Dear Bill,
op 23-06-2004 05:40 schreef Bill Gray op
grusic@...:
> Has anyone here read the Patisambhidamagga - Path of Discrimination (2nd
> Edition,1997) published by the Pali Text Society? I am referring to the
> English translation.
Nina: Yes. As I recently mentioned, the English transl is at timnes awkward,
but with the help of glossary and index in the back you can get the Pali and
right meaning. I have it also in Thai+ Co. which is useful. If you have
problems in reading qu. are wellcome, I can try to find the answer. It
describes the stages of insight and together with the Visuddhimagga it is
useful. We also find material on the processes of cittas, under cariya,
behaviour. Very good. People often wonder whether the processes are only in
the Commentaries. The chapters on the Buddha's omniscience and
mahaa-karu.naa are very beautiful.
Here is an extract on the latent tendencies, this to give you a flavour:
<Here the Perfect One knows beings¹ biasses, he knows their underlying
tendencies (åsayånusaya ñå.na), he knows their behaviour (carita), he knows
their dispositions(adhimutti), he knows beings as capable and incapable.
586. What is the bias which is latent in beings?
Beings are supported by the wrong view of existence or supported by the
wrong view of non-existence thus: The world is eternal¹ or The world is
not eternal¹ or The world is finite¹ or The world is infinite¹ or The
soul and the body are the same¹ or The soul is one, the body another¹ or A
Perfect One is not after death¹ or ³A Perfect One both is and is not after
death¹ or A Perfect One neither is nor is not after death.¹ Or else,
avoiding these extremes, they have acceptance in conformity¹ with respect
to dhammas that are dependently arisen through specific conditionality.
He also knows them as pursuing sensual-desires thus: This person gives
importance to sensual desires, is biassed to sensual desires, is inclined to
sensual desires. He also knows them as pursuing renunciation thus: This
person gives importance to renunciation, is biassed to renunciation, is
inclined to renunciation. He also knows them as pursuing ill-will thus:
This person gives
importance to ill-will, is biassed to ill-will, is inclined to ill-will. He
also knows them as pursuing non-ill-will thus: This person gives importance
to non-ill-will, is biassed to non-ill-will, is inclined to non-ill-will. He
also knows them as pursuing stiffness-and-torpor thus: This person gives
importance to stiffness-and-torpor, is biassed to stiffness-and-torpor, is
inclined to stiffness-and-torpor. He also knows them as pursuing perception
of light thus: This person gives importance to perception of light, is
biassed to perception of light, is inclined to perception of light.
These are the biasses (chanda) that become underlying tendencies in beings.
587. What are the defilements that are underlying tendencies in beings?
There are seven underlying tendencies (anusaya): Underlying tendency to
greed for sense-desire (kåma-råga), underlying tendency to aversion
(patigha), underlying tendency to conceit (måna), underlying tendency to
wrong view (diììhi), underlying tendency to doubt (vicikicchå), underlying
tendency to desire for becoming (continued existence, bhavaråga), and
underlying tendency to ignorance (avijjå).²
From the above quoted text we can see that behaviour, habits and defilements
are accumulated and become dormant in the succession of cittas. Since the
Buddha has knowledge of beings¹ biases and underlying tendencies
(åsayånusaya ñå.na), we know that there are underlying tendencies.
Nina.