theINGSto AAKENING m *-.. *>* WIGS the to AWAKENING An Cdnon Anthology from the Pali TRANSLATED AND EXPLAINED BY Thdnisscaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff) distribution for free JVEIIA Copyright Thanissaro Bhikkhu 1996 Thisbookmaybecopied orreprintedforfreedistribution withoutpermissionfromthepublisher. Otherwise all rights reserved. CoverArt ArtMatrix. Usedwithpermission PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Fourthedition, revised: 2004 So this is what you think ofme: "The Blessed One, sympathetic, seeking our well-being, teaches the Dhamma out ofsympathy." Then you should train and without yourselves harmoniously, cordially, dispute in the qualities I have pointed out, having known them directly: thefourframes of reference, thefour right exertions, thefour bases ofpower, the fivefaculties, thefive strengths, the sevenfactorsfor Awakening, the noble eightfold path. M.103 Contents Acknowledgments / i Abbreviations / ii Preface: How to Read This Book / iii A Table ofthe Wings to Awakening I. The SevenSets / x II. The Factors ofthe SevenSets classed under theFive Faculties / xii Introduction / 1 PART BASIC PRINCIPLES I: A. Skillfulness / 21 B. Kamma & the EndingofKamma / 37 PART THE SEVENSETS II: A. The Treasures ofthe Teaching / 58 B. The FourFrames ofReference / 72 C. The FourRightExertions / 105 D. The Four Bases ofPower / 124 E. The Five Faculties / 136 F The Five Strengths / 152 G. The SevenFactors forAwakening / 154 H. TheNoble Eightfold Path / 172 PART THE BASIC FACTORS III: A. Conviction / 188 B. Persistence / 204 C. Mindfulness / 204 D. Concentration: Abandoning the Hindrances / 204 E. RightConcentration / 223 F. Concentration & Discernment / 248 G. Equanimity inConcentration & Discernment / 262 H. Discernment: RightView / 271 i. The FourNoble Truths / 277 ii. The FirstTruth / 288 iii. The Second &Third Truths / 299 iv. The FourthTruth / 337 Glossary / 342 Index / 347 Bibliography / 352 Acknowledgments This book has been several years in the making. In the course of assembling it, I have used some of the material it contains to lead study courses at the Barre Center of Buddhist Studies, Barre, Massachusetts; at Awareness Grove, Laguna Beach, California; with the Insight Meditation Society of Orange County, the San Diego Vipassana Community, and the Open Door Sangha ofSanta Barbara. The feedback coming from the participants in these courses has helpedforce me to clarify the presentation and to make explicit the connectionsbetweenthewords ofthe teachings and theirapplication in practice. It has been encouraging to see that people in America contrary to their reputation in other parts of the world are interested in learning authentic Buddhist teachings and integrating them into their lives. This encouragement is what has given me the impetus to turnthis material into abook. In addition to the participants at the above courses, Dorothea Mu Bowen, John Bullitt, Jim Colfax, Charles Hallisey, Karen King, Soeng, Andrew Olendzki, Gregory M. Smith, and Jane Yudelman have read and offered valuable comments on earlier incarnations of the manuscript. John Bullitt also helped with the Index. The finished book owes a great deal to all of these people. Any mistakes that remain, ofcourse, are my ownresponsibility. I dedicate thisbooktoallofmyteachers,and inparticulartoPhra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, the teacher of my primary teacher, Phra Ajaan Fuang Jotiko. The example of Ajaan Lee s life has had a large influence on my own, in more ways than I can ever really repay. His teachingofthe Buddhistpathas a skill asexpressed intheWings to Awakening and embodied in the practice ofbreathmeditation pro vided the original and on-going inspiration for writing this book. I offer ittohis memorywiththe highestrespect. Thanissaro Bhikkhu MettaForestMonastery P.O.Box1409 ValleyCenter,CA 92082 Abbreviations Pali Buddhist Texts A Anguttara Nikaya D Digha Nikaya DHP Dhammapada ITI Itivuttaka M MajjhimaNikaya Mv Mahavagga S Sarhyutta Nikaya TRIG Therigatha UD Udana M References to D, In, and are to discourse (sutta). References to DHP are to verse. The reference to Mv is to chapter, section, and sub section. References to other texts are to section (samyutta, nipata, or vagga) and discourse. All translations are the author s own, and arebased on the Royal Thai Edition ofthe Pali Canon (Bangkok: Mahamakut Rajavidyalaya, 1982). Other Abbreviations Comm Commentary lit literalmeaning PTS PaliTextSociety vl variantreading Inthe translated passages, parentheses ( ) enclose alternative ren derings and material summarized from longer passages in the text. Square brackets [ ] enclose explanatory information, cross-references, and other material not found in the original text. Braces { ) enclose materialinterpolated fromotherpassages intheCanon; the sourceof this materialis indicated inbraces aspartofthe citationatthe end of thepassage. BecausePalihasmanywaysofexpressingtheword "and/ Ihave toavoidmonotony used theampersand (&) tojoinlists ofwordsand shortphrases, and theword "and" tojoinlongphrases andclauses. In passages where no speaker is identified, the words are the Buddha s. Preface: HOWTO READTHIS BOOK Many anthologies of the Buddha s teachings have appeared in English, but this is the first to be organized around the set of teach ings that the Buddha himself said formed the heart of his message: the Wings to Awakening (bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma). The material is arranged in three parts, preceded by a long Introduction. The Introduction tries to define the concept of Awakening so as to give a clear sense ofwhere theWings toAwakeningareheaded. Itdoes this by discussing the Buddha s accounts of his own Awakening, with special focus on the way inwhich the principle ofskillful kamma (in Sanskrit, karma) formed both the "how" and the "what" of that Awakening: The Buddha was able to reach Awakening only by kamma developing skillful this is the "how"; his understanding of the process of developing skillful kamma is what sparked the insights thatconstituted Awakening this is the "what." With this background established, the remainder of the book focuses indetail ontheWingstoAwakening asanexpanded analysis of the "how." Part One focuses on aspects of the principle of skillful kamma that shaped the way the Wings to Awakening are formu lated. Part Two goes through the seven sets that make up the Wings to Awakening themselves: the four foundations ofmindfulness (here called the four frames of reference), the four right exertions, the four basesforpower, thefivefaculties, thefivestrengths,thesevenfactors for Awakening, and the noble eightfold path. Part Three reduces all the terms in the seven sets to the five faculties and then deals with those faculties in detail. With the fifth and final faculty, discernment, thebook concludesby returning to the "what" ofAwakening, show inghow discernmentfocuses ontheWings themselves as topics tobe observed in such a way that they will spark the insights leading to total release. Thus the organization of the book is somewhat circular. As with any circle, there are several points where the book can be entered. I would recommend two to begin with. The first is to read straight through thebookfrombeginning toend, gaininga systematic frame work for the material from Parts One and Two, which explain why the seven sets are organized as they are, and then focusing more on individual elements in the sets in Part Three. This way of approach ing the material has the advantage of giving an overall perspective IV Preface on the topicbefore going into the details, making the role and mean ing of the details clear from the start. However, this approach is the reverse of what actually happens in the practice. A practicing medi tator must learn first to focus on individual phenomena in and of themselves, and then, through observation and experimentation, to discover their inter-relationships. For this reason, some readers especially those who find the discussion of causal relationships in Parts One and Two too abstract to be helpful may prefer to skip from the Introduction straight to sections A through E of Part Three, to familiarize themselves with teachings that may connect more directly with their own experience. They may then return later to Parts One and Two to gain a more overall perspective on how the practice is meantto dealwith those experiences. Regardlessofwhichapproachyoutaketo thematerial,youshould discover fairly quickly that the relationships among the overall pat terns and individual elements in the Wings are very complex. This complexityreflects thenon-linearnature ofthe Buddha s teachings on causal relationships, and is reflected in the many cross-references among the various parts ofthe book. In this way, the structure ofthis book, instead of being a simple circle, is actually a pattern of many loops within loops. Thus a third way to read it for those familiar enoughwiththematerialtowanttoexploreunexpectedconnections wouldbetofollowthecross-referencestoseewheretheylead. Parts One through Three of the book are each divided into sec tions consisting of passages translated from discourses in the Pali Canon,whichisapparentlytheearliestextantrecord ofthe Buddha s teachings. Eachsectionis introduced,wherenecessary,withanessay. These essays areprinted insans seriftype to distinguishthemclearly from the translated passages. Theyare attempts to provide context and thus meaning for the passages, to show how they relate to one another, to specific issues in the practice, and to the path of practice as awhole. Theyarenotmeanttoanticipateoranswereverypossible question raisedby the passages. Instead, they are aimed at giving an idea of the kinds of questions that can be most fruitfully brought to the passages, so that the lessons contained in the passages can prop erly be applied to the practice. As the Buddha has pointed out, the attitude of "appropriate attention" (yoniso manasikara), the ability to focus on the right questions, is one of the most important skills to develop in the course ofthe practice. This skill is much more fruitful than an attitude that tries to come to the practice armed with all the rightanswers in advance. The context provided by the essays is threefold: doctrinal, i.e., plac ingthepassageswithinthestructureoftheBuddha steachingstakenas awhole;historical,i.e.,relatingthemtowhatisknownoftheintellectual