Pali Buddhism_ H H Tilbe.pdf

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STUDENT S P Ll SERIES

PALl UDDHISM

BY

TILBE,

M

Profes

Pal•

IN

RA)IGOON DAPTIST COLLEGE

uthor

o

a PaiL

Grammar

•••••

RANGOON

AI\IRRICA Il B ..P1IST MISSION PRESS

1

I ,

D PHINNE\

1

SUPT

1

lQOO


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3/63

PREFACE

The selections hitherto set for the Pah exammat1ons of

the

Calcutta Umvemty have been taken from

the

fascmatmg

fa1ry-tales and folk-lore of

the

]d.takas, from

the

h1stoncal

legends of

the

Dipavamsa, and from

the

beautiful poetry of

the Dhammapada and

the

Sutta-N1p:ita These select10ns

ha e contamed many of

the

techmcal terms and much of

the

best teachmg of Buddhism

In e\ery exammat1on, there are questions on

the

hfe and

teachmg of Gotama Buddha, not all of

wh1ch

are denved

directly from

the

portwns of ttxt studied They take for

granted,

as

S

nght,

a general aLquamtance

w1th the

more

promment features of

the

Buddhism of

the

Plh P1takas

Among the many books on Buddh1sm, there has been

nothmg

either

cxaLtly ~ u t e d to

the

needs of our students or

w1thm the1r means

This

httle

work has been prepared especially to meet this

practical

need,

and

a1ms

to furmsh a bnef, reliable, clear,

well arranged, and mcxpens1ve outlme of Gotama's real hfe

and teachmg

It Is

hoped, howe\er, that 1t may find a somewhat

w1der

usefulness 1t S especially demed

that the

statement and

arrangement, herem giVen, of

the

doctnnes of ongmal

Buddhism may pro"e helpful to misMonanes who have to

meet modern Buddhist beliefs and practices wh1Lh are

the

legitimate, and Illegitimate, progeny of those ongmal doctnnes.

The

Piih forms of proper names and of techmcal terms

have been used throughout, even to the

extent of

g1vmg

Gotama mstead of Gautama, Kamma mstead of Karma, and

N1bb:i na mstead of N1rviina

Many techmcal terms necessanly occur before they have

been defined , but the meanmg of any unfamd1ar term can

be quite readily found

by the

use of the Index

The text may appear to some marred by a too hberal use

of capital letters and quotation marks that md1cate a

techn1cal use of words , but the more ready and clear corn-


4/63

iv

PREPACE

prehensiOn of

the

meanmg, whtch thts assures, ts beheved

to

be ample compensatton

References

to

ongmal

sources have

not

been

gtven , be-

cause those for whom the book ts

mtended

wlil seldom have

etther

opportumty

or

mchnatton-few of them the

abthty,

even-to consult ongmal texts. Dtrect quotattons

of

proof

passages, etther m

the

ongmal Pii lt

or

m translattons, were

precluded by

the

predetermmed bnefness and mexpenstve-

ness of the book.

Actual quotattons

of the

language

of

European and

Amencan

scholars have been credtted m foot notes ,

but

many thoughts

have been borrowed m modtfied form, that

could

not

be

thus

credtted

Everythmg

avatlable m

Enghsh

has been exammed Espectal help has been recetved

from

Rhys

Davtds- Buddhtsm,

Htbbert

Lectures,

11

Amencan Lectures, Momer Wlihams- Buddhtsm ;''

Oldenberg (Hoey's

translatton)- Buddha

c , Chtlders-

11

Pah

Dtcttonary

' '

I am espectalJy grateful to my fnend, Mrs E B Roach, for

her

kmdncss m readmg

the

final proofs Her sktll detected

many errors

that,

otherwtse, would have been overlooked

RANGOON,

BuRMA,

ept•mber IS

If OO

H H.

TILBE.


5/63

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION

Buddh1sm not a relig10n

Rehg10n always a

growth

DIVISIOns

CHAPTER

I

Jambudipa

L fe of old Aryans

Changes

Two

burnmg

q uest1ons

AscetiCism

Metempsyckons .. ,

A new philosopher ...

CH PTER

Gotama born

marned

, becomes an ascetiC

, becomes

Buddha

, wms first

d sc ples

,.

rev s ts

old

home

, attams panmbbina

Legends

of

CH PTER

Ill.

Dhamma

Pili

Canon

..l l hree Councils

Fundamental Doctnnes

(1)

God and

Soul

2)-Amcca

(3) -Khandas

4).-Kamma

v(S)

-Ar1ya-Saccim

a Dukkha

h Tanha

c N1bbina

d

Magga

PAGE

I

z

2

3

5

5

6

7

7

s

9

IO

IO

IO

1I

IJ

3

3

IS

5

9

9

9

20

21

:Z

24

24

25

26

27

27

28

39


6/63

VI

CONTENTS.

Four Stages

Eth1cal System .

I)

-Five Precepts .. .

:z).-Eight Precepts .. .

~ Ten Precepts

(4) -Evil Pnnciples .

5).-

Ten

Depravmes

(6) -Ten Fetters

7) -Seven Jewels • . • •

8)

-Ten Transcendent Virtues ..•

Buddha not the peer of Chnst

Ideal not attamable ..

CHAPTER

IV

The Sangha

Lay-diSCiples .

Doctrme of Ment

The 3angha not a pnesthood

Siimana and Samanera

Admission

Four Forbidden Acts

Four Resources

Eight art1cles possessed

L1fe m V1haras

Food

Clothmg

Duttes and dally routme

MeditatiOn

...

(I) Jhiina

~ . Samiidhi

Bhikkh uni-Sangha

T1mes

and Seasons

(1). Uposatha Days ...

(2). Vassa •••

(3). Pavirana

4}. Civaratnasa

5). Pat1hii.rakapakkha .

Changes m Buddhtsm not strange

PAGE.

30

31

~ 2

32

32

32

33

33

33

34

34

35

36

b

36

37

38

39

39

40

40

41

41

41

42

43

44

44

44

45

46

46

47

47

47

47

48


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8/63

CORRIGENDA.

Page

5

for Sakavala re d Cakkavila

10,

14

PriiJii.pati PraJii.pati

11, 13

Uravela

Uravelii.

14

Belugamako

Belugii.mako.

21

as a

11

as a

30

Sakkii.yadtttht , Sakkii.yad1tth1

3

Das-SaiiiloJii.m ,

Dasa-Sal1iioJiinl .


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INTRODUCTION.

Three

hundred y e a r ~ bt:fore Alexandna was founded,

about the

t1me

that

f h a l e ~ ,

the most auc1ent ph1losopher of

Europe

was tea

of Dura , and Dame

was

labonng 1

Babylon

to

L'tab Jsh tht. worsh1p of

the true

God m

Judea,

a rt.verend sage who had left a throne for philosophy, was

travehng from Gaya to Benares, and from Benares to Kanouj,

exhortmg thL people agamst theft f a l ~ e h o o d , adultery, kllhng,

and

mt


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2 PALl BUDDHISM.

Buddh1sm, however, accordmg

to

a true defimt1on of the

word rel1pon or any purely techmcal use of the term, IS

not

a rehg1on.

It

does truly adm1t, m a mod1fied way, nearly

the

whole pantheon of early Hmdu1sm and all

the

demons,

ghosts, spntes and fames

that

belong to

the

wild superstitiOns

of half savage peoples , but

yet

Jt nowhere adm1ts any re l

god or any superhuman bemg worthy of worship , 1t has no

temples, Jt admits nellher altars nor :.acnfices; 1t has no

true pnests

1t

knows no prayers, no ntual no rehg10us ntes

of any

kmd

Buddh1sm s s1mply an atheistic system of Philosophy

and

Eth1cs-a Philosophy of

humamty

m 1ts environment, so

clear, so profound, so positive,

that 1t IS

destmed

not

only

to

astomsh,

but

to largely

mod1fy

at no d1stant day, the thought

of the West

Eth1cs

wh1ch

have already begun

to

awaken

surpnse

and admJrauon m many who had not beheved

that

any

good thmg could come out of heathemsm

In a broader, more popular use of

the

word, however,

Buddh1sm

s

a rehg10n

and

IS nghtly stud1ed as such

m connection w1th other great rehgwns that have mfluenced

large masses of men

A rehg10n

s

always a growth No

rehgwn

ever started as

an

absolutely new and completely perfected system ,

but

each,

w1th constant changes, developed

out

of somethmg, or m con

nection

w1th

somethmg, that went before Cunously enough,

th1s word

powth

m

th1s

connection partakes of both senses

m wh1ch 1t IS used, respectively, of orgamc developement

and

of morgamc mcrease for m rehg10n,

there

IS always some

thmg

that

hke

the

pnnc1ple of hfe, IS self-developmg from

Wlthm, accordmg to regular org.m1c law, whde, at the same

t1me, there are whole masses of outer accretiOns hke the

ghttermg

stalactites

and

stalagmites

of

a calcareous cavern,

or

the

slimy alluvial flats of a great

nver

delta

To understand any rehg10n, then, one must study 1ts

growth, from

the

three stand pomts -

I) The ends proposed,

2) The

means proposed,

3) The

modus operandr

proposed

The first of these, m any purely human system, will

depend almost ent1rely on

the

environments am1dst wh1ch

the system takes 1ts

nse

The second will depend very


11/63

INTRODUCTION.

3

largely on the founder of the system-that one who first

defimtely states the germtnal truths of the system and begins

thetr active propagatton The thtrd w11l depend partly on

the founder of the system and partly on the fundamental

pnnctples of the system.

So the study of a

rehg10n

falls

naturally m to four dtvtstons,

- the

Land of tts Rtse Its Founder Its Doctrmes . Its

Institutions.

The

fact of growth, both by developement and by accretton,

s very patent m Buddhtsm whtch lays no clatm to dtvme ongm

or superhuman mterventton of any kmd but ts confessedly

the product of pure human mtuttlon Our study of

that

growth wtll

fall

mto four chapters -

. Jambudipa Indta, 6oo-soo B C

II. Gotama the probable hfe of Gotama Buddha, wtth

some of the legendary tales

Ill.

Dhamma the fundamental prmctples of the system

as denved from the Pttakas.

IV. Sangha the Order of Mendtcants


12/63


13/63

CHAPTER 1.-JAMBUDiPA.

In the cosmogony of Buddhism every world or Sakavala

consists of a Mount Meru surrounded by sea m wh1ch he four

huge

Islands -one

to the North one to the East one to the

South and one to the West of Lhe Mountam In

the

world

m

wh1ch we

h\e

1

the Island lymg South of Mt Meru

IS called Jambudipa Among Buddhists the name gener

ally meant m

1ts

widest sense all the known world m

a narrower sense tt

was

largely used m reference to Ind1a

1

or

so much of lndta as

was

known m distmct1on from other lands

In

this Jambud1pa m the valley of

1ts

great nver Ganges

Buddhism arose datmg from the hfe-ttme of

1ts

founder

Gotama Buddha somewhere 6oo-soo B C

The whole Ganget1c plam had already at that time been

long m the possessiOn of the Aryans and the darker races

who had come mto the land before them had been destroyed

or dnven away or absorbed mto the conquenng people.

These conquermg Aryans who had come mto India from

the North-West many years before and after fully occupymg

the country of the Pan] ab had pushed on down

the

valley of

the Ganges were one of the seven great races mto wh1ch an

older people had separated m different waves of mlgrauon

Persians Ind1an Aryans Greeks Romans Kelts Germans

and Slavs

We learn from common elements m the languages of these

seven races that already before they separated there was

somethmg of Civilization m the old parent stock ; and 1t

certam that these Aryans brought considerable of Civ1hzat1on

With

them mto Ind1a

Their oldest literature dates back more than a thousand

years before the nse of Buddhism and g1ves p1ctures of

their

hfe m that

far

away penod

At that earher

t1me

they were engaged m wars of conquest

gradually advancmg from a cold North-land mto ncher and

warmer countnes towards the South and South-East taking


14/63

6

PALl BUDDHISM

these lands from the1r conquered

foes

Sometimes they

turned

as1de

from fightmg

With

the1r foes

to

quarrels among

themselves

They were a s1mple patnarchal people, each father bemg

ruler and pnest m h1s own fam1ly.

The1r women were accorded equahty and were treated w1th

respect and tenderness

As a wandermg people, theu wealth consisted ch1efty m

cows , though they knew and possessed

other

domestic

ammals

They

oebeved that each mdlVIdual had a soul

that

am mated

h1s body m hfe and contmued to hvt: even after

the

body s

d1ssoluhon , and they accorded souls not only

to

men but also

to

other

ammals and even to mammate objt:Cts

They

worsh1ped a number of powerful gods

wh1ch

were

doubtless de1ficauons of heavenly bod1es and of the forces

of

nature.

Though very rehg1ous, they had qu1te loose not1ons of

morahty

The hfe they hved

was

s1mple, free, and happy

1

there was

generally an abundance of hfe s few s1mple necess1t1es , and

there

were

few

cares

But

by

the

t1me of

the nse

of Buddh1sm,

there

had come

about

great

changes I he old wandermg predatory and

pastoral hfe had been abandoned

The1r wealth no longer cons1sted m cows alone , but m

fields of grams and gardens of fru1ts,

bes1des

palaces and gems

and chanots and

other

luxunes of

c1v1hzed

hfe

The h o u ~ e h o l e r was no longer patnarchal ruler and

pr1est , for they had become

d1v1ded

mto classes ruled by

petty ch1efs, and there had ansen a spec1al class who assumed

the

dut1es and cla1med

the

nghts

of pnesthood

Such

of

the1r dark predecessors

as

had not been destroyed

or

dnven from the land, had been absorbed as memals,

formmg a great class that was scorned and mistreated.

Among themselves, too,

there

had grown up d1stmct10ns

of

rank and class the learned

pnest

easily took precedence,

c:la1mmg

d1vme descent w1th d1vme powers and requmng

dlvme honors , the warnors came next m power and honor ,

below them, was the great body of farmers, merchants, and

artizens These d1stmct1ons among themselves and between


15/63

JAIIIBUDIPA

7

themselves and the darker slaves, had alreadv settled toto the

hard and cruel system of caste whtch for

thirty

centuries has

been a

bhght

on

the

mass of Indta s people

The stmple worsh1p of

the

old-tlme dettles had become

an

elaborate system of sacrtfices and

ntual

HenotheJSm

had

been swallowed up m polytheism ; and th1s, m turn,

had

gtven way to pantheism of most ngtd momst1c type There

had been developed

the

doctrme of one God who was

not

only supreme over all else m

the

umverse

but

was

the

only

real existence all else

that

appeared-gods, men, animals,

mammate

thmgs,-were

but

emanatwns from htm

Under

such circumstances life for the masses could

not but

be full of

e\tls

and hardshtps

and

mequahues.

y

the grt:at maJonty, no doubt,

the

suffenng and wrong of

thts

VI IOUS

artdictal hfe were borne wtth

the

dull apathy of

dense Ignorance and dark superstitiOn ,

but there

were some

m all classes who were askmg two burnmg

ql esnons,-

(1) Whence comes all this unequal suffenng m

the

hves

of n ~

(2)

How may It be averted or escaped?

The

rehgtous use of the Vedas and all pnestly funcuona,

such as the performance of sacnfice and

other

rehgtous ceremo

mes, were

the

exclusive

nghts

of

the

htgh-caste Brahm1ns;

and

no

one from another caste could by any means ever

attam

to them But a knowledge of some parts of

the

Vedas

and

all

secular learmng were open to any one m either of

the

other

two castes of the real Aryans, and there arose from

thetr

ranks many philosophers and reformers N.evoltmg from the

orthodox crf ed and

the

settled customs of society,

they

dthgently sought and zealously taught new schemes for the

amehoratJon of the evtls of hfe and for the explanatton of tts

mystenes

There was an almost umversal behef m

the

sanctity of

ascettctsm, and m the efficacy of penance, m gatnmg super

human power and mstght , and

the

whole land was full of

ascetics These. dad m yellow rags, etther hved apart from

men, dwelhng as hermtts m the great forests, eatmg only

leaves and roots and frultS found about them, and spending

thetr whole time m deep and myst1c meditation ;

or

elae

wandered from place to place surrounded by bands of

admtrmg

dtsctples,

eatmg

alms begged from house to house,


16/63

8 PALl

BUDDHISM

spendmg the1r t1me m teachmg

the

new

doctnnes they

had

formulated or m mod1fymg those doctrmes m d1scuss1ons

With

the

Brahmms or

w1th

other

mendicant philosophers

like themselves

The

ch1ef obJect of theu mqu1ry and

the

mam

burden

of

the1r teachmg was the answer sought and belteved to have

been found, to those two

burnmg

questions as to the ongm

and escape of life s

ev1ls

There

s

an mnate sense of JUStice m man, wh1ch expects

nght-domg to be rewarded .md wrong-domg to be

pumshed

;

and 1s ever ready to explam present cond1twns by former

deeds Unfortunately, however

the

f o ~ t s

of hfe do

not

always

support the theory of J

ust1ce-good

men suffer m hfe and

d1e

unrequited , bad men prosper m evil and pass away un

punished How are tht se mcons1stenc1es to be c::xplamed ?

It was

to

meet

th1s

difficulty,

that the doctnne

of

Metempsy-

clzons

was formulated

It IS the spmtual self, the undymg oul,

that

nctuates the

bodv m all 1t does and

s

therefore the real author of all

deeds, good or bad Mamfestly, therefore, 1t

s

the soul

that

must be pumshed or rewarded-If not m th1s ltfe, then m

some

other

So

the

soul

at the

death

of the

body must pass

1nto

another

body-good or b o ~ d h 1 g h or low, d1vme

or human

or

bestial,

ammate

or mammate, as

1ts

circumstances may

requ1re-m wh1ch

1t

shall rece1ve the JUSt recompense of

what 1t has done before That new hfe w11lm

the

same way

requ1re another

and that another and so on, d m/inztum

ThiS

Metempsychons

was the pracucally umversal answer

wh1ch both the

Brahmms

and

the

ph1losophers

of

Ind1a

accepted to

that

first questwn as to

the ongm

of the suffermg

and seemmg wrong m the hves of men

But

in trop1cal, caste-curst Ind1a, ltfe Itself

IS

suffermg,

and

the unendmg senes of existences m Metempsyclzosrs seemed

the greatest, the most unendurable ev1l of all so the second

quest1on, as to how ev1l m1ght be averted or escaped, gamed

a thousand-fold 111 Importance

Here, too, one answer had been umversally act epted-the

answer of Brahmm1sm

Slowly, step by step,

through

many

centunes had

the

rehg1ous and phdosophtcal teachers of that great people

been workmg out

that

answer

At

last they had rested m


17/63

J MliUDIP

Brahma. the

supreme God, the All-soul,

the One

He

was

the

only real existence , all else

was

mere emanat1on from

h1m Mamfestly man's only possible release from the evd of

contmued hfe, lay m reabsorpt1on mto Brahma. from whach

he had emanated

The Brahmms taught that

th1s

reabsorption could be

attamed only

by

means of sacnfites and

Ved1c

rttes, through

the

pnests

the

ph losophers declared

1t

could be more cer

tamly and more read ly attamed by md1vidual effort m

penance and m

myst1c

med1tat10n

Such were

the

environments am1dst

wh1ch

there arose a

philosopher who gave new and starthng answers

to

those

questions

as

to

the

ongm of evil and how It m1ght be ebeaped ,

who wrought out m connectiOn

w1th

those answers a system

of absolutely

atheiSt ,

the pure::.l

and best ever promulgated

outs1de of Chnsuamty and Jud:usm

Th1s new philosopher was Gotama, the Buddha


18/63

CHAPTER

11. GOT

A MA

At the foot of the H t m a l a y a ~ . about one

hundred

miles

N

N-W

of

the

modern c1ty of B e n . u e ~ , there was, m the

srxth century B C an msrgmficant clan, or trrbe, called

Sakkas

In

Kap1lavatthu, the prmctpal town ofth1s

tnbe, there

hved a

petty Ch1ef

or

Raj

put, n o ~ m e d Suddhodana, who had

two wrves, both daughtt.rs of another petty Chref whose lands

la} on thP oppo tte b o ~ n k ofthe Rohm1 Both of t h e ~ e queens

were chtldless, untrl, m her forty fifth year, the elder, M ~ y i

brought forth a son

He

was born under a Sal tree, whtle I n ~ > mother w a ~ on the

way to the home of her parents to be confined there, accord

mg to the custom of h o ~ e

t1mes The

child and h1s mother

were taken bac.k to S u d d h o d o ~ n a s house, where May.i. dred on

the

seventh day The child was adopted and reotred by hrs

aunt, the younger queen, PraJapatr and w a ~ named Gotama

Accordmg to the custom of Ind1a, unl\ersal

then

as now,

he

WdS

m o ~ r r r e d young, takmg as bnde, m

h t ~

mneteenth

year, hts own

c o u ~ m

V a ~ o d h o i T d .

the

daughter

of

hts mother's

brother, the Chref

of

tht. Koh > In h1s twenty-nmth year, hts

wrfe

bore hrm therr fir t and only c.lulu-a bon, Rahula

Gotama seems to have been, from vouth, of a contemplative

mmd and, although belongmg to the Khattrya caste, does

not appeo1r to have been tramed to

the

p r o f e ~ s 1 0 n o f • a r m ~ ,

but

was allowed to 11tudy the permrtted portwns of the Vedas

and to spend the m o ~ > t of h1s ttme m the open atr m

qmet

contemplatron

Though,

as

prmce, he hrmself

was

c o ~ r e f u l l y

shrelded from

the hardshrps and unpleasant features of hfe, he could not be

msensrble

to

the d1re suffermg of the m o ~ s s e s of the t.ommon

people about h1m, o1nd h1s natural tenderness of heart, as

well as hrs mclmatron toward phtlosophtcal contemplation,

led htm trreslstlbly

mto

the deep study of the c a u s e ~ and cure

of hfe's woes

He

was probabl) not

the first-he was

certamly

not

the

alst-who m the m t d ~ t of prospenty and comfort, has felt a


19/63

GOTAXA

11

yearnmg

and a want wh1ch noth1ng could satisfy,

and

whtch

ha\e robbed of the1r

charm

all earthly gams and hopes. Tbt&

vague d1ssat1sfactJon deepens w1th every fresh proof

of

the

apparent

vamty of hfe, and does

not

lose

but

gams m power

when, as

IS

reported m

the

case of Gotama. t ar1ses

more

from

sympathy

w1th the sorrows of others

than

from any

personal sorrow of one's own

At last,

the

details of hfe become msupportable , and the

calm hfe of the herm1t troubled w1th none of these thmgs

seems a haven of peace, where a hfe of self den1al and earnest

meditation may lead to some solutiOn

of

the strange emgmas

ofhfe •••

It

was

at the moment

when

Gotama

had reached thts

pomt that they announced to h1m the b1rth of

h1s

son.

Reahzmg how strong thl > new tie would become,

he

deter

mmed to bredk at once and to abandon

the

hfe he

had

h1therto led, for the undisturbed med1tat1on of the forest

herm1t and

the

severest penances of ascettcJsm, m

order

that

he m1ght 1f poss1ble, d1sco"er

the

causes and the cure of

human suftenng

Abandomng

h1s

home that very

mght

Without ever hav1ng

taken

h1s

ch1ld m

h1s

arms, he hastened awa) to

Rijagaha

and attached h1mself first to Aldra and afterwards to Uddaka,

Brahmm a ~ c e t c s who were dwelhng m htlls1de caves near

that

c1ty From these teachers he learned all that Hmdu

ph1losophy had to teach concernmg hfe here and hereafter.

D1ssaLJsfied w1th whdt he got from these Brahmms, he went

away to

the

Jungles of Uravela where he >ought for h1mself•

by means

of

hts own med1tat1on and severest penance, other

answers

to

those questions now

burmng

so fiercely m hiS

heart

There,

attended

by five faithful adherents, for

s1x

years

be

sta1 ved and harrassed and macerated

h1s

body, until the fame

of h1s self-morttfi1.at1on spread "abroad hke the sound of a

great bell

hung

m the canopy of the sk1es "

But

1t was all

to no purpose He

a


20/63

PALl BUDDHISM

Thereupon

hts diSgusted compantons forsook h1m and went

away to Benares

As

he

gradually regamed

strength,

he gave h1mself up

to

deep thought without austere penance Seatmg h1mself

under a large Peepul tree, to be known afterwards as

the

Sacred-Bo-Tree, he descended

mto deeper

and deeper

depths of profound med1tat10n F1rst of all, he rev1ewed h1s

hfe and the efforts m wh11 h, o far, he had so s1gnally failed

All he had learned, all he had beheved, all he had trusted m,

hitherto, had onl} proved false All

h1s

labors and self

mfhcted suffermg h.id been of

no ava1l

That wh1ch he

sought seemed no uedrer

than

on th tt far-away mght when

be

had broken

aw.1y

from

the twmmg

love

of

w1fe

and c.hlld

Then came the temptallon to abandon the futile .1ttempt

to

solve the mystenes of hfe, returmng to

the

ease and

luxury of

hi&

old

home

and to the tender

care&ses

of h1s

beautiful w1fe and mfant son

But m h1s heart of hearts, he knew that these would not

sat1sfy , the old unrest of h1s soul would never be lulled

until

he should gam satisfactory answers to those momentous

quest10ns concernmg the

ongm

and cure

of

woe He c.ould

not

go

back , he

must

not

even pause Deeper, deeper,

deeper he plungLd mto myst1c med•tat10n, untd one mormng,

after a mght of awful struggles, m wh•ch

h1s

deb1htated body

almost

fa1led the

too m tense act1v1ty of h1s

mmd,

he emerged

tnumphant h1s quest10ns were answered , he had dttamed to

absolutely pertect knowledge , all mystenes had \J.mshed ,

bfe and suffermg and release were clearly under:.tood , hence

forth he was

Buddha-

Enlightened

At

first he was

tempted

to keep the knowledge of

h1s

d1scovery to hun :>f:lf, behevmg that the

truths

he had

fathomed were beyond

the

mtellectual reach of

other

men ,

and

h1s

Way' ' too d1fficult for them to follow to the goal

of

release But h1s plt} for men m theu Ignorance and suf

fenng soon led

h1m

to determme to

attempt

the1r salvation

He thought

of h•s first teachers, AIA.ra and

Uddaka

,

but

findtng that they were dead, he determmed to

make

the five

compamons of h1s s1x years of self mort1ficauon the first

sharers m h1s l e ~ e d discovery and went to Benares m search

of them and preac.hed to them h1s first dtscourse m wh1ch

were set forth the fundamental prmctples of

h1s

new system


21/63

GOT

AliA

3

Naturally

thts

first exposatlon

of

hiS cardmal pnocaples,

preserved m the

"Dammacakkappavattanasutta,"• IS

consid

ered of

the

vastest Importance m

the

study ot

has

system ;

and

at

s wath a dectded shock of surpnse that the httle seed

from wh1ch has come so splend1d a growth IS lt·elf found to

be so ms1gmficant

However, the five were shortly convmced and became

bur

d1sc1ples ; and five months afterwards

he wab

able to send forth

s1xty ~ t r o n dtsc1ples to d1ssemmate h1s new doctnnes , for

he made lm system a m1ss10nary system from the very first.

H.1vmg

sent

forth these first dtsc1ples as propagandists, he

htmself returned to

the

vtcmtty of Uravela, where he won as

followers the famous Kassapa and hts two brothers, who

were fire-worshtpmg herm1t phtlosophers In company wtth

these he proceded to Rijagaha, where the Cluef, Btmb1stra.

became a Lay-dtsctple and htb most conspacuous followers,

Sanputta and Moggallana, JOmed hts Sangha of Mendicant

Coenobttes Some tll-feehng arose concernmg the htgh post·

tton whtch Gotama asstgned these two 11lustnous dtsctples

and he \Vas led to state more plamly

the

prmctples of h1s

system and to lay down a few stmple rules for the gutdance

of

the

Sat\gha whtch

thus

became formally mcorporated

Mt:anwhtle hts spreadmg fame

had

reached hts old home

m Kaptlavatthu and

he

recetved a pressmg mvttatton to

rev1s1t hts native place

that

hts old father, Suddhodana,

ere

he d1ed, m1ght see htm once agam

He

comphed and has

aged father became a Lay-dtsctple and 1s satd to have after

wards

attamed

Ntbbana

at

the

moment

of death There was

a most

touchmg

mterv1ew w1th hts wtfe, Yasodara, the

accounts of wh1ch are too Simply true to hfe to be wholely

fict1t1ous legends. He receiVed mto the Sangha hts half

brother Nanda and

h1s

own son

Rahula

; whereupon

he

was

led by the earnest entreaty

of h1s

father to estabhsh a rule

that,

thereafter,

no youth under twenty

years of age was

to be

admitted to the Sangha, w1thout h1s parents consent.

Later

on he rece1ved several other

of

h1s kmsmen m to the

Sangha-among whom were h1s cousm, A.nanda, afterwards

h1s

most loved and mt1mate assocaate , and hiS cous1D

1

•

Ltt

- R t g b t c o u & n c ~ ~ & - w h e e l - f o r t h - t u r n J D g - d t s c o u i ' I I C - the

d lcoune

wbtcb set the wbee\

o

nghteoumess

to

rolhng onwarcll.


22/63

PALl BUDDHISM

Devadatta, who afterwards became bJS act1ve opponent and

leader m a sch1sm that estranged from

h1m

many thousands

After

h1s

second Vassa

or

Rains

at

R4jagaha he

v1s1ted

S vatlhi,

the

cap1tal ofthe Kosalas, and dwelt m

the

beautiful

pleasure-park of

the

wealthy merchant, AnathapmcJaka

Here, later on, that famous Lay-d1sc1ele

budt

for h1s use

the celebrated V1hira or monastery, Jetavana, where the

Buddha so often dwelt and where most of h1s discourses are

sa1d to

have been dehvered

In the

fifth year of his Buddhahood, he agam v1s1ted

Kap1lavatthu and was present at

the

death of h1s father,

Suddhodana, after wh1ch, on

the

persistent sohcJtation ot

his fostermother-aunt anrl o.f his own

w1fe

1

earnestly seconded

by

h1s

most loved d1sc1ple Ananda, he reluctantly established

a Sailgha of female mendicants

to

which PriJipati and

Yasadori were admitted

as the

first Bh1kkhuni

And so he spent forty-five years I teachiDg his Dhamma

or system and m tramiDg h1s

a n g h o ~ for that

propagandism

which was

to

make his system an Umversal

Hope-a

purpose, however, that was m no sense realized, until, more

than

two centunes later, the

great

T


23/63

GOTAliA.

IS

azaog that

he could

not

hve long,

he spent

such

strength

as

he

could command m exhortmg h1s Sangha

to

a firm

adherence to, and zealous propagauon of

that

Dhamma

thought

out and revealed

by

(me )

h1mself And thu

exhortatiOn he contmued after Vassa, travehng slowly from

place to place m order to VISit bands of

has

Bh1kkhus

scattered throughout the land, from Savatthi to Rijagaha

The words of these final exhortataons and d1scourses are

preser

..

ed m

the

M c ~ h a p a n m b b a n a s u t t a or Discourse on

the

Great

Decease "

H1s death occured at Kusmagara, m

the

e1ght1eth 3 ear of

h1s age, probably somewhere about 420 B C The Irn·

mediate cause of h1s death was the eatmg of

nee

and pork

furmshed by a Lay-d•sc•ple, the goldsm1th Chanda,

as

he was

passmg

through

h1s v1llage Pava

H1s obsequte r were after

the

style of

the

g r e a t e ~ t kmgs,

and after h1s body

was

burned hrs calcmed bones were saved

as rehcs to be revered

Such

1s

the outhne of the probably real hfe of h1stoncal

Gotama, entitled Buddha

But 1t

was 1mposs1ble

that the

ferv1d poetrcal

temperament

of

h1s

Onental

followers should have been long

content

With

the

matter of fact deta1ls of Gotama's real

biography, and

at

IS

not surpn rmg t h c ~ t t h e ~ mterwove mto their accounts of

h1s hfe many 1mposorble legends and muaculous fables until

the

whole s so hkt. a

myth

of

Eastern f c ~ n c y

that It s well

mgh

1mposs1ble to separate

the true

from

the

false, or

to

assert

w1th certamty that there ever was

an

h1stoncal Gotama at all.

The petty cluef ~ u d d h o d c ~ n c ~ a n d 1t

IS

utterly 1mposs1ble

that the facts could have been other

than

as represented

above

-1s by wtldest legend represented

as

Unl\ersal

Monarch,

ruhng

over many subjeCt prmces

of

w1de

domams

H1s ms1gmficant

hut

become&" palace of most magmficent

proportion, filled with every

luxury

that

Onental

volup

tuousness could enJOY or Onental tmagmat10n conce1ve

HIS

nches and royal state are made so grand

as

to out-nval the

gorgeous magmficence of those h1stoncal Maha R.iJi'l who,

centunes

later, did found m India empJres of mtghty power

and fabulous wealth

Mayi's conception becomes a miraculous

event

The Queen

slept beside

her

lord, when, amidst s1gns of most ecstatic Joy,


24/63

16

PALl BUDDHISM.

10 wh1ch

the

elements of nature and all C'reatures of the earth

together

w1th bemgs that mhab1ted the unous Hea\-ens

and

Hells

took

part,

the

Bodh1satta • descended from

the

sk1es

10

the form of a male wh1te

elephant

and

entered her nght

s1de

She awoke filled wtth "bh >b beyond a mortal Mother's''

and

told her dream to rhe gray Maet who foretold a son,

to

become Umversal Monarch wtth power extendmg over

the

whole known wo1ld , or else to become a Buddha who should

enhghten the world With the knowledge of salvatiOn

No less muaculous her confinement

Lymg

m the

shade of the Sal tree, she

b

surrounded by mnumerable

Devas who mii'Jster to her comfurt

The

god Brahma

descended from hts H e o ~ v e n and

took

from M a : ~ - a s nght stde

the noble bemg who tmmedt.ttely strode seven paceb towards

the East and declared m a

vo1ce

thdt filled all the world- I

am the chtef of the world

Kmsmen o ~ n d subJects are represented as a p p r o o ~ c h m g kmg

Suddhodana, a

few

years later, with wmplamts that the

young

Prmce who Wdb

bOle heir

to his

\ast

sway w.ts

not

bemg

tramed l those arts and sciences whtch would make h1m d

safe ruler to be trusted w1th the

kmgdom

after

Suddhodana

himself should pass

a w a : ~

Tht

PI

mt.e

hearmg

th1s, de

termmed

to exhibit his real prowess

and

appomted a day for

that purpose

Surrounded

by an Immemt: retmue, m the prebenLe

of

6o,ooo of his relati vcs, he performed most miraculous feats

that

proved h1m mcomparable m archery, m horsemanshtp,

and m each of

the

other Mxteen t-hief artb and scient.es,

dS

well as m many lesser ones

There s no reh.tble data for behevmg that

Gotama

ever

had other conJugal compamon

than

hts one wife, Yasodhara;

but the

legends give

htm

40,000

concubmes,

eac..h

a

pnncess

wtth the

r o ~ v s h m g

charms

of

a Hourz

The ambttJous Suddhodana Is represented as determmed

that hts son shall fulfill the first predJctJOn of the agt and

become Umversal Monarch, so

he

guards

e\ery

pnmt agamst

the Prmce's evident tendency towards the hfe of a recluse;

but the legends represent most marvelous precautions

thwart

ed

by superhuman mterventJons The Impressionable

young

Prmce was on four different occasiOns ternbly

o ~ g 1 t a t e d

by

• A be1og destmed to become a Buddha


25/63

GOTAMA

I7

vtsions m which a Deva successtvely tmpersonated a beggar,

pttlable m

the

palsted decay of old age ; a leper, htdeous in

the

deformtty of

h1s

foul and mcurable

d1sease

a

cor\'se,

loathsome m 1ts swollen putndtty a mendtcdnt ascetic whose

calm demeanor betokened an mner hfe of undtsturbed peace.

Hts

chanoteer was

msp1red by the Devas

to mterpret

these

vtstons

so

w1sely that

the Prmce

was trres Sttbly and

trrevocably led

to

the Great Renunctatton."

The Great Renunc1at1on" 1tself 1s sel forth m

terms

of

wildest 1magery All the wealth of troptcal colormg, all the

resources of

Onentalimagmauon,

and all the tricks of As1at1c

rhetoric are exhausted m the effort to magmfy the v1rtue of

that

act

The

fabled magmficence and luxury of

h1s

father's

court

has already been noticed , 1t was all mvented chiefly

to

bear

on th1s pomt

The

entlcmg lovelmess of

that

royal harem of 4o,ooo o t ~ T I

pnncesses

1s

dwelt upon and re1terated m forms of

Onental

sensuousness

of

exprc&swn utterly dtsgustmg to

the Western

mmd m the1r overwhelmmg suggestiOns of basest sensuality.

Yet, notwtthst::mdmg the allurmg Witchery

of

h1s harem,

the

love of

the

Prmce

for

hts beautiful

w1fe

Yasodhara,

IS

represented as of a punty and mtenstty that would nval our

most exalted tmagmatwn of the devotion of a

Chnstlan

husb:md

to

the one only \Voman m all the world whose

lovelmess had ever fascmated or whose charms had ever

been enJoyed

H1s almost unconquerable longmg for h1s mfant son

IS

ptctured m terms

that

tame

that

outburst of parental an

gutsh wh1ch escaped from the heart of the

stncken Davtd-

0

my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom I would

God

had

dted

for

thee, 0 Absalom, my son,

y

son

r"

And yet, from all

that

was

so

difficult

to

yield, from all those

ties

so

hard to sever, he IS represented as resolutely tearmg

htmself away, that he

mtght

go forth

to

a lonely ascettc hfe

and, " by a long senes of mcredible self-demals and hard

shtps, become Buddha, and so save

the

world."

The natural doubts and mental struggles of

the

hermit

philosopher become, 10

the

legendary accounts, fierce

conft1cts with

the

Demon-Tempter, Mara,

1n

whtch,

wtth

rn1raculous powers,

he

barely gams the victory over forces


26/63

J

PALJ BUDDHISM.

~ r c e l y less miraculous and powerful than h1s

own

Especially

r,ewsome were

h1s

conf11cts

w1th

Mira on the mght of

hiS

Great Renunc1at1on, and on that other mght of struggle,

which preceded h1s attamment of Buddhahood

The legendary accounts are full of most astound1ng

miracles

wh1ch

are not, however, worthy of

cons1derat1on

;

for they are generally so useless and almost always so

puerde and extravagant that they only mar what they were

mtended to adorn.


27/63

CHAPTER

111. DHAMMA.

Except Chnstlamty, no other system of behef among men

ever developed

so

many var1ous and mcons1stent, even

antagomst1c, schools or sects, as Buddhism

W1th Its more modern developments, 1t

IS

no part of the

purpose of

th1s

work to deal , but rather wtth

the

ongmal

system as promulgated by Gotama himself and hlS earhest

followers.

We naturally seek our knowledge of that ongmal system

ID the

earhest Buddhist wntmgs or scnptures

The

Pii.h

Canon, known

as T1-p1taka

or

Three

Baskets,

IS estimated to contam about tw1ce as many words as

the

Christian

B1ble

, translated mlo Enghsh, about four ttmes as

many • It IS d1v1ded

1

as the name md1t.ates, m

to

three parts

t he

first

s

devoted largely to rules

for

the gutdance of

the

Sang ha , the second IS devoted particularly to doctrmal and

ethical teachmg , the th1rd,

wh1ch

appears

to

be

later than

the other two, contams additiOnal doclrmal and ethical teach-

mg, together wtth some metaphysical dtscusstons

These Buddhtst scnptures arc essentially different

from tke

scnptures of all other systems, m that they do not clatm

dtvme

msp1rat1on

or superhuman mterventlon of any kmd ;

but are confessedly the product of pure human mtu1t1on

Their present form dates back to Buddhaghosa who hved

in

the

end of

the

fourth and begmnmg

of

the fifth centunes,

A. D., so between e1ght and nme centunes after the death of

Gotama Buddha.

It

IS

claimed that Buddhaghosa retranslated 1nto Pih the

Smhalese translation made

by

Mabmda from an ongmal

Pii.h

text

wh1ch

had unfortunately been lost before Buddha-

ghosa's time. It IS further cla1med

that

this ongmal Pili

text had been earned from India to Ceylon by Mahmda

himself, Immediately after the last of the three councils

Rhya Dhvids-

,

··dd sm,"

p.

n.


28/63

JO

PALl

BUDDH[Sl\1

which were held for the purpose of collectmg the sayings of

the Master and fixmg, m accordance therewtth, the dtsctphne

of the Sang ha, and the Dhamma to be taught

The iirst of these counctls

1s

satd

to

have assembled m

the

Rams 1mmed1ately sucteedmg Gotama's death ,

and

consiSted of

five

hundred members of

the

Saugha who, with

Ka sapa ab their chosen leader, recited the precepts of their

Great Teacher and took the first steps towards a methodical

arrangement

m two collections, Vmaya and Dhamma, con-

s1stmg, respectively, of rules of diSCipline for

the

Sangha and

of ethical and dottrmal teachmg There

Is

no mtlmation

that

at

that

time any

thmg

was

fixed m

wntmg

Some time later grave departures from the rules of diSCI-

phne began to

be

common among the members of the

Sa11gha

which was becommg spht mto two parties, an

orthodox party, favonng adherence to the rules established,

and a laxer party, favonng certam mdulgences or relaxations

of those rules second council was held somewhere about

350 B C, conststmg of seven hundred members In this

council, the prmctples

of

the orthodox party prevalled , the

ten mdulgences were prohibited , the Rules of Dtsctphne

and

the

Uoctnnes of Fa1th were agam rehearsed

and

vmdl-

cated The decisions of this council, however, were not

accepted • by all , large numbers of the laxer party became

estranged , the first open schism after Gotama's death

oecurred , and

the

history of dlffenng and antagomst1c

schctols

and sects was begun

A third council was held

at

P:itahputta somewhere about

240 B C , under the patronage of Asoka, called Dhamm:isoka,

the grandson of Chandagutta

It

consisted of a thousand

members and, hke the second counctl, was convened to settle

controversies m

the

Sangha

In

this council,

the

Rules of

Discipline and the Doctnnes of faJth were once more rehears-

ed and, for the

Southern

or Orthodox School of Buddhtsm,

finally settled •

It 1s probable that about th1s time the

iih

Canon was

reduced to WI Itmg. t

s

certam, at least, that the art of

• A fourth council was held about the beg•nnmg of the ChnstiOD era but

t

was

wholely

1n

the power of the leas

o r t h o d o ~

Northem School

a11d

had no

bearmg whatever O the P£b Canoo


29/63

DHAMMA,

wntmg was well known to Asoka who used 1t very w1dely 1n

pubhshmg BuddhJst1c ed1cts m the Pii h language throughout

h1s

extended emp1re Asoka seems

to

have been

the ruhng

spint

not only m thiS th1rd counc l but m all the Immediately

subsequent history of

B u d d h ~ m

It

IS

not probable

that

so

w1se a kmg would have let •hp the advantages gamed

10

the

council, w1th the means m

h1s

hand

for

fixmg them

And

it

1s qu1te clear that the Pii h Canon

w s

fixed from th1s t1me;

as 1t would nol probabl} have been, unless fixed m wntmg.

Both

the

first and

the

second counc ls are mentiOned m

port1ons of the T1-p1taka Itself, but the th1rd council 1s not.

ThiS g1ves safe ground for the mferences that port1ons of the

Pih

Canon cannot be older

than the

second counc1l, and

that

all1ts present contents were rece1ved

at

the t1me of the third.

Not

all, then of the present

Pii h

Canon can be sat1sfactonly

traced back beyond 250 B C , most of

1t IS

known to be much

older , and port10ns of 1t undoubtedly g1ve us the real

thoughts,

1f not the

very words, of Gotama h1mself

The

Pih P1takas, therefore, may safely be accepted asa

reliable-of

all

so

far known, certamly the most rehable

source of mformat1on as to what was the ongmal system wh1ch

Gotama h1mself promulgated

It

must be remembered m th1s connectiOn,

that

Gotama

d1d not leave an Immature, embryomc system but that

h1s

doctrmes had become fully developed and clearly stated long

before

h1s

death A long and strong hfe had gone mto the

development and statement of those doctnnes

The SIX

years

of man's most act1ve and mdependent mental power-from

29 to 35-he spent m determmmg the fundamentals of

h1s system and in shapmg the forms of the1r expressiOn , then

m w1de promulgation among peoples who were at first

unmterested, m

pnvate

and pubhc

d1scuss1ons

w1th

the

bitterest and keenest antagomsts, m c.onstant teachmg of

enthusiastic adherents-the three most exacting methods

known to man-he spent forty-five years m developmg

hiS

system and perfectmg

h1s

forms

of

statement , and they were

the

years

that

cover the whole of the

pnme

of man's mental

power and the npeness of age, wh1ch does not yet partake

of decay.

In arproachmg the careful exammatJon of its more funda

menta doctnnes, one must constantly hold 1n mmd

the


30/63

PAU BUDDHISM.

environments am1dst whtch

the

system was concei.Ved

and

developed. Of the prmc1ples

that

had come to be generally

or

umversally accepted by hts predecessors

and

contempo-

raries,

Gotama

flatly den1ed certam

that

appeared

to him

clearly false, and accepted others

that

seemed

to

htm as

clearly true ,

he then

modified certam others

to

a form that

would agree

with

what he had accepted and

yet not

necessi-

tate what he had rejected ,


31/63

DHAMMA.

perfectly enhghtened man

He

peopled the world with 1ix

forms of sentient

bemgs-I, gods, 2

1

men;

3, animals; 4

1

Asuras or devils (mcludmg spntes and fames);

s

Pretas

or

ghosts , 6, bemgs undergoiDg torment I the vanous heiiL

The gods were I no sense supenor to

the

other forms of life,

except that they were temporanly occupymg a more bhssful

abode They were subject to the umversallaw ofd1ssolution,

and after death were succeeded by others, so

that

there was not

one Brahmii. or Sakka,

but

many s u c c e S ~ > I v e de1t1es so named,

and many classes of de1t1es under them. They had no power

of affectiDg any person's salvatiOn On

the

contrary,

they

had to see to the1r own, and were mfenor to the per

fected man When any one of

the

s1x classes of bemgs

d1es, he must be born agam ID some one of

the

same six

classes, for there are no other possible ways of hfe.

f

he be

born agaiD ID one of the bells he

Is

not thereby debarred from

seekmg salvation, and even

If

he be born

ID

heaven as a god,

he must at some t1me or other leave It and seek after a

higher state

still•-that

of the perfect man who has

gamed

Nirvina

t

In Gotama's system, all sentient ex1stence was thus really

the

same and any particular temporary

form-whether

as god,

or man, or demon, c -was contmually chang1Dg

1

subject to

the particular bemg's own control,

as

any particular form

depended entuely on the voluntary act1ons of that particular

bemg m a former existence It must not be supposed, how

ever, that Gotama received the doctnne of metempS) cllasrs m

the sense of a contiDually ex1stmg soul passmg on from one

hfe mto another, from one form of ex1stence to another. He

d1d not predicate, but demed, soul m th1s ever changmg

sentient existence

Just

as

he had reJected the 1dea of

Brahmii. or any real God,

so,

too, he

r e ~ e c t e d

utterly

the

1dea

of soul, of any self or Ego apart from orgamzed beiDg Belief

I

a soul or self was another of those three pnmary deluSions

which had to be got

nd

of ID the first stage of h1s Path.

There 1s nothmg m the doctrmal part of h1s system that

Gotama more strenuously ma1ntamed or made more essential

to

the acceptance of h1s system than the reJeCtion of these

•

For

one exception, see under Th1rd Stage, p

31,

tlus work

t

Mon11r

W•lb.Lm&- BuddhJsm, pp 121-IU


32/63

PALl BUDDHISM.

two heresies or delusions as to the eXIstence of any soul or

spintual self-human and d1vme

(2) -Amcca

or

Impermanence''

Gotama

1

ID denymg a Personal Creator and m rejecting the

idea of soul

or

spirit m any sense const1tutmg

separate and

eternal entity, d1d

not

therefore assume

the

eternal existence

of

matter

He held that

the mammate

umverse, hke senb

ent bemg, was contmually changmg m 1ts passage through

an unendmg cycle of existences Indeed, he d1d not rec

ognize any essential difference between ammate and mam

mate, as to

either

cause or contmuance He recogniZed

no

real ezng

but

an ever-changmg, never-endmg becomzng

Through countless Mahikappas, each cons1stmg of aeons of

ages,

the

destruction and renovation of a Cakkavila or

11

Umverse goes on Slowly out of nothmgness s It

evolved by the Kamma of 1ts predecessor and as :;lowly

IS

It

swallowed up agam mto absolute nonentity, out of wh1ch its

Kamma wtll Immediately evolve another universe to suc

ceed It.

Kamma and the uccesston

of

cau e and effect are constant,

eternal, but as1de

from these two abstract Ideas, of every

thmg

else-1nammate, animate, or

mental-Impermanence

and

unreahty are reiterated and ms1sted on, m all h1s teachmgs

11

All

the

constituents of bemg are Impermanent

11

I s the

first of the three great postulates of Gotama's system The

other two simply change

the

predicate to pamful and

without-Ego, respectively. These three predicates were

prescnbed as subjects of constant meditation , and were

doubtless from the first often repeated m melancholy mono

tone

hke

the

intermmable refram of hopelessness now heard

at the

pagodas where h1s Idolatrous devotees of today tell

the

beads of their rosanes and prostrate themselves before

h1s

placid Idols with constantly

reiterated- Amcca

I

Dukkha

I

Anatta I Amcca I Dukkha I Anatta I •

(3).-Khandas

or Aggregates

Having demed to sentient bemg the possession of a soul or

separate

spmtual

and ab1dmg entity, Gotama made such be1ng

consist of an ::ssemblage of five Khandas or Aggregates, as

follows.-

lmpcrmaaeat I Pamful

1

W1thout-Ego I


33/63

DHAllllA..

(a), Riipa or Form - the collection or aggregate

o

material attnbutes of whtch twenty-e1ght are mentioned.

(b), Vedanii or Sensat1on

- the

aggregate of

the

six

classes of sensatiOns recetved by the stx senses (mmd IS the

siXth), which are further dtvtded mto e1ghteen classes accord

tag

as

any one pleasant, pamful, or mddferent

(c), Saiifii\ or Perceptton - the aggregate of the six

classes of abstract

1deas

whtch correspond with the

six.

classes

of sensations

(a'), Sankhira or SubJeCtive Attnbutes - the aggregate

of fifty-two attnbutes of subJeCttve dtscnmmauon

e),

Vtiiiiina or

Reason

- the

aggregate of

the

powers

of thought or consctousness.

These

five

Khandas compnse absolutely all that belongs to,

or goes

to

make up, sent1ent bemg , Because these sum up

and

class1fy,

accordmg to the1r affinttles, all the constituents

of bemg, and mclude all other classifications For m classi

fymg, accordmg to the1r affimues, the many d1fferent

constituents of bemg, form constitutes one group and compri

ses everythmg that has any affimty to form , sensation

constitutes another group and compnses everythmg that has

affimty

to

sensat1on Stm1larly

w1th

perceptiOn and

the

rest.

Accordmgly he (Buddha) la1d down only

five

groups, because

these

s.um

up and

class1fy

1

accordmg to the1r affimt1es, all the

constituents of being •

4)

-Kamma

or Essential Character

Astde from d1vme revelation, the doctrme of metempsy-

cno ts probably can not be dtsproved , and tf 1t m1ght be

beheved,

1t

certamly would afford a most satisfactory expla

nation of otherwise mexphLable mysteries m the hves of men.

It

IS

not surpriSing, therefore,

that

Gotama adopted

the

mam features of the doctrme But hts demal of soul and his

pecuhar doctnne of the Khandas made

1t

tmposstble for htm

to accept the soul-transm1grat10n theones of the Brahmans

Without

radtcal modtficatton So

we

have hts own pecuhar

doctnne of Kamma Ltteraliy, the word means- domg,

deed act m thts techmcal sense 1t means- the

results of domg, the accumulated balance of merit or

•

Warren- Buddh1sm

m Translat1oas,

156-157•


34/63

PAL[ BUDDHlSM.

demerit,

sspeaally

11

the condttton

of that

balance at the end

of any particular extstence

Accordmg

to

th1s

theory,

at the

death of any senttent bemg,

a new bemg-that

s

a new assemblage of Khandas-1s Im

mediately produced by Upiidii.na ' or

Attachment,

and

the

cond1t1ons of

the

extstence of the new bemg are deter

mmed

by the Kamma of Its predecessor that has JUSt

d1ed.

The

productton of

the

new assemblage of Khandas 1s stmul

taneous

w1th

the dissolution

of

the old , and the new bemg

becomes a contmuat10n of the old-not by the transmigratiOn

of

a soul or any personal Identity , but by the transferent.e of

.personal Kamma

To

Western

mmds th1s doctrme

IS

an utter absurdity.

That

to

an absolutely new bemg who never extsted before,

should be transferred the results

of

deeds of other bemgs who

have entirely ceased to

ex1st

and w1th whom 1t never had any

-other connection whatever, seems as absolutely

1mposs1ble

ID

itself as 1t utterly fatls

to

account for those mystenes m hfe

whtch the Buddha clatmed

to

have solved. There IS no

other

doctnne, however, m

the

whole Buddhist system,

except perhaps

the

doctrme of Ntbbii.na, so charactenst1c of

the

system-so

dtstmcuvely

ongmal

w1th

Gotama, and

aotbmg else, not even exceptmg the doctrme of Ntbbii.na,

that

has

so

persisted unchanged through all schools and sects

of Buddh1sm

It s

unquestionably the mamsprmg of Bud

dhist ethics-the actuatmg pnnctple m most, 1f not all, of the

conscious, mtenuonal nghteousness

and

benevolence ID

the

bves of

the

mllhons of those who have cla1med

to

be Bud

dhists durmg more than twenty-three centunes

., 5) -Anya-Sacciim

or

11

Noble

Trutbi

The four

11

Noble Truths m1ght be reckoned as the

11

Apostles' Creed of BuddhiSm

They

const1tute a sort of

epitome of the fundamental pnnc1ples of the system, on

.assentmg to

wh1ch

one s

sa1d to

have

''entered

the Path

-correspondmg

to

what m

Chnstlamty

would

be

called

converted

The

non-diSCiple

1s

1gnorant and actuated by

sm, hatred, and 1mpunty. If, however, he be led (through

• Up dina

1s

Jtself the result of a ~ ~ h a or Des1re '

wh1ch 1s

sometlmes

spoken of as the producmg cause of the new existence 1t 11 only a questlon

·of mcd1ate steps 1n

the

process


35/63

DHAMMA

assoc1at1on

w1th the

w1se, through hearmg

the

Dhamma,

through the practice of vutue)

to

accept the

Noble

Truths,

he will have entered

the

Path

; and

1t

IS

impossible

but

that he

shall eventually attam

the

goal-N1bbiina.

These four

Noble Truths

are

as

follows.-

(a) D ~ a or Suffermg ' ' s necessanly involved 10 all

existence

The

word, Dukkha, s techmcally used to express every

vanety or

poss1ble 1dea

of pam, sorrow, suffenng, woe, un

reahzed anttc1pat1on of pleasure, acuve d1sappomtment, and

d1stress, Gotama's theory of hfe was utterly pessimistic.

He

seems never to have cons1dered

the

counterbalancmg

Oys

and sat1sfactzon m

lzfe-mdeed

he would have declared these

but

lilustons

that

qu1ckly pass away, leavmg

the

real woe of

hfe all the darker and heav1er

for

thetr momentary promiSes

of bnghtness and support

h)

-Tauha

or

11

Des1re s

the

cause of suffermg.

The

word, Tai1ha, s used techmcally to express every

ort

of desire or cravmg

poss1ble to

a sentient bemg. It s pro

duced by Sensation artsmg from

the

SIX senses and hke that

may be e1ghteen-fold and, as 1t may

be

considered e1ther

subjectively or obJeCtively,

1t

becomes thirty-s•x-fold , and

then

vzewed as past, present, or future,

zt

becomes one-hundred

a n d e ~ g h t f o l d

Now th1s hydra-headed Tanha

s

the cause not only of

suftenng but even more d1rectly of hfe 1tself , for

Tanha

produces

Upii.dii.na

wh1ch,

as we

have already seen, produces,

at

the

death of any sentient bemg, that new assemblage of

Khandas-that

new hfe-to

wh1ch the

Kamma of the old

passes on.

It IS m reahty

but

one of

the

twelve hnks m a cham of

causahon m Gotama's celebrated theory of

11

Dependent

Ongmat1on, by whtch he accounted for umversal sulfenng.

Th1s theory, m

1ts

twelve hnks, IS

as

follows-

From Ignorance, SubJective Attnbutes ,•

11

Subjective Attnbutes, Reason ,

, Reason, Sent1ent Bemg ,

• Childen, Warren, and othersgtve

Ka . a

The

Pih

term, however, not

Kammam

but Sankira , and I

can noL

accept e1ther the translation or the

phdo10phy wh1ch Ka . a

g1Ves

here


36/63

J8

PALl BUDDH19N

From Sent1ent Bemg, Stx Organs of Sense ;

11

S1x Organs of Sense, Contact ,

11

Contact, Sensat1on ;

,. Sensation, Des1re ,

11

Des1re,

Attachment

,

11

Attachment,

Contmued Ex1stmce ,

, Contmued Extstence, B1rth ,

., B1rth, Old-Age and death and sorrow and mourning

and sutfermg and gnef and despatr

In

other

words,

the

ult1mate cause of all that

1s

undestrable

m life, and even of hfe 1tself,

1s

" Ignorance , but the more

1mmed1ate cause and, m all pract1cal cons1derat1ons,

the

more

important cause, IS

Des1re

or Tauha

If, then, Tauha m1ght be destroyed, release from all suffer

ing mtght

be

attamed

Th1s leads to

the thtrd

Truth

c) -Ntbbiina or

Extmctwn

1s the only release from

suffermg

"Extmct1on"

ts the

goal of Buddh1sm , thts extmctton, how

ever, ts not

pnmanly the

extmcl on of lzfe

but

of

Tanha

or

Desue

No oth..:r feature of Buddh1sm has been more d1scussed or

more generally misunderstood Accordmg to d1fferent schol

ars 1t embraces every state lymg between conscwus and

perfect bhss equal

to

the Chnst1an's most exalted 1dea of

Heaven, and absolute extmctton of sentient extstence

Dr. Max Mueller was

the

first to senously study

the

word m

connection w1th all

the

available passages m wh1ch 1t occurs

m the

Pih

Canon , and he reached

the

conclusion that 1t

meant absolute extmctton

Prof. Chtldcrs followed m the same sort of research, and

reached

the

conclusiOn

that the

word

had

a double slgmfica

tlon-really

meanmg absolute extmct1on ,

but

bemg apphed,

by

antic1pat1on, to

the

Arahii. even before

death

Dr

Rhys Dav1ds was

the

first

to

make clear

the

real use of

the

word m

the

Pih Canon,

as

s1gmfymg

not

a

state

after

the

Arahii.'s last death ,

but

a

condztzon

m h1s last hfe-an extmc

tlon, pnmanly, of the causes of reb1rth

Accordmg to Brahmm 1deas, there could be no release from

sulfermg. except through escape from hfe Itself-when the

ema11ated soul should e reabsorbed mto Brahmii.

In reJectmg the Brahmm 1dea of a Supreme and Eternal


37/63

DHAMMA

Bemg bke Brahmii. and 1n denymg

the

ex1stence of a soul,

Gotama was under the necessity of developmg a radically

different doctnnE' as to the escape from suffenng , and of

makmg 1t harmomze

w1th h1s

own pecuhar nouons of

the

Khandas, and of Kamma. Accordmg to h1s doctnne, Suffer

mg s caused 1mmed•ately by Tanha or DeSire ; there

fore to get nd of Suffermg, one has only to extinguish

Des1re There are very many stanzas of poetry and pages of

prose, throughout

the Pii.h

Canon,

that

extol and magmfy

the

perfect peace,

the

untroubled calm,

the

ambrostal sweetness,

the

dJvme b h s ~ of

the

conditiOn, throughout

the

remamder of

h1s

hfe on

ec1rth

of

the

Arahd. who has attamed to thts

'N1bbii.na-th1s

E rtmctzon

of

Deszre

BuL

TaJJha (Desue) produces

Upii.dii.na

(Artachment) and IS

1tself produced by

Av•JJii

(Ignorance),

1ts

extmct1on

1

therefore,

will necessanly depend on

the

extmct1on of

the

latter and

carry wtth 1t that of the former Now,

Upii.diina

1s the cause

of the formation of that new bemg

wh1ch

Kamma makes

Identical w1th the old , 1f however,

Upii.dii.na

IS utterly des

troyed m tht. extmct10n of Tauha, mamfestly,

there

can

be no more ~ u < h formatiOn of a new bemg-the cause havmg

been destroyed,

the

effect forever ceases

t

death,

the

bemg that h ~ ~ contmued to

be

reborn through r.ountless

cycles of e x 1 ~ t e n c e s s reborn no more, and ex1stence

1tself utterly and forever ceases. However,

th1s

final state

of

the

Arahii. IS never clearly referred to by

the

unmodified

word, N1bbana,

but

always by some compound of the

term

Itself or by some contextual modificatiOn wh1ch clearly dla

tmguishes

that

final state from the cond1t10n of untroubled

calm m bfe,

wh1ch

1mmed1ately precedes

1t.

ThiS final state

s

termed Panmbbii.na or

Utter

Extmct1on.

N1bbii.na

then, means

Extmchon

of Des1re and ex

presses that cond1t1on of hfe wherem the Arahi has utterly

extmgu1shed all

d e ~ 1 r e

or cravmg of every sort, all•gnorance

1

and all attachment

to

existence m any form whatever Th1s

condition, however,

IS

that m wh1ch

the

causes of existence

1tself are destroyed and leads, necessarily, at death,

to

Pan

mbbina

or

11

Absolute Ann•h•lat1on of Bemg

(a')-Ars;a-Atthanglka-Magga or The-Noble-Eight-Fold

Path

1st e only way to N1bbana.


38/63

PALl BUDDHISM.

The e1ght

d vlstons

of th1s

summary of Buddh1st Ethics

are .-

(r)

Rtght

Vtews-(2)

Rtght A1ms-(3) Right

Words-(4)

Right

Deeds-(s)

Right LIVehhood-(6) Rtght

Exerhon-(7)

Rtght

Mmdfulness-(8) Rtght Med1tat10n

He who perseveres m this Noble-E1ght-Fold-Path will pass

successively through the

' 'Four

Stages

wherem he wdl be

freed from the

Das-Sai\fioJii.m

or " Ten Fetters " wh1ch bind

men to exLStence and sutfermg.

I . -The

F1rst

Stage IS

that wherem one becomes entirely

free from the first three of these " Fetters

. -

(a) Sakkiiyaditthi or " DelusiOn of Ego-1ty "

Th1s 1s

the false behef-already dwelt on at

length-that

there

1s

apart from the five Khandas, a soul or entity that

may be recogmzed

as

the real Self or Ego.

(h) V Clklcchii.

or " Doubt "

Th1s

IS unbehef

as

to Buddha and 'hts Dhamma

(c)

Silabbata-Parii.mii.sa or "Dependence on

R1tes.

11

This mcludes all

fa1th

m God

or

any Superhuman Bemg

as able to help one m escapmg suffenng, together With all

charms, ntes, ceremomes, worshtp

1

or other forms of depend

ence on such superhuman agency

The

one who has attamed to the

Fru1t

" of

thiS

" Fust

Stage of the

•· Path

1s called Sotii.panna and can never be

reborn except

as

god or man-he

Is

forever freed

from

b1rth

in the other four forms of sentient bemg

-The .. Second Stage IS

that

wherem one IS almost,

bu\: not qu1te

1

freed from

the

power of the next two " Fetters "

Such an one

1s

called

Sakadii.gii.mi

and must return once

to

the

ex1stence of man-presumably after an existence

as

a god

m one of the Devalokas

III.-The Third Stage 1s that

wherein one becomes

absolutely freed from the fourth and fifth

Fetters :-

(d) Kimarii.ga or " Sensuousness "

Thts mcludes every concetvable form ofpleasure or desue

for ~ l e a s u r e b a s e carnal lust, natural atfect10n

1

legttlmate

gratification of the physical senses, even many mental and so

Cial delights which Chnst1amty encourages as most virtuous

and salutary

(e). Pat1gha or "Anger."


39/63

DHAMMA.

Th1s mcludes all tll-wlll or hatred

that

would lead to a

des1re to see another mjured

He

\vho has attamed to

the

Fruit

of thiS

''

Th1rd

Stage

15

called

Anii.gii.mi

and can never be reborn on earth

but

passes t

the

Brahmaloka, whence he

attams

Nibbina

IV -The

Fourth Stage s

that

wherem one becomes

perfectly free, after havmg cast off

the

remammg five

Fet te r s -

( f ) Riipariiga or Lust for Corporeal L1fe

1'h1s s des1re for extstence in bodlly, rr.atenal form, whether

as man on

the

earth or as a god m one of the lower Heavens.

g)

Ariipariiga or Lust for Incorporeal Life.

Th1s IS desire

for

ex1stence without bodily, matenal form,

as a god m one

of

the higher Heavens

{h Mii.na or '' Pnde

{t)

Uddhacca or Self-ExaltatiOn

( ; } AVIJJii or Ignorance

He who has attamed to the Fruit of this ' ' Fourth

Stage, s termed

Arahii.

or Holy One and IS free from any

rebirth-he has attamed N1bbiina

The

above pomts constitute a fatr and complete outhne

of

the

charactenst1c and Important features of Gotama's

philosophy

That

philosophy was emmently practical. Gotama ever

absolutely refused to enter upon metaphysics or the dtscus·

s1on of aught outside the purpose of h1s Dhamma, wh1ch was

to answer, prac.tically, those two burnmg questions

as

to the

origm of suffermg, and

the

way

to

escape It. That there

wal

knowledge outside this narrow domam, he readilY. admitted,

and he claimed, as Buddha, to be absolutely fam1har With

1t

all, but he claimed that

1t was

utterly unprofitable-every

thing

whtch was not essential

to the

escape from suffermg

was a hmdrance , and as such an ev1l to be absolutely avoid

ed. Therefore he determmed not to know anything among

them save the Catii.n .t\.nya-Saccii.m · Suffermg , Cause of Suf

fenng,

Escape from Suffenng, Way ofEscape from Sutfenng.

The

most practical

part

of

th1s

emmently practical philoso

phy was the System

o

tmcs

mcluded m

the

fourth

' 'Truth

;

for BuddhiSt ethtcal precepts, however understood, do

Cf'T·

tamly Inculcate much

that 1s

m 1tself most praJSe-worthy

rec ~ . I z t n g

as they

do, not only man's objective

duty

of


40/63

32

PALl BUDDHISM.

external moral

conduct,

but also

h1s

subject1ve need of mner

punty

of heart

The

objection

that

Buddh1st morahty

S

merely negat1ve,

cannot be mamtamed , for

the

eth1cal system abounds m

pos1t1ve

as

well

as

negative precepts, and ms1sts no less on

subjeCtive

punty

of character than on objeCtive blamelessness

ofhfe.

The

objective and the subjective, the negative and the

pos1t1ve are not generally kept distmct the origmal pre

cepts, however , and no attempt

Will

be made to make sharp

d1Stmct10n here.

Paiica-Silim or

The

.FIVe Precepts are

(I)

Not

to

destroy hfe

(z) Not to take what S not given.

(3). Not to be guJity of unlawful sexualmtercourse

(4) Not to ::.peak falsely

(5) Not to

dnnk

mtox1catmg liquors

These five prohibitiOns, the first and most Important of

Buddhist ethical prmciplcs, were absolutely, always, and

everywhere bmdmg on

.tll

ahke

Atthanga-Silam or

E1ght

Precepts'' mcluded the above

w1th

the

followmg three added -

6). Not to

eJ.t

unseasonable

food

(7)

Not to

attend

worldly amusements

(8)

Not to use ungents or ornaments

These three were not obligatory on Lay-diSCiples

yet

all

earnest followers

of

the Buddha were expected to observe

them at certam times under vow and espec1ally on Uposatha

Days

Dasa-Silii.m or

Ten Precepts

add two others to the

above etght -

(9)

Not to

use

b1g

or broad beds

(Io) Not to own or accept gold or silver.

Only very

p1ous

laymen ever undertook to observe these

last two , and tben only for the bnef t1me covered by specl81

vow.

All ten were obhgatory on all members of the Sangha, and

1 thetr observance the thtrd precept requtred absolute

chastity.

Akusalamiilim or Evil Prmc1ples are three roots of sm

that

must be ent1rely extirpated:-


41/63

DHAIIMA.

33

Dasa-Kdesi. or

11

Ten

Depravities'' must be avo1ded -

(1) Lobha

or

Lust

- (z) Dosa or Hate

-(3) Moha

or

Folly

-(4)

Mina

or

Pnde -(S)

D1tth1

or

Heresy

(6) Vtcik•cchii. or

' 'Doubt

' ' - (7)

Thina or

Sloth -(8) Ud·

dhaccha or Arrogance --(9) Ah1nlti

or Shamelessness

(10) Anottappa or Recklessness.

Dasa SatitiOJii.Dl or Ten

Fetters

to be got rid of m the

' 'Four Stages

of

the

Path,

have already been g1ven 1n

the d1scuss•on under Anya-Saccim •

Apart,

however, from th1s merely negative morality wh1ch

cons1sts m avo1dmg gross sms

and corruptmg

pass1ons,

there

are positiVe precepts wh1ch prescnbe the cultlvatlon of

mentor10us deeds

together

w1th states

of

heart

both

benevo

lent

and

pure

Satta-Ratanii.m

or

Seven

Jewels constitute

a necklace of

act1ve VIrtues

that

are

to

be most

strenuously sought

and

guarded-

a S a t 1 p a ~ t h i n a

or

Earnest

Meditation,

(1)

On the

body-(2) On sensat1on-(3) On thought

(4) On the cond1t1ons of existence

h-Sammappadhii.na or

R1ght Exertion,

(t)

To

prevent

dement

from ammg-(2)

To get

nd of

dement that

has

ar1sen-(3) To

produce

mer1t-(4) To

mc:rease

ment.

c-Iddh1pii.da

or

Bas1s

of

Mag1c

Power,

as res1ding m

1) Wdl-(2) Eff'ort-(3)

Thought-(4)

Investigation

d-Bala or

11

Power, as found m

(1)

Fa1th-(2) Energy-(3)

Recollechon-(4)

Self-con

centrahon-(S)

W1sdom

e-Indnyim or

11

Organs of Sense, as

bemg under

thorough

control,

1) Eye-(2) Ear-(3)

Nose-(4)

Tongue-(5) Body.

f-BoJJhaughi. or

Knowledge

Requ1s1tes,

(1) Recollection- (2) Invest1gat10n-(3) Energy-(4)

Joy-(s)Calm-(6)Contemplatlon-(7)Equammtty

g-Anya-Atthaugtka-Magga

or Noble-Etght-Fold-Path,

the

etght

d1vts1ons of whtch have already been g1ven m the

diScusston

under

Anya-Saccim t

• See p 30 of th11 work

t See

p

30 of

th11

work

3


42/63

34

PALl

BUDDHISM,

Agam of the same sort, to be cultivated by Arahis,

are

the

Dasa-Panmlti

or

Ten

Transcendent V1rtues .

(I) Chanty-(2)

Morahty-(3) Self-abnegauon- (4) Wls

dom-(S) Energy-(6)

Pat1ence-(7)

Truth-(8)

Re

solutlon-(9) Kmdness-(Io) Equamm1ty

It will be not1ced

that there s

a great deal of repetitiOn m

these bsts,

the

same

VICe

or vtrtue bemg frequently repeated

m slightly different vtew or connection

We

may find such

repettt1ons ttresome ; but they

at

least show where emphas1s

IS

la1d

Bestdes these formal dtvlsions of v1ces to be shunned and

VIrtues to be cultivated, wh1ch are probably

not the

work of

Gotama h1mself but of h1s d1Sc1ples after h1s decease, very

many passages, undoubtedly giVIng Gotama s own teachmg

1f not h1s

very words, are found scattered all through

the

ev1dently older port10ns of

the Pii.h

Canon, m wh1ch all

the

precepts, both pos1hve and negat1ve, of these formal hsts, oc

cur agam and agam Self-restramt , the repressiOn of lust,

mahce and folly , the avotdance of moral defilement and

sloth ,

the

breakmg of all ties that bmd to carnahty ,

the

cult1vat1on

of

punty,

chanty, loviDg-kmdness, fortitude,

patience, w1sdom truth and equamm1ty-these are duties

that

w1th tuesome reiteration are

taught

by precept and ex

ample, m story, d1alogue, parable and simile, throughout

the

entire Canon

Moreover

1t

IS clearly taught, and ID frequent repetitions,

that an outward, exemplary manner of hfe m these respects

does

not

suffice ,

the

mner essent1al character must be

brought mto perfect harmony

w1th

these pnnc1ples

UnquestiOnably 1t 1s the beauty and real worth ID these

ethtcal pnnctples

that

h

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