Hatthaka Sutta

Footnotes:

[1] manaapa.m amanaapa.m manaapaamanaapa.m as contrasted with the more frequent sukha.m -n dukkha.m-n asukha.m-m-adukkha.m. Manaapa: PED: pleasing, pleasant, charming. I would make it Mind-up. But PED says often in combination with piya (loved), so I think "liked" which is how Horner and others usually translate it. N/B have: "agreeable". The third alternative is forumulated in the opposite way to asukha.m-m-adukkha.m (neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant) liked-notliked.

Since we know that what results from the contact of eye and visible object is pleasant or unpleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant sense experience, then I think we are to understand that "manapa" "amanapa" and "manaapaamanaapa" are the categories of subjective reaction to sense experience. This is supported by the similes which indicate that the situation being discussed is not one of being free altogether from the experience, but the getting rid of any reaction to it as soon as it appears.

So it goes like this: the eye comes into contact with a visible object, pleasant sensation arises; pleasant sensation is a thing that is liked; becoming aware of the presence of pleasant sensation, he is aware that it is something that is liked, he remembers the danger in sucha phenomena and because he is aware of the danger it is not possible for liking to develop; unliked, the original sense experiences passes away in accordance with it's dependance on the conditions which brought it into being.

[2]Note the similies are sense-sensative.

[3]Horner: "...he is troubled about it, ashamed of it, loathes it."

N/B: "...he is ashamed, humiliated and disgusted..."

N/B footnote: "Although the sekha has already entered upon the way to final deliverance, he is still prone to subtle states of liking, aversion, and dull indifference in regard to sense objects. He experiences these, however, as impediments to his progress, and thus becomes ashamed, humiliated, and disgusted by them."

This reflects the difference in interpretation between B/N and Horner and myself. The former consider that the arising of the Liked, etc. is already the state I am describing as Liking. As above, I am saying that contact of eye and visible object gives rise to sensation whether in the seeker or the arahant. The sensation is the Liked, the reaction to the sensation is Liking.

So in the case of the learner, what he is being instructed to do is to see the danger in the presence of that which is liked in it's potential for causing in him Liking.

The wording in the Pali for the initial situation is the same for these two cases and the case to follow.

[4]The Pali gives no indication that this section is an abbreviated version of an original in which each case was spelled out.

The Buddha Speaks of the Infinite Life Sutra of Adornment, Purity, Equality and Enlightenment of the Mahayana School

 

Chapter 1:

The Assembly of Sages Attend the Dharma Teaching

All the teachings given by Buddha Shakyamuni were based upon true reality. Venerable Ánanda learned and memorized all the teachings from Buddha Shakyamuni.

Observing that the opportunity is near for a certain number of people to attain Buddhahood, the Buddha then started this Pure Land teaching.

It was in the city of Rajagriha, on the mountain Gridhrakuta, that an assembly of twelve thousand of the Buddha's great Bhikshus (monks), together with those great Bodhisattvas, attended this teaching.

Buddha Shakyamuni played a leading character while other Buddhas were supporting characters, with some as his students. When Buddha Shakyamuni appeared in this world, their role-playing helped to educate all beings.

Venerable Kondanna was the first one to actualize the achievement of an Arhat from the Buddha's teachings. His presence at this teaching represents that the Infinite Life Sutra is the foremost teaching for all Buddhas in helping sentient beings to escape the cycle of birth and death.

Venerable Shariputra was the student foremost in wisdom. One who can believe this sutra and put this teaching into practice will attain foremost wisdom.

Venerable Maha Maudgalyayana was the foremost in spiritual penetrations. Once one is reborn into the Western Pure Land and later becomes a Buddha, aided by Amitabha, one recovers this foremost innate power.

Maha is a Sanskrit word meaning great.

The first Patriarch in the Zen school was Venerable Mahakashyapa who also attended this meeting.

Venerable Ánanda did the primary work of compiling the Buddha's teachings into sutras.

For one to become a left-home person, one must have planted good roots in past lives. One time Buddha Shakyamuni tested his student's ability to decide whether to accept an old man who had requested to become a monk. An Arhat is capable of knowing a being's past lifetimes over many lifetimes. All of the Buddha's Arhat students doomed the old man as a prospect, because they thought that he had no connection with Buddhism in his past lives. Buddha Shakyamuni then announced that many aeons ago, this old man was a woodchopper. One day when he ran into a tiger on the mountain, he climbed up a tree to escape, calling out, "Homage to the Buddha" for help. With only those few words, the old man planted his good roots. In this life, he became a monk as he had wished and later attained his Arhat-ship.

The Buddha gave this Pure Land teaching as a special way to help beings in this Dharma Ending Age.

For one to be able to accept the Pure Land teaching, one must have previously nurtured countless good roots.

The attendance of the great Samantabhadra Bodhisattva at this teaching symbolized the unity of the Pure Land and Esoteric Schools.

The presence of the great Manjusri Bodhisattva symbolized the integration of the Zen and Pure Land Schools.

Both of these Venerable’s represent that all the teachings of the Buddha are contained within this sutra.

The name of "Amitabha" is in itself a supreme mantra. By chanting this name and vowing to go to the Western Pure Land, one can attain the utmost achievement: to be born into the Western Pure Land and become a Buddha within one lifetime.

The great Maitreya Bodhisattva is currently in the Tusita Deva (a level in heaven). After 5,706,000,000 years, he will appear in the human realm and become the next Buddha in this world.

In our current aeon, one thousand Buddhas will appear in our world. Buddha Shakyamuni was the fourth; Maitreya Bodhisattva will be the fifth. All these great sages came to this teaching as well.