清淨道論 白話全本 · 冊16Visuddhimagga · Complete Vernacular · Vol. 16

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 The List of the Twenty-Two Faculties and the Verse of Analysis; the Meaning of the Last Three Faculties 〔CSCD §525〕

Sixteen: Exposition of the Faculties and Truths

Detailed Discussion of the Faculties

“The faculties” indicated after the elements are the twenty-two faculties: the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty, mind faculty, femininity faculty, masculinity faculty, life faculty, pleasure faculty, pain faculty, joy faculty¹, grief faculty, equanimity faculty, faith faculty, energy faculty, mindfulness faculty², concentration faculty³, wisdom faculty, the faculty of coming to know the unknown, the faculty of having known, and the faculty of the one who has known. Of these—

By meaning, by characteristic and the rest, and also by order, By distinction and non-distinction, likewise by task, and by plane—the analysis should be understood.

Of these, the meaning of eye and the rest has already been shown earlier in the manner of “it is eye because it sees.”⁴ As for the last three faculties: the first, because it arises in one who is practicing in the former part thus, “I shall know the deathless state not known before, or the Dhamma of the four truths,” and because it has the sense of a faculty, is called “the faculty of coming to know the unknown.” The second, because it has known, and because it has the sense of a faculty, is “the faculty of having known.” The third, because it arises in the one who has known—that is, in one whose taints are destroyed, in whom the task of knowledge with respect to the four truths is complete—and because it has the sense of a faculty, is “the faculty of the one who has known.”

§2 The Sense of Faculty—The Five Senses of “Lord” and the Sense of Predominance; Characteristic and the Rest 〔CSCD §525〕

What, then, is their so-called “sense of faculty”? The sense of the lord’s⁵ mark is the sense of faculty. The sense of what is spoken by the lord is the sense of faculty. The sense of what is seen by the lord is the sense of faculty. The sense of what is made by the lord is the sense of faculty. The sense of what is enjoyed by the lord is the sense of faculty. All of these [senses] apply here as appropriate.

Because the Blessed One, the Rightly and Fully Enlightened, possesses supreme sovereignty, he is the “lord”; and wholesome and unwholesome kamma [is also the lord], since among kammas no one has sovereignty. For that very reason, the faculties produced by kamma here indicate wholesome and unwholesome kamma, and they are made by that [kamma]—so they are faculties in the sense of the lord’s mark and in the sense of what is made by the lord. And all of them were shown by the Blessed One as they really are and were directly awakened to by him—so they are faculties in the sense of what is spoken by the lord and in the sense of what is seen by the lord. Further, it is that very Blessed One, the lord of sages, who enjoyed them, some by the enjoyment of resort and others by the enjoyment of development—so they are faculties also in the sense of what is enjoyed by the lord.

Furthermore, these are faculties also in the sense of sovereignty called “predominance.” For in the occurrence of eye-consciousness and the rest, the predominance of eye and the rest is established: when it [the eye] is keen, [eye-consciousness] is keen; when it is dull, it is dull. This is the analysis here first by meaning.

“By characteristic and the rest” means that the analysis should also be understood by the characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause of eye and the rest. And those characteristics and the rest of theirs were already stated in the explanation of the aggregates⁶. For the four [faculties] beginning with the wisdom faculty are in meaning simply non-delusion; the rest appear there in their own form.

§3 Order, and Distinction and Non-Distinction 〔CSCD §526〕

“By order”—this too is the order of teaching. Here, because the noble plane is attained by fully understanding the internal phenomena, the eye faculty and the rest, which are included in individual existence, were stated first. Then, to indicate “it is this”—what phenomenon that individual existence takes up to receive the designation “woman” or “man”—the femininity and masculinity faculties were stated next. To make it known that both of those [individual existences] occur bound to the life faculty, the life faculty was stated next. So long as it [the life faculty] keeps occurring, these feelings do not cease; and “whatever is felt is all suffering”—to make this known, the pleasure faculty and the rest were stated next. And for the cessation of that [suffering], these phenomena should be developed—to show the way of practice, faith and the rest were stated next. Through this way of practice, this Dhamma first becomes manifest in oneself—to show that the way of practice is not in vain, the faculty of coming to know the unknown was stated next. Because it is the fruit of that and should be developed after that, the faculty of having known was stated next. After that, this is attained by development, and once this is attained there is nothing further to be done—to make this known, the faculty of the one who has known, which is the supreme security, was stated last. This is the order here.

“By distinction and non-distinction”—here only the life faculty has a distinction, because it is of two kinds, the material life faculty and the immaterial life faculty; the rest have no distinction. Thus should the analysis here be understood by distinction and non-distinction.

§4 Task—What Each of the Twenty-Two Faculties Does 〔CSCD §527〕

“By task”—if it is asked, “What is the task of the faculties?”: take first the eye faculty. Because of the statement “the eye base is a condition, by faculty condition, for the eye-consciousness element and the phenomena associated with it,” what is to be accomplished by the nature of faculty condition—namely, by the nature of its own keenness or dullness and the like, making eye-consciousness and the other phenomena occur in accordance with its own mode, as keen or dull and so on—that is [its] task. So too for the ear, nose, tongue, and body.

The [task] of the mind faculty is to make the conascent phenomena occur under its own power. That of the life faculty is to guard the conascent phenomena. That of the femininity and masculinity faculties is to act in accordance with the mode of the marks, appearance, deportment, and bearing of woman and man. That of the pleasure, pain, joy, and grief faculties is to overcome the conascent phenomena and each to bring [them] to a gross mode. That of the equanimity faculty is to bring [them] to a peaceful, superior, and neutral mode. That of faith and the rest [of the five faculties] is to overcome their respective opposites and to make the associated phenomena attain the nature of the mode of confidence and so on. That of the faculty of coming to know the unknown is to abandon the three fetters and to make the associated [phenomena] face toward abandoning them [the three fetters]. That of the faculty of having known is to attenuate and abandon sensual desire, ill will, and the rest, and to make the conascent [phenomena] occur under its own power. That of the faculty of the one who has known is to abandon striving in every task and to be a condition for the associated [phenomena] facing toward the deathless. Thus should the analysis here be understood by task.

§5 Plane—The Division into Four Planes and the Closing Verse 〔CSCD §528〕

“By plane”—here the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, femininity, masculinity, pleasure, pain, and grief faculties belong only to the sense sphere. The mind faculty, the life faculty, the equanimity faculty, and the faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom faculties are included in the four planes⁷. The joy faculty is included in three planes, by way of the sense sphere, the fine-material sphere, and the supramundane. The last three faculties are exclusively supramundane. Thus should the analysis here be understood also by plane. For one who knows thus—

The bhikkhu of much urgency⁸, abiding in restraint of the faculties⁹, Fully understanding the faculties, will make an end of suffering.

　　This is the detailed discussion of the faculties.

Notes

¹ Joy (somanassa): the pleasant feeling of mind. In the list of the five feeling faculties this edition writes “pleasure, pain, joy, grief, equanimity”: “joy” and “grief” are what is felt by the mind, “pleasure” and “pain” what is felt by the body.

² Mindfulness (sati): the mental factor that bears the object in mind without drifting or forgetting; in the treatise it always stands alongside faith, energy, concentration, and wisdom. It belongs to a different category from the diffuse awareness that the word “mindfulness” commonly denotes today, and should be read as this treatise establishes it.

³ The two levels of concentration (samādhi): access concentration (upacāra-samādhi) is the level at which the hindrances are suppressed but absorption has not yet been entered; absorption concentration (appanā-samādhi) is the mind fully entered into the object and unmoving. This unit merely lists concentration by name as one of the twenty-two faculties; the distinction between its two levels and the method of its development belong to this book’s chapters on concentration.

⁴ The verbal explanation of the six internal faculties beginning with the eye (“it is eye because it sees,” and so on) is in the unit on the twelve bases in Chapter 15, “Bases and Elements,” of this book; this unit itself marks it as already stated and does not repeat it.

⁵ Lord (indo): ruler, one with sovereignty; the word “faculty” (indriya) is derived from it. This unit explains it through five senses—the lord’s mark, what is spoken by the lord, what is seen by the lord, what is made by the lord, what is enjoyed by the lord; the “lord” here refers either to the Blessed One or to wholesome and unwholesome kamma.

⁶ The explanation of the aggregates: Chapter 14, “Aggregates,” of this book; the characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause of the twenty-two faculties were established in that chapter, and this unit itself marks them as already stated and does not explain them again.

⁷ Four planes: the sense sphere, the fine-material sphere, the immaterial sphere, and the supramundane; the treatise uses them to determine the domain to which a phenomenon belongs (this unit writes “included in the four planes,” catubhūmipariyāpanna).

⁸ Urgency (saṃvega): the stirring of the mind on seeing the danger of birth and death, from which energy is aroused; not worldly fear.

⁹ Restraint of the faculties (indriyasaṃvara): the practice of guarding the mind at the six doors beginning with the eye, grasping neither the sign nor the particulars; its detailed account is in the passage on the virtue of restraint of the faculties in Chapter 1, “Virtue,” of this book.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 The List of the Four Truths; the Verse of Analysis; the Sixteen Meanings by Division 〔CSCD §529〕

Detailed Discussion of the Truths

And “next, the truths” means the four noble truths: the noble truth of suffering, the noble truth of the origin of suffering, the noble truth of the cessation of suffering, and the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering. Of these—

By division, by derivation, by the distinctions of characteristic and the rest, By meaning and the drawing-out of meanings, likewise by neither less nor more, By order, by the analysis of birth and the rest, by the task of knowledge, By the distinction of what is included, by simile, by tetrad, By emptiness, by singlefold and the rest, by similar and dissimilar— The wise should understand the analysis in the sequence of the teaching.

Of these, “by division”: because suffering and the rest each have four meanings¹ that are divided out, real, not unreal, not otherwise; and whoever would directly realize² suffering and the rest should directly realize them. As it is said: “Suffering has the meaning of oppression, the meaning of the conditioned, the meaning of burning, the meaning of change—these four are the meanings of suffering as suffering, real, not unreal, not otherwise. Origin has the meaning of accumulation, the meaning of source, the meaning of bond, the meaning of impediment. Cessation has the meaning of escape, the meaning of seclusion, the meaning of the unconditioned, the meaning of the deathless. The path has the meaning of leading out, the meaning of cause, the meaning of seeing, the meaning of predominance—these four are the meanings of the path as path, real, not unreal, not otherwise.” Likewise, “Suffering has the meaning of oppression, the meaning of the conditioned, the meaning of burning, the meaning of change, the meaning of direct realization,” and so on. Thus suffering and the rest should be understood according to the four meanings of each, divided out in this way. This is the analysis here first by division.

§2 Derivation—Explanation of the Four Names, Suffering, Origin, Cessation, and Path 〔CSCD §530〕

“By derivation and by the distinctions of characteristic and the rest”—here derivation is treated first. Here, the sound du is used for “vile,” for people call a vile son dupputta (a bad son); and the sound khaṃ is used for “empty,” for empty space is called kha. Now this first truth is vile, because it is the haunt of many dangers; and it is empty, because it lacks the permanence, beauty, pleasure, and self imagined by fools. Therefore, because it is vile and because it is empty, it is called dukkha (suffering).

And the sound saṃ indicates conjunction in “coming together, assembled,” and so on; the sound u [indicates] arising in “arisen, sprung up,” and so on; and the sound aya indicates a reason. Now this second truth, when the remaining conditions come together, is the reason for the arising of suffering. Thus, because in conjunction it is the reason for the arising of suffering, it is called dukkhasamudaya (the origin of suffering).

And the third truth: because the sound ni indicates absence and the sound rodha indicates a prison, here there is no prison of suffering called the prison of saṃsāra, since it is void of all destinations; or else, when it is attained, the prison of suffering called the prison of saṃsāra is no more—because it is the opposite of that, for these reasons too it is called dukkhanirodha (the cessation of suffering). Or else, because it is the condition for the cessation of suffering that consists in non-arising, it is “the cessation of suffering.”

And the fourth truth: because it faces toward that [cessation] by way of its object, it leads to this cessation of suffering; and it is the way that reaches the cessation of suffering. Therefore it is called “the way leading to the cessation of suffering.”

§3 Four Explanations of “Noble Truth” 〔CSCD §531〕

And because the noble ones beginning with the Buddhas penetrate these, they are called “noble truths.” As it is said: “Bhikkhus, there are these four noble truths. Which four? … (expanded as before) … Bhikkhus, these are the four noble truths. The noble ones penetrate these; therefore they are called noble truths.” Further, because they are the truths of the Noble One, they are also noble truths. As it is said: “Bhikkhus, in the world with its gods … (expanded as before) … among humans, the Tathāgata is the Noble One; therefore they are called noble truths.” Or else, because nobility is accomplished by directly awakening to these, for this reason too they are noble truths. As it is said: “Bhikkhus, it is precisely because he has directly awakened to these four noble truths as they really are that the Tathāgata is called an arahant, Rightly and Fully Enlightened, a noble one.” Further, because they are truths that are noble, they are also noble truths; “noble” here means real, not unreal, not deceptive. As it is said: “Bhikkhus, these four noble truths are real, not unreal, not otherwise; therefore they are called noble truths.”—Thus should the analysis here be understood by derivation.

§4 The Distinctions of Characteristic, Function, and Manifestation 〔CSCD §532〕

How by the distinctions of characteristic and the rest? Here: the truth of suffering has oppression as its characteristic, burning as its function, and occurrence as its manifestation. The truth of origin has production as its characteristic, causing non-interruption as its function, and impediment as its manifestation. The truth of cessation has peace as its characteristic, the deathless as its function, and the signless as its manifestation. The truth of the path has leading out³ as its characteristic, abandoning of defilements as its function, and emergence as its manifestation. Further, [the four truths] in turn have occurrence, causing occurrence, turning back, and causing turning back as their characteristics; likewise, [in turn] they also have the conditioned, craving, the unconditioned, and seeing as their characteristics. Thus should the analysis here be understood by the distinctions of characteristic and the rest.

§5 The Meaning of Truth—Reality That Is Not Unreal, with Verses 〔CSCD §533〕

“By meaning and the drawing-out of meanings”—here “by meaning” is treated first. If it is asked what the meaning of truth is: [the answer is that] for one who examines with the eye of wisdom, it is not inverted like an illusion⁴, not deceptive like a mirage⁵, and not of an undiscoverable nature like the self posited by outsiders; rather, in the modes of oppression, production, peace, and leading out, with a nature that is real, not inverted, and actual, it is truly the resort of noble knowledge. It should be understood that this real, not inverted, and actual nature—like the characteristic of fire, like the natural order of the world—is the meaning of truth. As it is said: “Bhikkhus, ‘this is suffering’—this is real, this is not unreal, this is not otherwise,” and so on at length. Further—

Because suffering is not non-oppressing, nor is there any other oppressor apart from suffering; By the certainty of its oppressing nature, therefore this [suffering] is reckoned as truth. Apart from it there is no other suffering; nor is there suffering that does not come from it; By the certainty of its being the cause of suffering, thus the “net”⁶ is truth. Because apart from nibbāna there is no other peace, and it is not non-peaceful; By the certainty of its peaceful nature, therefore this [cessation] is reckoned as truth. Apart from the path there is no other leading out; nor is it non-leading-out; Because it possesses the nature of leading out as it really is, thus it is agreed to be truth. Thus, without distinction among the four beginning with suffering, The wise declare that the nature of being real, not inverted, and actual is the meaning of truth.

　　Thus should the analysis be understood by meaning.

§6 The Drawing-Out of Meanings—The Five Positions of the Word “Truth” 〔CSCD §534〕

How by the drawing-out of meanings? Here the word “truth” (sacca) is seen in many meanings. That is: in “One should speak the truth and not be angry,” and the like, [it is used] of the truth of speech; in “Ascetics and brahmins stand in truth,” and the like, [it is used] of the truth of abstinence; in “Why do the disputants, calling themselves skilled, declare various truths?” and the like, [it is used] of the truth of view; in “Truth is one only, there is no second,” and the like, [it is used] of nibbāna and the path as the ultimate truth⁷; in “Of the four noble truths, how many are wholesome?” and the like, [it is used] of the noble truths. And here too [the word “truth”] is used of the noble truths. Thus should the analysis here be understood also by the drawing-out of meanings.

§7 Neither Less nor More, and Order—Why Only Four, and Why This Sequence 〔CSCD §535–536〕

“By neither less nor more”—if it is asked: why were only four noble truths stated, neither less nor more? Because no other is possible, and none of these can be removed. For there can be neither any more in addition to these, nor can any one of these be taken away. As it is said: “Bhikkhus, should an ascetic or brahmin come here [saying], ‘This is not the noble truth of suffering; another is the noble truth of suffering; I shall set aside this noble truth of suffering and make known another noble truth of suffering’—that is impossible,” and so on. And as it is said: “Bhikkhus, should any ascetic or brahmin speak thus: ‘This that the ascetic Gotama teaches is not the first noble truth of suffering; I shall reject this first noble truth of suffering and make known another first noble truth of suffering’—that is impossible,” and so on.

Further, when the Blessed One proclaimed occurrence, he proclaimed it together with its cause; when he proclaimed turning back, he proclaimed it together with its means. Thus, occurrence, turning back, and the cause of each of these two—taking this as the limit, only four [truths] were stated. Likewise, by way of what is to be fully understood, what is to be abandoned, what is to be realized, and what is to be developed; by way of the basis of craving, craving, the cessation of craving, and the means for the cessation of craving; and again by way of attachment⁸, delight in attachment, the uprooting of attachment, and the means for the uprooting of attachment—only four [truths] were stated. Thus should the analysis here be understood by neither less nor more.

“By order”—this too is the order of teaching. Here, the truth of suffering, being easy to understand because it is gross and because it is common to all beings, was stated first; to show its cause, the truth of origin was stated next; to make it known that when the cause ceases the fruit ceases, the truth of cessation was stated next; and to show the means for attaining it, the truth of the path was stated last. Or else: to arouse urgency⁹ in beings bound by the enjoyment of the pleasures of existence, suffering was stated first; to make it known that that [suffering] neither comes about unmade nor comes about through creation by a sovereign deity¹⁰ and the like, but comes about from this [origin], origin was stated next; next, to bring comfort, by showing the escape, to those who are oppressed by suffering together with its cause, stirred by urgency, and seeking the escape from suffering, cessation [was stated]; next, for the attainment of cessation, the path that leads to cessation [was stated]. Thus should the analysis here be understood by order.

§8 The Analysis of Birth and the Rest—The Phenomena Set Out under the Four Truths 〔CSCD §537〕

“By the analysis of birth and the rest”—when the Blessed One explained the noble truths, in the explanation of suffering he [stated] these twelve phenomena: “Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, death is suffering, sorrow¹¹, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering, association with the disliked is suffering, separation from the liked is suffering, not getting what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates of clinging are suffering”; in the explanation of origin he [stated] these three kinds of craving¹²: “It is this craving that leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, delighting here and there; that is, craving for sensuality, craving for existence, craving for non-existence”; in the explanation of cessation he [stated] what is in meaning the single nibbāna: “It is the remainderless fading-away-and-cessation of that same craving, its giving up, relinquishment, release, non-attachment”; in the explanation of the path he [stated] these eight phenomena: “What is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is this noble eightfold path; that is, right view … (expanded as before) … right concentration”—thus, in the explanation of the four truths, birth and the other phenomena were stated, so here too the analysis should be understood by the analysis¹³ of those, birth and the rest.

Discussion of the Explanation of Suffering

Notes

¹ Four meanings each: that is, four meanings for each of the four truths, sixteen in all—oppression, the conditioned, burning, and change for suffering; accumulation, source, bond, and impediment for origin; escape, seclusion, the unconditioned, and the deathless for cessation; leading out, cause, seeing, and predominance for the path.

² Direct realization (abhisamaya): penetrating the four truths by knowledge that confronts them directly, not knowledge by reasoning and inference.

³ Leading out (niyyāna): leading out from saṃsāra; it and the “escape” (nissaraṇa) of the truth of cessation are two different words, which this edition reads separately and does not merge.

⁴ Illusion (māyā): an appearance produced by a conjuror’s art, which seems to exist but is in fact inverted.

⁵ Mirage (marīci): the shimmer seen from afar like water when the sun shines, which vanishes when approached; hence the simile for deception.

⁶ The net (visattikā): in the verse, another name for the truth of origin, that is, craving; so named because it entangles like a net.

⁷ Ultimate truth (paramatthasacca): truth established in the ultimate sense; here it refers to nibbāna and the path.

⁸ Attachment (ālaya): lust for the five strands of sensuality and the things lusted after; the four truths are established by these four positions—attachment, delight in attachment, the uprooting of attachment, and the means for the uprooting of attachment.

⁹ Urgency (saṃvega): the stirring of the mind on seeing the danger of birth and death, from which energy is aroused; not worldly fear.

¹⁰ Creation by a sovereign deity (issaranimmāna): the doctrine held by outsiders that “the world is created by the great sovereign deity”; the treatise refutes it as a view that suffering has no cause or a wrong cause.

¹¹ Sorrow (soka): the burning of the mind touched by misfortune to relatives and the like; among the twelve phenomena it is set apart from “grief” (domanassa, the painful feeling of mind) as a separate item, and the two do not overlap.

¹² The three kinds of craving and their explanation are in Chapter 17, “Dependent Arising,” of this book; this unit gives only the citation and does not explain the words.

¹³ The first three of the twelve phenomena (birth, aging, death) are explained one by one in the next unit, and the remaining nine in the unit after that; the three cravings, nibbāna, and the noble eightfold path are in the later units of this chapter.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 The Seven Positions of the Word “Birth” 〔No number · Continuing from the Preceding Unit〕

Explanation of Birth

That is: this word “birth” (jāti) has many meanings. For instance, in “one birth, or two births,” it is used of existence; in “Visākhā, there is a class of ascetics called Nigaṇṭhas,” [it is used] of a class; in “Birth is included in two aggregates,” [it is used] of the conditioned characteristic¹; in “The first mind that arises in the mother’s womb, the first consciousness that appears—taking that, his birth is said to be,” [it is used] of rebirth-linking²; in “Ānanda, the Bodhisatta has just been born,” [it is used] of delivery; in “Not despised, not reproached, in terms of talk about birth,” [it is used] of family; in “Sister, since I was born with the noble birth,” [it is used] of noble virtue.

§2 The Birth Taken in This Unit; the Characteristic, Function, and Manifestation of Birth 〔CSCD §538〕

And it should be understood that here this [word “birth”], in the case of womb-born beings, is used of the aggregates that occur from rebirth-linking until the emergence from the mother’s womb; in the case of the rest [of beings], only of the aggregates at rebirth-linking. And even this is only a qualified statement. In the direct sense, whatever manifold aggregates appear in beings taking rebirth in this or that [destination]—the first appearance of those [aggregates] is called birth.

And this birth has as its characteristic the first generation in this or that existence, handing over as its function, and emergence here from a past existence as its manifestation; or else it has the variety of suffering as its manifestation.

§3 Why Birth Is Suffering—The List and Explanation of Seven Kinds of Suffering 〔CSCD §539〕

If it is asked: why, then, is it suffering? Because it is the basis of many sufferings. For suffering is of many kinds, that is: intrinsic suffering, suffering as change, suffering as formations, concealed suffering, unconcealed suffering, suffering in the qualified sense, and suffering in the direct sense.

Of these, bodily and mental painful feeling, because it is suffering by nature and suffering by name, is called intrinsic suffering.

Pleasant feeling, because it becomes a cause for the arising of suffering when it changes, is suffering as change.

Equanimous feeling and the remaining formations of the three planes³, because they are oppressed by rise and fall, are suffering as formations. Bodily and mental afflictions such as earache, toothache, the burning born of lust, and the burning born of hate, because they can be known only by asking and because their harm is not evident, are called concealed suffering; they are also called unevident suffering.

Afflictions arising from the thirty-two punishments⁴ and the like, because they can be known without asking and because their harm is evident, are called unconcealed suffering; they are also called evident suffering.

Apart from intrinsic suffering, all the rest set out in the analysis of the truth of suffering⁵, beginning with birth, because they are the basis of this or that suffering, are suffering in the qualified sense; while intrinsic suffering is called suffering in the direct sense.

Here this birth, because it is the basis of the suffering of the states of loss that the Blessed One too showed by similes in the Bālapaṇḍita Sutta⁶ and elsewhere, and of the kinds of suffering rooted in entry into the womb and the rest that arise even in the human state among the good destinations, is suffering.

§4 Suffering Rooted in the Seven Sources Beginning with Entry into the Womb 〔CSCD §540〕

Here, the kinds of suffering rooted in entry into the womb and the rest are as follows. When this being takes rebirth in the mother’s womb, it is not born in a blue lotus, a red lotus, or a white lotus and the like, but in the place of the womb below the receptacle of undigested food⁷, above the receptacle of digested food, between the belly-lining and the backbone—extremely cramped, shrouded in thick darkness, pervaded by an extremely foul stench steeped in the smells of various corpses, utterly loathsome—just as a worm is born in rotten fish, rotten curds, a cesspool, and the like. Born there, for ten months it is cooked by the heat produced in the mother’s womb, like something baked in a leaf wrapper, like a lump of dough being steamed; unable to bend or stretch and so on, it undergoes extreme suffering—this, first, is the suffering rooted in entry into the womb.

And when the mother suddenly stumbles, walks, sits down, stands up, or turns over, and so on, it undergoes extreme suffering through the harm of being dragged, pulled, shaken up and down, jolted, and the like, like a goat fallen into the hands of a drunkard, like a young snake fallen into the hands of a snake-charmer; and when the mother drinks cold water, it is as if born in a cold hell; when she swallows hot gruel, hot rice, and the like, it is as if showered with a rain of embers; when she swallows salty, sour, and similar things, it is as if subjected to the punishment of the lye-bath and the like—undergoing sharp suffering in this way is the suffering rooted in the mother’s carrying of the womb.

And when the fetus lies wrong in the mother’s womb, it arises suffering through cutting, splitting, and the like in that place where suffering arises, which is not fit to be seen even by friends, companions, intimates, and the like—this is the suffering rooted in the calamity of the womb.

And when the mother is giving birth, it is turned by the kamma-born winds, thrust into the birth passage, extremely fearful like a hell-pit, and dragged out through the extremely cramped gate of birth, like a great elephant dragged out through a keyhole, like a hell-being crushed by the crushing mountains⁸—the suffering that arises in this way is the suffering rooted in parturition.

And after it is born, when its body, tender as a fresh wound, is held in the hands, bathed, washed, rubbed with cloth, and so on, there arises suffering like being pierced and split by needle-points and razor-edges—this is the suffering rooted in the emergence from the mother’s womb.

And thereafter, in the course of life, it kills itself, devotes itself to self-burning and self-tormenting in accordance with the observances of the naked ascetics and the like, refuses food out of anger, hangs itself—the suffering that arises in this way is the suffering rooted in self-inflicted harm. And that which arises through undergoing killing, binding, and the like from others is the suffering rooted in harm inflicted by others.

Thus this birth is the very basis of all this suffering.

§5 The Verses on the Suffering of Birth—Six Stanzas 〔CSCD §541〕

Hence this was said—

If beings were not born in the hells, Where could that unbearable [suffering] of burning fire and the rest Find a footing? Therefore the Sage declared birth to be suffering here. Among animals there is suffering of many kinds, From the blows of whips, goads, and sticks and the rest; If birth were absent there, how could that suffering be there? Hence this birth is suffering from that side too. And among the petas there is manifold suffering, Born of hunger and thirst, wind, and the heat of the sun and the rest; Since one not born there does not have these, The Sage declared birth to be suffering also. In thick darkness, in unbearable cold, The suffering undergone by the asuras between the worlds⁹— If he had no birth there, that suffering would not be; Hence this birth is suffering from that side too. And the extremely dreadful suffering that beings undergo Dwelling long in the mother’s womb, which is like a hell of excrement, And when coming out—this too does not exist apart from birth; Hence this birth too is suffering. What need to say more? Here, wherever and whenever, Whatever suffering of this kind there is, None of it would be apart from birth—hence the Great Seer Declared this birth to be suffering first of all.

　　This, first, is the analysis concerning birth.

§6 Explanation of Aging, with Verse 〔CSCD §542〕

Explanation of Aging

“Aging too is suffering”—here aging is of two kinds: [aging] as a conditioned characteristic, and the oldness of the aggregates included in a single existence in a continuity, such as loss of teeth and the like; the latter is what is intended here. And this aging has the maturing of the aggregates as its characteristic, leading on to death as its function, and the loss of youth as its manifestation. It is suffering both because of its nature as suffering as formations and because it is the basis of suffering. For whatever bodily and mental suffering arises from the many conditions such as the slackness of the limbs, the alteration of the faculties, ugliness, the loss of youth, the decline of strength, the departure of mindfulness and intelligence, and contempt from others—aging is its basis. Hence this was said—

From the slackness of the limbs, from the alteration of the faculties, From the loss of youth, from the decline of strength, From the departure of mindfulness and the rest, from the contempt Of one’s own children, and further from falling into foolishness— Whatever bodily suffering and mental suffering a person undergoes, All of it has aging as its cause; therefore aging is suffering.

　　This is the analysis concerning aging.

§7 Explanation of Death, with Verse 〔CSCD §543〕

Explanation of Death

“Death too is suffering”—here death too is of two kinds: [death] as a conditioned characteristic, with reference to which it is said “aging-and-death is included in two aggregates”; and the cutting off of the continuity of the life faculty included in a single existence, with reference to which it is said “there is always fear of death.” The latter is what is intended here. “Death conditioned by birth,” “death by violence,” “natural death,” “death by exhaustion of life-span,” “death by exhaustion of merit”—these too are its names. This [death] has passing away¹⁰ as its characteristic, separation as its function, and departure from the destination as its manifestation. And it should be understood that it is suffering because it is the basis of suffering. Hence this was said—

The evil person sees the signs of evil kamma and the rest, The good person cannot bear separation from what is dear— The mental suffering undergone by one who is dying is the same for all. And all people, through the cutting of joints and sinews and the rest, Have bodily suffering, their vital spots being pierced. This unbearable suffering, for which there is no remedy, Has death as its basis; therefore death is said to be suffering.

　　This is the analysis concerning death.

Notes

¹ Conditioned characteristic (saṅkhatalakkhaṇa): the characteristics of conditioned phenomena—arising, presence, alteration, and passing; in this position the word “birth” refers not to the taking of rebirth by a being but to the characteristic of arising of formations.

² Rebirth-linking (paṭisandhi): the first mind that arises at the junction where one existence ends and the next begins, taking up the previous existence; its detailed account is in Chapter 17, “Dependent Arising,” of this book.

³ Three planes (tebhūmaka): the sense sphere, the fine-material sphere, and the immaterial sphere; the supramundane is not among them, so suffering as formations does not extend to supramundane phenomena.

⁴ The thirty-two punishments (dvattiṃsakammakāraṇa): thirty-two severe punishments practiced in ancient India; the treatise uses them as the example of “unconcealed suffering” because their harm is plainly visible.

⁵ The analysis of the truth of suffering: the twelve phenomena of the explanation of the truth of suffering cited in the preceding unit (birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, despair, association with the disliked, separation from the liked, not getting what one wants, the five aggregates of clinging).

⁶ The Bālapaṇḍita Sutta: the treatise gives only its name and does not cite its text; the sutta title is here given a Chinese reading, its Pāli form being preserved for the wise who come after.

⁷ The receptacle of undigested food and the receptacle of digested food (āmāsaya・pakkāsaya): the place of food not yet digested and the place of food already digested; the detailed account of their positions is in Chapter 8, “Mindfulness of the Body,” of this book.

⁸ The crushing mountains (saṅghātapabbata): mountains in hell that close together and crush beings.

⁹ The asuras between the worlds: beings dwelling in the thick darkness without the light of sun or moon and in the extreme cold between the worlds.

¹⁰ Passing away (cuti): the dissolution of the last mind of an existence; it refers to the same event as the “death” (maraṇa) being explained but is a different word, which this edition reads separately and does not merge.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 Sorrow—The Characteristic of Inner Burning, with Verse 〔CSCD §544〕

Explanation of Sorrow and the Rest

Among sorrow and the rest: what is called sorrow¹ is the burning of the mind of one touched by the misfortune of relatives and the like. Although in meaning it is simply grief, nevertheless it has inner burning as its characteristic, thoroughly burning the mind as its function, and continued sorrowing as its manifestation. And it is suffering because of intrinsic suffering² and because it is the basis of suffering. Hence this is said:

“Sorrow pierces the minds of beings like a poisoned arrow;／and like an iron arrow heated in fire it burns them again and again fiercely.／And because it brings on the ruin of sickness, aging, and death, and brings on manifold sufferings too,／therefore it is said to be suffering.”

　　This is the analysis concerning sorrow.

§2 Lamentation—The Characteristic of Wailing, with Verse 〔CSCD §545〕

Lamentation

What is called lamentation is the verbal raving of one touched by the misfortune of relatives and the like. It has wailing as its characteristic, proclaiming the virtues [of what is lost] and [one’s own] loss as its function, and agitation as its manifestation. And it is suffering because of its nature as suffering as formations³ and because it is the basis of suffering. Hence this is said:

“One who laments, wounded by the arrow of sorrow,／undergoes yet more the unbearable suffering born of the drying of throat, lips, and palate;／therefore the Blessed One declared lamentation to be suffering.”

　　This is the analysis concerning lamentation.

§3 Pain and Grief—The Two Sufferings of Body and Mind, with Verses 〔CSCD §546–547〕

Pain

What is called pain is bodily suffering; it has oppressing the body as its characteristic, producing grief in those weak in wisdom as its function, and bodily affliction as its manifestation. And it is suffering because of intrinsic suffering and because it brings on mental suffering. Hence this is said:

“Because this [bodily pain] oppresses the body and further produces mental suffering,／therefore it is especially said to be suffering.”

　　This is the analysis concerning pain.

Grief

What is called grief is mental suffering. It has oppressing the mind as its characteristic, distress of mind as its function, and mental affliction as its manifestation. And it is suffering because of intrinsic suffering and because it brings on bodily suffering. For people possessed by mental suffering weep with hair disheveled, beat their breasts, roll about, toss and turn, throw themselves down head first, take up a knife [against themselves], swallow poison, hang themselves with a rope, and throw themselves into fire—undergoing manifold sufferings in this way. Hence this is said:

“Because it oppresses the mind and brings on the oppression of the body,／therefore those who are free of grief declare grief to be suffering.”

　　This is the analysis concerning grief.

§4 Despair—The Simile of Cooking for Despair Together with Sorrow and Lamentation 〔CSCD §548〕

Despair

What is called despair is hate itself, produced by excessive mental suffering in one touched by the misfortune of relatives and the like. Some say that it is a single phenomenon included in the formations aggregate. It has burning up the mind as its characteristic, groaning as its function, and dejection as its manifestation. And it is suffering because of its nature as suffering as formations, because it burns up the mind, and because it causes dejection of the body. Hence this is said:

“Because despair produces excessive suffering by burning up the mind and causing dejection of the body,／therefore it is said to be suffering.”

　　This is the analysis concerning despair.

And here: sorrow is like cooking inside a pot over a slow fire; lamentation is like what, cooked over a fierce fire, boils over out of the pot; and despair should be seen as what remains after boiling over and can boil over no more, cooking on inside the pot until it is dried up.

§5 Association with the Disliked—Meeting the Disagreeable, with Verse 〔CSCD §549〕

Association with the Disliked

What is called association with the disliked⁴ is meeting with disagreeable beings and formations. It has the coming together of the undesirable as its characteristic, distressing the mind as its function, and detriment as its manifestation. And it is suffering because it is the basis of suffering. Hence this is said:

“Because here, on merely seeing the undesirable, there is first suffering in the mind,／and afterward [suffering] arises in the body from the harm [they do];／therefore it should be understood that the Great Seer, because it is the basis of these two sufferings,／declared association with the undesirable to be suffering.”

　　This is the analysis concerning association with the disliked.

§6 Separation from the Liked—Parting from the Agreeable, with Verse 〔CSCD §550〕

Separation from the Liked

What is called separation from the liked⁵ is parting from agreeable beings and formations. It has the loss of what is dear as its characteristic, producing sorrow as its function, and misfortune as its manifestation. And it is suffering because it is the basis of the suffering of sorrow. Hence this is said:

“Because fools, through separation from relatives, wealth, and the rest,／are struck and pierced by the arrow of sorrow,／therefore separation from the liked is reckoned as suffering.”

　　This is the analysis concerning separation from the liked.

§7 Not Getting What One Wants—Desire for the Unobtainable, with Verse 〔CSCD §551〕

Not Getting What One Wants

In “whatever one wants and does not get”: the very desire for those unobtainable things spoken of in the manner of “Oh, that we were not subject to birth!” and so on, is what is called “whatever one wants and does not get, that too is suffering.” It has desiring unobtainable things as its characteristic, searching for those [things] as its function, and not obtaining those [things] as its manifestation. And it is suffering because it is the basis of suffering. Hence this is said:

“When beings here, wishing for this or that, do not get this or that,／the suffering made of harm that arises—／because the wish for unobtainable things is its very cause,／therefore the Conqueror declared not getting what one wants⁶ to be suffering.”

　　This is the analysis concerning not getting what one wants.

§8 The Five Aggregates of Clinging—The Conclusion That Includes All Suffering 〔CSCD §552〕

The Five Aggregates of Clinging

And in “in brief, the five aggregates of clinging⁷ are suffering”—

The suffering, beginning with birth, that has been stated here in this way, and all [suffering] that has not been stated,／does not exist apart from these [aggregates of clinging];／because that is so, the Great Seer who declared the end of suffering／stated in brief that these aggregates of clinging are suffering.

For it is precisely so: what birth and the rest afflict in manifold ways is only the five aggregates of clinging—as fire does fuel, as weapons do a target, as gadflies, mosquitoes, and the like do cattle, as reapers do a field, as village-raiders do a village; and they arise only in the aggregates of clinging—as grasses, creepers, and the like do in the earth, as flowers, fruits, and young shoots do on trees.

And in the aggregates of clinging: birth is the initial suffering, aging the middle suffering, death the final suffering; the suffering of burning up under the blow of the suffering that ends in death is sorrow; the suffering of wailing because it cannot be borne is lamentation; the suffering of bodily affliction that follows from this, caused by the conjunction of disagreeable touch called the disturbance of the elements, is pain; the suffering of mental affliction in the ordinary person who, afflicted by it, conceives ill will over it is grief; the suffering of the groaning of those who fall into dejection through the growth of sorrow and the rest is despair; and the suffering of the thwarting of desire in those whose wishes are thwarted is not getting what one wants—when examined in these manifold ways, only the aggregates of clinging are suffering.

If this [suffering] were to be stated item by item, it could not be stated in full even in many aeons; therefore the Blessed One, in order to show all that suffering included in any of the five aggregates of clinging—as the taste of the water of the whole ocean [is included] in a single drop of water—said, “in brief, the five aggregates of clinging are suffering.”

　　This is the analysis concerning the aggregates of clinging.

　　This, first, is the method in the explanation of suffering.

Notes

¹ Sorrow (soka): the burning of the mind of one touched by the misfortune of relatives and the like; the treatise makes it one of the twelve phenomena of the truth of suffering, set apart from grief (domanassa) and not merged with it into one term.

² Intrinsic suffering (dukkhadukkha): one of the three kinds of suffering, namely that painful feeling is itself suffering; the division of the three kinds of suffering is in the unit “The Truth of Suffering—Explanation of Birth, Aging, and Death” in this chapter.

³ The nature of suffering as formations (saṅkhāradukkhatā): one of the three kinds of suffering, namely that formations, oppressed by rise and fall, are suffering.

⁴ Association with the disliked (appiyasampayoga): meeting with disagreeable beings and formations; the treatise makes it one of the twelve phenomena of the truth of suffering.

⁵ Separation from the liked (piyavippayoga): parting from agreeable beings and formations; the treatise makes it one of the twelve phenomena of the truth of suffering.

⁶ Not getting what one wants (icchitālābha): the desire that arises for unobtainable things; the treatise makes it one of the twelve phenomena of the truth of suffering.

⁷ The five aggregates of clinging (pañcupādānakkhandhā): the five—materiality, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—that are accompanied by taints and are the objects of clinging; their names and analysis are in Chapter 14.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 Explanation of the Truth of Origin—The Four Phrases on Craving and the Three Cravings 〔CSCD §553〕

Discussion of the Explanation of Origin

And in the explanation of origin: “it is this craving” means this craving. “Leading to renewed existence”—what makes renewed existence¹ is renewed existence; because renewed existence is its habit, it is what leads to renewed existence. “Accompanied by delight and lust” means that which goes together with delight and lust; the meaning is that it has become one with delight and lust in meaning. “Delighting here and there”—wherever individual existence arises, there it delights. “That is” is an indeclinable, and its meaning is “which are they?” “Craving for sensuality, craving for existence, craving for non-existence”—these will be made clear in the explanation of dependent arising. And it should be understood that here these three [cravings], by the meaning of producing the truth of suffering, are made into one and called “the noble truth of the origin of suffering.”

　　This is the method in the explanation of origin.

§2 Why Cessation Is Taught as the Cessation of Origin; the Verse on the Root; the Lion and the Dog 〔CSCD §554〕

Discussion of the Explanation of Cessation

If it is said: in the explanation of the cessation of suffering, what is stated in the manner of “of that same craving” and so on is the cessation of origin—why is that?—Because through the cessation of origin there is the cessation of suffering. For suffering ceases only through the cessation of origin, not otherwise. Hence it is said:

“Just as, when the root is unharmed and firm,／a tree, though cut down, grows again;／so too, when the latent tendency² of craving is not uprooted,／this suffering arises again and again.”

Thus, because suffering ceases only through the cessation of origin, the Blessed One, when proclaiming the cessation of suffering, proclaimed it only by way of the cessation of origin. For the Tathāgatas behave like lions. When they bring suffering to cessation and when they teach the cessation of suffering, they work upon the cause, not upon the fruit. But the outsiders behave like dogs. When they bring suffering to cessation and when they teach the cessation of suffering, with teachings of devotion to self-torment and the like they work upon the fruit, not upon the cause. Thus, first, the purpose of teaching the cessation of suffering by way of the cessation of origin should be understood.

§3 The Meaning of the Phrases of the Truth of Cessation, and the Characteristic, Function, and Manifestation of Nibbāna 〔CSCD §555–556〕

And this is its meaning: “of that same craving”—of that craving already stated as “leading to renewed existence” and analyzed by way of craving for sensuality and the rest. “Fading-away” refers to the path, because it was said “through fading-away one is released.” Cessation through fading-away is fading-away-and-cessation. Fading-away-and-cessation that is remainderless through the uprooting of the latent tendency is remainderless fading-away-and-cessation. Or else, “fading-away” refers to abandoning; so it should be understood that here too the connection may be made thus: remainderless fading-away, remainderless cessation. And in meaning, all of these are synonyms³ of nibbāna. For in the ultimate sense, “the noble truth of the cessation of suffering” refers to nibbāna. And because in dependence on it craving both fades away and ceases, it is called fading-away and cessation. And because only in dependence on it is there the giving up and the rest of that [craving], and because in it there is not even a single attachment to the five strands of sensuality⁴, it is called “giving up, relinquishment, release, non-attachment.”

And this [nibbāna] has peace as its characteristic, the deathless as its function—or bringing comfort as its function; and the signless as its manifestation—or non-proliferation as its manifestation.

§4 The Discussion That Nibbāna Is Not Non-Existent—Undiscoverability, and the Way of Practice Not Fruitless 〔CSCD §557–558〕

Discussion of Nibbāna

If it is said: nibbāna does not exist at all, because it is undiscoverable like a hare’s horn—not so, because it is discoverable by means. For it is discoverable by the means called the appropriate way of practice, as the supramundane mind of others [is known] through the knowledge of others’ minds⁵; therefore it should not be said, “because it is undiscoverable, it does not exist.” For it should not be said, “whatever the foolish ordinary person does not discover does not exist.”

Moreover, it should not be said that nibbāna does not exist. Why? Because [in that case] the way of practice would become fruitless. For if there were no nibbāna, then the right way of practice, led by right view and included in the three aggregates beginning with virtue, would become fruitless; but it is not fruitless, because it leads to nibbāna.

If it is said: the way of practice does not become fruitless, because it leads to “non-existence”—not so, because in the non-existence of the past and the future there is no attainment of nibbāna.

If it is said: the non-existence of present phenomena is nibbāna—not so, because their non-existence is impossible; and if [they] were non-existent, they would be non-present; and because at the moment of the path that depends on the present aggregates there is the arising of the nibbāna element with residue remaining⁶, there is a fault [in saying it is non-existence].

If it is said: at that time, because the defilements are not present, there is no fault—not so, because [in that case] the noble path would become useless. For if that were so, then even before the moment of the noble path the defilements would not exist, and so the noble path would become useless. Therefore this is no reason.

§5 Refutation of “Destruction Is Nibbāna” 〔CSCD §559〕

If it is said: because of the statement “Friend, whatever is the destruction of lust” and so on, “destruction is nibbāna”—not so, because [in that case] the fruit of arahantship too would become mere destruction. For it too is indicated in the manner of “Friend, whatever is the destruction of lust” and so on. Moreover, [in that case] nibbāna would have the fault of becoming temporary and so on. For if that were so, nibbāna would become temporary, would have the characteristics of the conditioned, and would be attainable without regard to right effort; and precisely because it had the characteristics of the conditioned, it would be included in the conditioned; because it was included in the conditioned, it would be burned by the fires of lust and the rest; because it was burned, it would be suffering.

If it is said: because after destruction there is no further occurrence, as it is called, that [non-occurrence] is nibbāna, and so there is no fault—not so, because there is no such destruction; and even if there were, it would not escape the faults stated above; and the noble path too would become nibbāna. For the noble path brings about the destruction of the faults, and so it is called destruction; and after it the faults no longer occur.

And because nibbāna is, in a qualified sense, the decisive support⁷ of that destruction called the cessation that is non-arising, it is spoken of as “destruction” by the figurative designation “of what it is the decisive support.”

If it is said: then why is it not stated by its own characteristic?—Because it is extremely subtle. And its extreme subtlety is established because it brought on the Blessed One’s disinclination [to teach], and because it is to be seen by the noble eye.

§6 The Qualities of Nibbāna—Unshared, Beginningless, Permanent; With Residue and Without Residue 〔CSCD §560–561〕

And this [nibbāna], because it is to be attained by one possessed of the path, is unshared; because it has no former limit, it is unoriginated.

If it is said: because it exists only when there is the path, it is not unoriginated—not so, because it is not producible by the path. For it is only to be attained by the path, not to be produced. Therefore it is precisely unoriginated. Because it is unoriginated, it is without aging and death. Because it has no origination, aging, or death, it is permanent.

If it is said: like nibbāna, atoms and the rest would also become permanent—not so, because there is no reason. If it is said: because nibbāna is permanent, they too are permanent—not so, because the characteristic of the reason is not established. If it is said: they are permanent because they have no arising and so on, like nibbāna—not so, because atoms and the rest are themselves not established.

And because there is the reasoning stated above, only this [nibbāna] is permanent; because it transcends the nature of materiality, it is immaterial. Because the consummation of the Buddhas and the rest has no distinction, it is one consummation only. For one who attains it by development, it can be made known by the stilling of defilements together with the residue remaining; because it is made known together with the residue remaining, it is with residue remaining. But for one in whom, through the abandoning of origin, the future fruit of kamma is destroyed, after the final mind the aggregates of occurrence no longer arise and those that have arisen disappear, so that there is the non-existence of the residue remaining; it can be made known by that [non-existence of the residue remaining], and so it is said “here there is no residue remaining,” and therefore it is without residue remaining.

Because it can be reached by the distinction of knowledge accomplished through unremitting endeavor, and because there is the word of the Omniscient One, nibbāna in the ultimate sense is not non-existent by its nature. For this was said: “Bhikkhus, there is the unborn, the unbecome, the unmade, the unconditioned.”

　　This is the door of the discussion of the analysis in the explanation of the cessation of suffering.

Notes

¹ Renewed existence (punabbhava): existence taken up again after this life; craving has the making of renewed existence as its habit, and so is called what leads to renewed existence.

² Latent tendency (anusaya): a defilement lying dormant and not yet active; the verse compares the unabandoned latent tendency of craving to an unuprooted root.

³ Synonym (vevacana): another name for the same thing; the phrases of the set formula of the truth of cessation are, in meaning, all synonyms of nibbāna.

⁴ Attachment to the five strands of sensuality (kāmaguṇālaya): attachment to the five sensual objects of visible form, sound, odor, taste, and touch; the treatise explains the phrase “non-attachment” by their total absence in nibbāna.

⁵ Knowledge of others’ minds (cetopariyañāṇa): the knowledge that knows the minds of others; the treatise uses it as the example of what is “not seen yet discoverable by means.”

⁶ The nibbāna element with residue remaining (sopādisesanibbānadhātu): the nibbāna element made known in one whose defilements are stilled but whose aggregates still remain as the basis; its distinction from that without residue remaining is in the final passage of this unit.

⁷ Decisive support (upanissaya): a powerful support; the treatise says nibbāna is the support of that destruction called the cessation that is non-arising, and so by this figurative designation nibbāna is called “destruction.”

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 The Characteristic, Function, and Manifestation of Each Factor of the Noble Eightfold Path 〔CSCD §562〕

Discussion of the Explanation of the Path

And the eight phenomena stated in the explanation of the way leading to the cessation of suffering have, to be sure, already been made clear in meaning in the explanation of the aggregates; but here we state them in order to make known the distinction among them as they occur together in a single moment.

For, in brief: the eye of wisdom of the meditator practicing for the penetration of the four truths, which has nibbāna as its object and uproots the latent tendency of ignorance, is right view. It has right seeing as its characteristic, elucidating the elements as its function, and dispelling the darkness of ignorance as its manifestation.

Likewise, the fixing of the mind on the state of nibbāna in one who possesses such view, associated with it and dispelling wrong intention, is right intention. It has right fixing of the mind [on the object] as its characteristic, absorption as its function, and the abandoning of wrong intention as its manifestation.

Likewise, the abstinence from wrong speech in one who sees thus and intends thus, associated with it and uprooting verbal misconduct, is called right speech. It has embracing as its characteristic, abstaining as its function, and the abandoning of wrong speech as its manifestation.

Likewise, the abstinence from killing living beings and the rest in one who abstains thus, associated with it and cutting off wrong action, is called right action. It has originating as its characteristic, abstaining as its function, and the abandoning of wrong action as its manifestation.

And his abstinence from wrong livelihood, which is the purification of right speech and right action, associated with it and cutting off scheming and the rest, is called right livelihood. It has cleansing as its characteristic, the occurrence of livelihood according to the true way as its function, and the abandoning of wrong livelihood as its manifestation.

Next, established on the ground of virtue called right speech, right action, and right livelihood, the arousing of energy in him that conforms to it, is associated with it, and cuts off laziness, is called right effort. It has exertion as its characteristic, the non-arising of unarisen unwholesome states and the rest as its function, and the abandoning of wrong effort as its manifestation.

When he makes effort thus, the non-forgetting of the mind, associated with it and shaking off wrong mindfulness, is called right mindfulness. It has establishing as its characteristic, non-forgetting as its function, and the abandoning of wrong mindfulness as its manifestation.

Thus, the one-pointedness of mind in one whose mind is guarded by unsurpassed mindfulness, associated with it and dispelling wrong concentration, is called right concentration. It has non-distraction as its characteristic, coordinating as its function, and the abandoning of wrong concentration as its manifestation.

　　This is the method in the explanation of the way leading to the cessation of suffering. Thus should the analysis here of birth and the rest be understood.

§2 The Task of Knowledge of the Truths—Comprehension and Penetration; the Four Views Dispelled by the Four Knowledges 〔CSCD §563〕

“By the task of knowledge”—the analysis should also be understood by the task of knowledge of the truths. For knowledge of the truths is of two kinds: knowledge of comprehension and knowledge of penetration¹. Of these, knowledge of comprehension is mundane and occurs with respect to cessation and the path in dependence on hearsay and the like. Knowledge of penetration is supramundane and penetrates the four truths by its task, with cessation as its object. As it is said: “Bhikkhus, whoever sees suffering also sees the origin of suffering, also sees the cessation of suffering, also sees the way leading to the cessation of suffering”—all should be stated thus. And that task of it will be made clear in the purification by knowledge and vision².

And among the mundane [knowledges]: knowledge of suffering occurs by overcoming its obsession and wards off identity view³. Knowledge of origin [wards off] the annihilationist view. Knowledge of cessation [wards off] the eternalist view. Knowledge of the path [wards off] the view of non-action⁴.

Or else: knowledge of suffering [wards off] the wrong practice⁵ regarding the fruit, which perceives permanence, beauty, pleasure, and self in the aggregates that are devoid of permanence, beauty, pleasure, and self. Knowledge of origin [wards off] the wrong practice regarding the cause, which occurs through the conceit of a cause in what is not a cause, thus: “The world occurs through a sovereign deity, a primal substance, time, inherent nature, and the like.” Knowledge of cessation [wards off] the wrong practice regarding cessation, which grasps the immaterial realm, the summit of the world, and the like as final release. Knowledge of the path wards off the wrong practice regarding the means, which occurs by grasping as the path of purity a path that is not the path of purity, divided into indulgence in sensual pleasure and devotion to self-torment. Hence this is said:

“Concerning the world, the origin of the world, the passing away of the world—peace, and the means of reaching it,／a person, so long as he does not understand the truths, remains bewildered.”

Thus should the analysis here also be understood by the task of knowledge.

§3 The Distinction of What Is Included—What Each of the Four Truths Includes 〔CSCD §564〕

“By the distinction of what is included”—for in the truth of suffering, all phenomena are included except craving and the taintless phenomena. In the truth of origin there are the thirty-six courses of craving⁶. The truth of cessation is unmixed.

In the truth of the path: through the door of right view there are the basis of power of investigation, the wisdom faculty, the power of wisdom, and the enlightenment factor of investigation of phenomena. By the indication of right intention there are the three thoughts beginning with the thought of renunciation. By the indication of right speech there are the four kinds of verbal good conduct. By the indication of right action there are the three kinds of bodily good conduct. Through the door of right livelihood there are fewness of wishes and contentment. Or else, because all of these—right speech, right action, right livelihood—are the virtue dear to the noble ones⁷, and the virtue dear to the noble ones is to be taken up with the hand of faith, by their presence there is the presence [of faith], and so there are the faith faculty, the power of faith, and the basis of power of desire. By the indication of right effort there are the four right endeavors, the energy faculty, the power of energy, and the enlightenment factor of energy. By the indication of right mindfulness there are the four foundations of mindfulness, the mindfulness faculty, the power of mindfulness, and the enlightenment factor of mindfulness. By the indication of right concentration there are the three concentrations beginning with that accompanied by applied and sustained thought, concentration of mind, the concentration faculty, the power of concentration, and the enlightenment factors of rapture, tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity, which are included—thus should the analysis here also be understood by the distinction of what is included.

§4 Similes—Seven Sets: The Burden, the Disease, the Famine, and the Rest 〔CSCD §565〕

“By simile”—for the truth of suffering should be seen as a burden, the truth of origin as the taking up of the burden, the truth of cessation as the laying down of the burden, and the truth of the path as the means of laying down the burden. Again, the truth of suffering is like a disease, the truth of origin like the cause of the disease, the truth of cessation like the subsiding of the disease, and the truth of the path like the medicine. Or else, the truth of suffering is like a famine, the truth of origin like bad rain, the truth of cessation like plenty, and the truth of the path like good rain.

And these should also be understood by simile by connecting them thus with an enemy, the root of the enmity, the uprooting of the enmity, and the means of its uprooting; with a poison tree, the root of the tree, the cutting of the root, and the means of its cutting; with fear, the root of the fear, freedom from fear, and the means of attaining it; with the near shore, the great flood, the far shore, and the effort of reaching it. Thus should the analysis here be understood by simile.

§5 The Analysis by Tetrad 〔CSCD §566〕

“By tetrad⁸”—here there is what is suffering but not a noble truth, what is a noble truth but not suffering, what is both suffering and a noble truth, and what is neither suffering nor a noble truth. The same method applies to origin and the rest.

Of these, the phenomena associated with the path and the fruits of asceticism, because of the statement “whatever is impermanent is suffering,” are suffering by the nature of suffering as formations, yet they are not a noble truth. Cessation is a noble truth, yet it is not suffering. And the remaining two noble truths may be suffering by impermanence, yet not [suffering] in the sense of “that for whose full understanding the holy life is lived under the Blessed One.” And in every aspect, the five aggregates of clinging, except for craving, are both suffering and a noble truth. The phenomena associated with the path and the fruits of asceticism, in the sense of “that for whose full understanding the holy life is lived under the Blessed One,” are neither suffering nor a noble truth. Thus should the connection be made, as appropriate, for origin and the rest; and thus should the analysis here also be understood by tetrad.

§6 Emptiness—No Experiencer and No Doer, with Two Verses 〔CSCD §567〕

“By emptiness, by singlefold and the rest”—here “by emptiness” is treated first: it should be understood that in the ultimate sense all the truths are empty because there is no experiencer, no doer, no one who attains final nibbāna, and no one who goes. Hence this is said:

“There is only suffering, but no one who suffers;／no doer, but only the deed.／There is quenching⁹, but no one who attains final nibbāna;／there is the path, but no one who goes.”

Or else:

The first two [truths] are empty of permanence, beauty, pleasure, and self;／the deathless state is empty of self;／and the path is devoid of permanence, pleasure, and self—／such is the emptiness in them.

Or else: three [truths] are empty of cessation, and cessation is empty of the other three. Or else, here the cause is empty of the fruit—because there is no suffering in origin and no cessation in the path; it does not have the fruit as its womb, as the primal nature of those who assert a primal nature does. And the fruit is empty of the cause—because suffering and origin, cessation and the path, are not conjoined; the fruit is not the fruit of a cause inhering in the cause, as the dyad of atoms and the rest are for those who assert inherence. Hence this is said:

“Here three are empty of cessation, and quenching too is empty of those three;／the cause is empty of the fruit, and the fruit too is empty of its cause.”

　　Thus, first, should the analysis be understood by emptiness.

Notes

¹ Knowledge of comprehension and knowledge of penetration (anubodhañāṇa・paṭivedhañāṇa): the two divisions of knowledge of the truths—knowledge of comprehension is mundane and occurs in dependence on hearsay and the like; knowledge of penetration is supramundane and penetrates the four truths by its task with cessation as its object.

² Purification by knowledge and vision (ñāṇadassanavisuddhi): the seventh of the seven purifications, namely the knowledge of the four paths; its exposition is in Chapter 22.

³ Identity view (sakkāyadiṭṭhi): the view that grasps the five aggregates of clinging as self or as belonging to self.

⁴ The view of non-action (akiriyadiṭṭhi): the view that deeds done have no efficacy and no result.

⁵ Wrong practice (vippaṭipatti): a wrong course with respect to a matter; the treatise matches the wrong practice in four places—regarding the fruit, the cause, cessation, and the means—to what the four knowledges dispel.

⁶ The thirty-six courses of craving (chattiṃsa taṇhāvicaritāni): the modes of craving that make thirty-six by eighteen internal and eighteen external; their analysis is in the chapter on dependent arising.

⁷ The virtue dear to the noble ones (ariyakantasīla): the virtue that the noble ones cherish and do not break; the treatise says it is to be taken up with the hand of faith, and so the faith faculty and the rest are also included under this door.

⁸ Tetrad (catukka): the mode that analyzes a phenomenon by the four statements “suffering but not a noble truth” and the rest; it is the twelfth of the fourteen modes of this chapter.

⁹ Quenching (nibbuti): the name of the truth of cessation in the verse; the extinction of the defilements.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 Suffering, Origin, and Cessation as Singlefold through Sixfold 〔CSCD §568〕

Discussion of the Analysis by Singlefold and the Rest

“By singlefold and the rest”—here all suffering is singlefold because of its nature of occurrence. It is twofold by way of name and form. It is threefold by the division of rebirth-existence in the sense sphere, the fine-material sphere, and the immaterial sphere. It is fourfold by the division of the four nutriments¹. It is fivefold by the division of the five aggregates of clinging.

Origin too is singlefold because it is what causes occurrence. It is twofold by association and non-association with view. It is threefold by the division of craving for sensuality, craving for existence, and craving for non-existence. It is fourfold by what is to be abandoned by the four paths. It is fivefold by the division of delight in visible form and the rest. It is sixfold by the division of the six bodies of craving².

Cessation too is singlefold because of its nature as the unconditioned element. But in a qualified sense, it is twofold by the division of with residue remaining and without residue remaining. It is threefold by the stilling of the three kinds of existence. It is fourfold by what is to be attained by the four paths. It is fivefold by the stilling of the five delights. It is sixfold by the division of the destruction of the six bodies of craving.

§2 The Path as Singlefold and the Rest; the Citation on Inclusion in the Three Aggregates 〔CSCD §568〕

The path too is singlefold because it is to be developed. It is twofold by the division of serenity and insight, or by the division of seeing and development. It is threefold by the division of the three aggregates. For because it is partial, it is included in the three aggregates, which are non-partial, as a city is [included] in a kingdom. As it is said:

“Friend Visākha, the three aggregates are not included in the noble eightfold path; friend Visākha, rather it is the noble eightfold path that is included in the three aggregates. Friend Visākha, whatever right speech, whatever right action, whatever right livelihood there is—these phenomena are included in the aggregate of virtue³. Whatever right effort, whatever right mindfulness, whatever right concentration there is—these phenomena are included in the aggregate of concentration. Whatever right view, whatever right intention there is—these phenomena are included in the aggregate of wisdom.”

For here the three beginning with right speech are themselves virtue, and so they are included in the aggregate of virtue by their own kind. For although the scripture gives the indication in the locative as “in the aggregate of virtue,” the meaning should be understood only by the instrumental⁴.

And among the three beginning with right effort, concentration by its own nature cannot be absorbed in the object with one-pointedness; but when energy accomplishes the task of exertion and mindfulness accomplishes the task of not floating away, it is able to [be absorbed] with their help.

§3 Concentration with Energy and Mindfulness—The Simile of the Three Friends Picking Flowers 〔CSCD §568〕

Here is a simile. Just as three friends, thinking “We shall celebrate the festival of the constellation,” entered a park; there one of them saw a campaka tree in full bloom, but though he raised his hand he could not reach the flowers. Then the second bent down and offered his back; he stood on that one’s back but swayed and still could not reach them. Then the other offered his shoulder. Standing on the back of one and holding the shoulder of the other, he picked the flowers as he pleased, adorned himself, and celebrated the festival of the constellation. Thus should the application of this [simile] be seen.

For the three phenomena beginning with right effort, arisen together, are like the three friends who entered the park together. The object is like the campaka tree in full bloom. Concentration, which by its own nature cannot be absorbed in the object with one-pointedness, is like the one who could not reach them even by raising his hand. Energy is like the friend who bent down and offered his back. Mindfulness is like the friend who stood offering his shoulder. Just as among them the one standing on the back of one and holding the shoulder of the other was able to pick the flowers as he pleased, so too, when energy accomplishes the task of exertion and mindfulness accomplishes the task of not floating away, concentration with their help is able to be absorbed in the object with one-pointedness. Therefore here only concentration is included in the aggregate of concentration by its own kind, while energy and mindfulness are included by their task.

§4 Wisdom and Applied Thought—The Simile of the Goldsmith Turning the Coin, and the Conclusion 〔CSCD §568〕

So too with right view and right intention: wisdom by its own nature cannot determine the object as “impermanent, suffering, not-self”; but when applied thought strikes again and again and presents [the object] to it, it can. How? Just as a goldsmith, having placed a kahāpaṇa⁵ on his hand, though he wishes to look at it from every side, cannot turn it over with his eyes alone; but by turning it again and again with his knuckles he can look at it from this side and that. So too, wisdom by its own nature cannot determine the object by way of impermanence and the rest; but because there is applied thought, which has fixing the mind [on the object] as its characteristic and striking and thorough striking as its function, which again and again takes it up and presents it, as if striking, as if turning it over, wisdom is able to determine it. Therefore here too only right view is included in the aggregate of wisdom by its own kind, while right intention is included by its task.

Thus the path is included in these three aggregates. Hence it was said, “threefold by the division of the three aggregates.” It is fourfold by way of the path of stream-entry and the rest.

§5 The General Account of All the Truths as Singlefold through Fourfold 〔CSCD §568〕

Moreover, all the truths are singlefold because of their nature of not being unreal, or because they are to be directly known. They are twofold by way of mundane and supramundane, or by way of conditioned and unconditioned. They are threefold by way of what is to be abandoned by seeing and by development, and what is not to be abandoned. They are fourfold by the division of what is to be fully understood and the rest⁶—thus should the analysis here be understood by singlefold and the rest.

§6 Similar and Dissimilar; the Citation on Piercing the Hair; the Closing Verse and the Close of the Chapter 〔CSCD §569〕

“By similar and dissimilar⁷”—all the truths are similar to one another: because they are not unreal, because they are empty of self, because they are hard to penetrate. As it is said:

“What do you think, Ānanda: which is harder to do, harder to accomplish—to shoot an arrow from afar through a tiny keyhole, arrow after arrow without missing, or to pierce the tip of a hair split into a hundred strands with [another] tip?” “Venerable sir, this is what is harder to do, harder to accomplish: to pierce the tip of a hair split into a hundred strands with [another] tip.” “Ānanda, what those people penetrate is harder to penetrate than that: whoever penetrates as it really is ‘this is suffering’ … (expanded as before) … whoever penetrates as it really is ‘this is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’”

But by the determination of their own characteristics they are dissimilar. The first two [truths] are similar: because they are deep in the sense of being hard to fathom, because they are mundane, because they are with taints; they are dissimilar by the division of fruit and cause, and by being what is to be fully understood and what is to be abandoned. The last two too are similar: because they are deep and hard to fathom, because they are supramundane, because they are without taints; they are dissimilar by the division of object and possessor of the object, and by being what is to be realized and what is to be developed. The first and the third too are similar: because they are indicated by way of the fruit; they are dissimilar by conditioned and unconditioned. The second and the fourth too are similar: because they are indicated by way of the cause; they are dissimilar by exclusively wholesome and [exclusively] unwholesome. The first and the fourth too are similar: because they are conditioned; they are dissimilar by mundane and supramundane. The second and the third too are similar: because they are neither of the trainee nor of the one beyond training; they are dissimilar by having an object and having no object.

Thus should the wise understand, by these characteristics and reasons,／the similar and dissimilar in the noble truths.

In the Visuddhimagga, composed for the gladdening of good people,

in the section on the development of wisdom,

called the Explanation of the Faculties and Truths,

the sixteenth chapter [is concluded].

Notes

¹ The four nutriments (catuāhāra): physical nutriment, contact, mental volition, and consciousness; the treatise uses them as the fourfold division of suffering.

² The six bodies of craving (chataṇhākāya): the six classes of craving arising toward the six objects—visible form, sound, odor, taste, touch, and phenomena.

³ The aggregates of virtue, concentration, and wisdom (sīlakkhandha・samādhikkhandha・paññākkhandha): the three positions of the three trainings, here the three divisions that include the eightfold path; “aggregate” here is not the aggregate of the five aggregates.

⁴ Locative and instrumental (bhumma・karaṇa): two cases of the Pāli noun—the wording of the scripture is the locative “in the aggregate of virtue,” while its meaning should be understood by the instrumental “by the aggregate of virtue.”

⁵ Kahāpaṇa (kahāpaṇa): the current coin of ancient India.

⁶ What is to be fully understood and the rest (pariññeyyādi): the four tasks regarding the four truths—suffering is to be fully understood, origin to be abandoned, cessation to be realized, the path to be developed.

⁷ Similar and dissimilar (sabhāga・visabhāga): the aspects the truths share with one another and the aspects in which they differ; this is the fourteenth of the fourteen modes of this chapter, that is, the mode that closes the chapter.