Dear Yong Peng and friends,
Yong Peng wrote:
<For the word nibbindati, shall we put it as 'the mind is detached
from' or 'one is disenchanted with'? Kindly enlighten me. Thank you.>
Nina: the sentence was: aapo-dhaatuyaa nibbindati, aapo-dhaatuyaa citta.m
viraajeti.
nibbida, being averse, turning away or disenchantment.
Rahula was on his way to arahatship, but he had to begin at the beginning:
he had to see nama and rupa as elements. Seeing realities as they are leads
to detachment, more disenchantment with all conditioned dhammas.
In the course of insight panna sees more the disadvantage of sankhaara
dhammas (the conditioned dhammas of our life), turns away from them, and it
is inclined to, turns towards the asankhata dhamma, the uncodiitoned
element, nibbaana.
Now we come to the word viraaga.
We read in the MN 64, Mahaamaalu'nkyasutta, at the end: <He turns his mind
away from these things; and when he has turned his mind away from these
things, he focuses his mind on the deathless element, thinking, "This is the
real, this the excellent, that is to say the tranquillizing of all
activities, the casting out of all clinging, the destruction of craving
(tanhakkhayo), dispassion (viraago), stopping (nirodho) nibbana.">
Viraaga is, as I see it, a further developed insight, which will culminate
in the magga-citta. The three terms viraago, nirodho and nibbaana are often
together.
We read at the end of the Mahaaraahulovaadasutta:
"'Aniccaanupassii assasissaamii'ti sikkhati;
'aniccaanupassii passasissaamii'ti sikkhati;
I shall breathe in ...out, contemplating impermanence
I shall breathe in ...out, contemplating casting away.
Here we have again together: viraaga, nirodhaa and in addition we have
pa.tinissagga, casting away or abandoning.
The words nibbidaa and viraaga could indicate a progressing development of
vipassana, a growing detachment conditioned by pa~n~naa. Rahula had to
develop vipassanaa as was said in the Commentary.
Nibbindati comes first in the text, and then virajeti. When we translate, it
cannot be helped that the text does not have the same impact as the Pali, we
miss the association of terms like viraaga, nirodhaa, nibbaana, as
indicated above. Virajeti could be translated as he becomes dispassionate.
Actually, he inclines to nibbana.
In the Pa.tisambhidaamagga, the Path of Discrimination (belonging to the
Sutta pi.taka, Khuddaka Nikaaya, composed by Sariputta, the general of the
Dhamma) the different stages of insight are described. Actually, also the
Visuddhimagga describes these different stages. In this Sutta and other
Suttas we do not find all the different stages of insight by name as
described in the Visuddhimagga and the Pa.tisambhidaamagga, but, they are
implied. In the Visuddhimagga and the Pa.tisambhidaamagga there is an
elaboration of the tersm indicating a growing insight, developing from
perfect understanding of sankhaara dhammas, turning away from them, and
inclining to the asankata dhamma, nibbaana.
Nibbida, viraaga, only two words, but they imply a progressing insight.
In the Suttas, but also in the Visuddhimagga and the Patisambhidaamagga not
many details are given about the stages of insight. The reason is, that
where it concerns direct understanding, no words are needed. Pa~n~naa
understands dhammas directly and it works its way. We do not have to call
the stages of insight by name, they indicate a developing insight up to
magga-citta.
I will elaborate somewhat on the stages, because we find in these the names
nibbida, viraaga, patinissagga, which words are used in the
Raaholovaadasutta.
In the Visuddhimagga (XXII) 18 principal stages of insight are described :
contemplation of anicca, dukkha, anatta, nibbida (turning away), viraaga
(dispassion), nirodha (extinction) abandoning (patinissagga), and then the
following stages up to magga-citta. (See also Buddhist Dictionary,
Nyanatiloka).
In the Visuddhimagga, under pa.tipadaa ~naa.nadassanavisuddhi, insight
perfected in eight kinds of knowledge has been explained, and the fifth is:
nibbidaanupassanaa, contemplation of turning away (translated as aversion,
but it is not dosa, more: being averse, or disenchantment). The foregoing
stages are: seeing the impermanence, seeing the dissolution, seeing the
fearfulness, seeing the danger.
As Rahula is concerned, he had extraordinary accumulations of pa~n~naa, and
the whole process until arahatship could evolve within a short time. He had
to realize his own akusala, his attachment to the body as only a conditioned
element, not self. He had to understand all dhammas, no exception.
When studying the Pali terms, I cannot help seeing more and more the
connection between the Suttas and the Visuddhimagga, and also the
commentaries.
A side remark, the following example shows that in a few words, such as full
comprehension, parijaanaana, all the stages of insight are implied:
Samyutta Nikaaya IV, Sa.laayatanavagga, First Fifty, Ch 3, ยง25 (XXXV,25):
parijaanaana. The Co. explains here the stages of insight by way of the
three pari~n~nas. (See also translation by B.B.)
Nina.