The Sutta Pericope of 'the Cessation' and Its Interpretation

CENTRE FOR BUDDHIST STUDIES

SRI LANKA

CENTRE FOR BUDDHIST STUDIES, SRI LANKA

VOLUME I, MAY, 2003

Interpretation

G.A. Somaratne

In the mainstream Buddhist soteriology, the concept of

saiiiia-vedayita­

nirodha

interpreted as "the cessation of perception and feeling" (also grammatically but not technically, "the cessation of the feeling of perceptions") plays a key role. Also known as the

nirodha-samapatti

or "the attainment of cessation", it appears to function both as a means in which case the contemplator after rising from its attainment destroys cankers

(ii.savakkhaya) or achieves the highest fruition (arahatta-phala) by seeing

through his wisdom, and as a goal in which case the contemplator experiences

anupii.disesa nibbii.nadhatu

(the nibbana without remainder) physically for a pre-determined period. It is a goal in the sense it is a deliverance

(vimo(k)kha), the last and the highest of a series of eight deliverances:

(1)

perception of forms

(rupi rupii.ni passati),

(2)

perception of forms not internally but externally

(ajjhattarrz rupasaiiiii bahiddha rupii.ni passati),

(3) intending only on beauty (subhant eva adhimutto hoti),

(4) sphere of boundless space (akasanaiicayatanarrz upasampajja viharati), (5) sphere of boundless consciousness

( viiiiiii.l!aiicayatanarrz ), (

6) sphere of nothingness

(ii.kiiicaiiiiii.yatanarrz),

(7) sphere of neither perception nor non-perception

(ne_vasaiiiiii.nii.saiiiiii.yatanarrz),

and (8) the cessation of perception and feeling;1 the last and the highest among seven elements

(dhatu),

the concentration states of mind:

(1) radiance (abhii.-dhii.tu), (2) beauty (subha­

dhii.tu), and (3)- (7)

=

(

4) - (8) of the deliverances;2 and more commonly the culminating experience after a series of eight form

(rupa-jhii.na)

and formless-attainments

(arupa-jhana):

(1)

firstjhii.na,

(2) second

jhii.na,

(3)

third

jhii.na,

(4) fourthjhii.na, and (5)-

(9)

= ( 4) - (8) of the deliverances.3 The Cessation and the eight attainments are also a toptc of modem scholarly conjecture. Some view them as a number of originally independent schemes of meditation that have been put together. They view the coupling of serenity

(samatha)

and insight

(vipassanii.)

meditations and the coupling of the cessation experience and the destruction of cankers

(asavakkhaya)

implied

l in the stock passage on cessation as an unsuccessful attempt made to blend

two differing emphases in the path to

nibbana:

the yogic states of.

consciousness and the acquisition of wisdom. They also point out an incompatibility_ of intellectual exercise in the cessation state by taking the

Pali canonical stock passage of the cessation to state that the adept exercises

his wisdom to destroy cankers

(asava)

while remaining in the cessation.4 By considering these scholarly views, an attempt is made here, based on the

Pali suttanta-s to articulate the Theravada Buddhist response to such views.

The

Pali

canon defines the cessation as a state of complete reduction, rather stoppage or cessation

(nirodha)

of all physical, verbal and the mental activities

(citta-sankhara)

to a point that a human being could survive without harming his life, heat and sense faculties. However, when someone attains it, his outer appearance is similar to that of a dead person. A story of the

Maratajjaniyasutta

illustrates this:5 Venerable Safijiva, a disciple of Kakusandha the Buddha, was such a monk that he forest-gone, gone to the roots of trees, and gone to empty places, with no trouble could attain the cessation. One day he, sitting under a tree, attained the cessation. Then cowherds, goatherds, farmers and travelers saw him sitting and said to each other: "Indeed it is wonderful, indeed it is marvelous, that this recluse is just sitting dead. Come, we will cremate him." Then they collected the grass, sticks and cow-dung, heaped them over the Venerable Safijiva's body, lit. the fire, and departed. Towards the end of that night, Venerable Safijiva emerged from the cessation, shook his robes, dressed, took his bowl and robe, and entered the village for alms food in the morning. The people who burnt him the previous night saw the monk walking for alms food and said to each other: "Indeed it is wonderful, indeed it is marvelous, that this recluse who was just sitting dead - that he has come back to life.

In the

Mahavedallasutta,

the reason for the difficulty in identifying a dead person from the cessation-attained is explained. The text states, when vitality, heat and consciousness are absent in a body, it is a dead body. Unlike the dead person, the cessation-attained has vitality and heat, and has clarified sense faculties. The difference is that the dead person's physical, verbal and mental functions

(citta-sankhara)

have ceased and subsided; his vitality is destroyed, his heat is extinguished, and his sense organs are scattered. But although the physical, verbal and mental functions of the cessation-attained have ceased and subsided, his vitality is not destroyed, his heat is not

..:xtinguished'; and his sense orgai..., .:uc punfied

(indriyii.ni vippasannii.ni)6

or as stated in the commentary to the

Patisambhidii.magga, his sense organs

are unbroken (indriyii.ni aparibhinnii.ni).1

The Cessation is to be attained gradually by progressively reducing one's verbal, physical and mental activities

(sankhii.rii.narri nirodho)

in nine meditative stages from the first

jhii.na (pa!hamajjhii.na)

to the cessation. The activities that disappear gradually in the nine meditative stages are listed in the

Rahogataka-sutta

o

�

the

Sarriyutta-nikii.ya

in the following order:8 with attainment of the firstjhii.na, speech

(vii.ca) ceases; with the second,

the applied and discursive thoughts

(vitakka-vicii.rii.);

with the third, the rapture

(piti);

with the fourth, the respiration

(assii.sa-passii.sii.);

with the fifth, the perception of corporeality

(rupa-safifiii.);

with the sixth, the perception of boundless space (ii.kii.sii.naficii.yatana-safifiii.); with the seventh, the perception of boundless consciousness (vififiii.naficii.yatana-safifiii); with the eighth, the perception of nothingness

(iikificafifiiiyatana-safifiii);

with the ninth, that is, with the cessation, both the perception and the feeling

(safifiii.vedayitanirodharri samiipannassa safifiii ca vedanii ca niruddhii

honti);

and the text states, for the

arahat,

lust, hatred, and delusion have ceased

(khi1J.iisavassa bhikkhuno riigo/ doso/ moho niruddho hoti).

The addition of this last sentence implies that both the arahat-s and non-arahat­ s could achieve this; and in the case of the arahat his lust, hate, and delusion are also gone.

The activities that cease with the cessation and the manner they cease are also presented in the Cu/avedallasutta of the Majjhima-nikiiya:9 The bodily activities are inhalation and exhalation; the verbal activities are discursive thought (reasoning) and sustained thought (deliberating); the mental activities are perception and feeling. The Respiration belongs to the body and is connected with the body; hence, the inbreathing and out-breathing are bodily activities

(assiisa-passiisii ... kiiyikii ete dhammii kiiya-pa!ibaddhii, tasmii.

assiisa�passiisii kiiya-sankhiiro).

Having thought one speaks; hence, the discursive thought and sustained thought are verbal activities

(pubbe . ..

vitakketvii viciiretvii pacchii viicarrz bhindati, tasmii vitakka-viciirii vacf­

sankhiiro

). The perception and feeling are mental; hence, they are mental activities

(safifiii ca vedanii· ca ete dhammii citta-pa(ibaddhii, tasmii saiifiii

ca vedanii ca citta-sankhiiro ). When someone attains the cessation, his verbal

activities disappear first, then the bodily activities, and finally the mental

activities. With the gradual suspension of these activities, the contemplator enters the cessation and when he emerges from it, the functioning of these activities gradually emerge. In the latter case, his mental activities arise first, then the bodily activities, and finally the verbal activities.

In the s.econd

Kamabhu-sutta

of the

Sarrzyutta nikaya,

10 both the perception and the feeling are introduced as mental-activities. The factor of feeling is a complex phenomenon and it ranges from gross to subtle. As such the contemplator has to abandon it step by step. In the

Uppatika-sutta

of the

Sarrzyutta-nikaya,

11 this process of gradual cessation of the factor of feeling is discussed. As stated there, when the contemplator enters the firstjh

ana

, his arisen faculty of physical discomfort ceases completely

(uppannaf?1

dukkhindriyarrz aparisesarrz nirujjhati);

with the attainment of the second, his mental discomfort

(domanassindriyarrz)

ceases; with the third, his physical comfort

(sukhindriyaf?t);

with the fourth, his mental comfort

(somanassindriyarrz )

; and finally with the cessation, all other remaining subtle feelings termed in the text as the faculty of indifference

(upekkhindriyaf?t)

cease completely. In this context the text, after identifying the fourthj

h

a

na

, goes directly to the cessation state while identifying the latter as that arises by transcending the last formless state of neither perception nor non­ perception. This indicates the continuation of the faculty of indifference throughout the formless attainments

(arupa-samapatti).

The factor of perception is also a complexity. All form and formless attainments, elements and deliverances except the cessation consist of perception. Perception is an essential element throughout the eight attainments. In the

Potthapada-sutta

of the

Dzgha-nikaya,

12 _{how the}

contemplator attains the cessation by overcoming various states of perception is explained. He touches the cessation after reaching and passing beyond the highest of the perceptions, that is, the last of the eight attainments known as the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. He arrives at the cessation by ceasing his all forms of perception, as the text states, through not deliberating and not conditioning. The text states further: "When one does not deiiberate and. does not form, his perceptions cease; and in him other types of perceptions do not occur. Thus he touches the cessation." Since, as the

Sutta�nipata

states,

13

"unto him who is detached from perceptions, there are no fetters," the cessation of perception must necessarily

represent,the nibbanic experience of the

arahat-s

as they are the ones who have no fetters.

Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the

Mahiivihiirian

Visuddhimagga14

and the

Abhayagirian Vimuttimagga,15

insists on the necessity of fulfilling some pre-requisites by the contemplator prior to his attainment of the cessation. As stated in these texts, as a result of practicing both the serenity and the insight, the contemplator enters upon the cessation as he emerges from the meditative state of neither perception nor non­ perception. The state of neither perception nor non-perception is the highest of the concentration states that could be achieved by those who practice serenity alone, and to go beyond it is possible only for those who have thoroughly practiced both the serenity and the insight by coupling them. According to the traditional account, the contemplator who aspires to attain

jhiina-s starts his meditatiQn after lunch in a secluded place. As part of his

preparation, he washes his hands and feet and sits down cross-legged on a well-prepared seat while keeping his body erect and setting up his mindfulness. In this preliminary meditation, he enters upon the firstjhiina. Then, after emerging frorri it he views with insight his jhanic experience as impennanent, unsatisfactory, and not-self, and then passing it he enters upon the secondjhiina. And after emerging from it, in the same way he views the activities there. Then he enters upon the thirdjhiina, and in this manner he enters upon the sphere of the infinity of consciousness (vifii'iii!J.ai'iiiciiyatana), emerges from it and in the same way he views the activities there. Likewise havirig entered upon the sphere of nothingness he emerges from it. This is a turning point, and at this important stage, he resolves not to let such items as bowls, robes, beds or benches pertaining to others and which are in his care be damaged or perished by fire, water, wind, thieves or even rats. It is said that no special resolution is necessary for the safe-keep of the con temp lator' s inner or outer gannents or his own seat; they will be protected by means of the cessation itself, which is also evident from the story of Venerable Safijiva narrated above. When the contemplator resolves, such and such an article may not be burnt by fire within this week, nor be carried off by water, nor be destroyed by the wind, nor stolen by thieves, nor eaten by rats, it is said that no danger comes for that particular article during the meditative week. If he were to make no resolution, the article may get perished in case of a disaster such as fire or flood. According to a traditional story, once a monk visited a lay disciple for alms, and when he was asked to

sit down in the 11n.: witl. v ... as, he sat down and entered into the cessation. While he was in the cessation, the hall caught fire and all the other monks fled taking their seats. The villagers who gathered there found that the fire that burnt the thatch, bamboo and timber has now encircled the sitting monk and that he was ·unharmed. Seeing this, people put out the fire, removed the ashes, plastered the place with cow-dung, spread flowers there and stood bowing to him. At the end of his pre-determined time, the monk emerged from the cessation, and saw the pe.ople gathered there. He rose up in the sky, saying: "I am discovered," and he went to Piyangu Island.

The traditional account also has it that, as a preparation, prior to the attainment of neither perception nor non-perception, the contemplator must also resolve to emerge from the cessation when the community of monks

(saligha)

requires his presence for the performance of ecclesiastic acts or when the Teacher calls him. He must also consider his span of life in order to prevent his passing away while in the cessation, more correctly after an unexpected sudden emergence from the cessation. After these resolutions, the contemplator enters the state of neither perception nor non-perception and then passing beyond it within one or two turns of mind he becomes mindless and touches the cessation.16

Who could attain the cessation? In brief, the attainment of cessation is only possible for those who have achieved both the power of serenity (samatha­

bala) and the power of insight

(vipassana).17 The

Vimuttimagga confirms

this by stating that the cessation is entered upon through two kinds of strength: serenity and insight. Here serenity means mastery gained in the eight attainments

(a(thasamapatti);

insight means mastery gained in the seven insights, namely the reviewing of impermanence, non-satisfaction, non-self, repulsion, dispassion, cessation, and abandonment. To answer our question more specifically, it requires a brief identification of the four noble persons who are on the supra-mundane path: the stream-enterer has entered the stream and has only seven more births; the once-returner returns once to this world; the non-returner never returns to this world; and the

arahat

has no more rebirths. Among these four, the arahat is the highest and he has achieved the supreme goal, nibbana the destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion, by gradually perfecting morality, concentration and wisdom. He requires no further instruction. The rest of the four are seekers who are advancing towards their final goal and they require further instruction.

Not all these noble persons are capable of achieving all of the eight attainments because not all of them have practiced the serenity meditation in its completeness. For the attainment the cessation, in addition to making progress in the insight path, a higher level of concentration through the practice of serenity meditation is required. The Theravada Buddhist tradition's view is that the cessation state can be attained only by those non­ returners and arahat-s who have the mastery over the eight attainments:

18

ke tarri samii.pajjanti, ke na samii.pajjanti ti. sabbe 'pi puthujjanii., sotii.pannii.,

sakadii.gii.mino, sukkhavipassakii. ca anii.gii.mi-arahato na samii.pajjanti.

a!!hasamii.pattilii.bhino pana anii.gii.mino, khil'}ii.savii. ca samii.pajjanti)

and know that its attainment is not essential for obtaining the arahat-ship or the

realization of

nibbii.na.19

Buddhaghosa, the greatest authority of the Theravada, summarizes this view in his Visuddhimagga (702):

All average persons, stream-enterers, once-returners, and non-returners andarahat­ s with dry insight do not enter upon it. But those non-returners and arahat-s who have obtained the eight attainments enter upon it. ... And this attainment is not within the reach of those other than non-returners and arahat-s who have reached the eight attainments; it is they, not others, who enter upon it.

The

Vimuttimagga20

agrees with the

Visuddhimagga

in establishing the view that the cessation could be attained by

arahat-s

and non-returners. However, it does not specify them to be those who have mastered the eight attainments, though the context implies it. Moreover, in the listing of those who cannot attain the cessation, the

Vimuttimagga

names the commoner, the stream­ enterer, the once-returner and the one who is born in the formless element, and it avoids naming the dry insight

arahat-s.

An early view attributed to Venerable Sariputta and approved by the Buddha, but debated by Venerable Udayl, is presented in the

Aghii.ta-vagga

of the

Anguttara-nikii.ya.21

The view is that the attaining and rising from the cessation is possible only for those who are endowed with morality, concentration, and wisdom. In case they were to not win the liberating insight

(afifiarri)

in this life, it is possible for them to achieve and emerge from the cessation again and again after being born as gods with mind-made bodies who are above those who eat material food. The meaning is that the

arahat-s

and the non-returners could achieve the cessation because they are the noble persons who have perfected the morality, concentration and wisdom to the highest level. It must also be

noted that this is the one and only place in the

sutta-s

where the possibility of the attainment of the cessation is clearly attributed to a non-arahat. _'

The ancient view that the cessation could be attained only by those

arahat­

s and non-returners who have the mastery over the eight attainments is also the basis. for the commonly employed stock passage of the

Pali

canon on cessation. The stock passage reads:

n 'eva saiiiiiiniisaiiiiiiyatanarrz samatikkamma saiiiiiivedayitanirodharrz upasampajja viharati, paiiiiiiya c 'assa disvii iisavii parikkhirJii. honti. 22 (By entirely transcending

the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, having attained the cessation of perception and feeling, he remains therein. And after seeing by means of wisdom, his mental corruptions were/ had been exhausted (parikkhif}ii honti).

The past participle

(parikkhil'}.a)

+ the historical present

honti

may express the pluperfect in

Pali:

what had happened at that time, what had been done. Taken

parikkhil'}.a hon ti

as a pluperfect, we might interpret the stock passage to mean, when the person attained the cessation, he had already destroyed the mental corruptions and now his attainment of the cessation state is undisturbed by cankers. Understood in this way, the stock passage points out that the cessation must be reached by transcending the meditative state of neither-perception-nor-non-perception and that the contemplator concerned here is an

arahat

who, by seeing through his wisdom, has already destroyed mental corruptions completely or to the point that is required for its attainment. Taken in this way, we could support the Theravada view that the contemplator who could experience the cessation must be an

arahat

or a non-returner who have the mastery over all of the form and formless states. It is also important to note that the phrase

pafifiaya

c 'assa disva asava

parikkhil'}.a honti

(And after seeing by means of wisdom, his cankers were/ had been exhausted) has only been added to the stock passage on cessation only, not to those of other form and formless attainments. This is a clear indication that those who could attain the cessation by passing beyond the last of the formless state are the

arahat-s

or the non-returners who have the mastery over all eight attainments. In the

Culasaropama-sutta

of the

Majjhima-nikaya,23

the phrase is added only for the cessation and there the

person who has attained the cessation is shown to be an

arahat

and is compared to a man who has found the pith and now could use it as he

wishes because it is the pith. The attained state is specified as the unshakable freedom, and the goal of Buddhist practice

(ya ca kho ayaf!! brahmm:w

akuppa cetovimutti, etadatthaf!! idaf!! brahmwza brahmacariyaf!! etaf!! saraJ?l

etaJ?l pariyosanan ti).

At M I,

159-60 (the

Nivapasutta)

the referent of the stock passage is also defined as one who has crossed the entanglements in the world. The text states that while experiencing each of the eight attainments, the contemplator goes beyond the sight of

Mara

(Evil One, death personified) making him confused. When he attains the last of the eight attainments, he, by so attaining, puts darkness round

Mara,

and he, having blotted out

Mara's

vision so that it has no range, goes unseen by him.

Mara's

realm is the realm of sensual pleasure. The contemplator transcends this realm temporarily only when he experiences one of the eight attainments, either form or formless. When he returns to the normality, he is again within the realm of sensual pleasure. However, as stated in the cessation stock passage, when a person experiences the cessation and also has his cankers destroyed by mean of wisdom, possibly prior to or after the attainment, he has not only gone beyond the sight of

Mara

but also overcome craving and attachment in the world.

Arahat

who attains the cessation, the

sutta

states, in addition to putting darkness round

Mara

and blotting out his vision and going unseen by him, has also crossed over the entanglement in the world

(puna ca paraJ?l bhikkhave bhikkhu

sabbaso ... safifiavedayitanirodhaf!! upasampajja viharati, pafifiaya c' assa

disva asava parikkhir:za honti, ayaf!l vuccati bhikkhave bhikkhu andhaf!! akasi

MaraJ?l, apadaf!l vadhitva Maracakkhuf!l adassanaf!! gato papimato, tir:zr:zo

lake visattikan ti).

This means that by experiencing the eight attainments one could transcend the sensual realm - death and temptation - for a temporary period of time, and by the destruction of cankers one transcends the sensual realm (also the form and formless realms) forever. Cessation is a meditative state that goes beyond the sensual, form and formless realms, and as such those who could experience it must be either

arahat-s

or those who are nearer to be so.

Again in places where the phrase

pafifiaya c ' assa disva asava parikkhir:za

honti is not linked, that the cessation is to be attained by arahat-s or similar

persons is implied. As stated in the

Latukikopama-sutta of the Majjhima­

nikaya,24

for example, when a monk reaches any of the eight attainments, the Buddha's advice for him is to get rid of them: "But I again say, 'this is

not enough', I say, 'get rid of it', I say, 'transcend it."' Finally, when one attains the cessation, the Buddha says to him: "As to this, a monk, by wholly transcending the last of the eight attainments, enters and abides in the cessation. This is_�ts transcending. It is for this that I speak of getting rid of the last of the eight attainments." After explaining these to a monk called Udayi, theBuddha asks him: "Now do you, Udayi, see any fetter, minute or massive, of getting rid of which I have not spoken?" Udayi replies: "No, reverend sir." What is implied here is that the cessation is a meditative state free from fetters

(sarriyojana)

and that by reaching it, one is able to experience the absence of fetters in his own person

(.

.. idha Udii.yi bhikkhu sabbaso .. .

saiiiiii.vedayitanirodharri upasampajja viharati ayarri tassa samatikkamo. !ti

kho aharri Udii.yi nevasaiiiiii.nii.saiiiiii.yatanassa pi pahii.narri vadii.mi. passasi

no tvarri Udii.yi tarri sarriyojanaf!i a1:zurri vii. thularri vii. yassii.harri no pahii.narri

vadii.mf ti. no h 'etarri bhante ti).

This clarifies two things. One is that the eight attainments and the cessation are ways of experiencing temporarily the progressive releases from fetters that bind people to the three realms: sensual, form and formless. The other is that one attains all of the eight attainments not necessarily in one meditative sitting. In the

Mahii.-vagga

of the

Anguttara-nikii.ya25

where the last sentence of the stock passage reads:

paiiiiii.ya ca me disvii. ii.savii. parikkhayarri agamaf!isu,

the Buddha is talking about a past experience where he achieved the cessation for the first time. This is further evident from his statement there that he claimed to be a Buddha only after he could achieve all these nine states. The context also implies that he came to attain all the nine and the canker-free state not in one uninterrupted sitting. This is supported by the

Patisambhidii.magga

commentary26 when it speaks of an interval between the

ii.kiiicaiiiiii.yatana

and the

nevasaiiiiii.nii.saiiiiii.yatana

in which occasion the person gets ready to stay in the cessation for seven days while enabling him to emerge from it any time when the some external factors require him to do so

(so

ii.kiiicaiiiiii.yatanarri

vu(thii.ya

imarri

pubbakiccaf!i

katvii.

nevasaiiiiii.nii.saiiiiii.yatanarri samii.pajjati).

27

In the

Anupada-sutta

of the

Majjhima-nikii.ya,28

the stock passage is employed to explain how Sariputta experienced the cessation after attaining progressively the eight attainments. If the stock passage were to indicate one's attainment of arahat-ship while in the cessation, here too the text must be describing Sariputta's attainment of

arahat-ship.

On the contrary, Sariputta here is an

arahat

who could experience the eight attainments and

the cessati'on as of his extra ability and power by which he stands conspicuous. In the same context,29 the Buddha identifies Sariputta as a wise man, of great wisdom, wide wisdom, joyous wisdom, quick-witted wisdom, sharp wisdom, and of penetrating wisdom; he also names him as a person who will keep the unsurpassed doctrine-wheel rolling, that has been set rolling by the Buddha. He concludes: "if anyone speaking rightly wants to say of a person: 'He has attained to mastery, he has attained to going beyond in the noble moral habits, in the noble concentration, in the noble wisdom, in the noble freedom' -speaking rightly he could say of Sariputta." These words clearly suggest that Sariputta was already an arahat prior to his attainment of the cessation described in the stock passage of the Anupadasutta.

It is also important to note that in this Anupadasutta context the Buddha is praising Sariputta after observing not only the latter's ability to attain the eight attainments and the cessation but also the special attitude that he shows towards them. Following paragraph illustrates how Sariputta attained the cessation after the last of the eight attainments and also how he viewed it after emerging from it: And again, monks, Sariputta, by passing quite beyond the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, enters and abides in the cessation. And also, after seeing by means of wisdom, his cankers were utterly destroyed. Mindful, he emerges from that attainment. When he has emerged, mindful, from that attainment he regards those things that are past, stopped, changed as: "Thus indeed things that have not been in me come to be; having being they pass away." He, not feeling attracted by these things, not feeling repelled, independent, not infatuated, freed, released, dwells with an unconfined mind (citta). He comprehends: "There is no further escape." There is no zealous practice for him concerning that.

From this two things are clear. One is that Sariputta reflects on his experience after returning to his normal life, and the other is that, after this reflection, he finds himself to be an arahat. This is also an example for the argument that some achieve the cessation to know whether they are arahat-s or not. Moreover, in the Pavarana-sutta of the Sarr1yutta-nikiiya30 where the Buddha recognized a group of five hundred arahat-s,.Sariputta appears outstanding. In this context too the Buddha speaks of Sariputta highly in the same verbatim as at M III,

28-9

(the Anupadasutta).

The

Nirodhasutta

of the

Smriyutta-nikiiya31

and its preceding eight

sutta-s

also present Sariputta as an

arahat

who could attain the cessation. In this context, Sariputta says to Ananda: "Friend, by entirely transcending the last of the eight attainments, having attained the cessation, I remain therein. To me, friend, the t

h

ought never came: 'I am attaining the cessation or I have

attained the cessation or I have emerged from the cessation.'" Ananda replies: "Surely for a long time have leanings to I-making, to mine-making, and to vanity been off from you. That is why such thoughts occur not to you." Ananda's this reply clearly implies that by that time Sariputta had been an

arahat.

In the

Paficiila-vagga

of the

Aizguttara-nikiiya, 32

the body-witness

(kiiyasakkhi)

who is elsewhere described as a type of non-returner, the

wisdom-liberated

(pafifiiivimutto)

and the both-ways-liberated

(ubhatobhiigavimutto)

who are two types of

arahat-s,

are recognized as those who could attain the cessation. In this context, there is a clear indication that they attain the cessation and even the preceding eight states, not in one uninterrupted sitting meditation but over a period of time, after contemplating again and again the perils of the previously attained state and then progressively re-entering into next. Moreover, naming only these three types of noble persons, not others, shows that when one attains the cessation, in his spiritual maturity, he is either an

arahat

or close to be an

arahat

because in the cessation, more correctly after emerging from it, one experiences the absence of fetters. Therefore, the Theravada view of the cessation as it to be attained· by only those non-returners and

arahat-s

who have the mastery over the eight attainments is well supported.

The stock passage on cessation which has clear references to the cessation as well as to "the extinction of cankers" is frequently employed in the

Pali

canonical texts to describe

arahat'

s experiencing of

nibbiina

here and now. In the

Paficiila-vagga

of the

Anguttara-nikiiya,33

for instance, the achiever of the content of this passage is described as one who finds the opportunit� in the obstructions

(sambiidhe okiisiidhigama);

who becomes a body-witness

(kiiyasakkhi);

a wisdom-liberated one

(panfiiivimutta);

a both-ways-liberated person

(ubhatobhiigavimutta);

who attains the visible

dhamma

in this very life

(sandit!hika-dhamma);

the visible que

n'

ching here and now

(sanditthika­

nibbiina);

the quenching

(nibbiina);

the final quenching

(parinibbiina);

the categorical quenching

(todaizga-nibbiina);

the quenching here and now

(ditrhadhamma-nibbiina);

the safety

(khema);

a safety-attained

(khemappatta); the deathless

(amata);

a deathless-attained (amatappatta);

the fearless

(abhaya);

a fearless-attained

(abhayappatta);

the tranquility

(passaddhi);

the gradual tranquility

(anupubba-passaddhi);

the cessation

(nirodha); and the gradual cessation

(anupubba-nirodha), all of which are·

often used elsewhere in the canon to define nibbiina or arahat-ship.34 Since there are several types of arahat-s, what exactly is the type of arahat described in the stock passage? The Culasiiropamasutta of the Majjhima­

nikiiya35 suggests that the cessation when attained by an arahat denotes the

highest unshakable freedom or the unshakable concentration-freedom

(akuppii-ceto-vimutti). It also introduces the cessation when conjoined with

the knowledge in the destruction of mental corruptions (= arahat-ship) as synonymous to the unshakable concentration-freedom. It also identifies the unshakable concentration-freedom as "the goal, the purpose of the holy life, the essence, and the culmination." There is no doubt that the unshakable concentration-freedom in this context refers to the freedom experienced by an arahat because the passage clearly contains the phrase, "the destruction of cankers." It is evident that the unshakable concentration-freedom consists of both the concentration-freedom and the wisdom-freedom (paiiiiiivimutti). A popular

arahat formula in the canon36 introduces

arahat-s as those who

could here and now experience these two types of freedom. It suggests that these

arahat-s

have attained

saupiidisesa-nibbiina, that is, that they have

achieved wisdom-freedom and now could experience anupiidisesa-nibbiina physically for a temporary period of time here and now by attaining the cessation, that is, the highest form of concentration-freedom.

The wisdom-freedom

(paiiiiii-vimutti)

and the knowledge in the destruction of cankers

(iisavakkhaya-iiiina)

seem to mean the same. The statement that one becomes an

arahat

with the attainment of wisdom-freedom equals to the saying that one becomes an

arahat

with the destruction of cankers or the knowledge in the destruction of cankers, except the fact that the latter phrase is often combined to describe the types of

arahat-s

who are known as

tevijjii

and

cha/abhiiiiiii.

The Cessation always means the highest form of concentration-freedom. Therefore, in the stock passage on cessation, the cessation means the highest form of concentration-freedom; the knowledge in the destruction of cankers denotes the wisdom-freedom. Thus it refers to an

arahat

who could be identified as the both-ways-liberated person

(ubhatobhaga-vimutto). This arahat has the knowledge in the destruction

of cankers, which means that he has the wisdom-freedom. He could attain the cessation transcending the eight attainments, which means that he has the highest form of concentration-freedom by which he experiences

anupii.disesa-nibbii.na here and now.

Not all

arahat-s

and non-returners could attain the cessation. That is, not all

arahat-s

could experience the

anupii.disesa-nibbii.na

here and now, though they all are bound to do so with their passing away. An example is also found in the

Kltiigirisutta37

where seven types of noble persons are named. Among them, only the both-ways-liberated

arahat

and the body-witness non-returner are named as those who could experience the peaceful deliverances

(santii. vimokhii.)

of which the highest is the cessation. Here it clearly rules out the possibility of its attainment by the wisdom-liberated

arahat

and the one who has seen the point

(ditthippatto)

who is a non­ retumer, not to mention those who are lower in the ladder: the one who is released by faith

(saddhii.-vimutto),

the follower of the teaching

(dhammii.nusii.rl),

and the follower through faith

(saddhii.nusii.rl).

Again, in the

Mahii.nidii.nasutta38

where the eight deliverances

(attha vimokhii.)

of which the cessation appearing as the highest are listed, the both-ways­ liberated person

(ubhatobhii.gavimutto)

is introduced as the

arahat

who is capable of attaining these deliverances in ascending

(anuloma)

as well as in descending order

(patiloma).

No other

arahat-s

or holy persons are named so. Then it is clear that the both-ways-liberated person is the type of

arahat

referred to in the stock passage.

In theAnguttara-nikii.ya39 a classification of nine types of wisdom-liberated persons is found. There the ninth type of the wisdom-liberated who is an

arahat is described as "one who has attained the cessation and whose cankers

had been/ were destroyed after seeing through wisdom, and also understands it through wisdom." In the commonly used cessation stock passage, however, the phrasing "understands it through wisdom"

(paiiiiii.ya ca narrz pajii.nii.ti)

is not given. In this classification, it seems, the ninth wisdom-liberated is so named considering his

arahat

-ship or

ii.savakkhaya

rather than his extra abilities because in the Suslmasutta of the

Sarrzyutta-nikii.ya40 the wisdom­

liberated arahat is identified in its usual sense as one who has neither super­ knowledges

(abhiiiiia)

nor peaceful deliverance�

(santii. vimokkhii.).

The Cessation is one of the peaceful riPliverances and as such, the

liberated is not the type of

arahat who could be the referent of the stock

passage on cessation. The both-ways-liberated

arahat-s

on the other hand could experience the peaceful deliverances; they could quickly attain, abide, penetrate, and experience them physically.

The both-ways-liberated

arahat-s

have always been a minority, perhaps, it is because of the difficulty of attaining the cessation that requires the transcending of all eight attainments. In the

Pavarana-sutta

of the

Sarrzyutta­

nikaya, 41

for example, among a group of five hundred

arahat-s,

only sixty monks have been recognized as both-ways-liberated while three hundred and sixty monks to be wisdom-liberated.

Pali

Buddhist tradition holds the view that the attainment of the cessation is not essential for the realization of

nibbana.

If this is the case, why did non­ returners,

arahat-s

and even the Buddha himself attain it?

Pali

canonical texts suggest that some non-returners attained the cessation not only as a temporary experience of

anupadisesa-nibbana

but also as a foundation for attaining

saupadisesa-nibbiina.42

It is also possible to think that some attained the cessation to test themselves, to see whether they are really

arahat-s

or at least non-returners because, it seems, if they could achieve the cessation they are either

arahat-s

or non-returners. This could also be seen at M III,

28-9

where Sariputta comprehends that "There is no further escape; there is

no zealous practice for him concerning that."

The non-returners, because they are still "non-returners", provided they die before reaching arahat-ship, will be born in a higher formless brahma-world and wifl achieve complete

nibbana (parinibbana)

in that world without ever returning to the sensual-realm. It seems then, the cessation is the highest form of freedom-experience that non-returners could have.

TheAnguttara­

nikaya,43

for example, states that those who have morality, concentration and wisdom could attain and rise from the cessation again and again. In this context, the text clearly agrees with the view that one could even have this experience before having the liberating insight

(aiiiia).

Some non-returners who attain and emerge from the cessation not only experience it but also, after emerging from it, consider and realize its conditionality. According to the

Cu/avedalla-sutta,44

for the person who comes out of the cessation three tynt>" of impression occur: void (suiiiiato ),

sign less

(animitto ), and desire less

(appanihito ).

The three denote three aspects of concentration-freedom (cetovimutti).45 In the Cu/avedalla-sutta,46 it is stated that the mind (citta) of the person who comes out of the cessation inclines tow&rds detachment, aims at detachment, and is directed to detachment

(vivekaninnaf!! ciltaf!i hoti vivekapot:zaf!l vivekapabbhiiran ti).

Schimlthausen47 has also recognized this when he says: "It may have been practiced as a means in some manner useful for liberation, e.g. on account of its effect of creating, in the mind of the pen;on emerging from it, a sense of detachment." The term detachment (viveka), however, is often used in referring to

nibbiina.

A discourse of 'the

Saf!!yutta-nikiiya, 48

for instance, uses

nimokkha, pamokkha

and

viveka

to mean

nibbiina.

Its commentary takes the three terms to be synonyms to nibbiina, or that they refer to the path, the fruition, and

nibbiina

respectively. In either case,

viveka means

nibbiina.

The person who comes out of the cessation inclines towards

nibbiina because he has experienced it fully while he was in that state.

The attainment of the cessation seems to serve the cessation-attained

arahat

as a sense of temporary comfort or a temporary here and now experience of the nibbiina without remnant because its attainment is described as "happy dwelling"

(phiisu-vihiira),

the highest happiness as far as the eight attainments are concerned

(saiiiiiivedayitanirodhaf!! upasampajja viharati

idaf!! kho Ananda etamhii sukhii aiiiiaf!! sukhaf!l abhikkantataraii ca

par:iitatarafi ca).49 The Patis-a by explaining why arahat-s and non-returners

attain the cessation states that after being dissatisfied in the breaking of the conditioned things they consider to dwell happily having attained

anupiidisesa-nibbiina here and now (salikhiiriinaf!! pavattibhede ukkar:i!hitvii

di!!h 'eva dhamme nibbiinaf!! patvii 'sukhaf!! viharissiima' ti samiipajjanti).

If the cessation were to be achieved by eliminating all sorts of feeling, how could it be recognized as the highest happiness? This is a question discussed even in the

Pali

canon. The Buddhist reply is that the absence of feeling itself constitutes the highest happiness. In the cessation, happiness

(sukha)

means not the pleasant feelings

(sukha-vedanii).

In embracing the "happiness" of the cessation experience, the

Bahuvedaniya-sutta

of the

Majjhima-nikiiya

states:50 "The Buddha does not lay down that it is only pleasant feeling that belongs to happiness; for he lays down that whenever, wherever, whatever happiness is found it belongs to happiness"

(na kho

avuso bhagava sukharrz yeva vedanarrz sandhaya sukhasmirrz pafiiiapeti api

c' avuso yattha yattha sukharrz upalabhati yahirrz yahirrz tan ta1?1 tathagato

sukhasmirrz paiiiiapeti ti). It is in this sense of the term "happiness" that the

Buddhist tradition says that

arahat-s

attain the cessation to experience

anupadisesa-nibbana

here and now and to have a spiritually happy life. The Cu{agosiliga-sutta of the Majjhima-nikaya51 states that there is no other

happy dwelling sweeter than the cessation that is attained by an arahat. The

cessation which is attained by an arahat is the most comfortable dwelling

(phasuvihara)

and it is an extra-ordinary condition

(idha mayarrz bhante

yavad ev

akalikhama sabbaso

saiiiiavedayitanirodhaJ?t

upasampajjaviharama paiiiiaya ca no disva disva asava parikkhiJ:La honti.

etassa bhante viharassa samatikkamaya etassa viharassa patippassaddhiya

ayam aiiiio uttarirrz manussadhamma alamariyaiiaJ:Ladassanaviseso adhigato

phasuviharo. imasma ca mayarrz bhante phasuvihara aiiiiarrz phasuviharaJ?t

uttaritararrz va paJ:Litatararrz va na samanupassama ti. sadhu sadhu

Anuruddha etasma Anuruddha phasuvihara aiiiio phasuviharo uttaritaro

va paJ:Litataro va n ' atthi ti). Schimithausen52 points this out saying that this

cessation may also - and perhaps this is more probable - have been cultivated, by arahat-s or similar persons, for the sake of anticipating

nibbana

in this life and escaping physical pain. He53 then describes the cessation as a "spiritual experience" or a "mystical anticipation" of the state of final

nibbana.

The Buddha too attained cessation and it seems this was to avoid physical pain or to be peaceful in mind and body. This is more clearly visible at the time of his death. Just before his demise, he experienced all of the eight attainments and the cessation one after the other in sequence. Although the cessation is the highest experience one could have here and now, the Buddha did not pass away in that state or soon after emerging from it. In his meditation, he returned from the cessation to the first form-state in descending order and then re-attained to the fourth form-state in the ascending order. Finally, he passed away after rising from the fourthj

hana

.

5

4 The Buddha's

manner of passing away implies even the cessation must be given up prior to the attainment of the complete

nibbana (parinibbana)

because cessation is a conditioned state in which one could be in the

anupadisesa-nibbana

to a pre-determined period. Theravada Buddhism also has the view that the contemplator cannot pass away while he is in the cessation and if his life span were to be over when in cessation, he has to emerge from it and pass

away. What happened to the Buddha just before his complete nibbana is also in agreement with this view.

The Cessation is an "experience of nibbana here and now." What does this mean? It is in the cessation that both-ways-liberated

arahat-s

and body­ witness·non-returners experience nibbana here and now in its c

�

mpleteness, in the manner that

arahat-s

would have it with their physical death. The Cessation is the means of experiencing complete nibbana, that is nibbiina without remainder while one is alive by ente'ring into a mindless, that is, perception-less and feeling-less state. Such an experience may give non­ returners and

arahat-s

an understanding of the nature of nibbana after the

arahat's

death. Although the complete nibbiina-experience with the

arahat's

death is a natural one and is in truth not an experience of someone, the complete nibbana-experience in the cessation is a conditioned one. James Boyd55 warns us not to identify cessation with nibbiina. He says that cessation is itself a mental creation, a conditioned, compounded

(sankhata)

state not to be equated with the unconditioned, uncompounded, unborn nibbana. Although he was able to recognize cessation to be a conditioned state, he failed to point out that its attainment is also the complete here and now experience of the unconditioned, uncompounded and unborn nibbana, that is nibbana without remainder. It must be noted here that both the

Visuddhimagga

and the

Vimuttimagga

consider the attainment of cessation as neither conditioned nor unconditioned because, as the

Visuddhimagga56

states, it does not exist in its own nature and is spoken of as being entered on by virtue of the monk who has entered upon it, or because as the

Vimuttimagga

has it, there is no put-together state in this attainment and also the entry into and exist from the unconditioned state cannot be known.57 Further, with the

arahat's

death, there is no one to experience nibbiina; therefore, the cessation could be regarded as the one and only way one is able to experience nibbana physically here and now in its completeness. One could realize nibbana and become an

arahat

without having any physical experience of it, but for the experience of nibbana without any substrate in this very life, one must attain the cessation. It is true that this

anupadisesa­

nibbana-experience in the cessation is temporary. In Winston King's words, this experience is of course in time. It 'arises' when the contemplator enters into the cessation, and ceases upon emergence from it.58

To avoid misconceptions with regard to my conclusions, it is appropriate to discuss the saupadisesa and anupadisesa nibbana-s that are described as two nibbana-elements in the Itivuttaka. 59 In this Itivuttaka context the nibbii.na-element with residue is presented as the nibbii.na type that one achieves with attainment of arahat-ship:

(a) Herein, monks, a monk is an arahat who has destroyed the cankers, lived the higher life, done what has to be done, laid aside the burden, achieved the noble goal, destroyed the fetters of existence, and is freed through insight. (b) His five senses remain: as they are not yet destroyed, he experiences what is agreeable and disagreeable; he feels happiness and pain.

( c) It is his destruction of lust, hate and delusion, that is called nibbii.na with

residue. '

As could be seen from this text, becoming an arahat means the destruction of cankers (asavakkhaya), the destruction of lust, hate and delusion. The arahat whose cankers are destroyed still has the five senses and as a result of sense perception, he experiences happiness and pain (phassa-paccaya vedana), but since his lust, hate and delusion are vanished, the causal process stops there, that is, his experience of feeling does not lead to craving and attachment. When this arahat is in the state of the cessation of perception . and feeling, his perceptual process as well as the factor of feeling that derives from it comes to a complete halt, though for a temporary period of time. As the Itivuttaka explains, the nibbii.na-element without residue is also the complete cooling of all that is felt by this arahat without any lust, hate or delusion:

(a) Herein, monks, a monk is an arahat who has destroyed the cankers, . . . and is freed through insight.

(b) All of his that is felt, not being delighted in, will become cold here itself. It is this that is called the nibbii.na without residue.

It is evident that this complete cooling of the arahat is a result of the disintegration of his five aggregates and the senses. In the state of cessation, the contemplator's physical, verbal and mental activities come to cease for a temporary period of time. As a result, perception is impossible, and when there is no perception, feeling is impossible as well (phassa-nirodhii vedana nirodho). The Cessation is a conditioned state and has the characteristics of arising, disappearance and change, but the element of nibbana without

residue is the complete extinction

(parinibbiina)

of what continued as a living

arahat

and that extinction is compared to the extinction of a lamp

(pajjotasseva nibbiina vimokkho cetaso ahu).60

NOTES

I D II, 70- 1 ; 1 1 2; M II, 1 2-3; A IV, 306 2 S ll, 1 5 0

3 S V , 307; D II, 7 1 ; M I, 203-4

4 See for these and other points on this topic, L. de La Vallee Poussin, "Musila and Narada,"

Melanges Chinois et Bouddhiques 5 : 1 89-222, 1 93 6-37; Lily de Silva, "Cetovimutti

Paiiiiavimutti and Ubhatobhagavimutti," Pali Buddhist Review 3, 3: 1 1 8-45, 1 978; L.

Schimithausen, "On Some Aspects of Descriptions or Theories of 'Liberating Insight' and

'Enlightenment' in Early Buddhism," in K.Bruhn and A. Wezler (eds.) Studien zum Jainism us

und Buddhismus, Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1 979; W. King, Theravada Meditation: the Buddhist Transformation of Yoga, University Park, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1 980; P.J. Griffiths, On Being Mindless, La Salle, Open Court, 1 986; Peter Harvey, "Signless

Meditations' in Pali Buddhism," Journal oft he International Association of Buddhist Studies

9, 1 : 25-52, 1 986; Steven Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities: Utopias of the Pali imaginaire, Cambridge University Press, 1 998; and K.R. Norman, "Aspects of Early Buddhism," Collected Papers Volume IV, Oxford, PTS, 1 993, pp. 1 25- 1 3 8

5 M I, 333 -4 6 M I, 296 7 Patis-a II, 322 8 S IV, 2 1 7-8 9 M I, 3 0 1 -2 10 _{S IV, 293} I I _{s V, 2 1 3-6} 12 _{D I, 1 84-5} 1 3 Sn, 847

14 The Path of Purity, pp.868-872

1 5 The Path of Freedom, pp. 323-324

1 6 _{The Path of Feedom, p.323}

1 7 _{See, Patis, Vol. I , pp. 97-98}

18 _{King, l 980: 1 04; The Paris-a Vol. I, 3 1 9}

19 _{See, Nyanatiloka, Path to Deliverance, Kandy, BPS, 1 982, p. 1 90; James Boyd, "The} Theravada View of Saf/1sara," Buddhist Studies in Honour of Walpola Rahula, ed. by S. Balasooriya et al, London, 1 980, p. 37

20 _{The Path of Freedom, p. 323}

2 1 A III, 1 94: idha bhikkhave bhikkhu slla-sampanno samadhi-sampanno pa1ifia-sampanno saiiiia-vedayita-nirodhal'/1 samapajjeyya pi vut1haheyya pi, atth etaf/1 !hanaf/1, no ce ditth eva dhamme aiiiial'!'I aradheyya, atikkamm eva kaba/inkarahara-bhakkhanaf/1 devanal?'l sahavyatal'/1 aiiiiataral'/1 manomaya1!l kayaf/1 upapan no saiiiia-vedayita-nirodhal!l samapajjeyya pi vut1haheyya pi, atth etaf/1 !hanan ti.

22 _{e.g. , MN III, 28}

2 3 _{M I, 203-4}

24 M I, 455-6 25 A IV, 448 26 Pa\is-a Vol. I, 3 2 1

2 7 For an explanat

i

on o f pubbakicca i n this context, see Pa\is-a Vol. I, 320-32 1

28 M Ill, 28-9 -29 ibid, 25 JO s I, 4 1 0- 1 4 JI s III, 238 32 A IV, 452-3 n A IV, 453-6 34 See, S IV, 360-73 J5 M I, 204-5 J6 e.g., M I, 490 J7 M I, 477-9 JS D II, 7 1 J9 A IV, 452-3 40 S II, 1 2 1 - 1 28 41 S I, 4 1 2 42 M I, 303 4J A III, 1 94 44 M I, 302 45 M I, 298 46 M I, 302 47 1 98 1 , p. 2 1 9 4K s I , 3-4 '9 M I, 400 50 M I, 400 5 1 M I, 209 52 1 98 1 , p. 2 1 9 5J ibid, pp. 2 1 8-9 54 D II, 1 5 6

5 5 Buddhist Studies in Honour of Walpola Rahula, p. 36

5 6 p.709

57 The Path of Freedom, pp.325-326 58 Theravada Meditation, p. 1 04

59 ltivuttaka, p. 38