Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. The first instance cited is in Pāli whilst the second is Sanskrit. This procedure will be followed throughout the paper. 2. This example is to be found in the g Veda. 3. Manu Sm ti, 9.43. 4. Monier-Williams was the compiler of one of the first Sanskrit dictionaries, a work that is still invaluable in the study of Sanskrit today. 5. Dīgha Nikāya, II.156. Unless stated otherwise, all translations are the author's own. However, as with all translations, an enormous debt is owed to those who have gone before. 6. Majjhima Nikāya, I.94. 7. Sa yutta Nikāya, II.61–62. 8. The term ‘Buddha’ is far better translated as ‘An Awakened One’ rather than as ‘Enlightened One’. 9. Dīgha Nikāya, II.100. 10. ‘Ennobling Truths’ or ‘Truths of the Noble Ones’ is to be much preferred to ‘Noble Truth’, which as the distinguished Pāli scholar and ex-President of the Pali Text Society Professor K. R. Norman points out is the very worst of all the possible translations of Cattāri Ariyasāccani—A Philological Approach to Buddhism (Norman 2006). 11. A bhikkhu is a Buddhist monk belonging to the order of monks founded by the Buddha. More accurately the word ‘bhikkhu’ means ‘sharer’; that is, one who shares what is collected on the alms realm or the sharing of the Dhamma/Dharma. 12. In their Pali formulation, the Four Ennobling Truths are as follows: (1) Dukkha Ariyasacca; (2) Dukkha Samudaya Ariyasacca; (3) Dukkhanirodha Ariyasacca; and (4) Dukkhanirodhagāminīpa tipadā Ariyasacca. 13. Richard Gombrich in his work Theravāda Buddhism, describes dukkha as the Buddha's ‘problem situation’ (32–59) 14. See Digha Nikāya (The Long Discourses of the Buddha, translated by Maurice Walshe, 1987); Particularly the Brahmajala Sutta, which lists 62 philosophies extant during the Buddha's lifetime. 15. , II.99. 16. A synonym for the Buddha. The term is obscure and means literally. ‘Thus come, thus gone.’ The Buddha always refers to himself as the Tathāgata. 17. , II.100. 18. ., II.94. 19. Sa yutta Nikaya, V. Mahāvagga, 421. 20. Majjhima Nikāya, I.90. Ko ca bhikkhave vedānānam ādīnavo: ya vedanā aniccaā dukkhā vipari āmadham, aya vedānānam ādinava. 21. Dīgha Nikāya, II.158. 22. The five aggregates are form (rūpa), feelings or sensations (vedanā), perception-discrimination (sa ), volitional formations (sa khāra) and consciousness (vi āna). These five interdependent factors are processes upon which the notion of a self is posited. In reality there is no fixed and unchanging ‘I’, only these five processes. 23. Majjhima Nikāya, II.93. 24. Sa yutta Nikāya, IV.133–4. 25. B hadāra yaka Upani ad, I.4.I. 26. Sa yutta Nikāya, III.142. 27. Dīgha Nikāya, I.23. 28. Dīgha Nikāya, I.189. 29. Sutta Nipāta, 832. 30. Majjhima Nikāya, 108–114. 31. Majjhima Nikāya., 879–886. 32. Majjhima Nikāya, I.298. 33. Digha Nikāya, III.216. Tisso ta hā: kāma ta hā, bhava ta hā, vibhava ta hā. 34. The Mūlapariyāya Sutta is the opening Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya. 35. , I.1. 36. . 37. Majjhima Nikāya, I.109. 38. The Buddha's life story is basically a hagiography put together many centuries after his death. In the Pāli Nikāyas, the Buddha discloses tantalising snippets about his background. His dwelling with ascetics and practising self-mortification is one such piece of information that he discloses. 39. Majjhima Nikāya, I.86–90. 40. Majjhima Nikāya., 84–85. 41. Majjhima Nikāya, I.113. 42. Majjhima Nikāya. 43. Sutta Nipāta, 756–757. 44. Indian society at the time of the Buddha was divided into four social categories (varna) based on the notion of metaphysical purity. Outside this system, which later evolved into the caste system (jāti), was an underclass who were slaves, known as the dasas. Northern Indian society was dominated by the Āryans whose language was based on Sanskrit. The word ‘Aryan’ means ‘noble’, and those that were born into āryan society were noble by birth whilst those who were born outside āryan society were considered unclean and ignoble. The Buddha redefines all of the social categories, making ‘purity’ and ‘nobility’ a matter of virtue not of birth. 45. Dīgha Nikāya, II.16. 46. Majjhima Nikāya, I.180. 47. Majjhima Nikāya., I.181. 48. Digha Nikāya, III.34. 49. Itivuttika, 43.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.