That system, it will be seen, is called the Noble Path, and is divided into eight sections or divisions, each of which commences with the word sammd — a word for which we have no real equivalent in English, though it has been rendered by such terms as 'right/ 'perfect,' and ' correct/ Our word ' right/ in some of its uses, would be a sufficiently adequate translation, but it is based on a different derivation, and connotes a set of ideas not alluded to by samml If used as an adjective this word — signifying literally 'going with* — means either ' general, common/ or ' corresponding, mutual/ and as an adverb, ' commonly, usually, normally/ or ' fittingly, pro- perly, correctly ; ' and hence, in a secondary sense, and with allusion to both these ideas, ' round, fit, and perfect, normal and complete/ When used to characterise such widely different things as language, livelihood, and belief, the meaning of the term is by no means difficult to grasp ; but it is difficult, if not impossible, to find any single English word which in each case would convey its full force without importing also some extraneous idea. From a desire to follow closely the Pali form of expression I had first in my manual of ' Buddhism ' adopted the one word ' right ' throughout the translation of the text ; and I have kept to this below, though I feel that that word quite fails to give the force of the preposition sam (aw-, con-), which is the essential part of the P41i sam ma. But I think the meaning of the Buddhist ideal, of the summary which is the most essential doctrine, the very pith of Buddhism, would be better brought out by a diversified rendering in the way I afterwards attempted in an article in the Fortnightly Review (No. CLVI) ; or, as above (p. 107), with the authorised interpretation appended. It would then run —
144 FOUNDATION OF KINGDOM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
1. Right Views; free from superstition or delusion.
2. Right Aims; high, and worthy of the intelligent,
earnest man.
3. Right Speech; kindly, open, truthful.
4. Right Conduct; peaceful, honest, pure.
5. Right Livelihood; bringing hurt or danger to no
living thing.
' 6. Right Effort; in self-training, and in self-control.
7. Right Mindfulness ; the active, watchful mind.
8. Right Contemplation; earnest thought on the
deep mysteries of life.
It is interesting to notice that Gogerly, who first rendered samma throughout by correct 1 , afterwards adopted the other method 2 ; and as these eight divisions of the perfect life are of such vital importance for a correct understanding of what Buddhism really was, I here add in parallel columns his two versions of the terms used : —
1. Correct views (of truth). Correct doctrines.
2. Correct thoughts. A clear perception (of their
5. Correct (mode of obtain- A sinless occupation, ing a) livelihood.
The varying expressions in these two lists are intended in all cases, (except perhaps the second,) to convey the same idea. The second division (samma-sankappo) is not really open to any doubt. Sankappois will, volition, determina- tion, desire ; that exertion of the will in the various affairs of life which results from the feeling that a certain result will be desirable. The only variation in the meaning is that sometimes more stress is laid upon the implied exertion of the will, sometimes more stress upon the implied desire
3. Correct words.
4. Correct conduct.
nature). Inflexible veracity. Purity of conduct.
6. Correct efforts.
7. Correct meditation.
8. Correct tranquillity.
Perseverance in duty. Holy meditation. Mental tranquillity.
1 Journal of the Ceylon Asiatic Society, 1845.
2 Ibid. 1865.
which calls it into action. ' Motive' would be somewhat
too impersonal, * volition 1 too metaphysical a rendering ;
' aims ' or ' aspirations ' seems to me to best express
the sense intended in this passage.
In No. 7 (sammd-sati) sati is literally 'memory/ but is used with reference to the constantly repeated phrase ' mindful and thoughtful' (sato sampa^dno) ; and means that activity of mind and constant presence of mind which is one of the duties most frequently inculcated on the good Buddhist. Gogerly's rendering of the term should have been reserved for the last division (sammi-samddhi), that prolonged meditation on the deep mysteries of life, which is stated in the Great Decease 1 to be the necessary complement and accessory to intelligence and goodness. Reason and works are good in themselves, but they require to be made perfect by that samddhi which in Buddhism corresponds to faith in Christianity.
This Buddhist ideal of the perfect life has an analogy most instructive from a historical point of view with the ideals of the last pagan thinkers in Europe before the rise of Christianity, and of the modern exponents of what has been called fervent atheism. When after many cen- turies of thought a pantheistic or monotheistic unity has been evolved out of the chaos of polytheism, — which is itself a modified animism or animistic polydaemonism, — there has always arisen at last a school to whom theo- logical discussions have lost their interest, and who have sought for a new solution of the questions to which the theologies have given inconsistent answers, in a new system in which man was to work out here, on earth, his own salvation. It is their place in the progress of thought that helps us to understand how it is that there is so much in common between the Agnostic philosopher of India, the Stoics of Greece and Rome, and some of the newest schools in France, in Germany, and among ourselves.
1 Chap. I, § ia, and often afterwards.
The Foundation
Of the
Kingdom of Righteousness -
DHAMMA-^AKKA-PPAVATTANA-SUTTA,
Reverence to the Blessed One, the Holy One, the Fully-Enlightened One.
once staying at Benares, at the hermitage called
Migaddya. And there the Blessed One addressed
the company of the five Bhikkhus 1 , and said :
2. ' There are two extremes, O Bhikkhus, which
the man who has given up the world 2 ought not
to follow — the habitual practice, on the one hand,
of those things whose attraction depends upon the
passions, and especially of sensuality — a low and
pagan 3 way (of seeking satisfaction) unworthy, un-
profitable, and fit only for the worldly-minded —
1 These are the five mendicants who had waited on the Bodisat during his austerities, as described in 'Buddhist Birth Stories,' pp. 88, 89. Their names are given on p. 113 of that book; see below, the note on § 32.
9 Pabba^ito, one who has gone forth, who has renounced worldly things, a ' religious/
3 Gamma, a word of the same derivation as, and corresponding meaning to, our word 4 pagan.'
DHAMMA-2TAKKA-PPAVATTANA-SUTTA.
and the habitual practice, on the other hand, of
asceticism (or self-mortification), which is painful,
unworthy, and unprofitable.
3. 6 There is a middle path, O Bhikkhus, avoiding
these two extremes, discovered by the Tathdgata 1
— a path which opens the eyes, and bestows under-
standing, which leads to peace of mind, to the
higher wisdom, to full enlightenment, to Nirv£#a !
4. 'What is that middle path, O Bhikkhus,
avoiding these two extremes, discovered by the
Tathdgata — that path which opens the fc eyes, and
bestows understanding, which leads to peace of
mind, to the higher wisdom, to full enlightenment,
to Nirvli^a ? Verily ! it is this noble eightfold
path ; that is to say :
1 Right views ;
Right aspirations;
Right speech ;
Right conduct;
Right livelihood ;
Right effort;
Right mindfulness ; and
Right contemplation.
' This, O Bhikkhus, is that middle path, avoiding
these two extremes, discovered by the Tathigata —
that path which opens the eyes, and bestows under-
1 The Tathdgata is an epithet of a Buddha. It is interpreted by Buddhaghosa, in the Samangala Vilasint, to mean that he came fo earth for the same purposes, after having passed through the same training in former births, as all the supposed former Buddhas; and that, when he had so come, all his actions corresponded with theirs.
' Avoiding these two extremes' should perhaps be referred to the TathSgata, but I prefer the above rendering.
148 FOUNDATION OF KINGDOM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
standing, which leads to peace of mind, to the higher wisdom, to full enlightenment, to Nirv&#a !
5. 'Now 1 this, O Bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning suffering.
4 Birth is attended with pain 2 , decay is painful,
disease is painful, death is painful. Union with the
unpleasant is painful, painful is separation from
the pleasant; and any craving that is unsatisfied,
that too is painful. In brief, the five aggregates
which spring from attachment (the conditions of
individuality and their cause) 3 are painful.
' This then, O Bhikkhus, is the noble truth con- cerning suffering.
6. ' Now this, O Bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the origin of suffering.
* Verily, it is that thirst (or craving), causing the
renewal of existence, accompanied by sensual de-
light, seeking satisfaction now here, now there —
that is to say, the craving for the gratification of the
passions, or the craving for (a future) life, or the
craving for success (in this present life) 4 .
1 On the following ' four truths ' compare Dhammapada, verse 191, and Mahd-parinibMna Sutta II, 2, 3, and IV, 7, 8.
2 Or ' is painful.'
8 Pa£# upadanakkhandha. On the Khandhft, or the mate- rial and mental aggregates which go to make up an individual, see my 'Buddhism/ Chap. III. Upddina, or * grasping' is their source, and the uprooting of this up id in a from the mind is Arahatship.
One might express the central thought of this First Noble Truth in the language of the nineteenth century by saying that pain results from existence as an individual. It is the struggle to maintain one's individuality which produces pain — a most preg- nant and far-reaching suggestion. See for a fuller exposition the Fortnightly Review for December, 1879.
4 ' The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life 9
Dh Amma-1takk a-Pp Avattana-Sutta. 1 49
' This then, O Bhikkhus, is the noble truth con- cerning the origin of suffering.
7. 'Now this, O Bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the destruction of suffering.
' Verily, it is the destruction, in which no passion
remains, of this very thirst ; the laying aside of, the
getting rid of, the being free from, the harbouring
no longer of this thirst.
' This then, O Bhikkhus, is the noble truth con- cerning the destruction of suffering.
8. 'Now this, O Bhikkhus, is the noble truth
concerning the way 1 which leads to the destruction
of sorrow. Verily ! it is this noble eightfold path 2 ;
that is to say:
correspond very exactly to the first and third of these three ta«hds. ' The lust of the flesh, the lust of life, and the pride of life,' or ' the lust of the flesh, the lust of life, and the love of this present world/ would be not inadequate renderings of all three.
The last two are in Pali bhava-ta«hi and vibhava-tawhi, on which Childers, on the authority of Vi^esiwha, says: 'The former applies to the sassata-di/Mi, and means a desire for an eternity of existence; the latter applies to the u£££eda-di/Mi, and means a desire for annihilation in the very first (the present) form of existence/ Sassata-di/Mi may be called the ' everlasting life heresy/ and u£££eda-di/Mi the Met-us-eat-and-drink-for- to-morrow-we-die heresy.' These two heresies, thus implicitly condemned, have very close analogies to theism and materialism.
Spence Hardy says (' Manual of Buddhism/ p. 496) : 'Bhawa- ta»h& signifies the pertinacious love of existence induced by the supposition that transmigratory existence is not only eternal, but felicitous and desirable. Wibhawa-ta»h£ is the love of the present life, under the notion that existence will cease therewith, and that there is to be no future state/
Vibhava in Sanskrit means, 1. development; 2. might, majesty, prosperity ; and 3. property : but the technical Buddhist sense, as will be seen from the above, is something more than this.
1 Pa/ipada.
2 Ariyo atahgiko Maggo.
I 50 FOUNDATION OF KINGDOM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
' Right views ;
Right aspirations ;
Right speech;
Right conduct;
Right livelihood ;
Right effort;
Right mindfulness; and
Right contemplation.
' This then, O Bhikkhus, is the noble truth con- cerning the destruction of sorrow.
9. ' That this was the noble truth concerning
sorrow, was not, O Bhikkhus, among the doctrines
handed down, but there arose within me the eye
(to perceive it), there arose the knowledge (of its
nature), there arose the understanding (of its cause),
there arose the wisdom (to guide in the path of
tranquillity), there arose the light (to dispel darkness
from it) \
10. ' And again, O Bhikkhus, that I should com-
prehend that this was the noble truth concerning
sorrow, though it was not among the doctrines
handed down, there arose within me the eye, there
arose the knowledge, there arose the understanding,
there arose the wisdom, there arose the light.
11. * And again, O Bhikkhus, that I had compre-
hended that this was the noble truth concerning
sorrow, though it was not among the doctrines
handed down, there arose within me the eye, there