A review of the Buddhist scripture the Sutta Pitaka

¶ … Sutta Pitaka

Before Beginning

The discourses held within the Sutta Pitaka are said to be written for the common individual to easily understand them, and yet looking at their organization as a collection of discourses and searching the content of the five books or collection,

Morgan 70) anyone who has limited knowledge of Buddhism is likely to feel that reading through them all is likely to be a daunting task and one likely experienced over a long period for the devout and curious alike. The origin of the text is reflected in the English translation of its title, Basket of Discourses, as it is only marginally organized by topic but is mainly grouped (within the five collections) by length and consists of dual conversations had by Buddha with others on many topics of value for the Buddhist. Though as the complete collection goes the Sutta Pitaka is likely the most approachable for the novice reader it is also a significant and lengthy document that would be better served by being broken down into smaller pieces for analysis. I am apprehensive about the analysis due to the length and complicated nature of the long dialogue I am interested and curious how Buddhism fits within the varied and interesting philosophies of a very wise and varied era in India.

Introduction

This work will then demonstrate an analysis not of the whole, which is entirely to lengthy to be fully conceptualized in a short work but will instead be an analysis of the Brahmajala Sutta (the Perfect Net), the first book of the Digha Nikaya or Collection of Long Dialogues, which is commonly accepted as the first Dialogue of the Sutta Pitaka. From this analysis one should be able to see and experience some of the most profound teachings of the Buddha, through what are purported to be his own words, regarding the encapsulating nature of life and humanity. This text has been oft discussed as a core aspect of the Buddhist ideal in seeking and potentially reaching the ultimate state of being. Most importantly, the Perfect Net broadly and succinctly demystifies the place that Buddhism holds in all world religions, by commenting on the many and varied ways in which the self and spirit can be seen to be connected in one way or another and how all the varied dogmas intertwine and are encapsulated by Buddhism or dismissed as error by the same.

The Scripture comes from the core of the Buddhist faith, and is demonstrative of the idea that though the concepts are complicated, interweaving and deep they can be approached by the common believer. The Author of the work is said to be Buddha himself, and the work itself though it is clearly written by a third party and begins with a dialogue between a student (supporter of the Buddhist faith) and a teacher a detractor of the philosophy of Buddha. Buddha (the blessed one) then ascertains to correct the collective discussion by taking it apart, without malice, recording and redirecting the discussion to one that rejects the existence of the soul as a separate entity but accepts many of the philosophies surrounding it. Buddha is clearly already a man of constant and accepted adoration and the content of the work shows full well that he is also accepting of dissent and more than willing to redirect debates back to his own philosophical doctrines and standards.

5. 'Brethren, if outsiders should speak against me, or against the Doctrine, or against the Order, you should not on that account either bear malice, or suffer heart-burning, or feel ill will. If you, on that account, should be angry and hurt, that would stand in the way of your, own self-conquest. if, when others speak against us, you feel angry at that, and displeased, would you then be able to judge how far that speech of theirs is well said or ill?'

That would not be so, Sir.'

But when outsiders speak in dispraise of me, or of the Doctrine, or of the Order, you should unravel what is false and point it out as wrong, saying: "For this or that reason this is not the fact, that is not so, such a thing is not found among us, is not in us."

6. 'But also, brethren, if outsiders should speak in praise of me, in praise of the Doctrine, in praise of the Order, you should not, on that account, be filled with pleasure or gladness, or be lifted up in heart. Were you to be so that also would stand in the way of your self-conquest. When outsiders speak in praise of me, or of the Doctrine, or of the Order, you should acknowledge what is right to be the fact, saying: "For this or that reason this is the fact, that is so, such a thing is found among us, is in us."

7. 'It is in respect only of trifling things, of matters of little value, of mere morality, that an unconverted man, when praising the Tathagata, would speak. And what are such trifling, minor details of mere morality that he would praise. (Miller & Davis, PTS Vol I, Sutta Pitaka, Digha Nikaya, Brahmajala Sutta, NP)

Though Buddha clearly takes the high ground, he asserts that anything that an unconverted man might discuss would be of little real value, trifling and therefore unlikely to be of harm to the faith or to himself, the embodiment of the faith. The compilers of the work also note that there is considerable controversy regarding the dating or authorship of the works, as it is never dated, obviously meaning to give it a sort of timelessness but that it is frequently reflective of various social, political and philosophical concepts apparent in the period, which would give archeologists and scriptural scholars clues as to its reasonable date. Within the electronic version of the text, and the 1956 text it is taken from one can easily follow some of these clues through extensive explanatory footnoting but would need a very wise eye and mind to completely place the work within the exact context of the period. What is known is that the period encompassed a time when the Buddha had begun to collect a broad and large following of men and women seeking to learn from him and live in the way that he lives, given the deference and reverence shown him in the work and the sheer number of followers said to be traveling with him on his journey, "with about five hundred brethren." (Brahmajala Sutta)

The text is intended for conversion of everyday man, and yet it is also indicative of the continued teaching of the order, the monks and nuns who make up the masses of Buddhist teachings and who follow the Buddha in life and death. The passage was written in an unknown time, yet with context and character can be marginally dated, by a scholar. It fits into the whole of scripture as the beginning of the every man section of doctrine as a sort of history lesson placing Buddhism and its unique yet collaborative view of the soul within the context of converging and diverging philosophies of the time some general and some explicit but mainly grouped as eternal or finite views of the existence of the soul in Buddhist rather than conventional terms.

Summary of Content

The work as has been stated previously begins with a brief recollection of a dialogue between a teacher and student, "Suppiya the mendicant [11] too was going along the high road between Rajagaha and Nalanda with his disciple the youth Brahmadatta." In the conversation between the teacher and the student it is said that the student was supportive of the Buddha and that the teacher (Suppiya) was in conflict with him. The Sacred One learns of the dialogue and decides to hold an impromptu lecture to clear up any concerns regarding his teachings, his doctrine and his order. Buddha deals first with his assertion that detraction is nothing to fear and detractors are not to be feared or elicit anger as what they have to say is limited by their ignorance rather that true malice and without enlightenment filled with inconsequential minor details of mere morality.

To easily summarize the content one must look to the scholarship of others as the work is not easily classified and is not organized in any manner that reveals an ordered or outlined train of thoughts that a novice could easily interpret.

A the Brahmaj-la-sutta, which concludes that beyond any speculations are "things profound, hard to see, hard to understand, calm and excellent, beyond the region of logic, subtle, comprehensible only to the wise, which the Tath-gata, having comprehended and realized, proclaims."The Brahmaj-la-sutta itself contains the fullest account of theories supposed to have been held by other schools, and it is in these that attempts have been made to find points of contact with the orthodox philosophical systems. It is called "the net of Brahma" (brahma-j-la), and claims to include in its list all possible views. "All those ascetics and brahmins who construct systems about the past or the future, or both, who hold theories about both, and who make various assertions about the past and future, are all caught in this net of sixty-two subjects. There they are, though they plunge and plunge about. There they are caught in the net, though they plunge and plunge about." The apparent elaborateness of the scheme becomes clearer when it is analysed. The views fall into two classes, speculations about the past and about the future:

I. There are those who hold views about the beginnings of things in eighteen ways: (1) Some hold in four ways 2 that the self or soul (?tman) and the universe (loka) are eternal. (2) Some hold in four ways that the self and universe are in some respects eternal and in some not.(3) Some hold that the universe is finite, or infinite, or finite and infinite, or neither finite nor infinite. (4) Some wriggle like eels in four ways, and refuse a clear answer. (5) Some assert in two ways that the self and universe have arisen without a cause.

II. Some hold views about the future in forty-four ways: (1) They hold in sixteen ways that the self exists as conscious after death. (2) in eight ways that it exists as unconscious after death. (3) in eight ways that it is neither conscious nor unconscious after death. (4) They hold in seven ways the annihilation of the individual. (5) They hold that Nirv-n -- a consists in the enjoyment of this life in five ways, either in the pleasures of sense or in one of the four trances.

Thomas 74-75)

From this summary of the content one must then go back to the text to fully understand what the Buddha was trying to say. First he dismissed the concept of the soul as discrete from the body and then discussed the nature of the very same soul, but without the confines of conventional ideology of what the soul is and does. In so doing he discusses the major beliefs regarding eternal life, omniscience, finite life and how to live within this world in the most holy of ways. Each of the issues of morality are dealt with by the Buddha as trifling, despite the fact that his character the Gotama the recluse holds himself aloof from many things of the physical world he does so for not as the character of the lists will tell one, "Carpets with awnings above them" (15) "Walking sticks, reed cases for drugs, rapiers, sunshades..." (16) the Buddha goes on and on listing in detail the many minor issues of morality, including occupations of healers as well as minor topics of conversation all set aside by Gotama and yet embraced by other Brahmans as they go through life teaching and learning. The Buddha expresses that those who are enlightened do not dwell on the trivial but instead deal with:

28. 'There are, brethren, other things profound, difficult to realise, hard to understand, tranquillising, sweet, not to be grasped by mere logic, subtle, comprehensible only by the wise [142] These things the Tathagata, having himself realised them and seen them face-to-face, hath set forth; and it is of them that they, who would rightly praise the Tathagata in accordance with the truth, should speak. 'And what are they? 29. 'There are recluses and Brahmans, brethren, who reconstruct the ultimate beginnings of things, whose speculations are concerned with the ultimate past [143], and who on eighteen grounds put forward various [q 027/] assertions regarding it. (Brahmajala Sutta)

Analysis of Content

The text is espoused in dialogue form, beginning with a clear dialogue of remembrance, of the words of others and the words of Buddha (speech) in his travels as a teacher. It is in the form of prose with the inclusion of comprehensive lists of mundane topics of practice, belief and contemplation which are then dismissed with a history lesson that includes challenges to conventional thinking and philosophy, deep discourse on what is and is not important and real, according to Buddha and associated with divine contemplation.

The order of the text is relatively simple, dismissing mundane issues and resolving to ascertain the complete idea of the soul as an infinite but not separate being. There are contradictions though that can be found to challenge conventional ideas of the existence of the soul without dismissing the concept completely, but these are clearly the product of language, as without language the teachings cannot be recorded but with it the definitions of the soul are intrinsically finite and therefore to some extent embracing of the idea of the soul as existing in some time and place, beyond which Buddha does not accept as reality. The theme is considered complete but is also reflective of the interchange between all the scriptures of the faith, as it is a core representation of belief, offered in a causal speech, quietly espoused by Buddha in a calm atmosphere, despite the fact that it begins with a debate that deters from the teachings.