(Delivered on the 14th. Waning of Thadingyut and the Full Moon day of Tazaungmon, 1329 M.E.) I have already given 14 lectures on Sølavanta sutta covering the subject up to the ninth strength of an Arahat. It now remain for me to discuss the tenth and wind up my lecture by making a brief review of what has been preached. Continuing with the subject of the strength of an Arahat, Særiputtaræ addressed himself to Buddha thus. And again, Reverend Sir, there is another strength possessed by a bhikkhu who has extinguished all æsavas in him, and that is the full and complete cultivation and development of the Noble Eightfold Path. Having accomplished in that task, he is competent to proclaim himself as freed of all Æsavas. The Noble Eightfold Path or Ariya-magga is so-called because it is the Path of absolute purity followed by the Noble Ones, Ariyas. In our daily language the path means that which leads to our destinations such as a village, a town, or an office, or a pagoda, or a monastery. In our Desanæ or Teaching similar paths are called Gatis, leading us to our destinies which may be the nether worlds, or the animal world, the Peta-world, the human world and the world of devas or deities. But the one and the only Path that avoids those Gatis is the Ariya magga. It behooves us to cultivate and develop the dhammas that lead us to that Path from the very beginning of our lives are ordinary worldlings. All what I have said previously relate to this theme, and it will be superfluous to repeat them here. I shall only enumerate those Noble Eightfold Paths which are: 1. Sammædi¥¥hi, Right View, 2. Sammæsa³kappa, Right Thoughts, 3. Sammævæsæ, Right Speech, 4. Sammækammanta, Right Actions, 5. Sammæ-æjøva, Right Livelihood, 6. Sammævæyama, Right Effort, 7. Sammæsati, Right Mindfulness, 8. Sammæsamædhi, Right Concentration. There are five types of Sammædi¥¥hi, right view, namely: 1. Kammassakata sammædi¥¥hi, Right view accepting the law of Kamma and Kamma result, 2. Jhæna sammædi¥¥hi, Right view relating to Jhæna, 3. Vipassanæ sammædi¥¥hi, Right view relating to insight-meditation. 4. Magga sammædi¥¥hi, Right view relating to the Path, 5. Phala sammædi¥¥hi, Right view relating to the Fruition of the Path. If Paccavehkha¼æ sammædi¥¥hi, right view relating to the knowledge of self-examination is to be taken into account, and this to the original types of right views to make six. In the foregoing, Phala sammædi¥¥hi, denotes knowledge relating to the four Phalas or fruits of wisdom enjoyed by a Sotæpanna, Sakadægæmi, and Anægæmi and Arahat respectively. Paccavekkha¼æ sammædi¥¥hi comes under Phala sammædi¥¥hi, and therefore a yogø need not make special endeavours to review his achievement of the Path by self-examination. What is essential, however, is the development of Magga sammædi¥¥hi, which is preceded by Vipassanæ sammædi¥¥hi, for it is only when insight-knowledge is attained that this view is established. For Vipassanæ sammædi¥¥hi to arise, Kammasakatæ sammædi¥¥hi and jhæna sammædi¥¥hi must be practised. Buddhists need not make it a point to make special efforts to develop kammassakatæ sammædi¥¥hi, since they have accepted the law of kamma and kamma-result once they embrace Buddhism. Their very practices of charity, morality and mind-development denotes their belief in kamma and its results. It is with this belief in the meritorious action of jhæna leading to the realms of form and the formless realms that one practises meditation. And the result of this action is bound to be beneficial. Insight-meditation can prove beneficial only to those who sincerely believe that it can lead to the Path, its Fruition and Nibbæna. That mind-development, bhævanæ, has its foundation in the practice of morality, søla, cannot be over emphasized. Næmarþpapariccheda ñæ¼a, analytical knowledge about mind and matter, and paññæ visuddhi, wisdom in its purity, can be accomplished only when citta visuddhi, purity of mind is established. Hence before bhævanæ is to be practised one must abide in søla. So a yogø preparing himself for kamma¥¥hæna, meditational exercises, must keep sabbath and observe precepts. For Bhikkhus absolute purity of morals is required for the practice of meditation. Firm in søla he can easily take up concentration that enables him to enter the state of jhæna, or at least to realize upacæra samædhi, proximate concentration. Failing that he should meditate on the four postures and the four essential elements when he can realize kha¼ika samædhi, instantaneous concentration. These are the fundamentals to the cultivation of Mþla Magga, the basic Path. Beginning with the fundamentals a yogø proceeds to meditate on the five aggregates of clinging that appear at the six sense doors to establish vipassanæ samædø¥¥hi. Continuing the practice, meditation will lead one further to the realization of cause and effect of the phenomenal world which is the knowledge called paccayapariggahana ñæ¼a. The next stage of knowledge will be sammæsana ñæ¼a which recognizes the impermanency of all conditioned things. When dissolution is noticed during meditation, one must know that he has come to the stage of bha³ga ñæ¼a, knowledge of dissolution. Then arises sa³khærupekkhæ ñæ¼a, knowledge of equanimity, when the mind will be entirely bent on rþpa, næma and sa³khæra. Then the highest stage of understanding called vutthanagæminø, insight leading to the emergence of the Path, will be reached. Anuloma ñæ¼a, knowledge of adaptation, as an ingredient of vutthægæminø, seeks Nibbæna as its mind-object. This is a precursor, pubba magga, to ariya magga. The basis for vipassanæ magga, as has been pointed out earlier, is called mþla magga which consists of kammassakatæ sammædi¥¥hi, søla magga and samædhi magga. To remember this please note this maxim: mþla, the basic, pubba, the precursor, and Ariya, the Noble Path, point the way to Nibbæna. So if you really want to be at one with Nibbæna in this in your present existence, abide in the law of kamma and its result, fulfil the purity of morals and practise right speech, right action and right livelihood, basic conducts in the realization of the dhamma. This will lead you to the next stage which heralds the knowledge of adaptation to Nibbæna, anuloma ñæ¼a, and the knowledge of the higher lineage, gotrabhþ, which enables you to be transported to the element of Nibbæna. When sammædi¥¥hi is established through the practice of insight-knowledge, sammæsa³kappa, right thought or intention will follow. It is a state of mind which inclines to Nibbæna. Right thinking and right views are grouped into paññakkhandha, aggregates of knowledge. Sammævæyama is making right efforts at meditation on sense-objects as they are seen or heard. This brings about sammæsati, right mindfulness. In exercising this you have to note the sense-object, and as you note it your mind proximates to it. Then concentration becomes achieved. Sammæ samædhi is right concentration. In initial stages kha¼ika samædhi, instantaneous concentration, is developed, and this samædhi, in conjunction with sammæ væyæma and sammæ sati, forms samædhi-khandhæ, aggregates of concentration. Right speech, right action and right livelihood come naturally at the moment of taking up meditational exercises. No unusual efforts are necessary to realize these qualities. As conviction in the impermanent nature of conditioned things grows, wrong speech, wrong actions and wrong livelihood are abandoned. Now right view is established, all maggas have been fulfilled. As insight-meditation gains strength, ariya magga, in the form of sotæpanna magga, arises and it subsequently fructifies. As a Sotæpanna continues with his practice of the Noble Eightfold Path, he gets to the next stage of Sakadægæmi Path and its Fruition; and as a Sakadægæmi unrelentlessly practises it he goes up to the next stage of an Anægæmi; and as an Anægæmi makes further efforts in the practice he becomes an Arahat accomplished in the Path and its Fruition, which constitute his strength. Now my exposition of the ten strengths of an Arahat is complete. The question now remains whether an Arahat proclaims himself as freed of all æsavas in an open and direct manner. Regarding this here is what Khema Sutta of A³guttara Nikæya has to say. Once Khemaka and Sumana were respectfully waiting upon Buddha residing at Jetavana monastery at Sævatthi. Khemaka then addressed himself to Buddha thus: Reverend Sir! An Arahat in whom all æsavas have become extinguished never considers himself that he has his superiors or equals or inferiors. Khemaka’s asseveration is an admission of the total absence of the three types of Mæna, pride, in an Arahat. So an Arahat is one who has no sense of Mæna which prompts him to compare himself to others as being superior, or equal, or inferior. Having said this Khemaka left. Then Sumana addressed himself to Buddha, almost in the same strain, as follows. Reverened Sir, An Arahat in whom all Æsavas have become extinguished, never considers himself that he has no superiors. nor equals, nor inferiors. Having said this, he also left. Then Buddha said: O bhikkhus! Men of good family speak of Arahatship by inference from the way Khemaka and Sumana have just told me. Arahats do not directly proclaim themselves openly to be so; but they let it be known by indirect suggestion. Fools make a laughing-stock of themselves by declaring that they have become Arahats having achieved Arahatta phala, and this results in a general opprobrium that usually torments their souls. Sona was a rich man’s son brought up in the lap of luxury and ease. He was so pampered by his parents that he never walked the earth literally speaking, with the result that his soles became soft and hairy. When, however, he had the opportunity to listen to Buddha’s sermons, he made the determination to practise the dhammas, not even as a lay man but as a monk. So he turned recluse and took up Vipassanæ by meditating on his act of walking along foot-path in a grave-yard. Although he tried hard with his meditational exercise until the ground on which he walked became bespattered with the blood that trickled from his tender soles, he failed to get illumined. In desperation, therefore, he thought to himself: “Those making the greatest endeavour might be doing the same thing that I am now doing and could not have done better. And yet I cannot get rid of this cankerous Æsava from my mind. I have amassed a great deal of wealth at home. It behooves me to turn a lay man and do meritorious deeds as a lay man.” Knowing what was in Sona’s mind, Buddha appeared before him and gave him the advice that in the practice of the dhamma one should never go to the extreme of either being too zealous or too slack, taking the lesson from a harp-player who produced raucous notes when he played with taut or loose strings. Sona, therefore, relaxed keeping his exertion on an even keel with his task of concentration. His attempts proved successful. So he addressed Buddha thus: Reverend Sir! An Arahat who has rendered all Æsavas in him extinct, dwells his mind solely on the emancipation of human passions, on the establishment of solitude, on the negation of clinging, on the abandonment of craving and on the expulsion of delusion. Even so arguments are put forward that the Arahat’s inclination for a passionless state is prompted by his faith only. But in fact it is not faith alone that drives him to be beatified in that state, but his abandonment of lust, anger and delusion, for he, as an Arahat, accomplished all there is to be accomplished leaving nothing undone. Again it may also be argued that he inclines to solitude just for the reputation that stands him in good stead for the acquisition of material gains. That also is not so for, as an Arahat, he has accomplished all there is to be accomplished in discarding lust, anger and delusion. Again, it may also be put forward that he becomes tolerant and meek because false religious practices require him to be so. That also is not true for he, as an Arahat, has accomplished all there is to be accomplished in conquering passions like lust, anger and delusion. Reverend Sir! A bhikkhu who has become truly emancipated from human passions never falls a prey to the wiles of Rþpa, form, seen by the keenest eye that catches its appearance. Even when it shows itself it has no influence on the Arahat’s mind which is incompatible with Kilesæs, remaining unperturbed by what it sees as the dissolution of the form and of the consciousness that recognizes the form. Removed from Kilesæs an Arahat refuses to fall in with the objects that he sees whether they are pleasant or otherwise. He is for ever conscious of the state of the dissolution of the subject that sees and the object that is seen. This statement applies to all other phenomena of hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. An Arahat’s mind is unruffled by these phenomena. Awareness of the dissolution of the sense-object along with the mind that takes note of it is within the experience of our yogøs. Some spoke in several Gæthæs (stanzas) in like manner; but I shall deal with the last two of them.
Selo yathæ ekagghano, Foul winds buffet the solid rock from all directions; and yet, it remains unshaken. In like manner all sense-objects of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching, whether pleasurable or not, assault the mind of an Arahat, who, however, remains unmoved and adamantine, freed of all kilesæs, defilements, conscious only of the picture of the dissolution of the khandhæs. This is how Sona made known his Arahatship by just throwing a hint. Once a monk known by the name of Kalæya khatthiya told Særiputtaræ that Moliyaphagguna had left the Order to become a lay man. This drew comment from the latter who observed, “Moliyaphagguna has failed to get a comfortable foothold in this Sæsanæ.” At this Kalæyana khatthiya asked the elder thera in derision, “Am I then to take it that in your case you have got a comfortable foothold?” “I have,” said Sariputtaræ, “no doubt about it.” “But then,” said the taunting monk, “Can you have your foothold in the future?” “I have no doubt about it,” repeated the elder. Here ‘foothold’ denotes the firm stand established on the foundations of the three lower Paths and their Fruition. If the monk in question had realized them, he would have been an Anægæmi and would not have left the Order. Kalæyakhatthiya again asked, “Have you extricated yourself from the hold of a new rebirth in the future?” This is an oblique way of asking if Særiputtaræ had become an Arahat. “I have,” repeated the elder monk, “No doubt it.” Then Kalæyakhatthiya went to Buddha and reported this conversation, saying, “Reverend Sir! Særiputtaræ has been avowing himself that there will be no new rebirth for him, that he has practised the noble conduct and that he has accomplished all there is to accomplished leaving nothing undone. He has declared himself to be an Arahat!” Buddha summoned Særiputtaræ and asked him if he had said so. Særiputtaræ replied that he had simply told the younger monk that he, Særiputtaræ, accomplished all that was to be accomplished in relation to the denial of future rebirths and that he had told him nothing about the Fruition of the arahatta magga. “Særiputtaræ,” said Buddha, “However indirectly you say this, it amounts of the admission that you have become an Arahat.” “Sir!” said Særiputtaræ, “I am merely reasserting that I did not use those words as reported; but I would not say that I have said nothing.” This is how, as revealed by the teachings of the original Pæ¹i texts, Arahats themselves never avow directly that they have attained Arahatship. When the Sæsanæ was at its height in Ceylon, there was an Arahat residing in Cittala Hill with an ascetic as his disciple. Once the latter asked his mentor as to how he could know an Ariya. “Even you, an old monk, replied the Arahat, “may not be able to identify an Arahat although you may be serving him as his disciple by your side. He is unknowable.” The old monk failed to know the Arahat as an Arahat in spite of this hint. Usually an Ariya wishes to remain unbeknown to others. Before concluding I shall make a brief resume of what I have been saying about Sølavanta Sutta. First Ko¥¥hika enquired of Særiputtaræ as to how a bhikkhu, accomplished in morality should devote himself to the practice of the dhamma. Særiputtaræ replied that such a bhikkhu should devote himself to meditation, wisely and well, on the five Upædænakkhandhæs, aggregates of clinging, observing their impermanent and unsatisfactory nature, likening them to a disease, or a canker, or a thorn in the side, maleficent, anguish, strange, dissolving, void and unsubstantial. One who is established in this mindfulness can be a Sotæpanna. Secondly Ko¥¥hika asked how a Sotæpannæ should devote himself to the practice of the dhamma. Særiputtaræ replied that he should also meditate on the five Upædænakkhandhæs correctly and well, as advised before, to become a Sakadægæmi. Thirdly Ko¥¥hika asked how a Sakadægæmi should devote the practice of the dhamma. Særiputtaræ’s reply was the same as before pointing out the fact a Sakadægæmi could become an Anægæmi by the same method. Fourthly Ko¥¥hika’s enquiries relate to the question of the practice of the dhamma by an Anægæmi. Særiputtaræ repeated saying that he should also practise meditation in the way already stated so that he could become an Arahat. Finally Ko¥¥hika enquired how an Arahat should practise the dhamma. Særiputtaræ again emphasised that accomplished Arahats should also meditate on the five Upædænakkhandhæs keeping his mind on the characteristics of impermanence. An Arahat, indeed, needs not go beyond what he has achieved and accomplished for the realization of the Arahatta phala; but if he continues to practise Vipassanæ, he shall dwell in happiness derived from the practice, able to fulfil Satisampajana or awareness of his mindfulness. I now close with the usual prayer that all who have listened to this discourse with respectful attention will enter Nibbæna, the end of suffering, having realized wisdom, by virtue of their wholesome actions, regarding the Path and its Fruition, as a result of insight-meditation on the five aggregates of clinging. Sædhu! Sædhu! Sædhu!
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