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Buddhist
Publication Society Newsletter Summer-Fall 1994 No. 16 |
Self-Transformation
It is perhaps
symptomatic of the "fallen" nature of the ordinary human condition
that few of us pass the fu!! extent of our lives comfortably reconciled to our
natural selves. Even in the midst of prosperity and success, grinding notes of
discontent trouble our days and disturbing dreams come to haunt our sleep. As
long as our eyes remain coated with dust we incline to locate the cause of our
discontent outside ourselves—in spouse, neighbour or job, in implacable fate or
fluky chance. But when the dust drops off and our eyes open, we soon find that
the real cause lies within. When we discover how
deeply the cause of our unhappiness is lodged in the mind, the realization
dawns that cosmetic changes will not be anywhere near enough, that a fundamental
internal transformation is required. This desire for a transformed personality,
for the emergence of a new man from the ashes of the old, is one of the
perennial lures of the human heart. From ancient times it has been a potent
wellspring of the spiritual quest, and even in the secular, life-affirming
culture of our own cosmopolitan age this longing has not totally disappeared. While such concepts
as redemption, salvation and deliverance may no longer characterize the
transformation that is sought, the urge for a radical reshaping of the
personality persists as strong as ever, appearing in guises that are compatible
with the secular worldview. Where previously this urge sought fulfillment in
the temple, ashram and monastery, it now resorts to new venues: the office of
the psychoanalyst, the weekend workshop, the panoply of newly spawned therapies
and cults: However, despite the change of scene and conceptual framework, the
basic pattern remains the same. Disgruntled with the ruts of our ingrained
habits, we long to exchange all that is dense and constrictive in our
personalities for a new, lighter, freer mode of being. Self-transformation
is also a fundamental goal of the Buddha's teaching, an essential part of his
program for liberation from suffering. The Dhamma was never intended for those
who are already perfect saints. It is addressed to fallible human beings beset
with all the shortcomings typical of unpolished human nature: conduct that is
fickle and impulsive, minds that are tainted by greed, anger and selfishness,
views that are distorted and habits that lead to harm for oneself and others.
The purpose of the teaching is to transform such people—ourselves—into
"accomplished ones": into those whose every action is pure, whose minds
are calm and composed, whose wisdom has fathomed the deepest truths and whose
conduct is always marked by a compassionate concern for others and for the
welfare of the world. Between these two
poles of the teaching—the flawed and knotted personality that we bring with us
as raw material into the training; and the fully liberated personality that
emerges in the end—there lies a gradual process of self-transformation governed
by highly specific guidelines. This transformation is effected by the twin
aspects of the path: abandoning (paahanaa),
the removal from the mind of all that is harmful and unwholesome, and
development (bhaavanaa), the
cultivation of qualities that are wholesome, pure and purifying. What distinguishes
the Buddha's program for self-transformation from the multitude of other
systems proposing a similar end is the contribution made by another principle
with which it is invariably conjoined. This is the principle of
self-transcendence, the endeavour to relinquish all attempts to establish a
sense of solid personal identity. In the Buddhist training the aim of
transforming the personality must be complemented by a parallel effort to overcome
all identification with the elements that constitute our phenomenal being. The
teaching of anatta or not-self is not
so much a philosophical thesis calling for intellectual assent as a
prescription for self-transcendence. It maintains that our ongoing attempt to
establish a sense of identity by taking our personalities to be "I"
and "mine" is in actuality a project born out of clinging, a project
that at the same time lies at the root of our suffering. If, therefore, we seek
to be free from suffering, we cannot stop with the transformation of the
personality into some sublime and elevated mode as the final goal. What is
needed, rather, is a transformation that brings about the removal of clinging,
and with it, the removal of all tendencies to self-affirmation. It is important to
stress this transcendent aspect of the Dhamma because, in our own time when
"immanent" secular values are ascendant, the temptation is great to
let this aspect drop out of sight. If we assume that the worth of a practice
consists solely in its ability to yield concrete this-worldly results, we may
incline to view the Dhamma simply as a means of refining and healing the
divided personality, leading in the end to a renewed affirmation of our mundane
selves and our situation in the world. Such an approach, however, would ignore
the Buddha's insistence that all the elements of our personal existence are
impermanent, unsatisfactory and not self, and his counsel that we should learn
to distance ourselves from such things and ultimately to discard them. In the
proper practice of the Dhamma both principles, that of self-transformation and
that of self-transcendence, are equally crucial. The principle of
self-transformation alone is blind, leading at best to an ennobled personality
but not to a liberated one. The principle of self-transcendence alone is
barren, leading to a cold ascetic withdrawal devoid of the potential for
enlightenment. It is only when these two complementary principles work in
harmony, blended and balanced in the course of training, that they can bridge
the gap between the actual and ideal and bring to a fruitful conclusion the
quest for the end of suffering. Of the two
principles, that of self-transcendence claims primacy both at the beginning of
the path and at the end. For it is this principle that gives direction to the
process of self-transformation, revealing the goal towards which a
transformation of the personality should lead and the nature of the changes
required to bring the goal within our reach. However, the Buddhist path is not
a perpendicular ascent to be scaled with picks, ropes and studded boots, but a
step-by-step training which unfolds in a natural progression. Thus the abrupt
challenge of self-transcendence—the relinquishing of all points of
attachment—is met and mastered by the gradual process of self-transformation.
By moral discipline, mental purification and the development of insight, we
advance by stages from our original condition of bondage to the domain of
untrammeled freedom.
Exploring
the Wheels
Kamma and Its Fruit:
Selected Essays. Edited by Nyanaponika Thera (Wheel No.
221/224).120 pp. SL Rs. 40.00, U.S. $3.25. "What misfortune! Well, that's
my kamma." No doubt you have heard such statements before; maybe you have
had such thoughts yourself. But this stoic resignation is not the teaching of
the Buddha. It is based instead on fatalism, confuses kamma with its result,
ignores the element of freedom, and most important, it overlooks the need to
change oneself. Yet right now, as you are reading this review, you are reaping
the results of good kamma: you are human; you are educated; you have an
interest in the Dhamma. And right now you are creating good kamma which will
bring good results in the future. While a complete
understanding of kamma may be beyond our capacity, a knowledge of the basic
principles of kamma and its results is essential for anyone interested in the
Dhamma, let alone for those who wish to practise it. Kamma and Its Fruit is an
excellent source for obtaining that knowledge. This jumbo Wheel presents eight
essays by five authors who explore the doctrine of kamma from various angles.
These essays offer a multitude of subjects on which to meditate and to use to
make necessary changes in our ways of thinking and acting. Francis Story, the
outstanding English Buddhist writer, contributes four pieces to this
collection. His little essay "Action" lucidly defines kamma and
develops its ramifications. The following excerpt is a pithy starting point for
reflection: By our thoughts,
words and deeds we create our world from moment to moment in the endless
process of change. We also create our "selves." That is to say, we
mould our changing personality as we go along, by the accumulation of such
thoughts, words and deeds. It is the accretion of these, and the preponderance
of one kind over another, that determines what we shall become, in this life
and/or subsequent ones. In the essay
"Kamma and Causality" Story discusses the question "Does
everything happen in our lives because of kamma?" and in the short but
incisive "Kamma and Freedom" he deals with the vexing question of
whether kamma excludes the possibility of freely chosen courses of action, a
question on which the whole issue of moral responsibility rests. Story's last
contribution, "Collective Kamma," is intended to reconcile apparent
cases of "shared kamma" with the Buddha's statement that kamma is an
individual matter which each person bears as his or her own inheritance. In "Action and
Reaction in Buddhist Teachings" Leonard Bullen discusses the place of
kamma in relation to the general principle of lawfulness. In clear and simple
language he relates the kamma doctrine to the practical challenge of dealing
with one's own experience in the world. Thus he offers the following piece of
practical advice: Even if you have no
choice of external action, at least it's possible to regulate your mental and
moral responses to a situation, even to a slight extent.... In this way, while
going through a difficult period of painful reaction-force results, you're at
least building up within your mental structure new progressant reaction-forces,
thus using the situation to its best advantage. Nina van Gorkom, the
well-known writer on Abhidhamma, contributes a dialogue which deals with
"Questions and Answers about Kamma Result," viewed from the
standpoint of the Abhidhamma. She points out that "ignorance is the cause
of greed, of aversion or anger, of delusion. Ignorance causes all unhappiness
in the world. Ignorance can only be cured by wisdom. In insight meditation we
develop the wisdom which can eradicate the delusion of self." In "Reflections
on Kamma and Its Fruit," Nyanaponika Thera sets out to investigate the
implications of the principle that kamma results can be modified. To quote just
one of the many insightful passages from this essay: "At this precarious
and precious moment of choice we can rise above all those menacing complexities
and pressures of our unfathomable kammic past. Indeed, one short moment can
thus transcend aeons of kammic bondage. It is through right mindfulness that we
can grasp that fleeting moment, and it is mindfulness again that enables us to
use it for making wise choices." The collection
concludes with Bhikkhu Nyanajivako's essay "Karma—The Ripening
Fruit," a study of trends in modem philosophical thought that approach
the Buddhist process philosophy underlying the doctrine of kamma.
Book
Review
Sakyadhita: Daughters
of the Buddha. Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo. Snow Lion, Ithaca,
New York, 1989. 346 pp. U.S. $14.95, £9.95. From ancient times Buddhist nuns
have usually occupied the position of a silent minority within the Buddhist
community, quietly pursuing their religious goals without the prominence
accorded to their ordained brothers. Sometimes even their precise status has
been a matter of doubt. One consequence of the Western encounter with Buddhism
has been an enhanced awareness among Buddhist women of the need to improve
their opportunities for making contributions to the continued development of
the religion. Yet, while much attention in the past decade has been focused on
the place of women in Buddhism, very little has been given to the special
problems faced by Buddhist nuns. In an attempt to remedy this lack, in February
1987 an international conference of Buddhist nuns was held in India at Bodh
Gaya, bringing together nuns and laywomen from the major Buddhist traditions to
discuss issues of particular concern to nuns. The book under
review—named after the international organization that emerged from the
conference—consists primarily of the papers and talks that were presented
during the week-long convocation. Compiled and edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo, an
American nun who was one of the three conference organizers, the book is
divided into ten chapters. The first deals with the general significance of the
conference, the remainder with such topics as the meaning of ordination, the
potentials of women in Buddhism, the lifestyles of nuns in different Buddhist
countries, the role of Vinaya, etc. In each chapter the
presentations are preceded by a substantial introduction by the editor in which
she explores various facets of the issue under discussion. These introductions
are especially to be commended for the comprehensive and balanced perspectives
they bring to bear on the topic being discussed. Often, in fact, their value
extends beyond their specific application to Buddhist nuns, so that they can be
regarded as carefully considered overviews of issues pertaining to the place
of Buddhist monasticism in the modem world. In contrast to the bitter tone that
sometimes rings through the feminist movement even within Buddhism, the papers
in this collection generally display deep reverence for the inherited Buddhist
tradition, and most contributors are keen on maintaining harmony with the
Bhikkhu Sangha rather than opting for an independent route. Although there is
much material of interest in this book, 1 must confine my comments to two
topics. The first of these is education. In most Buddhist countries religious
education for nuns is pathetically deficient, and as a result the nuns have not
been enabled to take their rightful places in society as teachers, role models
and perpetuators of the Dhamma. At a time when women in secular life can avail
themselves of full educational opportunities and play significant roles in the
social order, it is incumbent on the Buddhist community to ensure that parallel
opportunities are open to women who choose the religious life. In the few
countries where excellent educational facilities for nuns exist, they make
valuable contributions to the dissemination of Buddhism and the upliftment of
the lay community. It is revealing, and distressing, to compare the book's
account of nuns' activities in Taiwan with the corresponding accounts of the
life of nuns in Sri Lanka and Thailand. The second issue
calling for comment is the partly controversial case for the revival of the
Bhikkhuni Sangha in those lands where it has disappeared. Lekshe Tsomo
approaches this delicate issue with caution and good sense, holding that
"Yo protest for bhikshuni ordination before the established Bhikshu
Sanghas are convinced of its validity and value is futile and will damage our
cause." However, while the contributors may present a cogent case for the
value of a revived order of bhikkhunis, the sticking point from the Theravada
viewpoint (apparently shared by more conservative elements within the Tibetan
tradition as well) remains the validity of any proposed means of resuscitating
the bhikkhuni ordination. A review of the entire issue by knowledgeable Vinaya
specialists within the Bhikkhu Sangha—preferably by an international committee
convened for that purpose—seems to be one of the most important tasks facing
the Sangha today. It seems equally incumbent upon Buddhist women following the
Theravada tradition to respect the judgements arrived at by those elders of the
Order whose deep understanding of the Vinaya qualifies them to make such
decisions.
Notes and
News
On 2 April 1990 Van.
Nyanaponika Mahathera, the BPS's Founding-president and now its Patron,
received a unique honour from the University of Peradeniya. In recognition of
the Mahathera's outstanding contribution to Buddhist scholarship and his
long-standing service to the Dhamma through his many years of work for the BPS,
the governing body of the university decided to award him the degree of Doctor
of Literature honoris causa. Since, due to his advanced age, Ven. Nyanaponika
would not have been able to attend the university to receive the degree, the
university came to him: the Awards Committee came to the Forest Hermitage and
held the convocation ceremony in the clearing right in front of the Mahathera's
dwelling, no doubt the first degree in the University's history ever conferred
in a monk's hermitage. This is the second honorary doctorate degree conferred
on Ven. Nyanaponika, the first having been awarded by the Buddhist and Pali
University of Sri Lanka in 1988. This past July the Mahathera celebrated his
89th birthday, and despite declining vision, remains in good health. We thank those of
you who replied to our query about interest in Bhikkhu Nanamoli's Pali-English
Glossary of Buddhist Technical Terms. We are encouraged by the positive
response, and assure those who coached us on quantities that we have quite
discarded the idea that twenty-five copies, or even a few hundred, would be
adequate. When the glossary becomes available (probably in early 1991) notice
will appear in the newsletter and we will separately inform those who replied
to our inquiry. Several of our
popular publications, out of print for some time, have now become available
again, this time in attractive new well-printed editions. Kamma and Its Fruit (Wh 221/224) is explored elsewhere in this
issue. Also back in print are Paul Fleischman's The Therapeutic Action of Vipassana & Why 1 Sit (Wh 3291330), our
best-selling Wheel for 1989, and Nyanaponika Thera's stirring essay on the
Uraga Sutta, The Worn-Out Skin (Wh
241/242). We also hope that by the time this newsletter reaches you, the Anguttara Nikaya Anthology, Part 3 (Wh
2381240) will again be available, thereby enabling us to complete the
three-Wheel bound edition of the Anguttara Anthology. Regrettably, The
Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga) is still
in the press, though we are optimistic that it will be out before the year is
over. Among other problems that confronted us in the reprint of this monumental
work was the loss of over 200 pages of carefully proofed text from our
printer's computer disks, both the original and the backup! This required a complete
retyping and reproofing of the lost pages, about a quarter of the book. The Manual of Abhidhamma is being recomposed
from scratch in an entirely new edition. This edition will feature an extensive
and detailed guide to the Abhidhammattha Sangaha prepared by Burmese Abhidhamma
specialist Ven. U Rewata Dhamma and Bhikkhu Bodhi, based on the classical
commentaries to the Sangaha. We hope that this vastly improved edition of the
Manual will become available by the end of this year or early next year. Recently several of
our publications have appeared in translation into a variety of tongues. Among
these is a series of booklets on Buddhism in Yugoslavian, entitled Biblioteka
Ananda, modelled after the Wheel Series and including translations of selected
Wheels. The translator and publisher would like to establish contact with any
of our readers involved in computerized typesetting and desk-top publishing.
His name and address: Branislav
Kovacevic, Bulevar 23, Oktobra 9/1, 21000 Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. We are happy to
announce that several book agents abroad will be carrying large selections of
BPS publications, making it easier for our readers in those countries to obtain
the books they need quickly. In the U.S.A., the newly established Bhavana Book
Service will be readily accessible to East Coast readers: P.O. Box 13504,
Silver Spring, MD 20911 (Tel. 301-587-8695). On the West Coast the Buddhist Bookstore has become a
regular agent for BPS, at: 1710 Octavia Street, San Francisco, CA 94109 (Tel.
415-776-7877). On the other side of the globe, in Malaysia, a wide range of our
titles are available from: Mandate Trading & Publishing, P.O. Box 388, Jln
Sultan, 46740 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia (Tel. 03-7565180).
Guidelines
to Sutta Study
The Anattalakkhana
Sutta was taught by the Buddha for the purpose of exposing the egoless nature
of the five aggregates, to which the uninstructed worldling is prone to cling
as "mine," "I," and "my self." In his First
Sermon the Buddha had alluded to the five aggregates in his analysis of the noble
truth of suffering, when he declared: "In brief, the five aggregates of
clinging are suffering." In the present sutta, his second formal
discourse, the Buddha will examine the five aggregates more closely, focusing
upon their three "general characteristics" (saama.t.talakkhana) of impermanence, suffering, and not self.
Since the five aggregates form one of the major classificational schemes of the
Buddha's teaching, figuring prominently in many discourses, it is important for
a student of the suttas to know the general significance of this scheme and the
precise denotation of each individual aggregate among the five. It is quite
likely, in fact, that such an analysis was included by the Buddha in the
unrecorded instructions he gave the five disciples in the interval between the
two recorded discourses. The five aggregates
are the principal set of categories the Buddha employs to classify the physical
and mental phenomena constituting personal existence. What is called an
individual, person or living being is in fact nothing but a combination of
these five types of phenomena, which are in themselves not substantial entities
but evanescent events linked together in a continual process of arising and
passing away. The aggregate of
material form (ruupakkhandha) comprises
the physical side of existence, and includes two types of material phenomena:
the materiality of the four primary elements—earth or solidity, water or
cohesion, fire or hoot, and air or motility; and the materiality derived from
the four primary elements. The most important types of derived matter are the
five sensitivities—the eye, ear, nose, tongue and body; and four of their
corresponding objects—form, sound, smell and taste, the tangible object being
identified (according to the Abhidhamma) with the primary elements themselves. The mental side of
existence is comprised by the other four aggregates. Of these, the aggregate of
feeling ( vedanaakkhandha) includes
all types of feelings. Feeling is the affective mode in which an object is
experienced, and may be either pleasant, painful or neutral. Feelings are
further analyzed as sixfold by way of the sense faculty through which they
arise, the sixth being ideational feeling or "feeling born of
mind-contact." The aggregate of
perception (sa.t.taakkhandha) is also
sixfold: perception of forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles and mind-objects.
Perception itself is the factor which takes note of or apprehends the qualities
of objects; it should not be confused with the percept or sense datum, which
belongs to the material form aggregate. The aggregate of
mental formations (sankhaarakkhandha) is,
in the suttas, defined as the six classes of volition, that is, volition
regarding the six types of objects. Volition is especially important because it
is the constructive, formative aspect of experience, and thus the factor
ultimately responsible for kamma. The fifth aggregate,
that of consciousness ( vi.t.taanakkhandha),
comprises the cognizing or knowing of the object, and is again sixfold:
eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, etc., with mind consciousness as the
sixth. It is important to
understand that while the five aggregates can be separated in thought, they
cannot be separated in fact, since they occur within the functionally unified
and interconnected whole of the experiential event. In human existence all five
aggregates are present on any occasion of experience. There is the body with
its sense faculties being impinged on by the sense data, one of which will be
selected as object of cognition. There is feeling as the affective tone of the
cognitive act, perception as the factor of apprehension and discrimination,
mental formations as the volitional response to the object, and consciousness
as the cognitive factor governing the entire act of knowing. It is just because
the five aggregates occur so closely intertwined that they give rise to the
delusion of self, and one of the Buddha's aims in making known the distinct
strands of this conglomeration is to provide a basis for dispelling this
delusion.
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