Exploring the Path - Pāli Course

Kiñca, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno āyusmiṃ?

Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu
     chandasamādhipadhānasaṅkhārasamannāgataṃ iddhipādaṃ bhāveti,
     vīriyasamādhipadhānasaṅkhārasamannāgataṃ iddhipādaṃ bhāveti,
     cittasamādhipadhānasaṅkhārasamannāgataṃ iddhipādaṃ bhāveti,
     vīmaṃsāsamādhipadhānasaṅkhārasamannāgataṃ¹ iddhipādaṃ bhāveti. So
     imesaṃ catunnaṃ iddhipādānaṃ bhāvitattā bahulīkatattā ākaṅkhamāno
     kappaṃ vā tiṭṭheyya kappāvasesaṃ vā.
     Idaṃ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno āyusmiṃ.²

And what, Bhikkhus, is the lifespan for a Bhikkhu?

Here, Bhikkhus, a Bhikkhu develops the path of strength that is concentration of purpose accompanied by resolution of will,

a Bhikkhu develops the path of strength that is concentration of effort accompanied by resolution of will,

a Bhikkhu develops the path of strength that is concentration of mind accompanied by resolution of will, and

a Bhikkhu develops the path of strength that is concentration of investigation accompanied by resolution of will.

By developing and increasing these four paths of strength he can live if he desires for a full lifespan or for more than a lifespan.

That is, Bhikkhus, the lifespan for a Bhikkhu.

It is said that in the ancient past there had been seven teachers³ who had completely overcome all craving and thus could teach their disciples a path leading to the ‘companionship with Brahma’ (brahmalokasahabyatāya dhammaṃ desesi). One of these teachers was Araka to whom Buddha alludes to in the present sutta.⁴ Araka had firmly established himself in the four brahmavihārā⁵ in that very life. After passing away he was consequently reborn in the Brahmin worlds.

Araka had strongly emphasised to his large group of disciples the importance of developing the four brahmavihārā. He felt that the lifespan – even so 60,000 years – was too short to not make proper use of it and provided various comparisons.⁶ On base of this he praised the various benefits for someone who would practice metta (mettāya ānisaṃsaṃ) in order to prepare oneself for the fields of Brahma:

So isigaṇaṃ⁷ ovadanto “pabbajitena  nāma  mettā  bhāvetabbā, karuṇā muditā upekkhā bhāvetabbā. Mettacittañhi nāmetaṃ appanāppattaṃ⁸ brahmalokaparāyaṇataṃ⁹ sādhetī”ti.¹⁰

“Someone who has gone forth from home into homelessness should develop mettā, he should likewise develop compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. Because a mind endowed with mettā in this way based on resolve prepares for the sphere of Brahma.”

Taking this example and comparing the long lifespan of 60,000 years in those days¹¹ with the short life of about 100 years in the present area,¹² the Buddha then advises his disciples to make best use of the remaining short time to retire to a forest and meditate.

… bhikkhave, rukkhamūlāni etānisuññāgārāni. Jhāyatha, bhikkhave, mā pamādattha …

… Bhikkhus, there are the roots of the trees,there are these empty spaces, meditate, Bhikkhus, don’t be negligent …

Today even householders can take the above advice to get proper training in meditation under a competent teacher. It was the Venerable Ledi Sayadaw who opened the door of Vipassana to everyone. He was based at the Ledi-tawya monastery and travelled throughout Burma, teaching both meditation and scriptural courses. He was renowned for his aptitude to expound the theory of Dhamma, pariyatti, but also for his skills as a paṭipatti teacher. His Manuals (dīpanīs) of Dhamma present an inexhaustible source and reference even to this day, and most are translated into English.¹³

Ledi Sayadaw wrote many books on Dhamma in Burmese. It had been his benevolent compassion that he wanted to write in such away that even a simple farmer could understand. Before his time, it was not usual to write on Dhamma subjects so that lay people could have access to them. The traditional recitation of long, oral passages in Pāli and literally presented translations made it difficult for the ordinary person to understand them.

It was Venerable Ledi Sayadaw’s great aspiration and unique foresight to open the door of Dhamma to the majority of people and to spread Dhamma to all levels of society. Once he summoned all the Bhikkhus of his monastery then requested U Thet to stay on for ten or fifteen days to instruct them. Then Ledi Sayadaw told the gathering of Bhikkhus: ‘Take note, all of you. This layperson is my great pupil, U Po Thet, from lower Burma. He is capable of teaching meditation like me. Those of you, who wish to practise meditation, follow him. Learn the technique from him and practise. You, Dāyaka Thet hoist the victory banner of Dhamma in place of me, starting at my monastery!’

U Thet then taught Vipassana meditation to about twenty-five monks learned in the scriptures. It was at this point that he became known as Saya Thetgyi.¹⁴

Saya Thetgyi later fulfilled the wish of Ledi Sayadaw to teach the Dhamma to many when he began holding regular courses at his ‘sala’ in Pyawbwegyi. Saya Thetgyi’s reputation as a householder meditation teacher spread. He taught simple farmers and labourers as well as those who were well-versed in the Pāli texts. The village was not far from Rangoon, which was the capital of Burma, so government employees and urbanites, like U BaKhin, also came.

In 1941, a seemingly coincidental incident occurred which was to be important in Sayagyi U Ba Khin’s life. While on government business in upper Burma, he met by chance Webu Sayadaw, a monk who had achieved high attainments in meditation. Webu Sayadaw was impressed with U Ba Khin’s proficiency in meditation, and urged him to teach. But it was only much later, in 1952, that Sayagyi U Ba Khin opened the International MeditationCentre (I.M.C.) in Rangoon, two miles north of the famous Shwedagon pagoda where many Burmese and foreign students had the good fortune to receive instruction in the Dhamma through him.

Venerable Ledi Sayadaw passed away in 1923 at the age of seventy-seven at Pyinmana, between Mandalay and Rangoon, in one of many monasteries that had been founded in his name. Among the great householder teachers, Saya Thetgyi passed away at a meditation centre at Arzanigone on the northern slope of the Shwedagon Pagoda in 1945 and Sayagyi U Ba Khin passed away in January of 1971 after sudden illness.¹⁵

S. N. Goenka wrote in a tribute to his teacher: ‘Even after his passing away one year ago, observing the continued success of the courses, I get more and more convinced that it is his mettā force which is giving me all the inspiration and strength to serve so many people…Obviously the force of Dhamma is immeasurable.’

Their inestimable legacy lives on helping to make the Buddha’s teaching, carefully preserved all these centuries, still available today not only to those who have left the householder’s life but to even householders, too. With Vipassana, paṭipatti can be applied providing perfect results here and now.

May everyone desirous to benefit from the teaching ardently realize the advice that was given by the teacher of old, Araka, and presented in this sutta: make the best use of this very life.