Translator's Preface
Many westerners may never have seen a Buddhist monk before — because monasticism is a way of life that leads neither to fame nor fortune — which are the factors which normally bring things to public attention. The more initiated might be familiar with Zen monks, with Tibetan La mas or with those following a monastic life from the Judaeo-Christian tradition (e.g. Franciscan friars). In fact, almost every religion has a community of monastics at its core, and each keep to the vows required of them. Nevertheless many modern-lay people dismiss monkhood as a way of life irrelevant to the present time. Many balk at the idea of rules. However, the fact that you have picked [ this book from the shelf would indicate some understanding of the value of following the monastic life and an interest to learn more. about Buddhist monk. ]
In Buddhism, monks are distinguished by a saffron-coloured robe — but it is not just their garb, but also their monastic lifestyle that sets them apart from the regular lay society. Monks are regarded as a model society and seek to bring the maximum of good to the world, while consuming the minimum of goods!
In Buddhism, monks have a special role—namely to be teachers, exemplars and guardians of the Buddhist religion. They have the aim in life to uproot all impurities from their minds and to go beyond rebirth. It should be remarked that not all Buddhists are so ambitious in their practice — most are contented to settle for heaven or worldly riches as their aim in life. It should be noted that 99.5% of Buddhists are content to remain as lay devotees. It is only a bold few who dare to follow what is seen as the expressway to Nirvana. In Thailand, some join the monkhood temporarily in order to add a spiritual dimension to their lives. Others have a lifelong vocation and stay in the robe until their dying day.
In fact, there is nothing special about ordination as a monk per se. It is not the ordination that makes the monk sacred, but the training which follows it. Monks start as ordinary people but become outstanding by their practice. Thus the magic of monastic life is that it is a sure way for a willing trainee to transform themselves into an enlightened one. It is thus essential for monks not to be content merely with having ordained, but to understand the path of training their status requires.
Monks are respected for the good they bring to the world. In Buddhist societies, laypeople give monks special exemptions from worldly responsibilities to allow the monks to practise to the full. However, anyone who ordains as a monk, takes advantage of these exemptions but fails to train themselves according to the monastic training is seen as worse than a lax layperson, because the monk is like a hypocrite living on the backs of the supporting lay society. Thus, it is important for monks to understand the true nature of their duties, and this is why the Buddhist culture gives importance to manuals of proper monastic training.
There are many books of monastic training. Usually monks study from the Vinaya especially texts such as the Vinayamukha 1 are the standard of monastic training in Thailand. However, these texts are often like collections of ‘spare parts’, listing monastic rules and regulations without assembling them into a path of sequential practice or explaining the purpose behind them.
This text is an exception, and in its Thai original, has received special acclaim owing to Phrabhavanaviriyakhun’s special insight in recognizing the coherance of monastic practice as described in the non-Vinaya scriptures. Indeed, this book emphasizes the fruits of monastic training—while explaining how a disciplined lifestyle can liberate the mind, channelling the monk’s energies towards his goal. The book has since 1997 become the basis for monastic training and a quiz held nationwide annually in Thailand with exams taken by 100,000 monks every 22 April on Earth Dayat Wat Phra Dhammakaya. It is a book of interest not only to monks alone, but to the laity, male and female alike, for all the reasons outlined on pp. 19-22 — although it must be admitted that Buddhist monasticism in the Theravada tradition is primarily a male domain, not because of discrimination, but because historically, the continuity of the female monastic lineage has been broken since 500 a.d..
Teachings such as the Ganakamoggallana Sutta2, the Samannaphala Sutta3,Apannaka Sutta4,parisuddhisila
1. Translated as H.R.H. Prince Vajiraiianavarorasa’s Entrance to the Vinaya Vol 1-3, Mahamakuta Foundation, Thailand 2.M.iii.l 3. D.L 47 4.A.i.113
of the Silaniddesa 1 and the Andhakavinda Sutta 2 lay be fore us a coherent sequential path of practice 3. Of these, the Samannaphala Sutta gives the most detail. The Ganakamoggallana Sutta is clearer in its division of stages but has less elaboration. The two suttas are correlated in Plate L. The three levels of the Samannaphala Sutta are elaborated into seven levels in the Ganakamoggallana Sutta:
• the do’s and don’ts of self-discipline
• the should’s and shouldn’t s of sensual restraint
• seeing through to the purpose of each requisite by knowing moderation in the use of the requisites
• continuous striving
• mindfulness & self-possession
• seeking solitude
• attaining the four absorptions
The Samannaphala Sutta on which this book is based weaves a pathway of practice into a real life story of a king dissatisfied with a life he has ruined thanks to the persuasion of a badly behaved monk.
In translating this book, it has been necessary,from place to place,to add additional explanation and footnotes in cases where aspects of Buddhist culture might not be immediately obvious to western readers. Similarly,aspects which are unnecessarily caught up with Thai culture have been minimized or omitted.
1. Vism. 16 2.A.iii.138
3.In fact there are many other interesting aspects of monastic practice such as Ordination Procedure, Duties and Responsibilities of monks,the Six Virtues for Fraternal Living [saraniyadhamma] (A.iii.288-9), the Four Dangers for a New Monk (A.ii.123) and the Ten Habitual Reflections for a Monk (A.v.87) —however these subjects are beyond the scope of the present book.
The content of this book is more advanced than the for going titles in the series ‘Buddhism in Plain English’. This book had thus been placed as number’4′ in the series be cause the content of the book is both specialized and demanding. It goes much further than, for example, Reforming Society means Reforming Human Nature or The Buddha’s First Teaching which are grounded on a basis of household life and virtues. In fact, the whole subject of renunciation of the household life, which is the point of departure for this book, may seem alien to the laiety who might feel perfectly contented with their household life. There maybe a tendency to see a monk’s renunciation of the world as at best irrelevant, or at worst cowardice in the face of worldly problems. For this reason,it is necessary to draw the reader’s attention to the earnestness with which monks practise (a way of life no less demanding than that of the householder) and it should be added that although monkhood is open to all, it attracts only a bold few.
Thus readers, who have not previously studied the earlier titles in this series, should take a few moments to consolidate their understanding of renunciation, before embarking on the remainder of this book.
Finally, it should be mentioned that the aim of books in the ‘Buddhism in Plain English’ series is to bring alive the Buddhist scriptures in the light of practice, making them accessible to beginners without oversimplifying them. In keeping with this spirit,technical and non-English terminology has been avoided as far as is possible without neglecting accuracy. In general, translated terminology appears together with the Pali equivalent in square brackets. In case of doubt as to Pali terminology
not explained in the body of the text consult the Reference Table of Pali Terms (p.157 ff.). This terminology can be cross-referenced back to the text via the General Index (p.143 ff.).
In closing, I would like to convey my thanks to Phrabhavanaviriyakhun for allowing the publication of this translation and to all staff and volunteers of the Dhammakaya Foundation mentioned in the acknowledgments section(p.182)for their continued encouragement, technical and creative support for these translations. May the merit that accrues from this work be shared by all sentient beings.
Phra Nicholas Thanissaro Series Editor 22 April 2003
Chapter One Foreword to the Samannaphala Sutta
This book enlarges upon a teaching (or ‘sutta’) given by the Buddha, in a scriptural collection called the Digha Nikaya, called the Samannaphala Sutta. The word ‘samannaphala’ meaning the result or fruit of being a monk, is the ‘purpose 7 of ordaining as a monk within the Buddhist religion.
The Buddha taught that anyone who keeps purely and strictly to his vocation as a Buddhist monk will receive many benefits. Most things in the world which you can do have both ‘ pros ‘ and ‘ cons ‘ but if the ordained follows his vocation purely, ordaining as a monk has only benefits.
The benefits received by a monk come sequentially starting with superficial benefits, which can be immediately seen — such as being honoured by the general public, peacefulness of body, speech and mind, the wisdom to consider matters of the world in a more thorough way, real understanding of life and the world— allowing one to develop responsibility for oneself, others and society at large,and spiritual attainments on the path to Nirvana.
Even if one is unable to attain Nirvana in the present lifetime, one’s experience, accumulated merit and efforts will not have been wasted — but will accrue as the foundation for progress in practice in future lifetimes in accordance with the Buddhist proverb:
Udakumbhopi purati apurati, Dhiro puhhassa thokam thokampi acinam “Drop by drop is the water-pot filled. Likewise the wise man gathering merit little by little, fills himself with it.”1
Once a person is replete with merit, that is the day they can enter upon Nirvana— the ultimate goal of the practice of Buddhism.
The Samannaphala Sutta in brief
Towards the end of his dispensation the Lord Buddha was residing at Ambavana (the Mango Grove), temple grounds offered by the physician Jivaka Komarabhacca close to Rajagaha the capital of the kingdom of Magadha in Northern India. At that time the reigning monarch was King Ajatasattu. The king requested audience with the Buddha in order to ask some questions, which had long been on His Majesty’s mind — namely the question of the immediate visible point or benefit of ordaining as a monk or becoming an ascetic. The king had previously asked the same question of six other contemporary religious leaders but had received no satisfactory answer from any of them. The Buddha explained the benefits of ordaining as a monk starting with the most obvious benefits and continuing sequentially to the more subtle benefits. The Buddha explained that the initial fruits of being a monk included elevating one’s former status to the status of one worthy of respect.
1. Dh. 122
The benefits at the medium level included the attainment of meditation states at different levels, such as the first absorption, the second absorption, the third absorption, the fourth absorption, all of which make the mind more stable, joyful and peaceful. The benefits at the high level included the attainment of Eight fold supra-normal knowledge [vijja]1:
1. insight-knowledge [vipassananana]
2. mental powers [manomayiddhi]
3. miraculous powers [iddhivitthi]
4. angelic ear [dibbasota]
5. mind reading [cetopariyanana]
6. recollection of one’s previous existences [pubbenivasanussatihana]:
7. recollection of others’ previous existences [cutupapatanana] or angelic eye [dibbacakkhu].
8. knowledge of an end of defilements [asavakkhayanana]
Before explaining the benefits of being a monk at the medium and high levels, the Buddha also outlined the way monks train themselves:
• Restraint according to the monastic code of discipline [patimokkha]
• Right livelihood
• Self-discipline
• Restraint of the senses
• Mindfulness and self-possession
• Contentment
• The Practice of Meditation
1. see note p.170
As a result of the teaching, King Ajatasattu requested to take refuge in the Triple Gem and to become a Buddhist for the rest of his life. He also asked forgiveness for having caused the death of his own father—King Bimbisara — and the Buddha bore witness to his wrongdoing. After the departure of King Ajatasattu,the Buddha revealed that if Ajatasattu had not murdered his own father, he would have attained the fruit of stream-entry as the result of hearing the teaching.
Monastic Benefits open to All
Buddhism is a teaching based on cause and effect. The benefits accruing to a monk do not come as the result of the grace bestowed by any god or angel—but as the result of his own earnest efforts and striving in accordance with the Buddhist proverb:
Yadisam vappate bijam, tadisam labhate phalam “You shall reap whatever you sow.”1
The Buddha laid down clear guidelines for monastic practice. Whoever practices strictly in accordance with these guidelines (not compromising according to his own convenience or whim) having setup the proper conditions — then the expected outcomes (the samannaphala) will arise for him. Thus if a monk wants to see results from his ordination he must practise in accordance with the monastic discipline,not just study it or memorize it. He must not be like the monk who:
“can repeat many Buddhist teachings but who never practices in accordance with those teachings and thus has no part in the fruits of ordination just like a cowherd who does (no more than) count head of cattle for someone else (‘s benefit)1.
l.S.i.227
Even those who are very familiar with Buddhist teachings but who are reckless with those teachings and do not practice in accordance with them—get no more benefit from the teachings than a herdsman gets from the cattle he looks after despite counting them morning and night, he never gets to taste the curds and whey made from the milk.
Why the monastic life is the most noble
The Buddha taught that, “the life of the householder is a narrow path which attracts dust.” The ordained life is a spacious path. The Buddha referred to the household life as narrow because the opportunities for accruing merit and practising Dhamma are minimal compared to the opportunities of a monk. Householders have to devote a lot of time to supporting their families and earning their living — sometimes so much so that they do not even have time to venerate the Triple Gem each day. Furthermore householders have so little opportunity to study the Dhamma that even though they might refer to themselves as Buddhist, they do not know how a Buddhist should regard and discern 2 what is good or evil, or how to avoid blundering into craving and ignorance. Without such discernment, it is the nature of people just to fall under the sway of their defilements such as greed,hatred and delusion. In such a condition householders tend to waste their time with worldly matters and have no opportunity to better themselves spiritually. This is why the Buddha called the household life a ‘narrow path’.
1. Bahumpi ce sahitam bhdsamdno, Na takkaro hoti naro pamatto, Gopova gavo ganayam paresum, Na bhdgavd samannassa hoti (Dh.19)
2.a quality later described as the ability to be a teacher to yourself [yonisomanasikara]. For more detail see p.119-21.
It matters little whether you are a distinguished house holder in the aristocracy or disadvantaged householders whose life is from hand-to-mouth — the path is no less narrow. In society there are both good and bad people amongst those we know—sometimes we can choose who we associate with, sometimes not. The less scrupulous acquaintances can be the reason why we add to the toll of bad karma for ourselves in various ways. Trying to get the advantage—trying to be competitive, trying to make a profit, which might ultimately lead us to harm others physically — and this is the reason why the Buddha described the household life as ‘attracting dust’.
For as long as we are still leading the household life, it is hard to find time to work seriously on ourselves to ex tract ourselves from the influence of defilements — and ultimately that prolongs the time we have to spend undergoing the suffering of the cycle of existence — endlessly perhaps if we blunder into committing serious karma involving violence or cruelty — and we have to make amends in the hell realms without anyone else being able to help us in our plight. It is for this reason that the Buddha encouraged ordination and praised the nobility of ordination as a ‘path of spaciousness’.
The importance of the Samannaphala Sutta
The Samannaphala Sutta explains the purpose of ordination; once one has ordained, how one must practise and not practise; the results of correct practice at various levels of advantage with the ultimate —that the Buddha called the “utmost of the Brahma-faring [brahmacariya]1”
l.seep.160
— until the monk can understand for himself the meaning of the Buddha’s words that one’s life as a true monk within the Dhammavinaya is the most noble life.
Apart from giving benefit to monks themselves who are already pursuing the Brahma-faring, the Samannaphala Sutta also has many useful messages for the household reader:
1. MonasticStandards: The information contained in the Samannaphala Sutta is advice at the level of principals and virtues of a true monk — because the Sutta paints a clear picture of the ideal monk — no matter whether they are a Buddhist monk or a monk from another religion — and the sort of virtues he should have. Such information is useful for householders — to know and be selective about monks —whether they are practising properly or not, whether they are ear nest or lax,whether they can offer us refuge or not. In such a way, we can avoid paying too much attention to monks teaching unorthodox or possibly damaging practices—and to protect ourselves from becoming a tool for undisciplined monks or from being gullible in the face of monks practising outside the guidelines laid down by the Buddha.
2. Conduct towards Monks: After reading the Samannaphala Sutta, householders will have a clearer understanding of how they should interact with monks in a way that makes it easier for them to keep the code of monastic discipline [vinaya] — whether it be the elementary training [culasila], intermediate training [majjhimasila] or greater training [mahasila] of the monk. It gives valuable information about how laypeople should treat monks in order to procure knowledge,goodness or merit from them. Even though they have not ordained themselves, they can still have extended opportunities for accruing wholesomeness —by being a real support to monastic work, thereby facilitating the emergence of peace in the world.
3.Preparing Oneself for Ordination: Even though house holders may not have decided to ordain in the present time, if one day in the future they should decide to ordain, with the understanding they have obtained from the Samannaphala Sutta they still have sufficient understanding to be able to prepare themselves correctly to get real benefit from the ordination experience — and will thereby manage to avoid becoming the sort of monk who undermines Buddhism by deluding the public or creating controversy. When it comes to his time for ordination, he will be able to be selective about where he ordains and who he chooses as his preceptor in order to get real benefits from the ordination experience. If he should choose to take life long ordination, he will truly be able to align himself to attain the paths and fruits of Nirvana. If he should choose, however, to take temporary ordination (such as men who ordain for the duration of the rainy sea son according to Thai tradition )then he will reap benefits in measure of his efforts. Ordination will help him to gain Buddhist discretion of wholesomeness [yonisomanasikara] which will bring direct benefits when he returns to the household life.It will bring indirect benefits to his family, society, and the nation at large — giving life and perpetuity to Buddhism for future generations.
4. Offers the Principles of Buddhism in a Nutshell: the Samannaphala Sutta offers a succinct understanding of both Buddhist principles and methods of practice. From the Sutta the picture is clear that Buddhism is a religion of cause and effect. ‘Cause’ in this case means the ways of practice the Buddha gave as guidelines for monastics to follow or avoid. ‘Effect’ is the outcome, which the practitioner can expect to receive as a result of practice — there are many successive levels. The Samannaphala Sutta is thus an incomparable source of information for both monks and religionists who can take its principles as a blueprint for successful administration of religion towards success, stability and harmony. For this reason monks need to understand and apply the principles and practices of the Samanna phala Sutta for themselves, throughout their lives. Those who master the Samannaphala Sutta will be able to explain Buddhism correctly, succinctly and lucidly to others — even five or ten minutes is enough to give newcomers the knowledge for them to think Buddhism through to an understanding for themselves. Even those subscribing to other religions can learn much from a comparative study of the Samannaphala Suttato compare and contrast their own and Buddhist principals of practice —and to reach a state of peaceful co-existence with Buddhists instead of coming into dogmatic confrontation.
5. The Acquisition of Perfections: the Samannaphala Sutta is of particular interest to those interested to pursue perfections. The understanding gained from this Sutta will allow those pursuing perfections to do so to the utmost, following confidently in the footsteps of the Lord Buddha and the arahants, without mistake — with the capacity to attain the paths and fruits of Nirvana—and even while still training oneself,to gain guidelines for what is beneficial to pursue and what to avoid.
From all that has been outlined above, the reader will see that the Samannaphala Sutta is indeed a miraculous teaching —indicating the correct path of practice for monks and those pursuing enlightenment while also giving a precious outlook for practising householders.
2. Background to the Samannaphala Sutta
Magadha and King Bimbisara
Buddhism originated in Northern India 2,500 years ago. The hometown of the Buddha himself was Kapilavatthu, although Buddhism took its firmest foothold in Magadha. The king of Magadha, Bimbisara was also a man of great talent and sensitivity. He was expert in diplomacy and built up an alliance with the neighbouring kingdom of Kosala by taking the Kosala Devi as his Queen. He also annexed the kingdom of Anga 1 (by killing King Brahmadatta in the times before he learned the teachings of the Buddha—after meeting the Buddha and attaining streamentry [sotdpana]2, he subsequently lost interest in power). He also made an alliance to King Pukkusati of Gandhara 3 by corresponding with him on subjects of Dhamma. He was to send Jivaka to heal King Candappajjota of Avanti 4 and he was the one to donate Veluvana Monastery for the use of the Buddhist monastic community.Although Bimbisara was a benefactor for the best part of his life, the bad karma from having slain Brahmadatta of Anga was eventually to catch up with him. Soothsayers predicted that he would be murdered by his own son Ajatasattu as a result of his waging war in his earlier days. Seeing that Prince Ajatasattu was indeed growing up into a strong and ambitious youth he tried to instil virtue in his son by taking him to seethe Buddha. His efforts, were however to no avail because Ajatasattu was to kill him in the end.
1.see p. 158 2. see p. 169 3. see p. 162 4. see p. 160
Devadatta: The Jealous One
Ajatasattu’s murderous intentions were elicited through his association with the Buddha’s jealous cousin Devadatta. Devadatta was a monk,but in spite ofhis effortsin meditation, because his mind was clouded by jealousy for the attentions lavishedontheBuddhaand Hismajordisciples, he couldattain only the absorptions \jhana] and could not progress to any higherstates. Devadattaconceivedaplanwherebyhecould mur der the Buddha and lead the monasticcommunity in his place.
He decided to try and win overAjatasattu as a fellow con spirator. Heusedthemental powers attained byhismeditation toappear toAjatasattu aschild toAjatasattu and before his very eyes, turned gradually back to his normal appearance. Ajatasattuwasthusbeguiledinto faith for Devadatta andwould do all he said. Devadatta’s mental attainments (ability to enter the absorptions in meditation) subsequently disappeared be cause of all his evil intentions and False View [micchd ditthi]\ but PrinceAjatasattu’s support forhim did not wane.
Subsequently, Devadatta interrupted the Buddha inthe mid dle ofasermon toroyalty torequest the Buddha toretire from his position as leader ofthe Buddhist monastic community and lethim reign inhisplace. Devadatta said theBuddha was too oldtolead theSangha any more. The Buddha politely turned down Devadatta’s offerto take over from him. Not easily dis suadedfromhis efforts,Devadatta made the same request three times. After thethirdrequest, theBuddha explained:
l.seep.164
“Devadatta! Even though Sariputta and Moggallana are very accomplished,I have never considered to let them lead the Sangha in my place—much less would I ever consider to allow you — who are no better than a corpse frittering away the monastic requisites as if they were no more than worthless spittle —to lead the Sangha.”1
Ajatasattu commits parricide
Undissuaded from his mission, Devadatta hoped to find an ally in Ajatasattu. He hoped to undermine the Buddha’s power by disposing of King Bimbisara who was one of his most influential supporters. He visited Ajatasattu often and persuaded him with arguments such as:
“In the olden days our lifespans were much longer, but nowadays we cannot be sure — who knows if you will live to succede to throne while still in the prime of life…”
Even though the plan to kill his own father was monstrous, be cause of his trust in Devadatta, he was convinced. Even though Ajatasattu was convinced to follow through with the parricide, it didn’t mean that his mind wasn’t full of guilt and hesitation. He had always had great respect for his father. When his plans were over heard by the courtiers,he confessed all of his plans to them. In response to the plans, the courtiers in the palace be came divided amongst themselves, subscribing to one of three different types of opinion about what should be done.
• The first group thought Ajatasattu should be executed along with Devadatta and all of Devadatta’s disciples too.
• The second group thought that monks who had no direct connection with the conspiracy should be spared — only Ajatasattu and Devadatta should be executed.
• The third group thought that King Bimbisara should be informed of the whole conspiracy and any punishments should be up to his discretion.
1.The Buddha was to lead the monastic community until the end of his life. Before passing away he named his teachings [dhammavinaya] as his successor rather than any one of his disciples.
The third group was in the majority and King Bimbisara was informed of the whole affair. When King Bimbisara heard the news,instead of being angry, gave up the throne to Ajatasattu immediately and without reluctance. At the same time he ordered the courtiers in the first group to be dismissed, the courtiers of the second group to be demoted and the courtiers of the third group to be promoted and given a special pension! The king’s punishment and rewards for the courtiers created disharmony in the palace. From that day on, although Ajatasattu was anointed King of Magadha, he was still suspicious of his father. Devadatta fanned the flames of suspicion saying that for as long as Bimbisara was still alive, Ajatasattu would not be safe —the courtiers in the palace still had their old allegiances. Accordingly, Ajatasattu decided to put an end to the matter by putting his father to death by torture in the most cruel way possible. Bimbisara was imprisoned by his son in a prison cell—and there he was left to starve. As if that wasn’t enough, his prison cell was constantly filled with smoke by Ajatasattu. However, because Bimbisara had already attained the level of stream-entry in his meditation,he was able to survive the smoke and starvation inflicted on him. The only visitor he was allowed was the Kosala Devi. She smuggled food for the king to eat, but later was discovered. She even tried smearing herself with four types of sweets for the king to lick from her person. Later this was discovered too and her visits were banned completely. The king continued to live by walking meditation — keeping his mind full of the bliss of his meditation. Hearing that Bimbisara was not yet dead, Ajatasattu had his barber slice the soles of Bimbisara’s feet with a razor and had salted ghee rubbed into the wounds. The soles of Bimbisara’s feet were then roasted with red-hot embers in an attempt to stop Bimbisara from his walking meditation. Eventually Bimbisara died from the extreme suffering inflicted upon him 1.
On the very day Bimbisara passed away,a first son was born to Ajatasattu. Experiencing the love of a father for his son for the first time, Ajatasattu realized with remorse the error of his ways in imprisoning his father — but his intention to release his father came too late and Ajatasattu learned of his father’s death with grief and guilt. Bimbisara’s queen,the Kosala Devi, was so filled with grief by the news of Bimbisara’s death that she could not bear to set eyes on Ajatasattu ever again. She returned to Savatthi, the capital of Kosala and was to die there of grief. The queen’s death earned Ajatasattu yet more enemies in Kosala and King Pasenadi marched against Magadha, capturing back the town of Kasi as a punishment. King Candappajjota of Avanti also mustered troops in preparation to march against Magadha on hearing news of Ajatasattu’s in gratitude. From the time of Bimbisara’s death, Ajatasattu’s mind was so filled with remorse and unrest that even though he was to go to bed at night,he could no longer get a wink of sleep—all he could do was to lie awake at night thinking about
his sorrows.
Ajatasattu wonders about the point of being a monk
Reflecting on the reason for all his new-found troubles, Ajatasattu realized that they had come from one single cause
1.Some wonder what such highly attained and righteous king should have done to die in such a violent way—but in a previous life time he had refused to remove his shoes before entering a pagoda and had soiled both the pagoda and mats laid for the congregation to hear a Dhamma sermon with the dirt on his shoes. This bad karma combined with the murderous karma he had accrued for himself earlier in life when he fought on the battle field against neighbouring kingdoms.
—the advice of Devadatta. King Ajatasattu wondered what possible reason could be behind a monk, who should be an ex emplar of virtue and morality and who furthermore was a cousin of the Buddha himself, wanting to persuade someone to commit parricide? Serious doubt arose in Ajatasattu’s mind of the virtue of being a monk at all — if this was the way monks in general conducted themselves. He wondered if his whole kingdom was full of other ‘monks’ creating exactly the same harm as Devadatta had done to him. Ajatasattu was seriously perplexed by such a prospect. Even though he knew that in any spiritual community, there must be extremes of both good and bad members —how could an outsider recognize whether a monk could bet rusted or not? Not only would there be many varieties of monks —the disciplined and the undisciplined — but the differences did not stop there—there were a wide variety of spiritual traditions in India to choose from too — and each had their own definitions of what represented a good monk. The question of the definition of a ‘true monk’ so perplexed Ajatasattu that he took every opportunity to seek an answer to his question —partly to satisfy his own curiousity and partly to protect his citizens from being cajoled by shameless monks into actions of karma so heavy 1 as parricide.
After making the rounds of six major teachers in vain, trying to find a comprehensible answer to his dilemma, King Ajatasattu was to receive a clear answer from the Lord Buddha and from that time on wards was to adopt the Triple Gem as his refuge. This is the background to the Samannaphala Sutta.
1.This category of karma is called the heaviest karma [anantariyakamma] see note p.158
3. Seeking Audience with the Buddha at Ambavana
Ambavana Temple was situated between Rajagaha city wall and Gijjhakuta 1 Mountain. Formerly the temple grounds had belonged to the physician Jivaka Komarabhacca, but later he was to offer it to the Lord Buddha. At that time, Jivaka had offered healing to Buddha until the Buddhahad regained health. Jivaka had offered two fine robes and had consequently attained ‘stream-entry’. Subsequently it occurred to him that he should follow up the health of the Buddha more often (two or three times per day) but found that neither Gijjhakuta or Veluvana Temple were sufficiently close to Rajagaha to allow him to make his medical rounds. Thus Jivaka had a temple built on his own land at Ambavana and had a red-painted eighteen-cubit-high wall built around it together with sufficient accommodation to serve the needs of the Buddha and the monastic community. He offered the completed temple to the Sangha.
On this occasion, the Buddha was in residence at Ambavana with 1,250 monks and the news of his sojourn reached all people of Rajagaha —news which greatly interested King Ajatasattu.
1. see note p. 162
King Ajatasattu wishes audience with the Buddha
After killing his own father King Ajatasattu had become full of guilt—so much so that he hadn’t been able to sleep from the day of his father’s death. King Ajatasattu felt the need to search for holy men who could give him advice to relieve his anguish
The tradition of the Ariyan people in those days was that every full-moon day,disciples would go to their respective temples in order to discuss spiritual matters with their teacher. Seeing that it was the full-moon night, Ajatasattu exclaimed:
“Which holy master should I go to hear the teachings of tonight who will help to lighten my heavy heart”
Each of the courtiers suggested their favourite holy master of the time for the king’s consideration. Each waxed lyrical about how great a community leader, how famous, how honoured, how publicly praised, how senior, how long-or dained was their sect leader. Each of the six contemporary religious gurus were mentioned:
1. Purana Kassapa
2. Makkhali Gosala
3. Ajita Kesakambala
4. Pakudha Kaccayana
5. Sanjaya Belatthiputta
6. Nigantha Nataputta
Each of the courtiers wanted to attract the king to be patron to their favourite teacher so they could receive a more trusted position from the king.In fact King Ajatasattu had already been disappointed at the hands of all six teachers but was too polite to say so. He just looked at Jivaka. Jivaka kept his silence wanting to measure the King’s strength of inter est to visit the Buddha. King Ajatasattu asked “Jivaka why are keeping quiet?” Jivaka knew that the King wanted to visit the Buddha but was scared to go himself because of guilt about his killing his own father Jivaka told the King that the Buddha was at Ambavana with 1,250 monks.
Jivaka praises the Buddha
Jivaka praised the nine virtues of the Buddha with the words:
1. Homage be to Him, the Exalted One, the Worthy Lord [namo tassa bhagavato arahato];
2.The Fully Self-Enlightened One [sammd sambuddho];
3. Who has attained the Supra-mundane knowledge and soperfectlyconductedHislife [vijja caranasampanno];
4. Who has already travelled the Path of Righteousness [sugato];
5. Seer of the world [lokavidu]
6. Who is the incomparable trainer ofthoseworthyoftrain ing [anuttaro purisadammasdrathi];
7. Who is a teacher of angels and men [satthd devamanussdnam]
8.Who is awakened and joyous [buddho]
9. Who is an analyst of the Dhamma [bhagavd]
All other courtiers remained silent because they were amazed that any world teacher could be to well-endowed with virtue. Meanwhile King Ajatasattu had many reasons for wanting audience with the Buddha:
• He had guilt remaining in his mind of having killed his father at the persuasion of Devadatta and conspiring with Devadatta to shoot the Buddha dead with an arrow.
• He wanted to ask the forgiveness of the Buddha and take refuge because could see no one else in world who might protect him from his retribution.
Ajatasattu agreed to go to see the Buddha and had Jivaka prepare the royal procession
The procession
The procession consisted primarily of elephants — one for Ajatasattu and five-hundred for his followers. Five-hundred (female) consorts were disguised as soldiers with swords, spears and daggers to frighten away enemies. Jivaka positioned himself close by the king to be the first to lay down his life for the king if there should be any danger. Ajatasattu was suspicious by nature and it was not often that the king would travel outside the closed city gates at night. If he did so the one hundred or more large and small gates 1 of Rajagaha would all have to be closed —even to invite the king outside the city gates was a suspicious manoeuvre hinting at ambush. The female consorts would be no risk themselves to the king and would shield the king in case of ambush because enemies would never harm women. There was a section of the route where the moonlight would be obscured by Gijjhakuta’ speak—presenting an obvious lair for ambush. Jivaka wanted to avoid the king even suspecting danger. Furthermore, as a stream-enterer, Jivaka knew that if Ajatasattu had gone alone, maybe the Buddha would not have taught any thing seeing that Ajatasattu was beyond help —but if accompanied by a retinue, the Buddha would decide to teach for the benefit of the followers.
When the intention of the king was announced in the town, the people of the town forgot their festivities and brought
1.The city gates of Rajagaha comprised thirty-two large and sixty-four small gates ac cording to the sources.
flowers and incense to line roadside where the royal procession would pass.
The composition of the royal procession was as follows:
Evil-doers are wont to suspicion
As procession neared Ambavana the music was stopped out of respect. The elephants walked quietly At the part of the route where the moon was obscured by the mountains, the king suddenly became fearful of ambush. The king feared deceit by Jivaka because he could hear no single sound made by the 1,250 monks supposed to be there.
“You are not trying to trick me, are you, friend Jivaka? You are not deceiving me, are you, friend Jivaka? You are not betraying me to my enemies, are you friend Jivaka? How indeed can it possibly be that with twelve hundred and fifty members of the bhikkhu community here there should be no voice to be heard, not even a sneeze or a cough?”
Jivaka’s was within a hair’s breadth of his life, but he reassured the king that the Buddha would not cheat him and that the large number of monks could be clearly seen by the number of lamps lit ahead.
As he came closer to the Buddha and all the assembly was still in silence without even a cough. The next fear of the king was that the Buddha would not receive him.
The king asked “Which monk is the Buddha?” Jivaka replied:
“The Buddha is the monk sitting with his back against the central pillar 1 facing East sitting in honour among the members of the bhikkhu community.”
1.That the Buddha leant against apillar shows that the Buddha must have been advancing in years at the time of this teaching. The Buddha’s anatomical weakness came as the result of having been a champion wrestler in previous lifetimes who had been able to throw his opponents with such force that they had broken their backs.
4. Questions on the mind of King Ajatasattu
King Ajatasattu appreciated the silence of the monastic assembly so much that he exclaimed:
“If only my own son Udayibhadda could have such a peaceful heart as these monks.”
The nature of people who see something they like is to think one step further to want to possess that thing or be like that thing. Perhaps it was half out of fear of becoming victim of parricide at the hands of his own son.
The Buddha knew what was on Ajatasattu’s mind and greeted him with the words:
“You rmajesty has arrived together with love”.
This put the king immediately at ease and he admitted his wish to the Buddha with the words:
“Oh!That my own son could have such a peaceful heart as the assembly of bhikkhus.”
The question of the fruits of monkhood
The King bowed to the Buddha, and keeping hands in a gesture of prayers at down at one side, asked permission to ask a question of the Buddha:
“The general public use their knowledge and ability to earn their living to support themselves, their family and their parents. The rest of their wealth they offer in sup port of the ordained community for benefit in this life time and the next. As for becoming a monk — what is the benefit in this lifetime?”
The Buddha knew that King Ajatasattu had asked the same question of the other six teachers. Before answering, the Buddha intended to show Ajatasattu the weaknesses of the other six teachings. However, if the Buddha was himself to mention those weaknesses,followers loyal to those teachers would pay no attention to His teaching — but if the criticism came from Ajatasattu himself, they would accept those observations.
The Responses of the Contemporary Teachers
The Buddha asked where King Ajatasattu had already asked the question and what answer he had received. King Ajatasattu replied that:
1. Purana Kassapa had answered, “There is no such thing as merit or demerit” —no matter how heinous one’s action —killing,stealing,committing adultery or lying(also no matter how good your actions of generosity, self-discipline or meditation) —nothing makes a difference to one’s quality of life. It is again likely that Purana Kassapa answered this way to try to win over the king—to make him think that killing his father did not matter.The king had not shown his dissatisfaction with the answer, but had taken his leave.
2. Makkhali Gosala had answered, “All beings in the world are born and reborn at random. After being born and reborn for long enough,they will become pure of their own accord.”It is likely that Makkhali Gosala answered this way to try to win the King over —to make him think there is no need to make any special effort in order to become pure. The answer did not fit the question. The king had not shown his dissatisfaction with the answer, but had taken his leave.
3. Ajita Kesakambala had answered, “Evil or virtuous actions have no effect. This world and the next do not exist. Mother and father have done us no favour, spontaneous birth [opdpatika]1 is non-existent, it is impossible for anyone to become enlightened or to teach others to become enlightened, death is the end of the story— all that is left is bone and ashes. There is no rebirth. It is only liars who claim generosity is beneficial to the giver.” It is likely that Ajita Kesakambala answered this way to try to win over King Ajatasattu as someone who had killed his own father. The King had not shown his dis satisfaction with the answer, but had taken his leave.
4. Pakudha Kaccayana had answered, “Our life consists of seven types of ‘aggregates’ earth, water, fire, air, happiness, suffering and life force. Killing someone is no more than piercing your weapon between the spaces between the various elements.”It is likely that Pakudha Kaccayana answered this way to try to win over King Ajatasattu as someone who had killed his own father. The King had not shown his dissatisfaction with the answer, but had taken his leave.
5. Nigantha Nataputta had answered giving a rendition of the four forms of Jain restraint [samvara], “The purity of people depend son fluid. Jain monks must have four types of restraint: restraining water, consisting of water, getting rid of water and being sprinkled with water.” According to Nigantha Nataputta restraint of the water can purify you of all defilements. The King had not shown his dissatisfaction with the answer, but had taken his leave.
1. see note p.165
6. Sanjaya Belattiputta could not answer so gave a dizzying rendition of his own beliefs. The King had not shown his dissatisfaction with the answer, but had taken his leave.
King Ajatasattu said it was like asking about a mango and getting an answer about a jackfruit or vice versa. The reason was because none of those six teachers knew the point of being a monk but simply wanted to describe their own beliefs in the hope that the King would support them.
Beliefs contemporary to the Buddha
The beliefs of other contemporary schools at the time of the Buddha can be summarized as follows:
1. PuranaKassapa subscribed to the false view of nonefficacy of action [akiriyaditthi]1. According to this school, evil action has no effect if no one sees or knows or catches you red-handed. There is no result of doing evil. Goodness can only have an effect if someone sees you do it and praises or rewards you.
2. Makkhali Gosala subscribed to the false view of random retribution [ahetukaditthi]2 which is the assumption that retribution is random and doesn’t depend on action. Fortune or misfortune depends on fate. You can do nothing to change it.
3. Ajita Kesakambala subscribed to the false views of no-self [natthikaditthi]1 and nihilism [ucchedaditthi]2
1.see note p.158 2.see note p.157
which are the assumptions respectively that there is no self (one is just an aggregate of elements) and that death is the end of the story. Our body consists of nothing but elements so there is no doer for an action. The false view of nihilism relies on the assumption that there is nothing left to store karmic information beyond death. Thus, because there is no merit or demerit, stupid are those who give and the smart are those who receive.
4. Pakudha Kaccayana subscribed to the false view of eternalism [sassataditthi]3 which is the assumption that the body is made of permanent elements, that the mind is also unchangeable —eternal even when body breaks up. Nirvana is no more than knowing the relationship between body and mind.
5. Nigantha Nataputta subscribed to the false view of the efficacy of self-mortification [atthakilamathanuyoga]4 as a means of spiritual furtherance. This is major tenet of Jainism, which at that time was a religion of naked ascetics where reality depended on one’s point of view.
6. Sanjaya Belatthiputta subscribed to the false view of the uncertainty of all principles [amaravikkhepikaditthi]5 which is an assumption of uncertainty, a mistrust of principles like an eel moving through water. Followers of this tradition would negate everything because: they were scared of telling lies, scared of dogma, scared they will be asked and basically ignorant.
All of these categories of heretical views are considered as ‘False Views’ [micchd ditthi] by the Lord Buddha.
1. see note p.164 2. see note p.169 3. see note p.168 4. see note p.160 5. see note p.158
The Positive Backlash of Extreme Evil
If you were to analyse the thoughts and assumptions in the mind of King Ajatasattu you would find that he was not unintelligent because at the very least he had the conscience to realize the gravity of the evil deed he had done. The king even tried to do his own spiritual research to find a way to make amends for what he had done, and not to allow him self to slide further down the slippery slope of unwholesomeness,by seeking out the leaders of various spiritual traditions —especially those of the six contemporary spiritual leaders mentioned above.
Having heard the teachings of those six contemporary teachers, the king was able to discern that the beliefs pro pounded by those teachers were in fact ‘False View’ and he had left the ashrams of those teachers with out indicating any displeasure at those teachings but without taking them seriously either. From the king’s behaviour, two things can be concluded:
1. his discretion was sufficiently sharp to ‘see through’ the pretence of those six teachers —which might come as a surprise for those who thought him gullible in his reasoning, to have been so easily ‘taken in’ by Devadatta.
2. he didn’t give his patronage to those contemporary teachers, but at the same time, he didn’t openly dismiss them or discredit them.
To analyse what must have happened to King Ajatasattu to abandon his usual discretion and be ‘taken in’ by Devadatta to the point he did the extreme evil deeds Devadatta suggested can only be accounted for by his mind having been obscured by the darkness of defilements, to the degree he could find no way out of his delusion.
The key defilement to which King Ajatasattu succumbed was ‘delusion’ [moha].The first count of delusion by which King Ajatasattu was overcome was by being ‘taken in’ by Devadatta’s ability to perform’miracles’—thinking that he must be superior to all others. Another factor contributing to Ajatasattu’s gullibility was his young age and lack of worldly experience, not allowing him to see through the deceit of someone bent on evil.
A second defilement to which Ajatasattu had succumbed was that of greed [lobha], Ajatasattu was no different from other unenlightened beings [puthujjana] in desiring for power and wealth. When delusion was added to such greed in sufficient measure, in keeping with Devadatta’s evil designs, Ajatasattu became no different from a traveller groping in the dark, who must put himself completely in the hands of his guide.
Even if Ajatasattu had such strong trust in Devadatta, it might still seem incredible to readers that he would go as far as to execute his own father at Devadatta’s behest. It is difficult for us to know if we would react any differently in such a situation—sometimes if you have never been through a situation personally, you have no way of knowing how you would react. We cannot blame Ajatasattu for what he did in his circumstances —any more than you can say that it is stupid for some people to want to commit suicide — you could not guarantee you would never be put in the same situation.
Even after having committed the heavy karma of parricide and having obtained the throne of Magadha for him self,Ajatasattu was to find that his new power brought him no happiness —on the contrary, it caused him spiritual unrest,firing his quest for the truth —eventually seeking audience with the Lord Buddha. Thus one might say that such a quest is the ‘positive backlash of extreme evil deeds’.
As for Ajatasattu not giving his patronage to the six contemporary teachers, but at the same time not dismissing or discrediting them —this is something we can learn much from in the society of modern Buddhism. In the Theravada Buddhist tradition, monks can only survive dependent on the support in alms given by the lay-supporters. When Buddhists support and respect the monastic community, it is important for them to reflect upon whether the behaviour or teachings of the monks is suitable or not, represent Right View or Wrong View. If it happens that monks practice or teach unsuitable things, the congregation should withdraw their support in the same way as Ajatasattu withdrew his. All it takes is for a congregation to withdraw their support for undisciplined or heretical monks and this will be the prime-mover causing those monks to have to ‘pull their socks up’,re-establishing themselves in proper monastic discipline — or else disrobing — either of which are better than leading the life of a householder while masquerading as a monk.
In case readers doubt which criteria to use for considering whether monks conform to proper monastic discipline, de tail can be found in the chapters to follow.
5. Elementary Fruits of True Monkhood
After his disappointment with the answers of the other six contemporary teachers, King Ajatasattu asked the same question of the Lord Buddha. The Buddha used a way of reply called ‘returning the question’1 [patipucchdvydkarana] to show that the other six teachers were suffering from false views —but without saying a word of criticism against them — so that the king could work out the answer for himself, with the words:
“. . . to that end I wish to put a question to you. Please answer in whatever way you please. Now what do you think, great king: suppose among the people of your household there is a slave who works for you, who rises up in the morning before you do, and goes to bed only when you have done so, who is keen to do whatever you wish, anxious to make him self agreeable in what he does and says,a man who anticipates your every need. Now suppose he should think: ”
This matter of meritorious deeds, this result of merit, is very strange. For here is the king of Magadha, Ajatasattu, son of the Kosala Devi—
1. see note p.166
he is a man, and so am I. But the king lives in the full enjoyment and possession of the five pleasures of senses, [panca-kdmakuna]1 virtually a god,it seems to me. And here am I, a slave, working for him, rising before him, and going to bed late,keen to carry out his pleasure,anxious to make myself agreeable in deed and word, and anticipating all his needs. I wish I could be like him, so that I should have the chance to earn merit. So why don’t I have my hair and beard shaved off, and put on the yellow robes, and leave my home and ordain as a monk?” And suppose, after a time,he does this. Having been admitted into the monastic community he lives a life of restraint in action, speech and thought, is content with the minimum of food and shelter,and delights in solitude. And suppose your people should tell you about him, saying, “If you please, your majesty, do you know that so and so, who used to be your slave, and worked for you … has now put on yellow robes, and has ordained as a monk and lives a life of restraint, content with the minimum of food and shelter,and delights in solitude?” Would you then say, “Let the fellow come back. Let him come and work for me again as my slave”?
King Ajatasattu answered,
“No, sir. On the contrary, we should greet him with reverence, and stand up out of deference to him, and request him to sit down. And we should have robes, and a bowl, and a place to sleep, and medicine, and anything else a wandering ascetic needs all made ready for him, and beg him to accept them. And we should give orders for him to be regularly protected.”
1. see note p.165
Elementary Fruit #1: Elevating One’s Social Status
Thus the first benefit (at the lowest level) of becoming a monk, which King Ajatasattu was able to discern from the Buddha’s question was that by becoming a monk, one is able to elevate one’s social status. Even if formerly one was a slave or worker from a lower caste—when ordained, even a king must pay respect —however, it follows that the monk must keep his part of the bargain by having the following base line qualifications:
1. Being possessed of Right View [samma ditthi]1: he must have a correct understanding of life and the world — for example that doing good deeds brings favourable outcomes for oneself and others, that there is life after death, that meritorious deeds bring happiness as their fruits and that evil deeds bring unhappiness as their fruits;
2. Understanding the purpose of being a monk: as furthering one’s perfections because merit allows us to make progress both in worldly and in spiritual ways. Evil only serves to drag our lives further and further downwards;
3. Restraining himself in body, speech and mind: not allowing the mind to think evil thoughts;
4. Leading a life of contentment and simplicity: You must be content with alms received and not wish for extravagance and convenience like that of a householder’s life.
5. Maintaining a peaceful life: to have restraint of body, speech and mind, the whole of the time — as a foundation for training in meditation.
That was all Ajatasattu needed to know in order to realize that Devadatta with whom he had associated had none of the characteristics ofa real monk— and to realize how foolish he had been to associate with him until being persuaded into doing the most evil of sins.
1. see note p.167
The reason that the other contemporary religious leaders could not answer the question was that:
1.They did not know the real reason for ordaining
2. They did not know the foundation of virtue for a monk
3. They did not know even the fundamental practices of the monk so they never knew the benefits of ordination [samannaphala]
The Buddha asked whether the king had yet perceived the benefits at ordaining — and the King answered with confidence that he had. The Buddha said that this was only the fruit of ordaining at the fundamental level. This kindled the flame of Ajatasattu’s interest that would lead him to ask whether there was any further benefit.
Elementary Fruit #2: Being offered respect, honour & offerings
The second benefit(at the lowest level) of becoming a monk, is that a man who ordains as a monk will be offered respect and honour and the offering of requisites. The Buddha explained this benefit to King Ajatasattu, again, by means of a question:
“… If a farmer used to be a taxpayer but decided to be come a monk instead — would the king still order him to pay tax?”
The king said he would never do that but would pay homage to that monk and honour him with offerings of requisites.
The Buddha thus concluded that the second fruit of being
a monk was to be offered respect and honour and offerings of requisites.
The king, his thirst for knowledge further quenched,continued by asking whether there was any further benefit of being a monk.
Buddha Announces the Nine Virtues of Buddhahood
Before going any further into the benefits of being a monk, the Buddha announced the nine virtues of the Buddha 1:
1. Being exalted and a worthy one;
2. Being fully self-enlightened;
3. Being endowed with wisdom and perfect conduct;
4.Having already travelled the Path of Righteousness;
5. Being a seer of the world;
6. Being a trainer of those worthy of training;
7. Being a teacher of angels and men;
8. Being a wakened and joyous;
9. Being an analyst of the Dhamma
The importance of announcing the Qualities of the Buddha
Mentioning the qualities of the Buddha to Ajatasattu at this juncture is as good as ‘introducing the speaker’as is done at a conference in the present day. At such a conference, usu ally the speaker will be introduced by a third person—but in the case of the Buddha, there is no-one worthy to do this duty. However,as in the case that an M.C. has not properly introduced a speaker, the speaker has to take the task on himself, so that the listeners realize who they are listening
to.
In a conference, it is necessary to introduce a speaker in order to know his qualifications, knowledge, ability and experience, but without boasting or looking down on the qualities of the listeners. At this point in the teaching, it is pertinent for the Buddha to introduce himself because:
1. as at p.31
1. aside from the Buddha, it is difficult for unenlightened beings to appreciate the true qualities of the Buddha— and certainly King Ajatasattu might not realize how the Buddha differed in quality from those of the rest of the world;
2. even though Jivaka had already announced the qualities of the Buddha to King Ajatasattu,he estimated that hearing them from Jivaka was not equal to hearing them from the Buddha’s own lips;
3. to emphasize the difference between himself and the six teachers the king had already visited — in addition to the silence of the assembled 1,250 monks which already bore ample witness to the Buddha’s abilities as a teacher;
4. to show that his virtue was worthy of the support of such dignitaries as the late King Bimbisara, the father of King Ajatasattu;
5. to make the king listen attentively to the answer to his question;
6. to reinforce the faith of King Ajatasattu so that he could fully understand the higher fruits of true monkhood, which would be more abstract than those that had already been mentioned.
The Buddha had not stated these qualities at the start for fear that it would be interpreted as boasting.
6. The Virtues that Bring a Monk to Purity
Insight into the purpose of ordination
The Buddha taught that men who come to ordain in Buddhism do not do so because forced:
“When the Tathagatha teaches beings, monks, brahmins,angels, and men to know the enlightenment I have known, householders and the sons of householders or the descendants of any family, and become faithful in the Tathagatha — they are of a nature to see that the life of a householder is a narrow one, attracts dust. By contrast, the life of a monk is spacious, that for a householder to pursue the Brahma-faring properly is difficult (to be as spotless as a polished conch shell). Only then will he decide to shave his hair and dress in a saffon robe —leaving his possessions and his family to become a monk.
Thus people ordain because:
1)They have faith in the teaching of the Buddha.
2)They see the danger of the household life as attracting defilements.
3)They use monkhood as a way to pursue brahma-faring inits entirety.
People do not ordain because they are heartbroken or can think of no better alternative. In brief,the true reason people ordain is:
1) to escape unwholesomeness.
2) to practise purity.
The sort of ‘dust’ the householder’s life attracts is of two types:
1)mind-side sensuality [kilesakdma]
2)object-side sensuality [vatthukdma]
When the two sorts of sensuality come into contact with one another, the response of the mind is to see all forms of sense-object as desirable, and will try to control and own the mall. If mind-side sensuality should take the upper hand again it can bring us suffering.If one does not become so slothful, despairing or disappointed that one wants to destroy oneself, then anger, ignorance, views or shamelessness will drive us to destroy others — accruing only unwholesomeness for one self. If you let object-side sensuality go out of control with out knowing where to draw the line, one day you will lead your self to suffering because eventually people compete for the same objects of desire—until it becomes the most important thing in life, the competition of wits that is the basis of the investment business these days.
The Buddha taught many things about the dangers of desire — for example that:
“desire appears sweet and refreshing but will trample your mind in various ways. Thus the life of a householder under the sway of desire is to attract defilements.”1
1. Kama Sutta SN.151
The word ‘pabbajd1’ or ‘ordaining’ means ‘to abstain from all sorts of evils’ — or to access oneself to nobleness. Thus someone ordained as a monk should avoid all evils and do all good to bring themselves to nobility. The ordained life of a monk is pure because it does not contain the possible compromises concerning the earning of a livelihood — a monk is dependent on house holders for his support — thus he can devote his time to study and practice.
The Buddha explained all these things to King Ajatasattu to inform him that all of his disciples ordain with an aim, not out of carelessness or to avoid earning a living.
Elementary Conduct of a Monk
Next the Buddha summarized the proper practise of a monk at the elementary level:
“when a monk has ordained, he lives restrained according to the monastic code of conduct, is of good conduct and respects the’haunts’,sees the danger in small things, follows the monastic rules, is pure in livelihood, is endowed with self-discipline, is restrained as to the sensedoors, is mindful and self-possessed, and rich in contentment.”
This shows that the Buddha intended King Ajatasattu to understand that those ordaining as Buddhist monks have certain duties and abstentions to practice summarized under the following six headings:
1) Restraint according to the monastic code of conduct [pdtimokkhasamvara]}
2) Restraint by pure livelihood [djivaparisuddhi];
3) Restraint by the possession of discipline [silasamuara]
4) Restraint of the senses [indriyasamvara];
5) Restraint by mindfulness [sati] and self-possession [sampajahha]
6) Contentment [santutthi].
1. see note p. 165
1. Restraint According to Monastic Code of Conduct
Restraint according to the monastic code of conduct means taking care of the manners of one’s actions and speech in a way that will lead to liberation from suffering. There are three main ways in which restraint according to the monastic code of conduct can be put in to practice, namely: being of good conduct and respecting the ‘haunts’,seeing danger even in small things and following the monastic rules of training.
1.1 Being of good conduct and respecting the ‘haunts’
1.1.1 Conduct
1.1.1.1 good conduct:Those endowed with good conduct are those who have freed themselves of bad conduct such as taking advantage of others through use of body and speech; procuring wealth by talking in a flattering way in order to attract people to offer wealth or trying to win people over by serving them or giving them material rewards.
1.1.1.2 bad conduct: This includes acquiring one’s living by dishonest means (as above)or asking to hold a devotee’s baby in one’s arms —speaking in a mixture of truth and fun. Also includes lacking basic manners such as going to pay respect to elder monks,sitting in an inappropriate place in monastic meetings,sitting blocking the view of more senior monks,swinging one’s arms when speaking to more senior monks,wearing shoes when a senior monk is barefoot,barging though a doorway in front of a senior monk or discriminating against junior monks, not asking permission of seniors (or the chairman of a meeting)before expressing an opinion,sneaking into rooms in devotee’s house where one has not been invited, patting children on the head or encouraging devotees to offer particular sorts of food. On the contrary one should show respect towards senior monks,robing oneself properly and smartly,taking care of manners and gestures when moving about, with downcast gaze, not looking left or right, avoiding childish mannerisms, demanding little, being steadfast, patient and saying only things full of self-restraint and compassion.
1.1.2 Haunts [gocaro]
1.1.2.1 that are in bounds1
1.1.2.1.1 haunts of abiding [upanissayagocaro]
1.1.2.1.2 haunts of maintenance [drakkhagocaro]
1.1.2.1.3 haunts of attentiveness [upanibandhagocaro]
These include people and places that are conducive to one’s further study.
1.1.2.1.1. Haunts of abiding [upanissayagocaro]
These include all manner of words that are skilful topics of conversation:
1. words that lead to contentment with little, non-extravagance, shunning of fame and humility [appicchakathd];
2. words that lead to contentment and non-extravagance [santutthikathd];
3. words that lead to peacefulness of body and mind [pavivekkathd];
4. words that lead to non-gregariousness[asamsaggakathd]
5. words that lead to striving [viriydrambhakathd]
6. words that lead one to abide in self-discipline [silakathd])
7. words that lead one to concentrate the mind [samddhikathd];
8. words that lead one to establish yourself in wisdom [panndkathd];
9. words that lead one to liberation from defilement s [vimuttikathd];
10.words that lead one to seeing and knowing of liberation from defilement s [vimuttindnadassanakathd]
1. Vism.19
Those possessing speech of these ten qualities 1 [kathavatthu] are appropriate for a monk to seek out for advice.
1.1.2.1.2 haunts of maintenance [arakkhagocaro]:
Possessing haunts of maintenance means that one is able to maintain good habits of deportment such as walking politely with downcast gaze,not looking at men or women, not looking left or right, not looking up or down.
1.1.2.1.3 Haunts of attentiveness [upanibandhagocaro]:
1. Mindfulness of the body in the body — this means specifically awareness of the inner bodies with in the physical body;
2. Mindfulness of the feeling in the feeling — this means specifically awareness of happiness, suffering or neither happiness nor suffering of inner bodies;
3. Mindfulness of the mind in the mind — this means specifically awareness of states of mind tainted with defilement or otherwise in the various inner bodies;
4. Mindfulness of the dhamma in the dhamma — this means specifically seeing the sphere of Dhammain the various inner bodies.
1. Pathama Vatthukatha Sutta A.v.129, Rathavinitha Sutta M.i.145 ff.
1.1.2.2 Wrongful Haunts [agocara]:
It is unsuitable for monks to frequent the following:
1. Prostitutes
2. Widows
3. Mature women
4. Nuns
5. Transvestites 6. Alcohol shops
In present day wrongful haunts would also include entertainment halls, and merchandise centres.
Good monks should shun wrongful haunts out of fear of bringing a bad reputation upon the monastic community — in the words of a Buddha:
“like a cow avoids lion-infested country or like a fish never strays in a place of hooks”1
The only reason a monk can go to such places is to perform duties he is invited to do — once the duties are completed he must quickly remove himself.
1.2 Seeing Danger even in Small Things [anumattesu vajjesu bhaya-dassavi]: Not overlooking possible dangers even in small things. Avoiding doing risky things and if one happens to do them unintentionally to set one’s mind to never do them again.
1.3 Following the Monastic Rules [samddaya sikkha]: From the time of ordination onwards it is as if a monk has agreed to keep all the monastic discipline. Thus from the time he is ordained,he must study the reasons behind each of the
1.In the Footsteps of the Arahants p.179( Thai edn. )
items of discipline. As no-one knows better than a monk how strictly he keeps his Precepts, a monk must take his own responsibility looking after the intactness of his Precepts like:
“… a bird guards its eggs, a schomburg deer guards its tail, a mother guards her child or a man with one eye guards his last remaining eye 1”
or
“Just as the water fills the sea without spilling over the edges,monks should keep their Precepts with their life 2.”
2. Right Livelihood for a Monk [achivaparisuddhi]
Monks are not allowed to earn a living in the same way as a householder but must live from donations of clothing,food, shelter and medicine—the four basic requisites of survival. Monks who are contented with the four requisites they have and they receive, are possessed of Right Livelihood. Furthermore, they must be endowed with wholesome behaviour of body and speech to ensure they are worthy of such donations.
Monks who lack such Right Livelihood can be divided into those who seek income in one of five unwholesome ways: deceitfulness, soliciting, beating around the bush, shaming and profiteering. To describe each of these malpractices in detail:
1. deceit [kuhand] can be divided into three types:
1.1 a monk pretending to be contented with what they have only to inspire supporters to look for special things to offer them (the supporters thinking it must surely be a special merit to that monk). When it is offered the monk says really he does not want such a thing but is only receiving it to please the supporters
1. Vism. 36 2. Paharada Sutta, A.iv.200
— this sort of deceitful behaviour to the end of expecting supporters to offer special things to them selves is False Livelihood.
1.2 a monk dropping hints in conversation about knowledge of higher mental states or about their formality with certain monks who have attained higher mental states in order to get supporters to understand that they have attained higher mental states, (a monk is forbidden by the monastic discipline from boasting directly of mental attainments) and offer special requisites.
1.3 a monk adopting certain positions or gestures to make supporters misunderstand that they are particularly pious about the monastic discipline and offer a lot of requisites.
2.Soliciting [lapana]can be divided into two main types:
2.1 a monk persuading or flattering supporters with the aim of receiving donations (for example, as soon as a supporter arrives in the temple to ask if they have any invitation for him.)
2.2 a monk who has the tendency, in the course of conversation,to boast about all the eminent people who are his disciples — or who engages others in conversation with the sole intention of being pleasant so that those people will come again — or who at tempts to get them to offer things a second time by talking over and over again about the benefits of the last gift.
Some monks see a layperson eating a certain food and they say,” I’ m sure that certain food must be very tasty.” The layman replies, “If you want to know you have to taste it yourself.” The monk says, “But it would not be appropriate to ask directly!”—so that the layman feels compelled to offer some of the food. Some monks try to show intimacy with a certain family of supporters by picking up their babies or letting their children ride on their shoulders.
3. Dropping hints [nemittikata]: a monk who speaks in an indirect way in order to get people to offer certain things (because he is ashamed to ask directly) — maybe saying that there is a need for something or what he prefers — even if the supporter guesses what he is talking about and implies refusal or moves off the subject,the monk still continues or tries to solicit that thing from the supporter until eventually they feel forced to offer that thing.
4. Shaming [nippesikata]: a monk who speaks in a way that is challenging or embarrassing or forceful to get sup porters to offer special things—for example saying, “you can’t expect such and such a family to offer things —they never do” — in a way that makes a listener offer things out of spite instead of wholeheartedly — or a monk who makes comparisons between how generous one another of two houses is, to shame the lesser into offering more. In summary, 1.threatening; 2.slandering; 3.forcing; 4.chasing; 5. mocking; 6 ridiculing; 7. looking down; 8. insulting; 9. blaming; 10.flattering to someone’s face but gossiping maliciously behind their back are all forms of ‘shaming’.
5. Profiteering [nijigimsanatd]: a monk who seeks for a profit (using his acquisitions to further his acquisitions). Some monks receive an offering with which they are not contented but give it away so that they have the excuse to ask for the same thing again in the anticipation of receiving something better and so on until receiving something so expensive that they can be content with it.
Monks who procure donations by any or all of the above methods are no longer with in the limits of Right Livelihood. Apart from this there are more variations of mixing black magic with ways of procuring wealth, which will be dis cussed below under the heading of ‘to be endowed with self-discipline’ (§3 of this chapter)
Punishments laid down by the Buddha for offences involving solicitation include:
1. Monks who make false claims to higher mental states are subject to disrobing [pdrdjika];
2. Monks who engage in matchmaking for a living are subject to an initial and subsequent meeting of the monastic community [sanghddisesa];
3. Monks who claim to the patron of a kuti that the co habitant is an arahant cause a serious transgression [thullaccaya];
4. A healthy monk who requests special food for himself causes an offence requiring expiation [pdcittiya];
5. A healthy nun who requests special food for herself commits an offence requiring confession [pdtidesaniya].
6. Any monk who begs food from a donor commits an offence of wrongdoing [dukkata].
Monks who disentangle themselves from wrong livelihood can devote their time and effort to striving for enlightenment. The true income of monks comes from almsround where only those who wholeheartedly want to give support will do so.
nastic duties;
8. Restraint from boastful speech or looking down on others — such as saying another monk “doesn’t under stand an item of Vinaya but I do,” “A monk of that sort of intelligence has no way of understanding such Vinaya,” “that monk has behaved wrongly, but I have behaved correctly,” “my teachings are useful but an other monks are not,” “his sermons are useless and cannot compare with my teaching skills,” “before I could never find fault in his teaching, now I have learned so much I can advise him of this and of that”;
9. Restraint from serving anyone as an employee e.g. as an ambassador to the king, being a courier or go-be tween to take a message,matchmaking,recruiting employees or electioneering;
10. Restraint from deceitful speech,beating about the bush to cover-up secrets or flattery with the ulterior motive of gains.
The Greater Training in Self-Discipline
The Greater Training in Self-Discipline incorporates seven rules of monastic conduct to protect monks from earning their livelihood through the Black Arts in seven different ways:
1. Restraint from the livelihood of fortune telling from bodily signs (for example, palm- or sole-reading), in terpretationofomens, dreams, portents, organizing ceremonies of fire worship, blood offerings or sacrifices, inspection of the feng-shui of a house, being a witch doctor, or procuring protective numbers or written charms [yantra] for a house;
2. Restraint from the impure livelihood of interpreting the vital signs of crystals, weapons, arrows, men, women, princes,princesses,slaves,elephants,horses, buffalos, bulls, cows,sheep, goats,chickens,pigeons, monitor lizards, tortoises, moles or deer;
3. Restraint from the impure livelihood of giving prophecies to kings of auspicious times to make military attacks;
4. Restraint from making astrological predictions;
5. Restraint from making predictions concerning rainfall,famine and drought;
6. Restraint from procuring astrologically auspicious dates for marriages, divorces, savings, expenditure, good luck, incidence of bad luck,or administering spells for fertility or for recovery of hearing, ‘making-up’ after an argument, recovery from childbirth, hardened cheeks or trembling hands;
7. Restraint from laying ghosts, exorcism, matchmaking, worship of the sun, deities, inviting the return of dis embodied souls, turning transvestites back into men, ceremonies to honour land spirits or other quackery.
The Buddha taught that any monk endowed with self-dis cipline will be happy like the king who has no enemy.
4. Restraint of the Senses [indriyesu samvaro]
The Buddha clearly advocated that monks must have restraint of the senses [indriyesu samvaro]:
“And how, great king, is the bhikkhu guarded as to the doors of his senses? When, great king, he sees an object with his eye he is not entranced in the general appear ance or the details of it. He sets himself to restrain that which might give occasion for evil states, covetousness and dejection, to flow in over him so long as he dwells unrestrained as to his sense of sight. He keeps watch upon his faculty of sight, and he attains to mastery over it.Similarly,when he hears a sound with his ear, or smells an odour with his nose, or tastes a flavour with his tongue, or feels a touch with his body, or when he cognizes a phenomenon with his mind he is not entranced in the general appearance or the details of it. He sets himself to restrain that which might give occasion for evil states, covetousness and dejection, to flow in over him so long as he dwells unrestrained as to his mental (representative) faculty.He keeps watch upon his representative faculty, and he attains to mastery over it. And endowed with this self-restraint, so worthy of honour, as regards the senses, he experiences within himself a sense of ease into which no evil state can enter. Thus is it, great king, that the bhikkhu becomes guarded as to the doors of his senses.”
Monks must keep the self-discipline of guarding the senses from inputs that might lead to development of covetousness [abhijjha] or resentment [domanassa] by attachment to the sensory input of that object or a part of that object.
Attachment to the sensory objects means judging it or being affected by its external appearance (e.g.by the object’s gender or whether it is beautiful). Seeing such things, one should not elaborate on thoughts stimulated by external appearances — the same goes for external appearances contained in ‘parts’ of an object (e.g. the appearance of some one’s feet, hands,face,way of speaking,laughing,gestures) — which might give one to defilements — seeing these things one should not elaborate thoughts on those things.
Restraining the senses doesn’t mean closing your eyes and plugging your ears because that would be impossible—as soon as one opens one’s eyes, there are a million things to see — therefore the Buddha taught us to close our eyes though mindfulness — to guard our thoughts by mindfulness.
Luang Phaw Wat Paknam taught restraint of the senses by keeping the mind at the centre of the body. If mind is not at a standstill at the centre of the body when sensory stimuli come into contact with the mind, we will think that the stimuliare beautiful, pleasureable and so forth —however, if the mind is at a standstill, the mind says, “this is poison to us — it is undesirable” and the tendency will be to filter out that stimulus and to return to stopping the mind, not allowing the mind to be delocated.
In conclusion, ‘restraint according to the monastic code of conduct’ is perfected through faith; ‘restraint of the sensedoors’ is perfected through mindfulness; ‘purity of livelihood’ is perfected through striving, and; ‘using the requisites with consideration’ is perfected through wisdom.
5.Being mindful and self-possessed [sati-sampajahha samannagato]
The Buddha clearly advocated that monks must not forget themselves and should, on the contrary, be mindful [sati] and self-possessed [sampajahha]:
“And how, great king, is the bhikkhu mindful and selfpossessed? In this matter the bhikkhu in going forth or in coming back keeps clearly before his mind’s eye all that is wrapped up therein: the immediate object of the act itself, its ethical significance, whether or not it is conducive to the high aim set before him, and the real facts underlying the mere phenomenon of the outward act. So also in looking forward, or in looking round; in stretching forth his arm,or in drawing it in again;in eating or drinking, in masticating or swallowing, in obeying the calls of nature,in going or standing or sitting,in sleeping or waking, in speaking or in being still, he keeps himself aware of all it really means. Thus is it that the bhikkhu becomes mindful and self-possessed.”
Mindfulness:
Mindfulness means the state of mind is which you can remember things before they need to be done — such as remembering when it’s time for meditation, remembering to prepare to go to court or remembering when it’s time to give a patient their medicine. Mindfulness is a virtue which is very beneficial —because it helps us to avoid all possible problems that arise from forgetfulness. Forgetting certain appointments (such as appearing in court)might have very serious consequences like being put in prison. Forgetting to administer someone’s medicine might cause that person death. A monk who forgets to go to the fort nightly ceremony for the revision of the monastic code of discipline will have to be punished.
Self-Possession:
Self-possession,sometimes known as ‘clear comprehension’, is knowing what you are saying as you do something. Mindfulness arises before you do something. Self possession can be analyzed into four different types:
1.Awareness of benefit[sdtthaka sampajanna]: this is the awareness of whether what we are doing is useful or not;
2. Awareness of appropriateness [sappdya sampajan na]: awareness of whether what we are doing is appropriate or not; 3.Awareness of implicit happiness [gocara sampajah ha]: awareness of how what one is doing is suffering or happiness;
4. Awareness of gullibility [asammoha sampajahna]: awareness of whether what one is doing is misunderstood or subject to gullibility or not;
Monks must do all things with mindfulness and self-possession. Mistakes a monk makes are not just bad for him self but for the whole of the monastic community in the eyes of public. A person who has fallen in love with a diamond necklace in a shop window but cannot afford it and walks home thinking of nothing but the necklace and how to obtain it might have a car accident as they cross the road. Without these two qualities it is hard for a monk to achieve success in the forgoing forms of training such as ‘restraint of senses’.
6. Contentment [santuttho]
The Buddha asked King Ajatasattu:
“And how, great king,is the bhikkhu content?The bhikkhu is satisfied with sufficient robes to cover his body, with sufficient food to keep him alive. Wherever he may go these he takes with him as he goes — just as a bird with his wings, wherever he mayfly. So the bhikkhu lives con tent.”
Contentment has two aspects: contentment with what one has [santosa], having few needs [appiccha]
Many people confuse these two terms—they understand that you should want only a little therefore Buddhism is blamed for standing in the way of material progress.
To clarify this point, Buddhists would say that all of the following are good people: parents who love their children; a husband who loves his wife; monks who love their tempie; citizens who love their country, and; spiritual people who love their religion. Loving something you already have is ‘contentment’. Loving our possessions or our institution will lead us to protect, maintain and lead that thing towards progress. Thus ‘contentment’ should lead one to progress.
Non-contentment leads to decline — for example: a husband who has a wife but doesn’t love her, loving someone else instead; a citizen who doesn’t have any pride for his country and serves other countries instead,or;a person who has a religion but doesn’t love, protector maintain it — not studying what it really teaches, but favours those who spread superstitions.
The Buddha named ‘contentment’ as one of the ‘virtues that can be a refuge’ [ndthakaranadhamma] because properly practised it should arouse one to diligence rather than to look down on oneself—to have confidence in oneself— to protect, maintain oneself by not doing immoral things.
In practice for monks contentment has three components:
1. contentment with what you receive [yathdldbha santosa]: not being disappointed with what you receive or taking more interest in something else you have not been offered;
2. contentment with what strengths you have [yathdbala santosa]: This means being content with yourself as you are strength depending on your health, physical condition—not being miserly over things that are beyond one’s strength to use or using them to the detriment of one’s health;
3. contentment with the appropriate [yathdsdruppa santosa]: this means being content with what is appropriate for one’s status, position,walk of life and aim in life. A monk should be content with what is appropriate to his monastic status. If he receives something in appropriate, then he should be quick to give it to whom it is appropriate;
These three forms of contentment can be applied to each of the four monk’s requisites to give a total of twelve forms of contentment which are important for a monk, with detail
as follows:
1. contentment with robes received: being con tented with however much or whatever sort of robe is offered by supporters — irrespective of whether the robes are good or bad — the monks should use only that robe and no other without hankering after other robes. Even if at a later date better robes are offered, the monk should refuse them;
2. contentment with robes appropriate to one’s strengths: supposing a monk is weak in health or sick or frail with age, and he knows that it is inconvenient to wear a heavy robe—he should be contented to exchange robes with a fellow monk who has a lighter one and should be contented with that light robe from then on;
3. contentment with robes appropriate to one’s status: supposing a young monk receives robes or a bowl which are expensive or of good quality — he should realize that that requisite is not appropriate for his status and offer it to an elder monk who has been ordained for a long time, is one who is learned [bahusuta], a monk who is ill, or receives few offerings, and offer it to a monk more fit to receive it, not keeping it for his own use but exchanging it for the old robes of an elder monk;
4. contentment with alms food received: being con tented with however much or whatever sort of alms food is offered by supporters —irrespective of whether it is good food or bad —the monk should eat only that food and no other, without hankering after other food. Even if at a later date better food is offered,the monk should refuse it.
5.contentment with alms food appropriate to one’s strengths: supposing a monk knows that certain foods will make him ill, he should be content to give it to fellow monks, being contented to eat only alms food which is appropriate to maintaining his health, maybe food obtained from fellow monks who have no preference — and having obtained it, should be contented to continue with his monastic practice.
6.contentment with alms food appropriate to one’s status: supposing a monk receives a large quantity of delicacies,he should share it with an elder monk or one who is learned, a monk who receives few offerings or who is ill—and should himself eat only what is left over.
7.contentment with accommodation and bedding received: being contented with however much or whatever sort of accommodation is received, even if it is only a simple, inexpensive straw mat of low quality, then a monk should be contented with it;
8. contentment with accommodation or bedding appropriate to one’s strengths: a monk should be contented with accommodation or bedding that is amenable to himself. Monks who know that accommodation or bedding received will make him ill, should ex change with that of another monk who has no preference;
9. contentment with accommodation or bedding appropriate to one’s status: if a young monk should receive accommodation or bedding which is of high quality, such as a cave or a pavillion, he should give it up to an elder monk, or one who is learned, a monk who receives few offerings,or who is ill. A monk should be content with accommodation appropriate to his status — rather than one which makes one sleepy, or re minds one of one’s former lay-life.One should be con tent to stay in a place which doesn’t cause one sleepiness or preoccupation with sensuality [kdmavitakka];
10. contentment with medicine and medical care received: being contented with however much or whatever sort of medicine or medical care is received — irrespective of whether it is good medicine or bad, without hankering after better medicine. Even if at a later date better medicine is offered, the monk should refuse it;
11. contentment with medicine and medical care appropriate to one’s strengths: a monk should be contented with medicine that is amenable to himself. If a monk needs ghee as a medicine, but is offered sugar cane juice, he should be contented to exchange with a monk who has no medical preference;
12. contentment with medicine and medical care appropriate to one’s status: suppose a young monk receives medicine of good quality, such as ghee, honey or sugar-cane juice— he should be contented to give it up to an elder monk, a learned monk, a monk who receives few offerings or who is ill.
Thus ‘contentment’ is different from ‘contentment with little’ — contentment has no limit on the amount. It is contentment with how much one receives. Contentment leads to peace of mind. Non-contentment leads to anxiety.
From this explanation of the lower fruits of being a monk, King Ajatasattu, was able to conclude that if a monk in Buddhism is a true monk, he ordains in order to pull him self out of sensual desire, follow the Brahma-faring and to accrue merit and perfections. Those who train themselves in strict accordance with the six practices mentioned above will set the conditions by which the lower fruits of being a true monk can be realized.
7. Intermediate Fruits of True Monkhood
The medium fruits of monkhood come from the practice of meditation. A monk who has acquired self-discipline, restraint of the senses, mindfulness and self-possession, and contentment, should:
“choose some lonely spot where he can rest on his way — in the woods, at the foot of a tree, on a hill side, in a mountain glen, in a rocky cave, in a cemetery or on a heap of straw in the open field. Returning there after his round for alms he seats himself, when his meal is done,cross-legged,keeping his body erect,and his intelligence alert, intent.”
“Putting away all hankering after the world, he purifies his mind of sense-desires. Putting away the corrupting wish to injure, he remains with a mind free from illwill, and purifies his mind of malevolence. Putting away torpor of heart and mind, keeping his perception bright, and being mindful and self-possessed, he purifies his mind of weakness and of sloth. Putting away flurry and worry, he remains free from fretfulness, and with mind serene, he purifies himself of irritability and absent-mindedness. Putting away wavering, he remains as one who has passed beyond perplexity; and no longer in suspense as to what is good, he purifies his mind of doubt.”
You can see that for all a bhikkhu’s good conduct if he is unable to overcome the Five Hindrances he will be unable to bring his mind to concentration. Once one has overcome the Five Hindrances, the mind will automatically remove itself from the influence of object-side sensuality: images,sounds,smells,taste and touch [vatthukama] and from mind-side sensuality: desire and revulsion for those things [kilesakama] from unwholesome intentions such as covetousness [abhijjha] and resentment [domanassa] which may influence the mind to think to do evil.
The Five Hindrances [nivarana]
Hindrances are subtle defilements that obstruct the mind, withholding it from wholesome states — keeping the mind shifting instead of focusing or coming to a stand still. There are a total of five hindrances:
1. Sense-Desire [kdmachanda]: This is a hindrance of attachment to sense-pleasure with consequent stir ring up of emotions. The Buddha compared sensedesire to debt. If you are in debt to some one you have to tolerate any sort of abuse from them in relation to returning the money. Once we are no longer in debt we have freedom and contentment— similarly those who are able to escape the clutches of sense-desire have the same joy and pleasure;
2. Illwill [bydpdda]: Illwill is a hindrance which occurs when the mind is clouded by our dislike of things or lack of contentment with things — resulting in anger, vengefulness and hatred. Such a feeling causes the mind to ‘move’ instead of being still. The Buddha thus compared anger to an ‘illness’. Just as a patient must tolerate the bitter medicine, a monk whose mind is angry must tolerate the advice of his preceptor. Those who have to force themselves to listen to the teaching of the preceptor who are still under the influence of their illwill will never manage (in this way) to discover the happiness rising from the absorptions;
3. Sloth and Torpor [thina-middha]: This hindrance incorporates sleepiness, dullness and lack of enthusiasm, lack of encouragement and lack of hope about life, Those still in the clutches of such a hindrance will lack the energy and fortitude to train themselves. The Buddha compared sleepiness to being locked up in prison because in prison you lack the opportunity to get cheered up by going to see anything entertaining —in the same way those subject to sleepiness or depression lose their opportunity to taste the joy of Dhamma;
4. Absent-mindedness [uddhacca-kukkucca]: This hindrance comprises absent-mindedness and irritation which comes from letting the mind be affected by things that come into contact with it and elaborating on these things. Buddha taught that being absentminded is like being a slave. Even if you go to enjoy yourself you have to return early in case you are punished by your master. Monks who have uncertainty about whether their discipline is pure or not should be quick to go and visit their preceptor to settle uncertainties or else will be fruitless in their search for solitude;
5. Doubt [vicikiccha]: This hindrance incorporates doubts and hesitation. For as long as doubts and questions still persist in mind we will be unable to achieve peace of mind — like a traveller loaded with money travelling long distance in remote area. If he were to stop half way and worry about robbers and not be able to decide whether to go on or turn back, just as these things hinder his journey, doubts are a hindrances to the progress of meditation to noble attainment.
Definition of ‘Meditation’
From the explanation of the hindrances above, it can be seen that the presence of even a single hindrance can stop ‘meditation’ from arising. Thus we can say that ‘meditation’ is:
1. The absence of the Five Hindrances
2. The steadfast establishment of the mind in a continuous state of one- pointedness [ekaggatd]
3. The stopping of the mind without further movement
4. The settling of the mind to continuous peace and unity at the centre of the body, exhibiting only purity, radiance, brightness and giving rise simultaneously to encouragement, morale, wisdom and happiness.
Characteristics of the Mind
Our mind has the characteristics of being clear, sphere shaped and invisible to the naked eye but it is visible to meditators who have attained the Dhammakaya and who are adept in the use of the Dhammakaya. Such people can even observe the minds of others. The mind normally has a diameter of about ten millimetres and is situated at the centre of the body. The mind is in the form of four concentric spheres. The sphere of perception, is the outer most. It encloses the sphere of sensory registration (memory), sphere of central processing (thought) and the sphere of cognition (knowing).
Sphere of Perception: This outermost sphere has the function of receiving sensory data from eyes, ears, nose, taste buds or touch or (from the other side) the mental objects.
Sphere of Sensory Registration: This sphere is enclosed within the sphere of perception. It is slightly clearer and has the function of filtering the useful things from the unuseful we have perceived.
Sphere of Central Processing: This sphere is enclosed within the sphere of sensory registration. It is slightly clearer and has the function of considering information.
Sphere of Cognition: This is the innermost area of the mind which has the function of giving meaning to the stimuli that have been picked up by the mind.
To think about the structure of the mind in an easier way you might compare the sphere of perception to a coconut husk, the sphere of sensory-registration to the outer coconut shell, the sphere of central-processing to the inner coconut shell and the sphere of cognition to the coconut flesh.
All four spheres are enclosed within the sphere of Dhamma of the human(physical) body at the level of the body’s seventh base of the mind.
A complete definition of meditation
A complete definition of meditation means that all four spheres of the mind, whether they be perception,sensory registration, central-processing or cognition are brought to a standstill at the same point in the centre of the sphere of dhamma of the human physical body (as the above). Once all spheres are united. The five hindrances can no longer take any effect on the mind. Consequently:
1.The mind is steadfast is a single state of mind;
2. the mind is established in a single state;
3. the mind has no further movement.
Thus meditation is ‘a state of freedom from the hindrances, where the mind is focused at a single point, in a single state, with no further movement, manifesting a bright clear sphere of purity at the centre of the body which has the potential for further cultivation towards states of enlightenment.’
The Absorptions
The absorptions are states of refinement of the mind where meditation is well established. When monks are able to pacify the mind, they will be able to enter upon the various absorptions [jhdna]:
“Just so the bhikkhu, so long as these Five Hindrances are not put away with in him, looks upon himself as in debt, diseased, in prison, in slavery, lost on a desert road. But when these Five Hindrances have been put away with in him, he looks upon himself as freed from debt, rid of disease, out of jail, a free man, and secure;
And gladness springs up within him on his realizing that, and joy arises to him, gladdened as he is,and so rejoicing all his body becomes at ease,and being at ease he is filled with a sense of peace, and in that peace his heart is stayed.
Then estranged from desires,aloof from evil dispositions, he enters into and remains in the first absorption— a state of joy and ease born of detachment, reasoning and investigation going on the while.
His very body does he so pervade, drench, permeate and suffuse with the joy and ease born of detachment, that there is no spot in his whole frame not suffused therewith.
Just as, great king, a skilful bath man or his apprentice will scatter perfumed soap powder in a metal basin and then be sprinkling it with water, drop by drop, will so knead it together that the ball of lather, taking up the moisture, is drenched with it, pervaded by it, permeated by it within and without, and there is no leakage possible.”
“This, great king, is an immediate fruit of true monk hood, visible in this world, higher and sweeter than the last.”
“Then further, great king, the bhikkhu, suppressing all reasoning and investigation, enters into and remains in the second absorption, a state of joy and ease, born of the serenity of concentration, when no reasoning or investigation goes on— a state of elevation of mind, a tranquillization of the heart within. And he so pervades, drenches, permeates and suffuses with the joy and ease born of concentration, his whole body that there is no place in his body they do not reach.”
“Just as if there were a deep pool, with water welling up into it from a spring beneath, and with no inlet from the east or west, from the north or south, and the heavenly one should not from time to time send down showers of rain upon it. Still the current of cool waters rising up from that spring would pervade,fill, permeate and suffuse the pool with cool waters, and there would be no part of the pool unreached by it.”
“This, great king, is an immediate fruit of true monk hood, visible in this world, higher and sweeter than the last.”
“Then further, great king, the bhikkhu, holding aloof from joy,becomes equable; and mindful and self-possessed he experiences in his body that ease which the arahats talk of when they say: “The man serene and self-possessed is well at ease,” and so he enters into and abides in the third absorption. And he so pervades, drenches, permeates and suffuses with that case that has no joy with it, his whole body that there is no place in his body it does not reach.”
“Just as, great king, when in a lotus tank the several lotus flowers, red or white or blue, born in the water, grownup in the water,not rising up above the surface of the water,drawing up nourishment from the depths of the water, are so pervaded, drenched, permeated and suffused from their very tips down to their roots with its cool moisture that there is no place in the whole plant, whether of the red lotus, or of the white, or of the blue, which it does not reach. This, great king, is an immediate fruit of true monk hood, visible in this world, higher and sweeter than the last.”
“Men further, great king, the bhikkhu, by the putting away alike of well-being and of suffering, by the passing away alike of any elation, any dejection, he had previously felt, enters into and abides in the fourth absorption, a state of pure self-possession and equanimity, without suffering and without well-being. He sits there so suffusing even his body with that sense of purification, of translucence of heart, that there is no place in his whole body which it does not reach.
“Just as if a man were sitting so wrapped from head to foot in a clean white robe, that there were no place in his whole body not in contact with the clean white robe —just so does the bhikkhu sit there, so suffusing even his body with that sense of purification, of trans lucence of heart, that there is no place in his whole body which it does not reach.
“This, great king, is an immediate fruit of true monkhood, visible in this world, higher and sweeter than the last.”
Thus we can see that anyone who can dispose of the five hindrances can enter upon the first absorption— and be characterized by the arising of five factors: initial application of mind [vitakka], continued application of mind [vicdra], joy [piti], happiness [sukha], one – pointedness [ekaggata].
If you practice the mind further, the mind will be further purified, initial application of mind and continued application of mind will fall away and the second absorption will be attained. (Joy, happiness and one-pointedness remain.) If you practise the mind further, joy will fall away leaving only happiness and one-pointedness at the level of the third absorption. If one practises further, happiness will fall away leaving only equanimity [upekkhd] and one-pointedness.
Different Ways of Classifying Meditation
The Buddha explained to King Ajatasattu that attainment of the Four Absorptions are all fruits of monastic practice. In fact, meditation in Buddhism can be divided into four levels.
1. Lower meditation
2. Higher meditation
3. Academic meditation
4. Practised meditation
1. LowerMeditation: is the attainment of a mind which lacks influence by the six forms of sensory stimuli or the five hindrances and where the mind has become unified into a single sphere of light. Reaching the point where the mind becomes unified is called ‘samatha-bhavand”. It is meditation that has not gone to its full extent because the mind is not yet drawn inwards and as such is sometimes called access-concentration [upacdra-samddhi].
2. Higher Meditation: this is a state of meditation as above, but where there is an attractive force inwards and which leads to the four absorptions (otherwise known as attainment-concentration [appanasamddhi])
3. Academic Meditation: Both ‘1’ and ‘2’ are classified by the commentarians as ‘academic’ meditation be cause neither of them have yet led to the attainment of vision.
4. Practised Meditation: In accordance with the teaching of the Great Abbot of Wat Paknam “Those who gain,those who attain (meditation) will gain clear inner vision”. In practice, meditation means not letting our mind come under any extraneous influence— to give an example, if at the time of going to bed, sensory stimuli from any of the six senses is affecting the mind and we cannot shake off its influence, we will not be able to sleep all night.
Meditation in practice means that the mind has managed to throw off all extraneous influence — just like an egg white and egg yolk can stay inside the same eggshell with out even getting mixed up. In the same way, the mind that is in meditation will be firmly established as its own independent sphere of light at the centre of the body, unaffected by the body in which it dwells.
When the mind is in meditation, the sphere centralprocessing within the mind becomes independent from the perception and sensory-registration parts of the mind and deals only with knowledge which is independent of feelings.
The sphere of central processing that has become focused is at the level of Tower meditation’. If the practitioner rests his mind at the centre of the sphere of cognition until it comes to a standstill he will enter upon’higher meditation’.This sphere of ‘absorption’is one span in size, clear as glass and has the astral body seated at its centre, which is the consummation of the first absorption.
Meditating further at the centre of this astral body,with the mind elements at the centre of this body, the meditator will enter upon the second absorption, the consummation of which is the angelic body seated in meditation at the centre of the sphere.
Meditating further at the centre of this angelic body, the meditator will enter upon the third absorption, the consummation of which is the Form-Brahma Body seated in meditation at the centre of the sphere.
Meditating further at the centre of this Form-Brahma Body, the meditator will enter upon the fourth absorption,the consummation of which is the Formless-Brahma [arupa-brahma] Body. Meditating further at the centre of a Formless-Brahma Body, the meditator can enter upon the formless absorptions — which are higher meditation, tranquility meditation [samatha-bhdvana or samatha-kammatthdna] — all of which are the fruits of being a monk at the medium level.
8. Higher Fruits of True Monkhood
Just listening to the explanation and metaphors of the Buddha impressed King Ajatasattuin a way he had never experienced when listening to the rhetoric of the six other contemporary teachers. From this point onwards, the Buddha was to reveal the highest and most esoteric fruits of being a monk. The Eight fold Supra-normal knowledge that leads to the Path and fruit of Nirvana.
Attaining the Path and Fruit of Nirvana
The most fundamental requirement for attaining The Path and Fruit of Nirvana is to be able to train one’s mind in meditation — namely by making the centre of the body, the permanent location of the mind. Once one has trained the mind to become peaceful and unified in a single harmonized awareness the mind will be pure, radiant and clear continuously until it becomes unified as a clear bright sphere at the centre of the body. The appearance of this sphere demonstrates that defilements of the medium level — the Five Hindrances — have completely disappeared from the mind allowing the mind to be drawn inwards, allowing the meditator to attain each of the Four Absorptions in sequence as already explained in Chapter 7.
Higher Fruit #1: Insight Knowledge
If after attaining the Four Absorptions, the meditator is able further to maintain his mind at a standstill, the mind will become yet more clear and bright breaking free of both defilements [kilesa] and subtle defilements [upakilesa]1 allowing the mind to enter upon insight knowledge [nana] of the initial form i.e. ndnadassana —the knowledge which will arise spontaneously in the mind that “this body of ours that was given to us by our parents is made up of form [rupa] and consciousness [vinndna]. The material part of our body is made up of the four great elements [mahdbhuta] earth, water, wind and fire. The mind,by contrast,consists of consciousness. We realize that the human body that is brought up on food is something impermanent and is subject to old age and sickness. Although we can try to take good care of our health, in the end we must die and the physical and non-physical parts of our being must separate and this is the nature of the world:
“With his heart thus serene, made pure, translucent, cultured, devoid of evil, supple,ready to act, firm and imperturbable, he applies and bends down his mind to that insight that comes from knowledge. He grasps the fact: “This body of mine has form, it is built up of the four elements, it springs from father and mother, it is continually renewed by so much boiled rice and juicy foods, its very nature is impermanence,it is subject to erosion, abrasion, dissolution, and disintegration;” so also consciousness is bound up with it and depends on it.”
1. see note p. 170
Sometimes seeing and knowing [hdnadassana] is re ferred to as insight knowledge [vipassanadassana]. It is knowledge by which one sees the arising and falling away relating to one’s own body and that one’s body is indeed frightening and disadvantageous — and doing such we become disenchanted with the body. When disenchanted we have neither pleasure nor displeasure with the body which is to see the four noble truths at the level of one’s own body — suffering, cause of suffering, cessation of suffering and path to the cessation of suffering. Seeing and knowing is the state of mind of the initial attainment of Dhammakaya i.e. Dhammakaya Gotrabhu which is a step lower than stream-entry. Therefore, for a person to attain ‘seeing and knowing’ is to attain Dhammakaya Gotrabhu.
Higher Fruit #2: Mental Powers
When the meditator has attained insight knowledge, if he is still able to keep his mind at a standstill the mind will become yet purer enabling the formation of mental powers allowing many ‘bodies’ to be produced (that is to see many inner bodies from the astral to the angelic,form Brahma,formless-Brahma and Dhamma body) in accordance with the words of the Buddha:
“With his heart thus serene, made pure, translucent, cultured, devoid of evil, supple,ready to act, firm and imperturbable, he applies and bends down his mind to the calling up of a mental image. He calls up from this body another body, having form, made of mind, having all his own bodies’ limbs and parts, not deprived of any organ.”
“Just as if a man were to pull out a reed from its sheath. He would know: “This is the reed, this the sheath. The reed is one thing, the sheath another. It is from the sheath that the reed has been drawn forth.”
“Similarly were he to take a snake out of its slough, or draw a sword from its scabbard.”
“This, great king, is an immediate fruit of the life of an ascetic, visible in this life, and higher and sweeter than the last.”
We see that the fruit of being a monk at the second level after insightful knowledge is mental powers [manomayiddhi].At this point we have to consider our aim in training ourselves in meditation — to elevate ourselves to purity or to fall short at simply attaining mental powers. Mental power should be recognized as nothing more than a spin-off from our pursuit of purity.
Higher Fruit #3: Miraculous Powers
When the meditator has attained mental powers if he is still able to keep his mind at a standstill the mind will become yet purer enabling the formation of miraculous power [iddhividhi]
“With his heart thus serene, made pure, translucent, cultured,devoid of evil, supple, ready to act, firm and imperturbable, he applies and bends down his mind to the modes of marvellous power. He enjoys the marvelous power in its various modes — being one he becomes many, or having become many becomes one again; he becomes visible or invisible;he goes,feeling no obstruction, to the further side of a wall,or rampart, or hill, as if through air; he penetrates up and down through solid ground, as if through water; he walks on water without breaking through,as if on solid ground; he travels cross-legged in the sky, like birds on the wing; even the moon and the sun, potent and mighty as they are, he touches and feels with his hand; he reaches in the body even up to the heaven of Brahma.”
“Just as a clever potter or his apprentice could make, could succeed in getting out of properly prepared clay, absolutely any shape of vessel he wanted to have, or an ivory carver out of ivory,or a goldsmith out of gold. This, great king, is an immediate fruit of the life of an ascetic, and higher and sweeter than the last.”
Higher Fruit #4: Angelic Ear
When the meditator has attained miraculous power if he is still able to keep his mind at a standstill the mind will become yet purer enabling the attainment of supra-normal hearing [dibbasota] as in the words of the Buddha:
“With his heart thus serene, made pure, translucent, cultured,devoid of evil, supple, ready to act, firm and imperturbable, he applies and bends his mind to supra-normal hearing, by means of which, far surpassing as it does normal hearing, he hears sounds both human and celestial, far and near.”
“Just as if a man were on the high road and were to hear the sound of a kettledrum, or a tenor-drum, or the sound of trumpets and side-drums, he would know: “This is the sound of a kettledrum, this is the sound of a tenor-drum, this of trumpets and sidedrums.” This is an immediate fruit of the life of an ascetic,visible in this life, and higher and sweeter than the last.”
Higher Fruit#5: Mind Reading
If after attaining supra-normal hearing, the meditator is able further to maintain his mind at a standstill, the mind will become yet clearer and brighter, breaking free of defilements giving the mind greater efficiency by which he can know the thoughts of other people, knowing the level of progress in meditation of another person, knowing whether a person’s mind is concentrated and whether someone else has yet become enlightened as shown in the Alavaka Sutta:
“Once the ogre [yakkha] Alavaka went for audience with the Lord Buddha to ask questions. The ogre thought to himself, “if the Buddha can’t answer my questions, I will pick him up and throw him from this side of the ocean to the other”. When the ogre arrived at the place of residence of the Buddha it made various threatening gestures to make the Buddha come out to see him. The Buddha knew what Alavaka was going to say even before he had opened his mouth. The Buddha said, why are you trying to call the Tathagatha? I already know that you intend to throw me from this side of the ocean to the other— and continued by telling the ogre the question he had on his mind. He told the ogre that the origin of the question was from the ogre’s father and told him to tell his father that the answer was to be found from Kassapa Buddha.”
This is an illustration of the ability to read the minds of others [cetopariyayahana] of the Lord Buddha. The Buddha explained to King Ajatasattu that:
“With his heart thus serene, he directs and bends his mind to the understanding of the mind. Having understood his own mind, he is able to understand the minds of other beings, of other men. He is thus able to discern: the passionate mind, the calm mind, the angry mind,the peaceful mind,dull mind,the alert mind, attentive mind, the wandering mind,broad mind, the narrow mind, the mean mind, the lofty mind, the steadfast mind, the wavering mind,free mind,and the enslaved mind. He recognizes each for what it is.”
“Just as a woman or a man,or a lad,young and smart, considering carefully the reflection of his own face in a bright and brilliant mirror or in a vessel of clear water would, if it had a mole on it, know that it had, and if not, would know that, too.”
“This is an immediate fruit of the life of an ascetic, visible in this world, and higher and sweeter than the last.”
Higher Fruit #6: Recollection of One’s Previous Lives
If after attaining the ability to read the minds of others, the meditator is further able to maintain his mind at a standstill, the mind becomes yet clearer and brighter, breaking free of defilements allowing the meditator to recollect previous lives [pubbenivdsdnussatihana]—seeing which birth he took in previous lifetimes and his previous mode of life as in the words of the Buddha:
“With his heart thus serene, he directs and bends his mind to the knowledge of the memory of his previous existences. He recalls to mind his various existences in days gone by— one birth, or two or three, or ten or twenty, or a thousand or a hundred thousand births, through many ages of world dissolution, many ages of world evolution.”
“In such a place such was my name,such my family, such my caste, such my food, such my experience of discomfort or of ease, and such the limits of my life. When I passed away from that state,I took form again in such a place. There I had such and such a name, and family, and caste, and food, and experience of suffering or of well-being, such was the length of my life. When I passed away from that state I took form again here”
“Thus he calls to mind his former existences in all their circumstances.
“Just as if a man were to go from his own to another village, and from that one to another, and from that one should return home. Then he would know: “From my own village I came to that other one. There I stood in such and such a way, sat, spoke, and held my peace. From there I came to another village; and there I stood in such and such a way,sat, spoke, and held my peace. Now, from that other village, I have returned back again home.”
“This is an immediate fruit of the life of an ascetic, visible in this world, and higher and sweeter than the last.”
This is knowledge that allows one to recollect previous existences. All of the accounts of the lives of the Buddha previous to his final lifetime as found in the Jataka stories are all evidence of the Buddha’s ability to recollect his previous lifetimes.
Higher Fruit #7: Recollection of Others’ Previous Lives
If after attaining the ability to recollect previous lifetimes, the meditator is further able to maintain his mind at a standstill, the mind becomes yet more bright and clear, breaking free of further defilements and allowing him to seethe arising and passing away of beings according to their karma [cutupapatanana] (sometimes also known as the’ angel eye'[dibbacakkhu]) in a way the naked eye cannot see — as explained by the Buddha’s words:
“With his heart thus serene, he directs and bends his mind to the knowledge of the fall and rise of beings. With the pure supra-normal vision, he sees beings as they pass away from one form of existence and take shape in another; he recognizes the mean and the noble, the well-favoured and the ill – favoured, the happy and the wretched, passing away according to their deeds: “Such and such beings, my brethren, who in act and word and thought, are revilers of the noble ones, holding to wrong views, acquiring for them selves that karma which results from wrong views, they, on the dissolution of the body, after death, are reborn in some unhappy state of suffering or woe. But such and such beings, my brethren, who are well-doers in act, and word, and thought, not revilers of the noble ones,holding to right views,acquiring for them selves that karma that results from right views, they, on the dissolution of the body, after death, are reborn in some happy state in heaven.”Thus with the supranormal vision he sees beings as they pass away from one state of existence, and take form in another; he recognizes the mean and the noble, the well-favoured and the ill-favoured, the happy and the wretched,passing away according to their deeds.”
“Just as if there were a house with a high balcony overlooking a crossroads, and a man standing on it who had keen eyesight, and could watch men entering a house, and coming out of it, and walking here and there along the street, and sitting in the square in the midst. He would know: “Those men are entering a house, and those are leaving it, and those are walking up and down the street, and those are sitting in the square in the midst.”This is an immediate fruit of the life of an ascetic, visible in this world, and higher and sweeter than the last.”
Higher Fruit #8: Knowledge of an End of Defilements
If after attaining knowledge of the rising and falling away of other living beings, the meditator is further able to maintain his mind at a standstill. The mind becomes more bright and clear allowing him to attain knowledge of an end of defilements [asavakkhayafiajia] allowing him to become an arahat—the highest fruit of being a monk. In the Buddha’s words:
“With his heart thus serene, he directs and bends his mind to the knowledge of the destruction of the defilements. He knows [as it really is]: “This is suffering.” He knows as it really is: “This is the origin of suffering.” He knows as it really is: “This is the cessation of suffering.” He knows as it really is: “This is the Path that leads to the cessation of suffering.”He knows [as they really are]: “These are the defilements.” He knows as it really is: “This is the origin of the defilements.” He knows as it really is:”This is the cessation of the defilements.” He knows as it really is: “This is the Path that leads to the cessation of the defilements.” To him,thus knowing,thus seeing, the heart is set free from the bias for sensuality, is set free from the bias for eternal existence, is set free from the bias for ignorance. In him,thus set free, there arises the knowledge of his emancipation,and he knows: “Rebirth has been destroyed. The higher life has been fulfilled. What had to be done has been accomplished. After this present life there will be no rebirth.”
“Just as if in a mountain vastness there were a pool of water, clear, translucent and serene; a man, standing on the bank, with keen eyesight, could perceive the oysters and the shells, the gravel and the pebbles and the shoals offish,as they move about or lie within it, and he would know: “This pool is clear, transparent,and serene,and there with in it are the oysters and the shells, and the sand and gravel, and the shoals of fish are moving about or lying still.” This, great king, is an immediate fruit of the life of an ascetic, visible in this world,and higher and sweeter than the last. There is no fruit of the life of an ascetic visible in this world that is higher and sweeter than this.”
At this stage of attainment no further defilements remain in the mind. From what we have studied of these knowledges, stillness and steadfastness of mind is the key to progress.
Steadfastness means stillness and not moving away from the centre of the body — which is the gate to the mind. Attaining insight knowledge is equivalent to attaining ‘Dhammakaya Gotrabhu,’which is the foundation to attainment of Dhammakaya at the levels of sainthood: ‘Dhammakaya Sotapana’,’Dhammakaya Sakidagami’, ‘Dhammakaya Anagami’ and’ Dhammakaya Arahant.’ By the final of these, Dhammakaya Arahant one will have attained knowledge of the end of all defilements.
The other special power to see the supramundane and know the supramundane, can only arise by the presence of the ‘Eye of the Dhammakaya’ and ‘Knowledge of the Dhammakaya’ respectively—they are beyond mundane human knowledge. Thus to attain super normal knowledge is to attain Dhammakaya.
King Ajatasattu had followed the whole of the sermon with attentiveness —deeply impressed at every stage by the reasoning and ability to explain the fruits of being a true monk in accordance with what he had wanted to know for so long. King Ajatasattu declared:
“Most excellent, lord, most excellent! It is as though someone had set up again what had been thrown down, or had revealed what had been hidden away, or had pointed out the right road to someone who had gone astray, or had brought a light into the darkness so that those who had eyes could see the shape of things —just so has the Truth been made known to me, in many a figure,by the Master.”
As the result King Ajatasattu requested refuge in the Triple Gem for the rest of his life:
“Now I go for refuge, Lord, to the Buddha, to the Dhamma and to the Sangha. May the Master accept me as a disciple, as one whom,from this day forth,as long as life lasts has taken them as his guide. Evil had overcome me; I was weak and foolish and wrong; for the sake of power, I put to death my father, that righteous man, that righteous ruler.May the Master accept this from me, that I do acknowledge it as evil, so that in future I may restrain myself.”
King Ajatasattu had overcome his doubts and disappointment at never before having received a satisfactory answer. The Buddha alone had been able to remove the suffering he felt — and for this reason King Ajatasattu confessed his parricide to the Buddha. The Buddha ac knowledged his witness of the King’s sin with the words:
“Indeed, great king, it was sin that overcame you. But now that you look upon it as evil, and confess it ac cording to what is right, we accept your confession of it. For that is the practice in the discipline of the noble ones, that whoever looks upon his fault as a fault, and rightly confesses it, attains to self-restraint in future.”
King Ajatasattu was overjoyed that the Buddha accepted his confession without a word of criticism or by further burdening his conscience. In fact it was a virtue of King Ajatasattu that he was able to admit his mistakes. Al though the unwholesome deed of King Ajatasattu must take its toll, by confessing in front of the Buddha, at least he brought to an end any further karmic feud that might otherwise ensue between himself and his late father.
The king, seeing it was appropriate to leave, paid respect to the Buddha by bowing and circumambulating by the right and returned in procession back to the pal
ace.
When the King and all the royal retinue had left, the Buddha revealed to the remaining disciples that the unwholesome deed of parricide had obscured for the King the path to either heaven or Nirvana — if this had not been the case, the King would have attained stream-en try as the result of listening to the sermon.
In the commentaries it adds that as the result of the sermon, the king was able to over come his insomnia, to take refuge in the Triple Gem and develop great faith in the Triple Gem—in away unrivalled in other unenlightened disciples [putthujana].
Even though King Ajatasattu would have to undergo the retribution of parricide in the lowermost stratum of the Lohakumbhi1 Hell for 30,000 hell years — the Buddha predicted that as soon as the King had overcome the fortune of the lower stratum of the Lohakumbhi Hell, he would spend another 30,000 hell years in the upper stratum of the same hell— and then would manage to attain enlightenment as a Paccekabuddha called ‘Jivitavisesa’ attaining Nirvana in the end.
1. see note p.163
9. Conclusions
1. Characteristics of a good Buddhist Monk
As a result of the teachings in the Samannaphala Sutta. We can clearly see that the characteristics of a Buddhist monk have three levels:
1. Elementary Level
1.1 Ordination with an aim in mind: A monk should ordain with the aim to train himself to be a good person in every respect: restraint of senses, education of the mind in theory and practice [pariyatti and patipatti] by study of the scriptures and following a correct method of meditation until being able to tame the mind —bringing peace, radiance and eventually wisdom to understand life and the world in accordance with reality.
1.2 Restrained in accordance with the monastic code of conduct: A monk should be possessed of both manners and haunts—seeing danger even in the smallest things and to have the pre-intention to follow the rules of training.
1.3 Pure in livelihood: The only way by which a monk can procure his livelihood is by almsround.
1.4 Possessed of self-discipline
All of these characteristics can be observed by the outward manner and behaviour of monks. If monks are possessed of such characteristics they are worthy of the praise, faith, homage and support of householders.
2. Intermediate level:
Those with these five characteristics are good monks at the intermediate level.
2.1 Restraint of the senses: When in public it is especially important for monks to restrain the sense doors — to be worthy of the homage of laypeople or younger monks. Monks who are habitually restrained according to the monastic code of conduct will find that it comes naturally to restrain the senses both in public and behind closed doors.
2.2 Endowment with mindfulness and self-possession: This means not allowing the mind to wander or to drift in a way that undermines the faith of others.
2.3 Endowed with contentment: This means contentment with what one has and what one receives— not going to great lengths to ask for special treatment and gifts from laypeople in a way that undermines the faith of others.
2.4 Freedom from the Hindrances: Although the hindrances are an internal affair of the mind,a monk must be careful not to let hindrances manifest themselves as e.g. losing one’s temper,hatred of others, sleepiness, reluctance, boredom with life, doubt in the teaching —on the contrary, a monk should show enthusiasm for a life of training, restraint and giving encouragement and guidance to laypeople.
2.5 Attainment of the absorptions: This is not something that is obvious to the observer. Also a monk will not inform you — because to inform you would be in breach of the Vinaya. However,for a monk who is able to overcome the hindrances and make further progress, attainment of the inner brightness of absorptions attained will be visible by improved conduct, ability to teach clearly and from a bright physical complexion.
3. Higher level:
The higher fruits of true monk hood mentioned above which come as the result of self-training in meditation are eight in number and sometimes referred to as the Supra-normal Eight fold knowledge. Whether it be the Eight fold Supra-Normal Knowledge, the sixfold super knowledge [abhihnd] or the Three fold Knowledge, all these higher fruits of true of monk hood are considered extraordinary attainments [uttarimanussadhamma] which ac cording to monastic discipline, monks are not allowed to discuss in public, as boasting of attainments not actually achieved is punishable by disrobing [parajika]. Even if a monk speaks publicly of his attainments in accordance with reality, such behaviour is still punishable. Thus when we are judging whether a monk is good or not, normally we have to make a judgement on the basis of the elementary and intermediate levels.
2. Characteristics of a monk not worthy of respect
The Samannaphala Sutta teaches us not only the things which identify a good monk but also characteristic of monks to be avoided:
1. Ordained in spite of lacking faith in the Vinaya: with out any intention to train oneself or improve oneself as a monk. Some ordain simply to runaway from their worldly problems or to avoid the hard work of earning a living. Some ordain to escape legal proceedings or as a tool in earning their living;
2. Laxity in following the monastic code of conduct — perhaps shown by monks lying, taking drugs, taking an evening meal or listening to music;
3. Frequenting wrongful ‘haunts’ — such as going to places of entertainment or commerce on personal business instead of by invitation;
4. Gambling or encouraging supporters to waste time with gambling;
5. Being interested to converse on subjects such as waging war or fashion—or other subjects not directly concerned with monastic duties;
6. Volunteering to help with jobs that are the domain of a householder such as matchmaking, being a go-between or canvassing for votes;
7. Making a living out of black arts —fortune telling, initiations, charms, witch doctery, numerical house charms and written charms [yantra], making predictions, looking at the vital signs of adults, children or animals — predictions and lucky stars for marriage;
8. Playing games such as chess, draughts, cards, computer games or even Takraw ;
9. Boasting about one’s personal ability or looking down on the abilities of other monks;
10. Having no restraint of the senses;
11. Explaining and teaching Buddhism in a way that deviates from the Dhammavinaya or spreading or perpetuating false views such as that heaven and hell don’t really exist, that death is the end of the story or that there is no afterlife;
12.Monks using means to mislead the public e.g. into understanding that they have attained the stages of Saint hood;
13. Displaying a lack of contentment — noticeable from the way a monk’s accommodation is furnished (excessive luxury or with a television or radio — which are not for helping to practice Dhamma — and accumulating lots of things in their kuti beyond any possible usefulness;
There maybe more characteristics of a monk which makes them less worthy of respect —but any one of the thirteen behaviours mentioned above is sufficient for supporters to suspect whether a monk is really strict in the Vinaya or not.
3. Conduct of householders towards monk’s community.
When the only correct way by which monks can earn their living is by almsround and the true way a monk should spend his time is in self-training and teaching, the house holder should recognize their own duty to support the monks, specifically:
3.1 Conduct towards monks who practice well
3.1.1 Supporting monks with the four requisites;
3.1.2 Supporting monks with the wherewithal for study and self-training;
3.1.3 Supporting monks with the wherewithal to spread the Dhamma;
3.1.4 Showing respect towards the monks — following and learning from the mas much as possible— taking them as an example;
3.1.5 Reminding yourself that monks who are well es tablished in self-discipline [sila], meditation [samddhi] and wisdom [pafihd] are the perpetuators of Buddhism and without such monks, Buddhism would founder.
3.2 Conduct towards monks lax in the Vinaya
It is hard for a monk to be ideal in every respect — especially if he lacks a proper aim in his ordination. Even with a proper aim, sometimes it takes considerable time before a monk can develop the virtues of purity described in Chapter 6. Thus when observing the manner of monks it is useful for supporters to consider the fol lowing factors:
3.2.1 Whether he is a new monk or a monk ordained long ago: The new monk (a monk ordained for less than five years)has the special term ‘navaka’—if a monk is newly ordained he might not have had sufficient time to train himself in the necessary virtues. Whether a monk is young or old and conducts him self inappropriately,you should tell his preceptor or the abbot of the temple where he resides so that the monks can sort out the problem themselves.
3.2.2 If you have evidence of serious misdeeds by a monk, you can report it to the monastic governor of that area — so that instant action can be taken and such a thing not happen again.
3.2.3 Don’t show respect to particular monks who have performed misdeeds (but don’t tar all monks with the same brush!)
3.2.4 Remind yourself that monks who perform misdeeds are the death of Buddhism.
3.2.5 Don’t give personal support to such a monk.
If a monk (especially those already long ordained) continues to perform misdeeds and receive no support as a result, before long, he will be unable to continue as a monk. Before long, he will consider his own faults and make some improvements. It is interesting to note that from Devadatta down to the present day, monks with scandals have always managed to do with the complicity of laypeople (sometimes those who collaborate with a vested interest or who stupidly respect a monk who doesn’t teach Buddhism)
4. Man’s Aim in life
One of life’s greatest questions is ‘why were we born’—for which it is hard to find a satisfactory answer. Most people just shrug off the question thinking it is no use to worry about such a thing or that it is a subject unsuitable for speculation or beyond rational thinking. By adjusting the question slightly it becomes a little more practicable — ‘Having taken human birth — how should we set our aim in life?’ — Because a ready answer is waiting for us in the Samannaphala Sutta. We see that’ aim in life’ has three levels:
1. Exclusively materialistic level
2. Material / Spiritual level
3. Exclusively spiritual level
4.1 Aim in life at the exclusively materialistic level:
This is an aim in life common amongst householders still heavily subject to defilements. You could call such an aim an ‘earthly’ aim or ‘worldly’ aim. It is for those whose only purpose is to find immediate fulfillment and convenience—similar to the ambition of King Ajatasattu in taking the throne from his father as illustrated in his original question to the Buddha {see p.36):
“The general public use their knowledge and ability to earn his living to support themselves, their family and their parents.”
Such an aim in life fits with the majority of people who see money as power — according to them, the richer you are the happier you can be. Then they spend the whole of their time earning their living to get themselves power and influence. If they can’t earn as much as they would like honestly, they turn to dishonest means,risking imprisonment. Such people are not interested to accumulate merit or perfections and may not be ashamed to do evil. Once having set oneself to accumulating wealth and influence, generally people are not concerned how much is enough —and tend to hurt themselves and others in the process. Hurting oneself means accumulating wealth without end until the imperative becomes greed, anger with competition or delusions of power. Harming others means competing and destroying the environment and natural resources. Harming either yourself or others is the sign of a person of false view [micchd ditthipuggala]
4.2. Material / Spiritual Level:
This is an aim in life where you also take into account lives that must come in the future. People with such a level of aim in life understand that death is not the end of the story. Some might call such an aim as ‘aim in the clouds.’ Human beings are superior to other animals in their ability to discern virtue [dhammasannd]. It is a component of Right View. Such people are able to distinguish between good and evil don’t believe that death is the end of the story —thus they think to accumulate merit for the next life, think to support monks and ascetics. As in the words of King Ajatasattu:
“Those in general who use their knowledge and ability and earn their livelihood to support themselves, their family,their parents and who use the remainder of their resource to cultivate generosity towards monks and ascetics hoping for happiness both in this life and the next.”
Anyone with such a thought is obviously of Right View (at a precursory level)
At any time Ajatasattu associated with Devadatta his aim in life was reduced to the exclusively material level (thinking only to get power and influence by killing his father). Thus through the power of False View, a person with the potential to attain ‘stream-entry’ was reduced to performing the heaviest karma [anantariyakamma].After ascension to the throne the retribution of his sin brought only suffering of mind and made him search for a way to reduce his suffering.
This illustrates how (for a smart person) evil circumstances might be the reason to turn towards virtue as with the King’s decision to go and hear the teaching of the Lord Buddha,thereby recovering his material / spiritual aim in life.
Those who decide to leave the household life to enter the monk hood also share a more developed ‘material/ spiritual aim in life’.
Devadatta would have had such an aim as he first ordained and managed to attain the absorptions. However on becoming of False View,his attainments disappeared and his aim in life was reduced to the exclusively material level. Getting carried away with his own mental attainments is an example of good circumstances leading one to recklessness. The same thing can happen to those in a privileged walk of life who take advantage of their privileged circumstances to do immoral things and end up destroying their future.
4.3.Exclusively spiritual level:
Some might refer to such an aim in life as ‘above the clouds.’ It is an aim in life that you will find only in Buddhism as a ‘religion of wisdom.’ In Buddhism practice is the important thing and the theory is only as much use as it can be put into practice. One must start with the Vinaya and progress to the Suttas. As a householder one cannot practice the Vinaya in its entirety. It is useful to have experience of ordination. Eventually even a householder can become enlightened at the initial level of Buddhist sainthood.
Practice of the Dhammavinaya has many levels— from the level of simply using it as discipline to that of applying it to meditation for liberation and Nirvana.
A large number of householders—even those who call themselves Buddhist — misunderstand the importance of practising meditation seriously and are therefore doubtful about the existence of the transcendental paths,fruits and Nirvana. Even so the Buddha has pointed clearly to the stages of attainment in meditation and has told us what sort of result can be expected through practising in accordance with the Samannaphala Sutta. Those who have an exclusively spiritual aim in life will have unshakeable faith in Buddhism and will practice meditation with such a seriousness that they would even agree to sacrifice their own life to succeed.
5. Associating with fools has the retribution of falling into hell
Having a mind which is habitually clouded can be the reason why some people have a view of the world removed from reality — i.e. wrong view, wrong values and wrong direction, with an inability to be a teacher to themselves. Faulty discretion can be the reason why one is unable to distinguish good from evil,or to reason things through properly. There is always a tendency to use oneself as a standard for the rest of the world—not being able to tell appropriate from inappropriate and not giving things due respect. You cannot admire something you like without wanting to own it for yourself— and you end up wanting to obtain it even while knowing that taking it will cause regret to others or even their death. When one has no thought whether one’s behaviour complies with morality or the law — one’s behaviour starts to exhibit the signs of a ‘fool’ or that of a per son ‘infected’ by foolishness.
Another characteristic of a fool is immoral behaviour which knows no rest. Having successfully pulled off a piece of trouble-making they will move onto something new in the way of trouble-making immediately. Sometimes the continuity of trouble-making is a result of the pressure of need. For example having pulled off a murder, if there was a witness, then there is more work left to do — to silence them. However, sometimes the continuity is because of the nature of that person’s own mind which has the tendency to give in to the power of defilements in the mind.
Anyone who associates with fools runs the risk of picking up theirs bad habits with ease. Fools are like those who are ill with a deadly infectious disease. Anyone with such a disease will tend to infect everything surrounding them within a certain radius the whole of the time. Those who associate closely with them will be the first victims. For the same reason doctors always recommend the isolation of patients with dangerous contagious diseases and don’t let them mix with the healthy, fools whose minds are obscured by defilements need to be kept in isolation in case their way of thinking infects those whose discretion is still healthy.
Furthermore, the mind of every person of mundane mental attainment has the seeds of ‘foolishness’ — if such seeds come under the sway of a similar condition of mind— then there is the temptation to follow the example of the fool ‘just for the experience’, ‘just for a laugh’, ‘to try it and see’, ‘just for a kick’ or with an ulterior motive — as there are many examples for us to observe in today’s society.
One clear example is that of teenage drug addiction in the present day. From education,the school, college, university and the media, we are all aware of the damage produced by drugs from the most innocuous such as tobacco and marijuana to the deadly and expensive — but why do so many teenagers become addicted to drugs often to the point of death or to the loss of their future? Despite those deadly drugs being difficult to access and being sold only in secret in particular places to particular groups?
The answer is that only because of keeping bad company (i.e. with fools)can young people be led so far off track from consideration for their future. There is no way of estimating the retribution these teenagers face in lives to come as a result from keeping bad company, let alone looking at the damage in this lifetime in terms of lost future and family suffering. Simply being careless about the quality of one’s associates can cause life to degenerate into a living hell.
Another example which is clearly seen as the origin of the Samannaphala Sutta. From King Ajatasattu’s murder of his own father and from aiding and abetting Devadatta’s attempt to harm the Buddha—in fact all these actions originate from association with Devadatta.
By the time King Ajatasattu managed to realize the dam age done, it was beyond repair. Even though later he had the chance to meet the Buddha, hear a teaching, understand his error, ask the Buddha’s forgiveness and take the Triple Gem as his refuge, giving incomparable patronage to Buddhism (especially the First Council) —he could not evade the retribution of tens of thousands of years in hell in subsequent lifetimes.
Thus beyond the retribution of missing the chance of heaven and Nirvana it led directly to hell as with the Buddha’s saying:
“Those who associate with bad company will suffer extended sorrow” ( Dh. 207)
and
“Associating with bad company leads to none other than disaster.”(Haliddaraga Jataka J. iii. 524)
6. Associating with the wise gives the opportunity to attain Nirvana
It is only as the result of the helping hands of others that we have managed to survive up to the present day. It would be a foolish person to claim otherwise. Even when working and ‘supporting ourselves’ we still have to rely on others in order to make our living. In our relation ships the Buddha divided our connections into six directions:
1. Parents
2. Teachers
3. Spouse and offspring
4. Friends
5. Subordinates and employees
6. The monastic community
Among these six categories there is only one group for whom we have no choice—that is our parents. If our mother and father are sound in mind and body, whether rich or poor, they must surely have at least good wishes for their children— and for this reason we dub them our ‘real good friends’ or ‘kalydnamitta’. We have the opportunity to choose those in the other five social groups (we are able to raise our children as we would like them to be) — but what principles can we use to make sure we associate only with the ‘wise’ and avoid the ‘fools’? The Buddha taught:
“You should not trust those with whom you are unfamiliar. And even those with whom you are familiar, you should not trust (Vissasabhojana Jataka J. i. 387)
In other words,no matter what society we are in,we should not be reckless —but we should try to observe what oth er’s real habits are like. If the sort of person who we observe:
• protects you even when you are off your guard;
• helps protect your property even when you neglect it;
• is your refuge in times of danger;
• always provides you with twice as much as you asked for;
• they confide in you;
• they don’t go spreading your secrets around;
• they don’t abandon you when you fall on hard times;
• they would even die in your place;
• they warn you against unwholesome behaviour
• encourage you towards wholesome behaviour;
• save up new things to tell you;
• point you in the direction of heaven.
• they don’t laugh at your misfortunes;
• they congratulate you on your good fortune,
• they speak out against anyone who maligns you,
• they stand up for those who speak well of you
All of these characteristics are those of a ‘good friend’ — and they are the marks of those with whom we should associate — and be sincere in the long-term and for our own future. The Buddha warned us:
“No one should associate with evil friends
No one should associate with lowly friends
One should associate with ‘good friends’
One should associate with the highest of men”
(Dh. 78)
In the Samannaphala Sutta because of associating with Devadatta, Ajatasattu committed a crime so heinous that he could not sleep from that day forth. However, when he met a ‘good friend’, the evil suffering was removed from his mind, allowing him to renew his practice of good deeds — so that the retribution of karma was lessened.
The first ‘good friend’ of King Ajatasattu was Jivaka Komarabhacca —who led the king to meet with the Buddha for the first time. If it wasn’t for Jivaka the king might have been persuaded to give patronage to other sects and do resulting bad deeds that were worse that the last, be cause a king with his power has the chance to do greater merit or demerit than the man in the street.
The second’ good friend’ to King Ajatasattu was the Buddha — the greatest ‘good friend’ to the whole world. Through hearing only a short teaching from the Buddha, he could understand the meaning of the characteristics of being a good monk and to see that Devadatta was no true monk — and to be careful in the future when considering which monks to adopt as teachers. Right View therefore came to prevail for King Ajatasattu.
The good deeds of KingAjatasattu would eventually lead him to be born as a Paccekabuddha in the future. Thus the existence of ‘good friends’ in the world is beneficial with out any shadow of a doubt.
7. Demerit in the mind can be diluted by merit
We have to keep our physical possessions clean. If we leave them dirty apart from being unattractive they eventually become unusable — deteriorate in quality and value. Even our own body is the same — if we get dirty then we have to spend time washing otherwise we will become repulsive to others and attract illness. The mind is no different — we cannot just allow the mind to be overrun by defilements, like rust which eats into the surface of a metal.
We have already mentioned that the infectious part of a ‘fool’ is always the clouded mind, which leads to unwholesome behaviour. The mind is clouded by defilements. If someone has done something wrong and they realize themselves or because of the advice of a ‘good friend’ — the thing they should be quick to do is to eradicate defilement from the mind by doing good deeds. If we are slow to remove defilements then they will lead us back to do further evil deeds. The Buddha taught:
“We should be quick to do good And be quick to prohibit the mind from evil If we are slow to do good The mind will become caught up in evil”1
As dirty objects need to be cleansed with clear water, the defilements of the mind can be diluted by merit. Thus those who wish to purify the mind need to verse themselves in generosity [ddna], self-discipline [sila] and meditation [bhdvand] or self-discipline [sila], meditation [samddhi] and wisdom [pahhd] which all bring purity of mind. The Buddha thus taught his monks:
“Do not fear to do good, because merit is of the nature of happiness” (Punfiavipaka Sutta: A.iv.91)
In the Samannaphala Sutta we see that King Ajatasattu appreciated the value of good deeds, changing completely (for the better) during the course of the Buddha’s teaching. From the non King Ajatasattu took refuge in the Triple Gem. He asked forgiveness and gave his patronage to Buddhism so that from that time on there was no further space in his mind for any thought of evil — in just the same way that once a lamp is lit, darkness cannot come close any more.
Thus anyone with evil in their past must be quick to realize their mistake—and cleanse the mind of evil by instantly doing meritorious deeds — and stopping any further evil. This is to protect the mind from relapsing to the former state and to build up familiarity with goodness — developing the shame of evil [hiri] and the fear of the consequences of evil [ottappa] — and build up so much momentum of merit for the mind that the fruits of our evil cannot catch up with
us:
1. Dh. 116 Abhittharetha kalyane, papa cittam nivdraye, dandham hi karoto puhham, papasmim ramati mano
Those who do meritorious deeds Ought to do them often You should find contentment in good deeds Because accrual of merit will bring you happiness.1
8. Society can be Reformed only by Reforming Human Nature
If you consider your immediate social environment—right from the smallest building block of society— the family — which consist of only four to five people (mother, father and children) you will see that all it takes is for any one person in the family to break the Precepts and the whole of the family suffers as a result.
An example often seen in society is of the drunken father who fights with his wife and children — bringing unrest and fear to the rest of the family. If the father really loses control of himself he might even beat other members of his family destroying all harmony and refuge the family might have offered.
Supposing the mother separates and moves away as a result, the ones who suffer are the children. If they are young they lack refuge. If they are teenagers they might also rum away from home and might become prey to bad company who persuade them into drug-abuse and criminality as can be found in the headlines of the newspapers everyday.Thus even one black sheep can cause all the others in society to suffer.
1. Dh. 118 Punnance puriso kayira, kayirathenanam punappunam, tamhi chandam kayiratha, sukho puhnassa uccayo.
Fools who are unable to help themselves will spread the infection of faulty discretion to social units on all levels — like a weed which spreads in the crop field. Even though the farmers never rest from their weeding the fields are never completely free from weeds. In the same way society is never completely free from he influence of ‘fools’.
Fools with a little experience, knowledge and influence might even manage to crawl up to positions of responsibility in society. Such people can bring whole societies and countries into peril—leaving innocent people without any connection to themselves dead on the battlefield as a result of their aggressive policies. History is full of such examples and many such regimes still exist. As long as such people still exist in society any real peace cannot emerge — only when people are good and through good people can peace come into existence.
From the Samannaphala Sutta you can see that the pres sure of just one evil person—Devadatta — caused untold aggression and damage both in the royal and religious establishments. For the royal establishment we see the execution of the king as the outcome of his delusions and division of the Sangha was damage he caused to the religious establishment.
9. Factors in becoming a good person
Our rationale in bringing peace to the world is to make good people of the world’s inhabitants —but to make everyone in the world good is no easy matter. We need to know what factors lie behind peoples’ goodness.
In Buddhism a good person is called by the technical term ‘pandita’ — a pundit —but according to our definition a pundit might easily be someone illiterate or a poor farmer — the decisive factor is that he must have a clear mind,right view and the ability to be a teacher to himself [yonisomanasikdra] —or put more simply he must be someone whose thought, words and deeds are good. By his good behaviour, a good person will be more than capable to live his life in accordance with moral standards— avoiding inappropriate behaviour and wickedness, but seeking out opportunity to do good deeds show compassion and be a good friend [kalydnamitta] to others.
There is no person in the world who manages to become a good person spontaneously or by accident. Supposing you were to compare the development of a person’s character with growing a fruit tree —supposing you would like to grow yourself a mango tree which gives delicious fruit — you have to go out of your way to prepare many things — the pedigree of the mango seed,the quality of the soil, regularity of watering, aeration of the soil, fertilizer and removal of weeds. When the tree starts to bud, you have to give extra water and keep pests from eating the flowers with in sect deterrent. Even when the fruit has developed, we need to find a way of protecting the fruit from bruising—a farmer cannot afford to sit idle and wait for the tree to bear fruit. In the same way when it comes to creating good people in the world you have to prepare yourself for hard work — you have to start training them from an early age—you have to use a complex variety of techniques more difficult than growing mangoes by far.
In the training of young people there are two major components,which need to be developed if virtue is to emerge, namely:
1. The ability to be a teacher to oneself
2. The ability to be a good friend to others.
The ability to be a teacher to yourself: In fact the literal translation of the Pali ‘yonisomanasikdra’. This particular factor means ‘giving things due consideration according to their reality’—considering things sequentially by cause and effect until one can reach back to the root causes of things, separating and analyzing components to see the nature and the relationship between the concomitants—knowing what is good and bad for oneself—opting for the things which lead to wholesomeness and which do not lead to ignorance or craving.
Someone who is able to be a teacher to himself will be someone who has the wisdom to understand life and the world according to reality and who is able to distinguish good and bad, right or wrong,appropriate and inappropriate — once you are able to distinguish then you will want to do nothing else but wholesome things and not waiting to have any involvement with unwholesomeness.
One can only develop the ability to be a teacher to oneself by training oneself in it directly —you have to base your knowledge on real experiences — you need to have had many case histories and examples and most important of all you need someone more experienced than yourself to oversee your decision-making and help if necessary.
Having a good friend: In any family the best good friend [kalydnamitta] to the children are the parents. In other words, the parents have to be the prime mover in the in stilling of virtue for the children. Furthermore,parents have to be an example to their children and to follow up the be haviour of children intimately and regularly. To do this parents need to ask themselves regularly whether they are re ally a teacher to themselves or not.
Indeed, not only parents but the categories of person in the other five social groups— if we associate with them as good friends incorporating the ability to be a teacher to ourselves — then we will manage to evade the suffering which comes from associating with fools. In conclusion, being a teacher to oneself and a good friend to others are the components of being a good person.
From the Samannaphala Sutta we see that even though Devadatta had sufficient merit to be born in a royal family, with wealth and retinue,he was handicapped by his inability to be a teacher to himself. Maybe he wasn’t closely trained from an early age and therefore developed false view, mistaking evil for good, and doing evil things continuously— finding fault with others, or envying their successes. Eventually when taking ordination along with another five princes, all the others achieved enlightenment or stages of sainthood but Devadatta attained only mundane absorptions, which were only transitory.
Seeing the special attention lavished on the Buddha and close disciples but not receiving such attention himself — instead of developing the ability to be a teacher to himself and mending the errors of his ways, he reverted to worse jealousy, thinking to destroy the Buddha and set himself up as leader in His place.Even though his bad intentions caused him to lose his mental powers it still didn’t make him think to change his ways.
If you look in a superficial way at Devadatta you would see that he is a fool without discretion suffering from false view and unsuitable to associate with. However,if you consider his casein more depth you will see that he is a pitiful case. Apart from getting no benefit from his own distinguished birth, the eminence of his birth actually becomes an impediment, making him look down on everyone else — even those who might be able to help him — even the ultimate good friend of the world — The Buddha himself. From the case of Devadatta you can see that it can be disastrous not to have sorted out one’s ability to teach oneself since an early age. Leaving it to later life can be too late — green wood is easily shaped but seasoned wood is hard to shape.
Compare the case of Prince Ajatasattu who received a lot of training from an early age in his family but was later eclipsed by the discretion of a fool he associated with (Devadatta) making him temporarily of false view. Later however, with the help of good friends he was able to realize his mistake and reform himself
Therefore,you can see that the ability to be a teacher to yourself is the first and foremost component of a good per son —followed closely by the example and care of a good friend such as our own parents. If you can get discretion right from the time you are in the hands of your parents, later you can extend your social relations to those of the other five directions, without making mistakes in life — as in the words of the Buddha.
“Associating with the virtuous ensures prosperity” Bhaddo sappurisena samgamo (Thag. 91)
10. Instilling virtue in children is an important parental duty
The first ‘good friends’ to each and every one of us in the world are our parents or guardians — they are the ones to instil the virtue of ‘being a teacher to yourself [yonisomanasikdra]. Each parent must take responsibility for such a duty—from the time their child first opens their eyes to the world on wards. There is ample medical and psycho logical evidence to suggest that every individual is impressionable right from the time of being a baby—for example a baby whose nappy is left unchanged regularly and soiled for long period of time is liable later in life to unhygienic and messy habits.
Thus parents should not be neglectful in setting up the sort of habits they would like to see in their children. As for higher virtues—the importance is proportionally greater. You cannot just wait for teachers or schools to do the job for you. They will never be able to give full attention to the task because their students are many and the time for each is limited. Furthermore,a child’s time spent at school is still less than the time spent at home.
For all of these reasons — the instilling of virtue in children is an important duty for the parents —right from the time the child is still a baby. It is a duty which requires per severance and consistency and requires an understanding or sequencing and graduation in virtues taught to know what to teach a child first and what to keep until they are older.
Of course the possible virtues you can teach to a child are many, but the most important in the development of ‘being a teacher to yourself are:
1. Knowledge of the highest aim of Buddhism (the highest aim in life of humankind). Buddhism teaches us to pur sue perfection — when our perfections are fulfilled we will be able to overcome the last of the defilements in our minds —and we will be able to break free from the cycle of rebirth.
2. Knowledge of how to practice in order to achieve our high est aim in life:normally the threefold practice of self-discipline [sila], meditation [samddhi] and wisdom [pahhd].
3. The four virtues for a householder [gharavdsadhamma].
4. That Buddhists have the job of supporting their religion: Because man’s highest refuge is the Triple Gem, it means that care should be taken to support the Sangha or monastic community who perpetuate and spread Buddhism. If any monastic member is deprived of the support of householders —before long he will be unable to continue in his duties. — and in turn that is the end ofthe life ofBuddhism— inotherwords itis thejobofBuddhiststosupport their religion.
5. Principles in keeping with (especially the first six) blessings of the Mafigala Sutta:
1) not associating with fools: mother and father must teach children how to choose appropriate friends and spouse;
2) associating with the wise: i.e. those who are adept in self-discipline [sila], meditation[samddhi] and wisdom [pahhd];
3) honouring those worthy of respect: especially the Buddha, monks who practice well, monarchs established in the Ten Virtues of a monarch [rdjadhamma], parents and elder relatives and various teachers — even one’s boss if he is honest. Having respect for such people means attempting to follow the good example set by such people.
4)Living in an amenable location: an unpolluted environment with good prospects for work and education both in worldly and spiritual ways —and even government — not somewhere dominated by the criminal underworld.
5)Get down to the pursuit of the Perfections. Our work in the present time will bring its fruits in the future. In the same way the happiness we receive in the present must be the result of our pursuit of perfection in the past, the merits we accrue will bring fruits ensuring our intelligence, prosperity and progress in our duties in the future —and happiness in life in accordance with the Buddhist proverb:
“The accrual of merit brings happiness”1
and
Merit is the refuge of beings in the world to come 1
Furthermore, the faith of those who are steadfast in the accrual of merit will be a shield to protect them from the temptation of evil ways.
6) A correct aim in life.
Anyone who has accumulated all the foregoing virtues will be sure to have developed the ability to be a teacher to them selves — with the flexibility to adopt appropriate to any circumstances — and will be able to earn their living successfully. Life is happy and such a person has worth to society.
Even so —if a person is instilled with many other virtues such as cleanliness,economy,enthusiasm and conscientiousness etc. but has missed out on the important virtues already mentioned —the ability to be a teacher to yourself might not develop.
Therefore it is vital that parents take their role in supporting their children to develop the ability to be a teacher to themselves. Without this virtue your children might just make a mess of their lives—and their after-life might just consist of torment in hell, as in the case of Devadatta — in technical parlance—suffering in both the two worlds (this world and the hereafter).
1.Punnassa paralokasmim patittha honti paninam (J.iv.62)
2. see footnote p. 127
11.Confession of Mistakes is a necessity
When the Buddha had finished teaching the Samannaphala Sutta to King Ajatasattu, King Ajatasattu praised the Teaching of the Buddha and took refuge in the Triple Gem. However another important thing which the king did was to confess his fault to the Lord Buddha.
“I was overwhelmed by (i.e. I have committed) a misdeed, being foolish, bewildered and unwise. For the sake of gaining sovereign power, I put my father to death, who ruled with righteousness and kingly virtue. Venerable Sir, I request the Bhagava to accept this admission of my guilt so that I can restrain my self in the future.”
“Great King! True indeed that you were overwhelmed by a misdeed, being foolish, bewildered and unwise. You have put to death your father who ruled with righteousness and kingly virtue. But now, as you have realized your guilt and admitted it to make amends, we accept your admission. Great King! Realizing one’s guilt, making amends and abstaining from such misdeed in the future means enhancement according to the injunctions of the Ariyas.”
We can see that confession is part of the Ariyan or noble culture of the time —not a way of removing evil. As part of Buddhist culture we ought to practice it as follows:
1. Confession for the offender to acknowledge that he is aware of his mistake.
2. Confession is an indication of the intention not to re peat the mistake. It shows one’s courage and one’s sincerity in making sure the mistake does not happen again and to take special care of oneself not to get mixed up with other unwholesomeness. In others words, it is an effective way of setting up armour to protect oneself against any further evils.
Confession needs to be made out loud in front of a witness. To confess in one’s mind or simply in front of a Buddha image or to write a letter of confession to another may not give the full effect.The best sort of confession is in the presence of the Buddha or an arahant. Without such conditions, the offender may return to his old ways again, (or worse than before) because:
1) The mind can change at any time. The mind of the unenlightened is always under the influence of defilements. Thus one’s feelings and thoughts are unstable and are always changeable—thus if someone confesses simply to their parents or a respected monk, later they might relapse to their old ways of flunking, or the confession might be forgotten.
2)Confession in the presence of the Buddha or an Arahant will bring the greatest self-confidence, because such people are incomparable in their ability to see the reality of the world — and a confession in their presence will transform guilt into the thirst for self-improvement. Once one has re-aligned oneself with goodness,wholesomeness etc. then one can get down to doing good deeds in earnest again.
In the case of King Ajatasattu after his confession,he turned his life around and performed many good deeds.
Even though in the present day we have no more Buddhas or arahants to be witness to our confessions, we ought to perpetuate the noble tradition of confession by confessing instead to parents,guardian,or teacher. We should teach our children and grandchildren and students to do the same. It will teach them not to repeat mistakes and protect against the habit of lying.
Furthermore, children’s mistakes are generally minor — and they are easier to admit openly and to take responsibility for. It will build up their habit to reflect on their own conduct, be thorough in their thinking before doing things – especially evil doing. Otherwise, they will have to bear their guilt eternally and their embarrassment doesn’t go away. Evil kept as secrets just give rise to continuing anxiety. Therefore confession is a way of developing the key virtue of conscience in keeping with the Buddhist proverb:
“Evil has the nature to scald one at a later date”1
At the same time, elders who are witness to confessions must hear out confession with compassion, seriousness and attentiveness to every word of the confession — in stead of criticizing or punishing the confessor cruelly by losing one’s temper, try to put yourself in the confessor’s shoes — be patient enough to listen out the confession to the end — because no matter how angry you may be, the mistake is already done and cannot be changed.
Instead of shouting or criticizing the offender immediately at the end of the confession — one should first ask
l.paccha tappati dukkatam (S.i.49)
the reason for saying or thinking in such a mistaken way. Only then should one start lecturing that person. Some times a good way of teaching or advising the confessor is to ask them rhetorical questions [pucchavyakarana]. If they are able to answer the questions for themselves, it may show they have already understood the reason for their mistake—thereby helping them to be more prepared to guard themselves from doing the same mistake again in the future. It also maintains the channel of ‘warmth’ and communication between you and them with no generation gap -which is helpful and facilitates a parent’s duty for the future.
12. Youth Training needs Parental Co-operation
It is generally understood that one can only grow up into a virtuous person if instilled with virtue from an early age in accordance with the expression ” it’s easy to curve tender wood but old wood cannot be moulded ” (you can’t teach an old dog new tricks). In the olden days (two generations ago) children used to be sent to the temple in order to learn about virtue. The monks were their teachers. The main subject matter, apart from language, was Buddhist virtue. Vocational subjects were studied separately in such schools. The people of old considered virtue even more important than occupational skills — that is why they needed to start learning them from an early age.
Furthermore, whenever young men reached the age of twenty they had to undergo a period of monastic ordination for a period of at least one rainy season(three months). In order to get an earnest insight into virtue before setting themselves up in life in work or with a family. Those men who underwent their period of training would be praised by society, as ‘mature’ like a cheese or a fruit fit for consumption. Those who remained ‘unripe’or ‘immature'(not having ordained) were regarded as being of limited value and in need of further development.
Gentlemen of the younger generation would receive their education from monks in former days—and when coming of age would have the opportunity to spend time in the monk hood. Some might stay in the monk hood for several years before disrobing. This period of contact with Buddhism in their youth was the time when they would ac quire Right View [sammd-ditthi] and the ability to be a teacher to themselves [yonisomanasikdra]. At the very least the population of the country would be able to tell the difference between good and evil,right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate —being able to apply these standards in their everyday lives and avoiding the risk of accumulating evil during their lives. When such men came to work for a living, they were able to maintain themselves within the boimdaries of virtue. If they were to start their own household, they would at least have something of virtue to pass on to their children. This is perhaps the reason why in olden days society was much more free of crime and indecency than in the present day.
Later when state education was established with education to the level of university, people began to overlook the importance of temple schools and temporary ordination. Parents together with the powers that be in society decided that anyone who graduates from university ought to be sufficiently well-educated to look after their own assimilation of virtues. Therefore, they abandoned moral education and no longer supported their sons to take temporary ordination. However their thinking was seriously flawed.
The by-product we see clearly in examples of hypocritical behaviour in the present day such as Thais calling them selves Buddhist but not even keeping Five Precepts [pahcasila] properly—with society degraded to cruel murders, thefts, rape and the idealization of wealth in spite of claims of economic progress.
All of this helps to explain why vocational training doesn’t help to train people in virtue. Furthermore, the more that is known about technology in the absence of morality, the worse the wickedness people become capable of. It turns out that ‘intelligent’ people are even more vulnerable to false view than those of average or low intelligence.
If you look at the variety of subjects taught in institutes of tertiary education nationwide,you would find that the majority are vocational subjects. Subjects concerning virtue are pitifully few and subjects concerning Buddhism are almost non-existent. The only place where such subjects are avail able is where there are departments of religious education —and even these tend to teach only theory with no chance of practical application of knowledge.
Even when you study science, you have to test out your knowledge in the laboratory. So what of Buddhism which claims to be a science deeper than science itself? Without the opportunity for practical application of knowledge — certainly it becomes very difficult to understand as a subject.
When Buddhism is not taught at the university level, how can we even hope that our ‘bachelors’, ‘masters’ and ‘doc tors’ who graduate and take leading positions in society will have any understanding of Buddhism or be endowed with Right View? How do we expect any of this generation who are our own children and grandchildren to have the ability to perpetuate our nation and religion when we are gone?
Therefore, to restate our problem, it is a mistake to think that our university graduates have become endowed with virtue as a result of their studies—vocational expertise is a completely different area from that of virtue. When we need a qualified workforce we have plenty of places teaching vocational subjects. But when we need genuine Buddhists in our society, why don’t we teach them Buddhism?
Computer programmers are very smart. Even those who think up the most wicked of computer viruses are undoubtedly smart. However, their thinking may be seriously twisted at the same time because what they have done is devoid of virtue.
Therefore, we have to be able to distinguish between vocational knowledge and virtue. Knowledge and virtue have to go hand in hand — because only virtue can make our vocation into Right Livelihood. We cannot do without virtue anymore than a boat can do with out a rudder. If a boat has no rudder we need to equip it with one. In the same way when young people lack virtue, then we have to take responsibility for equipping them with it — and not to assume that the virtue will come as a by-product of vocational training.
The state of modern society where technology is advancing faster and faster forces educators to be constantly re adjusting their curricula to keep up with the forefront of technology. It is therefore no surprise that more than ever, there is no space left in the curricula for any training in virtue.
The result of insufficient attention to moral training is now beginning to show through in modern society —from misuse of power by authorities at the top, to crime in society at large. Our youth are becoming more aggressive and more addicted to drugs—even teachers themselves are often part of the racket.
All these problems are things we need to work together to solve. But the question remains of when to start and how?
Why don’t we take a retrospective glance at the approach of our ancestors who insisted on training their children and grandchildren through ordination in Buddhism? Why don’t the parents of today take an interest in sending their children for ordination during the school vacation instead of vying for scholarships to send their children abroad? Why not give young people the option of taking a year or two “out” from their studies to give themselves experience of ordination before returning to their studies—or a year or two between graduation and starting work?
If only parents were to see the value of Buddhism for their children and encourage their children to study Buddhism too, apart from availing themselves of children who will bring them pride throughout their lives—they help to build the future of the nation and Buddhism too.However,if you can think of nothing more than getting your children through education system as quickly as possible to start earning a wage — you have no guarantee that your child will not make the same heinous mistake as Prince Ajatasattu—and by that time the problem will be beyond repair.
Try thinking from a mother’s standpoint as with Queen Videha, Ajatasattu’s mother— at the time of the crisis, she could only count her regrets. Even though she might have liked to see her son ordain, now he had forgone his chance of ordination — the karma was too heavy. Even with all Ajatasattu’s talent,he had erred into association with a fool. Eventually the mother grieved so heavily it led to her death. Who can stand tall in the eyes of others when someone in one’s family has committed such a heinous crime?
In modern society there are many examples of children murdering their parents in spite of their education — and this ought to be food for thought for parents who are weighing up the importance of including study of Buddhism alongside academic studies — to see the importance of teaching their children to distinguish good and evil, merit and demerit, right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate, or a life of avoiding trial and error in both spiritual and worldly ways, success in Right Livelihood, bringing praise to the family and accruing merit for benefit in the hereafter.
Supposing someone who graduates, spends time in the monk hood, likes it, deciding to stay on in the monk hood for the rest of his life — it should be considered an honour for that person and luck for Buddhism. If he should leave the monk hood and start a family —then at least he will be able to keep himself on the right side of the law and to bring up his own children into moral citizens.
As for ladies in the younger generation —although they cannot ordain like men (these days) but they can still join summer camps for training in virtue during their summer vacation. They might even join longer courses of Buddhist study for as long as one or two years taking a ‘year’ or ‘two years’ out from university studies. Alternatively, after graduation,they can do the same for a period of one or two years before starting their working life. Even if they want to be a teacher of virtue to others for a profession they would certainly be experienced enough to do so.
If parents dare to give their children the opportunity to study Buddhist virtues, those children can cultivate virtue without too much trouble as long as they themselves are clear how valuable such training is for their own future.
Given the opportunity and support of the educational policy-makers on the national level a restoration of a valuable tradition will be achieved and many of the most critical social problems will be averted.
13. Standards of Human Quality
We have already concluded that any person’s goodness depends on their ability to be a good teacher to themselves — thinking, speaking and acting virtuously. There are some people who try to win our trust by saying and doing good things while in our presence — and if we are misled into associating with them,by the time we realize our mistake it might be too late. Therefore how can we tell whether any person is ‘good’ to the core?
A simple answer is that ‘a good person is one who does their duty purposefully’. If a person behaves out of step with their purpose, even if it seems beneficial, it is indicative of malevolence. A student has the duty to study hard —not to take to the streets in protest against political policy. In crisis they might have an important role to play in protecting the national infrastructure which allows them to study—but when the crisis is over they should be quick to get back to the classroom. If students sometimes help with humanitarian work that is good —but they should not do so much that it distracts from their study performance. In a field of corn, there is a time to plant corn and the farmers will remove all other plants that get in the way of the planting because they are considered ‘weeds’. However, if com sprouts up on a golf course it will be considered a ‘weed’ and removed because although beneficial it is not in keeping with the purpose of the land where it is growing. In the same way that ‘weeds’ are out of place,a person who does things of benefit but out of keeping with their duty can never flourish as a virtuous person.
And what about Buddhist monks? Buddhism gives us three major principles of training, self-discipline [sila],concentration [samddhi] and wisdom [pahhd]. Any monk who doesn’t follow these three trainings cannot be considered to be fulfilling his duty. Monks who practice the ‘black arts’, tell fortunes, give lottery predictions, organize marriages or who are witch doctors —might be justified from time to time if it is for the faith of the congregation —but if it is the monk’s main occupation, it is not in keeping with that monk’s true purpose and only makes it more difficult for him to attain the’fruits of being a true monk’.
In the Samannaphala Sutta,the Buddha clearly described the stages of purification of the mind —all arising from the prime movers of self-discipline, sensual restraint, mindfulness and contentedness. Once one is able to practice these trainings purely, and get down to meditation,one will be able to overcome the Hindrances — concentration will deepen to the point of attaining the first to the fourth absorptions. If the mind is yet stiller,one can attain the Eight Supramundane knowledges and eventually liberation.
If a monk is unable to keep his Precepts purely, how can he hope to fulfil his duty or attain his aim?
Some critics might claim that ‘black arts’ are not aimed to accrue wealth but only to help others — but once it goes beyond the scope of the Vinaya it might well be accused of heresy.
Furthermore,as soon as one monk practices black arts, he sets a bad example to other monks—and it opens the door to monks of False View who only ordain in order to amass wealth— eventually undermining Buddhism as a whole.
Even so, as a supporter of Buddhism, if you come across monks who practise heretical teachings—you should avoid close association with them or showing them respect — in just the same way that King Ajatasattu treated the six spiritual teachers contemporary to the Buddha by discontinuing his support for them.
Furthermore, withdrawing support from monks lax in their discipline is one way of helping the gullible not to fol low teachings of some spiritual gurus might lead us into unwitting evil-doing —followers of Pakudha Kaccayana (one of the six contemporaries of the Buddha) taught that killing people is no sin because people are no more than a collection of elements and stabbing them is just inserting a knife between those elements. Following such teaching how can we expect society to be peaceful?
Therefore, the spiritual mentor we follow deserves careful and thorough consideration — and should fall within the scope of the standard of human goodness defined above
14. The Causebehind the arising of a New Religious Teacher
A study of pre – Buddhist history shows us that ancient Indian social structure was based on a caste system with four different castes:
• warrior king [khattiya]
• brahmin [brdhmana]
• merchants [vessa]
• manual workers [§udra]
This social system caused social inequality and disadvantage for the lower castes. The religious beliefs in all castes consisted of worshipping gods. However, no matter how much they prayed to their gods, when it came to suffering, sorrow, illness and danger, the gods didn’t seem to be able to help.
Social inequality and unabated suffering made people bored and they craved for security —leading to a virtuous spiritual search for something better, giving use to a wide variety of philosophies of which the six spiritual traditions described in the Samannaphala Sutta are representative. In technical vocabulary we call these six teachers ‘titthakara’ Even Buddhism can be considered as a member of the ‘new wave’ of thought.
Every one of the six teachers described was revolutionary for their time because they sought to overthrow old beliefs such as worship of gods. Also, excepting Pakudha Kaccayana, all six rejected the idea of caste.
When the Buddha started teaching the other six teachers lost a lot of their followers to him— and some even went as far as to hire men to discredit him — but without success.
The reason for the drop in popularity of the other teachers was because their teaching were irrelevant or ineffective in solving the problems of everyday life.
The ability to be a teacher to yourself [yonisomanasikdra] can be applied at two levels of description:
1. General understanding of life and the world: This means an understanding of phenomena according to perceived reality (commonsense) — such as an understanding that birth, sickness and death really happen —or that those who are too lazy to earn a living end up poor — or that those who persevere and are industrious will achieve success and attain goals.
2. Understanding of life and the world at the level of ‘view’: this means an understanding of life and the world through the insight of attaining the Dhamma kaya of the arahats and the Buddha— insight in both worldly and spiritual ways into such things as merit and demerit, the law of karma, this world and the next, the cycle of rebirth, the Four Noble Truths and Nirvana.
As the six teachers lacked the ability to ‘be a teacher to themselves’ at the level of ‘view’ — they were unable to advise their disciples how to lead their lives in a truly peaceful way — detracting from the faith they earned from their supporters thereby.
In those days, as now, new movements arise as people become bored of old ones. Often they are unable to say precisely what is wrong with the old system. Often they are not even able to say precisely whether their own teachings are right or wrong — all they know is that they want to start their own school and be the leader of it. They allow time to be the test of the value of their tradition — the better ones lasting longer than the less good — new ones replacing old ones throughout history.
Buddhism is different because it describes a higher reality which has already existed for as long as the world itself. It is a timeless teaching:
• Not doing evil [sila]
• Doing only good [samddhi]
• Purifying the mind [pahhd]
Even so there are still a large number of people (including Buddhists) who overlook the core of Buddhism which emphasizes the importance of actually practising Buddhist teachings themselves. The reaction has been regression into ‘black arts’—because you don’t have to practice for your self but you can rely on someone else to be your refuge for you. Eventually, many Buddhist have come to understand that such ‘black arts’ are actually part and parcel of Buddhism and for some these admixtures give people more solace even than Buddhist teachings themselves.
Thus if you want to protect Buddhism from the infiltration by’black arts’ you should get down to earnest study and practice of what the Buddha actually taught from this moment on wards.
All of the observations collected herein are but only a part of the possible observations drawing from the Samanna phala Sutta. If you, the reader, study this Sutta for yourself, you will manage to find many other possible details and viewpoints not mentioned here.
In any case the main subject matter of the Sutta is the principles and objectives of Buddhism as a whole i.e. three major principles of training self-discipline[sila], concentration [samddhi] and wisdom [pahhd].
The aim is to overcome and uproot every last defilement in the mind.
The Buddha explained every detail of the precepts and how they lead to attainment of the goal. Such teachings had never before appeared in any other teaching or scripture of any religion is the world.
The Buddha had the compassion to teach that the life of a householder is minimal in its opportunities for amassing merit (narrow path) and is mixed up with evils (attracts dust). He taught life as a monk gives more opportunities to amass good than the household life— the broad message we get from this Sutta is that in every person, no matter whether male or female, poor or rich all have access to liberation,if they practice properly according to Buddhist principles. Furthermore only monks who practice properly ac cording to those principles are truly ‘monks’. Householders should try to apply these teachings in their everyday life—only in this way can the Samannaphala Sutta bring success and happiness every lifetime until attaining Nirvana.
Appendix A: General Index
ability to be a teacher to oneself 17,119 22,139,140
ability to read the minds of others 15, 92-3
absent-mindedness 170: as hindrance 77; as mind-side sensuality 163
absorptions 10, 15,24, 77,80-6, 103,122, 137,160,161,163,166,167: attaining, 806; -factors 83
abstention: by transcending 167
academic study of Buddhism 101,166
accepting bribes, restraint from 62
access concentration 84,161,170
accommodation: contentment with that appropriate to one’s status 73; contentment with that appropriate to one’s strengths 723; contentment with that received 72
acknowledgement of mistake,confession as 128
acquisition of perfections, from Sajnannaphala Sutta 21-2
adopting deceitful gestures 57
aesthetic character 161,166
aggregates 163,167,168,169: in eternalism 37
aim in life 8,70,107-10: correct 124,126;’in the clouds’ 108-9; ‘on earth’ 107
Ajatasattu: disillusioned with monks 28; spiritual quest 28; confesses, 127-8;coronation 26; imprisons Bimbisara 26;invited to visit Buddha by Jivaka 31; misses attaining stream-entry 16;questions Buddha 43; sees through Devadatta’s hypocrisy 456;guilt,leads him to seek out Buddha 31; procession to meet Buddha 32-3;asks Buddha’s forgiveness 16,128; childhood 23-4; confesses 99, 128;delusion of 41; discretion of 40-1; first son born 27;greed of 41; guilty 31;impressed 98;not blameworthy for circumstances 41;overcomes insomnia 99-100; patron to First Council 113;patron age of 40;pays respect to Buddha 99;persuaded by Devadatta to commit parricide 25;requests refuge 99;seeks audience with Buddha 14,30-1; surmized childhood 123, 134-5; takes refuge in the Buddha 16,98; trusts Devadatta 25; victim of circumstances 41; wishes audience with the Buddha 14, 30-1; withdraws patronage from six contemporary teachers 40; meeting with Buddha 35
Ajita Kesakambala 37, 38-9: proposed to Ajatasattu 30
Alavaka: ogre, 92; Sutta,example of mindreading, 92
alcohol shops: as wrongful haunts 55
almfood 60:contentment with that appropriate to one’s status 72; contentment with that appropriate to one’s strengths 72;contentment with that received 72; only form of right livelihood 59
Ambavana Temple 14, 29: donated by Jivaka 29
Anagami (see non-returner)
analyst of the Dhamma, nine qualities of the Buddha 31,47
Andhakavinda Sutta 10
Anga 23
angel 16, 31,47,161,168,169,171
angelic body 85
angelic ear 15:attainment of 91
angelic eye 15:attainment of 95-6
anger 50, 77,108,161,162,169
announcing nine virtues of Buddha hood: importance of 47-8
annoyance 166
answer by analysis 166,170
anupadisesa-nibbana 158
anxious character 161,171
application of mind: continuous 83, 170; initial 83,171
arahant 22, 31, 47, 97, 128, 159, 160, 162, 169
arahat (see arahant)
Apannaka Sutta 9
appropriateness: awareness of 68
arguments: restraint from administering spells for recovering from 65
Ariyan tradition: to observe full-moon day 30
arrogance 163
arrows: restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65;restraint from playing with bows and 63
ashram 40
associating with fools 125:has retribution of falling into hell, 111-3
associating with the wise 113-6,125
astral body 85
astrological predictions,restraint from 64
attainer of supramundane knowledge& perfect conduct 31,47
attainment concentration 84
auspiciousness 160,169
Avanti 23,160
Aveci Hell 160,163
awakened and joyous one, nine qualities of the Buddha, 31,47
awareness of: appropriateness 68; benefit 68; gullibility 69; implicit happiness 68-9; things as they are done 68
back weakness of Buddha 34
bad conduct 52-3
bad luck: restraint from predicting incidence of 65
barging in front of seniors 52-3
baseline qualifications for monk hood 45
bathing in scents: restraint from 63
bathman- {metaphor for first absorption 81}
battlefields: restraint from attending 63
becoming 160,166
bedding: contentment with that appropriate to one’s status 73; contentment with that appropriate to one’s strengths 72-3; contentment with that received, 72
begging food from a donor 59
being a teacher to oneself, key virtues for acquiring ability 124-6
being offered respect, honour and offerings: benefit of being a monk 46-7
benefit, awareness of 68
benefits of being a monk 13: angelic ear 15,91; attainment of the absorptions 80-3; being offered respect, honour and offerings 46-7; open to all 16-7; explained sequentially 14;insight-knowledge 15,889; knowledge of an end of defilements 15, 96-8; mental powers 15,89-90;mind-reading 15,92-3;miraculous powers 15, 90-1; recollection of one’s previous lives 15, 934;recollection of others’ previous lives 15, 94-6;social status elevated 45-6;
bhikkhu assembly: silent 33
Bimbisara 23, 25-7,160: dies in prison 27; imprisoned by Ajatasattu 27; attains stream-entry 23;renounces throne 26 black arts 64, 104, 137, 138, 141: undesirable in monks 104,137
blaming 58
blessedness 160,169
blood offerings: restraint from organizing
blood sacrifices: restraint from organizing, 64
boasting: about eminent disciples 57; of attainments 57,103; of personal abilities 104; restraint from 64
bodhisattva 160,169
bodies: production of many 89
boxing: restraint from 63
bracelets: restraint from wearing 63
Brahma 91,160
Brahma-faring 19, 49, 60, 74, 160: following the 61; incompatable with household life 49
Brahmadatta 23
brahmin (see caste system)
Buddha: accepts Ajatasattu’s confession 16, 99; grants Ajatasattu forgiveness 16, 99; questioned by Ajatasattu 43; back weakness 34; as greatest ‘good friend’ to the world 116; resides at Ambavana 29
Buddha-conduct 160
Buddha hood,nine virtues of 31,47: Buddha announces 47-8
Buddhism: in a nutshell 21;monks as guardians of 8
buffalo: restraint from accepting gifts of 62; -fighting, restraint from 63; restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65 bulls: restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
buying: restraint from 62
Candappajjota, King 23
Campa, River 164
cards 104
caste: rejected by most contemporary spiritual teachers 139; system 138 cause & effect: from Samannaphala Sutta 21
celibate 7
central processing, sphere of 79,85
centre of body 67, 97
centring mind to develop sense restraint 67
cessation 96,160,165,167
character 161,168
charms: restraint from procuring written 64
chasing 58
chess 104: restraint from 63
chickens: restraint from accepting gifts of 62; restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
child: spends more spend at home than at school 124
childbirth: restraint from administering spells for recovering from 65
childish: mannerisms 53; -play, restraint from 63
childrens’ games: restraint from 63
civil servants: restraint from talk of 63
claiming higher attainments of cohabitant 59
clinging 166,168,170
cock-fighting: restraint from 63
cognition, sphere of 79,85
computer games 104
concentration: access- 84; attainment- 84; words that lead to 53; principles of training 137
conditions 157-8,168
conduct 161,171: towards monks 19-20
confession: as acknowledgment 128; as determination not to repeat error 128; in the presence of an enlightened one 128-9; of King Ajatasattu 127-8; of mistakes, necessary 127-30;advice for those receiving, 130
confiding in you, characteristic of a true friend 114
congratulating friends on fortune, characteristic of a true friend 115
conscience: confession key in developing 130
consciousness 88, 157, 160, 163, 166, 168, 171
contact 157,166
contemporary teachers 38-9, 42, 138-9: Ajatasattu withdraws patronage from 42
contentment 52,69-74,102: words that lead to 53; versus progress 69; with accommodation and bedding appropriate to one’s status 71-2; with accommodation and bedding appropriate to one’s strengths 72-3; with accommodation and bedding received
72; with alms food appropriate to one’s status 72; with alms food appropriate to one’s strengths 72; with alms food received 72; with little,words that lead to 53;with medicine and medical care appropriate to one’s status 73-4; with medicine and medical care appropriate to one’s strengths 73;with medicine and medical care received 73; with robes appropriate to one’s status 712; with robes appropriate to one’s strengths 71; with robes received 71; with the appropriate 70-1; with what is appropriate to one’s strengths 70; with what one has 70; with what one receives 70
continent 162,165
continuous application (see absorptions, factors)
continuous striving 10,161,171
conversing on inappropriate topics 104
correct aim in life 126
country fashion: restraint from talk of 63
courier: restraint from being a 64
covering up secrets: restraint from 64
covetousness 66, 76
cows: restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
craving 17,121,159,160,166,167,169
criminality 118
crystals: restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
curriculum, secularization of school 130-4
cycle of existence 18,159,167,170
dagger: restraint from wearing 63
damaging plants, restraint from 61
dancing: restraint from 61,63
dangers of a new monk, four 10
debt – {metaphor for hindrance of sense-desire 76,80}
deceit 56-7
deceitful speech: restraint from 64
decorative shoes: restraint from wearing 63
deep pool- {metaphor for second absorption 81-2}
deer: restraint from interpreting the vital
signs of 65
defilements: diluted by meritorious deeds 116-7;
definition of meditation 78,79-80
deity worship: restraint from 65
delusion: of King Ajatasattu 41
demanding little 53
demerit: diluted from the mind by merit 1168
dependent origination 166,170
deportment, good habits of 54
details: not being entranced by 65
determination not to repeat mistake: confession as 128
Devadatta 24-5: as a fool 113,122; disillusions Ajatasattu as to monks 28; attainments limited 24,122; damages royal, religious establishments 119;example of fool 113; False View 24; jealousy 24; miraculous powers 24; ordination 122; persuades Ajatasattu to commit parricide 25; plan to depose Buddha 24;rebuffed by Buddha 25; reduces Ajatasattu’s aim in life to exclusively material 109; trusted by Ajatasattu 24,41
Dhamma: -body 89,162
Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta 162
Dhammakaya: Anagami 97; Arahant 97; Gotrabhu 89,97; Sakidagami 97; Sotapana 97; eye of 98; knowledge of 97
Dhammavinaya 19,25,104,110,162
discernment: of virtue 108; of wholesomeness 17,20,121
diplomatic bartering: restraint from 62
discipline: monastic 9,16,19, 55-6, 57, 77, 103, 110, 138, 171; noble- 99; revision of monastic 166; self-10, 15, 36, 51, 53, 59, 60-64,75,102,106,117,125,137,141,158, 159,169
discouraging talk: restraint from 63
discretion: of King Ajatasattu 40
discrimination: against junior monks 52
disease, contagious – {compared to influence of a fool 111-2}
disembodied souls, restraint from inviting the return of 65
disposition 157,168
disrobing 42,59,103,131,166
distorting Buddhist teachings 104-5
distracting talk: restraint from 63
divisive speech: restraint from 61
divorce 118: restraint from predicting auspicious times for 65
do’s &don’ts of self discipline 10
donkeys: restraint from accepting gifts of 62
doubt: as hindrance 78
downcast gaze 53,54
draughts 104: restraint from 63
dream interpretation, restraint from 64
dropping hints 58: in conversation 57
drought predictions: restraint from 65
drug addiction, teenage: from associating with fools 112
drug-abuse 118
dust {attracting -metaphor for household life attracts 18, 49, 142}; the sensuality of householder’s life 50
duty: of monks 10; good person conforms to 136
earnestness 11,160,166
Earth Day: monastic examination 9
Eight fold Supra-Normal Knowledge 15, 87,103
electioneering: restraint from 64
elementary: -conduct of a monk 51 ff.; -training in self discipline 60-2
elephant: -fighting, restraint from 63; restraint from accepting gifts of 62;restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
encouraging: supporters to gamble 104; the offering of particular food 53
endowed with perfect conduct 31,47,161, 171
engaging in professional work: restraint from 62
entertainment, restraint from 62
equanimity (see absorption factors)
establishment in single state : meditation as 78
eternalism, false view of 39
evil: positive backlash of extreme, 40-2; -doers wont to suspicion 33-4
Exalted One 31,47,160
exemplar: monk as 8
exorcism: restraint from 65
expenditure: restraint from predicting auspicious times for 65
expressway to Nirvana: monk’s lifestyle as 8
external appearances 66
extraneous influence: meditation as mind free from 85
extraordinary attainments 103
Eye of Dhammakaya 98
eye-shadow: restraint from wearing 63
facial massage: restraint from 63
faculties 65,162,168
faith: – in Buddhism: purpose for ordination 49; leads to restraint according to the monastic code of conduct 67
faithful character 161,167
false claims to higher mental states, punishable 59
False View 38-9: Devadatta’s 24; of eternalism 39; of nihilism 39; of non-efficacy of action 38; of no-self 38-9; of random retribution 38; of self-mortification 39; of uncertainty of principles 39; person of-108
fame 7, 53,160,171
families, restraint from talk of 63
famine predictions: restraint from 65
fear of the consequences of evil 118
feeling slighted 66
female monastic lineage 9
feng-shui: restraint from inspection of 64
fire worship ceremony: restraint from organizing 64
first absorption 80-1, 83
First Council, Ajatasattu patron to 113
five hindrances: meditation absense of 78, 83
five pleasures of the senses 44
Five Precepts: neglected in modern society 132
flattery 52: of supporters 57, for gain: restraint from, 64;-to face, gossipping behind back 58
flower: restraint from wearing 63;-gardens, restraint from 63
following the monastic rules 52,55-6
food 59, 60, 72,94,157,166
fools 111-3: characteristics of 111; exhibit no rest from immoral behaviour 111;in positions of power 119;influence of 119;{metaphor of deadly infectious disease 111-2}; not associating with 125
forcing 58
forgery, restraint from 62
forgiveness: need for, causes Ajatasattu to seek out Buddha 32
form 88,167
form absorption 161,167,171
form-brahma body 85, 89
form-brahma sphere 167
formless absorption 86
formless-brahma body 86,89
formless-brahma realms 160,164
formless-brahma sphere 160
fortune-telling: restraint from 64; undesirable in monks 104,137
Four Great Elements 88,164
Four Noble Truths 96
four requisites, to be used with consideration 60
four styles of question-answering 43,166
fourth absorption 85-6
fraternal living, six virtues of 10
freedom from hindrances 78,80
frequenting wrongful haunts 55,104
friar 7
friend, true 113-6
full-moon day, time for spiritual practice 30
funeral shows: restraint from 63
fur bed-coverings: unsuitable for monks 63
Ganakamoggallana Sutta 9
gambling 104: restraint from 63
gaming: restraint from 63
Gandhara 23,162
general appearance: not being entranced by 65
generosity 117
Gijjhakuta Mountain 29, 162: far from Rajagaha 29
giving prophecies: restraint from 65
go-between: restraint from being a 64
goat: -fighting, restraint from 63; restraint from accepting gifts of 62: restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
gold: restraint from accepting 61
good conduct 52
good friend 113-6
good luck: restraint from predicting auspicious times for 65
good person: factors in becoming 119-23
gossip 58,61,163,164
Gotrabhu 89,97,162
grasping 166: -for rebirth 160; sensual 163
greater training in self-discipline 64-5
greed of King Ajatasattu 41
group of five 165,169
guardians of Buddhism, monk as 8
guilt of King Ajatasattu 31
gullible character 161,164
gullibility, awareness of 69
handicaps 157,168
happiness, awareness of implicit, 68-9; as absorption factor 83
hardened cheeks, restraint from administering spells for recovering from 65
hatred 17, 76,102,163,169
haunts 53-5: -of abiding, 53-4; -of attentiveness 54-5; -of maintenance 54; wrongful 55
having few needs 69
hearing loss: restraint from administering spells for recovering from 65
heart of Buddhism 140-1
heretics (see contemporary teachers)
higher fruits of true monk hood 87 ff.
highest aim of Buddhism, knowledge of 124
hindrances, the five 76-8, 80: characteristics of mind free from 80; freedom from 102; freeing the mind from 75-6
‘holier than thou’ practices 158
holding, devotee’s baby 52,58
homes, restraint from talk of 63
honour 46,125,163,171: loss of 158,163
honouring those worthy of respect 125
horse: -racing, restraint from 63; restraint from accepting gifts of 62; restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
hot tempered character 161,162
household life: attracts dust 17,18,49; in compatible with Brahma-faring 49
householder: four virtues of 125; conduct to wards monastic community 105-7
human quality, standards of 136-42
idle gossip: restraint from 61
ignorance 17,50,97,121,160,163,165,166, 167,170
illness – {metaphor for hindrance of ill-will 77,80}
ill will: as hindrance 76-7
imitating handicapped people, restraint from 63
imprisonment -{metaphor for hindrance of sloth & torpor 77, 80}
impure livelihood: restraint from 56-60, 64-5
inability to be a teacher to himself, cripples Devadatta 123
incomparable trainer of those worthy of training, nine qualities of the Buddha 31,47
individual impressionable from infancy 1234
inequality, social 139
infertility: restraint from administering spells for recovering from 65
ingrained habits 165,168
initial application: as absorption factor 83
insight-knowledge 15,88-9
instilling virtue: in children, parental duty 123-7; needs to start young 130
insulting 58; restraint from 61
intermediate training in self-discipline 62-4
inviting criticism 158,166
Jataka stories 94,161,163,170
Jain 37-8, 39
Jatila 164
Jainism 37-8,39
jealousy: -of Devadatta 24-5
Jivaka Komarabhacca 14, 23: as Ajatasattu’s first good friend 115-6; donates Ambavana 29; invites Ajatasattu to visit the Buddha 31; praises the Buddha 31;suspected by Ajatasattu 33
Jivitavisesa 100,163
Jotika 164
joy, as absorption factor 83
Kakavaliya 164
Kapilavatthu 23,163
karma 18,23, 28,41, 95,115,135,140,157, 158: heaviest 109,158
Kassapa Buddha 92
kettledrum: recognizing the sound of, {metaphor for angelic ear 91}
killing living beings, restraint from 61,62
King Ajatasattu (see Ajatasattu)
knowing one’s own journey route -{metaphor for recollection of previous lives 94}
knowing, sphere of 79
knowledge: of an end of defilements 15,968; of Dhammakaya 98; must go hand in hand with virtue 133-4; spontaneously arising 88 Komarabhacca, Jivaka (see Jivaka Komarabhacca)
Kosala 23
Kosala Devi 23: banned from visiting Bimbisara 26; dies of grief 27; smuggles food to Bimbisara 26
lacking: basic manners 52; contentment, 105; faith in the Vinaya, 103-4; fear of doing evil 118,158,163
lama 7
land spirits: restraint from organizing ceremonies to honour 65
land: restraint from accepting gifts of 62
lax monks, how to treat 106-7;hypocritical 8
laxity in following the monastic code of conduct 104
laying ghosts: restraint from 65
learnedness 71,160
letting children ride on shoulders 58
liberation: universal access to 142; words that lead to 54
life of contentment& simplicity, foundation qualification for monk hood 45
links of dependent origination 166
lipstick: restraint from wearing 63
living in an amenable location 125-6
location, living in an amenable 125-6
lodging 60
Lohakumbhi Hell 100,163
Lokanta Hell 165
looking at oneself in the mirror, restraint from 63
looking down: on other monks’ abilities 104; on others 58,64
loss: of honour 160,163; of wealth 158,163
lottery tipster, undesirable in monks 137
lotus tank – {metaphor for third absorption 82}
low arts 169 (see also black arts)
lower fruits of true monk hood 43 ff.
lower ordination 51
Luang Phaw Wat Paknam 67,84
lying on a large or luxurious bed, restraint from 63
Magadha 14,23,164
magnitude 160,162
Mangala Sutta 125
maintaining a peaceful life, foundation qualification for monk hood 45
Makkhali Gosala 36-7, 38; proposed to Ajatasattu 30
man with a view from a balcony– {metaphor for recollection of others’ previous lives 95-6}
man wrapped in clean,white robe-{metaphor for fourth absorption 83}
manual workers (see caste system)
marriages: organizing, undesirable in monks 137; restraint from predicting auspicious times for 65
matchmaking, punishable 59: restraint from 64
material aim in life, exclusively 107-8
material/ spiritual aim in life 108-10
mature women: as wrongful haunts 55
Mendaka 164
medicalcare, contentment with that appropriate to one’s status 73; contentment with that appropriate to one’s strengths 73;contentment with that received 73
medicine 60: contentment with that appropriate to one’s status 73; contentment with that appropriate to one’s strengths 73; contentment with that received 73
meditation 117: as monastic duty 137; academic 84; complete definition 79-80; definition 78; different ways of classifying 834;higher 84;importance of practising seriously 110; lower 84; practised 84-5
medium fruits of true monk hood 75 ff.
memory, sphere of 79
men, restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65; restraint from talk of 63
mental powers 15: attainment of 89-90
mental volitions 157,164
merchants(see caste system)
merit 14, 17, 20, 36, 39, 43, 44, 45, 56, 74, 108,109,116,126,135,140,142,158,159,166
military strategies, restraint from talk of 63
mind: as spherical 79; characteristics of 789; clouded, leads to unwholesome behaviour 116; drawn inwards 84; invisible to naked eye 78;meditation as settling at centre of body 78; meditation as stopping of 78; nature to be changeable 128; visible to eye of Dhammakaya 78; -reading 15,92-3; -side sensuality 50
mindfulness 67-9, 102: of the body in the body 54; of the dhamma in the dhamma 54; of the feeling in the feeling 54; of the mind in the mind 54, for restraint of the senses 67; four foundations of 54; leads to restraint of the sense-doors 67
miraculous powers 15: attainment of 901; Devadatta 24
misleading the public 105
mocking 58
moderation in: eating 10, 160, 161; use of requisites, to see their purpose 10
modes of birth 171
Moggallana 25,164
moles, restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
monastic: – benefits, open to all 16-7;- code of conduct 19, laxity in following 104, restraint according to 51, 52-6, 101; – community, selectivity in supporting 42,1057;-life, avoids compromise 51:most noble 18, 19; – lineage, female 9; – practice, importance of 8; – standards from Samannaphala Sutta 19;-training: avail able manuals 9; overview 9-10; purpose of
7-8
monitor lizards, restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
monk (see monks)
monk hood: baseline qualifications 45;question as to fruits of 36
monks 7: aim in life of 8-9; benefits received from ordination 14-5; can attain path to Nirvana 13; characteristics of a Buddhist 101-3; fruits of being a true – 13, 16, 46, 167;in the minority 8; new -106,164; not worthy of respect, characteristics of 103-5; practising black magic,how to treat 138; ten habitual reflections of 10
monster 160,165
motivation for ordination 49-50
Mount Sumeru 165,169
mugging, restraint from 62
music,restraint from 62; restraint from talk of 63
new monk, four dangers of 10
nibbdna (see Nirvana)
Nigantha Nataputta 37-8,39;proposed to Ajatasattu 30
nihilism, false view of 39
Nirvana: attaining the path & fruit of 87 monk’s lifestyle as expressway to 8; path attainable by monks 13
no further movement of mind,meditation as 78,80
non-efficacy of actions, false view of 38
non-gregariousness, words that lead to 53
non-returner 97,158,162
no-self, false view of 38-9
not asking seniors before expressing an opinion 52
not laughing at friends’ misfortunes, characteristic of a true friend 115
not looking: at men or women 54; right and left 54; up and down 54
nourishment 60,157,163,168
nuns, as wrongful haunts 55
nutshell, Buddhism in a, from Samannaphala Sutta 21
object-side sensuality 50, 76,170
occupational skills, formerly considered less important than virtue 130
offence: of wrong-doing 59, 162; requiring initial & subsequent meeting of the monastic community 59,168; requiring expiation 59,165; requiring confession 59,166
ogre 92,158,165,171
omen interpretation, restraint from 64
one meal a day, taking 61
one-pointedness: meditation as 78; as absorption factor 83
one who has heard much 160,161
ordination: procedure 10;with aim in mind 101; Devadatta 122; experience of useful for householders 110; importance of temporary 135-6;motivation for 49-50;not sacred in it self 8; purpose of 13-4;temporary, female equivalent 135-6; temporary, formerly compulsory 130-1;temporary, origin of society’s discretion 131
origin of suffering 96,167
Paccekabuddha 100,165
pagoda 27
Pakudha Kaccayana 37,39,138: proposed to Ajatasattu 30
palm-reading, restraint from 64
parasol, restraint from using 63
parental: cooperation, needed for youth training 130-6;duty, to instil virtue in children 123-7
parents: child’s first good friend 121, 123; formative influence on child’s discretion
123
parisuddhisila of the Silaniddesa 9-10
parricide: Ajatasattu persuaded by Devadatta to commit 25
Pasenadi punishes Ajatasattu 27
Pathama Magga Sphere 166,169
Path of Purity commentary 159
path of spaciousness, monastic lifestyle 17
patience 53
patronage of king Ajatasattu 40
patting children on the head 52-3
peacefulness of body& mind, words that lead to 53
people, restraint from talk of 63
perception, sphere of 79
perfect in knowledge & conduct: nine qualities of the Buddha 31,47
perfections, acquisition of, from Samannaphala Sutta 21-2
perfectly enlightened one 31,47,167
perpetuators of Buddhism, reminding oneself that monks are 106
persuading supporters 57
physical nourishment 157,163
picking up babies 52,58
pigeons, restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
pigs, restraint from accepting gifts of 62
plan to depose Buddha, Devadatta’s 24
plants, restraint from picking for consumption 62
playing: games 63, 104; in a sandpit, restraint from 63; musical instilments, restraint from 61; windmills, restraint from 63; with bows & arrows, restraint from 63; with dolls, restraint from 63; with toy cars, restraint from 63
pointing friends in the direction of heaven, characteristic of a true friend 115
poker, restraint from 63
politicians, restraint from talk of 63
portents, restraint from 64
positive backlash of extreme evil 40-2
potter – {clever, metaphor for mental powers 91}
practical study of Buddhism 101
practice to attain highest aim of Buddhism, key virtues 124-5
praise 31,102,127,135,163,166
praising the grandeur of a king, restraint from 63
predicting auspicious times for military at tacks, restraint from 65
preoccupation with sensuality 73
preparing oneself for ordination from Samannaphala Sutta 20-1
pretending to be contented 56-7
princes: restraint from accepting gifts of 62; restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
princesses: restraint from accepting gifts of 62; restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
profiteering 58-9
prostitutes, as wrongful haunts 55
protecting: a friend when off their guard, characteristic of a true friend 114;a friend’s possessions when they are off their guard, characteristic of a true friend 114
protective numbers,restraint from procuring 64
providing with twice as much as asked for, characteristic of a true friend 114
prying about uninvited in a devotee’s house 52
Punnaka 164
Pukkusati, King 23
Purana Kassapa, 36, 38; proposed to Ajatasattu 30
pure livelihood 101-2; requires striving 67
purification of mind, stages described in Samannaphala Sutta 137
purpose for ordination 13,49-50: faith in Buddhism 49; not because no alternative 50; not heartbreak 50; seeing danger of household life 50; to escape unwholesomeness 50;to practise purity 50; wish to pursue Brahma-faring in entirety 49-50
purpose of monk hood, knowing: foundation qualification for monk hood 45
purpose of requisites, understood by moderation 10
pursuing perfection, getting down to 126
quackery, restraint from 65
question: returning the 43,166
rainfall predictions, restraint from 65
rainy season retreat 20,130,166
Rajagaha 14,29,166
random retribution, false view of 38
raw:food, restraint from accepting 62;meat, restraint from accepting 62
reading the minds of others 15,92-3
realm: of nothingness 158,168,171; -inhabitable by beings 168; -where there is self
awareness 171
recollection of one’s own previous lives, attainment of 15,93-4
recollection of other’s previous lives 15, 94-6
recruiting employees, restraint from 64
reflection in mirror – {metaphor for reading the minds of others 93}
reflections, ten habitual for a monk 10
refuge, being, in times of danger, characteristic of a true friend 114
religious teacher, cause behind the arising of a new 138-41
remembering things before time 68
renunciation 11
requesting special food, punishable 59
requisites, supporting monks with 105
resentment 66,162
respect for monks, showing 105-6
restraint: according to the monastic code of conduct 51, 52-6, 101: requires faith, 67: by mindfulness and self-possession 52,679: by pure livelihood 51, 56-60: in body, speech &mind, foundation qualification for
monk hood 45:Jain 37-8;of the senses 52, 65-7, 102: requires mindfulness 67; lacking 104
revision of monastic code of conduct 68, 158,166,168
rhetorical questions 130
rich traveller in robber-infested area {metaphor for hindrance of doubt 78}
ridiculing 58
Right Livelihood 15, 133, 135, 167: for a monk 56-60
Right View 42, 95,108,109, 116,120,131, 132-3, 167: foundation qualification for monk hood 45
robbers, restraint from talk of 63
robes 60; contentment with those appropriate to one’s status 71-2; contentment with those appropriate to one’s strengths 71; contentment with those received 71
robing oneself smartly 53
roulette, restraint from 63
royal procession 32-3
sakaddgamin 97,167
samannaphala 13,16, 46,167
Samannaphala Sutta 9,10,13,14-6;acquisition of perfections 21-2;background to 238; Buddhism in a nutshell 21; cause & effect from 21; conduct towards monks 1920;describes stages of purification of mind 137; importance of 18-22; monastic standards in 19; preparing oneself for ordination 20-1
Sangha 25, 29,119,125,168
Sanjaya Belafthiputta 38, 39: proposed to Ajatasattu 30
Sariputta 25,164,168
sa-upadisesanibbana 169
Savatthi 27
saving up new things to tell friends, characteristic of a true friend 115
savings,restraint from predicting auspicious times for 65
scope of monastic duties, restraint from talk outside 63-4
second absorption 85
secularization of school curriculum 1312: dangers of 132-6
seeing&knowing 89:-of liberation,words that lead to 54
seeing danger in small things 52,55
seeing danger of household life, purpose for ordination 49
seeking for profit 58-9
seer of the world,nine qualities of the Buddha 31,47
selectivity in supporting monastic community 42
self-discipline 60 ff., 117:as do’s& don’ts 10; as monastic duty 137; possessed of 102; words that lead to 53
self-enlightened one, nine qualities of the Buddha 31,47
self-mortification, false view of 39
self-ornamentation, restraint from 61,63
self-possession 67,68-9,102
selling, restraint from 62
sense restraint, as should’s & should n’ts 10
sense-desire, as hindrance 76
sense-grasping 163
sense-object 160
sense-organ 157,160,166,168
sensory registration, sphere of 79
sensuality: mind-side 50,76; object-side 50, 76; fulfilment of wishes 160
sensually provocative entertainment, restraint from watching 61,62-3
serious transgressions, monastic offences 59,169
serving others for wages, restraint from 62,64
shame of evil 118
shaming 58
sheep: restraint from accepting gifts of 62; restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
should’s& should n’ts of sense restraint 10
showing respect to senior monks 52
shows (local or native), restraint from 62-3
side-drum, recognizing the sound of- {metaphor for angelic ear 91}
silence of bhikkhu assembly 33,35
silver, restraint from accepting 61
singing, restraint from 61,63
sitting: blocking the view of seniors 52; in an inappropriate place 52; on a large or luxurious bed, restraint from 63
six contemporary teachers 36-8,38-9
Six Directions of Singalovada Sutta 113-4
six virtues of fraternal living 10
Sixfold Super knowledge 103
slandering 58
slavery -{metaphor for hindrance of absentmindedness 77}
slaves: restraint from accepting gifts of 62; restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
sleeping on high or luxurious beds,restraint from 61,63
sloth & torpor, as hindrance 77
snake out of slough -{metaphor for mental powers 89-90}
Sona, River 164
soaking oneself in perfume,restraint from 63
social: inequality 138-9;status elevated,benefit of being a monk 45-6; structure, ancient Indian 138-9
society, reformed by refonning human nature 118-9
soldiers, restraint from talk of 63
soliciting 57-8
solitaire, restraint from 63
solitude 75
sotapana (see stream enterer)
speaking: a mixture of truth and fun 52;only with the manner of compassion 53; only with the manner of self-restraint 53; out against those who malign friends, characteristic of a true friend 115
speech, skilful topics of conversation 53-4
sphere: of central processing 79,85;of cognition 79; of Dhamma 79;of existence 160; of knowing 79; of memory 79; of perception 79; of sensory registration 79; of thought 79
spiritual: aim in life,exclusively 110;men tor, being selective about 138
spontaneous birth 37,165
sports, restraint from 63
spreading the Dhamma, supporting monks with the wherewithal for 105
standing up for those who speak well of friends, characteristic of a true friend 115
status, elevated by monk hood 14-5,45
steadfast state of mind, meditation as 78, 80
steadfastness 53
stealing, restraint from 61,62
stockpiled requisites, restraint from consumption 62
stream-entry: Ajatasattu misses attaining, 16,99; Bimbisara attains 23
strictly following the monastic code of conduct 161,169
strip-poker, restraint from 63
striving: leads to purity of livelihood 67; relentless 163; words that lead to 53
study & self-training, supporting monks with wherewithal for 105
subtle defilements, freedom from 88
suffering 160,162,164
Sumeru, Mount 165,169
sun worship, restraint from 65
supporting one’s religion, key Buddhist duty 125
swearing, restraint from 61
swindling, restraint from 62
swinging one’s arms 52
sword: drawn from scabbard- {metaphor for mental powers 89-90};restraint from wearing 63
taking care of manners & gestures 53
takraw 104
talk, restraint from savage or uncultivated 63
teacher: of angels and men, nine qualities of the Buddha 31,47; to oneself, inability to be a 111; monk as 8
television-shows, restraint from watching 63
telling lies, restraint from 61
tenor-drum, recognizing the sound of {metaphor for angelic ear 91}
Ten Virtues of a Monarch 125
theatre pieces, restraint from talk of 63
Theravada 9,42,169
third absorption 85
thought, sphere of 79,85
threatening 58
Threefold knowledge 103,170
Three Universal Characteristics 167,169, 171
throwing cartwheels, restraint from 63
tortoises, restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
torturing, restraint from 62
town fashion, restraint from talk of 63
trainer 158-9
training: elementary monastic 19, 60-2; intermediate monastic 19,62-4;greater monastic 19, 64-5; purpose of monastic 7: threefold 141
tranquility meditation 86
transcendental knowledge 110,161,164
transvestites: as wrongful haunts 55; restraint from turning back into men 65
travelled the path of righteousness, nine qualities of the Buddha 31, 47
trembling hands, restraint from administering spells for recovering from 65
trial & error, avoiding 135
tricks of the scales, restraint from 62
Triple Gem 16,17,28,98,100,113,117,125, 127, 160, 169: Ajatasattu takes refuge in 117
Triple World 165,169
true friends, characteristics of 114-5
trumpet, recognizing the sound of – {metaphor for angelic ear 91}
Udaka Hermit 161,170
Udayibhadda 35
unauthorized colours, restraint from wearing 63
uncertainty of all principles, false view of 39
understanding of life and the world: at the level of view 140; general 139-40
unenlightened beings 41
unequalled 31
universal characteristics, three 167,169, 171
universe, countless 165
unwholesome behaviour: originates from clouded mind 116;warning friends against, characteristic of a true friend 115
upholstered beds, unsuitable for monks 63
use of requisites with consideration, re quires wisdom 67
vehicles, restraint from talk of 63
Veluvana Monastery 23, 170: far from Rajagaha 29
vengefulness 76,161,169
Vessandara Jataka 170
view, understanding of life and the world at the level of 140
villages, restraint from talk of 63
Vinaya (see code of monastic discipline)
Vinayamukha 9
vicissitudes, worldly 163-4,168
virtue: ability to discern 108; ensured by Right Livelihood 133; formerly given priority over occupational skills 130; that can be a refuge 70
volunteering to do householders’ work 104
warring, restraint from 63
warrior king (see caste system)
washing: in milk, restraint from 63; in mineral water, restraint from 63 wealth 36,41, 52,59,108,122,132,163
weapons, restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 64
wearing: cosmetics, restraint from 61; per fume, restraint from, 61; shoes when seniors are barefoot 52
whistling through blades of grass, restraint from 63
wholesomeness 20,61,121,128,163
wholesome behaviour, encouraging friends to do, characteristic of a true friend 115
widows, as wrongful haunts 55
wisdom 117: as monastic duty 137; leads to use of requisites with consideration 67; words that lead to 54
wise, associating with 113-6,125
wish to pursue Brahma-faring in entirety, purpose for ordination 49-50
witch doctery, undesirable in monks 137; restraint from being 64
women, restraint from interpreting the vital signs of 65
word-guessing games, restraint from 63
world: elements 164; of beings 165, 168; of formations 164, 165, 168; of location 164,165
worldly: knowledge 161, 164; worldly vicissitudes 163-4,168
worthy of training 31,47,158,166
worthy: lord, nine qualities of the Buddha 31,47; – of respect, honouring those 125
wrestling, restraint from 63
written charms 64
wrongful haunts 55
youth: training,needs parental cooperation, 130-6;aggressive 134; drug-addiction, 134
Appendix B: Reference Table of Pali Terms
The following table is not intended to be an exhaustive Pali-English dictionary: it contains only terms found in this book. Where an equivalent English term is available across-reference is given to entries in the General Index (Appendix C) via which clarification of meaning can be found. For Proper Nouns (indicated by”P.”), brief clarification is given here mostly without cross-reference. Terms which are used untranslated (indicated “c\.v”) are cross-referenced straight to Pali terms in the General Index. Entries are arranged for newcomer’s convenience in Roman alphabetical order.
Abhassara P. realm of Brahmas with radiant lustre (see form Brahma realms)
abhava handicaps: 1.Those for whom enlightenment is accessible, and; 2.Those for whom enlightenment is not accessible, such as those who have committed heavy acts of karma (see handicaps)
abhijjha (see covetousness)
abhihhd (see sixfold super knowledge)
adhimutti disposition, enumerated into four categories being disposed towards good deeds, being disposed towards bad deeds, those for whom defilements are negligable and those who are still thick with defilements (see disposition)
agocara (see wrongful haunts)
ahara nourishment or food: enumerated in four categories: 1. physical nourishment [kavalinkarahara]: what we generally know as ‘food’ and which is eaten by the mouthful; 2. contact [phassahara]: this is contact with the outside world via the five senses called nourishment because it is also able to bring us the three sorts of feelings happiness, suffering and neither happiness nor suffering; 3. mental volition [manosancetanahara]: which is the operant part of the karma that leads one to be reborn in the three worlds; 4. consciousness [vinnaiwhara] arises when there is con tact between any of the senses and the sense objects— it feeds the new arising of new body and mind [nama-rupa] (see food)
ahetukaditthi (see false view of random retribution)
ahirika (see shamelessness)
Ajatasattu q.v.
Ajita Kesakambala q.v.
ajivaparisuddhi (see restraint by pure livelihood)
ajjhattikayatana (see sense organs)
akara conditions, enumerated into two cases: 1. Good conditions: endowed with faith and wisdom and therefore ready to be taught, and; 2. Bad conditions: lacking faith and wisdom and therefore unready to be taught (see conditions)
Akasanancayatana P. realm of infinite space (see formless Brahma realms)
akincannayatana (see realm of nothingness)
Akincayatana P. realm of nothingness (see formless Brahma realms)
akiriyadiffhi False view of the non-efficacy of one’s actions. In the present day and age there are many people from all walks of life with assumptions about the world which resemble ‘akiriyadifthi’.The reason is that they do not understand ‘merit’ and ‘demerit’, and thus they have no scruples of conscience about behaving in an immoral way. Seeing such behaviour from their bosses, even though some sub ordinates know better, they become immoral in order to gain acceptance or else find themselves doing wicked things secretively. Such behaviour is responsible for a so much chaos in modern society that it is difficult to know whereto start solving the problems unless everyone makes a unified effort to give up all forms of evil behaviour — manifest and covert (see false view of non-efficacy of action)
alabha (see loss of wealth)
Alara (P. the name of a hermit teacher)
Alavaka q.v. the name of an ogre
Alavaka Sutta q.v.
amaravikkhepikaditfhi (see false view of uncertainty of principles)
Ambavana q.v. the mango grove temple
Anagami q.v. non-returner
anantacakkavala (see universe, count less)
anantariyakamma In Buddhism there are five actions of karma regarded as the heaviest and include: 1.killing one’s own mother [matughata]; 2. killing one’s own father [pitughata]; 3. killing an arahant [arahantaghdta],. 4 bruising a Buddha [lohituppada], and; 5. creating a schism in the monastic community [sanghabheda]by inciting conflict in the monastic community or leading the monastic community divisively to the point that two parts of the monastic community can no longer share in monastic rites such as the ceremony of ‘inviting criticism’. An ex ample of such karma was caused by Devadatta out of spite after being defeated in his attempt to have the Buddha adopt five new ‘holier-than-thou’ rules by the monastic community. Even though the Buddha refused to adopt the rules, Devadatta persuaded many of his fellows to divide themselves from the rest of the monastic community by adopting the ‘Five Rules’ and to go for revision of the monastic discipline separately at Gayaslsa. (see karma, heaviest)
Anga q.v The kingdom of Anga was one of the sixteen major kingdoms in India in the time of the Buddha. It was situated to the east of Magadha on the other side of the River Campa. The capital of Anga was Campa. In the time of the Buddha Anga had been annexed by Magadha.
anottappa (see lack of fear of doing evil)
anumattesu vajjesu bhaya-dassavi (see seeing danger in small things)
anupadisesa nibbana q.v. Nirvana without residual aggregates
anuttaro (see unequalled)
anuttaro purisadammasarathi trainer of those amenable to teaching. This quality of the Buddha is explained by his being: 1. incomparable and unequalled [anuttaro] in self-discipline, meditation, wisdom, liberation and the seeing and knowing of liberation; 2.worthy of training [purisadamma] training those not yet trained until success whether they are human or non-human; 3. Trainer or controller [sarathi] in self-discipline, meditation, wisdom, liberation and the seeing and knowing of liberation performing feats such as managing to subdue the great serpent Cujodara, Ambattha Brahmin, Dhanapalaka the elephant and the Alavaka Ogre. The Buddha gave teaching to beings of all sorts who came to him (see incomparable leader of men to be tamed)
appana samddhi (see attainment concentration)
appiccha (see having few needs)
appicchakatha words that lead to wanting little (see haunts of abiding)
arakkhagocaro (see haunts of maintenance)
arahant q.v. category of mental attainment, one who has attained the final fruit of saint hood lit. Worthy One. ‘Arahant’ is a term, which arises spontaneously together with the properties it describes. It arose when the Buddha attained enlightenment. It is the root reason for the other eight virtues of the Buddha. As explained in The Path of Purity commentary, this word has four facets to its meaning: 1. Far removed from enemies (i.e. defilements). The Buddha is an
arahant because he has removed himself entirely from defilements. Thus he is completely pure like a flawless gem — as appropriate for him to be called ‘Buddha
rim = old age &
death
spokes = the links of dependent origination
FIG.l
ratana’ part of the Triple Gem; 2. Breaker of the spokes of the wheel. The Buddha has destroyed the cycle of defilement with the weapon of wisdom. The word ‘wheel’ here means ‘samsara’ (the cycle of rebirth)
rim = old age &
death
spokes = merit, demerit and the absorptions [abhisankdra]
hub = ignorance & craving for
FIG.2
— and is composed of a hub, spokes and a rim — which can mean ignorance, dependent origination and old age & death (see Fig.l) or ignorance, absorptions and old age &death (see Fig.2)depending on your chosen metaphor. The wheel in its entirety symbolizes the Three Realms [tibhava]or cycle of rebirth, which will continue to spin unabated in the absence of an enlightened one. According to another metaphor, the Buddha stood upon the earth with firm feet of self-discipline and striving and grasped the axe of insight with hands of faith —before chopping the spokes of defilement completely bringing the cycle of existence to an end with no more suffering from old-age, sickness or death; 3. Worthy of Requisites: Purity in every way makes an arahant worth of homage by men, angels and brahmas,’ and; 4. Will not do evil in secret: arahants have no wish to do evil — even if no-one else were to know about it. [samucchedavirati]
arahat (see arahant)
arahato worthy one (see Buddha hood, nine qualities of)
ariyasacca Four Noble Truths comprising 1. The Noble Truth of Suffering [dukkha ariyasacca]; 2. The Noble Truth of the Causation of Suffering [dukkhasamudaya ariyasacca]; 3. The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering [dukkhanirodha ariyasacca]; 4. The Noble Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering [dukkhanirodhagdmini ariyasacca] (see Four Noble Truths)
arupa (brahma) bhava (see formless brahma sphere)
arupa jhdna (see formless absorption)
asammoha sampajahha (see awareness of gullibility)
asamsaggakathd words that lead to non-gregariousness (see haunts of abiding)
Asannisatta P. realm of non-percipient beings (see form Brahma realms)
asavakkhayahana knowledge of an end of defilements (see Eight fold Supraknowledge)
asurakdya (see monster)
attakilamathdnuyoga (see false view of self-mortification)
Avanti q.v. One of the sixteen major kingdoms in India in the time of the Buddha. It was situated to the north of the Vindhya Mountains and to the south-west of the kingdom of Vamsa. The capital of Avanti was Ujjeni.
Aveci q.v.
avijjd (see ignorance)
ayasa (see loss of honour)
ayatana The six senses (eyes, ears, nose, mouth,body and mind) and the six corresponding stimuli (images, sounds, aromas, tastes, touches and consciousness).
bdhirdyatana (see sensual objects)
bahusacca (see one who has heard much)
bahusuta (see learned)
bala (see fool)
bhagava One who analysed the Dhamma. The word ‘bhagavd’ can have several meanings: 1.The fortunate one; 2.The one who has broken the back of defilements, and; 3.The possessor of six qualities: 3.1. magnitude [isariya]; 3.2.transcending the world [dhamma]; 3.3. fame [yasa]; 3.4. blessedness or auspiciousness [siri]; 3.5. fulfilment of everything wished for [kdma], and; 3.6. earnestness [payatta]. 4.Analyzer of the Dhamma e.g. separating the sixteen causes and effects of the path to an end of suffering; 5. one who abides in skilful states: e.g. heaven the Brahma world and Nirvana, and; 6. Diffuser of craving (see analyst of the Dhamma)
bhagavato (see Exalted One)
bhava (see sphere of existence)
bhdvana (see meditation, becoming)
bhavardga (see grasping for rebirth)
bhesajja (see medicine)
bhikkhu (see monk)
bhojaniyamattahhuta (see moderation in eating)
Bimbisara q.v. King of Magadha prior to his son Ajatasattu. In later life a devoted patron of the Buddha having himself reached’stream-entry’. Deposed and put to death by his own son.
bodhisattva q.v.
Brahma q.v. a class of celestial being
brahmacariya A way of life where by one trains oneself by keeping (vows of) celibacy. It is considered as the Buddhist holy life and those who attain arahantship are referred to as ‘having completed the Brahma-faring’. (see Brahma-Faring)
brahmana (brahmin: see caste system)
buddhacariya (see Buddha conduct)
Buddha-ratana Buddha-Gem (see Triple Gem)
buddhicarita (see reasoning character)
buddho One who is awakened and joyous. The Buddha was awakened from ignorance by comprehension and seeing of the Four Noble Truths. The Buddha was joyous as a lotus that had blossomed (see awakened and joyous one)
hyddhi (see illness)
bydpdda ill will (see hindrances)
bydpadi (see vengefulness)
corona or conduct has fifteen components: 1.strictly following the monastic code of conduct [sila-samuara]; 2. restraint of the senses [indriya samvara]; 3. moderation in eating [bhojaniyamattanhuta]: eating neither too much nor too little. Eating the wrong amount (especially too much) can be a danger to the health; 4.striving ceaselessly [jdkriydnuyoga]: always aware and free of hindrances; 5. faith [saddha]: confidence in reality, goodness and doing good deeds. The devotion of the Buddha to these ideals is seen in many previous lifetimes —for example in the Vessandara Jataka where the Bodhisattva is willing to give all his possessions, parts of his own body and even his life for the ideal of goodness;6.shame of evil [hiri];7.fear of evil and doing evil [ottappa]; 8. having heard much [bahusacca] and artfulness in knowledge especially to the highest culmination of meditation knowledge — at that time material absorptions (Alara Hermit) and immaterial absorptions (Udaka Hermit); 9. continuous striving [viriyarambha] especially in the four types of ‘Buddha Conduct’ [buddhacariya]: alms round in morning, teaching in evening and exhortation of the monastic commu nity in late evening, teaching of angels at night and at dawn considering how to best help the beings of the world; 10. mindfulness [sati] keeping one’s mind on the task in hand with out distraction or forgetfulness. Protecting against desire. Protecting one’s mood from anger. The Buddha always maintained mindfulness as detailed in the Mahasatipatthana Sutta i.e. mindfulness of body,feeling,mind and Dhamma; 11. wisdom [pahnd]: knowledge of the nature of the psychophysical components according to their reality,and; 12 – 15. Form absorptions from the first form absorption to the fourth form absorption: using the absorptions to expand worldly knowledge [lokiyapannd] into transcendental knowledge [lokuttarapahhd]. The absorptions are in fact no more than meditation: access concentration [appana-samadhi] is equivalent to the first form absorption. The Buddha studied the absorptions from the hermits and furthered the knowledge himself to the level of the Dhammakaya (see con duct)
carana sampanno (see endowed with perfect conduct)
carita or character is enumerated into six different character types: 1. lover of beauty, aesthetics [rdgacarita]; 2.hot tempered [dosacarita]; 3. gullible, stupid [mohacarita]; 4. easily roused to faith [saddhacarita]; 5. accustomed to reasoning and reflection [buddhicarita], and; 6. character which is inconsistent, distracted and anxious [vitaka-carita].(see character)
cetopariyahdna ability to read the minds of others (see Eight fold Supra-normal knowledge)
civara (see robes)
culasila (see elementary training)
cutupapatanana knowledge of the arising of beings according to their karma (see Eight fold Supra-normal knowledge)
ddna (see generosity)
Devadatta q.v. the Buddha’s jealous cousin felt resentment at his lack of attainment and sought in various ways to bring harm to the Buddha throughout his ordained life
devatd (see angel)
dhamma mental object, mental phenomenon [not to be confused with*Dhamma’ q.v.] (see sense object)
Dhamma purity,virtue,transcending the world, the teaching of the Buddha,righteous [not to be confused with udhamman q.v.] Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta q.v.
dhamma-cakkhu known in the scriptures as *buddhacakkhu’ (see eye of the Dhammakaya)
Dhammakaya q.v. Dhamma Body, Body of Enlightenment
Dhammakaya Anagami q.v. ‘non-re turner’ Dhamma Body
Dhammakaya Arahant q.v. ‘arahat’ Dhamma Body
Dhammakaya Gotrabhu q.v. ‘Gotrabhu’ Dhamma Body
Dhammakaya Sakidagami q.v. ‘oncereturner’ Dhamma Body
Dhammakaya Sotapana q.v. ‘streamenterer* Dhamma Body
dhammasanna (see discernment of virtue)
Dhammavinaya q.v teachings of the Buddha comprising Dhamma(q.v.) and Vinaya (q.v.)
dibbacakkhu (see angelic eye)
dibbasota angelic ear (see Eight fold Supra-normal knowledge)
dipa (see continent)
ditthi Core views or assumptions about the nature of life and the world. Also stubbornness and being opinionated. Some are eternalists. Some believe if you are human now you will always be re born human. Some believe death is the end of the story and that good and bad deeds have no effect (see pages 38-9 for examples of contemporary views of other religious teachers, see also view) domanassa (see feeling slighted,resentment)
dosa (see anger)
dosacarita (see hot-tempered character)
dukkata (see offence of wrong-doing)
dukkha (see suffering)
ekaggatd (see one-pointedness)
ekamsovydkorana direct answer (see four styles of answering)
Gandhara q.v. One of the sixteen major kingdoms in India in the time of the Buddha. It was situated around the north of the Sindhu Basin in the northern area of present-day Paficapa. The capital of Gandhara was Takkasila, the university town of ancient times. Gandhara bordered with the modern region of Kashmir.
gharavdsadhamma (see Four Virtues of a Householder)
Gijjhakuta q.v. a mountain (lit. the Vultures’ Peak), one of five hills encircling Rajagaha, was a favourite resort of caved welling ascetics.
gocaro (see haunts)
gocara sampajahha (see awareness of implicit happiness)
Gotrabhu q.v. lit. ‘become of the lineage [of Noble Ones]’
gotrabhu puggala one who has attained the Gotrabhu Dhamma Body (see Dhammakaya Gotrabhu)
hiri (see shame of evil)
iddhivitthi miraculous powers (see Eight fold Supra-knowledge)
indriya faculties comprising five different types: 1. faith [saddha]; 2. fortitude [viriya]; 3. mindfulness [sati]; 4. concentration [samddhi], and; 5. wisdom [pahfid] (see faculties, sense organs)
indriya samvara (see restraint of the senses)
indriya samvarasila (see restraint of the senses)
isariya (see magnitude)
jakriyanuyoga (see striving relentlessly)
Jataka P. Birth Stories,a part of the Buddhist Scriptures
jhdna (see absorptions)
Jivaka Komarabhacca q.v.
Jivitavisesa q.v. The name of a Paccekabuddha, Ajatasattu will become in his final lifetime, having exhausted his evil retribution in hell.
kalydnamitta (see good friend)
kdma (see sensuality, fulfilment of wishes)
kdmachanda sense desire (see hindrances)
kdmardga (see sensual-grasping)
kdmavitakka (see preoccupation with sensuality)
kamtna action, sometimes loosely retribution (see karma)
Kapilavatthu q.v. The hometown to Gotama Buddha and the Sakya clan. Corresponds to modern-day Piprawa.
karma q.v. (action, sometimes loosely retribution)
kathavatthu (see speech, skilful topics of conversation)
kavafihkdrdhdra (see physical nourishment)
khandha The Five Aggregates or Psycho physical Constituents [khandha] consist of the following: 1. Corporeality [rupakhandha]; 2. Feeling [vedandkhandha]; 3. Perception [sahhdkhandha]; 4. Mental Formations [sahkhdrakhandha], and; 5. Consciousness [vinndnakhandha]. (see aggregates)
khattiya warrior king (see caste)
kilesa (see defilement)
kilesakdma mind-side sensuality is negativity that comes from our feelings and thoughts that cloud the mind. The word ‘kdma’ means intimacy or desire or an object of intimacy — it is evil of thought that leads us to do evil thing namely: 1. Greed[lobha]: the desire to get something belonging to another by dishonest means. 2.Hatred [dosa]:the thought to harm others, hurt others or be cruel to them. 3. Delusion [moha]: ignorance of the nature of reality; 4. Arrogance [mdna]: self-view, looking down on others; 5. Stubborness [difphi,mdna or ditphimdna]: False views or stubbornness or obstinacy; 6. Doubt [vicikiccha]: doubt about wholesome actions; 7. Sloth and Torpor [thinamiddha]: Reluctance or Lack of Courage; 8.Absentmindedness [uddhacca] lack of peace of mind;9.Shamelessness [ahirika]: Lack of shame of doing evil, and;10.Lack of fear of the consequences of evil [anottappa](see mind-side sensuality)
Kosala q.v.
kuhand (see deceit)
kusaladhamma (see wholesomeness)
kufi (monastic hut)
labha (see wealth)
lapana (see soliciting)
lobha (see greed)
Lohakumbhi q.v. A hell realm which is a cauldron of molten metal, one of the satellites of the deepest (eighth) major levels of hell, Aveci hell
lohituppada Causing the foot of a Buddha to be bruised. An example of such karma was caused by Devadatta himself who tried to kill the Buddha by dislodging a boulder onto him from high up in the Gijjhakuta mountain. The murder attempt caused a stone splinter to bruise the Buddha’s foot (this being the maximum harm someone can inflict on a Buddha), (see anantariyakamma)
lokadhamma The Eight Worldly Vicissitudes [lokadhamma] which cause people to have ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ of mood: 1. wealth [labha]; 2. loss of wealth [aldbha]; 3.honour [yasa]; 4. loss of honour [ayasa]; 5. praise [pasamsd]; 6. gossip [nindd]; 7 happiness [sukha], and; 8. suffering [dukkha] (see worldly vicissitudes)
lokadhatu a universe (see world elements)
lokavidu The Buddha was one who had insight into the nature of the world. The word ‘world’ can have a variety of meanings — it can mean ‘the body’ or the ‘world outside’. In the meaning of ‘loka’ as ‘body’ it refers to ‘this fathom-long body together with sahhd’ and mind which gives rise to world, is the cause of the world and the cessation of the world —using an understanding of the body in order to understand the world and the Four Noble Truths.Cessation [nirodha] is the end of the world because there would be no more worldly birth for those who attain it. A second meaning of the ‘world’ seen by the Buddha is the ‘Triple World’: 1. the world of formations [sankhdra loka]; 2.the world of beings [satta loka], and; 3. the world of location [okdsa loka] (see seer of the world) lokiyapanna (see worldly knowledge)
lokuttarapanna (see transcendental knowledge)
Magadha q.v. modern-day South Behar. The kingdom of Magadha was prosperous in the time of the Buddha because it contained three rivers. It was bounded on the east by the River Campa, on the west by the River Sona and on the north by the River Ganges. Its capital city was Rajagaha. The kingdom was endowed with wealthy bankers such as Menclaka, Jotika, Ja^ila, Punnaka and Kakavaliya. Magadha was also known for knowledgable scholars such as Moggallana, Sariputta and Kassapa. In the (five) mountains surrounding the capital of Rajagaha, there were caves where it was traditional for hermits and ascetics to take up residence in order to train themselves.
magga (see path)
mahdhhuta (see the Four Great Elements)
mahdsila (see the Greater Training)
majjhimasila (see the Intermediate Training)
Makkhali Gosala q.v.
mdna (see arrogance)
Mangala Sutta q.v.
manomayiddhi (mental powers: see Eight fold Supra-knowledge)
manosahcetandhdra (see mental volition)
miccha ditthi False View is a state of having erroneous core values about certain features of life and the world which concern accruing virtue, especially concerning aging, materialism and the purpose of life (see False View)
miccha diffhi puggala (see False View, a person of)
Moggallana q.v.
moha (see delusion)
mohacarita (see gullible character)
ndma-rupa mind and form (see links of Dependent Origination)
nanadassana (see seeing and knowing)
ndthakaranadhamma (see virtues that can be a refuge)
natthikadipphi (see false view of no-self)
navaka monk in his first five years of monk hood (see new monk)
nemittikata (see dropping hints)
nevasahhdndsahhdyatana absorption of neither-perception-nor-non-perception (see formless absorptions) Nevasannasannayatanabhumi (realm of neither-perception-nor-non-perception: see formless Brahma realms)
Nibbana q.v. P. (see also Nirvana)
Nigantha Nataputta q.v.
nijigimsanata (see profiteering)
nindd (see gossip)
nippesikata (see shaming)
nirodha standstill (see cessation)
nisaya ingrained habits, divisible into five major types: 1. attachment to sense desire [kdmardga]; 2. irritability and annoyance [pdpigha]; 3. attitude that thoughts &beliefs are reality [dipphi]; 4. doubt [vicikiccha]; 5. self-view or arrogance [mdna]; 6. attachment to being born [bhavardga], and; 7. ignorance of the nature of reality [avijjd] (see ingrained habits)
nivarana (see hindrances)
okdsa loka The world of location — the world as the universe — especially the universe as the dwelling place of all living beings. Through the insight of the Buddha, he observed that the world consisted of countless universes [anantacakkavdla]. The Buddha explained that one universe is equivalent to one world element [lokadhatu] but each universe (or world element) is made up of several continents [dipa]. Each universe is spherical in shape, and the Buddha clearly stated the measurements of the circumference, width and breadth of the universe, the depth of the earth’s crust from the surface down to the subterranean fluid upon which the earth’s crust floats. The Buddha also spoke of the wind and the atmosphere, the distance between the earth and the moon and the distance between the earth and the sun, the height of Mount Sumeru and about this mountain as the abode of angels [devatd] and ogres [yakkha]. Amongst other things,the Buddha also spoke of Tavatimsa heaven, the monster [asurakdya] world, the hell realms and Lokanta hell. Thus it can be appreciated that the meaning of the world as described by ‘the world of location’ is very different from that described by ‘the world of formations’. When saying that the Buddha had penetrative insight into the ‘the world of location’, it means that he knows the characteristics of all the universes with in the Three Worlds [ti-bhava], in a way no geographer in any era of world history has ever described. It was because the Buddha had penetrative in sight into ‘the world of formations’, ‘the world of beings’ and ‘the world of location’ that he is known as a ‘seer of the world(s)’ [lokavidu] (see world of location)
opapdtika a category of beings arising spontaneously in adult form—arising not because of their parents but as the result of karmic action they have committed themselves in the past—includes angels [devatd], Brahmas, denizens of hell, hungry ghosts [peta] and monsters [asurakdya] (see modes of birth)
ottappa (see fear of the consequences of evil)
pabbaja Originally the word ‘pabbaja’ meant full ordination (as when Prince Siddhattha renounced the prince hood) but now it has come to mean lower ordination as a novice (see lower ordination)
paccaya conditions for survival (see requisites)
Paccekabuddha P. a type of Buddha unable to teach others
pacittiya (see offence requiring expiation)
pahca-kamakuna The five pleasures of the senses are the external objects of the first five of the six senses: 1. images; 2. sounds;3. aromas; 4. tastes, and;5. physical touch, (see five pleasures of the senses)
pahca-sila (see Five Precepts)
pahcavaggiya (see Group of Five)
pandita (see Wise One)
pahhd (see wisdom)
pannakatha words that lead to wisdom (see haunts of abiding)
parajika (see disrobing)
paramita (see perfections)
pariyatti (see academic study of Buddhism)
pasamsa (see praise)
Pathama Magga (a level of meditational attainment, synonymous with ‘Initial Path’, ‘ dhammdnupassanasatipapphdna ‘ and ‘first absorption’, a sphere which arises spontaneously at the centre of the body when the mind is firmly settled and brought to a standstill —some times referred to as the Dhammanupassanasatipatthana Sphere (see Panama Magga Sphere)
papiccasamuppada Dependent Origination consist of the following links: Because of 1.Ignorance [avijjd] there is the condition for the arising of; 2. Mental Formations [sankhara]…because of mental formations there is the condition for the arising of; 3. Consciousness [vihfldna]… be cause of consciousness there is the condition for the arising of;4. Mind and Form [ndma-rupa]…because of mind and form there is the condition for the arising of; 5. the Six Senses [ayatana]…because of the six senses there is the condition for the arising of; 6. Sensual contact [phassa]… because of sensual contact there is the condition for the arising of; 7. Feeling [vedand]…because of feeling there is the condition for the arising of; 8. Craving [tanha]…because of craving there is the condition for the arising of;9.Clinging to rebirth [updddna]…because of clinging to rebirth there is the condition for the arising of; 10.Becoming [bhava]…because of becoming there is the condition for the arising of;11.Birth [jdti]…because of birth there is the condition for the arising of;12. Old age and death [jard-marana] (see Dependent Origination)
pdfidesaniya (see offence requiring confession)
pdpigha (see annoyance)
papimokkha (see monastic code of con duct, revision of monastic code of con duct)
pafimokkhasamvara (see restraint ac cording to the monastic code of conduct)
papipatti (see practical study of Buddhism)
patipuccha-vyakarana Dialogue technique of ‘returning the question’. There were four styles of questions used by the Buddha for answering questions:1.direct answer [ekamsavydkarana]; 2.answer by analysis [vibhajjavydkarana]; 3. returning the question [papipuccha-vydkarana], and; 4. keeping silent (or questions, not useful to answer) [phapaniyavyakarana] (see four styles of question answering)
pavarana ‘Invitating Criticism’is the mutual opportunity which monks give for criticism by their fellows. Such an opportunity is given officially by monks on the last day of the ‘Rainy Season Retreat’ [vassa] (see inviting criticism)
pavivekkatha words that lead to peacefulness (see haunts of abiding)
payatta (see earnestness)
phassdhdra (see contact)
pinqlapdta (see almsfood)
piti (see joy)
pubbenivasdnussatinana recollection of one’s own previous existences (see Eight fold Supra-Normal Knowledge)
pucchavyakarana (see rhetorical questions)
punna (see merit)
Purana Kassapa q.v.
purisadamma (see worthy of training)
putthujana (see unenlightened being)
raga (see grasping)
ragacarita (see aesthetic character)
rajadhamma (see Ten Virtues of a King)
Rajagaha q.v. P. name of a town, capital of Magadha
rupa image, visual-, form- (see form)
rupa-(brahma) bhava (see form Brahma sphere)
rupa-jhana (see form absorptions)
sacca truthfulness
saddha (see faith)
saddha devamanussanam (see teacher of humans and deities)
saddhacarita (see faithful character)
sakadagamin q.v. once returner
sakidagami q.v. once returner
samadaya sikkha (see following the monastic rules)
samadhi concentration (see meditation)
samddhikatha words that lead to meditation (see haunts of abiding)
samannalakkhana (see Universal Three Characteristics)
samahhaphala (see monk, fruit of being a true)
samatha tranquility (see meditation)
samatha-bhdvana (see tranquility meditation)
samatha kammapphana (see tranquility meditation)
samatha-vipassana tranquility-insight meditation (see meditation)
Samma Ajiva (see Right Livelihood)
Samma Ditthi Right View,assumptions about the world based on the reality of the Four Noble Truths that include the assumptions that good deeds have good retribution, wicked deeds have wicked retribution, that we have a debt of gratitude to our parents and that the Five Aggregates are impermanent (see Right View)
samma sambuddho The Perfectly self-en lightened one. No-one else taught the Buddha. He became enlightened through his own efforts and in the proper way. From the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta you will see that the meaning of the word ‘Buddha’is five fold: 1. Cakkum udapddi: the means of seeing according to reality arose; 2. Nanam udapadi: the means of knowing according to reality arose; 3. Panna udapadi: wisdom arose; 4. Vijjd udapddi: knowledge arose, and; 5. Aloka udapddi: brightness arose. ‘Buddha’thus means to ‘see and know’. To see is to see with the eye of the Dhammakaya — not with the naked eye. That which the Buddha saw and knew in according to reality — not according to prediction or guess work that is why it is in the proper way. The Buddha became self-enlightened as the result of being an arahant—when the mind is devoid of defilement it is both clear and still so that all the sediment can settle to the bottom— so that even a tiny object like a pin would be seen in a water butt. That enlightenment is in the proper way also implies enlightenment according to both cause and effect. The cause of suffering is greed, hatred and delusion. The cause of happiness is the absence of greed,hatred and delusion. The cause of transcending the states of both happiness and suffering is a pure mind. The cause of the cycle of rebirth and being a prisoner in it is craving, the origin of suffering [samudaya]and ignorance [avijjd]. Ignorance is the first link in the cycle of Dependent Origination (see papiccasamuppada). To overcome ignorance the mind must be brought to a standstill [nirodha]. In conclusion, enlightenment is the origin, cessation and path to the cessation of suffering for the Four Noble Truths overcoming suffering through insight into these Truths is what earns the Buddha the title ‘Samma Sambuddho’ (see perfectly enlightened one)
sampajanna (see self-possession)
samsara (see cycle of existence)
samucceda-virati (see abstention by transcending)
samudaya cause, origin (see the Origin of Suffering)
samvara restraint, also used in Jain terminology (see restraint)
sangayana (see Council)
Sangha q.v.monastic community
sanghadisesa (see offence requiring an initial & subsequent meeting of the monastic community)
sanghakamma Monastic rites involving meetings of the monastic community (such as listening to the revision of the monastic discipline [pdpimokkha] every two weeks) that are required by monastic discipline (see monastic rites)
Sanjaya Belafthiputta q.v.
sankhdra loka This is the ‘world’ as the ‘world of the formations’ comprising: 1. all animals who rely on food to survive in the world; 2. the bodies of beings that consists of body and mind; 3. The feelings experienced by animals in the world: happiness, suffering and neither happiness nor suffering, and; 4. The four types of nourishment [dhdra]; 5.The Five Aggregates which are still subject to clinging [updddna]; 6. the six sense-organs [ajjhattikdyatana]; 7. the realms where there is self-consciousness [vinndnapphiti]; 8 The Eight Worldly Vicissitudes [lokadhamma]; 9. the realms beings can inhabit [sattdvasa]; 10. The six senses. In conclusion the ‘world of formation’ means our being consisting of body and mind. By being a seer of the ‘world of formation’, the Buddha saw: 1. The components that are the fundament of life;2.The conditions that give rise to these; 3. Conditions that give rise to feelings in beings; 4. The condition that leads beings to be reborn in the Triple world. 5.The variety of realms where beings can be born. 6. The variety of realms corresponding to the variety of mental states, (see world of formations)
sannd perception, sensory registration (see sense registration)
santosa (see contentment)
santupphi (see contentment)
santupphikatha words leading to contentment (see haunts of abiding)
sappaya sampajanna (see awareness of appropriateness)
saratthi (see trainer)
Sariputta q.v.
sassatadifthi (see false view of eternal ism)
sati (see mindfulness)
satta loka The world as ‘the world of beings’The Lord Buddha was able to see and analyse the nature of the beings of the world according to the following headings —giving a variety of facets to life in the world, together with the state of mind giving rise to these: 1. The Facet of Views [dipphi]; 2.The Facet of Ingrained Habits [nisaya]; 3. The Facet of Character [carita]; 4. The Facet of Disposition [adhimutti]; 5.The Facet of Faculties [indriya]; 6.The Facet of Conditions [akdra], and; 7. The Facet of Handicaps [abhava] (see world of beings)
sattdvasa the realms beings can inhabit comprising: 1.realms of humans, angels and ghosts endowed with heavenly mansions (beings different in body and consciousness); 2.Angels in realm of the first Form Absorption (beings different in body but equal in consciousness); 3. realm of Brahmas with radiant lustre [dbhassard] (beings equal in body but different inconsciousness); 4. realm of Brahmas with steady aura [subhakinha] (beings equal in body and consciousness); 5.Beings with no feelings [asahnasatta]; 6. Beings attaining the Sphere of Limitless Space [dkdsdnancdyatana]; 7.Beings attaining the Sphere of Limitless Consciousness [vihhdndhcdyatana]; 8.Beings attaining the Sphere of Nothingness [dkincdyatana]; 9.Beings attaining the Sphere of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception [nevasanndndsanndyatana] (see realms inhabitable by beings)
sattha deva-manussanam Teacher of humans and deities. In the Buddha’s daily routine, in the late afternoon he would preach Dhamma to congregations, in the evening he would preach Dhamma to the monks and at midnight he would answer the questions of the deities (see teacher of angels and men)
satthaka sampajanna (see awareness of benefit)
sa-upadise sanibbana q.v. nirvana with remaining aggregates
Savatthi q.v.
senasana (see lodging)
Siddhattha P. name of the Bodhisattva in final existence
sila (see self-discipline)
silakatha words leading to self-discipline (see haunts of abiding)
silasamvara (see strictly following the monastic code of conduct)
sotapattiphala (see Sotapana fruit)
siri (see blessedness, auspiciousness)
sotapana q.v. The lowest level of enlightenment in Buddhism characterised by destruction of the defilements of false view of individuality [sakkdyadipphi], doubt [vicikicchd] and adherence to rites and rituals [silabbatapardmdsa] (see stream enterer) Subhakinha P. realm of Brahmas with a steady aura (see form Brahma realms)
sudra peasant caste (see caste)
sugato The ‘well-gone one’. The Buddha earns the name’well-gone’ on the following counts: 1.The Buddha has “good”be haviours [sugato] in body, speech and mind and passing away will consequently always go to a fortunate realm; 2.The Buddha is properly gone — gone according to the Noble Eight fold Path (comprising self-discipline, meditation and wisdom) — self discipline at many levels including that of the five volumes of the Book of Monastic Conduct but always leading to the sphere of Pathama magga (‘sugato’ from the point of view of self-discipline). Bringing his mind to a standstill at the centre of the PathamaMagga Sphere can remove the defilements of greed [lobha], hatred [dosa], delusion[moha],covetousness [abhijjha], vengefulness [bydpadi] — until knowledge can be attained in the form of the Angelic body, the Brahma body, the Formless Brahma body and exanuning the Four Noble Truths via the Dhammakaya bodies at the level of: stream-entry,once-returner,non-returner and arahant; 3. Gone to a proper realm— that of Nirvana — sa-updtisesanibbdna while still alive and anupdtisesanibbdna after death, and; 4.The appearance of the Buddha as he moved around to relieve the beings of the world of this suffering — such as his appearance which captured the interest of the Pancavaggiya even though they had intended to shun the Buddha (see well-gone)
sukha (see happiness)
Sumeru q.v. P. mountain that forms the axis of the universe in Buddhist cosmology
tanhd (see craving)
Tathagata P. The Such Gone One: epithet of the Buddha
phapaniyavydkarana keeping silent (see four styles of question answering)
Theravada q.v. orthodox Buddhism
thina-middha (see sloth & torpor)
thullaccaya (see serious transgressions)
ti-bhava (see Triple Realms)
tirlakkhana (see Three Universal Characteristics)
tiracchdnavijjd (see Low Arts)
ti-ratana (see Triple Gem)
titthakara (see heretics)
Tusita P. see fourth level of heaven
ucchedadipphi (see false view of nihilism)
Udaka q.v. P. name of a brahmin meditation teacher
uddhacca absent-mindedness(see mind side sensuality)
uddhacca-kukkucca absent-mindedness (see hindrances)
upacdrasamddhi (see access concentration)
upaddna this form of clinging refers specifically to attachment to the Five Aggregates which are impermanent, and subject to change—thus the clinging will ultimately bring suffering (see clinging)
upakilesa The sixteen subtle defilements comprise: 1.covetousness [abijjhdvisama lobha]; 2. vengefulness [bydpdda]; 3.anger [kodha]; 4. grudge or spite [upandha]; 5. denigration [makkha]; 6. envious rivalry [paldsa]; 7.jealousy [issd]; 8.stinginess [macchariya]; 9. deceit [mdyd]; 10. hypocrisy [sdtheyya]; 11. obstinacy [thambha]; 12. contentiousness [sdrambha];13. conceit [mdna]; 14. conceit [atimdna];15.vanity [mada];16. recklessness [pamdda] (see subtle defilements)
upanibandha-gocaro (see haunts of attentiveness)
upanissayagocaro (see haunts of abiding)
upekkha (see equanimity)
uttarimanussadhamma (see extra ordinary attainments)
vaddasamsara (see cycle of existence)
vatthukama Object-side sensuality refers to objects of intimacy or desire—alternatively referred to as the five pleasures of the senses [pancakdmakujia], which comprise: 1.Images:that can be seen with the eye; 2.Sounds: that can be heard with the ear;3. Smells: that can be smelled with the nose;4. Tastes: that can be tasted with the tongue, and; 5.Touch:that can be sensed by the skin of the body, (see object-side sensuality)
Veluvana q.v.
vessa merchants (see caste system)
Vessandara Jataka q.v.
vibhajjavydkarana answer by analysis (see four styles of question answering)
vicara continued application of mind(see absorption factors)
vicikiccha doubt (see mind-side sensuality, hindrances)
vijja Knowledge referring to the insight that casts away the darkness of clinging to the Five Aggregates and ignorance of the Four Noble Truths and Dependent Origination. Because unenlightened people do not realize that they are attached to the Five Aggregates, they identify with their Five Aggregates and think that is their real self. They are deluded into thinking they are in control of their Aggregates. This attachment to the Five Aggregates has the special name ‘upaddna’ and is the real source of the darkness in our minds and our lives. It is the darkness that hides the reality of Nirvana. Insightful knowledge [vijja] can be divided into either three types or eight types. If the knowledge is divided into three types, it is analysed as follows: 1.The recollection of previous existences [pubbenivasanussatindna]; 2.knowledge of the arising and passing away of living beings [cutupapatanana], and; 3. knowledge that brings one to an end of defilements [dsavakkhayahdna]. If the knowledge is divided into eight types, it is analysed as follows: 1.knowledge that makes you understand your bodily constituents according to reality [vipassandndna]; 2.mental power [manomayiddhi]; 3.ability to demonstrate miracles [iddhivitthi]; 4. angelic ear [dibbasota]; 5. ability to read the minds of others [cetopariyayahdna]; 6. The recollection of previous existences [pubbenivasanussatindna]; 7.knowledge of the arising and passing away of living beings [cutupapatanana],and; 8.knowledge that brings one to an end of defilements [dsavakkhayahdna]. As an example let us look at the “knowledge that makes you understand your bodily constituents according to reality”:its meaning according to the epistemology of the Pali words is ‘to see in a special way’ or ‘to see revealed’. What does one see? One sees the nature of one’s Five Aggregates according to the Three characteristics of existence [tilakkhana or sdmanhalakkhana]—as being of a nature of impermanence, non-self and suffering. “Knowledge that makes you understand your bodily constituents according to reality” is achieved with the eye of the Dhammakaya. We cannot see such things with the naked eye (see knowledge, in sight knowledge)
vijja carana sampanno The Buddha could see the nature of everything in the world — to know the nature of the world —not to know before having seen it. Further more, apart from simply being endowed with wisdom and conduct, The Buddha had the wisdom to know what was for the benefit of others to know and the compassion to share this knowledge with others (see attainer of supramundane knowledge & perfect conduct)
vimuttihdna-dassanakathdwords that lead to the seeing & knowing of liberation (see haunts of abiding)
vimuttikathd words that lead to liberation (see haunts of abiding)
vinaya (see discipline)
vihhdna (see consciousness)
vihhdndhdra consciousness as nourishment (see food)
Vinnanancayatana P. realm of infinite consciousness (see formless Brahma realms)
vinhdnafthiti the realms where there is self-consciousness [vinndnapphiti]: 1. Humans, angels and ghosts endowed with heavenly mansions (beings different in body and consciousness); 2. Angels in realm of the first Form Absorption (beings different in body but equal in consciousness); 3. Abhassara Brahmas of the sixth level of Form Brahmas (beings equal in body but different in consciousness); 4. Subhakinaha Brahmas of the ninth level of Form Brahmas (beings equal in body and consciousness); 5.Beings attaining the Sphere of Limitless Space [dkdsdnancdyatana]; 6.Beings attaining the Sphere of Limitless Consciousness [vihhdndhcdyatana]; 7. Beings attaining the Sphere of Nothingness [dkihcdyatana] (see realms where there is selfawareness) vipassanddassana (see insight knowledge)
vipassanahana insight knowledge (see Eight fold Supra-knowledge)
viriya energy, effort (see faculty)
viriydrambha (see continuous striving)
viriydrambhakatha words that lead to continuous striving(see haunts of abiding)
vitakka initial application of mind (see preoccupation, absorption factors)
vitakkacarita (see anxious character)
yakkha (see ogre)
yantra (see written charms)
yasa (see see honour, fame)
yathabala santosa (see contentment with what strengths you have)
yathdldbha santosa (see contentment with what you receive)
yathdsdruppa santosa (see contentment with the appropriate)
yoni lit. womb, mode of birth The arising of beings in the Cycle of Existence is by four possible modes of birth: 1. Hatching from an egg [andaja] e.g birds, lizards and snakes; 2. Birth from the womb [jaldbuja] e.g. mammals; 3. Arising in dampness or moisture
[samsedaja] e.g. prokaryotic organ-isms e.g. mosquitos and some sorts of
worms; 4. Spontaneous arising in adult form [opapdtika] who are as developed as a sixteen-year old complete with adornment from the moment of birth e.g. angels, gods and denizens of hell.
yonisomanasikara (see ability to be a teacher to yourself)
Appendix C Author Biodata: Phrabhavanaviriyakhun (Phadet Dattajeevo)
The Most Venerable Phrabhavanaviriyakhun (Phadet Dattajeevo) is a Thai Buddhist monk. Born in 1941 in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, he followed secular education to post-graduate level. When Wat Phra Dhammakaya, Patumthani was founded in 1970, he was the enthusiastic leader who was not only in charge of the pioneering construction work but also for developing the friendly relation ships with many householders living in the neighbourhood of the temple. He was ordained in 1971, at the age of thirty-two at Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, Bangkok and studied in the Dhammakaya meditation tradition of Phramonkolthepmuni (Luang Phaw Wat Paknam) under his teachers Kuhn Yay Maha Ratana Upasika Chandra Kohnnowk-yoong (1909-2000) and Phrarajbhavana-visudh (Chaiboon Dhammajayo) (b.1944). He also had the opportunity to study in the academic curriculum of Dhamma Studies until reaching Grade I.Within a few years, he had became a well-known Dhamma lecturer. A set of Dhamma Sermon cassettes on the “Thirty-Eight Blessings (Mangala Sutta)’ was his earliest masterpiece. These lectures became very popular with Thais both in Thailand and abroad. He was made vice-president of the Dhamma Missionary
Outreach Sector 8 and is the president of the Dhammakaya International Society of California. Most notably he is vice-president of the Dhammakaya Foundation, an organization dedicated to the outreach of meditation and Buddhism for world peace throughout the world. He is also acting abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya,the temple he helped to pioneer. His work in Buddhist teaching were recognized by the Royal Palace of Thailand and he was consequently elevated to the Royal Order (Ordinary Level)with the title Phrabhavanaviriyakhun’ in 1992. He has also received the Dhammacakra Sema-Pillar award from H.R.H. Princess Maha Cakri Sirindhorn in 1993.
Better known to his congregation as ‘Luang Phaw Dattajeevo , it is now thirty years he has spent teaching the Dhamma and he has spoken before international audiences including that of the United Nations in Geneva. An active author,he has written more than sixty Dhamma books published in the Thai language, an increasing number of which have been translated into foreign languages. At the age of sixty-three years, he is still working as hard as thirty years ago. As vice-president of the Dhammakaya Foundation, he has to rum the organization as Phrarajbhavanavisudh’s right-hand man. Most of the innumerable problems which arise in temple life fall upon his shoulders. However, he is renowned for his practical life solutions, always attempting to tackle problems at their roots instead of merely finding who to blame. How ever,it seems that he works, as always,enthusiastically and with out tiredness, a continuing inspiration to the hundreds of thousands of devotees whose lives his teachings have touched and shaped.
Appendix D: How to Meditate
Meditation is a state of ease, inner peace and happiness that we can bring into being, ourselves. It is a practice recommended by Buddhism for happiness, non-recklessness, mindfulness and wisdom in everyday life. It is no mystery, but something which can be easily practised by all following the technique taught by Phramonkolthepmuni (Sodh Candasaro), Luang Phaw Wat Paknam as follows:
Step-by-Step Instructions for the Meditation Technique
(1) Paying respect to the Triple Gem: To start one should soften one’s mind by paying respect to the Triple Gem, before taking Five or Eight Precepts to consolidate one’s virtue;
(2) Recollect your goodness: Kneel or sit with your feet to one side and think of all the good deeds you have done throughout the day,from your past, and all the good deeds you intend to do in the future. Recollect such good deeds in such a way,until you feel as if your whole body seems to be filled with tiny particles of goodness;
(3) Sit for meditation, relaxing body and mind: Sit in the half lotus position, upright with your back and spine straight — cross-legged with your right leg over the left one. Your hands should rest palms-up on your lap,and the tip of your right index
finger should touch your left thumb. Try to find a position of poise for yourself. Don’t take up a position where you have to force or stress yourself unnaturally—but at the same time,don’t slouch! Softly close your eyes as if you were falling asleep. Don’t squeeze your eyes shut and make sure you have no tension across your eyebrows. Relax every part of your body,beginning with the muscles of your face, then relax your face, neck shoulders,arms,chest,trunk and legs. Make sure there are no signs of tension on your forehead or across your shoulders. Focus on the task in hand, creating a feeling of ease in your mind. Feel that the you are entering upon a supreme state of calm and ease with both body and mind.
(4) Imagine a crystal ball as the object of your meditation: Imagine a clear, bright, flawless crystal ball as if it is floating at the centre of your body (see seventh base of the mind in the illustration). The crystal ball should be pure and soothing, like twinkling starlight to the eye. At the same time,softly repeat the sound of the mantra ‘Samnrn-Araham’ to your self as’recollection of the Buddha’ over and over again. Alternatively you can start by imagining the crystal ball at the first base of the mind, and gradually move it down to the seventh base via the other six bases (see diagram) while repeating the mantra to yourself.
Once the crystal ball becomes visible at the centre of the body, continue to maintain a feeling of ease,as if the mental object seen is part of that feeling. If the crystal ball should disappear, don’t feel disappointed —just keep the same feeling of ease in your mind as before,and imagine a new crystal ball in place of the old. If the mental object should appear anywhere else other than the centre of the body, gradually lead the object to the centre of the body,without using even the slightest of force. When the mental object has come to a standstill at the centre of the body,place the
attention at the centre of that object,by imagining that there is an additional tiny star visible there. Focus your mind continuously on the tiny star at the centre of the object of meditation. The mind will adjust itself until it comes to a perfect standstill. At that point, the mind will fall through the centre and there will be a new brighter sphere which arises in place of the original one. This new sphere is known as the ‘Pathama-magga sphere’ or ‘sphere of Dhamma’. This sphere is the gateway or trailhead to the pathway to Nirvana.
Imagining the object of meditation is something you can do the whole of the time, wherever you may be, whether sitting, standing, walking,lying-down or performing other activities.
It is advised to imagine in such a way continuously at every moment of the day —but imagining without force. No matter how well you manage,you should be contented with your level of progress,in order to prevent excessive craving for immediate results becoming a hindrance to your progress. If you meditate until having attained a steadfast, diamond-bright ‘sphere of Dhamma’ at the centre of your body,you should try to maintain it by recollecting it as continuously as you can.
In such a way, the benefits of your meditation will not only keep your life on the pathway of happiness,success and nonrecklessness,but also ensure your continuing progress in meditation.
ADDITIONAL ADVICE
1. Avoid force: Never force anything in your meditation. Don’t squeeze your eyes closed thinking you will see the object of meditation more quickly. Don’t tense your arms,your abdomen or your body—because any form of tension will only cause the mind to be displaced from the centre of the body to the place you are tensing.
2.Don’t crave after seeing something: You should always maintain complete neutrality of mind. Don’t let your mind be distracted from the object of meditation and the mantra. Don’t worry yourself about when the object of meditation will appear. The image will appear itself when it comes to the right time,just as the sunrises and sets in its own time.
3.Don’t worry about your breath: Meditating in this technique starts with the visualization of a bright object [aloka kasina]. Once having meditated until attaining the sphere of Dhamma, one continues with meditation by passing through the refined human body (astral body), the angelic body, the form-Brahma body and the formless-Brahma body until attaining the Dhamma body(or Dhammakaya). Only then is one equipped to turn one’s meditation to wards insight [vipassand]. Thus there is no need to practise mindfulness of the breath at any stage.
4. Maintain your mind at the centre of the body all the time: Even after having finished your formal sitting, maintain your mind at the centre of the body the whole of the time. No matter whether you are standing, walking, sitting or lying down, don’t allow your mind to slip away from the centre of the body. Continue repeating the mantra ‘Samma-Araham’ to yourself while visualizing the crystal ball at the centre of the body.
5. Bringallobjectsarisingin the mindto thecentreof the body:Nomatterwhatappearsinthemind,bringit(gently) tothecentreofthebody.Iftheobjectdisappears, thereisnoneed tochasearound lookingforit.Justcontinuetorestyourattention atthecentreofthebodywhilerepeatingthemantra toyourself. Eventually, whenthe mindbecomesyet more peaceful, a new objectof meditationwill appear.
Thebasic meditationdescribed herewillleadtoadeepening of happinessinlife. Ifonedoesn’tabandonthepractice but culti vates meditation regularly, to the point that the sphere of Dhammaisattained, oneshouldtrytomaintainthatsphereat the centre of one’s body forthe remainder of one’s life, while leadingone’slife inascrupulous way. Itwilloffer onearefuge in life and will bring happiness both in this lifetime and the hereafter.
SUMMARY OF THE BENEFITS OF MEDITATION 1. Personal Benefits for the meditator • The Mind: the mind willfeel at ease—calmand peace ful. Memory will also improve; • Personality: self-confidencewill be improved. The true nature of calm will become apparent. Anger will diminish, leaving only the feeling of kindness towards others; • Daily life: will be increased in quality in the new-found absence ofstress. The results ofwork or studywill be much more successful.Themeditatorcanenjoyhealthofbothbody and mind; • Ethics and decision-making: a right understanding of that which is good and that which is bad, will be clearly seenfor anygiven situation. Important decisions will cause less worrybecause the meditator understands the outcome of his actions. The meditator can refrain from harmful ac tions and decisions, instead being content and confident about choices made.
2. Benefits for the Meditator’s Family • Peace and success: family life will be more harmoni ous, through the increased mutual respect and considera tionbetweenfamily members. Parents will be better able to
lead thefamily successfully; • Cooperation: Family members willbe more enthusias tic tohonour their duties and co-operate towards solving shared problems.
3. National Benefits • PeacefulSociety: most grave social problems originate from unwholesomeness ofmind. If everybody learns to meditate andlivepeacefully, ‘endemic’ problems likecrime and drug abuse will be diminished; • Respect: Respect for others will be improved simply through keeping to a routine ofmeditation and following moralprecepts. Honesty willdiminish suspicioninthecom munity; • Acaringsociety:asaresult ofmeditation, thepeaceful nessoflifecanbe morewidelyenjoyed and there willbe a morewidespread willingness to participatein socialwork 4. Spiritual Benefits • Understanding eternity: all people, with or without theirown faithcandeepentheunderstandingoftheir own spirituality through meditation. Meditators of all faiths, through the practice of meditation, can explore their own faithindepth,particularlywithreference totheunderstand ing of eternity in their chosen faith; • Inspiration: inspiration inyourownspiritualtradition is strengthened as the meditator comes to realize the pro found happinessthat canbefoundthroughmeditation; • Prolongingthe lifetime ofspiritualtraditions:the meditator’s own spiritual tradition will be maintained as newcomers have a better understanding of moral conduct and self-discipline.
Acknowledgements
The publication of this book was made possible only by the specialeffortsofmanystaffandvolunteers atthe Dhammakaya Foundation in Thailand. Thanks to Phra Nicholas Thanissaro for the translation from the Thai edition and to Chatchai Sribunditm.d. for hisconstructivecriticism. Thanks too, to Phra Maha Surasit Surasiddho & Phra Maha Sawang Subhabhaso (Pali Terminology), Mark George (proofreading), Puengpit Poopornanake & Chalom Srijarus (administrative assistance), Somjai Tae (deciphering & typing up the handwritten translation), Anant Kittithaweesin (cover design & colour artwork), Chalermpol Samrit (photography) and Chadarat Jutthithummakhun, Chaiyachit Siribun & Somboon Boonprasithiphol (supporting digital photography for graphics).