CHAPTER 38
THE WAY TO NIBBĀNA (III)
Transcient are all conditioned things,
Sorrowful are all conditioned things,
Soulless are all conditioned and non-conditioned.
-- DHAMMAPADA
Insight
(Vipassanā)
When the Jhānas are developed by
temporarily inhibiting the Hindrances (Nīvarana) the mind is so
purified that it resembles a polished mirror, where everything is clearly
reflected in true perspective. Still there is not complete freedom from
unwholesome thoughts, for by concentration the evil tendencies are only
temporarily inhibited. They may rise to the surface at quite unexpected
moments.
Discipline regulates words and deeds;
concentration controls the mind; but it is Insight (paññā), the
third and the final stage, that enables the aspirant to Sainthood to
eradicate wholly the defilements inhibited by Samādhi.
At the outset he cultivates 'Purity of Vision'
(ditthi visuddhi)
[1] in order to
see things as they truly are. With one-pointed mind he analyses and
examines this so-called being. This searching examination shows what he
has called personality, to be merely a complex compound of mind and matter
which are in a state of constant flux.
Having thus gained a correct view of the real
nature of this so-called being, freed from the false notion of a permanent
soul, he searches for the causes of this "I" personality. He realizes that
there is nothing in the world but is conditioned by some cause or causes,
past or present, and that his present existence is due to past ignorance
(avijjā), craving (tanhā) grasping (upādāna), Kamma,
and physical food of the present life. On account of these five causes
this so-called being has arisen, and as past causes have conditioned the
present, so the present will condition the future. Meditating thus, he
transcends all doubts with regard to past, present and future.
[2]
Thereupon he contemplates the truth that all
conditioned things are transient (anicca), subject to suffering
(dukkha), and devoid of an immortal soul (anattā). Wherever he
turns his eyes he sees naught but these three characteristics standing out
in bold relief. He realizes that life is a mere flux conditioned by
internal and external causes. Nowhere does he find any genuine happiness,
for everything is fleeting.
As he thus contemplates the real nature of life
and is absorbed in meditation, a day comes when, to his surprise. he
witnesses an aura (obhāsa) emitted by his body. He experiences an
unprecedented pleasure, happiness, and quietude. He becomes even-minded,
religious fervour increases, mindfulness becomes clear and insight keen.
Mistaking this advanced state of moral progress for Sainthood, chiefly
owing to the presence of the aura, he develops a liking for this mental
state. Soon the realization comes that these new developments are
impediments to moral progress, and he cultivates the purity of
knowledge with regard to the Path and Not-Path.
[3]
Perceiving the right path, he resumes his
meditation on the arising (udaya ñāna) and passing away (vaya
ñāna) of all conditioned things. Of these two states the latter
becomes more impressed on his mind since change is more conspicuous than
becoming. Therefore he directs his attention to contemplation of the
dissolution of things (bhanga ñāna). He perceives that both mind
and matter which constitute this so-called being are in a state of
constant flux, not remaining for two consecutive moments the same. To him
then comes the knowledge that all dissolving things are fearful (bhaya
ñāna). The whole world appears to him as a pit of burning embers -- a
source of danger. Subsequently he reflects on the wretchedness and vanity
(ādīnava ñāna) of the fearful and deluded world, and gets a feeling
of disgust (nibbidā ñāna) followed by a strong will for deliverance
from it (muñcitukamyatā ñāna).
With this object in view, he resumes his
meditations on the three characteristics of transiency, sorrow, and
soullessness (patisankhā ñāna) and thereafter develops complete
equanimity towards all conditioned things -- having neither attachment nor
aversion for any worldly object (upekkhā ñāna)
[4]
Reaching this point of spiritual culture, he
chooses one of the three characteristics for his object of special
endeavour and intently cultivates insight in that particular direction
until the glorious day when he first realizes Nibbāna,
[5] his ultimate
goal.
"As the traveller by night sees the landscape
around him by a flash of lightning and the picture so obtained swims long
thereafter before his dazzled eyes, so the individual seeker, by the
flashing light of insight, glimpses Nibbāna with such clearness that the
after-picture never more fades from his mind.
[6]"
When the spiritual pilgrim realizes Nibbāna for
the first time, he is called a Sotāpanna, one who has entered the
stream that leads to Nibbāna for the first time.
The stream represents the noble Eightfold Path.
A Stream-Winner is no more a worlding (puthujjana),
but an Ariya (Noble).
On attaining this first stage of Sainthood, he
eradicates the following three Fetters (samyojana) that bind him to
existence -- namely,
1/- Sakkāya-ditthi (sati + kāye +
ditthi) -- literally, view, when a group or compound exists. Here
kāya refers to the five Aggregates of matter -- feeling,
perception, mental states, and consciousness. The view that there exists
an unchanging entity, a permanent soul, when there is a complex-compound
of psycho-physical aggregates, is termed sakkāyaditthi.
Dhammasangani enumerates twenty kinds of such soul-theories.
[7]
Sakkāya-ditthi is usually rendered as self-illusion, theory of
individuality, or illusion of individualism.
2/- Vicikicchā -- Doubts. They
are doubts about (i) the Buddha, (ii) the Dhamma, (iii) the Sangha, (iv)
the disciplinary rules (sikkha), (v) the past, (vi) the future,
(vii) both the past and the future, and (viii) Dependent Origination (Paticca-Samuppāda).
3/- Sīlabbātaparāmāsa -- Adherence
to (wrongful) rites and ceremonies.
Dhammasangani
explains it thus: "it is the theory held by
ascetics and brahmins outside this doctrine that purification is obtained
by rules of moral conduct, or by rites, or by both rites of moral conduct
and rites.
[8]"
For the eradication of the remaining seven
Fetters a Sotāpanna is reborn seven times at the most. He gains
implicit confidence in the Buddha, the Dhamrna, and the Sangha. He would
not for any reason violate any of the five precepts. He is not subject to
rebirth in states of woe as he is destined to Enlightenment.
With fresh courage as a result of this distant
glimpse of Nibbāna, the noble pilgrim makes a rapid progress, and
perfecting his insight becomes a Sakadāgāmi (Once-Returner), the
second stage of Sainthood, by attenuating two other Fetters -- namely,
sense-desires (kāmarāga) and illwill (pātigha).
Now he is called a Once-Returner because he is
born in the human realm only once, should he not attain Arahantship in
that birth itself. It is interesting to note that the Ariya Saint who has
attained the second stage of Sainthood can only weaken these two powerful
Fetters with which he is bound from a beginningless past. At times, though
to a slight extent, he may harbour thoughts of lust and anger.
It is by attaining the third stage of
Sainthood, that of the Anāgāmi (Never-Returner), that he completely
eradicates those two Fetters. Thereafter he neither returns to this world
nor is he born in the celestial realms, since he has rooted out the desire
for sensual gratification. After death he is reborn in the Pure Abodes
(Suddhāvāsa), an environment reserved for Anāgāmis. There he attains
Arahantship and lives till the end of his life.
When a layman becomes an Anāgāmi, he leads a
celibate life.
The Anāgāmi Saint now makes his final advance
and destroying the remaining five Fetters -- namely, attachment to Realms
of Form (rūparāga), attachment to Formless Realms (arūparāga),
pride (māna), restlessness (uddhacca), and ignorance
(avijjā) -- attains Arahantship, the final stage of Sainthood.
Stream-Winners, Once-Returners, Never-Returners
are called Sekhas because they have yet to undergo a training.
Arahants are called Asekhas (Adepts) because they no more undergo
any training.
An Arahant, literally, a Worthy One, is not
subject to rebirth because he does not accumulate fresh Kammic activities.
The seeds of his reproduction have all been destroyed.
The Arahant realizes that what was to be
accomplished has been done, a heavy burden of sorrow has finally been
relinquished, and all forms of craving and all shades of ignorance are
totally annihilated. The happy pilgrim now stands on heights more than
celestial, far removed from uncontrolled passions and the defilements of
the world, experiencing the unutterable bliss of Nibbāna.
Rebirth can no longer affect him since no more
reproductive seeds are formed by fresh kammic activities.
Though an Arahant he is not wholly free from
physical suffering, as this experience of the bliss of Deliverance is only
intermittent nor has he yet cast off his material body.
An Arahant is called an asekha, one who
does not undergo training, as he has lived the Holy Life and has
accomplished his object. The other Saints from the Sotāpatti stage
to the Arahant Path Stage are called Sekhas because they still
undergo training.
It may be mentioned in this connection that
Anāgāmis and Arahants who have developed the Rūpa and Arūpa Jhānas could
experience the Nibbānic bliss uninterruptedly for as long as seven days
even in this life. This, in Pāli, is known as Nirodha-Samāpatti.
[9] An Ariya, in
this state, is wholly free from pain, and his mental activities are all
suspended. His stream of consciousness temporarily ceases to flow.
With regard to the difference between one who
has attained Nirodha-Samāpatti and a dead man, the Visuddhi
Magga states: "In the corpse, not only are the plastic forces of the
body (i.e., respiration), speech and mind stilled and quiescent, but also
vitality is exhausted, heat is quenched, and the faculties of sense broken
up, whereas in the Bhikkhu in ecstasy vitality persists, heart abides, and
the faculties are clear, although respiration, observation, and perception
are stilled and quiescent.
[10]
According to Buddhism, in conventional terms,
this is the highest form of bliss possible in this life.
Why does an Arahant continue to live when he
has already attained Nibbāna?
It is because the Kammic force which produced
his birth is still not spent. To quote Schopenhauer, it is like the
potter's wheel from which the hand of the potter has been lifted, or, to
cite a better illustration from our own books -- an Arahant is like a
branch that is severed from the tree. It puts forth no more fresh leaves,
flowers and fruits, as it is no longer supported by the sap of the tree.
Those which already existed however last till
the death of that particular branch.
The Arahant lives out his life-span
adding no more fresh Kamma to his store, and utterly indifferent to death.
Like Venerable Sāriputta he would say:
"Not fain am I to die nor yet to live.
I shall lay down this mortal frame anon
With mind alert, with consciousness controlled.
With thought of death I dally not, nor yet
Delight in living. I await the hour
Like any hireling who hath done his task.
2"
What happens to the Arahant after his passing
away?
As a flame blown to and fro by the wind goes
out and cannot be registered, so says the Buddha, an Arahant, set free
from mind and matter, has disappeared and cannot be registered.
Has such an Arahant then merely disappeared, or
does he indeed no longer exist?
For him who has disappeared, states the Sutta
Nipāta, there exists no form by which they could say, 'he is'. When all
conditions are cut off, all matter for discussion is also cut off.
The Udāna explains this intricate
point thus:
"As the fiery sparks from a forge are one by
one extinguished,
And no one knows where they have gone
So it is with those who have attained to complete emancipation,
Who have crossed the flood of desire,
Who have entered the calm delight, of those no trace remains.
[11]"
The Majjhima Nikāya also relates an interesting
discussion between the Buddha and Vacchagotta concerning this very
question.
[12]
Vacchagotta, a wandering ascetic, approached
the Buddha and questioned:
"But, Gotama, where is the Bhikkhu who is
delivered of mind reborn?
He was of course referring to the Arahant.
The Buddha replied:--
"Vaccha, to say that he is reborn would not fit
the case.
"Then, Gotama, he is not reborn.
"Vaccha, to say that he is not reborn would not
fit the case.
"Then, Gotama, he is both reborn and not
reborn.
"Vaccha, to say that he is both reborn and not
reborn would not fit the case.
"Then, Gotama, he is neither reborn nor not
reborn.
"Vaccha, to say that he is neither reborn nor
not reborn would not fit the case.
Vaccha was baffled on hearing these
seemingly inconsistent answers, and, in his confusion, exclaimed:
"Gotama, I am at a loss to think in this
matter, and I have become greatly confused.
"Enough, O Vaccha. Be not at a loss to think in
this matter, and be not greatly confused. Profound, O Vaccha, is this
doctrine, recondite and difficult of comprehension, good, excellent, and
not to be reached by mere reasoning, subtle and intelligible only to the
wise and it is a hard doctrine
for you to learn, who belong to another sect, to another faith, to another
persuasion, to another discipline, and who sit at the feet of another
teacher. Therefore, O Vaccha, I shall now question you, and do you make
answer as may seem to you good. What think you, Vaccha? Suppose a fire
were to burn in front of you, would you be aware that fire was burning in
front of you?
"Gotama, if a fire were to burn in front of me,
I should be aware that a fire was burning in front of me.
"But suppose, Vaccha, someone were to
ask you: On what does this fire
that is burning in front of you depend?' What would you answer, Vaccha ?
"I would answer, O Gotama, 'it is on fuel of
grass and wood that this fire burning in front of me depends.'
"But Vaccha, if the fire in front of you were
to become extinct, would you be aware that the fire in front of you had
become extinct ?
"Gotama, if the fire in front of me were to
become extinct, I should be aware that the fire in front of me had become
extinct.
"But, Vacca, if someone were to ask you -- 'In
what direction has that fire gone, East or West, North or South?' What
would you say, Vaccha?
"The question would not fit the case, Gotama,
for the fire depended on fuel of grass and wood, and when that fuel has
all gone, and it can get no other, being thus without nutriment, it is
said to be extinct.
"In exactly the same way, Vaccha, all forms,
sensations, perceptions, mental activities, and consciousness have been
abandoned, uprooted, made like a palmyra stump, become extinct, and not
liable to spring up in the future.
"The Saint, O Vaccha, who has been released
from what are styled the Five Aggregates, is deep, immeasurable like the
mighty ocean. To say that he is reborn would not fit the case. To say that
he is not reborn would not fit the case. To say that he is neither reborn
nor not reborn would not fit the case."
One cannot say that the Arahant is reborn as
all passions that condition rebirth are eradicated, nor can one say that
the Arahant is annihilated, for there is nothing to annihilate.
Robert Oppenheimer, a scientist, writes:-
"If we ask, for instance, whether the position
of the electron remains the same, we must say 'no', if we ask wether the
electron's position changes with time, we must say 'no'; if we ask whether
it is in motion, we must say 'no.'
"The Buddha has given such answers when
interrogated as to the condition of man's self after death.
[13]
But they are
not familiar answers from the tradition of the 17th and 18th century
science."
Nibbāna, it may safely be concluded, is
obtained by the complete cessation of the defilements (kilesa), but
the real nature of this Supreme State (Dhamma) cannot be expressed in
words.
From a metaphysical standpoint, Nibbāna is
complete deliverance from suffering. From a psychological standpoint,
Nibbāna is the eradication of egoism. From an ethical standpoint, Nibbāna
is the destruction of lust, hatred and ignorance.
[1]
The third stage of the Path of Purity
[2]
Kankhāvitaranavisuddhi, the fourth stage of the Path of Purity.
[3]
Maggāmaggañānadassanavisuddhi, the fifth stage of the Path of Purity.
[4] 1 These nine
kinds of insight -- namely, udaya, vaya, bhanga, bhaya, ādīnava,
nibbidā muñcitukamyatā, patisankhā, and upekkhā, ñānas are
collectively termed Patipadāñānadassanavisuddhi -- Purity of
vision as regards knowledge of progress, the sixth stage of the Path of
Purity.
[5] 2 Insight found
in this supramundane Path Consciousness is known as Mānadassana
Visuddhi -- Purity of Vision which is Knowledge, the seventh
member of the Path of Purity.
[6] 3 Dr. Dahlke.
[7] See
Dhammasangani Translation, p. 259.
[8] Section 1005
[9] Literally,
'attainment to cessation'. See A Manual of Abhidhamma by Nārada
Thera pp. 227, 435.
[10] The Path of
Purity, part ii, p. 872.
2 Psalms of the Brethren. p. 346.
[11]
See Woodward, Verses of Uplift, p. 114.
[12]
Aggivacchagotta Sutta, No. 72.
[13] Evidently the
writer is referring to the state of an Arahant after death.
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