20.6 Of Insight (KV20.6)

Controverted Point: That insight into the twelve-fold base is spiritual.

Theravādin: Do you mean that there are twelve kinds of insight? You deny. I ask again. You admit. Then are there twelve First or Stream-winning Paths? Or Fruits thereof? Or twelve of any of the other Paths or Fruits? …

Pubbaseliya: But was it not said by the Exalted One:

“(A, i.) That this Ariyan Truth concerning Ill, O bhikkhus, was not among the doctrines handed down, but there arose in me the vision, there arose in me the insight (ñāṇaṃ), there arose in me the wisdom, there arose in me the understanding, there arose in me the light; (ii.) that this Ariyan fact of Ill must be comprehended; (iii.) that it was comprehended; (B, i.) that this was the Ariyan Truth concerning the Cause of Ill; (ii.) that the Cause of Ill was to be put away …; (iii.) was put away; (C, i.) that this was the Ariyan Truth concerning the Cessation of Ill; (ii.) that this Cessation was to be realized; (iii.) had been realized; (D, i.) that this was the Ariyan Truth concerning the Path going to the Cessation of Ill; (ii.) that that Path was to be developed; (iii.) that it had been developed”?

Hence surely the insight based on these twelve parts is spiritual.

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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