17Sik Hin HungPearl of the Tripitakafinal.docx
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17Sik Hin HungPearl of the Tripitakafinal.docx
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17SikHinHungPearloftheTripitakafinal
ThePearloftheTripitaka,TwoVaggasintheSutta-Nipāta
SikHinHung
ExecutiveDirectoroftheHongKongBuddhistAssociation
Introduction
FromthedeafeningsilencethattheBuddhaexperiencedduringthemoonlitmomentbeneaththeBodhitree,flowedtheteachingoftheDharma.2,500yearshassincepassed,andtheaccumulationsoftheTeachingsintovariousversionsoftheTripitakahaveswelledintomonstrousproportions.Numerousschools,countlessinterpretationsandexplanationsoftheteachingshavebeendone.Buddhismanditsliteraturehavecomealongway,andmaybesomeofitsoriginallusterhasbeenlostamongtheclustersofinformation.Therefore,itignitessparkleswhenonereadsuttasthatarefloweredwithancientsimplicityandwaltzedwiththethunderofnon-duality.TheearliestchaptersoftheSuttaNipātadohavesuchqualityand,accordingtotheeruditeProfessorLuiso.Gomez,"Thesignificanceofthesepassagescannotbeexaggerated."
ThisessaywillmainlyconcentrateontheAtthakavaggaandtheParayanavaggaoftheSutta-Nipāta(Sn)or"Discourse-collection,"whichisgenerallyagreedamongscholarstobesomeofthemostancientBuddhistteachingthatisavailabletous.Thefirstpartoftheessaywilldiscussthemessagesthatarebeingconveyedbythesevaggas;andsecondly,stanzasfromthesevaggasthatwasquotedbytheHolyNagarjunaintheMahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra(MPPS)(大智度論),translatedbyKumārajīva(402–405A.D.)willbeexamined.ButwewillbeginwithabriefdiscussionofseveralworksthatdealtwiththeSutta-Nipātainordertogetageneralpictureofitsimportantaspects.
Severalworksonthesutta-nipāta
Asearlyasthe1880's,theHonourableV.FausbollhadcommentedontheantiquityoftheSutta-Nipāta.Hesaid,
"IconsideredthegreaterpartoftheMahavaggaandnearlythewholeoftheAtthakavaggaasveryold.IoughttohaveaddedtheParayanavagga.Thatmythenexpressedopinionholdsgoodaboutthetwolastmentionedatleast,seemstobeevidentfromtherebeingacommentaryonthemcalledNiddesa,whichhasbeenincorporatedintheBuddhistcanonandfromtherebeingquotedintheNikayasandintheVinaya-pitaka."
SinceFausböll,manyscholarshaveworkedontheSnandthelatestimportantpublicationis"TheGroupofDiscourses"Vol.IIbyProf.K.R.Norman.Mostofthesepublicationshavedealtwiththetranslatingand/oranalyzingtheantiquityoftheSnbymeansoflinguisticevidences.
TherehavebeenonlyafewworksdoneontheteachingandthephilosophyoftheSn.However,interestingamongthem,isthearticle"Proto-MadhyamikainthePaliCanon"byProf.L.Gomez.Inthearticle,Gomezhasexplored"thepossibleparallelsbetweenthePalitext(AtthakavaggaoftheSn)andtheMadhyamakaofNagarjuna,"buthesaid,"ThereisnowayofascertainingwhethertheAtthakavaggawasinanywaypivotaltohis[Nagarjuna]exegesisoftheCanonicaltexts."Ashasalreadybeenmentionedabove,thesecondpartofthisessaywilldiscussthequotationsoftheSnusedbyNagarjuna,andIhope,tothesatisfactionofthegoodProfessor.
Compilationofsuttasandvaggas
WhenBuddhadeliveredasermon,itwasusuallytargetedtowardsanindividualoraspecificgroupoffollowers.Fromtheseindividualsermons,discourseswerestrungtogetherandbecamesutta.AccordingtotheYogācārabhūmi-śāstra(YBS):
"ThecompilingofthetreasuresoftheTathagata’sTrueDharmais[theprocessthat]collectandedittogethervariousdifferentsacredsayings[taughtbytheBuddhaduringdifferenttimesandplaces]sothattheseholyTeachingswillremainintheworldforalongtime.Usingthesewonderfulwords,phasesandsentencesascontentappropriatelyandsequentiallycompilethemtogether.Thatis,toconnectandstringtogethervariousteachingsthatcanbringforthbenefit,leadtocelibacy–thetrulywondrousteaching,thisiscallasutta."
WhentheBuddhataught,itwouldbelogicaltoassumethatthecontentofhisteachingswouldbedividedintovariouslevelsofunderstandinganddifferentpropensitiessothattheteachingwouldbestfittheindividualproblemsandabilitiesofthedifferentfollowers.Thevaggas,whichrepresentcollectionsofsuttas,werealsoassembledinasimilarmannerbyancientmasters.Therefore,thespecificlayoutandarrangementofthesuttasincorporatedintoavaggaveryoftencarrywiththemconcertedmessages.Ifoneisnotawareofthegenerallayoutofavagga,thenthereisthedangerofmissingtheconcertedmessages,andendupdebatingthe"uniformityanddiversity"ofthesuttas,asinthearticle"OlderpartsoftheSuttaNipata"byTilmannVetterwhenhewantedto"addsomehistoricalrefinement"toProf.Gomez’sinterpretationoftheSnaspresentedinthe"Prota-Madhyamika"article.WeshallnowproceedtoexploretheteachingsoftheAtthakavaggabyanalyzingthemessageoftheindividualsuttafirstandthenfromtheindividualmessagesdeducetheconcertedmessagesoftheVagga.
Theatthakavagga
TherearealtogethersixteensuttasintheAtthakavagga,theChapteroftheEightsandtheyare:
Suttanumber
Name
Noofstanzas
1
SensualPleasure
6
2
TheOctadoftheCave
8
3
TheOctadoftheEvil
8
4
TheOctadofPurity
8
5
TheOctadofPerfection
8
6
Decay
10
7
Tissametteyya
10
8
Disputation
11
9
Magandiya
13
10
QualitiesofaMuni
14
11
DisputesandContention
16
12
MinorcausesofContention
16
13
MajorcausesofContention
20
14
ThewayofBliss
20
15
ViolentConduct
20
16
Sariputta
21
Fromlookingattheabovetable,itisinterestingtonotethatthenumberofstanzasofthesuttashasbeenarrangedinanascendingorder;i.e.fromthefirstsuttaofsixstanzasincreasinguntilthelastsuttaoftwentyonestanzas.However,theimportanceofthispoint,Ibelieve,isnomorethanjustanindicationthatthesuttasandthevaggamayhavebeendeliberatelyarranged.
Thefactthatthenameofthevaggais"TheChapterofEights"suggeststhatoriginallytheindividualsuttasintheChaptermayhaveonlyconsistedofeightstanzas,orthatthosesuttaswitheightstanzasaretheheartofthechapter.Therefore,eitherwayindicatesthatsuttasno.2-5isthecoreofthisChapter.Undermorecarefulexamination,onecanevenproposethatthesefoursuttasholdthekeytotheultimateliberation,becausetogether,theirteachingbecomesagradualpathtonibbana.Thefollowingisanexaminationoftheteachingsofthesefoursuttas.
SuttaTwo,TheOctadoftheCavesdealtwiththedangerofclingingtoourphysicalbody.Suchclingingandattachmentisthefirstroadblockonthepathtoattainingliberationasitispointedoutinthefollowingquotation:
772Theman(who)remainsattachedtothecave(thebody)',iscoveredwithmanydefilementsandplungedintoconfusion;beingofsuchakindheisindeedfarfromdetachment.Forsensualpleasuresareindeednoteasytoabandonintheworld."
‘Cave’isbeingusedhereasbothametaphorforthebodyandalsotoprojecttheimaginaryofdarknessanddefilementthatcomewiththeattachmentofthebody.
Afterpointingoutthedangerofclingingtothephysicalbody,suttanumberThree,FourandFivedealtwiththeproblemofmentalattachment.Onlywhenapersoniscompletelydetachedbothphysicallyandmentallywouldhethenbetrulyliberated-nibbana.Thefirststanza(780)ofsuttaThree:
TheOctadoftheEvilistheintroductiontothesethreesuttaswhichsequentiallydiscussed:
“evil-mind”,“mindsetontruth”and“mindofthesages”justasitisthecorrespondencemainthemesofthesuttas.
"
780Someevil-mindedonesdoindeeddispute;andthosewhosemindsaresetontruthdoindeeddisputealso.Butthesagesdonotgetinvolvedinanydisputewhichhasarisen.Thereforethesageshavenobarrennessofmindinanyrespect.
SoSuttaThree,theOctadoftheEvil,dealtwiththedangerofclingingtomentalactivitiesthataredrivenbydesireandselfinterestwhichfromtheBuddhistpointofviewwouldbeclassifiedasevil;i.e.
781Howcouldanyoneovercomehisownview,(whenheis)ledonbydesire,entrenchedinhisowninclination,fulfillingthose(wrongviews)himself?
Forasheknow,sowouldhespeaks."
SuttaFour,theOctadofPurity,dealtwiththedangerofclingingontowhatmayberegardedas'righteous'ormindsthataresetontruth;i.e.
788Iseeapure,nobleandhealthyman;aperson’spurificationemergesfromwhathesees'-thus,holdingthisopinionandhavingseenthisviewtobethebest,heconsidersknowledgetoconsistintheseeingofapurebeing.
789Ifman'spuritycomesfromwhatisseen,orifbythisknowledgehecanbefreedofsorrow,thensomethingotherthantheNoblePathmakesthepersongraspingafterthingsapureone.Thisviewitselfrevealsthenatureofthisperson.
Insuttafive,theOctadofPerfection,dealtwiththemindsetofthesagesandtheconceptofnon-dualityandindifferentiationwerepresentedasthefinalsteptowardnibbana;i.e.
802Tothesagethereisnottheslightestprejudicedviewwithregardtothingsseen,heardorfelt.Howcananyoneintheworldcharacterizebythoughtsuchapureonewhodoesnotdogmaticallygraspanyviews?
803Theyneitherformanyparticulardogmanorpreferanything.Dogmaticviewsarenotesteemedbythem.Thebrahminisnotledbyruleandrite.Thus,thesteadfastonehasgonetothefurthershore,nevermoretoreturn.
ClearlythesefourvaggasfunctiontogetherandtherebybecomingaveryplainandconcisediscourseonthePathtoNibbana.ItispossiblethattherestoftheSuttasintheChapterwereaddedoninalatertime.
AlthoughthecohesivenessoftheremainingsuttasintheChapte
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