Abstract
This chapter aims at offering a comprehensive picture of the path to liberation before we go into the detailed descriptions of the path. We will first outline the historical backdrop against which early Buddhism arose. With this background knowledge, the reader may better appreciate the distinctiveness of early Buddhism, which centers on the middle way in both theory and practice. We will next outline the three aspects of the path to liberation—the Buddha’s enlightenment, the gradual training, and the path factors—as described in the EBTs. This outline will show that the path to liberation is an integrated and goal-oriented process.
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Notes
- 1.
AN 8:19 at IV 203: Seyyathāpi Pahārāda, mahāsamuddo ekaraso loṇaraso, evam eva kho Pahārāda, ayaṃ dhammavinayo ekaraso vimuttiraso. Translation by Bodhi (2012, 1144). Also see MĀ 35, MĀ 37, EĀ 42.4, T 34, T 35.
- 2.
The notion of non-self is acknowledged as one of the essential doctrines of Buddhism. However, whether the denial of a self (the soul) is directly expressed in EBTs seems arguable. Walser (2018) observes that there is no straightforward declaration like “there is no self or soul” or “the soul does not exist” in the EBTs, and the tenet of non-self (anatta) in certain texts seems like a response developed by later generations for arguments against the existence of the self. He further argues that, as evidenced by his statistical analysis of 5,126 texts of the Nikāyas, the Buddha did not preach the non-self doctrine to convert Brahmanical opponents to Buddhism; the idea that the non-self doctrine marks the borderline between Buddhism and other traditions could be inserted by Vasubandhu in the fourth century CE (Walser, 2018, 96). Although the existence of a self might not have been explicitly rejected in the EBTs, “knowledge of such a self was not part of the Buddhist way to enlightenment” and “the aim of the teaching of the Buddha is evidently not to discover the real self” (Bronkhorst, 2011, 11). Bronkhorst points out that whether the self exists or not is not the Buddha’s main concern, but the abandoning of the “preoccupation with the true nature of the self” is (Bronkhorst, 2011, 11).
- 3.
This is said in MN 126: “Yoni hesā, phalassa adhigamāya”. And in Chinese in MĀ 173: 以正求果,謂有道也.
- 4.
The stock phrase: “there is a path, there is a way” is mostly seen in texts of SN, e.g., SN 38, SN 39. These suttas take the form of questions addressed to Sāriputta on topics of Nibbāna, arahantship, the taints, the realms of existence, etc. The stock phrase is used consistently to praise the significance of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Chinese Āgamas, see SĀ 490, 491, 752, 753, 758–760, 783, 973.
- 5.
The simile of the changing sea levels in an ocean is given with the gradual training in the context of the eight astounding and amazing qualities in the Dhamma and Discipline. The eight astounding and amazing qualities are seen in the Pāli texts of the Nikāyas: AN 8:19, 8:20, Ud 5:5 at Ud 51–56, and Vin II 237–238. They also appear in the Chinese texts of the Āgamas: MĀ 37, MĀ 35, EĀ 42.4; individual translations: T 34 and T 35; and in the Vinayas: Dharmagupta-vinaya at T22, no. 1428, pp. 824b10-825a11, Mahīśāsaka Vinaya at T22, no. 1421, p. 181a15-28, and Sarvāstivāda Vinaya at T23, no. 1435, pp. 239c04-240a18. However, the sequence and contents of the eight astounding qualities are slightly different in various versions.
- 6.
MN 65 at I 445–446: ājānīyasusūpamaṃ dhammapariyāyaṃ desissāmi. The simile is also seen in the Chinese parallel MĀ 194 at T01, no. 26, p. 749b2–3: 若我為諸比丘當說清淨馬喻法者. In MN 107, the Buddha speaks of the sequence of practice. He begins with the simile of horse training in brief to describe gradual training. The Chinese parallel, MĀ 194, contains a similar sequence of practice, but the simile was used by the Brahmin who asked the Buddha about gradual training, not by the Buddha.
- 7.
The simile is also seen in the Chinese MĀ 198 and the parallel sutta to MN 125. However, there are differences in the series of practices between the two versions. Besides, the Chinese version gives more interpretations of the simile with respect to gradual training.
- 8.
The Buddha’s first discourse is known as the Discourse on Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dharma. There are various parallel versions of the Dhamma-cakka-ppavattana Sutta (SN 56:11) preserved in the Sutta-pitaka and the Vinaya-pitaka across Buddhist sects in Chinese, Sanskrit, and Tibetan. For example, we have SN 56:11, SĀ 379, and EĀ 24.5 in the Sutta-pitaks. For more information about the diverse versions of the first discourse, please refer to Anālayo (2013).
- 9.
This statement: “ubho ante anupagamma majjhena tathāgato dhamma deseti” is mostly seen in the Nidānasaṃyutta, e.g., SN 12:15,12:17, 12:18, 12:35-6,12:46-8, 22:90. For the Chinese texts, please refer to SĀ 301, SĀ 302: 離於二邊說於中道;SĀ 961: 處中說法.
- 10.
For example, see MN 115, SN 12:21, SĀ 262, SĀ 335, SĀ 369.
- 11.
The same simile is also used in MN 16 and MN 53, MĀ 206. In MN 16, the simile illustrates that one can expect the breaking away from the cycle of rebirth and the attainment of arahantship when the practitioner has abandoned mental defilements and possesses the five bases for psychic potency. In MN 53, it is demonstrated that the three kinds of direct knowledge (tevijja) will naturally emerge when one has properly cultivated the sequential training, which includes developing virtue, guarding the doors of sense faculties, and so forth.
- 12.
See AN 10.61, AN 5:24, SN 46.51, SN 46.2, MĀ 52, MĀ 53, and SĀ 715. Here, having a nutriment means having a condition (sapaccayaṃ). The conditionality in the gradual training formulas is also repeatedly explicated in sixteen texts of MĀ 42–57.
- 13.
Refer to 4.1.1.
- 14.
SN 56:11, SN 56:12, SĀ 379, SĀ 443, EĀ 24.5.
- 15.
- 16.
The Buddha is often compared to a physician in the EBTs, for instance in AN 3.22, AN 5.194, SĀ 389, EĀ 32.5. The analogy of the Four Noble Truths with a medical model is explicitly seen in SĀ 389, which lacks a counterpart in the Nikāyas. Nevertheless, such a correlation can be found in the Vimuttimagga and in the Visuddhimagga (Anālayo, 2011, 26). It should be noted that the enumeration of a fourfold medical model in SĀ 389 does not perfectly fit with the framework of the Four Noble Truths. The third statement of the medical analogy compares the Buddha to a skillful physician who is expert at curing illness and masters a variety of treatment, which is associated with the path of the cessation of suffering. The fourth analogy goes like this: “a skillful physician who has the knowledge and insight knowing a certain disease has been cured and will not appear again,” which compares the cure of a disease to the cessation of suffering, the fourth noble truth.
- 17.
See SN 45:159, AN 4:254, MN 149, SĀ 305.
- 18.
In the Magga-saṃyutta, SN 45:161 is the sutta that fully contains the pattern; other suttas basically repeat the same pattern. The pattern is applied to twenty different subjects given in SN 45:161–79. The pattern and these twenty subjects repeatedly occur in the Bojjaṅga-saṃyutta, the Satipaṭṭhāna-saṃyutta, the Indriya-saṃyutta, the Sammappadhāna-saṃyutta, the Bala-saṃyutta, and the Iddhipāda-saṃyutta. Also refer to SĀ 177–186.
- 19.
The discourse on non-conflict echoes the teaching on avoiding dispute in the Buddhist community discussed in Sect. 5.4.2.
- 20.
It occurs about fifty times in the Nikāyas. For example, see MN 22, 28, 62, 74, 109, 140, 147, 148; the Khandha-saṃyutta and the Saḷāyatana-saṃyutta. In the Chinese Āgamas, see SĀ 5, 9, 10, 47, 55, 86, 89, 290, 558, etc.
- 21.
- 22.
This metaphor is repeatedly used in the Mahāvagga of the SN as a stock formula that states: when developed and cultivated, the seven sets lead to the crossing over from the near shore to the far shore. See SN 45:34, 46:17, 47:34, 51:1.
- 23.
The same simile of the stream is also used in AN 4:5 to classify four kinds of persons in accordance with whether they go along with the stream, go against the stream, are inwardly firm, or have crossed over and gone beyond the stream.
- 24.
This is the stock formula used repeatedly to describe the attainment of arahantship in the early texts.
- 25.
For a detailed discussion on the seven kinds of person and the members of noble disciples (sāvaka-saṅgha), refer to Harvey (2013, 26).
- 26.
Also refer to Sect. 6.6.3 for more discussion on liberation by wisdom and liberation on both sides.
- 27.
For example, see SN 35.152, SN 35.18, SN 38.4.
- 28.
The analogy of winds is repeatedly applied to all seven sets. This should be pointed out when it is applied to the other six sets only a mnemonic verse is given. See SN 46:105, 47:79, 48:161, 50:83, 51:61, 53.29.
- 29.
Also refer to Sect. 6.4.2.
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Shi, J. (2021). The Path to Liberation. In: Mapping the Buddhist Path to Liberation. The Humanities in Asia, vol 9. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1152-0_2
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