Aṅguttara Nikāya (AN4.144): Obhāsa-sutta Discourse on Brightness

Wong Weng Hon

Purport:

Gotama Buddha promulgates that there are four types of Brightness (Obhāsas), namely:

1. The Brightness of Sun
2. The Brightness of Moon
3. The Brightness of Fire
4. The Brightness of Discernment or Wisdom

Human beings can dwell on the earth planet because of the brightness of the sun rays illuminating the entire vastly extensive earth surface. During the night, the moon is bright. It illuminates the dark surface of the earth so that terrestrial beings can still continue their activities at night. For those dwelling in the forests or visiting the dark caves, the fire is necessary path illuminator in the darkness of a forest or cave. It guides one to tread carefully on the path in darkness. When the path is illuminated with rays of light, one can tread on the path properly without mistepping and going astray. Most importantly, the light illuminates path to correct destination. Light is like right view. Right view leads to right thought of non-grasping upon the five aggregates. Non-grasping removes the illusory ego. The removal of illusory ego actualizes the soteriological goal of freedom or salvation.

 Therefore, Gotama Buddha promulgates that, among the four brightness, the brightest light is the enlightened human mind of Truth-discernment or Wisdom of penetrative insight. The light of insightful Wisdom dispels the darkness of ignorance. When ignorance is dispelled through right view, false conceptualizations and mental obsessions cease. The cessation of obsessions appeases kammic formation or dispositions. The appeasement of dispositions silences the chatter of the human mind. The complete silence of the intellectual or conceptual mind is self-redemption. Self-redemption is Nibbāna.

Nibbāna is liberating state of absolute mental peace as a result of the obliteration of the self-centric ego. The obliteration of self-centric ego is the negation of self or ego (Anattā). Buddhist wisdom is the employment of the Anattā-strategy to annihilate the human self-centric ego. Nibbāna is the manifest of the pure, finite consciousness in which selfishness or egoism manifested in terms of greed, hatred and delusion is annihilated totally.

The Anattā-strategy formulated by Gotama Buddha to negate illusory attā. Attā is the self-centric ego. The self-centric ego is effectively annihilated by non-grasping resulted from adept execution of the right mindfulness and clear awareness. Right mindfulness with clear awareness is effected from the skillful practice of the four foundations of mindfulness.

Alternatively expressed, a sentient being is considered to have developed a bright or luminous mind if and only if he or she has developed the sixth supernormal knowledge (abhiññā) of the complete destruction of cankers. The complete destruction of cankers is said to have occurred if and only if the insubstantiality of the five aggregates of form, feelings, perceptions, volitions and consciousness has been discerned intuitively. When the intuitive discernment of the insubstantiality of the five aggregates occurs, the illusive self-centric ego superimposed upon the five aggregates as this is I; this is mine; this belongs to me is completely obliterated. The obliteration of the self-centric ego implies that the grasping upon the five aggregates has ceased. Consequently, the mind is purified. The purified mental consciousness is luminous, bright and infinite. This luminous, bright and infinite consciousness is the delivered mind of an Arahant. The delivered mind is the mind of self-enlightenment or gnosis which is the knowledge of Truth of Anattā.

 The stanza in the Dhammapada (Dhp.XXVIV5.387) depicts the brightness of sun, moon, warrior, Brahman and Awakened One thus:

By day shines the sun;
by night shines the moon;
in armour, shines the warrior;
in Jhāna, shines the Brahman.
But all day and night,
The Awakened One shines in splendor.
Dpd.XXVI5.387

Divā tapati ādico
Rattim ābhāti candimā
Sannaddho khattiyo tapati
Jhāyī tapati brāhmaṇo
Buddho tapati tejasā
Dpd. XXVI5.387

Any Enlightened One will eliminate immorality with morality, the vice with virtue, ignorance with wisdom, demerit with merit and unrighteousness with righteousness. A Enlightened One is considered bright because the light of wisdom uncovers the ultimate Truth of three universal characteristics of Impermanence (Anicca), Suffering (Dukkha) and Insubstantiality (Anattā) in terms of the universal law of Dependent Co-arising (Paṭiccasamuppāda). Most importantly, the Four Noble Truths are intuitively apprehended and the Noble Eight Fold Path is trodden fruitfully to actualize the soteriological goal of Nibbāna.

In the Itivuttaka, one of the Buddhist canonical texts of the Theravāda tradition, Gotama Buddha depicts an Arahant thus: An Arahant whose aggregate of morality, aggregate of concentration and aggregate of wisdom pass beyond the māra’s domain and shines like a sun.(Iti.59). It is just like a fish that lives in its domain of water. No cat on land can reach and consume it. It is well said.

Wisdom is akin to the metaphor of the light of sun; ignorance is likened to the metaphor of darkness. Only light can dispel darkness. Likewise, only wisdom can dispel ignorance. Ignorance fabricates the self, ego or multiplicity to delude and obsess us. The illusively superimposed self-centric ego makes the sentient beings anthropocentric. Anthropocentricism is the origin of suffering for oneself as well as for the deluded human society. A disunited and disharmonious human society is a deluded society. The light of Dhamma illuminates and liberates us. Conversely, the darkness of Ignorance (Avijjā; Adhamma) is willful and wishful thinking.