THE PANDITA-VAGGO IN GAUTAMA BUDDHA'S PHILOSOPHY: AN EXPOSITION OF BUDDHIST POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

THE “PANDITA – VAGGO” IN SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA’S PHILOSOPHY

CHAPTER I

"The kind of seed sown will produce that kind of fruit. Those who do good will reap goodresults. Those who do evil will reap evil results. If you carefully plant a good seed, you will joyfully gather good fruit."

Dhammapada1

A. INTRODUCTION

1 Dhammapada is the collection of the sayings of Buddha and isconsidered as one of the sources of Buddhist doctrines. Buddhisttradition has it that shortly after the passing away of the Lord Buddhafive hundred of his Arhats and disciples, led by Kasyapa, met in councilat Rajagaha for the purpose of recalling to mind the truths they hadreceived from their beloved Teacher during the forty-five years of hisministry. Their hope was to implant the salient principles of hismessage so firmly in memory that they would become a lasting impetus tomoral and spiritual conduct, not alone for themselves and the brethrenin distant parts of the land, but likewise for all future disciples whowould seek to follow in the footsteps of the Awakened One. With theTeacher no longer among them, the monks found themselves with theresponsibility of handing on the teaching and discipline of the Order asfaithfully as possible. Having no written texts to rely on, they did astheir forebears had before them and prepared their discourses "forrecitation," that is, basic themes were repeated with variations inorder to impress the ideas on their hearers. At that time, theDhammapada was orally assembled from the sayings of Gautama given onsome hundred different occasions. Put in verse form the coupletscontrast the vanity of hypocrisy, false pride, heedlessness, and selfishdesire with the virtues of truthfulness, modesty, vigilance, and self-abnegation. The admonitions are age-old, yet they strike home today,their austerity of purpose fittingly relieved by gentle humor and earthysimile. [PELIKAN, Jaroslav. ed. Buddhism: The Dhammapada. Sacred Writings,Vol. VI. trans by John Ross Carter and Mahinda Palihawadana. New York:Book of the Month Club. 1987].

Holy Rosary Minor Seminary

1


Man, as a being with others, remains as interdependent

and strengthening forces with each other for a lifetime. The

lives of men are like vines intertwined. As man develops, he

acquires characteristics coming from his environment or is

influenced by others. And so, eager to attain peace and

happiness in life, man searches for authentic living within

a community or a group governed by someone for his own

survival. Survival is one of the key elements in human

nature, and it is the reason why humans choose leaders in

order to be guided. Man then realizes the importance of

having a good leader in order to have a well–founded

politics and state. He searches for a true leader, that is,

a unique individual who possesses certain qualities like:

long term vision, charisma, intelligence and integrity.

Going through the history of the Philippines, one

discovers that men who stood their ground and fought for

freedom and good of the country blessed the country. Leaders

then were made such as the likes of Aguinaldo, Bonifacio,

del Pilar, Quezon, Laurel and many others. Filipinos then

were in one way or another are at ease with their way of


2


life for they knew that they have someone capable of leading

them to progress and change and towards a better life.

Leaders then or the politicians who make the laws and

run the political system of the country plays an essential

role in the attainment of progress, not only in terms of

economic progress, but also in the development of peace and

harmony of the state and the citizens and with other

nations. If the political system would not function as it is

expected to be because of the leaders who are not doing

their responsibilities and duties, and worse, if they

succumb to the seduction of power and authority, political

turmoil may arise whereas disagreements and contradictions

among the politicians themselves are seen and heard just as

it is rampant in the Philippines, the researcher then,

disturbed by the political situations and moved and

challenged by his great desire for peace, harmony and unity

for his country, decided to conduct a study on the

philosophical thought specifically in the political

dimension of some well known philosophers such as Plato,

Aristotle, Confucius, Siddhartha Gautama, and Machiavelli.


3


The researcher chose Siddhartha Gautama Buddha and his

concept of the Pandita-Vaggo or the Wise Man for the

researcher believes that Gautama’s philosophy, especially on

his views the wise man and the ways he should practice can

be appropriated or can be profited by future leaders as a

guide in carrying out their task as leaders. The focus of

this endeavor is to see whether those that were preached by

Siddhartha Gautama on the Pandita-Vaggo opens a path towards

knew knowledge of an ideal ruler.

B. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The main problem at hand is: CAN SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA’S

CONCEPT OF THE “PANDITA-VAGGO (WISE MAN) BE APROPRIATED FOR

FUTURE LEADERS?”

To be able to answer this question, the following

questions needs to be answered and in order to understand

more the doctrine of Siddhartha Gautama:


4


What is the doctrine of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha of

the Pandita-Vaggo or the Wise Man?

Is the notion of Buddha of the Wise Man applicable

of being a ruler?

If the concept of the Wise Man applicable in having

an idea of a ruler, what should be the qualities he

must bear?

If the concept of the Wise Man is not applicable,

how can it still be helpful to man in attaining an

authentic existence?

Having presented these queries on the philosophy of

Buddha, the researcher then hopes to understand and may come

to realize the fruit of his endeavor. That is to extract

from the philosophy of Buddha on the notion of a Pandita-

Vaggo or the Wise Man an ideal ruler.


5


C. SCOPE AND LIMITATION

This study will focus primarily on the philosophy of

Siddhartha Gautama Buddha specifically on his idea of the

Pandita-Vaggo or the Wise Man; on how one is called as such

and the ways that a man must undergo in order to be called

as wise. The researcher at the same time will determine

whether the idea would be best suited in having a potential

leader. The researcher will not tackle comprehensively the

nature of the different political systems on what a ruler

should be, but only those that are applicable and will be

covered by the study. Also, the researcher will focus on the

original philosophy of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha and not of

the doctrines of those later schools that flourished after

his death, such as the Mahayana, Hinayana, Theravada,

Tibetan, Chinese, and Japan’s Zen Buddhism for these later

schools have different interpretations of the teachings of

Gautama.


6


D. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Seeing the political situation in the country, the

researcher finds the study very relevant especially to those

persons who are governing and those that are being governed.

The study may help them realize and seek for a better

leadership. Likewise, the study also may help guide leaders

on how to govern people and the state following the thoughts

of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha.

This work also has a relevance in the personal

formation of the researcher for it may help him acquire knew

knowledges from the teachings of Gautama even though he is a

Christian, he believes that it would help not only him but

also others who are men of the cloth to be more fit in

following the call of the Supreme Being.


7


E. SURVEY OF RELATED LITERATURE

In this study, the researcher read some philosophical

books which are related to this topic and it served also as

sources of the research which helped the researcher in

formulating, developing and abstracting new ideas.

In the book entitled Buddhism: The Dhammapada2 which

will is the sayings and the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama

Buddha that were translated by John Ross Carter and Mahinda

Palihawadana. The book explains the different teachings of

the Buddha on the human nature that was commented by the

translators that man’s nature remained unchanged throughout

history and general laws of political behavior from the

past. Political activities, in order to be successful, had

to take into consideration these laws and base itself on

imitation of great men or those that attained enlightenment.

2 PELIKAN, Jaroslav. ed. Buddhism: The Dhammapada. Sacred Writings, Vol. VI. trans by John Ross

Carter and Mahinda Palihawadana. New York: Book of the Month Club. 1987.


8


The other book written by John Noss entitled Living

Religions3 tackles the different religions in the world

where he stated that these religions are allies in answering

the common foes that the present world is facing such as the

conscienceless political and economic forces. It also

tackles on the traits of man in the Buddhist way his duties

in order to liberate himself from the materialism and

sufferings he experiences in this world. He also explains on

the characteristics and virtues that a person must posses in

order for him to be free from the Karma.

The book entitled The Religions of Man4 by William Kalt

and Ronald Wilkins presents that religions is a key factor

affecting human relations where one in concerned with the

same goals: knowing the true God or the ultimate reality,

finding the true way of salvation and discovering the best

way of life fulfilling the spiritual and physical needs of

individuals.

3 NOSS, John. Living Religions. Boston: United Church Press, 1921.4 KALT, William J. The Religions of Man. Chicago: Henry Regnery

Co., 1967.


9


The thesis of Sem. Hernan Rebaya who already conducted

a study on Siddhartha Gautama with the title A Critique on

Siddhartha Gautama’s Self-Renunciation which presents the

idea of Gautama of Self-Renunciation in order to attain

Nirvana and escape the wheel of the Karma.

Though the stated reading materials touch a portion of

the researcher’s work, still the explanations of the authors

has an important value in the researcher’s work.

This research will be different from other related

materials especially that of the thesis made by Sem. Hernan

Rebaya for it would discover the political philosophy of

Gautama and expose one of his teachings specifically on his

views in having an ideal leader coming from a certain

thought namely the Pandita-Vaggo and that this work will

present such concept of Gautama in having a new idea of a

ruler using other political philosophies and ideas of some

well known political philosophers. Thus, this work can be

said as original.


10


F. METHOD AND RESEARCH DESIGN

The researcher will use descriptive and evaluative

application type of research work as the mode for this query

through library research. On the other hand, he shall rely

on the printed materials such as books, encyclopedias,

journals and other periodicals found in the library of the

Holy Rosary Minor Seminary and Ateneo de Naga University.

Also, the researcher will also gather information from the

Internet.

In this study, the researcher will present and evaluate

the concepts of Gautama. He will simplify the ideas, terms

and arguments regarding the topic in such a careful manner

that he will not distort the meaning and work of the

philosopher and find ways that the work can be useful.

G. DEFINITION OF TERMS


11


a. Buddha A Buddha is not a person but is rather a

personality evolved through the accumulation

of spiritual qualities. He is a way-finder, a

discoverer of the Path of Deliverance that

will free men from the ills of the continuing

migration through endless series of

rebirths.5

b. Bodhisattva A compassionate being who enlightens himself

and helps others to be enlightened. He must

undergo a long preparation; he must pass

through numberless series of births,

sometimes as a god, sometimes as a human

being, sometimes as an animal. It is a long

and arduous training that evolves the

personality to holiness, a gradual progress

that rises in stages to Buddhahood, to

Omniscience.6

c. Dharma The Buddha's teachings. The logics,

philosophical and analytical concepts.

Teachings of the Buddha7

d. Nirvana An everlasting state of great joy and peace.

Complete enlightenment is a state of5 David Hugh Freeman, A Philosophical Study of Religion. (The Craig Press: Nutley, New Jersey) p. 57.6 Ibid. p. 58.7 http://members.shaw.ca/sanuja/buddhist_funda.html#tp.


12


realization in which the subtlest traces of

ignorance about the nature of reality are

eliminated and highest wisdom - the state of

omniscience - is attained. The ineffable

ultimate in which one has attained

disinterested wisdom and compassion.8

e. Pandita-Vaggo A wise man. One that which has completed

the path of Arahantship. A lay wise man.

CHAPTER II

In this chapter, the researcher ventures in the life

and works of Siddhartha Gautama. Examining the life may help

understand better the doctrine preached by Siddhartha

Gautama. However, the researcher delves into the different

presentations on how Gautama came into history. The

researcher then will present the facts, the legend and the

mythical history of Siddhartha Gautama.

8 Ibid.


13


According to most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha

Gautama, the future Buddha lived many lives before coming to

our present world era. In his many existences during the

long, long period of time and in the one hundred thousand

worlds, the future Buddha had fulfilled the Ten Paramitas9,

and, in order to save this world, he was to be born in our

era and to become a fully enlightened Buddha. However, few

of the details of the Buddha's life can be independently

verified, and it is difficult to determine what are facts

based on history and what is myth.

The researcher shall first present the life of

Siddhartha Gautama on his mythical birth. This story

considered by the Buddhists as their basis on the

considering Gautama as a god or one who came from heaven. In

this first explanation or fact that the researcher shall

present is the birth of Siddhartha Gautama from an

Immaculate Conception phenomenon. This presentation on

9 The Ten Paramitas speaks of the Ten Precepts. It is just likeChristianity’s Ten Commandments. The Ten Paramitas promotes the virtuesof Generosity, Morality, Renunciation, wisdom, Energy, Patience,Truthfulness, Determination, Lovingkindness, Equanimity.


14


Gautama’s life may be considered as a myth or a legend which

supports his ministry after he became an enlightened one.

This presentation may also be likened to that of the

incarnation of Jesus Christ in Christian Doctrine that is

why Jesus, for Buddhist is considered as the reincarnation

of Buddha.

A. THE DESCENT FROM HEAVEN10

The Book of John Noss entitled The Living Religions, it

presents a divine birth of the comin of the Buddha whereas

as many Buddhists who followed Siddhartha believed and

considered as one of the reasons to consider Siddhartha as a

god.

“After many years of existences onearth during which he lived the goodlife, the bodhisattva (he who was to bea Buddha) reached the Tusita Heaven andsat meditating in a grove of trees. Theheavenly beings came to him when it was

10 John Noss. Living Religions. (Boston: United Church Press, 1921.) p. 43.


15


known that the “time and fit season fora Buddha” had arrived. The world systemwas ripe for a Buddha, they told him.

Before assenting to their wish, theBuddha to be looked down to earth andmade “five great observations.” Was thisthe right time? Yes because men lived tobe at least a hundred years of age. Ifthey lived shorter lives than this, theywould not listen to a preacher; but ifthey lived to be a hundred that gavethem enough time to be concerned aboutsalvation. Secondly, in what continentshould he be born? India of course. Bythe third and fourth observations hedetermined to be born in the middleregion and the warrior family of KingSuddhodana at Kapilavastu. Finally hechose to be born of Queen Mahamaya, apure blameless woman, who, furthermore,was destined to live long enough to givebirth to him.

So taking the form of a sacredwhite elephant, he descended to GoldHill in the Himalayas.

Meanwhile, his future mother, aftera morning of good works lay down forsiesta, and angels carried her in deepsleep to a palace on Silver Hill, andafter bathing her in the nearby lake,laid her on a couch. The white elephantcame down to Gold Hill with his trunkplucking a white lotus and trumpetingsoftly through it. He entered the palaceon Silver Hill and walked seven timesaround his mother to be with his right


16


side toward her; then he softly smoteher on the right side with the lotusblossom and entered her body. So animmaculate conception took place; andnot only that, it came about by theinitiative of a divine being. Herecompassion won over self-salvation. Allthis explains why he became such awonderful man.”

The following presentation on the life of Gautama

speaks of the historical events offered by historical books.

This information on the life of the Buddha can be a great

source to prove that he did really existed and just not a

mere story or myth. Many of the Buddhist tries to present

Siddhartha Gautama not only as the Enlightened One but also

they consider them as a god due to the legendary tale of his

birth or his incarnation whereas presented above in the book

of John Noss. The following historical data on the life of

Siddhartha covers and starts also his incarnation wherein he

chose his mother-to-be just as it was presented in the book

entitled Living Religions.


17


B. THE HISTORICAL ACCOUNT ON THE LIFE OF GAUTAMA

The researcher shall present another account on the

life of Siddhartha Gautama which also, like that in the book

of John Noss has the same presentation with regard to the

divine incarnation of Siddhartha. The presentation will also

cover the whole life of Siddhartha from birth until his

death.

The Life of the Sakyamuni Buddha11

11 http://home.swipnet.se/ratnashri.


18


Bodhisattva Prabhapala is invited by the Devas in the Tushita Heaven to come down on earth

to save all beings.

Before descending to Earth in 563B.C., Buddha Shakyamuni was born in theTushita Heaven as Devaputra with greatclear mind and profound recollection. Seated on the lion throne, he gaveteachings to all the gods. At thistime, he heard the celestial sound ofthe cymbals and the songs of the Buddhasof the three times perfectly invoked,addressing him thus: "In samsara,burning with the fire of emotions, you,great warrior, pervade the clouds. Thefalling rain of your ambrosia pacifiesthe afflicting emotions of those who arenot gods." Hearing these words, helooked for the five sights - thecontinent called Jambudvipa; the sixcities such as Champaka; the Shakya clanwhich for seven generations, has not


19


declined through intermarriage; a mothernamed Mahamaya, who was free from the 32negative qualities; and a time of thefive increasing degenerations in whichpeople suffer greatly and become objectsof compassion, for they are difficult totame, hold wrong views, have a declininglife span, are defiled by the fivemental poisons, and gain wealth throughimpure means. Seeing these things, hesaid to the gods: "I will blow the conchshell of impermanence, beat the gong ofemptiness, and roar with the sound ofselflessness." He then empoweredMaitreya to take his place on thethrone, and declared three times to thesix realms of the gods that he wasdescending to this world.

Then he manifested as the preciouselephant having an immense, thoughglorious and gentle, body with sixtrunks. He was adorned with the goldennets and a beauteous red hat, and gaveforth a pleasant odor because of themedical herbs he ate. In the middle ofthe fifteenth day of the second month atthe time of the full moon, when Mahamayawas in retreat, the Lord Buddha enteredher womb through the right side. Mahamaya then dreamed that a mountainhad become her pillow, that the sun wasrising within her body, and that she wasgiving teachings to many sentientbeings. She felt light and at ease. In the months to come, she had manyother auspicious dreams, and experiencedbliss and freedom from afflictingemotions.


20


Queen Mahamaya had a dream of a six-tusked

white elephant coming to her and she was thenpregnant.

In his outings through the four gates of the city, prince Siddhartha realizes the true circle of life:

birth, old age, illness and death.

After ten months, the moment forgiving birth. Mahamaya was passing by


21


the Lumbini Garden when, quick as aflesh of lightening, she grasped abranch of the laksha tree with her righthand. The child emerged from her rightside, and Brahma and Indra descended toEarth to make offerings, wrapping him ina pure silk cloth. After the gods andnagas bathed him, the child took sevensteps in each of the four directions. He became known as Siddhartha (thefulfiller of wishes) because he revealedmany treasures at that time andfulfilled the wishes of his father.

The Buddha was born at Lumbini Garden.


22


As his mother passed away sevendays after his birth, the queen's sisterbrought up the prince with greataffection and tenderness. He wassurrounded by all kinds of luxuaries. Though still a child and attended inthis fashion by the various kinds ofsensory pleasure suitable to his age,yet in gravity, purity, thoughtfulnessand dignity he was unlike a child. Hereceived an all-round education. Beingintelligent and eager to learn, thePrince became very good at studies andmilitary skills. All the Brahmins andastrologers prophesied that if the childrenounced the kingdom, he would become aBuddha; otherwise, he would become auniversal monarch. One day a rishicalled Krishna, along with his nephew,came to the kingdom for the Himalayas. King Suddhodana asked: "Why have youcome here?" and the rishi replied:"Great king, I have come to see your son- the sage and liberator of sentientbeings. I have to come and see. Whatkind of prediction have others madeabout him?" King Suddhodana replied:"He will become a wheel-turner king. Thetreasure of the teaching contains allthe virtues. He will achieveBuddhahood, becoming victorious over allthe faults. He will work for the welfareand happiness of mankind."


23


Prince Siddhartha was tenderly pampered.

Prince Siddhartha attends the Ploughing Festival with his father, King Suddhodana.


24


Adorned with the ornaments, hebecame expert in astrology andliterature. When he departed the city,he meditated in Samadhi. Under theshade of the jambu tree, he was praisedby the six sons of the gods. One day,the Prince saw a farmer in worn-outclothes, ploughing the field andwhipping an ox. He came to understandthe difficult life of living beings. Healso saw a bird pecking at an earthwormand an eagle swooping down on the bird. He came to understand that living beingskill one another and only the strongestcan survive.

His compassion was shown at his young age, when a crane was shot by Devadatta, he took it in his arms, nourished it, saving it.


25


In his 19th year, he was married tohis own cousin Yasodhara, daughter ofSuddhodana. He passed hsi youth amidluxury and splendor, in three mansionsappropriate to the three seasons,surrounded by forth thousand nautch-girls, like a very god surrounded bytroops of celestial nymphs.

Prince Siddhartha realizes the true circle of life:In his outings through the four gates of the city,birth, old age, illness and death.

In his 29th year, the prince askedBodhisattva's attendant Dunpa drove hischariot in the eastern, southern and


26


western directions where he saw aging,sickness and death. Seeing suchsuffering, he was greatly moved andsaid: What is the use of youth which isultimately destroyed by age? What isthe benefit of health which will onlyend with illness? What is the good ofwisdom in life if this life lasts notforever? Aging, sickness and deathfollow each other inevitably.

The prince asked the charioteer,"Good charioteer, who is this man withwhite hair supporting himself on thestaff in his hand, with his eyes veiledby the brows and limbs relaxed andbent?" He replied, "Old age it iscalled, that which has broken him down,the murderer of beauty, the ruin ofvigor, the birth place of sorrow, thegrave of pleasure, the destroyer ofmemory, the enemy of the senses." Theprince asked, "Will this evil come uponme also?" Then the charioteer said tohim:- "Inevitably by force of time, mylong-lived lord will know this length ofhis days. Men are aware that old agethus destroys beauty and yet they seekit."


27


Prince Siddhartha looks at his wife and sonbefore leaving the palace.

At the age of 29, the bodhisattvarealized that, "The heart is in thenature of happiness and what must beextinguished is the fire of lust, hatredand delusion. Only through that can theheart be truly happy. On this very day,I must renounce the household-life,retire from the world, become a monk andseek after the True Happiness." He gaveup the luxurious palace life anddeparted from his wife and other lovedones. One night, when all his attendantswere asleep, the Bodhisattva thoughtthat he should leave the palace. Thus,he called to Dunpa, saying: Awaken, andquickly fetch my magical steed Ngakden.I intend to search for the garden ofhardships visited by previous Buddhasseeking Enlightenment. I know that thiswill please all the sages. Dunpareplied: This is not the hour to go tothe garden. No one holds malice towardyou here; you have no enemies, so why doyou need a horse at midnight? The


28


Prince replied: Dunpa, you have neverdisobeyed me, so do not do so now as weprepare to separate. At last Dunpabrought the horse, but the horse wouldnot allow the Prince to mount him. ThePrince told him: Ngakden, this is thelast time that you will carry me. Sotake me without delay to the garden ofhardships. After achievingEnlightenment, I will quickly fulfillthe needs of all sentient beings throughthe rain of samadhi. As his father laysleeping, Bodhisattva circumambulatedhim and rode off in the night saying: Until I achieve the supreme path of allthe Buddhas, I will not return to thiscity of Kapilavastu.

At dawn, Prince Siddhartha and the charioteer ride the horse Kanthaka,

leave the city of Kapilvastu, cross the Anoma river and start


29


a homeless life.

Mounted on his horse andaccompanied by his charioteer Dunpa, hepassed out of the city gate, an angelopening the gate. Mara, the Evil Oneoffered him Universal Sovereignty if hewould abandon his purpose, but theFuture Buddha rebuked the temptation andpassed on. But the Evil One everfollowed him, watching his opportunity. The future Buddha proceeded to the riverAnoma, where he received the EightRequistes of a monk from an angel.

Within two sessions (half a day),he discovered a distance which normallytakes twelve days. alighting from hishorse, he removed his ornaments, gavethem to Dunpa and dismissed him andNgakden. But Dunpa objected: "It is notright that you should remain alone." The Prince replied: All beings comeinto this world alone; likewise do theydie. During this life, they also sufferalone. There are no friends insamsara.


30


Cutting off his hair, shaving off his beard, the Prince instructs Dunpa

to return to the palace with his garments, ornaments and precious sword.

He cut his hair in front of thefully pure stupa,and gave it to Dunpa.


31


Prince Siddhartha dwells in the snow-capped mountain caves to engage in spiritual practice.

After renunciation, the Prince wentfrom place to place and learned frommany well-known teachers in his searchfor the Truth and practice meditation.The prince spent the next seven days inAnupiya Mango Grove in the enjoyment ofthe bliss of monkhood. He then went onfoot to Rajagaha, the capital of KingBimbisara, and made his round for almsfrom door to door. Bimbisara, pleasedwith his deportment, offered him hiskingdom. But the prince refused hisoffer, declaring that he had renouncedall for the sake of attaining SupremeEnlightenment. Bimbisara then requestedhim, as soon as he should become aBuddha, to visit his kingdom first, the


32


future Buddha gave him his promise to doso. He then attached himself to AlaraKalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, teachers ofthe Yoga philosophy. But becomingconvinced that the Yoga discipline wasnot the Way of Salvation, he abandonedthe practice and proceed to Uruvela, andattended by Kondanna and four othermonks, entered upon the Great Struggle.

Following the five ascetic rishis,Siddhartha underwent hardships for sixyears by the banks of the Nairanjana. So great were his austerities that theribs of his back could be seen. Hedrank one one drop of water a day. Heate only one grain a day and in this wayachieve the highest meditative state. While thus engaged, he was approachedand tempted to abandon the GreatStruggle by Mara the Evil One,accompanied by his None Hosts, namely,Lust, Discontent, Hunger and Thirst,Craving, Sloth and Laziness, Cowardice,Doubt, Hypocrisy and Stupidity, Gain,Fame, Honor, and Glory Falsely Obtained,Exaltation of Self, and Contempt ofOthers. But the future Buddha rebukedthe Evil One and he departed. One day,while absorbed in trance induced bysuspension of the breath, he becameutterly exhausted and fell in a swoon. His five companions believed him to bedead, and certain deities went to hisfather, King Suddhodana, and so informedhim. But the king refused to believe


33


this, declaring that his son could notdie before attaining Enlightenment. TheFuture Buddha, convinced that fastingand other forms of self-mortificationwere not the Way of Salvation, abandonedthe Great Struggle. Thereupon his fivecompanions, regarding him as abackslider, deserted him and went to theDeer-park near Benares.

Prince Siddhartha in his six years of continuous practicing all forms of severe austerity.

Then he realized that the path ofextreme austerities would not enable himto fulfill his vow, so he determined tomeditate on building strength of body. Rishi Deva, who had been theBodhisattva's friend before he renouncedthe kingdom took pity on his conditionand told two village women, Gamo andGatopma to bring him offerings. When


34


he partook of their milk porridge, thecolor of his body transformed into puregold. His five disciples, thinking thathe had renounced the path, abandonedhim. The Bodhisattva asked the twowomen how the merit of their offeringcould be shared, and they replied: Whatever accumulations of merit arecreated by these gifts. O renowned one,fulfiller of all wishes, we offer toyou. May you achieve the ultimate stateand fully accomplish your excellentthought.

Deciding to follow the Middle Path, the Prince abandones ascetic life and

accepts a bowl of milk-rice offered by Gamo and Gatopma.


35


The gods, gazing on him, thought hewould soon die, and so they lamented: The son of Shakya, the essence ofsentient being, when in the Tushitaheaven would have done well to remainand give teachings. But he promised toliberate sentient beings and now itseems he will die. And they toldMahamaya that her son, Siddhartha, wouldsoon pass away. Hearing this, themother descended form the heavens andmade this lamentation: When my son wasborn in the garden of Lumbini,fearlessly, like a lion, he took sevensteps, looked in the four directions andsaid: This is my final birth. You havenot fulfilled this pleasing prophecy; I see the words of the rishi Krishnaunrealized that you would achieveEnlightenment. All I see is theimpermanence of death. Who will givelife to my only son? siddharthareplied: This earth may crumble; thesun, moon and stars fall away. Yet evenif I were an ordinary being, I would notdie. Soon I will achieveBuddhahood.Despite such allurements andtemptation, the prince firmly guardedhis senses, and in his perturbation overthe inevitability of death, was neitherrejoiced nor distressed and thusmeditated :- "Do these women then notunderstand the transitory nature ofyouth, that they are so inebriated withtheir own beauty, which old age willdestroy? Surely they do not perceiveanyone overwhelmed by illness, that they


36


are so full of mirth, so void of fear ina world in which disease is a law ofnature. And quite clearly they sport andlaugh so much at ease and unperturbed,because they are ignorant of death whocarries all away. For what rationalbeing would stand or sit or lie at ease,still less laugh, when he knows of oldage, disease and death? It is not thatI despise the objects of sense and Iknow that the world is devoted to them;but my mind does not delight in them,because I hold them to be transitory. Iam fearful and exceeding distressed, asI meditate on the terrors of old age,death and disease. I find no peace orcontentment, much less pleasure, as Iperceive the world blazing as it werewith fire. If desire arises in theheart of a man who knows that death isinevitable, I consider that his soul ismade of iron, in that instead of weepinghe delights in the great danger." Bodhisattva sat, saying: "Even if myflesh and blood dry up and my skin, mynerves and bones disintegrate, yet willI remain in this seat until I achieveEnlightenment which is hard to find evenduring many kalpas."


37


Temptation from the demons of defilement, attachment, jealousy and doubt.

Mara the Evil One endeavored todrive him from his seat with the NineRains, namely, wind, rain, rocks,weapons, blazing coals, hot ashes, sand,mud, and darkness. From his forehead,the Bodhisattva radiated a light knownas the Subjugation of the Assembly ofMaras. Because of this invocation, allthe groups of sinful maras, who delightin negative actions, gathered to hisleft. The hundred-handed said, "My bodyhas a hundred hands and even one canshoot one hundred arrows. I willtherefore pierce the body ofpractitioners. Father, rejoice, comeforth; Do not lag behind." Those whogathered to his right delighted inpositive action and were known as GreatDiscrimination Mind. They praised him,


38


saying: "The body of him who meditateson loving kindness beyond samsara cannotbe harmed by poison, weapons and fire. Such weapons, if thrown will betransformed into flowers." It wasaccomplished as they said. Thus themale maras could create no obstaclesneither could the female maras deceivehim. In this way, he defeated all themaras.

Mara, the evil forces, such as: arrogance, hatred, etc., fail to disturb the Prince.

After conquering the Mara's host byhis steadfastness and tranquility, he,the master of trance, put himself intotrance in order to obtain exactknowledge of the ultimate reality.


39


Prince Siddhartha meditates under the Bodhi tree by the Neranjara River.

In the first part of the night, heachieved the four stages of samadhi andthe state of super-awareness. In themiddle watch of the night, he achievedthe clairvoyance of recollecting hisprevious lives; and in the last hours ofthe night he achieved the stainlesswisdom of the end of afflictingemotions. He then realized in a momentthe nature of the twelve links ofinterdependent origination (the twelvenidanas) both in their arising andcessation, as well as the Four NobleTruths. Thus, in a moment, he achievedEnlightenment, the perfect Buddhahood.For seven days, the Buddha satmotionless on the Throne ofEnlightenment, experiencing the Bliss ofDeliverance. After spending four weeks


40


in earnest thought near the Tree ofWisdom, he spent the fifth week at theGoathered's Banyan-tree. Here he wastempted by the three daughters of Marathe Evil One, namely, Craving,Discontent, and Lust. But he repulsedtheir advances, saying, "Begone! Theexalted One has put away Lust, Ill.will,and Delsuion." The sixth and seventhweeks were spent at the Mucalinda-treeand the Rajayatana-tree respectively. On the last day of the seventh week, hereceived his first converts, towmerchants named Tapussa and Bhallika. He then returned to the Goatherd'sBanyan-tree.

Prince Siddahartha attains Enlightenment on the eighth of December

under the Bodhi tree after defeating Mara.


41


When Buddha attained Enlightenment,he said, "I have found a teaching likeambrosia, profound, peaceful, free fromconception, luminous, uncreated. If Itell of this teaching, no one willunderstand. So I shall stay in theforest without speaking. Bringingofferings, Indra requested the one-thousand-spoked golden wheel with thesewords. "Like the moon free from eclipse,your mind is completely liberated. Please awaken the victors of battle tokindle the light of wisdom and destroythe darkness of the world." Brahma thenappeared and requested: "Go wherever youwill, O Sage, but please give theteachings." To them, the Lord Buddhareplied: "All beings are chained todesire and remain immersed in thatstate. Therefore the teachings I havefound will be of no benefit even if Ioffer them." Thus he refused to givethe teachings. Again Brahma requested:"The teachings previously given inMagadha are all impure and false. Therefore, Sage, open the door ofambrosia." For many lifetimes, Brahmahad cultivated his mind and accumulatedgreat merit so that he could request theteachings from the Buddha. For thisreason, the Buddha finally agreed to doas he wished, saying: "The sentientbeings of Magadha are full of faith andpure devotion. They are ready to hearthe teachings. I will therefore openthe door to ambrosia." On the way,Nyendro asked: "Where are you going?" The Buddha said: "I go to Varanasi, tothe city of Kashika there I will kindle


42


the teachings in sentient beings who areas blind men. I will beat the drum ofthe teaching for sentient beings thatare as deaf men. I will cause the rainof teachings to fall on sentient beingsthat are as lame men. As he approachedVaranasi, the five disciples paid homageto Buddha. Then Buddha turned the wheelof the Dharma three times in succession.

Resplendent with power and glory,Buddha expounded the Four Noble Truthsto Kaundinya gotra, Mahanaman, Vaspa,Asvajit and Bhadrajit. "The fool whotortures himself and equally he who isattached to the domains of the senses,both these you should regard as infault, because they have taken paths,which do not lead to deathlessness. Theformer, with his mind troubled andovercome by the bodily toils calledausterities, becomes unconscious anddoes not know even the ordinary courseof the world, how much less then thesupersensual way of truth? Just as inthis world one does not pour out waterto obtain a light for the destruction ofdarkness, so bodily torments are not theprerequisite for the destruction of thedarkness of ignorance by the fire ofknowledge. Just as a man who wants afire does not obtain it by boring andsplitting wood, but does succeed byusing the proper means, so deathlessnessis obtained by yoga, not by torments. Similarly those who are attached to thelusts have their minds overwhelmed bypassion and ignorance; they do not evenattain the ability to understand the


43


doctrines, still less then thepassionless method of suppression. Just as the individual who is overcomeby illness is not cured by eatingunwholesome food, so how shall he who isovercome by disease of ignorance and isaddicted to the lusts, reach religiouspeace?"

Turning the Dharma Wheel the first time at the Deer Park, the Buddha expounds the Four Noble Truths

to convert the first five ascetic friends.

Just as a fire does not go out,when it has dry grass for fuel and thewind fans it, so the mind does not cometo peace, when passion is its companionand the lusts its support. Abandoningeither extreme, I have won to another,the Middle Path, which brings surceasefrom sorrow and passes beyond bliss andecstasy. The sun of right views


44


illumines it, the chariot of pure rightthought fares along it, the rest-housesare right words rightly spoken, and itis gay with a hundred groves of goodconduct. It enjoys the great prosperityof noble livelihood and has the army andretinue of right effort; it is guardedon all sides by the fortifications ofright awareness and is provided with thebed and seat of concentrated thought. Such in this world is the most excellenteightfold path, by which comes releasefrom death, old age and disease, bypassing along it, all is done that hasto be done, and there is no furthertraveling in this world or the next. 'This is nothing but suffering, this isthe cause, this is the suppression andthis is the path to it: thus forsalvation's sake, I developed eyesightfor an unprecedented method of the Law,which had been hitherto unheard of. Birth, old age, disease and death,separation from what is desired, unionwith what is not desired, failure toattain the longed for end, these are thevaried sufferings that men undergo.


45


In the Bamboo (Venuvana) at Rajagriha, the Buddha gave a sermon to 1250 disciples.

In whatever state a man beexisting, whether he is subject to thelusts or has conquered self, whether hehas or has not a body, whatever qualityis lacking to him, know that in short tobe suffering. Just as a fire, when itsflames die down, does not lose itsinborn nature of being hot, howeversmall it be, so the idea of self, subtlethough it may become through quietudeand the like, has still the nature ofsuffering. Recognize that, just as thesoil, water, seed and the season are thecauses of the shoot, so the varioussins, passion and the like, as well asthe deeds that spring from the sins, arethe causes of suffering. The cause forthe stream of existence, whether inheaven or below, is the group of sins,


46


passion and the like; and the root ofthe distinction here and there intobase, middling and high, is the deeds. From the destruction of the sins thecause of the cycle of existence ceasesto be, and from the destruction of theAct that suffering ceases to be, for,since all things come into being fromthe existence of something else, withthe disappearance of that something elsethey cease to be. Know suppression tobe that in which there is not eitherbirth, or old age, or death or fire orearth or water or space or wind, whichis without beginning or end, noble andnot to be taken away, blissful andimmutable. The path is that which isdescribed as eightfold and outside itthere are no means for success. Becausethey do not see this path, men everrevolve in the various paths. Thus Icame to the conclusion in this matter,that suffering is to be recognized, thecause to be abandoned, the suppressionto be realized and the path to becultivated. Thus insight developed inme that this suffering is to berecognized, the cause to be abandoned,the suppression to be realized and thepath to be cultivated. Thus sightdeveloped in me that this sufferingsuppression has been realised, similarlythat this path has been cultivated. When Buddha, full of compassion, thuspreached the Law there in these words,he of the Kaundinya clan and a hundreddeities obtained the insight that ispure and free from passion.


47


The Buddha exhorts the Dharma to Sariputta, Moggalana, and other chief disciples.

The Buddha expounds the Dharma to Queen Maha-Yana.

Buddha spoke, "I know, O king, thatin your compassionate nature you are


48


overtaken by sorrow at the sight of Me. Give up that delight in having a son,and becoming calm, accept from Me theLaw in place of a son. What no son hasever before given to a father, what nofather has ever before received from ason, that which is better than a kingdomor than paradise, know that, O king tobe the most excellent deathlessness. Guardian of the earth, recognize thatnature of the act, the birthplace of theact, the vehicle of the act and the lotthat comes by maturation of the act, andknow the world to be under the dominionof the act, therefore practize that actwhich is advantageous. Consider andponder on the real truth of the world. The good act is man's friend, the badone the reverse. You must abandoneverything and go forth alone, withoutsupport, accompanied only by your acts. The world of the living fares on underthe impulse of the act, whether inheaven or hell, among animals or in theworld of men. The cause of existence isthreefold, threefold the birthplace andvarious are the deeds that men commit. Therefore rightly direct yourself to theother alternative and purify the actionsof your body and voice. Strive forquietude of the mind. This is yourgoal; Knowing the world to be restlessas the waves of the sea and meditatingon it, you should take no joy in thespheres of existence, and shouldpractise that act which is virtuous andleads to the highest good, in order todestroy the power of the act. Knowthat the world ever revolves like the


49


circle of the asterisms; even gods passtheir peak and fall from heaven, howmuch less then may one rely on the humanstate? Look therefore on the world asencompassed with great dangers like ahouse on fire, and seek for that stagewhich is tranquil and certain, and inwhich there is neither birth nor death,neither toil nor suffering. Crush thehostile armies of the faults, for whichthere is no need of wealth or territoryor weapons or horses or elephants. Once they are conquered, there isnothing more to conquer. comprehendsuffering, the cause of suffering, theappeasement and the means ofappeasement. By thoroughly penetratingthese four, the great danger and theevil births are suppressed."

The Buddha returns to Kapilavathu to visit KingSuddhodana

and to preach Dharma to his royal relatives.


50


The Buddha converts Patacara, an unfortunate woman,

to become a Bhiksuni in the Sangha


51


The Buddha advises Singala about the meaning of worshiping six directions:

East, West,South, North,Above andBelow.


52


The Buddha converts a heretic, Angulimala, who murdered others

for their fingers.

A mother agonized over the sudden death of heronly son,came to Buddha, asking him to help her saving her son. The

Buddha delivered a sermon on impermanence. She wasthenEnlightened leading a life of happiness and serenity.

The street of Rajagrha becameimpassable through the corpses, whichthe elephant had struck with his body ortaken up with his trunk or whoseentrails were drawn out by his tusks andscattered in heaps. Buddha said, " Theslaughter of the Sinless one is


53


accompanied by suffering; Do no harm, Oelephant, to the Sinless One. For, Oelephant, the life of him who slays theSinless does not develop from existenceto existence in the eight good births. The three, love, hatred and delusion,are intoxicants hard to conquer; yet thesages are free of the threeintoxicants. Free yourself therefore ofthese fevers and pass beyond sorrow. Therefore in order to abandon this loveof darkness, be quit of intoxication andresume your natural self. do not, Olord of elephants, slip back throughexcess of passion into the mud of theocean of transmigration." Theelephant, hearing these words, was freedfrom intoxication and returned to rightfeeling; and he obtained the goodinternal pleasure, like one releasedfrom illness on drinking the elixir.


54


With his great compassion, the Buddha bringsto submission the ferociously drunkenelephants released by King Ajatasatti.

Lord Buddha went to Kusinagara nearthe Hiranyavati River. He blessed allthe sentient beings, each in their ownlanguage, as he thought of them all ashis own sons, saying that if any doubtsor hesitations were arising, they shouldquestion him during these, his lastmoments. Those gods, demi-gods andhumans who loved the Dharma gathered thefinest offerings and supplicated himwith these words: "All the sentientbeings, tortured by the disease ofafflicting emotions, are separated fromthe skillful physician of the Dharma. Lord Buddha, the blessed one, do notabandon us." The Buddha replied: "TheBuddhas are Dharmata therefore theyremain. Dedicate your lives toawareness and protect your thoughtsthrough mindfulness. Renounce all non-virtuous actions. Be content andhappy." Buddha died in 483 B.C.


55


The Buddha attains Parinibbana in the SalaGrove, between the twin Sala tress, in the

vicinity of Kusinagara.

The Buddha pointed out that life is suffering and that

suffering is caused by ignorance and desire. In order to

end suffering, one has to follow the path shown by the

Buddha, it is the Noble Eightfold Path. It means right

understanding - understanding the law of cause and effect;

right thought - pure and kind thoughts; right speech -


56


truthful and gentle speech; right action - good and law-

abiding conduct; right livelihood - proper and purposeful

occupation; right effort - striving to improve and progress;

right mindfulness - mindful of thought and conduct; right

meditation - practicing meditation to gain wisdom. He said,

"We must guard against the three fires of greed, hatred and

ignorance, as they keep burning in our minds causing

sufferings. To put out the fire of greed, one must avoid

the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-torture. To

put out the fire of hatred, one must practice compassion.

To put out the fire of ignorance, one must understand the

Four Noble Truths and practice the Noble Eightfold Path."

He emphasized compassion in his teaching. He told us to be

concerned for each other, to help each other. He

emphasized the equality to all beings and stressed on self-

reliance. He said that everyone has the Buddha nature and

everyone can become a Buddha provided he himself practices

diligently.


57


The Buddha said that everyone is responsible for his

own actions. Virtuous action creates good karma and non-

virtuous action brings bad karma. One can be reborn in any

of the six realms. The six realms are the god realm, the

demi-god realm, the human realm, the animal realm, the

hungry ghost realm and the hell realm. The karma of one's

past determines which of the six realms he will be reborn

in. He showed us the Noble Eightfold Path, by practicing

which we can be freed the cycle of birth and death, and

attain the supreme happiness of Nirvana.

The researcher shall also present the timeline of

Buddhism as to know the changes made through time. In

looking at the table, Buddhism then expanded up until China

and the world. After the death of Gautama, different schools

where founded embracing his teachings.


58


Timeline of Buddhist Philosophy12 (653 BC to 2005 AC)

Buddhist Western Major Events World Figures andEvents

- 120*6th Century B.C.E. *

• Life of Siddhartha Guatama, the historical Buddha: conventional dates: 566-486 B.C.E. (According to more recent research, revised datesare: 490-410 BCE).

• Persian Empire founded by Cyrus theGreat (550 B.C.E.)• Confucius (551-479)• Zarathustra (630-553)• Birth of Mahavira (550)

- 20 5th Century

• First Buddhist Council at Rajagaha (486) after the Parinirvana*, under the patronage of King Ajatasattu. • The Buddhist Canon as it exist today was settled at this Council and preserved as an oral tradition.

• Socrates (469-399)

• Plato (427-347) • Battle of Marathon (490)• Greek-Persian Wars (490-479)• Partheon Built (438)

1444th Century

• Second Buddhist Council at Vesali (386) about 100 year after the Parinirvana.• First schism of the Sangha occurs in which the Mahasanghika school parts wayswith the Sthaviravadins and the Theravadins.• Non-canonical Buddhist Council at Pataliputra (367)

• Aristotle (384-322)

• Alexander the Great (356-323)invaded India (327)

244 3rd Century

• Reign of Indian Emperor Asoka (272-231) who converts and establishes the Buddha's

• Great Wall of China (250)

• Hadrian's Wall

12 The Buddhist calendar starts (year 1) from the Buddha's Parinirvana(death and final release) which occured in his eightieth year. B.C.E. =Before Common Era (Equivalent to B.C.) * C.E. = Common Era (Equivalentto A.D.) http://members.shaw.ca/sanuja/buddhisminthewest.html#ebu.


59


Dharma on a national level forthe first time.• Third Buddhist Council at Pataliputra (250) under the patronage of Emperor Asoka about 200 years after the Parinirvana.• The modern Pali Tipitaka nowessentially complete. • Asoka's son and missionary Mahinda established Buddhism in Sri Lanka (247)

circa 3rd Century AD

• Hannibal Barca (247?-183?)

344 2nd Century

• Beginnings of Mahayana Buddhism (200).• Composition of Prajnaparamita literature.• Historical record has it that two Buddhist missionariesfrom India in 68 AD, arrived at the court of Emperor Ming (58-75) of Han Dynasty. They enjoyed imperial favour and stayed on to translate variousBuddhist Texts, one of which, The 'Sutra of Forty-two Sections' continues to be popular even today.

• Buddhist monuments: Sanchi, Amaravati, Bodhi Gaya, India. (185-175)

• Han Dynasty in China(206-220)

444 1st Century

• Entire scriptural canon of Theravada School was committedto writing on palm leaves in Pali at the Aloka Cave, near Matale, Sri Lanka (35-32)• Milinda-pañha or Questions of King Milinda to Venerble Nagasena.

• 01BCE Mar 1, Startof the revised Julian calendar in Rome.

• Julius Caesar (100-44)

• Virgil, Latin poet(70-19)

544 1st Century C.E.*

• King Kaniska (78-101) convened the Fourth Buddhist Council at Jalandhar or in Kashmir around 100 C.E. (This is

• Jesus of Nazareth (0-33 C.E.)

• Destruction of Jerusalem and the


60


not recognized by the Theravadins).• Buddhism established in Cambodia 100 C.E and in Vietnam 150 C.E.• Composition of Lotus Sutra and other Mahayana Buddhist texts. • Buddhism enters Central Asiaand China.

second Temple: (70 C.E.)

• The Buddha first represented in art as human form.

644 2nd Century

• The Age of Indian Buddhist philosopher Nargarjuna (150) founder of the school of Madhyamika ('the Middle Way').

• Roman Empire reaches the height of its power.• In 185 C.E, Shungaa Brahman general became the ruler andthe Shunga dynasty ruled for 112 years in India.

744 3rd Century

• Expansion of Buddhism to Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Indonesia.The Yogacara (meditation) school was founded by Maitreyanatha (3rd century).• Buddhist influence in Persiaspreads through trade.

• Three Kingdoms dynasty (220–265) Division into three states: Wei, Shu, Wu. Many scientific advances adopted from India.• The Emperor Constantine convertsto Christianity (312)

844 4th Century

• Asanga (310-390) and his brother Vasubandhu (420-500) prominent teachers of the Yogacara school of Buddhism.• Development of Vajrayana Buddhism in India.• Translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese by Kumarajiva (344-413) and Hui-yüan (334-416).

• Gupta dynasty exemplified by Chandra Gupta II (375-415) dominated North Central India.

• Saint Augustine (354-430)


61


• Buddhism enters Korea (372).

944 5th Century

• Buddhist monastic universityfounded at Nalanda, India.• Buddhaghosa composes the Visuddhimagga and major commentaries in Sri Lanka.• Buddhism established in Burma and Korea.• Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hsien visits India (399-414).• Amitabha (Amida) Pure Land sect emerges in China.• Sri lankan Theravadin nuns introduce full ordination lineage into China (433).• Mahayana Buddhism was introduced into Java, Sumatra,Borneo, mainly by Indian immigrants.

• 5th Century Anglo-Saxon Invasion of England

• Earliest hospital in Sri Lanka (437)

• Fall of the Western Roman Empire(476)

1044 6th Century

• Bodhidharma founder of Ch'an(Zen) arrives in China from India. (526)• Sui Dynasty in Chinese History (589-617) beginning ofGolden Age of Chinese Buddhism.• Development of T'ien-tai, Hua-yen, Pure Land, and Ch'an schools of Chinese Buddhism.• Buddhism enters Japan (538) becomes state religion (594).• Buddhism flourishing in Indonesia. • Jataka Tales translated intoPersian by King Khusru (531-579).

• Prophet Mohammed (570-632)

• The Age of IslamicExpansion(630-725)

• First pagoda builtin China (600)

1144 7th Century

• Construction of Potala Palace, Jokang and Ramoche temples to house Buddha images

• Islam sweeps across North Africa (700-800)


62


(641-650)• Harsa-vardhana ruler of a large empire in northern Indiafrom 606 to 647. He was a Buddhist convert in a Hindu era. • Chinese pilgrim Hsuan-Tsang (602-664) visits India.

• Tang dynasty, China (618-906)

1244 8th Century

• Academic schools (Jöjitsu, Kusha, Sanron, Hossö, Ritsu, and Kegon) proliferate in Japan.• Great debate between Tibetanand Chinese Buddhist schools.• Ch'an declared heretical in Tibet.• Nyingma School of Tibet Buddhism established.• Borobudur Temple complex built in Java.

• Jataka Tales translated intoSyrian and Arabic under title:Kalilag and Damnag.

• Nara Period in Japanese history (710-784)

• First monastery built in Tibet (Sam-ye) (749)

• Moslem invasion ofCentral Asia (760)

• Charlemagne (742-814)

1344 9th Century

• Khmer kings build Angkor Wat, the world's largest religious monument.• Tendai School (founded by Saichö (767-822) and Shingon School (founded by Kukai: (774-835) appear in Japan.• Great Buddhist persecution in China (845)

• Biography of Buddha translated into Greek by SaintJohn of Damascus and distributed in Christianity as"Balaam" and "Josaphat".

• Heian Period in Japanese history (794-1185)

• First printed book, Diamond Sutra,China (868)

1444 10th Century

• First complete printing of Chinese Buddhist Canon (983),

• Sung Dynasty in Chinese History


63


known as the Szechuan edition.

• Buddhism in Thailand (900-1000)

• Islam replaces Buddhism in Central Asia (900-1000).

(960-1279)

• 1000 C.E The population at this time was about 200 million people in the world.

1544 11th Century

• Conversion of King Anawrahtaof Pagan (Burma) (1044-1077) by Shin Arahan.

• Atisha (982-1054) arrives inTibet from India (1042). • Marpa (1012-1097) begins Kargyu School of Tibetan Buddhism.• Milarepa (1040-1123) becomesgreatest poet and most popularsaint in Tibetan Buddhism.

•The bhikkhu and bhikkhuni (monk and nun) communities at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, die out following invasions from South India.

• Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism established.• Revival of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Burma. • Decline of Buddhism in India.

• 1000-1100 There was a Confucian revival in China.

• Edward the Confessor, English king (1042-1066)

• Great Schism between Orthodox andRoman Catholic Churches (1054)

• 1st Crusades (1096-1099)

1644 12th Century

• Theravada Buddhism established in Burma.

• Hönen (1133-1212) founded the Pure Land School of Japanese Buddhism.

• Eisai (1141-1215) founds theRinzai Zen School of Japanese

• Omar Khayyam, Persian poet and mathematician (1044-1123)

• 1119 Bologna University founded in Italy; Paris University, in France, is founded in 1150.


64


Buddhism.

• In 1193 the Moslems attackedand conquered Magadha, the heartland of Buddhism in India, and with the destruction of the Buddhist Monasteries and Universities (Valabhi and Nalanda) - in that area Buddhism was wiped out.

• Buddhism in Korea flourishesunder the Koryo dynasty (1140-1390).

• Kamakura Period inJapanese history (1192-1338)

1744 13th Century

• Shinran (1173-1263 ) founds True Pure Land School of Japanese Buddhism.• Dogen (1200-1253) founds Soto Zen School of Japanese Buddhism.• Nichiren (1222-1282) founds school of Japanese Buddhism named after him.• Mongols converted to Vajrayana Buddhism. • Theravada Buddhism spreads to Laos.• Some Buddhist texts still being translated into Arabic, in Persia.

• Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)• Magna Carta (1215)• Genghis Khan invades China (1215)• Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) • Mongol conquest ofChina complete (1279)

1844 14th Century

• Bu-ston collects and edits Tibetan Buddhist Canon.• Rulers of the north (Chieng-mai) and northeast (Sukhothai)Thailand adopt Theravada Buddhism (becomes state religion in 1360). • Theravada Buddhism adopted in Cambodia and Laos.• Tsong-kha-pa (1357-1419)

• John Wycliffe (1328-1384) English theologian and biblical translator.

• China regains its independence from the Mongols under the Ming dynasty (1368)


65


Tibetan Buddhist reformer and founder of Dge-lugs-pa (or Gelugpa, or 'Yellow Hat') order.

1944 15th Century

• Beginning of Dalai Lama lineage in Tibetan Buddhism. •In Cambodia, the Vishnuite temple, Angkor Wat, founded inthe 12th century, becomes a Buddhist centre.

• Development of printing in Europe• Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519) • Columbus "finds" the new world (1492)

2044 16th Century

• Tibet's Gelugpa leader receives the title of "Dalai" from Altan Khan (1578).• "Great Fifth" Dalai Lama meets Qing Emperor Shunzhi near Beijing.

• Martin Luther (1483-1546)• Protestant Reformation• Shakespeare, (1564-1616) • Galileo (1564-1642)

2144 17th Century

• Control of Japanese Buddhismby Tokugawa Shögunate (the ruling feudal government) (I603-1867)• Hakuin (1686-1769) monk, writer and artist who helped revive the Rinzai Zen Sect in Japanese Buddhism.

• Japan closes the door to foreigners (1639)• Pilgrims reach America (1620) • Galileo recants (1633)• English Civil War (1642)

2244 18th Century

• Colonial occupation of Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.• King Kirti Sri Rajasinha obtains bhikkhus from the Thaicourt to reinstate the bhikkhuordination line which has diedout in Sri Lanka.

• 1700s Age of Enlightenment introduces revolutionary new ideas to Europe.• American independence (1776) • French revolution (1789-1802)

2344 19th Century

• New sects begin to emerge inJapanese Buddhism.

• Meiji Restoration in Japanese history 1868, marking end of


66


• Sri Lankan forest monks go to Burma for reordination (1862).• First Western translation ofthe Dhammapada. (German-1862).

• German translation of Lotus Sutra, 1852 and pioneer Buddhist scholars: - Neumann and Odlenburg, first German monk, Nyanatiloka.• First Chinese Temple in USA (San Francisco) (1853)• 5th Buddhist Council in Mandalay, Burma (1868-1871) where the text of the Pali Canon was revised and inscribed on 729 marble slabs.

military rule.

• 1833 Abolition of slavery in British empire.

• American Civil War(1861-1865)

2444-2544

20th Century

• Buddhist Society of Great Britain, founded (1907). • Buddhist Mission Society in Germany, founded (1903).• Taishö Shinshü Daizokyö edition of Chinese Buddhist Canon printed in Tokyo (1924-1929).• Chinese control of Tibetan Buddhism (1950).• Founding of World Fellowshipof Buddhists (1952).• Buddha Jayanti Year, commemorating 2,500 years of Buddhism (1956). • 6th Buddhist Council held atRangoon, Myanmar (Burma) (1954-1956).• Dalai Lama fleesTibet to India (1959). • Tibetan Buddhism spreads to western countries.• First Theravada Monastery established in USA (1966).• First Tibetan (Sakya) Centre

• Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

• WW I (1914-1918)

• Russian revolution(1917-1922)

• 1919 Ernest Rutherford splits atom for first time.

• WW II (1939-1945)

• Cultural Revolution (China) (1966)

• Pope John Paul II pardons Galileo (1995)

• The Fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War ends. (1989)


67


founded in USA (1971).• Established, the European Buddhist Union-EBU (1975).• Tibetan texts collected, translated and disseminated byBuddhist publishers 1960's.• H.H. Dalai Lama receives Nobel Peace Prize (1989).

2600-... 21st Century

• Vesak as an international holiday approved by UN, proposed by Sri Lanka president Hon. Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga. (2002) • First time in Canadian History, Canadian Prime Minister Hon. Mr. Paul Martin,visited Hon. Ven. Dalilama(2004).

• Buddhist meditations officially introduced to Christian teachings.

• Pope John Paul II passed away. (2005)

C. CONCLUSION

The Buddha intended his philosophy to be a practical

one, aimed at the happiness of all creatures. While he

outlined his metaphysics, he did not expect anyone to accept

this on faith but rather to verify the insights for

themselves; his emphasis was always on seeing clearly and

understanding. To achieve this, however, requires a

disciplined life and a clear commitment to liberation; the


68


Buddha laid out a clear path to the goal and also

observations on how to live life wisely.

After 45 years of teaching the Dharma, the Buddha

passed into Parinirvana. In his last sermon, he encouraged

his disciples to diligently seek the truth and not to hold

on to that which is impermanent.

CHAPTER III

The essence of the Buddha's teaching can be summed up

in two principles: the Four Noble Truths and the Noble

Eightfold Path. The first covers the side of doctrine, and

the primary response it elicits understands; the second

covers the side of discipline, in the broadest sense of that

word, and the primary response it calls for is practice. In


69


the structure of the teaching these two principles lock

together into an indivisible unity called the dhamma-vinaya,

the doctrine-and-discipline, or, in brief, the Dhamma. The

internal unity of the Dhamma is guaranteed by the fact that

the last of the Four Noble Truths, the truth of the way, is

the Noble Eightfold Path, while the first factor of the

Noble Eightfold Path, right view, is the understanding of

the Four Noble Truths. Thus the two principles penetrate and

include one another, the formula of the Four Noble Truths

containing the Eightfold Path and the Noble Eightfold Path

containing the Four Truths.

Given this integral unity, it would be pointless to

pose the question which of the two aspects of the Dhamma has

greater value, the doctrine or the path. But if we did risk

the pointless by asking that question, the answer would have

to be the path. The path claims primacy because it is

precisely this that brings the teaching to life. The path

translates the Dhamma from a collection of abstract formulas

into a continually unfolding disclosure of truth. It gives

an outlet from the problem of suffering with which the


70


teaching starts. And it makes the teaching's goal,

liberation from suffering, accessible to us in our own

experience, where alone it takes on authentic meaning.

In this chapter, the researcher shall present the

doctrine of Siddhartha Gautama on the Pandita-Vaggo or the

Wise Man. The researcher also took into considerations some

of the important teachings of Gautama in order to support

and to have a clearer understanding in venturing on the real

meaning of the Pandita-Vaggo.

A. BUDDHIST DOCTRINES

1. THE THREE UNIVERSAL TRUTHS

Siddhartha Gautama formulated the three universal

truths as he sat down in the shade of a tree and noticed how

beautiful the countryside was. In that place he saw that

flowers were blooming and trees were putting on bright new

leaves, but among all this beauty, he saw much unhappiness.


71


A farmer beat his ox in the field. A bird pecked at an

earthworm, and then an eagle swooped down on the bird. And

so troubled by these scenes, he asked himself why does the

farmer beat his ox and why must one creature eat another to

live.

During his enlightenment, the Buddha found the answer

to these questions. He discovered three great truths. He

explained these truths in a simple way so that everyone

could understand them.

a. Nothing is lost in the universe13

The first truth is that nothing is lost in the

universe. Matter turns into energy, energy turns into

matter. A dead leaf turns into soil. A seed sprouts and

becomes a new plant. Old solar systems disintegrate and

turn into cosmic rays. We are born of our parents; our

children are born of us.

13 http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm. January 16, 2006


72


We are the same as plants, as trees, as other

people, as the rain that falls. We consist of that which

is around us, we are the same as everything. If we

destroy something around us, we destroy ourselves. If

we cheat another, we cheat ourselves. Understanding this

truth, the Buddha and his disciples never killed any

animal.

b. Everything Changes14

The second universal truth of the Buddha is that

everything is continuously changing. Life is like a river

flowing on and on, ever-changing. Sometimes it flows slowly

and sometimes swiftly. It is smooth and gentle in some

places, but later on snags and rocks crop up out of

nowhere. As soon as we think we are safe, something

unexpected happens.

Once dinosaurs, mammoths, and saber-toothed tigers

roamed this earth. They all died out, yet this was not the

end of life. Other life forms like smaller mammals14 Ibid.


73


appeared, and eventually humans, too. Now we can even see

the Earth from space and understand the changes that

have taken place on this planet. Our ideas about life

also change. People once believed that the world was flat,

but now we know that it is round.

c. Law of Cause and Effect15

The third universal truth explained by the Buddha

is that there are continuous changes due to the law of

cause and effect. This is the same law of cause and

effect found in every modern science textbook. In this way,

science and Buddhism are alike.

The law of cause and effect is known as karma.

Nothing ever happens to us unless we deserve it. We receive

exactly what we earn, whether it is good or bad. We are the

way we are now due to the things we have done in the past.

Our thoughts and actions determine the kind of life we can

have. If we do good things, in the future good things will

happen to us. If we do bad things, in the future bad 15 Ibid.


74


things will happen to us. Every moment we create new

karma by what we say, do, and think. If we understand

this, we do not need to fear karma. It becomes our

friend. It teaches us to create a bright future.

2. Five Natural Laws (Niyamas)16

Although Buddhists believe that man can eventually

control his Karmic force, they do not believe that

everything is due to Karma. They do not ignore the role

played by other forces of nature. According to Buddhism,

there are five orders or processes or natural laws Niyamas

which operate in the physical and mental worlds. As

Buddhists, we are reminded of the Five Niyamas in action. Five

Niyamas are five aspects of cosmic order:

1. Utu Niyama –

16 http://members.shaw.ca/sanuja/buddhist_funda.html#de


75


Law of physical matter (that of physics

and chemistry) or physical inorganic order,

e.g. seasonal phenomena of winds and rains.

The unerring order of seasons, characteristic

seasonal changes and events, causes of winds

and rains, nature of heat, etc., all belong

to this group. Recent example of this is

tsunami. This has nothing to do with God or

any kind of great power.

2. Bija Niyama –

Law of living matter (that of life

science/philosophy) order of germs and seeds

(physical organic order), e.g. rice produced

from rice-seed, sugary taste from sugar-cane

or honey, peculiar characteristics of certain

fruits, etc. The scientific theory of cells

and genes and the physical similarity of

twins may be ascribed to this order. This is


76


why we says, even to be born in a Buddhist

family, you must have certain energy levels.

One thing that pops in to my mind is an

ironic social concept in Canada (even many

other western counties.) that made me think

profoundly in to this Bijia matter. Some

people believe that God gives the physical

appearance to them. I find especially most

girls are tend to have such ideas than any

others. But according to Buddhist Bijia

Niyama, ones' physical appearance is always

depending upon his/her parents' genetic

materials and it is not something that God

given.

3. Karma Niyama –

Law of karma activity and transformation

order of act and result, e.g., desirable and

undesirable acts produce corresponding good


77


and bad results. As surely as water seeks its

own level so does Karma, given opportunity,

produce its inevitable result, not in the

form of a reward or punishment but as an

innate sequence. This sequence of deed and

effect is as natural and necessary as the way

of the sun and the moon.

4. Dhamma Niyama –

Law of natural phenomenon on spiritual

level (such as occurrences during Buddha's

birth, gaining of enlightenment and passing

away) order of the norm, e.g., the natural

phenomena occurring at the advent of a

Bodhisattva in his last birth. Gravitation and

other similar laws of nature. The natural

reason for being good and so forth may be

included in this group.


78


5. Citta Niyama –

Law governing mental activity (that of

psychology) order or mind or psychic law,

e.g., processes of consciousness, arising and

perishing of consciousness, constituents of

consciousness, power of mind, etc., including

telepathy, telaesthesia, retro-cognition,

premonition, clairvoyance, clairaudience,

thought-reading and such other psychic

phenomena which are inexplicable to modern

science.

3. FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS


79


The four noble truths are the most basic expression of

the Buddha's teaching. As Ven. Sariputta once said, they

encompass the entire teaching, just as the footprint of an

elephant can encompass the footprints of all other footed

beings on earth. Siddhartha elucidated the Four Noble Truths

in his first sermon, given at the Deer Park in Sarnath, just

outside Benares, or Varenasi (today it is a suburb of

Benares). The Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of

Buddhism. Great emphasis is put on the practical aspect,

because it is only through practice that one can attain a

higher level of existence and finally reach Nirvana.

“The Fourfold Truth states that sorrow is universal in

this world of change; that desire is the cause of sorrow;

that the extinction of sorrow comes about by the extinction

of desire; that the way to extinguish desire is through the

Eightfold Path.”17

These four truths are best understood, not as beliefs,

but as categories of experience. They offer an alternative17 Thomas Berry, Buddhism. (Columbia University Press, New York. 1996) p.15


80


to the ordinary way to be categorized what can be known

about this teaching, in terms of me/not me, and being/not

being. These ordinary categories create trouble, for the

attempt to maintain full being for one's sense of "me" is a

stressful effort doomed to failure, in that all of the

components of that "me" are inconstant, stressful, and thus

not worthy of identifying as "me" or "mine."

To counter this problem, the four noble truths drop

ideas of me/not me, and being/not being, and replace them

with two sets of variables: cause and effect, skillful and

unskillful. In other words, there is the truth of stress and

suffering (unskillful effect), the truth of the origination

of stress (unskillful cause), the truth of the cessation of

stress (skillful effect), and the truth of the path to the

cessation of stress (skillful cause). Each of these truths

entails a duty: stress is to be comprehended, the

origination of stress abandoned, the cessation of stress

realized, and the path to the cessation of stress developed.


81


When all of these duties have been fully performed, the mind

gains total release.

Many people have charged Buddhism with being

pessimistic because the four truths start out with stress

and suffering, but this charge misses the fact that the

first truth is part of a strategy of diagnosis and therapy

focusing on the basic problem in life so as to offer a

solution to it. Thus the Buddha was like a doctor, focusing

on the disease he wanted to cure. Charging him with

pessimism is like charging a doctor with pessimism when he

asks, "Where does it hurt?" The total cure the Buddha

promised as a result of his course of therapy shows that, in

actuality, he was much less pessimistic than the vast

majority of the world, for whom wisdom means accepting the

bad things in life with the good, assuming that there is no

chance in this life for unalloyed happiness. The Buddha was

an extremely demanding person, unwilling to bend to this

supposed wisdom or to rest with anything less than absolute

happiness. His course of therapy points to the fact that


82


such happiness is possible, and can be attained through our

own efforts.

Another charge often leveled at Buddhism is that its

focus is narrow, aiming only at the issue of stress and

pain, and ignoring the larger or more uplifting issues of

spiritual life. This, again, misses the thrust of the

Buddha's cure for the ills of the heart and mind. One of the

most important insights leading up to the Buddha's Awakening

was his realization that the act of comprehending pain lay

at the essence of the spiritual quest. In trying to

comprehend pain, one begins to delve into the non-verbal,

subconscious levels of the mind, bringing to light many ill-

formed and hidden processes of which one was previously

unaware. In this sense, pain is like a watering hole where

all the animals in the forest — all the mind's subconscious

tendencies — will eventually come to drink. Just as a

naturalist who wants to make a survey of the wildlife in a

particular area can simply station himself near a watering

hole, in the same way, a mediator who wants to understand


83


the mind can simply keep watch right at pain in order to see

what subconscious reactions will appear. Thus the act of

trying to comprehend pain leads not only to an improved

understanding of pain itself, but also to an increased

awareness of the most basic processes at work in the mind.

As one fully comprehends pain, one gains a full

comprehension of other spiritual issues as well, realizing

which questions were worth asking and which ones weren't, at

the same time gaining answers to the first set of questions

and learning how to put the second set aside.

Thus the study of the four noble truths is aimed first

at understanding these four categories, and then at applying

them to experience so that one may act properly toward each

of the categories and thus attain the highest, most total

happiness possible.


84


3a. Suffering (some translations use "unhappiness")

exists.

As other authors would state it as “The

Universal fact of pain and suffering. Birth is

suffering. Old age is suffering. Illness is

suffering. Death is suffering. Suffering, too, is

the presence of things we hate and the separation

from or nonattachment of things we love. Suffering

then is not only physical, but emotional and

mental. On the other hand, Buddha pointedly speaks

not of his suffering alone but world sorrow.18

The world is full of suffering. Birth is

suffering, old age is suffering, sickness and

death are sufferings. To meet a man whom one

hates is suffering, to be separated form a beloved

one is suffering, to be vainly struggling to

satisfy one's needs is suffering. In fact, life

that is not free from desire and passion is always18 Ramon Reyes, Ground and Norm of Morality. (Ateneo de Manila University Press. 1989.) p 10.


85


involved with distress. This is called the Truth

of Suffering.

The cause of human suffering is undoubtedly

found in the thirsts of the physical body and in

the intense desires of physical instincts. Thus,

desire, having a string will-to-live as its basis,

seeks that which it feels desirable, even if it is

sometimes death. This is called the Truth of the

Cause of Suffering.

If desire, which lies at the root of all

human passion, can be removed, then passion will

die out and all human. It is built into the very

structure of our existence. Suffering includes

ordinary pain, the suffering of unwanted change,

and the suffering of pervasive conditioning. To

live means to suffer, because the human nature is

not perfect and neither is the world we live in.


86


During our lifetime, we inevitably have to

endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness,

injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death;

and we have to endure psychological suffering like

sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and

depression. Although there are different degrees

of suffering and there are also positive

experiences in life that we perceive as the

opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and

happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and

incomplete, because our world is subject to

impermanence. This means we are never able to keep

permanently what we strive for, and just as

happy moments pass by; we ourselves and our loved

ones will pass away one day, too.

3b. Suffering has a cause.

It is the caving thirst that causes

suffering, the cycle of rebirths and the renewal

of becomings. This craving thirst comes from


87


sensual delights, which seeks satisfaction, now

here, now there, it is the craving for the

gratification of the senses, or the craving for

existence or for annihilation itself. Life then is

impelled by cravings and desires, and by shallow

illusory needs. Goading man toward one illusory

goal after another and from one unsatisfaction to

another, a craving, a desiring life continually

rehearses its unhappiness. The unbridled,

thoughtless or unquestioned desires to keep

recurring again and again in ones present life and

in succeeding lives.19

Its cause is self-centered craving, and

desire for that which will not be obtained.

Suffering is caused by attachments. Out of this

comes grabbing, clinging, or rejecting. Much of

this is bound to fail because we fail to deeply

realize the truth of impermanence, so that we

grasp at the constant, changing flux of life as if19 Ibid.


88


it were something stable and fixed. These causes

are part of a series of interconnected links of

cause and effect that creates a vicious circle

from which there appears to be no escape. We meet

new situations still encumbered with the

viewed and attitudes of the past, which

create still more ties that bind us to the wheel

of suffering. The origin of suffering is

attachment to transient things and the ignorance

thereof. Transient things do not only include the

physical objects that surround us, but also ideas,

and -in a greater sense- all objects of our

perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding

of how our mind is attached to impermanent

things. The reasons for suffering are desire,

passion, ardor, pursue of wealth and prestige,

striving for fame and popularity, or in short:

craving and clinging. Because the objects of our

attachment are transient, their loss is

inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily


89


follow. Objects of attachment also include the

idea of a "self" which is a delusion, because

there is no abiding self. What we all "self" is

just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part

of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.

3c. Suffering can cease (or be greatly reduced).

To put an end to all suffering in life, we

must therefore put an end to all that craving and

thirst and release ourselves from the hold of

desire and from that empty seeking for the self.20

Through letting go of conditioned states

and views, and desires that will not be fulfilled,

the cause of suffering falls away. Buddha stated

that about 1/3 of our suffering is an inevitable

function of the conditions of human life,-but we

ourselves create the rest of it. We can learn to

stop doing that. The cessation of suffering can be

20 Ibid. p. 11.


90


attained through Nirodha21. The third noble truth

expresses the idea that attaining dispassion can

end suffering. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of

clinging and attachment. This means that suffering

can be overcome through human activity, simply by

removing the cause of suffering. Attaining

and perfecting dispassion is a process of many

levels that ultimately results in the state of

Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries,

troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas.

Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have

not attained it.

3d. There is a path that leads to the cessation

of suffering and unhappiness, called the

Eightfold Path.

To extirpate all desires and sufferings, to

renounce all self-seeking, and to release

21 Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. [http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/index.html. January 16, 2006].


91


ourselves from this empty illusion of the self

thereby attain enlightenment beyond all rebirths

and all sufferings, we have to take the “eightfold

path.”22

There is a path to the end of suffering - a

gradual path of self-improvement, which is

described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It

is the middle way between the two extremes of

excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive

self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to

the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter

quality discerns it from other paths which are

merely "wandering on the wheel of becoming",

because these do not have a final object. The path

to the end of suffering can extend over many

lifetimes, throughout which every individual

rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning.

Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects

22 Ramon Reyes, Ground and Norm of Morality. (Ateneo de Manila University Press. 1989.) p 12.


92


will disappear gradually, as progress is made on

the path. Nirvana is a state in which we no longer

create avoidable suffering and unhappiness for

others and ourselves. (It parallels Jesus' concept

of the "Kingdom of Heaven on Earth." In this state

we do not create avoidable unhappiness due to

unrealistic desires or other causes. What Nirvana

is not: It does not require involvement with the

conceptual construct of a God or deity-figure.

4. THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATHS

When the Buddha gave his first sermon in the Deer Park,

he began the 'Turning of the Dharma Wheel'. He chose the

beautiful symbol of the wheel with its eight spokes to

represent the Noble Eightfold Path. The Buddha's teaching

goes round and round like a great wheel that never stops,

leading to the central point of the wheel, the only point

which is fixed, Nirvana. The eight spokes on the wheel


93


represent the eight parts of the Noble Eightfold Path. Just

as every spoke is needed for the wheel to keep turning, we

need to follow each step of the path.

The search for a spiritual path is born out of

suffering. It does not start with lights and ecstasy, but

with the hard tacks of pain, disappointment, and confusion.

However, for suffering to give birth to a genuine spiritual

search, it must amount to more than something passively

received from without. It has to trigger an inner

realization, a perception that pierces through the facile

complacency of our usual encounter with the world to glimpse

the insecurity perpetually gaping underfoot. When this

insight dawns, even if only momentarily, it can precipitate

a profound personal crisis. It overturns accustomed goals

and values, mocks our routine preoccupations, and leaves old

enjoyments stubbornly unsatisfying.

At first such changes generally are not welcome. One

tries to deny his vision and to smother his doubts; he

struggles to drive away the discontent with new pursuits.


94


But the flame of inquiry, once lit, continues to burn, and

if he doesn’t let himself be swept away by superficial

readjustments or slouch back into a patched up version of

our natural optimism, eventually the original glimmering of

insight will again flare up, again confront him with his

essential plight. It is precisely at that point, with all

escape routes blocked, that one is ready to seek a way to

bring our disquietude to an end. No longer can one continue

to drift complacently through life, driven blindly by his

hunger for sense pleasures and by the pressure of prevailing

social norms. A deeper reality beckons man; man has heard

the call of more stable, more authentic happiness, and until

he arrives at his destination he cannot rest content.

The researcher browsed through the shelves of

humanity's spiritual heritage, both ancient and

contemporary, but did not find a single tidy volume but a

veritable bazaar of spiritual systems and disciplines each

offering themselves as the highest, the fastest, the most

powerful, or the most profound solution to man’s quest for


95


the Ultimate or man’s end. Confronted with this mélange, the

researcher falls into confusion trying to size them up — to

decide which is truly liberative, a real solution to man’s

needs, and which is a sidetrack beset with hidden flaws.

The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end

of suffering, as Siddhartha Gautama laid it out. It is a

practical guideline to ethical and mental development with

the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and

delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth

about all things. The eight aspects of the path are not to

be understood as a sequence of single steps, instead they

are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in

relationship with each other.

To follow the Noble Eightfold Path is a matter of

practice rather than intellectual knowledge, but to apply

the path correctly it has to be properly understood. In

fact, right understanding of the path is itself a part of

the practice. It is a facet of right view, the first path

factor, the forerunner and guide for the rest of the path.


96


Thus, though initial enthusiasm might suggest that the task

of intellectual comprehension may be shelved as a bothersome

distraction, mature consideration reveals it to be quite

essential to ultimate success in the practice.

4a. Right View

Right View means the understanding or the grasp of

the Four Noble Truths.23 It teaches seeing life as it

is, in accord with its fundamental Three

Characteristics, and appreciating the Four Truths.24

Buddha clarified the meaning of the eightfold path by

saying that right view is knowledge of the four noble

truths of suffering, its cause, cessation, and the way

that leads to its cessation.25

Right view is the beginning and the end of the

path, it simply means to see and to understand things as

they really are and to realize the Four Noble Truth. As

such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It

23 Ibid. p. 13.24 Committee on the Humanities, Readings in Oriental Thought. 209. 25 http://www.san.beck.org/EC9-Buddha.html#3.


97


means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and

imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to

understand the law of karma and karmic conditioning. Right

view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just as

wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead,

right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all

capacities of mind. It begins with the intuitive

insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it

ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all

things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts and

our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right

actions.

4b. Right Intention

While right view refers to the cognitive aspect of

wisdom, right intention refers to the volitional

aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that controls

our actions. Right intention can be described best as

commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement.

Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions:


98


1. the intention of renunciation, which means

resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of

good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and

aversion, and 3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning

not to think or act cruelly, violently, or

aggressively, and to develop compassion. Right

intention is towards benevolence and kindness.26

As other authors would state it as Right

Mindedness, they consider it as being motivated by

friendly thoughts, without prejudice, towards one’s

fellow human beings and toward all other forms of

sentient being.27

4c. Right Speech

Right speech is the first principle of ethical

conduct in the eightfold path. Ethical conduct is viewed

as a guideline to moral discipline, which supports the other

26 Ibid.27 Committee on the Humanities, Readings in Oriental Thought. 209.


99


principles of the path. This aspect is not self-sufficient,

however, essential, because mental purification can

only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical

conduct. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist

ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make

enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha

explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from false

speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not

to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech

and not to use words maliciously against others, 3. to

abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4.

to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or

depth. Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth,

to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only

when necessary.

To sum it all up, Right Speech tells that one

ought to speak kindly and truthfully, and narrating


100


incidents accurately.28 Right speech is to abstain from

lying, slander, abuse, and idle talk.29

4d. Right Action

The second ethical principle, right action,

involves the body as natural means of expression, as it

refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. It is

Acting skillfully and sympathetically, while avoiding

vain o violent effort.30 Unwholesome actions lead to

unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to

sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained

in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to

abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to

abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing

28 Committee on the Humanities, Readings in Oriental Thought. 209. 29 http://www.san.beck.org/EC9-Buddha.html#330 Committee on the Humanities, Readings in Oriental Thought. 209.


101


harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain from

taking what is not given, which includes stealing,

robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3.

to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively

formulated, right action means to act kindly and

compassionately, to be honest, to respect the

belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships

harmless to others. Further details regarding the

concrete meaning of right action can be found in the

Precepts.

Right doing is to abstain from taking life, from

taking what is not given, and from carnal indulgence.31

4e. Right Livelihood

31 http://www.san.beck.org/EC9-Buddha.html#3


102


Right livelihood means that one should earn one's

living in a righteous way and that wealth should be

gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four

specific activities that harm other beings and that one

should avoid for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2.

dealing in living beings (including raising animals for

slaughter as well as slave trade and

prostitution), 3. working in meat production and

butchery, and 4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such

as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation

that would violate the principles of right speech and

right action should be avoided.

4f. Right Effort

Right effort is toward preventing bad states from

arising, putting away evil that has arisen, toward good

states arising, and nurturing good that does arise.32

32 Ibid.


103


Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the

other principles of the path. It calls self-perfection

by avoiding and rejecting ignoble qualities, while

acquiring and fostering noble qualities.33 Right

effort is toward preventing bad states from arising,

putting away evil that has arisen, toward good states

arising, and nurturing good that does arise.34

Without effort, which is in itself an act of will,

nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort

distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be

the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind

right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or

unwholesome states. The same type of energy that fuels

desire, envy, aggression, and violence can on the other

side fuel self-discipline, honesty, benevolence, and

kindness. Right effort is detailed in four types of

endeavors that rank in ascending order of perfection:

1. To prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome

33 Committee on the Humanities, Readings in Oriental Thought. 209. 34 Ibid.


104


states, 2. To abandon unwholesome states that have

already arisen, 3. To arouse wholesome states that have

not yet arisen, and 4. to maintain and perfect

wholesome states already arisen.

4g. Right Mindfulness

Right mindfulness is being self-possessed and

mindful in regard to the body, overcoming craving and

dejection in feelings, thoughts, and ideas.35 Right

mindfulness is the controlled and perfected faculty of

cognition. It is the mental ability to see things as

they are, with clear consciousness. Usually, the

cognitive process begins with an impression induced by

perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay

with the mere impression. Instead, we almost always

conceptualize sense impressions and thoughts

immediately. We interpret them and set them in relation

to other thoughts and experiences, which naturally go35 http://www.san.beck.org/EC9-Buddha.html#3


105


beyond the facticity of the original impression. The

mind then posits concepts, joins concepts into

constructs, and weaves those constructs into complex

interpretative schemes. All this happens only half

consciously, and as a result we often see things

obscured. Right mindfulness is anchored in clear

perception and it penetrates impressions without

getting carried away. Right mindfulness enables us to

be aware of the process of conceptualization in a way

that we actively observe and control the way our

thoughts go. Buddha accounted for this as the four

foundations of mindfulness: 1. Contemplation of the body, 2.

Contemplation of feeling (repulsive, attractive, or

neutral), 3. Contemplation of the state of mind, and 4.

Contemplation of the phenomena.

4h. Right Concentration


106


The eighth principle of the path, right

concentration, refers to the development of a mental

force that occurs in natural consciousness, although at

a relatively low level of intensity, namely

concentration. Right rapture is being aloof from

sensuous appetites and evil ideas, entering into and

abiding in the four levels of higher awareness.36

Concentration in this context is described as one-

pointedness of mind, meaning a state where all mental

faculties are unified and directed onto one particular

object. Right concentration for the purpose of the

eightfold path means wholesome concentration, i.e.

concentration on wholesome thoughts and actions. The

Buddhist method of choice to develop right

concentration is through the practice of meditation.

The meditating mind focuses on a selected object. It

first directs itself onto it, then sustains

concentration, and finally intensifies concentration

step by step. Through this practice it becomes natural

36 Ibid.


107


to apply elevated levels concentration also in everyday

situations.

“Following the Noble Eightfold Path can be

compared to cultivating a garden, but in Buddhism one

cultivates one's wisdom. The mind is the ground and

thoughts are seeds. Deeds are ways one cares for the

garden. Our faults are weeds. Pulling them out is like

weeding a garden. The harvest is real and lasting

happiness.”37

5. THE PRECEPTS

The precepts are a condensed form of Buddhist ethical

practice. They are often compared with the ten commandments

of Christianity; however, the precepts are different in two

respects: First, they are to be taken as recommendations,

not commandments. This means the individual is encouraged to

use his/her own intelligence to apply these rules in the

37 http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm. January 16, 2006


108


best possible way. Second, it is the spirit of the precepts

-not the text- that counts, hence, the guidelines for

ethical conduct must be seen in the larger context of the

Eightfold Path.

The first five precepts are mandatory for every

Buddhist, although the fifth precept is often not observed,

because it bans the consumption of alcohol. Precepts no. six

to ten are laid out for those in preparation for monastic

life and for devoted lay people unattached to families. The

eight precepts put together number eight and nine and omit

the tenth. Lay people may observe the eight precepts on

Buddhist festival days. Ordained Theravada monks undertake

no less than 227 precepts, which are not listed here.

The researcher undertake to observe the precept to abstain

from ...38

1. ...harming living beings.

2. ...taking things not freely given.

38 Adapted from The Word of the Buddha, Niyamatolika, The Buddhist Publication Society, 1971, p xii


109


3. ...sexual misconduct.

4. ...false speech.

5. ...intoxicating drinks and drugs causing

heedlessness.

6. ...taking untimely meals.

7. ...dancing, singing, music and watching grotesque

mime.

8. ...use of garlands, perfumes and personal

adornment.

9. ...use of high seats.

10. ...accepting gold or silver.

The above phrasing of the precepts is very concise and

leaves much open to interpretation. One might ask, for

example, what exactly constitutes false speech, what are

untimely meals, what constitutes sexual misconduct, or

whether a glass of wine causes heedlessness. And, the

grotesque mime watching of the seventh precept sounds

perhaps a bit outdated. The Buddhist master Thich Nath Hanh

has formulated The Five Mindfulness Trainings, which are an


110


adaptation of the first five Buddhist precepts. These are

practiced by Buddhists of the Lam Te Dhyana School. By

virtue of their sensible phrasing and their relevance to

modern lifestyle, these "trainings" provide a valuable

foundation of ethics for all of humanity.

5a. The Five Mindfulness Trainings39

-First Training-

Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction

of life, I am committed to cultivating compassion and

learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals,

plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not

to let others kill, and not to condone any act of

killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of

life.

-Second Training-

39 According to Thich Nath Hanh, www.plumvillage.org


111


Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation,

social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am

committed to cultivate loving kindness and learn ways

to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants,

and minerals. I am committed to practice generosity by

sharing my time, energy, and material resources with

those who are in real need. I am determined not to

steal and not to possess anything that should belong to

others. I will respect the property of others, but I

will prevent others from profiting from human suffering

or the suffering of other species on Earth.

-Third Training-

Aware of the suffering caused by sexual

misconduct, I am committed to cultivate responsibility

and learn ways to protect the safety and integrity of

individuals, couples, families, and society. I am

determined not to engage in sexual relations without


112


love and a long-term commitment. To preserve the

happiness of others, and myself I am determined to

respect my commitments and the commitments of others. I

will do everything in my power to protect children from

sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from

being broken by sexual misconduct.

-Fourth Training-

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech

and the inability to listen to others, I am committed

to cultivate loving speech and deep listening in order

to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others

of their suffering. Knowing that words can create

happiness or suffering, I am committed to learn to

speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-

confidence, joy, and hope. I am determined not to

spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to

criticize or condemn things of which I am not sure. I

will refrain from uttering words that can cause

division or discord, or that can cause the family or


113


the community to break. I will make all efforts to

reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

-Fifth Training-

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful

consumption, I am committed to cultivate good health,

both physical and mental, for my family, my society,

and myself mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I

am committed to ingest only items that preserve peace,

well-being, and joy in my body, in my consciousness,

and in the collective body and consciousness of my

family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol

or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other

items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs,

magazines, books, films, and conversations. I am aware

that to damage my body or my consciousness with these

poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my


114


society, and future generations. I will work to

transform violence, fear, anger, and confusion in

myself and in society by practicing a diet for myself

and for society. I understand that a proper diet is

crucial for self-transformation and for the

transformation of society.

6. KARMA40

Karma is a Sanskrit word that literally means "action".

The word is used to refer to volitional acts as well as the

forces that arise from these acts. The idea of karma had

existed in ancient Indian philosophy before the time of

Siddhartha Gautama, and it became an important element of

Buddhist philosophy.

The Hindu and Buddhist concepts of karma are quite

similar, although Hinduism makes a further distinction

between different types of karma, such as present karma,

40 http://thebigview.com/buddhism/ January 18, 2006


115


latent karma, and future karma. In the understanding of both

thought systems, the law of karma describes the connection

between actions and the resulting forces, as follows:

wholesome actions lead to wholesome states while unwholesome

actions lead to unwholesome states, individually as well as

collectively.

6a. The Ethical Dimension.

To make this more intelligible, one has to account

for (un)wholesome actions and (un)wholesome states and

their respective meaning in Buddhism. The former is

outlined in the Noble Eightfold Path. Action springs

from volition, which springs from intention, which

springs from thought, and so forth. The quality of

actions can be described in ethical terms, simply as

either good or bad, or both good and bad, or

indifferent.


116


There are various grades of ethical qualities; and

most people have an intuitive understanding that

enables them to discern between good and bad, although

the discerning ability depends on the person's state of

mental development. A wise person at a high level of

mental development can clearly discern mental

activities and actions in an ethical dimension, while a

deluded person has difficulties or is even unable to do

so.

6b. Good and bad vs. skillful and unskillful.

Wherever the three defilements - delusion, greed,

and aversion - are present, they blur the view and

increase the level of confusion in the individual or

group. Consequently, if the defilements are present,

there is a low level of skill in distinguishing between

good and bad actions. Thus it makes sense to say that

we have skillful (good) and unskillful (bad) thoughts,


117


we speak skillful (good) and unskillful (bad) words,

and we act either in a skillful (good) or in an

unskillful (bad) way.

The Buddhist Precepts and the Ten Perfections give

concrete meaning to good and bad and explain skillful

and unskillful volitional acts in detail. Since

everything in Buddhism is interrelated, the Eightfold

Path must be seen in connection with the Four Noble

Truths, the concept of karma, and the tenet of rebirth.

6c. Moral Quality of Volitional Acts Determines Karma.

The law of karma states that there is a connection

between the moral quality, the level of skill in

volitional actions, and the resulting states. What we

are is determined largely by what we thought, said and

did in the past, while what we are thinking, saying,

and doing now will form our future. The karma of past,

present, and future events are connected by the law of

cause and effect.


118


For instance, if one generates bad karma by

hurting or killing sentient beings, one will have to

endure the negative consequences of these deeds in this

or another lifetime. Similarly, if one generates good

karma by observing the precepts, positive consequences

will follow inevitably.

Buddhists understand karma as a natural law. There

is no higher instance, no judgment, no divine

intervention, and no gods that steer man's destiny, but

only the law of karma itself, which works on a global

time frame. Deeds yield consequences either in the next

second, in the next hour, day, month, year, decade, or

even in the next lifetime, or in another distant

lifetime. To illustrate this, consider the following

example describing a sequence of volitional acts, which

yield instant karmic results:

An example of an arising volition of karma is when

an unpleasant sensation occurs, a thought arises that

the source of the unpleasantness was a person. This


119


thought is a delusion; any decisions based upon it will

therefore be unskillful. A thought arises that some

past sensations of unpleasantness issued from this same

person. This thought is a further delusion. This is

followed by a willful decision to speak words that will

produce an unpleasant sensation in that which is

perceived as a person. This decision is an act of

hostility.

Of all the events described so far, only this is

called karma. Words are carefully chosen in the hopes

that when heard they will cause pain. The words are

pronounced aloud. This is the execution of the decision

to be hostile. It may also be classed as a kind of

karma, although technically it is after-karma.

There is a visual sensation of a furrowed brow and

turned down mouth. The thought arises that the other

person's face is frowning. The thought arises that the

other person's feelings were hurt. There is a fleeting


120


joyful feeling of success in knowing that one has

scored a damaging verbal blow.

Eventually, perhaps much later, there is an

unpleasant sensation of regret, perhaps taking the form

of a sensation of fear that the perceived enemy may

retaliate, or perhaps taking the form of remorse on

having acted impetuously, like an immature child, and

hoping that no one will remember this childish action.

This regret or fear is the unpleasant ripening of the

karma, the unskillful decision to inflict pain through

words.

7. REBIRTH41

Buddhists hold that the retributive process of karma

can span more than one lifetime. Rebirth, or reincarnation,

has always been an important tenet in Buddhism; and it is

41 Ibid.


121


often referred to as walking the wheel of life (samsara42).

It is the process of being born over and over again in

different times and different situations, possibly for many

thousand times.

As long as there is delusion, greed, and aversion, and

as long as passions are not extinguished, we generate karma.

Because we eventually accumulate unmaterialized karma in

this or in a past lifetime, there is a next lifetime in

which the accumulated karma will take form. Only when all

accumulated karma is realized and the generation of new

karma is calmed, one can enter the stream that leads to

Nirvana. This process continues until Nirvana is reached,

which signifies the cessation of rebirth and, hence,

suffering.

42 Samsara is the wheel of lie of Buddhism. It is the process of birthand rebirth which man undergoes if he is still not freed from the Karmicprinciple and not yet having attained Nirvana. It has been used as thesymbol of Buddhism (wheel)


122


It is notable that this also entails the avoidance of

"good karma". Once the stream that leads to Nirvana is

entered, creating wholesome karma is not an object anymore.

Although wholesome karma leads to entering the stream, it

does not necessarily lead to Nirvana (Nibbana); only the

extinguishment of all karmic forces will lead to Nirvana.

7a. The Non-Self.

The concept of rebirth is unfamiliar to most

Western people. Its philosophical and traditional

foundation is found in India, where the theory of

transmigration of souls had presumably existed long

before it was written down in the Upanishads around 300

BC.

The Buddhist concept is subtly different from the

classical Indian understanding, because it denies the

existence of a self. In Buddhism, the idea of self is

merely an illusion. Man wrongly identifies perception,

consciousness, mind and body with what he calls self.


123


In reality there is no abiding entity that could be

identified with a self, because the states of

perception, consciousness, and mind constantly change.

The body is mortal and when it dies, consciousness

and all mental activities cease. That is why there is

no soul. The idea of soul is simply an extension of the

self. Soul is the immortal version of the self that

supposedly survives physical death. Since we know that

consciousness is a function of our nervous system, it

seems difficult to believe that the conscious self

survives death. Hence, Buddhists deny the reality of

both self and soul.

The idea of an abiding self is deceptive, because

it is derived from unenlightened reasoning. The word

self simply provides a reference frame for the mind-body

phenomena of sentient beings. We usually identify it

with our body and the stream of consciousness induced

by sense perceptions and thoughts. In reality, what we

call self is neither abiding nor detached from the rest


124


of the world and other beings. Buddhists call this the

"neither self nor non-self".

7b. What is reborn if not the "self"?

If the idea of non-self sounds odd, then it must

sound even more curious that non-self can be reborn.

There is a seeming contradiction between the canon of

rebirth and that of the non-self, which even many

dedicated Buddhists find difficult to understand. The

contradiction is, however, only on the surface and can

be solved if one pictures the self as the result of

karmic formation. This can be put into less abstract

words:

If we imagine the world as an ocean, we are like

the ripples on the ocean. Formations like ripples and

waves occur, because of wind, tides, and other kinetic


125


forces. In the Buddhist analogy, the universe is in

motion due to karmic forces. A ripple, a wave, or a

billow may seem as an individual entity for a moment,

creating the illusion that it has a self, but it is

gone in the next moment. The truth is that all

individuals are one. A ripple is a temporary

phenomenon; it is just water in motion. We know that

kinetic energy causes wave forms on a body of water and

it would be ridiculous to say that a single ripple or

wave has a self.

Similarly, in case of beings, karmic forces cause

the process of coming into life and being conditioned

in a particular way. The up and down of the ocean's

waves corresponds with the rotation of the wheel of

life. The sea that surges, falls, and resurges, is the

life that is born, dies, and is reborn again. It is

therefore obvious that we should not focus on the

temporary phenomenon of the wave, but on the force that

causes, forms, and drives it. Nothing else is said,


126


although in more practical terms, in the Eightfold

Path.

8. Five Hindrances43

1) Sensuous lust

There are beautiful objects; frequently

giving unwise attention to them -- this is the

nourishment for the arising of sensual desire that

has not arisen, and the nourishment for the

increase and strengthening of sensual desire that

has already arisen.

43 http://members.shaw.ca/sanuja/buddhist_funda.html#tp


127


2) Aversion and ill will

There are objects causing aversion;

frequently giving unwise attention to them -- this

is the nourishment for the arising of ill-will

that has not yet arisen, and for the increase and

strengthening of ill-will that has already arisen.

3) Sloth and torpor

There arises listlessness, lassitude, lazy

stretching of the body, drowsiness after meals,

mental sluggishness; frequently giving unwise

attention to it -- this i s the nourishment for

the arising of sloth and torpor that have not yet

arisen and for the increase and strengthening of

sloth and torpor that have already arisen.

4) Restlessness and worry


128


There is unrest of mind; frequently giving

unwise attention to it -- that is the nourishment

for the arising of restlessness and remorse that

have not yet arisen, and for the increase and

strengthening of restlessness and remorse that

have already arisen.

5) Sceptical doubt

There are things causing doubt; frequently

giving unwise attention to them -- that is the

nourishment for the arising of doubt that has not

yet arisen, and for the increase and strengthening

of doubt that has already arisen.

9. NIRVANA44

Beings who are caught up in the Wheel of Life will

continue the cycle almost indefinitely, until such time as

they are able to realize the unsatisfactory nature of their44 Ibid.


129


various existences and relinquish all desires. At this point

there will no longer be the desire to continue and, by

letting go, they break the cycle of continuity forever. This

is the ultimate state to which all Buddhists aspire- the

attainment of Nirvana. The path to the realization of

Nirvana is the avoidance of extremes in life. The 'Middle

Way' is the Buddhist way of life, a self-development

progression through the 'Noble Eightfold Path', which

comprises Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech,

Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right

Mindfulness and Right Concentration. These, when practiced

develop qualities of virtue, concentration and wisdom.

Meditation is a very important part of the Buddhist way of

life, leading to the development of a penetrating wisdom,

which enables the true nature of things to be seen as they

really are. Buddhism teaches that the human existence is

just one of many realms or planes of existence in the

universe, and a being may be born into a particular plane

depending on the result of his Karma. Hence a being that has

acquired unfavorable Karma may be born into the animal plane


130


that is considered below human. According to the Buddha,

there are subhuman planes, which are miserable and may

higher planes, often described as heavenly realms, where the

spans of lives are exceedingly long.

As the researcher have finished presenting the basic

doctrines taught by Siddhartha Gautama, the researcher will

now embark on his main topic and will tackle the Concept of

Gautama of the Pandita-Vaggo or the Wise Man through

analyzing the contents of the Dhammapada.

B. THE DHAMMAPADA


131


From ancient times to the present, the Dhammapada has

been regarded as the most succinct expression of the

Buddha's teaching found in the Pali Canon and the chief

spiritual testament of early Buddhism. In the countries

following Theravada Buddhism, such as Sri Lanka, Burma and

Thailand, the influence of the Dhammapada is ubiquitous. It

is an ever-fecund source of themes for sermons and

discussions, a guidebook for resolving the countless

problems of everyday life, a primer for the instruction of

novices in the monasteries. Even the experienced

contemplative, withdrawn to forest hermitage or mountainside

cave for a life of meditation, can be expected to count a

copy of the book among his few material possessions. Yet the

admiration the Dhammapada has elicited has not been confined

to avowed followers of Buddhism. Wherever it has become

known its moral earnestness, realistic understanding of

human life, aphoristic wisdom and stirring message of a way

to freedom from suffering have won for it the devotion and

veneration of those responsive to the good and the true.


132


The Dhammapada, an anthology of 423 verses, has long

been recognized as one of the masterpieces of early Buddhist

literature. From ancient times to the present, the

Dhammapada has been regarded as the most succinct expression

of the Buddha's teaching found in the Theravada Pali Canon

of scriptures known as the Khuddaka Nikaya ("Minor

Collection") of the Sutta Pitaka. The main teching of

Siddhartha Gautama of the Pandita-Vaggo is contained in this

book. Before going through the exposition of the concept,

the researcher would like first to introduce the Dhammapada

as the source of this study.

Buddhist tradition has it that shortly after the

passing away of the Buddha his disciples met in council at

Rajagaha for the purpose of recalling to mind the truths

they had received from their beloved Teacher during the

forty-five years of his ministry. Like Socrates and Jesus

Christ, Gautama did not bother writing down his teachings,

but thanks to is disciples, hi teachings were written down

into several books. Their hope was to implant the principles


133


of his message so firmly in memory that they would become a

lasting impetus to moral and spiritual conduct, for

themselves, their disciples, and for all future disciples

who would seek to follow in the footsteps of the Awakened

One.

With the Teacher no longer among them, the monks found

themselves with the responsibility of handing on the

teaching as faithfully as possible. Having no written texts

to rely on, they did as their ancestors had before them and

prepared their discourses for recitation, that is, basic

themes were repeated with variations in order to impress the

ideas on their hearers. At that time, according to the

Sinhalese, the Dhammapada was orally assembled from the

sayings of Gautama given on some three hundred different

occasions.

Subsequently, several renditions of the Dhammapada in

the Sanskrit and Chinese languages came into circulation.

Likewise, a number of stanzas are to be found almost

verbatim in other texts of the canonical literature,


134


testifying to the esteem in which its content was anciently

held. Since first collated, the Dhammapada has become one of

the best loved of Buddhist scriptures, recited daily by

millions of devotees who chant its verses in Pali or in

their native dialect.

It was inevitable that differences in interpretation of

teaching as well as of disciplinary practices would arise,

with the result that about a century after the First Council

was held a second gathering was called to affirm the purity

of the doctrine. It was at this Second Council that the

Arhats divided into two main streams, namely, the

Mahasanghika or "Great Assembly" and the Theravada or

"Doctrine of Elders." These gradually developed into the

Mahayana or Northern School of Buddhism espoused chiefly in

India, Tibet, China, and later Japan, and the Hinayana or

Southern School whose stronghold is Sri Lanka, Burma, and

the countries of Southeast Asia.


135


C. THE PANDITA-VAGGO

The Buddha recognizes a wise person as “one endowed

with insight, a sap of dhamma45.” And on such being a wise

man, he should associate with or attend to those like that

of himself or other sagacious persons in order to have

growth, not decay of wisdom.

A wise man seeing the mistakes of another person should

speak words of admonition disregarding the benefits that the

person concerned has done or the good deeds which the wise

man benefited from. “The one who sees one’s faults, who

speaks reprovingly, wise, whom one would see as an indicator

of treasures, with such a sagacious person, one would

associate. To one associating with such a person, the better

it will be, not the worse.”46 The wise man should cause the

wrongdoer to learn. He (the Pandita-Vaggo) would counsel,

45 The Dhamma is the Pali term for the teaching of the Buddha (Dharma inSanskrit), others interpret the dhamma as the Truth or the Way or Path to attain Nibbana (Nirvana in Sanskrit).46 Dhammapada. # 76.


136


instruct and restrain one from rude behavior. To the good he

is pleasant and to the bad, he is unpleasant. “He would

counsel, instruct, and restrain one from rude behavior. To

the good, he is pleasant, to the bad is he unpleasant.”47

Buddha emphasizes that such a wise man should associate

with a wise friend, who detects and censures his faults, and

who points out the virtues as a guide tells of buried

treasures. There is happiness not woe, to him who associates

with such an intelligent friend. He also admonishes that the

man who exhorts, instructs and dissuades his fellowmen from

unworthy acts is dear to the virtuous and hated by the

wicked. A wise man then would restrain the wrongdoer from

that which is of wholesome nature and also establish him in

that which is of wholesome nature. A wise man should not

keep in company with evil doing friends or with people who

are base or low; instead associate with the good; which are

the best of men.

47 Ibid. #77.


137


The wise man also abides with the teachings of the

Dhamma, he follows the Law in order to live happily with a

tranquil mind; “One who drinks of dhamma sleeps at ease,

with mind calmly clear. In Dhamma made known by noble ones,

the wise one constantly delights.”48 He then is like the

Teacher or the Enlightened One, the wise man ever delights

in the Dhamma as realized by the Noble ones.

The wise man is likened also to irrigators wherein

irrigators conduct the water wherever they wish; like also

fletchers who shape and bend the shaft of an arrow; like

carpenters who work the wood or does whatever he wills with

the wood. The wise man then is expected to master himself.

He is to have self-discipline. And in having self-

discipline, one should know himself first. Gautama teaches

on the self that the Self is the master of the self and with

the self fully subdued; one obtains the sublime refuge which

is very difficult to achieve, that is, “Nirvana..”

“Irrigators guide the water, fletchers bend the arrow shaft.

48 Ibid. #79.


138


Wood the carpenters bend. Themselves the wise ones tame.”49

Like what Socrates had preached: “An unexamined life is not

worth living,” so too Gautama preaches that if a man esteems

the self, let him guard himself with great care. Guarding

oneself doesn’t mean taking arms and weapons, but being

vigilant and aware of evil by doing good deeds. “If one

would regard oneself as dear, one would guard oneself with

diligence. The wise one would look after himself during any

one of the night’s three watches.”50

It is important that one should establish himself in

right conduct, then only may he admonish others. Such a wise

man does not suffer blemish. Gautama teaches that before a

wise man admonishes another, he should first know himself if

he is capable and that what he teaches, he also practices.

“First, one would get oneself established in what is proper;

then one would advise another. Thus the wise one would not

suffer”51 those who do not practice self-discipline,, who do

not acquire wealth in their youth, when they become old,49 Ibid. #80.50 Ibid. #157.51 Ibid. #158.


139


pine away like old herons in a dried up lake where there are

no fish. They are like broken arrows lying in a corner,

lamenting on their deeds in the past. As Gautama preached

it: “Not having lived the higher life, or having acquired

wealth in youth, they wither away like old herons in a lake

without fish.”52 “Not having lived the higher life, nor

having acquired wealth in youth, like arrows discharged from

a bow they lie brooding over the things of yore.” 53

In following the Dhamma, the wise man having hearkened

to the Dhamma, becomes serene like unto a deep, calm and

crystal clear lake; “Even as a deep lake is very clear and

undisturbed, so do the wise become calm, having heard the

words of dhamma.54 The wise man like a reservoir of water

that is not agitated even when a fourfold army plunges into

it. Just as that lake is clear because it is free from

impurities and undisturbed because it is motionless, in the

same way, having heard the dhamma. The wise becomes calmly

clear.52 Ibid. #155.53 Ibid. # 158.54 Ibid. # 82.


140


The Pandita-Vaggo is expected to have abandoned lusting

after things and relinquishes attachments and desires. They

take no pleasure in sensual speech. And, when touched by

happiness or sorrow, he shows no elation or dejection.

“Everywhere, indeed, good persons “let go.” The good ones do

not occasion talk, hankering for pleasure. Touched now by

ease and now by misery, the wise manifest no high and low.”55

The Pandita-Vaggo either in the form of being satisfied or

discontented or in the form of expressing the satisfactory

or unsatisfactory character of events doesn’t show what he

feels. He is expected not to do detrimental acts, neither

for his own sake nor for other’s benefits. He would not

desire such wealth, and the glories of the state through

such a detrimental act and indeed such a person like this

and no other would be possessed of the dhamma, virtue and

wisdom and is indeed virtuous, honorable and wise. “Neither

for one’s own sake nor for the sake of another, a son would

not wish, or wealth, or kingdom. One would not wish one’s

55 Ibid. # 83.


141


own prosperity by undhammic means. Such a one would be

possessed of virtue, wisdom, dhamma.”56

Those who live according to the dhamma, which has been

well proclaimed by Siddhartha Gautama, will cross over the

impenetrable realm of death to the further shore, namely,

“Nibbana” or “Nirvana” and the rest who remains run to and

fro on this shore.57 Only those who live by the teachings of

Buddha may have the chance to attain Nibbana just as the

Buddha did. “Few are they among humans, the people who reach

the shore beyond. But these other folk only run along the

hither bank.”58

The Pandita-Vaggo abandons the ways of darkness or

evil. He shuns and discards unwholesome acts such as

physical misconducts. He follows the light of the dhamma

like the act of leaving home which signifies attachments to

56 Ibid. #84.57 This statement explains that those who have lived according to thedhamma or the teachings of Gautama would have an easy access to theother realm which one may attain Nibbana; and that those who do notfollow the dhamma would remain in this world where suffering and pain ispresent.58 Dhammapada. # 85.


142


the world knowing within himself that he treads the path

leading to the enjoyment of the bliss of solitude.

The Pandita-Vaggo then focuses his mind upon that

exalted state (Nibbana). Having given up all sense

pleasures, possessing nothing, cleansing the minds from

detachments, and has purified the self. “There he would wish

for delight, having discarded sensual desires-he who has

nothing. The wise one would purify oneself of the

defilements of the mind.”59

The mind of the Pandita-Vaggo should be well fixed

upon the elements of enlightenment or samaddhi60 who without

hankering after anything glories in self renunciation, whose

biases are extinguished, who are full of light, one indeed

have attained the bliss of Nibbana in this very world. Those

59 Ibid. # 88.60 Samaddhi is also called meditative absorption or one-pointed meditation, this is the highest for of meditation.


143


who have trod the path to Arahantship61 or being worthy, is

indeed a wise man, that is, a Pandita-Vaggo. “

To understand more fully the concepts of Gautama

especially on the Pandita-Vaggo, the researcher will venture

on the notion of Gautama of the World. Seeing Gautama’s view

of the world, the researcher hope to find some related

informations that somehow affected the conception of Gautama

of a Pandita-Vaggo. Also, the researcher will venture on the

concepts of Gautama on Evil and the Arahanta-Vaggo or the

Worthy so as to understand what a Pandita-Vaggo should tread

and follow and what should he avoid during his existence in

this world.

61 The stage of having fully eliminated the klesha obscuration. Klesha is the emotional obscuration in contrast to intellectual obscurations which are also translated as “disturbing emotions” or “poisons.” The three main kleshas are passion or attachment, aggression or anger, and ignorance or delusion. The five kleshas are the three mentioned added with pride and envy or jealousy.


144


C. THE LOKA-VAGGO OR THE WORLD

Gautama exhorts that no one should follow a degraded

course of existence, nor live in indolence; one should not

follow false views, rather, follow the truth (dhamma). One

ought to follow the Law of Morality and avoid whatever is

contrary to it or doing unwholesome and immoral acts because

he who embarks upon the path of truth lives happily in this

world and in the hereafter. “To lowly quality one should not

resort, with heedlessness one should not live. To an

improper view one should not resort and one should not be a

“word-augmenter. One should stand up, not be neglectful,

follow dhamma, which is good conduct. One, who lives in

dhamma, sleeps at ease. In this world and also in the

next.”62

Seeing the world, one should look at it as a bubble; a

mirage; an illusion that which is intangible, empty and

insubstantial. One should regard the world as an illusion

and that a Pandita-Vaggo like the Buddha should see this and

62 Dhammapada. #167-168.


145


that this world is full of suffering and can only be battled

by following the dhamma. A wise man therefore sees that the

world is material that he must also detach from and concern

himself more in the attainment of Nibbana. “As upon a bubble

one should look, as one who would look upon a mirage. The

one considering the world thus, King Death does not see.”63

Siddhartha Gautama teaches that those who are immersed

in this world of suffering are childish and fools. He

teaches that one should understand to detach from this world

and that such a deed is wise. And the Pandita-Vaggo does

these deeds, so mush so that he is likened to a swan flying

in the path of the sun away from this world to the next.

“Swans go along the path of the sun. And in the air they go

with psychic power. The wise ones are led from the world . .

. hence indeed is he at ease in the hereafter.”64

D. THE PAPA-VAGGO OR THE WRONG (EVIL)

63 Ibid. #170.64 Ibid. #175-177.


146


Gautama admonished to make haste in doing good and to

restrain the mind from doing evil. But, if one is slow in

doing good, the mind will find delight in evil. If a man

commits evil, he should not repeat it again and again;

instead, he should try not to delight in it for the

accumulation of sin brings suffering. If a man does

meritorious acts, he should do it again and again and that

he should develop a longing for doing good and that

happiness is its outcome for whoever offends an innocent,

pure, faultless person and does what is contrary to the

dhamma, the evil of his act rebounds on that fool like a

fine dust thrown against the wind.

The Buddha said time and time again in the sutras such

things as: ‘My followers should give up all evil actions

that directly or indirectly injure others.’ One may

disregard his words; one may consciously lead others to

commit evil in provisioning oneself with meat. One may

think, ‘There are always skillful means in the sutras and

tantras that counteract the evil so that I shall still be


147


pure of stain.’ And one can let oneself off the hook by

telling oneself that there are substances to be placed into

the animals’ mouths and words that can be whispered in their

ears and impressed upon their minds so that they will not

remain in the lower realms. But to do all this reveals a

complete failure to grasp the meaning of the Buddha’s

teaching. It is a perversion of the Dharma."65

In this concept, one can conclude that evil is that

which is opposite or contrary to the teachings of the dhamma

just like any other religion in the world would look on the

nature of evil.

E. THE ARAHANTA-VAGGO OR THE WORTHY

Arahants are those persons who have undergone self-

renunciation and tread the path of the dhamma or those who

had reached the journey’s end. They are free of suffering

and sorrow for they too have followed the teachings of the

65 http://www.veggiedharma.org/default.php. January 19, 2006.


148


dhamma like the Pandita-Vaggo. But, before one is called a

Pandita-Vaggo, he must first tread the path of arahantship.

The difference between the two concepts is that the Pandita-

Vaggo having attained such state of existence has the duty

to seek and instruct the faults of other person but the

Arahanta-Vaggo is more concerned of the self. The path of

Arahantship is somewhat a path of self- realization wherein

one knows himself fully and at the same time following the

Dhamma.

F. THE SELF

According to the Buddha, self is not truth. He

declared," Where self is, truth is not. Where truth is, self

is not. Self is the fleeting error of samsara; it is


149


individual separateness and that egotism which begets envy

and hatred."

He defined self as "that yearning which seeks pleasure

and lusts after vanity where as Truth is the correct

comprehension of things, which is the permanent and

everlasting, the real in all existence and the bliss of

righteousness."

The very existence of self is an illusion,. It is the

Self, which through its activity, produces all the wrongs,

vice and evil in the world. One can attain truth only when

one accepts the self as an illusion. Righteousness can be

practiced only when the mind is freed from the influence of

egotism. Perfect peace comes only when all the vanity of the

self has disappeared.

The Buddha therefore preached that one should aim to

remove the very idea of self from the consciousness that is

possible only by removing all forms of desires, feelings and

sensations through the practice of the eightfold path.


150


It is to be noted that when Buddha is speaking of self,

he is not referring to the ordinary self or the egoistic

self that is driven by pleasure and pain. According to the

Buddha, the ego centric view of the world, which the self

perpetrates, is an obstacle to seeing the Truth as it is.

Self itself is an illusion and therefore it cannot be relied

upon to understand Truth. Realization comes when pure

awareness is cultivated through the practice of the

eightfold path.

‘The body, monks, is not self. If the body were the

self, this body would not lend itself to dis-ease. It would

be possible to say with regard to the body, "Let my body be

thus. Let my body not be thus." But precisely because the

body is not self, the body lends itself to dis-ease. And it

is not possible to say with regard to the body, "Let my body

be thus. Let my body not be thus.” ’66 Feeling is not

66 In Buddha's own words found in the Anattalakkhana Sutta, Samyutta Nikaya XXII, 59. [http://hinduwebsite.com/buddhism/buddhaonself.asp. January 19, 2006.]


151


self.... Perception is not self.... Mental processes are not

self.... 67

‘Consciousness is not self. If consciousness were the

self, this consciousness would not lend itself to dis-ease.

It would be possible to say with regard to consciousness,

"Let my consciousness be thus. Let my consciousness not be

thus." But precisely because consciousness is not self,

consciousness lends itself to dis-ease. And it is not

possible (to say) with regard to consciousness, "Let my

consciousness be thus. Let my consciousness not be thus."

’68

As these concepts of Gautama were presented, the

researchers shall study and would answer the questions in

the succeeding chapter.

67 Ibid.68 Ibid.


152


CHAPTER IV

"If you govern with the power of your virtue, you will be like the North Star. It juststays in its place while all the other stars position themselves around it."

Analects Book 2, Sec. 1.

In this chapter, the researcher, after exposing the

basic doctrines of Siddhartha Gautama and presenting the

Concept of the Pandita-Vaggo found in the Dhammapada, shall

now evaluate those that were preached by the Buddha. In this

chapter also, the researcher shall venture on the doctrine

of The Pandita –Vaggo and shall get some concepts and

associate it in having a potential leader.

The researcher shall first evaluate the basic doctrines

of Buddha and evaluate it in such a way that the researcher

can present a clear teaching and view of Gautama of the


153


human person. Going first through such topic as the human

person, the researcher can know if such view on the human

person affects the subsequent teaching specifically on the

Pandita-Vaggo.

A. ON SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA’S BASIC DOCTRINES

A key tenet of Buddhist doctrine is that discontent or

suffering is an upshot of desires grounded in false beliefs.

The most important of these false beliefs are that (1) one’s

own individual existence is more important than those of

other individuals and that (2) fulfillment can be achieved

by acquiring and owning property. If these misunderstandings

can be replaced by a true view of human nature, suggested

the Buddha, then unrealistic craving and ambition will


154


cease, and so will frustration. Happiness, in other words,

can be achieved by learning to recognize that (1) no one is

more important than anyone else, since all beings ultimately

have the same nature, and that (2) the very idea of

ownership is at the root of all conflicts among living

beings. The methods by which one achieves contentment,

according to the Buddha, are both intellectual and

practical. One can gradually become free of the kinds of

beliefs that cause unnecessary pain to oneself and others by

carefully observing one’s own feelings and thoughts, and how

one’s own words and actions affect others. To counter the

view that one’s own individual existence is more important

than the existence of other beings, Siddhartha Gautama

adopted a radical strategy of trying to show that in fact

human beings do not have selves or individual identities.

That is, an attempt was made to show that there is nothing

about a person that remains fixed throughout a lifetime, and

also that there is nothing over which one ultimately has

real control. Failure to accept the instability,

fragmentation and uncontrollability of one’s body and mind


155


is seen as a key cause of frustration of the sort that one

could avoid by accepting things as they really are. On the

other hand, realizing that all beings of all kinds are

liable to change and ultimately to die enables one to see

that all beings have the same fundamental destiny. This,

combined with the recognition that all living beings strive

for happiness and wellbeing, is an important stage on the

way to realizing that no individual’s needs, including one’s

own, are more worthy of consideration than any other’s.

The notion that one does not have an enduring self has

two aspects, one personal and the other social. At the

personal level, the person is portrayed in Buddhist

philosophy as a complex of many dozens of physical and

mental events, rather than as a single feature of some kind

that remains constant while all peripheral features undergo

change. Since these constituent events are incessantly

undergoing change, it follows that the whole that is made up

of these constituents is always taking on at least some

difference in nature. Whereas people might tend to see


156


themselves as having fixed personalities and characters, the

Buddha argued it is always possible for people either to

improve their character through mindful striving, or to let

it worsen through negligence and obliviousness. Looking at

the social aspects of personal identity, the Buddha

maintained, in contrast to other views prevalent in his day,

that a person’s station in human society need not be

determined by birth. According to the view prevalent in

ancient and classical Indian society, a person’s duties,

responsibilities and social rank were determined by levels

of ritual purity; these were in turn influenced by pedigree

and gender and various other factors that remained constant

throughout a person’s lifetime. In criticizing this view,

Buddhist philosophers redefined the notions of purity and

nobility, replacing the concept of purity by birth with that

of purity by action (karma). Thus the truly noble person,

according to Buddhist standards, was not one who had a pure

and revered ancestry, but rather one who habitually

performed pure and benevolent actions.


157


Given these basic ideas of human nature as a starting

point, later generations of Buddhist thinkers were left with

the task of explaining the mechanisms by which all the

components of a person work together; this also involved

trying to explain how human beings can gradually change

their character. While there was general agreement on the

principle that the intentions behind one’s actions led

eventually to resultant mental states, that benevolent

actions resulted in a sense of well being, while malevolent

actions resulted in uneasiness and vexation, the precise

details of how karmic causality took place were a matter of

much dispute. Especially difficult was the question of how

actions committed in one lifetime could influence the

character of a person in a different lifetime, for Buddhists

accepted the notion of rebirth that was common in Indian

systems of thought. Discussions of how people could improve

their character presuppose that the people in question have

not become irreversibly depraved. One controversy that arose

among Buddhist thinkers was whether there are beings that

become so habitually perverse that they can no longer even


158


aspire to improve their character; if so, then such beings

would apparently be heir to an unending cycle of rebirths or

samsara.

The view of the person as a set of interconnected

modules, the precise contents of which were always changing,

was characterized by Buddhists as avoiding the

inapplicability of two other hypotheses that one might form

about human nature. One hypothesis is that a person has some

essential core that remains unchanged through all

circumstances. This core survives the death of the physical

body and goes on to acquire a new body through a process of

reincarnation. According to this view, the unchanging

essential part of a person is eternal. The second hypothesis

is that a person takes on an identity at birth and carries

it through life but loses the identity altogether at death.

Siddhartha’s view, characterized, as a middle way between

these two extremes, is that a person’s character is always

in flux, and that the factors that determine the particular

changes in a person’s mentality continue to operate even


159


after the body housing that mentality dies. So Gautama

tended to claim that what goes from one living body to

another is not an unchanging essence, but rather a set of

tendencies to behave in certain ways.

B. ON THE PANDITA – VAGGO

The concept of Siddhartha Gautama on the Pandita –

Vaggo or the Wise Man is also parallel to the philosopher-

king of Plato, the Chun Tzu of Confucius, and the Prince of

Niccolo Machiavelli. It posses certain characteristics and

traits that one can consider appropriate for a leader.

The researcher, in dealing this doctrine to realize

that a certain teaching of Gautama on his Pandita-Vaggo

presents insights similar to those preached by the other

philosophers mentioned above.


160


B1. THE PANDITA-VAGGO AND THE PHILOSOPHER-KING

The Philosopher-king of Plato which he so much preached

that such a person could well govern the state because he

has been well educated and has been prepared and trained

well. The concept of the philosopher- king is introduced by

Plato with reference to a particular issue, namely, the

possibility of the ideal city’s actually coming into

empirical existence.69 It arises with respect not to the

concept of the ideal state per se but to the project of

reforming the existing states.70 For Plato, a good ruler

should practice philosophy and power. One can be a great

leader if one is properly trained and educated according to

Plato.

69 The Republic. 472a.70 Peter Steinberger, “Ruling Guardians and Philosopher-Kings,” American PoliticalScience Review, vol. 83, no. 4 (December 1989), p. 1215.


161


One must note that the identity and nature of the

philosopher-king lies in his name – wisdom-lover. As a

lover, he will do anything for love, he will love all, if

what he loves: “I dare say that you remember, and therefore

I need not remind you, that a lover, if he is worthy of the

name, ought to show his love, not to some one part of that

which he loves, but to the whole.71 Because it is wisdom

that he loves, he must love everything that one can learn or

can come to know: “Whereas he who has a taste for every sort

of knowledge and who is curious to learn and is never

satisfied, maybe justly termed a philosopher.”72

Philosopher-kings are the hypothetical rulers of

Plato's utopian Kallipolis. If his ideal city-state is to

ever come into being, "philosophers [must] become kings…or

those now called kings [must]…genuinely and adequately

philosophize"73

71 George Klosko, “Plato’s Utopianism: The Political Content of the Early Dialogues,” The Review of Politics vol. 45,, no. 4 (October, 19830, P. 503. 72 The Republic. 474c.73 Ibid., 473c.


162


Plato describes the philosopher-kings' education as

beginning with the general primary education until the age

of eighteen and two years of intense physical training.

Those performing exceedingly well receive ten years of

rigorous mathematical education – because Plato believes the

forms cannot be fully understood less they be tied in with

the sacredness of mathematics. If successful at this stage,

the student moves on to five years of training in dialectic.

There is a final fifteen-year period of apprenticeship in

managing the polis.

“And when they are fifty years old, those who have

lasted the whole course and are in every way best at

everything, both in practice and in theory, must at last be

led to the final goal, and must be compelled to lift up the

eyes of their psyches towards that which provides light for

everything, the good itself. And taking it as their model,

they must put in good order both the polis and themselves

for the remainder of their lives, taking turns with the


163


others… After extensive education, the kings finally

understand the form of the Good.”74

Knowledge for Plato essentially entails access to Forms

or Absolute Ideas.75 Those who lack the cognitive ability to

glimpse the forms have only opinion and true beliefs but not

knowledge. Although in a sense, knowledge can make someone

superior but he can become inferior if he doesn’t practice

such knowledge in a practical field. This defect might

outweigh their superior knowledge. Union of genuine

knowledge with sufficient practical experience should be

achieved so that there can be no reason why the philosopher-

king should not rule.

In the Republic, Book IV presents a comparison made by

Plato between the philosopher-kin and of an artist. Just as

74 Ibid., 540a4-b1.75 Ibid., 475c.


164


the artist focuses his artistic product on a particular art

form that he has in mind, the philosopher-king makes use of

the divine truths as his model or constructing the ideal

state. Like an artist, he must first wipe the canvas lean

and then begin to use his acquired techniques and set the

necessary conditions for a sound moral reform.

“Thus, after a process of education and maturity both

in the cognitive and ethical aspects, those who possess the

philosophic nature should ne given the leadership of the

polis.”76

Gautama, on the other hand present the same idea. The

Pandita-Vaggo can only be considered as wise if he has tamed

himself and had gone through the path of Arahantship.

Gautama also teaches that a wise man can only be considered

76 Ibid. , 486c-d.


165


as such if he has followed the Dhamma or the teachings,

which basically tackles, on morality.

In this sense, the Pandita-Vaggo, like that of the

Philosopher-king of Aristotle can be considered as a leader.

They share the same view that man in order to be wise and a

future leader should be properly trained and educated.

B2. THE PANDITA-VAGGO AND THE CHUN-TZU

Since Gautama is considered as an oriental philosopher,

the researcher compares his teachings to another well-known

oriental philosopher in the person of Confucius from China.

Confucius saw the need to reform social and political

life and to relieve the suffering of the common people.

Fundamentally, his solution was to return to the sources of

tradition, with emphasis on moral education sand the

observance of the traditional rites and ceremonies.77 In77 Ramon Reyes, Ground and Norm of Morality. (Ateneo de Manila University Press. 1989.) p 12.


166


this case, Confucius and Siddhartha has the same reason and

point of origin in the formulation of their doctrine, that

is, suffering.

One of the teachings of Confucius was on the Gentleman

of the “Chun Tzu.” Superior Man is a common English translation

for the Chinese term chun-tzu that originally means "Son of a

Prince"--thus, someone from the nobility. In the Analects,

Confucius imbues the term with a special meaning. Though

sometimes used strictly in its original sense, it also

refers to a person who has made significant progress in the

Way (Tao) of self-cultivation, by practicing Righteousness,

by loving treatment of parents, respect for elders, and

honesty with friends, etc. Though the chun-tzu is clearly a

highly advanced human being, he is still distinguished from

the category of sage (sheng-jen), who is, in the Analects more

of a "divine being," usually a model from great antiquity.


167


The character of the Superior Man, in contrast to the

sage, is being taught as a tangible model for all in the

here and now. And although many descriptions of the

requirements for chun-tzu status seem quite out of our reach,

there are many passages where Confucius labels a

contemporary, or one of his disciples a "Superior Man,"

intending a complement. Thus, the categorization is not so

rigid. One might want to compare the term "Superior Man" as

the researcher did to the Buddhists’ Pandita-Vaggo, in that

both are the models for the tradition, both indicate a very

high stage of human development as technical terms, yet both

may be used colloquially to refer to a "really good person."

Confucian theory of government is simple: if the

ruler is upright, the people will imitate him as the grass

bends before the breeze, and people from neighboring

tyrannous states will move into a righteously governed

country, so that it will become powerful and dominate the

land. This teaching was his substitute for the earlier

doctrine of rebellion against an unrighteous ruler.


168


Confucius accepted a personal government, not relying upon

laws alone, for unrighteous men pervert any code of laws;

and he maintained that reform must begin from above, that

if a righteous ruler appoints capable subordinates, there

will be good government, that taxation should be light and

taxes should be remitted in times of poor harvests, that

military matters are the least important feature of a

state, and that war is rarely a benevolent activity.

In the Analects, Confucius describes a Superior Man

being as wise in this section: “Yu Tzu said: "There are few

who have developed themselves filially and fraternally who

enjoy offending their superiors. Those who do not enjoy

offending superiors are never troublemakers. The Superior

Man concerns himself with the fundamentals. Once the

fundamentals are established, the proper way (tao) appears.


169


Are not filial piety and obedience to elders fundamental to

the enactment of jen78?"79

In the Chinese "essence-function" perception, jen can

be understood as the essence of all kinds of manifestations

of virtuosity: wisdom, filial piety, reverence, courtesy,

love, sincerity, etc., all of which are aspects, or

functions of jen. Through one's efforts at practicing at the

function of jen, one may enhance and develop one's jen, until

one may be called a Superior Man, or even better, a "Person

of jen." In the Analects, "person of jen" is an extremely high

state, rarely acknowledged of any human being by Confucius.

In describing a ruler, Confucius states some

characteristics or ways on how one is considered to be a

good leader: Confucius said: "If you would govern a state of

a thousand chariots (a small-to-middle-size state), you must

78 The Chinese term jen has been translated into English as "humanity,""benevolence," "goodness," "Perfect Goodness," etc. It is a difficultconcept to translate because it doesn't really refer to any specifictype of virtue or positive endowment, but refers to an inner capacitypossessed by all human beings to do good, as human beings should. Thisis the reason some have translated it as "humanity." The problem withthis translation is that it does not indicate the "goodness" implied bythe term jen.79 Analects, Chapter I sec. 2.


170


pay strict attention to business, be true to your word, be

economical in expenditure and love the people. You should

use them according to the seasons."80

"Usage of the people according to the seasons" is extremely

important in an agriculture-based society, where planting,

cultivating, or harvesting a certain crop during a certain

few-day period can be critical. During the Spring and Autumn

and Warring States periods in China, selfish and aggressive

warlords frequently pulled farmers off their land at

important farming times, to use them for public works

projects, or have them fight in the ruler's personal wars.

In the education of a leader or of the chun tzu,

Confucius preaches that: "A young man should serve his

parents at home and be respectful to elders outside his

home. He should be earnest and truthful, loving all, but

become intimate with jen. After doing this, if he has energy

to spare, he can study literature and the arts."81

80 Ibid. Chapter I, sec. 3.81 Ibid. Chapter I, sec. 6.


171


In the above-mentioned essence-function view, the

development of one's proper relationship with one's parents

and others around her/him is fundamental in life. Only after

these things are taken care of is it proper to go off and

play at whatever one likes--even if this "play" involves the

serious study of some art form. It is the process of

manifesting one's jen by developing-oneself in self-

reflection through the various types of human relationships.

Confucius said: "When the Superior Man eats he does not

try to stuff himself; at rest he does not seek perfect

comfort; he is diligent in his work and careful in speech.

He avails himself to people of the Tao and thereby corrects

himself. This is the kind of person of whom you can say, 'he

loves learning.'"82

In dealing with others, Confucius said: "If the

Superior Man is not 'heavy,' then he will not inspire awe in

others. If he is not learned, then he will not be on firm

ground. He takes loyalty and good faith to be of primary

82 Ibid. Chapter I. sec. 14.


172


importance, and has no friends who are not of equal (moral)

caliber. When he makes a mistake, he doesn't hesitate to

correct it."83

Confucius admits that the Superior Man can still makes

mistakes. The difference between him and other people is

that he rectifies his errors as soon as he becomes aware of

them. Like the Pandita-Vaggo, the chun-tzu or the Superior

man also follows a guide like that of the dharma as stated

in the analects.

Confucius said, "The superior man has nine things which

are subjects with him of thoughtful consideration. In regard

to the use of his eyes, he is anxious to see clearly. In

regard to the use of his ears, he is anxious to hear

distinctly. In regard to his countenance, he is anxious that

it should be benign. In regard to his speech, he is anxious

that it should be sincere. In regard to his doing of

business, he is anxious that it should be reverently

careful. In regard to what he doubts about, he is anxious to

83 Ibid. Chapter I. sec. 8.


173


question others. When he is angry, he thinks of the

difficulties his anger may involve him in. When he sees gain

to be got, he thinks of righteousness."84

“Confucius’ thoughts on government are grounded on his

assumption of the inviolable sanctity of the individual. He

believed that “The commander of a great army may be carried

off, but the will of a common man cannot be taken from

him.”85 Governments are formed not for the comfort and

enjoyment of the ruler or even for the maintenance of law

and order in the state, but for the happiness and

enlightenment of the people. Thus government becomes

inseparable from education, and the state may be compared

with a schoolhouse, and the ruler with a schoolmaster. And

the most effective type of instruction comes from the

personal example on the part of the ruler.

“When a high minister asked about government,

Confucius, employing a pointed pun, said, “To govern is to

set things right. If you begin by setting yourself right who84 Ibid. Chapter XVI. sec. 10.85 Ibid. Chapter IX. sec. 25.


174


will dare to deviate from the right?”86 Confucius was

convinced that self-rectification on the part of the ruler

is the key to good government. With it all will go well;

without it no matter what orders are given they will not be

obeyed. Therefore, the first duty of a nobleman is “to

cultivate himself so as to give peace and comfort to all the

people”87

The Confucian political ideal might be called

government by virtue. In practical terms, hereditary rulers

should delegate all administrative power to ministers

selected for their talent and virtue.”88

Unlike religious founders, Confucius was conservative

and his duty, as he saw it, was to compile and transmit to

posterity the old customs and manners of Chinese society.

He claimed himself to be “a transmitter and not an

innovator”89. However to consider him merely a transmitter86 Ibid. Chapter XII. sec. 17.87 Ibid. Chapter XIV. sec. 45.88 The content is found on Encyclopedia Americana, which deals with the Chinese philosopher Confucius and his teachings. The content presents the idea of Confucius on good governance and what a leader or a ruler should posses. 89 Analects chapter 7. section 1


175


would be a simplistic approach. It is the humility of the

great philosopher to consider himself a transmitter.

Actually he did not merely adopt certain ideas and ideals

from antiquity, but made very original contribution to

Chinese thought. His teachings have come down to later

generation through the Analects.

Governing by virtue is a necessity that may seem to

be an impossible task. However, to obtain the ultimate

goal of individual perfection and world peace, Confucius

promoted the display of virtue by all rulers. To lead by

example is required for success. What citizens learn from

government is very similar to the student/teacher

relationship and the worker/employer relationship. People

will tend to act in the same way their superiors act.

Therefore, authority figures in politics must act with

virtue if the people are to act with virtue. The saying

"do what I say, not what I do" is not acceptable.

The Chun-Tzu of Confucius is more closely similar to

that of the Pandita-Vaggo of Siddhartha Gautama. Both follow


176


certain moral codes in order to be called as a Chun-Tzu, a

Gentleman or a Sage, and a Pandita-Vaggo for Gautama. Both

have the same concept of a wise and gentle man, and both

should live in a virtuous life. They differ for the fact

that for Gautama, a Pandita-Vaggo is just a mere wise man

not belonging to the monks or other high ranking royal blood

of origin or clan unlike that of Confucius where he preaches

that a chun -tzu is a proper ruler or the right person who

must govern by birth and by right.

B4. THE PANDITA-VAGGO AND THE PRINCE

Niccolo Machiavelli’s book entitled the Prince is a

classic treatise on how to gain power and then how to

exercise political power once it is attained. This famous

treatise has certainly stood the test of time, as it is one

of those books that are still read today. Machiavelli’s

timeless wisdom and insight can be used to interpret and

illuminate political personages on the world stage today.


177


Machiavelli’s insight on what his “prince”, or, in our case

a political leader, should and should not do, will be

compared to the Pandita-Vaggo of Gautama in evaluating his

doctrine.

The first point made in the case study on Machiavelli’s

doctrine is how the prince is viewed. A prince should have

the skill and knowledge in warfare. As to the mental

training o which we have spoken, a prince should read

histories, and in these should note the actions of great

men, observe how they conducted themselves in their wars,

and examine the causes of their victories and defeats, so as

to avoid the latter and imitate them in the former. An above

all, he should, as many great men of past ages who before

his time have been renowned and celebrated...90 A wise

prince therefore should pursue such methods as these, never

resting idle in times of peace, but strenuously seeking to

turn them to account, so that he may derive strength from

90 Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince. Chapter XIV.


178


them in the hour of danger, and find himself ready should

fortune turn against him, to resist he blows.91

A prince should inspire fear in such a fashion that if

he do not win love he may escape hate. For a man may very

well be feared and yet not hated, and this will be the case

so long as he does not meddle with the property or with the

women o his citizens and subjects. And if constrained to put

any one to death, he should do so, only when there is

manifest cause or reasonable justification.92

A new prince, meaning the political leader of the

government, comes to power in an old principality (or

state), which has well-established rules, laws and

traditions. He lists two ways to come to power, the first is

by fortune the second is virtue. Fortune refers to

inheritance, or conquering while virtue refers to innate

qualities in oneself that makes them true leaders.

Machiavelli lists virtuous leaders from ancient time: Moses,

Cyrus, Romulus and Theseus. These men were successful not91 Ibid.92 Ibid. Chapter XVII.


179


only because of the opportunities given, but most especially

because of their excellent virtue which enabled them to

seize among these opportunities to capitalize on them. And

the world has recognized them for this.

It is extremely difficult for a new ruler or prince to

introduce new orders in an old establishment. It is hard to

implement new rules on people, as there will always be

defenders of the old regime. There are two results from

this: the first is that the leader may become unsuccessful

and will not accomplish anything while the second is that

the prince will antagonize those who profited under the old

order which may lead to his overthrow. Machiavelli gives the

example of the case of Hiero of Syracuse, a private

individual who became a public official. Although he got the

power by the fortunate opportunity, he was a virtuous man

and it was said that while he was still a private individual

he “lacked nothing of being a king except a kingdom.” He

eliminated the old principality and its military and formed

a new one. He left his old friendships and made new ones. He


180


went through great troubles to establish this new kingdom,

but because of his virtue he maintained it with ease.

Although Machiavelli stated there are two ways to

acquire power - virtue and fortune -there is one more that

should not be left out. This is when the prince comes to

power by way of a criminal or nefarious path. When one comes

to power this way, it is necessary for him to examine all

offenses necessary for him to commit and to make sure while

he is doing so, not to offend and isolate his people.

“Be it known then, that there are two ways of

contending, one in accordance with the laws, the other by

force; the first of which is proper to men, the second to

beasts. But since the first method is often ineffectual, it

becomes necessary to resort to the second. A Prince should,

therefore, understand how to use well both the man and the

beast… it is necessary for a prince to know how to use both

natures, and that the one without the other has no

stability.93 Machiavelli wants to emphasize the need of

93 Ibid. Chapter XVIII.


181


combining the two natures of man, which in his own view, the

nature of being a man and the nature of being an animal - a

beast: “But since the a Prince should know how to use the

beast’s nature wisely, he ought of beasts to choose both the

lion and the fox; for the lion cannot guard himself from the

toils, nor the fox from wolves. He must therefore be a fox

to discern toils, and a lion to drive off wolves. To rely on

the lion is unwise; and for this reason a prudent prince

neither can nor ought to keep his word when to keep it is

hurtful to him and the causes which led him to pledge it are

removed.”94

Machiavelli is very sensitive to the extreme importance

for the ruler who became ruler under questionable methods,

to keep the people and nobility friendly towards him. He

maintains his power from with their support that he will

oppress them, since to do so would alienate them. Citizens

will always be faithful to the leader when the leader works

for them, making the citizens need him and his regime. The

prince or the leader should not be unnecessarily cruel, but94 Ibid.


182


should be merciful. However, he should not worry about

cruelty, because it is unavoidable especially as a new

leader. If the prince must be cruel, he should make sure it

is done quietly and out of sight of the people. The prince’s

acts of mercy, on the other hand, should be as public as

possible. Machiavelli states that it is better for the

leader to be feared than to be loved, because fear can be

controlled where as love cannot be. Although he should be

feared, the leader must take care not to be hated.

Machiavelli claims that the choice of ministers directly

reflects the on the prince. An outstanding quality in the

prince is the ability to see competent leadership qualities

in others and then know how to use them to benefit of his

organization or government. Therefore, the judgment of

character in others is important when judging the leader,

“because the first error he makes, he makes in his choices.”

In comparing it to the Pandita-Vaggo of Siddhartha

Gautama, both concepts adhere to the importance of proper

education. They both agreed in one way or another that


183


wisdom and knowledge is important and that these lessons

acquired through education should be put into practice.

In contrast with the Pandita-Vaggo of Siddhartha

Gautama, the ruler for Machiavelli does not concern virtue

unlike that of the Pandita-Vaggo. Machiavelli doesn’t

emphasize the need for love of the people or the citizens

towards the ruler unlike in the Buddhist thought where it

preaches compassion and love. Although Machiavelli permits

mercy but is somewhat a disguise in order for the leader to

keep his power over the state.

In the act of ruling, the Pandita-Vaggo can be a lower-

class of a leader if the state is in turmoil or in war. But

for Machiavelli, if the ruler needs to be cruel for the sake

of the state and even kill for the state, he should

regardless of the law “though shall not kill”. For the

Pandita-Vaggo, virtue should always be at the top in making

decisions and always in accordance to the dharma or the

path. Somehow, the Pandita-Vaggo is not fitted in a state

where chaos is prevalent.


184


To make it better understood, the difference of the

Prince from the Pandita-Vaggo is that the Prince as a wise

man is educated, should be feared as a lion and as wise as a

fox and should know when to take risks such as entertaining

the thought to sacrifice life of take lives to preserve the

peace and order of the state while the Pandita-Vaggo of

Gautama promotes moral and spiritual conducts in order to be

called wise.

The bottom line is that the Machiavelli adheres to a

leader that is wise but not moral unlike the Pandita-Vaggo

who as a wise man should also inherit and consider morality

in order to be called as such.

C. CONCLUSION

After presenting the doctrine of Siddhartha Gautama and

other political philosophers namely Plato, Confucius and

Machiavelli, the researcher came-up that the concept of the

Pandita-Vaggo of Siddhartha Gautama is indeed applicable and


185


can be appropriated by future leaders. The researcher then

also came up with the answers to succeeding questions posted

in the statement of the problem.

The presentations in the recent chapter provide the

concept of Siddhartha Gautama on the Pandita-Vaggo, also

being supported by the other Buddhist Teachings. As the

researcher did evaluated, analyzed and compared the concept

of the Pandita-Vaggo to other political philosophies of

other notable philosophers, the researcher concludes that

the Pandita-Vaggo can be a philosophical concept on having a

political leader like that of the political leaders preached

by Plato, Confucius and Machiavelli. The recent chapter also

provides the rules and norms and the other teachings that a

Pandita-Vaggo must follow and those that he must despise and

avoid which are applicable of having a moral political

leader. Also, in one way or another, by following the moral

concepts of the Dhamma, one treads the path or authentic

living for he has been guided by the Dhamma that Siddhartha


186


preached towards the liberation form Karma and to the

attainment of Nirvana.

The mastery of one’s own self or having discipline of

one’s own self as presented by the philosophers above

provides a guide for future leaders or even common people to

live a moral or ethical life. Being wise does not mean being

just educated from a notable and respected schools or

institutions, but practicing what has one learned in a moral

and ethical way as the doctrines of Siddhartha and the other

philosophers mentioned in this study.

To end, as the ancient philosopher Aristotle tries to

present in his book The Politics, he tries to promote that “the

good human life, meaning an ethical and moral life, is a

political life or a relational life within a society”.

After evaluating and studying the case, the researcher

found out that the idea of the Pandita-Vaggo can be

considered among the ranks of The Philosopher King, the

Chun-Tzu, and the Prince.


187


CHAPTER V

“For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from lawand justice, he is the worst of all; since armed injustice is the more dangerous,and he is equipped at birth with arms, meant to be used by intelligence andvirtue, which he may use for the worst ends. Wherefore, if he have not virtue, heis the most unholy and the most savage of animals, and the most full of lust andgluttony.”

- The Politics, Book I, 2.

A. SUMMARY

The first chapter of this work deals with the objective

of the researcher of what is the reason why such study on

the concept of the Pandita-Vaggo of Siddhartha Gautama was

made. The researcher stated the fact and his personal


188


interest on the topic and that of the reality happening in

the country where political stability is fading. This

chapter also presented the main problem whether the concept

of Gautama can be appropriated or what can be benefited from

his concept. The researcher also presented the methods he

will use in the dealing the case study and on what will be

the proper approach in handling the concept of Gautama. Also

together in this chapter, a survey of related literature was

made in order to avoid identical works and that presents

this work as originals and maintains its uniqueness among

other related materials on Gautama. The first chapter also

included the definition of terms of some words and Buddhist

terms that will be used by the researcher.

The second chapter deals with the life of Siddhartha

Gautama. The researcher presented the life of Gautama in

such a way that he distinguished myth form fact, legend from

historical datas. This chapter presents the story of the

life of Gautama before his conception, his birth, his


189


childhood, his youth, his married and family life, his

encounter with the four gates or the forms of suffering, his

search for enlightenment, his enlightenment, his teaching

career and his death. This chapter also presents the

timeline of the Buddhist philosophy that started from the

death of the enlightened one up to the foundation of the

different Buddhist schools and up to the recent events in

this time.

The third chapter presents the basic doctrines of

Siddhartha Gautama on his views on the world, his Four Noble

Truths, the Eightfold Paths, The Precepts and other

teachings which Buddhist philosophy until now upholds. In

this chapter, the Dhammapada or the collection of the

teachings and dialogues of the Buddha in different occasions

has been tackled mainly because it served as the primary

source of the researcher in coming to know the “Pandita-

Vaggo.” The exposition of the concept of the Pandita-Vaggo

is also included in this chapter together with other


190


teachings in the Dhammapada that has a connection on the

main topic.

The fourth chapter deals with the treatment of the

researcher on the problem and the concept of Gautama. The

researcher in this chapter made a brief conclusion and an

analysis on the basic teachings of Gautama, the Dhammapada

and the Pandita-Vaggo. The researcher, in presenting the

idea of having a leader from the concept of the Pandita-

Vaggo made use of the other concepts of philosophers namely

Aristotle, Confucius, and Machiavelli. The researcher then

compared the thoughts of these philosophers from the concept

of the Pandita-Vaggo and found that the concept of the

Pandita-Vaggo presents an idea of a potential leader.

B. RECOMMENDATION

After such presentation and exposition on the concept

of the Pandita-Vaggo, the researcher wishes to invite more

lovers of wisdom to read and study more on the philosophy of


191


Siddhartha Gautama. The concept of Gautama can be of great

help especially in dealing with morality and ethical

principles and all about life itself.

The researcher then wishes to recommend the following

studies on the philosophy of Siddhartha Gautama.

The Way of the Pandita-Vaggo Towards an Authentic

Existence

Gautama’s Concept of Compassion and Love

Gautama’s Humanism

A Comparison between Buddhist’s Concept of Love and

Christian’s Concept of Love.

Gautama’s Concept of Evil

Gautama’s Concept of the Arahanta-Vaggo

The Way of the Arahanta-Vaggo Towards a New

Educational System

Gautama’s Political Philosophy


192


An Evaluation of Buddhist’s Ethics


193

THE PANDITA-VAGGO IN GAUTAMA BUDDHA'S PHILOSOPHY: AN EXPOSITION OF BUDDHIST POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Documents