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Some Notes on Sara Sera Some Notes on Sara sera Esho Yamaguchi The concept of samsara (transmigration), which means that birth and death repeat themselves over again for every living thing including human being, is one of the traditional characters in Indian thought, and it becomes a part of tradition of Japanese thought through Buddhism. But nowadays does everyone feel this thought of samsara close to himself ? It is needless to say that it is funeral that is held at the end of life of a man. Recently it is known that some people conciously avoid the funeral of all religious sects and hold the funeral independently of religion. In such a funeral, it is noteworthy that the president and the attendant of the fu- neral are the principal part and support's part respectively, and that neither a. priest nor a supposition of God or Buddha can be seen there. In this case, they make it a rule that the deceased is held a religious service as if he were alive by people who take leave of him and that the deceased is not thought to aim at the world of God or Buddha as his last refuge. And they think of the deceased by talking together about his meritorious. deeds bef ore his death and his personality. But it is not clarified there where all of his meritorious deeds come from. It is almost needless to say that as. for as one's meritorious deeds have a historical and social meaning people must find a historical and social appreciation in it. But in this case, people think it rightly appreciated from the view point of that human being is. the nucleus of this world. And they never think of its attaching a deep significance from the view point of the transcendental, historical and social. We have same experience even in the funeral of the deceased who insisted on uselessness of the funeral ceremoney while he lived. In this case, the life of the person is regarded to continue only in his own lifetime given. by his parents, and to have no relation to the past or the future. Once the. life of the person is considered to continue only in his own lifetime and -1014- Some Notes on Sarhsara' (E. Yamaguchi) (12> to be related only to the present time, the death must be the in-evitable. destiney for human being. People cannot expect their happiness after death,. and cannot conquest the terror of death approaching them. So they cling very hardly to their own lives in their declining years, desiring to know how to live longer or get an elixir of life. The motive of Buddha's entering in priesthood is considered to be howw to avoid such a pain of death or old age. And so the dharma (the truth), of the pratityasamutpada (chain of causation), which is the content of Bud- dha's enlightenment (perfect knowledge or wisdom), is aiming at the solution of pains of every living thing. The dharma of Buddha's pratityasamutpada shows, as well known, the inter-dependent relation between all living things. And when we refer this conception to the fourfold noble truth (caturarya- satya), that is, pain, the causes of pain, the extinction of pain, and the way to the extinction, we can understand that Buddha was aiming at the solution of pains of every living thing with this pratityasamutpada. The cause of pain (pain as a result from this cause) and the way to the extinction (the. extinction of pain resulting from this way) are arising from the two-way ob servation (observation in regular order and inverse order) of pratityasamutpada._ Among these two-way observations, that in regular order shows the cause of pain and its result, and that in inverse order shows the way of extinction. of pain and its result. That is to say, basing on the causation of the pra- tityasamutpada, the former clarifies actual state of pain of every living thing and the latter actual state of the extinction of pain. The causation of the pratityasamutpada shows that one exists because another exists or that one does not exist because another does not. That is, the former show the observation of the pratityasamutpada in regular order, and the latter that in inverse order. In this way people would be able to gain the true knowledge (Nyojitsu- chiken (pfd,)). The twelvefold pratityasamutpada is explained as follows; From avidya (ignorance) arises samskara (mental conformation or creation of the mind), from samskara vijnana (knowledge), from vijnana namarupa (name and form), from namarupa sadayatana (the seats of six organs), from sadaya- -1013- (13) Some Notes on Sarhsara' (E. Yamaguchi) tana sparsa (tangibility), from sparsa vedana (sensation), from vedana trsna (desire), from trsna upadana (grasping or clinging to-existence), from upadana bhava (existence), from bhava jati (birth), from jati jaramarana (old age and death). And in inverse order, as follows; From the extinction of avidya the, extinction of samskara, from the extinction of samskara the extinction of vijnana, from the extinction of vijnana the extinction of namarupa, from the extinction of namarupa the extinction of sadayatana, from the extinction of sadayatana the extinction of sparsa, from the extinction of sparsa the extinction of vedana, from the extinction of vedana the extinction of trsna, from the extinction of trsna the extinction of upadana, from the extinction of upadana the extinction of bhava, from the extinction of bhava the extinction of jati, from the extinction of jati the extinction of jaramarana. With this two-way observation Bonno-soku-bodai' (k RAAV)1) and: Shoji- soku-nehan' (4Effli)2) are gained. That is, Nyojitsu-chiken, a knowledge of enlightenment. It may sound strange to you that Bonno-soku-bodai or Shoji-soku-nehan are gained by this two-way observation. The pratiityasamutpada in regular order is established by the question whence jaramarana exists, and that in observation in inverse order is established by the question from non-existence of what jaramarana does not exist. Basing on the reason of cause and effect, the former shows the reality of Bonno-shoji (klesa - jatimarana), the latter that of Bodai-nehan (bodhi - nirvana). Bodai-nehan are obviously separated from Bonno-shoji because the former is established by negation and conquest of the latter. Consequently ins't it questionable that Bonno-soku-Bodai and Shoji-soku-nehan are gained by this two-way observation of pratityasamut- pada? It is certainly possible that such a question is brought out. But in this 1) Affliction (klesa) is a perfect knowledge (bodhi) in that condition. 2) The life and death (jati-marana) is a nirvana in that condition. -1012- Some Notes on Samsara' (E. Yamaguchi) (14) case it is notable that the observation of the pratityasamutpada comes from the true knowledge of Gotama Buddha. The truth of the pratityasamutpada or the dharma of the pratityasamutpada, as is generally known, shows the contents of enlightenment of Gotama Buddha. Sramana Gotama became Buddha because he knew the truth of the pratityasamutpada or the dharma of the pratityasamutpada. And this is shown in following passages. Who sees pratityasamutpada sees the dharma. Who sees the dharma sees himself and sees Buddha. The meaning of the above is that who sees the pratityasamutpada sees the dharma and who sees the pratityasamutpada sees himself and at the same time sees Buddha. And this dharma of the pratityasamutpada is im- perishable independently of the advent of Buddha or Tathagata. That is to say, the imperishable dharma for Buddha is after all the dharma of the pratityasamutpada, and not something else. Moreover to see dharma of the pratityasamutpada means to see Buddha, and to have the light of the im- perishable truth. And so the thought of two light or two conversions was probably taught in relation with the above. One should have oneself as the light and at the same time the dharma as the light. And one should be converted to himself and at the sametime to the dharma. What does it mean that one should be converted to oneself and should have oneself as the light? And what does it mean that one should be con- verted to the dharma and should have the dharma as the light? We can find verious meanings in teaching of two lights or conversions. From my point of view, the teaching of two lights or two conversions means that every living thing has himself as a light and is converted to himself, and that every living thing has the dharma as the light and is converted to the dharma. And it is clear for this teaching to show every living thing what he depends upon and what he should aim at. In the case of Buddha, one- self and the dharma are not different (advaya) from the observation of the dharma of the imperishable pratityasamutpada. Who sees the imperishable pratityasamutpada sees the dharma, and who sees the dharma sees himself -1011- (15) Some Notes on Sarnsara' (E. Yamaguchi) and Buddha. Therefore, in the case of Gotama Buddha who saw the dharma,, himself and Buddha from the observation of the imperishable pratityasam- utpada, his light or his own dependent place is the pratityasamutpada which is gained by himself. The teaching "who sees the pratityasamutpada. sees the dharma........ means the light of the imperishable truth for every living thing. Every living thing thinks of Buddha's teachings as the light illuminating his way, and goes ahead along the way of Tenmei-kaigo M61 RU-9, being disillusioned and enlightening). But unless he is always converted to the imperishable dharma "seeing the pratityasamutpada" and thinks of it as the light, he is not to go ahead along the way of Tenmei-kaigo.
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