Sutra: Five Helpers to Right View

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly based on translation by Ven. Nyanaponika and Bhikkhu Bodhi (Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, AN V, 25) UPDATED

The Buddha explained: Right view, O meditators, if it is helped by five things, has liberation of mind/heart as its fruit and is rewarded by the fruit of liberation of mind/heart. It has liberation by wisdom as its fruit and is rewarded by the fruit of liberation by wisdom. What are those five things? Here, meditators, right view is helped by:

1. virtue
2. wide learning (suta-mayā-paññā)
3. discussion (of what is learned)
4. tranquility
5. insight.

EXPLANATION

Knowing-and-seeing (Sharon Cummings)

“Liberation of mind” (ceto-vimutti) means the concentration present at the attainment of the noble paths and fruitions -- that is, at the time of the first three stages of enlightenment.

“Liberation by wisdom” (paññā-vimutti) is the liberating-insight (release) pertaining to the fourth fruition, namely, arhatship.

An arhat may be said to be an accomplished disciple or savaka-buddha ("enlightened hearer"), one who has gained full enlightenment (as distinguished from pacceka-buddhas and sammasambodhi-buddhas).

This fivefold help to right view is compared to the growing of a mango tree in the ancient Commentary (the Anguttara Atthakatha) to this text:

• Right view is like the mango seed.
• The other supporting factors are like measures taken to ensure the growth of the tree.
• And the two liberations are like the fruits.

The Discourse on Right View (sutra)

Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly, "Discourse on Right View" (Samma-ditthi Sutta, MN 9), based on translation by Ñanamoli Thera and Bhikkhu Bodhi

Young Buddhist novices, Lamayuru monastery, Ladakh, India (Dietmar Temps/flickr)

  

Birth

Novice, Burma (UrsulasWeeklyWanders.com)

24. Saying, "Good, friend," the monastics delighted and rejoiced in Sariputra's words. [The Buddha declared Ven. Sariputra his chief male disciple "foremost in wisdom," just as he declared Ven. Khema his chief female disciple foremost in wisdom.] Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma?" -- "There might be, friends.

 

25. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands birth, the origin of birth, the cessation of birth, and the way leading to the cessation of birth, in that way a person is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma.

 

Buddha in Phutthamonton (Gift of Light/flickr)

26. "And what is birth, what is the origin of birth, what is the cessation of birth, what is the way leading to the cessation of birth? The birth of beings into the various orders of beings, their coming to birth, precipitation [in a womb], generation, manifestation of the aggregates, obtaining the bases for contact -- this is called birth. With the arising of being, there is the arising of birth. With the cessation of being, there is the cessation of birth. The way leading to the cessation of birth is this Noble Eightfold Path -- that is:

1. right view
2. right intention
3. right speech
4. right action
5. right livelihood
6. right effort
7. right mindfulness
8. right concentration

27. "When a noble disciple has thus understood birth, the origin of birth, the cessation of birth, and the way leading to the cessation of birth... that person here and now makes an end of suffering (reaches nirvana). In that way, too, a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma." 

Becoming

Wheel of Sense Worlds (greencollarrap.com)

28. Saying, "Good, friend," the monastics delighted and rejoiced in Sariputra's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma?" -- "There might be, friends.

 

29. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands becoming (bhava), the origin of becoming, the cessation of becoming, and the way leading to the cessation of becoming, in that way a person is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma.

 

30. "And what is becoming, what is the origin of becoming, what is the cessation of becoming, what is the way leading to the cessation of becoming? There are these three kinds of becoming: 

• sense-sphere becoming
• fine-material becoming
• immaterial becoming. 

With the arising of clinging, there is the arising of becoming. With the cessation of clinging, there is the cessation of becoming. The way leading to the cessation of becoming is this Noble Eightfold Path -- that is, right view... right concentration.

 

31. "When a noble disciple has thus understood becoming, the origin of becoming, the cessation of becoming, and the way leading to the cessation of becoming... that person here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way, too, a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma." 

Clinging

31 Planes reduced to Six States (lokas)

32. Saying, "Good, friend," the monastics delighted and rejoiced in Sariputra's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma?" -- "There might be, friends.

 

33. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands clinging, the origin of clinging, the cessation of clinging, and the way leading to the cessation of clinging, in that way that person is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma.

 

34. "And what is clinging, what is the origin of clinging, what is the cessation of clinging, what is the way leading to the cessation of clinging? There are these four kinds of clinging: 

1. clinging to sensual pleasures
2. clinging to views [opinions]
3. clinging to rituals and observances
4. clinging to a doctrine of self (atman).

With the arising of craving, there is the arising of clinging. With the cessation of craving, there is the cessation of clinging. The way leading to the cessation of clinging is this Noble Eightfold Path -- that is, right view... right concentration.

 

35. "When a noble disciple has thus understood clinging, the origin of clinging, the cessation of clinging, and the way leading to the cessation of clinging... that person here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way, too, a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma." 

Craving

Cosmology (creative-harmonics.org)

36. Saying, "Good, friend," the monastics delighted and rejoiced in Sariputra's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma?" -- "There might be, friends.

 

37. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands craving, the origin of craving, the cessation of craving, and the way leading to the cessation of craving, in that way that person is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma.

 

38. "And what is craving, what is the origin of craving, what is the cessation of craving, what is the way leading to the cessation of craving? There are these six classes of craving:

1. craving for sights (forms)
2. craving for sounds
3. craving for fragrances
4. craving for flavors
5. craving for tangibles
6. craving for mind-objects. 

"With the arising of sensation (vedana, basic feeling not emotion), there is the arising of craving. With the cessation of sensation, there is the cessation of craving. The way leading to the cessation of craving is this Noble Eightfold Path -- that is, right view... right concentration.

 

39. "When a noble disciple has thus understood craving, the origin of craving, the cessation of craving, and the way leading to the cessation of craving... that person here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way, too, a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma." 

Sensation

Novice, Thiksey Monastery (Dietmar Temps)

40. Saying, "Good, friend," the monastics delighted and rejoiced in Sariputra's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma?" — "There might be, friends.

 

41. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands sensation, the origin of sensation, the cessation of sensation, and the way leading to the cessation of sensation, in that way that person is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma.

 

42. "And what is sensation, what is the origin of sensation, what is the cessation of sensation, what is the way leading to the cessation ofsensation ? There are these six classes of sensation: 

1. sensation born of eye-contact
2. sensation born of ear-contact
3. sensation born of nose-contact
4. sensation born of tongue-contact
5. sensation born of body-contact
6. sensation born of mind-contact. 

With the arising of contact, there is the arising of sensation. With the cessation of contact, there is the cessation ofsensation . The way leading to the cessation of sensation is this Noble Eightfold Path -- that is, right view... right concentration.

 

43. "When a noble disciple has thus understood sensation, the origin of sensation, the cessation of sensation, and the way leading to the cessation of sensation... that person here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way, too, a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dharma." More

The Mindfulness in Meditation

Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly, partial wiki edit

Mindfulness is crucial, we all agree, but what is mindfulness? Just being "mindful"?

  

The Buddha was wide awake (oRi0n/flickr

Mindfulness (Pali sati, Sanskrit smṛti, "memory, recollection, awareness") is a spiritual and psychological faculty (indriya). According to the Buddha's teaching it is of vital importance along the path to enlightenment. 

 

It is, in fact, one of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. "Right" mindfulness (sammā-sati) is the seventh factor or fold of the Noble Eightfold Path. 

Mindful meditation may also be traced back to the earlier Upanishads, which are part of sacred Brahminical scriptures prevalent in India at the time of the Buddha.*

 

Enlightenment (bodhi) is a state which has overcome greed (craving), hatred (aversion), and delusion (ignorance). These impediments, even if only temporarily (allowing a glimpse of nirvana, which entails stream entry) have been abandoned and are absent from the mind/heart.

Mindfulness is an attentive awareness of the true nature of things (the reality of the present moment even when beset by the illusions of being permanent, personal, or able to satisfy our desires). Mindfulness is an immediate an antidote to delusion. It is considered, in this sense, a spiritual power (bala).

 

Meditation with mudra (mysecretpsychiclife.com)

This spiritual/mental faculty becomes a "power" when it is coupled with clear comprehension (sampajanna) of whatever is taking place.

 

The Buddha taught the establishment of four "foundations" of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna). These ar part of the insight meditation practices the Buddha taught in addition to the establishment of serenity.

Those pursuing enlightenment maintain as much as possible a calm awareness of (1) body, (2) sensations, (3) mind, and (4) phenomena (dharmas). 

 

The practice of mindfulness supports analysis (the breaking down or partitioning of things into their constituent parts) resulting in the arising of wisdom (paññā, prajñā). Self is anatta (not-self), an impersonal composite. Self is ever-changing, and that change can be discerned directly. A key innovation of the Buddha's teaching was that meditative absorption must be combined with liberating insight (vipassana) or insight practices to produce final wisdom.

The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra) is an early text dealing with the proper establishment of mindfulness the Buddha was referring to.

 

Mindfulness practice, as inherited from Buddhism, is now very successfully being employed in psychology and some self-help programs to alleviate a variety of mental and physical conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, and in the prevention of relapse in depression and addiction. [See also mindfulness (psychology).] More

• Mindfulness has a separate meaning of "recollection," with which its ordinary practice should not be confused. 

Recollection

Mindful Christy Turlington (sportforus.com)

Recollection or active-contemplation (anussati) is more about memory, remembering, turning, ratiocination, cogitating, scrutinizing, evaluating, thinking over, pensively considering or "rotating" a theme in mind, which is the actual meaning of the English word "meditation." 

 

The Buddhist word commonly translated as "meditation" is bhavana, which has the much broader meaning of cultivation, self development, or literally "bringing into being."

 

For example, one may recollect the qualities of the Buddha, features of the body, death and its inevitability (for those who do not, food one is about to eat, feelings (sensations), mind (conscious states), or mind-objects.

 

These are all fully defined practices, so no one need think that simply "thinking" about these is in any way practicing Buddhist mindfulness meditation.

 

Even if the Upanishads mention smrti, that would hardly constitute a pre-existing "mindfulness practice," which the Buddha blazed a trail to as part of the way to liberation. Everything, every ingredient, must have existed. The Buddha did not invent new things. Rather, he developed the perfections (paramitas) which enabled him to gain liberation with the capacity to teach his rediscovery.

 

Long before the Buddha, there had been other buddhas (supremely enlightened or enlightened-without-teaching). But no one was teaching, nor capable of successfully establishing the Dharma regarding the path to enlightenment, prior to the Buddha. When were the previous buddhas? They are prehistoric, and the Buddha mentioned many of them. Ages ago, epochs ago, aeons ago (and the various kinds of aeons or kalpas ago), there had been others to make this liberating discovery.

 

Meditators in other traditions were not becoming enlightened, as the Buddha later pointed out, for lack of realization or a viable teaching (dharma) to gain liberation. That is now available in the Dharma, the Buddha's teaching concerning enlightenment, which is technically called the Bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma, a term translated as the "37 Requisites of Enlightenment."

• *Miller, Fletcher, and Kabat-Zinn, 1995, "Three-year follow-up and clinical implications of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction intervention in the treatment of anxiety disorders."  General Hospital Psychiatry 17 (3): 192–200.