NibbānaSeparation of Phenomena 1. “Is it possible to separate these phenomena; saying, ‘This is contact, this feeling, this perception, this intention, this consciousness, this initial application, and this sustained application’?”
“No, great king, this cannot be done. If one were to prepare a soup containing curds, salt, ginger, cumin seeds, and pepper, one could not take out the flavour
of the curds and show it saying, ‘This is the flavour of the curds’ or take out the flavour of the salt and say, ‘This is the flavour of the salt,’ yet each flavour would be distinctly present by its characteristic sign.”
2. Then the elder said, “Is salt, O king, recognisable by the eye?”
“Yes, your reverence, it is.” “Be careful, O king, what you say.”
“Then it is recognisable by the tongue.”
“Yes, that is right.” “But, Nāgasena, is it only by the tongue that every kind of salt is recognisable?”
“Yes, every kind.” “Then why do bullocks bring whole cartloads of it?”
“It is impossible to bring salt by itself. For example, salt also has mass but it is impossible to weigh salt, one can only weigh the mass.” “You are dexterous, Nāgasena, in argument.” 3. “Are the five sense bases produced from various kammas, or all from one?”
“From various kammas, O king.” “Give me an illustration.”
“If you were to sow five kinds of seeds the produce would be of five kinds.” 4. “Why is it, Nāgasena, that all men are not alike; some are short-lived and some long-lived, some
sickly and some healthy, some ugly and some handsome, some powerful and some powerless, some poor and some rich, some low-born and some noble, some foolish and some wise?”
“Why is it that all plants are not alike?” “Because they come from different seeds.”
“Just so, O king, it is because of the variety of kammas that beings are not all the same. For this was
said by the Blessed One, ‘All beings have kamma as their own property, are heirs to it, born from it, are relatives of their kamma, and have kamma as their refuge; whatever kamma they do divides them into high and low states.’”1 5. “You said that your going forth was so that this suffering might be extinguished and no further suffering arise. Is it brought about by previous effort, or to be striven after now, in the present?”
“Effort now is concerned with what remains to be done, former effort has accomplished what it had to do.” “Give me an illustration.”
“Is it when the enemy is arrayed against you that you set to work to have a moat dug, a rampart raised, a watchtower built, a stronghold constructed and stores collected?” “Certainly not your reverence.”
“Just so, effort now is concerned with what remains to be done, former effort has accomplished what it had to do.” 6. “You say that the fire of purgatory would instantly destroy a boulder the size of a house; but you also say that whatever beings are reborn in hell, though they burn for hundreds of thousands of years they are not destroyed. How can I believe this?”
“Although the food, bones and even stones eaten by various female beings are destroyed inside their
abdomens yet their embryos are not destroyed. Just so those beings in hell avoid destruction by the influence of their kamma.” 7. “You say that the world rests on water, the water on air, and the air on space. This too I cannot believe.”
Then the elder showed the king water in a regulation water-filter supported by atmospheric pressure and the king was convinced.
8. “Is cessation nibbāna?”
“Yes, O king. All foolish worldlings take pleasure in the senses and their objects; they find delight in them and cling to them. Hence they are carried down by the flood [of passion] and are not released from birth and suffering. However, the wise disciple of the noble ones does not delight in those things.
So craving ceases in him. Thence, attachment ceases, becoming ceases, birth ceases, old age, death, grief, lamentation, pain, sorrow, and despair cease to exist. Thus it is that cessation is nibbāna.” 9. “Does everyone attain nibbāna?”
“Not all, O king; but whoever conducts himself rightly, understands what should be understood,
perceives what should be perceived, abandons what should be abandoned, develops what should be developed and realises what should be realised;2 he attains nibbāna.” 10.“Can one who has not attained nibbāna know that it is blissful?”
“Yes indeed, O king. As those who have not had their hands and feet cut off can know how painful a condition it is by the cries of those who have; so can those who have not attained nibbāna know it is blissful by hearing the joyful words of those who have attained it.” In this chapter there are ten questions |
