Chapter 7

(Tape 13 / Ps: 1-44)

It may be a relief to leave the foulness meditation behind and to come to the recollection meditations. The six kinds of recollection meditations mentioned in this chapter are something like devotional meditations. They are not like the other kinds of meditation. They are unlike the kasiÓa meditation, foulness meditation or vipassanÈ meditation. In these meditations you do a lot of reflection. You do a lot of thinking when you practice this kind of meditation.

There are ten recollections. They are divided into two chapters. Six are treated in this chapter and the remaining ones will be treated in the next chapter.

The PÈÄi word for recollection is anussati. When you read the Visuddhi Magga or other translations sometimes you may find the language odd and not adding much to any new understanding. That is because they are explaining the PÈÄi word. Here the PÈÄi words are ‘anu’ and ‘sati’. You already know sati. Sati is mindfulness or remembering. Anu is a prefix. So it has more than one meaning. Here I think two meanings are given. “Because it arises again and again” - that is one meaning of anu. Anu can mean again and again. “Or alternatively, the mindfulness (sati) that is proper” - anu can also mean proper. “It is the proper mindfulness for a clansman who has gone forth out of faith, since it occurs only in those instances where it should occur.” So anussati is defined as mindfulness which arises again and again or which is the proper mindfulness for those who have gone forth. Actually it is for any person.

Student: A clansman is a monk or a member of the Sa~gha?

Teacher: A clansman in this book would mean a monk. But the PÈÄi word ‘kulaputta’ means just anybody, a monk or a layman.

The first one is the recollection of the Buddha. Actually it is the recollection of the attributes or the qualities of the Buddha, not the recollection of the Buddha himself. The word literally however does mean recollection of the Buddha. “This is a term for mindfulness with the Enlightened One’s special qualities as object.” When you practice this meditation, you concentrate or you reflect upon the attributes or special qualities of the Buddha. The object of this reflection meditation is the attributes of the Buddha.

The next one is the recollection of the Dhamma. Here also it is the recollection of the qualities of the Dhamma. They will be treated in detail a little later.

“This is a term for mindfulness with the special qualities of the Law’s being well proclaimed, etc., as its object.” Dhamma is translated as law. It will be explained in its proper place. ‘Dhamma’ means the Four Paths, the Four Fruitions, NibbÈna and also the teachings or the scriptures. There are ten kinds of Dhamma - Four Paths, Four Fruitions, NibbÈna, and the teachings. Some attributes have to do with all ten and some do not have to do with all ten. They will be explained later.

The third is the recollection of the Sa~gha. ‘Sa~gha’ here means the community of monks who follow the Buddha’s advice and have attained enlightenment.

“This is the term for mindfulness with the Community’s special qualities of being entered on the good way, etc., as its object.’ When you practice this meditation, you concentrate on the qualities of the Sa~gha. The Sa~gha is well-behaved and so on.

The next one is the recollection of virtue, recollection of one’s pure moral conduct. “This is a term for mindfulness with the special qualities of virtue’s untorness, unblotched, etc., as its object.”

The next one is recollection of generosity. It is reflecting on one’s own generosity and getting joy or happiness. “this is a term for mindfulness with generosity’s special qualities of free generosity, etc., as its object.” What is ‘free generosity’? ‘Free generosity’ means giving without any expectations, without expecting anything in return. That is called ‘free generosity’ in PÈÄi. The PÈÄi word is muttassacÈga. ‘CÈga’ means giving and ‘mutta’ means free. When you give, you just give. You don’t expect any results from this act of giving.

Student: How is that different from just generosity?

Teacher: I don’t know what generosity means in English. Is it just giving or may you expect some good results from this giving, perhaps a good name or something in the future? Here you just give because it is a good thing to do. You do not expect anything from this giving.

The next one is recollection of the deities. That means recollection of the qualities of the deities. Before they were reborn as deities they were human beings. They had qualities of morality, generosity and so on. One reflects that these qualities are in me. So I am as good as they are. Comparing or taking deities as witness one reflects on one’s own good qualities. This is not to be proud of one’s self but to rejoice in one’s being generous, in one’s moral conduct and so on.

The next one is recollection of death. “This is a term for mindfulness with the termination of the life faculty as its object.” It simply means death. ‘Termination of the life faculty’ is a technical term. It really means death.

Mindfulness occupied with the body - you have to understand the PÈÄi word here. The PÈÄi word is kÈyagatasati. Actually there are three words. The three words are joined or compounded together so that they become one word. Among these three words is the word ‘gata’. ‘Gata’ means gone or ‘gata’ means to be somewhere. So in PÈÄi there is a difference between saying ‘gone to the material body’ or ‘it is on the material body’. So it is explained in two ways. “It is gone to the material body that is analyzed into head-hairs etc.” “Or it is gone into the body” - I don’t like this. I just want to say “It is on the body.” That means your mind is on the different parts of the body when you practice this meditation. Etymologically the word ‘gata’ means gone to something. It has another meaning which is to be. So it is the mindfulness gone to the parts of the body or mindfulness which is on the parts of the body. They mean the same thing.

Student: So ‘gata’ is the same as that which is in TathÈgata?

Teacher: Yes. That’s right.

Student: So it could be ‘well-gone’?

Teacher: Here it is gone to. The word is ‘kÈyagatasati’, sati which is gone to kÈya (the body) or sati which is on the body (kÈya).

Student: What does ‘TathÈgata’ mean?

Teacher: ‘TathÈ’ means thus, in that way. ‘Gata’ means come or be.

Student: So it could be thus come or thus gone?

Teacher: Yes. You know with these words the Commentators are very fanciful. They give many meanings to one word. You will find this today. Sometimes people say that the Commentator is not sure which is the correct meaning of the word because he gives seven or eight meanings for just one word. This is their ability to divide words into different parts and explain them. They may not be natural, but still they are fond of doing this especially when it comes to finding or explaining names for the Buddha or words which describe the Buddha.

A little further down “But instead of shortening [the vowel] thus in the usual way, ‘body-gone mindfulness’(kÈyagatÈ sati)” - that means according to PÈÄi grammar the vowel in the middle of the compound can be shortened. If it is shortened, it will be kÈyagatasati and not kÈyagatÈsati. The Commentator is explaining this. Here the long vowel is not shortened. So it is kÈyagatÈsati and not kÈyagatasati.

The next one is mindfulness of breathing. This is plain.

The last one is “the recollection arisen inspired by peace is the recollection of peace.” This really means the recollection of the attributes of NibbÈna. It is not taking NibbÈna as the direct object, but dwelling on the attributes of NibbÈna.

There are six recollections that will be treated in this chapter. Before going to the first one, we have to understand the formula or the words descriptive of the Buddha.

Just recently Michael showed me the Lotus Sutra. Actually the MahÈyana Sutras are fashioned the PÈÄi Suttas. There are many similarities in the style of the language although MahÈyana Buddhism used and still uses Sanskrit language. PÈÄi and Sanskrit are very close to each other. This set of names or epithets for the Buddha are found both in TheravÈda and MahÈyana. This set of attributes is very popular with TheravÈda Buddhists. I hope it is also with MahÈyana Buddhists. On the devotional side we want to concentrate on the Buddha and dwell on his attributes. It is like Christians praying to God or thinking God. It is something like that. This set of attributes is well-known to almost every Buddhist.

The PÈÄi is “Itipi so BhagavÈ” and so on. It is given in paragraph 2, the second paragraph. “That Blessed One is such since he is accomplished” and so on. But the translation should not run like this. “The Blessed One is accomplished” for such and such a reason. There are nine or ten attributes of the Buddha given here. Buddha is accomplished for such and such a reason. Buddha is enlightened for such and such a reason and so on. The reasons will be explained in detail. Although ‘for such and such a reason’ is not again mentioned in the formula, when you practice this meditation, you have to say this because sometimes you do not concentrate on all nine or ten attributes. You pick up only one which you like best. Then you concentrate on that one attribute and say it again and again in your mind. So Buddha is accomplished for such and such a reason and so on. Such and such a reason will be given in the exposition.

In paragraph 3 also it should say “That Blessed One is accomplished for such and such a reason. He is fully enlightened for such and such a reason. He is blessed for such and such a reason.” It should go like this.

For the first one you have to understand the PÈÄi word. The PÈÄi word is araha or arahant. This word is divided in different ways and then explained. The meaning of this word is given in five ways. Five meanings are given for this one word. Now let us look at how this word is cut up.

The first word is just araha. We don’t have to look to etymology for this meaning. This word just means far away or remote. So according to this meaning Buddha is called araha because he is far away from all trace of mental defilements. “He stands utterly remote and far away from all defilement because he has expunged all defilements.”

Student: It is called ‘Èraka’ here in the book. Is that a mistake?

Teacher: No. Originally it was Èraka. It was changed to araha. Sometimes people pronounce words as they like, not according to etymology. So the pronunciation may change and it becomes araha. Sometimes the word ‘araha’ has the same meaning as the word ‘Èraka’. ‘Œraka’ means to be far away. It is very confusing. It can also mean to be close to. It is not given here fortunately. But in the Sub-Commentary it is given. So the first one is to be far away from, to be remote. That means the Buddha is remote from the mental defilements.

And here it is from all trace of mental defilements. ‘All trace’ is important. When Buddhas abandon mental defilements, all trace of them is abandoned. There is not even a trace of mental defilements in the minds of the Buddhas.

Arahants are different. Arahants also eradicate mental defilements, but they do not or cannot eradicate all traces of mental defilements. Although they are not the mental defilements themselves, they are some results of mental defilements, like a bad habit.

There was an Arahant who addressed any person, anybody he met as ‘wicked person’ or something like that. He was reborn as a high caste brahmin for 500 consecutive lives. So he would say “Oh wicked person where are you going?” or something like that. He was an Arahant. He had no mental defilements, no dosa, no ill will. Still he could not give up this habit.

Buddhas are different. When Buddhas eradicate mental defilements, they eradicate with all traces. Not even a little trace remains with a Buddha. That is what makes Buddhas different from Arahants. Both of them eradicate all mental defilements. Buddhas eradicate with all traces. The Arahants do not. They have some kind of traces of mental defilements remaining with them.

According to the second meaning the division of the word is ‘ari’ and ‘ha’. ‘hata’ means destroyed or killed. ‘Ha’ also means that. ‘Ari’ means enemies and ‘ha’ means kill. So one who has killed the enemies is called ‘araha’. It could be called ‘ariha’, but the ‘i’ is changed to ‘a’ and so it becomes araha. That is how the formation of the word is explained. ‘Ari’ means enemies which again are the mental defilements. So one who has eradicated mental defilements is called an Arahant.

The third meaning is ‘ara’ and ‘ha’. ‘Ara’ here means spokes and ‘ha’ means to destroy. The one who has destroyed the spokes is called an araha.

“This wheel of the round of rebirths with its hub made of ignorance and craving, with its spokes consisting of formations of merit and the rest, with its rim of aging and death, which is joined to the chariot of the triple becoming by piercing it with the axle made of the origin of cankers.” ‘The origin of cankers’ means cankers which are the origin, not necessarily the origin of cankers. Cankers themselves are origin. They are origin for some other mental defilements.

“...has been revolving throughout time that has no beginning. All this wheel’s spokes (ara) were destroyed (hata) by him at the place of Enlightenment (That is under the Bodhi Tree.) as he stood firm with the feet of energy on the ground of virtue, wielding with the hand of faith the ax of knowledge that destroys kamma - because the spokes are thus destroyed he is accomplished also.” In order to understand this passage you have to look at the chart here because it refers to the Dependent Origination. It is said here that it is a hub made up of ignorance and craving. The whole PaÔicca SamuppÈda is viewed as a wheel. In this wheel the hub is ignorance and craving - number one is ignorance and number eight is craving. They are compared to the hub of a wheel.

“With its spokes consisting of formations of merit and the rest” - that means numbers two, three, four, five and so on. They are compared to spokes. If there is someone who can draw, I want him to draw this wheel.

“With its rim of aging and death” so aging and death are compared to the rim because they come last. Aging and death are number twelve. “Which is joined to the chariot of the triple becoming” means the triple existence - existence in the sense-sphere, existence in the form-sphere, existence in the formless-sphere.

“Piercing it with the axle made of the origin of cankers” - so the cankers are compared to the axle. Now we have the hub, the spokes, the rim, the axle, and above the wheel is the chariot. When the spokes are destroyed, then the whole thing is destroyed. So Buddha was called ‘araha’, one who destroys the spokes because he destroyed the wheel of existence, the wheel of Dependent origination.

“Or alternatively, it is the beginningless round of rebirths that is called the ‘Wheel of the Round of Rebirths’.” The explanation here also has to do with Dependent Origination. In Dependent origination there are what we call twelve links, twelve factors. Number one is condition for number two, number two is condition for number three and so on. I say ‘condition’ not the cause because sometimes they are the cause and sometimes they are not, but they are all conditions. One is condition for two, two is condition for three, three is condition for four and so on. If you have this in mind, you understand the following paragraph. If you don’t understand, you have to go to Abhidhamma and read about Dependent Origination.

Paragraph 16 explains how clinging is condition for kamma-becoming process and rebirth process. I think that is interesting. “ ‘I shall enjoy sense desires’, and with sense-desire clinging as condition he misconducts himself in body, speech, and mind.” Clinging is a condition for good or bad kamma. Because I want to enjoy sense desires let us say in a better existence (I want to be reborn in a better existence. I want to be reborn as a cerlestial being.) I will do something so that I will be reborn there. Sometimes I happen to do something that is wrong in body, speech, or mind. Perhaps we meet with bad teachers. Maybe they tell us if you sacrifice a human being, you will be reborn as a deva or something like that. Because of that clinging we do good or bad deeds. Here he misconducts himself in body, speech, or mind.

“Owing to the fulfillment of his misconduct he reappears in a state of loss.” That means he is reborn in the four woeful states - as an animal, or in hell, or as a ghost and so on.

“The kamma that is the cause of his reappearance there is kamma-process becoming.” That belongs here to number ten in the links.

“The aggregate generated by the kamma are rebirth-process becoming.” That also is number ten. There are two kinds of number ten. One is action and the other is becoming. ‘Action’ really means good or bad kamma. ‘Becoming’ means the result of good or bad kamma. Actually becoming in number ten and number eleven are the same.

“The generating of the aggregates is birth.” That means coming into being of the aggregates at the moment of conception or at the moment of rebirth. “Their maturing is aging, their dissolution is death.” So there is clinging. Clinging is a condition for action or becoming. Becoming is a condition for birth, decay, and death.

“ ‘I shall enjoy the delights of heaven’, and in the parallel manner he conducts himself well.” Here he does the right thing. “Owing to the fulfillment of his good conduct he reappears in a [sensual-sphere] heaven. The kamma that is the cause of his reappearance there is kamma-process becoming, and the rest as before.” That means the aggregates generated by the kamma are rebirth-process becoming, the generating of the aggregates is birth, their maturing is aging, their dissolution is death. You have to understand that way.

Sometimes you want to be reborn as a BrahmÈ, a higher celestial being. Then you do something. “Owing to the fulfillment of the meditative development he is reborn in the BrahmÈ World.”

Paragraph 20 “So, ‘Understanding of discernment conditions thus: Ignorance is a cause, formations are causally arisen, and both these states are causally arisen’.” Ignorance is a cause but it is also dependent upon a condition. So ignorance as well as formations are causally arisen. Both are causally arisen. “This is the knowledge of the causal relationship of states. Understanding of discernment of conditions thus: ‘In the past and in the future ignorance is a cause, formations are causally arisen, and both these states are causally arisen’.”

“Herein, ignorance and formations are one summarization.” In Burmese we translate it as layer - two layers, three layers and so on. The PÈÄi word is sa~khepa. ‘Sa~khepa’ really means in short or summarization. In Burmese we translate it as layer. There are four layers. “Ignorance and formations are one summarization” So in this chart number one and number two. “Consciousness, mentality-materiality, the sixfold base, contact and feeling are another.” That means three, four, five, six, seven. They are one layer or summarization. “Craving, clinging,and becoming are another.” That is eight, nine and ten. “And birth, and aging and death are another.” That is eleven and twelve. So there are four summarizations or four layers.

The first summarization is past. So one and two belong to past time. The two middle ones are present. That means three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine. These are present. Then birth, aging and death are future. That is why we say Dependent Origination covers three lives - the past life, the present life and the future life.

“When ignorance and formations are mentioned, then also craving, clinging and becoming are included too, so these five states are the round of kamma in the past.” Now in the past there are only two links, number one and number two. When you mention number one, you virtually mention number eight and number nine because they belong to the kilesa round. So when we say one, we mean one, eight and nine. When we say number two, we mean both number two and number ten. So when we say number one and number two, we mean numbers one, two, eight, nine and ten. That is why there are five in the first layer, in the first summarization. Actually there are five although only two are mentioned.

The second is all right. In the third summarization when we say eight and nine, then we also mean number one. This is the reverse. And when we say number ten, we also mean number two. So when we say numbers eight, nine and ten, we virtually mean one, two, eight, nine and ten.

We get twenty conditions. “And because [the five] beginning with consciousness, are described under the heading of birth, aging and death these five states are the round of kamma-result in the future. These make twenty aspects in this way.” These are called ‘aspects’.

There is one link between formations and consciousness. There are three links all together. The first link is between two and three. The second link is between seven and eight. The third link is between ten and eleven.

The Buddha know all this so he is called ‘araha’.

In paragraph 22 “Knowledge is in the sense of that being known.” Actually it should be “in the sense of that which knows.” It looks like ‘being known’ in PÈÄi, but the Sub-Commentary explains that it means ‘that which knows’ and not ‘that which is known’. So ‘being known’ shoud be changed to ‘which knows’. In order to fully understand it, you should have a knowledge of Dependent Origination.

The next one is araha. ‘Araha’ means worthy. Buddha is worthy of accepting offerings and so he is called ‘araha’. “He is worthy (arahati) of the requisites of robes etc., and of the distinction of being accorded homage.” Actually it just means special honor. Buddha is worthy of the requisites of robes and so on. Also he is worthy of special honor offered to him by other beings.

This paragraph explains that he was honored when he was alive. Even when he was dead people continued to honor him by spending a lot of money and by building monasteries and so on. “And after the Blessed One had finally attained NibbÈna King Asoka renounced wealth to the amount of 96 million for his sake and founded 84,000 monasteries.” That means the renouncing of 06 million and the founding of 84,000 monasteries are the same. That means he spent much money to build 84,000 monasteries. That was just to dedicate to the memory of the Buddha.

In paragraph 24 it says ‘vaunt their cleverness’. What is ‘vaunt their cleverness’?

Students: To show off.

Teacher: The PÈÄi word means ‘those who think they are wise although they are not really so. Do these words convey the same meaning?

Students: It is similar.

Teacher: So there are people who think they are clever, but they do evil in secret. Buddha is not like that. Buddha has no secrets. Here the division of the word is ‘a’ plus ‘rahÈ’. ‘A’ means no and ‘rahÈ’ means secret. Buddha has no secrets. Buddha did not do any wrong-doing secretly.

So the word araha can be divided as ara and ha, or as ari and ha, or as a and rahÈ. So it is play with words.

Student: You skipped over ‘the knowledge that destroys kamma’.

Teacher: The knowledge of the fourth stage of enlightenment destroys kamma. When a person reaches the fourth stage of enlightenment, he no longer accumulates any kamma, good or bad kamma. That is why he is called the extinguisher of kamma.

You know when a person becomes an Arahant, even though he may do good things, he does not acquire kamma. This is because he does not have kusala consciousness at that time. His consciousness is functional (kiriya). That is what is meant here.

Student: Where is that?

Teacher: It is in paragraph 7. “Wielding with the hand of faith the ax of knowledge that destroys kamma” - that means when you get this knowledge (That means when you become an Arahant.), you never acquire any kamma. You may do meritorious deeds still, but they are not called ‘kusala’. They become kiriya (functional). Buddhas and Arahants are said to have no kusala and akusala. They have neither wholesome nor unwholesome actions. Arahants may not do any unwholesome acts. They may do wholesome acts, but these acts are no longer considered kusala (wholesome), but they are functional (kiriya) because they do not give any results.

So here ‘the knowledge that destroys kamma’ means the fourth stage of enlightenment. In other words it is the fourth Magga knowledge which accompanies or arises with the fourth Magga consciousness.

Student: We have teachers here in America who say that they do not create kamma. They are assuming that they are Arahants.

Teacher: If they are, they do not create fresh kamma. The Arahants do not accumulate either fresh kusala kamma or akusala kamma because their actions are all fruitless, not producing any fruit, not producing any results.

You know in Buddhism the keeping of sÊla, the purity of virtue is very important. It is said here “on the firm ground of virtue”. SÊla is compared to the ground. Energy is compared to the feet. Faith or confidence is compared to the hand. This is because if you have a hand, you can pick up things, but if you do not have a hand, you cannot pick up things. If you do not have confidence, you cannot pick up kusala or good things. So confidence or faith is compared to a hand. And the fourth Magga is compared to an ax which cuts all together the mental defilements.

Student: So if your conduct is not clearly virtuous, there is no way that you are going to be involved with not creating kamma.

Teacher: Yes. That’s right.

Student: What is an example of ‘functional’?

Teacher: ‘Functional’ is something like a tree that does not bear fruit. It is still living. It still has branches and leaves, but it does not bear fruit. It is something like that. People after becoming Arahants still do good things - still teach people, still practice meditation, still help others. All their actions do not constitute kamma because they have eradicated the roots of existence, that is craving and ignorance. Their actions are just actions. Their actions do not bring results.

In Burma at the New Year ceremony the cannons are fired. When something is just noise and has no substance, we say this is a New Year cannon. Functional is something like that or the trees bearing no fruit.

SammÈsambuddha - we use the word ‘Buddha’ to refer to him, but his full epithet is SammÈsambuddha. ‘SammÈ’ is one prefix and ‘sam’ is another prefix. There are two prefixes here and Buddha. ‘SammÈ’ means rightly and ‘sam’ means by himself. ‘Buddha’ means to know. He knows or discovers the Four Noble Truths rightly and without assistance from any person, by himself. We emphasize this when we talk about Buddha. Buddhas are those persons who do not need any teachers.

The Bodhisatta went to two teachers before he became the Buddha. He did not follow their advice up to the attainment of Buddhahood. He discarded their practice and went to a place and practiced by himself. So we say that the Buddha has no teachers. This is emphasized by this ‘Sambuddha’. ‘Sambuddha’ means self-enlightened. ‘SammÈbuddha’ means rightly enlightened. So ‘SammÈsambuddha’ means rightly self-enlightened. Here ‘to know’ means to know the Four Noble Truths.

In paragraph 28 the author gives the things which the Buddha knew. They are six bases, six groups of consciousness, and so on. These are topics taught in Abhidhamma. Actually they are found in Sutta PiÔaka too, but their treatment in full can be found in Abhidhamma.

Sometimes people take Abhidhamma to be a separate thing, not connected with the Suttas. Actually those things found in Abhidhamma, most of them, are found in Sutta PiÔaka. That is why we need a knowledge of Abhidhamma to understand the Suttas. We should not treat them as separate things. We cannot study Suttas without a knowledge of Abhidhamma if we are to understand fully and correctly. So these are topics taught in Abhidhamma PiÔaka and Sutta PiÔaka also.

Buddha’s penetration into the Four Noble Truths or his discovery of the Four Noble Truths is meant by the second attribute SammÈsambuddha.

Student: An Arahant is enlightened by himself or a Pacceka -

Teacher: A Pacceka Buddha is enlightened by himself.

Student: That’s usually distinguished from a Buddha that is totally enlightened by himself.

Teacher: The Pacceka Buddhas are not called ‘SammÈsambuddha’. They are just called ‘Sambuddha’ or ‘Pacceka Buddha’, but not ‘SammÈsambuddha’.

Student: And ‘rightly’?

Teacher: ‘Rightly’ means in all aspects they understand the Dhamma. The Pacceka Buddhas are self-enlightened persons, but their knowledge may not be as wide or comprehensive as that of the Buddhas. Also sometimes they are called ‘silent Buddhas’. That comes from the fact that they do not teach much. Although sometimes they teach, but mostly they seldom teach. They want to be away from people and live in the forest. So they are called ‘silent Buddhas’.

Student: Perhaps because they were not taught it is hard for them to teach. That is in contradistinction to the Buddha.

Teacher: Also they appear only when there are no Buddhas. They appear between periods of Buddhas.

I hope you have read the footnotes. The footnotes are very good.

We will go next to the third one. “He is endowed with [clear] vision and [virtuous] conduct.” There are two words here - vijjÈ and caraÓa. ‘VijjÈ’ means understanding or vision and ‘caraÓa’ means conduct. So Buddha is endowed both with clear vision and conduct.

There are three kinds of clear vision. That means remembering past lives, the divine eye, and destruction of defilements. They are called ‘three clear visions’. Whenever three is mentioned, these are meant - remembering past lives, divine eye, and destruction of defilements.

Sometimes eight kinds of clear vision are mentioned. “The eight kinds as stated in the AmbaÔÔha Sutta, for there eight kinds of clear vision are stated, made up of the six kinds of direct knowledge together with insight and the supernormal power of the mind-made [body].” There are eight kinds of clear vision mentioned in that Sutta.

However if you go to that Sutta, you will not find them clearly stated because in PÈÄi when they don’t want to repeat, they just put a sign there. It is like using three or four dots in English. In PÈÄi they use the letters ‘PA’ or sometimes ‘LA’. When you see this, you understand there are some things which they do not want to repeat. So you have to know where they first occur. If you do not know where to find them, you are lost. Today I looked up this reference (D,1,100) and they were not printed in the book because they were mentioned in the third AmbaÔÔha Sutta.

This is one problem with us modern people. These books are meant to be read from the beginning until the end, not just to pick up a Sutta in the middle and read it. So they are meant to be studied from the beginning. I can give you the page numbers of the English translation.

The eight are the six kinds of direct knowledge. That means performing miracles, divine ear, reading other people’s minds, remembering past lives, divine eye, and destruction of mental defilements. Two are mentioned here - vipassanÈ insight and supernormal power of the mind-made body. That means you practice jhÈna and you are able to multiply yourself. These are the eight kinds of clear vision stated in that Sutta.

By conduct 15 things are meant here: restraint by virtue, guarding the doors of the sense faculties, knowledge of the right amount in eating, devotion to wakefulness, the seven good states (They are given in the footnote), and the four jhÈnas of the fine-material sphere. “For it is precisely by means of these 15 things that a noble disciple conducts himself, so that he goes towards the deathless. That is why it is called ‘[virtuous] conduct’, according as it is said.”

You have to understand the PÈÄi word ‘caraÓa’ to understand this explanation. CaraÓa comes from the root ‘cara’. ‘Cara’ means to walk. to go. So ‘caraÓa’ means some means of going. These 15 are the means of going in the direction of NibbÈna. That is why it says here: “It is precisely by means of these 15 things that a noble disciple conducts himself, that he goes towards the deathless.” That is why it is called in PÈÄi ‘caraÓa’.

Let us go to the next one in paragraph 33. Please remember here the PÈÄi word ‘sugata’. The English translation ‘sublime’ may not make much sense here. The first meaning of ‘su’ is good. “Su’ means good and ‘gata’ means going. ‘Sugata’ means good going. Buddha has good going. That is why Buddha is called ‘sugata’ because his going is purified and blameless. What is the good going? That is the Noble Path. The Noble Eightfold Path is called ‘good going’. That is the first meaning of sugata.

The second meaning is gone to an excellent place. Here ‘gata’ means gone, but not like in the first meaning. In the first meaning ‘gata’ means going. In the second meaning ‘gata’ means gone to. ‘Su’ means an excellent place. So one who has gone to an excellent place is called ‘sugata’. Here the excellent place is NibbÈna.

The third meaning is of having gone rightly. ‘Su’ can also mean rightly. One who has gone rightly is called ‘sugata’. ‘Rightly’ here means not approaching the extremes, but following the Middle Path.

The fourth meaning is because of enunciating rightly. Here the original word is ‘sugada’. The ‘D’ is changed to ‘T’. This is the PÈÄi grammatical explanation. ‘Gada’ means speaking or saying. ‘Su’ means rightly. One who speaks rightly is called ‘sugada’. So there are four meanings with regard to this word.

With regard to the fourth meaning a Sutta is quoted here in paragraph 35. “Such speech as the Perfect One knows to be untrue and incorrect, conducive to harm, and displeasing and unwelcome to others, that he does not speak.” and so on. According to this Sutta there are six kinds of speech. Only two of these six kinds of speech do Buddhas use. Those six are mentioned here in the translation of the Sutta.

In brief they are the following. The first is speech which is untrue, harmful and displeasing. Buddhas do not use such speech. The second is speech which is true, but harmful and displeasing to the listeners. Buddhas do not use such speech. The third kind of speech is true, beneficial or not harmful, but displeasing to the listeners. The Buddhas use such speech. Here in the translation it says, “The Perfect One knows the time to expound.” That means if it is time to say such speech, the Buddha will use such speech. It may not be pleasing to the listener, but if it is beneficial and it is true, and it is timely, the Buddha will say it.

Student: What is the meaning of ‘harmful’ and ‘not harmful’?

Teacher: That means if you follow his words you will get benefits. If you do not follow his words you will come to failure. Sometimes people talk to other people, give advice to other people. Sometimes that advice may not be conducive to success.

So that which is true, beneficial and displeasing such speech Buddhas use. Then the fourth one is speech that is untrue, harmful, but pleasing to other people. Buddha never uses this kind of speech. Then the fifth one is speech that is true, harmful and pleasing. Buddha never uses this speech. The last one is speech that is true, beneficial and pleasing to the listeners. The Buddha uses this kind of speech. So Buddha only uses two kinds of speech, that which is true, beneficial and displeasing or that which is true, beneficial and pleasing. The others the Buddha did not use. That is why Buddha is described as ‘sugata’, one who speaks rightly.

Then the Buddha is the knower of the worlds, lokavid|. You may have read this. It is something in the Commentary like Buddhist cosmology. Not all of them can actually be found in the Suttas. Some can be found and others may have been developed later after the death of the Buddha. If we look at the world right now with the knowledge of modern science, then these accounts are very different.

There are three kinds of worlds mentioned here - the world of formations, the world of beings and the world of location. You will find that in paragraph 37. ‘The world of formations’ really means the world of both animate and inanimate things, both beings and inanimate things. ‘The world of beings’ means just beings. ‘The world of location’ means the outside world.

Student: Outside world?

Teacher: That is the inanimate world like the earth, the rivers, the mountains and so on. If you can draw a diagram of what is mentioned here, you can get a rough picture of the Buddhist conception of the world, the sun, the moon, the universe.

In paragraph 38 I think the word ‘likewise’ should go. It should be ‘for’ or maybe ‘in detail’ because paragraph 38 and the following paragraphs are the detailed description of how the Buddha knows the world.

In paragraph 39 “But he knows all beings’ habits.” This is important. “But he knows all beings’ habits, knows their inherent tendencies, knows their temperaments, knows their bents, knows them as with little dust on their eyes and with much dust on their eyes, with keen faculties and with dull faculties, with good behaviour and with bad behaviour, easy to teach and hard to teach, capable and incapable [of achievement], therefore this world of beings was known to him in all ways.” Only Buddhas have this ability of knowing exactly beings’ habits, inherent tendencies and so on. Even the Arahants do not possess this ability.

Then there is the Buddha’s understanding of the physical world. There are some statements about the physical world and then they are developed later on. This is the description of the world according to the Buddhists.

Also the footnote is very helpful and informative. You will get a view of the Buddhist universe. You know the Buddhist universe is a round thing, not like a globe, but it is round and it is surrounded by what we call the ‘world-cycle mountains’. So there are mountains around it. In this circle there is water and also four great islands. We call them four great islands, maybe the continents. It is said in the books, believe it or not, that each island has 500 small islands. In the middle of the universe there is Mount Sineru or Mount Meru. It is not visible to human beings. Surrounding Mount Meru there are seven sets of concentric circles of lower mountains. In between these there is water. These are called ‘inner oceans’. There is the outer ocean and these seven inner oceans. Mount Meru is said to be 4000 leagues high. The first surrounding group of mountains is 2000 leagues high. The next one is half of that and so on.

If you make a drawing to scale it is very difficult. I have tried it but I cannot. You have to make a big drawing, not on small paper because it is half the height, half the height and so on.

That is called one universe. The sun and moon are said to go around the middle mountain at half its height. The sun and moon are only 42,000 leagues from the earth. The size of the sun is 50 leagues and the size of the moon is 49 leagues. There is only one league difference between the size of the moon and the size of the sun. And then the stars and planets go round them.

It is said that when the sun goes round Mount Meru it throws a shadow. When three continents are light, one continent is dark. That is night. The others are day. So only one quarter of the universe is dark and the other three parts are light at one time.

There are four great islands. The southern island is called ‘JambudÊpa’. It is the place where Buddha and all wise men and pure people are born. That land is described as wide at one end and becoming small at the other end. That fits with India. So India is JambudÊpa, the southern island. If India is the southern island, then Europe should be the western island, China and Japan should be the eastern island. And I think America should be the northern island because when it is day in Asia, it is night here. America could be the northern great island which is called ‘Uttarakuru’. This is the cosmology of Buddhism.

In paragraph 43 the first five lines are misplaced. “The World-Sphere Mountains line of summits plunges down into the sea just two and eighty thousand leagues, and towers up in like degree, enringing one world-element all around in its entirety.” These lines should be just above paragraph 44. I don’t know why he put these here. Perhaps it was a mistake. So these lines should be next to paragraph 44.

“Herein the moon’s disk is 49 leagues [across] and the sun’s disk is 50 leagues.”

“Therefore this world of location was known to him in all ways too. So he is ‘Knower of worlds’ because he has seen the world in all ways.’ Buddha is called a ‘lokavid|’, knower of the worlds, knower of the world of beings and the physical world, and knower of the world of formations or the world of conditioned things. That is why Buddha is called ‘Knower of the worlds’.

When we read the Sub-Commentaries, we find more of these descriptions. I don’t know where they come from. Actually they don’t come from the Suttas. They may have gotten them from some writings of the Hindus because there are such books in Hinduism. They may have gotten them from there. They are not important actually.

In this book they say that the Himalayas are 500 leagues high. One league is about eight miles. So that is about 4000 miles high. Sometimes they measure not by height but by path. Perhaps to reach the summit you have to climb a number of miles. So Mount Tamalpais is one or two miles high, not measuring from sea level but by path.

Student: We say ‘as the crow flies’ for direct. This is not ‘as the crow flies’.

Teacher: No. Maybe that is why it is said that the Himalayas are 500 leagues high and so on. Mount Everest is about five miles high, right?

Student: Right. Since Mount Meru cannot be seen by human beings, perhaps this is some kind of symbolic tale.

Teacher: You know one statement contradicts another. It is said that when three islands are light, one island is dark. Following this, this world is what is meant by loka in our books because one part of the world is dark when the others are light. It is not exactly one quarter, but it is something like that. Maybe their knowledge of geography was very limited in those days. There may have been sages who contemplated and just talked about these things and then they came to be accepted. Nobody seemed to bother about measuring the height of the Himalayas or Mount Everest. They had no means of measuring the height of mountains in those days. So they may be measuring by path. They are not really important things.

OK. Next time read about another twenty pages.

SÈdhu! SÈdhu! SÈdhu!

(Tape 14 / 45 - 100)

Today I want you to go back to the second paragraph of paragraph 2. In that paragraph the qualities of the Buddha are given. How many qualities are there? Accomplished is the first quality. Fully enlightened is the second quality. Endowed with clear vision and virtuous conduct, that is the third. Sublime is the fourth. Knower of the worlds is the fifth. We have gone through these five qualities.

The next one is the incomparable leader of men to be tamed. The Commentator breaks this into two qualities. The first is just incomparable one and the second is the leader of men to be tamed. So this can be taken as only one quality - incomparable leader of men to be tamed - or as two qualities - as incomparable and as leader of men to be tamed. So according to this division the Commentator is going to give us an explanation.

Let us go to paragraph 46. “In the absence of anyone more distinguished for special qualities than himself there is no one to compare with him, thus he is incomparable.” So incomparable is taken as one.

“For in this way he surpasses the whole world in the special quality of virtue, andd also in the special qualities of concentration, understanding, deliverance and knowledgee and vision of deliverance.” ‘Knowledge and vision of deliverance’ means the reflection after enlightenment. When a person gains enlightenment, first there is the Path moment, the realization moment. Then follows the Fruit moment, two or three moments of Fruit or Fruition consciousness. Then after that there are some bhava~gas. Then there is reflection - reflection on the Path, reflection on Fruition, reflection on NibbÈna, reflection on defilements eradicated, and reflection on defilements remaining. These are called ‘the five reflections’. Among these the first three are always done by a person who has gained enlightenment. The last two may or may not be done by the enlightened person. These are called here ‘knowledge and vision of deliverance’.

Buddha is the best of all beings, not only the best of human beings, but the best of all beings including deities, MÈras, Brahmas and all. When the Buddha looked at the world, he did not see any more perfect in virtuee than himself.

The next part of this quality is ‘tamer of men who are to be tamed’ or ‘leader of men who are to be tamed’. Paragraph 47 “He guides (sÈreti) men to be tamed (purisa-damme) thus he is leader of men to be tamed (purisadammasÈrathi); he tames, he disciplines, is what is meant. Herein, animal males (purisÈ) and human males and non-human males that are not tamed but fit to be tamed (dametum yuttÈ) are ‘men to be tamed (purisadammÈ)’.” That is the definition of ‘men to be tamed’.

“For the animal males, namely, the Royal NÈga (Serpent) ApalÈla, C|Äodara” and all these are given. The references are given in the footnote. There are too many. If you try to find out the story of each one, you have to go to many books and you have to read a lot. These are the instances where the Buddha tamed or taught them, or in some cases defeated them and made them see the truth. He made them become his disciples.

“The Royal NÈga ApalÈla, C|Äodara, Mahodara (They are the names of serpents.), Aggisikha, Dh|masikha, the Royal NÈga ŒravÈla, the elephant DhanapÈlaka (That was the elephant set by AjÈtasattu to kill the Buddha.), and so on, were tamed by the Blessed One, freed from the poison [of defilement] and established in the refuges and the precepts of virtue.”

“And also the human males, namely Saccaka the Niganthas’ son” - he was a Jain. The Jain religion was contemporary with the Buddha or maybe a little older. MahÈvira was their leader. MahÈvira was like the Buddha is to Buddhists for the Jains. They are called ‘Niganthas’ in the PÈÄi Texts.

“The brahmin student AmbaÔÔha” - he was a proud man. He went to the Buddha arrogantly and so the Buddha tamed him. “PokkharasÈti (That was AmbaÔÔha’s teacher.), SoÓadaÓÉa (a brahmin), K|Ôadanta (a brahmin), and so on, and also the non-human males, namely the spirits (‘Spirits’ here means giants. It is a very powerful ogre.) Œlavaka, S|ciloma and Kharaloma, Sakka Ruler of the Gods, etc., were tamed and disciplined by variouss means.” Buddha tamed all these. And so the Buddha came to be known as ‘leader of men to be tamed’ or ‘tamer of men to be tamed’.

Then the Commentator gives us a reference or a quotation from the Suttas about Kesi, the horse-trainer. That Sutta is a very good one. Let me read from the Sutta. “Now Kesi, the horse-trainer, came to visit the Exalted One and on coming to him saluted the Exalted One and sat down to one side . As he thus sat down, the Exalted One said to Kesi, the horse-trainer: ‘You yourself, kesi, are a trained man, aa trainer of horses for driving. Now, Kesi, pray how do you train a tamable horse’?” How do you train a horse?

Then he said: “As for me, your honor, I train a horse by mildness, also by harshness, also by both mildness and harshness.” In three ways he tamed horses.

“But suppose, Kesi, that a tamable horse does not submit to your training by mildness, nor to the training by harshness, not to the training by both methods, what do you do?” If a horse cannot be tamed by any of these means, what do you do?

“In such a case, your honor, I destroy him.” He just kills him.

“Why so?”

“With the idea: Let him not be a discredit to my teacher’s clan.” If I cannot tame this horse, I will be discredited. Instead of getting discredited, I will kill the horse. “In such a case I destroy it with the idea: Let him not be a discredit to my teacher’s clan.”

“However, your honor, the Exalted One is unsurpassed as a trainer of men for driving. How, your honor, does the Exalted One train a tamable man?” He asks the Buddha the same question.

The Buddha said: “For my part, Kesi, I do train a tamable man by mildness, also by harshness, also by both together. Kesi, this is the way by mildness: This is good conduct in body, thus is the result of good conduct in body; this is good conduct in speech, thus is the result of good conduct in speech; this is good conduct in thought, thus is the result of good conduct in thought. Thus are devas. Thus are men.” That means by mildness he shows them the benefits of keeping the precepts. By show ing the benefits of having good moral conduct that is said to be taming by mildness, making the people want to practice.

“And Kesi, this is the way by harshness: This is bad conduct in body, thus is the result of bad conduct in body; this is bad conduct in speech, thus is the result of bad conduct in speech. This is bad conduct in thought, thus is the result of bad conduct in thought.” This is showing them the bad results of bad conduct. This is taming by harshness according to the Buddha.

“And Kesi, this is the way by both mildness and harshness: Good conduct in body, speech and mindis like this, and its results like this; bad conduct in body, speech and mind is like this, and its results like this.” In this case the Buddha shows both the benefits of good conduct and the disadvantages of bad conduct. That is Buddha’s way of taming people by both mildness and harshness.

“But, your honor, if the man for training won’t submit to training by mildness, nor by harshness, nor by the two together, pray what does the Exalted One do?”

“In such case, Kesi, I destroy him.” That is the Buddha’s reply.

“But surely, the Exalted One does not take life! And yet the Exalted One spoke thus: ‘I destroy him, Kesi’.”

“True, Kesi, taking life does not become a TathÈgata. (‘TathÈgata’ means the Buddha.) Yet if the man to be trained does not submit to the training by mildness, by harshness, or by both together, then the TathÈgata thinks it is not worthwhile to admonish that man, nor do his wise fellows in the pure life think it worthwhile to admonish that man.” That means we just leave him alone. I don’t give admonishment to him. I do not say anything to him. “This, Kesi, is destruction for a man in the discipline of the Ariyan when both the TathÈgata and his fellows in the holy life think it not worthwhile to admonish him.”

Then Kesi said: “Destroyed indeed, your honor, is a man’s welfare when both the TathÈgataa and his fellows in the holy life think it not worthwhile to admonish him. It is wonderful your honor. It is marvelous. May the Exalted One accept me as a follower from this time forth, for as long as life lasts, as one who has taken refuge with him.”

So Buddha’s way of taming people is by mildness, by harshness, or by both together. If anybody cannot be tamed by any of these, he just leaves them alone. This is his way of destroying. You can find this Sutta in The Gradual Sayings, volume 2, page 116.

“Then the Blessed One moreover further tames those already tamed (He tamed not only those who were untamed, but he also tamed those who were already tamed.), doing so by announcing the first jhÈna, etc., respectively to those whose virtue is purified, etc., and also the way to the higher path to Stream-Enterers, and so on.” He tamed or taught people who were already good, who hd already kept their precepts. He instructed them to practice meditation and get jhÈnas and also attainments. This is his way of taming.

“Or alternatively the words ‘incomparablee leader of men to be tamed’ can be taken together as one clause.” Here it is only one quality of the Buddha.

“For the Blessed One so guides men to be tamed that in a single session they may go in the eight directions (That means the eight jhÈnas.) [by the eight liberations] without hesitation. Thus he is called ‘the incomparable leader of men to be tamed’.” So this quality can be two or one as you wish.

Traditionally in our countries the qualities of the Buddha are taken to be nine. Therefore this quality is taken as one when we practice recollection of the Buddha meditation. When we practice this meditation, we use beads, counting beads. There are 108 beads. So that means you get twelve times in one round for the attributes of the Buddha. That gives you one round. It is something like a timing device. So when we use the ‘rosary’ (mala), we take ‘the incomparable leader of men to be tamed’ as only one attribute. Maybe people like the number nine. It is supposed to be a lucky number.

The next one is ‘teacher of gods and men’. “He teaches by means of the here and now, of the life to come, and of the ultimate goal.” Actually we should insert one word. “He teaches by means of the benefits here and now.” That means he shows us the benefits here and now. He shows us the benefits in the life to come, in the next life. He shows us the benefits of the ultimate goal. That means NibbÈna.

“According as befits the case, thus he is the Teacher (satthar).” The PÈÄi word ‘satthar’ - when explaining such words, such things, the Commentators make recourse to play of words when there are similar but not identical words. The word ‘satthar’ comes from one root. Then there is another word ‘sattha’, the leader of a caravan. In the next paragraph that meaning is taken. “So too the Blessed One is a caravan leader, who brings home the caravans, he gets them across a wilderness, gets them across the wilderness of birth.” You may add any more meanings to this if you can think of some. They may be fanciful, but to the devotees it is a way of making their mind calm and happy.

Paragraph 50 “Of gods and men: This is said in order to denote those who are the best and also to denote those persons capable of progress.” In this attribute it is said ‘teacher of gods and men’. What about animals? Was he not the leader of animals also? It says here just deva (gods) and manusa (men) because those are the bestof the beings and also to denote those capable of progress. That means those capable of attaining enlightenment. Only human beings and deities are capable of attaining enlightenment, but not the animals. They may be capable of being reborn as a human being or being reborn as a deva. However in their life as animals they cannot get attainment. Here the
Commentator mentions only those capable of attaining enlightenment. That is why only devas and manussa (gods and men) are mentioned. We must take it that the Buddha is also the teacher of animals. “For the Blessed One as a teacher bestowed his teaching upon animals as well. For even animals can, through listening to the Blessed One’s Law (That means preaching), acquire the benefit of a [suitable rebirth as] support [for progress].” That means that animals will not get enlightenmentt even though they listen to the Buddha. However this meritorious deed of listening nto the Dhamma will help them to be reborn as human beings or as devas. As human beings or as devas they are capable of getting attainment.

The story of a frog is given. “MaÓÉ|ka the deity’s son” - actually it is just a deity, not a deity’s son, although in PÈÄi it is called Devaputta. That just means a deity. Every deity is a deity’s son. ‘MaÓÉ|ka’ is the PÈÄi word for frog. The frog was listening to the Buddha, but he did not understand what Buddha was saying. He may have thought this some kind of sound to be listened to. He was listening to the Buddha when a cowherd came and accidentally killed him. Because he was killed when he was listening to the Buddha preaching, he was reborn as a deity.

“He found himself there, as if waking up nfrom sleep, amidst a host of celestial nymphs, and he exclaimed ‘So I have actually been reborn here. What deed did I do?’ When he sought for the reason, he found it was none other than his apprehension of the sign in the Blessed One’s voice.”

Student: What does ‘apprehension of the sign’ mean?

Teacher: It just means that he took the voice to be a good thing to listen to. It may not even know that it is a Dhamma talk. He paid attention to the sound, so his mind became calm. As a result he was reborn as a deity. That story is given in VimÈna-vatthu, the Book of Mansions.

The next one is the PÈÄi word ‘buddha’ (enlightened). “He is enlightened (buddha) with the knowledge that belongs to the fruit of liberation, since everything that can be known has been discovered by him.” What is the meaning of the word ‘buddha’?

Student: To wake up.

Teacher: There are at least two meanings. There are actually three meanings for the root here. The root is ‘budh’. It means to know or it means to wake up. It also means to bloom or open up like a flower. Here the meaning ‘to know’ is taken. “Since everything that can be known has been discovered (That means known.) by him.”

‘With the knowledge that belongs to the fruit of liberation’ - what does that mean? ‘That belongs’ really means that he attained after liberation. You know immediately after becoming the Buddha or almost simultaneously he gained omniscience. Here that gaining of omniscience is meant by ‘the knowledge that belongs to the fruit of liberation’.

You know at the moment of liberation there is Path consciousness. Immediately following it, there is Fruit consciousness. Here ‘the fruit of liberation’ means Fruit consciousness. After that comes the all-knowing wisdom, omniscience. Since he possessed omniscience ( That means since everything that can be known has been discovered by him or has been known by him.), he was called ‘the Buddha’.

“or alternatively, he discovered the Four Truths by himself and awakened others to them.” Sometimes the causative meaning is put into the word. Normally the word ‘buddha’ means one who knows. We can make it to mean one who makes others know. The causitive meaning is inherent in that. Buddha is the one who knows and who makes others know. So here “He discovered the Four Truths by himself and awakened others to them.” He made others discover the Four Noble Truths.

“And for other such reasons he is enlightened. And in order to explain this meaning the whole passage in the Niddesa (MahÈ Niddesa is another book.) beginning thus ‘He is discoverer of the Truths’.” And so on. This is quoted. So Buddha is the one who knows the Four Noble Truths and who makes others know the Four Noble Truths. He is the discoverer and aalso makes others discover them. Here actually it is not only the Four Noble Truths, but anything that can be known or everything that is to be known is known by him.

What is the second quality of the Buddha? What is the difference between the second quality and this quality? The second quality is ‘fully enlightened’ and this quality is ‘enlightened’. The second quality just means he is the discoverer or he knows everything there is to know. His power of penetration or his power of knowledge is emphasized. In this quality not only his power of penetration but his power of making others penetrate is emphasized. Not only his knowledge, but his ability to make that knowledge attainable to others is stressed. This is the difference beetween the second quality and this eighth quality.

The next one is the last one. The PÈÄi word is ‘bhagavÈ’. Here there is a lot of word play. “Blessed (bhagavant) is a term signifying the respect and veneration accorded to him as the highest of all beings and distinguished by his special qualities.” I would say here “It is a term or a designation given with respect to the one who is respected and who is distinguished by his special qualities and so is the highest of all beings.” He is distinguished by special qualities and so he is the highest of all beings, that is the Buddha. The name bhagavÈ or bhagavant is given to him with respect or to show him respect. Therefore he is given the name ‘bhagavant’. It is translated as blessed.

Paragraph 54 “Or alternatively, names (or nouns) are of four kinds: denoting a period of life (That means names given with reference to a period in one’s life.) , describing a particular mark (That means given with reference to a particular mark.), signifying a particular acquirement (That means names given with reference to some reason or some cause, here attainment or something.), and fortuitously arisen (That means it is just a name. It may not accord with the real meaning.).” There are four kinds of nouns or four kinds of names mentioned here.

“ Which last in the current usage of the world is called ‘capricious’.” I don’t knoww what that means - capricious. We will understand later.

Student: It means the same thing as ‘fortuitously arisen’.

Teacher: it may be the same.

“Herein, names denoting a period of life are those such as ‘yearling calf (vaccha)’, ‘steer to be trained (damma)’, ‘yoke ox (balivaddha)’ and the like.” One and the same animal is called a ‘vaccha’ when he is young. Then when he is a little older, he is called ‘damma’, that is fit to be tamed. Then when he has grown up, he is called a ‘yoke ox (balivaddha)’. One and the same animal is called by different names in different periods of life. The same is true for human beings - baby, child, boy, man, old man. These are names noting a period of life.

“Names describing a particular mark are those such as ‘staff-bearer (daÓÉin)’.” Since he always carries a staff, he is called ‘staff-bearer’. The staff is a sign or mark by which we recognize him. This is called ‘a name denoting a particular mark’. Other names denoting a particular mark are umbrella-bearer. He always carries an umbrella. And then there is topknot-wearer. You can see topknots of hair on Burmese ladies or Eastern ladies. One does not see topknots much on American ladies. Since he or she has a topknot, that person is called ‘topknot-wearer’. Then there is hand-possessor. An elephant is called ‘hand-possessor’ because it has a hand, the trunk. The trunk is like a hand to the elephant. It is called in PÈÄi ‘karin’, hand but here the trunk.

“Names signifying a particular acquirement” - that means actually just the name given with reference to the cause or reason of that name. For example ‘possessor of the three clear visions’ is such a name. A person who really has the three clear visions is called in PÈÄi ‘tevijja’. The three clear visions are the reason or cause which causes this man to be called ‘possessor of the three clear visions’. Another example is given - ‘the possessor of the six direct knowledges (chaÄabhiÒÒa). It is the same thing. It is like we have here now with BA, MA, PhD. These are names denoting the acquirement.

The last one is just a name that is given to a person, regardless of whether it meets the meaning of the word. ‘SirivaÉÉhaka’ means augmenter of luster. So a beggar may be called ‘SirivaÉÉhaka’. It is just a name. Or a poor man may be called ‘DhanavaÉÉhaka’. Such a name is called a ‘fortuitous name’. There is no reference to the word’s meaning.

In PÈÄi most names have meanings. I don’t know whether English names have meanings too.

Student: Some do. I know when I had to name my child, I saw a book with the meaning of names. They may not be commonly known.

Teacher: Most PÈÄi names have meanings. For example my name ‘SÊlÈnanda’ means one who likes sÊla or who is fond of sÊla. There are four kinds of names given here. The name ‘BhagavÈ’ given to the Buddha is the third of these four, that is name given with reference to the acquirement of the Buddha.

“The name, Blessed, is one signifying a particular acquirement; it is not made by MahÈ-MÈyÈ (his mother),or by king Suddhodhana (his father), or by the 80,000 kinsmen,” and so on. Actually this name was not given to him by his mother, or his father, or any of his relatives, or the king of gods, or whatever. He was called ‘BhagavÈ’ because he has these attributes.

“And this is said by the General of the Law” - ‘General of the law’ means Venerable SÈriputta. Venerable SÈriputta was called ‘General of the Law’. Venerable Œnanda was called ‘Custodian of the Law’. That is because Venerable Œnanda had learned all of his teachings.

Student: Who is Venerable SÈriputta?

Teacher: Venerable SÈriputta is Buddha’s cief disciple. He was chief among those who have wisdom. There are two chief disciples of the Buddha, Venerable SÈriputta and Venerable MoggallÈna. Venerable SÈriputta was chief among those with wisdom. Venerable MoggallÈna was chief among those with psychicc powers. When there was an occasion to tame someone by psychic power the Buddha allowed Venerable MoggallÈna to do that.

Student: Venerable SÈriputta was in charge of Abhidhamma?

Teacher: Yes. He was the human pioneer of Abhidhamma. It was he who taught 500 of his disciples the Abhidhamma. His version of Abhidhamma is what we have now. The version of Abhidhamma that Buddha taught to the devas was too large, too long and the version that Buddha taught to Venerable SÈriputta was too short. Venerable SÈriputta taught just enough for a human mind to accept.

“Now in order to explain also the special qualities signified by this name they cite the following stanzas.” These are just play upon the words. “BhagÊ bhajÊ bhÈgÊ vibhattavÈ” and so on - if you don’t know PÈÄi, they may not be interesting. The first one is bhagÊ. ‘BhagÊ’ is changed to bhagavÈ. ‘BhajÊ’ is changed to bhagavÈ. This is the explanation that the ancient Commentators give. “The meaning of these words should be understood according to the method of explanation given in the Niddesa.” That is in the book, the MahÈ Niddesa. The commentator does not give us any more details about the explanation and he refers us to the MahÈ Niddesa. However they are given in the footnote.

The next may be his own explanation. Paragraph 57 “There is the other way: ‘BhÈgyavÈ bhaggavÈ yutto bhagehi ca vibhattavÈ. BhattavÈ vanta-gamano bhavesu: bhagavÈ tato.’ (He is fortunate, possessed of abolishment, associated with blessings, and as possessor of what has been analyzed. He has frequented, and he has rejected going in the kinds of becoming.)”

“Herein, by using the Characteristic of Language beginning with Vowel augmentation of syllable, or by using the Characteristic of Insertion beginning with [the example] Pisodara, etc., (see PaÓini GaÓapatha) it may be known that he [can also] be called Blessed (BhagavÈ).” And so on. What do you understand?

What is ‘the Characterisitc of Language’? Here the word ‘lakkhaÓa’ is used. The usual meaning of lakkhaÓa is characteristic. In such cases as when referring to grammatical things the word ‘lakkhaÓa’ means a rule in grammar or an aphorism. So here ‘Characteristic of Language’ means a rule of grammar.

Ancient grammarians have made these rules. They are called ‘rules’. They are short sentences, aphorisms. Actually these short aphorisms were learned by heart. The teacher would say it aloud and the pupils would repeat it. So they learned it by heart. Then the teacher would give explanations and examples.

When we study PÈÄi grammar, we can memorize only the aphorisms, or we can memorize the aphorisms, the explanations of the aphorisms and the examples. If you have the ability to memorize much, then you memorize all. If you don’t want to memorize all, at least you have to memorize the aphorisms. These aphorisms are called ‘laksuttas’. In some places they are described as lakkhaÓa in PÈÄi. LakkhaÓa and Sutta come to be synonymous. Here ‘Characteristic of Language’ just means a grammatical rule.

“By using a certain grammatical rule or a set of grammatical rules beginning with vowel augmentation of syllable” - this is not vowel augmentation of syllable, but just augmentation of syllable. That means inserting a syllable, a consonent, or maybe sometimes inserting a vowel. Mostly a consonent is inserted. This insertion of consonents here is not according to the usual grammatical rules. This is a special grammatical rule.

By such grammatical rules bhÈgyavÈ can become bhaggavÈ. BhaggavÈ can become bhagavÈ. It is something like that.

‘Elision of syllable’ - what is that?

Student: Sliding together. It is where one word joins another. It’s where you make two syllables into one.

Teacher: That is not what is meant. What is meant is transposition of consonents. It is transposition of syllables or letters, mostly consonents.

A Noble Person is called ‘Ariya’. A non-noble person is called ‘anÈriya’. The word ‘anÈriya’ is a combination of ‘na’ and ‘ariya’. In the word ‘anÈriya’ the letters ‘A’ and ‘N’ are transposed. Instead of calling a non-noble person ‘nÈriya’, such a person is called ‘anÈriya’. That is transposition. It is something like that which is meant here. I don’t know if the word ‘elision’ means that.

There are other rules. “Or by using the Characteristic of Insertion beginning with [the example of ] Pisodara” that is another kind of rule. I don’t think ‘insertion’ is a good word here. I would say “including in the group of words beginning with Pisodara.” These words are not formed according to the usual grammatical rules. They are specially formed words. We cannot explain explain them according to the usual grammatical rules, the ordinary grammatical rules. They are special words. Following these rules you can say anything. BhÈgyavÈ can become bhagavÈ. The last one is very funny. Bhavesu vanta-gamana becomes bhagavÈ.

The refeerences are given. The first one, KasikÈ, is a Sanskrit grammar. It is difficult to get that book in this country. The next one, PaÓini GaÓapatha is a very famous Sanskrit grammar written about the beginning of the Christian era. This is the standard Sanskrit grammar. Later on people wrote commentaries on it. One of the commentaries is KasikÈ. They are written in Sanskrit. PaÓini is very much respected by all grammarians. Sanskrit grammars were written later by other grammarians or authors, but nonee of them is so respected as that written by PaÓini.

“It may be known that he [can also] be called ‘Blessed (BhagavÈ)’ when he can be called ‘fortunate (bhÈgyavÈ)’.” So bhÈgyavÈ becomes bhagavÈ. You don’t have to explain in the usual way. It is something like arbitrary.

“Owing to the fortunateness (bhÈgya) to have reached the further shore [of the ocean of perfection] of giving, virtue, etc., which produce mundane and supramundane bliss. Similarly he [can also] be called ‘blessed (bhagavÈ)’ when he can be called ‘bhaggavÈ (‘BhaggavÈ’ means one who has broken or abolished.) possessed of abolishment’ owing to the following menaces having been abolished.” So you go on and on.

In paragraph 60 “And by his fortunateness (bhagyavatÈ) is indicated the excellence of his material body which bears a hundred characteristics of merit.” Actually it means “which bears characteristics produced by hundreds of merits. Buddha possessed different characteristics not shared by other human beings. They are produced by lots of meritorious deeds that he did as a Bodhisatta. So it should say “body which bears characteristics produced by hundreds of merits.”

“Likewise [by his fortunateness is indicated] the esteem of worldly [people (That means ordinary people.): and by his having abolished defects (kilesas), the esteem of ] those who resemble him.” What is that? Buddha was incomparable. Nobody resembles the Buddha.

Sometimes the scribes, the people who wrote the Suttas on palm-leaves, made mistakes when they wrote. In some scripts certain letters are similar to one another. So instead of writing one letter, they wrote another letter. Here is such a case. The PÈÄi word here is ‘sarika’, ‘SA’. It should be the word ‘parika’, not ‘sarika’. ‘Sarika’ means resembling. ‘Parika’ means discriminating or critical-minded. The PÈÄi word should not be ‘sarika’, but it is ‘parika’. ‘S’ and ‘P’ are similar in some of the ancient scripts.

In paragraph 72 “ It is ‘with meaning’ since it inspires confidence in persons of discretion.” That is the word ‘parika’ (where it was written correctly). So here in paragraph 60 we may also say those who are discriminating or who are critical-minded. It is contrasted with the worldly, ordinary people who do not have much wisdom and who just accept things. Here ‘who resemble’ should go. ‘Who have discretion’, it should be something like that.

Bhagehi yuttattÈ/bhagavÈ is according to the ordinary rules of grammar. A little further in paragraph 61 there is mention of iddhi (psychic powers). It says ‘minuteness, lightness, etc.’ and then there is footnote 27. In that footnote other psychic powers are mentioned. Those are found in YogabhÈsya. So I think the practice of samatha meditation, the jhÈnas, and the psychic powers are not the sole property of Buddhism. They are shared by people of other religions too, especially Hindu yogis. So ‘minuteness’, ‘lightness’ and so on are found in the book called ‘Yoga Sutra’. They are explained in the YogabhÈsya. ‘BhÈsya’ means commentary. It is a commentary on the Yoga Sutra. If you have the book, you may read it.

“He has supreme lordship over his own mind either of the kind reckoned as mundane and consisting in minuteness, lightness, etc., or that complete in all aspects, and likewise the supramundane Dhamma.” These are the reasons the Buddha was called ‘bhagavÈ’. He had the blessed qualities - dhamma, fame, glory, wish and endeavor.

Then in paragraph 62 “[He can also] be called ‘blessed (bhagavÈ)’ when he can be called ‘a possessor of what has been analyzed (vibhattavÈ)’.” Instead of saying vibhattavÈ, we just say bhagavÈ. We strike out ‘vi’ and then change ‘tta’ to ‘ga’ and so on.We may do anything we like if we have recourse to these special grammatical rules.That is the way the Commentators explain if they want to play with words and if they know the legitimate grammatical rules.

He can also be called ‘bhagavÈ’ because he is bhattavÈ. It is the same thing here.

The last one in paragraph 64 is very unusual. “He [can also] be called ‘blessed (bhagavÈ)’ when he can be called one who ‘has rejected going in the kinds of becoming (vantagamano bhavesu)’.” Here there are ‘bhavesu’, ‘vanta’, and ‘gamana’. “Because in the three kinds of becoming (That means in the three kinds of existences) [bhava], the going [gamana] (In other words craving, it really means craving.), in other words, craving, has been rejected [vanta] by him.” ‘Vanta’ really means vomitted. Buddha vomitted going. Buddha has vomitted craving for the three existences. That’s why he is not going to be reborn.

From these words some syllables are taken to form the word ‘bhagavÈ’. Please look at bhavesu vantagamano. From bhavesu we take only ‘bha’. ‘Ga’ comes from gamana and ‘va’ from vanta. Then we have bhagava. The letter ‘A’ is made long, so that we do not have bhagava but bhagavÈ.

Then the Commentator shows us another word which is ‘known in the world’. “Make the word ‘bhagava’, just as is done in the world.” - that means as is done in the grammatical books with the word ‘mekhalÈ’. “Since ‘MEhanassa KHAssa mÈLŒ’ can be said” - mekhalÈ comes from mehanassa, khassa and mÈlÈ. From mehanassa we take ‘me’, and from khassa we take ‘kha’ and from mÈlÈ we take ‘lÈ’. So we get mekhalÈ. It is very strange. ‘MekhalÈ’ means a girdle or a belt.

It says in the footnote that ‘Mehana’ is not in P.T.S. dictionary. The literal meaning of mehana is private part, private organ. ‘Kha’ means a place. ‘MÈlÈ’ means a garland. I think it is to cover the private parts that they use the girdle. So it is called ‘mekhalÈ’ in PÈÄi or in Sanskrit. This word is to be derived from mehanassa khassa mÈlÈ. You just take one syllable from each word and form into one word. So we have mekhalÈ.

Now let us look at the enefits of the recollection of the attributes of the Buddha. “As long as [the meditator] recollects the special qualities of the Buddha in this way ‘For this reason the Blessed One is accomplished..for this and this reason he is blessed’, then on that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed by hatred, or obsessed by delusion.” When he is contemplating on the qualities of the Buddha, there is no greed in his mind, there is no anger in his mind, there is no delusion in his mind. “His mind has rectitude (That means his mind is straight.) on that occasion, being inspired by the Perfect One.”

“So when he has supressed the hindrances by preventing obsession by greed, etc., and his mind faces the meditation subject with rectitude, then his applied thought (vitakka) and sustained thought (vicÈra) occur with a tendency towards the Enlightened One’s special qualities.” Vitakka takes the mind to the special qualities of the Enlightened One and so on.

This meditation cannot help us to get jhÈna. You will not get jhÈna by practicing this meditation. In the middle of paragraph 66 “When he is blissful, his mind, with the Enlightened One’s special qualities for its object becomes concentrated.” So he gets good concentration dwelling on the attributes of the Buddha.

“And so the jhÈna factors eventually arise in a single moment.” ‘JhÈna factors’ really mean vitakka, vicÈra and so on, but they do not reach the stage of jhÈna or they do not reach the stage of r|pÈvacara jhÈna. They reach the stage of neighborhood jhÈna. There are two kinds of jhÈnas or two kinds of concentration, neighborhood concentration and jhÈna concentration.

Student: This sentence, “But owing to the profundity of the Enlightened One’s qualities, or else owing to his being occupied in recollecting special qualities” and so on - the one seems to say it may be even better than jhÈna and the other seems to say it is not as good as jhÈna. Is that just the grasping mind trying to measure? Is it just different?

Teacher: You know Buddha’s qualities are profound. Buddha has many qualities. Even one quality is difficult to perceive, difficult to understand. When mind has to be occupied with such profound things, it cannot get strong enough concentration to get jhÈna. Also there are many qualities. You have to go from one quality to another. You have to take many objects as the object of meditation. There is not only one object. So you are sort of distracted. Therefore you cannot get strong concentration to reach the jhÈna stage.

Student: The first one seems a good reason to do it and the second one seems a hindrance. In the second one it seems you are distracted and in the first one it seems like it is even better than jhÈna.

Teacher: That’s right. It is better to be dwelling on the attributes of the Buddha than getting into jhÈna in the first part - it is something like that. The second part says that if you have to take many qualities, you don’t get good concentration.

“When a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of the Buddha, he is respectful and deferential towards the Master. He attains fullness of faith, mindfulness, understanding and merit. He has much happiness and gladness. He conquers fear and dread. He is able to endure pain. He comes to feel as if he were living in the Master’s presence. And his body, when the recollection of the Buddha’s special qualities dwells in it, becomes as worthy of veneration as a shrine room.” I like that very much. So whenever people bow down before me, I always think of the Buddha so that I become a shrine room or something like that. When you think of the Buddha, that means the Buddha dwells in your heart. So you are like a shrine room, you are like a shrine. That is what I always do because if I am thinking of some other thing and people are paying respect, then that is a bad thing for me. I am not worthy of accepting their respect if I am thinking of some other thing or something akusala. So I try to recollect the Buddha whenever people pay respect to me. That way my conscience is clear. I am sort of worthy of their respect because I am like a house where the Buddha dwells.

“His mind tends towards the plane of the Buddhas. When he encounters -

Student: What does the ‘plane of the Buddhas’ mean?

Teacher: It is just towards the Buddha. Sometimes the Commentators say Buddha bh|mi. Bh|mi can be a plane. Actually that just means Buddha’s attributes. His mind is inclined towards the Buddha and his attributes. Since he practices this meditation, his mind is naturally inclined towards these attributes.

“When he encounters an opportunity for transgression, he has awareness of conscience and shame as vivid as though he were face to face with the Master.” When such occasion arises, he would be ashamed to break rules because he always has the Buddha in mind, so he is as good as face to face with the Buddha.

“And if he penetrates no higher (if he does not get any attainment), he is at least headed for a happy destiny.” That means he will be reborn in a happy rebirth as a human being or as a deva.

“Now when a man is truly wise,

His constant task will surely be

This recollection of the Buddha

Blessed with such mighty potency.

This, firstly, is the section dealing with the Recollection of the Enlightened One in the detailed explanation.” These are the nine or ten attributes or qualities of the Buddha.

The next ones are Recollection of the Dhamma and Recollection of the Sa~gha. I think that I will have to go very fast. There are six qualities of the Dhamma. The first one is ‘well-proclaimed’.

In paragraph 70 I want to make some alteration. “Also the entire Dhamma of the Dispensation (That means the scriptures here. ‘Dhamma of the Dispensation’ is the scriptures.) is good in the beginning with virtue as one’s own well-being.” It should be “with virtue as its meaning”.

Student: This passage is very famous.

Teacher: yes.

Student: Did it originate here or are they quoting from somewhere else?

Teacher: It is in the Suttas. References are given in paragraph 68 - Majjhima NikÈya,1, 37, and AÓguttara NikÈya, 3, 285. And there are many more places where you can find this.

“It is good in the middle with serenity and insight and with Path and Fruition. It is good in the end with NibbÈna.” and so on.

In paragraph 72 about the fifth line ‘with detail’ is not correct. Here what the Commentator is explaining is that the Buddha’s teaching is with meaning (That means meaningful.) and also it is beautiful in wording. It should not be ‘with detail’. So Buddha’s teachings, Buddha’s utterances are beautiful in words as well as in meaning.

I think he is confused with the word ‘anubyaÒjana’ when Buddha said “When you see something, do not take the sign of it, do not take the particulars, do not take the details.” For example when a monk sees a person, especially a woman, he must not take the particulars.

Student: We might say ‘in meaning and presentation’.

Teacher: That’s good. I.B. Horner translates this as ‘spirit and letter’. The meaning of spirit is different. When you say you follow the spirit of this rule, that is one thing. But here it just means the meaning, not necessarily the spirit. The meaning and the presentation of the words are what is meant.

Student: The style or how it is said.

Teacher: That’s right. So all ‘with detail’ needs to be changed to ‘with words’ or ‘presentation’ or something. Buddha’s teachings are with meaning and -

Student: Elegance.

Teacher: Something like that. There are many ‘with details’ in this paragraph.

Paragraph 76 “Visible here and now’ - did you really find that meaning in the explanation? Let us read. “Firstly the Noble Path is ‘visible here and now’ since it can be seen by a Noble Person himself when he has done away with greed, etc., in his own continuity according as it is said.” That means what? Seen by a Noble Person himself, seen by himself. Right? The PÈÄi word means seen by himself, seen by oneself.

Now the next meaning in paragraph 77. “Furthermore, the ninefold supramundane Dhamma is also visible here and now, since when any one has attained it, it is visible to him through reviewing knowledge without his having to rely on faith in another.” That also means seeing by himself. So there is no ‘visible here and now’. The first meaning is what? Seeing by himself. And the second meaning is seeing by himself. The explanation is just a little different.

Let us see the third meaning. “Or alternatively, the view that is recommended is ‘proper view’. It conquers by means of proper view, thus it has proper view (in PÈÄi sandiÔÔhika).” We don’t find ‘visible here and now’, right? The third explanation is that Dhamma is called ‘sandiÔÔhika’ because it conquers by means of proper view.

What about the fourth one? Paragraph 79 “Or alternatively, it is seeing (dassana) that is called the seen (diÔÔha); then diÔÔha and sandiÔÔha are identical in meaning as ‘seeing’. It is worthy of being seen (diÔÔha), thus it is ‘sandiÔÔhika’.” Here also we actually do not have ‘here and now’ in PÈÄi in the Visuddhi Magga. So I think it is confusing when you say ‘visible here and now’. Four explanations are given here, but in none of these do we find ‘visible here and now’. We can take any one of these four because we cannot give all four at a time.

The next one is ‘not delayed’. “It has no delay in the matter of giving its own fruit, thus it is ‘without delay’. ‘Without delay’ is thesame as ‘not delayed’. What is meant is that instead of giving its fruit after creating a delay (using up time), say, five days, seven days, it gives its fruit immediately next to its own occurrence.” You have to understand the supramundane thought process. The moment of Fruition consciousness immediately follows the Path moment. The moments of Fruition consciousness are the results of Path consciousness. Path gives its Fruit immediately, not after some moments, not after three days, not after five days. The Fruition consciousness must follow immediately Path consciousness. That is why Path consciousness is called ‘akÈlika’ (no time). ‘AkÈlika’ means no time. There is no delay in giving results. It gives results instantly.

Student: This only applies to supramundane consciousness, not any other types of consciousness?

Teacher: That’s right. It applies only to Path.

Student: When you are listening to the Dhamma, you don’t get fruit? Do you understand what I am saying?

Teacher: Other dhammas no. For example in kÈmÈvacara kusala you do meritorious deeds here and the fruit may be in the next life, or after some years, or some months. So there is a delay in giving results in mundane merit.

Student: There is always delay?

Teacher: Almost always. Actually we can say always. If you look at the thought process, there are seven moments of javana. They are followed by tadÈrammaÓa or bhava~ga. Only after that will fruit come if they are to come that quickly. Even then there is some delay. Mundane wholesome kamma gives results with delay but not the supramundane. This is because supramundane Path is immediately followed by its Fruit.

Student: But the delay may be less than a finger-snap?

Teacher: That’s right. Here we are speaking in terms of microseconds.

The next one is ‘inviting of inspection’. That is ‘come and see’.

The next one in paragraph 83 is ‘onward leading’. That means worthy of inducing in one’s mind, inducing in one’s continuity. Here it is said “This applies to the [above-mentioned eight] formed supramundane states.” ‘Formed’ means conditioned.