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Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c13: Chapter X: Method of Preaching & Teaching

Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c13

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Chapter X: Method of Preaching & Teaching

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The expansion of Buddhism was due to several causes, some of which have been dealt with in the previous chapter. The discriminating method of preaching adopted by Buddha combined with dialectics, more stress on ethics than on philosophy, the spirit of good will and love, adoption of popular dialects as the medium of instruction, and the individual care taken of the disciples went also a great way towards the success of the religion.

Four ways of exposition

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Buddha, it is said, adopted the following four ways for removing the doubts of those who approached him to learn the truth:—

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(i) *Paṭipucchāvyākaraṇīya*;
(ii) *Ekamsavyākaraṇīya*;
(iii) *Vibhajjava-yākaraṇīya*, and
(iv) *Ṭhapanīya*.

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In the first method, the doubts of the interlocutor are ascertained at the outset by putting suitable questions and then removed by appropriate answers; in the second, a direct reply is given to an enquirer without entering into a discussion with him; in the third, answers are given separately to the different aspects of the question;¹ and in the fourth, it is pointed out that as the question in untenable, no reply will be given.²

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¹ *Majjhima*, II, p. 197

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² *Digha*, I, pp. 187 ff., III, p. 229.

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Buddha insisted that his disciples should be very discriminating in adopting one of these methods¹ for delivering their discourses.

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¹ Cf. *Majjhima*, III, p. 208. *Samiddhinā moghapurisena Potali-puttassa paribbājakassa vibhaṅa byākaraṇiyo pañho ekamseva byākato ti.*

Gradual course

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For the propagation of his teachings, Buddha directed his disciples to conform to the following rules:

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A good preacher should

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(a) In ordinary discourses before householders make them gradual i.e. commence with *dānakatham*, *sīlakatham*, etc.

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(b) Observe sequence (*pariyāyadassāvī*) in the details composing a theme.²

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² For the gradual course of training in Buddhism (*imasmim dhammavinaye anupubbasikkhā anupubbakiriyā anupubbapaṭipadā*) see *Majjh Nik.*, III, pp 2-4.

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(c) Use words of compassion (*anuddayatam paṭicca katham*).

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(d) Avoid irrelevant matters (*nāmisantaram katham*).

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(e) Make his speeches free from caustic remarks against others.³

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³ *Anguttara*, III, pp 184, 196.

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For imparting instructions to householders he directed his disciples to be cautious in not giving out the fundamental principles of Buddhism all at once as that would scare them away. To them only the exoteric side of the teaching should be explained first, that is, the elementary tenets, and practices of Buddhism suitable to householders. To those who intend to take them up should be asked to follow at first the tenets and practices that are suitable to their yet undisciplined and undeveloped powers, and then gradually the difficult ones should be placed before them by stages. To a householder, a Buddhist monk can preach at first the dānakathaṃ sīlakathaṃ saggakathaṃ kāmānaṃ ādīnavam okāraṃ saṃkilesaṃ nekkhamme ānisaṃsaṃ (the discourse on alms-giving, moral precepts, the heavens, the danger, corruption and impurity of desire and the blessings of retirement) and when he perceives that his mind has been sufficiently prepared by hearing the discourses, he can preach the higher teachings, viz., dukkhaṃ samudayaṃ nirodhaṃ maggaṃ (suffering, origin of suffering, removal of suffering and way to the removal of suffering).¹ These discourses have an appealing force which moves the hearts of the people irrespective of their creeds. The higher and deeper truths of Buddhism were gradually imparted and explained to the initiated or rather to the sotāpannas. Thus the Buddhists from the lowest grade to the highest did not feel embarrassed by the weight of doctrines and practices too difficult for their yet limited understanding or their undeveloped powers of fortitude and devotion. In order to create a good impression on the minds of the householders, the bhikkhus were enjoined to be sympathetic to the woes and troubles of their listeners and at the same time they were asked not to indulge in talks which might be regarded as worldly and ill-befitting a recluse.

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¹ Dīgha, I, p 148, Vinaya, I, 7, 5-6, VI, 36, 5 Oldenberg's Buddha (Hoey's translation), p 186.

Study of mental leanings

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Before delivering a discourse Buddha tried to form an idea of the leaning of the persons by putting to them questions on religious matters or answering the questions that he allowed them to put to himself. In this way he used to select a subject most suited to the occasion and agreeable to the persons composing the audience and delivered a discourse on same. Similes, parables, fables very often drawn from experiences of every day life were interspersed with his speeches along with pithy verses to make his arguments sweet and effective.¹ He attached great importance to the art of preaching and tried to impress upon the minds of his disciples the sense of its importance. The particular features by which his speeches were rendered so very impressive were, first because he utilized his higher knowledge (*abhiññā*), by which he could find out the persons who would benefit by his discourses on a particular day; secondly because the selection of the subjects of his discourses was the result of a correct diagnosis (*sanidāna*) of the mentality of the listeners.²

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¹ Oldenberg, *Buddha* (Hoey's transl.), pp 185-193.

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² *Divyāvadāna*, pp. 96, 124 “*Āśayānuśayam viditvādhātuṃ prakṛtiṃ ca jñātvā tādṛśī dharmadeśanā kṛtā.*”

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(iii) *Disputation*

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Many are of opinion that Buddha himself avoided entering into discussions with others, and discouraged those of his disciples who entered into discussions on religious matters in the course of their preaching and wandering. Such opinion is not wholly correct. There are passages in the Buddhist scriptures which lend colour to the aforesaid view. To cite one or two such passages: He is said to have declared that his dhamma is not to be grasped by mere logic (*atakkāvacara*)³ and he condemned the Śramaṇas and Brāhmaṇas who took to hair-splitting disputations saying, ‘Issue has been joined against you, you are defeated, set to work to clear your views, disentangle yourself if you can’ (*āropito te vādo, niggahīto ’si. Cara vādappamokkhāya, nibbethehi vā sace pahosīti).¹ From such passages, it is not right to draw the conclusion that Buddha condemned or prohibited the holding of all disputations on religious matters.

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³ *Dīgh Nik*, I, p 12 (*Dial of Buddha*, vol. II, p 26).

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¹ Dīgh Nik, I p 8 (Dial of Buddha, vol. II, p 15)

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It should also be kept in mind that the state of the country at the time of Buddha was not such as could permit a missionary to keep clear of disputation. One of the essential works of a preacher was to convince his audience, and this was hardly possible if argumentation was not given a wide berth. Of this time, accounts are available of brāhmaṇa and non-brāhmaṇa heads of religions, wandering about over the whole of eastern India, sometimes with a large band of disciples, and holding disputations with the heads of the rival sects to assert their influence and increase their following. There were the paribbājakas who wandered about with their minds open for the reception of religious light wherever available. The lay people also liked to hear disputations as indicated by their setting up of kutūhala-sālās (halls for people in quest of truths) or paribbājakārāmas in different places where the wandering teachers might reside and hold controversies with convenience in the midst of a large gathering. The people of a locality felt proud if a good many religious teachers visited their kutūhalasālās or paribbājakārāmas.² References are available in plenty in the Buddhist works showing that it was often stated at the disputations that the defeated teacher with his followers relinquished his own doctrines and embraced those of the winner. These defeats in disputations were a fruitful source for the enlisting of converts to the many doctrines and religions that prevailed in the country at the time, and the teachers vied and struggled with one another for securing the largest following. The discussions of the rival sects indicate that they had to be well-grounded not only in the rules by which the disputation was guided and the argumentation was rendered free from fallacies, but also in the doctrines of the various opponents who had to be faced, over and above their own school or tenets and practices with their philosophical bases, if any. Buddha is described in several places in the Buddhist works as a master of the tenets and practices of the heretical sects. A large number of his disciples was recruited either as the result of defeats suffered by the opponents or from among the followers of the brāhmaṇic and the heretical teachers convinced of the superiority of the doctrines propounded by him. His discussions with Soṇadaṇḍa, Kūṭadanta, Upāli, Sakuludāyi, Vekhanassa, Assalāyana and a host of others are instances in which he argued out his own views and convinced his adversaries at the end. The victories thus gained in large numbers in disputations elicited the remark from Dīghatapassi, a Jaina monk to the effect that Gautama was a sorcerer who by the force of his art drew the people of other sects into his own net.¹ The lists of his disciples who were convinced and won over to Buddhism from their own beliefs and practices is a large one, from which the names of the following may be mentioned: Mahākoṭṭhita, Piṇḍola Bharadvāja, Mahākaccāyana, for instance, were masters of the three Vedas and perfect in all the accomplishments of a Brāhmaṇa; Sāriputta and Moggallāna were the disciples of Sañjaya; the Kassapas were the leaders of the Jaṭilas; Abhayarājakumāra was a distinguished disciple of Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta.

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² Sam Nik, II, p 32; V, p 115, Majjh Nik, II, pp. 1 2, 99 Divyāvadāna, p 143

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¹ Majjh. Nik., I, p. 375; Aṅg. Nik., II, p. 190. (Gotamo māyāvī, āvaṭṭaniṃ māyaṃ jānāti yāya aññatitthiyānaṃ sāvakā āvaṭṭetīti).

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To be a successful disputant, one had to be equipped with all the outfit of specious arguments (*kūṭatarka*) to meet those opponents who made a free use of them whenever needed. It is clear from Buddha’s injunctions to the bhikkhus, that he wanted them to use their power of argumentation in the service of truth and truth alone, and not to take to sophistry of their own accord. But a preacher ignorant of the wiles of a specious arguer and unable to use counter-wiles for self-defence would certainly be a weak disputant. It was for this reason perhaps that we see Buddha applying such a method with men who came to argue with crooked intention, or took to crooked ways of disputation. This is seen in the *Ambaṭṭha Sutta*¹ where Buddha in order to silence Ambaṭṭha, who claimed the superiority of Brāhmaṇas over all by birth and stated that the Sākyas were of servile origin, related the fictitious account of the origin of the Sākyas and Kaṇhāyanas showing that the latter were the descendants of a *dāsiputta* (son of a slave-girl) of the former. The object of the use of the story was to put it as a stunner to Ambaṭṭha exposing his low origin.

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¹ Digha, I, pp. 92, 95.

Medium of Instruction

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For the proper appreciation of his teaching, Buddha insisted that the medium of instruction should be the popular dialect of a province. His injunction "*anujānāmi bhikkhave sakāya niruttiyā buddhavacanaṃ pariyāpunituṃ*"² has been the subject of a good deal of controversy, but the last word, we think, has been said by Winternitz,³ who interprets it thus: "I allow you, O monk, to learn the word of Buddha each in own language,” and this the late professor corroborates by another passage of the *Majjhima Nikāya*¹ in which it is pointed out that undue importance should not be attached to the dialect of a particular *janapada*, i.e., a monk should be accommodating to dialectical variations, and not insist upon the use of a particular word, e.g., *pāti* instead of *sarāvaṃ* or *dhāropaṃ*. Buddha’s preference for provincial languages is also responsible for the growth of *piṭakas* in later days in different languages, the existence of which is no longer a matter of doubt. Buddha made a radical departure from the ancient Indian custom of recording the scriptures in a particular language, and this can well be pointed out as one of the causes of the success of Buddhism.

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² Cullavagga, V, 33.

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³ See his *History of Indian Literature*, II, (Eng. transl.), Appendix, pp. 601-3.

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¹ *Majjhima*, III, pp. 234-5, 237: *janapadaniruttiṃ nābhiniveseyya*.

Individual Training

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We have already mentioned that Buddha studied the mental leanings of a person before he delivered a discourse. This was particularly evident in the training of his disciples. He constantly watched their conduct and their mode of performance of spiritual practices, studied their character and predilections, and corrected their weaknesses by suitable advice, admonitions and courses of disciplinary practices.

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In the *Rāhulovādasutta*, Buddha is seen instructing Rāhula how in deed, word, and thought one can make himself pure by *paccavekkhana* (examination and introspection), because he observed that Rāhula was lacking in self-control. When, however, he made some progress in self-control, he was led gradually to realise the *anicca-bhāva* (impermanence).

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and *dukkha-bhāva* (miseries inherent in the nature) of all worldly things and the fact that the four *dhātus* or five *khandhas* collectively or separately do not constitute the *attā* (ego).¹

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¹ *Aṅguttara*, II, pp. 164-5; *Saṃyutta*, III, p. 136; IV, pp. 105-7; *Majjhima*, I, pp. 414ff.; III, pp. 277-80 ² *Saṃyutta*, II, p. 281; *Aṅguttara*, I, p. 26; IV, p. 166 ³ *Aṅguttara*, I, p. 282; IV, pp. 228 ff. ⁴ *Saṃyutta*, V, pp. 322-325.

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Nanda, another of his disciples, could not check his anxieties for food and raiment, for which he was taken to task by the Teacher. In due course the check put upon him helped him to control his senses so much that he became the chief of those who had control over their senses (*indriyesu guttadvārīnam aggo*).²

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Anuruddha could not, owing to slackness of exertion, attain *cittavimutti* though he had advanced much through his diligence in the path of meditation. This slackness which was clogging his way was removed by Buddha’s guidance supplemented by the personal care taken of him by Sāriputta.³

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The weakness of Kimbila lay similarly in his inability to muster up sufficient mental concentration through in-breathing and out-breathing. This was detected by Buddha and removed by his advice with special reference to the processes which he could not follow in a perfect way.⁴

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Sāriputta and Moggallāna were already advanced spiritually before they joined the Saṅgha, hence the training imparted to them was of a higher order. Sāriputta was asked to meditate on *suññatā*, i.e., to look upon all things as devoid of substance and to practice self-introspection in order to remove from his mind the usual hindrances to *vimutti* and acquire the qualities leading to perfection.¹ Sāriputta, it is said, took only a fortnight to attain *arhathood*, which stage he reached while listening to a discourse on the origin and decay of *vedanā* delivered by Buddha to Dīghanakha paribbājaka.² Moggallāna was given the *dhātus* (elements composing a being) as his subject (*kammaṭṭhāna*) for meditation. While meditating, he became slack in his zeal and so he was taken to task by Buddha. He soon removed his sloth and torpor, became diligent and attained perfection.³

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¹ *Majjhima*, III, pp. 294ff

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² *Ibid*., I, p. 500-1.

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³ *Manorathapūraṇī*, I, p. 161; *Aṅguttara*, IV, p. 85.

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The case of Ānanda is interesting. In spite of his insatiable love of knowledge by which he rose to be the chief of the *bahussutas* (the learned), and in spite of the great care that was bestowed upon him by Buddha for his spiritual culture, he could not attain *arhathood* during the life-time of Buddha, the reason being that he could not divest himself of his great attachment to Buddha, not as the founder of a religion but as a master to whom he was related as a servitor. This attachment proved a clog to his practice of the doctrine of detachment from the world, the corner-stone of Buddha’s teachings. Buddha used to admonish Ānanda for his inability to get rid of this attachment because therein lay the cause of his failure to attain the state of mind required for *arhathood*. In the *Mahāparinibbāna Sutta* we find Buddha expostulating with Ānanda for shedding tears when Buddha expressed his desire to leave this world.⁴ So long as Buddha lived, Ānanda could not rise above the stage of *sotāpanna*. He was a *bahussuta* on account of his inordinate desire for knowledge as evidenced by the frequent questions that are said to have been put by him to Buddha, e.g., about the correctness of Pūraṇa Kassapa's divisions of mankind, Sāriputta's exposition of the origin of *dukkha* (suffering) from *phassa* (contact), the theory of causation (*paṭiccasamuppāda*), the sense of the terms *nirodha*, *loka*, *saññā*, *vedanā*, *iddhi*, *ānāpānasati* and so forth.¹

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⁴ *Dīgha*, II, pp. 142-144.

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¹ *Aṅguttara*, III, pp. 383 ff.; *Saṃyutta*, II, pp. 34-37; VI, p. 167.

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The training imparted to D e v a d a t t a by Buddha was on lines that were calculated as suitable to his peculiar mental tendencies. This disciple made some progress in *yoga* attaining ability to perform some miracles. Buddha detected his predilection for gain and fame through the exercise of his power to perform miracles by which he had won over Ajātasattu to his side. With a view to remove this love for gain and fame, he delivered to him discourses calculated to remove this weakness; but so deep-rooted had been this tendency that he continued on his way to ruin, turning deaf ear to his master's warnings.²

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² *Majjhima*, I, pp. 192 ff.; *Mahāvagga*, vii, 2 ff.

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The instances can be multiplied but those that have been cited are enough to show how the great teacher used to see through the mental composition of the disciples whom he had occasion to train personally studying their tendencies and mental weaknesses as clearly as if they were reflected on a mirror. This accounts for his great success as a spiritual trainer.

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