Dear Piya,

I studied the subject of omniscience for dsg, three parts, but I shall post
only one part of it now. I have more from Vis and Path of Discrimination,
but this may be too long. Here is also the sutta you once quoted to me. This
is not what you were looking for, but you mentioned omniscience here. There
are different opinions and also misunderstandings about omniscience and
perhaps my quotes may be of help.
Nina
op 08-06-2003 15:45 schreef Piya Tan op libris@...

> I'm aware of some of the problems of omniscience, but I don't think the
> passage suggests omniscience in the post-Canonical sense. I'm guided by such
> suttas as the Sabba Sutta (S 35.23/4:16).

Nina:
The citta that knows an object falls away immediately, and so it is with the
Buddha's citta with omniscience. He directed his omniscience then to this
and then to that object, not to more than one object at a time. Each citta
can know only one object at a time.

In the Commentary to the Brahmjala Sutta, Tr. by Ven. Bikkhu Bodhi, (The
All-embracing Net of Views, p. 128) we find under <Deep, difficult to see> a
discussion about it that the plural <dhammas> is used for the objects of
omniscience, sabba~n~nuta~naa.na. I only quote parts, it is rather long. It
is said:
<Because it takes a multiplicity of objects... It knows the entire past,
thus it is knowledge of omniscience, thus it is the unobstructed knowledge,
etc (Pts I.1.73). Therefore, because it is associated with multiple classes
of consciousness, and because it takes a multiplicity of objects on the
successive occasions of its arising, it is described in the plural.>
There is a discussion in the Subco. :<Query: If this is so, how is it
possible for a single, limited type of knowledge to penetrate without
omission the entire range of the knowable with its inconceivable,
immeasurable subdivisions?
Reply: Who says the Buddha-knowledge is limited?.... With the abandoning of
the entire obstruction of the knowable, the Exalted One gained unobstructed
knowledge which occurs subject to his wish and is capable of comprehending
all dhammas in all their modes. By means of this knowledge the Exalted One
was capable of penetrating all dhammas in continuous succession (santanena);
therefore he was omniscient or all-knowing in the way fire is called
"all-consuming" through its ability to burn all its fuel in continuous
succession. He was not, however, omniscient in the sense that he could
comprehend all dhammas simultaneously. >
This text refers to the Tika of the Visuddhimagga, VII, 29, footnote 7,
where there is the same discussion.

I quote from the Commentary to the Abh. Sangaha (Title: Exposition of the
Topics of Abhidhamma, P.T.S., which just came out in one book together with
Summary of the Topics of Abhidhamma).
Ch 3, Miscellaneous Topics, under: impulsion, javana. It states:
<For, although the transcendent path (lokuttara magggacitta), and so on,
last for just one moment, since they possess the intrinsic nature of
impulsion, they are still regarded as [performing] the function of
impulsion; just as the omniscience [of a Buddha], although it has only one
object at a time in its range, since it has the capacity of knowing
everything, never loses the name [of omniscience].>
In the same Commentary we read in the Prologue:
<Herein the Perfectly Awakened One (sammasambuddha) is the Blessed One, who
has awakened to all dhammas perfectly and by himself. Perfectly and by his
own knowledge, which has been produced by his fulfilment of the perfections
both individually and collectively, he knows and understands all things,
whether conditioned or unconditioned, by virtue of penetrating to their true
and essential characteristics. Thus he has said: "Having known by myself, to
whom can I point [as my teacher]?...>
<Just as, by association with the rays of the sun, a lotus blossoms with the
beauty of the loveliest radiance, he himself, by association with the
knowledge of the highest path, blossoms perfectly with omniscience adorned
with immeasurable qualities...>
Here the Commentary refers to the Middle Length Sayings I, 26, The Ariyan
Quest where the Buddha said to Upaka:
<Victorious over all, omniscient am I,
Among all things undefiled,
Leaving all, through death of craving freed,
By knowing for myself, whom should I point to?
For me there is no teacher...>
We find the same text in the Dhammapada, vs. 353.

Nina.