Dīgha Nikāya: Overview of the Long Discourses of the Buddha (1)

Wong Weng Hon

Introduction

The Dīgha Nikāya is the collection of the early Long Discourses of Gotama Buddha expounded in the 6th century B.C.E in ancient India. It is one the basket of collection scriptures of the Suttapiṭaka of the Theravāda tradition. It is originally compiled in Pāli language and has been translated by both western and eastern Pāli scholars into English versions.

The Dīgha Nikāya is organized and compiled into three divisions. The first division is the Division on Moralities consisting of 13 suttas, the second division
on Great Division consisting of ten suttas and the third division on Patika Division comprising 11 suttas. The total number of suttas compiled in the Dīgha Nikāya is 34. Like all other Pāli Nikāya, Dīgha Nikāya is indeed a great treasure discovered and transmitted by the Buddha to us as an invaluable Buddhist legacy to mankind.

Having read the Long Discourses of the Buddha, I myself too honour, esteem, adore and extoll the Buddha’s enormous capacity to communicate the Dhamma skillfully and effectively. He inspired and motivated many listeners to take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha hitherrto. Gotama Buddha was undoubtedly supremely enlightened, an adept instructor, a brilliant and skillful tamer or appeaser of the chatter of human mind and above all a highly professional pedagogy strategist. He could brilliantly and proficienly refute the hererical views of the highly learned and philosophical ascetics and Brahmins who were his religious contemporaries profusely venerated by the Brahmin society. He preached the Dhamma proficienly, marvellously without offending his opponents. His communication skill was enormously adept and brilliantly  
astute. His personal supreme enlightenment resulting from his attainment of the six supernormal knowledge (abhiññā) made him an unequalled, and unsurpassed in knowledge and conduct.

Evidences of Tremendous Success

The successful delivery of the discourses can be observed from the following evidences found in the suttas of the Dīgha Nikāya.

1. Firstly, every discourse is delivered beautifully in the opening, beautifully in the body and beautifully in the closing. The attention and interest of the listeners were captured throughout the whole session of the Dhamma discourse.
2. Secondly, after the end of a discourse, the majority of the well-learned Brahmins immediately converted on their own wills and took refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha as Dhamma eyes or spiritual wisdom arose in many of them.
3. Excellent reports of the Buddha’s track records had already been received by the well-learned Brahmins who were the prominent and respectable leaders of the respective Brahmin community before they went to pay homage to the Buddha and to listen to his Dhamma discourses. They converted willingly because of the Dhamma and were not intentionally converted by Buddha.
4. The Buddha’s own charming personality arisen from his supreme enlightenment charmed, inspired and moved the listeners. The Buddha preached what he acted and acted what he preached. There was constant unity between the theory and practice manifested by the Buddha’s conduct perceived by his disciples.

 Treasure of Mankind

Before I read seriously the suttas of the Dīgha Nikāya, previously I erroneously conceived that the Theravādins’ suttas of the Dīgha Nikāya should be comparatively simple and can not be as perfound as the Prajñāpramitā-sūtras and Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra of the Mahāyāna tradition. My intensive examinations and reflections on the suttas of Dīgha Nikāya falsified my previous view. Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise to ascertain that all the fundamental doctrines of the Buddha are expounded in this Buddhist canonical texts or scriptures. The complete teaching of the three-fold Buddhist training of morality, concentration and wisdom is expounded by the Exalted One. By merely practising what is expounded in the Dīgha Nikāya, one can certainly perfect one’s knowledge (wisdom) and conduct (virtue) and can gain emancipation of the mind (cetovimutti). If the tenet of Dī̄gha Nikāya is actualized and lived, the world will not be lack of Arahants among the Monastic community and noble or perfect men among the lay Buddhist community.

Sixty two Wrong Views

In the Brahmajāla-sutta(DN1), the Buddha refuted 62 wrong substantial views proclaimed by the ascetics and Brahmins who were contemporaries with the Buddha in the 6th century B.C. There were two reasons why the critique was made by Gotama Buddha. We must be cautious to perceive that fundamentally there is nothing wrong with the Vedic religion which is divine revelation. However, in the early period after the emergence of Vedas, it could not be avoided there existed heretical interpretations of the Vedic religion in the Vedic literature and early Upaniṣads. Thus, heretical views emerged. The Vedic religion was finally consummated in the late Upaniṣads known as the Vedānta. The Vedānta philosophy is compatible with soteriological role played the Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy and Islamic Sufism which shed more light on the esoteric Truth.

Today, Buddhist doctrines have not vanished totally from modern India. The doctrinal communalities of Buddhism and Brahminism hand and have been absorbed and syncretized in the scriptures of modern Hinduism. The nectars of Mahāyānism can be identified in the Vedānta of Hinduism. Unfortunately, the Asian Hindus practise Hindu rites, rituals and ceremonies so prominently that Vedānta is totally concealed. The same superstitions are also evident among the Asian Buddhist communities who mix Buddhist practices with traditional beliefs.

1. Firstly, these wrong metaphysical views were extreme views carrying  the substantial view of ontology. Such views contradicted the central tenet of Dependent co-arising.     

2. Secondly, the ascetics and Brahmins who upheld these metaphysical or substantial views would be fettered to transmigration. They rendered emancipation impossible. The Buddha was capable of predicting their future rebirths by his supernormal power of clairvoyance or divine eye.

In actual fact, early Buddhism and Vedānta of Hinduism emphasize intuitive discernment knowledge of Truth rather than the practice of ritualism about 2,500 years ago. Unfortunately, after 2,500 years, the modern Hindus and Buddhists spiritualize their religions respectively so much so that the esoteric dimension of religion is concealed. Modern eastern Christians and Muslims are also equally exoteric. The excessive exotericization of religion by the current modernists are the underlying causes of crisis, turmoils, disasters and catastrophes in our currently imperiled world. In actuality, exotericization of religion is a subtle form of idolatry. It evokes subtle illusory ego which impedes salvation or emancipation in the unsaved believers. Such practices contradict the original esoteric message of Prophets and Tathāgatas. Rites, rituals, prayers and ceremonies practised without morality or without loving the neighbour are invalidated.

Six Samaṇa Teachers

The Samāññaphala-sutta highlights the six important samaṇa teachers who were contemporaries with the Buddha. They all had large following of devotees. They were Pūraṇa Kasspa, Makkhali Gosāla, Ajitakesakambalī, Padukha Kaccāyana, Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta and Sañjaya Balaṭṭhaputta.The emergence of Buddhism was a critical point in the history of India as these influencial teachers were declaring heretical views to their followers. However, it was a golden era of the fermentation of Indian philosophy comparable to the contemporary flourencence of the Chinese classical or oriental philosophy during the time of Lao-zi and Confucius of the Zhou Dynasty in China in the 6th century B.C.E.

The very learned Brahmins during the time of the Buddha were religious leaders who were householders enjoying tremendous wealth bestowed by the kings. They also enjoyed sensual pleasures through their marriage lives. Gotama Buddha preached the Dhamma to the Brahmins who came on their own wills to pay a curious visit and homage to him. Gotama Buddha was a very prominently celebrated Dhamma propagator at that time in India in the 6th century B.E. Gotama Buddha never preached to the Brahmins to convert them. The Exalted One just expounded the Truth to the audience so that they discerned the Truth. The Brahmins were converted by the Dhamma or spiritual Eye arising in themselves. The Exalted One preached the Buddhist fundamental doctrines, such as:

1. Precepts and Vinaya
2. Three-fold training of morality, concentration and wisdom
3. Serenity and Insight meditation with stress on Four Foundations of mindfulness
4. Six supernormal knowledge with great emphasis of the sixth supernormal knowledge of liberation
5. Dependent Origination
6. Deontological Ethics
7. The Attributes of a Buddha
8. Nibbāna etc.

The Buddha asserts that there is no fruit in the world that surpasses the fruit of soteriological goal of Nibbāna. Nibbāna, the state of egolessness which is the complete obliteration of self-centric ego, is mental liberation. The aim of gaining Nibbāna is to destroy human selfishness and egoism so that greed, hatred and delusion will not defile human consciousness. Most significantly, Nibbāna is the state in which human wisdom and virtue are consummated. A Nibbānic person is a Man Perfected. His illusory ego has totally vanished. He knows his True Self and sees the Buddha. Seeing the Buddha is intuitively self-realizing the Truth of Insubstantiality (Anattā) and Dependent Co-arising (Paṭiccasamuppāda). It is Buddhist concept of salvation.

 Though the discourse mentions the spiritual attainments of an ordained monk, many of the audience were householders. The Noble Eight Fold Path is certainly relevant to both the lay Buddhists as well as for the members of the Saṅgha. Though saddhamma is a challenging practice for a Buddhist householder or lay Buddhist, it is still possible for any Buddhist householder or lay Buddhist to consummate the Noble Eight Fold Path without the practice of Vinaya. In actuality, for the first 20 years after the establishment of monastic community in ancient India by Gotama Buddha, Vinaya rules were not enacted to discipline the members of the monastic community. Vinaya was not necessitated because the members of the monastic community were all morally restrained without problems of discipline.

The Vinaya was promulgated by the Blessed One only after an increasing number of miscreants joined the monastic community and created disciplinary problems. Before the enactment of Vinaya Rules, Gotama Buddha’s moral injunctions of the Five Precepts (Pañcasilas) and the Ten Wholesome Courses of Actions (Dasasīlas) sufficed to restrain the members of monastic community and lay disciples. Paradoxically, more Arahants were produced prior to the introduction of Vinaya than before its introduction. The Vinaya Rules were enacted and enforced upon the miscreants among the members of the Saṅgha.

 Celebrated American Bhikkhu Bodhi admits that there are a number of serious lay Buddhist practioners who had or have fared or coursed spiritually better than the monks and nuns. Anāthapiṇḍika and Virmalakīrti,who were contemporaries of Gotama Buddha, were ideal models to be emulated by the lay Buddhists. The communal agenda of all religious adherents is to develop one’s wisdom and virtue in order to avert the fallibilities and vulnerabilities of a religiously ignorant person. Religion is meant for moral improvement and development of wisdom to consummate character formation. It is the salvation or liberation knowledge for all deluded sentient beings.

Social Status

The Brahmin society was stratified into four classes: Brahmin, Warrior, Merchant and Slave. In the Ambaṭṭha–sutta (D.N) and other suttas of the Pāli Nikāya, Gotama Buddha asserts expressly that one social’s status is determined by one’s own kammas but not by one’s own birth. One’s own efforts determine one’s own destiny and hence his social position. The Exalted One preached that human actions shaped one’s habits. Habits condition human conduct. Human conduct determines human destiny. All modern ethical and psychological philosophers or education gurus recommend such formula of human engineering and self-improvement. Such moral prescription was formulated by Gotama Buddha in India 2,500 years ago.

Today, we witness that a poor man can become a trans-national corporate leader amassing enormous wealth by self-endeavour. Bill Gates left his university prematurely. However, he is declared by Fortune Magazine as the richest man in United States currently because of his wise commision of wholesome kammas. Their individual kammas have made what they are not because of fatalistic determination of their good births.

 Gotama Buddha, through his supernormal knowledges (abhiñā) of retrospection and Divine eye, perceived that a person is born according to one’s wholesome and unwholesome kammas. For instance, for a person who is born in the family of a man of enormous economic affluence is perceived by Gotama Buddha’s clairvoyance that such an enormously blessed son had committed lots of wholesome kammas of generosity (dāna) in his previous lives. Gotama Buddha also perceived through his clairvoyance that a person, born intrinsically with a high score of IQ, had studied very diligently or had a fervent love of the pursuit of knowledge in his previous lives. The quality of a human being is the sum total of his or her kammas committed in the previous lives as well as in his kammas of the present life. Present kammas are crucial as they influence the maturity of the previous kammas. If good seeds are sowed on bad soils deficient of water and fertilizers, they do not sprout and grow well.

Even in Monotheism, the divine truth that God saves only those who save themselves is correctly stressed. The belief that God strictly determines human destiny without necessitating the human wills and efforts is an incorrigible misnomer and sheer mispresentation of the Word of Monotheists’ God. The fundamental esoteric wisdom is communal and universally applicable. The self-power of self-endeavour is the primary condition to impose and determine phenomenon of success. God helps only those who help themselves. Likewise, personal skillful kammas must be committed first before the Law of Dependent Co-arising conglomerates the contigent conditions into the phenomenon known as human success or achievement.

For instance, the impoverishment of some undeveloped countries in the third world is mainly due to improper or absence of proper religious instructions. Proper religious instructions are crucial in the eradication of human suffering and the elevation of the economic and social status of Man. That the lack of emphasis on religious education in modern school and university curriculum is kammically responsible for current global catastrophes linked to enthropocentric behaviours or human selfishness or egoism.

 Paradoxically, even students of modern civilization do not learn the esoteric Truth in religion. They are more exoterically orientated towards the rites, rituals, dogmatic doctrines and ceremonies leading to incessant discrimination towards others. Discriminative attitude is highly harmful in an increasingly multicultural society. They do not learn religion esoterically for moral improvement and development of wisdom. Religion is an antidote to anthropocentricism which is actually the problem of not knowing Anattā actually. Why are the modernists so anthropocentric in the midst of more modern and more sophisticated icons of religious civilization and infrastructure, such as computerized churches, ultra-modern temples, monasteries and mosques of the first class infrastructure?

Kammic conditions determine one’s destiny. The unity of kammas is the destiny. Gotama Buddha admonished us not to blame others for our misfortune or poverty but to blame our own kammas for not exerting sufficient efforts to transform our destinies through manipulating the contigent conditions of personal kammas. Managing the contigent conditions of kammas to produce excellence is equivalent to the modern concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) in modern management science. A genuine Buddhist is, in actuality, a first class TQM worker, supervisor or manager. TQM is actually the management of right contigent conditions to produce the most desirable conditioned phenomena or necessary existents – quality products and services at very competitive prices. The Japanese industrialists spiritualize their TQM and QCC (Quality Control Circle) with Zen wisdom of Emptiness (Śūnyatā), that is, Interdependent Co-arising (Paṭiccasamupāda). Japanese political doctrine of Japanese Incorporated is Zen wisdom of Interdependent Co-arising. It is evident that even businesses cannot be divorced from religion. Dhamma is discovered to improve the secular life. Secularity and spirituality are interpenetrative or interdependent. Buddhism and any other esoteric religion unveil to us that the phenomena and the Absolute can not be separated. The turmoils in a human society or global turmoils had and have occurred because modernists deliberately separate the phenomenal world and the Absolute or religion. The fish and the Ocean cannot be separated. The branches cannot be separated from the vine.