The Dhamma
The second of the Three Gems Buddhists take their refuge in is the Dhamma. When they take their refuge in the Dhamma they say: “Dhamma saraṇa gacchāmi”, which means, “I go for refuge to the Dhamma.”
What does the word “dhamma” mean? Most people think that dhamma only means doctrine, but the word “dhamma” has several more meanings. Dhamma means everything which is real, no matter whether it is good or bad. Dhamma comprises, for example, seeing, sound, greed and honesty. We cannot take our refuge in every dhamma; for instance we cannot take our refuge in greed or hate.
Can we take refuge in our good deeds? The effect of a good deed is never lost, since each good deed will bring its fruit accordingly. In the Kindred Sayings (I, Sagāthā-vagga, Ch I, part 8, Slaughter Suttas, par 5) we read that a deva (divine being) asks the Buddha how a man should live so that he does not have to fear life in another world. The Buddha answered:
A good deed can cause a happy rebirth such as birth in the human plane of existence, or in a heavenly plane, and in that case one need not fear life in another world. However, even a heavenly plane is not a permanent refuge. Life in a heavenly plane may last very long, but it is not permanent. There may be rebirth in unhappy planes after one’s lifespan in a happy plane is terminated, depending on which of one’s accumulated good and bad deeds, kusala kamma and akusala kamma, will produce result(18). Each deed will bring its own result: a wholesome deed will bring a pleasant result and an unwholesome deed will bring an unpleasant result. Some deeds may produce a result in this life, other deeds may produce result in a future life. The accumulated unwholesome and wholesome deeds may cause births in different planes of existence at different times. In the Kindred Sayings (I, Sagāthā-vagga, Ch III, Kosala, Part 2, par 10, Childless) we read about someone who gave alms to a Pacceka Buddha. Because of this good deed he was reborn in heaven seven times and after that in the human plane, which is also kusala vipāka. However, he killed his nephew because he wanted his brother’s fortune. This ill deed caused him to be reborn in hell. Thus he received the results of kusala kamma and of akusala kamma at different times.
So long as all defilements and latent tendencies have not been eradicated, there will be rebirth in different planes of existence. Even those who are reborn in heavenly planes still have defilements and latent tendencies. Birth is sorrow, no matter in what plane; birth will be followed by death. We read in the Kindred Sayings (II, Nidāna-vagga, Ch XV, part 1, par 3, Tears) that the Buddha, while he was in the Jeta Grove, near Sāvatthī, said to the monks:
Incalculable is the beginning, monks, of this faring on. The earliest point is not revealed of the running on, faring on, of beings cloaked in ignorance, tied to craving.
As to that, what do you think, monks? Which is greater, the flood of tears shed by you crying and weeping as you fare on, run on this long while, united as you have been with the undesirable, separated as you have been from the desirable, or the waters in the four seas?
…For many a long day, monks, have you experienced the death of mother, of son, of daughter, have you experienced the ruin of kinsfolk, of wealth, the calamity of disease. Greater is the flood of tears shed by you crying and weeping over one and all of these, as you fare on, run on this many a long day, united with the undesirable, separated from the desirable, than are the waters in the four seas.
Only when all defilements have been eradicated will there be no cause any more which can produce a next life; that is the end of rebirth , and that means the end of all sorrow. Nibbāna is the end of rebirth because nibbāna is the end of defilements(19) . Therefore one can truly take one’s refuge in nibbāna. In the suttas, nibbāna is called “the deathless”. We read in the Kindred Sayings (V, Mahā-vagga, Book I, Kindred Sayings on the Way, I, Ignorance, par 7) that, when the Buddha was at Sāvatthī, a monk said to him:
“ ’The deathless! The deathless!’, lord, is the saying. Pray, lord, what is the deathless, and what the way to the deathless?”
“That which is the destruction of greed, the destruction of hatred, the destruction of ignorance, monk -that is called ’the deathless’. This same ariyan eightfold way is the way to the deathless.”
Nibbāna is the dhamma we can take our refuge in, nibbāna is included in the second Gem. Nibbāna is a Gem of the highest value, because there is nothing to be preferred to complete freedom from all sorrow, from birth, old age and death. Nibbāna is real. If one has not yet attained enlightenment, one has not experienced nibbāna. But if one follows the right Path one may realize nibbāna, even during this life.
Nibbāna is the deathless, it is the end of the cycle of birth and death. People may think that is not very desirable not to be born again. It does not make much sense to speculate about nibbāna; if we have not attained enlightenment we cannot imagine what nibbāna is like. At the present time we can experience our defilements; we can experience the sorrow which is caused in the world by greed, hatred and ignorance. We read in the Kindred Sayings (I, Sagāthā-vagga, Ch III, Kosala, Part 3, par 3, the World) that, when the Buddha was at Sāvatthī, King Pasenadi asked him:
“How many kinds of things, Lord, that happen in the world, make for trouble, for suffering, for distress?”
“Three things, sire, happen of that nature.
What are the three?
Greed, hatred and ignorance: these three make for trouble, for suffering, for distress.”
Who does not want to be free from suffering, caused by greed hatred and ignorance? Those who want to become free from all defilements take refuge in nibbāna. What is the Path leading to nibbāna? Nibbāna cannot be attained merely by wishing for it. Can people attain nibbāna by doing good deeds? Even when one performs good deeds there can still be the idea of self. When one does good deeds but there is no development of right understanding of realities, the belief in a self and other defilements cannot be eradicated. Thus, good deeds alone, without right understanding, cannot lead to nibbāna. Only vipassanā can lead to the attainment of nibbāna, to the eradication of defilements.
On may wonder whether it is necessary, in addition to developing vipassanā, to do other good deeds. There is no self who can choose to perform a particular kind of kusala. The Buddha encouraged us to perform all kinds of kusala for which there is an opportunity. Sometimes there is an opportunity for dāna, sometimes for sīla, at other times for samatha or for vipassanā. Through the development of vipassanā we will come to know our defilements, even the more subtle ones. Then we will see the danger of defilements more clearly and realize the benefit of developing the Path leading to their eradication. If we observe the precepts or do other kinds of good deeds with mindfulness of nāma and rūpa, we will learn that there is no self who performs kusala and thus kusala will be purer. However, vipassanā will not immediately transform one’s character. It is most important to develop right understanding of both kusala and akusala as only conditioned realities, as non-self.
The development of vipassanā takes many lives, because ignorance is deeply accumulated. Most of the time we are ignorant and forgetful of the nāma and rūpa which appear now through one of the five senses or through the mind-door. We are used to thinking of realities which have fallen away already a long time ago or of those which may present themselves in the future. We should not expect to learn awareness in one day or even within one year. We cannot tell how much progress is made each day, because wisdom develops very gradually.
We read in the Kindred Sayings (III, Khandhā-vagga, Middle Fifty, Part 5, par 101, Adze-handle) that the Buddha, when he was at Sāvatthī, said to the monks:
By knowing, monks, by seeing is, I declare, the destruction of the āsavas(20) , not by not knowing, by not seeing...
Suppose, monks, in a monk who lives neglectful of self-training there should arise this wish: ”O that my heart were freed from the āsavas without grasping.” Yet for all that his heart is not freed from the āsavas. What is the cause of that?
It must be said that it is his neglect of self-training. Self-training in what? In the four applications of mindfulness…in the ariyan eightfold Path.
…in the monk who dwells attentive to self-training there would not arise such a wish as this: “O that my heart were freed from the āsavas without grasping”; and yet his heart is freed from them. What is the cause of that?
It must be said it is his attention to self-training…Just as if, monks, when a carpenter or carpenter’s apprentice looks upon his adze-handle and sees thereon his thumb-mark and his finger-marks he does not thereby know: ”So and so much of my adze-handle has been worn away today, so much yesterday, so much at other times.” But he knows the wearing away of it just by its wearing away.
Even so monks, the monk who dwells attentive to self-training has not this knowledge: “So and so much of the āsavas has been worn away today, so much yesterday, so much at other times.“ But he knows the wearing away of them just by their wearing away.
When wisdom is highly developed, nibbāna can be realized. There are four stages of enlightenment and at each stage nibbāna is experienced and defilements are progressively eradicated. Defilements are so deeply rooted that they can only be eradicated stage by stage. At the first stage the wrong view of self is eradicated, but there are still attachment, aversion and ignorance. Only at the last stage of enlightenment, the stage of the arahat, are all defilements and latent tendencies eradicated completely. When one has attained the stage of the arahat there will be no more rebirth.
The citta which experiences nibbāna is a “supramundane” or lokuttara citta. There are two types of citta for each of the four stages of enlightenment: lokuttara kusala citta and its result, the “fruition-consciousness”; thus there are eight types of lokuttara citta. Nibbāna and the eight types of lokuttara citta which experience nibbāna are included in the second Gem, the Dhamma to which one goes for refuge(21). When we take our refuge in the second Gem, we consider it the goal of our life to develop the wisdom which can eventually eradicate all defilements.
There is still another Dhamma included in the second Gem, namely the Dhamma in the sense of the Buddha’s teachings. We can take our refuge in the Buddha’s teachings. The teachings can lead people to the truth if they study them with right understanding and if they practise according to what is taught. We should study the whole of the Buddha’s teachings. If one studies only a few suttas one will not clearly understand what the Buddha taught. Many times a sutta merely alludes to things which are explained in detail in other parts of the Tipiṭaka, the “three Collections” of the scriptures. It is useful to study the commentaries to the Tipiṭaka as well, because they explain the Buddha’s teachings. The teachings are our guide since the Buddha passed away.
We read in the Discourse to Gopaka-Moggallāna (Middle Length Sayings III, no. 108) that after the Buddha’s passing away a brahman asked Ānanda what the cause was of the unity of the monks. He said:
“Is there, good Ānanda, even one monk who was designated by the good Gotāma, saying: ’After my passing this one will be your support’, and to whom you might have recourse now?”
“There is not even one monk, brahman, who was designated by the Lord who knew and saw, perfected one, fully Self-Awakened One, saying: ’After my passing this one will be your support’, and to whom we might have recourse now.”
“But is there even one monk, Ānanda, who is agreed upon by the Order and designated by a number of monks who are elders, saying: ’After the Lord’s passing this one will be our support’, and to whom you might have recourse now?”
“There is not even one monk, brahman, who is agreed upon by the Order... and to whom we might have recourse now.”
“But as you are thus without support, good Ānanda, what is the cause of your unity?”
“We brahman, are not without support, we have a support, brahman. Dhamma is the support.”
In the Gradual Sayings (Book of the Threes, Ch VI, par 60, Sangārava) we read that the Buddha spoke to the brahman Sangārava about three kinds of “marvels”: the marvel of “superpower”, such as diving into the earth or walking on water, the marvel of thought-reading and the marvel of teaching. The Buddha asked him which marvel appealed to him most. Sangārava answered:
Of these marvels, master Gotama, the marvel of super-power…seems to me of the nature of an illusion. Then again as to the marvel of thought-reading…this also, master Gotama, seems to me of the nature of an illusion. But as to the marvel of teaching…of these three marvels this one appeals to me as the more wonderful and excellent.
The teachings are the greatest miracle because they can change a person’s life. Through the Dhamma one is able to follow the Path which eventually leads to the end of all sorrow, to the end of the cycle of birth and death. The Buddha’s teachings do not appeal to everyone. Many people find it difficult to think in a way which is different from the way they used to think. They do not like the truth of non-self. They want to be master of their mind even though they can find out that this is impossible. The Buddha knew how difficult it is for people to change their way of thinking. In the Discourse to Vacchagotta on Fire (Middle Length Sayings II, no. 72) we read that the Buddha, when he was staying near Sāvatthī, in the Jeta Grove, taught Dhamma to Vacchagotta who had wrong views. Vacchagotta, after having brought forward his wrong views and having listened to the Buddha’s reply, said that he was at a loss and bewildered on account of what the Buddha had said to him. The Buddha replied:
You ought to be at a loss, Vaccha, you ought to be bewildered. For, Vaccha, this dhamma is deep, difficult to see, difficult to understand, peaceful, excellent, beyond dialectic, subtle, intelligible to the wise; but it is hard for you who are of another view, another allegiance, another objective, of a different observance, and under a different teacher.
Dhamma is deep and difficult to understand. People cannot understand Dhamma if they still cling to their own views. If they would really study the teachings and apply what they have learnt, they could find out for themselves whether one can take one’s refuge in the Dhamma. When we have verified in our life that what the Buddha taught is reality, even if we cannot yet experience everything he taught, we do not want to exchange our understanding for anything else in life. If we develop right understanding of realities we will have Dhamma as a support. Thus we take refuge in the Dhamma.
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