Buddhist Spectrum

Dilemma of Right Knowledge

Kavinda Hettiarachchi

In Buddhism the ultimate goal is to attain the ultimate emancipation of knowledge or enlightenment. This theory of reality based on epistemological foundations. We can see that the teachings of Buddha were meant for the intelligent or wise and not for the stupid or the unwise. Specific knowledge in Buddhism considers to be directed to the attainment of the goal of emancipation.

According to the Buddhist teachings the causes of suffering is ignorance, which is the cause for the conditioned genesis. The enlightenment of Buddha is believed to have consisted in the dawning of knowledge and vision in to certain realities of life expresses in the former Four Noble Truths. For this enlightenment what kind of knowledge is recommended by Buddha or rather from Buddhism by the ancient sages?

Beyond knowledge

In criteriology we study certain notions such as knowledge, certitude, truth, opinion, intellect, senses, ignorance and doubt. The Buddha has too interpreted and taught on above themes. Thus we see a close relation between the two subjects pertaining to the themes they deal with. Though they closely relate, the thoughts and ideas envisaged by the subjects differ from each other. Thus at moments we should have a clear distinction between the two thought patterns.

As an example, “knowledge” explained in criteriology is different from the “knowledge” explained in Buddhist teachings. It’s not only an etymological difference, but a profound difference pertaining to their real meanings.

Thus criteriology and Buddhism take different paths to explain their themes. Thus we can understand the depth of Buddhist teachings as they are far from our ordinary thinking and also far from the modern philosophy either. As a philosophy, Buddhism stands as a citadel and certain thoughts are bit far from our normal comprehension and that’s the richness of Buddhist teachings.

When we start from the problem of Right Knowledge (Samm nna), we can understand that the concept of knowledge has various interpretations. Simply many are contradicting and controversial, as the kind of knowledge we consider to be true in the present world, is much more different from the concept of knowledge envisaged in Buddhism.

It’s more over due to the religious and secular differences and its thought pattern. Also the purposes of gaining knowledge too contradict. Some may gain knowledge for their intellectual thrust; some as an obligation; some in search or as a requirement for a good profession etc.

So everything depends on the individual who gains it.

Analyzing difficulty

When we ask what knowledge is, it seems as an easy question. But it is not to be answered simply. When we try to analyze or define knowledge we encounter some difficulties. We can apply the same thing to the position of St.Augustine when he was asked whether he knew the meaning of “time”.

It was “if you mean to ask me, whether I know what time is, I answer that I know very well. But if you ask me to define it, I find I cannot”.

So likewise, we can say that though we know what knowledge is it’s difficult to define it.

In spite of many difficulties we may discover a great deal on knowledge. To begin with, it’s a clear and definite fact. In epistemology our main task lies in discovering the nature, scope, limits of knowledge and also to distinguish true knowledge and error.

Though we can speak of knowledge generally, it must be remembered that Buddhism gives a distinct explanation on knowledge. According to our normal understanding we can gain knowledge by studying, learning in accepted institutions, but the right knowledge envisaged in Buddhism cannot be gained such a process.

The Buddha’s teachings

So what is right knowledge according to the teachings of Buddha? What is the process of gaining it?

Right Knowledge in Buddhism is called as “samma nana” in Pali. The Noble Eight Fold Path lead one or two further steps called Right Knowledge and Right Emancipation (Samma Vimutthi).

Right Emancipation is the highest or supreme goal of Buddhism and this attainment is possible with the gaining of right knowledge. “Right knowledge is the knowledge of the Four Noble Truths.” Buddha claims to have attained this knowledge and he is called as the Awakened or Enlightened. Thus such knowledge is invariably connected wholesome conduct.

It is this knowledge, which brings a radical transformation of a person. Though there are varieties of human knowledge, from the Buddhist point of view, every knowledge cannot be considered as right knowledge, because those forms of knowledge do not lead to the consequences of self transformation and liberation. Also the right knowledge liberates the mind from unwholesome qualities.

These requirements are needed to be a right form of knowledge though at present we speak of higher knowledge of science and technology. But we can see scientific and technological knowledge has increased the suffering of man. Even the atomic and nuclear bombs appeared as consequences of such knowledge.

Thus we see a clear distinction between the right knowledge of Buddhism and ignoble knowledge. Thus the right Knowledge liberates man from suffering or rather the cyclic process of suffering in Samsra.

Acquiring knowledge

Normally the process of acquiring knowledge is associated with learning. Ina civilized society or in any developed or developing society people use a socially accepted process of systematic learning.

Here even the recognized institutions where people study is a crucial aspect for social acceptance. If one has not studied in a reputated school or in a university, his qualifications often are not accepted. That’s why we see a vast competition between parents and students and they hunt for standard schools.

Not only these, at present we have numerous means of gaining this knowledge, such as media, internet, tuitions etc. But the right knowledge envisaged in the Buddhist teachings cannot be acquired by any of the above means.

“Persons who have acquired much book learning, obtained university degrees, trained in numerous technological skills and earned a higher reputation for their academic distinctions may not truly claim to have acquired what Buddhism conceives a Right Knowledge”

Thus we say, Right Knowledge envisaged in Buddhism claims to have attained right knowledge through the practice of the Buddhist path. This is the path taught by Buddha, i.e. the Middle Path or Noble Eight Path, through which ultimately we reach liberation.

According to ancient scriptures even the people from the low walks of life have attained this right knowledge or Samma nana. Among them there were even menial labourers, and the people of the lowest castes who had no access what so ever to what the then Brahmanical tradition considered to be opportunities for acquiring knowledge.

Thus this knowledge doesn’t consider the wealth, status or any other element, but the people who have acquired this right knowledge are called persons endowed with Vijja (knowledge) and Carana (good conduct). Thus the people who have acquired this right knowledge through the path are liberated.

Reclaiming Emperor Ashoka’s heritage

Harish Singhal And Paul Chaffee

Approximately 2280 years ago, Emperor Ashoka, third regent of India’s Maurya Dynasty, ascended the throne. This Iron Age family ruled India’ first empire, stretching from eastern Iran to Burma, including most of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Scholars dispute the details but agree that Ashoka ruled for about four decades in the middle of the third century BCE.

Once in power, Ashoka proved a tyrant. Growing up in the Kshatriya warrior caste, the young prince had burnished his reputation as a fierce, merciless fighter and hunter. Though one of the youngest of King Bindusara’s many sons, he proved his father’s best protector, mastering both negotiation and an iron fist for keeping the hinterlands quiet. He out-maneuvered his brothers, who perished by his hand, and developed strong enough allies in the court so that when the king died, father’s succession wishes were upended and King Ashoka took over. For most of the next decade he marched his armies through west and south Asia, becoming the most powerful, fearsome man on Earth.

Sculptural portrayal of Emperor Ashoka

Eight years into his reign Ashoka fought a bloody war to conquer Kalinga (roughly equivalent to the state of Orissa today), a small, sophisticated kingdom that had kept its freedom and had a significant army. It had no chance, though, against Ashoka’s military machine. “One hundred and fifty thousand were deported, one hundred thousand were killed and many more died (from other causes),” the king later confessed.

Stunning transformation

Ashoka’s conversion story after Kalinga is nearly unprecedented in the annals of religious history, though one comparison comes to mind. Several hundred years later a Jewish leader, Saul of Tarsus, was converted on the road to Damascus and became known as St. Paul, the point-person for spreading Christianity throughout the Middle East and Europe. Within a year of Kalinga’s defeat, Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism and transformed from tyrant to philosopher-king. He changed what it meant to be king from divine representation to servant of the sangha, the Buddhist community. He envisioned and implemented a culture of peace that cares for all living beings. Along the way, his well-funded proselytizing took Buddhism from Italy to his west to Vietnam to his east.

What generated such a incredible turnaround!? Competing explanations abound, as one might imagine. One legendary answer, frequently quoted, provides this confession: What have I done? If this is a victory, what’s a defeat then? Is this a victory or a defeat? Is this justice or injustice? Is it gallantry or a rout? Is it valor to kill innocent children and women? Do I do it to widen the empire and for prosperity or to destroy the other’s kingdom and splendor? One has lost her husband, someone else a father, someone a child, someone an unborn infant.... What’s this debris of the corpses? Are these marks of victory or defeat? Are these vultures, crows, eagles the messengers of death or evil?

Whatever the details, Ashoka’s violent ambition morphed into a benevolent support for citizens of the empire and those beyond. For next 30 years, he turned into the good ruler people have dreamed about for centuries, or so the legend went. Of course, for nearly 2000 years most of what was known about Ashoka came from Buddhist texts written four to six hundred years after his death. The Vedic community, which he had abandoned, paid him no attention until 1915, when a linguistic puzzle was finally solved and Ashoka’s historic legacy finally swung into view.

Ancient language

The story goes back to 1828 when a brilliant Anglo-Indian archeologist and philologist, James Prinsep, managed to translate the ancient Brahmi language. Brahmi was the preferred language for the 33 “Edicts of Ashoka,” inscriptions we have today, carved in stone on huge, 50-ton “Ashoka Pillars “ as well as massive boulders and cave walls. Some of the inscriptions are brief, others run to hundreds of words. They were carved repeatedly in sites across the empire. The collection of 14 “Girnar” edicts, for instance, has been found at five sites and a shortened version in two others.

In these ‘letters’ to his people are more intimate than official. Ashoka refers to himself “Beloved by the Gods, King Piyadasi,” which means, “he who regards everyone with affection.” Not until 1915, when the last of the Edicts was discovered, do we find reference not just to King Piyadasi, but to Ashoka, confirming his connection to them all.

What had been consigned to legend gained historic currency. Who emerged was a leader who championed equality, social just, religious tolerance and more. H.G. Wells wrote, "Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, their majesties and graciousnesses and serenities and royal highnesses and the like, the name of Asoka shines, and shines, almost alone, a star."

The discovery woke India up to its hidden historical treasure. By the mid-twentieth century Ashoka’s reputation throughout south Asia returned to what it was over 2200 years ago. At the center of India’s flag is the Ashoka Chakra (see left), an image found on a number of the Edicts, representing virtue. Though he became a Buddhist, Ashoka’s achievements as a ruler are a matter of national pride today.

The Edicts themselves offer a personal glimpse into Ashoka’s world and what he hoped to engender. They tend towards the practical. In the first of the Girnar inscriptions, we read, “Formerly, in the kitchen of Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, hundreds of thousands of animals were killed every day to make curry. But now with the writing of this Dhamma edict, only three creatures, two peacocks and a deer are killed, and the deer not always. And in time, not even these three creatures will be killed.” Promoting vegetarianism, but gradually.

Fascinating reformers

What makes Ashoka singularly fascinating among great reformers in history is that he actually had the power to give expression to his vision. A practical administrator, he built accountability systems into his reforms.

From the Edicts we can discern:

He promoted equality, peacemaking, social justice, women’s rights, religious freedom, education, science, kindness to prisoners, sustainability, and universal free medical care for animals and birds as well as people.

He developed major public works projects including hospitals, clinics, and universities. Rest houses between cities were built with wells, fruit trees and shade trees for weary travelers.

He banned deforestation, most hunting, and sought to improve the lives of slaves. Socially, he called for respectful behavior, generosity, and moderation as consumers.

Personally he advocated kindness, self-examination, truthfulness, gratitude, loyalty, and self-control, claiming that the power of love is greater than the power of the sword.

Interfaith-friendly empire

Ashoka’s religious conversion changed his life and India’s. His Edicts, while steering away from rituals, dogma, and festivals, promoted Buddhist values in everyday living. His broad agenda expressed his understanding of Buddhist “dhamma” (from Pali) or “dharma” (from Sanskrit), a word rich in meanings about the disciplines which make life fulfilling and meaningful.

Dhamma, in essence, calls for kindness to all life, truth telling, respect, and generosity. To promote the Dhamma, Ashoka built thousands of stupas (Buddhist worship sites) throughout the empire. He sent Buddhist teachers and priests to Syria, Iran, Egypt, Greece, and Italy; to Nepal, Tibet, and China; to Miramar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and he sent his daughter, Sanghamitta, and his son on Mahinda, both ordained monastics, to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The young king, and the nation followed. Essentially, Ashoka’s missionary efforts transformed a young Buddhist reform tradition into a world religion.

Buddhist proselytizing sounds oxymoronic today, to be sure, but Ashoka’s doesn’t fit your stereotype of a missionary.

He was not a philosopher or priest, instead working to improve peoples day-to-day living, albeit, with Buddhist values. Simultaneously, he had an interfaith agenda he pursued as seriously as Buddhism.

He called for mutual respect among us all, regardless of religion. He encouraged non-Buddhist educators and asked all schools to teach about and appreciate all religions.

Hindus, Jains, and Pagans were as fully welcome in this empire as Buddhists. He observed that harming someone else’s religion harms your own.

Buddhist Channel

The Buddha visits Miyangana

The Miyangana forest-temple land in the ancient kingdom of Lankadveepa
developed repeated storms of disputes between tribal Yakkhas and Nagas.
The legendary descendants of Ravana, the King and Vibhisana his brother,
the enmity between factions grew serious to the extent of a possible showdown.
This time of early history, there arose the blessed Enlightenment of illustrious prince
turned Gothama Buddha fully enlightened, unique and exalted Sage.
Out of compassion, for gods and men He engaged in serving the humanity
with well expounded Dhamma, realized through His own intuitive knowledge.
For the benefit and happiness of many – with energy and effort indefatigable
the Tathagata opened the doors of deathlessness to one and all – rich or poor.
In Jambudveepa to the delight of the virtuous – but Buddha placing no limit for
Himself looked beyond as a swam which moves habitually from lake to pond –
pond to lake.
Nagas lived around the temple while Yakkhas in a separate settlement deeper in
jungle cultivating and raising livestock – with the latter holding more power and
weap onry.

Nagas, livelihood conscious, freely sold out excess produce to those desired to buy
them and looked after the ancient temple and supported the in-robed community
at hermitage.
The native Nagas knew not what they did to offend the intruders into violence
neither they could power off any major onslaught of power-hungry Yakkhas.
They entreated, implored whom they believed to be gods and forest spirits
and offered milk rice, oil cakes and fruits to propitiate them against the challenge.
Some months after the Blessed event of Enlightenment followed by spiritual revolu
tion the Great Sage in His methodical and compassionate routine-survey of the
world saw through the divine eye a dreaded conflict increasingly alarming and
worsening with terror build up against Nagas who were comparatively moderate
and dutiful possible deadly conflict could run into a tribal war with bloodshed and
loss of lives.
With awful uncertainty of sustained sovereignty of natives, critically in balance
the Blessed One saw that His mediation is called for to save the mindless tragedy
and arrived in time by air with ecstatic powers in the forest grove of Miyangana.
The roaring insults, screams, clatter of arms, sound of drums and conchs filled the air.
The peace talks were futile with Yakkhas, who with all the might stormed forth
to grab an easy prey on Nagas who were still paying their obeisance to Buddha.
And the Blessed One were in unperturbed posture with empathy on both the sides.
Rising by psychic powers instantly, the Exalted One sat in lotus posture in the air
and created a soaring fire around Him, above and below followed by terrific
flashes of lightening and deafening thunder – all together fiercely pursued the flee
ing attackers.
The battle was ruled out, un-fought and ended through elements, verily harmless.
Were the aggressors indeed chased out of their ancient settlement in the forest?
Nay, as matter of fact, the miracle conducted them safely back into their own jungle abode.
The Wayfarer next expounded the Dhamma hearing which Nagas took refuge in
Buddha Whilst God Sumana Saman attained Sotapanna the first stage of the path for free dom.
On request, the Blessed One presented Hair Relic to the guardian deity Sumana
Saman and he with his wishing gemstone created a small dagoba and enshrined the relic therein.
After parinibbana of the Blessed One, Arahat Sarabu retrieved from the burning pyre the collar bone-Relic and enshrined in the same Dagoba, raising its height twice as much.
It's indeed a delightful, memorable and unprecedented landmark commemoration
at Miyangana with reverberations reaching the Buddhist world and celestial abodes.
The ceremonies marked the revival of selflessness and regeneration of Buddhist
values, appreciation for wholesome deeds be with Sambodhi Vihara and its Maha Thera

Lionel Gulawitaa

YMBA launches Internet teacher training

P Wattegama, Mahanama and JaliyaEkanayake of the Panel of Colombo YMBA.

The Colombo YMBA initiated a DhammaSchool Teacher Training Programme for London Dhamma School inKingsbury on March 3 via Internet.

This is the first occasion thatColombo YMBA used modern technology to train Overseas Teachers.

Colombo YMBA prepares English DhammaExamination Question Papers, Syllabus, and Text Books, for Local andOverseas Dhamma Schools. Buddhist Students from United Kingdom,Australia, Singapore, and USA.

There are several English DhammaSchools in Sri Lanka, and overseas, and a steady progress wasobserved.