01The Basic Buddhist Teaching

8/21/2019 01The Basic Buddhist Teaching

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The Basic Buddhist TeachingGuang Xing

Centre of Buddhist StudiesThe University of Hong [email protected]

1. Introduction

Unlike other religions, Buddhism never considers its teachings which are called Dharmaas a divined revelation but merely as an instrument for mental training as it shows in thewell known Buddhist simile that the Dharma is similar to a raft for crossing over thestream of saṃ sāra.

Hence the Buddhist teachings are not dogmas to be followed and practiced withoutquestioning, but on the contrary, it encourages critical reflections and analyticalunderstanding because it is only through intuitive wisdom, ignorance, the root of allhuman bondage and sufferings, can be dispelled. The Buddha said, “The destruction ofthe cankers, monks, is for one who knows and sees, I say, not for one who does not knowand does not see.”1 “This freedom of thought” as Venerable Rahula said, “is necessary because, according to the Buddha, man’s emancipation depends on his own realization ofTruth, and not on the benevolent grace of a god or any external power as a reward for hisobedient good behaviour.”

Even the Buddha is neither a creator nor a saviour but only a teacher who guides his

disciples and followers to practice the Dharma he discovered and this Dharma is nothing but a way to realize truth. It is in this sense that the Buddhist teachings are philosophy oflife that serves as practical guides for the sole purpose of eradication of human sufferingsand they are not to satisfy intellectual curiosity about metaphysical and ontological issuessuch as the beginnings of the universe and human race.

2. Dependent Arising

The doctrine of dependent arising or origination (Paḷi: Paticcasamupada, Skt: Prat ī tyasamutpāda) or sometimes called causality is the central philosophy of Buddhism because all other philosophical teachings such as the four noble truths, karma and rebirth,no-soul and impermanence are based on this foundation. Hence it is said, “One who seesdependant origination sees the Dhamma, and one who sees the Dhamma sees dependentorigination.”2 Thus, an insight into the doctrine of dependant arising is an insight into thevery heart of the Dhamma, the Buddhist teachings. This means that all Buddhist doctrines pertaining to ontology, epistemology, psychology and ethics are all based on the principleof dependant arising. The basic formula of dependent arising is found in the dialogues ofthe Buddha with Sakuludayi, the ascetic, “When this exists, that comes to be; with thearising of this, that arises. When this does not exist, that does not come to be; with the

1 CDB: 553. Saṃ yutta Nik ā ya II, 29 (SN 12.23).2 The translation is adopted from Bhikkhu Bodhi, MLDB: 283. Majjhima Nik ā ya I, 191.


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cessation of this, that ceases.”3

According to the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha is only a discoverer as well as anexpounder of this truth, he is neither a creator nor an inventor of it. Therefore, “whetherthere is an arising of Tathāgatas or no arising of Tathāgatas, that element still persists, thestableness of the Dhamma, the fixed course of the Dhamma, specific conditionality. ATathāgata awakens to this and breaks through to it. Having done so, he explains it,teaches it, proclaims it, establishes it, discloses it, analyses it, elucidates it.”4 Thisstatement refers to what is actually happening in the phenomena world which operatesuninterrupted and uncontrolled by any external agency or power of any sort. But it doesnot refer to an abstract structural principle called Dependent Arising which should beviewed as permanent or everlasting.

The doctrine of dependent arising is also called the Middle Teaching because it rejects the

two extreme views of the human condition that have polarized reflective thought throughthe centuries: one is the metaphysical thesis of eternalism and the other extreme isannihilationism. The first represents an extreme form of realism which asserts thateverything exists absolutely and the second an extreme form of nihilism, which assertsthat absolutely nothing exists. Here the first represents a monistic view that everything isreducible to a common ground, some sort of self-substance and the second the opposite pluralistic view that the whole of existence is resolvable into a concatenation of discreteentities.

What the theory not intended to explain

It should be understood that this theory does not try to explain how the universe started,

the ultimate beginning and it also makes no attempt to solve the riddle of an absoluteorigin of life because according to Buddhism, these two issues or questions are notimmediately connected with the problem of human suffering and its eradication. TheBuddha emphatically declared that “the first beginning of existence is somethinginconceivable.”5 Therefore, it is futile to search for Buddhist answers to these issues because the Buddha refused to answer such metaphysical questions which are known asthe unanswered questions in the Buddhist literature. It is equally futile to ask the questionwhy the Buddha did not answer it because the Buddha is a practical teacher and he wasnot interested in questions that do not lead to any useful conclusions.

What the theory intends to explain

The theory of dependent arising explains the conditionality, or dependent nature, of allthe manifold mental and physical phenomena of existence; of everything that happens, beit in the realm of the physical or the mental as Venerable Nyanaponika put it. In otherwords, the theory explains how things work and proceed rather than how things areformulated and begin. It explains how the phenomena in the world arise and disappear, particularly the process of human life.

3 The translation is adopted from Bhikkhu Bodhi, MLDB: 655. Majjhima Nik ā ya II, 32, Sutta No. 79 andIII, 63, Sutta No.115.4 Saṃ yutta Nik ā ya II, 25 (S.12.20); CDB: 550.5 Saṃ yutta Nk ā ya II, 178; English translation is adopted from the Kindred Sayings II, 118.


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The implications of the theory are as follows:1. Everything in this world is interdependent, therefore, nothing is permanent.2. Everything in this world is interrelated, therefore, nothing is independent.3. Everything in this world is relative, therefore, nothing is absolute.Hence, everything in this world is interdependent, interrelated and relative.

According to this theory, (1) there is no single cause leading to a single effect for anygiven phenomena. This also rejects the God creation of the universe and human beings.Therefore, there is utterly no place in Buddhist thought for the theory and concept of asingle creator who rewards and punishes the good and bad deeds of the creatures of hiscreation. There is also no permanent everlasting substance that can be called a soul withinthe ever changing flux of psychical and physical phenomena of a human being.

(2) There is no single cause leading to multiple effects and equally there are also nomultiple causes leading to a single effect. Some Indian teachers both from the Brahmanaand Sramana traditions taught these theories, some taught that a single cause leads tomultiple effects and some taught that multiple causes lead to a single effect. Buddhismrejects all these theories.

(3) According to Buddhism, it is always the fact that multiple causes lead to multipleeffects in the phenomena world. The Buddha spoke of conditionality and according towhom, the entire world is subject to the law of cause and effect, in other words, actionand reaction. We cannot think of anything in this cosmos that is causeless andunconditioned. All social and personal issues and problems are interconnected and

interrelated. Thus the Buddhist theory of Dependent Arising rejects many ancient Indiancausal theories which are considered as imperfect.

(4) This theory also rejects the views that everything happens haphazardly. PūraṇaKassapa, one of the six sramana teachers, held the theory that there is no cause and effect,everything happens fortuitously.6 The Buddha’s criticism to this theory is that it breaksthe morality, the basis for a peaceful society.

(5) Fatalism and determinism are also rejected. Fatalism and determinism are the sameand both say that human’s actions are determined or caused by any external force orforces. However, according to the Buddhist theory of dependent arising, human’s actions

depend on his own will, not on any external causes. So Buddhism rejects all forms offortune telling because our future is not settled yet, and it is largely dependent on what wedecide to do now and here. How can a fortune teller to tell your future if the future is notfixed yet?

It is on this principle that the Buddha explained the process of the human life, theconditional arising of all those mental and physical phenomena conventionally named as“living being,” or “individual,” or “person”. According to this theory, life is not an

6 CDB: 903. (S 22. 60; PTS: iii 68) Pūraṇa Kassapa is described as holding the theory of inefficacy(akiriyavāda) in CDB: 995. (S. 24:6; PTS: iii 209)


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identity, it is a becoming. It is a flux of psychological and physiological changes, aconflux of mind and body. Just as Bhikkhu Bodhi said, “The ultimate purpose of theteaching on dependent origination is to expose the conditions that sustain the round ofrebirths, samsara, so as to show what must be done to gain release from the round.”7 The Buddha further explains the process of human life into twelve factors with an aim toillustrate the human bondage and his freedom. It is expounded in two orders by way oforigination to explain the arising of suffering and by way of cessation to explain theending of suffering.

Dependent on ignorance arises moral and immoral conditioning activities, dependent onconditioning activities arises (relinking) consciousness, dependent on (relinking)consciousness arise mind and matter, dependent on mind and matter arise the six spheresof sense, dependent on the six spheres of sense arises contact, dependent on contact arisesfeeling, dependent on feeling arises craving, dependent on craving arises grasping,

dependent on grasping arises becoming, dependent on becoming arises birth, dependenton birth arise decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair. Thus this wholemass of suffering arises.

Then the dependent arising is explained by way of cessation. With the cessation ofignorance, conditioning activities cease, with the cessation of conditioning activities(relinking) consciousness ceases, with the cessation of (relinking) consciousness, mindand matter cease, with the cessation of mind and matter, the six spheres of sense cease,with the cessation of the six spheres of sense, contact ceases, with the cessation of contact,feeling ceases, with the cessation of feeling, craving ceases, with the cessation of craving,grasping ceases, with the cessation of grasping, becoming ceases, with the cessation of

becoming, birth ceases, with the cessation of birth, decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair cease. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.

However, one should not misunderstand or take ignorance as the Buddhist explanation ofultimate beginning or the first cause which is not discussed in the Buddhist literature asdiscussed above. In fact, the dependent arising with its twelve factors forms a circle.There is no beginning and no end to it. This method of dividing up the factors should not be misconstrued to mean that the factors are mutually exclusive, but they may risetogether. So whenever there is ignorance, then craving and clinging invariably comealong; and whenever there is craving and clinging, then ignorance stands behind them. Itis the arising of ever changing conditions dependent on similar evanescent conditions.

Here there is neither absolute non-existence nor absolute existence, only bare phenomenaroll on.

3. Four Noble Truths

The four noble truths are the fundamental teaching of Buddhism and it is the Buddhist philosophy of life. According to the Book of Discipline, the Buddha himself discoveredand realized the four Noble Truths by his own intuitive knowledge at the foot of theBodhi tree. Whether the Buddhas arise or not in this world these truths exist and it is a

7 CDB: 517.


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Buddha who reveals them to the deluded world. So the four noble truths are the Buddhistanalysis of life and its problems as well as the solutions to these problems.

The logical sequence between the Four Noble Truths shows that the significance of eachcannot be understood in a context from where the other three are excluded. Each assumessignificance in relation to the other three. If the truth of suffering is sought to beunderstood in isolation from the rest, such an understanding will necessarily lead to theconclusion that Buddhism advocates a pessimistic view of life.

The Four Noble Truths are: (1) Dukkha, suffering or unsatisfactoriness, (2) the arising ororigin of dukkha, (3) the cessation of dukkha, (4) the way leading to the cessation ofdukkha.

The Buddha taught the four noble truths to his five disciples in the first sermon, “This,

monks, is the noble truth that is suffering. Birth is suffering; old age is suffering; illness issuffering; death is suffering; sorrow and grief, physical and mental suffering, anddisturbance are suffering. Association with things not liked is suffering, separation fromdesired things is suffering; not getting what one wants is suffering; in short, the fiveaggregates of grasping are suffering.”8 Although there lists many different forms ofsuffering, both physical and psychological, but Buddhism mainly analyzes the last, thegrasping or attachment to the five aggregates. Elsewhere the Buddha distinctly definesdukkha as grasping of the five aggregates: “O bhikkhus, what is dukkha? It should be saidthat it is the five aggregates of grasping or attachment.”9

So here why and how the five aggregates of grasping are said to be suffering? According

to the Buddhist analysis of the empiric individuality, a person consists of five aggregateswhich are a combination of the ever-changing physical and mental forces or energies.They are the aggregate of matter, the aggregate of sensations or feelings, the aggregate ofapperceptions, the aggregate of mental formations, and the aggregate of consciousness.The first one is physical which serves as the basis for the rest four which are psychological. It is called a sentient being or a human being when the five aggregateswork together. In other words, the human personality can therefore be defined as theirsum total.

These five aggregates are inseparably linked together working as a whole. There can beno consciousness without a body; although there could be a body without consciousness,

but it would not be sentient. The five aggregates are interrelated, interdependent andinterconnected to one another working according to the laws of dependent arising. Thusthey have the three distinctive characteristics of impermanence, no-self and suffering.This differs from the familiar concept of “body” and “soul”. The soul goes to somewhereeither to enjoy or suffer leaving the body behind.

The five aggregates are all impermanent, all are constantly changing. (1) Each of the fivesuch as matter or consciousness is impermanent and (2) the combination of the five

8 CDB: 1844 (PTS: S v. 421). 9 CDB: 963. Dukkha Sutta, S iii.158.


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together is also impermanent. They are not the same for two consecutive moments as theyare in a flux of momentary arising and disappearing.

As the five aggregates are all impermanent, there is no unchanging substance in this process of human life. Hence there is nothing that can be called a permanent self or soulor individuality, or anything that can in reality be called ‘I’.

According to the Buddhist teaching, “whatever is impermanent is suffering, dukkha”. Forthe impermanent nature of everything can but lead to one inescapable conclusion:suffering. This is the true meaning of the Buddha’s words: “In brief the five Aggregatesof Attachment are dukkha.’ As everything is impermanent, they cannot be made the basisof permanent happiness.

However, in the Buddhist definition of suffering it is not the five aggregates themselves,

but the five aggregates of grasping that are characterized as suffering. Although the fiveaggregates in themselves are not suffering, but they can be a source of suffering whenthey become objects of grasping. Thus there is a clear distinction between the fiveaggregates on the one hand and the five aggregates of grasping, on the other.

Strictly speaking, what Buddhism calls the individual is not the five aggregates, but thefive aggregates when they are grasped or appropriated. This explains why in the Buddhistdefinition of suffering, the reference is made to the aggregates of grasping and not to theaggregates themselves.

The five aggregates of grasping takes place in our mind, because it is our mind that

appreciates and grasps the five aggregates. In short, dukkha can be explained as the problems in our lives. As long as we grasp the five aggregates as ourselves so we have problems.

The so-called individual can thus be reduced to a causally conditioned process ofgrasping. And it is this process of grasping that Buddhism describes as suffering. Hencethe Buddhist conclusion is that life, at its very bottom or core, is characterized bysuffering.

This process of grasping manifests itself in three ways: This is mine, this I am, and this ismyself. The first is due to craving; the second is due to conceit; and the third is due to the

mistaken belief in a self-entity. It is through this process of three-fold self-identificationthat the idea of 'mine', 'I am' and 'my self' arises.

It is in this sense that Buddhism concentrates on the analysis of psychological problemsrather than physical ones as the Sallatha Sutta of the Samyuttanik ā ya says,

Bhikkhus, when the instructed noble disciple is contacted by a painful feeling, he does not

sorrow, grieve, or lament; he does not weep beating his breast and become distraught. He feels one feeling-a bodily one, not a mental one…… If he feels a pleasant feeling, he

feels it detached. If he feels a painful feeling, he feels it detached. If he feels a neither-


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painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he feels it detached .10

Thus, those who have liberated still feel bodily pain, but not mental pain. In ChineseBuddhism the often used word is fanniao which means kle śa, the psychological problemswe have.

Causes of suffering

The Buddhist emphasis on the universality of suffering could also be understood from thecauses of suffering. One of the major causes of suffering is the self-centred desire whichmanifests itself in many forms.

The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta says, “ It is the craving that produces renewal ofbeing accompanied by enjoyment and lust, and enjoying this and that; in other words,

craving for sensual desires, craving for being, craving for non-being .”11

The technical term for craving is tanha in Pali language. The Buddha said in the FireSermon that all is burning, the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are burning, burning with craving.12 “The image of fire connotes all-consuming movement within themind of a person, something hot, dangerous, destructive, and potentially out of control.The implication is that craving in the form of lust and hatred is a fire that inflames everyaspect of a person – all the aggregates – and thus brings suffering in its wake.”13

However, craving is not the only cause in the Buddhist analysis of the causes of suffering, but one of the causes as discussed in the dependent arising because Buddhism always

thinks of multiple causes leading to multiple effects. The twelvefold formula ofdependent arising is a chain of causes and effects and this ‘is the origin of this wholemass of suffering’. (M 927) But in this chain ignorance is the key factor in considerationand it is ignorance that leads to craving and hatred which in turn lead to more graspingand becoming.

Sometimes, the Buddha also gave three causes of suffering: craving, hatred and delusionwhich are all psychological. Here delusion is equal to ignorance which is the root causefor craving and hatred. But craving and hatred lead to more ignorance as they defile themind.

According to the Buddhist philosophy, ignorance means the lack of understanding of thefour noble truths and dependent arising. Hence, the ignorant person regards theimpermanent as permanent, the painful as pleasant, the soulless as soul, the impure as pure, and the unreal as real. Thus he entertains wrong views and does wrong deeds whichlead him to further suffering. Therefore in the Buddhist analysis, the causes of suffering

10 CDB: 1246-5 (SN 36:6; S iv 208).11 CDB: 1844.12 CDB: 1143.13 Gowans, 128.


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are found within us, not outside, and in the same way, the solutions to suffering are alsofound within us.

4. The Concept of Nirvāṇa

Nirvāṇa or nibbāna is the third of the four noble truths, so it is the complete eliminationand cessation of the main causes of dukkha, which are craving, hatred and ignorance.Therefore nirvāṇa is also known by the term “Extinction of Craving, Extinction of Hatred,and Extinction of Ignorance”. If craving is compared to a fire as in the Fire Sermon quoted above, then nirvāṇa is compared to a fire gone out when the fuel is finished andno more fuel is added so it cannot be kindled again.

Nirvāṇa is always explained in negative terms in the Buddhist literatures because it isoutside of our ordinary human experience as the human language is designed in such a

way to express the human sensory experience.

Although nirvāṇa is described in negative terms but the experience of it is not negative but positive and happy as the poems written by those who have liberated demonstrate inthe two books of the Ther ā gata and the Ther ī gata.

Five ways to understand nirvāṇa

Since nirvāṇa is described in negative terms how can we understand it? So we canunderstand the Buddhist concept of nirvāṇa in the following five ways.

(1) From the moral point of view, nirvāṇa is the highest level of moral perfection, because it is the highest form of cultivation of morality.

For one who has attained nirvāṇa, all unwholesome motivational roots such as greed,hatred, and delusion have been fully eradicated with no possibility of their ever becomingactive again.

As the noble eightfold path which leads to nirvāṇa starts with morality and it also endswith moral perfection, so at the end of the practice, the person becomes a perfect personin morality as he or she naturally leads a moral life.

In this sense, nirvāṇa is an ethical state, to be reached in this birth by ethical practices,contemplation and insight. It is therefore not transcendental. The first and most importantway to reach nirvāṇa is by means of the eightfold Path, and all expressions which dealwith the realisation of emancipation from lust, hatred and delusion apply to practical habits and not to speculative thought.

(2) From the experiential point of view, nirvāṇa is the highest level of happiness, becauseall kinds of suffering are eliminated as a corollary in the formula of four noble truths. TheBuddha taught Māgandiya,The greatest of all gains is health,


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Nibbāna is the greatest happiness,

The eightfold path is the best of paths, For it leads safely to the Deathless.14

According to Buddhism, happiness is the peace of mind or tranquillity of mind inordinary sense, free from all worries and troubles. The Buddha said, “Monks, I know notof any other single thing that brings such happiness as the mind that is tamed, controlled,guarded and restrained. Such a mind indeed brings great happiness.”15

However, the librated one is not free from physical pain but subject to physicaldiscomfort, however there is no emotional reaction to physical pain or psychologicaldiscomfort resulting from pain. He experiences physical pain without complaining,without self pity, without developing thoughts of hatred towards others.

(3) From the point of knowledge, nirvāṇa is the highest level of wisdom. This is becausethe fourth of the four noble truths is the noble eightfold path which leads to theattainment of wisdom. According to the Buddhist teaching, the ultimate cause of dukkha or suffering is ignorance and in order to destroy ignorance, one has to attain wisdom, tosee things as they really are.

It is in this sense that nirvāṇa is also defined as the attainment of knowledge. The Rā siyaSutta of the Samyuttanik ā ya says, the noble eightfold path “leads to peace, to directknowledge, to enlightenment, to nibbāna.”16 This knowledge is the true vision of thingsas they truly are so it is an insight into the nature of the phenomenal reality.

According to Buddhism the five aggregates represent the totality of our experience, thetotality of conditioned experiences. This means that the knowledge of things as they trulyare refers the knowledge of the five aggregates as the Parijānanasutta of theSamyuttanik ā ya informs us that it is only through full comprehension of the fiveaggregates that one is cable of destroying suffering.17

Thus this knowledge is the final awakening to the true nature of the world of our ownsensory experience, but not the knowledge of a higher reality. According to Buddhism,when one attains the highest knowledge he sees the same phenomenal reality, our ownworld of experience, but the difference is this: he sees it in the true sense, he sees thingsas they truly are. So what takes place when Nibbāna is attained is not a change in the

nature of reality, but a change in our perspective of the nature of reality.

(4) From the psychological point of view, nirvāṇa is the highest level of mentalemancipation, the freedom of our mind, because all the polluting factors that restrict andrestrain the mind such as selfish desire, hatred, ignorance, conceit, pride, so on and so

14 MLDB: 613 (M i 508). It is also found in the counterpart sutra in the Chinese Madhyamā gama. (CBETA,T01, no. 26, p. 672, b23-24)15 Anguttaranikaya: Adanta Suttas: Untamed: AN 1.31-40; PTS: A i 5; Gradual Sayings, I 4.16 S iv 331. CDB: 1350.17 CDB: 1140-42.


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forth are eliminated, so the mind is pure and healthy. It is full of universal love,compassion, kindness, sympathy, understanding and tolerance.

Negative emotions restrict an individual's psychological freedom; therefore greed, hatred,and ignorance are described as poisons in the Buddhist literature because theycircumscribe an individual's freedom. Greed, hatred, and ignorance are roots ofunwholesome mental states which fetter the individual within saṃ sāra. So when all these bad mental elements are removed, our mind becomes truly free.

(5) From the point of ultimate reality, nirvāṇa is the highest truth. The Dhatu-vibhangaSutta of the Majjhimanik ā ya says:

His deliverence, being founded upon truth, is unshakable. For that is false, monks, whichhas a deceptive nature, and that is true which has an undeceptive nature -- Nibbāna. Therefore, a monk possessing [this truth] possesses the supreme foundation of truth. Forthis, monk, is the supreme noble truth, namely Nibbāna , which has an undeceptivenature.18

When one attains nibbāna, one realizes the truth of life, one understand things as theytruly are, the three characteristics of life: impermanence, suffering and no-self.

Nirvāṇa in this life

According to the Buddhist teaching, this kind of nirvāṇa is realizable in this world and inthis life if it is mature.

The Dhammakathika Sutta of the Saṃ yuttanik ā ya says: “ If through revulsion towardsaging-and-death, through its fading away and cessation, one is liberated by nonclinging,one is fit to be called a bhikkhu who has attained nibbāna in this very life.”19

“ If through revulsion towards ignorance, through its fading away and cessation, one isliberated by nonclinging, one is fit to be called a bhikkhu who has attained nibbāna inthis very life.”20

This nirvāṇa can be attained in this world now and here. The Satipaṭṭ hāna Sutta of the Majjhimanik ā ya says,

Let alone half a month, bhikkhus. If whoever should develop these four foundations ofmindfulness in such a way for seven days, one of two fruits could be expected for him:either final knowledge here and now, or if there is a trace of clinging left, non-return.21

The Bodhir ā jakumāra Sutta (No. 85) of the Majjhimanik ā ya says,

18 M iii 245; CDB: 1093.19 CDB: 545. S ii 18.20 CDB: 545. S ii 18.21 MLDB: 155. M i 63.


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Let alone one day and night, prince. When a bhikkhu who possesses these five factors of

striving finds a Tathagata to discipline him, then being instructed in the evening, he

might arrive at distinction in the morning; being instructed in the morning, he mightarrive at distinction in the evening .22

5. Noble Eightfold Path

The fourth of the four noble truths is the noble eightfold path which is also called themiddle path because it is not a compromise but transcends the two extremes in practice,two misguided attempts to gain release from suffering.

One extreme is the indulgence in sense pleasures by gratifying desires which givesenjoyment but not happiness because enjoyment or pleasure is gross, transitory, and

devoid of deep contentment. The Buddha recognized that sensual desire can exercise atight grip over the minds of human beings, and he was keenly aware of how ardentlyattached people become to the pleasures of the senses. Thus the Buddha describes theindulgence in sense pleasures as “low, common, worldly, ignoble, not leading to the goal.”

The noble eightfold path avoids the extreme of sensual indulgence by its recognition ofthe futility of desire and its stress on renunciation. Desire and sensuality, far from beingmeans to happiness, are springs of suffering to be abandoned as the requisite ofdeliverance.

The other extreme is the practice of self-mortification, the attempt to gain liberation by

afflicting the body. This practice may be motivated by genuine aspiration for deliverance, but it is guided by a wrong view that “the body is the cause of bondage, when the realsource of trouble lies in the mind — the mind obsessed by greed, aversion, anddelusion.”23 To rid the mind of these defilements the affliction of the body is not onlyuseless but self-defeating, for it is the impairment of a necessary instrument. Thus theBuddha describes this second extreme as " painful, ignoble, not leading to the goal."

The Buddhist renunciation does not mean physical renunciation, but psychological one.Because the causes of human suffering is within the human mind not outside. This idea isvery well brought out in the Anguttaranik ā ya as follows: In passionate purpose lays man’s sense desire,

the world’s gain glitters are not sense desire,in passionate purpose lays man’s sense desire,

the world’s gain glitters as they abide,but the wise men hold desire, therefore, in check .24

22 M i 95-96: MLDB: 707-8. “if a monk (bhikkhu) has the following five factors of striving, (1) faith in theTathāgata’s enlightenment, (2) free from illness and affliction, (3) honest and sincere, (4) energetic inabandoning unwholesome states and in undertaking wholesome states, (5) wisdom regarding to rise anddisappearance, he can attain enlightenment in a day.”23 Bodhi 1994: 15.24 Gradual Saying 291. A iii 411. The same saying is also found in the Nasantisutta of the Samyuttanik ā ya,Mrs Rhys Davids translated it as “The manifold objects in the world— This in itself is not desires of sense.


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So what the Buddha wanted to convey is that the manifold objects in the external worlddo not constitute our craving. What constitute our craving is the lustful intention, lustfuldesire within us, not things themselves, but lustful desire towards them.

So the true renunciation is not completely withdrawn from the world physically, but thecultivation of particular attitude of mind within us. So mental culture is not based on thesuppression of senses, but to develop the senses to see the phenomena as they truly are.

That’s why the Buddha returned to the world after enlightenment and he even advised hisdisciples to go and preach his teachings when there were sixty arahant disciples aroundhim.

Therefore, the practice of renunciation does not entail the tormenting of the body. It

consists in mental training, and for this the body must be fit, a sturdy support for theinward work. A sound mind is in a sound body. Thus the body is to be looked after well,kept in good health, while the mental faculties are trained to generate the liberatingwisdom.

The Noble Eightfold Path “gives rise to vision, gives rise to knowledge, and leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna.”25 The noble eightfold path isthe whole of Buddhist training leading one to perfection both mentally and morally. Thistraining can be summarized as:

“To abstain from all evil, to cultivate the good, and to purify one's mind — this is theteaching of the Buddhas.” ( Dhammapada 183).

The noble eightfold path consists of eight factors as follows:

Division Eightfold Path factors

Wisdom1. Right understanding or view

2. Right intention or thought

Ethical conduct

3. Right speech

4. Right action

5. Right livelihood

Meditation

6. Right effort

7. Right mindfulness

8. Right concentration

The eight factors are not step by step training but they are components of training andthus should be practiced simultaneously as they are interdependent and interrelated. The

Lustful intention is man’s sense-desire. That manifold of objects doth endure; The will thereto the wiseexterminate.” (S:1.34; PTS: S I 22, trans. I 32) (CDB: 111) and also in Chinese Saṃ yukt ā gama Sutra No.752 (CBETA, T02, no. 99, p. 198, c27-p. 199, a12).25 CDB: 1843. SN 56.11; PTS: S v 420. Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.


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eight factors are usually divided into three groups: (i) the moral discipline including rightspeech, right action, and right livelihood; (ii) the meditation including right effort, rightmindfulness, and right concentration; and (iii) the wisdom including right thought andright view.

The moral discipline which is based on the universal love and compassion for all living beings is training in verbal and physical behaviors and it aims at promoting a happy andharmonious life both for the individual and for society. Moral discipline is indispensablefor mental training, meditation, the main practice of Buddhism, which aims at cleansingthe mind of impurities and disturbances and cultivating such qualities as concentration,awareness, intelligence, etc. Thus meditation will lead finally to enlightenment, theattainment of highest wisdom which sees the nature of things as they are. The Buddhistconcept of wisdom is the perfection in both morality and intelligence so it is differentfrom what ordinarily we understand as wisdom as it includes only intelligence. It is in

this sense that the Buddhist training aims at the perfection of man in two qualities thatshould be developed equally: compassion and intelligence. In other words, the nobleeightfold path leads one to the attainment of wisdom that dispels ignorance, the root ofhuman life’s problem. As the Buddha says: “The element of ignorance is indeed a powerful element.”26

Significance of the noble eightfold path

1) In the Noble Eightfold Path, you do not find any prayer, ritual formalism or worship,ceremony. So it can be accepted and practiced by all people without changing their lifestyle and belief.

There is no mention of faith which is the foundation for other religions in the world. Inother words, faith is no so important in Buddhism as it serves only at the beginning. Oncewhen the practitioner progresses, faith is not necessary.

There is even no mention of rebirth in the noble eightfold path. This means that even inthis life itself, the practice of the noble eightfold path is meaningful. In other words, evenfor those do not believe in next life, the practice of the noble eightfold path is useful.

2) The noble eightfold path lies its emphasis on human effort for liberation, not on the power of an outside supernatural agent because it is a practice of self-discipline in body,

speech and mind, self-development and self-purification.

So it is a path starting from moral practice leading to the realization of ultimate reality, tocomplete freedom, happiness and peace through moral, spiritual and intellectual perfection.

3) The Noble Eightfold Path is to be followed by all those who work for their happiness,it is a way of life to be followed, practiced, and developed by each and every individual.

26 CDB: 637. S ii 153; SN 14:13.


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4) The Noble Eightfold Path is both a means as well as an end as it starts with moraltraining and ends up with moral perfection. Two factors are achieved when one followsthe path: right knowledge and right liberation.

5) The Noble Eightfold Path begins with right view because, according to the Buddha,nothing is more dangerous than wrong view.

The Buddha himself says that he sees no single factor so responsible for the arising ofunwholesome states of mind as wrong view, and no factor so helpful for the arising ofwholesome states of mind as right view.27

What is the right view? Sariputta explains in the Sammaditthi Sutta: “When, friends, anoble disciple understands the unwholesome, the root of the unwholesome, thewholesome, and the root of the wholesome, in that way he is one of right view, whose

view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”28

Here the wholesome refers to the Ten Kusala Dhamma (the ten virtues) and theunwholesome refers to the opposite, while the root of unwholesome is greed, hatred anddelusion, the root of wholesome is non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion.

6) Dogmatic attachment to any view is wrong. Although right view is good, butattachment to right view is also condemned by the Buddha, because dogmatic attachmentto any view may lead one to suffering.

Because a view is only a guideline to action, even the Buddhist teaching is only like a raft.That’s why the Buddha says that he does not hold any view.

The Buddha says in the Sallekha Sutta, “we shall not misapprehend according toindividual views nor hold on to them tenaciously, but shall discard them with ease — thuseffacement can be done.”29

6. Karma and Rebirth

First let us look at the definition of karma given in the early Buddhist literature. In the Anguttaranik ā ya, one of the five collections of Buddhist teachings, we find this saying of

the Buddha:

“ I declare, O Monks, that volition is Kamma. Having willed one acts through body, speech and thought .”30

(1) The word karma or kamma literally means “action” or “doing”, but in the Buddhist

27 A i 28. The Gradual Sayings, i 27-28. NDB: 116-117.28 M iii 178-79.29 M i 43. Sutta No.8, Sallekha Sutta.30 The Gradual Sayings, iii 294. (A iii 415, Nibbedhika Sutta-A Penetrative Discourse).


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theory of karma it does not mean any action, it is only the volitional action. Involuntary,unintentional or unconscious actions, though technically deeds, do not constitute karma, because volition, the most important factor in determining karma, is absent. Karma oraction is performed in three ways, by the mind, speech and body.

(2) The Buddhist theory of karma is the theory of cause and effect, action and reaction.As volition can be morally good or bad so karma also can be morally good or bad. Thus,good volitional actions produce good effects or fruits and vise versa.

The nature of karma is determined by its motives. According to the Buddhism, any actionmotivated by desire or attachment, hate or aversion and ignorance or confusion is morally bad and unwholesome. On the other hand, any action is motivated by the absence ofgreed, hatred and ignorance is morally good and wholesome.

(3) Karma is a law in itself which operates according to the principle of dependent arising.There is no intervention of any external, independent ruling agency or power. Even theBuddha is neither a creator nor the controller of karma. The Buddhist doctrine of kammathus places ultimate responsibility for human destiny in our own hands. It reveals to ushow our ethical choices and actions can become either a cause of pain and bondage or ameans to spiritual freedom.

(4) Karma is similar to the natural law, but not exactly the same, so karma cannot beinterpreted as tit for tat as the Lonaphala Sutta says,

Monks, for anyone who says, 'In whatever way a person makes kamma, that is how it is

experienced,' there is no living of the religious life, there is no opportunity for the rightending of suffering. But for anyone who says, 'When a person makes kamma to be felt in such & such a way, that is how its result is experienced,' there is the living of the

religious life, there is the opportunity for the right ending of suffering.

In the case of a person who has not properly cultivated his character, mind, intellect …even a trifling evil deed leads him to a lower destiny. On the other hand, in the case of a

person of opposite (good) character, the consequences of such trifling acts areexperienced in this very life and sometimes may not appear at all .31

(5) Karma does not necessarily mean only past actions, it embraces both past and present

deeds. Hence, in one sense, we are the result of what we were, we will be the result ofwhat we are. In another sense, we are not totally the result of what we were, we will notabsolutely be the result of what we are.

In the Buddhist scriptures, the present action (karma) is more emphasized because pastactions are also done and we cannot change them. It is the present actions that contributeto build our future life. It is in this sense that every moment we are creating our future. Every moment then we must be careful . For instance, a criminal today may be a saint

31 The translation is adopted from the Book of Gradual Sayings i. 227. NDB: 331-332. (PTS: A i 249, PaliText: A 3.99)


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tomorrow, a good person yesterday may be a vicious one today.

(6) Many people misunderstand karma as an occult power or as an inescapable fate. Ifkarma is fate then it is like determinism or fatalism. However, karma is neither becausethe future of our life is not determined as we are now still creating our future.

(7) In the working of karma its most important factor is the mind. All our words anddeeds are colored by the mind or consciousness we experience at such particularmoments. As the Citta Sutta says:The world is led around by mind; By mind it’s dragged here and there.

Mind is the one thing that has All under its control .32

If one speaks or acts with a wicked mind, pain follows one as the wheel, the hoof of thedraught-ox." "If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows one as the shadow that never departs.33

That is why, as discussed above, the Buddhist training aims at the cleansing the mind ofimpurities on one hand and cultivating good mental qualities on the other.

So according to Buddhism human behaviors are conditioned by causes and it is followed by correlated consequences. This correlation between action and its consequenceconstitutes the doctrine of karma in Buddhism.

Vipāka

1) The correlated consequences of action (karma) are called vipāka which means fruit inBuddhism.

As karma is action so vipāka is its consequence or result. Karma may be ethically good or bad, so Vipāka, fruit, is also ethically good or bad. Karma is mental, so Vipāka too ismental; it is experienced as happiness or bliss, unhappiness or misery according to thenature of the karma seed.

As we sow, so we reap somewhere and sometime, in this life or in a future birth. What we

reap today is what we have sown either in the present or in the past.

The Samyuttanik ā ya states:Whatever sort of seed is sown,That is the sort of fruit one reaps:

The doer of good reaps good;

The doer of evil reaps evil.

By you, dear, has the seed been sown;

32 CDB: 130. (S.1.62. Cittasutta – Mind).33 Dhammapada, verse No.1&2.


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Thus you will experience the fruit .34

The fruits or consequences of karma are many different kinds dependent on the nature ofkarma and rebirth is the most important fruit of karma. At the moment just precedingdeath, the death-proximate kamma may take the form of a reflex of some good or baddeeds performed during the dying person’s life. This determines the nature of the linkingconsciousness that serves as a condition to next birth. Thus, the accumulation of goodkarma in life ensures one a good rebirth.

As Buddhism does not accept the concept of an eternal soul as an agent of performance,then who is the performer of karma? Who reaps the fruit of karma? In answering thesesubtle questions, the fifth century commentator Buddhaghosa wrote in theVisuddhimagga, (the Path to Purification):

No doer of the deeds is found, No one who ever reaps their fruits;

Empty phenomena roll on:This only is the correct view.

As discussed above, according to the Buddhist analysis of a human being or an individual,it is only a combination of the five aggregates and there is no permanent self or soulwithin or outside to control and dictate. Hence volition or will is itself the doer, feeling isitself the reaper of the fruits of action. Apart from these pure mental states there is none tosow and none to reap as life itself is an ever changing flux and behind this flux there isnothing serving as an agent. Everything is a process and in this process there is no eternal

and unchanging substance.

King Milinda questioned the Venerable Nāgasena, “Where, Venerable Sir, is Kamma?”

Nāgasena said, “ Kamma is not said to be stored somewhere in this fleeting consciousnessor in any other part of the body. But dependent on mind and matter it rests manifestingitself at the opportune moment, just as mangoes are not said to be stored somewhere inthe mango tree, but dependent on the mango tree they lie, springing up in due season.”

In conclusion, the basic Buddhist teachings concentrate on the analysis of life, how lifegoes on from one birth to another, how our ethical behaviors affect our life, our life’s

problems and their causes and solutions. The practical aim of this teaching is to lead oneto attain wisdom through practice called three trainings: morality, concentration andwisdom, because as the root cause of our life’s problems is ignorance so wisdom is theonly solution. Nirvana is nothing but wisdom with which one can see things as they trulyare.

Reference

A = Aṅ guttaranik ā ya. 2000. Oxford: the Pali Text Society (PTS). Reprint.

34 CDB: 328. (S. i. 227; PTS trans. i 293)


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Bhikkhu Bodhi. 1994. The Noble Eightfold Path, The Way to the End of Suffering . Firstedition 1984 published as Wheel Publication No. 308/311, Second edition (revised)1994 Buddhist Publication Society.

CDB = Bhikkhu Bodhi. 2000. (trans.) The Connected Discourse of the Buddha, ATranslation of the Saṃ yuta Nik ā ya. Boston: Wisdom Publication.

Gowans, Christopher. 2003. Philosophy of the Buddha, London and New York:Routledge.

M = Majjima Nik ā ya. 2000. Oxford: the Pali Text Society. Reprint.MLDB = Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi. 1995. (trans.) The Middle Length

Discourse of the Buddha, A New Translation of the Majjima Nik ā ya. Boston:Wisdom Publication.

NDB = Bhikkhu Bodhi. 2012. (trans.) The Numerical Discourse of the Buddha, ATranslation of the Aṅ guttara Nik ā ya. Boston: Wisdom Publication.

Rahula, Walpora. 2000. What the Buddha Taught . London and New York:

S = Saṃ yutanik ā ya. 2000. Oxford: the Pali Text Society. Reprint.Woodward, F. L. 2000. (trans.) The Book of Gradual Sayings, Vol. I. Oxford: The Pali

Text Society.

Documents

01The Basic Buddhist Teaching