14th Issue (Dec, 2009)

The Perfection of Sīla as an Enlightened Experience

Bhikkhu K. Tanchangya
saddhananda@hotmail.com

‘All-vanquishing, all-knowing, un-adhering with regard to all things, all-abandoning, released in the ending of craving’ [1]. This is how the Buddha, for the first time, introduced his perfection of human personality to a wanderer named Upaka soon after his enlightened experience. Buddha was responding to Upaka’s curiosity and amazement at his ‘pleasant faculties, pure and bright complexion’. Upaka’s inquiry regarding the pleasant, pure and bright outward appearance of one whose personality has been perfected was met with a response attributing such a cause to inner transformation. Such a response, at the time, was quite innovative that the inquirer failed to believe and understand what the Buddha’s explanation was all about. At a time when the practice of so-called morality (sīla), rituals (bata) and austerity (tapa) was traditionally considered to be the way to human perfection, Buddha’s exclusion of sīla in his definition of human perfection was natural to cause indifference to his claim of such a personality development. His former five ascetic companions too hesitated to believe him to be an arahant, a tathāgata, a sammāsambuddha, specifically because he abandoned the practice of such sīla-bata-tapa leading to such a superior enlightened experience [2]. Indeed, human perfection was not defined by the Buddha as a so-called moral perfection so much as it was defined as intellectual perfection. This was because he did not want to portray his teaching as a mere dogma of ethicism. Even at the very beginning of his search of that ‘unsurpassed peaceful state’, Buddha knew that the so-called practice and perfection of sīla did not really lead to what he had in mind. In the Ariyapariyesanasutta, Buddha recalls that he met two Upanisadic sages, who were two of the finest ethicists and accomplished teachers at the time, practiced the spiritual life under them but soon left them because ‘their dhamma did not lead him to giving up, detachment, cessation, appeasement, super knowledge, enlightenment and unbinding' [3]. All these seven terms equally denote the dynamics of Buddhist personality development, that ‘unsurpassed peaceful state’ which the Bodhisatta had in mind; they denote the essence of vimutti, the ideal goal, the essence and the culmination of the spiritual life [4]. Interestingly moral perfection was not included into this sevenfold dynamic facet of personality development. The early definition of an arahant, a perfected man is ‘one whose mental defilements are destroyed’,  ‘one who has destroyed all bonds leading to further existences’, ‘one who has attained emancipation with right knowledge’ [5], ‘cooled and calmed of lust, hatred and delusion’ etc. Contrarily, obsessive practice and observance of sīla-bata-tapa (sīlabbataparamāsa), preceded by wrong self-view (sakkāya diṭṭhi), was seen to be a fetter needed to be eliminated for supreme personality development. In his definition of personality development, Buddha stated that practitioners and observers of such obsessive and irrational sīla-bata-tapa as imitating animals’ habits and behaviors are reborn either in the animal kingdom or in hells [6]. Yet, Buddhist personality development does not lack and divorce moral perfection. Contrarily, Buddhism has one of the finest philosophies of ethical and moral systems. Buddhist understanding of moral perfection is not seen as constituting the essence of emancipation, albeit it is an integral part of the enlightened experience. The role of sīla is important only inasmuch as it is the part and parcel foundation of the path. The Buddhist Middle Path i.e. the Noble Eightfold Path is said to lead to vision (cakkhukaraṇī), to knowledge (ñāṇakaraṇī), to appeasement (upasamāya), to super knowledge (abhiññāya), to enlightenment (sambodhāya) and to Unbinding (nibbānāya) [7].Again perfection is not defined as sīlakaraṇī, leading to the perfection of sīla. However, the path is of three stages – sīla, samādhi and paññā. Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood have been incorporated into the Buddhist system of the perfection of sīla. The path, however, starts with Right View followed by Right Understanding. Hence, the starting point of the Buddhist higher spiritual evolution is sometimes given as Right View. The Right View and Right Understanding of sīla is very critical in Buddhist personality development because sīla is a part of self-mortification, one of the two extremes not be resorted to because it is painful, ignoble and leads to no meaningful goal [8]. The Sāmaññaphalasutta lists 43 items of right sīla [9]. This long list of dos and don’ts, however, is practically not unique to Buddhism. Buddhism is different only inasmuch as it emphasizes the middle and moderate approach. However, the perfection of this list of 43 items of sīla is not even the starting point of human perfection, let alone the goal. Elsewhere Buddha in fact terms this enlightened aspect of sīla as appamattakaṁ (only of trifling things), oramattakaṁ (of matters of little value) and sīlamattakaṁ (of mere morality) [10]. In practice, the four foundations of mindfulness (cattāro satipaṭṭhānā) as prescribed in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta is the starting point [11]. 

The perfection of sīla in personality development is not downplayed, however. Buddhism talks of cetovimutti, mental emancipation – a type of pleasant temporary mental calmness which could be developed into ‘superb personality’ which is equal to arahatship. Cetovimutti derives from samatha or tranquility and is obtained at the elimination of rāga, sensuality [12]. The Mahāsuññatasutta states that a disciplined moral lifestyle devoid of social ruckus leads to cetovimutti [13]. In the Aṭṭhakanāgarasutta, Ven. Ānanda points out that with the addition of the knowledge of the destruction of cankers, this cetovimutti could be turned into the development of superb personality [14]. But why the perfection of sīla has not been a definition of Buddhist personality perfection is probably because the perfection of sīla was seen in early Buddhism more as an enlightened experience than a cause leading to such a noble experience. The Pāsādikasutta substantially explains this point stating that nine kinds of activities are practically impossible for an arahat to commit – killing, stealing, indulging in sex, uttering falsehood, enjoying household life or falling into error on account of partiality, ill-will, ignorance or fear [15]. The impossibility of committing such acts should be seen in Buddhist enlightened context as the perfection of sīla. When the bases of unwholesome physical, verbal and mental activities [16] and all emotional and cognitive obsessions [17] which are the mainsprings of immoral activity get eradicated, perfection of sīla is said to be accomplished. In such case, psychological tensions and worries cease to exist. Hence, the early Buddhist texts maintain that people with such developed personalities i.e. arahats never dream, because their perfection of sīla does not necessitate them to release tension through dreams [18]. Moreover, the practice and perfection of sīla is said to be done for three forms of bliss – praise, the obtaining of wealth and after death, rejoicing in heaven [19]. The Abhisandasutta talks of the perfection of sīla as rewards leading to celestial, resulting in happiness, to heaven, to what is pleasurable, appealing [20]. Contrarily, the indulgence in killing, stealing etc. would lead to hell, to rebirth as an animal, to the realm of the hungry shades [21]. These cited canonical references regarding the actual practice and perfection of sīla explain why the perfection of sīla has not been included in Buddha’s definition of his human perfection. Buddhist human perfection is such that it transcends saṁsāra while the perfection of sīla without the development of the āsavakkhayañāṇa only leads to heavenly rebirths, which is still in the domain of saṁsāra. If the mere perfection of sīla was the end in itself, Buddha would not have left his two former Upaniṣadic teachers, who were accomplished in sīla and jhānas destined for the highest of all heavenly existences.  The only way to understand the perfection of sīla as an enlightened experience is from terms like cessation of defilements, the complete fading away of passion [22], cessation of grasping [23], cessation of sensuality [24], cessation of craving [25], cessation of conditioned existence [26], cooled as the result of putting out the fire of lust, hatred and delusion [27], indicating the very cessation of everything that is connected with the unwholesome roots of rāga, dosa and moha, the three roots of immorality. When Buddha introduced his perfection as taṅhakkhaye vimutto, the perfection of sīla was not left out, for such a release in the ending of craving is only possible at the perfection of training in advanced sīla (adhisīlasikkhā) [28]. The impossibility of committing harmful acts only points to the perfection of advanced sīla as an enlightened experience. The Pāsādikasutta indicates that sotāpannas, sakadagāmins and anāgāmins cannot embody moral perfection, for in them sensual desire, ill-will, pride and ignorance still exist [29]. They are still undergoing advanced sīla, advanced concentration and advanced wisdom [30]. Only the arahat, whose training is completed has got the perfection of sīla as an enlightened experience [31].
That an ordinary person (puthujjana) is so-called because he/she is overwhelmed by ‘moral, emotional and intellectual perversions’ [32], the non-perversion of sīla, citta and diṭṭhi, therefore, constitutes perfection. Hence, in the Buddha’s ‘taṅhakkhaye vimutto’ introduction, the perfection of sīla was an implicit part of his enlightened experience. Throughout the Buddhist soteriological struggle, the perfection of sīla has been the unexpressed enlightened experience that but found expression in the actions and thoughts of the enlightened individuals embodying such a moral and ethical perfection.

Editor’s Note:

Non-transgression of Precepts directed and empowered by self-centric ego of grasping is merely the perfection of Sῑla at the mundane level. The Non-transgression of precepts directed and empowered by non-grasping upon the five aggregates is the supermundance perfection of sῑla. Such perfection of sῑla is a  factor of the enlightenment experience.  Perfection of sῑla is the perfect execution of the Four Establishments of Mindfulness (Cattᾱro Satipaṭṭhᾱna) directed and empowered by the clear awareness or full consciousness of the Absolute Reality of Anattᾱ. The full awareness of Anattᾱ is the peak of human development and self-cultivation. The tasting experience of Gnosis is the summit of human development and self-cultivation.

Bibliography and References:

1. Horner, I. B., 'The Early Buddhist Theory of Man Perfected', Williams and Norgate Ltd., London, 1936
2. Silva, Lily De, 'Cetovimutti, Paññāvimutti and Ubhatobhāgavimutti', Pali and Buddhist Review, Colombo, 1978

'The Buddha and the Arahant', BPS, Kandy, 1996
'Nibbāna as Living Experience', BPS, Kandy, 1996

1. Johansson, Rune, 'The Psychology of Nirvana', George Allen & Unwin, London, 1969
2. Ñāṇānanda, Khikkhu K., 'Nibbāna – The Mind Stilled Vol. I-IV', Dharma Grantha Mudrana Bhāraya, Sri Lanka, 2003 
3. Dhirasekara, Joitiya, (Bhikkhu Vihari), 'Buddhist Monastic Discipline', Buddhist Cultural Center, Dehiwala,
4. Somaratne, G. A., 'Intermediate Existence and the Higher Fetters in the Pāli Nikāyas', Journal of the Pali Text Society, Vol. XXV, Oxford, 1999
5. Silva, Padmasiri de, 'Buddhism, Ethics and Society: The Conflicts and Dilemmas of Our Times', Monash University Press, 2002

8. Compendium of Philosophy, London, PTS, 1956

1. Jayatilleke, K. N., 'The Message of the Buddha', The Free Press, New York, 1975
2. Kalupahana, David J., 'Buddhist Philosophy, A Historical Analysis', The University Press of Hawaii, 1976
3. Rhys Davids, T. W., 'Pāli English Dictionary', Asian Educational Services, Delhi, 1997
4. Stcherbastky, St., 'The Conception of Buddhist Nibbāna', Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1968
5. All the Pāli references are to that of the PTS