I thank Mr. Sena Mahwatta for responding
on 24th October 2014 to my article on “Knowledge as construction” that appeared
in “The Island” on 10th September 2014. He says that he needs
clarifications on two parts of my article. The first part is on my statement "I must admit that my
Bududahama is not be the same as that of Budun Wahanse and I believe that only
another Budun Wahanse and not even an Arahant can "know" the Budu
Dahama of Budun Wahanse ". Then he goes on to state ‘Prof. Nalin de Silva
(NdeS) further says "My Budu Dahama is my interpretation or better my
creation and it is unique to me".’ The second part is on
“Paticcasamuppadas”.
Before we proceed further I must admit
that I am no more a Professor. I cannot use that title as I am not meritorious
enough to be a Professor Emeritus in any university. I ceased to be a Professor
on the 31st of December 2011 when I relinquished my duties at the
University of Kelaniya. Mr. Mahawatta and others who refer to me as Professor could
face charges in a court of law in Sri Lanka!
Mr. Mahawatta having referred to my
views on interpretation of Bududahama quotes two unnamed scholars who have
apparently said that generalization in Buddhism is a cardinal sin! It is not
clear whether Mr. Mahawatta is of the opinion that by the above statement I
have generalized some statements in Bududahama. If it is so then he is
misguided. I have maintained that Bududahama is not context free and that
context is very important in understanding the various Suttas. I also agree
that Bududahama cannot be generalized into some abstract principles.
All that I have said is that I do not
understand Bududahama the way Budunvahanse understood it and further that even
Arhants do not understand Bududahama the way the Budunvahanse understood it.
When Arhant Mugalan wanted to explore the universe (finding its end) it was
clear that the Arhant had not understood Bududahama the way Budunvahanse had
understood. In fact Budunvahanse had to intervene and explain that exploring
the universe was a useless exercise.
It is not only Bududahama that is
relative and understood by each individual in a way peculiar to him. Even this
article is understood by various people in different ways and Mr. Mahawatta had
not understood my previous article the way I understood it. Knowledge is
created by individuals due to avijja (ignorance) and is created relative to the
sense organs, the culture and the mind of the individual. How many people have
understood the Budget 2015 the way the President has understood it? Three
different newspapers reported that the minimum salary of public servants would
be Rs. 15000, 25000, 30000. Of course the so called correct view would be what
the Treasury decides finally and people would have to wait sometime to find out
that through the pay packet.
My Bududahama is relative to me (my mind
being influenced by my samsaric experience) and I consider avijja very important in this regard though I
am not sure of what it means. Is it avijja of caturarta sathya (four noble
truths) or of something else? In any event in Bududahama there is no knowledge
if not for avijja. It has to be emphasized that what I have stated is my
position of knowledge in my Bududahama and it could be different from that of
Mr. Mahawatta and also of Budunvahanse.
Why do we have the samsaric experience?
It is because we consider that we exist. I wrongly believe that there is an
individual referred to as Nalin de Silva when there is no such person. I
continue to use the words I, my, mine, me etc., in spite of attempting to be
against Athmavada. As I have mentioned previously when Descartes said I think
therefore I am, he based himself on some kind of vinnavada (idealism). A
dravyavadin (materialist) would have said I am therefore I think.
What should a Bauddhaya (Buddhist) say
in this situation? Of course we cannot quote Budunvahanse on this as Descartes
lived much later. The answer to the above question is relative to the
individual who attempts to answer it and my (though there is no I) answer is I do
not think therefore I am not. If I could stop thinking I could attain Nibbana.
However, unfortunately that is the last thing I could do, at least in this
Bhava.
As Budunvahanse has said there would not
be a fire or the fire would cease if there is no supply of fuel. When fuel is
withdrawn the fire extinguishes and nobody could say where it (the fire) went.
However, this has to be refined further before we apply it to Samsara and
Nibbana. We have to say what we consider as fire that “exists” due to our
avijja will not be there if we do not supply what we call fuel. Even that has
to be further refined.
The above could mean that there is
something called fire and it ceases to exist when fuel is withdrawn. This is
nothing but “uccedavada” and our position should be as follows. Due to avijja
we think (know) that there is fire. The fire is there as a result of fuel that
is supplied. However fuel is again due to our avijja and we have to unknow (anna) that there is fire as
well as fuel. What we have to do is to “understand” non existing fire as non
existing, and its “existence” is due to our ignorance.
In a sense it is making knowledge non
–knowledge and when it is applied to the individual it is a case of realizing
that knowledge of the individual as such is “mythyadrshti”. Knowledge we thrive
to attain whether of the individual or the universe is the “sarpya” (serpant)
and all knowledge based societies are full of individuals who are far
far away from Nibbana. If Mr. Mahawatta is interested he could attend a lecture
by me (so called me) on 1st November at 3.00pm at the public library
auditorium on “denuma nodenuma bavata pathkireema” in connection with the book
exhibition and lecture series organized by Visidunu Publishers from 29th
October to 4th November.
With regard to “Paticcasamuppada” I do
not consider it to be easy. However it is not applicable to Arhants in its
entirety. The process avijja paccaya sankara end with Phassa pacchaya vedana
for Arhants as Arhants do not cling to “vedanas”. There is no more bhava, jathi
for Arhnats and “Paticcasamuppada” does not run the full cycle.
However, it is the first part of
“Patccasamuppada” that baffles me. If
the first part is applicable to Arhants then it means avijja paccaya sankhara
is also applicable to them. As Arhants have understood the Caturarta Sathya, avijja
here could not be taken as ignorance of four noble truths.
Either one has to start with sankhara
paccaya vinnana for Arhants or give a different meaning to avijja. However, if
we engage in this exercise without shraddha we would be only drifting away from
Nibbana.
Nalin De Silva
29-10-2014