Aloka
JOURNAL - Page 3
ARTICLES INDEX - PAGE 3
- The Mangala Sutta neglected and little understood - In every recital of pirith be it a "seth piritha", a "vel or varu piritha" or a "sati piritha" the Mangala Sutta is always included...
- Religions and the Dhamma - Whatever religious belief religion creates, it is a desire for happiness. Once we attach ourselves to happiness, there is fear, namely that it can cease. So people bow down to God, or many gods, and people have fear of sin and punishment for sin. Thus religion arises.
- The Buddha's teachings and apocryphal scriptures - The Buddha did not write books nor dictate his teachings to secretaries or scribes. His teachings were handed down orally...
- A meditator and her dogs - This lady I write about is perceptive, extra perceptive and very much in the Dhamma. She has now given up...
- God and Nirvana - Religious faith, a very hypersensitive subject, is a field which one has to tread warily...
The Mangala Sutta neglected and little understood
by Sumana Saparamadu
In every recital of pirith be it a "seth piritha", a "vel or varu piritha" or a "sati piritha" the Mangala Sutta is always included. One of the commonest of the paritta, it is one of the 'tun sutra," three suttas, the other two being Ratana and Karaniya Metta. It is the first in the Chatu Bhanavara Pali" or the "Pirivana Potha" or "Pirith Potha", the collection of 29 suttas. It has been given the prefix Maha, which only one other sutta in this collection has, viz. Maha Samaya Sutta.
Pirith is from the Pali "paritta", meaning protection or safeguard. (Pali Text Society's Pali English Dictionary), and "paritta' are "suttanta" or minor suttas delivered by the Buddha on special occasions to ward off evil, dispel dangers, allay fears and help overcome illness.
Is the Mangala Sutta a paritta? How does it fit into the collection known as the "Pirith Potha", for it was not delivered to achieve any of the afore-mentioned objectives. This has puzzled me for as long as I have been questioning the why and the wherefore of our rites and practices.
Very recently I read Prof. Lily de Silva's explanation given in the course of the Sir Baron Jayatilaka Memorial Lecture 1998, "From Dvesha to Maitri". Says Prof. de Silva: "In the 5th century accounts of the paritta ceremony, all features present in the paritta ceremony of today are observable with a striking difference in the Maha Paritta. In the 5th century account the most important paritta suttas consisted of the Ratana Sutta, Metta Sutta, and Dhajagga Sutta, while the "Maha Piritha" of today substitutes the Maha Mangala Sutta for the Dhajagga Sutta, as if to emphasise that social ethics enumerated in the Maha Mangala Sutta should be cultivated to contend with contemporary problems, rather than look at banners of leaders for inspiration, as they themselves are not above immorality." (The Buddhist Vol, LXIX Nos. 2 & 3).
It is difficult to accept Prof. de Silva's surmise which seems to be an interpretation to suit the thesis of her lecture.
A. G. S. Kariyawasam writing on the Pirit Ceremony says, "As the Parittas generally embody statements of truth as taught in Buddhism their recitation is regarded as an "asserveration of truth" (saccakiriya) whereby evil can be averted. The Ratana Sutta is a good example of this kind of paritta..... The power of virtue (sila) contained in the Mangala Sutta and the power of loving kindness (metta) in the Metta Sutta are two other aspects that make pirit effective." (The Wheel Publication No. 402. Buddhist Ceremonies and Rituals of Sri Lanka)
This too is not a satisfactory explanation. Where is the "asseveration of truth" in the Mangala Sutta, as we find in the Ratana Sutta? "etena saccena suvatthi hotu," after each enumeration of the virtues of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. The Dhajagga Sutta ends with a similar benediction:
evam Buddham sarantanam
Dhammam Sanghan ca bhikkave
Bhayam va chambitattam va
lomahanso na hessati
The Metta Sutta, or the Karaniya Metta Sutta as it is more popularly known has no such solemn declaration of a truth or the enumeration of the virtues of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha; but it was especially taught by the Buddha to some monks to insulate themselves from danger and fear. These monks meditating in the forest were being harassed by some non-humans to frighten them away. When the monks sought the Buddha and complained he preached this sutta which emphasises the practice of metta-good will - to free themselves from fear.
The Mangala Sutta was not delivered for any of these purposes or as with the Bhojjanga Sutta, to alleviate physical pain and suffering. This sutta contains the Buddha's reply to a certain deva who asked him to explain what the greatest blessings in life were. He gave 37 factors which he considered were conducive to a happy life. The Sutta is, as S. R. Wijayatilake said, "a recipe for a clean and noble life" (The Buddhist Vesak Annual 1970).
Quoting F. L. Woodwards translation of the Mangala Sutta (from Some Sayings of the Buddha) Wijayatilake says: "These lines of such beauty have been my constant guide and they have had such a soothing influence on my life for several decades. They deal with most aspects of life in this world. If only parents, teachers, legislators and leaders of thought have these sentiments in mind, most of the confusion and violence will disappear. It would be well if we can have these thoughts framed and kept in some quiet corner in our homes, where we can read them before we leave for work."
Some of the edicts of Emperor Asoka emphasise the ethics of the Mangala Sutta, like respect for parents, for teachers and for the educated.
Why then does the Mangala Sutta, which was such a bearing on our daily lives, not get the attention it deserves/ Do we listen to or repeat it, as it should be, concentrating on the content? Do we contemplate on the content, and ask ourselves how close or how far we are from enjoying these blessings?
Those who regularly recite pirith every morning or the last thing at night, rattle off the stanzas with scarce a thought to the content, sometimes reciting them so fast that words are mispronounced or slurred.
When I was at school, the Mangala Sutta was recited every morning at assembly, and I remember that by the time I was in standard 3, I knew it by-heart. Most of us knew the meaning of most stanzas as the words were so close to Sinhala - mata pitu upatthana, danam subhasita vaca, panditanam ca sevana etc. I cannot remember ever studying the contents in detail, even in the upper forms.
How is the Sutta studied now, in the "Buddhism period" at school or in the Dhamma Schools? The stanzas are memorized to be recited by rote before the class and each verse or line paraphrased in Sinhala. This done both teacher and student are satisfied. The students will know nothing more, because they have not been trained to look beyond. Is there ever a discussion in the class, relating each mangala factor to everyday life?
Let us look at some of the mangala factors?
Environment is the buzz word today. Concern for the environment is rammed down the throats of students - pollution, depletion of natural resources, degradation of the land through over exploitation making life harsh for both man and beast. How many teachers of Buddhism and social studies are aware that the Buddha stressed the importance of the environment - patiroopa desa - 2500 and more years before the world became so acutely aware of the environment and how it affects life. Do teachers discussing environmental problems, direct the attention of students to this one line in the Mangala Sutta. Environment is more than the physical surroundings.
The people, the community are part and parcel of the environment. Fools, swindlers, drifters, ruffians, drug pedlars, do not contribute to a patiroopa desa. Hence the Buddha said keeping away from fools and the ignorant, associating with the wise, engaging in trades not harmful to society (anavajjani kammani) contribute to a happy life - they were mangala factors. This one line can be made the theme of a lesson and the class can discuss how a patiroopa desa can be made appatiroopa by polluting and degrading it and allowing undesirables to take over and create social problems.
This being the Year of the Elders, much is being written and talked about the problems of elders, the problems of ageing and the burden on the State as the "over sixty" population increases. A recent news item that the Social Services Department was looking out for foster sons and daughters, is an indication that the State is finding it difficult to discharge this responsibility.
Instead of blaming sons and daughters as many are wont to do, the class should probe into the practical difficulties of mata pitu upatthana and the need to pass on this responsibility to the State and NGOs.
Caring for children and wife puttu darassa sangaho - is as much a blessing as caring for elderly parents. Who cares for all the children living out their lives on the streets? What happens to children left behind by mothers rushing to the Middle-East in search of the pot of gold. And what of mothers concentrating on their careers or devoting time to so called social work while children languish at home alone or with a domestic help.
Today when many have forgotten to care and share, it is well to remind ourselves of another mangala factor-natakanam ca sangaha, caring for kith and kin. If cared for, their needs seen to and helped when help is needed, the less fortunate, or the "poor relation" can become an asset and not a drag or a nuisance, and family rivalries and jealousies which ultimately end in tragedies can be reduced or eliminated.
Dana is not only the formal alms-givings in Buddhist homes on special occasions. Dana is giving with the fullness of the heart without any strings attached. It is generosity in the true sense of the word.
One had only to look around to see the plight of those who lack learning (bahu sacca) or training in some trade or craft (sippam) to realize that bahusacca and sippa are blessings. The uneducated and the unskilled are sweating for their living or living by their wits. Attha samma panidi - setting oneself a goal is a blessing said the Buddha. How true this is, is proved by its absence - in the drifters, the directionless young people indifferent to most aspects of life. Garavo ca nivato ca - respect and humility and subhasita vaca - pleasant speech, are what constitute good manners.
Each line in each verse of the Mangala Sutta can be the subject of a discussion in class or at a group meeting of adults, a dhamma sakaccha which in itself is a mangala.
Religion should not be an academic subject as it is today, divorced from real life. The Mangala Sutta, and likewise the Parabhava and Wasala Suttas should be studied against the background of the society we live in. The study of Buddhism when linked with other subjects in the curriculum like social studies, environment, health and hygiene will become more meaningful, to students showing a way of life that can be followed despite the breakdown of the traditional society.
If the several factors mentioned in the Mangala Sutta are taken note of, understood, absorbed and practised by each one of us, it will be of far greater benefit to oneself, one's family and to the community, than reciting it parrot-wise morning and evening or listening with hands clasped in reverence when recited by a congregation of bhikkhus. But first we have to learn to look at the Mangala Sutta differently, not as a paritta, but as a guide to a good and contented life. (From the Buddhist Vesak Annual 1999)
Daily News - 23 Oct 1999
Religions and the Dhamma
by Bhikkhu Seelananda
Where there is a religion there is a creator. Then, there are messengers, priests, organized institutions such as temples and churches and many types of prayers, processions and pujas etc. Religion, according to the Oxford Dictionary, means "belief in the existence of a supernatural ruling power, the creator and controller of the Universe, who has given to man a spiritual nature which continues to exist after the death of the body."
Whatever religious belief religion creates, it is a desire for happiness. Once we attach ourselves to happiness, there is fear, namely that it can cease. So people bow down to God, or many gods, and people have fear of sin and punishment for sin. Thus religion arises. Fear is an emotion and it springs from desire or affection (pemato jayati bhayam). As far as people have fear of God, fear of punishment, fear of sin, there is religion. Once the Buddha said "Driven only by fear, do men go for refuge to many places&emdash; to hills, woods, groves, trees and shrines. Such indeed is no safe refuge; such is not the refuge supreme. Not by resorting to such a refuge is one released from suffering."
The Buddha’s instruction for this was very clear. He said that those who penetrate with transcendental wisdom, the Four Noble Truths namely &emdash; suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the Noble Eight-fold Path leading to the cessation of suffering have indeed a safe refuge, a refuge supreme. Having gone to such a refuge, one is released from all bondage. The only safe refuge is such transcendental wisdom, intuitive wisdom.
Religion in the garb of mere faith makes man blind and curbs his spiritual progress to enlightenment and intuitive wisdom.The mere pursuit of devotion (Bhakti Marg) does not provide liberation from bondage. It is the way of knowledge (Nyana Marg) that provides liberation from all bondage, through intuitive wisdom.
In the 6th Century B.C. in India there were a lot of religious cults based on faith. And also many kinds of "isms" such as eternalism, monism, pluralism, materialism and individualism.But the Buddha discovered that whatever those "isms" and "views" were they all lead to error and mental confusion. With clear comprehension of the meaninglessness of Bhakti Marg, the Buddha taught the way of knowledge (Nyana Marg) which leads to the realization of the truth, namely the cessation of suffering.
Religion with many types of pujas does not pave the way to liberation from suffering. Such religions can blind man easily and drag him to Samsara, namely the cycle of birth and death. The cycle of birth is compared to the ocean or to the desert because of its endlessness and unending hardships. Therefore religion without wisdom, without a clear path of deliverance to man, is dangerous.The word "clear" is very significant in this context. The path on which we have to move forth should be clear to ourselves. It should not be mere belief or myths. On the other hand it should not be pure intellectuality either. It must be necessarily an experience that one has. That experience is the experience of the Dhamma.
For this purpose we ourselves, and by ourselves, should tread the Path. The Buddhas are there to show the path (akkhataro tathagata). If we do not understand what is the path and what is not the path, religion really becomes a blind to man. That covers the reality. In that sense, what Karl Marx said about religion being an opium for man may be true. His statement would be more correct it is said that "religion without wisdom is opium to man". Even today in many countries, in the name of religion, many irreligious activities are taking place. In our countries, in the name of religion, today, people believe in pujas, rites and rituals to obtain worldly gains and worldly pleasures.
Temples and Churches are built, sometimes, against each other in places even which are environmentally unsuitable. The statues of religious leaders are erected on either side of roads to show religious devotion. They perhaps are a dishonour to the religious leaders themselves. Poor people are converted to religion through material gifts for their daily economic satisfaction. In short, unfortunately, religions have become a means of dividing human beings. As I see, today there are three ways of dividing people. They are religion politics and ethnicity.
Originally these three served as corner stones for the wellbeing of human beings. We know very well that in its pure form these three ways were extremely important for the progress of mankind though now these three have shown their limitations. These have been corrupted by the people themselves. But the Dhamma is above all. The Dhamma belongs to none. It belongs to nature. It is the Universal law. It is the teaching of the Buddha.
The term often used to denote the teaching of the Buddha is "Buddhism". This term "Buddhism" is a western coinage. The word of the Buddha is not an "ism" and it is not mere a religion either. The Buddha never wanted to introduce another "ism" or a religion. He taught the Dhamma to eradicate all kinds of isms (sarvadrustih prahanaya). This Dhamma is the Universal law. It does not belong to anyone. It is for all, for all human beings. It has six characteristics namely; it is well proclaimed (Svakkhato), visible here and now (sanditthiko), bears immediate fruit (akaliko), invites investigation (ehipassiko), is onward leading (opanayiko) and is directly experienceable by the wise (paccattam veditabbo vinnuhi).
The Dhamma cannot be defined as just a religion. It is more than a conventional religion which offers happiness in the terms of what we enjoy on the earth, namely enjoyments in terms of happiness which we can comprehend on earth. The Dhamma is something more than that. Its ethical system can give the offerings of pleasure that the " heaven-religions" can give. But the summum bonum of the Dhamma is not to offer just so called ‘eternal life’ in the heavens with all its attractions. It takes you above all that, above all conditioning and dependence.
As it does not belong to Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Muslims or any other religious group it can be experienced by anyone who is wise enough to realize it as it is. The Dhamma is the Dhamma. That is none other than the nature of arising and passing away of phenomena. The main characteristic of the whole system of the world is that. It is ever changing. Whatever is in the nature of arising, it is necessarily in the nature of passing away. This truth is to be penetrated by the wise and realized not as it appears to be or as it seems to be, but as it is. This, according to the teachings of the Buddha, can be realized only through insight meditation.
Indeed, as many of you know, Buddhism deals with ethical, social, economic religious, and political aspects. According to the stanza in the Dhammapada number 183 the teaching of the Buddhas is in three category. To avoid all evil (sabbapapassa akaranam, to cultivate good(Kusalassa upasampada), to cleanse one’s mind.(sacitta pariyodapanam).
So the first two of the above, go with other religions but the last one which is to be cultivated with one’s mind is the unique feature in the teaching of the Buddha. That is the Dhamma. This Dhamma is something to do rather than talk about for hours and hours. The Dhamma is not a religion according to its dictionary meaning because it has no centre in God as is the case in all other religions. It is a path to liberation. It is a system of philosophy coordinated with a code of morality, physical and mental. Extinction of suffering and death is the goal of the Dhamma. The inner peace and purity of mind is the result of the Dhamma which can be secured by one and all irrespective of their religion or creed provided they practice it sincerely. When it is practiced, the most significant factors are mindfulness and equanimity. These two are just like the two wings of a bird, two wheels of the cart.
This practice is nothing but meditation. As most of us know, that meditation is mainly twofold, namely, concentration (samatha) and insight (Vipassana). The purpose of concentration meditation is the achievement of heightened consciousness characterized by a high degree of tranquility and mental peace.The highest consequences of concentration meditation can cause to arise refined states of awareness such as the four fine material absorptions (rupavacarajhana) and the four formless absorptions (arupavacarajhana). According to the Ariyapariyesana Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya, it is very clear that the recluse Siddhartha Gautama attained these eight types of absorptions. But all these absorptions were incapable of producing the definitive enlightenment which he sought. That was why he abandoned the two teachers, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, with whom he had been practicing, and struck out on his own. The result of his tireless endeavour was Vipasssana, the insight, the ability to see things as they really are, that is the Dhamma realised by the Buddha.
The Buddha said "This Dhamma that I have attained is profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise" This Dhamma could be realised only through Vipassana meditation which is something unique to the teaching of the Buddha.
When we talk of meditation, it is obvious that there is meditation in other religions too. But the difference, is that we do not come across "Insight meditation" through which one can attain one’s enlightenment as a result of one’s own progress in practice The Buddha’s teaching is the practice of insight meditation. There is nothing to do with rites and rituals in his teaching. It is not an exercise in metaphysical speculation or theological construction. We all have to practice the Dhamma in daily life. That is a Way of Life. The Buddha’s kind admonition for us is to meditate.
In the Sallekha Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya 4,addressing the Ven.Cunda he said. "What should be done for his disciples out of compassion by a teacher who seeks their welfare and has compassion for them, that I have done for you Cunda. There are these roots of trees, these empty huts. Meditate, Cunda, do not delay or else you will regret it later. This is our instruction to you,". On another occasion, this above exhortation was given in different manner, in the Dhammapada, but insistently and severely." Meditate, O monk! Do not be heedless. Let not your mind whirl on sensual pleasures. Heedless, do not swallow a red hot iron ball, lest you cry when burning "O this is painful!"
Therefore meditation is a must in the teaching of the Buddha. Whatever other religious activities are performed, they all are to be put into second or third place. There is nothing beneficial without practicing. The Dhamma is to be practiced in daily life. It is not for the world beyond. When one practices the Dhamma,one can get experience and that experience is more important than only listening to, or talking on the Dhamma. A person who recites the sacred texts without putting them into practice, is just like the cowherd who only counts the cows of others.
Though he counts them he never gets ghee, milk or curd. On the contrary, practicing the Dhamma one should not insult those who do not practice it. There are people who can practice and there are those who cannot do so because their level of understanding never allows them to do so.
We know there are some people who though do not meditate, study, scrutinize and discern the Dhamma. They teach the Dhamma. So that is also a great help for those who want to understand the significance of the Dhamma. one should not look down on them.
According to the discourse on Scholars and Meditators in the Anguttara Nikaya, the Ven. Maha Cunda, addressing the monks said, "Bretheren you should train yourselves thus: Though we ourselves are Dhamma-experts, we shall give praise also to those monks who meditate. And why? Such outstanding men are rare in the world who have personal experience of the Deathless Element (Nibbana). And the other monks too, should train themselves thus: Though we ourselves are meditators we shall give praise also to those monks who are Dhamma-experts. And why? Such outstanding men are rare in the world who can by their wisdom clearly understand a difficult subject" The Dhamma exists only where there is equanimity and wisdom.
Once the Buddha said "The monk who abides in the Dhamma, delights in the Dhamma, meditates on the Dhamma and bears the Dhamma well in mind, does not fall away from the sublime Dhamma".
Thus practising the Dhamma one has to practice meditation. The meditation introduced by the Buddha is insight meditation which eradicates all defilements. This insight meditation is unique to the teaching of the Buddha. It is nothing but the very Dhamma that the exalted one taught. Once the Ven. Anuruddha, one of the chief disciples of the Buddha, reflecting upon the Dhamma said:
This Dhamma is for one of few wants; it is not for one who wants much.
This Dhamma is for the contented; it is not for the discontented.
This Dhamma is for the secluded; it is not for one who loves company.
This Dhamma is for the energetic; it is not for the indolent.
This Dhamma is for one of vigilant mindfulness; it is not for one of lax mindfulness.
This Dhamma is for one of concentrated mind; it is not for one who is unconcentrated. This Dhamma is for the wise; it is not for one without wisdom."
Then the Buddha approved these statements, saying "Well done, Anuruddha, well done!, well have you reflected on the seven thoughts of a great man".
As we mentioned earlier, there are two kinds of meditation. Tranquility (concentration) and insight. These both are equally important in the process of meditation. When one meditates one has to meditate on one’s aggregates because the nature of the whole world could be realized through one’s five aggregates.
Although insight meditation is peculiar to the teaching of the Buddha, it begins with concentration or tranquillity exercises (samatha). The difference in insight meditation is that one does not go on to higher degrees of concentration and absorption. The three characteristics of existence, namely, impermanence (anichcha), soullessness (anatta), and suffering (dukkha) could be comprehended, only through insight meditation. That is why in the teaching of the Buddha these three characteristics of existence are elaborated". The purpose here is to achieve complete, direct and immediate awareness of all phenomena which reveal their basic impermanence impersonality or the absence of any lasting essence or self-entity (atman) in them.
Insight meditation is a gradual process towards the development of mind. It should be practiced with perfect equanimity and perfect awareness, intelligently, diligently, patiently and persistently. When one meditates with full dedication attentively and vigilantly, one can understand,and realize things as they are, the nature of arising and passing away. That is the ever-changing nature of phenomena. The Buddha said "There is no meditative concentration for him who lacks insight, and no insight for him who lacks meditative concentration. He in whom are found both meditative concentration and insight, indeed is close to Nibbana. "The monk who has retired to a solitary abode and calmed his mind, who comprehends the Dhamma with insight, in him there arises a delight that transcends all human delights. Whenever he sees with insight the rise and fall of the aggregates, he is full of joy and happiness. To the discerning one this reflects the deathless".
When the Dhamma is practiced by oneself little by little, moment by moment, and day by day in one’s daily life, in this manner, one can remove one’s impurities as a smith removes the dross from silver.
Further he can control his senses, enjoy contentment, and practice restraint according to the code of discipline. Then he associates with good friends (kalyanamitta). As a result he is contented, energetic, wise, and pure in life, cordial and refined in conduct. When he develops his Vipassana meditation, he is full of joy and makes an end of suffering. Just as the jasmine creeper sheds its withered flowers, even so he sheds lust and hatred totally. Having traversed this miry perilous and delusive round of existence, he crosses over and reaches the shore; meditative, calm, free from doubt, and clinging to nothing, he attains to Nibbana.
May all beings attain enlightenment
The Island - 5 Oct 99
THE BUDDHA'S TEACHINGS AND APOCRYPHAL SCRIPTURES
D. AMARASIRI WEERARATNE
The Buddha's ministry lasted for 45 years. During this period he went about the countryside and the chief towns of his day preaching and teaching the people his Dharma for the temporal and spiritual welfare of all beings. His first sermon at the Deer Park at Isipatana, near Benares encapsulates his message to mankind. In it we find the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path as the Middle Way that liberates one from suffering to attain the highest bliss of Nirvana. Other important teachings such as the doctrine of Dependent Origination, the Three Characteristics of Existence, 37 Factors of Enlightement, and Karma and Rebirth were taught as ancilliary doctrines to widen and clarify his message delivered in his first sermon.
The Buddha spoke to Indian people. Therefore the background to his thinking and religious ideas were those of the Indian religieux. The terms he used were those familiar to his audiences. Teachings about Sansara, Karma, Antarbhava, and Nirvana were in vogue in the religious parlance of his day. Often he gave a different or a corrected version of those concepts. All discoverers and innovators have to improve upon what is available, and this is what he did. In fact Buddha himself admitted that he was discoverer of an ancient and forgotten path overgrown with jungle vegetation.
As Karma and Rebirth were known and accepted by his contemporary teachers there was no need for him to teach this from scratch. He only improved and corrected its deficiencies of his day.
The Buddha did not write books nor dictate his teachings to secretaries or scribes. His teachings were handed down orally by his pupillary descendants until they were recorded in Sri Lanka some 500 years later. Three months after the Buddha's demise his disciples held First council to determine and lay down his teachings. They adopted the discourse of the Buddha [Suttra] and the Disciplinary Code of Conduct for monks and nuns [Vinaya] laid down by him. Thus they adopted what is called the Dharma Vinaya. Here it is important to note that they adopted only two Pitakas name the Suttra and Vinaya. Abhidharma Pitaka was unknown to them and there was no Third Pitaka at the time. The seven books of Abhidharma are works of pedant monks drawn up between second and the third council, by Theravada Elders who took part in it. This Third Council is not recognised by the Mahayana Buddhists. The Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa acknowledge that the seven books of the Abhidharma Pitaka were not recognised by the Mahasangikas who broke off from the Theravada at the Third Council.
Therefore the Abhidharma Pitaka consisting of seven books adopted at the Third Council as teaching of the Buddha are apocryphal scriptures written and adopted by the Theravada Elders at the Third Council. Impartial and objective Buddhist scholars accept this fact. A perusal of the article under Abhidharma in the Enclopaedia of Buddhism should elucidate this matter and give the findings of accredited Buddhist scholars on this subject. However the Theravada Elders adopted the apocryphal scriptures of the Abhidharma Pitaka at the Third Council. Therefore the Buddhist Canon consists of three sections (Tripitaka- Sutra, Vinaya and Abhidharma). Hence one third of Theravada Buddhism consists of apocryphal scriptures accepted and adopted as the teachings of the Buddha. This has been done disregarding the warning given by the Buddha in the Anagata Bhaya Sutra of Anguttara Nikaya. Therein the Master said "in future there will arise monks degenerate in virtue (sila), degene rate in meditation, and poor in wisdom. They will resort to Abhidharma teachings and set up black doctrines (kanha dhamma)".
The Theravada tradition is abhidharma oriented. It is Buddha-dharma adopted and tailored to fit and come in line with the Abhidharma. Hence that the Buddha taught is adulated and mixed up with an exegesis, which did not come from Buddha, but his pedantic disciples who came between the first and second century of the Buddha era. Abhidharma teachings are mere expansions, interpretations, classifications and enumerations of basic texts and terms found in the Sutras of Buddha. Taken as commentarial and explanatory Buddhist literature based on crucial texts called 'matikas' they are acceptable as a teaching of the Theravada tradition. But as genuine teaching coming from the Buddha they are unacceptable. In fact the Nikaya Sangrahaya, a Theravada work on the history of the Buddhist sects mentions that the Mahasangikas who broke off from the Theravada at the Second Council did not accept the Abhidharma Pitaka as genuine teachings of the Buddha. The Sammitiyas, Puggalavadins and Sautrantikas rejected the Abhidharma Pitaka as teachings of the Buddha.
Thus when we discuss the doctrines the Buddha did not teach, but we are not accepted and palmed off as Buddha's teachings, the first apostasy we have to take into account are the Abhidharma teachings to which primacy is given by Abhidharma scholars as Paramatha Dharma - 'the highest' truths in Buddhism.
Having concocted and adopted seven books of the Abhidharma as genuine teachings of the Buddha, Theravada pedants did not stop at that. They added numerous bogus Sutras to Sutra Pitaka and attributed them to the Buddha. As instances we ca cite the Lakkhana Sutra which gives 32 physical features of a great man in the Buddha, and the karmas which brought about these results. The Devadutta Sutra, which depicts Yama, king of hell judging sinners and dispensing punishments, is another concoction. The Books of Protection (Pirith Potha) contains a collection of several bogus sutras cooked up in the name of Buddha for the purposes of demonology, exorcism and curing illness and giving protection for epidemics, famines and evil spirits. Maha Samaya Sutra and Atanatiya Sutra are pre-eminent among these. Then there are the Chanda and Suriya sutras. These depict and eclipse of the sun and moon as being caused by the dragon Rahu trying to swallow the sun and the moon. The sun and the moon appeal to the Buddha for protection and it is given. The dragon Rahu flees in terror. Many such bogus Sutras fabricated in the name of the Buddha are incorporated in the Sutra Pitaka. These can easily be identified as monkish concoctions added to the Sutra Pitaka between the First Council and the time it was put into writing some 500 years later. The Khuddaka Nikaya consisting of 16 books is a latter addition to the Sutra Pitaka. It contains many Sutras cooked up in the name of the Buddha and goes to form many of the popular beliefs in Theravada Buddhism. The omniscience of the Buddha, the efficacy of transferring merit to the dead, and the Bodhisatva ideal with its perfection of paramitas are a part of these additions.
The performances of meritorious deeds for happy and long stay in Sansara, the worship of relics are among other innovations. The versus in the Dhammapada that come after the Pakkinnaka Vagga (Misc. Section) are subsequent additions done in the name of the Buddha and included in the Dhammapada.
The Buddha taught Karma and Rebirth. The entire teaching of the Buddha is based on the Sansara concept. Continued existence in the cycle of births and deaths entails suffering. Therefore the Buddha Dhamma cannot be taught without Karma and Rebirth based on the one-life theory. Karma and Rebirth becomes meaningless if there is no order of Karma and reaper of rewards and penalties. There must be a person to think, understand and practise the Dharma. The Abhidharma teaching of no person, no actor, and that nothing goes from one life to another makes a travesty of the Buddha's teachings. The idea of actions without a doer, retribution without a receiver is nonsense cooked up in the name of the Buddha, by Abhidharma pedants. The Buddha did not teach two truths called Paramartha (ultimate), and Summuti (convention). The whole idea is borrowed from Nagarjuna's Mula Madhyamika Karika and incorporated into the Theravada by the Commentator Buddhaghosha. He also plagarised Nagarjuna when he took over his dictum "Na ca so na ca so anno" (Neither he nor another), with regard to the person who passes from one life and is born in another.
The Buddha did not teach Vipassana meditation for laymen leading the household life. Neither did he teach the belly-meditation introduced here from Burma during the Buddha Jayanthi year, and practised widely in many Meditation Centres. The Buddha taught the meditational practises prescribed in the Satipattana Sutta for monks who renounce the worldly life and dedicate their lives for the realisation of Nirvana. The Buddha had never given Kamattana (objects of meditation such as Kasinas) to lay people for the practise of Vipassana meditation. Laymen encumbered with worldly activities will not make a success of Vipassana meditation, and whatever gains obtained in meditation will be adversely effected in their day to day activities of gains, protection of possessions and assets etc. A layman can be a strean-enterer (Sotapanna), but any spiritual gains beyond that make him unfit for the lay life. Such instances are rare as that of the appearance of a white crow. Only King Suddhodana and Chitta the householder are mentioned by name as laymen are advanced beyond the Sotapatti state.
Laymen can and should practise the preliminary stages of meditation - the Samatha meditations. This is a most desirable and healthy exercise for them. A training in Samatha is as desirable for laymen, as to be a practising Buddhist one has to cultivate Dana, Sila and Bhavana.
The Buddha has never taught that monks can accept property, lands and paddy fields, coconut estates, income from tanks and irrigation channels, and taxes for fishing in tanks and lakes. All these were accepted as permissable by the monks of the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods. They amended the Vinaya by a method called "Pali Muttaka Vinischaya" - decision outside the Pali texts. By this method they came to accept slaves as well as temporalities with large incomes. To keep these incomes from temporalities within their cast the kinsmen they confined admission to the Sangha to men of the highest cast in Sinhalese society. All others were debarred. There is no scriptural support for this apostasy. But it helped to keep the Sangha along with the aristocratic caste as the two elite sections of ancient Sinhalese society. The tanks and the dagaba in ancient Sinhalese society meant that the monks were the landlords and the villagers were their feudal tenants, who paid harvest shares, taxes and services to the temples.
The Buddha did not condone the break up of the Sangha in to sects on doctrinal or caste grounds. His exhorations to the monks to be united and live in harmony are well known. He said "Do not break up into sects and perform Vinayakarma" (Vagga kammam akammam, na ca Karaniyam). But in Sri Lanka we have a Sangha fragmented on caste grounds. Now could their Vinaya karma be pure and valid? Yet it is their idle boast that they observe the Vinaya pure and intact. They object to the restoration of the Bhikkhuni Order in Sri Lanka on the ground that it is against the Vinaya, but are unable to show the specific Vinaya rule or rules, which debar the restoration. They go by mere apostate traditions, which are meant to upkeep their monopolies in the Sasana.
The Buddha did not teach that his dispensation would last only for 5000 years. Buddhaghosha the Commentator has cooked up this theory and enunciated it in one of his commentaries. According to him the attainments to the paths and fruits are confined to certain allocated periods. The Buddha said in the Maha Parinirvana Sutra, "As long as my disciples practise properly the Dhamma taught by me the world will not be devoid of Arahants". The Buddha Dharma is 'akalika' - not confined to any age and therefore practicable in all times and ages. The Buddha never said that the Bhikkhuni Order cannot be revived or inaugurated in countries or periods where Bhikkhunis are not available. Bhikkhus are free to take the example of the Buddha and his disciples inaugurating the Bhikkhuni Order and revive or inaugurate the Bhikkhuni Order out of compassion for those who wish to lead the holy life as nuns and work their way to Nirvana. The sufferings in Samsara exist in all ages and times. Therefore the need to renounce the world and practise the Noble Eightfold Path as monks and nuns is present in all ages. To stick to Vinaya ritualism applicable when both orders were functioning and bar the entry to the Holy Order of the Bhikkhuni Nuns is against the spirit and letter of both the Dhamma and the Vinaya.
The worship of Hindu gods in Buddhist temples, the offering of food and drinks, and even betel leaves with chunam and arecanut at the Buddha pujas, and beating of drums immediately after is an immitation of Hindu pujas to their gods. When the Ramanna Nikaya was found in the 1860's its monks refused to allow Hindu gods in their temples. But with the lapse of the time they caved in and gave way to the practise of popular Sinhalese worship of Hindu gods in view of the monetary advantages that it brings. The Buddha said that Bhikkhus should not clash with kings, ministers and those who run the state. But monks who take to politics disobey this admonition when they take to politics and condemn calnmniate and revile the rulers and their political opponents, at public meetings, and at the hustings, etc.
The Buddha did not ask us to accept Sutras of doubtful origins attributed to him by the monks. He gave us a method, which he called "mirror of the Dhamma" (Dhammadasa) to test apocryphal scriptures and find out the genuine ones. He recommended that we examine the bogus Sutras or apocryphal teachings comparing it with the letter and spirit with his main teachings in the Dhamma and the Vinaya. If the doubtful proposition is consistent and in harmony we are asked to accept it. Otherwise he has given us perfect freedom to reject doubtful Sutras even though it has been accepted at certain Sangha Councils either of the Theravada or Mahayana Traditions.
The Island - 4 May 99
A meditator and her dogs
By Nan
This lady I write about is perceptive, extra perceptive and very much in the Dhamma. She has now given up most connections with the world and lives in a small annexe overlooking the river Mahaveli, a couple miles from city of Kandy in Sri Lanka, built to her by a generous couple. She is most times alone since the benefactor couple visits very rarely. She is content, and that is obvious.
The lady had been a university lecturer and came with her husband to Sri Lanka. Once her husband died, she become progressively more reclusive until now she shuns the buzz of ordinary life and meditates and lives a life of contentment, with her dogs. A daily help cooks and does the minding of the annexe, while an old faithful tends the garden - a wonderful mix of flowers and leafy plants stretching right down to the river. During the sudden curfews of JVP times, this man had swum across the river - then in spate-fearing she had no food in the house. His loyalty is because she is so good to him, and caring.
Unusual Initiation
Her interest in meditation was psychic. Her husband and she had been touring India when they both felt impelled to visit a certain place, unknown to them but suddenly heard of, They went there and felt immediately comfortable, as if they'd lived in the place together. The lady sat in the shade to rest awhile and soon was in an absorbed state of concentration. Her first experience in meditation, immediately leading her to a jhanic state. Her husband and she had been interested in Buddhism, but intellectually, having read widely. Now they were convinced Buddhism had the answers to the unsatisfactoriness of the life and the tedious multitude of rebirths.
She lives alone, as I said. This however in not the truth since she is completely surrounded and even dominated by her dogs. They have been thrust upon her - strays and rejects dumped at her gate, the dumpers knowing full well she'd take them in and give them a good home. She says they are the last she will keep. "I cannot continue this attachment. I am old and I cannot take responsibility for others. These four may die before me. Even otherwise they can survive - I have provided for them."
She is prepared for death and says it matters nothing when and where, even how and of what she dies. She wants, as all of us do, a quick release from this samsaric existence to the next, which will bring her closer to ending it all.
Reborn and Reunited
One dog has a history. The lady says she is a former pet reborn and come back to her. Suzi was a lovely dog whose greatest pleasure in life was watching squirrels. She'd sit quiet and sphinx-like observing the squirrels playing around in the garden of the flat she lived in then. Suzi died and a couple of months later the lady moved to the present place above the river. Reptiles, birds, lizards and even wild boar are seen in her garden, but strangely no squirrels. One day, returning from Udawattakelle where she'd gone to meet the Ven. Nanaponika Thera, she had a black dog bounding towards her. Her mind instantly went back to Suzi and for a second she hallucinated it was Suzi that was tearing towards her. Soon enough she realized this was a pup so like Suzi.
She took it home, of course, and named it Kelle since she'd found her there. The three she already had took the newcomer very willingly to the menage.
The rebirth conjecture was confirmed one day. The lady found Kelle on the ground - silent, barely breathing, lying very low and looking up. Two squirrels were on the roof and running along the edge and there was Kelle gazing at the creatures, as Suzi was wanted to do. People too mistook Kelle for Suzi; even the vet.
We spent two days in the house attached to the lady's annexe and had frequent visitations of the four dogs. Rosie was Licker to me. She was shaggy with long hair and made a beeline to each of us. If we were seated she'd conveniently lick our faces and hands; if we were standing she'd stand on her hind legs and stretch up to do her licking. She never took no for an answer and never guessed our reclining backwards was to save us from her hyperactive tongue.
The dogs protected her, the lady said. They were always with her and slept together in her twin bed. If she was not feeling well, they'll loll around, silent and concerned with extra licks from Rosie and nuzzles from others. When recovered they'd tug at her to take them for their walk down the hill or along the road.
One day they'd heard one of the dogs howling in pain. Soon enough Kelle came along in an urgent hurry and tugged at the lady's hands. She knew the dog wanted her to follow her and was soon led to Tina caught in a trap set for wild boar. She and the gardener manage to set Tina free.
It was Rosie who tugged at the gardener next. Led by the dog he found another trap concealed in the thicket by the river bank.
The lady's theory is that the four dogs are definitely in the samsaric cycle of births and deaths and would be born to a human life to work out their deliverance. Past karma or even good karma made by them would surface to lead them at death to a human womb. These dogs seem to have the good karma to have a shorter spell of rebirths in the animal world.
I remember the venerable monk from Singapore who used to visit Sri Lanka some years ago, saying a human would not and could not born in the animal kingdom at a very low level-worms etc. He said the lowest we could go to was to a mammal birth - dog, cow, elephant, etc. Stories however abound of ancestors born as toads or cobras who proprietarily stay close to the house they dearly loved. Coincidental or reborn owners come back to protect the property they loved too much and clung to?
The samsaric cycle works according to set rules - one's karmic force determining the next birth. Often it seems inexplicable but there is an underlying order, most definitely. You reap as you sow. Otherwise how explain an American woman's odyssey to Sri Lanka and Buddhism.
She has been sent as a very young girl to a Christian Sunday school. The teacher had given the class 24 scripture verses to learn and promised a gift for each verse learnt. The girl being extra ambitious and precocious, had learnt all 24 verses. She recited them the next Sunday and expected the promised reward; 24 gifts. She wasn't given even one! Disillusionment was instantaneous, bitter and ever lasting. Her parents tried getting her into Roman Catholicism, with another disappointment for the young girl. She found Buddhism totally rational, totally acceptable, and totally satisfying. She is in the Dhamma and has lived it for the last 15 years.
Who knows death of beings
And birth in all aspects
No bonds - well gone -all knowing
Him will I call a Brahamin
- DHAMMAPADA
The Island - 27 June 99
God and Nirvana
by I. A. Sangadasa
Religious faith, a very hypersensitive subject, is a field which one has to tread warily, for history of mankind reveals that blood had drenched the lands where man had slaughtered man in the name of religion.
With this background in mind, I venture to explain the existence of god as either the anthropic or nonform divinity and the nature of Nirvana which ascribes a vacuity as the ultimate bliss completely devoid of the painful, changing material phenomena.
From primordial times, the belief in a powerful force prevailed among primitive people who inhabited various parts of the Earth. As civilisation dawned, this belief crystallized, as it were, into a definite god who was held as the creator of the Universe and everything it contains.
Brahama of Hinduism, the oldest established religion in the world reigns supreme as the creator-god and who has two other facets of himself - Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer - forming a holy trinity that governs the Cosmos. There are others in the Hindu pantheon of gods, readiating from the main god-head, Brahama.
Christianity professed one god as the creator who sent down to Earth Jesus to save mankind. Thus, Jesus who was born in Bethlehem was the anthropic as he was both man and god.
Islamic faith was built on Prophet Mohammed’s revelation that Allah was the only god, immanent and merciful, and all humanity owes its existence to Allah.
Nature and God
Among some learned people and scientists, it is the control belief that nature is the only god human beings will ever see and thus hylothiesm becomes another form of divinity - nature and god - to add to the variety of divine expressions. If one accepts god either as the anthropic or hylothiestic, god is a living force, in the former as man, and in the latter as natural phenomena.
In the context of god being identified with nature, and nature being a variable phenomena throughout the Universe, the concept of Nirvana becomes predominant. Human beings evolved from nature’s changing and combining energy and for this reason, evolution takes millions of years to produce some species of life.
Nirvana
As against all these variations of divine forms, Nirvana, as discovered by the Buddha, stands supremely isolated from divinity, but more in harmony with reality.
In the vaccum of space, absolute silence, frigidity and inky blackness pervade and everything floats in the absence of gravity, as anyone familiar with astronomy should know, and this state would baffle and be incomprehensible to an ordinary person unfamiliar with outer space, apart from many other oddities in space that would render a layman senseless as to their nature and existence in the Cosmos.
All the technology at our command today cannot produce a rocket or spaceship to take us to distant stars containing planetary systems such as our own, supporting intelligent life or, for that matter, galaxies which are millions and billions of light-years away from Earth. So it is with Nirvana, incomprehensible and inaccessible to persons of undeveloped minds who are involved, so it seems, inextricably in the fantasy of sensual perceptions.
Other world system
The belief that god rules everything is questionable, for anything under the control and guidance of a divine power must behave in harmony with the benevolence of god, the highest ethical perfectionist, if I may use such a word. Since all things occur under conditions that are found naturally in the Universe, then it has to be accepted they occur without the intervention of god, but under the power of changing matter itself. On this assumption, god is distinct from natural phenomena governing the Universe but acts postulate, as a supernormal power bringing this benign influence to bear on humanity at various times I venture to say that a divine power thus exists, not as a creator-god, but as a god or gods, exerting subtle influence as befits the occasion, person or necessity on terrestrial life. As for its physical form, there is none. The physical form of a human being was fashioned by conditions prevailing on Earth in primordial times when man evolved from primates and subsequently improved through civilisations that followed. A similar, if not the same, physical form may exist in other worlds under conditions that govern those worlds. But we will never have the opportunity of seeing any beings from another world as they are so immeasurably far away in light years from Earth as to render visits or communications impossible. Assuming that intelligent life exists in the remote depths of space, their technology must be as impotent as our own technology to devise means of visitation or communications with us.
Reverting to the subject of god, many believers claim that god is omnipresent and manifests himself incognisably over the entire Universe, and they attribute to him the finality of all their spiritual endeavours, playing to their Maker. Faith is a very strong point in the religion of god and devotees explicitly believe that everything happens under the power of god and it leads to the belief that god rules everything.
Three Major religions
It will thus be seen that in the three major religions, there are three creator-gods with each religion claiming its own god as the supreme divine power. But in appeasement of the claim of three all-powerful gods in the major religions, sages, particular of India, say that in the ultimate state, the trinity of creator-gods will become the unity of one god just as all rivers flow into the sea and become one body of water.
Nirvanic bliss is in a ‘state’ of nonentity. There is no existence in any material form or in spiritual, either. As it is a complete vacuity, one would question the bliss in such a ‘state’ in the absence of a corporeal body’? The answer to this question is that a material body, subject to deterioration, death and decay, can never produce ‘bliss’ and the absence of such a body creates the condition of ‘bliss’ as all sufferings do not arise without a material form. By complete detachment from material forms, one can experience a sensation of near bliss in the depths of meditation.
A blissful void
In other faiths, fulfilment is sought by complete surrender to or absorption in the creator-god as the culmination of their acts of devotion and spiritual progress. But in Buddhism one has to dissolve the causes which create the sansaric life until there is nothing to dissolve and one becomes none. Since Nirvana is not the name of a creator-god, it is diametrically different from religions which uphold such a god as the supreme divinity to whom supplications and prayers are made for their redemption. Hence, the Buddha is unique as a path-finder who discovered and traversed a new path to complete liberation from the shackles of terrestial lilt which is replete with innumerable sufferings.
In spite of master plans of creation, humanity hangs on a delicate balance, and in this situation a little more or less solar rays can seal the fate of human beings and other creatures on Earth Sun, the giver of life, then becomes the killer of life. This is the stark reality that faces mankind.
In the final analysis, divinity in any form appears to be a phenomenon with material connotations as various manifestations reveal. Nirvana, in my comprehension, is a blissful void completely free from the painful phantasmagoria of material life.
Nirvana then is the ‘Ultima Thule’ of people who seek; complete release from all worldly sufferings, where there is no good or bad, birth or death.
This is eternal bliss!
Courtesy: World of Buddhism