ධම්ම පදය

ධම්ම පදය

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The Dhammapada : Path of Wisdom is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures.

Operating as usual

09/05/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 21 – Part (392)

The vortical interplay between consciousness and name-and-form has
the same background of ignorance. In fact, it is like the seed of the entire
process. A disease is diagnosed by the characteristics of the germ. Even
so, the Buddha pointed out, that the basic principle underlying the
samsāric vortex is traceable to the vortical interplay between
consciousness and name-and-form, going on within our minds.

This germinal vortex, between consciousness and name-and-form, is
an extremely subtle one that eludes the limitations of both time and space.
This, indeed, is the timeless principle inherent in the law of pațicca
samuppāda, or "dependent arising". Therefore, the solution to the whole
problem lies in the understanding of this law of dependent arising.

We have mentioned on a previous occasion that the sankhata, or the
"prepared", becomes asankhata, or the "unprepared", by the very
understanding of the 'prepared' nature of the sankhata." The reason is
that the prepared appears to be 'so', due to the lack of understanding of its
composite and prepared nature. This might well appear a riddle.

The faring round in samsāra is the result of ignorance. That is why
final deliverance is said to be brought about by wisdom in this
dispensation. All in all, one extremely important fact emerges from this
discussion, namely the fact that the etymology attributed to the term
Tathāgata by the Buddha is highly significant.

It effectively explains why he refused to answer the tetralemma
concerning the after death state of the Tathāgata. When a vortex has
ceased, it is problematic whether it has gone somewhere or joined the
great ocean. Similarly, there is a problem of identity in the case of a
Tathāgata, even when he is living. This simile of the ocean gives us a clue
to a certain much-vexed riddle-like discourse on Nibbãna.

Many of those scholars, who put forward views on Nibbāna with an
eternalist bias, count on the Pahārādasutta found among the Eights of the
Anguttara Nikāya." In fact, that discourse occurs in the Vinaya
Calavagga and in the Udāna as well." In the Pahārädasutta, the Buddha
gives a sustained simile, explaining eight marvellous qualities of this
dispensation to the asura king Pahārāda, by comparing them to eight
marvels of the great ocean. The fifth marvellous quality is stated as
follows:

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

06/05/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 21 – Part (391)

Yā c' eva kho pana ajjhattikā pațhavidhātu, yā ca bãhirā pațhavi-
dhãtu, pațhavidhātur ev' esā. Tam n' etam mama, n' eso 'ham asmi, na
meso attā 'tievam etam yathābhütam sammappaññāya dațhabbam".

"Now whatever earth element that is internal, and whatever earth
element that is external, both are simply earth element. That should be
seen as it is with right wisdom thus: 'this is not mine, this I am not, this is
not my self"

The implication is that this so-called individual, or person, is in fact a
vortex, formed out of the same kind of primary elements that obtain
outside of it. So then, the whole idea of an individual or a person is a mere
perversion. The notion of individuality in samsāric beings is comparable
to the apparent individuality of a vortex. It is only a pretence. That is why
it is called asmimāna, the "conceit am'". In truth and fact, it is only a
conceit.

This should be clear when one reflects on how the pure air gets caught
up into this vortex as an in-breath, only to be ejected after a while as a foul
out-breath. Portions of primary elements, predominating in earth and
water, get involved with this vortex as food and drink, to make a few
rounds within, only to be exuded as dirty excreta and urine. This way, one
can understand the fact that what is actually there is only a certain
delimitation or measuring as 'internal' and 'external'.

What sustains this process of measuring or reckoning is the duality -
the notion that there are two things. So then, the supreme deliverance in
this dispensation is release from this duality. Release from this duality is
at the same time release from greed and hate.

Ignorance is a sort of going round, in a winding pattern, as in the case
of a coil. Each round seems so different from the previous one, a peculiar
novelty arising out of the forgetting or ignoring trait, characteristic of
ignorance.

However much one suffers in one life cycle, when one starts another
life cycle with a new birth, one is in a new world, in a new form of
existence. The sufferings in the previous life cycle are almost forgotten.
The vast cycle of samsāra, this endless faring round in time and space, is
like a vortex.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

06/05/2024

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05/05/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 21 – Part (390)

We happened to mention earlier that the term Tathāgata was already
current among ascetics of other sects. But it is not in the same sense that
the Buddha used this term. For those of other sects, the term Tathāgata
carried with it the prejudice of a soul or a self, even if it purported to
represent the ideal of emancipation.

But in this dispensation, the Tathāgata is defined differently. Tathā,
"even so", "thus", is the correlative of yathã, "just as", "in whatever way".
At whatever moment it becomes possible to say that 'as is the ocean, so
is the vortex now', then, it is the state of tathāgata.

The vortex originated by deviating from the course of the main stream
of the ocean. But if an individual, literally so-called, gave up such pervert
attitudes, as seeing permanence in what is impermanent, if he got rid of
the four perversions by the knowledge and insight into things as-they-are,
then he comes to be known as a Tathāgata.

He is a "thus gone", in the sense that, as is the norm of the world, 'thus'
he is now. There is also an alternative explanation possible,
etymologically. Tathatā is a term for the law of dependent arising." It
means "thusness" or "suchness". This particular term, so integral to the
understanding of the significance of pațicca samuppāda, or "dependent
arising", is almost relegated to the limbo in our tradition.

Tathāgata could therefore be alternatively explained as a return to that
'thusness' or 'suchness', by comprehending it fully. In this sense, the
derivation of the term could be explained analytically as tatha + āgata.
Commentators, too, sometimes go for this etymology, though not exactly
in this sense

According to this idea of a return to the true state of suchness, we may
say that there is neither an increase nor a decrease in the ocean, when a
vortex ceases. Why? Because what was found both inside the vortex and
outside of it was simply water. So is the case with the samsāric individual.

What we have to say from here onwards, regarding this sansāric
individual, is directly relevant to meditation. As we mentioned on an
earlier occasion, the four elements, earth, water, fire and air, are to be
found both internally and externally. In the MahāHatthipadopama Sutta
of the Majjhima Nikāya we come across a way of reflection that leads to
insight in the following instruction.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

03/05/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 21 – Part (389)

Because of this process of whirling round, as in a vortex, there is an
unreality about this world. What for us appears as the true and real state of
the world, the Buddha declares to be false and unreal. We have already
quoted on an earlier occasion the verse from the Dvayatānupassanāsutta
of the Sutta Nipāta, which clearly illustrates this point.

Anattani attamānim,
passa lokam sadevakam,
nivițham nāmarüpasmiyn,
idam saccan'ti maññati" .

"Just see the world, with all its gods,
Fancying a self where none exists,
Entrenched in name-and-form it holds
The conceit that this is real."

What the world entrenched in name-and-form takes to be real, it seems
is unreal, according to this verse. This idea is reinforced by the following
refrain-like phrase in the Uragasutta of the Sutta Nipāta: Sabbam
vitatham idan'ti ñatvã loke, "knowing that everything in this world is not
'such".

We have referred to the special significance of the Uragasutta on
several occasions."That discourse enjoins a giving up of everything, like
the sloughing off of a worn-out skin by a serpent. Now a serpent sheds its
worn-out skin by understanding that it is no longer the real skin. Similarly,
one has to understand that everything in the world is not 'such'. Tathã is
"such". Whatever is 'as-it-is' , is yathābhūta. To be 'as-it-is', is to be 'such'.
What is not 'as-it-is', is ayathã or vitatha, "unsuch" or "not such", that is to
say, unreal.

It seems, therefore, that the vortex whirling between consciousness
and name-and-form, in the case of samsāric beings, is something not
'such'. It is not the true state of affairs in the world. To be free from this
aberration, this unreal state of duality, is to be an arahant.

The three unskilful mental states of greed, hate and delusion are the
outcome of this duality itself. So long as the whirling goes on, there is
friction manifesting itself, sometimes as greed and sometimes as hate.
Delusion impels and propels both. It is just one current of water that goes
whirling round and round, bringing about friction and conflict. This
interplay between consciousness and name-and-form is actually a pervert
state, abnormal and unreal. To be a Tathāgata is a return to reality and
suchness, from this unreal, unsuch, pervert state.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

30/04/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 21 – Part (388)

The commentators do not seem to have paid sufficient attention to the
implications of this simile. But when one thinks of the relation between
the vortex and the ocean, it is as if the arahant has become one with the
ocean. But this is only a turn of speech.

In reality, the vortex is merely a certain pervert state of the ocean itself.
That perversion is now no more. It has ceased. It is because of that
perversion that there was a manifestation of suffering. The cessation of
suffering could therefore be compared to the cessation of the vortex,
leaving only the great ocean as it is.

Only so long as there is a whirling vortex can we point out a here' and
a there'. In the vast ocean, boundless as it is, where there is a vortex, or an
eddy, we can point it out with a 'here' ora 'there'. Even so, in the case of
the samsāric individual, as long as the whirling round is going on in the
form of the vortex, there is a possibility of designation or appellation as
'so-and-so'. But once the vortex has ceased, there is actually nothing to
identify with, for purposes of designation. The most one can say about it,
is to refer to it as the place where a vortex has ceased.

Such is the case with the Tathāgata too. Freedom from the duality is for
him release from the vortex itself. We have explained on a previous
occasion how a vortex comes to be". A current of water, trying to go
against the mainstream, when its attempt is foiled, in clashing with the
mainstream, gets thrown off and pushed back, but turns round to go
whirling and whirling as a whirlpool. This is not the norm. This is
something abnormal. Here is a perversion resulting from an attempt to do
the impossible. This is how a thing called 'a vortex' comes to be.

The condition of the samsāric being is somewhat similar. What we are
taught as the four 'perversions' in the Dhamma, describe these four
pervert attitudes of a samsāric being.

1. Perceiving permanence in the impermanent
2. Perceiving pleasure in the painful
3. Perceiving beauty in the foul
4. Perceiving a selfin the not-self.

The samsāric individual tries to forge ahead in existence, misled by
these four pervert views. The result of that attempt is the vortex between
consciousness and name-and-form, a recurrent process of whirling round
and round.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

30/04/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 21 – Part (387)

Kodham jahe vippajaheyya mănan,
samyojanam sabbam atikkameyya,
tam nāmarüpasmim asajjamānam,
akiñcanan nānupatanti dukkhā.

"Let one put wrath away and conceit abandon,
And get well beyond all fetters as well,
That one, untrammelled by name-and-form,
With naught as his own, no pains befall."

We came across another significant reference to the same effect in the
Māghasutta of the Sutta Nipāta.

Ye ve asattã vicaranti loke,
akiñcanā kevalino yatattā,
kālena tesu havyamn pavecche,
yo brāhmano puññapekho yajethad'.

"They who wander unattached in the world,
Owning naught, aloof, restrained,
To them in time, let the brahmin offer,
That oblation, if merit be his aim."

This verse also makes it clear, that a freedom from ownings and
attachments is implicit in the term kevalī. It has connotations of full
integration and aloofness. The term kevala, therefore, is suggestive of the
state of release from that vortex.

If, for instance, a vortex in the ocean comes to cease, can one ask where
the vortex has gone? It will be like asking where the extinguished fire has
gone. One might say that the vortex has joined' the ocean. But that, too,
would not be a proper statement to make. From the very outset what in fact
was there was the great ocean, so one cannot say that the vortex has gone
somewhere, nor can one say that it is not gone. It is also incorrect to say
that it has joined the ocean. A cessation of a vortex gives rise to such a
problematic situation. So is this state called kevalī. What, in short, does it
amount to? The vortex has now become the great ocean itself. That is
the significance of the comparison of the emancipated one to the great
0cean.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

27/04/2024

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26/04/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 21 – Part (386)

Chinnam vattam na vattati,
es'ev' anto dukkhassa.

The whirlpool cut off whirls no more.
This, even this, is suffering's end."

This, in fact, is a reference to the arahant. The vortex is between
consciousness and name-and-form. By letting go of name-and-form, and
realizing the state of a non-manifestative consciousness, the arahant has,
in this very life, realized the cessation of existence, which amounts to a
cessation of suffering as well. Though he continues to live on, he does not
grasp any of those aggregates tenaciously. His consciousness does not get
attached to name-and-form. That is why it is said that the vortex turns no
more.

To highlight this figure of the vortex, we can bring up another sig-
nificant quotation from the Upādānaparivatțasutta and the Sattaț-
thãnasutta of the Samyutta Nikāya.

Ye suvimuttā te kevalino, ye kevalino vatțam tesam n'atthi paññāpa-
nāya.° "Those who are fully released, are truly alone, and for them who are
truly alone, there is no whirling round for purposes of designation".

This statement might sound rather q***r. The term kevalī occurs not
only in the Samyutta Nikāya, but in the Sutta Nipāa as well, with
reference to the arahant. The commentary to the Sutta Nipāta, Paramat-
thajotikā, gives the following definition to the term when it comes up in
the Kasibhāradvāja Sutta: sabbagunaparipunnam sabba-
yogavisamnyuttam vā. According to the commentator, this term is used for
the arahant in the sense that he is perfect in all virtues, or else that he is
released from all bonds.

But going by the implications of the word vatta, associated with it, we
may say that the term has a deeper meaning. From the point of view of
etymology, the word kevalī is suggestive of singularity, full integration,
aloofness and solitude. We spoke of a letting go of name-and-form. The
non-manifestative consciousness, released from name-and-form, is
indeed symbolic of the arahant's singularity, wholeness, aloofness and
solitude.

In the following verse from the Dhammapada, which we had quoted
earlier too, this release from name-and-form is well depicted.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

26/04/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 21 – Part (385)

Pañcakkhandhā pariññātā,
tițthanti chinnamülakã,
dukkhakkhayo anuppatto,
patto me āsavakkhayo.'

"Five aggregates, now fully understood,
Just stand, cut off at their root,
Reached is suffering's end,
Extinct for me are influxes."

On reaching arahant-hood, one finds oneself in this strange situation.
The occurrence of the word sankhã in this connection is particularly
significant. This word came up in our discussion of the term papañca in
the contexts papañcasankhā and papañcasaññāsaikhā. There we had
much to say about the word. It is synonymous with samaññā,
"appellation", and paññatti, "designation". Reckoning, appellation and
designation are synonymous to a great extent. So the concluding
statement of the Buddha, already quoted, makes it clear that the Tathāgata
cannot be reckoned or designated in terms of form, though he has form, he
cannot be reckoned by feeling, though he experiences feeling, nor can he
be reckoned by, or identified with, the aggregates of perceptions,
preparations or consciousness.

Now in order to make a reckoning, or a designation, there has to be a
duality, a dichotomy. We had occasion to touch upon this normative
tendency to dichotomize. By way of illustration we may refer to the fact
that even the price ofan article can be reckoned, so long as there is a vortex
between supply and demand. There has to be some kind of vortex between
two things, for there to be a designation. A vortex, or vatta, is an
alternation between two things, a cyclic interrelation. A designation can
come in only so long as there is such a cyclic process. Now the Tathāgata
is free from this duality.

We have pointed out that the dichotomy between consciousness and
name-and-form is the samsāric vortex. Let us refresh our memory of this
vortex by alluding to a quotation from the Udāna which we brought up on
an earlier occasion.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

26/04/2024

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23/04/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 21 – Part (384)

The other day we happened to mention the conclusive answer given by
the Buddha to the question raised by the wandering ascetic Vacchagotta in
the Aggivacchagottasutta of the Majhima Nikāya, concerning the after
death state of the Tathāgata. But we had no time to discuss it at length.
Therefore let us take it up again.

When the wandering ascetic Vacchagotta had granted the incongruity
of any statement to the effect that the extinguished fire has gone in such
and such a direction, and the fact that the term Nibbāna is only a reckoning
or a turn of speech, the Buddha follows it up with the conclusion:

Evameva kho, Vaccha, yena rüpena tathāgatam paññāpayamāno
paññāpeyya, tam räpam tathāgatassa pahinam ucchinnamūlan tälāvat-
thukatam anabhāvakatam āyatim anuppādadhammam. Rüpasankhā-
vimutto kho, Vaccha, tathāgato, gambhīro appameyyo duppariyogāho,
seyyathāpi mahāsamuddo. Uppajjatt'ti na upeti, na uppajjatī'ti na upeti,
uppajjati ca na ca uppajjatī'ti na upeti, neva uppajjati na na uppajatī'ti
na upeti.

"Even so, Vaccha, that form by which one designating the Tathāgata
might designate him, that has been abandoned by him, cut off at the root,
made like an uprooted palm tree, made non-existent and incapable of
arising again. The Tathāgata is free from reckoning in terms of form,
Vaccha, he is deep, immeasurable and hard to fathom, like the great
ocean. To say that he is reborn falls short of a reply, to say that he is not re-
born falls short of a reply, to say that he is both reborn and is not reborn
falls short of a reply, to say that he is neither reborn nor is not reborn falls
short of a reply."

As in the case of the aggregate of form, so also with regard to the
aggregates of feeling. perception, preparations and consciousness, that is
to say, in regard to all the five aggregates of grasping, the Buddha made
this particular declaration. From this it is clear, that in this dispensation
the Tathāgata cannot be reckoned in terms of any one of the five
aggregates.

The similes reveal to us the state of the Tathāgata - the simile of the
uprooted tree, for instance. On seeing a palm tree uprooted, but somehow
left standing, one would mistake it for a growing palm tree. The worldling
has a similar notion of the Tathãgata. This simile of the tree reminds us of
the Isidattatheragāthã, which has an allusion to it.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

23/04/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 21 – Part (383)

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa

Etam santam, etam pantam, yadidam sabbasankhārasamatho
sabbäpadhipaținissaggo tanhakkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānan.'

"This is peaceful, this is excellent, namely the stilling of all prepa-
rations, the relinquishment of all assets, the destruction of craving,
detachment, cessation, extinction."

With the permission of the Most Venerable Great Preceptor and the
assembly of the venerable meditative monks. This is the twenty-first
sermon in the series of sermons on Nibbāna.

The other day we discussed, to some extent, the ten questions known as
the "ten indeterminate points", dasa avyākatavatthūni, which the Buddha
laid aside, refusing to give a categorical answer as "yes" or "no". We
pointed out, that the reason why he refused to answer them was the fact
that they were founded on some wrong views, some wrong assumptions.
To give categorical answers to such questions would amount to an
assertion of those views. So he refrained from giving clear-cut answers to
any of those questions.

Already from our last sermon, it should be clear, to some extent, how
the eternalist and annihilationist views peep through them. The
tetralemma on the after-death state of the Tathāgata, which is directly
relevant to our theme, also presupposes the validity of those two extreme
views. Had the Buddha given a categorical answer, he too would be
committing himself to the presumptions underlying them.

The middle path he promulgated to the world is one that transcended
both those extremes. It is not a piecemeal compromise between them. He
could have presented a half-way solution by taking up one or the other of
the last two standpoints, namely "the Tathāgata both exists and does not
exist after death", or "the Tathãgata neither exists nor does not exist after
death". But instead of stooping to that position, he rejected the
questionnaire in toto.

On the other hand, he brought in a completely new mode of analysis,
illustrative of the law of dependent arising underlying the doctrine of the
four noble truths, in order to expose the fallacy of those questions.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

22/04/2024

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21/04/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 20 – Part (382)

Thereby the Tathāgata becomes free from reckoning in terms of form,
rüpasankhãvimutto kho tathāgato. Due to this very freedom, he becomes
deep, immeasurable and unfathomable like the great ocean. Therefore he
cannot be said to be reborn, or not to be reborn, or both or neither. The
abandonment of form, referred to above, comes about not by death or
destruction, but by the abandonment of craving.

The fact that by the abandonment of craving itself, form is abandoned,
or eradicated, comes to light from the following quotation from the
Rādhasamyutta of the Samyutta Nikāya.

Rüpe kho, Rādha, yo chando yo rāgo yā nandīyā tanhā, tam pajahatha.
Evam tam rüpam pahīnam bhavissati ucchinnamülanm tālāvatthukatam
anabhāvakatam āyatim anuppādadhammam.* "Rādha, you give up that
desire, that lust, that delight, that craving for form. It is thus that form
comes to be abandoned, cut off at the root, made like an uprooted palm
tree, made non-existent and incapable of arising again."

Worldlings are under the impression that an arahant's five aggregates
of grasping get destroyed at death. But according to this declaration, an
arahant is like an uprooted palm tree. A palm tree uprooted but left
standing, divested of its site, mnight appear as a real palm tree to one who
sees it from a distance. Similarly, an untaught worldling thinks that there is
a being or person in truth and fact when he hears the term Tathāgata, even
in this context too.

This is the insinuation underlying the above quoted pronouncement. It
has some profound implications, but time does not permit us to go into
them today.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

21/04/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 20 – Part (381)

Evameva kho, Vaccha, yena räpena tathāgatam paññāpayamāno
paññāpeyya, tam rüpam tathāgatassa pahinam ucchinnamülam
tālāvatthukatam anabhãvakatam āyatim anuppādadhammam.
Rüpasankhavimutto kho, Vaccha, tathāgato, gambhĩro appameyyo
duppariyogāho, seyyathāpi mahāsamuddo. Uppajjatīi na upeti,
uppajjatīti na upeti, uppajjati ca na ca uppajjatī'ti na upeti, neva
uppajjati na na uppajjatỉ'ti na upeti.

"Even so, Vaccha, that form by which one designating the Tathāgata
might designate him, that has been abandoned by him, cut off at the root,
made like an uprooted palm tree, made non-existent and incapable of
arising again. The Tathāgata is free from reckoning in terms of form,
Vaccha, he is deep, immeasurable and hard to fathom, like the great
ocean. To say that he is reborn falls short of a reply, to say that he is not
reborn falls short of a reply, to say that he is both reborn and is not reborn
falls short of a reply, to say that he is neither reborn nor is not reborn falls
short of a reply."

This declaration, which a fully convinced Vacchagotta now
wholeheartedly hailed and compared to the very heartwood of a Sāla tree,
enshrines an extremely profound norm of Dhamma.

It was when Vacchagotta had granted the fact that it is improper to ask
in which direction an extinguished fire has gone, and that the only proper
linguistic usage is simply to say that 'it is extinguished', that the Buddha
came out with this profound pronouncement concerning the five
aggregates.

In the case of the Tathāgata, the aggregate of form, for instance, is
abandoned, pahinam, cut off at the root, ucchinnanülam, made like an
uprooted palm tree divested from its site, tālāvatthukatam, made non
existent, anabhavakatam, and incapable of arising again, āyatim
anuppādadhammam.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

18/04/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 20 – Part (380)

Sace te, Vaccha, purato so aggi nibbāyeyya, jāneyyāsi tvam 'ayan me
purato aggi nibbuto 'ti? If that fire before you were to be extinguished,
Vaccha, would you know 'this fire before me has been extinguished'?"
Sace me, bho Gotamo, purato so aggi nibbāyeyya, jāneyyāham 'ayam me
purato aggi nibbuto 'ti. If that fire before me were to be extinguished,
Master Gotama, I would know 'this fire before me has been
extinguished'."

Sace pana tam, Vaccha, evamn puccheyya 'yo te ayam purato aggi
nibbuto, so aggi ito katamam disam gato, puratthimam vã dakkhinam vã
pacchimam vã uttaram vã'ti, evam puttho tvam, Vaccha, kinti
byākareyyāsi? "If someone were to ask you, Vaccha, when that fire before
you were extinguished, 'to which direction did it go, to the east, the west,
the north or the south', being asked thus, what would you answer?" - Na
upeti, bho Gotama, yañhi so, bho Gotama, aggi tinakatthupādānam
pațicca jalati, tassa ca pariyādānā aññassa ca anupahārā anāhāro
nibbuto tveva sankham gacchati. "That wouldn't do as a reply, Master
Gotama, for that fire burnt in dependence on its fuel of grass and sticks.
That being used up and not getting any more fuel, being without fuel, it is
reckoned as extinguished."

At this point a very important expression comes up, which we
happened to discuss earlier too, namely sankham gacchati." It means "to
be reckoned", or "to be known as", or "to be designated". So the correct
mode of designation in this case is to say that the fire is reckoned as
'extinguished', and not to say that it has gone somewhere.

If one takes mean advantage of the expression fire has gone out' and
insists on locating it, it will only be a misuse or an abuse of linguistic
usage. It reveals a pervert tendency to misunderstand and misinterpret.
Therefore, all that can be said by way of predicating such a situation, is
nibbuto veva saikham gacchati, "it is reckoned as 'extinguished'".

Now comes a well-timed declaration in which the Buddha, starting
right from where Vacchagotta leaves off, brings the whole discussion to a
climactic end.

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

18/04/2024

THE MIND STILLED - Nibbāna Sermon - 20 – Part (379)

Then Vacchagotta asks: Tena hi, bho Gotama, na uppajjati? "If that is
so, Master Gotama, is he not reborn?" - Na uppajjatī'ti kho, Vaccha, na
upeti, "to say that he is not reborn, Vaccha, falls short of a reply".

Tena hi, bho Gotama, uppajjati ca na ca uppajjati? "If that is so,
Master Gotama, is he both reborn and is not reborn?" - Uppajjati ca na ca
uppajatīti kho, Vaccha, na upeti, "to say that he is both reborn and is not
reborn, Vaccha, falls short of a reply".

Tena hi, bho Gotama, neva uppajjati na na uppajjati? "If that is so,
Master Gotama, is he neither reborn nor is not reborn?" - Neva uppajjati
na na uppajjatī'ti kho, Vaccha, na upeti, "to say that he is neither reborn
nor is not reborn, Vaccha, falls short of a reply".

At this unexpected response of the Buddha to his four questions,
Vacchagotta confesses that he is fully confused and bewildered. The
Buddha grants that his confusion and bewilderment are understandable,
since this Dhamma is so deep and subtle that it cannot be plumbed by
logic, atakkāvacaro.

However, in order to give him a clue to understand the Dhamma point
of view, he gives an illustration in the form of a catechism.

Tam kim maññasi, Vaccha, sace te purato aggijaleyya, jāneyyāsi tvam
'ayam me purato aggi jalatī'ti ? "What do you think, Vaccha, suppose a
fire were burning before you, would you know 'this fire is burning before
me'?" - Sace me, bho Gotama, purato aggi jaleyya, jāneyyāham 'ayam me
purato aggi jalatī'ti. "If, Master Gotama, a fire were burning before me, I
would know 'this fire is burning before me'."

Sace pana tam, Vaccha, evam puccheyya 'yo te ayam purato aggi
jalati, ayam aggi kim pațicca jalatīti, evam putțho tvam, Vaccha, kinti
byākareyyāsi? "If someone were to ask you, Vaccha, 'what does this fire
that is burning before you burns in dependence on', being asked thus,
Vaccha, what would you answer?"- Evam puțtho aham, bho Gotama,
evam byākareyyam 'yo me ayam purato aggi jalati, ayam aggi
tinakațthupādānam paticcajalatī 'i. "Being asked thus, Master Gotam, I
would answer "this fire burning before me burns in dependence on grass
and sticks"

May all sentient beings find the Path leading to The cessation of suffering, Nibbana.
Dhammapada Team

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The Buddha and His Teachings :

The Buddha-Dhamma is a moral and philosophical system which expounds a unique path of Enlightenment, and is not a subject to be studied from a mere academic standpoint.The Doctrine is certainly to be studied, more to be practiced, and above all to be realized by oneself.Mere learning is of no avail without actual practice. The learned man who does not practice the Dhamma, the Buddha says, is like a colorful flower without scent.He who does not study the Dhamma is like a blind man. But,he who does not practice the Dhamma is comparable to a library.The Buddha was the first most active missionary in the world. His doctrine to the masses and the intelligentsia.

Till His last He wandered from place to place for forty-five years preaching moment, He served humanity both by example and by precept.His distinguished disciples followed suit, penniless, they even traveled to distant lands to propagate the Dhamma, expecting nothing in return.“Strive on with diligence” were the last words of the Buddha.

No emancipation or purification can be gained without personal striving. As such petitional or intercessory prayers are denounced in Buddhism and in their stead is meditation which leads to self-control, purification, and enlightenment. Both meditation and service form salient characteristics of Buddhism. In fact, all Buddhist nations grew up in the cradle of Buddhism.

Buddhism goes counter to most religions in striking the Middle Way and in making its Teaching homocentric in contradistinction to theocentric creeds. As such Buddhism is introvert and is concerned with individual emancipation. The Dhamma has to be realized by oneself (sanditthiko).

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නිවන යනු
The Lord Buddha

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