No More Learning

Not in higher spheres.
44b-d So too the pure discipline, with the exception of the gods
of the intermediate dhydna and the Asamjnisattvas; and also in 191
It exists in Rupadhata with the exception of the dhydndntarikas of
beings arisen in intermediate dhydna, and the Asamjnisattvas; and in
Arupyadhatu. The gods of Arupyadhatu never in faa manifest this
Arupyadhatu.
discipline, since discipline is matter, mpa; but they can "possess" it (see 192
iv. 82).
Following the examination of action, the author now defines the
diverse categories of action which are taught in different Sutras.
***
? There are three actions, good, bad, and neutral (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 263a6).
45a-b. Good action is salutary, bad action is pernicious, and action differing from good and bad is different from the salutary and the pernicious.
Such is the definition of good action, etc
Good aaion is salutary, because it is of agreeable retribution and as a consequence it protects one from suffering for a time (: this is good, but impure aaion); or rather, because it brings about the attainment of Nirvana and, as a consequence, definitively protects one from suffering (: this is good, pure action).
Bad aaion is pernicious: this is action of disagreeable retribution.
Aaion concerning which the Blessed One does not say whether it is gpod or bad, that is, morally neutral aaion, is neither salutary nor pernicious.
45c-d There are meritorious actions, demeritorious aaions, and non-agitated aaions; and three aaions of which the aaion of agreeable feeling is the first.
There are three aaions: meritorious aaion, demeritorious aaion, and non-agitated aaion. There are three aaions: aaion of agreeable feeling, aaion of disagreeable feeling, and aaion of neither disagreeable nor agreeable feeling.
46a-b. Meritorious aaion is a good aaion in Kamadhatu; non-
193 agitated aaion is a gpod aaion above there.
Good aaion of the sphere of Kamadhatu is called "meritorious"
aaion, because it purifies, and because it produces an agreeable
194 retribution.
"Good aaion above there," that is to say, of the two higher spheres,
195 is called "non-agitated. "
But did not the Blessed One say that the first three Dhyanas are
agitated? Did he not say that "the Aryans say that the vitarkita and the 196
vicarita of the First Dhyana are agitation? "
The Blessed One said in faa that the first three Dhyanas are
agitated, but he is saying this from the point of view of the corrupted
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characteristics of these dhyanas (iitlOlc, vi. 24a, and the full explanation 197
viii. ll); their vices are what agitate them. But in the Injitasutra, the Blessed One declared that these dhyanas are non-agitated because he
198 considerd them a pathway favorable to non-agitation.
l But why term that which is agitated non-agitated? "
46c-d Because, with regard to that which concerns its retribu- tion, aaion of the domain of the higher stages does not vary.
Aaion of the sphere of Kamadhatu is agitated in its retributioa The place of retribution is not fixed: one aaion which produces, naturally, a certain realm of rebirth, can be retributed in another one; an aaion which produces a heavenly realm of rebirth can be retributed in another heavenly realm of rebirth. In faa it happens that aaions which produce power, a good figure, beauty, or objects of enjoyqient, instead of being retributed in a heavenly realm of rebirth, are retributed in a human, animal, or Preta realm of rebirth through the efficacy of certain causes. But no cause can make an aaion of the sphere of Rupadhatu or Arupyadhatu be retributed in any but the sphere which is proper to it.
Bad aaion is demeritorious. This is well known in the world and there is no good reason to insist on what is well known in the world
As for aaions of^agreeable feeling, etc:
47a-b. Good action, up to the Third Dhyana, is of agreeable
200 feeling.
201
Agreeable sensation does not exist above the Third Dhyanas: it
thus has Kamadhatu and the first three Dhyanas for its domain. Hence the retribution of good aaion is of agreeable feeling up to the Third Dhyana. Aaion having such a retribution is called "of agreeable sensation" (see iv. 49).
47b-c Above, it is of neither agreeable nor disagreeable
202 sensation.
Agreeable and disagreeable sensation do not exist above the Third Dhyana. There only remains the sensation of indifference, which is the only retribution of good aaion retributed above the Third Dhyana.
47c-d Bad aaion, here below, is of disagreeable sensation.
? Bad aaion is of disagreeable sensation. The kdrikd says "here below" in order to indicate that this aaion exists only in Kamadhatu.
Is the result of all these aaions only sensation?
No; they also have the apparatus of sensation as their (retributive)
204 result.
48a. According to some, intermediary aaion also exists
205 below.
According to others, intermediary aaion--that is, aaion which has for its retribution neither agreeable nor disagreeable sensation--also exists below the Fourth Dhyana, (contrary to the doarine iv. 47a-c; see Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 596bl3; two arguments, 48b and 48c-d)
206 48b. Since there is no retribution with regard to dhydnantara.
If intermediary aaion is absent below the Fourth Dhyana, there 207 208
would not be any retribution of dhydnantara aaion, or rather, there would not be any retribution of any aaion whatsoever in
209
dhydnantara, for there are no agreeable and disagreeable sensations
therein.
[Responding to this argument,] some say that the retribution of
dhydnantara aaion is the sensation of pleasure (sukhendrtya, ii. 7; 210
viii. 9b) of the dhyana itself; some others say that the retribution of
211
this aaion is not sensation, (but rupa, etc).
These two opinions are in contradiaion to the Sastra (Jndna-
prasthdna, TD 26, p. 973a20), "Does it happen that an aaion is solely mental sensation? Yes, the retribution of a good aaion which was free
112 from vitarka"
48c-d Because it is admitted that the retribution of the three types of aaion takes place at the one and same time.
This is the second reason why one should admit that intermediary aaion exists below the Fourth Dhyana.
The Sastra says in the same place, "Does it happen that there is at one and the same time retribution of the three types of aaion? Yes.
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There can take place at the same time: (1) the retribution of an aaion of agreeable sensation, namely of material dharmas, [the organ of seeing, etc]; (2) the retribution of an aaion of disagreeable sensation, namely the mind and the mental states [excluding dissatisfaction, iL10b>>c]; (3) the retribution of an aaion of neither agreeable nor disagreeable sensation, namely the dharmas dissociated from the mind, [vital organ, etc, iL35]. "
Now, the three types of aaion cannot be retributed simultaneously
outside of Kamadhatu, for the retribution of aaion of disagreeable
sensation takes place only in Kamadhatu (Vibhdfd, TD 27, p. 6l5c4). T
Is the aaion of neither agreeable nor disagreeable sensation [when it belongs to a stage lower than the Fourth Dhyana] good or bad?
It is good, but of weak force,
But didn't you say that "good aaion, up to the Third Dhyana, is of agreeable sensation (iv. 47a)? "
This definition refers to cases in general
*#*
But how can one say that aaion is of agreeable sensation? Aaion, by
213 its nature, is not sensation.
One expresses oneself in this way because aaion is favorable to agreeable sensation; or rather, because its retribution is agreeably sensed In the same way that one calls bathing clothes, snaniyakasaya, "the clothes with which one bathes," in that same way one terms "to be sensed" (vedaniya) aaion through which one senses a retribution,
Further,
49. There are five ways of being vedaniya, "sensed," "ex- perienced:" of itself, through sensation, as an objea, by being
214 retributed, and by the faa of its presence.
1. Sensation, by its nature, is feeling. Agreeable sensation is agreeable experience, etc (il4c; ii24).
2. Contact is feeling because it is associated with sensation: contact
? of agreeable sensation, etc (Samyukta, TD 2, p. 88a4 et passim, Samyutta, v. 211; Kofa, it trans, p. 169 and 180).
3. The six objects (visaya) of the six organs are feeling in the role of object (Mambana), "Seeing color with the eye, he experiences, he feels
215
the color, but he does not feel the color with affection. " Color is thus
the object of sensation.
4. Action is feeling in its role of being retributed, "an action
experienced in the present existence" (Madhyama, TD 1, p. 433all). 5. Sensation is feeling through the fact of its appearance. "When he
feels, when he experiences agreeable sensation, two sensations, the
216 disagreeable and the neutral, are then found to be obstructed by it:"
hence when agreeable sensation is funaioning, there is no other sensation through which one would feel it Thus if one says that this sensation is "to be felt" (vedaniya), this is because it is present.
217 50a. This action is determinate or indeterminate.
The action (agreeable sensation, etc) that we have just described is either determinate, that is, "which will necessarily be felt," or indeterminate, "which will next be necessarily felt. "
50b-c Determinate action is of three types, to be experienced in
218
Determinate action is: (1) to be experienced in the present life; (2) to be experienced after having been reborn, in other words in the next immediate life; and (3) to be experienced later.
By adding indeterminate action, this makes, from the point of view of the modality of retribution, four types.
219 50c-d According to one opinion, action is of five types.
By dividing indeterminate action into two categories: that which is indeterminate with regard to the period of its retribution, but whose retribution is in any case certain; and that which is indeterminate with regard to its retribution, which can be not retributed.
***
Action experienced in the present life is action which ripens or is
the present life, etc
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retributed in the same existence in which it was accomplished Action experienced after being reborn is aaion which is retributed In the existence which follows that in which it was accomplished. Aaion experienced later is aaion which is retributed in a later existence, from the third existence on.
But, some other masters, [the Sautrantikas], cannot admit that a very strong aaion has a weak retributioa Consequently, the retribution of an aaion experienced in the present life can continue into other existences; yet, as this retribution begins in the present life, this aaion is said "to be experienced in the present life. "
The Vaibhasikas do not accept this way of looking at it. There is, they say, some aaions whose results are near, and some aaions whose results are distant. In the same way flax bears its fruit after two and a
220 half months, but wheat and godhuma after six months.
221 51a. Others distinguish four alternatives.
222
The Darstantikas distinguish four cases: 1. Aaion determined
with regard to the period of its retribution, but indeterminate with regard to its retributioa If this aaion is retributed, it will certainly be retributed at such a moment, but it is not necessarily retributed: this is niyatavedaniya, but aniyatavipaka aaioa 2. Aaion determined with regard to its retribution, but indeterminate with regard to the period of its retributioa This aaion will be retributed, but the period of its retribution remains undetermined: niyatavipaka, but aniyatavedantyaS. Aaion determinate from two points of view: niyatavipakaand niyatavedaniyaA. Aaion indeterminate from two points of view: aniyatavipaka and aniyatavedaniya.
According to this system there are eight types of aaions: 1. aaion experienced in the present existence and of certain retribution, 2. aaion experienced in the present existence and of possible retribution. . . 7. aaion which can be experienced in any existence, but of certain retribution; and 8. aaion which can be experienced in any existence and of only possible retribution (aniyatavipaka).
But aaions defined in Scripture as "to be experienced in this life,"
etc. , are always of certain retribution; aaion defined as "indeterminate"
223 may not be retributed (iv. 50a-c).
***
? Does it happen that a person produces or projects all four types of actions at one and the same time?
Yes. Suppose that a man has murder, stealing, and lying committed by another person; he himself commits adultery; and that these four actions, which belong respectively to the four types, are committed at the same instant (iv. 67).
5 lb. Three types of actions project existence.
Aaion experienced in the present existence does not projea the present existence (nikayasabhaga, ii. 41a); this has been projeaed by a former aaion.
##*
How many types of aaion can be produced in the different spheres of existence and in the different realms of rebirth?
51c Fourfold produaion throughout.
In the three spheres of existence and in all of the realms of rebirth the four types of good or bad aaion can be produced But this general rule has some restriaions. On the one hand, there is no bad aaion above Kamadhatu; on the other hand (5Id - 53):
51d Good aaion, in the hells, is solely of three types.
In the hells, one can produce good aaion to be experienced in the next existence, good aaion to be experienced in a later existence, and gpod aaion which is indeterminate; but no good aaion to be experienced in the present existence, for there is no agreeable retribution in the hells.
52a-b. When he is firm, the fool does not produce any aaion to be experienced, at the stage from whence he is detached, in his next existence.
"When he is firm," that is, when he is not subject to falling away (aparihdnadharman, vi. 56; see Puggalapannatti, p. 12)
"The fool" refers to a Prthagjana.
"When he is detached from a certain stage," that is, when he is
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delivered from attachment with regard to a certain plane of existence (Kamadhatu, the First Dhyana. . . ), in this stage he never produces action to be experienced in his next rebirth.
52c The Aryan no longer produces any aaion to be experienced in a later existence.
When he is firm, the Saint does not produce, in the stage from whence he is detached, any aaion to be experienced either in the next existence or in a later existence.
In fact, the Prthagjana incapable of falling away is not reborn, in the next existence, in the stage from whence he is detached; and a Saint incapable of falling away is never reborn at this stage.
Both produce, relative to the stage wherein they are born, actions to be experienced in the present existence, and indeterminate action.
52d'ITieAj7an,notfkm,whenheisdetadiedfromKamadham or from Bhavagra, the same.
An Aryan detached from Kamadhatu is an Anagamin (vi. 36).
An Aryan detached from Bhavagra or m^ivasamjndndsaihjndya$ana} the last stage of Arupyadhatu, is an Arhat (vi. 45).
Even when they are subject to falling away, that is to say, susceptible of losing the results obtained, these Saints do not produce aaion to be experienced in the next existence, nor in a subsequent existence, either in Kamadhatu or in Bhavagra.
We shall explain (vi. 60) how the Saint, subjea to falling away, always reacquires the results before dying.
**#
Does the intermediate being (antarabhava, iii. l2c) produce any aaions?
53a-b. The intermediate being, in Kamadhatu, produces twenty-
224 two types of aaions.
The embryo passes through five states, kalala, arbuda, pe/in, gfoana, 2xApraiakhd. K human being passes through five states, as an infant, an
225 adolescent, a grown person, a mature person, and an old person.
? The intermediate creature produces determinate actions to be experienced as an intermediate being, as kalala, as arbuda. . . as an infant, asanadolescent. . . . thereareeleventypesofdeterminateactions. Inthis same way he produces eleven indeterminate actions.
53c These actions bear their results in the present existence.
The eleven determinate actions of the intermediate being belong to the category "to be experienced in the present existence. "
Why?
53d. For all these states form, together with the intermediate
226 existence, only a single existence.
The intermediate existence and the ten states which follow it are projeaed by a single aaion (iii. 13). Thus one does not distinguish an aaion "to be experienced in the intermediate existence:" this is projeaed, in faa, by the aaion itself which is to be experienced in the life
227 which follows the intermediate existence.
#**
By virtue of what charaaeristics is an aaion determinate, that is to say, necessarily retributed?
54. Aaion accomplished through intense defilement or through intense faith, with regard to the field of qualities, continually, and the murdering of a father and a mother, are determinate.
Aaion accomplished through intense defilement, aaion accom- plished through intense faith, aaion accomplished with regard to a field of qualities, and aaion continually accomplished, are determinate.
"Field of qualities" signifies either the Three Jewels, or certain persons, namely the possessors of the results, or Saints (Srotaapanna, etc. ), and the possessors of certain absorptions (nirodhasamdpatti, il44d; arand, viL35c; matin, viiL29). Aaion accomplished with regard to these fields, even in the absence of an intense thought of defilement or of faith, or of continuity, is determinate, whether it is good or bad
The same for the murder of one's father or mother, with whatever
228 intention it was committed.
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All other aaion--which is done with a weak defilement, etc--is indeterminate.
##*
By virtue of what characteristic is an action experienced in the present existence?
55a-h Action bears result in the present existence by reason of
229 certain characteristics of the field and the intention.
By reason of the excellence of the field, even though the intention may be weak: for example, the Bhiksu who becomes a woman through having insulted the Sangha, 'Tou are nothing but women! "
By reason of the excellence of the intention: for example the eunuch
who delivered bulls from the danger of being castrated, and so regained
230 his own sexuality.
Or still further:
55c.
And also, when one is definitively detached with regard to the stage in which the action appears.
When a person is definitively detached from a certain stage (iv. 52), he cannot anymore be reborn in this stage: as a consequence, action retributable in this stage, but in another existence, whether it is good or bad, changes its nature and becomes retributable in the present existence.
231 55d Aaion "determinate with regard to retribution. "
This refers to aaion having a necessary retribution, but in- determinate with regard to the period of its retribution: this aaion will be retributed in the present life.
As for aaion determinate with regard to the period of its retribution, it will be retributed in the period for which it is determinate: the person for whom aaions should be retributed, in this first rebirth, in a certain stage, cannot be definitively detached from this stage.
As for aaion non-determinate with regard to the retribution itself, it will not be retributed if one detaches himself from the stage where it could have been retributed
? Which field confers on an action which is in a relationship with it, the quality of being necessarily retributed in the present existence?
In general, it is the Sangha of Bhiksus having at its head the Buddha; to enumerate its persons, there are five types of persons:
56. Persons who have left either nirodha, or maitri, or arana, or Seeing the Truths, or the result of Arhat: all good and all bad
232 with regard to tfiem is immediately retributed
The person who leaves the absorption of extinction (nirodha- samapatti, ii. 41c, viii. 33): in th&'absorption he has obtained an extreme tranquility of thought, for this absorption is similar to Nirvana. When he leaves it, it is as if he had gone to Nirvana and has returned from it.
The person who leaves the absorption which arrests the defile- ments of another (arandsamapatti, viii. 35c): in this absorption, his mental series is endowed with the intention of placing an infinite number of beings into the absence of defilement; when he leaves it, his series is penetrated with an intense and measureless merit.
The person who leaves the absorption of compassion (maitri- samdpatti, viii. 29): in this absorption, his series is endowed with the intention of increasing the well-being of an infinite number of beings; when he leaves it, his series is penetrated with an intense and measureless merit.
233
The person who leaves the Path of Seeing the Truths: in this
Path, he has abandoned all the defilements which are abandoned through Seeing the Truths. When he leaves it, his series is thus pure, since his personality has just been renewed
The person who leaves the result of Arhat, that is to say, who has just acquired the result of Arhat: he has just achieved the abandoning of all the defilements which are abandoned through Meditation on the Truths. His series is pure, since his personality has just been renewed
This is why good or bad actions, well or badly done, with regard to these five persons, bear a result in the present existence (Vibhdsa, TD 27,p. 782c27).
The Paths of Meditation through which one obtains the results of Sakrdagamin and of Anagamin, are incomplete in themslves and in
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their result. Persons who leave the conquest of these two results are not fields of merit comparable to an Arhat. Their series is not pure; their personalities have not been recently renewed
The essential element of retribution is sensation.
Gin the retribution of a certain aaion be excusively mental sensation, and not bodily sensation (kayiki, ii. 7)? And can the retribution of a certain aaion be bodily sensation, and not mental sensation?
57a-c Sensation, the result of good aaion free from vitarka, is exclusively mental
Aaions of the the sphere of dhyanantara, the interval between the
First and Second Dhyanas (iv. 48b), and the aaions of the higher stages
are free from vitarka (ii. 31, viiL23c). Like bodily sensation, that is to say,
associated with the five sense consciousnesses, which always embraces
vitarka and vicara (i. 32), it cannot be the result of a retribution of an 254
aaion free from vitarka.
57d Sensation, which is the result of a bad aaion, is exclusively
physical.
A sensation, the result of retribution of a bad aaion, is painful;
painful mental sensation is what is termed a sensation of dissatisfaaion.
We have established that dissatisfaaion is never the result of retribution
235 (iL10b-c).
***
But if dissatisfaaion, or painful mental sensation, is not retribution, in which consciousness--visual consciousness, etc, mental conscious- ness--is mental trouble or trouble-of-the-mind, which is painful sensation, produced? [Apparently it is the retribution of a bad aaion].
236 58a. Mental-trouble is produced in the mental consciousness.
The expression that the Karika uses, manascitta, "mental thought,"
? is equivalent to the expression manovijnana, "mental consciousness, consciousness of the manas. "
The five sense consciousnesses cannot be troubled because they are free from imagining, inquiry and memory, and mental trouble is the imagining of that which does not exist (asadvikalpa, i. 33).
58b. It arises from the retribution of action.
Mental trouble arises from the retribution of actioa
The person who troubles and deranges the mind of another through curses and formulas; the person who causes another to drink poison or alcohol when he does not want to drink it; the person who frightens game, either in the hunt, or by setting the jungle on fire, or by the hollowing out of traps; and the person who, by whatever means, troubles the memory and the presence of mind of another, will have his own mind troubled, deprived of the aid of his memory through the
237 effect of the retribution of these actions.
58c-& Through fear, the attack of demons, irritation of the
238 elements, and fear.
239
1. Demon beings, with horrible features, will approach such a
person: seeing them, the person is frightened and his mind is troubled 2. Furious at the evil condua of humans, demon beings will hit them in their vital parts. 3. The primary elements of the body will lose their equilibrium: the wind, heat and liquid will be irritated. 4. Fear also
240
But, one would say, if mental trouble, or trouble of the mental consciousness, arises from the retribution of action, how can one say that this mental sensation is not retribution?
We do not say that trouble of the mind--a troubled mind--is retribution of action, but that it arises from the retribution of action. The primary elements in a state of disequilibrium are retribution: the troubled mind proceeds from it; it thus arises from retributioa One says that the mind is troubled when,--by reason of the disequilibrium or the irritation of the humors, which results from action,--the mind is
troubles the mind, for example in the case of Vasisthi, etc
***
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deranged, anarchic, devoid of mindfulness.
Four alternatives: 1. The mind troubled without being disturbed: the
mind undefiled but troubled; 2. the mind disordered without being troubled: the mind defiled, but tranquil; 3. the mind troubled and disordered; [and 4. the mind neither troubled nor disordered],
### ,
Among whom is trouble of the mind produced?
58d Among beings in Kamadhatu, with the exception of the Kurus. *
Among the gods of Kamadhatu, there are two madnesses; all the more so is there madness among humans, Pretas, and animals.
Beings in hell always have troubled minds: their vital parts are incessantly hurt by thousands of different torments; they are crushed down by suffering; they do not recognize themselves, so they do not distinguish that which they should do and that which they should avoid We give as an example a being in hell who laments by saying, "Ah! The mind! "
With the exception of the Buddha, the Aryans are not free from trouble of the mind: their thoughts can be troubled following the disequilibrium of the elements. But their disequilibrium of the elements is never retribution: for "determinate" actions where retribution could produce trouble of the mind are retributed before they have obtained the Path, and "indeterminate" actions will not bear their results due to the fact that the Path is obtained Neither terror, nor the attack of demon beings, nor fear can trouble the mind of the Aryans, for they are
241
above the five fears, they do no disobedient actions which excite the
242 fury of demon beings, for they completely know the nature of things.
***
The Sutra teaches that there are three crookednesses, crookedness of the body, speech, and mind; and thus three corruptions and three stains.
? Karma 635 243
59a-b. What is termed crookedness, corruption, stains, is aaion arisen from hypocrisy, hatred, and attachment.
Aaion of the body, speech, and mind which arises from hypocrisy, proceeds from crookedness, and is called crookedness (kautilya, vi. 50b); aaion which arises from hatred, proceeds from hatred, and is called corruption; and aaion which arises from attachment, proceeds from
244 stain, and is termed stain.
245
The Sutra teaches that aaion is of four types: black, of black retribution; white, of white retribution; black-white, of black-white retribution; neither black nor white, without black or white retribution; and that which destroys the other aaions.
60. Bad aaions, good aaion of Rupa, good aaions of Kama, are,
respeaively, black, white, black-white; aaion which destroys the
246 other aaions is pure aaion.
1. Bad aaion, being defiled, is absolutely black; retribution, being painful, is black.
2. Good aaion of the sphere of Rupadhatu, not mixed with the bad, is absolutely white; its retribution, being agreeable, is white (see above p. 621, aninjya aaion).
Objeaion: Why not say the same for good aaion of the sphere of Arupyadhatu?
247
59c-d Aaion is of four types, white, black, etc
Because
the qualification "white" applies only to aaion which has
two retributions (i. e. , in intermediate existence and in an existence
248
proper), and which is threefold, bodily, vocal and mental Now aaion
of the sphere of Arupyadhatu does not present these charaaeristics.
But the Sutra describes aaion of the sphere of Arupyadhatu as white
249 and of white retribution.
3. Good aaion of the sphere of Kamadhatu, being mixed with the bad, is black-white; its retribution is mixed, so it is thus black-white.
This definition is to be understood as applying, not to the nature of
the aaion itself, but to the "series" or the person; in one and the same
mental series, good aaion is mixed with bad aaion. There is no aaion
which is black-white, nor any retribution which is black-white, which
250 would be a contradictioa
? Chapter Four
Objection: But bad action is also mixed with white action, hence bad action should be defined as black-white.
Bad action is not necessarily mixed with good action; whereas, in
Kamadhatu, good action is necessarily mixed with bad, because, in this
251 sphere, the bad is stronger than the good.
4. Pure action destroys the other three types of action. Not being
252
defiled, it is not black; not being retributiion, it is not white. It is
"non-white" (asukla).
This expression of the Sutra, asukla, is "intentional:" the Blessed
One wishes to oppose pure action to white action; but, speaking in the
m
Maha? unyatdsffira of the dharmas proper to the Arhat, he expresses
himself thus, "The dharmas of the Arhat, Oh Ananda, are absolutely white, absolutely good, absolutely irreprochable. " And one reads in the
254
Treatise, "What are the white dharmas? The good dharmas and the
neutral dharmas? "
Pure action does not have any retribution, for it is not of the domain
255 of the spheres of existence; in fact, it arrests the process of existence.
Does any pure action destroy all the actions of the first three categories, black, white, or black-white?
No.
61. A volition may be of twelve types, namely the volition of the
dharmaksantis and of the first eight paths of abandoning in the
detachment of Kamadhatu: such is the action which destroys
256 black action.
Four volitions correspond to the four dharmaksantis of the Path of Seeing the Truths; eight volitions correspond to the first eight paths of abandoning in the detachment of Kamadhatu: in all twelve volitions, all pure actions which destroy bad actions.
62a-b. The volition of the ninth is the action which destroys black-white action.
The volition which corresponds to the ninth path of abandoning in the detachment of Kamadhatu is the pure action which causes the abandoning of black-white action and black action, for at this moment one abandons, in its entirety, good action of Kamadhatu (which is black-white) and the ninth and last category of bad action.
? 62c-d Volition which arises in the last paths of abandoning of the detachment of the dhyanas destroys good aaion
The volition of the ninth and last path of abandoning which produces detachment of Kamadhatu with regard to each dhydna is fourfold volition which destroys white aaion.
Objeaion: The first eight paths of abandoning in the detachment of Kamadhatu destroy black aaion. But you attribute the power to destroy white-black and white aaion (good and impure aaions: kusaksasrava) solely to the ninth path of abandoning. Why is this?
There is not, properly speaking, abandonment of any good
dharmas, for even if they are abandoned, the good dharmas can
reappear; but when the defilement which has this dharma for its objea
is destroyed this dharma is said to be abandoned. Therefore as long as
the last category of defilement which can grasp it as its objea is not
destroyed, this gooddharma is not considered abandoned. [Now it is the
ninth path of abandoning which breaks the prdpti of the ninth category
of defilement relative to each sphere (Kamadhatu, dhyanas) and, as a
consequence, allows one to obtain disconneaion (ii. 57d) from this
257 defilement).
63a-b. According to others, the first two aaions are retributed in hell and retributed moreover in Kamadhatu.
According to other masters (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 590al) aaion which should be experienced in hell is black aaion; aaion which should be experienced elsewhere in Kamadhatu, in addition to hell, is black- white aaion. Infernal retribution is produced exclusively through bad aaion: as a consequence, aaion which should be experienced in hell is black aaion. Retribution in Kamadhatu, with the exception of hell, is exclusively produced by good-bad aaion (that is, by good aaion mixed with bad aaion).
63c-d According to others, arisen in Kama, aaions are black
when they can be abandoned through Seeing the Truths; they
258 are black-white in the contrary case.
According to other masters (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 590c5) aaion which is abandoned through Seeing the Truths, not being mixed with the
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good, is black. All other actions of Kamadhatu, namely action which
is abandoned through Meditation, is black-white, that is, good mixed with bad.
***
The Sutra says, "There are three silences, silence of the body, voice,
260 and of the mind. "
64a-c. Asaiksa, that is, an Arhat's, actions of the body, voice and 261
mind, are, in this order, the three silences.
Silence of the body and silence of the voice is bodily and vocal action
262
which belongs to the Arhat. Silence of the mind is the mind or
thought which belongs to an Arhat: this is not mental action. Why is this?
Because the mind is the true Silent One, the true Muni.
The Vahasikas say that one knows through inference--by reason of the actions of the body and voice--that the mind is of oikfa.
But an Arhat's bodily and vocal action, is, in its nature, "abstention,"
whereas the action of the mind is not, by nature, "abstention," because 263
three is no avijnapti of the mind.
But "silence" is abstention, thus the mind itself "which abstains"
receives the name of silence.
Why does only the mind of the Arhat receive this name?
Because the Arhat is the true Silent One through the cessation of all
murmuring of his defilements.
***
The Sutra says, "There are three purifications, purification of the
264 body, purification of the voice, and purification of the mind. "
64c-d. The threefold good practice in its entirety is the threefold purification.
All the good practices of the body, pure or impure, are a purification of the body, because, either for a time or in a definitive manner, they efface the impurity of the defilements and bad practices.
? The same holds for the voice and mind
This teaching has for its goal the instruction of persons who take a
265 false silence for silence, and a false purification of purification.
***
266
The Sutra says that there are three bad practices.
65a-b. The bad actions of the body, speech and mind are regarded as being the three bad practices.
267 Bad actions of the body are the bad praaices of the body and so on.
65c-d Even though greed, wickedness, anger and false views are not actions, they constitute a threefold bad practice of the mind.
Further, there are three bad practices of the mind which, by their
268
nature, are not mental action: greed, wickedness or harm, and false
views.
The Darstantikas say that greed, wickedness and false views are,
269
in fact, mental actions, for the Samcetantyasutra considers them as 270
actions.
The Vaibhasikas: In this hypothesis, defilements and actions would
be the same thing.
The Darstantikas: What harm do you see in that?
The Vaibhasikas: To admit that defilement is action is to contradict
the Sutra and the definition that it gives of action (iv. lb). As for the Samcetantyasutra to which you allude, it is volition itself that it designates when it says "greed," because volition comes into play under the influence of greed
Because these produce a painful retribution, and because they are condemned by gpod persons, these praaices of the body, speech and mind are bad; they are thus termed bad praaices.
271 66a. Good praaice is the opposite.
The opposite of bad praaice is good praaice: good actions of the body, speech, and mind; further, non-greed, non-wickedness and right views.
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272 How can false views or right views by regarded as bad, or good?
In fact, the first does not contain an intention to do evil, and the second does not contain an intention to do good to another.
This is true, but they are the root of this twofold intentioa
66b-d By taking, among these practices, the most evident, one
273 defines the ten courses of action, good and bad respectively.
The Sutra defines ten courses of action: good courses of action, by taking the most important,--which are the easiest to see--from among the good practices; and bad courses of action, by taking the gravest from among the bad practices.
***
What practices, bad or good, are not included in the courses of action?
A part of the bad practices of the body, namely (1) preparatory and consecutive actions of bodily courses of action (prayoga, prsthabhiita, iv. 68c); and (2) certain defiled actions of the body, for example, drinking alcohol, hitting, binding, etc (Majjhbna, iii. 34), are not included among the courses of action, because these practices are not extremely grave. Among the bad practices of the body are courses of action which deprive another of his life, of his goods, or of his wife: one must absolutely abstain from them.
That which is very grave among bad practices of speech, is, for this same reason, declared to be a course of action, not preparatory, consecutive, or minor action.
One part of the bad praaice of the mind, volition, is also excluded
274 from the bad courses of actioa
The good courses of action do not include 1. either a part of the good
praaice of the body: preparatory or consecutive; abstention from
275
inebriating drinks, etc. ; alms, worship, etc. ; 2. or one part of the good
276
praaice of speech, affeaionate words, etc. ; 3. or one part of the good
praaice of the mind, good volition.
? Among the courses of action,
67a. Six bad courses of action can be exclusively avijnapti.
When one has six courses of action--murder, stealing, lying,
malicious speech, harmful speech, or inconsiderate speech--performed
by another, then these six courses of aaion are only avijnapti. He who
had these actions carried out is lacking the principle vijnapti, that is, the
278
act of killing itself, etc
67b. One bad course of aaion is always of two types.
Adulteryisalwaysvijnaptiandavijnapti,foritmustbeperpetrated in person. When one has it committed by another, he does not procure the same pleasure.
67b. Six, when one carries them out himself, are of two types
27 also. *
When one executes them himself, the six courses of aaion specified
above (67a) are at one and the same time vijnapti and avijnapti if death 280
takes place at the same moment as the vijnapti (that is, at the moment of the stroke by which one intends to kill): if death takes place later, there is only avijnapti.
***
Among the good courses of aaion,
67c Seven good courses of aaion are of two types.
Seven courses of material aaions, that is, of the body and the voice, are of two types, vijnapti and avijnapti. In faa the morality that one undertakes depends on one vijnapti.
61d. They are only avijnapti when they have arisen from absorption.
The courses of aaion which are included in dharmaiUa, that is, in the discipline of dhyana and in the pure discipline, are qualified as
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"arisen from absorption/' These two disciplines depend on a single
21 thought: the courses of action are thus not vij&apti. *
Is this also the case for preparatory and consecutive actions as for the principle action or the course of aaion proper?