Silabbatupadana is clinging to wrong practices that do not lead to cessation of suffering. It is the view which identifies the habits of cows, dogs and other animals with the way to the end of dukkha. It found expression among some ascetics in the time of the Buddha. Like animals, they lived naked, ate, defecated and went about all fours, and slept on the ground. They believed that such a way of life served to purge them of all evil kamma and forestall new kammic action, thereby assuring them of an end to suffering and eternal bliss after death.
To a Buddhist this kind of belief may sound incredible, but some people’s preferences are very odd and they differ in their views and inclinations. So there came to the Buddha two ascetics, one Punna who lived like an ox and another Seniya who lived like a dog. They asked the Lord about the benefits of their practice. The Lord was reluctant to answer but when pressed for his view, he replied that an ascetic who committed himself wholly to the habits of an ox or a dog would be reborn as an ox or dog after death; that it was wrong to believe that such practices led to the deva world; and that one who held a wrong belief was likely to land in hell or in the animal world. Then the Buddha went on to describe (1) the evil practices that bear evil fruits, (2) the good practices that bear good fruits, (3) the evil practices mixed with good practices and (4 ) the practice of the Ariyan path that leads to the the total extinction of good and bad kamma.
On hearing this sermon Punna became the disciple of the Buddha. Seniya joined the order and attained Arahatship through the practice of the Dhamma.
In the time of the Buddha there was a man named korakhattiya who lived like a dog. One day the Buddha passed by him, accompanied by a Licchavi bhikkhu, Sunakkhatta by name.
Sunakkhatta saw the ascetic moving on all fours and eating the food on the ground without the help of his hands. The ascetic’s way of life gave the monk the impression of a holy man, nay, an Arahat who had few desires. In point of fact, the ascetic’s mode of life was a kind of silabbatupadana that would lead him to one of the four lower worlds. It was abhorrent to those who had high ideals and aspirations. It had appeal for Sunakkhatta only because of his low tastes and desires. The Licchavi monk was exceptional in this respect. There were then notas now many people who preferred false views and false practices that did not accord with theBuddha’s teaching. This was Probably a hanger from wrong attachments in their previous lives.
The Buddha divined Sunakkhatta’s thoughts said, “So you regard that ascetic as an Arahat! I wonder why you do not feel ashamed being called the disciple of the Buddha.”The monk then accused the Lord of envying the ascetic’s Arahatship. This is of course the kind of retort that is to be expected from an ignorant man when someone speaks the truth about his false teacher. The Buddha explained that his object was to remove the monk’s illusions that would do him no good. Then he went on to predict that after seven days the ascetic would die of indigestion, and land in the lowest Asura world; that his body would be dumped in a certain cemetery; that if the monk went there and asked about his present abode, the dead body would reveal it.
The Buddha made this prophecy in order to restore Sunakkhatta’s faith in him. Through the practice of samatha Sunakkhatta had attained jhana and divine-eye. With his divine-eye he had seen the gods and goddesses and as he wished to hear their voices he asked the Buddha about the way to the attainment of divine-ear. But the Lord declined to fulfil his desire because his bad kamma stood in the way and he would blame the Lord for the non-attainment divine-ear. Nevertheless, he lost his faith in the Lord because he thought that it was envy that motivated the Lord to refuse his request. So the Buddha predicted the ascetic’s fate to impress Sunakkhatta and salvage his faith.
Sunakkhatta informed the ascetic of the Lord’s prediction and warned him against overeating. The ascetic fasted for six days but on seventh day he could not resist the temptation any longer. He wolfed down the food provided by a lay follower and died of indigestion that very night.
His fellow ascetics dragged his dead body to dump it in any place other than the cemetery specified in the Buddha’s prediction. They got to a cemetery but found it to be the very place they wished to avoid for it had the kind of grass predicted by the Buddha. They tried to drag the body away but the creeper rope snapped and all their efforts to remove it were in vain. So they had to abandon the corpse there.
Sunakkbatta heard the news but still he hoped to prove the falsity of the latter part of the Lord’s prediction. He went to the cemetery and rapping the dead man asked about his abode. The corpse arose and after saying that he was in Kalakamjika asura abode fell back on the ground. Kalakamjika is the lowest asura abode. Asura is a kind of peta with a monstrous body and a mouth which is so small that it cannot drink and eat well.
According to the commentary, it was the Buddha’s psychic power that made the dead body possessed by the asura peta. Given the ability of some socerors to raise the dead, there is no need to have any doubt about the resurrection of the dead ascetic through the psychic power (iddhi) of the Buddha.
Sunnakkhatta came back crestfallen and had to admit that the Lord’s prophecy had come wholly true. Even so, he did not have complete faith in the Buddha. Later on he left the holy order and disparaged the Lord.
Besides the mode of life of cows and dogs there are other practices that can be described as silabbata. Some people emulate the elephants, horses, and so forth. In other words, they worship animals. The commentary refers to king-worshippers which may mean in Burma people who worship various nats. Nat-worship among Burmese people is not motivated by the desire for liberation from samsara (life-cycle). It stems from the hope for material benefits here and now and as such it does not fall within the scope of silabbatupadana. But it is upadana that over the belief that leads some people to make animal sacrifice in their worship of the nats.
There are also fire-worship, naga-worship, moon-worship, sun-worship, spirit-worship and so forth. If the object in any kind of worship is to have happiness or spiritual liberation after death, it is silabbatupadana. In short, all practices divorced from the four noble truths and the eightfold path are labelled silabbata and attachment to them as the way to salvation is silabbatupadana.
The yogi who has attained at least the sotapanna stage through the contemplation of nama rupa is well aware of the right path to Nibbana and so he has freed himself from the belief in silabbata. He knows empirically that the way to the end of suffering is only through the introspection of nama rupa and the practice of the eightfold noble path.
‘‘For example, if you know from experience how to go from this meditation centre to Shwedagon pagoda, you will not be misled by anyone who points out the wrong way. Likewise, the yogi at the sotapanna stage knows the right way to Nibbana and so he has no illusion about the beliefs and practices such as belief in God, nat worship or asceticism that pass for the way to salvation.
Those who do not know the right path are not free from such illusion. They may have acquired it from their ignorant parents, teachers or friends; or because of their poor basic knowledge, they might have been misguided by books that advocate false beliefs and practices. The ordinary man (Puthujana) is ignorant of the right path to Nibbana and so he will have to reckon with many teachers and practices through his samsaric existence. If he falls for a false teacher or a false practice, he is in for a lot of suffering. Thus the practice of austerities will only cause hardships and pain and the performance of animal sacrifice will certainly lead to the lower worlds.
It is also upadana over silabbata to believe that rupajhana or arupajhana means complete salvation. In short, even the moral perfection or jhanic attainment in the mundane sphere, though commendable, may lead to silabbatupadana if it is divorced from the holy path of vipassana and regarded as the total liberation. Udaka sutta of Samyutta nikaya refers to the rishi Udaka who having attained the arupa world through his arupajhana declared that he had uprooted the cause of dukkha and made an end of it. This was also the illusion of another rishi called Alara. This illusion or upadana led to their good kamma which in turn led to their rebirth in the arupa worlds.
So in his discourse to Baka brahma the Buddha says: “I see the dangers of birth, old age; death, etc., inherent in the three worlds of sensuality, rupa and arupa. I see those who seek Nibbana still bound to existence. So I do not approve of any kind of existence. I have repudiated all attachment to existence.
Like the two rishis, those who do not know the Buddha’s teaching never attain their goal. Although they seek permanent happiness, they follow the wrong path of silabbata and remain entangled in the samsaric existence of dukkha. So we can hardly overemphasize the importance of right effort on the right path as pointed out by the Buddha.
ATTAVADUPADANA (CLINGING TO BELIEF IN SOUL)
Attavadupadana is a compound of attavada and upadana. Attavada means belief in - soul entity and attavadupadana is attachment to the view that every person is a living soul.
Attachment to the ego-belief is of two kinds, viz, ordinary attachment and deep-rooted attachment. Ordinary attachment that prevails among ignorant Buddhists is not harmful to progress the holy path. The belief is not deeply entrenched because the Buddhists accept the Buddha’s teaching which denies the permanent soul and recognizes nama-rupa as the only reality behind living being. Intelligent Buddhists are still less vulnerable to the belief. For they know seeing, hearing, etc., involve only the sense-organs (eye, ear, etc.), the corresponding sense-objects (visual forms, sound, etc.,) and the corresponding states of consciousness.
But most people are not wholly free from ego-belief. Even the yogi who practises vipassana may at times fall for it and it is likely attract every man who has not attained the holy path. Infact those who taught ego-belief described ego as the owner of the five khandhas, as an independent entity, possessing fresh-will and self-determination. It was this view of atta (soul) that the Buddha questioned in his dialogue with the wandering ascetic Saccaka. Said the Buddha, "You say that this physical body is your atta. Then can you always keep it well, free from anything unpleasant ?" Saccaka had to answer in the negative. Further questioning by the Lord elicited from him the reply that he had in fact no control over any of the five khandhas.
So the ancient Buddhist teachers translate "rupam anatta" as "the physical body is subject to no control ", etc. In fact it is the denial of the samiatta" or the false view of atta as a controlling entity. Every ordinary person holds this view and believes in free-will. He can overcome it completely only through vipassana contemplation.
The attavada teachers also say that atta exists permanently in the physical body. In other words, it means the personal identity that is said to persist through the whole existence.
Again, they say that atta is the subject of all actions, thus identifying it with sankharakkhandha. It is the illusion that creates the belief: "It is I that see, hear etc."
They also say that atta is the living entity that feels; that it is atta that is happy or unhappy. In other words, they describe, atta or, soul in terms of vedana or feeling.
Thus although the Atmanists (attavadi) insist that atta has nothing to do with the five khandhas, they credit it with ownership of the body, etc., permanent residence in the body, subjectivity and feeling: and hence in effect they identify it with the five khandhas. The ego-illusion is rooted in the khandhas and a man can free hiniself completely from it only when be becomes aware of the real nature of khandhas through contemplation.
Of the four upadana, the first upadana, (clinging to sensuality) is the developed form of craving (tanha). The other three upadanas differ only as regards their objects; basically they all relate to beliefs, Viz., belief in ego, belief in the efficacy of practices other than those of the eightfold path, and any false belief other than those in the category of the other two upadana. All false beliefs arise in connection with craving. Men cling to a belief because they like it. Thus there is no doubt that all the four upadanas stem from craving and hence the Buddha's teaching: "From tanha there arises updana."
In point of fact, craving is the cause and clinging is the effect. Craving for sensual pleasure, the ego-belief, or the practices irrelevant to the holy path or other false beliefs is the cause and this craving develops into clinging to sensuality, ego-belief, etc, and thus becomes effects.///////////////////
sankhara and kammabhava . These five factors are the present causes and they give rise to rebirth after death. The doctrine of Paticcasamuppada mentions only three causes viz., vedana, tanha and upadana but in reality these three factors imply two other causes viz, avijja and sankhara since these two are the mainsprings of tanha and kammabhava respectively. So Patisambhida magga describes all these five factors as causes of rebirth in future.
REMOVING THE PRESENT CAUSES
Every good or evil act means the complete conjunction of these five present causes and occasions for such a conjunction in a single life time may number by thousands. Under certain circumstances these causes may lead to rebirth after death or two or three rebirths successively. Every existence is bound up with old age, grief, death, etc. and if we wish to avoid these sufferings, we will have to remove the present causes.
To this end we should note all physical phenomena, "seeing", "hearing" etc. at the moment of their arising. With the development of concentration, we note their instant passing away and become aware of their impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and unreliability. This awareness helps us to overcome ignorance and illusion that fuel craving, attachment and kammic effort: We thus keep the five present causes inoperative and inactive, thereby forestalling rebirth and consequence suffering.
This method of removing the causes is labelled tadangapahana - overcoming some defilements through contemplation. By this method the Yogi attains tadanganibbuti Partial extinction of defilements through contemplation. Later on there arises the insight on the Ariyan path which means the extinction of all sankhara and the realization of Nibbana (samucchedapahana) . The defilements and kammas are then done away with once and forever. The yogis who attain Sotapatti stage overcome the defilements and kammas that lead to the lower worlds, and those that may cause good rebirth for more than seven life times, the yogis at sakadagami stage overcome those that may cause more than two rebirths while yogis at the anagami stage remove those that lead to rebirth in sensual worlds. Finally the yogi who attains arahatta stage eradicates the remaining defilements and kamma.
In other words he becomes an Arahat, the Noble one who is worthy of honour because he is Wholly free from defilements.
ARAHAT'S OUTLOOK ON LIFE
The arahat has no illusion about the nature of sense-objects. He is aware of their unwholesomeness and this means he realizes the truth of dukkha because he is free from ignorance (avijja). So he has no craving for anything. Inevitably he has to fill the biological needs of his physical body such as eating, sleeping, etc., but he regards them as conditioned (sankhara) dukkha and finds nothing that is pleasant to him.
The question arises as to whether he should long for speedy death to end such suffering. But the desire for early death or dissolution of the physical body to is a destructive desire and the Arahat is free from it. So there is an Arahat's saying in the Theragatha that he has neither the wish to die nor the wish to live.
The Arahat does not wish to live a long life for life means largely the burden of suffering inherent in khandha. Although the burden of khandha needs constant care and attention, it is not in the least reliable. To many middle-aged or people, life offers little more than frustration, disappointment and bitterness. Living conditions go from bad to worse, physical health declines and there is nothing but complete disintegration and death that await us. Yet because of ignorance and attachment many people take delight in existence. On the other hand the Arahat is disillusioned and he finds life dreary and monotonous. Hence his distaste for life
But The Arahat does not prefer death either. For death-wish is an aggressive instinct which he has also conquered. What he wants is to attain Nibbana, a longing that is somewhat analogous to that of a worker who wishes to get his daily or monthly wage.
The worker does not like to face hardship and privations for he has to work inevitably - just to make his living but he does not want to lose his job either. He wants only money and looks forward to Pay-day. Likewise, the Arahat waits for the moment he should attain Nibbana without anything left of his body-mind complex. So when they think of their life-span the Arahats wonder how long they will have to bear the burden of namarupa khandha. Because of his disillusionment, the Arahat's life stream is completely out off after Nibbana hence it is called anupadisesanibbana
NOT ANNIHILATION BUT EXTINCTION Of SUFFERING
Those who believe in ego or soul deprecate Nibbana as eternal death of a living being. In reality it is the total extinction of suffering that results from the non-recurrence of psychophysical phenomena together with their causes viz., kamma and defilements. So the Buddha points out the cessation of upadana arising from the complete cessation of craving, the process of becoming (bhava) ceasing to arise due to cessation of upadana and so on. With the non-arising of rebirth, there is the complete cessation of old age, death and other kinds of suffering.
Here the popular view is that birth, old age and death are evils that afflict the living beings. But in point of fact these evils characterize only the psycho-physical process ,and have nothing to do with a living entity. Since there is no ego or soul, it makes no sense to speak of the annihilation of a living being with the cessation of rebirth and suffering.
So those who regard Nibbana as annihilation are not free from the illusion of ego-entity. To the intelligent Buddhist, Nibbana means only cessation of suffering. This is evident in the story of bhikkhu Yamaka in the time of the Buddha.
STORY OF YAMAKA
Yamaka believed that the Arahat was annihilated after his death. He clung to his view although other bhikkhus pointed outs its falsity. Thera Sariputta summoned him. Questioned by the elder there, Yamaka admitted that all the five khandhas are impemanent and suffering, that it would be a mistake to regard Them as one's possession or self. Sariputta told him to see the five khandhas as they really are. He would then become disillusioned, detached and liberated.
While hearing the sermon, Yamaka attained the sotapanna stage. He was now free from false beliefs. Sariputta~ then questioned him again. In response to the thera's questions, Yamaka said that he did not identify the Arahat with the physical body. the perception, the feeling, conformations (nankhara) or the consciousness. Nor did he believe that the Arahat existed elsewhere without the rupa, vedana or any other khandha. Therefore since the Arahat or a living entity is not to be found in the five khandhas even before death, it makes no sense to speak of the Arahat's annihilation after his pan. nibbana.
Yamaka confessed his mistaken view. He was now free from it and he knew what to say about the destiny of the Arahat. If someone were to ask him, "What happens when the Arahat passes away ?", he would answer, the death of the Arahat means the complete cessation of suffering inherent in the impermanent five khandhas."
This statement about the Arahat was confirmed by Sariputta~. The thera likened the khandhas to the murderer who poses as a friend and said that identifying the khandhas~ with alto is like welcoming the murderer, etc.
Here the thera Yamaka at first believed that the Arahat was annihilated after death, that there was nothing left. This belief presupposes the illusion of ego-entity and so the annihilation-view of Nibbana is called ucebedaditthi, the view that Nibbana means the negation of atta after death. When he realized the truth and attained sotapanna, Yamaka said that the death of the Arahat means the complete extinction of suffering inherent in the impermanent five khandhas.
To sum up the way to the cessation of suffering, failure to note seeing, hearing and other psycho-physical phenomena leads to the arising of avijja, tanha, upadana, kamma, and sankhara that in turn cause birth, old age and death in future. Mindfulness of all phenomena forestalls the five present causes viz., avijja, etc. and the five consequences that involve suffering.
BHIKKHUNI VAJIRA ON THE NATURE OF KHANDHAS
Moreover, it is the extinction of suffering that is underscored in the famous saying of bhikkhuni Vajira. While she was sitting under a tree near Jetavana monastery, Mara appeared and in order to scare and discomfit her, asked her 'Hey, bhikkhuni I who created a living being? Where is the creator? How did a living being originate and how would he come to an end ?"
Bhikkhuni Vajira replied, 'O, Mara! What do you think is a living being? Is not your belief in a: living being an illusion? What you regard as a living being is nothing but a heap of sankhara. No beings is be found in this heap, a living being (sattava) is merely a term for the collection of five khandhas viz., rupa, vedana, etc Just as "chariot" is the term for the combination of wheel, axle, etc.; there is no being but only the group of five khandhas. That cause suffering. In fact it is only suffering (dukkha) that arises, exists and ends. There is no arising and extinction of anything other than dukkha."
Therefore a living being is to be understood only in the Popular acceptation of the term. It does not exist in the absolute sense; there is only the Psycho-physical process which comprises ignorance, craving, attachment, kamma and kammic effort as causes and consciousness, body-mind; sense bases, 'impression and feeling as effects. These effects in turn become causes that give rise to rebirth and suffering.
FOUR LAYERS, THREE LINKS AND TWENTY FACTORS
Paticcasamuppada refers to four, groups, of factors Involved in the chain of causation viz,, the first group of causes in the past, the second grout of effects in the present life, the third group of causes in the present and the last group of effects in the future. The groups are labelled sangaha ·or- sankhepa in Pali. They may also be translated as layers.
There are three links for the four layer.— the link between the past and the present involving sankhara as cause and vinnana as effect, the link betweeu the present effect and present cause with vedanaand tanha as cause and effect, and the third kink between present cause and future with bhava as cause and jati (birth) as effect.
Then there are twenty factors (akara). involved in the psycho-physical process viz, five causes in the past, five effects in the present, five causes in the present and five effects in the future.
TEREE CYCLES
Again the doctrine of Paticcasamuppada deals with three cycles of rounds (vattass) viz., the cycles, of defilements, kamma and fruits. The first cycle comprises ignorance, desire and attachment (Upadana), the second (kamma cycle) comprises kammic effort and kammic existence (bhava) and the third vipaka cycle involves consciousness, mind-body, sense-bases, impression and feeling.
The third vipaka cycle again leads to the cycle of. defilement, the cycle of defilement again gives rise to kamma cycle and so on, each of the three cycles occurring one after another ceaselessly in a vicious circle. The three cycles form the samsaric round of suffering. Samsara means continuam of nama-rupa (psycho- physical) process occuring in terms of cause-effect, relationship.
In order to liberate ourselves from the Samsaric cycle of suffering, we do good deeds. We become familiar with the Buddha's teaching about the four noble Truths. We practise contemplation at the moment of seeing, hearing, etc. We realize the ceaseless arising and dissolution of psycho physical phenomena. This vipassana~ insight forestalls illusion and frees us from craving and attachment that lead to rebirth and suffering.
Visuddhimagga describes the contributiom of kamma to the: cycle of defilement. A certain yogi sees how mind-body complex is born of kammic cycle and vipaka (kammic fruits) cycles. He realizes that there are only kamma and its fruits. As a result of kamma in the past there arise namarupa in the present life; nama-rupa as the cause of present kamma; it gives rise to kammic deeds in present life. These kammic deeds lead to rebirth. In this way, there is the arising (becoming ) of namarupa (being) without cessation.
Here the arising ,or becoming of namarupa means the arising of phenomena from the senses e.g. seeing, hearing, etc. These lead to defilement, kamma, and rebirth successively. Thus and the namarupa process is conditioned by the cycle of kamma and its fruit.
