THE NOTION OF DIHI IN THERAVĀDA BUDDHISM The notion of ‘view’ or ‘opinion’ (dihi) as an obstacle to ‘seeing things as they are’ is a central concept in Buddhist thought. This book considers the two ways in which the notion of views is usually understood. Are we to understand right-view as a correction of wrong-views (the opposition understanding), or is the aim of the Buddhist path the overcoming of all views, even right-view (the no-views under- standing)? This book argues that neither approach is correct. Instead, it suggests that the early texts do not understand right-view as a correction of wrong-view, but as a detached order of seeing, completely different from the attitude of holding to any view, wrong or right. Claiming that by the term ‘right-view’ we should understand an order of seeing which transcends all views, this work is a valuable addition to the study of Buddhist philosophy. Paul Fuller is a Religious Studies graduate from the University of Edinburgh. He holds an MA and a PhD from the University of Bristol and is currently teaching Buddhist Studies at Webster University, Thailand. ROUTLEDGECURZON CRITICAL STUDIES IN BUDDHISM General Editors: Charles S. Prebish and Damien Keown RoutledgeCurzon Critical Studies in Buddhism is a comprehensive study of the Buddhist tradition. The series explores this complex and extensive tradition from a variety of perspectives, using a range of different methodologies. The series is diverse in its focus, including historical studies, textual translations and commentaries, sociological investigations, bibliographical studies and considerations of religious practice as an expression of Buddhism’s integral religiosity. It also presents materials on modern intellectual historical studies, including the role of Buddhist thought and scholarship in a contemporary, critical context and in the light of current social issues. The series is expansive and imaginative in scope, spanning more than two and a half millennia of Buddhist history. It is receptive to all research works that inform and advance our knowledge and understanding of the Buddhist tradition. THE REFLEXIVE NATURE OF PAIN AND ITS ENDING AWARENESS Carol S. Anderson Paul Williams EMPTINESS APPRAISED ALTRUISM AND REALITY David F. Burton Paul Williams THE SOUND OF LIBERATING BUDDHISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS TRUTH Edited by Damien Keown, Charles Edited by Sallie B. King and Prebish, Wayne Husted Paul O. Ingram WOMEN IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BUDDHIST THEOLOGY THE BUDDHA Edited by Roger R. Jackson and Kathryn R. Blackstone John J. Makransky THE RESONANCE OF EMPTINESS THE GLORIOUS DEEDS OF PURNA Gay Watson Joel Tatelman IMAGING WISDOM EARLY BUDDHISM – A NEW Jacob N. Kinnard APPROACH Sue Hamilton CONTEMPRORARY BUDDHIST ZEN WAR STORIES ETHICS Brian Victoria Edited by Damien Keown THE BUDDHIST UNCONSCIOUS INNOVATIVE BUDDHIST WOMEN William S. Waldron Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo INDIAN BUDDHIST THEORIES OF TEACHING BUDDHISM IN THE PERSONS WEST James Duerlinger Edited by V. S. Hori, R. P. Hayes and J. M. Shields ACTION DHARMA Edited by Christopher Queen, Charles SELF, REALITY AND REASON IN Prebish and Damien Keown TIBETAN PHILOSOPHY Thupten Jinpa TIBETAN AND ZEN BUDDHISM IN BRITAIN IN DEFENSA OF DHARMA David N. Kay Tessa J. Bartholomeusz THE CONCEPT OF THE BUDDHA BUDDHIST PHENOMENOLOGY Guang Xing Dan Lusthaus THE PHILOSOPHY OF DESIRE IN RELIGIOUS MOTIVATION AND THE THE BUDDHIST PALI CANON ORIGINS OF BUDDHISM David Webster Torkel Brekke THE NOTION OF DIHI IN DEVELOPMENTS IN AUSTRALIAN THERAVĀDA BUDDHISM BUDDHISM Paul Fuller Michelle Spuler The following titles are published in association with the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies conducts and promotes rigorous teaching and research into all forms of the Buddhist tradition. EARLY BUDDHIST METAPHYSICS Noa Ronkin MIPHAM’S DIALECTICS AND THE DEBATES ON EMPTINESS Karma Phuntso THE NOTION OF DIHI IN THERAVĀDA BUDDHISM The point of view Paul Fuller First published 2005 by RoutledgeCurzon 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by RoutledgeCurzon 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” RoutledgeCurzon is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2005 Paul Fuller All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-01043-4 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0–415–34293–7 (Print Edition) DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY SISTER DEBBIE 1962–1998 I closed my eyes to see you no more I closed my eyes to cry Because I saw you no more (Paul Eluard) CONTENTS CONTENTS Preface xii Acknowledgements xiii Abbreviations xiv Introduction 1 The opposition understanding 2 The no-views understanding 3 Recent studies of the notion of dihi 4 Knowledge of doctrine 7 Is/ought 9 Propositions and ways of seeing 11 1 The content of wrong-view 14 Part one: views that deny that actions have consequences 16 The view of nihilism (natthika-dihi) 16 The view of non-doing (akiriya-dihi) 18 The view of non-causality (ahetu-dihi) 19 The view of Pakudha Kaccāyana 20 The view of Nigaha Nātaputta 22 The view of Sañjaya Belahiputta and the endless equivocators 22 Wrong-view or right-view? 24 Part two: views of self 25 Identity-view (sakkāya-dihi) 26 Miscellaneous destructive views 28 The six bases for views (dihi-hāna) 30 Six wrong-views from the Sabbāsava-sutta 33 Acceptance of a view as a result of reflection (dihi-nijjhānakhanti) 34 Views of the unanswered (avyākata) type 38 Conclusion 39 ix CONTENTS 2 The content of right-view 41 Part one: views that affirm that actions have consequences 42 The view of affirmation (atthika-dihi) 43 The view that there is doing (kiriya-dihi) 43 The view of causality (hetu-dihi) 44 The ten wholesome and unwholesome courses of action 50 Action and thought as the cause of good and bad rebirths 53 The distinction between different levels of right-view 55 Right-view as paññā 57 Part two: views of not-self 58 The Sammādihi-sutta 59 The 16 right-views from the Sammādihi-sutta 59 Dependent-origination and the Sammādihi-sutta 63 The right-view of stream-attainment 65 The achievement of right-view 67 The Mahācattārīsaka-sutta: right-view comes first 69 Seeing phenomena as impermanent 74 Right-view as seeing: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self’ 75 Four non-perversions of view (na dihi-vipallāsā) 75 The ten imperfections of insight (vipassanā-upakkilesa) 76 Conclusion 77 3 The way wrong-view functions 78 The distinction between views and ignorance 78 The thicket, wilderness, contortion, vacillation and fetter of views 79 The Dihi-vagga 84 The Dihi-sayutta 85 Views in the Dihi-kathā 86 Views and craving in the Nettippakaraa 90 4 The way right-view functions 92 Part one: different levels of right-view 92 Accomplishment in view (dihi-sampadā) 92 Accomplished in view (dihi-sampanna) 93 Purification of view (dihi-visuddhi) 96 Abandoning by substitution of opposites (tadagappahāna) 98 Right-view as knowledge of knowing rise and fall (udayabbaya) 100 Part two: the function of right-view on the higher paths 100 The view that is noble and emancipating (dihi ariyā niyyānikā) 103 The function of right-view on the higher paths in the Atthasālinī 105 The abandoning of views 108 x CONTENTS 5 The transcendence of views 112 The Brahmajāla-sutta: attachment to views 112 The ‘view’ that transcends sakkāya-dihi 116 The ‘view’ that transcends the avyākata 121 The Pāali-sutta 124 Seeing the wholesome and unwholesome 126 The wholesome and unwholesome in the Dhammasagai 130 The Pahāna: turning medicine into poison and poison into medicine 136 The three gateways to liberation 139 6 Views and non-attachment 145 The Buddha’s teachings and no-views 145 The understanding of views in the Ahakavagga compared to other parts of the Pāli canon 148 Dependence on what is seen, heard, thought and cognized 150 The superior teaching? 151 Dīghanakha and the transcendence of views 153 Conclusion 157 A different order of seeing 157 Appendices 160 Notes 173 Bibliography 246 Index 253 xi PREFACE PREFACE I grew up in a small town, a town that it is best to leave – I left – this book is a direct result of my leaving. A number of people helped. I thank my family, each of whom understood, in their own ways, what I was doing. The vehicle that got me away was Buddhism (and, more generally, education, and in a different way, music). I am grateful to all those who encouraged me in the past. Once away, I was very lucky to study with Paul Dundas in Edinburgh. It was Paul who first noticed my interest in the study of religion, and who first suggested that I should continue studying, which I did, in Bristol. There, Rupert Gethin was an understanding supervisor. One particular article he wrote on dihi explains very clearly what I have attempted to argue in this book. I have a suspicion that I am merely expanding on these ideas. At certain times, at bad times, we need friends, and my friends at such a time were Theo Bertram, Samantha Grant, Louise Nelstrop and Adam Rounce.