Guide to Tipitaka

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.(a) S�lakkhandha Vagga P�iDivision Concerning MoralityThis division contains thirteen suttas which deal extensively withvarious types of morality, namely, Minor Morality, basic moralityapplicable to all; Middle Morality and Major Morality which are mostlypractised by Sama�as and Br�hma�as.It also discusses the wrong viewsthen prevalent as well as brahmin views of sacrifice and caste, andvarious religious practices such as extreme self-mortification.(1) Brahmaj�la Sutta, Discourse on the Net of Perfect Wisdom.An argument between Suppiya, a wandering ascetic, and his pupilBrahmadatta, with the teacher maligning the Buddha, the Dhamma andthe Sa�gha and the pupil praising the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sa�gha,gave rise to this famous discourse which is listed first in this Nik�ya.In connection with the maligning of the Buddha, the Dhamma andthe Sa�gha, the Buddha enjoined his disciples not to feel resentment, nordispleasure nor anger, because it would only be spiritually harmful tothem.As to the words of praise for the Buddha, the Dhamma and theSa�gha, the Buddha advised his disciples not to feel pleased, delightedor elated, for it would be an obstacle to their progress in the Path.The Buddha said that whatever worldling, puthujjana, praised theBuddha he could not do full justice to the peerless virtues of the Buddha,namely, his Superior Concentration, sam�dhi, and Wisdom, pa��.Aworldling could touch on only "matters of a trifling and inferior nature,mere morality." The Buddha explained the three grades of morality and41said there were other dhammas profound, hard to see, subtle andintelligible only to the wise.Anyone wishing to praise correctly the truevirtues of the Buddha should do so only in terms of these dhammas.Then the Buddha continued to expound on various wrong views.There were sama�as and br�hma�as who, speculating on the past,adhered to and asserted their wrong views in eighteen different ways,namely:(i) Four Kinds of Belief in Eternity, Sassata Di��hi,(ii) Four Kinds of Dualistic belief in Eternity and Non-eternity, EkaccaSassata Di��hi,(iii) Four Views of the World being Finite or Infinite, Ant�nanta Di��hi,(iv) Four Kinds of ambiguous evasion, Amar�vikkhepa V�da,(v) Two Doctrines of Non-Causality, Adhiccasamuppanna V�da.There were sama�as and br�hma�as, who, speculating on thefuture, adhered to and asserted their wrong views in forty-four ways,namely:(i) Sixteen Kinds of Belief in the Existence of Sa�� after death,Uddh�m�gh�tanika Sa�� V�da,(ii) Eight Kinds of Belief in the Non-Existence of Sa�� after death,Uddham�gh�tanika Asa�� V�da,(iii)Eight Kinds of Belief in the Existence of Neither Sa�� Nor Non-sa�� after death, Uddham�gh�tanika Nevasa�� N�sa�� V�da,(iv)Seven Kinds of Belief in Annihilation, Uccheda V�da,(v) Five Kinds of Mundane Nibb�na as realizable in this very life,Di��hadhamma Nibb�na V�da.The Buddha said that whatever sama�as and br�hma�asspeculated on the past, or the future or both the past and the future, theydid so in these sixty-two ways or one of these sixty-two ways.The Buddha announced further that he knew all these wrongviews and also what would be the destination, the next existence, inwhich the one holding these views would be reborn.The Buddha gave a detailed analysis of these wrong viewsasserted in sixty-two ways and pointed out that these views had theirorigin in feeling which arose as a result of repeated contact through thesix sense bases.Whatever person holds these wrong views, in him feelinggives rise to craving; craving gives rise to clinging; clinging gives rise to42existence; the kammic causal process in existence gives rise to rebirth;and rebirth gives rise to ageing, death, grief, lamentation, pain, distressand despair.But whatever person knows, as they really are, the origin of thesix sense bases of contact, their cessation, their pleasurableness, theirdanger and the way of escape from them, he realizes the dhammas, notonly mere morality, s�la, but also concentration, sam�dhi, and liberation,vimutti, wisdom, pa��, that transcend all these wrong views.All the sama�as and br�hma�as holding the sixty-two categoriesof wrong views are caught in the net of this discourse just like all the fishin a lake are contained in a finely meshed net spread by a skilfulfisherman or his apprentice [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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