"Abhidama Lectures"
Two truths and two teachings
According to the Abhidhamma, there are two kinds of truth and truth:
(1) Conventional truth (sammuti-sacca) is the truth recognized by the world and the truth that everyone agrees with.
(2) The ultimate truth (paramattha-sacca), also known as the ultimate truth. Parama means the highest and supreme meaning; attha means meaning and meaning; sacca means truth and reality.
Buddha’s teachings can be divided into two categories: first, sutra teachings, and second, treatise teachings.
Under normal circumstances, the Dharma that the Buddha randomly taught based on different audiences, different motivations, and on different occasions is called "Sutra-taught Dharma." The sutra teachings are also called "convenient teachings" (pariyāya-dhamma desanā). Pariyāya means convenient, random, and responsive, dhamma means Dharma, and desanā means speaking and teaching. Convenient method means a metaphorical and decorated teaching method, which mainly teaches secular truth. Because when the Buddha was teaching the Dharma, he often taught in a way that would vary from person to person and in accordance with their aptitudes. In order to guide the listeners to practice and even gain access to the holy truth, the Buddha would use various methods to enable the listeners to understand and understand. On different occasions, the Buddha would judge the inclination, ability, and character of the audience to adjust the way he taught, or use metaphors, metaphors, admonitions, advice, or encouragement.
For example, it is said in "The Sutra of Teaching Xingalaka" that once the Buddha went out for alms and saw a layman named Si?gālaka getting up in the morning and walking to I soaked in the water in the river, and after getting out of the water, my hair was wet and I prayed in six directions. The Buddha asked him: "Why do you pray like this? What is the meaning of praying to these six directions?" The layman replied: "My father told me before he died to pray like this to the east, south, west, north, lower and upper directions. Six directions." So the Buddha said: "In the laws of saints, we also pray to the six directions, but we don't pray to the six directions in this way." Xingala was curious and asked the Buddha to explain the practice of worshiping the six directions in Buddhism. So the Buddha taught: "In my law, the east is parents, the west is husband and wife, the south is master and disciple, the north is relatives and friends, above are monks and laymen, and below are slaves." A layman must handle these relationships well: the relationship between father and son, The relationship between husband and wife, the relationship between relatives and friends, the relationship between master and disciple, the relationship between monks and laymen, and the relationship between master and servant. This is the Six Directions of Prayer in our teachings.
Another example is seeing some Brahmins who like to make fire offerings, and their method of practice is to make fire offerings every day. So the Buddha said: "We also make fire offerings, but our fires are different from your fires. For lay people, the parents in his family are holy fires and must be offered." The Buddha would use many methods to make offerings according to different circumstances. Give instructions based on people's abilities, teach students according to their aptitude, and apply medicine according to their illness. When meeting people with sharp roots, the Buddha will speak directly and briefly; when meeting people with dull roots, Buddha will speak tactfully and in detail. In short, the purpose is to make the audience understand. Sometimes it was impossible for the Buddha to state the ultimate truth directly, so he would explain it in a subtle way so that people from different walks of life could understand it. Because of this, these classics were collected into five parts when they were first compiled, which are the five parts of the Sutra Collection. This is called the Sutra Teaching Method. The Sutra Collection is a collection of what the Buddha said in different places, to different people, and according to different causes and conditions during the 45 years of his life. It is also called the record of words and deeds.
Another kind of teaching is called "discussing teaching", which can also be called "non-convenient teaching" (nippariyāya-dhamma desanā). It means direct or unadorned teaching. Dharma mainly teaches the ultimate truth. In the Sutra Pitaka, we see that the Buddha would use language that everyone recognized in conventional dharma. This language is called "conventional truth." In other words, the words we usually use, the concepts everyone generally recognizes, and the secular expressions are not wrong in language. The Buddha also talked about men, women, disciples, Brahmins, and said that you should respect the Buddha, honor your parents, etc. These are all words commonly recognized by the world. When we read the classics, the beginning of each classic is "This is what I hear." The word "I" is not wrong in conventional usage, but in the ultimate sense, in the ultimate sense, is there such a thing as a person? Is there such a thing as a Buddha? Are there so-called disciples? Are there such things as men and women? In the ultimate sense, there is no such thing as me, person, etc. This is the language used and the way Abhidhamma is revealed.
The concepts we usually think of as men, women, Buddha, disciples, teachers, students, etc. are not wrong in the secular world. However, in the ultimate sense of Abhidhamma, there is no such thing; these are concepts. A concept is an idea formed by consciousness. It does not exist in essence. They are just a bunch of five aggregates and a bunch of mental and physical phenomena. What Abhidhamma wants to discuss and study is to break down the things we usually come into contact with and analyze them to the point where they can no longer be divided.
For example, the Buddha often talked about the five aggregates in his teachings. What are the five aggregates? Form aggregate, feeling aggregate, perception aggregate, formation aggregate and consciousness aggregate.
The color aggregate is what we usually call the body or matter; the feeling aggregate is the feeling of pain and joy; the thought aggregate is to mark or leave an impression in the mind: this is red, this is yellow, this is a person, this is so-and-so People...; the formation aggregate is the creation of the mind, greed, hatred, and ignorance all belong to the formation aggregate; the consciousness aggregate, consciousness means knowing and knowing. We can know what this is and what that is. This function is called consciousness. The Buddha also said in his teachings that sentient beings are actually just this bunch of things.
Buddha also talked about mind and body. Nama is what we usually call psychological functions, and materiality is our body, including external material phenomena. In Abhidhamma, mental and physical phenomena (that is, physical and mental phenomena) will be analyzed in more detail. After analysis, I found that there is no so-called person, no so-called me, and no so-called other. This method is called the discussion of teachings. In other words, it is non-convenient and does not need to be taught through metaphors, metaphors, etc., but straight to the point and in one step. It reveals the ultimate reality of all things and phenomena, and decomposes what we usually regard as our own body and mind and the bodies and minds of others to the point where they cannot be decomposed any more. This method is called the teaching method. The truth discussed in the teachings is called the ultimate truth.
Although the expository teaching method and the expository teaching method have different discussion topics and different discussion focuses, they are also related to each other. The teachings sometimes involve discussion of teachings. For example, the Buddha said: "One should observe the five aggregates of impermanence, suffering, and selflessness with correct wisdom as they really are." The five aggregates actually belong to the ultimate truth. Sometimes the Buddha talked about the twelve bases and the eighteen realms. What are the twelve places? They are the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind, color, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas. These are the twelve places. What are the Eighteen Realms? Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind, color, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, and consciousness, these are the eighteen realms. Sometimes the Buddha also talks about the twenty-two roots, which all enter the category of ultimate truth.
The Buddha also often used the language of conventional truth, especially the Vinaya Pitaka. If the Buddha also used ultimate truth to teach the Vinaya Pitaka, it would easily cause confusion. For example, the Buddha said: "You cannot kill!" However, you say to the Buddha: "O Buddha! In the ultimate sense, there is no so-called life, so why do you say you cannot kill? There is neither anyone who can kill nor one who is killed. People and killed animals, so you are wrong to say 'you cannot kill'!" Can you say that? If you say so, you are an expert in sophistry!
Therefore, in order to respect and protect the world, the Buddha would not use some confusing language to mislead sentient beings. The Buddha also taught conventional truths and taught truths recognized by ordinary people. The Buddha would say: "Bhikkhus, do not kill!" What does it mean? That means don't cut off the life of other living things. But in the ultimate sense, there is no such thing as a bhikkhu, and there is no slain animal. If we were to use the language of ultimate truth, the Buddha would have said: "Nama and matter, don't kill name and matter!" Or, "Five aggregates, don't kill the five aggregates!" Such words can easily confuse people, so the Buddha would not So taught.
But when we reach a high level of meditation, we can no longer practice based on concepts. For example, we cannot meditate on the so-called "no self". There is no such thing as "people" in the first place, so how can we observe "people" as selfless? One can only contemplate the five aggregates without self, or contemplate the selflessness of name and form. That is to say: there is actually no such thing as a person, and a person can be decomposed. Conceptually, the human body can be divided into 32 parts such as hair, body hair, nails, teeth, skin, etc.; structurally speaking, the body can be divided into head, chest, hands, feet, etc. Once it is chopped If it is open, there is no so-called person, so person is just a combined concept. The Buddha also taught us to practice the thirty-two parts and contemplate the 32 components of the body. However, these still belong to the category of conceptual methods. When the Buddha taught about the five aggregates and mental and physical phenomena, he entered into the category of ultimate dharma. Therefore, the Buddha taught both conventional truth and ultimate truth, the ultimate truth. The fourth part of the seven-part treatise is called "Ren Shi Shi", which is dedicated to discussing people. This is the category of the treatise on teachings that specifically discusses conceptual methods and secular truth. Therefore, the teachings on the teachings and the teachings on the scriptures are sometimes related and intertwined with each other, but each has its own emphasis.
According to the tradition of Theravada Buddhism, when we discuss the meaning of Dharma, we have to look at whether it belongs to sutra teachings or commentaries. If we get confused, it can easily lead to confusion. When we study Vinaya, we must use conventional truth; when we talk about scriptures, we sometimes use two truths. For example, the Buddha would say: "I remember what I was when I was a Bodhisattva countless kalpas ago." He was reincarnated as a lion, a deer, a man, a businessman, a king... The Buddha often said this in the scriptures. Sometimes the Buddha would also directly teach those meditators: There is no such thing as a person, just a bunch of mental and physical phenomena that arise and pass away quickly, are impermanent, suffering, and have no self.