Biswadeb Mukherjee is a visiting professor of Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies. 作者穆克紀為中華佛學斫究所客座教授。
關鍵詞
A special mental state=特殊的心靈狀態; Three vijjas=三明; Pannavimutti=慧解脫; Cetovimutti=心解脫
摘要
In the present article we have mainly studied the Dvedhāvitakka-sutta for evaluating Gotama the Bodhisattva's contribution to the śramaṇa system of meditation. The entire sutta represents an amalgam of two different pieces of teachings, one of which is recorded in the First Part of the translated materials and the other is contained in the Second and Third parts of the same.
The First Part of the materials presents an intermingling of two traditions; one of these traditions is concerned with the Buddha's teaching about the two types of thoughts while the other narrates the actual strivings of Gotama the Bodhisattva regarding the same two types of thoughts. According to the second tradition Gotama got rid of the evil thoughts of desire, malevolence and violence by adversely criticising them and then he developed the opposite good thoughts of renunciation, benevolence and compassion through appreciative deliberations. The contents of both the adverse criticism and the appreciative deliberations are concerned with the wholesome and unwholesome effects of the good thoughts and the evil thoughts respectively, and in no way associated with paññā and nibbāna.
The First Part was originally an independent piece of teaching and cannot be regarded as a prelude to the second and third parts. But we have no reason to doubt the authenticity of the tradition contained in the First Part that Gotama valued the mental morality more than the physical morality. It is one of the points in which Gotama deviated from the traditional spiritual practices of the śramaṇas.
The Second Part and the Third Part give an account of the meditative system by practising which Gotama attained bodhi and other vijjās. The four rūpa jhānas constituted an important part of this system. The jhāna formulas he followed omit the term parama-diṭṭhadhamma-nibbānam found in the rūpa jhāna formulas of the Parama-diṭṭhadhamma-nibbānavādins. This change was first made by the ascetics practising the Ārupya-samāpattis, and Gotama later accepted it. The rest of the formulas has been preserved unaltered. The term attā was dropped later by Gotama the Buddha when he preached the dhamma. This shows that Gotama followed the traditional meditative techniques and attained identical jhanic states previously realised by the other śramaṇas but his evaluation of the jhanic states was different. He, like the Ārūpyavādins, rejected the interpretation of the various pleasant feelings (vedana) as nibbāna, the ultimate spiritual goal. On the other hand he alone appreciated the mental qualities of purified mindfulness etc. that enabled him to experience the neutral feeling of adukkhamasukham in the fourth rūpa jhāna. This jhanic state he rightly recognised as a means to higher spiritual goal.
He did not value any subjective pleasant experience which was temporarily free from dukkha. So he was able to get detached from the feeling of adukkham-asukham, but unlike the Ārūpyavādins he did not enter into any trance-like state of infinite space etc. Consequently the mental state in which he remained was detached from mental reaction to any object observed and so was fully alert, perfectly mindful and concentrated. This mental state was a unique contribution to the śramaṇa culture and was most valued by him.
This special mental state he applied to gain three knowledges (vijjā), one of which was bodhi, the complete and perfect wisdom. The first expression of the bodhi was the absolutely objective and complete knowledge concerning the āśravas. This knowledge took him out of the cycle of repeated births and deaths. And he knew that he had become liberated, never to be born again. The liberation which Gotama attained may be termed 'cetovimutti'.
By going for and attaining bodhi with the help of the special mental state Gotama completely broke away from the trodden path of the śramaṇas and revolutionised the spiritual world of the śamaṇas.
