11.2 Of Insight (KV11.2)

Controverted Point: That it is wrong to say “he has insight” of one who, though he has banished nescience, has thoughts not conjoined with insight.

Theravādin: Then you must also admit it is not right to say that, when lust has departed, a man has “done with lust”. Similarly for hate, and for dullness, and for worldly corruptions generally. If, on the contrary, you maintain that it is right to affirm these latter propositions, then it is no less right to say, of one for whom nescience is departed, but for whom cognition not conjoined with insight is active, that he has insight.

Mahāsaṅghika: But if it be right to say thus of that person, is it in virtue of past insight? Can he be said “to have insight” by an insight that has ceased, that is past, that has subsided? You deny this … .

The Points of Controversy, an English translation of the Pali Abhidhamma Kathāvatthu. Translated by Shwe Zan Aung and C.A.F. Rhys Davids. First published by Pali Text Society, 1915.

This SuttaCentral edition was prepared by Manfred Wierich and Ven. Vimala and proofread by Josephine Tobin. Some changes were introduced:

Abbreviations, i.e., those of cited works and the participants in the controversies, were expanded.

Cross-references were linked.

Some typographic changes were introduced, among others, i.e.: the phonetic symbol “ŋ” was changed to the Pāli diacritical letter “ṃ”, “ô” to “o”, single quotes to double quotes, and “:—” to “:”.

Letter-spacing with fixed spaces was replaced with bold font.

The corrigenda were merged into the text. Some could not be resolved, though.

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