The Tree of Enlightenment

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emedy the situation here and now, through greater prosperity and improved standards of living, our suffering is reduced. Buddhism teaches that the particular happiness or suffering that we experience in this life is the consequence of actions we have done in the past. In other words, if we find ourselves in fortunate conditions now, these advantages are the result of good actions done in the past. Similarly, those who find themselves in less fortunate conditions are suffering the consequences of unwholesome actions done in the past. What does Buddhism offer in the way of the end of suffering? Practicing Buddhism in the short term results in relative happiness in this life. is happiness can be of a material nature, in the sense of improved physical conditions; it can be of an inner nature, in the sense of greater peace of mind; or it can be both. All this can be achieved in this very life, here and now. is is one dimension of the end of suffering. Being of this life, it might be roughly equated with what Christianity calls “the kingdom of God on earth.” In addition to this, the end of suffering in Buddhism means happiness and good fortune in the next life. is implies rebirth in fortunate circumstances, where we enjoy happiness, prosperity, health, well-being, and success, whether as a human being on this earth or as a celestial being in the heavens. We can liken this dimension of the end of suffering to the heaven of which the monotheistic religions speak. e only difference is that, in these religions, heaven once attained is permanent, whereas in Buddhism one’s right to enjoy happiness has to be sustained and renewed. e goal offered by Buddhism does initially mean happiness and prosperity in this life and in future lives. But it is 58
also more than that, and here it differs from the other religions in question. Not only does Buddhism promise happiness and prosperity in this life and the next, it also offers liberation – nirvana, or enlightenment. is is the total cessation of suffering. It is the ultimate goal of Buddhism and it is also attainable here and now. When we speak of nirvana we encounter certain problems of expression, because the exact nature of an experience cannot be communicated merely by speaking about it – rather, it must be experienced directly. is is true of all experience, whether it be the experience of the taste of salt, sugar, or chocolate or of one’s first swim in the ocean. All these experiences cannot be described exactly. To make this point, suppose I have just arrived in Southeast Asia and am told of a very popular local fruit called durian. I can question people who live in the area and who regularly eat and enjoy durian, but how can they ever explain to me precisely what it is like to eat it? It is simply not possible to describe accurately the taste of a durian to someone who has never eaten one. We might try comparison or, alternatively, negation; we might say, for instance, that durian has a creamy texture or that it is sweet and sour, and add that it is something like jack fruit and not at all like apple. But it remains impossible to communicate the exact nature of the experience of eating durian. We find ourselves confronted with a similar problem when we try to describe nirvana. e Buddha and Buddhist teachers through the ages used similar devices to describe nirvana – namely, comparison, and negation. e Buddha said that nirvana is supreme happiness, peace. He said that nirvana is immortal, uncreated, unformed; beyond 59
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The Tree of Enlightenment Dr Peter
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CONTENTS About the Author..........
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Part ree he ajrayana Chapter Twenty
Page 8 and 9: out the uthor P eter Della Santina
Page 10 and 11: uthor’s ote F rom 1983 to 1985 wh
Page 12 and 13: ship. Finally, I want to thank all
Page 14 and 15: CHAPTER ONE uddhism: odern erspeiv
Page 16 and 17: mind, while in traditionally Buddhi
Page 18 and 19: is story illustrates the practical
Page 20 and 21: one’s own personal experience is
Page 22 and 23: e procedure adopted here is analyti
Page 24 and 25: transformation, whereas in Buddhism
Page 26 and 27: emained separate and distinct, but
Page 28 and 29: coveries at Mohenjo-daro and Harapp
Page 30 and 31: Whereas in the religion of the Indu
Page 32 and 33: look at some of the prominent facts
Page 34 and 35: Buddhism was a protest against, or
Page 36 and 37: CHAPTER THREE e ife of the uddha N
Page 38 and 39: inated by the correctives of renunc
Page 40 and 41: Siddhartha, being the faster runner
Page 42 and 43: permanently put an end to suffering
Page 44 and 45: CHAPTER FOUR e our oble ruths W ith
Page 46 and 47: the formula of the Four Noble Truth
Page 48 and 49: measures to remedy the disease. Suc
Page 50 and 51: lives often brings us into contact
Page 52 and 53: all right, but it would be still be
Page 54 and 55: as we take the tree stump to be a p
Page 56 and 57: ply because we have not experienced
Page 60 and 61: earth, water, fire, and air, the su
Page 62 and 63: overly tight string produces an unp
Page 64 and 65: CHAPTER FIVE orality I n Chapter 4
Page 66 and 67: you will find that the basic rules
Page 68 and 69: In this context, right speech impli
Page 70 and 71: ever, some of the developments in r
Page 72 and 73: Very briefly, these are the origin,
Page 74 and 75: CHAPTER SIX ental evelopment I n th
Page 76 and 77: ing the way we experience things an
Page 78 and 79: itself. Indeed, if you look at the
Page 80 and 81: Recognizing the value and importanc
Page 82 and 83: the mind on the object without dist
Page 84 and 85: CHAPTER SEVEN isdom W ith this chap
Page 86 and 87: Buddhism, faith is preliminary and
Page 88 and 89: when you are sure you have understo
Page 90 and 91: will experience the happy effects o
Page 92 and 93: greed, anger, envy, and jealousy. I
Page 94 and 95: of samsara, the cycle of birth and
Page 96 and 97: others are less fortunate, why some
Page 98 and 99: In the same way, according to the l
Page 100 and 101: Here we can see at work the princip
Page 102 and 103: Similarly, there are five alternati
Page 104 and 105: in heaven can we escape our karma.
Page 106 and 107: CHAPTER NINE ebirth I n this chapte
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convincing case for the reality of
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death, we are reborn at every momen
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ey suffer from the human beings who
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ealms is undesirable. e three lower
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continue to circle endlessly among
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tinuity of cause and effect exists,
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On the basis of the Buddha’s own
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in this life result in rebirth in a
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less lives, combined with new actio
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impurities are eliminated, actions
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objective is admirably achieved thr
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can understand that fire is hot and
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is process of the constant change o
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emember the certainty of our own de
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their techniques of meditation and
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Although we know that certain thoug
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And when wisdom arises, we experien
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for a collection of trees. In this
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to turn an indefinite experience in
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We discussed this in Chapter 11, wh
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN e undamentals in r
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art wo e ahayana
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to have taught innumerable living b
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dissemination of the Dharma. During
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school of realistic pluralism known
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is compassion for all living beings
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN e otus utra T he pe
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physician who has been away from ho
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Just as each plant benefits from ra
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nations of his children, the father
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But because our ambitions and aspir
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the Mahayana tradition. It is also
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e passage from wisdom to the perfec
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independent existence of things. On
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ory as well as to meditation. In th
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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN e ankavatara utra
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speaks does not participate in thes
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and nirvana, both the phenomenal wo
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(1) the transcendental dimension is
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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN e hilosophy of the
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the sutras, and in the approach of
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It is interesting to note that thes
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far as cause and effect are identic
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say that perception is proved by it
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there’: they depend, rather, on t
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CHAPTER NINETEEN e hilosophy of ind
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opment of Buddhist thought. We all
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milk, but it would appear as nectar
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ern science. e atom as well as its
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the source of the phenomenalizing a
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to cause and effect, to samsara. e
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that the philosophy of emptiness wa
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Just as this was taking place withi
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ience suffused by great bliss. Whil
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it white, blue, or otherwise?’ Su
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the apparatus needed to produce a m
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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE ahayana uddhism
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for the practice of unwholesome act
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mothers to you, should continue to
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dom. Similarly, without a concentra
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tary reassociation with fictitious
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ese three bodies or dimensions of B
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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO e rigins of the
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Let us spend a moment on the origin
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throughout India. Nagarjuna and Asa
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Asanga asked, ‘Where have you bee
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was also a professor at Nalanda. On
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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE hilosophical a
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y a magician using certain magical
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e object now appears to him without
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Mahayana both in its starting point
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR ethodology A s
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death, whereas nirvana is unconditi
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and nirvana is intellectual or dire
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us we can see that not only are obj
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lizes a variety of phenomena, and t
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE yth and ymbolis
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necklaces of severed heads, ornamen
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of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.
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alike, the name of a thing is a sou
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Red, which is the color of fire, is
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On the broadest level, we have been
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e idea of interpenetration is found
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the realm of the hell beings. It is
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sees no distinction between samsara
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ody of each individual person. ey a
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You can see how, in the Vajrayana t
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(4) death and impermanence, and (5)
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that these general preliminaries ar
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and others require alternative ritu
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of conditioned reality, they do not
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it is then the task of the practiti
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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT e ajrayana nit
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formation of the five aggregates in
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eserved for actually introducing th
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environment, the situation of the i
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initiation. ese methods or keys are
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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE ajrayana uddhis
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ties, and his achievement of Buddha
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the tutelary deity, in other words,
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and the sound of the mantra so that
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CHAPTER THIRTY n ntroduion to the b
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is said that when he returned to ea
Page 314 and 315:
and so forth. is is the difference
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ontology, which means the study of
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ticularly interested here. ese are
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esponsibility because if the self i
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emained silent, and after a time Va
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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO ethodology I n t
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already have some intellectual acqu
Page 328 and 329:
To arrive at the ultimate picture o
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these component parts do not exist
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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE nalysis of ons
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(lokiya) and are concerned with the
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ditioned by any of the three unwhol
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we have fifty-four types of conscio
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR e orm and ormle
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as evidence of the existence of a t
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‘striking,’ or ‘mounting.’
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formless-sphere absorption, which d
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE upramundane ons
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ness (the fruit consciousness of th
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consciousness, the fruit consciousn
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e clarity of that flash remains for
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX nalysis of ental
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to a particular object whereas atte
Page 360 and 361:
e third group of unwholesome mental
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disassociated with knowledge, or as
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN nalysis of oug
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Heedlessness is the source of death
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ere are four types of physical thou
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sciousness, too, are either wholeso
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where he is. He stretches out his a
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ply have subjective and objective f
Page 376 and 377:
porary thought about matter. Scient
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sciousness. is intermediate positio
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e only way we can avoid this plural
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existence, (12) repetition, (13) ka
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vious karma has an influence and se
Page 386 and 387:
lar way identifiable in terms of th
Page 388 and 389:
CHAPTER FORTY e irty-even aors of n
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Mindfulness with regard to the body
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Truths and in the destruction of th
Page 394 and 395:
iver the eastern part and the other
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ment, equanimity is that integrated
Page 398 and 399:
are the keys to self-development, a
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of right effort, right mindfulness,
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conditioned, relative, and empty na
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The Tree of Enlightenment

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