Today is 8th waxing day of Tabodwe. I am going to Mawlamyaing on the first waxing day of this month. I will return only on the first waxing day of next month, Tabaung. Four more gæthæs remain of this Sammæ pribbæjaniya Sutta. I want to finish it before I leave for Mawlamyaing. So today I am going to give you a discourse on 14th and 15th gæthæs. Samsuddhajino
viva¥¥achaddo, The bhikkhu has conquered the enemy kilesæ with arahatta magga which is the purest, and has also been free of the three va¥¥as and all the coverings. Arahatta magga is the cleanest and purest of all magga or paths. With this the dangers and menace of kilesæ are overcome. The bhikkhu has also been clear of the three vattas, namely, kilesä vatta, kamma vatta and vipæka vatta. He has also been rid of such coverings as ræga, dosa, moha, mæna; dh¥¥hi, avijjæ and duccarita. All the four ariya maggas are clean and pure, and of them arahatta magga has completely discarded all kilesæs and is therefore the cleanest. The bhikkhu who has conquered kilesæ with arahatta magga is of course an arahanta. Since he has conquered all kilesæs, he is rid of kilesæ va¥¥a, or kilesæ vipæka, meaning consequences of kilesæ. When this va¥¥a has been rid of, most of kamma and vipæka va¥¥a go with it. Then the coverings and hindrances such as ræga, dosa and others are also cleared. Duccarita or bad deed, can prevent the doer from getting to higher regions of existence, so it is included among the impediment. Duccarita is got rid of when the entire category of kilesæ has been abandoned. The next line says, the bhikkhu has accomplished the dhamma. What kind of dhamma? The commentary says that it is the four Noble Truths. Other interpretations say that it is the accomplishment of jhanæ-samæpatti and phala-samæpatti. That is to say that the bhikkhu can enter upon meditation and concentration (jhæna) and upon the fruition of the Path phala. The next two lines say that the bhikkhu reaches the other shore and is free of ta¼hæ which is usually of agitating nature. The constant flux of life in the body is called samsæra. The existence of næma-rþpa khandhæ or aggregates which condition the appearance of life in any from is taken as “this shore” and the non existence of aggregates is taken as “the other shore”. So long as kilesæ prevails, there will be næma-rþpa khandhæ, and that being concerned will be adrift in the unending stream of samsæra. If, with the aid of arahatta magga insight, one attains the stage of Nibbæna, one is said to have reached “the other shore”. Ta¼hæ is lust for all pleasurable sensations, and so it is always in a state of agitation. Agitation is jo, so an arahantä is called anejo, one who is free of agitation. The attributes of an arahanta are according to this gæthæ three, namely, dhammesu vasi, one who has full knowledge of the dhamma; pæragu one who has reached “the other shore”; and anejo, one who is free of agitation. The third lines says, the bhikkhu has in him sa³khæranirodha ñæ¼akusala, meaning insight which sees Nibbæna which is the cessation of all the conditioned things. This insight is the four ariya magga insights, progressing to the fourth and final arahantta magga ñæ¼a. The commentary say that the bhikkhu has accomplished ariya magga ñä¼a, and that is because he has realised the four insights. Each magga ñæ¼a occurs once at a time, and so the bhikkhu has expert knowledge of each of the four as it occurs to him. In this gæthæ, the attribute of conquest of kilesæ with arahatta magga ñæ¼a; the attribute of being free of the three vipækas and hindrances of kilesæ; the attribute of having reached “the other shore”; the attribute of being free of agitation owing to ta¼hæ; and the attribute of full knowledge of Nibbæna, which is the cessation of all conditioned things, are given. They are all the attributes of an arahanta. How to strive for attainment of these attributes has been explained in the discourses on the earlier gæthæ. It is for you to make an effort. That last line of the gæthæ, the refrain, is that the bhikkhu who has abandoned all attachments lives properly in this world. Now we will go on to the 15th gæthæ. Atitesu
anagætesu
cäpi, The bhikkhu has overcome the habit of thinking of the past and of the future. He must be free of thoughts about the past and the future. The conditioned things that occurred in the past are the past. The bhikkhu must abandon all attachment to the actions of matter and mind that have occurred in the past. Such attachment is due to the wrong belief that the five aggregates are Self (I, myself, mine). The actions in the past existence is not known, so they are not dwelt upon. But there are some who think “I” existed before in the past life, and now “I” have come to live the present life. However, people generally think more about the past within this existence. People think of their childhood days and remember what they “themselves” did in the way of seeing, hearing, smelling, eating, touching and thinking. They often think of the actions of immediate past. Such thoughts, owing to attachment are called kappa. It is necessary to abandon them. The future is what will happen at a later time during this life. Thoughts, about the future are also due to attachment to næma-rþpa. Some people hope to become rich in the future. So also they hope that they will be better off in their future existence. The bhikkhu must abandon such thoughts. It may be asked whether or not one should think of the present with attachment. The answer is that such thoughts must also be overcome. Reference to the past and the future includes an indication to the present. The Pæ¹i version admits of such an inference. For instance, if we say in Pæ¹i, “We adore the Buddha. We adore the Dhamma”, we mean to say that we adore the Sangha, too. Minding the present actions in the meditational practice is, in effect, precluding thoughts, with attachment, of the present. When one is into meditation there will be no chance for such thoughts to occur. If, one knows, in the course of mindfulness, that what has occurred is impermanent, that what is happening and fading out is instability which means dukkha, or misery, and that these actions are automatic and uncontrollable, which means anatta, then selfish thoughts about the present will have no chance to occur. In the same manner, thoughts about the past and the future will have no chance to occur. They will be rejected, if for a moment, through meditation, and that is overcoming them by tada³ga pahæna (momentary abandonment). When one has developed ariya magga insight, one will progress through the three stages to the final state of arahatta magga ñæ¼a. Once one has overcome these thoughts which are, in fact, stray and random, then one has gained the clearest insight. The third lines says that the bhikkhu has overcome the twelve æyatana (sense organs). As this means that the bhikkhu must overcome attachment owing to sense organs and sense objects, it is the same as overcoming thoughts about the past, the present and the future. Æyatana is the cause for occurrence of sense. Sense of seeing depends upon the eye and the sight. The latter two are æyatana. So are ear and hearing, nose and smelling, tongue and taste, body and touch, and mind and thought or fancy. They all bring about sense or knowledge of feeling. In the case of body and touch, it is the tactile feeling of roughness and smoothness which is pathavø contact, of cold and warmth, which is tejo contact, and the tautness, the push back and forth and other kinetic actions are væyo contact. The yogø making a note of the rise and fall of the abdomen will note the action of væyo. All these sense organs and sense objects, altogether twelve, are æyatana. They must be overcome. How to overcome them, how to be free of them? You must abandon, and escape from, attachment due to taking these æyatanas to be your own. You must escape from the attachment due to revelling in the senses. This escape or abandonment can be achieved through meditation. By the process of momentary abandonment one can reject all the kilesæ emanating from æyatana, and eventually uproot all the kilesæ. This also is an attribute of an arahanta. The last line of the gæthæ is the refrain, as usual, meaning that the bhikkhu who has no attachment whatsoever lives properly in this world. ÆYATANA REVEALED IN MEDITATION The yogø here will certainly see clearly the æyatana as they are making a constant note of the flux of phenomena. While seeing, one knows clearly of the eye and the sight, that is cakkhæyatana and rupæyatana respectively. And also the sense occurring in the mind or manæyatana is quite obvious. These three æyatanas are obvious while seeing. Sometimes contact from seeing, or phassa; reaction to the sight, or vedanæ; cognition of sight, or taking into the mind of the sight, called manasikæra; making an effort to see, or intention is called cetana; these are all obvious. Cognition of the sight is saññæ. Phassa, vedanæ, saññæ, cetanæ and manasikæra are all dhhmmæyatana. In this way, while seeing, four æyatanas are revealed. So also while hearing, smelling, eating, touching, four æyatanas are revealed in each case. As for thinking or speculating, it is manæyatana, if known sub-consciously, it is manæyatana, too. Thinking, speculating or knowing as such is dhammæyatana. So in thinking or speculating or knowing subconsciously there are only two æyatanas. The yogø who has been making a note of the phenomena is seeing the æyatana. When one’s samædhi is developed through meditation one sees æyatana appear and disappear quickly and so one can contemplate upon the anicca, dukkha and anatta nature of it. Therefore, by the process of momentary abandonment one can see the truth about destruction of the phenomena and come to the final stage of ariya magga. May the yogøs of this meditation centre be able to abandon the twelve æyatanas and arrive at the state of Nibbæna after gaining magga-phala insight. Sædhu! Sædhu! Sædhu! End of Part XIII
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