English-Buddha & His Dhamma

§2. Enlightenment

1. To feed himself during the period of meditation, Gautama had collected enough food to last him for forty days.

2. Having routed the evil thoughts that disturbed his mind, Gautama refreshed himself with food and gained strength. He thus prepared himself for meditation with the aim of obtaining enlightenment.

3. It took Gautama four weeks of meditation to obtain enlightenment. He reached final enlightenment in four stages.

4. In the first stage he called forth reason and investigation. His seclusion helped him to attain it easily.

5. In the second stage he added concentration.

6. In the third stage he brought to his aid equanimity and mindfulness.

7. In the fourth and final stage he added purity to equanimity and equanimity to mindfulness.

8. Thus with mind concentrated, purified, spotless, with defilement gone, supple, dexterous, firm, impassionate [=dispassionate], not forgetting what he is [=was] after, Gautama concentrated himself on the problem of finding an answer to the question which had troubled him.

9. On the night of the last day of the fourth week, light dawned upon him. He realised that there were two problems. The first problem was that there was suffering in the world, and the second problem was how to remove this suffering and make mankind happy.

10. So in the end, after meditation for four weeks, darkness was dispelled, light arose, ignorance was dispelled and knowledge arose. He saw a new way.

§ 3. The Discovery of a New Dhamma

1. Gautama, when he sat in meditation for getting new light, was greatly in the grip of the Sankhya Philosophy.

2. That suffering and unhappiness [were] in the world, he thought was an incontrovertible fact.

3. Gautama was, however, interested in knowing how to do away with suffering. This problem the Sankhya Philosophy did not deal with.

4. It is, therefore, on this problem--how to remove suffering and unhappiness--that he concentrated his mind.

5. Naturally, the first question he asked himself was--"What are the causes of [the] suffering and unhappiness which an individual undergoes?"

6. His second question was--"How to remove unhappiness?"

7. To both these questions he got a right answer, which is called 'Samma Bodhi' (Right Enlightenment).

8. It is because of this that the Banyan Tree has come to be known as the Bodhi Tree.

§ 4. Gautama who was a Bodhisatta, After Sammabodhi Becomes a Buddha

1. Before enlightenment Gautama was only a Bodhisatta. It is after reaching enlightenment that he became a Buddha.

2. Who and what is a Bodhisatta?

3. A Bodhisatta is a person who is seeking to be a Buddha.

4. How does a Bodhisatta become a Buddha?

5. A Bodhisatta must be a Bodhisatta for ten lives in succession. What must a Bodhisatta do in order to qualify himself to become a Buddha?

6. In his first life he acquires Mudita (joy). The Bodhisatta, having blown off his impurities as the smith blows the dross from silver, reflects that man who has been reckless and becomes sober brightens up the world like the moon freed from clouds. Joy springs up in him, realising this, and he is fervent in his desire to benefit all beings.

7. In his second life he acquires Vimala (Purity). The Bodhisatta has now removed all thoughts of lust; he is kind; he is kind to all; he neither flatters the vices of men nor disparages their virtues.

8. In his third life he acquires Prabhakari (Brightness). The intellect of the Bodhisatta now becomes as bright as a mirror. He fully knows and grasps the truths of Anatta and Anicca. His only wish is for the highest wisdom, and for this he is ready to sacrifice anything.

9. In his fourth life he acquires Arcishmati (Intelligence of Fire). The Bodhisatta in this life fixes his mind on the Eightfold Path, the Four Contemplations, the Fourfold Contest, the Fourfold Will Power, the Fivefold Morality.

10. In his fifth life he acquires Sudurjaya (Difficult to Conquer). He fully understands the connection of the relative and the absolute.

11. In his sixth life he becomes Abhimukhi. In this stage the Bodhisatta is now prepared fully to grasp the evolution of things, its cause, the Twelve Nidanas; and this knowledge, called Abhimukhi, awakens the most profound compassion in his heart for all beings blinded by Avidya.

12. In his seventh life the Bodhisatta becomes a Durangama (going far off). The Bodhisatta is now beyond time and space ; he is one with Infinity, but he still retains nama-rupa out of his great compassion for all beings. He is secluded from others, in that the lusts of the world no more cling to him than water to a lotus leaf. He quenches desires in his fellow beings, practices charity, patience, tactfulness, energy, calmness, intelligence, and the highest wisdom.

13. While in this life, he knows the Dharma, but presents it in ways understood by the people; he knows he must be tactful and patient. Whatever men do to him he bears with equanimity, for he knows that it is through ignorance [that] they misunderstand his motives. At the same time he never slackens his energy to benefit all beings, nor does he withdraw his mind from wisdom; therefore misfortune can never turn him from the righteous path.

14. In his eighth life he becomes Acala. In the stage of Acala, or 'immovable,' all strivings on the part of the Bodhisatta cease. He follows good spontaneously; whatever he will do he will succeed in.

15. In his ninth life he becomes Sadhumati. This is the stage or condition of one who has vanquished and penetrated all dharmas or systems, all quarters, and does not enter time.

16. In his tenth life he becomes Dharmamegha. The Bodhisatta attains the infinite divine eye of a Buddha.

17. The Bodhisatta acquires these ten powers which are necessary for him when he becomes a Buddha.

18. The Bodhisatta must not only acquire these ten powers as he evolves from stage to stage, but he must also practice to perfection the ten Paramitas.

19. One Paramita is to be the end of one life. Specialisation in the Paramitas must go stage by stage. One Paramita in one life and not a little of one and a little of the other.

20. It is only when he is doubly equipped that a Bodhisatta becomes qualified for becoming a Buddha. The Buddha is a culminating point in the life of a Bodhisatta.

21. The theory of the Jatakas or the birth stages of a Bodhisatta appears analogous to the Brahmanic theory of Avataras, i.e., the theory of incarnations of God.

22. The Jataka theory is based upon the Buddha having the highest degree of purity as the essence of his being.

23. The Avatar theory does not require that the God should be pure in his making. All that the Brahmanic theory of Avatar says is that God saves his followers by taking different forms although the God may be very impure and immoral in his conduct.

24. The theory that to be a Bodhisatta for ten lives as a condition precedent for becoming a Buddha has no parallel anywhere. No other religion calls upon its founder to answer such a test.

PART V: THE BUDDHA AND HIS PREDECESSORS

§1. The Buddha and the Vedic Rishis

1. The Vedas are a collection of Mantras, i.e., hymns or chants. The reciters of these hymns are called Rishis.

2. The Mantras are mere invocations to deities such as Indra, Varuna, Agni, Soma, Isana, Prajapati, Bramba, Mahiddhi, Yama and others.

3. The invocations are mere prayers for help against enemies, for gift of wealth, for accepting the offerings of food, flesh and wine from the devotee.

4. There is not much philosophy in the Vedas. But there were some Vedic sages who had entered into speculations of a philosophical nature.

5. These Vedic sages were: (1) Aghamarsana; (2) Prajapati Parmesthin; (3) Brahmanaspati, otherwise known as Brihaspati; (4) Anila; (5) Dirghatamas; (6) Narayan; (7) Hiranyagarbha; and (8) Visvakarman.

6. The main problems of these Vedic philosophers were: How did the world originate? In what manner were individual things created? Why have they their unity and existence? Who created, and who ordained? From what did the world spring up, and to what again will it return ?

7. Aghamarsana said that the world was created out of Tapas (heat). Tapas was the creative principle from which eternal law and truth were born. From these were produced the night (tamas). Tamas produced water, and from water originated time. Time gave birth to the sun and the moon, the heaven and the earth, the firmament and light, and ordained the days and nights.

8. Brahmanaspati postulated the genesis of being from non-being. By the term non-existence, he denoted apparently the infinite. The existent originally sprang up from the non-existent. The non-existent (asat, nonens) was the permanent foundation of all that is existent (sat, ens) and of all that is possible and yet non-existent (asat).

9. Prajapati Parmesthin started with the problem: "Did being come out of non-being?" His view was that this was an irrelevant question. For him water was the original substance of that which exists. For him the original matter--water--came neither under the definition of being nor under that of non-being.

10. Paramesthin did not draw any distinction between matter and motive power. According to him, water transformed itself into particular things by some inherent principle to which he gave the name Kama, Cosmic Desire.

11. Anila was another Vedic Philosopher. To him the principal element was air (vayu). It possesses the inherent capacity for movement. It is endowed with the generating principle.

12. Dirghtamas maintained that all living beings rest and depend ultimately on the sun. The sun, held up and propelled by its inherent force, went backward and forward.

13. The sun is composed of a grey-coloured substance, and so are lightning and fire.

14. The sun, lightning, and fire formed the germ of water. Water forms the germ of plants. Such were the views of Dirghatamas.

15. According to Narayana, Purusha (God) is the first cause of the universe. It is from Purusha that the sun, the moon, the earth, water, fire, air, mid-air, the sky, the regions, the seasons, the creatures of the air, all animals, all classes of men, and all human institutions, had originated.

16. Hiranyagarbha. From [a] doctrinal point of view he stood midway between Parmeshthin and Narayan. Hiranyagarbha means the golden germ. It was the great power of the universe, from which all other powers and existences, divine and earthly, were derived.

17. Hiranyagarbha means [=refers to] fire. It is fire that constituted the solar essence, the generating principle of the universe.

18. From the point of view of Vishvakarman, it was quite inadequate and unsatisfactory to hold that water was the primitive substance of all that is, and then to derive from it this world as a whole by giving it an inherent power of movement. If water be the primitive substance which is endowed with the inherent principle of change, we have yet to account for that from which water derived its being, and derived the motive power, the generating principle, the elemental forces, the laws and all the rest.

19. Vishvakarman held the view that it was God which was the motive power. God is first and God is last. He is earlier than the visible universe; he had existed before all cosmic forces came into being. He is the sole God who created and ordained this universe. God is one, and the only one. He is the unborn one (aja) in whom all the existing things abide. He is the one who is mighty in mind and supreme in power. He is the maker--the disposer. As father he generated us, and as disposer he knows the fate of all that is.

20. The Buddha did not regard all the Vedic Sages as worthy of reverence. He regarded just ten Vedic Rishis as the most ancient, and as the real authors of the Mantras.

21. But in the Mantras he saw nothing that was morally elevating.

22. In his view the Vedas were as worthless as a desert.

23. The Buddha, therefore, discarded the Mantras as a source from which to learn or to borrow.

24. Similarly, the Buddha did not find anything in the philosophy of the Vedic Rishis. They were groping to reach the truth. But they had not reached it.

25. Their theories were mere speculations, not based on logic nor on facts. Their contributions to philosophy created no social values.

26. He therefore rejected the philosophy of the Vedic Rishis as useless.

§2. Kapila— The Philosopher

1. Among the ancient philosophers of India, the most pre-eminent was Kapila.

2. His philosophical approach was unique, and as philosopher he stood in a class by himself. His philosophy was known as the Sankhya Philosophy.

3. The tenets of his philosophy were of a startling nature.

4. Truth must be supported by proof. This is the first tenet of the Sankhya system. There is no truth without proof.

5. For purposes of proving the truth, Kapila allowed only two means of proof--(1) perception, and (2) inference.

6. By perception is meant mental apprehension of a present object.

7. Inference is threefold: (1) from cause to effect, as from the presence of clouds to rain; (2) from effect to cause, as from the swelling of the streams in the valleys to rain in the hills; and (3) by analogy, as when we infer from the fact that a man alters his place when he moves that the stars must also move, since they appear in different places.

8. His next tenet related to causality--creation and its cause.

9. Kapila denied the theory that there was a being who created the universe. In his view a created thing really exists beforehand in its cause, just as the clay serves to form a pot, or the threads go to form a piece of cloth.

10. This is the first ground on which Kapila rejected the theory that the universe was created by a being.

11. But there are other grounds which he advanced in support of his point of view.

12. The non-existent cannot be the subject of an activity; there is no new creation. The product is really nothing else than the material of which it is composed: the product exists before its coming into being ,in the shape of its material of which it is composed. Only a definite product can be produced from such material; and only a specific material can yield a specific result.

13. What then is the source of the empirical universe?

14. Kapila said the empirical universe consists of things evolved (Vyakta) and things that are not evolved (Avyakta).

15. Individual things (Vyakta Vastu) cannot be the source of unevolved things (Avyakta Vastu).

16. Individual things are all limited in magnitude, and this is incompatible with the nature of the source of the universe.

17. All individual things are analogous one to another, and therefore no one [of them] can be regarded as the final source of the other. Moreover, as they all come into being from a source, they cannot constitute that source.

18. Further, argued Kapila, an effect must differ from its cause, though it must consist of the cause. That being so, the universe cannot itself be the final cause. It must be the product of some ultimate cause.

19. When asked why the unevolved cannot be perceived, why does it not show movement which would make it perceivable, Kapila replied:

20. "It may be due to various causes. It may be that its fine nature makes, it imperceptible, just as other things of whose existence there is no doubt, cannot be perceived; or because of their too great a distance or proximity; or through the intervention of a third object; or through admixture with similar matter; or through the presence of some more powerful sensation; or the blindness or other defect of the senses or the mind of the observer."

21. When asked, "What then is the source of the universe? What makes the difference between the evolved and unevolved part of the universe?

22. Kapila's reply was: "Things that have evolved have a cause, and the things that have not evolved have also a cause. But the source of both is uncaused and independent.

23. "The things that have evolved are many in number, and limited in space and name. The source is one, eternal and all-pervasive. The things evolved have activities and parts; the source is imminent in all, but has neither activities nor parts."

24. Kapila argued that the process of development of the unevolved is through the activities of three constituents of which it is made up, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. These are called three Gunas.

25. The first of the constituents, or factors, corresponds to what we call as light in nature, which reveals, which causes pleasure to men; the second is that [=what] impels and moves, what produces activity; the third is what is heavy and puts under restraint, what produces the state of indifference or inactivity.

26. The three constituents act essentially in close relation; they overpower and support one another, and intermingle with one another. They are like the constituents of a lamp, the flame, the oil, and wick.

27. When the three Gunas are in perfect balance, none overpowering the other, the universe appears static (Achetan) and ceases to evolve.

28. When the three Gunas are not in balance, one overpowers the other, the universe becomes dynamic (sachetan), and evolution begins.

29. Asked why the Gunas become unbalanced, the answer which Kapila gave was [that] this disturbance in the balance of the three Gunas was due to the presence of Dukha (suffering).

30. Such were the tenets of Kapila's philosophy.

31. Of all the philosophers, the Buddha was greatly impressed by the doctrines of Kapila.

32. He was the only philosopher whose teachings appeared to the Buddha to be based on logic and facts.

33. But he did not accept everything which Kapila taught. Only three things did the Buddha accept from Kapila.

34. He accepted that reality must rest on proof. Thinking must be based on rationalism.

35. He accepted that there was no logical or factual basis for the presumption that God exists or that he created the universe.

36. He accepted that there was Dukha (suffering) in the world.

37. The rest of Kapila's teachings he just bypassed as being irrelevant for his purpose.

§ 3. The Bramhanas

1. Next to the Vedas are the religious books known as the Bramhanas. Both were held as sacred books. Indeed the Bramhanas are a part of the Vedas. The two went together and were called by a common name, Sruti.

2. There were four theses on which the Bramhanic Philosophy rested.

3. The first thesis was that the Vedas are not only sacred, but that they are infallible, and they are not to be questioned.

4. The second thesis of the Bramhanic Philosophy was that salvation of the soul--that is escape from transmigration--can be had only by the due performance of Vedic sacrifices, and observances of religious rites and ceremonies, and the offering of gifts to Brahmins.

5. The Brahmins had not only a theory of an ideal religion as contained in the Vedas, but they also had a theory for an ideal society.

6. The pattern of this ideal society they named Chaturvarna. It is imbedded in the Vedas, and as the Vedas are infallible, and as their authority cannot be questioned, so also Chaturvarna as a pattern of society was binding and unquestionable.

7. This pattern of society was based upon certain rules.

8. The first rule was that society should be divided into four classes: (1) Brahmins; (2) Kshatriyas; (3) Vaishyas; and (4) Shudras.

9. The second rule was that there cannot be social equality among these four classes. They must be bound together by the rule of graded inequality.

10. The Brahmins to be at the top, the Kshatriyas to be kept below the Brahmins but above the Vaishyas, the Vaishyas to be below the Kshatriyas but above the Shudras, and the Shudras to be the lowest of all.

11. These four classes were not to be equal to one another in the matter of rights and privileges. The rule of graded inequality governed the question of rights and privileges.

12. The Brahmin had all the rights and privileges which he wished to claim. But a Kshatriya could not claim the rights and privileges which a Brahmin could. He had more rights and privileges than a Vaishya could claim. The Vaishya had more rights and privileges than a Shudra. But he could not claim the rights and privileges which a Kshatriya could. And the Shudra was not entitled to any right, much less any privilege. His privilege was to subsist without offending the three superior classes.

13. The third rule of Chaturvarna related to the division of occupations. The occupation of the Brahmin was learning and teaching and the performance of religious observances. The occupations of the Kshatriya was fighting. Trade was assigned to the Vaishyas. The occupations of the Shudras was service of the three superior classes. These occupations assigned to different classes were exclusive. One class could not trespass upon the occupation of the other.

14. The fourth rule of Chaturvarna related to the right to education. The pattern of Chaturvarna gave the right to education to the first three classes, the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. The Shudras were denied the right to education. This rule of Chaturvarna did not deny the right to education to the Shudras only. It denied the right to education to all women, including those belonging to the class of Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas.

15. There was a fifth rule. According to it, man's life was divided into four stages. The first stage was called Bramhacharya; the second stage was called Grahastashram; the third stage was called Vanaprasta and the fourth stage was called Sannyasa.

16. The object of the first stage was study and education. The object of the second stage was to live a married life. The object of the third stage was to familiarise a man with the life of a hermit, i.e., severing family ties, but without deserting his home. The object of the fourth stage was to enable a man to go in search of God and seek union with him.

17. The benefits of these stages were open only to the male members of the three superior classes. The first stage was not open to the Shudras and women. Equally the last stage was not open to the Shudras and women.

18. Such was the divine pattern of an ideal society called Chaturvarna. The Brahmins had idealised the rule and had realised the ideal without leaving any cracks or loopholes.

19. The fourth thesis of Brahmanic Philosophy was the doctrine of Karma. It was part of the thesis of transmigration of the soul. The Karma of the Brahmins was an answer to the question, "Where did the soul land on transmigration with his new body on new birth?" The answer of the Brahmanic Philosophy was that it depended on a man's deeds in his past life. In other words, it depended on his Karma.

20. The Buddha was strongly opposed to the first tenet of Brahmanism. He repudiated their thesis that the Vedas are infallible and their authority could never be questioned.

21. In his opinion, nothing was infallible and nothing could be final. Everything must be open to re-examination and reconsideration, whenever grounds for re-examination and reconsideration arise.

22. Man must know the truth--and real truth. To him freedom of thought was the most essential thing. And he was sure that freedom of thought was the only way to the discovery of truth.

23. Infallibility of the Vedas meant complete denial of freedom of thought.

24. For these reasons this thesis of the Brahmanic Philosophy was most obnoxious to him.

25. He was equally an opponent of the second thesis of the Brahmanic Philosophy. The Buddha did admit that there was any [=some] virtue in a sacrifice. But he made a distinction between true sacrifice and false sacrifice.

26. Sacrifice in the sense of self-denial for the good of others, he called true sacrifice. Sacrifice in the sense of killing an animal as an offering to God for personal benefit, he regarded as a false sacrifice.

27. The Brahmanic sacrifices were mostly sacrifices of animals to please their gods. He condemned them as false sacrifices. He would not allow them, even though they be performed with the object of getting salvation for the soul.

28. The opponents of sacrifices used to ridicule the Brahmins by saying, "If one can go to heaven by sacrificing an animal, why should not one sacrifice one's own father? That would be a quicker way of going to heaven."

29. The Buddha wholeheartedly agreed with this view.

30. The theory of Chaturvarna was as repugnant to the Buddha as the theory of sacrifices was repulsive to him.

31. The organization of society set up by Brahmanism in the name of Chaturvarna did not appear to him a natural organization. Its class composition was compulsory and arbitrary. It was a society made to order. He preferred an open society and a free society.

32. The Chaturvarna of the Brahmins was a fixed order never to be changed. Once a Brahmin always a Brahmin. Once a Kshatriya always a Kshatriya, once a Vaishya always a Vaishya, and once a Shudra always a Shudra. Society was based on status conferred upon an individual by the accident of his birth. Vice, however heinous, was no ground for degrading a man from his status, and virtue, however great, had no value [=ability] to raise him above it. There was no room for worth, nor for growth.

33. Inequality exists in every society. But it was different with Brahmanism. The inequality preached by Brahmins was its official doctrine. It was not a mere growth. Brahmanism did not believe in equality. In fact, it was opposed to equality.

34. Brahmanism was not content with inequality. The soul of Brahmanism lay in graded inequality.

35. Far from producing harmony, graded inequality, the Buddha thought, might produce in society an ascending scale of hatred and a descending scale of contempt, and might be a source of perpetual conflict.

36. The occupations of the four classes were also fixed. There was no freedom of choice. Besides, they were fixed not in accordance with skill, but in accordance with birth.

37. On a careful review of the rules of Chaturvarna, the Buddha had no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that the philosophic foundations on which the social order was reared by Brahmanism were wrong if not selfish.

38. It was clear to him that it did not serve the interests of all, much less did it advance the welfare of all. Indeed, it was deliberately designed to make [the] many serve the interests of the few. In it man was made to serve a class of self-styled supermen.

39. It was calculated to suppress and exploit the weak, and to keep them in a state of complete subjugation.

40. The law of Karma as formulated by the Brahmins, thought the Buddha, was calculated to sap the spirit of revolt completely. No one was responsible for the suffering of man except he himself. Revolt could not alter the state of suffering ; for suffering was fixed by his past Karma as his lot in this life.

41. The Shudras and women--the two classes whose humanity was most mutilated by Brahmanism--had no power to rebel against the system.

42. They were denied the right to knowledge, with the result that by reason of their enforced ignorance they could not realize what had made their condition so degraded. They could not know that Brahmanism had robbed them completely of the significance of their life. Instead of rebelling against Brahmanism, they had become the devotees and upholders of Brahmanism.

43. The right to bear arms is the ultimate means of achieving freedom which a human being has. But the Shudras were denied the right to bear arms.

44. Under Brahmanism the Shudras were left as helpless victims of a conspiracy of selfish Brahmanism, powerful and deadly Kshatriyas, and wealthy Vaishyas.

45. Could it be amended? Knowing that it was a divinely ordained social order, he knew that it could not be. It could only be ended.

46. For these reasons the Buddha rejected Brahmanism as being opposed to the true way of life.

§4. The Upanishads and Their Teachings

1. The Upanishads constituted another piece of literature. It is not part of the Vedas. It is uncanonical.

2. All the same, they did form a part of religious literature.

3. The number of the Upanishads is quite large. Some important, some quite unimportant.

4. Some of them were ranged against the Vedic theologians, the Brahmin priests.

5. All of them agreed in viewing Vedic study as a study of nescience or ignorance (avidya).

6. They were all agreed in their estimate of the four Vedas and the Vedic science as the lower knowledge.

7. They were all agreed in questioning the divine origin of the Vedas.

8. They were all agreed in denying the efficacy attributed to sacrifices, to the funeral oblations, and the gifts to the priests which are the fundamentals of the Brahmanic philosophy.

9. This, however, was not the main topic with which the Upanishads were concerned. Their discussions centred round Brahman and Atman.

10. Brahman was the all-pervading principle which binds the universe, and [they maintained] that salvation lay in the Atman realizing that it is Brahman.

11. The main thesis of the Upanishads was that Brahmana was a reality and that Atmana was the same as Brahmana. The Atmana did not realize that it was Brahmana because of the Upadhis in which it was entangled.

12. The question was, Is Brahmana a reality? The acceptance of the Upanishadic thesis depended upon the answer to this question.

13. The Buddha could find no proof in support of the thesis that Brahmana was a reality. He, therefore, rejected the thesis of the Upanishads.

14. It is not that questions on this issue were not put to the authors of the Upanishads. They were.

15. Such questions were put to no less a person than Yajnavalkya, a great seer who plays so important a part in the Brahadarnyka Upanishad.

16. He was asked, "What is Brahmana? What is Atmana " All that Yajnavalkya could say, "Neti! Neti! I know not! I know not! "

17. "How can anything be a reality about which no one knows anything?" asked the Buddha. He had, therefore, no difficulty in rejecting the Upanishadic thesis as being based on pure imagination.

PART VI: THE BUDDHA AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES

§ 1. His Contemporaries

1. At the time when Gautama took Parivraja, there was a great intellectual ferment in the country. Besides the Brahmanic Philosophy there were as many as sixty-two different schools of philosophy, all opposed to the Brahmanic Philosophy. Of them at least six were worthy of attention.

2. Of these schools of philosophy there was one headed by Purana Kassappa. His doctrine was known as Akriyavada. He maintained that the soul was not affected in any way by Karma. One may do, or one may get things done. One may do injury, or one may get someone to kill. One may commit theft or dacoity [=highway robbery], or one may get theft or dacoity committed; one may commit adultery, or one may get adultery committed; one may tell a lie, or one may get a lie told. Nothing affects the soul. An act, however licentious, does not affect the soul with sin. An act, however good, does not bring merit to the soul. Nothing has any Kriya (result) on the soul. When a person dies, all the elements of which he is made join in their originals. Nothing survives after death, neither body nor soul.

3. Another school of thought was known as Niyativada. Its chief propounder was Makhali Ghosal. His doctrine was a kind of fatalism or determinism. He taught that no one can do anything or undo anything. Things happen. No one can make them happen. No one can remove unhappiness, increase it, or diminish it. One must undergo one's share of the experiences of the world.

4. The third school was known as Ucchedavada. Its chief propounder was Ajit Kesakambal. His doctrine was a kind of Annihilism. He taught that there was nothing in Yajna, Haom; there is no such thing as the fruits or effects of deeds to be enjoyed or suffered by the soul. There is neither heaven nor hell. Man is made up of certain elements of unhappiness in the world. The soul cannot escape it. Whatever sorrow or unhappiness there was in the world, the soul cannot escape. This sorrow or unhappiness will come to an end automatically. The soul must undergo rebirth during eighty-four lakhs [=hundred thousands] of cycles of Mahakalpas. Then only the sorrow and unhappiness of the soul will end, not before nor by any other means.

5. The fourth school was known as Annyonyavad. The head of this school was Pakudha Kacchyana. He preached that there are seven elements which go to make up a being, namely, Prathvi, Apa, Tej, Vayu, Sukha, Dukha and the Soul. Each is independent of the other; one does not affect the other. They are self-existent, and they are eternal. Nothing can destroy them. If any one chops off the head of man, he does not kill him. All that happens is that the weapon has entered the seven elements.

6. Sanjaya Belaputta had his own school of philosophy. It was known as Vikshepavada, a kind of scepticism. He argued, "if anyone asked me is there heaven, if I feel there was I would say yes. But if I feel there was no heaven I would say no. If I am asked whether human beings are created, whether man has to suffer the fruits of his action whether good or bad, and whether the soul lives after death, I say nay to all these because I don't think they exist. This is how Sanjaya Belaputta summed up his doctrine.

7. The sixth school of philosophy was known as Chaturyamsamvarvad. The head of this school who was alive at the time when Gautama was searching for light was Mahavir, who was also called Nigantha Nathaputta. Mahavir taught that the soul had to undergo rebirth because of the bad karmas done in the past life and in the present life. One must therefore get over the bad, he suggested, by tapascharya. For preventing the doing of bad karmas in this life Mahavira prescribed the observance of chaturyama dharma, i.e., observance of four rule: (1) not to kill; (2) not to steal; (3) not to tell a lie; and (4) not to have property, and to observe celibacy.

§ 2. His Attitude to His Contemporaries

1. The Buddha did not accept the teachings of the new philosophers.

2. His rejection of their teaching was not without reasons. He said that:

3. If the doctrines of Purana Kassyappa or Pakudha Kacchyana were true, then one can do any evil or any harm; one may even go to the length of killing another without involving any social responsibility or social consequences.

4. If the doctrine of Makhali Ghosal is true, then man becomes the slave of destiny. He cannot liberate himself.

5. If the doctrine of Ajit Kesakambal is true, then all that man has to do is to eat, drink and make merry.

6. If the doctrine of Sanjaya Belaputta was true, then man must float about, and live without a positive philosophy of life.

7. If the doctrine of Nigantha Nathaputta was true, then man's life must be subjected to Asceticism and Tapascharya, a complete subjugation and uprooting of man's instincts and desires.

8. Thus, none of the paths of life suggested by the philosophers appealed to the Buddha. He thought they were the thoughts of men who had become hopeless, helpless, and reckless. He therefore decided to seek light elsewhere.

PART VII: COMPARISON AND CONTRAST

§ 1. What HE Rejected

1. This survey of the philosophical and religious thought shows that at the time when the Buddha formulated his Sasana, certain ideas had a firm grip on the mind of the people. They were:

(i) Belief in the infallibility of the Vedas

(ii) Belief in Moksha, or Salvation of the soul, i.e., its ceasing to be born again

(iii) Belief in the efficacy of rites, ceremonies and sacrifices as means of obtaining moksha

(iv) Belief in Chaturvarna as the ideal for social organization

(v) Belief in Iswara as the creator of, and in Brahmana as the principle underlying, the universe

(vi) Belief in Atmana, or the soul

(vii) Belief in Sansara (wandering together), i.e., transmigration of the soul

(viii) Belief in Karma, i.e., the determination of man's position in present life by deeds done by him in his past life.

2. In formulating the principles of his Sasana, the Buddha dealt with this old stock of ideas in his own way.

3. The following are the ideas which he rejected:

(i) He condemned indulging in speculation as to the whence, whither, and what am I?

(ii) He discarded heresies about the soul, and refrained from identifying it with either the body, sensations, volitions, and [=or] consciousness.

(iii) He discarded all the Nihilistic views which were promulgated by certain religious teachers.

(iv) He condemned such views as were held by heretics.

(v) He discarded the theory that the cosmic progress had a known beginning.

(vi) He repudiated the theory that a God created man, or that he came out of the body of some Bramha.

(vii) The existence of the soul he either ignored or denied.

§ 2. What HE Modified

1. He accepted the great grand law of cause and effect with its corollaries.

2. He repudiated the fatalistic view of life, and [the] other equally foolish view that a God predestined as to what should happen for man and the world.

3. He discarded the theory that all deeds committed in some former birth have the potency to produce suffering, making present activity impotent. He denied the fatalistic view of Karma. He replaced the view of Karma by a much more scientific view of Karma. He put new wine in old bottle[s].

4. Transmigration (sansara) was replaced by the doctrine of re-birth.

5. He replaced the doctrine of moksha or salvation of the soul by the doctrine of Nibbana.

6. The Buddha Sasana is thus an original piece [of thought]. The little in it which is old is either modified or restated.

§3. What HE Accepted

1. The first distinguishing feature of his teachings lay in the recognition of the mind as the centre of everything.

2. Mind precedes things, dominates them, creates them. If mind is comprehended, all things are comprehended.

3. Mind is the leader of all its faculties. Mind is the chief of all its faculties. The very mind is made up of those faculties.

4. The first thing to attend to is the culture of the mind.

5. The second distinguishing feature of his teachings is that mind is the fount of all the good and evil that arises within, and befalls us from without.

6. Whatsoever there is of evil, connected with evil, belonging to evil--that issues from the mind. Whatsoever there is of good, connected with good, belonging to good--all issues from mind.

7. If one speaks or acts with a pounded [=polluted?] mind, then affliction follows him as the wheels of the cart follow the feet of the bullocks who pull the cart. The cleaning of the mind is, therefore, the essence of religion.

8. The third distinguishing feature of his teachings is the avoidance of all sinful acts.

9. The fourth distinguishing feature of his teaching is that real religion lies not in the books of religion, but in the observance of the tenets of the religion.

10. Can anyone say that the Buddha's religion was not his own creation?

BOOK II: CAMPAIGN OF CONVERSION

Part I — Buddha and His Vishad Yoga

Part II — The Conversion of the Parivrajakas

Part III — Conversion of the High and the Holy

Part IV — Call from Home

Part V — Campaign for Conversion Resumed.

Part VI — Conversion of the Low and the Lowly

Part VII — Conversion of Women

Part VIII — Conversion of the Fallen and the Criminals

PART I: BUDDHA AND HIS VISHAD YOGA

§1. To Preach or Not to Preach

1. After having attamed enlightenment and after having formulated his way, doubt arose in the mind of the Buddha. Should he go forth and preach his doctrine, or should he continue to devote himself to his own personal perfection?

2. He said to himself, "True, I have gained a new doctrine. But it is too difficult for the common man to accept it and follow it. It is too subtle even for the wise.

3. "It is hard for mankind to liberate itself from the entanglement of God and Soul. It is hard for mankind to give up its belief in rites and ceremonies. It is hard for mankind to give up its belief in Karma.

4. "It is hard for mankind to give up its belief in the immortality of the Soul, and accept my doctrine that the Soul as an independent entity does not exist and does not survive after death.

5. "Mankind is intent on its selfishness, and takes delight and pleasure in it. It is hard for mankind to accept my doctrine of righteousness overriding selfishness.

6. "If I were to teach my doctrine, and others did not understand it; or, understanding it, did not accept; or, accepting it, did not follow it, it would be weariness to others and a vexation to me.

7. "Why not remain a sanyasi away from the world, and use my gospel to perfect my own self?" he asked himself. "At least I can do good to myself."

8. Thus as he reflected, his mind turned to inaction, not to teaching of the gospel.

9. Then Brahma Sahampati, knowing what was passing in the mind of the Buddha, thought, "Verily the world is being destroyed, verily the world is going to destruction, if the Tathagata, the fully enlightened, turns to inaction and not to teaching his doctrine."

10. Filled with anxiety, Brahma Sahampati left the Brahma world and appeared before the Buddha. And arranging his upper robe on one shoulder, he bent down and with clasped hands said, "Thou art no longer Siddharth Gautama, Thou art Buddha. Thou art the Blessed One who is blessed with the fullest enlightenment. Thou art the Tathagatha. How can thou refuse to enlighten the world? How can thou refuse to save erring humanity?

11. "There are beings full of impurity that are falling away through not hearing the doctrine.

12. "As the Lord knows," proceeded Brahma Sahampati, "Among the Magadhas arose in ancient times, doctrine impure, with many blemishes devised.

13. "Will not the Lord open for them the door of his immortal doctrine?

14. "As one upon a rocky mountain standing beholdeth all the people round about him, even thus, O thou, with wisdom distilled, ascending all, behold, look down, thou griefless one, upon those plunged in their griefs.

15. "Rise up, O hero, victor in battle, O caravan-leader, free from the debt of birth, go to the world and [do] not turn away from it.

16. "May the Lord in his compassion design to teach his gospel to men and to gods."

17. "O Brahma, Eminent and Excellent among men, if I did not give public utterance to my gospel, it is because I perceived vexation," was the reply of the Buddha.

18. Knowing that there was so much unhappiness in the world, the Buddha realised that it was wrong for him to sit as a sanyasi with folded arms and allow things to remain as they were.

19. Asceticism he found to be useless. It was vain to attempt to escape from the world. There is no escape from the world even for an ascetic. He realised that what is necessary is not escape from the world. What is necessary is to change the world and to make it better.

20. He realised that he left the world because there was so much conflict, resulting in misery and unhappiness, and for which he knew no remedy. If he can [=could] banish misery and unhappiness from the world by the propagation of his doctrine, it was his duty to return to the world and serve it, and not sit silent as the personification of inactive impassivity.

21. The Buddha therefore agreed to the request of Brahma Sahampati and decided to preach his doctrine to the world.

§ 2. Proclamation of Good News by Brahma Sahampati

1. Then, Brahma Sahampati, thinking, "I have been instrumental in persuading the Buddha to agree to preach his doctrine to the masses," felt extremely happy. He saluted the Buddha, went round him passing to the right, took a look, and departed.

2. On his way back he kept on proclaiming to the world, "Rejoice at the glad tidings. The Buddha, our Lord, has found the root of all evil and unhappiness in the world. He knows the way out.

3. "The Buddha will bring comfort to the weary and sorrow-laden. He will give peace to those stricken by war. He will give courage to those who are broken in heart. He will give to those who are suppressed and oppressed, faith and hope.

4. "Ye that suffer from the tribulations of life, ye that have to struggle and endure, ye that yearn for justice, rejoice at the glad tidings.

5. "Heal your wounds, ye that are wounded. Eat your fill, ye that are hungry. Rest, ye that are weary, and quench your thirst, ye that are thirsty. Seek the light, ye that are in darkness. Be of good cheer, ye that are forlorn.

6. "In his doctrine there is love to create a longing to own [=acknowledge] those who are disowned or unowned; to the degraded there is the ennoblement ever present to raise them; to the disinherited and the downtrodden there is equality blazing forth their path to advancement.

7. "His doctrine is the doctrine of righteousness, and his aim is to establish the kingdom of righteousness on earth.

8. "His doctrine is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

9. "Blessed is the Buddha, for his is the path of reason, and his is the way of emancipation from superstition. Blessed is the Buddha who teaches the middle way. Blessed is the Buddha who teaches the law of righteousness. Blessed is the Buddha who teaches the peace of Nibbana. Blessed is the Buddha who preaches love, kindness, and fellowship to help fellow beings to obtain salvation."

§ 3. Two Types of Conversion

1. In the Buddha's scheme of things conversion has two meanings.

2. Conversion to the Order of Bhikkus, called Sangh.

3. Secondly, it means conversion of a householder as an Upasaka, or lay follower of the Buddha's Dhamma.

4. Except on four points, there is no difference in the way of life of the Bhikku and the Upasaka.

5. An Upasaka remains a householder. A Bhikku becomes a homeless wanderer.

6. Both the Upasakas and the Bhikkus must observe in their life certain rules.

7. Here again to the Bhikku they are vows, the breach of which ends in punishment. To the Upasaka they are precepts. They must be observed to the best of his ability.

8. An Upasaka can have property. A Bhikku cannot have.

9. To become an Upasaka, there is no ceremony.

10. To become a Bhikku, he must undergo a ceremony called Upasampada.

11.The Buddha converted those who came to him according to their wish, either as Bhikku or as Upasaka.

12. An Upasaka could become a Bhikku whenever he felt like it.

13. And a Bhikku had to cease to be a Bhikku when he committed a breach of the major vows, or whenever he wished to give up his membership of the Order.

14. It must not be understood that the Buddha converted only those whose names occur in the following pages.

15. The instances are chosen only to show that he did not observe any distinction as to caste or sex in admitting persons to his Sangh or preaching his Dhamma.

PART II: THE CONVERSION OF THE PARIVRAJAKAS

§ 1. Arrival at Sarnath

1. Having decided to preach his doctrine, the Buddha asked himself "To whom shall I first teach the doctrine?" The thought [came to him] of Alara Kalam, whom the Buddha adored as the learned, wise, intelligent, and of little impurity; "What if I first teach him the doctrine?" But he was told that Alara Kalam was dead.

2. Then thought he of preaching it to Uddaka Ramputta. But he too was dead.

3. Then he thought of the five old companions of his who were with him at Niranjana when he was practising austerities, and who had left him in anger on his abandonment of austerities.

4. "They did much for me, attended me and looked after me; what if I first teach the doctrine to them?" said he to himself.

5. He asked for their whereabouts. Having learnt that they were dwelling at Sarnath, in the deer park of Isipatana, he left in search of them.

6. The five, seeing him coming, decided among themselves not to welcome him. Said one of them, "This, friends, is the ascetic Gautama coming, who has abandoned austerities and has turned to [a] life of abundance and luxury. He has committed a sin. We must not therefore greet him, nor rise in respect, nor take his bowl and robe. We will only set apart a seat for him. If he wishes, he may sit down." And they all agreed.

7. But when the Buddha approached, the five Parivrajakas were not able to abide by their decision; so greatly impressed were they by his personality that they all rose in their seats. One took his bowl, one took his robe, and one prepared a seat, and one brought water to wash his feet.

8. It was really a great welcome to an unwelcome guest.

9. Thus those who intended to scoff remained to pray.

§ 2. The Buddha's First Sermon

1. After [the] exchange of greetings, the five Parivrajakas asked the Buddha whether he still believed in asceticism. The Buddha replied in the negative.

2. He said there were two extremes, a life of pleasure and a life of self-mortification.

3. One says let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. The other says, kill all vasanas (desires) because they bring rebirth. He rejected both as unbecoming to man.

4. He was a believer in the Madhyama Marga (Majjhima Patipada), the middle path, which is neither the path of pleasure nor the path of self-mortification.

5. "Answer me this," he said to the Parivrajakas. "So long as your self remains active and continues to lust after either worldly or heavenly pleasures, is not all mortification vain?" And they answered, "It is as thou sayest."

6. "How can ye be free from self by leading a wretched life of self-mortification, if ye do not thereby succeed in quenching the fires of lust?" And they replied, "It is as thou sayest."

7. "Only when the self in ye has been conquered [so] that ye are free from lust; ye will then not desire worldly pleasures, and the satisfaction of your natural wants will not defile ye. Let ye eat and drink according to the needs of your body.

8. "Sensuality of all kinds is enervating. The sensual man is a slave of his passion. All pleasure-seeking is degrading and vulgar. But I say unto you that to satisfy the needs of life is not an evil: to keep the body in good health is a duty, or otherwise you shall not be able to keep your mind strong and clear and have the lamp of wisdom burning.

9. "Know ye, O Parivrajakas, that there are these two extremes which man ought not to follow--the habitual indulgence on the one hand, of those things whose attraction depends upon the passions, and especially of sensuality--a low and pagan way of seeking satisfaction, unworthy, unprofitable, and the habitual practice thereof; and on the other hand, of asceticism or self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy, and unprofitable.

10. "There is a middle path which avoids both these extremes. Know ye, that, this is the path which I preach."

11. The five Parivrajakas listened to him with attention. Not knowing what to say in reply to the Buddha's middle path, they asked him what he was [=had been] doing after they had left him. Then the Buddha told them how he left for Gaya, how he sat in contemplation under the Banyan Tree, and how after four weeks of contemplation he obtained enlightenment, as a result of which he was able to discover a new path of life.

12. On hearing this, the Parivrajakas became extremely impatient to know what the path was, and requested the Buddha to expound it to them.

13. The Buddha agreed.

14. He began by saying that his path which is his Dhamma (religion) had nothing to do with God and [the] Soul. His Dhamma had nothing to do with life after death. Nor has his Dhamma any concern with rituals and ceremonies.

15. The centre of his Dhamma is man, and the relation of man to man in his life on earth.

16. This, he said, was his first postulate.

17. His second postulate was that men are living in sorrow, in misery and poverty. The world is full of suffering and that [discovering] how to remove this suffering from the world is the only purpose of Dhamma. Nothing else is Dhamma.

18. The recognition of the existence of suffering, and to show the way to remove suffering, is the foundation and basis of his Dhamma.

19. This can be the only foundation and justification for Dhamma. A religion which fails to recognise this is no religion at all.

20. "Verily, Parivrajakas! whatsoever recluses or Brahmins (i.e., preachers of religion) understand not, as it really is, that the misery in the world and the escape therefrom, is the main problem of Dhamma--such recluses and Brahmins in my opinion are not to be regarded as recluses and Brahmin ; nor have those worthies come to know fully of themselves what in this very life is the real meaning of Dhamma."

21. The Parivrajakas then asked him, "If the foundation of your Dhamma is the recognition of the existence of suffering and the removal of suffering, tell us, how does your Dhamma remove suffering!"

22. The Buddha then told them that according to his Dhamma if every person followed (1) the Path of Purity; (2) the Path of Righteousness; and (3) the Path of Virtue, it would bring about the end of all suffering.

23. And he added that he had discovered such a Dhamma.

§ 3. The Buddha's First Sermon—(contd.) The Path of Purity

1. The Parivrajakas then asked the Buddha to explain to them his Dhamma.

2. And the Buddha was pleased to do so.

3. He addressed them first on the Path of Purity.

4. "The Path of Purity," he told the Parivrajakas, "teaches that a person who wishes to be good must recognise some principles as principles of life.

5. "According to my Path of Purity, the principles of life recognised by it are: Not to injure or kill; Not to steal or appropriate to oneself anything which belongs to another; Not to speak untruth; Not to indulge in lust; Not to indulge in intoxicating drinks.

6. "The recognition of these principles, I say, is most essential for every man. For every man must have a standard by which to judge whatever he does. And these principles, according to my teachings, constitute the standard.

7. "There are everywhere people who are patit (fallen). But there are two classes of the patit: the patit who has a standard, and a patit who has no standard.

8. "The patit who has no standard does not know that he has fallen. Consequently he always remains fallen. On the other hand, a patit who has a standard tries to rise from his fallen state. Why? The answer is, because he knows that he has fallen.

9. "This is the difference between having a standard, and having no standard, for regulating a man's life. What matters is not so much the fall of the man, but the absence of any standard.

10. "You may ask, ye Parivrajakas! Why are these principles worthy of recognition as a standard of life?

11. "The answer to this question you will find for yourselves, if you ask: "Are these principles good for the individual?" also if you ask: "Do they promote social good?"

12. "If your answers to these questions are in the affirmative, then it follows that the principles of my Path of Purity are worthy of recognition as forming a true standard of life."

§ 4. The Buddha's First Sermon (cont'd)—Ashtanga Marga or the Path of Righteousness

1. The Buddha next addressed the Parivrajakas on the Ashtangamarga. He said that there are eight constituents in the Ashtangamarga.

2. He began his discourse with the exposition of Samma Ditti (Right Views), the first and foremost element in the Ashtangmarga,

3. "To realise the importance of Samma Ditti," the Buddha said to the Parivrajakas:

4. "O, ye Parivrajakas, you must realise that the world is a dungeon, and man is a prisoner in the dungeon.

5. "This dungeon is full of darkness. So dark is it that scarce anything at all can rightly be seen by the prisoner. The prisoner cannot see that he is a prisoner.

6. "Indeed, man has not only become blind by living too long in the darkness, but he very much doubts if any such strange thing as light is said to be, can ever exist at all.

7. "Mind is the only instrument through which light can come to man.

8. "But the mind of these dungeon-dwellers is by no means a perfect instrument for the purpose.

9. "It lets through only a little light, just enough to show to those with sight that there is such a thing as darkness.

10. Thus defective in its nature, such understanding as this is.

11. "But know ye, Parivrajakas! the case of the prisoner is not as hopeless as it appears.

12. "For there is in man a thing called will. When the appropriate motives arise, the will can be awakened and set in motion.

13. "With the coming of just enough light to see in what directions to guide the motions of the will, man may so guide them that they shall lead to liberty.

14. "Thus though man is bound, yet he may be free; he may at any moment begin to take the first steps that will ultimately bring him to freedom.

15. "This is because it is possible to train the mind in whatever directions one chooses. It is mind that makes us to be prisoners in the house of life, and it is mind that keeps us so.

16. "But what mind has done, that mind can undo. If it has brought man to thraldom, it can also, when rightly directed, bring him to liberty.

17. "This is what Samma Ditti can do."

18. "What is the end of Samma Ditti?" asked the Parivrajakas. "The end of Samma Ditti," replied the Buddha, "is the destruction of Avijja (Nescience). It is opposed to Miccha Ditti.

19. "And Avijja means the failure to understand the noble truths, of the existence of suffering and the removal of suffering.

20. "Samma Ditti requires [the] giving up of belief in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies, to have disbelief in the sanctity of the Shastras.

21. "Samma Ditti requires the abandonment of superstition and supernaturalism.

22. "Samma Ditti requires the abandonment of all doctrines which are mere speculations without any basis in fact or experience.

23. "Samma Ditti requires [a] free mind and free thought.

24. "Every man has aims, aspirations, and ambitions. Samma Sankappo teaches that such aims, aspirations, and ambitions shall be noble and praiseworthy and not ignoble and unworthy.

25. "Samma Vacca (Right Speech) teaches:

(1) that one should speak only that which is true;

(2) that one should not speak what is false;

(3) that one should not speak evil of others;

(4) that one should refrain from slander;

(5) that one should not use angry and abusive language towards any fellow man;

(6) that one should speak kindly and courteously to all;

(7) that one should not indulge in pointless, foolish talk, but let his speech be sensible and to the purpose.

26. "The observance of Right Speech, as I have explained, is not to be the result of fear or favour. It is not to have the slightest reference to what any superior being may think of his action, or to any loss which Right Speech may involve.

27. "The norm for Right Speech is not the order of the superior or the personal benefit to the individual.

28. "Samma Kamanto teaches right behaviour. It teaches that every action should be founded on respect for the feelings and rights of others.

29. "What is the norm for Samma Kamanto? The norm is that course of conduct which is most in harmony with the fundamental laws of existence.

30. "When his [=one's] actions are in harmony with these laws, they may be taken to be in accord with Samma Kamanto.

31. "Every individual has to earn his livelihood. But there are ways and ways of earning one's livelihood. Some are bad; some are good. Bad ways are those which cause injury or injustice to others. Good ways are those by which the individual earns his livelihood without causing injury or injustice to others. This is Samma Ajivo.

32. "Samma Vyayamo (Right Endeavour) is primary endeavour to remove Avijja; to reach the door that leads out of this painful prison house, to swing it open.

33. "Right endeavour has four purposes.

34. "One is to prevent states of mind which are in conflict with the Ashtangamarga.

35. "Second is to suppress such states of mind which may already have arisen.

36. "Third is to bring into existence states of mind which will help a man to fulfil the requirements of the Ashtangamarga.

37. "Fourth is to promote the further growth and increase of such states of mind as already may have arisen.

38. "Samma Satti calls for mindfulness and thoughtfulness. It means constant wakefulness of the mind. Watch and ward by the mind over the evil passions is another name for Samma Satti.

39. "There are, ye Parivrajakas, five fetters or hindrances which come in the way of a person trying to achieve Samma Ditti, Samma Sankappo, Samma Vacca, Samma Kamanto, Samma Ajeevo, Samma Vyayamo and Samma Satti.

40. "These five hindrances are covetousness, ill-will, sloth and torpor, doubt, and indecision. It is, therefore, necessary to overcome these hindrances, which are really fetters, and the means to overcome them is through Samadhi. But know ye, Parivrajakas, Samma Samadhi is not the same as Samadhi. It is quite different.

41. "Samadhi is mere concentration. No doubt it leads to Dhyanic states which are self-induced, holding the five hindrances in suspense.

42. "But these Dhyana states are temporary. Consequently the suspension of the hindrances is also temporary. What is necessary is a permanent turn to the mind. Such a permanent turn can be achieved only by Samma Samadhi.

43. "Mere Samadhi is negative, inasmuch as it leads to temporary suspension of the hindrances. In it there is no training to the mind. Samma Samadhi is positive. It trains the mind to concentrate and to think of some Kusala Kamma (Good Deeds and Thoughts) during concentration, and thereby eliminate the tendency of the mind to be drawn towards Akusala Kamma (Bad Deeds and Bad Thoughts) arising from the hindrances.

44. "Samma Samadhi gives a habit to the mind to think of good, and always to think of good. Samma Samadhi gives the mind the necessary motive power to do good."