Top of article
Three kinds of right view have been distinguished:
(A) That one is the owner of the kamma one makes.
(B) That one has right view in respect of ten subjects concerned with kamma, its fruits, this world, other worlds, and the superknowledge revealing them.
(C) That one has right view regarding the Four Noble Truths.
First we shall examine:
A. Right View on the ownership of one's kamma
About this the Buddha has said:
- "All beings are the owners of their kamma, heirs to their kamma, bom of their kamma, related to their kamma, abide supported by their kamma; whatever kamma they shall do, whether good or evil, of that they will be the heirs."
Now to take this passage section by section for a fuller understanding.
1. All beings are the owners of their kamma.
Top of article
This is the correct understanding that only two things, the wholesome and the unwholesome deeds done by beings, really belong to them and always accompany them on their wanderings in the wheel of birth and death.
Though people call gold, silver, wealth, and jewels their own since they have acquired them lawfully or otherwise, really they are owners only for the brief span of this life and sometimes not for as long as that. For the things that are "owned" by us must be shared with other forces and beings such as water, fire, rulers, thieves, and enemies which, if sentient, may also regard those things as their own. So such things are as though borrowed for this life, just for use now but to be given up at death. And however little or much one may own of things here, all have to be relinquished at the time of death and cannot be taken with one. When this is taken into account, we may understand how we hardly own such things at all, while by contrast the good and evil done by us is truly owned and such kamma may accompany us through a continuity of lives extending through hundreds of thousands of world-cycles in the future. Kamma cannot be taken from the doer or destroyed in any way, for it is imprinted on our minds and will bear fruit when conditions permit. Hence the Buddha has said, "All beings are the owners of their kamma"
One should therefore love and esteem good conduct more than one's own life and preserve it well, while one should dread evil conduct more than the danger of death and so refrain from evil deeds.
The kamma which is one's own consists in the mental, verbal, and physical intentional actions that one has done. Kamma by way of the body means intentional movements of such parts of the body as hands or legs. Verbal kamma includes expressions made with the mouth, tongue, and throat. Mental kamma covers all intentional functions of the mind. In the Buddha's teaching these three are called kamma.
All beings make these three kinds of kamma while they are awake, and whatever work they do, of great significance or little, is all done in these three ways. But when a person is asleep these three kinds of kamma are not made, for at that time states of mind are not volitional. In the case of one who is dead none of the three kinds of kamma are made by that body.
These three may be analyzed as to whether they are: (1) good or wholesome, or (2) evil and unwholesome; further as to whether (1) they have results ripening in this life, or (2) have them ripening in a future life.
Kamma is determined to be good or evil according to whether it leads to the cultivation and growth of one's own mind and the benefit of others, or to the deterioration and defilement of one's own mind and the harm of others. Thus by doing the following ten types of deeds one makes evil or unwholesome kamma which will bear the fruits of suffering, but by abstaining from these ten and cultivating their opposites one makes good kamma which will bear the fruits of happiness. These ten are as follows:
Evil kamma by body
1. Injuring and killing living beings
2. Stealing
3. Wrong conduct in sexual pleasures
Evil kamma by speech
4. False speech
5. Tale-bearing
6. Harsh talk
7. Useless chatter
Evil kamma by mind
8. Covetousness
9. Ill-will
10. Wrong view
All kinds of actions done through the "three doors" of body, speech, and mind, that are free of these ten ways of making unwholesome kamma, whether in connection with livelihood, the acquisition of wealth, and the search for knowledge, are good kamma made in the present existence and coming to fruition now. But those actions by way of the three doors which are involved with the above ten, in whatsoever connection they are done, are evil kamma which bears its fruit in the present life.
In a similar way kammas made in this life and due to ripen in the future will also be of two kinds, either wholesome or unwholesome. Whether the wholesome kamma is made by the body, speech, or mind in connection with such actions as almsgiving, Uposatha-day observance, moral conduct (of the Five Precepts), practising meditation, going for refuge to and paying respects to the Triple Gem, etc., they will ripen in the future, giving rise to a favourable birth.
Unwholesome kammas made in this life but ripening in the future will result in birth in the lower planes of existence (as ghost, animal, or hell-wraith).
In this way one should differentiate between good and evil kamma as well as contemplate the three kinds of kamma which are made everywhere-on land, in water, and in the sky. When we have seen with our own eyes how all beings, wherever they are, have been making the three kinds of kamma in all their past existences through endless worldcycles, we can comprehend that they will make them in the future too. And just as in this world system, so there are in all directions an infinite number of other world systems where such beings, living on land, in water, and in the sky, also make the three kinds of kamma.
When one has thought about this, it becomes clear that all these beings are living by the three kinds of kamma which they make individually for themselves. By making wholesome kamma in these ways they enjoy the fruits of happiness, while by making evil kamma in these three ways they encounter various kinds of misery and suffering.
So the three kinds of kamma made by body, speech, and mind are truly the property owned by beings, for kamma can never be destroyed by fire, water, thieves, and so on. Though a person may own nothing, not even a single coin, yet he can achieve happiness if he has made mental kamma connected with knowledge and wisdom.
Hence the Buddha declared: "All beings are the owners of their kamma."
Now let us take an example which illustrates the results of kamma made in the present life. People who wish for worldly gain, such as wealth, government position, or honour in this life, can fulfil their desires if they make an effort to acquire education and knowledge. If such wishes were merely a matter of worship of some God without any effort being needed, then there would be no need for the worshippers of God to engage in trading, farming, or learning arts or sciences. It would be enough just to worship God. But in fact that is not the case, for like Buddhists, Christians and Muslims also make the three kinds of kamma and caused by it they acquire worldly gain. It is not God but the three kinds of kamma which have given them these things.
Similarly, we can understand how past kamma bears fruit in the present life. For while worldly gains in this life are kamma-produced and not due to any supernatural favour, so the benefits of being reborn in a wealthy family or in a heavenly world are not God-given either, but depend on the power of kamma, such as almsgiving and purity of the moral precepts practised in former lives. One who is reborn into a wealthy family becomes the owner of the riches there, so that all his possessions are due to his past kamma.
Here there is an analogy with vegetative growth. It is usually said that the growth and form of plants depends on the seed. But according to the Abhidhamma, the element of kinetic energy (tejo), classified as material change (utu), is the cause. The seed is just this element, and it is this which can be called the real seed. In the same way all beings have kamma as their seeds of becoming (or existence): wholesome kamma such as almsgiving, moral conduct, and the like, and unwholesome kamma such as destroying living beings, and so on.
The process of becoming variously men or animals is due to the kamma made in past existences. Having made wholesome kamma, beings are reborn as men or as gods (deva), while it is because of making unwholesome kamma that they obtain birth in the four lower worlds: hell (niraya), animals, ghosts (peta), and titans (asura).
From the seeds produced by old plants, a new generation of plants grows so that seeds from a tree and trees from seeds appear successively: a cycle of seeds and trees. Similarly, beings have planted kamma-seeds in their past existences and from these seeds new existences spring up. Thus beings make kamma which in turn gives rise successively to new states of existence.
But here we have to notice a difference between the example in this simile and the case of living beings. A tree is only a stream of material events (without a mental stream or consciousness) and from one tree many fruits may be produced, from which in turn many trees may grow. In the case of beings, however, there are both mental and material streams of events of which the mental ones are chief. Though during life (as with trees) many progeny may be produced, one body giving rise to many others, the stream of mental factors continues with one mental factor giving rise to one other.
Thus at death the last moment of consciousness gives rise to the rebirth-linking consciousness of the next life. Therefore, although a being has planted many seeds of both wholesome and unwholesome kamma in one existence, one moment of volition (cetana = kamma) alone produces one other resultant moment in the next existence. As there is only the production of one mental factor (the first moment of consciousness at conception or spontaneous birth) so at the time of death the continuity or stream of the past material body gives rise to only one new body-stream, not more than this.
Just as earth, water, sun, moon, and stars, come into existence from the seeds of kinetic energy included in material change and were not created by a God, so such beings as men and animals come to successive existences because of the seeds of their past kamma made in previous lives, even in previous world cycles. A view such as this is known as right view (samma'ditthi).
But to hold that a God creates beings is a wrong view, and it is the wrong view of those who, not knowing fully the operative power of kamma and material change, imagine that they were created by a God. Hence the Buddha, whose purpose was to make people abandon wrong view and to rely instead upon kamma, knowledge, and wisdom, said: "All beings are the owners of their kamma".
Further as exposition of "ownership of kamma" the following objection and reply is appropriate."
Question: "Well, friend, if it is true that the Supreme Buddha had properly refuted the view 'all that is experienced is rooted in past kamma,'10 why and for what reason did he declare the following in the Subha Sutta (or Culakamma - vibhanga Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya No. 135): 'Beings are the owners of their kamma, young man, heirs to their kamma, bom of their kamma, related to their kamma, abide supported by their kamma. Beings are divided by kamma, that is to say, among low or excellent existences'?"
Reply: This may be answered in three ways.
(1) Those who hold the view "all that is experienced is rooted in past kamma" (pubbekatahetu-ditthi) maintain that all pleasures and sufferings experienced by beings in the present life are conditioned and caused only by the volitional actions {kamma) done by them in their past existences. They reject all present causes such as energy and wisdom. As this view rejects all present causes it is known as the "one-sided base opinion' (ekapakkhahma-vada), "one-sided" because it ignores present kamma.
(2) Those who hold the "creation rooted in God view" (issaranimmana-hetu-ditthi) maintain that all pleasures and sufferings experienced by beings in the present life are created by a Supreme Brahma or God. They reject all past and present kamma made by beings; so their view is called the "both-sided base opinion" (ubhayapakkhahmavada), "both sided" because it ignores both past and present kamma.
(3) Those who hold the "no cause no condition view" (ahetu-appaccaya-ditthi) maintain that all pleasures and sufferings experienced by beings in the present life come into existence by themselves, without causes and conditions. As this view rejects all causality it is known as the "completely base opinion" (sabbahina-vada).
But the Buddha, on this occasion speaking to a young brahmin, desired to refute the creation rooted in God view and the no cause no condition view; so he declared, "Beings are the owners of their kamma, young man, the heirs to their kammas...."
He declared this in a general way. He did not say: "Beings are the owners of their past kamma, the heirs to their past kamma." In a passage addressed to the young brahmin, Subha, the words "owners of their kamma" and "heirs to their kamma" refer to both past life and present-life kamma. So one should understand this passage in this way: "Beings are the owners of their past and present kammas."
2. The heirs to their kamma.
Top of article
Only the wholesome and unwholesome deeds done by all beings are their inherited properties that always accompany them wherever they may wander in many lives and world cycles. Those who inherit from their parents are called their heirs, but they are not so in the true sense of this word. Why is this? Because things like gold, silver, jewels, and wealth only last temporarily, and those who inherit such temporary things cannot be called true and real heirs. Such legacies are our property only until death and when we die we have to leave it all behind. Certainly it does not accompany us into the future life. Also, legacies like this are subject to destruction by fire, water, thieves, and so on, before our death takes place, or they may be used up by us during our lives.
When we consider the three kinds of kamma, however, they belong to the beings who made them, even through future lives. They can never be destroyed by other persons or exterior forces, and for this reason kamma is said to be the only property inherited by beings. Beings are sure to reap the results of their own kamma in succeeding existences. Even feeding animals such as pigs, dogs, and birds can result in many births full of happiness, while the wholesome kamma made by offering food to virtuous bhikkhus (monks) can give rise to countless numbers of happy lives as man or deva. From the gift of almsfood worth half a crown in this life may come beneficial results worth thousands of pounds in future existences." And if a person kills an animal, such as a fish, fowl, or pig, he may in turn have to suffer being killed in more than a thousand future lives.
This may be illustrated by the banyan tree, for if one of its tiny seeds is planted, a great tree will grow out of it, bearing innumerable fruits during a thousand years or more. The same will be true of mango or jak seeds from which will grow large trees yielding thousands of fruits in the course of many, many years.
Just as a small seed is able to yield thousands of fruits, leaves, branches, and twigs, so a seed of wholesome kamma such as a almsgiving, moral conduct, and meditation can bear in future lives good results many thousands of times over. Likewise, an unwholesome kamma-seed, such as destroying a living being, can yield evil and painful results in numerous future existences.
From just one kamma made by some person the results will follow him in many lives as pleasure or pain, when conditions are opportune. He can never be rid of that past kamma (until its force is exhausted, its fruits ripened completely), but has to enjoy or suffer its results. For this reason the Buddha has declared: "All beings are the heirs to their kammas."
Look at it another way: A being has two groups (khandhas) - the body-group and the mind-group (rupakkhandha, namakkhandha). The first means the body with head, hands, legs, and so on, while the mind-group refers to thoughts and consciousness.
Of these two, the body-group comes to dissolution once in each existence, in each life having different shape and colour (according to kamma, parental appearance, etc.). But the mind has no break in its continuity, and mental states arise and pass away successively through innumerable existences. Wholesome kamma, such as giving and moral conduct, causes the subsequent arising in happy existences. And wherever the mind-group arises there a new and appropriate bodygroup is formed. In the same way, unwholesome kamma brings about the arising of mind in the lower states of existence, such as among dogs, pigs, fowl, and birds, where a body will be formed according to that arising. So a person is also "heir to kamma" with regard to these two groups.
3. Born of their kamma.
Top of article
Only the wholesome and unwholesome deeds done by beings are the origin of their wanderings in so many life cycles. To illustrate this, let us take the example of the banyan tree again. For its growth there are several causes: the banyan seed is the primary cause; the earth and water are secondary causes.
Wholesome past deeds such as almsgiving moral conduct, etc., which cause one to be reborn as a human being, and the past unwholesome deeds such as destroying life, etc., causing one to be reborn as an animal, are the primary causes, comparable to the banyan seed. One's parents are the secondary causes, just as earth and water are secondary causes for the growth of the banyan tree.
To take another example: working as a labourer for wages, the present kamma is the primary cause, while the place of work, spade, basket, and the employers who pay the wages are the secondary cause. In the same way, one's own kamma made in the present existence with wisdom or without it is the primary cause; present results, pleasant and painful, are the wages for these actions.
So we can see that both past kamma and the kamma made in this life are primary causes of the results experienced, and one's parents are not primary causes. Nor has it anything to do with a God. And so the Buddha declares: "All beings are born of their kamma."
4. Related to their kamma.
Top of article
Only the wholesome and unwholesome kammas made by beings are their relatives and true friends (or false friends in the case of unwholesome kammas!), always accompanying them wherever they may wander through many lives and world cycles.
By way of explanation we can say that although there are parents, brothers, children, relatives, teachers, and friends whom we love and rely upon, we can only do this for a short time - until our death. But one's own physical, verbal, and mental deeds are constant companions who accompany one and give happiness and prosperity (or misery) in one's future lives. So wholesome deeds alone are one's true relatives and friends who should be esteemed and relied upon. Therefore the Buddha declares: "All beings are related to their kamma".
5. Abide supported by their kamma.
Top of article
Only the wholesome and unwholesome deeds done by beings are their real support wherever they may wander through many lives and world cycles.
To explain this: the word "support" means what can be relied upon, or what one can take shelter in, what can save or give protection against troubles and dangers. Those who wish to enjoy long life in the world have to rely upon food and drink as the protection against the danger of starvation. Similarly, doctors and medicine are needed for protection against bodily troubles and diseases, while weapons are protection against enemies. (And all kinds of support or refuge in the world may be considered in the same way.) So this word 'sa.ra.na' does not refer only to the Going for Refuge at a shrine or in the presence of a bhikkhu, it means also reliance upon and taking shelter, as was explained already.
Now how is kamma one's support? In this life an ordinary man with no possessions soon comes to distress. Fearing to experience this we are supported by the work (or kamma) which we do and so acquire money and possessions.
Again, as a lack of wholesome kamma leads to rebirth in the lower worlds where there is grievous suffering, so fearful of this, some people make wholesome kamma leading them to rebirth as human beings or as devas.
Just as the present kamma made by work using knowledge and wisdom can protect us from dangers in this life, in the same way wholesome kamma such as almsgiving and moral conduct protects us from the dangers of future lives in the lower worlds. As we must rely on our work in this life, so we must also rely on wholesome kamma for the future. It is for this reason that the Buddha declares: "All beings are supported by their kamma."
This subject of support or refuge should be analyzed as follows.
In the Buddhist religion there are four refuges for the future: (1) the Buddha, (2) the Dhamma, (3) the Sangha, and (4) one's own wholesome kamma.
This can be compared to the four kinds of refuge or support for sick people. First is the chief physician, second the suitable medicine, third the assistant doctors, and fourth, the actions of the patient following their directions confidently. In this simile, the chief physician and the assistant doctors are accounted as supports (or refuges) for the patient because they are capable of prescribing suitable medicines for this particular ailment, while the medicine is his support in that it can actually cure him. The sensible actions of the patient in following the doctor's directions are also his support for without such actions on his part the other three supports would be ineffective and he could not be cured. All four can be clearly seen to be real supports or refuges for sick people.
Now persons who make evil kamma and indulge in sensual pleasures are like those sick people. The Buddha is like the chief physician, an expert in curing afflictions. The assistant doctors represent the Order of Bhikkhus, while the Dhamma is pictured as the medicine. The bodily, verbal, and mental wholesome deeds are like those sensible actions of the ailing man in which he follows the doctor's instructions.
In this way we can reckon that there are four refuges (or supports) in the Buddha's Teaching, and of these four, three - the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha - are not found outside (in other teachings). The fourth refuge or support, making wholesome kamma, exists both within and outside Buddhism. While we are commoners (puthujjana) we shall never be free of making kamma and experiencing results of kamma, for kamma and its fruits are in operation for all beings in the world system - so it is wise to make only wholesome kamma.
So we see that the subject of "All beings are owners of their kamma" applies to all beings in all world systems, whether Buddhism exists there or not. It is for this reason that the support (or refuge) in kamma has been dealt with here but not the Three Refuges of Buddhists. Together these form four refuges or supports that can be relied upon both for good and wise conduct in this life and for rebirth in the happy existences.
We have noted already that sarana, usually translated "refuge," means that which can save, give support or protection, so that food and drink are the support for long life, medicines and diet are the support for the sick, kings and rulers are protection against bandits and thieves, buildings are protection against the elements and for comfortable living, boats are a support for those who travel on water. Similarly, the earth is a support, and so are water, fire, and air for their respective purposes. So there are numerous supports or refuges in this existence. This concludes the exposition about the different kinds of refuges in Buddhism.
....
The various beneficial results in a future life of present wholesome kamma cover such possibilities as rebirth into a ruling family or one that is prosperous, and rebirth in the deva - worlds or the Brahma - worlds as a deva or Brahma.
Knowing the power of kamma the Buddha has declared: "All beings abide supported by their kammas."
6. "Whatever kamma they shall do, whether good or evil, of that they will be the heirs".
Top of article
When bodily, verbal, and mental kammas have been made, whether wholesome or unwholesome, the beings who have individually made them will receive their fruits even after many lives or aeons.
(The first five phrases of the quotation which have been used as headings above refer to past kamma which bears fruit in the present life, but this sixth phrase concerns present kamma which will bear fruit in the future.)
B. Right View regarding the Ten Subjects
Top of article
This means having right view of the following ten matters. The Buddha has said:
"There is (moral significance in) giving alms. There is (moral significance in) large offerings. There is (moral significance in) small gifts. There is the result and fruit of good and bad deeds. There is (moral significance in what is done to) one's mother. There is (moral significance in what is done to) one's father. There are beings of instantaneous rebirth. There is this world, there is another world. There are in the world ascetics and brahmins of right attainment, of right practice who, having realized by their own super-knowledge (the truth regarding) this world and other worlds, make it known to others."
By way of explanation we can say:
1. "There is (moral significance in) almsgiving".
This is the right view that almsgiving - such as giving food to animals, to lay people, to bhikkhus, and so on - if done with benevolence, leads to beneficial results, that kamma in a previous existence sometimes bears fruit in subsequent existences.
2. "There is (moral significance in) large offerings".
The right view that generosity, performed with faith and respect for the virtuous qualities of the recipient, yields beneficial results in the future.
3. "There is (moral significance in) small gifts".
The right view that gifts, even those given on a small scale, if given with loving-kindness, bring benefit to the doer in the future.
4. "There is the result and fruit of good and bad deeds".
The right view that cruel actions done in previous lives yield painful results in future lives, while refraining from such evil deeds and cultivating wholesome deeds subsequently bears the fruit of happiness.
5-6. "There is (moral significance in what is done to) one's mother and to one's father".
The right view that good and evil deeds done towards one's mother or father bear pleasant and painful fruits respectively, possibly in future lives.
7. "There are beings of instantaneous rebirth".
The right view that there really are beings bom instantaneously who are (generally) invisible to human eyes. Instantaneous rebirth refers to those beings who do not take conception in a womb. Due to the force of their previous kamma they are bom complete with limbs and other organs of the body which need no development further but remain as they are.
Mahabrahma, the being of greatest power in this world system, has his abode in the three lowest planes of the Brahma-world. He is regarded as God in other religions in which the existence of still higher planes is usually unknown.
Even when men are close to such beings, they are generally unable to see them with human eyes. Only when those beings cause their forms to become visible can they be seen by people here. Normally they are invisible to human beings just like God, the angels, and devils of other religions.
The understanding that there really are such beings bom instantaneously is also called right view.
8. "There is this world".
The right view of this world as the human world (one of several planes in the level of sensuality and lowest among the planes of good rebirth).
9. "There is another world".
The right view that "another world" (= states of existence differing from this one) consisting of the four planes of lower birth - hells, animals, ghosts, and titans, collectively known as the planes of deprivation - together with the deva and the Brahma-planes, really do exist.
In other religions, apart from the human and animal planes, these worlds are not known properly. (The heaven-worlds of the devas and the hell-worlds may be thought of as permanent when they are really impermanent states of long existence; the ghosts and titans may be ignored except in exorcism rites, while even the animals are not understood properly as beings also in the round of birth and death.)
Another explanation is possible of the last two phrases: that this world system with its human world, the four lower worlds, the heavenly deva and Brahma-worlds, are termed "this world," while in all directions from this world system there are an infinite number of other world systems which are called "the other world(s)." These world systems are generally not recognized in other religions.
10. "There are in the world ascetics and brahmins of right attainment, of right practice, who having realized by their own super-knowledge (the truth regarding) this world and other worlds, make it known to others".
There are such possibilities for spiritual development as the super-knowledges (abhinfia)u and the all-knowing knowledge (sabbannuta-nana). Ascetics and brahmins who exert themselves diligently in performing the perfections (parami) and practising the meditations through calm and insight in this very world can attain such knowledges. Such people are bom into this world from time to time who, because of their efforts and practice in past lives, are possessed of these knowledges.
But some people, due to their limited parami or perfections, are only able to gain the super-knowledges, and then they can see the four lower worlds, the six deva-worlds and some of the Brahma-worlds, just as if they looked at them with their usual human eyes. Other people are capable of both the super-knowledges and the all-knowledge so that they see clearly all the countless beings, the infinite worlds and world systems. People who have both these knowledges are called "Buddhas."
These two kinds of people appear in the human world from time to time and impart their knowledge of this world and other worlds to others who often become their followers. But it is only a Buddha who can explain the round of rebirth in terms of cause and effect and clarify the arising and passing away even of the world systems.
In regard to this there are three kinds of understanding: (1) that beings with super-knowledges and the all-knowing knowledge do appear in this world from time to time; (2) that their teaching if based on the six super-knowledges is thoroughly reliable, and if on five of them at least partly so; (3) that other worlds do exist. All this constitutes right view.
Those who have this right view do not doubt that a Buddha arises only in the human world, not in the heavenly worlds. But in religions where such right view is not understood they imagine that the all-knowers and all-seers, those having the all-knowing knowledge, appear only in the highest heavens and not in the human world. Only in the human world can one strive towards the all-knowing knowledge. Why is this so? The devas and Brahmas are too comfortable - they see no suffering, their lives are too long so they do not see impermanence. But the beings in the planes of deprivation have so much suffering that they cannot practise Dhamma. Only human beings have rather short lives and so are pricked by impermanence, only they have a mixture of pleasure and pain. Diligent effort is needed if one would attain the all-knowing knowledge and those who are able to make this effort are human beings. And it is the rare human being who attains Buddhahood here in this human world. This is the marvel and the wonder of a Buddha, that he is a human being, not a deva or Brahma. If he were such a heavenly inhabitant then there would be nothing very remarkable about his knowledge and wisdom. But as he is bom normally of human parents and has a body essentially the same as that of all other people, he is wonderful and marvellous for showing what a human being can attain to if he makes the effort.
It is only in the Buddha's Dhamma that profound, sublime, and wonderful teachings are found, for they are revealed by the Buddha's all-knowing knowledge. They all belong to the sphere of super-knowledge, hard to find outside Buddhism.
One should know that there are two spheres of power: the power of knowledge and the power of kamma. In the latter, the most effective is the power of jhana (intense concentration) which is a "heavy" kamma. It can cause one to arise in the form or formless planes as a Brahma with an immensely long span of life. But the power of kamma cannot cause one to become a Perfectly Enlightened One. Even though one has made the merits to be reborn as Mahabrahma himself, still one has no super-knowledge to know and see all.
To strive in this life to become a wealthy person is one path, while to strive for insight knowledge and so become a teacher for other beings is another. Striving to become a Mahabrahma is similar to the effort to attain wealth, while to strive as a bhikkhu or lay hermit for insight knowledge is actually the way of the Buddha and the arahants.
Here is another example: Birds such as parrots, crows, and vultures have wings with which to fly but they do not possess knowledge and wisdom like men. Human beings have varying degrees of knowledge and wisdom but having no wings they are unable by themselves to fly.
The wholesome kammas which the Mahabrahmas have made by developing jhana, and the wholesome kammas of the devas residing both here on earth and in the various devaworlds, resemble the wings of birds. But the super-knowledges and the all-knowing knowledge of lay hermits and bhikkhus are like the wisdom of the man in the above example.
It is due to the power of their wholesome kamma made by developing jhana that the Mahabrahmas live in the higher planes of existence, long-lived and powerful. But they do not possess the two kinds of super-knowledge and so do not penetrate the deep truths of impermanence, suffering, non-self, and voidness. Their knowledge is confined to just what they experience personally.
To summarize some important points of this section, we can note that the knowledge which makes clear (1) that a Buddha has the all-knowing knowledge and arises only in the human plane, not in the higher planes of existence; (2) that only ascetics of the human race complete in the super-knowledges and in the all-knowing knowledge can clearly teach the conditioned nature of aeons and world systems, how beings wander in the round of birth and death and how wholesome and unwholesome kamma operates; and (3) that the teachings of the monks compiled as the Sutta (Discourses), Vinaya (Discipline), and Abhidhamma are true, is called the right-view knowledge that there are (enlightened) ascetics and brahmins in the world.
On the other hand, wrong views should be rejected, such as the view that an Enlightened One with the all-knowing knowledge does not appear in the human plane but only in the highest heavenly abode. Also that the gods are not many but only one God, as well as the idea that this one God, being highest and noblest, must be eternal and free from decay, disease, and death.
The Buddha has rejected all such tangles of views.
C. Right View of the Four Noble Truths
Top of article
This right view means:
- Knowledge of real suffering.
- Knowledge of the true causal arising of suffering.
- Knowledge of the cessation of suffering.
- Knowledge of that right path leading to the cessation of suffering.
1. Right View of the Truth of Suffering.
Attachment to sensuality and the troubles caused thereby
Because of this attachment, human beings, devas, and Brahmas are subject to great pains and sufferings which have existed in the past, continue in the present, and will be experienced, while attachment remains, in the future. The eye, ear, nose, tongue, body (touch), and mind are the six internal sense-spheres which operate, in the unenlightened person, in conjunction with defilements of greed, aversion, and delusion whenever they are stimulated by an external sense object. These six sense faculties are the suffering which, though not apparent to many people, is real, constant, and oppressive.
How does attachment to the senses oppress? It may be explained by this group of factors: kamma-formations, instability, and suffering. In another way there is oppression through kamma-formations, burning, and instability. Or it can be explained through birth, decay, and death. Again, there is oppression by way of stoking up the fires of greed, aversion, and delusion, conceit, wrong view, the mental defilements (kilesa) and the pollutions (asava), by stimulating evil conduct such as destroying living creatures and so on, or by fuelling the fires of birth, decay, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.
Now I shall explain some of these points.
Oppression by kamma-formations (sankhara)
Possession of the sense faculties of a human being, deva, or Brahma means that good kamma has been made in a past life, for if good kamma had not been made the senses of a hell-being, animal, ghost, or titan would have come into existence. So the senses of a higher being are oppressive to him because of the good kamma-formations which must be made continually to ensure the continuation of those faculties. And those same kamma-formations oppress him in the next existence also because he has still to protect and sustain his conduct so that he will not lose those sense faculties in the future. So there comes about a constant oppression. As the eye and other senses do not arise independently of the kamma-formations, it is said that kamma-formations always "oppress" the "owner" of those senses throughout the beginningless round of birth and death.
Oppression by instability (viparinama)
This means "oppression by liability to immediate destruction, whenever cause exists for destruction." From the time of conception onwards there is not a single moment, even for the winking of an eye or a flash of lightning, when there is no liability to destruction. Moreover, there is always the anxiety caused by impending destruction. And when destruction comes, then many sorts of suffering have to be experienced. This is what is meant by saying that the senses are oppressive because of their instability.
Oppression by the painfrtlness of suffering
This means both physical and mental suffering. The suffering experienced while the sense bases grow (in the womb) and the experience by way of them during birth needs no comment. The painfulness of suffering is also evident when the senses come into contact with an unpleasant object. Also, whenever one inflicts bodily pain upon others out of the unpleasant feelings which arise when seeing or hearing them - then this oppression is experienced. And when the eye or another sense organ contracts some disease, or whenever there is physical and mental trouble in the preservation and protection of the eye, etc., then oppression by suffering occurs. In this way all the senses beginning with the eye oppress beings with the suffering associated with them.
Oppression by burning (santapa)
The senses are the source of so much suffering by means of the defilements which they awaken in the hearts of people. These defilements are like great fires which are continually refuelled and burn without dying down from the beginningless past to the endless future in the round of birth and death. These great fires are three in number: the fires of greed, aversion, and delusion, and when they are refuelled through the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, they ensure that one's future in samsara will be long and miserable.
It is right-view knowledge that gives one understanding of the immense sea of sufferings bom of attachment to sense pleasures,
whether in the sensuality sphere, the fine-form sphere, or the formless sphere.
2. Right View of the Causal Arising of Suffering.
In the round of birth and death, so long as there is attachment to the senses as "mine" or "myself," so long continues oppressiveness and suffering. So it is craving, desire, and greed connected with the senses that is the true cause for the arising of suffering.
It is right-view knowledge that gives one understanding of the causal arising of suffering by way of craving.
3. Right View of the Cessation of Suffering.
In whatever life the craving and greed connected with the senses finally cease, the suffering and oppression finally cease as well. The senses do not arise again after the death of the person who has extinguished craving.
It is right-view knowledge that gives one understanding of the cessation of craving.
4. Right View of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering.
When, as a result of practising Dhamma in general and developing the mind in meditation in particular, the true nature of the senses is seen and understood, craving connected with them ceases in this very life. It does not arise again and so sense oppression likewise does not arise.
It is right-view knowledge that gives one understanding of the true path leading to the cessation of craving. Among all the parts of the Noble Eightfold Path, this right view of the Four Noble Truths is most essential.
|
