ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º º º BuddhaNet: Buddhist Info Network Buddha Dharma Education Assoc. º º Web Site: www.buddhanet.net PO Box K1020 Haymarket NSW 2000 º º Email: bdea@buddhanet.net Tel: +61-2-92123071 AUSTRALIA º º º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE OF BUDDHISM by Ven Sayadaw U Janaka of Burma (Prepared at BuddhaNet for free distribution) ** ** ** THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE OF BUDDHISM Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa The Essence of Dhamma Two thousand five hundred and fifty-three years ago, the Omniscient Buddha delivered His first sermon to his five old associates in the Deer Park near Baranasi. The essence of the sermon is found in a short stanza in the Dhammapada. Not to do any evil, To cultivate good, To purify one's mind, This is the exhortation of the Buddhas. These virtues are prescribed by the Buddha. They are indispensable for man to live in peace and happiness. Buddhism lays stress upon virtues more than any other religion. Buddhist virtues convey much deeper sense than elsewhere. Purification of mind based on avoiding evil and cultivating good leads not only to a good and happy life but to Nibbana. To purify one's mind is to get rid of the defilements of greed, hatred and ignorance which are the main roots of all evils. One who has perfectly purified one's mind attains ultimate peace. The Blazing World The world today is, however, blazing with the fires of greed, hatred, ignorance, conceit, jealousy, and so forth. Conflicts, therefore, prevail everywhere. Wars break out frequently in one or the other part of the world. Man is not at all in peace and security. He is always worrying about peace and security in his life. He finds little consolation under the circumstances. Such a situation is created by mental impurity of individuals and can never be rectified by either science or psychotherapy. Dr. Fromm, a philosopher and psychoanalyst, says, "Our contemporary Western society, in spite of its material, intellectual and political progress, is increasingly less conducive to mental health and tends to undermine the inner security, happiness, reason and the capacity for love in the individual." Obviously, what is true of Western society is no less true of mankind in general. Inner Purity Needed The individual who has no inner purity and peace with himself cannot be in peace with the world. So long as there is no purity and peace within, inner conflicts will never cease. This situation can never be done away with by science. Inevitably, we now realize that absolute purity within is a vital need for man to achieve both inward and outward peace and security. How, then, shall we achieve this absolute purity of mind? The Middle Way Discovered by the Buddha The Compassionate Buddha gave a very clear answer to that question, and briefly explained in His first sermon the Noble Eightfold Path as the Middle Way leading to Nibbana where all the defilements are purified and eternal peace attained. To know how he discovered this Middle Way, let us have a glance into the past. In the second half of the sixth century B.C., Prince Siddhartha, the son of King Suddhodana of Sakyan clan, renounced the household-life where he enjoyed the extreme worldly pleasure and went into voluntary exile in search of the true way out from suffering. He practised meditation under Alara and Udaka, the two foremost ascetic teachers, and reached the highest meditative attainment possible thereby. It, however, did not satisfy him as it is not enough for release from suffering. He, then, spent almost six years in the practice of asceticism, trying every sort of self-mortification. This, too, failed. Now, realizing the futility of the extreme self-mortification, he gave it up and practised the contemplation of breathing with balanced effort. At last he succeeded in discovering the Middle Way he had sought for so long, and attained Buddhahood. At first it occurred to Him that the Dhamma he had discovered was profound, difficult to perceive, subtle, no mere dialectic, intelligible to the wise, and that these beings were steeped in ignorance, craving and hatred. He, therefore, hesitated to preach. However, at the second thought he realized that there were beings who have little dust in their wisdom-eyes and who could understand His Dhamma if they listened to it. He, therefore, resolved to preach and went to the Deer Park near Baranasi where His former associates, a group of five ascetics, lived. There did he deliver His first sermon on the Full Moon Day of Asalhi or Warso as we say in Burmese. Here is His first sermon, the Discourse on Setting in motion the Wheel of Dhamma. The First Sermon Dhamma-cakkappavattana Sutta These two extremes, Bhikkhus, are not to be practised by one who has gone forth from the household-life. What are the two? One is indulgence in the objects of sensual desire, which is base, vulgar, worldly, ignoble and unprofitable, and the other is self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble and unprofitable. The Middle Way discovered by the Tathagata avoids the two extremes. It gives insight, it gives knowledge; it leads to peace, higher wisdom, enlightenment and Nibbana. What is that Middle Way? It is the Noble Eightfold Path, that is to say, Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. The Four Noble Truths Now, suffering, as a noble truth, is this: Birth is suffering, decay is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, to be in contact with things which one dislikes is suffering, to be separated from things which one likes is suffering; in short - the five aggregates of grasping are suffering. The origin of suffering, as a noble truth, is this: It is craving that produces rebirth of beings, accompanied by enjoyment and lust, enjoying this and that: namely, craving for sensual desire, craving for eternal existence and craving for non-existence. The cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, is this: It is utter cessation of craving, giving up, relinquishing, releasing, and rejecting that same craving. The way leading to the cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, is this: It is the Noble Eightfold Path, that is to say, Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. The Buddha further explained the three phases of each of the Four Noble Truths as follows:- "The Noble Truth of suffering is this:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. "The Noble Truth of suffering is to be realized:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. "The Noble Truth of suffering has been thoroughly realized:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. "The Noble Truth of the Origin of suffering is this:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. "The Noble Truth of the Origin of suffering is to be exterminated:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. "The Noble Truth of the Origin of suffering has been exterminated:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. "The Noble Truth of the Cessation of suffering is this:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. "The Noble Truth of the Cessation of suffering is to be experienced:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. "The Noble Truth of the Cessation of suffering has been experienced:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. "The Noble Truth of the Way Leading to the Cessation of suffering is this:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. "The Noble Truth of the Way Leading to the Cessation of suffering is to be developed:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. "The Noble Truth of the Way Leading to the Cessation of suffering has been developed:" such was the insight, the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the light that arose in me in regard to Dhamma unheard of before. Thus the Buddha explained the three phases of each Noble Truth. Then, He continued as follows:- So long as my knowing and seeing things as they really are was not quite purified in these twelve aspects - in these three phases of each of the Four Noble Truths - I did not claim to have discovered the Supreme Enlightenment in this world with the Devas, Maras, Brahmas and men including recluses and Brahmins. Only when my knowing and seeing things as they really are was quite purified in these twelve aspects - in these three phases of each of the Four Noble Truths - I did claim to have discovered the Supreme Enlightenment in this world with the Devas, Maras, Brahmas and men including recluses and Brahmins. Now, knowledge and insight have arisen in me. My heart's deliverance is unassailable. This is my last birth. There is no more becoming for me. Realization During this sermon, there arose in the Venerable Kondanna the spotless, immaculate knowledge of the Truth: "Whatever arises is subject to cessation." In the following nights, the Venerable Vappa, Baddiya, Mahanama and Assaji, the other four old associates, realized the Truth, having fully developed the Noble Eightfold Path. This first sermon is the fundamental doctrine of Buddhism from which all the teaching of the Buddha spreads out and to which all points back. The Buddha preached many other sermons in the course of 45 years in order to meet individuals' necessity, but they all have the same essence as the first sermon. The essence is the Four Noble Truths. The relation among these Four Noble Truths is as follows:- All component things are suffering. This suffering is caused by craving. This craving must be eradicated in order to reach the state where there is no suffering by developing the Noble Eightfold Path. This Noble Eightfold Path is the Middle Way which purifies one's mind and leads one to eternal peace of Nibbana. May you all be blessed with peace and bliss: May you all realize the Truth and attain Enlightenment and Nibbana. Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!