Points of Controversy
OR
Subjects of Discourse
BEING A TRANSLATION OF THE KATHAVATTHU
FROM THE ABHIDHAMMA-PITAKA
BY
SHWE ZAN AUNG, B.A
AND
MRS. RHYS DAVIDS, M.A
4. Of One whose Salvation is Morally Certain (niyata).
Controverted Point.—That one who is morally certain of
salvation has entered the Path of Assurance.1
From the Commentary. — Niyama (Assurance) is of two kinds,
according as it is in the wrong or the right direction. The former
is conduct that finds retribution without delay,2 the latter is the Ariyan
Path. And there is no other. All other mental phenomena happen-
ing in the three planes of being are not of the invariably fixed order,
and one who enjoys them is himself 'not assured.' Buddhas, by the
force of their foresight, used to prophesy: ' Such an one will in future
attain to Bodhi ' (Buddhahood). This person is a Bodhisat, who may
be called Assured (Niyata), by reason of the cumulative growth of
merit.3
Now the Pubbaseliyas and Aparaseliyas, taking the term
' Assured' without distinction as to direction, assumed that a Bodhisat
was becoming fitted to penetrate the Truths in his last birth, and
therefore held that he was already ' Assured.'
1
Here the text (both PTS and Br.) has niyama, while the Com-
mentary has niyama. The former is technically more correct. See
V. 4, and Appendix : Assurance.
2
Anantariyakamma . See above, VIII. 9-11.
3
Read for punnassa datva , punn' ussadatta . The title
of Niyata is extended to a Bodhisat by courtesy, so to speak,
because his final salvation, through accumulating merit, amounts
almost to a certainty, is highly probable. Cf. IV. 8.
[1] Th.—Do you imply that the so-called 'Assured'
enters upon the True Path of Assurance when assured of
immediate retribution, and upon the False Path of Assur-
ance when assured of final salvation ? That having first
practised the Path, he afterwards enters upon the Assur-
ance ; that having first practised the Stream-Winner's
Path, he afterwards enters upon the Assurance of the,
Stream-Winner, and so on . . . That finally, entrance
upon Assurance comes after practise of the applications
in mindfulness and the rest of the Factors of Enlighten-
ment ?
[2] P.A.—But in contradicting us, you imply that the
Bodhisat was not fitted by that last birth to penetrate the
Truths.
1
Th.—Nay, I say not so.
P.A.—Then he was [already] assured of entering upon
the Path of Assurance.
5. Of One in the Toils.
Controverted Point.—That a Hindrance is cast of f by one
who is entangled in it.
From the Commentary.—The Uttarapathakas are among those who
hold that, just as there is no purifying work left for the purified, so
it must be one entangled, obstructed, cloaked by the Hindrances, who
abandons them.
[1] Th.—Equally then he who is infatuated abandons
lust; he who is malign, stupid, corrupt, abandons hate,
dulness, corruptions, respectively. Now, does he cast off
lust by lust, hate by hate, and so on ?
U.—[If this is not so, you are suggesting that the
Hindrances are cast out by the Path.] Now you allow
that lust, for instance, and the Path are both conscious
experiences. But do you not hereby imply a combination
of two rival mental procedures ? Lust is immoral, the
Path is moral—does not your position imply that good and
bad, moral and immoral, radiant and sinister mental states
confront each other in the mind ? And was it not said by
the Exalted One : 'These four things are very far apart: the
sky and the earth, the hither and the yonder shore of the
ocean, whence the sun rises and where he sinks. . . . Hence
far is norm of goodfrom that of evil' ? 1
Hence it is also wrong to say good and bad states con-
front each other in the mind at the same moment.
[2] Th.—But was it not said by the Exalted One:
' With consciousness thus concentrated, made pure, trans-
lucent, cleared, void of defilement, made supple, ivieldy, firm,
imperturbable, he applies and bends over the mind to insight
into the destruction of Intoxicants'?2
[3] U-.—But was it not also said by the Exalted One :
'He thus knowing, thus seeing, his heart is set free from the
Intoxicants — sense-desires, lust of becoming, error and
nescience ' ?3
Hence surely it is one who is entangled by the Hindrances
who casts them off .
6. Of Captivity and Release.
Controverted Point—That a Fetter is cast of f by one
who is in thrall to it.4
From the Commentary.—This follows the preceding argument. To
be ' in thrall to ' means fo be up against the Fetters, to have reached
the state of being possessed of them.
The discourse is similar to XIII. 5.
7. Of Jhana as Enjoyment,
Controverted Point.—That the expert enjoys Jhana, and
the desire for Jhana has Jhana as its object.5
1
Quoted in full on p. 201 f .
2
Dialogues, i. 92.
3
Ibid., 93. 'This is inconclusive, not being spoken concerning one
still in the toils.'— Comy. "With this discourse cf. III. 3.
4
Literally, is face to face with it.
5
Jhana-exercises, rightly valued, are solely a means, not an end, the,
end, for the Ariyan, being adhicitta , or the consciousness called,
From the Commentary.—This opinion, held, for instance, by the
Andhakas, is based upon the Word : 'He attaining to and abiding in
First Jhana finds enjoyment in it.'
[1] Th.—Do you mean that a given Jhana is the mental
object to that same Jhana ? If you deny,1 your proposi-
tion falls. If you assent, you must equally admit that he
touches a given mental contact with the same contact,
feels a given feeling with that feeling, and so on for per-
ception, volition, thought, applied and sustained intellec-
tion, zest, mindfulness, understanding. . . .
[2] You admit that desire for Jhana and Jhana itself
are forms of conscious experience ? But are you prepared
to admit further that they constitute two conscious pro-
cesses going on at once ? You deny; then your former
admission is invalid. And i f you admit further that desire
for Jhana is wrong while Jhana itself is good, you bring
the good and the bad up against each other in the same
consciousness—things as ' far apart as earth and sky,' etc.2
[3] A.—But, if I am wrong, was it not said by the
Exalted One : 'Take the case, bhikkhus, of a bhikkhu who,
aloof from sensuous ideas, aloof from evil ideas, entering into,
abides in First Jhana: he enjoys it, he yearns over it, and
by it he is delighted '?3
Hence surely the expert enjoys Jhana, and the desire for
Jhana has Jhana as a mental object.
especially in later books, supramundane. For the more worldly
aspirant the end was rebirth in the Rupa, or Arupa heavens.
1
For fear of not conforming to the Suttas.—Comy.
2
See VII. 5; XIII. 5.
3
Anguttara-Nik., ii. 126. Here such an expert is aspiring to the
Brahma-heavens (Rupa-loka) only, and is contrasted with the ' disciple
of the Exalted One.' ' The passage is inconclusive, inasmuch as it
refers to pleasure in and desire for Jhana after, and not during the
exercise of it.'—Comy.
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