Exploring the Path - Pāli Course

Iminā pana ñāṇena samannāgato vipassako buddhasāsane

laddhassāso¹ laddhapatiṭṭho² niyatagatiko cūḷasotāpanno³ nāma hoti.

Tasmā bhikkhu sadā sato, nāmarūpassa sabbaso;

Paccaye pariggaṇheyya,⁴ kaṅkhāvitaraṇatthikoti.^5,6

When one by the practise of Vipassana has become established in knowledge, has achieved comfort in the Buddha’s teaching and acquired a proper foothold in it, one has ascertained one’s destiny and is called a ‘lesser stream-enterer’

Therefore a meditator who maintains awareness at all times,

Should discern mind and matter through their conditions

And remain eager of surmounting all doubts.

Even one who has great interest in the logic of the permutation method of the Paṭṭhāna should not neglect to put into practise the advice provided in the above quote. Even so in the current period only a few developed meditators may achieve such depth in their meditation. The request for such practical meditative application of this crucial ‘sadā sato nāmarūpassa sabbaso paccaye pariggaṇheyya’ follows a slightly different methodology than the mere logical permutation method of investigating the Paṭṭhāna.

The current lesson on the structure of the Paṭṭhāna hopes to depict a simple but comprehensive and concise survey on the complete arrangements to be made as shown in the 3.10.14.1 side-by-side ‘A Short Survey About the Structure of the Paṭṭhāna, Tikapaṭṭhānaṃ.’

As mentioned in the previous lesson⁷ it is essential that the reader – if desirous to study the complex and abstract content of the last book of the Abhidhamma – first and foremost realizes and comprehends the ‘permutation method’ in order to apply this very system throughout all chapters. One then needs to proceed by asking all 1176 questions in regards to each condition ‘by Ones’ and then to move on to ‘by Twos’, ‘by Threes’ to all possible combinations without being oblivious of any:⁸

Yathā hetupaccayo vitthārito,⁹ evaṃ ārammaṇapaccayopi vitthāretabbo vācanāmaggena

Just as with the extension in the root-condition in the same way the method of explanation should be extended with object-condition as well.

Once more it is required to ‘expand’ exactly the same method to all the other six chapters (vāro) by moving from the ‘Dependent chapter’ (Paṭiccavāro) on to the ‘Chapter of Co-arising’ (Sahajātavāro). Then in the same way one proceeds to the ‘Conditioned Chapter’ (Paccayavāro), the ‘Chapter of Support’ (Nissayavāro), the ‘Chapter of being Conjoined’ (Saṃsaṭṭhavāro), the ‘Chapter of Being Associated’ (Sampayuttavāro) up to the final ‘Chapter of Investigation of the questions’ (Pañhāvāro, Vibhaṅgavāro).¹⁰ The questions that need to get applied need to be adapted to the respective content of the sections they refer to.

Thus the following permutations in the questions should be (mentally) considered:

‘Dependent chapter’ — Paṭiccavāro:

‘May dependent on a wholesome state arise a wholesome phenomenon by means of root condition?’

‘Chapter of Co-arising’ — Sahajātavāro:

‘May co-nascent with a wholesome state arise a wholesome phenomenon by means of root condition?’

‘Conditioned Chapter’ — Paccayavāro:

‘May conditioned by a wholesome state arise a wholesome phenomenon by means of root condition?’

‘Chapter of Support’ — Nissayavāro:

‘May supported by a wholesome state arise a wholesome phenomenon by means of root condition?’

‘Chapter of Being Conjoined’ — Saṃsaṭṭhavāro:

‘May conjoined with a wholesome state arise a wholesome phenomenon by means of root condition?’

‘Chapter of Being Associated’ — Sampayuttavāro:

‘May associated with a wholesome state arise a wholesome phenomenon by means of root condition?’

‘Chapter of Investigation’ — Pañhāvāro:

‘May a wholesome states cause¹¹ a wholesome phenomenon to arise by means of root condition?’

After these questions are asked answers will be provided in the respective explanation chapters (Vibhaṅgavāro), and then a mere enumeration gets ‘itemized’ in the section called Saṅkhyāvāro. Examples are given in the 3.10.13.2 side-by-side Paṭiccavāro, Part Two – Completing the Section with Answers.¹²

It must finally also be considered that each arising phenomenon can be likewise caused to arise by different conditions or by a combination of these. In the same way a conditioning state can be a conditioning state not only by one condition but by other conditions as well. For example: A visible-object-base (rūpāyatanaṃ) can be a condition by means of object condition (ārammaṇapaccayo), by means of condition of prior arising (purejātapaccayo), by means of presence condition (atthipaccayo) and by means of non-disappearance condition (avigatapaccayo).

To go through the whole of the Paṭṭhāna one needs to proceed further, as this beginning step only refers to the first of the 22 Tikas, the Kusalattika!

The method has to be prolonged by continuing with the vedanāttika¹³ and then through all the 20 remaining Tikas (tikapaṭṭhānaṃ) and through thereafter all 100 Dukas (dukapaṭṭhānaṃ). From here all combinations of the Dukas with Tikas (dukatikapaṭṭhānaṃ), the combination of Tikas with Dukas, (tikadukapaṭṭhānaṃ) and Tikas with Tikas (tikatikapaṭṭhānaṃ) and finally Dukas with Dukas (dukadukapaṭṭhānaṃ) have to be analysed.

Thus, according to the commentary the figure comes up to 404948533248¹⁴ — which even doesn’t include all possible, but only the necessary questions.

It must be mentioned that this Pāli course simply, on request, provides these lessons on the Paṭṭhāna to give a glimpse of what it’s all about.¹⁵ Someone with keen interest hopefully can make use of this source, but ideally also may refer to the explanation of the Venerable Ledi Sayadaw, who in his Paṭṭhānuddeso Dīpanī reveals more details. Further one will find support in the publications of the Pali Text Society (PTS) with their complete translations of all the books of the Abhidhamma and especially the Paṭṭhāna, by Mūlapaṭṭhānasayadaw U Nārada. These, along with the ‘Guide to Conditional Relations’ by the same author, should provide ample material for further study.