PRESENTED TO THE BUDDHA CENTER ON SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2015 AND AGAIN TO THE BUDDHA CENTRE ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2025 (REVISED).

The Discourse That Is Worthy of Approval

Digha Nikaya 28

Country: Magadha

Locale: Pavarika’s mango grove in Nalanda

Speakers: Sariputta, the Buddha, Udayi

Date of Composition: 5th cent. to 4th cent. BCE

In discourse 16, the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the Buddha has a conversation with Sariputta at Pavarika’s mango grove in Nalanda. Sariputta declares that there never has been and never will be an ascetic or Brahman more enlightened than the Buddha. The Buddha chastises Sariputta, asking him how he knows this, but Sariputta replies that he knows the ‘drift’ of the teaching. Sariputta refers specifically to the five fetters or hindrances (sensory desire, anger, sloth-torpor, restlessness-worry, and doubt), the Four Foundations of Awareness (awareness of the body, feelings or sensations, mind or consciousness, and mental phenomena or mind objects), and the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (awareness, investigation, energy, joy or rapture, relaxation or tranquility, concentration, and equanimity). This conversation repeats in the first two sections of this discourse, which places it in the last year of the Buddha’s life.

Sariputta says that he has “serene confidence” in the Buddha, the teaching, and the order, which Walshe identifies with the “unwavering confidence” referred to in discourse 16 in connection with the Mirror of the Teaching, based on the Buddha’s exposition of the teaching, “contrasting the dark with the light.” The Buddha implies that the attainment of this confidence establishes one as a stream enterer with no more lower rebirths, whereby one attains emancipation within seven rebirths. Thus, this faith or confidence is formally equivalent to Right View (“insight”) or Wisdom, the first step of the Noble Eightfold Path. Perfect confidence is not easy to attain and must be actual to be effective—this is not a matter of assenting intellectually to a few fundamental doctrines in a rote way and participating in a Refuge ceremony. Buddhist confidence is neither the “faith for faith’s sake” of Christianity, nor is it a merely intellectual assent or even an intellectual conviction, but rather absolute experiential certainty born of reasonable inquiry and analysis that has become internalized to the point of automaticity—a true ‘change of view’ or transformation of state (metanoia). View, whether right or wrong, is simply the way one knows the world. Apparently, Sariputta had this experience of awakening immediately after hearing the Buddha speak for the first time.

The rest of the discourse expands Sariputta’s reply to the Buddha, explaining the “drift of the teaching.” In particular, Sariputta praises the Buddha’s exposition of the thirty-seven wholesome factors; the six sense spheres; the  four modes of rebirth;  the four ways of telling thoughts (culminating in actual telepathy); the four ways of attaining vision; the seven designations of individuals; the exertions, a.k.a. the Seven Factors of Enlightenment; the four modes of progress; the modes of proper conduct in speech; the modes of proper ethical conduct; four modes of receptivity to instruction; knowing the four types of liberation of others; the three theories of eternalism; remembering past lives; knowing the two ways of death and rebirth of beings; and two kinds of supernormal powers. It is the first such comprehensive summary in the Digha Nikaya, which we see again in discourses 33 and 34.

After completing his enumeration, Sariputta affirms that the Buddha has accomplished whatever a person can achieve by effort, exertion, and endurance. This indicates an earlier phase of scriptural development when the Buddha is still regarded as a human being. He follows the Middle Path, neither indulging the senses nor engaging in pointless self-torture. During life, he enjoys the trans-sensory happiness of abiding in the four meditative attainments.

The Buddha affirms that he has reached the apex of human development but denies that he is alone. Rather, he affirms the past and the future existence of buddhas, equal to himself in every way, but denies that any other buddha exists now for “‘it cannot be that in the one and the same world system two Arahant supreme Buddhas should arise simultaneously.’ No such situation can exist.”  Once again, we see that it is impossible for an arhant to be a buddha, as there clearly were multiple arhants. Discourse 9 expresses a similar sentiment. The question arises of what a “world system” refers to. According to PED, it refers to a “constituent or unit of the universe.” It is a synonym for a ‘circle’ or ‘sphere,’ with special reference to the circumference of the earth. In modern terms, it may allude to a planet or the spherical character of the expanding universe, or even the curvature of space itself.

Udayi, who we have not heard from up to this point, marvels at the humility of the Buddha in view of his obvious greatness. The Buddha exhorts Sariputta to teach this discourse to others, to allay any doubts or questions they might have about the teaching.

The thirty-seven wholesome factors include the Four Foundations of Awareness, the Four Right Efforts, the Four Roads to Power, the Five Spiritual Faculties, the Five Mental Powers, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, and the Noble Eightfold Path. Altogether, these make up the thirty-seven requisites of enlightenment. Similarly, Mahayana has the thirty-seven practices of a bodhisattva. Sariputta says that “by these a monk, through the destruction of the corruptions, can in this very life, by his own superknowledge, realise and attain the corruption-free liberation of heart and liberation by wisdom, and abide therein.”

Ways of Teaching 

Item	Number	Previous Reference(s) (suttas 1 to 28)
Wholesome factors	37	16.3.50
— Four foundations of  mindfulness	4	22
—Four right efforts	4	22.21
—Four roads to power	4	16.3.3, 18.22, 26.28
—Five spiritual faculties	5	16.3.51
—Five mental powers	5	16.3.51
—Seven factors of enlightenment	7	22.16
—Noble Eightfold Path	8	16.5.27, 19.61, 22.21
Sense spheres	6	22.15
Modes of rebirth	4	28.5
Telepathy	4	11.3
Attainment of vision	4	28.7
Designations of individuals	7	28.8
Exertions (Factors of Enlightenment)	7	22.16
Modes of progress	4	28.10
Proper conduct in speech	NA	28.11
Proper ethical conduct	NA	28.12
Modes of receptivity to instruction	4	28.13
Knowledge of liberation of others	4	28.14
Theories of eternalism	3	1.1.30ff.
Remembering past lives	NA	1.1.31ff., 2.93, 24.2.18f., 12.11, 28.1, 23.24, 27.8
Knowledge of death and birth of beings	2	28.17
Supernormal powers	2	2.87, 11.5, 17.1.18, 28.18

Most of the doctrines that Sariputta mentions appear in previous discourses, especially discourses 16 (Mahaparinibbana Sutta) and 22 (Mahasatipatthana Sutta). Discourse 28 first mentions nine items:

1. Modes of rebirth (¶5);
2. Attainment of vision (¶7);
3. Designations of individuals (¶8);
4. Modes of progress (¶10);
5. Proper conduct in speech (¶11);
6. Proper ethical conduct (¶12);
7. Modes of receptivity to instruction (¶13);
8. Knowledge of liberation of others (¶14); and
9. Knowledge of death and birth of beings (¶17).

I will limit myself to a straightforward exposition of these nine items, in the order in which they appear in the discourse.

Modes of Rebirth

Sariputta identifies four modes of rebirth: (1) one descends into the mother’s womb unknowing, stays there unknowing, and leaves it unknowing; (2) one enters the womb knowing, stays there unknowing, and leaves it unknowing; (3) one enters the womb knowing, stays there knowing, and leaves it unknowing; (4) one enters the womb knowing, stays there knowing, and leaves it knowing. The most interesting part of this doctrine is the premise: “one descends into the mother’s womb.” This implies two things: first, a being that descends into the womb, and a descent into the womb that a being undertakes, implying that the intrinsic non-embodied state of this “one” is “higher” or superior to the enwombed state. The four modes of rebirth are all combinations of knowing and unknowing. It seems to be meant as an explanation of why people are ignorant of their past lives. According to this view, some beings lose this memory at the moment of conception, during gestation, or at birth, but others—presumably more advanced spiritually—keep their memories all the way through, the latter explaining the phenomenon of post-parturition past-life recall, which has been documented at some length by Dr. Ian Stevenson and others.  The reference to “knowing in the womb” is intriguing in the light of research by Dr. Stanislav Grof and others into intrauterine memory, which commonly appears during psychedelic experiences. Walshe relates these to several types of being, respectively: ordinary people; the eighty “great elders”; the two chief disciples of a buddha, solitary buddhas, and bodhisattvas; and bodhisattvas in their final birth, based on the commentary.

Attainment of Vision

The four visionary attainments are induced by means of “ardour, endeavour, application, vigilance and due attention,” by which one reaches four stages of concentrated meditation: one perceives (1) the body as full of manifold impurities, (2) the bones covered with skin, flesh, and blood, (3) the unbroken stream of human consciousness, as established both in this world and the next, (4) the unbroken stream of human consciousness not established either in this world or the next.

The most interesting thing about this description is the reference to the “unbroken stream of human consciousness” in its two states: one established in both this world and the next, and one not established in either. The former refers to the stream of consciousness with karmic residue resulting in rebirth, and the latter to the unbroken stream not subject to rebirth. The latter implies in turn the Deathless state. The Pali term is ‘current of sentience,’ which is equivalent to the commentarial term, ‘subconscious.’ These correspond to the Mahayana term, samtana or santana (lit. ‘moment to moment continuum’).

Designations of Individuals

The designation of individuals refers to a classification of seven types of aspirants according to how they liberated themselves, which in turn tells us that there are diverse ways of liberating oneself:

1. Both ways liberated: one who “contacts” the immaterial meditative attainments (the fifth through eighth meditative attainments) with the body and destroys the taints through wisdom or insight;
2. Wisdom liberated: one destroys the taints through wisdom only;
3. The body witness: one who “contacts” the immaterial meditative attainments with the body and destroys some of the taints through wisdom;
4. The vision attainer (“attained to view”): one who destroys some of the taints through wisdom, including by means of the teaching of the Tathagata;
5. The faith liberated: one who destroys some of the taints through wisdom, and has faith in the Tathagata;
6. The dharma follower: one who gains a “reflective acceptance” of the teaching through wisdom, together with the five faculties (faith, energy, awareness, concentration, wisdom); and
7. The faith follower: One who has “sufficient” faith in the Tathagata together with the five faculties.

Modes of Progress

Sariputta distinguishes four modes of practice or progress: (1) painful and slow, (2) painful and quick (3) pleasant and slow, and (4) pleasant and quick. Pain is the result of lust, hatred, and delusion, as noted in the Anguttara Nikaya, whereas the faculties of confidence, energy, awareness, concentration, and wisdom generate the “immediacy condition for the destruction of the taints,” which arise feebly or quickly. Only the fourth mode is optimal due to the combination of dispassion and the pre-eminence of the five faculties.

Right Speech

Sariputta says that the Buddha teaches that one should avoid lying, divisive and sneeringly triumphant speech, and instead use wise and “seasonable” words that one would treasure. This simply elaborates the fourth precept.

Right Conduct

Sariputta says that the Buddha teaches that one should behave ethically, including on the negative side, avoiding deceit, patter, insinuation, belittling, always being on the make for further gains, and not hankering after sense pleasures. On the positive side, one should be truthful, faithful, restrained, abstemious, peacemaking, watchful, active, strenuous in effort, meditative, mindful (repeated twice), fitting in conversation, steady-going, resolute, sensible, and prudent. These generalized ethical teachings are common to all religions. In Buddhism, they are marginally important, as we discussed in connection with discourse 1 and again in connection with the Threefold Division of the Noble Eightfold Path attributed to Dhammadina, the so-called Higher Training.

Modes of Receptivity to Instruction

Sariputta identifies four modes of receptivity to instruction, by which he simply means the four grades of attainment: stream enterer, once-returner, non-returner, and arhant. A stream enterer is no longer subject to rebirth in a subhuman world and attains this grade by destroying the three fetters of self-identity, clinging to rites and rituals, and destructive doubt. A once-returner reduces, but does not eliminate, greed, hatred, and delusion. A non-returner destroys the five lower fetters of sensual lust, anger, conceit, attachment to views, and doubt and is reborn as a divine being, from which state they attain emancipation. Finally, the arhant destroys all of the corruptions—all of the foregoing, plus lust for rebirth in form or formless realms, conceit, and restlessness-worry, whereby they attain the deliverance of mind through wisdom that is uncorrupted, understood, and realized by gnosis (Walshe’s ‘super-knowledge’).

Knowledge of Liberation of Others

This is the ability of a buddha to perceive the attainment of others. Although it looks like a mode of telepathy, the reference to ‘skilled observation’ suggests that it is a refinement of vastly heightened cognition. Thus, moral causality is apparent to a buddha, in the same way that the marks of a great man were apparent to the Brahmans when the Buddha was born. There are also references to brightness of complexion indicating either attainment or the proximity of death. This indicates a fundamental belief that the physical form subtly but unmistakably manifests the psychic condition that underlies it. However, as with past lives, the signs of attainment are so subtle and refined that only a buddha can perceive them.

Knowledge of the Death and Rebirth of Beings

This last item posits a similar perceptive ability with respect to the karma of others, including the karmic destinations of beings. However, whereas the former item clearly refers to a higher cognitive process, i.e., skilled observation, though of incredibly subtle character, one perceives the death and rebirth of beings because of intense mental concentration. Because of this concentration, the Divine Eye, which surpasses human vision, is “purified.” One finds this primordial or archetypal motif of the Divine Eye sometimes identified (e.g., by Descartes) with the pineal gland as the “seat of the soul,” in all the world’s wisdom traditions. What the Buddha perceives is the karmic fate resulting from wrong and right view. Wrong View is the result, says Sariputta, of misconduct of body, speech, or thought, or disparaging ‘Noble Ones’ including (presumably) arhants, buddhas, solitary buddhas, and bodhisattvas. Right View is the first step in the Noble Eightfold Path, referring to Wisdom, the highest principle in the Threefold Division of the Noble Eightfold Path. Thus, ignorance, the opposite of Wisdom, is the motive force of moral causality and rebirth. Moreover, the path begins with the highest attainment—a radical distinction mysterious in its essence, and which gives the lie to those who think they can practise meditation without cultivating wisdom.

Notes

1. “Another hypothesis…is that the Buddha wanted the number of factors to total 37 because the number had symbolic meaning. In ancient times, before the development of the decimal system, multiplication tables were arranged in hexagonal patterns. The complete table used to calculate the ratios used in tuning musical instruments to reciprocal scales – scales that played the same notes going up as going down – had one member in the middle surrounded by three hexagonal rings containing, in ascending order, six, twelve, and eighteen members, giving a total of 37 members.  The table of whole-number ratios that formed the basis for trigonometry, and thus for the study of astronomy, contained 37 members. Thus the number 37 carried connotations of basic completeness. This principle is at work in Plato’s Laws, where the ideal city has 37 guardians, and it may also be at work here.” (Thanissaro, “Wings to Awakening, Part II: The Seven Sets,” 2011, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/wings/part2.html). See also the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva.

2. An objection to this theory is that the Buddha, who was a final bodhisattva at birth, was not born with the memory of past lives as far as we know. This begs the question, then, of what the “knowledge” with which he was born was. Certainly he was born with an enormous accumulation of merit, and at least an intimation of the clarity of the Buddha nature because the texts clearly indicate that he meditated on the teaching for some time prior to his renunciation, in conjunction with his worldly involvements. N.B.

3. These are the arhants who passed down the teachings of the Buddha, such as Mahakassapa and others.

Correction

In the spoken version of this talk and corresponding video (below) I stated that Alex Berzin’s website is alexberzin.org. In fact it is http://www.berzinarchives.com/.