p. 100) and recognized both "...divine [god/heaven] sensual pleasure...and human sensual pleasure... (Magandiya MN i. 505)".
Relative to these pleasures of the senses, the Buddha maintained the pleasure found in meditation is the highest happiness (Bahuvedaniya MN i. 399). It is very likely meditators throughout the world are practitioners because of the happy results of meditation. The most well known symbol of Buddhism, the Buddha in meditation, represents just how highly the Buddha valued meditative practice.
However, happiness and pleasure are not the topics of the First Noble Truth. Its objective is to introduce two basic Buddhist ideas, 1) the fact of suffering and 2) the object of suffering, the five aggregates of existence. The following Second Noble Truth should be looked at carefully, as it introduces a number of other fundamental Buddhist ideas.
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."
According to the First Noble Truth, the Five aggregates are suffering because of clinging or attachment. It makes perfect sense that clinging is caused by craving of one kind or another (HBP p. 76, Origination SN2. 5). Therefore, the Second Noble Truth concludes "craving is the cause of suffering". With this formula---craving--->clinging--->suffering---Buddhism's fundamental idea was introduced, the idea of causality, the central conception of Buddhism (BP p. 29). From the Second Noble Truth emerged these also major Buddhist ideas:
1) The Second Noble Truth states craving, the source of suffering, leads to renewed existence. If renewed existence brings suffering, the end of renewed existence should bring an end to suffering. The phrase "renewed existence" is the Buddha's reference to Samsara, Buddhist rebirth into a new life after death.
How does Samsara come about? Samsara is caused by Kamma, the individual ethical causal order. Kamma is with us throughout all our lives, bringing about Samsara, the rebirth of Kamma into the next life, as contrasted with Hindu reincarnation, the rebirth of a soul into the next life. The way Samsara works is that as long as ignorance, craving and attachment are present in Kamma, rebirths will continue endlessly. The aim of Buddhism is to remove all ignorance, craving and attachment---i.e., to achieve the attainment of Nibbana---and bring an end to the ceaseless rounds of births, deaths and rebirths. In the First Noble Truth, the Buddha describes the many instances of physical and mental pain, but, the problem of human suffering goes much further. It is a problem of "...existential suffering, the suffering of bondage to the round of repeated birth and death... (BPS p. 3)".
2) Another fundamental Buddhist idea appears in the ending phrases of the Second Noble Truth, "craving for existence, craving for extermination (non-existence)". These phrases are the Buddha's introduction to his famous Middle Way of Buddhism. The Middle Way is the Buddha's answer to the most extreme of desires, the craving for existence at one extreme and the craving for nonexistence at the other. These cravings are even deeper cravings than are the cravings for sense pleasures, as they are directly related to human existence itself. The craving for existence is the craving for life and, as many believe, the soul which experiences that life. For those attached to existence, suffering results when the time has come for one to depart life. For those attached to non-existence, suffering results from rejecting life, or the desire to leave life for any reason.
Existence and non-existence are also challenged by Buddhism's conception of impermanence. Impermanence says things do not exist absolutely without change nor do things absolutely not exist. It is the middle way between existence and non existence. How can anything either exist or not exist if everything is in a state of becoming and change? Single handedly the middle way of impermanence dismantles the long standing dualism of existence and non-existence. Impermanence will be discussed later in the discussion on the Fourth Noble Truth. Impermanence is the primary characteristic in the grouping called the Three Characteristics of Existence.
Here, in the Second Noble Truth, a number of major Buddhist ideas are introduced, none more central to Buddhism than causality. Causality is central to Buddhism as all suffering is caused by craving and its removal is the objective of Buddhism. It is the task of the Third and Fourth Noble Truths to rid from human life the causes of suffering, this craving and attachment.
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, nonreliance on it."
The Third Noble Truth---suffering is removed by removing craving---is the Buddha's introduction to Nibbana, enlightenment, Buddhism's highest fruit. It is a very simple statement: if you want to get rid of suffering you have to remove craving. There is no way you can get around this obstacle, craving is the boulder blocking the path to Nibbana. Now, there are those who will challenge this idea. They will ask, "How can anyone give up craving? There will always be a need for food, water, clothing, shelter, etc., in order to lead a satisfactory life." It is true, certain necessities are required to lead a satisfactory life, but, craving for the Buddha meant desires causing the attachment or the clinging to these things. He did not mean we should do without or even that we are able to do without. In this way he "...carefully distinguished between human need and human greed (EEB p. 121)."
Most importantly, the Buddha did not make a distinction between good or bad attachments. Attachments of any kind are hindrances to Nibbana, he states in the Third Noble Truth and in the Simile of the Raft: "...you should abandon even good states, how much more so bad states (Alagaddupama MN i. 135)". In the Third Noble Truth and the Simile of the Raft the Buddha manages to define Nibbana and at the same time recognize detachment or non attachment is the supreme ethic in Buddhism. That detachment/non-attachment is the objective of Buddhism's ethical path is clearly defined in the first three of the Four Noble Truths.
The formula, suffering is removed by removing craving, is a simple formula, but, the actual task of removing craving is an unimaginably difficult one. Well, just how difficult is it? The Punnovada Sutta (MN iii. 267) is a sutta which provides a clue. It is the story of Punna, a resident of an area called Savathi who asks the Buddha for advice prior to his departure to a country named Sunaparanta. The first question the Buddha asks of Punna is, "...the people of Sunaparanta are fierce and rough. If they abuse and threaten you, what will you think then?"
Punna's response is, "Venerable sir, if the people of Sunaparanta abuse and threaten me, then I shall think: 'These people of Sunaparanta are excellent, truly excellent, in that they did not give me a blow with the fist.' Then I shall think thus, Blessed One; then I shall think thus, Sublime One."
Thereafter follows several additional hypothetical scenarios where the Sunaparantans threaten to assault Punna with successively more dangerous blows of fist, clod, stick and still Punna's responses remains the same: "...'These people of Sunaparanta are excellent, truly excellent, in that they did not give me a blow with [a fist, a clod, a stick]...'" Finally, the Buddha asks Punna, "...if the people of Sunaparanta do take your life with a sharp knife, what will you think then?"
Punna's final response is, "Venerable sir, if the people of Sunaparanta do take my life with a sharp knife, then I shall think thus: 'There have been disciples of the Blessed One who, being repelled, humiliated, and disgusted by the body and by life, have sought an assailant. But I have obtained this assailant even without a search.' Then I shall think thus, Blessed One; then I shall think thus, Sublime One."
To Punna's response, the Buddha says, "Good, good, Punna! Possessing such self-control and peacefulness, you will be able to dwell in the Sunaparanta country. Now, Punna, it is time to do as you think fit."
Punna's final response clearly states his planning is not guided by suicidal thoughts, but, as the Buddha correctly recognizes, he is guided by self control and peacefulness. Punna's self control and peacefulness will not allow him to retaliate, not for any reason, not even in self defense!!? Why did the Buddha say this? A major reason he did so is to impress upon his listeners he was not issuing a commandment, but, expected his followers to rely on mental discipline leading to detachment and practicing restraint of the senses for their decisions and actions.
In comparison, transcendentalists are guided by divine instructions, the soul and free will. A Buddhist arrives at "do not kill" not from the influence of any outer power or agent, but, by taking control of the craving and attachment present in the mind. This means taking control of the reptilian, instinctive part of the brain. Now, this is an incredibly difficult task to even contemplate. It is unimaginable anyone could restrain their instinct for survival and desire to live to this extent, but, this is exactly what Punna has accomplished through self control and peacefulness in the Punnovada Sutta. Punna knows a desire of any sort to cause harm will produce feelings of hatred in his mind. Most profoundly, he is not attached to his mortal life nor to his fear of dying.
Another reason the Buddha said "do not retaliate" is that once there is established a justification for killing, war, torture, assault or anything else, we have embarked on a "slippery slope" of unending justifications. This is certain to happen, no matter the justification. In Punna's case, it is his self control and peacefulness which has kept him from taking the path of retaliation.
As difficult as the path of removing craving sounds, the history of Buddhism shows the Buddha did attain this goal as did many others. This most difficult objective in Buddhism is described in the Third Noble Truth as freedom---"freedom from it (craving)". The Buddha said many times Nibbana/Enlightenment/Freedom is the removal of craving itself. Curiously enough, later definitions would give nibbana a transcendental interpretation. This notion is put to rest by the definition of nibbana in the PTS Pali-English Dictionary: "Nibbana is purely and solely an ethical state...It is therefore not transcendental". The way to achieve this highest of Buddhist goals is examined in the Fourth Noble Truth, the Noble Eightfold Path.
Fourth Noble Truth
===========
"And what, bhikkhus, is the middle way awakened to by the Tathagata (Buddha), which gives rise to vision...which leads to Nibbana? It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This, bhikkhus, is that middle way awakened to by the Tathagata, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, which leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to Enlightenment to Nibbana."
The Fourth Noble Truth begins with the Buddha dubbing it the middle way of life (DN ii. 312, SN5 v. 421), a description drawn from his life experiences. The Buddha had spent his early years in relative prosperity, a prince of the royal Sakhya family and was well aware of the availability and temptations of sense pleasures. He also had spent six years a homeless ascetic, at times experiencing extreme deprivation and was equally aware of the harshness of an ascetic existence.
He discovered both of these lifestyles hindered his path to nibbana. His criticisms of these lifestyles comes at the beginning of his first discourse: the "pursuit of sensual happiness in sensual pleasures" he said is "...low, vulgar, the way of worldlings, ignoble, unbeneficial". On the other hand, "the pursuit of self mortification...is painful, ignoble, unbeneficial (SN5 v. 421)". Avoid these unbeneficial extremes, the Buddha advised, and seek the "safety, security, peace, well being, happiness, joy and its goal, freedom" of the middle way, the Noble Eightfold Path (EEB p. 77, Dvedhavitakka Sutta MN i. 118):
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
The first thing you will notice about the Noble Eightfold Path is that each entry is prefaced by "Right" which is used in the sense of being fruitful, beneficial and useful just as it does in the word "noble (ariya)". "Ariya" was at first a word used to describe the Aryans, the invaders of India, but, the Buddha removed any racial meaning and used it only in a moral sense (EEB p. 77). He wanted to give the Noble Eightfold Path a moral tone by adding nobility as a characteristic of the way (EEB p. 78). For example, right view would mean a fruitful view, fruitful both for oneself and for others.
The Noble Eightfold Path is accordingly "Brahmacariya", the "noble life" or "brahmayana" the "noble way of life" or "dhammayana the way of morals" (EEB p. 65). Originally, Hindu "brahma" and "dhamma" implied "moral absolute" and "caste duty" respectively, but, as he did with the word "ariya", the Buddha redefined those words into "the moral life (EEB p. 65)". Thus, the Noble Eightfold Path is a fruitful, useful, beneficial, peaceful path, a moral path, a noble way of life.
Before getting into the details of the Noble Eighthfold Path, it would be helpful to understand the Buddha's criticism of his competitors in regard to the source of moral behaviour and the source of human decision making as these topics seem vital in all ethical views. His primary arguments were against the transcendentalists of his time, the Hindus and Jains, not approving of their metaphysical views. His other major competitors were not much a concern since he saw the agnostics and skeptics as mere "eel wrigglers", opponents who never held well supported views. The Buddha did not find much opposition from the materialists either as their primary ethic amounted to not much more than "look out for #1".
Buddhism's Singular Moral Path
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As compared to his competitors, the Buddha's originality and creativity produced a moral path unlike any other in the world. It may not be too far fetched to assume most moral paths are either dependent on religious, divine, transcendental moral law or on duty based state law. In the latter instance, Buddhism does not share with state law its preoccupation with duty. Duty is irrelevant to a path in search of the good and peaceful.
Nor does Buddhism see a divide between the empirical "good life" of humans and ultimate divine law as do the transcendentalists. Transcendentalists believe divine law is permanent, superior, divine happiness and, conversely, the good life of humans is transitory, sensory enjoyment and therefore is materialistic and profane (HBP p. 101).
Upon realizing eternal laws could easily bring harm to human life if the good life had to continually conform with absolute divine law, the Buddha renounced absolute divine law. In other words, for Buddhists, morality has worth only if it is useful to human life---"Human life is not made for morals; morals are made for human life (HBP p. 101, 102)".
Buddhist morality also differs from other moral paths as it does not seek attachment to the divine, to duty or to anything else. Buddhism says craving is the cause of all suffering, therefore, its idea is to remove attachment to this craving, including the attachment to the "objective pull (EEB p. 3, 37)" of the empirical world. Complete non-attachment or detachment is Buddhism's goal.
Human Decision Making
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Comparing Buddhism's detachment based moral path to other paths begins with asking how human decisions are made since morality has everything to do with the kinds of decisions people make. The decisions of transcendentalists comes from divine instructions which are carried out by the soul and its "great extension", transcendent free will (HBP p. 107). The Buddha did not agree and instead proposed human beings are guided by "dispositions or volitional formations (HBP p. 87)".
Unlike the will, which is a single, controlling, independent, self directed force, the Buddha's alternative to will is a whole group of tendencies (EEB p. 49) which are in total the Buddha's version of phenomenal will (HBP p. 107). Where transcendentalists would say people "will" themselves to action, Buddhism says people are "disposed" to actions.
In other words, actions are caused, not willed; the dispositions "disposes" or causes the five aggregates to certain actions. Disposition [sankhara] literally means "putting together (EEB p. 50)" and the Buddha refused to consider uncaused or mysterious causes, such as the soul or free will or God/gods as the source of human actions. No, everyone is responsible for his/her decisions and actions, no one or anything else is responsible:
"By oneself, indeed, is evil done; by oneself is one injured. By oneself is evil left undone; by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity belong to oneself. No one is purified by another (Dhammapada KN, SIP p. 305)".
There they are, two very different ways of arriving at decisions and actions, one via free will the other via causality. A transcendentalist will point to divine scripture for the justification of his/her decisions and actions. A Buddhist will point to the Dhamma for arguments supporting causality. In doing so, a Buddhist must inevitably come to speak of Kamma, the causality of a human being. Kamma itself has many causes and equivalents---thought, intention, action, behavior. The most prominent among them are volitional formations/dispositions.
Volitional Formations/Dispositions
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Free will is certainly a popular idea and having rejected it, the Buddha's task was to explain that human decisions and actions are not somehow mysteriously willed, but, are caused by a process called Kamma, or, one of its most prominent equivalents, the dispositions. As mentioned earlier, it is the influence of the dispositions or Kamma on the Five Aggregates of Existence that results in human decisions and actions. Kamma is not a force like the will, it is the result of the accumulation of past and present individual human behavior. Just from this description, it is apparent Kamma and the dispositions are not easy concepts to explain.
In order to simplify these concepts for his followers, the Buddha used the activities of thought, action and intention, among others, as examples and equivalents of Kamma. He also designed a number of suttas to provide for his followers a more extensive definition of Kamma. Among them is a sutta called the Being Devoured sutta, significant as it details how the Five Aggregates are "constructed" by Kamma:
"And why, bhikkhus, do you call them volitional formations [dispositions]? 'They construct the conditioned [Khandas-the five aggregates]', bhikkhus, therefore they are called volitional formations. And what is the conditioned that they construct? They construct 1) conditioned form as form; they construct 2) conditioned feeling as feeling; they construct 3) conditioned perception as perception; they construct 4) conditioned volitional formations as volitional formations; they construct 5) conditioned consciousness as consciousness. 'They construct the conditioned,' bhikkhus, therefore they are called volitional formations (Being Devoured SN3. 87)".
When the Being Devoured sutta says the conditioned [the Five Aggregates] are constructed by the volitional formations or dispositions, it is a way of saying human existence is caused by Kamma. Just how it does this, by constructing or causing the aggregates, is described in this sutta. Perhaps the most significant of the constructions is the construction of the fourth aggregate of volitional formations. In this construction, it is as if Kamma is constructing itself. This suggests there is no outside force or divine entity involved in the process, which in turn suggests everyone is responsible for his or her own decisions and actions.
The relationship between Kamma and the five aggregates also reveals a lot about Buddhist causality. For one thing, it indicates nothing is free or independent of the causal process. Kamma is definitely not independent of the Five Aggregates, if it were, it would not be any different from free will. Unlike free will, Kamma's relationship to a human is not a one way street. Kamma is as dependent for its existence on the Five Aggregates as the Five Aggregates are dependent on Kamma for their existence. Like everything else, Kamma and the Five Aggregates are dependently arisen, relative and interdependent.
Getting back to the details of the Noble Eightfold Path, a convenient way to see the path is through the eyes of Buddhaghosa [a Buddhist philosopher] who saw the Noble Eightfold Path the path of Knowledge, Ethics and Meditation. The Buddha's Culavedalla rendition are---Wisdom, Virtue and Concentration (MN i. 301):
I PAANA/Knowledge - Right View, Right Intention
II SILAS/Ethics - Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood
III SAMADHI/Meditation - Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration
The Buddha categorized the Path into these sections specifically to address the major causes of suffering---ignorance [avijja], craving [tanha] and attachment [upadana]. Thus, Right View and Right Intention, the Buddha's representations of Knowledge, heads the Noble Eighthfold Path so as to correct the enormous problem of ignorance.
The other categories, Ethics and Meditation, are the means of removing the outcomes of ignorance, which are craving and attachment. A note about these categories: the Buddha never declared any single category any more valuable than any other, participation in all are necessary to attain enlightenment. [Later Mahayana Zen would contend knowledge is unimportant, only meditation is important].
I PAANA/Knowledge - Right View, Right Intention
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Right View
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Before getting into the content of Right View, it should be pointed out there are quite a few suttas on the subject of Right View. There are many passages in the suttas which may appear quite puzzling to the reader unless he/she understands the twofold nature of the passages. Of the two perspectives, one is meant for the ordinary follower of the path. The other is intended for those seriously seeking enlightenment. In fact, it is preferable the entire Noble Eightfold Path is seen as a twofold guide, one for the greater expectations of the serious practitioner and the other for the lesser expectations of the ordinary follower. Very often the aim of an ordinary follower is only to learn of ways of getting along with his/her fellow citizens, while a serious practitioner is seeking nothing less than nibbana itself.
Seeing the Noble Eightfold Path in this way, a reader will not be puzzled when statements such as these in the Samanamandika Sutta are made back to back: 1) "[the presumed] ordinary followers of the path will be satisfied with the acquiring of wholesome habits and intentions and the removal of the unwholesome (MN ii. 26, 27)" and 2) "[the presumed] serious practitioner seeks not only the cessation of the unwholesome, but, the cessation of the wholesome as well (MN ii. 27, 28)!" The cessation of the wholesome? What does this mean? This means the serious practitioner, unlike the ordinary follower, will not be satisfied with just the removal of the unwholesome and the establishment of the wholesome, but, is committed to the removal of ALL craving and attachment, for the good as well as the bad. Remember, the Second Noble Truth states suffering is caused by craving and the Third Noble Truth states suffering is removed by removing craving, by which it means the removal of ALL cravings and attachments, for the good as well as the bad. This is what the serious practitioner seeks, the removal of all causes of suffering.
Another sutta making this twofold distinction is the Mahacattarisaka Sutta. In the Samanamandika Sutta the distinction between the ordinary follower and the serious follower is a difference in objectives; the distinction in the Mahacattarisaka Sutta, on the other hand, is a difference in knowledge.
While both ordinary and serious followers are in agreement the definition of Right View is the "knowledge of the Four Noble Truths", the serious participant possesses additional knowledge---he/she has the knowledge of "wrong view". Wrong view is defined as "wrong", not in the sense it is the opposite of "right", but, as being not "useful" or "fruitful" as far as Buddhism is concerned.
An example of "wrong view" is given in the Mahacattarisaka Sutta where Ajita Kesakambali, an Indian materialist says, "There is...no fruit or result of good and bad actions...(MN iii. 72)". These were Ajita's words, but, these words could just as easily have been substituted with the particular views of the Upanisadists, Jains, skeptics or other materialists, all of them harboring "wrong views" in the Buddha's opinion. This greater knowledge enables the serious follower to recognize "wrong views", a knowledge not available to the ordinary follower. If the Noble Eightfold Path is seen in this way, as a twofold guide, descriptions such as those in the Samanamandika, Mahacattarisaka and other suttas will seem much less puzzling.
While the serious follower has greater knowledge of Buddhism's competitors than does the ordinary follower, both are equally knowledgeable in regard to the foremost knowledge in Buddhism, Right View. All followers agree the Four Noble Truths are the core teachings of the Buddha, therefore, it is not surprising Right View, the foremost knowledge of Buddhism, is understood by all as the "Knowledge of the Four Noble Truths (Mahasatipathana DN ii. 312, Saccavibhanga MN iii. 251)". "Right [samma]", in turn, is given the added definition of "comprehensive (EEB p. 78)". Thus, Right View is a comprehensive knowledge of the Four Noble Truths.
A comprehensive knowledge of the Four Noble Truths would not be complete without adding the contribution of Kondanna, one of the five ascetics who attended the Buddha's first discourse. Apart from the Buddha's own words, Kondanna's insight into the Four Noble Truths,---"whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation (Saccasamyutta Mahavagga SN5. 423)"---is certainly the most impressive disclosure of the first discourse. Kondanna's realization that all experienced phenomena is subject to arising and ceasing is a remarkable insight into the meaning of the Four Noble Truths. Kondanna realized every word in the Four Noble Truths is there to establish the ideas of change, causality and impermanence. Arising and ceasing would not be possible if permanence ruled the self and the world. His insight indicates Kondanna is one step ahead of the others towards the comprehensive knowledge of right view.
The Buddha's examination into Kondanna's insight appears in a response to a question by a bhikkhu named Kaccanagotta, "Venerable sir, it is said, 'right view, right view'. In what way, venerable sir, is there right view?" The Buddha's response appears in two suttas, the larger of them is named after Kaccanagotta.
The second and shorter sutta is the Kaccanagotta Sutta's condensed version. It is called the Three Characteristics of Existence (Dhamma Niyama AN1. 286). While the Kaccanagotta Sutta elaborates on these characteristics, The Three Characteristics of Existence simply states what the three characteristics are---1) impermanence [anicca], 2) suffering [dukkha] and 3) non-substantiality/non-self [anatta].
Essentially, the Three Characteristics of Existence are the implications of Kondanna's great insight into the Four Noble Truths, "whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation". Of the three characteristics, impermanence is the most significant as the other two, suffering and non-substantiality/non-self are the consequences of impermanence. All of these characteristics are addressed in the following Kaccanagotta Sutta.
The Kaccanagotta Sutta
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"This world, Kaccana, for the most part depends upon a duality---upon the notion of existence and the notion on nonexistence. But for one who sees the origin of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no notion of nonexistence in regard to the world. And for one who sees the cessation of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no notion of existence in regard to the world.
"This world, Kaccana, is for the most part shackled by engagement, clinging and adherence. But this one [with right view] does not become engaged and cling through that engagement and clinging, mental standpoint, adherence, underlying tendency; he does not take a stand about 'my self'. He has no perplexity or doubt that what arises is only suffering arising, what ceases is only suffering ceasing. His knowledge about this is independent of others. It is in this way, Kaccana, that there is right view.
As Kondanna listened to the Buddha's first discourse on that momentous day 2,500 years ago, he heard the Buddha speak of causality, the middle way, the Five Aggregates, Kamma, Samsara, death and rebirth. Connecting these Buddhist ideas, Kondanna came to realize the Buddha was saying something "unheard of before". Always before, the extremes of existence or non-existence were the explanations for the self and the world. Now, he was saying, it is impermanence, arising and ceasing, becoming and change, the middle way between the extremes of existence and non-existence which are the explanations for the self and the world.
It is in the Kaccanagotta Sutta the implications of arising and ceasing---anicca [impermanence], dukkha [suffering], anatta [non-self/non-substantiality]---are discussed. The commentaries on each paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta follows:
1st Paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta
Impermanence/Middle Way (Anicca)
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In the first paragraph, the Buddha states the primary problem is the long held Indian notion of existence-non existence. Perhaps the first question that could be asked of the Kaccanagotta Sutta is, "Why was the Buddha so greatly opposed to the duality of existence and non-existence?" His resistance began with the training and education he received in his childhood and in his young adulthood. In his early years, the Buddha, a prince of the royal Sakhya family, was raised and trained in the Brahmanical tradition, receiving the best education of his day in Vedic and Upanisadic knowledge.
He also learned of the ascetic tradition, which included the knowledge of the materialists. Materialism was the only alternative knowledge to the Jain and Brahmanical traditions of his time. In spite of all the training he received, in time he became thoroughly disillusioned with the existence-nonexistence duality underlying the thought and practices of the Jainist, Brahmanical and materialist traditions. His opposition to these extremes led him to the middle way between them; the middle way of impermanence, the middle way to the good and peaceful:
The Buddha's tough-minded approach toward theories of knowledge, conceptions of reality, morals, and language made him adopt a middle standpoint avoiding the extremes of absolutism, both eternalistic and nihilistic (HBP p. 121).
The Buddha had to be tough minded about such extremes as Hinduism's causal theory of existence is an idea which produced the Vanna, caste or color system, the most destructive and conflict causing hierarchy in Indian society. Its destructiveness stemmed from its belief in a birth system which placed everyone in their castes according to the moral "quality" of their souls. This system was fine for those in the highest caste, but, not so much for those in the lower castes.
At the other extreme, the non-existence of the materialists was almost as destructive, rejecting any moral consequence to good or bad deeds. Both existence and nonexistence devalued human life (BCP p. 24), existence by its always favoring the divine in any conflict with the "good life" of humans. The nonexistence of the materialists devalued human life by reducing human life to matter. Furthermore, both existence and nonexistence were nothing but metaphysical mysteries to the Buddha, their removal avoided the unending human "...search for...(a)...mysterious entity or substance in the explanation of phenomena (HBP p. 57)".
If arising and ceasing explains how things happen, "How can there be nonexistence when there is arising, how can there be existence if there is ceasing?", is the question asked by this first paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta. Both existence and nonexistence are implausible from an empirical point of view. The middle way between them, impermanence and becoming, is the most plausible explanation of how things happen. Things are always changing and in constant flux as is described in the Anguttara Nikaya: "There is no moment, no inkling, no particle of time that the river stops flowing (AN 4.137, BP p. 36)".
2nd Paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta
Suffering (Dukkha)
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The common experience of impermanence also produces an unwelcome effect, human suffering, inevitable as long as we seek permanent happiness from things which are themselves impermanent (BP p. 37). This second paragraph is devoted to the idea that human suffering is caused by craving and that craving can be traced to a belief in a "self/soul".
A skeptic, upon hearing the first two of the Four Noble Truths---"the Five Aggregates subject to clinging are suffering" and "craving is the cause of all suffering"---may then come to ask, "do you have any proof for such claims?" A Buddhist may respond with this counter question, "can you think of an instance where the suffering of oneself or another was not caused by the craving and clinging of oneself or of another or of both?" Locating the answer to this question may take longer than expected.
Well, here's a scenario where that premise could be tested. Suppose a boulder was sitting on a hill for many years and for some reason, perhaps the ground under it shifted or weakened, the boulder was sent tumbling to the ground below. Unfortunately, at that very moment, a man on his way to the grocery store was struck by the falling boulder, sending him with an injured arm to the hospital. The injury caused the man a great deal of pain and suffering, but, from all appearances, his suffering was the result of an "accident" and his plight could only be attributed to his "bad luck" of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Disregarding any legal questions such as land ownership, it seems the man was not responsible in any way for his suffering, nor, was anyone else. If craving and clinging are the causes of all suffering, where do they fit in this situation?
In order to answer this question, it is necessary to take a short look at the Buddha's reasons for his claims. First of all, the Buddha's causal views led him to reject the idea of anything happening "accidentally" or because of "bad luck". Accidentalism, determinism, good luck, bad luck, fate, eternalism, existence, nonexistence, absolutism, soul, God, "poles of opposites" and a host of other ideas were considered "metaphysical" by the Buddha. What he did not consider metaphysical was causality, unlike the Hindus who contended causality was "unreal", a "mental construction" and an "illusion" (OP p. 79, 83). For the Buddha, there was nothing more true or real than causality for "everything in this universe comes within the framework of causality (BP p. 30)", including the results of human ethical behavior.
Getting back to the boulder-craving scenario question, it is a question corresponding to countless other situations. For instance, why does a two year old child suffer terribly from cancer and die shortly thereafter? Why does a person who has lived a life of goodness and non harming come to suffer a terrible ailment in the prime of his life?---or, conversely---why does a person who has committed a serious offense such as murder, who somehow escaped detection, ends up spending a secure and long life?
The Buddha's answer to these questions is that it is Kamma, a person's individual ethical process that produces these outcomes. Now, does that sound like a magician has just pulled a rabbit out of his hat? Does it sound like the Buddha's answer is no more than a trick from a magician's act? Before arriving at that conclusion, it should always be kept in mind the role causality plays in the Buddha's world view. Nothing happens accidentally or by chance, everything is caused---a child suffers from cancer, a man suffers from an incurable ailment in the prime of his life---are events caused by the craving and attachment inherent in Kamma and are not the result of accident or chance. In the third situation, it may seem the murderer has gotten away scot free. The reality is Kamma will have its consequences, if not in a present life, certainly in following lives.
At this point it may appear Buddhist Kamma is deterministic and fatalistic, that Buddhist ethical causality speaks of the inevitability of moral retribution. It is true Kamma will always have its consequences, but, not necessarily in an inevitable way as in "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". This is because Kamma, like everything else is impermanent, subject to change; its current state entirely dependent upon past and present actions. This is why the Noble Eightfold Path proposes that we should live life in a way disposed towards those decisions and actions which will lead to the improvement of Kamma.
If Kamma can't be improved, i.e., has been determined, as in "just as this man does a deed, so does he experience its consequences (BP p. 48)", the living of a life to attain the freedom of nibbana would be meaningless for there would be "no opportunity for the right ending of stress [suffering] (Lonaphala AN i. 249)". But, if Kamma can be improved as in "just as this man does 'a deed whose consequences would be experienced in a certain way' so does he experience its consequences (BP p. 48)", the living of a life to attain freedom would be meaningful for "there is the opportunity for the right ending of stress [suffering] (Lonaphala AN1. 249)". What the Buddha means by the phrase "a deed whose consequences would be experienced in a certain way" is that there is always an intervention between action and consequence and this intervention is Kamma.
This idea of the intervention of Kamma is explained by the Buddha in a metaphor called the sutta of The Salt Crystal. Suppose, he says, an action is represented by a tablespoon of salt and Kamma is represented by a cup of water. The adding of the salt/action to the cup of water will result in a cupful of very salty water. Suppose, again, that a tablespoon of salt/action is added to Kamma the size of a swimming pool full of water. The addition of the tablespoon of salt to the pool of water will barely have an effect on its saltiness. Similarly, dependent on the Kamma, an action will affect different Kammas differently (BP p. 48, Lonaphala AN i. 249). Consequently, the result of Kamma will be different from individual to individual. This issue of the causality of human suffering is examined more fully in the third paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta.
3rd Paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta
Causality/Non-Self (Anatta)
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Most of the 3rd paragraph is an abbreviated version of the Buddha's formula for the origin and cessation of suffering in the human personality. The Buddha called this formula the formula of Dependent Origination. The complete formula appears in the Samyutta Nikaya under the section Connected Discourses on Causation (SN2. 1). This unique formula is the Buddha's most comprehensive look at human causality and the way it leads to either 1) human bondage or 2) human freedom. The causal formula usually begins with ignorance and proceeds onward to the end of an individual's life. The important thing to remember about the formula of Dependent Origination is that it represents the stages of human existence absent of a Self or a Soul.
When the Buddha speaks of "the origin of this whole mass of suffering", he is referring to the bondage of human existence brought on by kamma [the ethical causal process] and samsara [rebirth]. The freedom from this bondage is described as the "cessation of this whole mass of suffering" which is the equivalent of the attainment of nibbana.
The formula of Dependent Origination later became popularly known as the Twelvefold Formula. Although nibbana, kamma and samsara are not explicitly stated as such in the Twelvefold Formula, each is a causal link to either freedom or bondage. Nibbana breaks the causal link between death and rebirth [samsara], and kamma maintains that link, the continuity into a new life, samsara. Nibbana [freedom] is not explicitly stated as it is the conclusion of the way, it is not a part of the way.
The Buddhist idea of bondage is clear---rebirth of kamma into a new life. The Buddhist idea of freedom is far from that of the transcendentalists, by which the transcendentalists mean independence or autonomy (EEB p. 29). Buddhist freedom has nothing to do with independence, it has everything to do with causality. From the Buddhist standpoint, nothing is free, everything is caused. At its very basic level, Nibbana, freedom from bondage, is caused by the removal of craving, the cause of suffering. It comes about by the appeasement of those formations/dispositions harboring craving (Final Nibbana SN1. 159, EEB p. 29). Nibbana, kamma and samsara may not be listed in the Twelvefold Formula, but, are the end results of a human life, those being either freedom or bondage. Let us now proceed to the listed factors of the Twelvefold Formula (SN2. 1, SIP p. 278):
1) Ignorance
2) Volitional formations
3) Consciousness
4) Name and form
5) Six sense bases
6) Contact
7) Feeling
8) Craving
9) Clinging
10) Existence
11) Birth
12) Aging and death
The Twelvefold Formula was given a distinct and insightful definition when the Buddha added the idea of dependence to the "law of cause and effect", the common definition of causality. The Buddha called causality Dependent Origination because everything arises out of relative and interdependent conditions/causes. The arising of relative and interdependent conditions culminates in the present, thus, the first order of business in the Buddha's explanation of dependent origination (EEB p. 32) was to define what he meant by the "present" as the present is where things happen.
He began by creating the term "paccupanna", meaning "that which has arisen dependent upon (EEB p.31)". In the time of the Buddha, the word for the present, "vartamana", simply meant "existing", with no implication of any relationship to the past (EEB p. 31). Paccupanna, the Buddha's word for the present, connected the present to the immediate past, which is to say the present has arisen dependent on the past, or, is dependently arisen. To this formulation the Buddha added yathabuta-nana, "knowledge of the [impermanent] manner in which things have come to be" and thita va sa dhatu, "this status has remained [valid] so far" (EEB p. 31). Thus, dependent origination is the coming to be of the present and the present being impermanent, all you can say about the present is that, "it has remained thus far" making the present neither absolute nor incorrigable (EEB p. 32)".
The Wheel of Becoming
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The Twelvefold Formula was later cleverly arranged by Buddhists into the form of a wheel, giving it another name, the Wheel of Becoming. The Wheel of Becoming is as inventive a symbol of the causality of human bondage and freedom as you could imagine. The Wheel of Becoming's formula begins with ignorance, just for the sake of a starting point, as ignorance "is one of the most important factors that contribute to evil or unwholesome behavior" (BP p. 32). Human bondage begins with the "coming to be" of ignorance and the subsequent "coming to be" of the remaining steps in the cycle, culminating in old age and death. But, that doesn't mean human existence ends at death, rather, the causal spin of the Wheel of Becoming propels human consciousness/kamma into Samsara, rebirth into a new life, which begins anew with ignorance.
The cycles of the Wheel of Becoming will continue repeatedly from birth to old age and death and on to rebirth as long as the conditions for rebirth are present. Human freedom is its reverse, with the cessation of ignorance eventually leading to the cessation of old age and death or the cessation of samsara. Accordingly, human freedom is the removal of old age and death and bondage is the continuation of old age and death in repeated cycles of Samsara.
Thus, Buddhist afterlife presents two possibilities: either one attains nibbana, ending the transmigration of consciousness/kamma into samsara, eluding the unending rounds of births and deaths, or, one's consciousness continues on in repeated cycles of samsara.
While all conditions in the Wheel of Becoming are necessary for becoming, birth, aging and death to occur, three of them, ignorance, craving and attachment, most of all tips the scale towards bondage. Other conscious motivations contributing to bondage are greed, hatred and delusion (Sampasadaniya DN iii. 107, AN i. 134, BP p. 47). If you take a look at the Wheel of becoming, you will see the conditions of the wheel are in sum the physical, mental and ethical causal categories affecting the human personality. Schematically, name and form would be strictly in the physical category; existence/becoming, birth, aging and death are the results of the conditions of the wheel; the remainder of the conditions are in the mental category. Of these, ignorance, craving and clinging/attachment are the ethical factors, the components of Kamma. As long as these factors are present, the cycle of the Wheel of Becoming will not end.
In addition to ignorance, craving and attachment, there are a couple of other factors involved in Buddhist rebirth. First, Kamma alone is not sufficient for Buddhist rebirth to take place, as Kamma requires a vehicle for its transport into a new life. According to the Digha Nikaya. this vehicle is the "stream of consciousness (Vinnana-sota) connecting two lives" (Sampasadaniya DN iii. 105, BP p. 52). The Buddha equated consciousness with Kamma, therefore, the stream of consciousness persists only if Kamma is present.
Secondly, when consciousness proceeds to rebirth it is accompanied by the conditions for body and mind, the same conditions as those located in the Wheel of Becoming. Consciousness survives only if established in body and mind; there is no support in early Buddhism for a disembodied mind (BP p. 52). [Technically, when consciousness transmigrates from one life to another at death, it is never apart from mind-body]. This very critical aspect of Buddhist rebirth is explained in Post 4 under the heading The Five Aggregates and in the following Mahanidana Sutta:
"Mind and body conditions consciousness."...If consciousness did not find a resting-place in mind-and-body, would there subsequently be an arising and coming-to-be of birth, aging, death and suffering?' 'No, Lord'. (Mahanidana DN ii. 63).
Mind, body, consciousness and this "whole mass of suffering" will continue until ignorance, craving and attachment are removed. Their removal is the attainment of Nibbana. Nibbana is the summum bonum of Buddhism (BP p. 69) as it removes Kamma and Samsara and ends the cycle of the Wheel of Becoming.
Hindu and Jain equivalents of Nibbana, Kamma and Samsara are actually very old Indian ideas, embedded in Hindu and Jain traditions. Consequently, Buddhist versions are often assumed identical with them. "Early Buddhism is not an absolutely original doctrine. It is no freak in the evolution of Indian thought (IP p. 360, BP p. 44)", says Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Rhys Davids concludes, "Gautama was born and brought up and lived and died a Hindu...(IP p. 361)".
However, there aren't any real reasons to come to these conclusions as the Buddha did not accept kamma and rebirth simply because vaguely similar ideas were present in other traditions. Instead, he personally verified kamma and rebirth. He did this through meditation and even relied upon extra sensory perception for his information as is recorded in the following passage of the Digha Nikaya (BP p. 44):
'And he, with mind concentrated,...applies and directs his mind to the knowledge of the passing-away and arising of beings. With the divine eye, purified and surpassing that of humans, he sees beings passing away and arising: base and noble, well-favored and ill-favored, to happy and and unhappy destinations as kamma directs them...(Samannaphala DN i. 82)'
ESP was a valid source of knowledge for the Buddha even though it is often misused in the form of "base arts" such as palmistry and fortune telling (Brahmajala DN i. 8). Divine eye or clairvoyance may seem an unusual source of knowledge for most, but, the Buddha realized sense experience, reason and logic were all limited sources of knowledge (BP p. 16) since empiricism itself is limited. Therefore, for his understanding of causality in the afterlife, he came to rely on the ESP he acquired in his meditative practices in concert with his unwavering belief that human causality does not end at death if the causes for samsara remains.
With this commentary on the third paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta, we end our discussion on Right View, the comprehensive knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. Its comprehensiveness certainly can be attributed to Kondanna's great insight into the Four Noble Truths---whatever is subject to arising is subject to ceasing---and all of its implications for humankind as is revealed in the Kaccanagotta Sutta---impermanence [anicca], suffering [dukkha] and non-self [anatta].
Right Intention
=========
While Right View is the comprehensive knowledge of Buddhism, Right Intention, the Buddha's second representation of knowledge, deals with two other areas of knowledge, 1) the means of acquiring knowledge and 2) the sources of knowledge.
Long before the Buddha's arrival, the Indians had decided the two major sources of knowledge were experience and reason (HBP p. 30). The Buddha agreed these were the most valuable sources of knowledge, but, disagreed with the way these sources were used. The experience the pre-Buddhist Indians often relied upon was the experience of yoga, often used by Hindus in their mystical practices to assert "something" beyond what is empirically given (HBP p. 35). It is true the Buddha did rely on yogic experience [practice of self discipline] for his understanding of causality in the afterlife, but, he never used yogic experience to pursue the permanent and eternal as did others.
The reasoning the pre-Buddhist Indians favored is deductive reasoning, reasoning independent of experience (EEB p. 27, HBP p. 30). This source of knowledge was much used by the Hindus, Jains and Materialists to promote their particular metaphysical views. For the Buddha, reasoning used in this way produced only useless metaphysical "views from nowhere (HBP p. 52)" and was of no value to him. From the Buddha's standpoint, reasoning is valuable only if rooted in sense experience, otherwise, any results are no more than "speculative overstatements (Brahmajala DN i. 13, HBP p. 30)".
Clearly, the Buddha was an irritant to his metaphysically inspired neighbors who believed behind the empirical world of change and impermanence lies the permanent, unchanging and eternal (EEB p. 27). For these groups, sense experience had not provided satisfactory information, they had lost confidence in sense experience as a valid source of knowledge (HBP p. 36). The Buddha had no such qualms, his objective was always to "remain within the world of sensory experience (BCP p. 3)" regarding all matters, including any method of reasoning.
The Means of Acquiring Knowledge
=======================
1. Investigation/Reflection
=================
The results of absolute deduction, such as the Vanna, caste or color system (EEB p. 77), did not have any place in the Buddha's search for the good and peaceful. Thus, he cautioned, do not say of any conclusion, "Only this is true anything else is wrong (Canki MNii. 171, Sandaka MN1. 520, BP p. 17,20)". Nor did he hesitate to reject logic, reasoning or any other source of knowledge if any of it should "lead to harm and suffering...". If any source of knowledge should lead you in that direction, "...you should abandon them...(Kalama AN i. 188)", he said. For these reasons the Buddha was extremely particular about his selections for the means of acquiring knowledge. Foremost among the methods he favored are investigation (vicara) and reflection (vittaka). These methods first appeared in the Buddha's descriptions of the three most important dispositions, those of body, speech and mind (Bhumija SN2. 40, Conditions SN2. 43, EEB p. 51, n. 11):
"In-breathing and out-breathing, friend Visakha, are the bodily formation: applied thought (investigation) and sustained thought (reflection) are the verbal formation; perception and feeling are the mental formation (Culavedalla MN i. 301)".
Investigation and reflection or reasoning was located by the Buddha in the verbal/speech formation since all reasoning is carried out in mind via language. The Buddha gave reasoning a couple of other definitions, equating it with "thought and examination" in the Samyutta Nikaya (SN4. 293), and "...thinking, thought, intention, mental absorption, mental fixity, directing of mind, verbal formation..." in the Mahacattarisaka (MNiii. 74). Investigation and reflection are such fundamental aspects of reasoning it would not be too far fetched to say investigation and reflection are the beginning and foundation of all human endeavor and decision making.
2. Inductive Reasoning
==============
Deductive reasoning was a problem for the Buddha as it did not take into account human experience. His solution to this problem was to turn to his second means of acquiring knowledge, inductive reasoning, reasoning from the particular to the universal. Inductive reasoning served Buddhism in a way deductive reasoning could not, allowing the Buddha to place humankind at center stage and to create laws designed for the well being of humanity.
In the creation of these laws, it was necessary for the Buddha to have some means of predictability into the future to enable him to assess the worth of a law. Unlike the predictions of deductive reasoning, which are absolute and determined [one plus one will always equal two, absolutely], the predictability of inductive reasoning, applied to human experience, is at best only a possibility, a probability, a guide with no guarantees. Nevertheless, it provided the Buddha with some kind of predictability into the usefulness or harmfulness of a law.
You could say inductive reasoning is an inference into the future based on experiences of the past (BCP p. 5). Doesn't this sound remarkably similar to the description of dependent arising, the happenings of the past results in the happenings of the present? The Buddha valued inductive reasoning to such an extent he called it "knowledge born of enlightenment (DN3. 134)". It was through inductive inference he came to realize the principle of dependent arising/causality is inherent in the Four Noble Truths (BCP p. 5):
"When, bhikkhus, a noble disciple thus understands aging-and-death, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, this is his knowledge of the principle [Four Noble Truths/dependent arising/causality]. By means of this principle that is seen, understood, immediately attained, fathomed, he applies the method [inductive inference] to the past and to the future thus: 'Whatever ascetics and brahmins in the past directly knew aging-and-death, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, all these directly knew it in the very same way that I do now. Whatever ascetics and brahmins in the future will directly know aging-and-death, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, all these will directly know it in the very same way that I do now.' This is his knowledge of entailment [inductive inference/anvaye nana] (Cases of Knowledge SN2. 58)".
The Cases of Knowledge sutta also relates how the Buddha was completely confident the knowledge he discovered in his enlightenment is true at all times, past, present and future. Furthermore, the Buddha's uses of inductive inference and investigation/reflection should satisfy anyone the source of the Buddha's enlightenment was not from the divine, from mysterious "intuition" or from the soul, but, arose from his life experiences and his insights into his experiences. The Buddha expresses this sentiment in his first discourse: "...knowledge and vision arose in me; 'Unshakable is the liberation of my mind...(SN5 v. 421)'".
3. Anumana
=======
The Buddha's third means of acquiring knowledge, also a form of inference, is called anumana, "measuring in accordance with". It is a definition excerpted from the Buddha's way of measuring the direction of another's thought, "if one has an underlying tendency towards something, then one is measured in accordance with it (SN3. 36)". Anumana is a versatile inference, used by the Buddha in more than one way. It is used most importantly as a way for monks to improve themselves by benefiting from the traits they've measured in "a person to be trusted". Conversely, monks will improve themselves by avoiding those traits they've measured in "a person not to be trusted (Anumana MNi. 96)".
Anumana is also used as a way of knowing an object when direct cognition or experience is not available (HBP p. 201). For instance, when you meet a person for the first time, you are compelled to make some guesses (BCP p. 6) about the state of that person's mind. Usually, a person's appearance will give many first impressions. Even more revealing than a person's appearance is by the "telling of thoughts in four ways " via 1) body language, 2) human speech, 3) nuances in speech, and 4) context (DN3. 104). Through these means---visible behavior, speech and any clue on the direction of a person's thought---much can be inferred of the state of another's mind.
The most intriguing of anumana's several uses is its use as "pure inference (BCP p. 6)". "Pure" may imply the reading of another's mind. More accurately, it is the use of inference in a way which will develop human empathy, i.e., learning to feel the feelings of other living beings. In this way, compassion, like all of Buddhist ethics, is not intuitive or hard wired, but, is learned for "If one cannot experience another's pain, then why worry about hurting or killing another (BCP p. 6)". Anumana's very personal aspect of inference concludes the first section of Right Intention, the means of acquiring knowledge. The second section of Right Intention, the sources of knowledge, follows.
Sources of Knowledge
================
The Buddha's sources of knowledge were many and varied and included 1) divine scripture, 2) approval, 3) oral tradition, 4) investigation, 5) reflection (Canki MN2. 171); 6) omniscience, 7) written and oral tradition, 8) reason and logic, 9) agnostics and skeptics (Sandaka MN1. 519). As valuable as these sources of knowledge were, all sources of knowledge, including those the Buddha did not have much use for---divine scripture, omniscience, agnostics and skeptics---were merely useful preparation for his great exploration into the human mind. It was an enterprise no one else had ever attempted, not in India, China or Greece. It was a search for knowledge by way of "a detailed analysis of human psychology (HBP p. 32)".
Buddhism's examination into human psychology was inevitable, having rejected anything outside of the Five Aggregates as a source of human suffering, including soul and God. With the Five Aggregates, the Buddha sought to "redefine the concept of man (BP p. 39)", coming to portray the human as a "lump of dispositions (EEB p. 51)" overrun by the dispositions towards craving and attachment.
In redefining the concept of man, Buddhism turned to its psychological definition---the dispositions-Five Aggregates relationship. It is a definition in direct contrast to the popular divine definition of a human---Atman (soul)-Brahman (God) relationship. The dispositions commanded the greatest attention since the dispositions "disposes" the Five Aggregates in directions good or bad. For this reason, knowledge of the dispositions, especially of the three most influential dispositions, those of body, speech and mind (MNii. 26, EEB p. 51, AN3. 415) became important sources of knowledge. With this goal in mind, the Buddha took a hard look at the habits and intentions of people in the Samanamandika Sutta. It is a sensible strategy considering much of human behavior is habitual behavior coming from misguided intentions.
Unwholesome habits and intentions originates from different parts of the mind, but, their causes are the same, greed, hatred and delusion (MNii. 26, 27). The task of the Samanamandika Sutta is to restore to wholesomeness those habits and intentions infected by greed, hatred and delusion. How to do it? In the case of unwholesome habits, since all habits originates in the dispositions, the Samanamandika proposes the way to do it is to alter the behaviors of body, speech and mind:
"...a bhikkhu abandons bodily misconduct and develops good bodily conduct; he abandons verbal misconduct and develops good verbal conduct; he abandons mental misconduct and develops good mental conduct; he abandons wrong livelihood and gains a living by right livelihood...(MNii. 27)"
Restoring wholesomeness to intentions requires a different tactic as intentions originates not in the dispositions, as do habits, but, in Perception, also one of the Five Aggregates. While restoring wholesomeness to habits is a matter of altering action or behavior, altering unwholesome intentions requires confronting directly the unwholesome Perceptions of greed, hatred and delusion. Removing or containing these taints requires all the resources Buddhism has as its disposal, which includes investigation and reflection, effort and striving, singleness of mind and concentration (MN ii. 28). Which is to say, meditation is Buddhism's greatest resource in combating unwholesome perceptions.
On this thought the knowledge section of the Noble Eightfold Path is concluded. The discussion of the remaining final legs of the path, Ethics and Meditation, follows.
II SILAS/Ethics - Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood
==============================================
The most well known Buddhist illustration of human bondage is the Wheel of Becoming, its cycle propelled by ignorance, craving and attachment, into repeated rounds of samsara. Adding even more fuel to the wheel are their all too common products---greed, hatred and delusion (MN2. 26)---sure indicators the problem of samsara is an ethical problem. Accordingly, the whole idea is to live life in a way encouraging those decisions and actions beneficial to the reduction of ignorance, craving and attachment in the dispositions. In other words, the idea is to live an ethical life, a life leading to the improvement of the dispositions/kamma.
The Buddha's proposal for this ethical life are the Silas or Virtues of the Noble Eightfold Path: Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. Which is not to say the Silas are the entirety of the Buddha's moral Path. Far from it, the Silas are described as "elementary, inferior matters of moral practice (Brahmajalla DN1. 4)" and "are not sufficient in themselves (EEB p. 72)". The Silas are called only the "stepping stones (EEB p. 72)", the beginning of the moral path, which suggests there are other levels in Buddhist ethics. In fact, Buddhist ethics does consist of three levels, the beginning, the middle and the highest. Suffice for now to say the Silas are the lowest morality, the Noble Eighthfold Path the middle and total non-attachment is the highest.
Although the Silas are only the visible ethical behavior of a person (EEB p. 71), they are foundational as "the nuclei of the moral life (EEB p. 72)". Values similar to the Silas are present in all moral paths as everyone in any society seeks the safety of "immeasurable freedom from fear, enmity, and affliction (AN4. 246, EEB p. 75 n. 18)", freedom from remorse and regret (AN5. 1, EEB p. 75 n. 19) and the ensuing happiness these values bring to a person's life (Culahatthipadopama MN1. 180, EEB p. 75 n. 16). While the Silas covers a wide range of behaviors, are there any among them that could upset social harmony more than does unpeaceful or incorrect speech? Probably not, thus, the Buddha begins his descriptions of the Silas with Right Speech.
Right Speech
========
Many children grow up learning this over-familiar ditty, "stick and stones may break my bones but words will not hurt me", but, soon discover unpeaceful and incorrect speech often does lead to the breaking of bones. The Buddha contended unpeaceful and incorrect speech are in turn based on the ignorance, craving and attachment originating in the dispositions, specifically the disposition of verbal disposition. In order to reduce ignorance, craving and attachment in verbal dispositions, the Buddha gave a general description of what is expected of all speech in the Samyutta Nikaya:
"One should utter only such speech
By which one does not afflict oneself
Nor cause harm to others:
Such speech is truly well spoken.
(Well Spoken SN1. 189)
Buddhism's Singular Moral Path
======================
As compared to his competitors, the Buddha's originality and creativity produced a moral path unlike any other in the world. It may not be too far fetched to assume most moral paths are either dependent on religious, divine, transcendental moral law or on duty based state law. In the latter instance, Buddhism does not share with state law its preoccupation with duty. Duty is irrelevant to a path in search of the good and peaceful.
Nor does Buddhism see a divide between the empirical "good life" of humans and ultimate divine law as do the transcendentalists. Transcendentalists believe divine law is permanent, superior, divine happiness and, conversely, the good life of humans is transitory, sensory enjoyment and therefore is materialistic and profane (HBP p. 101).
Upon realizing eternal laws could easily bring harm to human life if the good life had to continually conform with absolute divine law, the Buddha renounced absolute divine law. In other words, for Buddhists, morality has worth only if it is useful to human life---"Human life is not made for morals; morals are made for human life (HBP p. 101, 102)".
Buddhist morality also differs from other moral paths as it does not seek attachment to the divine, to duty or to anything else. Buddhism says craving is the cause of all suffering, therefore, its idea is to remove attachment to this craving, including the attachment to the "objective pull (EEB p. 3, 37)" of the empirical world. Complete non-attachment or detachment is Buddhism's goal.
Human Decision Making
==================
Comparing Buddhism's detachment based moral path to other paths begins with asking how human decisions are made since morality has everything to do with the kinds of decisions people make. The decisions of transcendentalists comes from divine instructions which are carried out by the soul and its "great extension", transcendent free will (HBP p. 107). The Buddha did not agree and instead proposed human beings are guided by "dispositions or volitional formations (HBP p. 87)".
Unlike the will, which is a single, controlling, independent, self directed force, the Buddha's alternative to will is a whole group of tendencies (EEB p. 49) which are in total the Buddha's version of phenomenal will (HBP p. 107). Where transcendentalists would say people "will" themselves to action, Buddhism says people are "disposed" to actions.
In other words, actions are caused, not willed; the dispositions "disposes" or causes the five aggregates to certain actions. Disposition [sankhara] literally means "putting together (EEB p. 50)" and the Buddha refused to consider uncaused or mysterious causes, such as the soul or free will or God/gods as the source of human actions. No, everyone is responsible for his/her decisions and actions, no one or anything else is responsible:
"By oneself, indeed, is evil done; by oneself is one injured. By oneself is evil left undone; by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity belong to oneself. No one is purified by another (Dhammapada KN, SIP p. 305)".
There they are, two very different ways of arriving at decisions and actions, one via free will the other via causality. A transcendentalist will point to divine scripture for the justification of his/her decisions and actions. A Buddhist will point to the Dhamma for arguments supporting causality. In doing so, a Buddhist must inevitably come to speak of Kamma, the causality of a human being. Kamma itself has many causes and equivalents---thought, intention, action, behavior. The most prominent among them are volitional formations/dispositions.
Volitional Formations/Dispositions
=======================
Free will is certainly a popular idea and having rejected it, the Buddha's task was to explain that human decisions and actions are not somehow mysteriously willed, but, are caused by a process called Kamma, or, one of its most prominent equivalents, the dispositions. As mentioned earlier, it is the influence of the dispositions or Kamma on the Five Aggregates of Existence that results in human decisions and actions. Kamma is not a force like the will, it is the result of the accumulation of past and present individual human behavior. Just from this description, it is apparent Kamma and the dispositions are not easy concepts to explain.
In order to simplify these concepts for his followers, the Buddha used the activities of thought, action and intention, among others, as examples and equivalents of Kamma. He also designed a number of suttas to provide for his followers a more extensive definition of Kamma. Among them is a sutta called the Being Devoured sutta, significant as it details how the Five Aggregates are "constructed" by Kamma:
"And why, bhikkhus, do you call them volitional formations [dispositions]? 'They construct the conditioned [Khandas-the five aggregates]', bhikkhus, therefore they are called volitional formations. And what is the conditioned that they construct? They construct 1) conditioned form as form; they construct 2) conditioned feeling as feeling; they construct 3) conditioned perception as perception; they construct 4) conditioned volitional formations as volitional formations; they construct 5) conditioned consciousness as consciousness. 'They construct the conditioned,' bhikkhus, therefore they are called volitional formations (Being Devoured SN3. 87)".
When the Being Devoured sutta says the conditioned [the Five Aggregates] are constructed by the volitional formations or dispositions, it is a way of saying human existence is caused by Kamma. Just how it does this, by constructing or causing the aggregates, is described in this sutta. Perhaps the most significant of the constructions is the construction of the fourth aggregate of volitional formations. In this construction, it is as if Kamma is constructing itself. This suggests there is no outside force or divine entity involved in the process, which in turn suggests everyone is responsible for his or her own decisions and actions.
The relationship between Kamma and the five aggregates also reveals a lot about Buddhist causality. For one thing, it indicates nothing is free or independent of the causal process. Kamma is definitely not independent of the Five Aggregates, if it were, it would not be any different from free will. Unlike free will, Kamma's relationship to a human is not a one way street. Kamma is as dependent for its existence on the Five Aggregates as the Five Aggregates are dependent on Kamma for their existence. Like everything else, Kamma and the Five Aggregates are dependently arisen, relative and interdependent.
Getting back to the details of the Noble Eightfold Path, a convenient way to see the path is through the eyes of Buddhaghosa [a Buddhist philosopher] who saw the Noble Eightfold Path the path of Knowledge, Ethics and Meditation. The Buddha's Culavedalla rendition are---Wisdom, Virtue and Concentration (MN i. 301):
I PAANA/Knowledge - Right View, Right Intention
II SILAS/Ethics - Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood
III SAMADHI/Meditation - Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration
The Buddha categorized the Path into these sections specifically to address the major causes of suffering---ignorance [avijja], craving [tanha] and attachment [upadana]. Thus, Right View and Right Intention, the Buddha's representations of Knowledge, heads the Noble Eighthfold Path so as to correct the enormous problem of ignorance.
The other categories, Ethics and Meditation, are the means of removing the outcomes of ignorance, which are craving and attachment. A note about these categories: the Buddha never declared any single category any more valuable than any other, participation in all are necessary to attain enlightenment. [Later Mahayana Zen would contend knowledge is unimportant, only meditation is important].
I PAANA/Knowledge - Right View, Right Intention
=====================================
Right View
========
Before getting into the content of Right View, it should be pointed out there are quite a few suttas on the subject of Right View. There are many passages in the suttas which may appear quite puzzling to the reader unless he/she understands the twofold nature of the passages. Of the two perspectives, one is meant for the ordinary follower of the path. The other is intended for those seriously seeking enlightenment. In fact, it is preferable the entire Noble Eightfold Path is seen as a twofold guide, one for the greater expectations of the serious practitioner and the other for the lesser expectations of the ordinary follower. Very often the aim of an ordinary follower is only to learn of ways of getting along with his/her fellow citizens, while a serious practitioner is seeking nothing less than nibbana itself.
Seeing the Noble Eightfold Path in this way, a reader will not be puzzled when statements such as these in the Samanamandika Sutta are made back to back: 1) "[the presumed] ordinary followers of the path will be satisfied with the acquiring of wholesome habits and intentions and the removal of the unwholesome (MN ii. 26, 27)" and 2) "[the presumed] serious practitioner seeks not only the cessation of the unwholesome, but, the cessation of the wholesome as well (MN ii. 27, 28)!" The cessation of the wholesome? What does this mean? This means the serious practitioner, unlike the ordinary follower, will not be satisfied with just the removal of the unwholesome and the establishment of the wholesome, but, is committed to the removal of ALL craving and attachment, for the good as well as the bad. Remember, the Second Noble Truth states suffering is caused by craving and the Third Noble Truth states suffering is removed by removing craving, by which it means the removal of ALL cravings and attachments, for the good as well as the bad. This is what the serious practitioner seeks, the removal of all causes of suffering.
Another sutta making this twofold distinction is the Mahacattarisaka Sutta. In the Samanamandika Sutta the distinction between the ordinary follower and the serious follower is a difference in objectives; the distinction in the Mahacattarisaka Sutta, on the other hand, is a difference in knowledge.
While both ordinary and serious followers are in agreement the definition of Right View is the "knowledge of the Four Noble Truths", the serious participant possesses additional knowledge---he/she has the knowledge of "wrong view". Wrong view is defined as "wrong", not in the sense it is the opposite of "right", but, as being not "useful" or "fruitful" as far as Buddhism is concerned.
An example of "wrong view" is given in the Mahacattarisaka Sutta where Ajita Kesakambali, an Indian materialist says, "There is...no fruit or result of good and bad actions...(MN iii. 72)". These were Ajita's words, but, these words could just as easily have been substituted with the particular views of the Upanisadists, Jains, skeptics or other materialists, all of them harboring "wrong views" in the Buddha's opinion. This greater knowledge enables the serious follower to recognize "wrong views", a knowledge not available to the ordinary follower. If the Noble Eightfold Path is seen in this way, as a twofold guide, descriptions such as those in the Samanamandika, Mahacattarisaka and other suttas will seem much less puzzling.
While the serious follower has greater knowledge of Buddhism's competitors than does the ordinary follower, both are equally knowledgeable in regard to the foremost knowledge in Buddhism, Right View. All followers agree the Four Noble Truths are the core teachings of the Buddha, therefore, it is not surprising Right View, the foremost knowledge of Buddhism, is understood by all as the "Knowledge of the Four Noble Truths (Mahasatipathana DN ii. 312, Saccavibhanga MN iii. 251)". "Right [samma]", in turn, is given the added definition of "comprehensive (EEB p. 78)". Thus, Right View is a comprehensive knowledge of the Four Noble Truths.
A comprehensive knowledge of the Four Noble Truths would not be complete without adding the contribution of Kondanna, one of the five ascetics who attended the Buddha's first discourse. Apart from the Buddha's own words, Kondanna's insight into the Four Noble Truths,---"whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation (Saccasamyutta Mahavagga SN5. 423)"---is certainly the most impressive disclosure of the first discourse. Kondanna's realization that all experienced phenomena is subject to arising and ceasing is a remarkable insight into the meaning of the Four Noble Truths. Kondanna realized every word in the Four Noble Truths is there to establish the ideas of change, causality and impermanence. Arising and ceasing would not be possible if permanence ruled the self and the world. His insight indicates Kondanna is one step ahead of the others towards the comprehensive knowledge of right view.
The Buddha's examination into Kondanna's insight appears in a response to a question by a bhikkhu named Kaccanagotta, "Venerable sir, it is said, 'right view, right view'. In what way, venerable sir, is there right view?" The Buddha's response appears in two suttas, the larger of them is named after Kaccanagotta.
The second and shorter sutta is the Kaccanagotta Sutta's condensed version. It is called the Three Characteristics of Existence (Dhamma Niyama AN1. 286). While the Kaccanagotta Sutta elaborates on these characteristics, The Three Characteristics of Existence simply states what the three characteristics are---1) impermanence [anicca], 2) suffering [dukkha] and 3) non-substantiality/non-self [anatta].
Essentially, the Three Characteristics of Existence are the implications of Kondanna's great insight into the Four Noble Truths, "whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation". Of the three characteristics, impermanence is the most significant as the other two, suffering and non-substantiality/non-self are the consequences of impermanence. All of these characteristics are addressed in the following Kaccanagotta Sutta.
The Kaccanagotta Sutta
=================
"This world, Kaccana, for the most part depends upon a duality---upon the notion of existence and the notion on nonexistence. But for one who sees the origin of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no notion of nonexistence in regard to the world. And for one who sees the cessation of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no notion of existence in regard to the world.
"This world, Kaccana, is for the most part shackled by engagement, clinging and adherence. But this one [with right view] does not become engaged and cling through that engagement and clinging, mental standpoint, adherence, underlying tendency; he does not take a stand about 'my self'. He has no perplexity or doubt that what arises is only suffering arising, what ceases is only suffering ceasing. His knowledge about this is independent of others. It is in this way, Kaccana, that there is right view.
"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 the Dhamma by the middle: 'With ignorance as condition, volitional formations [come to be]; with volitional formations as condition, consciousness...Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance comes cessation of volitional formations; with the cessation of volitional formations, cessation of consciousness...Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering (Kaccanagotta SN2. 17)".
=================
As Kondanna listened to the Buddha's first discourse on that momentous day 2,500 years ago, he heard the Buddha speak of causality, the middle way, the Five Aggregates, Kamma, Samsara, death and rebirth. Connecting these Buddhist ideas, Kondanna came to realize the Buddha was saying something "unheard of before". Always before, the extremes of existence or non-existence were the explanations for the self and the world. Now, he was saying, it is impermanence, arising and ceasing, becoming and change, the middle way between the extremes of existence and non-existence which are the explanations for the self and the world.
It is in the Kaccanagotta Sutta the implications of arising and ceasing---anicca [impermanence], dukkha [suffering], anatta [non-self/non-substantiality]---are discussed. The commentaries on each paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta follows:
1st Paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta
Impermanence/Middle Way (Anicca)
=========================
In the first paragraph, the Buddha states the primary problem is the long held Indian notion of existence-non existence. Perhaps the first question that could be asked of the Kaccanagotta Sutta is, "Why was the Buddha so greatly opposed to the duality of existence and non-existence?" His resistance began with the training and education he received in his childhood and in his young adulthood. In his early years, the Buddha, a prince of the royal Sakhya family, was raised and trained in the Brahmanical tradition, receiving the best education of his day in Vedic and Upanisadic knowledge.
He also learned of the ascetic tradition, which included the knowledge of the materialists. Materialism was the only alternative knowledge to the Jain and Brahmanical traditions of his time. In spite of all the training he received, in time he became thoroughly disillusioned with the existence-nonexistence duality underlying the thought and practices of the Jainist, Brahmanical and materialist traditions. His opposition to these extremes led him to the middle way between them; the middle way of impermanence, the middle way to the good and peaceful:
The Buddha's tough-minded approach toward theories of knowledge, conceptions of reality, morals, and language made him adopt a middle standpoint avoiding the extremes of absolutism, both eternalistic and nihilistic (HBP p. 121).
The Buddha had to be tough minded about such extremes as Hinduism's causal theory of existence is an idea which produced the Vanna, caste or color system, the most destructive and conflict causing hierarchy in Indian society. Its destructiveness stemmed from its belief in a birth system which placed everyone in their castes according to the moral "quality" of their souls. This system was fine for those in the highest caste, but, not so much for those in the lower castes.
At the other extreme, the non-existence of the materialists was almost as destructive, rejecting any moral consequence to good or bad deeds. Both existence and nonexistence devalued human life (BCP p. 24), existence by its always favoring the divine in any conflict with the "good life" of humans. The nonexistence of the materialists devalued human life by reducing human life to matter. Furthermore, both existence and nonexistence were nothing but metaphysical mysteries to the Buddha, their removal avoided the unending human "...search for...(a)...mysterious entity or substance in the explanation of phenomena (HBP p. 57)".
If arising and ceasing explains how things happen, "How can there be nonexistence when there is arising, how can there be existence if there is ceasing?", is the question asked by this first paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta. Both existence and nonexistence are implausible from an empirical point of view. The middle way between them, impermanence and becoming, is the most plausible explanation of how things happen. Things are always changing and in constant flux as is described in the Anguttara Nikaya: "There is no moment, no inkling, no particle of time that the river stops flowing (AN 4.137, BP p. 36)".
2nd Paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta
Suffering (Dukkha)
=============================
The common experience of impermanence also produces an unwelcome effect, human suffering, inevitable as long as we seek permanent happiness from things which are themselves impermanent (BP p. 37). This second paragraph is devoted to the idea that human suffering is caused by craving and that craving can be traced to a belief in a "self/soul".
A skeptic, upon hearing the first two of the Four Noble Truths---"the Five Aggregates subject to clinging are suffering" and "craving is the cause of all suffering"---may then come to ask, "do you have any proof for such claims?" A Buddhist may respond with this counter question, "can you think of an instance where the suffering of oneself or another was not caused by the craving and clinging of oneself or of another or of both?" Locating the answer to this question may take longer than expected.
Well, here's a scenario where that premise could be tested. Suppose a boulder was sitting on a hill for many years and for some reason, perhaps the ground under it shifted or weakened, the boulder was sent tumbling to the ground below. Unfortunately, at that very moment, a man on his way to the grocery store was struck by the falling boulder, sending him with an injured arm to the hospital. The injury caused the man a great deal of pain and suffering, but, from all appearances, his suffering was the result of an "accident" and his plight could only be attributed to his "bad luck" of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Disregarding any legal questions such as land ownership, it seems the man was not responsible in any way for his suffering, nor, was anyone else. If craving and clinging are the causes of all suffering, where do they fit in this situation?
In order to answer this question, it is necessary to take a short look at the Buddha's reasons for his claims. First of all, the Buddha's causal views led him to reject the idea of anything happening "accidentally" or because of "bad luck". Accidentalism, determinism, good luck, bad luck, fate, eternalism, existence, nonexistence, absolutism, soul, God, "poles of opposites" and a host of other ideas were considered "metaphysical" by the Buddha. What he did not consider metaphysical was causality, unlike the Hindus who contended causality was "unreal", a "mental construction" and an "illusion" (OP p. 79, 83). For the Buddha, there was nothing more true or real than causality for "everything in this universe comes within the framework of causality (BP p. 30)", including the results of human ethical behavior.
Getting back to the boulder-craving scenario question, it is a question corresponding to countless other situations. For instance, why does a two year old child suffer terribly from cancer and die shortly thereafter? Why does a person who has lived a life of goodness and non harming come to suffer a terrible ailment in the prime of his life?---or, conversely---why does a person who has committed a serious offense such as murder, who somehow escaped detection, ends up spending a secure and long life?
The Buddha's answer to these questions is that it is Kamma, a person's individual ethical process that produces these outcomes. Now, does that sound like a magician has just pulled a rabbit out of his hat? Does it sound like the Buddha's answer is no more than a trick from a magician's act? Before arriving at that conclusion, it should always be kept in mind the role causality plays in the Buddha's world view. Nothing happens accidentally or by chance, everything is caused---a child suffers from cancer, a man suffers from an incurable ailment in the prime of his life---are events caused by the craving and attachment inherent in Kamma and are not the result of accident or chance. In the third situation, it may seem the murderer has gotten away scot free. The reality is Kamma will have its consequences, if not in a present life, certainly in following lives.
At this point it may appear Buddhist Kamma is deterministic and fatalistic, that Buddhist ethical causality speaks of the inevitability of moral retribution. It is true Kamma will always have its consequences, but, not necessarily in an inevitable way as in "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". This is because Kamma, like everything else is impermanent, subject to change; its current state entirely dependent upon past and present actions. This is why the Noble Eightfold Path proposes that we should live life in a way disposed towards those decisions and actions which will lead to the improvement of Kamma.
If Kamma can't be improved, i.e., has been determined, as in "just as this man does a deed, so does he experience its consequences (BP p. 48)", the living of a life to attain the freedom of nibbana would be meaningless for there would be "no opportunity for the right ending of stress [suffering] (Lonaphala AN i. 249)". But, if Kamma can be improved as in "just as this man does 'a deed whose consequences would be experienced in a certain way' so does he experience its consequences (BP p. 48)", the living of a life to attain freedom would be meaningful for "there is the opportunity for the right ending of stress [suffering] (Lonaphala AN1. 249)". What the Buddha means by the phrase "a deed whose consequences would be experienced in a certain way" is that there is always an intervention between action and consequence and this intervention is Kamma.
This idea of the intervention of Kamma is explained by the Buddha in a metaphor called the sutta of The Salt Crystal. Suppose, he says, an action is represented by a tablespoon of salt and Kamma is represented by a cup of water. The adding of the salt/action to the cup of water will result in a cupful of very salty water. Suppose, again, that a tablespoon of salt/action is added to Kamma the size of a swimming pool full of water. The addition of the tablespoon of salt to the pool of water will barely have an effect on its saltiness. Similarly, dependent on the Kamma, an action will affect different Kammas differently (BP p. 48, Lonaphala AN i. 249). Consequently, the result of Kamma will be different from individual to individual. This issue of the causality of human suffering is examined more fully in the third paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta.
3rd Paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta
Causality/Non-Self (Anatta)
===========================
Most of the 3rd paragraph is an abbreviated version of the Buddha's formula for the origin and cessation of suffering in the human personality. The Buddha called this formula the formula of Dependent Origination. The complete formula appears in the Samyutta Nikaya under the section Connected Discourses on Causation (SN2. 1). This unique formula is the Buddha's most comprehensive look at human causality and the way it leads to either 1) human bondage or 2) human freedom. The causal formula usually begins with ignorance and proceeds onward to the end of an individual's life. The important thing to remember about the formula of Dependent Origination is that it represents the stages of human existence absent of a Self or a Soul.
When the Buddha speaks of "the origin of this whole mass of suffering", he is referring to the bondage of human existence brought on by kamma [the ethical causal process] and samsara [rebirth]. The freedom from this bondage is described as the "cessation of this whole mass of suffering" which is the equivalent of the attainment of nibbana.
The formula of Dependent Origination later became popularly known as the Twelvefold Formula. Although nibbana, kamma and samsara are not explicitly stated as such in the Twelvefold Formula, each is a causal link to either freedom or bondage. Nibbana breaks the causal link between death and rebirth [samsara], and kamma maintains that link, the continuity into a new life, samsara. Nibbana [freedom] is not explicitly stated as it is the conclusion of the way, it is not a part of the way.
The Buddhist idea of bondage is clear---rebirth of kamma into a new life. The Buddhist idea of freedom is far from that of the transcendentalists, by which the transcendentalists mean independence or autonomy (EEB p. 29). Buddhist freedom has nothing to do with independence, it has everything to do with causality. From the Buddhist standpoint, nothing is free, everything is caused. At its very basic level, Nibbana, freedom from bondage, is caused by the removal of craving, the cause of suffering. It comes about by the appeasement of those formations/dispositions harboring craving (Final Nibbana SN1. 159, EEB p. 29). Nibbana, kamma and samsara may not be listed in the Twelvefold Formula, but, are the end results of a human life, those being either freedom or bondage. Let us now proceed to the listed factors of the Twelvefold Formula (SN2. 1, SIP p. 278):
1) Ignorance
2) Volitional formations
3) Consciousness
4) Name and form
5) Six sense bases
6) Contact
7) Feeling
8) Craving
9) Clinging
10) Existence
11) Birth
12) Aging and death
The Twelvefold Formula was given a distinct and insightful definition when the Buddha added the idea of dependence to the "law of cause and effect", the common definition of causality. The Buddha called causality Dependent Origination because everything arises out of relative and interdependent conditions/causes. The arising of relative and interdependent conditions culminates in the present, thus, the first order of business in the Buddha's explanation of dependent origination (EEB p. 32) was to define what he meant by the "present" as the present is where things happen.
He began by creating the term "paccupanna", meaning "that which has arisen dependent upon (EEB p.31)". In the time of the Buddha, the word for the present, "vartamana", simply meant "existing", with no implication of any relationship to the past (EEB p. 31). Paccupanna, the Buddha's word for the present, connected the present to the immediate past, which is to say the present has arisen dependent on the past, or, is dependently arisen. To this formulation the Buddha added yathabuta-nana, "knowledge of the [impermanent] manner in which things have come to be" and thita va sa dhatu, "this status has remained [valid] so far" (EEB p. 31). Thus, dependent origination is the coming to be of the present and the present being impermanent, all you can say about the present is that, "it has remained thus far" making the present neither absolute nor incorrigable (EEB p. 32)".
The Wheel of Becoming
================
The Twelvefold Formula was later cleverly arranged by Buddhists into the form of a wheel, giving it another name, the Wheel of Becoming. The Wheel of Becoming is as inventive a symbol of the causality of human bondage and freedom as you could imagine. The Wheel of Becoming's formula begins with ignorance, just for the sake of a starting point, as ignorance "is one of the most important factors that contribute to evil or unwholesome behavior" (BP p. 32). Human bondage begins with the "coming to be" of ignorance and the subsequent "coming to be" of the remaining steps in the cycle, culminating in old age and death. But, that doesn't mean human existence ends at death, rather, the causal spin of the Wheel of Becoming propels human consciousness/kamma into Samsara, rebirth into a new life, which begins anew with ignorance.
The cycles of the Wheel of Becoming will continue repeatedly from birth to old age and death and on to rebirth as long as the conditions for rebirth are present. Human freedom is its reverse, with the cessation of ignorance eventually leading to the cessation of old age and death or the cessation of samsara. Accordingly, human freedom is the removal of old age and death and bondage is the continuation of old age and death in repeated cycles of Samsara.
Thus, Buddhist afterlife presents two possibilities: either one attains nibbana, ending the transmigration of consciousness/kamma into samsara, eluding the unending rounds of births and deaths, or, one's consciousness continues on in repeated cycles of samsara.
While all conditions in the Wheel of Becoming are necessary for becoming, birth, aging and death to occur, three of them, ignorance, craving and attachment, most of all tips the scale towards bondage. Other conscious motivations contributing to bondage are greed, hatred and delusion (Sampasadaniya DN iii. 107, AN i. 134, BP p. 47). If you take a look at the Wheel of becoming, you will see the conditions of the wheel are in sum the physical, mental and ethical causal categories affecting the human personality. Schematically, name and form would be strictly in the physical category; existence/becoming, birth, aging and death are the results of the conditions of the wheel; the remainder of the conditions are in the mental category. Of these, ignorance, craving and clinging/attachment are the ethical factors, the components of Kamma. As long as these factors are present, the cycle of the Wheel of Becoming will not end.
In addition to ignorance, craving and attachment, there are a couple of other factors involved in Buddhist rebirth. First, Kamma alone is not sufficient for Buddhist rebirth to take place, as Kamma requires a vehicle for its transport into a new life. According to the Digha Nikaya. this vehicle is the "stream of consciousness (Vinnana-sota) connecting two lives" (Sampasadaniya DN iii. 105, BP p. 52). The Buddha equated consciousness with Kamma, therefore, the stream of consciousness persists only if Kamma is present.
Secondly, when consciousness proceeds to rebirth it is accompanied by the conditions for body and mind, the same conditions as those located in the Wheel of Becoming. Consciousness survives only if established in body and mind; there is no support in early Buddhism for a disembodied mind (BP p. 52). [Technically, when consciousness transmigrates from one life to another at death, it is never apart from mind-body]. This very critical aspect of Buddhist rebirth is explained in Post 4 under the heading The Five Aggregates and in the following Mahanidana Sutta:
"Mind and body conditions consciousness."...If consciousness did not find a resting-place in mind-and-body, would there subsequently be an arising and coming-to-be of birth, aging, death and suffering?' 'No, Lord'. (Mahanidana DN ii. 63).
Mind, body, consciousness and this "whole mass of suffering" will continue until ignorance, craving and attachment are removed. Their removal is the attainment of Nibbana. Nibbana is the summum bonum of Buddhism (BP p. 69) as it removes Kamma and Samsara and ends the cycle of the Wheel of Becoming.
Hindu and Jain equivalents of Nibbana, Kamma and Samsara are actually very old Indian ideas, embedded in Hindu and Jain traditions. Consequently, Buddhist versions are often assumed identical with them. "Early Buddhism is not an absolutely original doctrine. It is no freak in the evolution of Indian thought (IP p. 360, BP p. 44)", says Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Rhys Davids concludes, "Gautama was born and brought up and lived and died a Hindu...(IP p. 361)".
However, there aren't any real reasons to come to these conclusions as the Buddha did not accept kamma and rebirth simply because vaguely similar ideas were present in other traditions. Instead, he personally verified kamma and rebirth. He did this through meditation and even relied upon extra sensory perception for his information as is recorded in the following passage of the Digha Nikaya (BP p. 44):
'And he, with mind concentrated,...applies and directs his mind to the knowledge of the passing-away and arising of beings. With the divine eye, purified and surpassing that of humans, he sees beings passing away and arising: base and noble, well-favored and ill-favored, to happy and and unhappy destinations as kamma directs them...(Samannaphala DN i. 82)'
ESP was a valid source of knowledge for the Buddha even though it is often misused in the form of "base arts" such as palmistry and fortune telling (Brahmajala DN i. 8). Divine eye or clairvoyance may seem an unusual source of knowledge for most, but, the Buddha realized sense experience, reason and logic were all limited sources of knowledge (BP p. 16) since empiricism itself is limited. Therefore, for his understanding of causality in the afterlife, he came to rely on the ESP he acquired in his meditative practices in concert with his unwavering belief that human causality does not end at death if the causes for samsara remains.
With this commentary on the third paragraph of the Kaccanagotta Sutta, we end our discussion on Right View, the comprehensive knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. Its comprehensiveness certainly can be attributed to Kondanna's great insight into the Four Noble Truths---whatever is subject to arising is subject to ceasing---and all of its implications for humankind as is revealed in the Kaccanagotta Sutta---impermanence [anicca], suffering [dukkha] and non-self [anatta].
Right Intention
=========
While Right View is the comprehensive knowledge of Buddhism, Right Intention, the Buddha's second representation of knowledge, deals with two other areas of knowledge, 1) the means of acquiring knowledge and 2) the sources of knowledge.
Long before the Buddha's arrival, the Indians had decided the two major sources of knowledge were experience and reason (HBP p. 30). The Buddha agreed these were the most valuable sources of knowledge, but, disagreed with the way these sources were used. The experience the pre-Buddhist Indians often relied upon was the experience of yoga, often used by Hindus in their mystical practices to assert "something" beyond what is empirically given (HBP p. 35). It is true the Buddha did rely on yogic experience [practice of self discipline] for his understanding of causality in the afterlife, but, he never used yogic experience to pursue the permanent and eternal as did others.
The reasoning the pre-Buddhist Indians favored is deductive reasoning, reasoning independent of experience (EEB p. 27, HBP p. 30). This source of knowledge was much used by the Hindus, Jains and Materialists to promote their particular metaphysical views. For the Buddha, reasoning used in this way produced only useless metaphysical "views from nowhere (HBP p. 52)" and was of no value to him. From the Buddha's standpoint, reasoning is valuable only if rooted in sense experience, otherwise, any results are no more than "speculative overstatements (Brahmajala DN i. 13, HBP p. 30)".
Clearly, the Buddha was an irritant to his metaphysically inspired neighbors who believed behind the empirical world of change and impermanence lies the permanent, unchanging and eternal (EEB p. 27). For these groups, sense experience had not provided satisfactory information, they had lost confidence in sense experience as a valid source of knowledge (HBP p. 36). The Buddha had no such qualms, his objective was always to "remain within the world of sensory experience (BCP p. 3)" regarding all matters, including any method of reasoning.
The Means of Acquiring Knowledge
=======================
1. Investigation/Reflection
=================
The results of absolute deduction, such as the Vanna, caste or color system (EEB p. 77), did not have any place in the Buddha's search for the good and peaceful. Thus, he cautioned, do not say of any conclusion, "Only this is true anything else is wrong (Canki MNii. 171, Sandaka MN1. 520, BP p. 17,20)". Nor did he hesitate to reject logic, reasoning or any other source of knowledge if any of it should "lead to harm and suffering...". If any source of knowledge should lead you in that direction, "...you should abandon them...(Kalama AN i. 188)", he said. For these reasons the Buddha was extremely particular about his selections for the means of acquiring knowledge. Foremost among the methods he favored are investigation (vicara) and reflection (vittaka). These methods first appeared in the Buddha's descriptions of the three most important dispositions, those of body, speech and mind (Bhumija SN2. 40, Conditions SN2. 43, EEB p. 51, n. 11):
"In-breathing and out-breathing, friend Visakha, are the bodily formation: applied thought (investigation) and sustained thought (reflection) are the verbal formation; perception and feeling are the mental formation (Culavedalla MN i. 301)".
Investigation and reflection or reasoning was located by the Buddha in the verbal/speech formation since all reasoning is carried out in mind via language. The Buddha gave reasoning a couple of other definitions, equating it with "thought and examination" in the Samyutta Nikaya (SN4. 293), and "...thinking, thought, intention, mental absorption, mental fixity, directing of mind, verbal formation..." in the Mahacattarisaka (MNiii. 74). Investigation and reflection are such fundamental aspects of reasoning it would not be too far fetched to say investigation and reflection are the beginning and foundation of all human endeavor and decision making.
2. Inductive Reasoning
==============
Deductive reasoning was a problem for the Buddha as it did not take into account human experience. His solution to this problem was to turn to his second means of acquiring knowledge, inductive reasoning, reasoning from the particular to the universal. Inductive reasoning served Buddhism in a way deductive reasoning could not, allowing the Buddha to place humankind at center stage and to create laws designed for the well being of humanity.
In the creation of these laws, it was necessary for the Buddha to have some means of predictability into the future to enable him to assess the worth of a law. Unlike the predictions of deductive reasoning, which are absolute and determined [one plus one will always equal two, absolutely], the predictability of inductive reasoning, applied to human experience, is at best only a possibility, a probability, a guide with no guarantees. Nevertheless, it provided the Buddha with some kind of predictability into the usefulness or harmfulness of a law.
You could say inductive reasoning is an inference into the future based on experiences of the past (BCP p. 5). Doesn't this sound remarkably similar to the description of dependent arising, the happenings of the past results in the happenings of the present? The Buddha valued inductive reasoning to such an extent he called it "knowledge born of enlightenment (DN3. 134)". It was through inductive inference he came to realize the principle of dependent arising/causality is inherent in the Four Noble Truths (BCP p. 5):
"When, bhikkhus, a noble disciple thus understands aging-and-death, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, this is his knowledge of the principle [Four Noble Truths/dependent arising/causality]. By means of this principle that is seen, understood, immediately attained, fathomed, he applies the method [inductive inference] to the past and to the future thus: 'Whatever ascetics and brahmins in the past directly knew aging-and-death, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, all these directly knew it in the very same way that I do now. Whatever ascetics and brahmins in the future will directly know aging-and-death, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation, all these will directly know it in the very same way that I do now.' This is his knowledge of entailment [inductive inference/anvaye nana] (Cases of Knowledge SN2. 58)".
The Cases of Knowledge sutta also relates how the Buddha was completely confident the knowledge he discovered in his enlightenment is true at all times, past, present and future. Furthermore, the Buddha's uses of inductive inference and investigation/reflection should satisfy anyone the source of the Buddha's enlightenment was not from the divine, from mysterious "intuition" or from the soul, but, arose from his life experiences and his insights into his experiences. The Buddha expresses this sentiment in his first discourse: "...knowledge and vision arose in me; 'Unshakable is the liberation of my mind...(SN5 v. 421)'".
3. Anumana
=======
The Buddha's third means of acquiring knowledge, also a form of inference, is called anumana, "measuring in accordance with". It is a definition excerpted from the Buddha's way of measuring the direction of another's thought, "if one has an underlying tendency towards something, then one is measured in accordance with it (SN3. 36)". Anumana is a versatile inference, used by the Buddha in more than one way. It is used most importantly as a way for monks to improve themselves by benefiting from the traits they've measured in "a person to be trusted". Conversely, monks will improve themselves by avoiding those traits they've measured in "a person not to be trusted (Anumana MNi. 96)".
Anumana is also used as a way of knowing an object when direct cognition or experience is not available (HBP p. 201). For instance, when you meet a person for the first time, you are compelled to make some guesses (BCP p. 6) about the state of that person's mind. Usually, a person's appearance will give many first impressions. Even more revealing than a person's appearance is by the "telling of thoughts in four ways " via 1) body language, 2) human speech, 3) nuances in speech, and 4) context (DN3. 104). Through these means---visible behavior, speech and any clue on the direction of a person's thought---much can be inferred of the state of another's mind.
The most intriguing of anumana's several uses is its use as "pure inference (BCP p. 6)". "Pure" may imply the reading of another's mind. More accurately, it is the use of inference in a way which will develop human empathy, i.e., learning to feel the feelings of other living beings. In this way, compassion, like all of Buddhist ethics, is not intuitive or hard wired, but, is learned for "If one cannot experience another's pain, then why worry about hurting or killing another (BCP p. 6)". Anumana's very personal aspect of inference concludes the first section of Right Intention, the means of acquiring knowledge. The second section of Right Intention, the sources of knowledge, follows.
Sources of Knowledge
================
The Buddha's sources of knowledge were many and varied and included 1) divine scripture, 2) approval, 3) oral tradition, 4) investigation, 5) reflection (Canki MN2. 171); 6) omniscience, 7) written and oral tradition, 8) reason and logic, 9) agnostics and skeptics (Sandaka MN1. 519). As valuable as these sources of knowledge were, all sources of knowledge, including those the Buddha did not have much use for---divine scripture, omniscience, agnostics and skeptics---were merely useful preparation for his great exploration into the human mind. It was an enterprise no one else had ever attempted, not in India, China or Greece. It was a search for knowledge by way of "a detailed analysis of human psychology (HBP p. 32)".
Buddhism's examination into human psychology was inevitable, having rejected anything outside of the Five Aggregates as a source of human suffering, including soul and God. With the Five Aggregates, the Buddha sought to "redefine the concept of man (BP p. 39)", coming to portray the human as a "lump of dispositions (EEB p. 51)" overrun by the dispositions towards craving and attachment.
In redefining the concept of man, Buddhism turned to its psychological definition---the dispositions-Five Aggregates relationship. It is a definition in direct contrast to the popular divine definition of a human---Atman (soul)-Brahman (God) relationship. The dispositions commanded the greatest attention since the dispositions "disposes" the Five Aggregates in directions good or bad. For this reason, knowledge of the dispositions, especially of the three most influential dispositions, those of body, speech and mind (MNii. 26, EEB p. 51, AN3. 415) became important sources of knowledge. With this goal in mind, the Buddha took a hard look at the habits and intentions of people in the Samanamandika Sutta. It is a sensible strategy considering much of human behavior is habitual behavior coming from misguided intentions.
Unwholesome habits and intentions originates from different parts of the mind, but, their causes are the same, greed, hatred and delusion (MNii. 26, 27). The task of the Samanamandika Sutta is to restore to wholesomeness those habits and intentions infected by greed, hatred and delusion. How to do it? In the case of unwholesome habits, since all habits originates in the dispositions, the Samanamandika proposes the way to do it is to alter the behaviors of body, speech and mind:
"...a bhikkhu abandons bodily misconduct and develops good bodily conduct; he abandons verbal misconduct and develops good verbal conduct; he abandons mental misconduct and develops good mental conduct; he abandons wrong livelihood and gains a living by right livelihood...(MNii. 27)"
Restoring wholesomeness to intentions requires a different tactic as intentions originates not in the dispositions, as do habits, but, in Perception, also one of the Five Aggregates. While restoring wholesomeness to habits is a matter of altering action or behavior, altering unwholesome intentions requires confronting directly the unwholesome Perceptions of greed, hatred and delusion. Removing or containing these taints requires all the resources Buddhism has as its disposal, which includes investigation and reflection, effort and striving, singleness of mind and concentration (MN ii. 28). Which is to say, meditation is Buddhism's greatest resource in combating unwholesome perceptions.
On this thought the knowledge section of the Noble Eightfold Path is concluded. The discussion of the remaining final legs of the path, Ethics and Meditation, follows.
II SILAS/Ethics - Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood
==============================================
The most well known Buddhist illustration of human bondage is the Wheel of Becoming, its cycle propelled by ignorance, craving and attachment, into repeated rounds of samsara. Adding even more fuel to the wheel are their all too common products---greed, hatred and delusion (MN2. 26)---sure indicators the problem of samsara is an ethical problem. Accordingly, the whole idea is to live life in a way encouraging those decisions and actions beneficial to the reduction of ignorance, craving and attachment in the dispositions. In other words, the idea is to live an ethical life, a life leading to the improvement of the dispositions/kamma.
The Buddha's proposal for this ethical life are the Silas or Virtues of the Noble Eightfold Path: Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. Which is not to say the Silas are the entirety of the Buddha's moral Path. Far from it, the Silas are described as "elementary, inferior matters of moral practice (Brahmajalla DN1. 4)" and "are not sufficient in themselves (EEB p. 72)". The Silas are called only the "stepping stones (EEB p. 72)", the beginning of the moral path, which suggests there are other levels in Buddhist ethics. In fact, Buddhist ethics does consist of three levels, the beginning, the middle and the highest. Suffice for now to say the Silas are the lowest morality, the Noble Eighthfold Path the middle and total non-attachment is the highest.
Although the Silas are only the visible ethical behavior of a person (EEB p. 71), they are foundational as "the nuclei of the moral life (EEB p. 72)". Values similar to the Silas are present in all moral paths as everyone in any society seeks the safety of "immeasurable freedom from fear, enmity, and affliction (AN4. 246, EEB p. 75 n. 18)", freedom from remorse and regret (AN5. 1, EEB p. 75 n. 19) and the ensuing happiness these values bring to a person's life (Culahatthipadopama MN1. 180, EEB p. 75 n. 16). While the Silas covers a wide range of behaviors, are there any among them that could upset social harmony more than does unpeaceful or incorrect speech? Probably not, thus, the Buddha begins his descriptions of the Silas with Right Speech.
Right Speech
========
Many children grow up learning this over-familiar ditty, "stick and stones may break my bones but words will not hurt me", but, soon discover unpeaceful and incorrect speech often does lead to the breaking of bones. The Buddha contended unpeaceful and incorrect speech are in turn based on the ignorance, craving and attachment originating in the dispositions, specifically the disposition of verbal disposition. In order to reduce ignorance, craving and attachment in verbal dispositions, the Buddha gave a general description of what is expected of all speech in the Samyutta Nikaya:
"One should utter only such speech
By which one does not afflict oneself
Nor cause harm to others:
Such speech is truly well spoken.
(Well Spoken SN1. 189)
Speech can be corrected via improving the verbal dispositions [volitional formations], one of the three major dispositions. The others are the bodily and the mental dispositions (SN2 .43). According to the Twelve Fold Formula, the dispositions [sankhara] conditions consciousness, thereby setting the stage for conscious decision making and actions, guided by the dispositions in directions good or bad.
The Well Spoken sutta provides not only for Right Speech, but, also for Right Action and Right Livelihood its foundational ethic, which is peacefulness achieved through non-harming. Right speech is first of all speech that is well spoken (svakhata), clear, precise and unambiguous (HBP p. 114) and is most of all peaceful speech, speech not afflicting oneself , others or both. Clarity in speech is not easy to come by, even more difficult is the attaining of peacefulness in speech. A way to accomplish peacefulness in speech is to first learn what the requirements of peacefulness are in the first place and thereafter to implement those requirements into speech. As it turns out, it is an objective for which one need look no further than squarely into the description of the Dhamma itself in the Mirror of Dhamma.
While the qualities of the Dhamma are the same as the Mirror of Dhamma's qualities of peacefulness, they are also the Buddha's justification for his relativistic views (see Post 4 under Buddhist Relativity). Never an absolutist, his approach to all human actions and decision making is relative. By "...simply performing an act or adopting a rule because it is viewed as right does not constitute morality", he says (HBP p. 102). Each quality of the Dhamma, as itemized in the Mirror of Dhamma, is an expression of Buddhist relativity.
Mirror of Dhamma/Requirements of Peacefulness
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"Well-proclaimed by the Lord is the Dhamma, 1) visible here and now [based on experience], 2) timeless [which is not confined to a particular time], 3) inviting inspection [is verifiable], 4) leading onward [goal directed], 5) to be comprehended by the wise each one for himself [whose meaning is realizable by intelligent human beings] (Mirror of Dhamma Mahaparinibbana DN2. 93, quotes in parenthesis HBP p. 105)".
1) visible here and now [based on experience]
==================================
The Dhamma is first of all characterized by its being 1) Visible here and now [based on experience]. Knowledge via sense experience is the foremost among the qualities of the Dhamma as the Buddha was suspicious of any knowledge obtained by other than sense experience. He had witnessed the struggles of the Hindus in their effort to answer the metaphysical questions of "existence and non-existence" through means other than sense experience. The use of such knowledge was so widespread the Buddha was the first philosopher and psychologist whose theory of knowledge only involved a "detailed analysis of sense experience (EEB p. 40)". It is only through sense experience that we know what we know. Sense experience is the "All" for the Buddha:
At Savatthi. "Bhikkhus, I will teach you the all. Listen to that..."and what, Bhikkhus, is the all? The eye and forms, the ear and sounds, the nose and odours, the tongue and tastes, the body and tactile objects, the mind and mental phenomena. This is called the all."
"If anyone, bhikkhus, should speak thus: 'Having rejected this all, I shall make known another all'---that would be a mere empty boast on his part. If he were questioned he would not be able to reply and, further, he would meet with vexation. For what reason? Because, bhikkhus, that would not be within his domain." (The All SN4. 15)
The Buddha called the six sense organs the sources of all human knowledge. There is nothing other than the senses that contributes to human knowledge. Many would not have any difficulty accepting the five physical senses originating from eye, ear, nose, tongue and touch as sources of knowledge. However, many would have great difficulty in accepting the mind as a sense originating from a sense organ, the brain. Most people in the world believe the mind and body are two separate things and believe the mind is something "special".
Even early Buddhist philosophers defined the person as consisting of two separate entities: "nama-rupa", mind and body. The Buddha did not coin the term "nama-rupa" meaning these were two separate things. For the Buddha, the mind is "special" too, but, its specialness does not extend beyond being only one of the senses. The Buddha is recorded as saying "The body is material, impermanent, consciousness is bound to it, dependent on it (Samanaphala Sutta DNi. 76)". In other words he never said the mind and body are two separate things. The mind originates from the brain, and as do all the physical senses, it too originates from matter. Matter is seen to exist everywhere, but, mind is never found apart from matter, which means the mind can't exist without matter.
In his very first discourse, the Buddha described his enlightened experience, distinguishing it from the second form of experience we are all familiar with, ordinary experience. From the onset, the Buddha establishes there are two kinds of human experience, ordinary and enlightened. In either case, whether the experience is ordinary or enlightened, valid experiences are only those that are "...1) empirically verifiable and 2) morally significant (HBP p. 112)". These definitions of valid experiences also serves to clarify the next two qualities of the Dhamma.
2) timeless [which is not confined to a particular time]
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Morally significant experiences are also described as timeless [which is not confined to a particular time], the 2nd quality of the Dhamma. Timelessness may suggest permanence and eternalism (HBP p. 115) to some, but, all it means in the Buddhist context is that [which is not confined to a particular time]. Morality would not be significant if any rule was confined to a particular time. If a rule was confined to a particular time it would not necessarily be true in another time. However, if the Buddha were to say a rule is absolutely true and eternal for all time, he would then have been no different from the absolutist, Aristotle nor any of the Buddha's absolutist Hindu opponents. Having rejected absolutism completely, the relativist Buddha introduced a major ethical condition into his idea of relativity, thereby transforming relative ethics into an immensely sensible Buddhist morality.
This ethical condition occurs in the Ambalathikarahulovada Sutta (MNi. 416, BP p. 62) where he says decisions and actions should be based not upon prevailing views (...likes, dislikes...what is pleasant, what is unpleasant...), but, on what does not bring suffering to 1) oneself, 2) others or to 3) both. Which is to say, any decision or action taken, bodily, verbally or mentally, should depend completely on how the action or decision affects people (HBP p. 102) and other living beings. In this way, Buddhist morality is relative and "applicable to different times, not confined to a particular time (HBP p. 115)" [notice this sutta repeats the ethics of the Well Spoken sutta]. Thus, Buddhist morality, the Dhamma and the speech expressing it are "timeless".
3) inviting inspection [is verifiable]
==========================
The third quality of the dhamma, inviting inspection [is verifiable] emphasizes valid experiences are only those that are empirically verifiable. A search such as Aristotle's rationalistic, deductive quest for absolute right desire, absent of any empirical evidence, would not be similar to the Buddha's search for the good and the peaceful in any way (see Post 4 under Buddhist Relativity).
For the Buddha, an experience which is empirically verifiable "...is seen, heard, cognized, reached, sought after, examined by the mind...(Kalaka AN2. 25, HBP p. 115 n. 10)". Therefore, the experience is known by the examiner through the senses. However, the Buddha is not "subservient" to any source of knowledge (i.e. the senses) nor to anything he has learned. This means neither knowledge nor any source of knowledge are absolute. Neither is he attached to anything he has learned and for that calls himself "the stable one". Additionally, it should be apparent, the Buddha is saying valid experience, both ordinary and enlightened, is definable, describable, never so "mysterious" it is beyond language. In this way, experience is empirically verified through language.
4) leading onward [goal directed]
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The fourth quality of the Dhamma, leading onward [goal directed] expresses the need for relative knowledge and the search for peace to be goal oriented. How can any endeavor proceed without an objective in mind? Although the aim of relative knowledge cannot be as precise as an absolutist's aim for certainty, inductive reasoning does make it possible for a relativist to weigh objectives by relying on probability. An absolutist searches for certainty. A relativist is satisfied with probabilities.
5) to be comprehended by the wise each one for himself
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The fifth quality of the dhamma, "to be comprehended by the wise each one for himself [whose meaning is realizable by intelligent human beings]" simply says every follower of the dhamma must learn the dhamma individually each for themselves. The Buddha is only a guide, a teacher, the followers are the learners. The following method of study is proposed in the Pasadika Sutta:
Study the dhamma "...setting meaning beside meaning and expression beside expression, without dissension,...for the benefit and happiness of devas (gods) and humans (Pasadika Sutta DN iii. 128)."
Although the principle of impermanence is not as apparent as the Buddha's insistence the dhamma is learned via language, it is equally foundational to the dhamma. The qualities of the dhamma would be completely different if the dhamma rested on a foundation of permanence. If that were the case, decisions led by exclamations of "This is right for all time...this is wrong for all time" would ensue. Peacefulness and its tool, relative knowledge, would be out of Buddhism's reach.
It is not by accident the qualities of the dhamma are also the qualities of peacefulness and of relativity. All of these qualities rests on a foundation of impermanence as does peacefulness and relativity. Impermanence itself is the middle way between the ancient Indian dualities of absolute existence and accidental non-existence. The peacefulness of the middle way evades the rigidity of absolute existence and the unpredictability of non-existence, both having the potential for conflict. Relativity, likewise, by evading rigidity and accidentalism, is far more likely to lead to peaceful solutions.
The search for peaceful solutions is not as simple as pulling an absolute answer from a sackful of options. A Buddhist can not draw upon immediately available solutions to problems in the way a deontologist [a believer in duty based ethics] could. This is why the Buddha in a lecture to his son Rahula, cautions him to carefully deliberate prior to making any decisions:
"So too, Rahula, an action with the body should be done after repeated reflection; an action by speech should be done after repeated reflection; an action by mind should be done after repeated reflection (Ambalatthikarahulovadda MN i. 415)".
If decision making is practiced in this manner, the qualities of the dhamma are sure to promote peacefulness in all human activity, including reducing the kind of speech damaging to human relations---"false speech, malicious speech [divisive] speech, harsh speech, idle speech [gossip/frivolous talk] (Speaking Much AN iii. 254, HBP p. 105). All such improvements in speech will lead to a more peaceful and useful society. This is a repetitive thing to say---the Buddha sought not only that which is beneficial to individuals, but to society as well.
Right Action
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Right Action is most commonly described in the discourses as "Abstinence from killing, stealing and sexual misconduct (SN5 i. 8, DN ii. 313)" [Right Action could thus be corrected or improved upon via altering the bodily disposition]. These violations are prohibited in all societies. It is difficult to imagine a society functioning well without restrictions against these violations in place. The word "abstinence" indicates these restrictions begins, in Buddhist societies, in the Sangha [the community of Buddhist Bhikkhus/monks and Bhikkhunis/nuns] as Sangha abstentions. Abstentions are the moral tool of persuasion "to help the individual achieve his or her goal (EEB p. 131)" while residing in the Sangha. The influence of the Sangha is not limited to its members. Many Sangha prohibitions finds its way into the larger community in the form of public laws to bring about the good of humanity (EEB p. 131).
Public laws against killing, stealing and sexual misconduct and other violations are thus created in Buddhist societies via the influence of the Sangha, but, what to do about the tendencies towards these violations? Unlike the Hindus and Jains who looked to the divine, the soul and free will for the source of human actions (EEB p. 20, 21), Buddhism looked to the mind, laying "...emphasis on a psychological analysis of human action (EEB p. 21)". This analysis is based on Buddhism's knowledge of the dispositions which disposes or influences the Five Aggregates to action. The three primary dispositions of body, speech and mind (Sammaditthi MN i. 54) are of special concern. The idea is to identify and locate where in the dispositions unwholesome habits and intentions are harbored and thereafter to remove them as is proposed in the Samanamandika Sutta (MN ii. 26, 27).
While the Samanamandika Sutta proposes ways to root out unwholesome habits and intentions another strategy the Buddha proposes: prevent the formations of unwholesome tendencies in the first place. As in the requirements for Right Speech, this is accomplished by making sure "an action with body, speech or mind be done only after repeated reflection (Ambalatthikarahulovada MN I. 415)".
This comment earns for the Ambalatthikarahulovada Sutta its description, 'Mirror of Dhamma' (BP p. 62) [this Mirror of Dhamma is not the same as the Mirror of Dhamma sutta high lighted in Right Speech]. There are several reasons the Buddha expected thorough reflection prior to taking any action is that he equated action with Kamma; in so doing he emphasized the importance of action. Secondly, all human actions are dependently arisen, all actions are caused, thus, it is sensible to pay attention to the causes of actions (HBP p. 106). Thirdly, all actions have consequences so it is only sensible to also pay attention to the potential outcomes of any action (HBP p. 106). For these reasons, and again as is recommended in Right Speech, the Ambalatthikarahulovada Sutta proposes one "look into the Mirror of Dhamma and determine for oneself whether the causes and consequences of actions are good or bad (BP p. 62)":
Whatever action, bodily, verbal, or mental, leads to suffering [byabadha, literally, illness] for oneself, for others or for both, that action is bad [a-kusalam]. Whatever action, bodily, verbal or mental, does not lead to suffering for oneself, for others or for both, that action is good [kusalam] (BP p. 62) [notice the ethics of the Spoken Well sutta are repeated here].
The Mirror of Dhamma proposes the formation of tendencies toward killing, stealing and sexual misconduct can be prevented entirely, if, prior to any action, repeated reflection on the causes and consequences of the action are carefully considered. Any action taken should be action that is good, by good the Mirror of Dhamma means an action that does not bring suffering to oneself, others or to both. It is in fact the Mirror of Dhamma's beautiful expression of what amounts to Right Action.
Right Livelihood
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Karl Marx, in his evaluation of capitalism, said Adam Smith is the first disseminator of capitalist ideas. Adam Smith is certainly the foremost figure in Christian-Western capitalism. However, the Buddha, who preceded Adam Smith by many centuries appears the first to introduce capitalist ideas to the world. The evidence for this claim lies in the Anguttara Nikaya, in particular two suttas, the Anana/Anathapindika Sutta and the Dighajana Sutta. Although the word "capitalism" was probably not even invented in the Buddha's time, the Buddha's proposals to achieve the "good life for humans" seems remarkably capitalistic. Both suttas suggest the Buddha was a capitalist in regard to lay society. Life in the Sangha [community of monks], on the other hand, is a communal existence.
The Buddha was not a person prone to wishful thinking. He valued nothing more in society than he did economic prosperity and understood economic prosperity is a result of social planning. The planning he seems to have favored was capitalism, as unlike socialism, capitalism created wealth. He also realized for economic prosperity to endure, laws and regulations are necessary. Therefore, in the Cakkavati Sihanada Sutta of the Digha Nikaya, the Buddha expresses the role of government and law in the promotion of economic prosperity.
Anana/Anathapindika Sutta
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Although, in Freedom from Debt (AN2. 69) in the Anathapindika Sutta, the Buddha is speaking to a householder named Anathapindika about the four happinesses of a business owner, a preceding sutta Worthy Deeds (AN ii.66) reveals how wealth brings happiness to society as well. The Buddha emphasized the role of the business owner/entrepreneur because the entrepreneur gives capitalism its vitality. As you read the Anathapindika Sutta, you will see the "good life" of a human and the "higher life" of humans shares a common ground, the moral life of humans (HBP p. 107).
I have taken the liberty to speculate on all that the Four Happinesses implies. According to this sutta, capitalism brings four kinds of happiness to a business owner and to society: 1) "The happiness of ownership, 2) the happiness of enjoyment, 3) the happiness of freedom from debt and 4) the happiness of blamelessness (Freedom from Debt AN ii. 69)".
At one level, the Buddha's "happiness" is the same as the happiness of experiencing sense pleasures, but, even more profoundly, his happiness (sukha) means the absence of suffering (dukkha). By using happiness (sukha) in this way, he gave the greatest compliment he could to capitalism as an economic system. The four happinesses are in total what makes capitalism capitalism, or, at least what the Buddha saw as the most beneficial form of capitalism. The following descriptions of each happiness are compiled from the work of three translators: Bhikkhu Bodhi"", Thanissaro Bhikkhu{} and David Kalupahana[]:
1) The happiness of ownership - Private ownership, private capital and the wealth acquired through its management are, of course, the most fundamental ideas of capitalism. The Anana Sutta contends this wealth should be earned through {effort and enterprise} without [resorting to fraud and trickery]. It is a theme running throughout Buddhist capitalism. The Anana Sutta continues by stating the happiness of ownership is derived from "righteous wealth, righteously gained". The word "righteous" is used in the sense of being beneficial, fruitful and useful, for the owner, the employees, customers and suppliers of the business. If business is carried on in this way, the owner will experience the happiness of ownership.
2) The Happiness of Enjoyment - While the owner enjoys the wealth he/she has accumulated through "energetic striving, amassed by the strength of his arms, earned by the sweat of his brow," the benefits of capitalism does not end with the owner's happiness. The whole process of creating wealth contributes to a positive "rippling" effect throughout society bringing happiness to all associated with the business. It begins with employees spending their wages in various ways to sustain their families, customers purchasing goods and services for their needs and suppliers and their employees in turn benefiting from the prosperity of the business owner.
In addition, once wealth is accumulated, it does not remain dormant, but, becomes active by the owner's {making use} of his wealth in ways suited to the owner's business. Among the ways of {making use} of wealth, one of them has the business owner {making merit}. By accumulating "merit" the owner will become eligible for "heavenly rewards (BCP p. 115)". On the other hand, the performance of harmful deeds or the accumulation of "demerit", will bring about "hellish punishments (BCP p. 115)" for the owner.
Merit and demerit were devices the Buddha retrieved from Hinduism (SIP p. 486) for the benefit of newcomers to his moral path, some of whom were presumably business owners or even customers or suppliers. Heaven and hell were other ideas the Buddha implemented probably because these ideas were extremely popular in his time, just as they are today. What were the Buddha's sentiments on these topics? In the Mahasihanada Sutta the Buddha says "heaven is just a word for extreme pleasure and hell is just a word for extreme pain (MN i. 76, 74)". No, he had not much use for either, but, he did believe, beneficial and useful business practices, in addition to bringing happiness to the business owner, brings happiness to the whole of society as well.
3) The Happiness of Freedom from Debt - The Anathapindika Sutta is known by two titles, "Freedom from Debt" and {Debtless}. Its primary contention---"...have no debts to anyone, whether large or small...(AN ii.70)"--- expresses the most fundamental principle of capitalism. In the long run, for a business to survive, the income of a business MUST exceed the expenses of operating a business, which includes the repaying of loans. The borrowing of capital (money) is not the issue of this contention as many companies, for one reason or another, find it necessary to seek additional capital. Capitalism is dependent on the availability of capital. The point the Anana Sutta makes is the same as that made in the Samanaphalla Sutta---do not fail to repay your loans (DN i. 72)! Do not get into a situation where your business is perpetually unable to repay its loans and expenses, it cautions.
4) The Happiness of Blamelessness - This fourth happiness, unlike the others, is technically not a principle of capitalism. It recommends several behaviors in the conduct of business---"blameless bodily, verbal, and mental action (AN ii. 70)". These are behaviors ensuring capitalism is a worthwhile economic system for society to implement. Imagine a society where capitalists are left to their own devices without the benefit of blameless actions. It will be easy to imagine much wealth will not be [lawfully acquired] and there will be much [resorting to fraud and trickery]. In this sense the happiness of blamelessness is worth far more than the combined worth of the preceding three happinesses, their total worth amounting to but "a sixteenth part of the bliss of blamelessness (AN ii. 70, n. 751)".
No one wishes to acquire a blameful reputation for along with blame, shame is always mentioned (AN2. 151, BCP p. 143, 148). This is true perhaps most of all for a business owner whose business depends on its maintaining a trustworthy history. These attitudes of blame and shame are very often the results of actions rooted in greed, hatred and delusion. In the capitalist context, action based on greed is especially harmful. The Buddha called greed a "mental illness (AN1. 143)", "a disease of mind (EEB p. 115)" capable of "destroying the moral fabric of society (EEB p. 115)". Accordingly, it was necessary for the Buddha to make a distinction between human need and human greed (EEB p. 121). After careful reflection, he soon realized human need overflows into human greed when the senses are left unchecked and unrestrained. Thus, he sought to restrain the six sense faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, touch and mind:
'We will guard the doors of our sense faculties. On seeing a form with the eye, we will not grasp at its signs and features. Since, if we left the eye faculty unguarded, evil unwholesome states of covetousness and grief might invade us, we will practise the way of its restraint, we will guard the eye faculty, we will undertake the restraint of the eye faculty' (Restraint of the Senses MN1. 273).
The descriptions of the restraining of the other senses follows this description of the restraining of the eye faculty. Without question, this emphasis on restraint of the senses prevented Buddhist capitalism, like Indian utilitarianism (EEB p. 15), from evolving into the kind of excessive capitalism appearing centuries later in the west and elsewhere. Capitalism is of worth to society only if the Happiness of Blamelessness is present in the system, is the major point of the Anana Sutta.
Dighajanu Sutta
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While the Anana/Anathapindika Suttas discusses the principles of beneficial capitalism, the Dighajanu Sutta discusses the qualities desirable in those responsible for the production of goods and services in a capitalist economy, i.e., the employers and employees of businesses. These four qualities are described to a young Koliyan named Dighajanu who is also known as Byagghapajja or Vyaggahapajja. The following excerpt from the Anguttara Nikaya also includes Thanissaro Bhikkhu's translations in brackets []:
"There are, Byagghapajja, these four things [four qualities] that lead to the welfare and happiness of a clansman in this present life. What four? 1) Accomplishment in initiative [consummate in initiative], 2) accomplishment in protection [comsummate in vigilance], 3) good friendship [admirable friendship], and 4) balanced living [maintain one's livelihood in tune] (Dighajanu AN iv. 281)".
Although all jobs have different functions and employers and employees do different things, if these four qualities are present in both groups, it is likely the two fundamental goals of a beneficial capitalistic system, the acquiring of wealth and the preservation of that acquired wealth will be achieved.
The Dighajanua Sutta wishes to discuss the conduct common to employers and employees of businesses which will result in their acquiring of wealth and the retaining of wealth. Qualities 1) and 3) are qualities encouraging the acquiring of wealth, qualities 2) and 4) are the qualities encouraging the retaining of wealth:
1) Accomplishment in initiative [consummate in initiative] - In a competitive capitalistic society, however a person may earn his/her income, "by farming, trade, raising cattle, archery, government service, or some other craft, it should be done skillfully and diligently". Know your job well, do your job well by being [clever and untiring at it] with "sound judgement about it". If management and the workforce approaches their jobs with initiative, energy and effort, the creation of wealth is more than likely to happen.
2) Accomplishment in protection [consummate in vigilance] - Wealth is earned by [striving, effort, strength of arm and sweat of brow], but, there are many more ways wealth could be lost. In order to preserve acquired wealth, a person living in a capitalistic society would be wise to ask "How can I prevent kings and thieves from taking it, fire from burning it, floods from sweeping it off, and displeasing heirs from taking it?" The answer is, once wealth is acquired, it must be "protected and guarded over" to prevent its loss. Not only must a person in a capitalistic society be skillful and diligent in acquiring wealth, but, protective and vigilant of his/her wealth once it is acquired as well.
3) Good friendship [admirable friendship] - A business operation is most likely to succeed when everyone in the business is dependable and trustworthy. Dependability and trustworthiness are traits resulting from associating with those who are "accomplished in faith [confidence], virtuous behavior, generosity, and wisdom". Just as knowing your job well and doing your job well are lifelong learning activities, associating with those who are dependable and trustworthy are likewise lifelong in its relationships. This is called having good and admirable friendships.
4) Balanced living [maintain one's livelihood in tune] - An effective way of retaining acquired wealth is by understanding economic cycles, their arising and ceasing, knowing there are good times and bad times. The Buddha fully understood the "boom" and "bust" cycles of capitalism. The way to get in tune with good times and bad times is through balanced living, the middle way. This means avoiding the extreme of overspending in good times and the extreme of stinginess in bad times:
"...a clansman knows his income and expenditures and leads a balanced life, neither too extravagant nor too frugal, [aware], 'In this way my income will exceed my expenditures rather than the reverse.' (AN iv. 283)."
The loss of individual wealth was such a threat to economic prosperity the Buddha warned against "...womanizing, drunkeness, gambling, and bad friendship, bad companionship, bad comradeship (AN iv. 283)" for the harm these activities brought to capitalism. He even went so far as to warn against certain kinds of [Wrong Livelihood] he felt were harmful to society:
"Bhikkhus, a lay follower should not engage in these five trades. What five? Trading in weapons, trading in living beings, trading in meat, trading in intoxicants, and trading in poisons. A lay follower should not engage in these five trades (Trades/[Vanijja] AN iii. 209)".
On its surface, this sutta appears quite inaccurate, a number of these occupations are acceptable occupations in our time. However, after a little reflection, you will see this sutta says a whole lot about Buddhist relativity and Buddhism's complete rejection of eternal truths, truths true for all time. The Buddha did feel strongly enough these occupations were harmful to his society in his time, and said so. Perhaps in another time, his recommendations would be different, which is to say his recommendations are relative to his time and are not eternal in any way. There are no eternal truths, every society must decide for itself what is appropriate in its time by giving a thumbs down to any occupation it feels brings suffering to oneself, others or to both (Ambalathikarahulovada MN i. 416, BP p. 62). In this way, the Buddha's timeless moral relativism reduces the dangers of capitalism and enhances its benefits in any society regardless of time. [See Post 4 under the heading Buddhist Relativity for details].
Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta
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While the Anana and Dighajanu suttas are respectively a primer on the principles of capitalism and a guide for its participants, the Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta (The Lion's Roar on the Turning of the Wheel DN iii. 58, Lion's Roar of a Universal Monarch EEB p. 120) discusses another crucial part of capitalism, the role of government and law in the promotion of economic prosperity.
Prior to the appearance of Buddhism, India's vehicle to economic prosperity was the Varna, the caste or color system. The caste system is Hinduism's approach to the economy as one of "Righteousness; duty as determined by righteousness". It is derived from their word "Dharma" in the Sanskrit language.
The Well Spoken sutta provides not only for Right Speech, but, also for Right Action and Right Livelihood its foundational ethic, which is peacefulness achieved through non-harming. Right speech is first of all speech that is well spoken (svakhata), clear, precise and unambiguous (HBP p. 114) and is most of all peaceful speech, speech not afflicting oneself , others or both. Clarity in speech is not easy to come by, even more difficult is the attaining of peacefulness in speech. A way to accomplish peacefulness in speech is to first learn what the requirements of peacefulness are in the first place and thereafter to implement those requirements into speech. As it turns out, it is an objective for which one need look no further than squarely into the description of the Dhamma itself in the Mirror of Dhamma.
While the qualities of the Dhamma are the same as the Mirror of Dhamma's qualities of peacefulness, they are also the Buddha's justification for his relativistic views (see Post 4 under Buddhist Relativity). Never an absolutist, his approach to all human actions and decision making is relative. By "...simply performing an act or adopting a rule because it is viewed as right does not constitute morality", he says (HBP p. 102). Each quality of the Dhamma, as itemized in the Mirror of Dhamma, is an expression of Buddhist relativity.
Mirror of Dhamma/Requirements of Peacefulness
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"Well-proclaimed by the Lord is the Dhamma, 1) visible here and now [based on experience], 2) timeless [which is not confined to a particular time], 3) inviting inspection [is verifiable], 4) leading onward [goal directed], 5) to be comprehended by the wise each one for himself [whose meaning is realizable by intelligent human beings] (Mirror of Dhamma Mahaparinibbana DN2. 93, quotes in parenthesis HBP p. 105)".
1) visible here and now [based on experience]
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The Dhamma is first of all characterized by its being 1) Visible here and now [based on experience]. Knowledge via sense experience is the foremost among the qualities of the Dhamma as the Buddha was suspicious of any knowledge obtained by other than sense experience. He had witnessed the struggles of the Hindus in their effort to answer the metaphysical questions of "existence and non-existence" through means other than sense experience. The use of such knowledge was so widespread the Buddha was the first philosopher and psychologist whose theory of knowledge only involved a "detailed analysis of sense experience (EEB p. 40)". It is only through sense experience that we know what we know. Sense experience is the "All" for the Buddha:
At Savatthi. "Bhikkhus, I will teach you the all. Listen to that..."and what, Bhikkhus, is the all? The eye and forms, the ear and sounds, the nose and odours, the tongue and tastes, the body and tactile objects, the mind and mental phenomena. This is called the all."
"If anyone, bhikkhus, should speak thus: 'Having rejected this all, I shall make known another all'---that would be a mere empty boast on his part. If he were questioned he would not be able to reply and, further, he would meet with vexation. For what reason? Because, bhikkhus, that would not be within his domain." (The All SN4. 15)
The Buddha called the six sense organs the sources of all human knowledge. There is nothing other than the senses that contributes to human knowledge. Many would not have any difficulty accepting the five physical senses originating from eye, ear, nose, tongue and touch as sources of knowledge. However, many would have great difficulty in accepting the mind as a sense originating from a sense organ, the brain. Most people in the world believe the mind and body are two separate things and believe the mind is something "special".
Even early Buddhist philosophers defined the person as consisting of two separate entities: "nama-rupa", mind and body. The Buddha did not coin the term "nama-rupa" meaning these were two separate things. For the Buddha, the mind is "special" too, but, its specialness does not extend beyond being only one of the senses. The Buddha is recorded as saying "The body is material, impermanent, consciousness is bound to it, dependent on it (Samanaphala Sutta DNi. 76)". In other words he never said the mind and body are two separate things. The mind originates from the brain, and as do all the physical senses, it too originates from matter. Matter is seen to exist everywhere, but, mind is never found apart from matter, which means the mind can't exist without matter.
In his very first discourse, the Buddha described his enlightened experience, distinguishing it from the second form of experience we are all familiar with, ordinary experience. From the onset, the Buddha establishes there are two kinds of human experience, ordinary and enlightened. In either case, whether the experience is ordinary or enlightened, valid experiences are only those that are "...1) empirically verifiable and 2) morally significant (HBP p. 112)". These definitions of valid experiences also serves to clarify the next two qualities of the Dhamma.
2) timeless [which is not confined to a particular time]
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Morally significant experiences are also described as timeless [which is not confined to a particular time], the 2nd quality of the Dhamma. Timelessness may suggest permanence and eternalism (HBP p. 115) to some, but, all it means in the Buddhist context is that [which is not confined to a particular time]. Morality would not be significant if any rule was confined to a particular time. If a rule was confined to a particular time it would not necessarily be true in another time. However, if the Buddha were to say a rule is absolutely true and eternal for all time, he would then have been no different from the absolutist, Aristotle nor any of the Buddha's absolutist Hindu opponents. Having rejected absolutism completely, the relativist Buddha introduced a major ethical condition into his idea of relativity, thereby transforming relative ethics into an immensely sensible Buddhist morality.
This ethical condition occurs in the Ambalathikarahulovada Sutta (MNi. 416, BP p. 62) where he says decisions and actions should be based not upon prevailing views (...likes, dislikes...what is pleasant, what is unpleasant...), but, on what does not bring suffering to 1) oneself, 2) others or to 3) both. Which is to say, any decision or action taken, bodily, verbally or mentally, should depend completely on how the action or decision affects people (HBP p. 102) and other living beings. In this way, Buddhist morality is relative and "applicable to different times, not confined to a particular time (HBP p. 115)" [notice this sutta repeats the ethics of the Well Spoken sutta]. Thus, Buddhist morality, the Dhamma and the speech expressing it are "timeless".
3) inviting inspection [is verifiable]
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The third quality of the dhamma, inviting inspection [is verifiable] emphasizes valid experiences are only those that are empirically verifiable. A search such as Aristotle's rationalistic, deductive quest for absolute right desire, absent of any empirical evidence, would not be similar to the Buddha's search for the good and the peaceful in any way (see Post 4 under Buddhist Relativity).
For the Buddha, an experience which is empirically verifiable "...is seen, heard, cognized, reached, sought after, examined by the mind...(Kalaka AN2. 25, HBP p. 115 n. 10)". Therefore, the experience is known by the examiner through the senses. However, the Buddha is not "subservient" to any source of knowledge (i.e. the senses) nor to anything he has learned. This means neither knowledge nor any source of knowledge are absolute. Neither is he attached to anything he has learned and for that calls himself "the stable one". Additionally, it should be apparent, the Buddha is saying valid experience, both ordinary and enlightened, is definable, describable, never so "mysterious" it is beyond language. In this way, experience is empirically verified through language.
4) leading onward [goal directed]
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The fourth quality of the Dhamma, leading onward [goal directed] expresses the need for relative knowledge and the search for peace to be goal oriented. How can any endeavor proceed without an objective in mind? Although the aim of relative knowledge cannot be as precise as an absolutist's aim for certainty, inductive reasoning does make it possible for a relativist to weigh objectives by relying on probability. An absolutist searches for certainty. A relativist is satisfied with probabilities.
5) to be comprehended by the wise each one for himself
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The fifth quality of the dhamma, "to be comprehended by the wise each one for himself [whose meaning is realizable by intelligent human beings]" simply says every follower of the dhamma must learn the dhamma individually each for themselves. The Buddha is only a guide, a teacher, the followers are the learners. The following method of study is proposed in the Pasadika Sutta:
Study the dhamma "...setting meaning beside meaning and expression beside expression, without dissension,...for the benefit and happiness of devas (gods) and humans (Pasadika Sutta DN iii. 128)."
Although the principle of impermanence is not as apparent as the Buddha's insistence the dhamma is learned via language, it is equally foundational to the dhamma. The qualities of the dhamma would be completely different if the dhamma rested on a foundation of permanence. If that were the case, decisions led by exclamations of "This is right for all time...this is wrong for all time" would ensue. Peacefulness and its tool, relative knowledge, would be out of Buddhism's reach.
It is not by accident the qualities of the dhamma are also the qualities of peacefulness and of relativity. All of these qualities rests on a foundation of impermanence as does peacefulness and relativity. Impermanence itself is the middle way between the ancient Indian dualities of absolute existence and accidental non-existence. The peacefulness of the middle way evades the rigidity of absolute existence and the unpredictability of non-existence, both having the potential for conflict. Relativity, likewise, by evading rigidity and accidentalism, is far more likely to lead to peaceful solutions.
The search for peaceful solutions is not as simple as pulling an absolute answer from a sackful of options. A Buddhist can not draw upon immediately available solutions to problems in the way a deontologist [a believer in duty based ethics] could. This is why the Buddha in a lecture to his son Rahula, cautions him to carefully deliberate prior to making any decisions:
"So too, Rahula, an action with the body should be done after repeated reflection; an action by speech should be done after repeated reflection; an action by mind should be done after repeated reflection (Ambalatthikarahulovadda MN i. 415)".
If decision making is practiced in this manner, the qualities of the dhamma are sure to promote peacefulness in all human activity, including reducing the kind of speech damaging to human relations---"false speech, malicious speech [divisive] speech, harsh speech, idle speech [gossip/frivolous talk] (Speaking Much AN iii. 254, HBP p. 105). All such improvements in speech will lead to a more peaceful and useful society. This is a repetitive thing to say---the Buddha sought not only that which is beneficial to individuals, but to society as well.
Right Action
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Right Action is most commonly described in the discourses as "Abstinence from killing, stealing and sexual misconduct (SN5 i. 8, DN ii. 313)" [Right Action could thus be corrected or improved upon via altering the bodily disposition]. These violations are prohibited in all societies. It is difficult to imagine a society functioning well without restrictions against these violations in place. The word "abstinence" indicates these restrictions begins, in Buddhist societies, in the Sangha [the community of Buddhist Bhikkhus/monks and Bhikkhunis/nuns] as Sangha abstentions. Abstentions are the moral tool of persuasion "to help the individual achieve his or her goal (EEB p. 131)" while residing in the Sangha. The influence of the Sangha is not limited to its members. Many Sangha prohibitions finds its way into the larger community in the form of public laws to bring about the good of humanity (EEB p. 131).
Public laws against killing, stealing and sexual misconduct and other violations are thus created in Buddhist societies via the influence of the Sangha, but, what to do about the tendencies towards these violations? Unlike the Hindus and Jains who looked to the divine, the soul and free will for the source of human actions (EEB p. 20, 21), Buddhism looked to the mind, laying "...emphasis on a psychological analysis of human action (EEB p. 21)". This analysis is based on Buddhism's knowledge of the dispositions which disposes or influences the Five Aggregates to action. The three primary dispositions of body, speech and mind (Sammaditthi MN i. 54) are of special concern. The idea is to identify and locate where in the dispositions unwholesome habits and intentions are harbored and thereafter to remove them as is proposed in the Samanamandika Sutta (MN ii. 26, 27).
While the Samanamandika Sutta proposes ways to root out unwholesome habits and intentions another strategy the Buddha proposes: prevent the formations of unwholesome tendencies in the first place. As in the requirements for Right Speech, this is accomplished by making sure "an action with body, speech or mind be done only after repeated reflection (Ambalatthikarahulovada MN I. 415)".
This comment earns for the Ambalatthikarahulovada Sutta its description, 'Mirror of Dhamma' (BP p. 62) [this Mirror of Dhamma is not the same as the Mirror of Dhamma sutta high lighted in Right Speech]. There are several reasons the Buddha expected thorough reflection prior to taking any action is that he equated action with Kamma; in so doing he emphasized the importance of action. Secondly, all human actions are dependently arisen, all actions are caused, thus, it is sensible to pay attention to the causes of actions (HBP p. 106). Thirdly, all actions have consequences so it is only sensible to also pay attention to the potential outcomes of any action (HBP p. 106). For these reasons, and again as is recommended in Right Speech, the Ambalatthikarahulovada Sutta proposes one "look into the Mirror of Dhamma and determine for oneself whether the causes and consequences of actions are good or bad (BP p. 62)":
Whatever action, bodily, verbal, or mental, leads to suffering [byabadha, literally, illness] for oneself, for others or for both, that action is bad [a-kusalam]. Whatever action, bodily, verbal or mental, does not lead to suffering for oneself, for others or for both, that action is good [kusalam] (BP p. 62) [notice the ethics of the Spoken Well sutta are repeated here].
The Mirror of Dhamma proposes the formation of tendencies toward killing, stealing and sexual misconduct can be prevented entirely, if, prior to any action, repeated reflection on the causes and consequences of the action are carefully considered. Any action taken should be action that is good, by good the Mirror of Dhamma means an action that does not bring suffering to oneself, others or to both. It is in fact the Mirror of Dhamma's beautiful expression of what amounts to Right Action.
Right Livelihood
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Karl Marx, in his evaluation of capitalism, said Adam Smith is the first disseminator of capitalist ideas. Adam Smith is certainly the foremost figure in Christian-Western capitalism. However, the Buddha, who preceded Adam Smith by many centuries appears the first to introduce capitalist ideas to the world. The evidence for this claim lies in the Anguttara Nikaya, in particular two suttas, the Anana/Anathapindika Sutta and the Dighajana Sutta. Although the word "capitalism" was probably not even invented in the Buddha's time, the Buddha's proposals to achieve the "good life for humans" seems remarkably capitalistic. Both suttas suggest the Buddha was a capitalist in regard to lay society. Life in the Sangha [community of monks], on the other hand, is a communal existence.
The Buddha was not a person prone to wishful thinking. He valued nothing more in society than he did economic prosperity and understood economic prosperity is a result of social planning. The planning he seems to have favored was capitalism, as unlike socialism, capitalism created wealth. He also realized for economic prosperity to endure, laws and regulations are necessary. Therefore, in the Cakkavati Sihanada Sutta of the Digha Nikaya, the Buddha expresses the role of government and law in the promotion of economic prosperity.
Anana/Anathapindika Sutta
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Although, in Freedom from Debt (AN2. 69) in the Anathapindika Sutta, the Buddha is speaking to a householder named Anathapindika about the four happinesses of a business owner, a preceding sutta Worthy Deeds (AN ii.66) reveals how wealth brings happiness to society as well. The Buddha emphasized the role of the business owner/entrepreneur because the entrepreneur gives capitalism its vitality. As you read the Anathapindika Sutta, you will see the "good life" of a human and the "higher life" of humans shares a common ground, the moral life of humans (HBP p. 107).
I have taken the liberty to speculate on all that the Four Happinesses implies. According to this sutta, capitalism brings four kinds of happiness to a business owner and to society: 1) "The happiness of ownership, 2) the happiness of enjoyment, 3) the happiness of freedom from debt and 4) the happiness of blamelessness (Freedom from Debt AN ii. 69)".
At one level, the Buddha's "happiness" is the same as the happiness of experiencing sense pleasures, but, even more profoundly, his happiness (sukha) means the absence of suffering (dukkha). By using happiness (sukha) in this way, he gave the greatest compliment he could to capitalism as an economic system. The four happinesses are in total what makes capitalism capitalism, or, at least what the Buddha saw as the most beneficial form of capitalism. The following descriptions of each happiness are compiled from the work of three translators: Bhikkhu Bodhi"", Thanissaro Bhikkhu{} and David Kalupahana[]:
1) The happiness of ownership - Private ownership, private capital and the wealth acquired through its management are, of course, the most fundamental ideas of capitalism. The Anana Sutta contends this wealth should be earned through {effort and enterprise} without [resorting to fraud and trickery]. It is a theme running throughout Buddhist capitalism. The Anana Sutta continues by stating the happiness of ownership is derived from "righteous wealth, righteously gained". The word "righteous" is used in the sense of being beneficial, fruitful and useful, for the owner, the employees, customers and suppliers of the business. If business is carried on in this way, the owner will experience the happiness of ownership.
2) The Happiness of Enjoyment - While the owner enjoys the wealth he/she has accumulated through "energetic striving, amassed by the strength of his arms, earned by the sweat of his brow," the benefits of capitalism does not end with the owner's happiness. The whole process of creating wealth contributes to a positive "rippling" effect throughout society bringing happiness to all associated with the business. It begins with employees spending their wages in various ways to sustain their families, customers purchasing goods and services for their needs and suppliers and their employees in turn benefiting from the prosperity of the business owner.
In addition, once wealth is accumulated, it does not remain dormant, but, becomes active by the owner's {making use} of his wealth in ways suited to the owner's business. Among the ways of {making use} of wealth, one of them has the business owner {making merit}. By accumulating "merit" the owner will become eligible for "heavenly rewards (BCP p. 115)". On the other hand, the performance of harmful deeds or the accumulation of "demerit", will bring about "hellish punishments (BCP p. 115)" for the owner.
Merit and demerit were devices the Buddha retrieved from Hinduism (SIP p. 486) for the benefit of newcomers to his moral path, some of whom were presumably business owners or even customers or suppliers. Heaven and hell were other ideas the Buddha implemented probably because these ideas were extremely popular in his time, just as they are today. What were the Buddha's sentiments on these topics? In the Mahasihanada Sutta the Buddha says "heaven is just a word for extreme pleasure and hell is just a word for extreme pain (MN i. 76, 74)". No, he had not much use for either, but, he did believe, beneficial and useful business practices, in addition to bringing happiness to the business owner, brings happiness to the whole of society as well.
3) The Happiness of Freedom from Debt - The Anathapindika Sutta is known by two titles, "Freedom from Debt" and {Debtless}. Its primary contention---"...have no debts to anyone, whether large or small...(AN ii.70)"--- expresses the most fundamental principle of capitalism. In the long run, for a business to survive, the income of a business MUST exceed the expenses of operating a business, which includes the repaying of loans. The borrowing of capital (money) is not the issue of this contention as many companies, for one reason or another, find it necessary to seek additional capital. Capitalism is dependent on the availability of capital. The point the Anana Sutta makes is the same as that made in the Samanaphalla Sutta---do not fail to repay your loans (DN i. 72)! Do not get into a situation where your business is perpetually unable to repay its loans and expenses, it cautions.
4) The Happiness of Blamelessness - This fourth happiness, unlike the others, is technically not a principle of capitalism. It recommends several behaviors in the conduct of business---"blameless bodily, verbal, and mental action (AN ii. 70)". These are behaviors ensuring capitalism is a worthwhile economic system for society to implement. Imagine a society where capitalists are left to their own devices without the benefit of blameless actions. It will be easy to imagine much wealth will not be [lawfully acquired] and there will be much [resorting to fraud and trickery]. In this sense the happiness of blamelessness is worth far more than the combined worth of the preceding three happinesses, their total worth amounting to but "a sixteenth part of the bliss of blamelessness (AN ii. 70, n. 751)".
No one wishes to acquire a blameful reputation for along with blame, shame is always mentioned (AN2. 151, BCP p. 143, 148). This is true perhaps most of all for a business owner whose business depends on its maintaining a trustworthy history. These attitudes of blame and shame are very often the results of actions rooted in greed, hatred and delusion. In the capitalist context, action based on greed is especially harmful. The Buddha called greed a "mental illness (AN1. 143)", "a disease of mind (EEB p. 115)" capable of "destroying the moral fabric of society (EEB p. 115)". Accordingly, it was necessary for the Buddha to make a distinction between human need and human greed (EEB p. 121). After careful reflection, he soon realized human need overflows into human greed when the senses are left unchecked and unrestrained. Thus, he sought to restrain the six sense faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, touch and mind:
'We will guard the doors of our sense faculties. On seeing a form with the eye, we will not grasp at its signs and features. Since, if we left the eye faculty unguarded, evil unwholesome states of covetousness and grief might invade us, we will practise the way of its restraint, we will guard the eye faculty, we will undertake the restraint of the eye faculty' (Restraint of the Senses MN1. 273).
The descriptions of the restraining of the other senses follows this description of the restraining of the eye faculty. Without question, this emphasis on restraint of the senses prevented Buddhist capitalism, like Indian utilitarianism (EEB p. 15), from evolving into the kind of excessive capitalism appearing centuries later in the west and elsewhere. Capitalism is of worth to society only if the Happiness of Blamelessness is present in the system, is the major point of the Anana Sutta.
Dighajanu Sutta
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While the Anana/Anathapindika Suttas discusses the principles of beneficial capitalism, the Dighajanu Sutta discusses the qualities desirable in those responsible for the production of goods and services in a capitalist economy, i.e., the employers and employees of businesses. These four qualities are described to a young Koliyan named Dighajanu who is also known as Byagghapajja or Vyaggahapajja. The following excerpt from the Anguttara Nikaya also includes Thanissaro Bhikkhu's translations in brackets []:
"There are, Byagghapajja, these four things [four qualities] that lead to the welfare and happiness of a clansman in this present life. What four? 1) Accomplishment in initiative [consummate in initiative], 2) accomplishment in protection [comsummate in vigilance], 3) good friendship [admirable friendship], and 4) balanced living [maintain one's livelihood in tune] (Dighajanu AN iv. 281)".
Although all jobs have different functions and employers and employees do different things, if these four qualities are present in both groups, it is likely the two fundamental goals of a beneficial capitalistic system, the acquiring of wealth and the preservation of that acquired wealth will be achieved.
The Dighajanua Sutta wishes to discuss the conduct common to employers and employees of businesses which will result in their acquiring of wealth and the retaining of wealth. Qualities 1) and 3) are qualities encouraging the acquiring of wealth, qualities 2) and 4) are the qualities encouraging the retaining of wealth:
1) Accomplishment in initiative [consummate in initiative] - In a competitive capitalistic society, however a person may earn his/her income, "by farming, trade, raising cattle, archery, government service, or some other craft, it should be done skillfully and diligently". Know your job well, do your job well by being [clever and untiring at it] with "sound judgement about it". If management and the workforce approaches their jobs with initiative, energy and effort, the creation of wealth is more than likely to happen.
2) Accomplishment in protection [consummate in vigilance] - Wealth is earned by [striving, effort, strength of arm and sweat of brow], but, there are many more ways wealth could be lost. In order to preserve acquired wealth, a person living in a capitalistic society would be wise to ask "How can I prevent kings and thieves from taking it, fire from burning it, floods from sweeping it off, and displeasing heirs from taking it?" The answer is, once wealth is acquired, it must be "protected and guarded over" to prevent its loss. Not only must a person in a capitalistic society be skillful and diligent in acquiring wealth, but, protective and vigilant of his/her wealth once it is acquired as well.
3) Good friendship [admirable friendship] - A business operation is most likely to succeed when everyone in the business is dependable and trustworthy. Dependability and trustworthiness are traits resulting from associating with those who are "accomplished in faith [confidence], virtuous behavior, generosity, and wisdom". Just as knowing your job well and doing your job well are lifelong learning activities, associating with those who are dependable and trustworthy are likewise lifelong in its relationships. This is called having good and admirable friendships.
4) Balanced living [maintain one's livelihood in tune] - An effective way of retaining acquired wealth is by understanding economic cycles, their arising and ceasing, knowing there are good times and bad times. The Buddha fully understood the "boom" and "bust" cycles of capitalism. The way to get in tune with good times and bad times is through balanced living, the middle way. This means avoiding the extreme of overspending in good times and the extreme of stinginess in bad times:
"...a clansman knows his income and expenditures and leads a balanced life, neither too extravagant nor too frugal, [aware], 'In this way my income will exceed my expenditures rather than the reverse.' (AN iv. 283)."
The loss of individual wealth was such a threat to economic prosperity the Buddha warned against "...womanizing, drunkeness, gambling, and bad friendship, bad companionship, bad comradeship (AN iv. 283)" for the harm these activities brought to capitalism. He even went so far as to warn against certain kinds of [Wrong Livelihood] he felt were harmful to society:
"Bhikkhus, a lay follower should not engage in these five trades. What five? Trading in weapons, trading in living beings, trading in meat, trading in intoxicants, and trading in poisons. A lay follower should not engage in these five trades (Trades/[Vanijja] AN iii. 209)".
On its surface, this sutta appears quite inaccurate, a number of these occupations are acceptable occupations in our time. However, after a little reflection, you will see this sutta says a whole lot about Buddhist relativity and Buddhism's complete rejection of eternal truths, truths true for all time. The Buddha did feel strongly enough these occupations were harmful to his society in his time, and said so. Perhaps in another time, his recommendations would be different, which is to say his recommendations are relative to his time and are not eternal in any way. There are no eternal truths, every society must decide for itself what is appropriate in its time by giving a thumbs down to any occupation it feels brings suffering to oneself, others or to both (Ambalathikarahulovada MN i. 416, BP p. 62). In this way, the Buddha's timeless moral relativism reduces the dangers of capitalism and enhances its benefits in any society regardless of time. [See Post 4 under the heading Buddhist Relativity for details].
Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta
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While the Anana and Dighajanu suttas are respectively a primer on the principles of capitalism and a guide for its participants, the Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta (The Lion's Roar on the Turning of the Wheel DN iii. 58, Lion's Roar of a Universal Monarch EEB p. 120) discusses another crucial part of capitalism, the role of government and law in the promotion of economic prosperity.
Prior to the appearance of Buddhism, India's vehicle to economic prosperity was the Varna, the caste or color system. The caste system is Hinduism's approach to the economy as one of "Righteousness; duty as determined by righteousness". It is derived from their word "Dharma" in the Sanskrit language.
Buddhism's radical and revolutionary ideas were a challenge to this system. Think of Buddhism's unrelenting criticism of the caste system. "Dhamma", Buddhism's Pali language equivalent of Dharma, on the contrary, has as its relationship to society not of duty, but, of looking for the moral good of society (BCP p. 70). This is because Buddhism saw economic prosperity going hand in hand with social stability. Both will remain healthy provided they are nurtured by moral progress (EEB p. 121). This "catering to the well being of the social group is called Dhamma. Anything that is detrimental to the well being of the social group is adhamma, or evil (EEB p. 114)".
The Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta takes place in an area called Matula which was populated by the Magadhan people. The Buddha was a resident of Matula at this time. Coincidentally, the question of the moral good of society arose in the Magadhan Sangha. The Buddha had resided at Matula for quite a while, was versed in Magadhan history and saw this an opportunity to discourse on the moral good of society to the Sangha. He began the discourse to the monks, as he often did, with instructions on the modus operandi of Buddhism:
'Monks, be islands unto yourselves, be a refuge unto yourselves with no other refuge. Let the Dhamma be your island, let the Dhamma be your refuge, with no other refuge. And how does a monk dwell as an island unto himself, as a refuge unto himself with no other refuge, with the Dhamma as his island, with the Dhamma as his refuge, with no other refuge? (DN iii. 58)'.
The discourse opens with instructions on the way to do things. It asks how is one to be an island or a refuge to himself/herself? The short answer to this question followed---seek refuge in the Dhamma by contemplation or meditation:
"...contemplating body as body...contemplating feelings as feelings...contemplating mind as mind...contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects, ardent, clearly aware and mindful, having put aside hankering and fretting for the world".
These are the only aids in Buddhism's search for solutions---contemplation, awareness and mindfulness. Don't expect any external help, not even from the Buddha, who is only there to provide guidance for his followers.
Following these preliminary and rudimentary instructions to the monks, the Buddha began his discourse on the moral good of society which is called The Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta-The Lions' Roar of a Universal Monarch. The sutta is a twofold tale, one giving leadership recommendations likely to produce an economically prosperous and socially stable society. The other a cautionary tale of how things can go awry if these recommendations are ignored or misinterpreted.
The Effective Universal Monarch
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The moral good of society is dependent on effective governance and laws, but, in those societies lacking experience, governance and laws were not always well developed. Fortunately for the Magadhan people, there were models in their past on which they could rely. Having resided among the Magadhan people, the Buddha was aware of their rich history and proposed the Magadhan people need look no further than to the wheel turning monarchs in their own history for assistance: 'Keep to your own preserves [pastures], monks, to your ancestral haunts [the range of your fathers]'.
Past wheel turning monarchs of the Magadhan people had already produced many rules for a stable society, chief among them a declaration from a great king named Dalhanemi. He proclaimed in his reign, "do not spread your land by stick or sword, but, conquer and govern by the law (DN iii.59)". King Dalhanemi's declaration has proven to be the foundational law of Buddhist governance. Based on the moral law of Dhamma, this declaration has led to Buddhism being transplanted to new lands, "...never through conquest or through migration but solely by the spread of ideas (BCP p. i)".
However, applying the moral law of the Dhamma to society did present a problem for Buddhism---everyone knows personal morality alone will not persuade everyone to toe the line. Moral law's only tool is persuasion, as in "Let us abstain from the taking of life (DN iii. 74)". A later reigning universal monarch, realizing the shortcomings of moral law alone, supplemented the morality of abstinence with the law of prohibition as in "Do not take life (DN iii. 62)", giving Buddhist governance the teeth of public law.
This distinction between morality and the law is the Buddha's "...recognition that morals and laws have slightly differing purposes or goals (BCP p. 113)". King Dalhanemi was also aware of this distinction. He explained it to his eldest, heir apparent son, who asked this question, "But what, sire, is the duty of an Ariyan wheel-turning monarch?":
"It is this, my son: Yourself depending on the Dhamma, honouring it, revering it, cherishing it, doing homage to it and venerating it, having the Dhamma as your badge and banner, acknowledging the Dhamma as your master, you should establish guard, ward and protection according to Dhamma for your own household, your troops, your nobles and vassals, for Brahmins and householders, town and country folk, ascetics and Brahmins, for beasts and birds. Let no crime prevail in your kingdom, and to those who are in need, give property. And whatever ascetics and Brahmins [Hindus] in your kingdom have renounced the life of sensual infatuation...if from time to time they should come to you and consult you as to what is wholesome and what is unwholesome...you should listen, and tell them to avoid evil and do what is good. That, my son, is the duty of an Ariyan wheel-turning monarch (DN iii. 61)".
The primary duty of an Ariyan wheel-turning monarch is to protect his kingdom, including even the beasts and birds, from external and internal threats. Either of these threats could undermine economic prosperity and social stability if not properly addressed. External threats typically comes from hostile neighbors seeking an advantage of one kind or another, resulting in the need for defensive troops to protect the kingdom. Internal threats principally comes from economic deterioration leading to an increase in crime and increase in the poor.
For the most part, people are led into crime by poor economic conditions, although, there will always be those who find crime a reasonable way to make a living. For these people, laws and penalties are necessary to prevent them from harming the rest of society. For everyone else, steps should be taken in governance and laws to encourage economic prosperity. It is true, a universal monarch should also aid the extremely poor who are in need, but, more importantly, his job is to maintain or improve upon social life. Crime and poverty will be reduced and a harmonious social life will result if the opportunities for people to acquire wealth are available (EEB p. 120, 121).
The universal monarch is not only the secular leader of his society, creating opportunities for people to acquire wealth; he is also a moral leader advising people to "avoid evil and do what is good". As a moral leader, he is a symbol of religious freedom and tolerance in society, listening to ascetics and Brahmins as well as the Dhamma. The two hats the universal monarch wears, the hat of morality and the hat of public laws, is earned by becoming "...a skilled exponent of a craft, a science, a way of conduct or action...(DN iii. 157)":
'Arts and sciences, ways and deeds:
"Let me learn with ease," he says,
Skills that harm no living thing
Fast he learnt, with little toil." (DN iii. 157)
The Errant Universal Monarch
======================
The wisdom of past wheel turning monarchs produced for Magadhan society a model for a prosperous and stable society. Central to this model is the well trained Universal Monarch, the leader of society, of whom much is expected. However, there did arise in Magadhan history monarchs who did not meet expectations. Past wheel turning monarchs needed to account for these errant monarchs, not only those who were successful.
The knowledge of what a universal monarch should not do is just as valuable as the knowledge of what a universal monarch should do. A good portion of the Cakkavatti Sihanada is devoted to the story of a universal monarch who "ruled the people according to his own ideas (DN iii. 64)" and either misinterprets or ignores the recommendations of past wheel turning monarchs and the recommendations of his own government ministers as well.
Although the universal monarch did establish protection for the state, meaning police and military protection, "he did not give property to the needy, and as a result poverty became rife (DN iii. 65)". The phrase "giving property to the needy" is one of the duties of a wheel turning monarch as told by King Dalhanemi to his son. If this duty is interpreted to mean the Buddha was in support of a welfare state it would be terribly misleading for there could be nothing further from his intentions. On the contrary, in light of his economic views, this phrase may mean "give the poor the tools to enable them to improve their conditions". Some tools which would be helpful to the poor are improved education, ready access to healthcare/medical treatment and such financial incentives as low cost business loans.
It may be the universal monarch understood the intent of this duty---allow people to acquire and accumulate wealth---but, curiously chose to ignore it. This decision was extremely damaging as it resulted in "poverty becoming rife". In a second decision, in his job as the dispenser of justice, to "guard, ward and protect" society, the universal monarch came to an equally curious decision which only served to further damage social conditions.
Misinterpreting the phrase "give property to the needy" the monarch awarded property to a man guilty of theft whose defense was, "Your majesty, I have nothing to live on (DN iii. 66)." By rewarding unethical behavior in this and many other cases, the universal monarch sent his society spiraling towards criminal activity. Upon seeing the harm crime brought to his society and seeking to reduce crime, the monarch decided to institute capital punishment (DN iii. 67), anticipating capital punishment would deter crime. Instead, the people inferred, if the state practices violence, violent behavior must be acceptable behavior. This led to a more violent society and an increased use of weapons by the people, resulting in an increase in the taking of life.
On this very serious note, the taking of human life, the Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta ends the discussion on Right Livelihood. It is a twofold tale, one of a path to a prosperous and useful society the other a warning of the potential dangers awaiting the misguided. It is a Buddhist economic treatise on good governance and laws. As in all subjects where Buddhism gives an opinion, there is always a moral contribution. Thus, the objectives of Right Livelihood, as revealed in all of the Buddha's economic suttas, speaks not only of the economic welfare of society, but, its moral development as well (EEB p. 123).
III SAMADHI/Meditation - Right Effort, Right Mindfulness,
Right Concentration
========================================
The objective of Buddhist meditation is the same as the objective of the Dhamma: the removal of human suffering and its causes, craving/attachment. Yuval Noah Harari [an Israeli historian/philosopher] seems to express very closely Buddhism's view when he says, "ethics and morality are not about god/divine law, natural law or human law; ethics and morality are ultimately about the suffering of sentient beings (Nature and Humanity - utube video)."
The Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta takes place in an area called Matula which was populated by the Magadhan people. The Buddha was a resident of Matula at this time. Coincidentally, the question of the moral good of society arose in the Magadhan Sangha. The Buddha had resided at Matula for quite a while, was versed in Magadhan history and saw this an opportunity to discourse on the moral good of society to the Sangha. He began the discourse to the monks, as he often did, with instructions on the modus operandi of Buddhism:
'Monks, be islands unto yourselves, be a refuge unto yourselves with no other refuge. Let the Dhamma be your island, let the Dhamma be your refuge, with no other refuge. And how does a monk dwell as an island unto himself, as a refuge unto himself with no other refuge, with the Dhamma as his island, with the Dhamma as his refuge, with no other refuge? (DN iii. 58)'.
The discourse opens with instructions on the way to do things. It asks how is one to be an island or a refuge to himself/herself? The short answer to this question followed---seek refuge in the Dhamma by contemplation or meditation:
"...contemplating body as body...contemplating feelings as feelings...contemplating mind as mind...contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects, ardent, clearly aware and mindful, having put aside hankering and fretting for the world".
These are the only aids in Buddhism's search for solutions---contemplation, awareness and mindfulness. Don't expect any external help, not even from the Buddha, who is only there to provide guidance for his followers.
Following these preliminary and rudimentary instructions to the monks, the Buddha began his discourse on the moral good of society which is called The Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta-The Lions' Roar of a Universal Monarch. The sutta is a twofold tale, one giving leadership recommendations likely to produce an economically prosperous and socially stable society. The other a cautionary tale of how things can go awry if these recommendations are ignored or misinterpreted.
The Effective Universal Monarch
========================
The moral good of society is dependent on effective governance and laws, but, in those societies lacking experience, governance and laws were not always well developed. Fortunately for the Magadhan people, there were models in their past on which they could rely. Having resided among the Magadhan people, the Buddha was aware of their rich history and proposed the Magadhan people need look no further than to the wheel turning monarchs in their own history for assistance: 'Keep to your own preserves [pastures], monks, to your ancestral haunts [the range of your fathers]'.
Past wheel turning monarchs of the Magadhan people had already produced many rules for a stable society, chief among them a declaration from a great king named Dalhanemi. He proclaimed in his reign, "do not spread your land by stick or sword, but, conquer and govern by the law (DN iii.59)". King Dalhanemi's declaration has proven to be the foundational law of Buddhist governance. Based on the moral law of Dhamma, this declaration has led to Buddhism being transplanted to new lands, "...never through conquest or through migration but solely by the spread of ideas (BCP p. i)".
However, applying the moral law of the Dhamma to society did present a problem for Buddhism---everyone knows personal morality alone will not persuade everyone to toe the line. Moral law's only tool is persuasion, as in "Let us abstain from the taking of life (DN iii. 74)". A later reigning universal monarch, realizing the shortcomings of moral law alone, supplemented the morality of abstinence with the law of prohibition as in "Do not take life (DN iii. 62)", giving Buddhist governance the teeth of public law.
This distinction between morality and the law is the Buddha's "...recognition that morals and laws have slightly differing purposes or goals (BCP p. 113)". King Dalhanemi was also aware of this distinction. He explained it to his eldest, heir apparent son, who asked this question, "But what, sire, is the duty of an Ariyan wheel-turning monarch?":
"It is this, my son: Yourself depending on the Dhamma, honouring it, revering it, cherishing it, doing homage to it and venerating it, having the Dhamma as your badge and banner, acknowledging the Dhamma as your master, you should establish guard, ward and protection according to Dhamma for your own household, your troops, your nobles and vassals, for Brahmins and householders, town and country folk, ascetics and Brahmins, for beasts and birds. Let no crime prevail in your kingdom, and to those who are in need, give property. And whatever ascetics and Brahmins [Hindus] in your kingdom have renounced the life of sensual infatuation...if from time to time they should come to you and consult you as to what is wholesome and what is unwholesome...you should listen, and tell them to avoid evil and do what is good. That, my son, is the duty of an Ariyan wheel-turning monarch (DN iii. 61)".
The primary duty of an Ariyan wheel-turning monarch is to protect his kingdom, including even the beasts and birds, from external and internal threats. Either of these threats could undermine economic prosperity and social stability if not properly addressed. External threats typically comes from hostile neighbors seeking an advantage of one kind or another, resulting in the need for defensive troops to protect the kingdom. Internal threats principally comes from economic deterioration leading to an increase in crime and increase in the poor.
For the most part, people are led into crime by poor economic conditions, although, there will always be those who find crime a reasonable way to make a living. For these people, laws and penalties are necessary to prevent them from harming the rest of society. For everyone else, steps should be taken in governance and laws to encourage economic prosperity. It is true, a universal monarch should also aid the extremely poor who are in need, but, more importantly, his job is to maintain or improve upon social life. Crime and poverty will be reduced and a harmonious social life will result if the opportunities for people to acquire wealth are available (EEB p. 120, 121).
The universal monarch is not only the secular leader of his society, creating opportunities for people to acquire wealth; he is also a moral leader advising people to "avoid evil and do what is good". As a moral leader, he is a symbol of religious freedom and tolerance in society, listening to ascetics and Brahmins as well as the Dhamma. The two hats the universal monarch wears, the hat of morality and the hat of public laws, is earned by becoming "...a skilled exponent of a craft, a science, a way of conduct or action...(DN iii. 157)":
'Arts and sciences, ways and deeds:
"Let me learn with ease," he says,
Skills that harm no living thing
Fast he learnt, with little toil." (DN iii. 157)
The Errant Universal Monarch
======================
The wisdom of past wheel turning monarchs produced for Magadhan society a model for a prosperous and stable society. Central to this model is the well trained Universal Monarch, the leader of society, of whom much is expected. However, there did arise in Magadhan history monarchs who did not meet expectations. Past wheel turning monarchs needed to account for these errant monarchs, not only those who were successful.
The knowledge of what a universal monarch should not do is just as valuable as the knowledge of what a universal monarch should do. A good portion of the Cakkavatti Sihanada is devoted to the story of a universal monarch who "ruled the people according to his own ideas (DN iii. 64)" and either misinterprets or ignores the recommendations of past wheel turning monarchs and the recommendations of his own government ministers as well.
Although the universal monarch did establish protection for the state, meaning police and military protection, "he did not give property to the needy, and as a result poverty became rife (DN iii. 65)". The phrase "giving property to the needy" is one of the duties of a wheel turning monarch as told by King Dalhanemi to his son. If this duty is interpreted to mean the Buddha was in support of a welfare state it would be terribly misleading for there could be nothing further from his intentions. On the contrary, in light of his economic views, this phrase may mean "give the poor the tools to enable them to improve their conditions". Some tools which would be helpful to the poor are improved education, ready access to healthcare/medical treatment and such financial incentives as low cost business loans.
It may be the universal monarch understood the intent of this duty---allow people to acquire and accumulate wealth---but, curiously chose to ignore it. This decision was extremely damaging as it resulted in "poverty becoming rife". In a second decision, in his job as the dispenser of justice, to "guard, ward and protect" society, the universal monarch came to an equally curious decision which only served to further damage social conditions.
Misinterpreting the phrase "give property to the needy" the monarch awarded property to a man guilty of theft whose defense was, "Your majesty, I have nothing to live on (DN iii. 66)." By rewarding unethical behavior in this and many other cases, the universal monarch sent his society spiraling towards criminal activity. Upon seeing the harm crime brought to his society and seeking to reduce crime, the monarch decided to institute capital punishment (DN iii. 67), anticipating capital punishment would deter crime. Instead, the people inferred, if the state practices violence, violent behavior must be acceptable behavior. This led to a more violent society and an increased use of weapons by the people, resulting in an increase in the taking of life.
On this very serious note, the taking of human life, the Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta ends the discussion on Right Livelihood. It is a twofold tale, one of a path to a prosperous and useful society the other a warning of the potential dangers awaiting the misguided. It is a Buddhist economic treatise on good governance and laws. As in all subjects where Buddhism gives an opinion, there is always a moral contribution. Thus, the objectives of Right Livelihood, as revealed in all of the Buddha's economic suttas, speaks not only of the economic welfare of society, but, its moral development as well (EEB p. 123).
III SAMADHI/Meditation - Right Effort, Right Mindfulness,
Right Concentration
========================================
The objective of Buddhist meditation is the same as the objective of the Dhamma: the removal of human suffering and its causes, craving/attachment. Yuval Noah Harari [an Israeli historian/philosopher] seems to express very closely Buddhism's view when he says, "ethics and morality are not about god/divine law, natural law or human law; ethics and morality are ultimately about the suffering of sentient beings (Nature and Humanity - utube video)."
Buddhism's most effective tool against craving and attachment and its resulting suffering is to detach oneself from what are existent or non-existent . Early on, the Buddha completely rejected permanence and non-existence when he resolved impermanence is the middle way between the ancient Indian dualities of existence (permanence/sat) and non-existence (asat).
Thus, the Buddha was left with the problem of removing attachment to what is impermanent. This doesn't mean the Buddha was without assistance when faced with this difficult task. Aiding the Buddha and all Buddhists is Buddhism's version of the ancient Indian practice of meditation, a practice which is said to have originated with the Dasyus, the aboriginal people of India and their sramana [ascetic] culture. Now practiced worldwide, there are many forms of meditation, some are connected with prayer and others with mysticism. Buddhist meditation, however, should not be confused with either form as prayer and mysticism are both foreign to Buddhism. To whom is a Buddhist to pray to? Certainly not the Buddha who was very clear on this point. Why should a Buddhist pray if the objective of Buddhism is complete non-attachment?
Nor is Buddhist meditation mystical, if anything, it is ethical. Buddhist meditation is based on the cultivation and development of the mind, it is not a search for anything beyond human experience. The ethical cultivation and development of the mind sounds like a subject requiring quite a bit of thought. Accordingly, like Buddhist ethics, Buddhist meditation does require a number of suttas for a full explanation. One of them, the Mahasatipatthana Sutta, explains how meditation should begin, with the preparation of the body:
"...finding a peaceful and empty place in the forest, sitting cross-legged with body erect...establishing mindfulness...breathing in...breathing out...calming the whole body process...(Mahasatipatthana DN ii. 291)".
RIGHT EFFORT
=============
The meditation on Right Effort, as it is with all Buddhist meditations, begins with the practitioner calming his/her whole body process, a sensible thing to do since it's never a good idea to begin anything with a tense body and/or mind. The meditation on Right Effort is the first of the Buddhist meditations because, first of all, effort is needed to accomplish anything. Accordingly, the monk is urged to "rouse [ing] his will [dispositions], making an effort, stirring up energy, exerting his mind and striving...(DN ii. 313)".
Thus, the Buddha was left with the problem of removing attachment to what is impermanent. This doesn't mean the Buddha was without assistance when faced with this difficult task. Aiding the Buddha and all Buddhists is Buddhism's version of the ancient Indian practice of meditation, a practice which is said to have originated with the Dasyus, the aboriginal people of India and their sramana [ascetic] culture. Now practiced worldwide, there are many forms of meditation, some are connected with prayer and others with mysticism. Buddhist meditation, however, should not be confused with either form as prayer and mysticism are both foreign to Buddhism. To whom is a Buddhist to pray to? Certainly not the Buddha who was very clear on this point. Why should a Buddhist pray if the objective of Buddhism is complete non-attachment?
Nor is Buddhist meditation mystical, if anything, it is ethical. Buddhist meditation is based on the cultivation and development of the mind, it is not a search for anything beyond human experience. The ethical cultivation and development of the mind sounds like a subject requiring quite a bit of thought. Accordingly, like Buddhist ethics, Buddhist meditation does require a number of suttas for a full explanation. One of them, the Mahasatipatthana Sutta, explains how meditation should begin, with the preparation of the body:
"...finding a peaceful and empty place in the forest, sitting cross-legged with body erect...establishing mindfulness...breathing in...breathing out...calming the whole body process...(Mahasatipatthana DN ii. 291)".
RIGHT EFFORT
=============
The meditation on Right Effort, as it is with all Buddhist meditations, begins with the practitioner calming his/her whole body process, a sensible thing to do since it's never a good idea to begin anything with a tense body and/or mind. The meditation on Right Effort is the first of the Buddhist meditations because, first of all, effort is needed to accomplish anything. Accordingly, the monk is urged to "rouse [ing] his will [dispositions], making an effort, stirring up energy, exerting his mind and striving...(DN ii. 313)".
The above instructions may sound like it was taken from a conventional speech given by a leader to his/her subordinates prior to undertaking an upcoming task. However, the Buddha was not a conventional person in any way as the Crossing the Flood sutta from the Samyutta Nikaya will show. In this sutta the Buddha explained to his followers that effort should be applied in a way modeled upon the Middle Way. This discourse begins with a certain devata [heavenly being] approaching the Buddha and asking him a question he was concerned about:
"How, dear sir, did you cross the flood? [attain nibbana?]"
"By not halting, friend, and by not straining I crossed the flood."
"But how is it, dear sir, that by not halting and by not straining you crossed the flood?"
"When I came to a standstill, friend, then I sank; but when I struggled, then I got swept away. It is in this way, friend, that by not halting and by not straining I crossed the flood."
[The Devata:]
"After a long time at last I see
A brahmin who is fully quenched,
Who by not halting, not straining,
Has crossed over attachment to the world." (Crossing the Flood SN1. 1)
The devata at first was confused by the Buddha's response, but, he would soon come to understand the Buddha was speaking of the Middle Way, as the Buddha's response included the extremes of "halting" and "straining". One of the primary features of the Middle Way is its avoidance of extremes, in this case the Buddha used the extremes in effort, in either not making any effort at all or expending effort unproductively.
Another feature of the Middle Way is that it implies gradualness. While the Buddha recognized "the possibility of a sudden transformation (BCP p. 105)", more often realization is achieved through "gradual training, gradual practice, gradual progress (MN1. 480, BCP p. 105)". Here, in crossing the flood, the Buddha is proposing in regard to effort, avoid the extremes of not making any effort at all or expending effort unproductively and to also practice effort gradually.
While the Buddha repeatedly instructed his followers to apply effort in the practice and study of Buddhism, he also took the time to explain what he meant by effort, for he equated effort with "rousing the will". He understood metaphysical interpretations could easily be introduced if the meaning of the word "will" was not clarified. For instance, some modern philosophers contend the existence of human effort justifies the existence of "free will". The idea of phenomenal will is thereby rejected. In its stead, the world gladly accepts it is metaphysical free will which propels human action.
This free will is the very same "great extension" of the universal soul or self imagined by seers in the Hindu Upanisads (HBP p. 107) many centuries earlier.
The Buddha rejected both free will and the soul from which free will originates. Neither free will nor the soul can be accounted for from the standpoint of causality. For the Buddha everything is caused, everything is "dependently arisen", everything is subject to the causality of "dependent arising". No one does anything "freely" or because his/her actions are directed by a soul. Every human act is the result of a person's "disposition" to that act. For example, a baby will never take its first step before many hours of learning and strengthening the use of various body muscles and coordinating of bodily balance with visual relations. It is not free will that enables the baby to take its first steps, it is because the baby has applied effort and has been "disposed" to that action.
This means an action will not occur without a person's prior disposition to that action. Another example, a person will not shop lift an item from a department store if the disposition to that action is not present.
However, effort is useless unless directed positively, so, the Digha Nikaya strives to point the monks towards efforts which 1) "prevent the arising of unrisen evil unwholesome mental states and overcome evil unwholesome mental states that have arisen and 2) maintain wholesome mental states that have arisen, not to let them fade away, to bring them to greater growth, to the full perfection of development. This is called Right Effort. (DN ii. 313)".
The Buddha's solution to prevent the becoming of unwholesome mental states and to maintain those that are wholesome are called the Four Efforts.
The Four Efforts
============
Actually, as per the Majjhima Nikaya (Samanamandikaputta MNii.26) the Buddha encouraged detachment from both the unwholesome as well as the wholesome as it was his intention to remove ALL craving, for the good as well as the bad. This is why total non-attachment is the highest ethic in Buddhism. However, for the purpose of directing effort, he distinguished between the wholesome and the unwholesome as he does in the following Four Efforts:
1) restraint [of the senses], 2) abandoning [of the unwholesome], 3) development [of wholesome practices], 4) preservation [of useful meditative practices] (Four Efforts Sangiti DN iii. 227).
The abandoning of unwholesome states such as the craving for sense pleasures and the craving for the belief in an eternal "soul" will require the restraining of the senses. Imagine trying to persuade oneself or others to abandon the craving for sense pleasures or a belief in the soul without restraining the senses. Sounds impossible to do.
Another useful meditative object producing detachment by way of revulsion to the impermanent is the following:
"Here, a monk keeps firmly in his mind a favorable object of concentration which has arisen, such as a skeleton, or a corpse that is full of worms, blue-black, full of holes, bloated (Sangiti DN iii. 226)".
This and other similar objects of meditation will certainly aid the meditator towards detachment from what is impermanent. Interestingly, the effort of preservation "can [also] include events, states, and processes [dhamma] that produce good consequences for society as well (HBP p. 108)". It is not only the preservation of useful meditative objects that the Effort of Preservation seeks, but, also the preservation of useful social practices. As in all Buddhist endeavors, meditation is directed not only towards the individual, but, is just as much practiced for the benefit and welfare of society.
RIGHT CONCENTRATION
=====================
The message of the Meditation on Right Mindfulness, to the astonishment of transcendentalists, is this: the way to the good and peaceful is not through attachment, but, through detachment/non-attachment. The message of the Meditation on Right Concentration in turn says detachment is of extreme importance as THE means of making a decision regarding behavior (HBP p. 109). Thus, the Meditation on Right Concentration's message is to encourage detached decision making and behavior among the people.
However, there are a host of hindrances lying in wait to impede the decision making process of the meditator. The following Five Hindrances to meditation are certainly capable of hindering human decision making:
1) worldly desires, 2) hatred and ill-will [including that toward animals], 3) sloth and torpor, 4) worry and flurry, 5) doubt (Hindrances AN4. 458).
These states are "unbounded" for these states leads a person to become "...detached, not grasping at anything in the world (DN2. 290)." By this the Buddha meant not to be attached to anything in existence, not your parents, not your husband or wife, not your children nor any of your relatives or friends; not your house, not your car, not your money nor any of your acquisitions; not any of your achievements or accomplishments nor anything else that is a part of your sensuous sphere.
This free will is the very same "great extension" of the universal soul or self imagined by seers in the Hindu Upanisads (HBP p. 107) many centuries earlier.
The Buddha rejected both free will and the soul from which free will originates. Neither free will nor the soul can be accounted for from the standpoint of causality. For the Buddha everything is caused, everything is "dependently arisen", everything is subject to the causality of "dependent arising". No one does anything "freely" or because his/her actions are directed by a soul. Every human act is the result of a person's "disposition" to that act. For example, a baby will never take its first step before many hours of learning and strengthening the use of various body muscles and coordinating of bodily balance with visual relations. It is not free will that enables the baby to take its first steps, it is because the baby has applied effort and has been "disposed" to that action.
This means an action will not occur without a person's prior disposition to that action. Another example, a person will not shop lift an item from a department store if the disposition to that action is not present.
However, effort is useless unless directed positively, so, the Digha Nikaya strives to point the monks towards efforts which 1) "prevent the arising of unrisen evil unwholesome mental states and overcome evil unwholesome mental states that have arisen and 2) maintain wholesome mental states that have arisen, not to let them fade away, to bring them to greater growth, to the full perfection of development. This is called Right Effort. (DN ii. 313)".
The Buddha's solution to prevent the becoming of unwholesome mental states and to maintain those that are wholesome are called the Four Efforts.
The Four Efforts
============
Actually, as per the Majjhima Nikaya (Samanamandikaputta MNii.26) the Buddha encouraged detachment from both the unwholesome as well as the wholesome as it was his intention to remove ALL craving, for the good as well as the bad. This is why total non-attachment is the highest ethic in Buddhism. However, for the purpose of directing effort, he distinguished between the wholesome and the unwholesome as he does in the following Four Efforts:
1) restraint [of the senses], 2) abandoning [of the unwholesome], 3) development [of wholesome practices], 4) preservation [of useful meditative practices] (Four Efforts Sangiti DN iii. 227).
The abandoning of unwholesome states such as the craving for sense pleasures and the craving for the belief in an eternal "soul" will require the restraining of the senses. Imagine trying to persuade oneself or others to abandon the craving for sense pleasures or a belief in the soul without restraining the senses. Sounds impossible to do.
The development or maintenance of wholesome states will also require the restraint of the senses. For instance, the maintenance of wholesome states such as "not bringing harm to oneself, others or both" will certainly require the restraint of the senses. In either case, removal of the unwholesome or development of the wholesome, keep in mind the objective of all Buddhist meditation is the removal of human suffering and its causes craving and attachment. The fourth effort, preservation [of useful meditative practices], begins Buddhism's effort to employ detachment as a useful means to removing suffering. This is initiated in conjunction with the following Seven Factors of Enlightenment, the overview of Buddhist meditations. This relationship between The Four Efforts and The Seven Factors of Enlightenment establishes the role of detachment as fundamental to Buddhist practice.
The Seven Factors of Enlightenment
==========================
When equanimity is recognized as the seventh factor of enlightenment in the Seven Factors formula, it indicates the importance of detachment in Buddhism.
==========================
When equanimity is recognized as the seventh factor of enlightenment in the Seven Factors formula, it indicates the importance of detachment in Buddhism.
The Seven Factors are itemized as follows: mindfulness, discrimination of states [wholesome or unwholesome], energy [effort], rapture [joy], tranquility [calm], concentration, equanimity [detachment] (Bojjhanga Samyutta SN5. 63).
An explanation of this itemization is as follows: The awareness [mindfulness], identification and discrimination of different states are necessarily the first steps in The Seven Factors in order to arrive at what are wholesome or unwholesome states. Skipping energy [effort] for a moment, Buddhist meditation next produces joy and calm, but, that doesn't mean the objective of Buddhist meditation is to create comfortable thoughts in the meditator. On the contrary, the objective of Buddhist meditation is to engage the meditator in concentrated striving and effort, the qualities that will produce detachment, Buddhism's greatest tool against the taints of craving and attachment.
An explanation of this itemization is as follows: The awareness [mindfulness], identification and discrimination of different states are necessarily the first steps in The Seven Factors in order to arrive at what are wholesome or unwholesome states. Skipping energy [effort] for a moment, Buddhist meditation next produces joy and calm, but, that doesn't mean the objective of Buddhist meditation is to create comfortable thoughts in the meditator. On the contrary, the objective of Buddhist meditation is to engage the meditator in concentrated striving and effort, the qualities that will produce detachment, Buddhism's greatest tool against the taints of craving and attachment.
The fourth effort of The Four Efforts formula, preservation [of useful meditative practices], would undoubtedly welcome the Seventh Factor of Enlightenment, equanimity [detachment], under its umbrella as an useful meditative practice. Detachment in turn would produce another definition, revulsion. Listen to the Buddha's lesson to his son, Rahula, on revulsion, and you will see revulsion would also fall under the category of useful meditative practices:
Revulsion
=======
..."What do you think, Rahula, are forms...sounds...odours...tastes...tactile objects...mental phenomena permanent or impermanent?"--"Impermanent, venerable sir."...
"Seeing thus, Rahula, the instructed noble disciple experiences revulsion towards forms...revulsion towards mental phenomena. Experiencing revulsion, he becomes dispassionate...He understands: '...there is no more for this state of being.' (Rahula Samyutta SN2. 246)."
The Buddha is saying to Rahula all forms and mental phenomena are impermanent, i.e., everything we experience is impermanent. The question he is asking is why should anyone become attached to something impermanent? However, the attachment to the objects of the senses is so powerful, the Buddha suggests revulsion as a means to detachment. In this way the preservation [of useful meditative practices] leads to the 7th Factor of Enlightenment, equanimity [detachment].
..."What do you think, Rahula, are forms...sounds...odours...tastes...tactile objects...mental phenomena permanent or impermanent?"--"Impermanent, venerable sir."...
"Seeing thus, Rahula, the instructed noble disciple experiences revulsion towards forms...revulsion towards mental phenomena. Experiencing revulsion, he becomes dispassionate...He understands: '...there is no more for this state of being.' (Rahula Samyutta SN2. 246)."
The Buddha is saying to Rahula all forms and mental phenomena are impermanent, i.e., everything we experience is impermanent. The question he is asking is why should anyone become attached to something impermanent? However, the attachment to the objects of the senses is so powerful, the Buddha suggests revulsion as a means to detachment. In this way the preservation [of useful meditative practices] leads to the 7th Factor of Enlightenment, equanimity [detachment].
Although detachment [viraga] is commonly used as a definition of equanimity, it is a word westerners have decided is a particularly dislikable word. It may rank in dislikableness second only to the word "suffering" [dukkha] which westerners have been seeking to replace with "unsatisfactoriness" for decades. Why? Suffering, of course, is an experience no one likes, but, "dukkha" has always been defined by English speaking scholars and translators as "suffering". That being the case, the world view of non-Indian transcendentalists may just not be able to accommodate fully the idea of suffering as central in human existence. This is not the case with Buddhism nor with the two other major philosophies of India, Brahmanism [Hinduism] and Jainism. All three Indian philosophies do not shy away from, but, all are actively engaged in the problem of removing human suffering.
In the case of the word "detachment", it is disliked as it is a word in direct conflict with the primary ethic of transcendentalists, "love". The transcendentalists have good reason to dislike the use of the word "detachment" seeing it far less benign than is "non-attachment". The Buddha may also have had good reason to embrace words like detachment and revulsion for in addition to aloofness and disinterest, detachment also suggests that action should be taken. This action is directed at very strong attachments which are embedded into the human psyche just as a hammered nail is embedded into a piece of wood. The action needed to remove such attachments would require extra ordinary effort, commitment, detachment and even revulsion.
Another useful meditative object producing detachment by way of revulsion to the impermanent is the following:
"Here, a monk keeps firmly in his mind a favorable object of concentration which has arisen, such as a skeleton, or a corpse that is full of worms, blue-black, full of holes, bloated (Sangiti DN iii. 226)".
This and other similar objects of meditation will certainly aid the meditator towards detachment from what is impermanent. Interestingly, the effort of preservation "can [also] include events, states, and processes [dhamma] that produce good consequences for society as well (HBP p. 108)". It is not only the preservation of useful meditative objects that the Effort of Preservation seeks, but, also the preservation of useful social practices. As in all Buddhist endeavors, meditation is directed not only towards the individual, but, is just as much practiced for the benefit and welfare of society.
RIGHT MINDFULNESS
===================
Not only does the Meditation on Right Mindfulness continue the thread started in the Meditation of Right Effort, the concept of "detachment from what is impermanent", it also doubles down on the effort to remove the belief in a "self" or a belief in "substance".
The most comprehensive suttas on the subject of mindfulness are the Satipatthana Sutta (MN1. 56) and the Mahasatipatthana Sutta of the Digha Nikaya (DN2. 290)]. Almost immediately, the suttas plunges into the self/real substance problem in a representation of a human called the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. In the following condensed rendition of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness the human is reduced to his/her essential parts:
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness
===========================
1) body as body, 2) feelings as feelings, 3) mind as mind, 4) mind-objects as mind-objects (Satipathana Sutta MN 1. 56)".
Each of the Four Foundations are repeated---body as body, feelings as feelings, mind as mind, mind-objects as mind-objects---to emphasize the mind and body and all of their activities are absent of anything permanent or eternal. The body is just a body, the mind is just a mind and so too it is with all bodily and mental activities. This is to say the self is a changing self, an impermanent self completely absent of a soul. This topic is discussed in both suttas, namely, the arising and ceasing [i.e., impermanent] factors of a person. The Buddha opposed the belief in a soul, agent or substance for such a belief originates from the feeling "I have a soul". This is a feeling from which arises the causes of human suffering---craving and attachment. [See Post 4 under the heading Buddhist Relativity].
Within the Four Foundations passage, following each body and mind category is this directive: "...put away covetousness and grief for the world". This means do not be attached to the mind or body, for a belief in anything in the world as "real elements" will only bring grief and despair to a person.
Not only does the Meditation on Right Mindfulness continue the thread started in the Meditation of Right Effort, the concept of "detachment from what is impermanent", it also doubles down on the effort to remove the belief in a "self" or a belief in "substance".
The most comprehensive suttas on the subject of mindfulness are the Satipatthana Sutta (MN1. 56) and the Mahasatipatthana Sutta of the Digha Nikaya (DN2. 290)]. Almost immediately, the suttas plunges into the self/real substance problem in a representation of a human called the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. In the following condensed rendition of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness the human is reduced to his/her essential parts:
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness
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1) body as body, 2) feelings as feelings, 3) mind as mind, 4) mind-objects as mind-objects (Satipathana Sutta MN 1. 56)".
Each of the Four Foundations are repeated---body as body, feelings as feelings, mind as mind, mind-objects as mind-objects---to emphasize the mind and body and all of their activities are absent of anything permanent or eternal. The body is just a body, the mind is just a mind and so too it is with all bodily and mental activities. This is to say the self is a changing self, an impermanent self completely absent of a soul. This topic is discussed in both suttas, namely, the arising and ceasing [i.e., impermanent] factors of a person. The Buddha opposed the belief in a soul, agent or substance for such a belief originates from the feeling "I have a soul". This is a feeling from which arises the causes of human suffering---craving and attachment. [See Post 4 under the heading Buddhist Relativity].
Within the Four Foundations passage, following each body and mind category is this directive: "...put away covetousness and grief for the world". This means do not be attached to the mind or body, for a belief in anything in the world as "real elements" will only bring grief and despair to a person.
The phrase "...put away covetousness and grief for the world" is variously repeated as directives or insights in both suttas, Satipatthana and Mahasatipatthana :
"...put aside hankering and fretting for the world (DN2. 290)"
"...he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world (DN2. 292, MN1. 57)"
"...abides detached, not grasping at anything in the world (DN2. 300)"
Although both suttas are not completely identical [the Mahasatipatthana being much more comprehensive in regard to the discussion on the Four Noble Truths than is the Satipatthana] both begins their discourses with the Buddha's homage to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness:
"There is, monks, this one way to the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and distress, for the disappearance of pain and sadness, for the gaining of the right path, for the realization of Nibbana: that is to say the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (DN2. 290)."
The Buddha said the Four Foundations of Mindfulness is "...the one way...for the realization of Nibbana..." for it is only a person detached from everything who will understand the theory and will be able to live the practice of Buddhism. This why the Buddha declared in the Rohitassa Sutta:
It is in this fathom-long body endowed with perception and mind that I proclaim 1) the world [suffering], 2) the origin of the world [suffering], 3) the cessation of the world [suffering], 4) the way leading to the cessation of the world [suffering] (Rohitassa AN2. 49).
Yes, it is the person unattached to the world, detached from the body and mind, never experiencing the presence of a soul, who has the potential to escape the suffering of samsara. The following Tiparivatta sutta confirms this identity.
The Buddha's Final Practice
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The Three Phases Sutta (SN5. 423, n. 382), informally labeled the Buddha's final practice appears immediately after the Buddha had concluded his recitation of the theory of Buddhism in the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta (Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law SN5. 421). The final practice is considered the best example of Buddhist practice because the Buddha says he was not perfectly enlightened until he had completed its practice. Listen to what he has to say in the Samyutta Nikaya:
"...I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with its devas [heavenly beings], Mara [tempter], and Brahma [God], in this generation with with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans. But when my knowledge and vision of these Four Noble Truths as they really are in their three phases and twelve aspects was thoroughly purified in this way, then I claimed to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world...(SN5. 423)".
"...I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with its devas [heavenly beings], Mara [tempter], and Brahma [God], in this generation with with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans. But when my knowledge and vision of these Four Noble Truths as they really are in their three phases and twelve aspects was thoroughly purified in this way, then I claimed to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world...(SN5. 423)".
In either descriptions of its theory or practice, the Dhammacakkavattana Sutta does not stray from the core teachings of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. However, there is one crucial exception, where, in its practice the idea of "purity" and "purification" is introduced.
The first occurs in the Buddha's homage to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness where hs says the Four Foundations of Mindfulness is "...this one way to the purification of beings...(DN2. 290),,,".
A second appears in the final practice where the Buddha says "...my knowledge and vision of these Four Noble Truths as they really are in their three phases and twelve aspects was perfectly purified in this way...(SN5. 423)".
It is this "purification" that allows the Buddha to have attained "...unsurpassed perfect enlightenment...". So, the question arises, "What does the Buddha mean when he speaks of "purification"? In the Rathavinita Sutta he provides a clear and precise answer: "...purification by knowledge and vision is for the sake of reaching final Nibbana without clinging (MN1. 150)".
The attainment of final Nibbana is not possible without the elimination of all clinging is the point of both the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and the final practice suttas.
Below, the "three phases and twelve aspects", the two parts of Buddhist practice, the final practice, are designated. The Three Phases are identified under [A], [B], [C]. The Twelve Aspects [Modes] are simply the Three Phases applied to each of the Four Noble Truths [3 x 4 = 12]. These applications are also located in Post 4 under the heading Theory and Practice:
Below, the "three phases and twelve aspects", the two parts of Buddhist practice, the final practice, are designated. The Three Phases are identified under [A], [B], [C]. The Twelve Aspects [Modes] are simply the Three Phases applied to each of the Four Noble Truths [3 x 4 = 12]. These applications are also located in Post 4 under the heading Theory and Practice:
The Three Phases
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(A) the knowledge of each truth [saccanana]
(B) the knowledge of the task to be accomplished regarding each truth [kiccanana]
(C) the knowledge of accomplishment regarding each truth [katanana]
The Twelve Modes
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1) this is the noble truth of suffering
2) this noble truth of suffering is to be fully understood
3) this noble truth of suffering has been fully understood
1) this is the noble truth of the origin of suffering
2) this noble truth of the origin of suffering is to be abandoned
3) this noble truth of the origin of suffering has been abandoned
1) this is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering
2) this noble truth of the cessation of suffering is to be realized
3) this noble truth of the cessation of suffering has been realized
1) this is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering
2) this noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering is to be developed
3) this noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering has been developed
The ethical experience accumulated by the Buddha's completion of the Three Phases and Twelve Modes is a practice so thorough and exhaustive it led him to say, in spite of his theoretical knowledge, he would not have attained "unsurpassed perfect enlightenment" without it. His comments may or may not have settled the always asked question, "What is more valuable in Buddhism, theory or practice?" Even more importantly, this may be the Buddha's way of saying Buddhism is not a theory about life, but, Buddhism is in fact a way of life.
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness is the one way...to the removal of craving and attachment. It is the one way as only human heedfulness/awareness/mindfulness/consciousness is able to solve this problem. There was not any doubt in the Buddha's mind, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness aided by the final practice, would remove what are clearly psychological states, craving and attachment.
[Footnote: The final practice is also discussed in Post 4 under the topic Theory and Practice]
RIGHT CONCENTRATION
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The message of the Meditation on Right Mindfulness, to the astonishment of transcendentalists, is this: the way to the good and peaceful is not through attachment, but, through detachment/non-attachment. The message of the Meditation on Right Concentration in turn says detachment is of extreme importance as THE means of making a decision regarding behavior (HBP p. 109). Thus, the Meditation on Right Concentration's message is to encourage detached decision making and behavior among the people.
However, there are a host of hindrances lying in wait to impede the decision making process of the meditator. The following Five Hindrances to meditation are certainly capable of hindering human decision making:
1) worldly desires, 2) hatred and ill-will [including that toward animals], 3) sloth and torpor, 4) worry and flurry, 5) doubt (Hindrances AN4. 458).
With the exception of hindrance # 5), doubt, the first four hindrances are self-explanatory. By doubt, the Buddha meant do not doubt the Dhamma, contentious because the Buddha said many times Buddhism is not a faith or belief. He said this in criticism of the transcendentalists who claimed their "faith or belief" is the one and only way. Instead, he urged his followers to "...have confidence [saddha] in the Dhamma (MN1. 64)"...a confidence arrived at through understanding (Vimamsaka Sutta MN1. 318). Here, any doubt of the Dhamma amounts to a hindrance to Buddhist meditation.
A couple of even more damaging hindrances are remorse and regret. These hindrances prevents Right Concentration from forming the "Unification of mind...(Culavedalla MN1. 301)" and "inner tranquility and oneness of mind (Samanaphalla DN1. 74)". Both hindrances are the results of extremely unethical behaviour. This is why the Buddha said "the purpose and benefit of wholesome virtuous behavior is non-regret (Benefits AN5.1)" and "an unethical person is the one who will always experience regret (AN5.1, BCP p. 129)." This means Right Concentration can be attained only if unethical/unwholesome states are removed.
If a meditator is successful in reducing the hindrances, he/she may be suited to proceed with reflection on what are called the unbounded [appamanna] states (DN1. 251, n. 256). The Buddha discoursed on these states to encourage mindful/detached behavior in all human activity:
1) Metta [friendliness], 2) Kuruna [compassion], 3) Mudita [empathy including the appreciation of the success or happiness of others], 4) Uppekha [detachment] (Tevijja DN1. 251).
With the exception of uppekha [detachment], ordinarily these states are wide-spread expressions that are applied selectively to those we favor. If selectivity remains, others will be seen as "expendable" and that is a problem. For example, in the language of the current news media, in times of war non-combatants who are injured or killed will be considered as merely "collateral damage". However, when uppekha [detachment] enters the picture, it changes everything, throwing selectivity out of the picture...:
...leaves nothing untouched, nothing unaffected in the sensuous sphere...it dwells suffusing the whole world, upwards, downwards, across, everywhere...suffusing one quarter, the second, the third, the fourth...always with a heart filled with friendliness, compassion and empathy, abundant, unbounded, without hate or ill-will (DN1. 251).
1) Metta [friendliness], 2) Kuruna [compassion], 3) Mudita [empathy including the appreciation of the success or happiness of others], 4) Uppekha [detachment] (Tevijja DN1. 251).
With the exception of uppekha [detachment], ordinarily these states are wide-spread expressions that are applied selectively to those we favor. If selectivity remains, others will be seen as "expendable" and that is a problem. For example, in the language of the current news media, in times of war non-combatants who are injured or killed will be considered as merely "collateral damage". However, when uppekha [detachment] enters the picture, it changes everything, throwing selectivity out of the picture...:
...leaves nothing untouched, nothing unaffected in the sensuous sphere...it dwells suffusing the whole world, upwards, downwards, across, everywhere...suffusing one quarter, the second, the third, the fourth...always with a heart filled with friendliness, compassion and empathy, abundant, unbounded, without hate or ill-will (DN1. 251).
These states are "unbounded" for these states leads a person to become "...detached, not grasping at anything in the world (DN2. 290)." By this the Buddha meant not to be attached to anything in existence, not your parents, not your husband or wife, not your children nor any of your relatives or friends; not your house, not your car, not your money nor any of your acquisitions; not any of your achievements or accomplishments nor anything else that is a part of your sensuous sphere.
However, detachment flies in the face of the world as much of the world believes attachment is the answer to human problems. What counts in Buddhism is compassion, not attachment. Attachment is completely dependent on craving for its existence, compassion is caring without attachment.
Getting more directly to the point, for the Buddha , detachment doesn't mean not caring for your parents, wife or husband or children or relatives [caring and attachment are two different things; attachment is based upon one's likes and dislikes whereas caring is founded upon compassion and empathy]. Or, not enjoying the companionship of your friends or having good relations with your fellow workers or not finding importance and value in your material possessions or achievements.
This applies as well to macro-attachments. Remember, the Buddha has said, "...refrain from wrapping yourself in the flag of duty, honor or country...refrain from glorifying your country, culture or your race...". The Buddha is not saying these things are not important or valuable to human life. All the Buddha is saying is do not be attached to these things. In the Four Jhanas (MN1. 277) the Buddha recommends "...the abandoning of pleasure and pain." Why should anyone be attached to what is impermanent? The human search for happiness is not misguided, but, the search for permanent happiness is. In another sense, this also means no one "owns" anything. If there is anything a person owns, it is his/her Kamma, a person's ethical history. However, Kamma is something everyone wants to be rid of as a person's Kamma is what leads to Samsara, repeated rebirths.
In its entirety here, the Buddha has concluded, attachment based ethics will not lead to the good and the peaceful [the ethical]. Ethics based on non-attachment and detachment will. The reason is, when one's attachment to things is dependent on one's approval of that thing in some way or another and when that approval for that thing has been reduced, so will one's compassion for it. Your compassion for that thing is completely dependent upon your attachment to it. Given it is not easy to alter one's attachments, an effort should be made in this direction for it is in the interest of humankind's [and those of all living things] that attachment ethics does not prevail. When attachment is lost, it is not a problem, but, when compassion is reduced it is not good for the world.
It may very well be those who support attachment based ethics will find refuge in David Hume's observation that "Reason is a slave of the passions [also observed in the Madhupindika Sutta]" and Arthur Schopenhauer's declaration that "We are the puppets of biology [also implied in the 2nd Noble Truth - Craving is the cause of all human suffering]" and find solace in our being the victims of nature. However, for the Buddha, not making an effort to remove harmful attachments is in itself an unethical way of life. There is nothing more unethical than to constantly give in to craving; but, the Buddha has a solution---the ethical life he proposes is none other than the Noble Eightfold Path.
The core of Buddhism's argument is that attachment based ethics is not an ethic at all, but, in fact is a completely unethical position to take. Attachment is merely a person's preferences, i.e., a person's likes and dislikes [rucci-arucci], a selectivity rooted in one's prejudices which can be found embedded in the belief in a "soul" or an "I" [see the Madhupindika Sutta discussion in Post 4]. Non-attachment and detachment, on the other hand, are completely ethical goals seeking to remove the craving and attachment bringing suffering to our lives. Since craving connotes addiction or something we are not in control of, it is easily seen as unethical. While attachment connotes approval, it is nevertheless as unethical as craving is, attachment being completely dependent upon craving for the perpetuation of its state; i.e., seeking to fulfill the urges of the ego [the "I"].
The problem, the Buddha stated, is that, "This world, Kaccana, is for the most part shackled by engagement, clinging and adherence (Nidanasamyutta Nidanavagga SN2. 17)" and being the philosopher that he was, he also realized his opponents would profit by accusing Buddhism of the hypocrisy of seeking to remove craving with the very same craving the Buddhists sought to remove. The Buddha's answer to the aforementioned challenge is found in the Simile of the Raft where the culmination of the Dhamma's teachings and ethics are located:
"Bhikkhus, I shall show you how the Dhamma is similar to a raft, being for the purpose of crossing over, not for the purpose of grasping. Listen and attend closely to what I shall say...Bhikkhus, when you know the Dhamma to be similar to a raft, you should abandon even good states, how much more so bad states (MN1. 135)".
The Simile of the Raft's ethical approach to life states do not be attached to anything we experience, good or bad and just as profoundly, when facing our own mortality, do not be attached to anything we may have experienced.
On this note, non-grasping for the Dhamma, the Buddha, the impermanent or anything else, by means of detachment, non-attachment, equanimity, is this section on Right Concentration concluded. Right Concentration also ends the discussion on the core teachings of the Buddha: the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. Not to be excluded are Konannda's remarkable insight into the Four Noble Truths, that of arising and ceasing and all that it implies---annica [impermanence], dukkha [suffering] and anatta [non-self, non-substantiality].
After his enlightenment, the Buddha spent the remaining forty-five years of his life explaining the Dhamma to his neighbors. At the age of 80, he died in Kusinara, Northern India. The last and immemorial words of this singular person were "All this is impermanent, strive on untiringly". While he spoke to the rich and poor, educated and uneducated, royalty and commoner alike, underlying his teachings and implicit in his final words is this message: Don't take my word for it, test the Dhamma for yourself and let your own experiences show you the way.
"One must not accept my law from reverence, but first try it as gold is tried by fire (Tibetan Jnanasamuccaya-sara, IP vol. 1 p. 611)"
This ends Post 1.
On this note, non-grasping for the Dhamma, the Buddha, the impermanent or anything else, by means of detachment, non-attachment, equanimity, is this section on Right Concentration concluded. Right Concentration also ends the discussion on the core teachings of the Buddha: the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. Not to be excluded are Konannda's remarkable insight into the Four Noble Truths, that of arising and ceasing and all that it implies---annica [impermanence], dukkha [suffering] and anatta [non-self, non-substantiality].
After his enlightenment, the Buddha spent the remaining forty-five years of his life explaining the Dhamma to his neighbors. At the age of 80, he died in Kusinara, Northern India. The last and immemorial words of this singular person were "All this is impermanent, strive on untiringly". While he spoke to the rich and poor, educated and uneducated, royalty and commoner alike, underlying his teachings and implicit in his final words is this message: Don't take my word for it, test the Dhamma for yourself and let your own experiences show you the way.
"One must not accept my law from reverence, but first try it as gold is tried by fire (Tibetan Jnanasamuccaya-sara, IP vol. 1 p. 611)"
This ends Post 1.
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