by Donald Lopez
‘When brutal people no longer punch and beat others; when they won’t steal silver or gold, when they won’t plunder or destroy the belongings of others, when they won’t seize fields or money, when they won’t drive people out, forcefully taking away husbands or wives; when they won’t commit atrocities against others, causing poverty and disruption, that’s when I will go to help the people to reach the path and the result, which is the nectar of nibbāna. I will help living beings pass beyond suffering and enable them to live happily and content for a long time in morality. Whoever wishes to meet me, to experience the supreme lord, should not create confusion, should not attack others, destroying their belongings.
‘When the surface of the earth is as flat as if it had been levelled, as flat as the surface of a drum; when there are no thorns falling in heaps; when wealth and riches come falling down and are never depleted; when friends and neighbours will live together and never disagree; when there is no danger and no one knows fear; when the whole world is pure, that’s when I will go, Phra Malai, bearer of good fortune, to help living beings all over the world to be peaceful and tranquil on the path of fruition. Those who wish to be leaders should be favourably disposed towards the teachings; they should be joyful, pleasant in their speech and respectful in their behaviour, then they will meet the great teacher Maitreya, the supreme lord.
‘When people everywhere are no longer tormented by parasites, by leprosy, ringworm or abscesses; when their eyes see clearly and their ears hear clearly; when people are no longer afflicted by conditions such as stammering or being mute, mentally ill, hunchbacked, crippled, paralysed or depressed, that’s when I will go, Phra Malai, O venerable monk, to help all living beings reach the way of the arahant. Whoever wishes to become an ascetic with Maitreya, lord of the dhamma, should not cause any harm if they intend to meet Phra Sri Ariya.’
Translated by Bonnie Brereton from a modern printed cardboard facsimile, Phra Malai (Bangkok: Akson Charuenthat, 1961), pp. 228–57.
THE BUDDHA
13
THE THREE JEWELS
The recitation of the formula ‘I go for refuge to the Buddha. I go for refuge to the dharma. I go for refuge to the saṅgha’ (recited three times) is the most fundamental Buddhist practice, the Buddhist correlate to the confession of faith. The practice of taking refuge is said to derive from the days following the Buddha’s enlightenment. He had remained in the vicinity of the Bodhi tree meditating for seven weeks, without eating. A deity informed two passing merchants that a nearby yogin had recently achieved buddhahood and suggested that they pay their respects. They offered him his first meal as a buddha (some honey cakes), which he received in a bowl provided for him by the four gods of the cardinal directions. They then bowed down before him and said, ‘We take refuge in the Buddha and in the dharma.’ (Because the Buddha did not yet have any disciples, there was no saṅgha.) The Buddha presented them with a lock of his hair and his fingernails and instructed them to enshrine them in a stūpa.
The refuge formula itself was prescribed by the Buddha shortly thereafter. After the conversion of his five old friends, all of whom became arhats, the Buddha taught the dharma to the wealthy merchant’s son Yasa and fifty-four of his friends. They also became monks and arhats, bringing to sixty the number of enlightened disciples. The Buddha then sent them out to teach, explaining that a monk could admit a layman into the monkhood if he shaved his hair and beard, donned a yellow robe, bowed at the monk’s feet, and then, sitting on his heels with joined palms, said three times, ‘I go for refuge to the Buddha. I go for refuge to the dharma. I go for refuge to the saṅgha.’ (This method of ordination was later replaced; see Chapters 25 and 26.)
The Buddha, the dharma, and the saṅgha are called the three jewels (triratna), because they are rare and of great value. Given the centrality of the refuge formula as the point of entry into the practice of Buddhism and as the sign that distinguishes the Buddhist from the followers of other teachers, it is unsurprising that these three terms, their definition, their relation to each other and the significance of their order received extensive commentary, which often made clever use of true and false cognates, of which Buddhist scholars are so fond. The word dharma is derived from the Sanskrit root √dhṛ, meaning ‘to hold’. It is explained, then, that the dharma is that which upholds those who follow the path and holds them back from falling into suffering. Exactly what the dharma is is much discussed, with some holding that the true dharma is only nirvāṇa, others saying that it includes both nirvāṇa and the path to it. Others speak of the verbal dharma, the spoken explication of the path, and the realized dharma, the manifestation of those teachings in one’s mind. The constitution of the saṅgha is also considered. Although the term is used loosely to include the community of Buddhists, in the refuge formula it is used more exclusively to include those who have achieved at least the first level of the path and are destined to achieve nirvāṇa. The Buddha is mentioned first because he is the teacher of refuge; the dharma is mentioned next because it is the actual refuge; the saṅgha is mentioned third because it is they who help others to find that refuge.
The three jewels are also explained in terms of similes, as in the selection below. It is drawn from a text called Paramatthajotikā (‘Illustrator of the Ultimate Meaning’), traditionally ascribed to the great scholar monk Buddhaghosa (fourth to fifth century CE), commenting on the refuge formula as it appears in a Pali text called the Khuddakapāṭha (‘Minor Readings’).
The Buddha is like the full moon; the dharma taught by him is like the shedding of the moon’s effulgence; and the saṅgha is like the world inspired with happiness by the effulgence of the full moon. The Buddha is like the rising sun; the dharma as already stated is like the web of his rays; and the saṅgha is like the world rid by him of darkness. The Buddha is like a man who burns a jungle; the dharma, which burns up the jungle of defilements, is like the fire which burns the jungle; and the saṅgha, which has become a field of merit since its defilements have been burnt up, is like the piece of ground which has become a field [for sowing] since its jungle has been burnt up. The Buddha is like the great rain-cloud; the dharma is like a downpour of rain; and the saṅgha, in which the dust of defilement has been laid, is like the countryside in which the dust has been laid by the fall of rain. The Buddha is like a good trainer [of thoroughbreds]; the true dharma is like the means for the disciplining of thoroughbred horses; and the saṅgha is like a mass of well-disciplined thoroughbreds. The Buddha is like a dart-extractor because he removes all darts of [wrong] views; the dharma is like the means for removing the darts; and the saṅgha, from whom the darts of [wrong] views have been removed, is like people from whom darts have been removed. Or else the Buddha is like a lancet-user because he dissects away the cataract of delusion; the dharma is like the means for dissecting the cataract away; and the saṅgha, whose eye of knowledge is cleared by the dissecting away of the cataract of delusion, is like people whose eyes are cleared with the dissecting away of the cataract. Or else the Buddha is like a clever physician because he is able to cure the sickness consisting in defilement by underlying tendencies; the dharma is like a rightly applied medicine; and the saṅgha, whose underlying tendencies to the sickness of defilement are quite cured, is like people whose sickness is quite cured by the application of the medicine. Or else the Buddha is like a good guide; the dharma is like a good path to a land of safety; and the saṅgha is like [people] who enter upon the path and reach the land of safety. The Buddha is like a good pilot; the dharma is like a ship; and the saṅgha is like people who have succeeded in reaching the farther shore. The Buddha is like the Himalaya Mountain; the dharma is like the healing herbs that are given their being by that mountain; and the saṅgha is like people free from ailment owing to the use of the healing herbs. The Buddha is like a bestower of riches; the dharma is like the riches; and the saṅgha, which has rightly obtained the noble one’s riches, is like people who have obtained riches in the way hoped
for. The Buddha is like one who shows a hidden treasure-store; the dharma is like the hidden-treasure store; and the saṅgha is like people who have found the hidden treasure-store. Furthermore, the Buddha is like a steadfast man who gives protection from fear; the dharma is the protection from fear; and the saṅgha, which has found complete protection from fear, is like people who have found protection from fear. The Buddha is like a consoler; the dharma is like a consolation; and the saṅgha is like people consoled. The Buddha is like a good friend; the dharma is like helpful advice; and the saṅgha is like people who have reached all their aims through following the helpful advice. The Buddha is like a mine of riches; the dharma is like the vein of riches; and the saṅgha is like people who exploit the vein of riches. The Buddha is like one who bathes a prince; the dharma is like the water for washing the head; and the saṅgha, which has been well bathed in the water of the true dharma, is like a company of well-bathed princes. The Buddha is like the maker of an ornament; the dharma is like the ornament; and the saṅgha, which is adorned with the true dharma, is like a party of kings’ sons wearing ornaments. The Buddha is like a sandalwood tree; the dharma is like the scent given its being by that [tree]; and the saṅgha, whose fever has been quelled by the true dharma, is like people whose fever has been quelled by the use of sandalwood. The Buddha is like the bestower of an inheritance; the true dharma is like the inheritance; and the saṅgha, which is heir to the heritage consisting of the true dharma, is like a company of children who are heirs to the inheritance. The Buddha is like an opened lotus flower; the dharma is like the honey being given its being by that [flower]; and the saṅgha is like a swarm of bees making use of that [honey].
From ‘The Three Refuges (Saraṇattayaṃ)’, in The Minor Readings (Khuddakapāṭha), trans. Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, Pali Text Society Translation Series, No. 32 (London: Luzac & Company, Ltd, 1960), pp. 14–16.
14
THE NOBLE SEARCH
Given the importance of the Buddha for Buddhism, it is noteworthy that biographies of the Buddha, that is, chronological accounts of the events of his life from his birth to his death, are a late addition to Buddhist scriptures. The first such texts appear some five hundred years after his passage into nirvāṅa. This is not to say that biographical elements are absent in the early literature. In the sūtras, the Buddha recounts individual events in his life that occurred from the time that he renounced his life as a prince until he achieved enlightenment six years later. Several accounts of his enlightenment also appear in the sūtras. The Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (‘Discourse on the Final Nirvāna’), describes the Buddha’s last days, his passage into nirvāna, his funeral and the distribution of his relics. Biographical accounts in the early sūtras provide little detail about the Buddha’s birth and childhood, although some sūtras contain a detailed account of the life of a previous buddha, Vipaśyin. Another category of early Buddhist literature, the vinaya (concerned ostensibly with the rules of monastic discipline), contains accounts of numerous incidents from the Buddha’s life, but rarely in the form of a continuous narrative; biographical sections that do occur often conclude with the conversion of one of his early disciples, Śāriputra.
One could gather the events set forth in these various sources, arrange them in chronological order and present a synthetic biography; many such works have been composed over the centuries and to the present day. Yet in the first centuries of the tradition, there seems to have been little interest in such projects. The stories that tended to be told were of the Buddha’s previous lives, leading to his momentous final birth; of the circumstances in which he gave a particular teaching or formulated a particular rule for the monastic code; of a particular miraculous deed; or of his death and the disposition of his relics. The focus, then, is on the Buddha as an extraordinary being endowed with supernormal powers, perfected over the aeons, who appeared briefly in this world to teach the dharma and the vinaya, before passing away, leaving behind his teachings, leaving behind the saṅgha, and leaving behind his traces on the landscape in the places where he performed miraculous deeds and the places where his relics are enshrined.
The selection below is from one of the more famous autobiographical narratives from the sutta collections, called the Ariyapariyesanā (‘The Noble Search’). Here the Buddha recounts his departure from home in search of the truth, his tutelage with other teachers, his enlightenment and his first sermon. One notes immediately the understated tone of the narrative, devoid of the detail so familiar from the biographies. There is no mention of the opulence of his youth, no mention of his wife, no mention of the chariot rides, no description of the departure from the palace in the dead of night, no mention of Māra. Although the accounts of his study with other meditation masters assumes a sophisticated system of states of concentration, the description of the enlightenment itself is both simple and sober, portrayed as the outcome of long reflection rather than as an ecstatic moment of revelation. Indeed, one would be tempted to describe the account below as demythologized, but this would imply that layers of myth had been removed from it. The relation of the mythological to the historical in the life of the Buddha is a question that has yet to be answered.
The reader will note that the Buddha refers to himself as a bodhisattva (bodhisatta in Pali), an early occurrence of the term. Familiar elements of the enlightenment narrative are also to be found here, including the reluctance to teach, the imprecations by the deity Brahmā, and the first encounter with another human being after the enlightenment. Rather than responding with obeisance to the new Buddha’s poetic proclamation of his supreme attainment, the man expressed indifference. The selection ends with the famous scene of the scepticism of the five friends, soon to become the first disciples of the Buddha.
‘Bhikkhus, before my enlightenment, while I was still only an unenlightened bodhisatta, I too, being myself subject to birth, being myself subject to ageing, sickness, death, sorrow and defilement, I sought what was also subject to ageing, sickness, death, sorrow and defilement. Then I considered thus: “Why, being myself subject to birth, do I seek what is also subject to birth? Why, being myself subject to ageing, sickness, death, sorrow and defilement, do I seek what is also subject to ageing, sickness, death, sorrow and defilement? Suppose that, being myself subject to birth, I seek the unborn supreme security from bondage, nibbāna. Suppose that, myself being subject to ageing, sickness, death, sorrow and defilement, having understood the danger in what is subject to ageing, sickness, death, sorrow and defilement, I seek the unageing, unailing, deathless, sorrowless and undefiled supreme security from bondage, nibbāna.”
‘Later, while still young, a black-haired young man endowed with the blessing of youth, in the prime of life, though my mother and father wished otherwise and wept with tearful faces, I shaved off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and went forth from the home life into homelessness.
‘Having gone forth, bhikkhus, in search of what is wholesome, seeking the supreme state of sublime peace, I went to Āḷāra Kālāma and said to him: “Friend Kālāma, I want to lead the holy life in this dhamma and discipline.” Āḷāra Kālāma replied: “The venerable one may stay here. This dhamma is such that a wise man can soon enter upon and abide in it, realizing for himself through direct knowledge his own teacher’s doctrine.” I soon quickly learned that dhamma. As far as mere lip-reciting and rehearsal of his teaching went, I could speak with knowledge and assurance, and I claimed, “I know and see” – and there were others who did likewise.
‘I considered: “It is not through mere faith alone that Āḷāra Kālāma declares: ‘By realizing for myself with direct knowledge, I enter upon and abide in this dhamma.’ Certainly Āḷāra Kālāma abides knowing and seeing this dhamma.” Then I went to Āḷāra Kālāma and asked him: “Friend Kālāma, in what way do you declare that by realizing for yourself with direct knowledge you enter upon and abide in this dhamma?” In reply he declared the base of nothingness.
‘I considered: “
Not only Āḷāra Kālāma has faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. I too have faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. Suppose I endeavour to realize the dhamma that Āḷāra Kālāma declares he enters upon and abides in by realizing for himself with direct knowledge?”
‘I soon quickly entered upon and abided in that dhamma by realizing for myself with direct knowledge. Then I went to Āḷāra Kālāma and asked him: “Friend Kālāma, is it in this way that you declare that you enter upon and abide in this dhamma by realizing for yourself with direct knowledge?” – “That is the way, friend.” – “It is in this way, friend, that I also enter upon and abide in this dhamma by realizing for myself with direct knowledge.” – “It is a gain for us, friend, it is a great gain for us that we have such a venerable one for our companion in the holy life. So the dhamma that I declare I enter upon and abide in by realizing for myself with direct knowledge is the dhamma that you enter upon and abide in by realizing for yourself with direct knowledge. And the dhamma that you enter upon and abide in by realizing for yourself with direct knowledge is the dhamma that I declare I enter upon and abide in by realizing for myself with direct knowledge. So you know the dhamma that I know and I know the dhamma that you know. As I am, so are you; as you are, so am I. Come, friend, let us now lead this community together.”