Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c15.s3: III. Paññā
Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c15.s3
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III. Paññā
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The third, the intellectual discipline, is denoted by the terms sammā-saṅkappa and sammā-diṭṭhi. The term sammā-saṅkappa means the will to renounce the world, to refrain from bearing ill-will and causing injury to beings while sammā-diṭṭhi means the view propounded by Buddha about the nature of the things of the world and the ultimate.
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From the above, it is evident that for physical and mental disciplines, Buddhism drew up only a scheme of its own for the use of its followers from among the various moral and medi-tational practices prevalent in India, and hence there was nothing particularly Buddhistic in them. It is in the third, paññā or prajñā i.e. sammā-diṭṭhi that Buddhism offered its own solution of the highest riddle of the universe and wanted its followers to comprehend its new view-point.
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By intellectual discipline it means popularly the comprehension of the four ariyasaccas,² but actually, it means realisation of the fact that the khandhas, dhātus, āyatanas etc. are devoid of any real substance (anattā).³ According to the Visuddhimagga⁴ sīlavisuddhi (moral purification) and cittavisuddhi (perfection in mental exercises) form the two legs of Buddhism, its body being the *diṭṭhivisuddhi* (the true or the Buddhistic view about the nature of the Reality. For attaining *diṭṭhivisuddhi* one must comprehend the nature of
(i) *khandhas* (constituents of a being),
(ii) *āyatanas* (organs of sense and their spheres),
(iii) *indriyas* (faculties), and
(iv) the characteristics of the four *dhātus* (spheres of existence), the true meaning of the *ariyasaccas* (truths), and *paṭiccasamuppāda* (the theory of causation).¹
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² Digha, I, p. 84.
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³ See Ante, Ch. VII.
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⁴ Vism., pp. 433, 515.
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¹ For detailed treatment, see *Infra*, Ch. XV.
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In the *Mahāsakuludāyisutta* (*Majjhima*, II, pp. 9-22), there is almost a comprehensive scheme of the Buddhist doctrine in its three divisions. First there is the reference to the Sīla-practices the severer form of which,² though approved by Buddha, has been pointed out as optional; it is followed by an exposition of the four *ariyasaccas*, which comprehend in a popular form the Buddhist philosophical teaching (*paññā*), and then by an enumeration of the thirty-seven *bodhipakkhiyas*, the eight *vimokkhas*, the eight *abhibhāyatanas*, ten *kasinas*, four *jhānas*, and the six *abhiññās*, in short, all that is denoted by *citta* or *samādhi*.
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² Appāhāra, pamsukūlika, lukhacivaradhara, piṇḍapātika, sapadā-nacāri, rukkhamūlika, abbhokāsika, āraññaka and pantasenāsana. Cf. the *Dhutaṅgas*, *Infra*, pp. 206 ff.
Cites (4)
- Sāmaññaphalasutta — Pāli
- Mahāsakuludāyisutta — Pāli
- Majjhimanikāya — Pāli
- Visuddhimagga — Buddhaghosa, Pāli