Suttas

The Buddha’s Sermon In aconversation with his disciples, the Buddha states that an untrained person, an advanced disciple, an Arhat and a Tathagata, perceive phenomena in different ways. They perceive the elements of form (earth, water, fire and air), bodily beings, gods, Prajapati, Brahma, the gods of Radiance, the Beautiful gods, the gods of the Perfect Fruit, the ruling gods, infinite space, infinite consciousness, emptiness, nonduality, activity of senses and mind, unity and division, the totality of all phenomena and nibbana – differently. Worlds listed by the Buddha First, the Buddha lists the levels of the Kamaloka (the world of desires). Among them mentioned are the world of bodies consisting of four great elements (earth, water, fire and air), the heaven of the gods of desires, the world of Prajapati (the forefather from whose body all beings of the human, animal, vegetable and mineral worlds originated) and the world of Brahmas – creators of phenomena. Then, the Buddha mentions the levels of the Pure Lands of the Rupa sphere, which is the abode for the shining, beautiful, perfect and ruling gods. Then, the Buddha mentions the four formless concentrations: meditation on the infinite space and consciousness, emptiness and non-duality. After that, the activities of the mind and feelings and their exploration and termination in the sphere of Arupa (with no forms) are described. Difference of perceptions The Buddha says: An untrained person perceives all phenomena as something with an essence, they are fascinated by them, strive to possess them. On the contrary, an advanced disciple, an Arhat and a Tathagata are not fascinated with phenomena and do not seek possession, they see the insubstantiality of all worlds and phenomena. In turn, the perceptions of an advanced disciple, an Arhat and a Tathagata also differ from each other. An advanced disciple knows that he must comprehend the Anatta (absence of “I” in phenomena), and is focused on a dispassionate perception that does not develop attachment and aversion (this attitude to perceptions characterizes the development of mirror-like wisdom). An Arhat (a perfect pupil who has reached the goal) perceives phenomena, having already achieved a dispassionate state. He achieved awareness and cessation of the causes of confusion: lust, hatred and delusion. Therefore, he effortlessly comprehends the qualities of things, without distorting them. Tathagatas know the causes of the emergence of the formation, dwelling and destruction of all phenomena. The Tathagatas comprehended the truth that any kind of existence and non-existence, or non-dual state (neither existence nor non-existence) is suffering (it is the perception of Tathagatas that defined the name of the given sutta: “the root of all things” – this root is suffering). Tathagatas have destroyed the dependence of the mind on any kind of perception and have completed the accumulation of true knowledge. Therefore, they perceive all phenomena without ignorance. Through this, they achieve complete Awakening and the cessation of suffering. Reaction of the disciples Sutta ends with the words: “But, hearing the words of the Blessed One, the disciples did not rejoice.” The implied interpretation of these words it that this teaching was difficult for the disciples present at the sermon. Another interpretation – the disciples, practicing the teachings, are captured by the idea of dispassion, and do not develop admiration. But more importantly, the very fact that there is no emotional reaction of the disciples is the impassive statement of Ananda, from whose words the sutta is written. Author Roni Sherman: Translator View all posts

Introduction The Sutta begins with a reference to the dispute between a wandering ascetic and his disciple. The ascetic strongly condemns the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, while his young follower praises the Three Jewels in every possible way. The disciples of Buddha discuss this dispute in the Sangha. Buddha, after learning about the subject of their discussion, instructs: it is necessary to speak without anger and hatred about the virtues of the Three Jewels, because dislike of criticism and people who criticize can only damage the defenders of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. The statement about the insignificance of praise, born by worldly consciousness Then, the Buddha asserts that praise, coming from people with worldly thinking, is negligible.It is insignificant because it will describe only the superficial virtues of the Buddha’s external behavior, but not his subtle or profound wisdom which is difficult to understand.The Buddha describes in detail the precepts of monastic behavior observed by him, and emphasizes that the purity and restraint of his actions are the only thing accessible to the understanding of the worldly man. What does the Buddha consider truly amazing in his own wisdom? That His wisdom goes beyond the sensory perceptions.In the Brahmajala Sutta, the wisdom of the Buddha is represented by an understanding of how all judgments about the past and the future arise, and also what are the consequences of these judgments. First, the Buddha enumerates and explains all kinds of judgments, and only at the end of the sutta – explains them in accordance with his own wisdom. Judgments about the past Judgment: the world and the “I” are eternal. The Buddha says that with the help of seriousness, concentration and other qualities of asceticism, venerable hermits and brahmans remember their past incarnations in this or that place, at one time or another, under this or that name. And therefore they come to the conclusion about the eternity of the world, lonely, standing like a pillar, and the eternity of the “I”, incarnating again and again. Otherwise, devotees come to this conclusion by reasoning and inferences. Judgment: the world and the “I” are partially eternal, and partly non-eternal The Buddha discusses faith in the partial eternity and non-eternity of the world and the “I”. In this section, three supernatural cases of the recollection of the past, relating to the world of Brahma and the worlds of the gods are discussed, as well as the process of coming to this faith by reasoning and inference. The memory of the past birth in the Brahma world is as follows: There are periods when the whole world collapses and then there are beings that abide in radiance. They consist of mind, they feed on joy, radiating glow, moving in space, being in glory. All this goes on for a very long time.Then appears the empty palace of Brahma. Those beings whose term has come are born into it. Born in this palace (which is, in fact, the original model of the sense of “I”), the being, albeit blissful, begins to worry, feel lonely and think “Oh, if other beings were also in this state”.Then other beings are born in Brahma’s palace, and they perceive the previously born being as Brahma, because it was there before them. In addition, the creatures born earlier live longer, are more beautiful and strong. Therefore, they retain their position in the palace longer, while the beings born later are forced to incarnate in the earthly world. Reborn in the earthly world, these beings sometimes become venerable hermits and remember their past state and events in the Brahma’s palace. Thus they come to the conclusion about partial eternity (relating to the splendor of the world of Brahma) and partial non-eternity (relating to the sufferings of the earthly world). The memory of the past birth in the assembly of the gods “Spoiled by Pleasure” is as follows: There are gods that are attached to pleasures, committed to them beyond measure. Because of this attachment, their ability for self-knowledge is weak, and they are forced to abandon the heavenly world and incarnate in the earthly. Some of them, through earnestness, concentration and renunciation, begin to see their past birth in the world of the gods. Because of this memory, they come to the conclusion about the existence of a partial eternity (the world of the gods) and partial non-eternity (the earthly world). The memory of the past birth in the assembly of the gods “Spoiled by the Mind” is as follows: There are gods inclined to condemn each other (to argue with each other). They become entangled in their judgments and weaken their body and thoughts. They leave their host and are born in the earthly world. Then, those who stood on the path of concentration, can recall their past birth and come to the conviction of the eternity of the celestial state and the non-eternity of the earthly state. The two following groups of judgments about the world and the “I” do not have a clear connection with memories about the past (it can be assumed that in the sutta there is a fusion of various instructions connected by the general theme of “judgments about the world and “I”). Judgment: the world and the “I” are finite or infinite Such views are built on the fact that by means of concentration, diligence, and asceticism, venerable hermits and brahmans gain a vision and conviction of the finiteness or infinity of the world and the “I”. The same methods of research often lead to opposite conclusions, because researchers get conviction in this or that observation, but not in anything beyond it. Judgment: lack of certainty These are the views of those who are afraid of expressing a certain judgment and thus behaving slippery like a fish. They are afraid to become victims of their own involvement in judgments, or fall into hate from judgments, or be confused by detailed questions about their judgments. Judgment: the world and the “I” appear without reason (Here there is a return