A Manual of Abhidhamma

by Nārada Thera | 80,494 words | ISBN-13: 9789380336510

In the Abhidhammattha Sangaha there is a brief exposition of the Law of Dependent Origination, followed by a descriptive account of the Causal Relations that finds no parallel in any other philosophy. Edited in the original Pali Text with English Translation and Explanatory Notes by Narada Maha Thera....

§ 7.

Nibbānam pana lokuttara-sankhātam catumaggañānena sacchikātabbam magga-phalānam ālambanabhūtam vāna-sankhātāya tanhāya nikkhantattā nibbānanti pavuccati.

Tad'etam sabhāvato ekavidham pi; saupādisesanibbānadhātu anupādisesa-nibbānadhātu c'āti duvidham hoti kāranapariyāyena. Tathā suññatam animittam appanihitam c'āti tividham hoti ākārabhedena.

Padamaccutamaccantam asankhātamanuttaram
Nibbānam iti bhāsanti vānamuttā mahesayo.
Iti cittam cetasikām rūpam nibbānam iccapi
Paramattham pakāsenti catudhā va tathāgatā

Iti Abhidhammatthasangahe rūpa-sangahavibhāgo nāma Chattho Paricchedo.

 

(translation)

§ 7.

Nibbāna however is termed supramundane, and is to be realized by the wisdom of the Four Paths. It becomes an object to the Paths and Fruits, and is called Nibbāna because it is a departure (ni) from cord-like, (vāna) craving.

Nibbāna is onefold according to its intrinsic nature.

According to the way (it is experienced) it is twofold - namely, the element of Nibbāna with the substrata remaining, and the element of Nibbāna without the substrata remaining.

It is threefold according to its different aspects, namely, Void (60), Signless (61), and Longing-free (62).

Great seers who are free from craving declare that Nibbāna is an objective state (63) which is deathless, absolutely endless, non-conditioned (64), and incomparable.

Thus, as fourfold the Tathāgatas reveal the Ultimate Entities-consciousness mental states, matter, and Nibbāna.

In the Abhidhamma Compendium this is the sixth chapter, which deals with the analysis of matter.

 

Notes:

59. Nibbāna, Sanskrit Nirvāna, is composed of ni and vāna. Ni + vāna = Nivāna = Nibāna = Nibbāna. Ni is a particle implying negation. Vāna means weaving or craving. It is this craving which acts as a cord to connect the series of lives of any particular individual in the course of his wanderings in Samsāra.

As long as one is entangled by craving or attachment, one accumulates fresh Karmic forces which must materialize in one form or other in the eternal cycle of birth and death. When all forms of craving are extirpated, Karmic forces cease to operate, and one, in conventional terms, attains Nibbāna, escaping the cycle of birth and death. The Buddhist conception of Deliverance is this escape from the ever-recurring cycle of birth and death, and is not merely an escape from 'sin and hell'.

Etymologically, Nibbāna, derived from ni + Ö vu, to weave, means non-craving or non-attachment , or 'departure from craving'. Strictly speaking, Nibbāna is that Dhamma which is gained by the complete destruction of all forms of craving.

Nibbāna is also derived from ni + Ö vā, to blow. In that case Nibbāna means the blowing out, the extinction, or the annihilation of the flames of lust, hatred, and ignorance. It should be understood that the mere destruction of passions is not Nibbāna (khayamattam eva na nibbānanti vattabbam). It is only the means to gain Nibbāna, and is not an end in itself.

Nibbāna is an ultimate reality (vatthu-dhamma) which is supramundane (lokuttara), that is, beyond the world of mind and body or the five 'aggregates'.

Nibbāna is to be understood by intuitive knowledge and inferential knowledge (paccakkha or pativedha ñāna and anumāna or anubodha ñāna). To express both ideas it is stated that Nibbāna is to be realized by means of the wisdom pertaining to the four Paths of Sainthood and that it becomes an object to the Paths and Fruits.

Intrinsically (sabhāvato) Nibbāna is peaceful (santi). As such it is unique (kevala). This single Nibbāna is viewed as twofold according to the way it is experienced before and after death. The text uses a simple but recondite Pāli phrase - kāranapariyāyena. The Ceylon Commentary explains the cause for naming it as such with respect to its having or not having the aggregates as the remainder (sa-upādisesādivasena paññāpane kāranabhūtassa upādisesābhāvābhāvassa lesena). Adding a note on this term S. Z. Aung writes: "The Ceylon Commentaries explain it by paññāpane kāranassa lesena - by way of device of the means (of knowing) in the matter of language." - Compendium, p. 168, n. 6.

Saupādisesa - Sa = with; upadi = aggregates (mind and body); sesa = remaining. Upādi, derived from upa + ā + Ö dā, to take, means the five aggregates as they are firmly grasped by craving and false views. It also signifies passions (kilesas). According to the text and the Commentarial interpretations, Nibbāna, experienced by Sotāpannas, Sakadāgāmis, and Anāgāmis, is saupādisesa-nibbānadhātu as they have the body and some passions still remaining. Nibbāna of the Arahats is also saupādisesa-nibbānadhātu as they have the body still remaining. It is only the Nibbāna of the Arahats after their death that is termed anupādisesa-nibbānadhātu because the aggregates and the passions are discarded by them.

Itivuttaka refers to these two kinds of Nibbāna, but mention is made only of Nibbāna comprehended by Arahats. It states:

"These two Nibbāna-states are shown by Him
Who seeth, who is such and unattached.
One state is that in this same life possessed
With base remaining, tho' becoming's stream
Be cut off. While the state without a base
Belongeth to the future, wherein all
Becomings utterly do come to cease."

Itivuttaka p. 38.

Woodward - As it was said p. 143.

(See the Buddha and His Teachings)

 

60. Suññata - Devoid of lust, hatred, and ignorance or of all conditioned things. Void here does not mean that Nibbāna is 'nothingness'.

61. Animitta - Free from the signs of lust, etc., or from the signs of all conditioned things.

62. Appanihita - Free from the hankerings of lust, etc., or because it is not longed for with any feelings of craving.

63. Padam - Here the term is used in the sense of an objective reality (vatthu-dhamma). 'State' does not exactly convey the meaning of the Pāli term. It may be argued whether Nibbāna could strictly be called either a state or a process. In Pāli it is designated as a 'Dhamma'.

64. Asankhata - Nibbāna is the only Dhamma which is not conditioned by any cause. Hence it is eternal and is neither a cause nor an effect.

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