{"id":15744,"date":"2021-09-24T14:30:09","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T19:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dharma.org\/?p=15744"},"modified":"2021-09-24T14:30:09","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T19:30:09","slug":"the-buddhas-awakening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dharma.org\/the-buddhas-awakening\/","title":{"rendered":"The Buddha\u2019s Awakening"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bhikkhu An\u0101layo<\/strong><\/p>\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/h5>\n

A comparative study of early Buddhist textual accounts of the Buddha\u2019s awakening helps to put into perspective the impression that these texts present competing theories of liberating insight and realization. Although the actual event of awakening would be a non-conceptual breakthrough to the experience of Nirvana, its ramifications can be expressed with the diagnostic scheme of four truths, as a way of conveying in words what in principle is beyond words.<\/p>\n

Key words<\/strong>: Awakening;\u00a0bodhi<\/em>; Buddha; four noble truths; Nirvana; realization; truth<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Buddha\u2019s awakening is the key event in the background of traditional mindfulness practice. A perusal of the relevant textual sources brings to light differing descriptions of this key event, which some scholars have considered to reflect competing theories of how liberating insight leads to the realization of awakening (see, e.g., Bareau 1963; Bronkhorst 1993\/2000; Schmithausen 1981; Vetter 1988; Wynne 2007; Zafiropulo 1993).<\/p>\n

Without intending to deny that such studies have indeed highlighted complex issues, closer inspection suggests a different perspective, which emerges based on a close reading of the relevant sources. Such a possibility need not be rejected out of hand as an enforced harmonization of incompatible divergences. Just as it needs to be acknowledged that the texts at times offer conflicting presentations, it also needs to be acknowledged that examining textual accounts from a distant past and culture is in itself not without possible drawbacks and hence needs to remain open to potential revision, in particular if this is based on a historical perspective on developments in Buddhist thought. The purpose of the present article is therefore to take another look at what appears to be the heartwood of the matter in question: accounts of the Buddha\u2019s awakening found in parallel versions of the early discourses (due to lacking a parallel, the account in AN 9.41 falls outside of the scope of the present survey).<\/p>\n

The Buddha\u2019s Awakening<\/strong><\/h5>\n

According to the standard narrative depiction of the Buddha\u2019s quest for awakening (An\u0101layo 2017), during a period spent under the guidance of two ancient Indian teachers he eventually attained what in the early discourses feature as the higher two of four immaterial spheres. Realizing that such profound meditative experiences did not satisfy his quest for a definite solution to the predicament of being subject to old age, disease, and death, the future Buddha changed his approach and instead engaged in ascetic practices, in particular forceful control of the mind, breath control, and fasting.<\/p>\n

As these ascetic practices also did not produce the type of liberation he was seeking, the Buddha-to-be came to reconsider his overall approach. Based on the resultant reorientation and giving up of asceticism, in the first parts of what came to be known as the night of his awakening he developed two higher knowledges. These are recollection of his own past lives and the so-called divine eye, which according to tradition enables seeing the passing away and being reborn of other beings in accordance with the law of karma. Both higher knowledges require the previous development of the fourth absorption as a means to bring mindfulness and tranquility to a peak. Based on the same mental condition of having previously developed the fourth absorption, reports of the actual event of awakening take the following form in the\u00a0Bhayabherava-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its\u00a0Ekottarika-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>parallel:<\/p>\n

With a mind composed like this, purified, clarified, unblemished, rid of imperfections, become malleable, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed my mind to the knowledge of the destruction of the influxes. I directly knew as it really is: this is\u00a0dukkha<\/em>; I directly knew as it really is: this is the arising of\u00a0dukkha<\/em>; I directly knew as it really is: this is the cessation of\u00a0dukkha<\/em>; I directly knew as it really is: this is the path to the cessation of\u00a0dukkha<\/em>. I directly knew as it really is: these are the influxes; I directly knew as it really is: this is the arising of the influxes; I directly knew as it really is: this is the cessation of the influxes; I directly knew as it really is: this is the path to the cessation of the influxes. Knowing like this and seeing like this, my mind was liberated from the influx of sensuality, my mind was liberated from the influx of becoming, and my mind was liberated from the influx of ignorance. In being liberated, there was the knowledge that \u2018it is liberated,\u2019 and I directly knew that \u2018birth is ended, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more of this state beyond.\u2019<\/p>\n

(MN 4:\u00a0so\u00a0eva\u1e43 sam\u0101hite citte parisuddhe pariyod\u0101te ana\u1e45ga\u1e47e vigat\u016bpakkilese mudubh\u016bte kammaniye \u1e6dhite \u0101ne\u00f1jappatte \u0101sav\u0101na\u1e43 khaya\u00f1\u0101\u1e47\u0101ya citta\u1e43 abhininn\u0101mesi\u1e43. so ida\u1e43 dukkhan ti yath\u0101bh\u016bta\u1e43 abbha\u00f1\u00f1\u0101si\u1e43, aya\u1e43 dukkhasamudayo ti yath\u0101bh\u016bta\u1e43 abbha\u00f1\u00f1\u0101si\u1e43, aya\u1e43 dukkhanirodho ti yath\u0101bh\u016bta\u1e43 abbha\u00f1\u00f1\u0101si\u1e43, aya\u1e43 dukkhanirodhag\u0101min\u012b pa\u1e6dipad\u0101 ti yath\u0101bh\u016bta\u1e43 abbha\u00f1\u00f1\u0101si\u1e43. ime \u0101sav\u0101 ti yath\u0101bh\u016bta\u1e43 abbha\u00f1\u00f1\u0101si\u1e43, aya\u1e43 \u0101savasamudayo ti yath\u0101bh\u016bta\u1e43 abbha\u00f1\u00f1\u0101si\u1e43, aya\u1e43 \u0101savanirodho ti yath\u0101bh\u016bta\u1e43 abbha\u00f1\u00f1\u0101si\u1e43, aya\u1e43 \u0101savanirodhag\u0101min\u012b pa\u1e6dipad\u0101 ti yath\u0101bh\u016bta\u1e43 abbha\u00f1\u00f1\u0101si\u1e43. tassa me eva\u1e43 j\u0101nato eva\u1e43 passato k\u0101m\u0101sav\u0101 pi citta\u1e43 vimuccittha, bhav\u0101sav\u0101 pi citta\u1e43 vimuccittha, avijj\u0101sav\u0101 pi citta\u1e43 vimuccittha. vimuttasmi\u1e43 vimuttam iti \u00f1\u0101\u1e47a\u1e43 ahosi: kh\u012b\u1e47\u0101 j\u0101ti, vusita\u1e43 brahmacariya\u1e43, kata\u1e43 kara\u1e47\u012bya\u1e43, n\u0101para\u1e43 itthatt\u0101y\u0101 ti abbha\u00f1\u00f1\u0101si\u1e43<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Again, relying on this concentrated mind, with its flawless purity and freedom from fettering tendencies, a state of mind that has attained concentration and has attained fearlessness, I attained the destruction of the influxes in my mind. I knew that \u2018this is\u00a0du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u2019 as it really is, not falsely. Then, at that time, when I had attained this mental condition, I attained liberation of the mind from the influx of sensuality, from the influx of existence, and from the influx of ignorance. By attaining liberation, I in turn attained knowledge of liberation, knowing as it really is that birth and death have been extinguished, the holy life has been established, what had to be done has been done, there will be no more coming again to a womb.<\/p>\n

(E\u0100 31.1:\u00a0\u6211\u5fa9\u4ee5\u4e09\u6627\u5fc3\u6e05\u6de8\u7121\u7455\u7a62,\u00a0\u4ea6\u7121\u7d50\u4f7f,\u00a0\u5fc3\u610f\u5f97\u5b9a,\u00a0\u5f97\u7121\u6240\u754f,\u00a0\u5f97\u76e1\u6f0f\u5fc3,\u00a0\u4ea6\u77e5\u6b64\u82e6\u5982\u5be6\u4e0d\u865b.\u00a0\u7576\u6211\u723e\u6642\u5f97\u6b64\u5fc3\u6642,\u00a0\u6b32\u6f0f,\u00a0\u6709\u6f0f,\u00a0\u7121\u660e\u6f0f\u5fc3\u5f97\u89e3\u812b.\u00a0\u4ee5\u5f97\u89e3\u812b,\u00a0\u4fbf\u5f97\u89e3\u812b\u667a:\u00a0\u751f\u6b7b\u5df2\u76e1,\u00a0\u68b5\u884c\u5df2\u7acb,\u00a0\u6240\u4f5c\u5df2\u8fa6,\u00a0\u66f4\u4e0d\u5fa9\u53d7\u80ce,\u00a0\u5982\u5be6\u77e5\u4e4b).<\/p>\n

A prominent difference between the two accounts relates to the comprehension of\u00a0dukkha\u00a0<\/em>(Sanskrit\u00a0du\u1e25kha<\/em>, Chinese\u00a0\u82e6, Tibetan\u00a0sdug bsngal<\/em>). The\u00a0Bhayabherava-sutta\u00a0<\/em>presents this topic by way of the scheme of four truths, which is also then applied to the influxes (\u0101sava\/\u0101\u015brava\/<\/em>\u6f0f\/zag pa<\/em>). The\u00a0Ekottarika-\u0101gama<\/em>\u00a0version, however,\u00a0<\/em>just speaks of understanding as it really is that \u201cthis is\u00a0du\u1e25kha.<\/em>\u201d It thereby does not bring in the whole scheme of four truths and also does not apply that scheme to the influxes.<\/p>\n

Nakamura (2000, p. 211) commented on the P\u0101li version\u2019s presentation of the four noble truths that, \u201cbecause it does not appear in [the] Chinese translation, [it] must be a later addition.\u201d An alternative possibility would be an abbreviation on the side of the\u00a0Ekottarika-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>version, which would then have preserved only the first part of what would originally have been a fuller statement (Bareau 1963, p. 86 and An\u0101layo 2011c, p. 218 n. 47). Given that there is a general tendency of abbreviation in the early discourses to mention explicitly a beginning and an endpoint between which the text has been abbreviated (An\u0101layo 2020 and 2021a), this would require assuming that a textual loss of the endpoint has occurred. Although possible, this seems less probable than supposing that the P\u0101li version could have expanded a reference to\u00a0dukkha<\/em>\u00a0with the help of the well-known scheme of four truths.<\/p>\n

Such a suggestion does not require, as assumed by Bareau (1963, p. 86), that only the first of the four noble truths was known. Instead, the\u00a0Ekottarika-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>version may simply reflect a stage at which the scheme of the four truths had not yet been applied to the description of the Buddha\u2019s awakening. Schmithausen (1981, p. 210) reasoned that \u201cit may seem doubtful whether \u2026 the discovery of the four Noble Truths is a genuine reflection of what the Buddha\u2019s Enlightenment, as an experience, actually was,\u201d adding that this does not imply, however, that the four noble truths are late in themselves, \u201cfor why shouldn\u2019t the pattern of the four Noble Truths have already existed for some period before it came to be regarded as the content of Enlightenment?\u201d (note 36).<\/p>\n

The impression of an expansion on the side of the P\u0101li discourse finds further support in the application of the same scheme to the influxes, which has no counterpart at all in the\u00a0Ekottarika-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>version. Nevertheless, the two discourses agree in presenting the results of the event of awakening in terms of being liberated from the three influxes. An application of the four truths scheme to the influxes is also absent from an account of the Buddha\u2019s awakening in the\u00a0Sa\u1e45ghabhedavastu<\/em>\u00a0(Gnoli 1977, p. 118). Unlike the\u00a0Ekottarika-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>discourse, the\u00a0Sa\u1e45ghabhedavastu\u00a0<\/em>version has the full set of four truths and also agrees with the two discourse versions in describing the results of awakening in terms of liberating the mind from the three influxes. Again, this does not imply, as assumed by Bareau (1963, p. 87), that the type of presentation now found in the\u00a0Bhayabherava-sutta\u00a0<\/em>is necessarily a late invention in itself. The suggestion is only that a gradual development of the description of the Buddha\u2019s awakening could have been based on integrating textual pieces and forms of presentation found elsewhere among the early discourses. From the point of development evident in the\u00a0Ekottarika-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>version, this would have taken the form of supplementing the full scheme of four truths and then applying the same scheme to the influxes.<\/p>\n

Teaching the Four Noble Truths<\/strong><\/h5>\n

According to tradition, the four noble truths were the chief content of the Buddha\u2019s first sermon, the\u00a0Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta\u00a0<\/em>(SN 56.11),\u00a0<\/em>given to five former companions from the time of his ascetic practices. Although it seems that the first sermon may not have explicitly applied the qualification \u201cnoble\u201d to each truth (An\u0101layo 2006) and perhaps not even used the term \u201cnoble truth\u201d when presenting the four singly (Norman 1984), the basic teaching found in the parallel versions of the discourse clearly corresponds to the scheme of four truths (An\u0101layo 2012 and 2013).<\/p>\n

According to the narrative setting of the first sermon, previous to delivering this teaching the recently awakened Buddha had announced his successful realization to a potential convert by the name of Upaka, yet this failed to impress and convince the latter (MN 26 and M\u0100 204). At the present juncture, he had come to teach his five former companions, who saw asceticism as the path to deliverance and consequently considered his earlier giving up of ascetic practices as implying that he had relinquished what was required to reach awakening. In this setting, the Buddha had to find a convincing way of communicating his realization. In fact, his reported teaching starts off with the middle path that avoids the two extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification, thereby alerting the five to the existence of an alternative approach, making it clear that giving up asceticism does not necessarily equal pursuing sensual indulgence.<\/p>\n

The actual teaching then begins with the commonly accepted fact of\u00a0dukkha\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>, together with the announcement that the Buddha was about to teach what had not been heard before. In other words, he had discovered something substantially different from contemporary religious thought. Therefore, when communicating his discovery, he had to find new ways of expression that differed from the philosophies and doctrines proposed by his contemporaries. At the same time, however, his teaching had to rely to some degree on notions and ideas already known in order to be understood. In teaching the middle way, the Buddha had to follow a middle way in his use of concepts and expressions.<\/p>\n

In this situation, the employment of a scheme of four truths falls neatly into place, apparently based on an analogy with Indian medical diagnosis (An\u0101layo 2011d). The employment of a scheme, presumably known to his audience as a form of medical diagnosis, reflects a thoroughly pragmatic approach that stands in clear contrast to mere philosophizing for its own sake. Moreover, it points directly to a psychological attitude toward\u00a0dukkha<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u00a0and its solution. In this way, the use of a medical diagnostic scheme provides the appropriate frame for the essential teaching that the cause for the arising of\u00a0dukkha<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u00a0is to be found within one\u2019s own mind. Expressed in medical terms, the core teaching could be represented in this way:<\/p>\n

disease:\u00a0dukkha<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha<\/em><\/p>\n

pathogen: craving<\/p>\n

prognosis: Nirvana<\/p>\n

cure: eightfold path<\/p>\n

The converging point for these four truths is the realization of Nirvana, which involves a cessation of all links of dependent arising (pa\u1e6diccasamupp\u0101da<\/em>,\u00a0prat\u012btyasamutp\u0101da<\/em>,\u00a0\u56e0\u7de3,\u00a0rten cing \u2019brel bar \u2019byung ba<\/em>) up to the cessation of\u00a0dukkha\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>. Since this implies a cessation of name-and-form as well as of the six sense spheres, an experience of Nirvana would not involve concepts and also not implicate the operation of the normal avenues of experience, such as seeing or hearing, etc.<\/p>\n

In other words, the teaching on the four truths was at the outset quite probably not meant to convey that the actual realization of the Buddha\u2019s awakening implies the reflections \u201coh, this is\u00a0dukkha\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>,\u201d and then \u201coh, this is its arising,\u201d etc. Instead, the original purpose of employing the scheme of four truths appears to be mainly to express the realization of awakening in a form comprehensible to others. The difference is a subtle one, however, as the scheme just makes explicit the repercussions of the experience of Nirvana for full awakening, due to which\u00a0dukkha<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u00a0is fully understood (as one knows what completely transcends\u00a0dukkh<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha a<\/em>), craving is eradicated, the cessation of\u00a0dukkha<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u00a0is realized, and the cultivation of the eightfold path reaches its consummation.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its parallels agree in presenting the matter in terms of three turnings relevant to each of the four truths (one version,\u00a0E\u0100 24.5, just refers to this in brief). The resultant presentation can be illustrated by employing the Roman numerals I to IV for the four truths and the Arabic numbers 1 to 3 for the three turnings in relation to each of the four:<\/p>\n

dukkha<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(I.1), should be understood (I.2), has been understood (I.3);<\/p>\n

the arising of\u00a0dukkha<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(II.1), should be eradicated (II.2), has been eradicated (II.3);<\/p>\n

the cessation of\u00a0dukkha<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(III.1), should be realized (III.2), has been realized (III.3);<\/p>\n

the path (IV.1), should be cultivated (IV.2), has been cultivated (IV.3).<\/p>\n

The three turnings make it clear that the tasks related to each the four truths involve, in actual practice, a more or less prolonged development. This begins with the implementation of the medical scheme of diagnosis as a framework for the recognition of\u00a0dukkha\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>of its cause, of the possibility to abandon that cause, and of the path of practice leading to that aim. Based on this initial appraisal comes the awareness that something needs to be done about each of these four truths. The fact of\u00a0dukkh<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha a<\/em>\u00a0needs to be fully understood, craving needs to be eradicated, the cessation of\u00a0dukkha<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u00a0needs to be realized, and the eightfold path leading to such cessation needs to be cultivated. Implementing this orientation eventually finds its culmination when\u00a0dukkha<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u00a0has indeed been fully understood, craving has indeed been eradicated, the cessation of\u00a0dukkha<\/em>\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u00a0has indeed been realized, and the path has indeed been successfully cultivated to its consummation point. Having completed this trajectory himself, the Buddha could confidently claim to have reached unsurpassed awakening.<\/p>\n

The idea of three turnings to be applied to each truth does not conflict with the actual event of awakening necessarily being a non-conceptual experience of Nirvana. The event of this experience has become possible through previously developed understanding and practice, which here is conveniently subsumed under the scheme of the four truths. This comes to its culmination when the experience of Nirvana serves as the realization of the cessation of\u00a0dukkha\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>, which at the same time completes the full actualization of the other three truths. In this way, the scheme of four truths can serve as a convenient way of expressing the implications of awakening in a conceptual manner suited to the ancient Indian setting, and at the same time provide an orientation point for actual practice leading up to its personal realization. The different accounts of the Buddha\u2019s first sermon agree that this happened right away, as the exposition of the four truths enabled one of his five former companions to gain stream-entry. This can be taken to confirm the ingenuity of the Buddha\u2019s choice to rely on a scheme of medical diagnosis to express his awakening in such a way that the resultant teaching can serve as a point of orientation for insightful reflection and meditative contemplation leading others to the same realization.<\/p>\n

From the viewpoint of the above exploration, then, the difference discussed above between the\u00a0Bhayabherava-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its\u00a0Ekottarika-\u0101gama<\/em>\u00a0parallel appears to be less dramatic than it may perhaps have seemed at first sight. A description of the Buddha knowing as it really is that \u201cthis is\u00a0du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u201d is in itself already a conceptualization of a non-conceptual experience (although \u201cthis is the cessation of\u00a0du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u201d would have been even more apt). To present the same matter by bringing in all four truths does not entail a substantial innovation, as it only involves a more detailed conceptualization. In other words, there is nothing intrinsically problematic in the\u00a0Bhayabherava-sutta<\/em>\u2019s indication, in relation to the four truths (and their application to the influxes), that it was on understanding like this and seeing like this that the Buddha\u2019s mind was liberated from the influxes. However, at least originally this would quite probably not have been meant as describing an intellectual type of understanding operative at the moment of awakening. Instead, it is best seen as meant to draw out the implications of the non-conceptual experience of Nirvana, in line with what according to tradition was the successful mode of explanation adopted by the Buddha in his first sermon. As already noted by Stuart (2013, p. 25), in a context more specifically related to the attainment of cessation but similarly applicable to the realization of Nirvana, \u201cthe cessation model and the realization-of-the-truths model \u2026 may very well have originally been positive and negative sides of the same coin.\u201d<\/p>\n

The success of the scheme of four truths in leading to the first successful conversions and therewith to the commencement of the Buddhist tradition must have led to a considerable emphasis placed in later tradition on this teaching. The description of the Buddha\u2019s awakening, in the way this is found, for example, in the\u00a0Bhayabherava-sutta<\/em>, was perhaps quite naturally taken literal. Here, the\u00a0Ekottarika-\u0101gama<\/em>\u00a0parallel to the\u00a0Bhayabherava-sutta<\/em>\u00a0offers an important glimpse on the textual processes that eventually would have led to an identification of the four truths as the content of awakening in some exegetical texts, although others still return attention to the key element in the experience of Nirvana (Schmithausen 1981, pp. 240\u2013246).<\/p>\n

In this way, rather than competing theories of how liberating insight leads to realization, what we seem to have here appear to be competing theories on how literal descriptions of realization by way of the scheme of four truths should be read. On this understanding, the present instance would be in line with the keen assessment by Gombrich (1996, p. 21) that \u201cunintentional literalism has been a major force for change in the early doctrinal history of Buddhism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Buddha\u2019s Noble Quest<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Another discourse still remains to be examined, namely the description of the Buddha\u2019s noble quest for awakening, given in the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its\u00a0Madhyama-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>parallel. The relevant passage sets in after the future Buddha had just left his two teachers, realizing that attaining the higher two immaterial spheres had not brought him to the goal of his noble quest for freedom from old age, disease, and death. The extract given below, which serves as a transition to his proclamation that he did indeed reach Nirvana and gain freedom from old age, disease, and death, proceeds in the following manner:<\/p>\n

Monastics, it occurred to me: \u2018This is indeed a delightful piece of land, the grove is charming, the river\u2019s flow is clear, it has delightful smooth banks, and a nearby village for [alms] resort. This is indeed adequate for the striving of a clansman intent on striving. Monastics, I sat down right there [thinking]: \u2018This is adequate for striving.\u2019<\/p>\n

(MN 26:\u00a0tassa mayha\u1e43, bhikkhave, etad ahosi: rama\u1e47\u012byo vata, bho, bh\u016bmibh\u0101go, p\u0101s\u0101diko ca vanasa\u1e47\u1e0do, nad\u012b ca sandati setak\u0101 supatitth\u0101 rama\u1e47\u012by\u0101, samant\u0101 ca gocarag\u0101mo. ala\u1e43 vat\u2019 ida\u1e43 kulaputtassa padh\u0101natthikassa padh\u0101n\u0101y\u0101 ti. so kho aha\u1e43, bhikkhave, tatth\u2019 eva nis\u012bdi\u1e43: alam ida\u1e43 padh\u0101n\u0101y\u0101 ti<\/em>).<\/p>\n

I thought: \u2018This place that I have reached is a delightful lush mountain forest by the river Nera\u00f1jar\u0101, which is clean and full to its banks. If a son of a good family wishes to train, he can train here. I also should train; I would now rather train in this place.\u2019 I promptly took some grass and approached the tree of awakening. Having reached it, I spread [the grass] as a sitting mat beneath [the tree] and sat down cross-legged with the determination not to break my sitting until the influxes had been eradicated. I did not break my sitting until the influxes had been eradicated.<\/p>\n

(M\u0100 204:\u00a0\u4fbf\u4f5c\u662f\u5ff5:\u00a0\u6b64\u5730\u81f3\u53ef\u611b\u6a02\u5c71\u6797\u6b1d\u8302,\u00a0\u5c3c\u9023\u79aa\u6cb3\u6e05\u6d41\u76c8\u5cb8.\u00a0\u82e5\u65cf\u59d3\u5b50\u6b32\u6709\u5b78\u8005,\u00a0\u53ef\u65bc\u4e2d\u5b78.\u00a0\u6211\u4ea6\u7576\u5b78,\u00a0\u6211\u4eca\u5be7\u53ef\u65bc\u6b64\u4e2d\u5b78.\u00a0\u5373\u4fbf\u6301\u8349\u5f80\u8a63\u89ba\u6a39,\u00a0\u5230\u5df2\u5e03\u4e0b\u6577\u5c3c\u5e2b\u6a80,\u00a0\u7d50\u8dcf\u8dba\u5750,\u00a0\u8981\u4e0d\u89e3\u5750,\u00a0\u81f3\u5f97\u6f0f\u76e1.\u00a0\u6211\u4fbf\u4e0d\u89e3\u5750,\u00a0\u81f3\u5f97\u6f0f\u76e1).<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Madhyama-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>parallel is more detailed than the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta<\/em>, which breaks off right after the future Buddha sat down with determination and thus has no reference at all to the actual event of awakening. In the P\u0101li version, his awakening only comes up implicitly in the ensuing passage, found in both versions, which reports the Buddha\u2019s proclamation of his successful realization. But even the\u00a0Madhyama-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>discourse does not mention the three higher knowledges and just has a terse reference to the eradication of the influxes.<\/p>\n

Bareau (1963, p. 74) saw the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its\u00a0Madhyama-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>parallel as presenting an alternative and earlier account of the Buddha\u2019s awakening, composed out of ignorance of the more developed version that has the three higher knowledges, which consequently should be considered a later development. Wynne (2007, p. 16) also considered this discourse to be \u201cthe oldest account of the awakening.\u201d In support of this assessment, he noted that in particular the unsuccessful meeting with the potential convert Upaka must be ancient, as it involves some old phrasing and because such an episode would hardly have been invented later (see also Levman 2020, p. 154).<\/p>\n

Granting the ancient nature of this episode, however, does not imply that the whole discourse must be similarly early. The episode in question also occurs in later texts, among which feature the\u00a0Lalitavistara,\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0Mah\u0101vastu<\/em>, and the\u00a0Sa\u1e45ghabhedavastu\u00a0<\/em>(An\u0101layo 2011b, p. 184). The occurrence of this episode in these texts does not imply that their differing coverage of the Buddha\u2019s quest and awakening must be early in its entirety. The same holds for the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta<\/em>, simply because the\u00a0<\/em>prolonged period of oral transmission of the early discourses left ample scope for early episodes to be combined with later material. Elsewhere the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>in fact shows a substantial difference from its\u00a0Madhyama-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>parallel, as the Buddha\u2019s hesitation to teach is completely absent from the latter (An\u0101layo 2011a). Whichever way one decides to interpret this difference, whether as an expansion of the P\u0101li version or a textual loss in its Chinese parallel, there clearly has been some substantial development during the prolonged period of their transmission in at least one of the two versions even though both have the apparently early episode involving Upaka.<\/p>\n

The reasoning originally proposed by Bareau (1963) appears to some extent to be based on a failure to take fully into account that\u00a0the early discourses are records of individual oral teachings given to a particular audience and in a specific setting. It follows that the expectation that each discourse should treat a particular topic or issue in a thoroughly comprehensive manner, failing which there must be a substantial doctrinal problem, risks being to some extent a category mistake\u00a0(An\u0101layo 2021b).<\/p>\n

It follows that the presentation in the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its\u00a0Madhyama-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>parallel does not necessarily imply that these discourses came into being at a time when the account of the Buddha\u2019s gain of the three higher knowledges had not yet come into existence, as assumed by Bareau (1963, p. 74). In fact, the\u00a0Bhayabherava-sutta\u00a0<\/em>(MN 4), which reports the Buddha\u2019s realization of the three higher knowledges, occurs previous to the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>(MN 26) in the same\u00a0Majjhima-nik\u0101ya\u00a0<\/em>collection. A subsequent discourse in the same collection, the\u00a0Mah\u0101saccaka-sutta\u00a0<\/em>(MN 36), has a detailed report of the Buddha\u2019s ascetic practices. This shows that the reciters of this collection must have been aware of these textual pieces.<\/p>\n

Wynne (2007, p. 21) attempted to harmonize Bareau\u2019s proposal with the actual textual evidence by arguing that the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta<\/em>\u00a0\u201cwas closed early on because it was known to be the most ancient account of the awakening.\u201d Yet, if what he refers to as the \u201cearly redactors\u201d had indeed known that, they could have easily adjusted the other accounts accordingly in order to ensure that the most ancient and thereby most authentic version becomes the normative one. Besides the problem of interpreting oral literature based on ideas taken from the production of written texts, it seems considerably more straightforward to see these different discourses as complementary rather than competing accounts.<\/p>\n

Such a perspective would also do more justice to the main theme of the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its\u00a0Madhyama-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>parallel, which is to provide a contrast between the Buddha\u2019s noble quest and the ignoble quest for sensual pleasures:<\/p>\n

Monastics, there are these two [types of] quest: the noble quest and the ignoble quest.<\/p>\n

(MN 26:\u00a0dve\u2019 m\u0101, bhikkhave, pariyesan\u0101: ariy\u0101 ca pariyesan\u0101, anariy\u0101 ca pariyesan\u0101<\/em>).<\/p>\n

There are two types of quest, the first is called a noble quest, and the second is called an ignoble quest.<\/p>\n

(M\u0100 204:\u00a0\u6709\u4e8c\u7a2e\u6c42:\u00a0\u4e00\u66f0\u8056\u6c42,\u00a0\u4e8c\u66f0\u975e\u8056\u6c42).<\/p>\n

The basic contrast proposed in this way can be related to a distinction made at the outset of the\u00a0Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its parallels, which take up the two extremes that should be avoided. One of these is the same quest for sensual indulgence. The other extreme of asceticism, however, is different and does not fit easily into the contrast that informs the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta<\/em>\u00a0and its parallel. In fact, in a way ascetic practices would even have to be considered an instance of the noble quest, depicted in the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta<\/em>, since they spring from the motivation to find a way out of old age, disease, and death. It is precisely for this reason that the Buddha is on record for having himself engaged in such ascetic practices.<\/p>\n

Yet, a description of his ascetic practices would not fit smoothly into the presentation of the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its parallel, whose purpose is to present the Buddha\u2019s noble quest as a source of inspiration and emulation by his disciples. In this setting, the immaterial spheres do find a placing, but not a description of the Buddha\u2019s asceticism, which the\u00a0Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its parallels explicitly reject as an extreme to be avoided.<\/p>\n

If this much is granted, it becomes perhaps more understandable why the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its\u00a0Madhyama-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>parallel may have on purpose avoided a full coverage of the topic of the Buddha\u2019s ascetic practices, namely because it does not fit the overall thrust of their exposition. The most natural way of doing so is to be brief on what happened after he left his two teachers and focus just on the actual accomplishment of the noble quest (this being anyway the main topic of both discourses) in terms of freedom from old age, disease, and death. This enables continuing the narrative thread in a way that directly relates to the two teachers already described, namely by depicting the recently awakened Buddha\u2019s wish to share his discovery with them. This would explain why neither the ascetic practices nor the ensuing three higher knowledges come up for a detailed examination, even though the reciters of the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>must have been aware of these.<\/p>\n

In fact, the\u00a0Madhyama-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>parallel briefly mentions the two extremes, yet it also does not go into the details of the Buddha\u2019s own pre-awakening asceticism. Moreover, the report of the reaction by the Buddha\u2019s five former companions in both the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its\u00a0Madhyama-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>parallel clearly reflects awareness of his former ascetic period. These are not related in detail probably because the purpose of the presentation is the specific topic of the contrast between the noble and the ignoble quest, rather than the idea of presenting a comprehensive account of each of the Buddha\u2019s experiences from the time of his going forth to his awakening.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, it is of course not possible to be completely sure what motivated the choice of topics covered in the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its parallel, so that the reasoning presented here remains hypothetical. Nevertheless, as long as the hypothesis is coherent, it suffices to show that there is no need to problematize the narrative thread of the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>and its parallel as involving a substantial departure from reports of the Buddha\u2019s awakening in other discourses of the same collection.<\/p>\n

The central topic of the exposition in both versions is the contrast between the two types of quest. From that perspective, a detailed account of the Buddha\u2019s pre-awakening attainment of the immaterial spheres fits the context as an illustration of profound realizations that still fall short of the final goal of the noble quest. It is also meaningful to depict how the realization of this noble quest meets with initial rejection by those who believe that asceticism is the only way to salvation. But an account of his own ascetic practices would no longer fulfil the purpose of providing an inspiring illustration of the noble quest. In other words, the explicitly formulated narrative purpose of the discourse explains why some topics would have been treated in more detail and others just covered in short.<\/p>\n

Ignoring this purpose has led Anderson (1999\/2001, p. 63) to another and similarly unconvincing conclusion, namely that the Buddha\u2019s teaching of the four noble truths must be a later development: \u201cthe\u00a0Ariyapariyesana-sutta\u00a0<\/em>shows that certain redactors of the canon conceived of the Buddha\u2019s act of teaching without the four noble truths.\u201d As already noted in An\u0101layo (2012, p. 30)<\/p>\n

The expectation that the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta<\/em>\u00a0should give a complete account of everything that is in some way related to the Buddha\u2019s awakening mistakes a discourse with autobiographical features for a full-fledged autobiography. Such a full-fledged autobiography, however, is not provided in any discourse in the four P\u0101li\u00a0Nik\u0101ya<\/em>s.<\/p>\n

In other words, basing far-reaching conclusions on the mere absence of certain descriptions in the\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta<\/em>\u00a0fails to recognize that the construction of a full biography is not a concern of the early discourses and only becomes important in later times. In relation to the Buddha\u2019s awakening, as already pointed out by Gethin (2020, p. 48), the presentation in \u201cthe\u00a0Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta\u00a0<\/em>(MN 26) and its parallel (M\u0100 204) represents not so much an account of the Buddha\u2019s awakening according to an alternative scheme, as simply the omission of the details of any scheme.\u201d This in turn goes to show, as argued by Gethin (2004, p. 209), that at times \u201cthe focusing on the divergent and incompatible in the early Buddhist accounts of the path and goal is a classic instance of a failure to see the wood for the trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

In sum, the Buddha\u2019s \u201cawakening\u201d described in the early textual sources can be understood to converge on the experience of Nirvana, equaling the cessation of\u00a0dukkha\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>\u00a0together with the cessation of all links of dependent arising leading to\u00a0dukkha\/du\u1e25kha<\/em>. Being necessarily a non-conceptual experience, the far-reaching ramifications of this breakthrough can conveniently be expressed with the help of the diagnostic scheme of four truths which, according to the traditional account, was the means employed successfully by the Buddha in his first sermon for the conversion of his first five disciples.<\/p>\n

Compliance with Ethical Standards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ethical Approval: This article does not contain any studies performed by the author with human participants or animals.<\/p>\n

Conflict of Interest: The author declares he has no conflict of interest.<\/p>\n

Abbreviations<\/strong><\/p>\n

AN,\u00a0A\u1e45guttara-nik\u0101ya<\/em>; E\u0100,\u00a0Ekottarika-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>(T 125); M\u0100,\u00a0Madhyama-\u0101gama\u00a0<\/em>(T 26);\u00a0MN,\u00a0Majjhima-nik\u0101ya<\/em>;\u00a0SN,\u00a0Sa\u1e43yutta-nik\u0101ya<\/em>; T, Taish\u00d8\u00a0(Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Zafiropulo, G. (1993).\u00a0L\u2019illumination du Buddha, de la qu\u00eate \u00e0 l\u2019annonce de l\u2019\u00e9veil, essais de chronologie relative et de stratigraphie textuelle, enqu\u00eate sur l\u2019ensemble des textes canoniques bouddhistes se r\u00e9f\u00e9rant\u00a0<\/em>\u2013\u00a0\u00e0 titre principale ou accessoire\u00a0<\/em>\u2013\u00a0\u00e0 l\u2019abhisa\u1e43bodhi du fondateur et \u00e0 quelques \u00e9pisodes connexes, ant\u00e9rieurs ou post\u00e9rieurs<\/em>.\u00a0Innsbruck: Institut f\u00fcr Sprachwissenschaft der Universit\u00e4t Innsbruck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bhikkhu An\u0101layo Abstract A comparative study of early Buddhist textual accounts of the Buddha\u2019s awakening helps to put into perspective the impression that these texts present competing theories of liberating insight and realization. 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