The Tree of Enlightenment
An Introduction to the Major Traditions of Buddhism
by Peter Della Santina
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Part Four
The Abidharma
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Chapter Thirty-Five
Supramundane Consciousness
In this chapter we conclude our review of the analysis of
consciousness, which brings
us to the end of the first book of the Abhidharma Pitaka, the
Dhammasangani
(Classification of
Factors). Here I will talk about the last of the
four objective
classifications of consciousness outlined in Chapter 32, namely, the
supramundane
consciousness (alokiya chitta).
There are two ways of distinguishing the supramundane types
of
consciousness from the
mundane types (the consciousness of the sense sphere, form sphere, and
formless sphere).
The first distinction is in terms of determination and direction. The
mundane
consciousness is determined, undirected, and subject to karma and
conditions, whereas
the supramundane consciousness is determining, directed toward a goal,
and no longer
subject to forces beyond its control. Supramundane consciousness is
determining because
of the predominance not of karma but of wisdom.
The second distinction is that the mundane types of
consciousness have
as their object
conditioned phenomena, whereas the supramundane types have as their
object the
unconditioned--namely, nirvana. The Buddha spoke of nirvana as an
unborn and
uncreated state. Such a state is necessary in order
that there be a way
out of the
conditioned world of suffering. In this
sense the object of the
supramundane type of
consciousness is
uncreated and unconditioned.
We can generally divide the supramundane types of
consciousness into
four active and
four passive types of
consciousness. Normally, types of consciousness
can be active or
passive, and the passive types can be reactive (resultant) or
inactive
(functional).
However, there are no functional or
inactiv
types of consciousness in
this category
because here the types of
consciousness are determining, not
determined.
These eight basic types of supramundane consciousness, four
active and
four passive,
each correspond to the path and the fruit
of the four types of noble
ones--the stream-
winner (sotapanna),
the once-returner (sakadagami), the non-returner
(anagami), and
the
Arhat. Here I ought to point out another distinction between
supramundane and mundane
consciousness. In the mundane types
of consciousness, active and
resultant types of
consciousness can
be separated by relatively long periods of time: in
other words, an
active, conscious factor may not produce its resultant factor until
much later in the
present life or even until a future life. For example,
in the case of
the consciousness of the
form and formless
spheres, the resultant consciousness does not occur
until a
subsequent
life. In the supramundane types of consciousness,
however, the
resultant (or fruit)
consciousness follows the active
(or path) consciousness immediately.
The eight types of supramundane consciousness can be
expanded to forty
by combining
each of the eight with each of the
five form-sphere absorptions. The
four types of active
supramundane consciousness (the path consciousness of the
stream-winner
and so forth)
combine with the consciousness
belonging to the first absorption and so
forth, so that
there are
twenty types of active supramundane consciousness associated
with the four
types of noble persons and five form-sphere
absorptions. Similarly, the
four types of
resultant supramundane
consciousness (the fruit consciousness of the
stream-winner and
soforth) combine with the consciousness belonging to the first
absorption and so forth, so
that there are twenty types of resultant
supramundane consciousness,
and forty in all.
This occurs in the
following way. Based on the first form-sphere
absorption, the pathand
fruit consciousness of the stream-winner arise. Similarly,
based on the
second
third,
fourth, and fifth form-sphere
absorptions, the path and the fruit
consciousness of the
once-returner, the non-returner, and the Arhat arise. The
consciousness
belonging to the
supramundane consciousness is
therefore developed based on the various
absorptions.
Let us go on to define the four stages of enlightenment:
stream-winner
(sotapanna), once-
returner (sakadagami),
non-returner (anagami), and Arhat. The progress
of a noble one
through the four stages of enlightenment is marked by his or her
ability to overcome
certain fetters at each stage. There is a
progressive elimination of
the ten fetters
(samyojana) that bind us to
the conditioned universe until such time as
we are able to
achieve
liberation.
Entry into the stream is marked by the elimination of three
fetters.
The first is the belief in
the independent and permanent
existence of an individual person
(sakkaya ditthi)--
namely, taking
the mental and physical factors of the personality
(form, feeling,
volition,
perception, and consciousness) to be the self. It is
therefore not
coincidental that we say
that the mundane types of
consciousness are conditioned by the
aggregates, whereas the
supramundane types of consciousness are undetermined by the
aggregates.
Overcoming
the first fetter marks one's passage from
the status of an ordinary
worldling to the status
of a noble person.
The second fetter overcome by the stream-winner is doubt
(vichikichchha). This is
primarily doubt about the Buddha, Dharma,
and Sangha, but also about
the rules of
discipline and
interdependent origination.
The third fetter is belief in rules and rituals
(silabbataparamasa).
This fetter has often
been misunderstood, but
refers to the practices of non-Buddhists who
believe that
adhering
to codes of moral discipline and ascetic rituals alone can
lead them
to liberation.
When these three fetters are overcome, one enters the
stream and will
achieve liberation
within no more than seven
lifetimes. One will not be reborn in states
of woe (the realms
of the
hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals), and one is guaranteed
implicit faith in the
Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
Having achieved this first stage of enlightenment, the noble
person
goes on to weaken
two additional fetters, sensual desire
and ill-will, thus attaining the
status of a once-
returner. These
fetters are particularly strong, which is why, even on
this stage, they
are
only weakened, not removed. Sensual desire and ill-will may
still
occasionally arise,
although not arise in the gross form familiar
to worldly persons.
When these two fetters are finally eliminated, one attains the
stage of
the non-returner. At
this third stage one is no longer reborn
in the cycle of birth and
death but only in the pure
abodes reserved
for non-returners and Arhats.
When the five remaining fetters are eliminated--attachment to
the
sphere of form (ruparaga), attachment to the formless sphere
(arupa raga), conceit (mana),
agitation
(uddhachcha), and
ignorance (avijja)--one achieves the pinnacle of the
supramundane
types of consciousness, the fruit consciousness of the Arhat.
These four stages may be divided into two groups: the first
three,
which are called stages
of one in training, and the fourth, the
stage of one who is no longer
in training. For this
reason, it may be
useful to think of progress to Arhatship as a process
of graduation,
as in
a program of academic studies. On each stage one
overcomes certain
barriers of
ignorance and thereby graduates to a
higher stage of training.
At this point, a qualitative change occurs, from an undirected
and
determined condition to
a directed and determining one. How
does one make nirvana the object of
one's
consciousness, thereby
transforming a mundane consciousness whose
object is
conditioned
into a supramundane consciousness whose object is
unconditioned? How
does one realize nirvana? This is done
through developing insight, or
wisdom (panna).To develop insight,
we apply the two Abhidharmic methods of analysis
and synthesis
(see Chapter 32). We apply the analytical method in our
examination of
consciousness
and its object--in other words, mind
and matter. Through this analysis
we arrive at the
realization that
what we previously took to be a homogeneous, unitary,
and
substantial
phenomenon is in fact composed of individual elements,
all of which are
impermanent
and in a constant state of flux. This is
true of both mind and matter.
Similarly, we apply the synthetic
method by considering the causes and
the conditions of
our
personal existence. In relation to what factors do we exist as a
psycho-physical
entity? This examination reveals that the
personality exists dependent
on five factors--ignorance, craving,
clinging, karma, and the material sustenance of
life (namely,
nourishment).
Insight in general is developed through applying the two
Abhidharmic
methods by
dissecting internal and external, mental
and physical phenomena and
examining them in
relation to their
causes and conditions. These analytical and
relational investigations
reveal three interrelated, universal characteristics of existence: (1)
impermanence, (2)
suffering, and (3) not-self. Whatever isimpermanence is suffering,
because when we see
the factors of
experience disintegrate, their disintegration and their
impermanence
are an
occasion for suffering. Moreover, whatever is impermanent
and suffering
cannot be the
self, because self can neither be
transient nor can it be painful.
Penetrating these three characteristics leads to renunciation, to
freedom from the
conditioned universe. Through understanding
these three, one realizes
that the three
mundane spheres are like a
banana tree--without essence. This
realization leads to
renunciation, to a disengagement from the conditioned sphere, and
enables theconsciousness to direct itself toward an unconditioned
object,
nirvana.
Any one of the three characteristics can serve as a key to this
new
orientation. Any one of
the three can be taken as an object of
contemplation to develop one's
insight. We can see
this in the
biographical accounts of the foremost disciples of the
Buddha.
Khema, for
instance, achieved liberation through the contemplation
of impermanence
(see Chapter
22).
Once one has developed insight into one of the three universal
characteristics, one can
experience briefly a vision of nirvana.
One's first acquaintance with
nirvana may be
likened to a flash of lightning that illuminates one's way in the
darkness of night. The
clarity of that flash remains for a long time impressed upon one's
mind, and enables one
to continue on one's way knowing that one
is proceeding in the right
direction.
The first glimpse of nirvana achieved by the stream-winner
serves as
the orientation by
which he directs his progress towardnirvana. One might almost liken
this gradual
development of
insight to the acquisition of a skill. After first
managing to bicycle a
few
yards without falling, it may be some time before one becomes
an expert
cyclist. But
having successfully ridden those first few
yards, one never forgets
that experience and
can confidently
progress toward one's goal.
It is in this sense that contemplation of the three characteristics
leads to the three doors of
liberation: the door of signlessness, the
door of wishlessness, and the
door of emptiness.
Contemplating
the characteristic of impermanence leads to the door of
signlessness;
contemplating suffering leads to the door of
wishlessness, or freedom
from desire; and
contemplating not-self
leads to the door of emptiness. These three
doors of liberation are
the culmination of meditation on the three universal characteristics.
Thus one gradually progresses through the four stages of
enlightenment
and eventually
achieves Arhatship, that stage of
victory over the afflictions in which
the unwholesome
roots of
greed, ill-will, and delusion are totally removed. Having
uprooted
the afflictions,
the Arhat is free from the cycle of birth and death
and is no longer
reborn.
Despite some attempts to tarnish it with the charge of
selfishness, the
goal of Arhatship is
a beneficial and compassionate
mode of being. One need only look at the
Buddha's
instructions to
his eminent Arhat disciples, and also at the careers of
these
disciples, to
see that in the time of the Buddha Arhatship was not a
passive or
selfish state of being.
Sariputta, Moggallana, and others
were actively engaged in teaching
both the laity and
other members
of the Buddhist Order. The Buddha himself exhorted his
Arhat
disciples
to go forth for the benefit of the many. The goal of
Arhatship is a
glorious and worthy
one that ought not be
depreciated in any way by the fact that the
Buddhist tradition also
acknowledges the goal of the private or individual Buddha
(Pachcheka
Buddha) and the
goal of Buddhahood.
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Contents
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| 12 | 13
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41
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Update : 11-05-2002
