Vision of the Dhamma A Collection of Buddhist Writings in English Bhikkhu P. A. Payutto Sabbadàna§ dhammadàna§ jinàti The gift of the Dhamma excels all other gifts. Vision of the Dhamma A Collection of Buddhist Writings in English © Bhikkhu P. A. Payutto ISBN: 978-974-09-3420-2 Cover design by Ven. Chaiyos Buddhivaro First published — October 2007 6,000 copies This publication, supported by a number of donors, is reverentially offered as a tribute to the Venerable Bhikkhu P. A. Payutto on the occasion of his appointment as Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of Thailand on December 20, 2006. Wat Nyanavesakavan Tambon Bang Krathuek Amphoe Sam Phran Nakhon Pathom 73210 Thailand Tel. 662-482-1552–3, 662-889-4396 Preface The present volume is a collection of my Buddhist writings in English on different occasions over a span of some twenty-five years. Upon learning that although some of the writings were already published, their circulation was confined to a relatively narrow circle of readers, while others were still unpublished, Dr. Somseen Chanawangsa, Fellow of the Royal Institute of Thailand, came up with the idea of gathering them into a single volume for ease of reference. Here is a brief account of their sources: The first paper, “Peace Through Freedom and Happiness,” was the acceptance speech delivered in Paris on the occasion of receiving the UNESCO’s Prize for Peace Education on December 20, 1994. The second paper, “Foundations of Buddhist Social Ethics” was originally entitled “Foundations of Buddhist Social Ethics in Contemporary Thailand” and subsequently published in Thailand under the title “Social Dimension of Buddhism in Contemporary Thailand.” It was a commissioned paper presented on June 19, 1981, at the “Moral Values in Comparative Perspective” conference, which was sponsored by the Berkeley/Harvard Cooperative Program in Comparative Religion, and held at the Graduate Theological Union, UC Berkeley, June 17–20, 1981. The essay then appeared as the sole chapter of the first section in Ethics, Wealth and Salvation: A Study in Buddhist Social Ethics , edited by Russell F. Sizemore and Donald K. Swearer, and published by the University of South Carolina Press in 1989. Also included in the present collection is the original volume editors’ section introduction. The third paper, “Tradition and Change in Thai Buddhism,” was published as a Perspectives article in Harvard University’s Center for the Study of World Religions Bulletin for the Fall of 1981. It was the keynote iv address delivered on Wednesday, May 27, 1981, for the Center’s First Annual Associates’ Day, the subject of which was “Buddhism in Southeast Asia, Prospects and Dilemmas.” The next three papers (4–6) were prepared during my teaching at Harvard University in the spring term of 1981. They were handouts for the course entitled “History of Religion 178. Contemporary Buddhism in South East Asia: The Sangha in Thailand.” offered by the Divinity School, which was the same course offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, but under the title “Religion 178. Contemporary Buddhism in South East Asia: The Sangha in Thailand.” The course was taught by Professor Donald K. Swearer while a portion of sessions was exclusively set aside for me as a visiting scholar and guest lecturer at the University’s Center for the Study of World Religions. These handouts were given to students during my own sessions. They are as follows: • Paper 4: “Notes on Stupas and Other Sites of Pilgrimage” • Paper 5: “Thai Rituals and Festivals Connected with Buddhism” • Paper 6: “Vinaya: The Buddhist Monk’s Discipline” The seventh paper, “Applications and Meanings of the Term Dhamma ,” was originally prepared as a handout for the Pali class at Vajiradhammapadip Temple in New York in 1977. The next three papers (8–10) were handouts given to students at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, in 1976. They are as follows: • Paper 8: “Samatha and Vipassana (Tranquility and Insight Meditations): Points of Distinction” • Paper 9: “Buddhist Motivations for Doing Good” • Paper 10: “The Conditioned Co-arising ( Pañiccasamuppàda ): A Simplified Version” The next three papers (11–13) were prepared for the Confrontation of Cultures Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s University Museum, April 5–May 4, 1972. They are as follows: v • Paper 11: “Buddhism and Thai Culture” • Paper 12: “Some Sayings of the Buddha” • Paper 13: “Thailand Slide Lecture Set #1.” The last paper, “Some Basic Concepts of Buddhism,” first appeared as a short article in the Dhammaduta Magazine , Vol. 1 (January–March 2502) issued in Bangkok in 1969 by the Training Institute for Dhammaduta Going Abroad. Although varied in scope and content, these papers, some of which have been slightly revised for accuracy, clarity and consistency, should hopefully contribute to a better understanding of Buddhist teachings in general and Thai Buddhism in particular. I hereby would like to thank Dr. Somseen Chanawangsa for his efforts in putting together all these writings in book form and getting the volume published. Bhikkhu P. A. Payutto (Phra Brahmagunabhorn) September 2007 Notes on Technical Terms and Proper Names Technical terms and proper names of Pali and Sanskrit origins In romanizing technical terms and proper names of Pali and Sanskrit origins, there have developed different practices over the many years since Buddhism became known to the West. Here are some general observations on such practices. 1. Use and non-use of diacritics. When precision in transliteration is called for, especially when chunks of scriptural texts are cited, diacritics are needed. For example, the underdot ( ) is primarily used to distinguish the retroflex (or cerebral) series ñ, ñh, ó, óh, and õ from their respective dental counterparts t, th, d, dh and n. Without the underdot, ambiguity can occur, e.g. vañña “round of rebirth” vs. vatta “observance,” which might lead to confusion and misinterpretation when the word in question is cited without context. However, due to typographic difficulties, many publishers omit diacritics altogether. Thus, we find, for instance, nibbana alongside nibbāna , and sangha as opposed to saïgha . Two digraphs are sometimes used in place of consonants with diacritics. For instance, nyana is actually ¤àõa “direct knowledge.” The ny in this case is meant to be a digraph for ¤, and must not be confused with the regular ny cluster as in Nyàya , in Hindu philosophy. Similarly, the digraph sh are sometimes used in place of either ÷ as in Ashoka (= A÷oka ) or ù as in moksha (= mokùa ). 2. Variants in transliteration. For the same Pali or Sanskrit letter, variants in transliteration might occur. In particular, the Pali niggahīta , or nasal consonant ŋ, is also transliterated as § and ü. Likewise, some writers use the simple n not only for the dental nasal, but also for the vii velar (or gutteral) nasal even when all words are otherwise fully spelled with diacritics, e.g. sankhàra as opposed to saïkhàra. 3. Direct borrowings in English. Several Buddhist terms have been so frequently used by English speakers as to warrant their inclusion in the English lexicon as permanent loanwords. For instance, nirvana, sutra and tripitaka , which can be found in most unabridged general-purpose dictionaries, are from the Sanskrit nirvāõa, sūtra and tripi ñaka , respectively . In such cases, the use of diacritics is considered to be no longer necessary. 4. Anglicization. Like most loan words, Buddhist terms from Pali and Sanskrit tend to be anglicized in pronunciation. For instance, the word jnana (Sanskrt: jñāna ) “direct knowledge” is pronounced as /dZ@"nA;n@/ . Some of such terms in more common use have been further anglicized in morphology as well, as evidenced from the fact that they can take English derivational suffixes. Apart from Buddhism, Buddhist and Buddhahood (from the Pali and Sanskrit buddha + -ism, -ist and -hood , respectively), we find karmic (from the Sanskrit karma + -ic ), and Arhatship , (from the Sanskrit arhat + -ship ). Perhaps even more productive is the inflectional plural suffix -s, which can be found freely added to borrowings, whether permanent or not. Among writers who adopt this practice, sometimes only the Pali or Sanskrit stems, with or without diacritics, are italicized while the suffix -s is set in roman type. This typographic convention seems to be especially observed when the permanent status as loanword of the term in question is still in doubt; hence, jātaka s “birth-stories” and devas “deities,” as opposed to Buddhas , whose permanent loanword status has been established. 5. Sanskrit forms and their Pali counterparts. Owing to Western scholars’ prior interest in the study of Sanskrit and Hinduism, the Buddhist names and terms that first entered the English language were almost exclusively Sanskrit. In earlier books on Buddhism, and even in today’s publications, especially on Mahayana Buddhism, viii Sanskrit forms are predominantly used throughout. However, there has been a growing tendency among scholars in Theravada Buddhism to replace Sanskrit forms with their Pali counterparts. For example, Siddhattha, Gotama, dhamma, kamma and nibbana (or nibbāna ) are preferred to Siddhartha (or Siddhārtha ), Gautama, dharma, karma and nirvana (or nirvāõa), respectively. With these observations in mind, the reader may find in the present volume both Pali and Sanskrit forms, e.g. kamma and karma. The Sanskrit forms are more prevalent in earlier works, while the Pali forms are to be found in more recent works, which reflects the current trend mentioned above. In addition, diacritics will only be used for more specific technical terms, e.g. pa ñiccasamuppāda . Those words deemed to be familiar to most Buddhists are spelled without diacritics, e.g. nibbana and Theravada . Proper names in Thai Not unrelated to the romanization of Pali and Sanskrit borrowings in English, there is a problem of how to romanize proper names in Thai. It is all too well known that different people, Thais and Westerners alike, might spell the same name differently, in some cases according to their own system, but in most cases without any system at all.