Ideally,
education is the principal tool of human growth, essential for transforming the
unlettered child into a mature and responsible adult. Yet everywhere today,
both in the developed world and the developing world, formal education is in
serious trouble. Classroom instruction has become so routinized
and flat that children often consider school an exercise in patience rather
than an adventure in learning. Even the brightest and most conscientious
students easily become restless, and for many the only attractive escape routes
lie along the dangerous roads of drugs, sexual experimentation, and outbursts
of senseless violence. Teachers too find themselves in a dilemma, dissatisfied
with the system which they serve but unable to see a meaningful alternative.
One major reason for this sad state of affairs is a loss
of vision regarding the proper aims of education. The
word ßeducationû literally means ßto
bring forth,û which
indicates that the true task of this undertaking is to draw forth from the mind
its innate potential for understanding. The urge to learn, to know and
comprehend, is a basic human trait, as intrinsic to our minds as hunger and
thirst are to our bodies. In today's turbulent world, however, this hunger to
learn is often stifled, deformed by the same moral twists that afflict the
wider society. Indeed, just as our appetite for wholesome food is exploited by
the fast-food industry with tasty snacks that our nutritionally valueless, so
in our schools the minds of the young are deprived of the nutriment they need
for healthy growth. In the name of education the students are passed through
courses of standardized instruction intended to make them efficient servants of
the social system. While such education may be necessary for social cohesion
and economic stability, it does little to fulfil the
higher end of learning, the illumination of the mind with the light of truth
and goodness.
A major cause of our educational problems lies in the ßcommercializationû of education. The industrial growth
model of society, which today extends its tentacles even into the largely
agrarian societies of South and
Since today's secular society dictates that
institutional education is to focus on preparing students for their careers, in
a Buddhist country like
The entire system of Buddhist education must be rooted
in faith (saddhā)Ūfaith in the Triple Gem, and above all in the Buddha as
the Fully Enlightened One, the peerless teacher and supreme guide to right
living and right understanding. Based on this faith, the students must be
inspired to become accomplished in virtue (sãla) by following the moral
guidelines spelled out by the Five Precepts. They must come to know the
precepts well, to understand the reasons for observing them, and to know how to
apply them in the difficult circumstances of human life today. Most
importantly, they should come to appreciate the positive virtues these precepts
represent: kindness, honesty, purity, truthfulness, and mental sobriety. They
must also acquire the spirit of generosity and self-sacrifice (cāga), so
essential for overcoming selfishness, greed, and the narrow focus on
self-advancement that dominates in present-day society. To strive to fulfil the ideal of generosity is to develop compassion and
renunciation, qualities which sustained the Buddha throughout his entire
career. It is to learn that cooperation is greater than competition, that
self-sacrifice is more fulfilling than self-aggrandizement, and that our true
welfare is to be achieved through harmony and good will rather than by
exploiting and dominating others.
The fourth and fifth virtues work closely together. By
learning (suta)
is meant a wide knowledge of the Buddhist texts, which is to be acquired by
extensive reading and persistent study. But mere learning is not sufficient.
Knowledge only fulfils its proper purpose when it serves as a springboard for
wisdom (pa¤¤ā),
direct personal insight into the truth of the Dhamma.
Of course, the higher wisdom that consummates the Noble Eightfold Path does not
lie within the domain of the Dhamma school. This wisdom must be generated by methodical mental
training in calm and insight, the two wings of Buddhist meditation. But
Buddhist education can go far in laying the foundation for this wisdom by
clarifying the principles that are to be penetrated by insight. In this task
learning and wisdom are closely interwoven, the former providing a basis for
the latter. Wisdom arises by systematically working the ideas and principles
learnt through study into the fabric of the mind, which requires deep
reflection, intelligent discussion, and keen investigation.
It is wisdom that the Buddha held up as the direct
instrument of final liberation, as the key for opening the doors to the
Deathless, and also as the infallible guide to success in meeting the mundane
challenges of life. Thus wisdom is the crown and pinnacle of the entire system
of Buddhist education, and all the preliminary steps in a Buddhist educational
system should be geared towards the flowering of this supreme virtue. It is
with this step that education reaches completion, that it becomes illumination
in the truest and deepest sense, as exclaimed by the Buddha on the night of his
Awakening: ßThere arose in me vision, knowledge,
wisdom, understanding, and light.û
Bhikkhu Bodhi
The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dãgha Nikāya. Translated
from the Pāli by Maurice Walshe.
This book, a companion volume to our Middle Length Discourses, offers a
complete translation of the Dãgha Nikāya.
The thirty-four ßlong discoursesû
in this collection include some of the most important suttas
in the Pāli Canon: the Brahmajāla
on the sixty-two views, the Sāma¤¤aphala on the
gradual training, the Satipa~n~nhāna on the practice
of mindfulness, the Mahāparinibbāna on the Buddha's
demise. The translation, clear and readable, is introduced with a vivid account
of the Buddha's life and a short survey of his teachings. A
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Curbing Anger, Spreading Love. Bhikkhu Visuddhācāra.
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Great Disciples of the Buddha. Ven. Nyanaponika Thera
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This volume combines all past issues of our Wheel titles in the ßLives of the Disciplesû series.
To be co-published with Wisdom Publications,
Abhidhamma Studies: Researches in Buddhist Psychology. Nyanaponika Thera. Bold and brilliant essays on the
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The Seven Contemplations of Insight. Ven. Mātara
Sri Ĩāõārāma Mahāthera.
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An Analysis of the Theravada Vinaya in the Light of Modern Legal Philosophy. C. Ananda Grero.
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Venerable Balangoda Ananda Maitreya: The Buddha
Aspirant. Ittepana Dhammalankara
Thera. Biography (with interviews and photos) of
The Selfless Mind. Peter Harvey. Curzon Press,
Peter Harvey's The
Selfless Mind is a bold, far-reaching study of early Buddhism intended to
unravel the inter-relationships between three of its most difficult elements:
the teaching of non-self, the nature and function of consciousness, and the
nature of Nibbāna. Although his work is based mainly
on the Pāli Nikāyas,
The
book is divided into two parts, corresponding to the two words in the title:
Part I focuses on the teaching of non-self (anattā), Part II
on consciousness and Nibbāna. At the outset
After investigating (in Chaps. 3Ũ5) the moral and
psychological implications of the Buddhist views of selfhood and the world, in
Chap. 6 Harvey focuses on the process of rebirth, sometimes taken to be the ßthorn in the sideû of the
non-self teaching. He locates the crucial factor underlying the rebirth process
in vi¤¤āõa, which he renders
ßdiscernmentû (a rendering I find far less
satisfactory than the familiar ßconsciousnessû).
While the Buddha has clearly rejected the claim that the same consciousness
migrates through saüsāra,
Part II, entitled ßSaüsāric
and Nibbānic Discernment,û is devoted to a study of consciousness and its
relationship to Nibbāna. In the first three chapters
the author discusses the place of ßdiscernmentû in
the empirical personality (7), in the doctrine of conditioned arising (8), and
in the perceptual process (9). These are dense chapters which draw together a
wide assortment of texts and offer a wealth of original observations on subtle
points of doctrine. While I would not agree with all of
Chap. 10 opens with a study of the bhavaīga,
the life-continuum, which in the Abhidhamma serves as
an underlying, dormant type of consciousness occurring in the intervals between
active frames of mind. He then turns to the famous passage on the ßbrightly shining mindû (pabhassara-citta),
mentioned by the Buddha only at AN I,10, which the
commentary interestingly identifies as the bhavaõga.
This identification seems strange, for the bhavaõga
operates below the threshold of full awareness while the word pabhassara, ßbrightly shining,û conveys the sense of
full awareness. Harvey, however, goes along with the commentator, though he
regards the ßbright mindû
only as an ever-present potential for enlightenment, not as a spark of
enlightenment already actualized within the stream of normal consciousness, as
was held in certain Mahāyāna schools.
The next three chapters (11Ũ13), which take us to the
climax of the book, aim to elicit from the texts a clear conceptual picture of Nibbāna and to examine its relationship to the empirical
personality. It is at this point that
His most startling thesis in this part of the book is
announced in Chap.12: that Nibbana is ßa transformed state of discernment,û
a vi¤¤āõa which is ßstopped,
objectless, unsupported.û The sole text that seems to
lend credence to this proposition is an enigmatic verse which appears in full
only at DN I,223 (and in part at MN I,329-30), which speaks of ßdiscernment non-manifestative,
infinite, accessible from all-round.û Nevertheless,
the many standard prose passages on vi¤¤āõa and Nibbāna always describe vi¤¤āõa
as impermanent and conditioned and never give even a hint that Nibbāna might be a transfigured type of vi¤¤āõa.
Thus, if we grant primacy to the standard prose passages, it seems safest to
conclude that the idea that Nibbāna is an
unconditioned discernment would be a misinterpretation of this verse, the exact
meaning of which remains problematic.
In sum, The
Selfless Mind is in many respects a thought-provoking study that glistens
with original insights, and this alone makes it well worth a close and careful
reading. It is refreshing too to see a present-day scholar try to restore to
early Buddhism the profound spiritual dimension so evident in the Suttas, which is sadly lost when the world-transcending Dhamma is made out to be an ancient Indian form of empiricism
(or pragmatism or existentialism) packaged with a doctrine of rebirth and
bundled up in saffron robes.
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Sutta: Vatthupama Sutta
The Simile of the Cloth
MN 7 Wheel No.
61/62
The Vatthupama Sutta, the Simile of the Cloth, is the seventh discourse in
the Majjhima Nikāya. As its
title indicates, this sutta centres
around a simile. Although the Buddha's Teaching can be
logically rigorous and conceptually precise, this does not mean that it is dull
and dry. To the contrary, the Buddha constantly adorned his discourses with
striking similes that testify to the multifaceted richness of the enlightened
mind. These similes draw upon the full range of human experience, and their
sheer breadth and variety is astounding: the change of seasons; the sun, moon,
and stars; lakes, rivers, and oceans; trees and flowers; lions and elephants,
hawks and crows; the arts and crafts; love, motherhood, and warfare; kings and
cooks, accountants and merchants, goldsmiths and outcastsŪall
these, and many more, serve as raw materials for the inspired genius of the Enlightened
One. Some similes are short and sharp, others are long and complex, but they
all serve a common purpose: to drive home the message of a clear, practicable
way to the extinction of suffering.
Usually the Buddha develops a simile in three steps. First
he makes his point (e.g., that a monk should observe the length of his breath);
then he formulates the simile (a lathe-worker notices the length of his turns);
then he connects the simile to the theme it is intended to illustrate (just so,
a monk observes the length of his breath). Sometimes, however, for special
emphasis, the Buddha introduces the simile first and then develops his
exposition by filling in the simile. It is this procedure that he follows in
the Vatthupama Sutta.
The sutta begins straight off
with the simile:
ßBhikkhus, suppose a
cloth were defiled and stained, and a dyer dipped it in some dye or other,
whether blue or yellow or red or pink; it would look poorly dyed and impure in colour. Why is that? Because of the
impurity of the cloth. So too, when the mind is defiled, an unhappy
destination may be expected. Bhikkhus, suppose a cloth were pure and clean, and a dyer dipped it
in some dye or other, whether blue or yellow or red or pink; it would look
well-dyed and pure in colour. Why is that? Because of the purity of the cloth. So too, when the mind is
undefiled, a happy destination may be expected.û
If we examine this simile carefully we will see that it
is woven out of five main strands, which provide points of contact with the
meaning. (i) The first is the cloth, which represents
the mind (citta).
Just as a cloth may be either dirty or clean, so the mind may be either defiled
or pure. The Pāli word saõkili~n~nha is in fact used
idiomatically in relation both to material objects such as cloth or metal (see
MN 5) and to the mind. By its own nature a cloth is neither clean nor dirty but
can take on either quality depending on extrinsic conditions; so too the mind
is neither inherently defiled nor pure. Its function is simply to know, to experience.
Through negligence and ignorance, however, it becomes soiled, while through
understanding and effort it can be purified.
(ii) The second strand of the simile is the defiling
agent: the dust, grease, and sweat which stain the cloth, the defilements that
stain the mind. In this sutta the Buddha will
enumerate sixteen such defilements (cittass' upakkilesa), which we will discuss more fully in the
next instalment of this series.
(iii) The third strand is the dye. What this stands for
is not immediately evident in the simile itself but will emerge as the sutta develops. We will see that the dye represents the
wholesome qualities of the Dhamma with which the mind
is to be imbued: the three lower paths and fruits, unwavering confidence in the
Triple Gem, the four divine dwellings, and finally the supreme wisdom of arahantship.
(iv) The fourth strand is the way the cloth takes up the dye.
This symbolizes the receptivity of the mind to the wholesome qualities. Just as
a dirty cloth does not take up the dye well, so the defiled mind is a poor
receptacle of wholesome qualities; but just as a clean cloth absorbs the dye,
so the pure mind easily absorbs such qualities and becomes even purer and
brighter under their influence.
(v) The fifth strand, the natural consequence of the
fourth, is the appearance of the cloth after being dyed. The dirty cloth still
appears dirty and soiled; so too, the defiled mind remains unaffected by its
exposure to wholesome qualties. Continuing in its
familiar ruts, prone to mental, verbal, and bodily misconduct, it is heading
for a bad destination (duggati):
towards a miserable rebirth after death. The clean cloth, having absorbed the
dye well, becomes clear and bright; so too, the purified mind, having absorbed
the wholesome qualities, becomes bright and radiant and is heading for a good
destination (sugati).
Those who are imbued with the sublime Dhamma, but who
are not yet fully liberated, pass on to a happy rebirth in the human realm or
in the heavens. Those who eradicate the defilements completely are heading for
the best destination of all: Nibbāna, release from
all destinations within the round of rebirth.
Thus this simile, so short and concise, introduces us to
the fundamental principles that underlie the entire Dhamma:
mind is the hub of human experience and the main determinant of human destiny.
Our future is governed by the moral temper of our own mind. A mind stained by
the defilements will be intractable, prone to depravity, and will undergo a
rebirth in the realm of misery. A mind which has been scraped clean of the
coarser defilements will be easily tamed and transformed. Advancing steadily
along the stages of spiritual development, it will pass on to a pleasant
rebirth or, if all conditions are ripe, will arrive at the deathless element, Nibbāna.