034 Buddha Preaching to Gods and Men (9210206955)

The Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta is a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya of the '' Tripitaka''. This sutta is number 72 in the Third Division on Wanderers aribbajakavagga and has an alternate spelling of ggivacchagottaby the Bhikkhu Nanamoli and

Bhikkhu Bodhi Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944), born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York and New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publica ...

. In this sutta,

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

clarifies his views on the nature of

existence Existence is the ability of an entity to interact with reality. In philosophy, it refers to the ontology, ontological Property (philosophy), property of being. Etymology The term ''existence'' comes from Old French ''existence'', from Medieval ...

and explains the nature of

Nibbana Nirvana (Sanskrit: निर्वाण, '; Pali: ') is "blowing out" or "quenching" of the activities of the worldly mind and its related suffering. Nirvana is the goal of the Hinayana and Theravada Buddhist paths, and marks the soteriologica ...

to Vacchagotta by means of a

simile A simile () is a figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes differ from other metaphors by highlighting the similarities between two things using comparison words such as "like", "as", "so", or "than", while other metaphors cr ...

. A sentient being which is composed of

Skandha (Sanskrit) or (Pāḷi) means "heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates of clinging (), the five material and mental factors that take part in the rise of craving and clinging. They are also ...

who realized

is compared to an extinguished

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

The thicket of views

Vacchagotta first asks the Buddha whether he holds particular views on the extent of the

cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

, the relationship between mind and body, and the nature of a Tathagata's existence after death. To all the questions, Gautama Buddha simply replies he does not hold such views. Vacchagotta expresses confusion at this answer and asks why the Buddha takes no position regarding his questions. The Buddha explains that each question leads to an unresolvable thicket of

views A view is a sight or prospect or the ability to see or be seen from a particular place. View, views or Views may also refer to: Common meanings * View (Buddhism), a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thou ...

which will cause suffering and distress if investigated. Because such investigation cannot lead to enlightened understanding and nirvana, the Buddha takes no position on these subjects. The Tathagata is released due to true discernment and cessation of clinging.

Nirvana

Vacchagotta questions further. Where does the monk who has been released reappear? The following exchange results: : "'Reappear,' Vaccha, doesn't apply." : "In that case, Master Gotama, he does not reappear." : "'Does not reappear,' Vaccha, doesn't apply." : "...both does & does not reappear." : "...doesn't apply." : "...neither does nor does not reappear." : "...doesn't apply." Vacchagotta's confusion increases. The Buddha asks him in which direction a fire goes when it has gone out. Vaccha replies that the question "does not fit the case ... For the fire that depended on fuel ... when that fuel has all gone, and it can get no other, being thus without nutriment, it is said to be extinct." The Buddha then explains: "In exactly the same way ..., all form by which one could predicate the existence of the saint, all that form has been abandoned, uprooted, pulled out of the ground like a palmyra-tree, and become non-existent and not liable to spring up again in the future. The saint ... who has been released from what is styled form is deep, immeasurable, unfathomable, like the mighty ocean." The same is then said of the other aggregates. A

tathāgata Tathāgata () is a Pali word; Gautama Buddha uses it when referring to himself or other Buddhas in the Pāli Canon. The term is often thought to mean either "one who has thus gone" (''tathā-gata''), "one who has thus come" (''tathā-āgata''), o ...

has abandoned that clinging to the personality factors that render the

mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

a bounded, measurable entity, and is instead "freed from being reckoned by" all or any of them, even in life. The skandhas have been seen to be a burden, and an enlightened individual is one with "burden dropped". A variety of similar passages make it clear that the metaphor "gone out, he cannot be defined" (') refers equally to liberation in life. In the Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta itself, it is clear that the Buddha is the subject of the metaphor, and the Buddha has already "uprooted" or "annihilated" the five aggregates. In Sn 1074, it is stated that the sage cannot be "reckoned" because he is freed from the category "name" or, more generally, concepts. The absence of this precludes the possibility of reckoning or articulating a state of affairs; "name" here refers to the concepts or apperceptions that make propositions possible. The fire metaphor used in the Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta (which is also used elsewhere) is a radical way of making the point that the liberated sage is beyond phenomenal experience. It also makes the additional point that this indefinable, transcendent state is the sage's state even during life. This idea goes against the early Brahminic notion of liberation at death.

Dabba Sutta

The Udana's Dabba Sutta makes use of related imagery: :: ''Just as the bourn is not known'' :: ''Of the gradual fading glow'' :: ''Given off by the furnace-heated iron,'' :: ''As it is struck with the smith's hammer,'' :: ''So there is no pointing to the bourn'' :: ''Of those perfectly released'' :: ''Who have crossed the flood'' :: ''Of bondage to sense desires'' :: ''And attained unshakable bliss.'' : — Dabba Sutta, '' Udana'' VIII.10 In this case, the simile of the first four lines of the original

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

is obscure, and the above translation is only tentative regarding its intention.John D. Ireland, ''The Udana and the Itivuttaka.'' Buddhist Publication Society, 1997, page 11

note on difficulty in translating on page 216

Notes

External links

Translations
With Vacchagotta on Fire
translation by Bhikkhu Sujato
Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta
(

Access to Insight Access to Insight is a Theravada Buddhist website providing access to many translated texts from the Tipitaka, and contemporary materials published by the Buddhist Publication Society and many teachers from the Thai Forest Tradition. History A ...

), translation by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu {{Buddhism topics Majjhima Nikaya