TALK PRESENTED TO THE BUDDHA CENTER ON SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015, AND AGAIN AT THE NEW BUDDHA CENTRE ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2025 (REVISED)
Sigalovada Sutta
The Discourse on the Teaching to Sigala
Digha Nikaya 31
Country: Magadha
Locale: Squirrels’ Feeding Place, Bamboo Grove, Rajagaha (Rajgir)
Speakers: Sigala, the Buddha
Date of Composition: 3rd to 2nd cent. BCE
The Buddha was walking from the Bamboo Grove to Rajagaha, early in the morning. On the way, the Buddha saw Sigala, the son of a householder, performing a ritual salutation with joined palms to the four directions, plus nadir and zenith – outside Rajagaha, near the road on which the Buddha was travelling. The discourse says that Sigala’s hair was wet, presumably because of a ritual immersion in a nearby river.
The Buddha, seeing this, goes to Sigala and asks him why he is doing this. Sigala tells him he is doing it to honour his father’s dying wish. The Buddha tells Sigala that this is not the way to do it according to the noble discipline. The Buddha’s approach to Sigala is uncharacteristically direct. Whereas the Buddha usually seeks out common ground and waits to be invited to converse, here he interrupts Sigala and bluntly tells him that what he is doing is wrong. Sigala then asks him how he should be doing it.
The Buddha’s answer shows the essence of the Buddha’s reinterpretation – or, as he would put it, restoration – of the noble tradition. He does not reject the ritual so much as reinterpret it. Rather, the Buddha, says, the noble disciple “covers” the six directions by avoiding fourteen evil ways, including four defilements of action, not doing evil from four causes, and not following six ways of wasting one’s substance. Thus, he conquers this world and the world to come.
The four defilements of action are the familiar precepts: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying. Once again, he does not mention alcohol in the context of the precepts. In the versification of this passage, sexual misconduct is equated with adultery.
The four causes of evil are desirous attachment, anger or ill will, foolishness, and fear.
The six ways of wasting one’s substance are addiction to drink, frequenting the streets at inappropriate hours, going to fairs, gambling, keeping bad company, and idleness. He then expands on each of these, providing six dangers associated with each. They are all obvious, so I am not going to lay them all out here.
The Buddha identifies four enemies who appear to be friends: the taker, the talker, the flatterer, and the spendthrift. Again, the Buddha gives four reasons why each of these “friends” is really a foe.
The Buddha then identifies four loyal friends: the helper, the friend who is the same in happy and unhappy circumstances, the friend who points out what is good for you, and the friend who is sympathetic. Again, the Buddha gives four ways in which each of these friends is good for you, which I am not going to repeat here.
The Buddha concludes his ethical discourse with the following verse. Note the second stanza:
The wise man trained and disciplined
Shines out like a beacon-fire.
He gathers wealth just as the bee
Gathers honey, and it grows
Like an ant hill higher yet,
With wealth so gained the layman can
Devote it to his people’s good.
He should divide his wealth in four
(This will most advantage bring).
One part he may enjoy at will,
Two parts he should put to work,
The fourth part he should set aside
As reserve in time of need.
In this fascinating passage, the Buddha praises wealth creation, surprising given his emphasis on moderate poverty, but of course, that is the monastic path. For the householder, the Buddha recommends saving three-quarters of one’s income, half in investments and a quarter as an emergency reserve, thus becoming quite possibly the first financial planner in history! The Buddha intimates that the Buddhist householder should use his wealth, thus accumulated, for the benefit of others. Thus, this establishes that the wealthy have a social obligation to compensate for their privilege.
Having expanded on the fourteen evil ways, the Buddha explains the six directions as an allegory in which each direction represents a specific social relationship.
The Allegorical Correspondences of the Six Directions
| East | Mother and father |
| South | Teachers |
| West | Wife and children |
| North | Friends and companions |
| Nadir | Servants, workers and helpers |
| Zenith | Ascetics and Brahmans |
Also, note the sequence, which is the same as in the opening paragraph of the discourse. It implies a clockwise direction, which is associated with the invocation of positive energy.
Although it appears that the Buddha is equating Sigala’s prayer ritual with an ethical substitute, I would like to caution the hearer about generalizing from this example that ritual = ethics. Sigala is a householder. Therefore, the Buddha is tailoring his comments to the station of his hearer. If the Buddha were speaking with a monastic, it is possible that the equation would be different. However, the Buddha’s allegorical manner of reinterpreting religious ritual establishes the point that ritual in and of itself has no value or efficacy and its only value lies in its spiritual meaning. This is true even in Tantra, though religious Buddhists tend to forget it.
The Buddha then identifies five ways that one should minister to each of these groups. For example, one should support one’s parents, perform their duties for them, keep up the family tradition, be worthy of one’s heritage, and distribute gifts on their behalf after their death. Similarly, parents should restrain their offspring from evil, support them in doing good, teach them some skill, find them a suitable spouse, and finally hand over their inheritance to them. According to the Buddha, this will “cover” the eastern direction, making it “at peace” and “free from fear.” This refers to the social effects of the recommended ethical attitudes.
Similarly, the Buddha discusses the ways in which pupils and teachers, husbands and wives, friends and companions, employers and servants, and householders and ascetics should interrelate. In other words, the Buddha promotes harmonious social relations between all classes, with ascetics at the top of the hierarchy.
The rest of the Buddha’s advice is quite conventional. The relationship between husbands and wives involves mutual respect and fulfilling one’s duty, each to the other. There is nothing here about women being slaves to men, as we find elsewhere. Men have an obligation to honour and not disparage their wives, be faithful, and yield authority over the household to her, much as in ancient Greek society.
Similarly, employers have an obligation to arrange the work of their employees according to their strength, provide them with food and wages, provide health care benefits when they are sick, and let them off work at the right time. This confirms statements I have made in previous talks in which I stated that the Buddha’s social views are what we today would call liberal progressive or even social democratic. Even today not everyone accepts these ideas.
The Buddha breaks the fivefold pattern with the relations with ascetics and Brahmans. He counts kindness in body, speech, and thought as three things, thus getting five in combination with householders keeping an open house and supplying the physical needs of the ascetics. However, the ascetics will reciprocate in six ways: restraining people from evil, encouraging them to do good, being compassionate toward them, teaching them what they have not heard, and pointing out to them the way to heaven (this being the highest state that householders can achieve).
Sigala is so impressed by the Buddha’s speech that he becomes a lay follower of the Buddha.
Atanatiya Sutta
The Protective Discourse
Digha Nikaya 32
Country: Magadha
Locale: Vulture’s Peak, Rajagaha
Speakers: Vessavana, the Buddha
Date of Composition: 350-250 BCE
There are several deva discourses in the Digha Nikaya. This discourse is a “protective discourse.” The Buddha refers positively to mantra. There are several such discourses, including the Ratana Sutta, Khanda Paritta, Dhajagga Paritta, Mora Paritta, and the Angulimala Paritta, ranging in date from the 4th to the 2nd centuries BCE. The Metta Sutta is also used for this purpose. The Buddha also refers to the Power of Truth, the Act of Truth, and the Transfer of Merit. These texts provide further evidence that the Pali Canon includes a proto-tantric element, a.k.a. mantra-yoga. There are also books of specific chants or recitations believed to offer protection, blessings, and relief from harm, often through the recitation of verses from the Buddha’s teachings…
The Four Great Kings are the lords of the realm next above the earth-plane. These, together with an array of ‘nature spirits’, ‘aerial devas’, ‘dwarfs’, and ‘dragons, who are charged with the defence or protection of the four quarters, go to see the Buddha just before dawn. These divine beings are described as intensely luminous. They surround the Buddha.
Vessavana, the King of the North, asks the Buddha why most spirits are not Buddhists. The way Walshe punctuates the text suggests that Vessavana answers his own question, whereas Rhys Davids implies that the Buddha answers this question to the effect that it is because refraining from killing, stealing, adultery, lying, and drink is distasteful to them. He points out that many monastics dwell in the deep forest where there are no people, but many non-Buddhist spirits also live there. Non-humans seem to prefer wilderness, a characteristic shared with UFOs. For this reason, to protect the monastics from the spirits, Vessavana teaches the protective verses to the Buddha so that he can communicate them to the order. Although spirits are usually benevolent, these spirits are ghouls that haunt the wilderness and waylay and devour travellers, like evil spirits. Thus, this is also what I have called a deva discourse, a teaching received directly from the divine beings.
Before reciting the protective verses, King Vessavana says,
If any monk or nun, male or female lay follower learns these verses well and has them off by heart, then if any non-human being, male or female yakkha or yakkha-offspring, or a chief attendant or servant of the yakkhas, any male or female gandhabba, …kumbhanda, …naga, …should approach that person with hostile intent while he or she is walking or starting to walk, standing or rising to stand, seated or sit-ting down, lying down or starting to lie down, that non-human being would not gain any honour or respect in village or town. Such a being would not gain a footing or a lodging in my royal city of Alakamanda, he would not be admitted to the yakkhas’ assembly, nor would he be acceptable for taking or giving in marriage. And all the non-human beings, full of rage, would overwhelm him with abuse. Then they would bend down his head like an empty bowl, and they would split his skull into seven pieces. (8)
The poem begins with an adoration of the Seven Buddhas of Antiquity. These are seven prehistoric buddhas—except for Gotama—who bridge the transition from the previous age, called the Glorious Eon, to our own time, called the Auspicious Eon. The adoration of the buddhas is followed by an invocation of the lords of the four directions. These descriptions include some interesting details, including a reference to ghosts living in the south, which include abusive speakers, slanderers, murderers, greedy people, thieves, and cunning tricksters and an ideal, inaccessible land in the North, called Uttarakuru, once again illustrating how later traditions like Vajrayana have their basis in the Pali Canon (I am of course referring to Shambhala and similar mythologems).
Northern Kuru, or Uttarakuru, is one of the four continents of Buddhist cosmology. It is traditionally described as an island in the far north, about two thousand “yojanas” square, roughly 676 million square kilometers, about the total area of the earth. Could Uttarakuru be a planet? This might explain the persistent references to UFOs in the Pali Canon, which I have documented elsewhere. However, in the Digha Nikaya it is also the name of a city. The inhabitants of Uttarakuru are described as wealthy, extremely long-lived, and communitarian. According to the Mahabharata, the Kurus practise free love. Their cities are aerial, like the floating geodesic spheres described by R. Buckminster Fuller or some large UFOs. Clearly, then, they are also highly scientifically and technologically advanced. Like Shambhala, Uttarakuru is virtually inaccessible to outsiders. The original Vedic reference to Uttarakuru places it in the far north, beyond the Himalayas. The inhabitants of Kuru were said to have been descended from them. Sakulakayi, the wife of Jotika, who became an arhant, is reputed to come from Uttarakuru. The verses conclude with an adoration of the Buddha.
The great conflict among the devas resulted in the anti-gods being cast down into the one world ocean at the foot of Mount Meru during the late Vedic period (c 1200–600 BCE). Here Vessavana describes something similar in the context of the Four Great Kings: “There are, sir, some non-human beings who are fierce, wild and terrible.”
Sometimes monastics would experience themselves being attacked by these beings. The Buddha also describes the intense fear that one experiences alone in the deep forest. The frequent references to deep forest in the Pali Canon suggest that the area was heavily forested, like many places in our diminishing world. The Bodhisattva himself experienced this fear when meditating at the beginning of his career. It is tempting to apply Western “psychologism” to this phenomenon and say that they are experiencing hallucinations because of sensory deprivation and intense emotional agitation. However, one could just as easily say that these psychological states are simply creating the conditions necessary to perceive actual spiritual beings that exist on the threshold of consciousness. Vessavana gives a list of forty-one spirits, which include the names of gods, ancient seers, spirits, and dragons. In a manner reminiscent of Western occultism, Vessavana recommends invoking the names of these beings if one is attacked. A contemporary example is that of a Thai Buddhist monastic—a Westerner—who successfully recited the protective verses to ward off a cobra that entered his cave.
In conclusion, the Buddha says, “Monks, you should learn these Atanata protective verses, master them and remember them. They are for your benefit, and through them monks and nuns, male and female lay followers may dwell guarded, protected, unharmed, and at ease.”
Pali Text of Atanata Protective Verses
- ‘‘Vipassissa ca[ime cakārā porāṇapotthakesu natthi]namatthu, cakkhumantassa sirīmato.
Sikhissapi ca [ime cakārā porāṇapotthakesu natthi] namatthu, sabbabhūtānukampino.
‘‘Vessabhussa ca [ime cakārā porāṇapotthakesu natthi] namatthu, nhātakassa tapassino;
Namatthu kakusandhassa, mārasenāpamaddino.
‘‘Koṇāgamanassa namatthu, brāhmaṇassa vusīmato;
Kassapassa ca [ime cakārā porāṇapotthakesu natthi] namatthu, vippamuttassa sabbadhi.
‘‘Aṅgīrasassa namatthu, sakyaputtassa sirīmato;
Yo imaṃ dhammaṃ desesi [dhammamadesesi (sī. syā. pī.), dhammaṃ deseti (?)], sabbadukkhāpanūdanaṃ.
‘‘Ye cāpi nibbutā loke, yathābhūtaṃ vipassisuṃ;
Te janā apisuṇātha [apisuṇā (sī. syā. pī.)], mahantā vītasāradā.
‘‘Hitaṃ devamanussānaṃ, yaṃ namassanti gotamaṃ;
Vijjācaraṇasampannaṃ, mahantaṃ vītasāradaṃ.
- ‘‘Yatouggacchati sūriyo[suriyo (sī. syā. pī.)], ādicco maṇḍalī mahā.
Yassa cuggacchamānassa, saṃvarīpi nirujjhati;
Yassa cuggate sūriye, ‘divaso’ti pavuccati.
‘‘Rahadopi tattha gambhīro, samuddo saritodako;
Evaṃ taṃ tattha jānanti, ‘samuddo saritodako’.
‘‘Ito ‘sā purimā disā’, iti naṃ ācikkhatī jano;
Yaṃ disaṃ abhipāleti, mahārājā yasassi so.
‘‘Gandhabbānaṃ adhipati [ādhipati (sī. syā. pī.) evamuparipi], ‘dhataraṭṭho’ti nāmaso;
Ramatī naccagītehi, gandhabbehi purakkhato.
‘‘Puttāpi tassa bahavo, ekanāmāti me sutaṃ;
Asīti dasa eko ca, indanāmā mahabbalā.
Te cāpi buddhaṃ disvāna, buddhaṃ ādiccabandhunaṃ;
Dūratova namassanti, mahantaṃ vītasāradaṃ.
‘‘Namo te purisājañña, namo te purisuttama;
Kusalena samekkhasi, amanussāpi taṃ vandanti;
Sutaṃ netaṃ abhiṇhaso, tasmā evaṃ vademase.
‘‘‘Jinaṃ vandatha gotamaṃ, jinaṃ vandāma gotamaṃ;
Vijjācaraṇasampannaṃ, buddhaṃ vandāma gotamaṃ’.
- ‘‘Yena petā pavuccanti, pisuṇā piṭṭhimaṃsikā.
Pāṇātipātino luddā [luddhā (pī. ka.)], corā nekatikā janā.
‘‘Ito ‘sā dakkhiṇā disā’, iti naṃ ācikkhatī jano;
Yaṃ disaṃ abhipāleti, mahārājā yasassi so.
‘‘Kumbhaṇḍānaṃ adhipati, ‘virūḷho’ iti nāmaso;
Ramatī naccagītehi, kumbhaṇḍehi purakkhato.
‘‘Puttāpi tassa bahavo, ekanāmāti me sutaṃ;
Asīti dasa eko ca, indanāmā mahabbalā.
Te cāpi buddhaṃ disvāna, buddhaṃ ādiccabandhunaṃ;
Dūratova namassanti, mahantaṃ vītasāradaṃ.
‘‘Namo te purisājañña, namo te purisuttama;
Kusalena samekkhasi, amanussāpi taṃ vandanti;
Sutaṃ netaṃ abhiṇhaso, tasmā evaṃ vademase.
‘‘‘Jinaṃ vandatha gotamaṃ, jinaṃ vandāma gotamaṃ;
Vijjācaraṇasampannaṃ, buddhaṃ vandāma gotamaṃ’.
- ‘‘Yattha coggacchati sūriyo, ādicco maṇḍalī mahā.
Yassa coggacchamānassa, divasopi nirujjhati;
Yassa coggate sūriye, ‘saṃvarī’ti pavuccati.
‘‘Rahadopi tattha gambhīro, samuddo saritodako;
Evaṃ taṃ tattha jānanti, ‘samuddo saritodako’.
‘‘Ito ‘sā pacchimā disā’, iti naṃ ācikkhatī jano;
Yaṃ disaṃ abhipāleti, mahārājā yasassi so.
‘‘Nāgānañca adhipati, ‘virūpakkho’ti nāmaso;
Ramatī naccagītehi, nāgeheva purakkhato.
‘‘Puttāpi tassa bahavo, ekanāmāti me sutaṃ;
Asīti dasa eko ca, indanāmā mahabbalā.
Te cāpi buddhaṃ disvāna, buddhaṃ ādiccabandhunaṃ;
Dūratova namassanti, mahantaṃ vītasāradaṃ.
‘‘Namo te purisājañña, namo te purisuttama;
Kusalena samekkhasi, amanussāpi taṃ vandanti;
Sutaṃ netaṃ abhiṇhaso, tasmā evaṃ vademase.
‘‘‘Jinaṃ vandatha gotamaṃ, jinaṃ vandāma gotamaṃ;
Vijjācaraṇasampannaṃ, buddhaṃ vandāma gotamaṃ’.
- ‘‘Yenauttarakuruvho[uttarakurū rammā (sī. syā. pī.)], mahāneru sudassano.
Manussā tattha jāyanti, amamā apariggahā.
‘‘Na te bījaṃ pavapanti, napi nīyanti naṅgalā;
Akaṭṭhapākimaṃ sāliṃ, paribhuñjanti mānusā.
‘‘Akaṇaṃ athusaṃ suddhaṃ, sugandhaṃ taṇḍulapphalaṃ;
Tuṇḍikīre pacitvāna, tato bhuñjanti bhojanaṃ.
‘‘Gāviṃ ekakhuraṃ katvā, anuyanti disodisaṃ;
Pasuṃ ekakhuraṃ katvā, anuyanti disodisaṃ.
‘‘Itthiṃ vā vāhanaṃ [itthī-vāhanaṃ (sī. pī.), itthīṃ vāhanaṃ (syā.)] katvā, anuyanti disodisaṃ;
Purisaṃ vāhanaṃ katvā, anuyanti disodisaṃ.
‘‘Kumāriṃ vāhanaṃ katvā, anuyanti disodisaṃ;
Kumāraṃ vāhanaṃ katvā, anuyanti disodisaṃ.
‘‘Te yāne abhiruhitvā,
Sabbā disā anupariyāyanti [anupariyanti (syā.)];
Pacārā tassa rājino.
‘‘Hatthiyānaṃ assayānaṃ, dibbaṃ yānaṃ upaṭṭhitaṃ;
Pāsādā sivikā ceva, mahārājassa yasassino.
‘‘Tassa ca nagarā ahu,
Antalikkhe sumāpitā;
Āṭānāṭā kusināṭā parakusināṭā,
Nāṭasuriyā [nāṭapuriyā (sī. pī.), nāṭapariyā (syā.)] parakusiṭanāṭā.
‘‘Uttarena kasivanto [kapivanto (sī. syā. pī)],
Janoghamaparena ca;
Navanavutiyo ambaraambaravatiyo,
Āḷakamandā nāma rājadhānī.
‘‘Kuverassa kho pana, mārisa, mahārājassa visāṇā nāma rājadhānī;
Tasmā kuvero mahārājā, ‘vessavaṇo’ti pavuccati.
‘‘Paccesanto pakāsenti, tatolā tattalā tatotalā;
Ojasi tejasi tatojasī, sūro rājā ariṭṭho nemi.
‘‘Rahadopi tattha dharaṇī nāma, yato meghā pavassanti;
Vassā yato patāyanti, sabhāpi tattha sālavatī [bhagalavatī (sī. syā. pī.)] nāma.
‘‘Yattha yakkhā payirupāsanti, tattha niccaphalā rukkhā;
Nānā dijagaṇā yutā, mayūrakoñcābhirudā;
Kokilādīhi vagguhi.
‘‘Jīvañjīvakasaddettha, atho oṭṭhavacittakā;
Kukkuṭakā [kukutthakā (sī. pī.)] kuḷīrakā, vane pokkharasātakā.
‘‘Sukasāḷikasaddettha, daṇḍamāṇavakāni ca;
Sobhati sabbakālaṃ sā, kuveranaḷinī sadā.
‘‘Ito ‘sā uttarā disā’, iti naṃ ācikkhatī jano;
Yaṃ disaṃ abhipāleti, mahārājā yasassi so.
‘‘Yakkhānañca adhipati, ‘kuvero’ iti nāmaso;
Ramatī naccagītehi, yakkheheva purakkhato.
‘‘Puttāpi tassa bahavo, ekanāmāti me sutaṃ;
Asīti dasa eko ca, indanāmā mahabbalā.
‘‘Te cāpi buddhaṃ disvāna, buddhaṃ ādiccabandhunaṃ;
Dūratova namassanti, mahantaṃ vītasāradaṃ.
‘‘Namo te purisājañña, namo te purisuttama;
Kusalena samekkhasi, amanussāpi taṃ vandanti;
Sutaṃ netaṃ abhiṇhaso, tasmā evaṃ vademase.
‘‘‘Jinaṃ vandatha gotamaṃ, jinaṃ vandāma gotamaṃ;
Vijjācaraṇasampannaṃ, buddhaṃ vandāma gotama’’’nti.
Bibliography
Piyadassi, trans., The Book of Protection (Paritta), 1999, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/piyadassi/protection.html.
Sadaputa Dasa, “Exact Science in the Srimad-Bhagavatam,” http://www.krishna.com/exact-science-srimad-bhagavatam.
Alexander Berzin, July 2008, revised Aug. 8, 2013, “Recitation of Mantras,” http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/advanced/tantra/level1_getting_started/recitation_of_mantras/transcript.html.
“A Tibetan Book of Spells,” Feb. 19, 2009, http://earlytibet.com/2009/02/19/a-tibetan-book-of-spells.
Buddha Centre, Saturday, January 18, 2025
Dharmata 