English
For if there were sameness in being unconditioned, difference in the nature of becoming would indicate a difference in cause, therefore only one thing can be permanent, and that, according to the reasoning stated above, and according to the word of the All-Knowing One, is Nibbāna, which exists in the ultimate sense. For it was said by the Blessed One, "There is, monks, the unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned" (Itivuttaka 43). This is the method in the truth of the cessation of suffering. The other, however, having stated "Right View... Right Concentration" in brief, is divided in detail. The decision here will become clear in the analysis of the factors of the path, so this is the method according to the Suttanta teaching. In the Abhidhamma teaching, however – "There are four truths: suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, the path leading to the cessation of suffering. There, craving is the origin of suffering. The remaining defiled phenomena... are suffering. The abandonment of craving is the cessation of suffering. The eightfold path is the path leading to the cessation of suffering." The path leading to the cessation of suffering." Having spoken, and having extensively indicated the eight factors of the path, "The remaining phenomena are associated with the path leading to the cessation of suffering." Thus, in the first instance, the four truths are distinguished. These are again distinguished by these further instances: "Craving and the remaining defilements are the origin; likewise, craving and the remaining defilements, and the remaining unwholesome things are the origin; likewise, craving and the remaining defilements, and the remaining unwholesome things, and the three wholesome roots, which are tainted, are the origin; likewise, craving and the remaining defilements, and the remaining unwholesome things, and the three wholesome roots, which are tainted, and the remaining tainted wholesome phenomena are the origin. The remaining tainted phenomena are suffering; the abandonment of that origin is cessation; the eightfold path is the way." Here, without saying "the noble truths," "truths" is said to show the origin, which is designated as a condition, without a specific designation. For in the noble truths, craving alone is the origin, not the others. And not only craving produces suffering, but the remaining wholesome and unwholesome things also produce a condition; therefore, to show them as the origin, "truths" is said. Thereafter, since the eightfold path alone is the way. However, all phenomena, such as associated contacts, are the way; therefore, to show that method, all are distinguished even in the all-inclusive instance. Here, only the noble riches are included. The rest is similar; this is the method of the Abhidhamma exposition. In the method of questioning, how many of the four noble truths are wholesome...how many are unblemished? The truth of origin is unwholesome, the truth of cessation is indeterminate, the truth of suffering is threefold. The origin is with initial and sustained thought, the cessation is without initial and sustained thought, the path is threefold, suffering is threefold, and it should not be stated. Three truths are invisible and non-resistant, suffering is threefold. The origin is a cause, the cessation is not a cause, the rest are both. Two truths are mundane, the The highest cessation, supramundane. The truth of origin is refuge, Two truths are without strife, Suffering is twofold. This is the way of asking questions. Now, in this matter – From order, not less nor more, Empty of characteristics and so on; Knowledge, function, simile to be known, A decision beyond the Pāli text. There, as for order, here too the order of teaching is fitting. Here, because it is gross, And common to all beings, The truth of suffering is stated first, Then the truth of origin to show its cause, Then the truth of cessation to make known "With the cessation of cause, there is cessation of becoming," Finally, the truth of the path to show the means of attaining it. To generate revulsion in those greedy for the taste of existence, He first spoke of suffering, Then, to make known that "Becoming does not come without cause, Nor does it happen by the creation of a lord, etc., but it comes from this," The truth of origin, Then, because they are overwhelmed by suffering with cause, To generate relief by showing the escape from it For those whose minds are agitated, cessation, Then the path that leads to the attainment of cessation, This is the order here. But why are there exactly four truths, neither less nor more? Because there is no possibility of another, And because none of them can be removed. Moreover, the Blessed One, when describing arising, Describes it with its cause, And cessation with its means. Thus, because there are only these four as the ultimate of arising, cessation, and their respective causes, These four alone are stated, This is why there are neither less nor more here. As for characteristics and so on here, In terms of characteristic, the characteristic of oppression is the truth of suffering, Its function is torment, Its manifestation is arising. The characteristic of origin is the characteristic of arising, Its function is non-severing, Its manifestation is entanglement. The characteristic of cessation is the characteristic of peace, Its function is immortality, Its manifestation is signlessness. The characteristic of the path is the characteristic of leading out, Its function is the cause of abandoning defilements, Its manifestation is emergence. Moreover, the characteristics of arising, the cause of arising, cessation, and the cause of cessation, in order, Likewise, the characteristics of the conditioned, craving, and the unconditioned, vision, These are the characteristics here. But how are these empty? Empty because there is no one who feels, acts, or goes to cessation. And it was said: "There is only suffering, no one who suffers, There is action, but no actor is found; There is cessation, but no person who is extinguished, There is a path, but no one who travels it." Or rather: Empty of permanence, beauty, and pleasure, Empty of self in the former pair, a state without ego; Devoid of permanence, beauty, pleasure, and self, The path is thus empty in these respects. Or the three are empty of cessation. And cessation is empty of the other three. Or the fruit is empty here of the cause, origin, and path, due to the absence of the cessation of suffering, like nature for the naturalists. And the fruit is empty of the cause, suffering, and origin, and the path of cessation, because they are not associated, the fruit of the cause is not associated with the cause. This emptiness here is like the dyads and atoms for those who advocate the association of cause and effect. Regarding the function of knowledge, there are two kinds of true knowledge: knowledge of understanding, and knowledge of penetration. Of these, knowledge of understanding is mundane, and it operates in cessation and the path through hearsay and the like. Knowledge of penetration is supramundane, and while eliminating the defilements that oppose the comprehension of truth, it penetrates all four truths in terms of function, having cessation as its object. But in that which is mundane, knowledge of suffering, operating by way of suppression and overcoming, averts the view of self-identity, knowledge of origin averts the annihilationist view, knowledge of cessation averts the eternalist view, and knowledge of the path averts the inactionist view. Or knowledge of suffering averts the wrong view in the fruit, which is the perception of permanence, beauty, and pleasure in the aggregates that are devoid of permanence, beauty, pleasure, and self; knowledge of origin averts the wrong view in the cause, which arises from the assumption of a cause in the uncaused, thinking, "the world proceeds from a lord, primal matter, time, or nature"; knowledge of cessation averts the wrong view in cessation, which is the grasping of the formless realms and the like as liberation; knowledge of the path averts the wrong view in the means, which arises from grasping an impure path as the path of purification, in the form of indulgence in sensual pleasures and self-mortification. This Here, the function of knowledge. Like a burden in an analogy, the truth of suffering should be seen, like taking up the burden, the truth of origin, like putting down the burden, the truth of cessation, like the means of putting down the burden, the truth of the path. And also, by connecting them respectively with disease, its cause, its cure, and medicine, with the near shore, the great flood, the far shore, and the means of reaching it, these should be understood from analogy. This is the analogy here. Thus should be known the decision beyond the text. The commentary on the meaning of the Analysis of Truths Matrix is finished. Commentary on the Meaning of the Analysis of Faculties Matrix Now, regarding the meaning of the Analysis of Faculties Matrix, first of all, in "twenty-two faculties," "faculties" because of the nature of the characteristic of a faculty. What is this characteristic of a faculty? The characteristic of indicating the chief, the characteristic of being taught by the chief, the characteristic of being seen by the chief, the characteristic of being served by the chief, and the characteristic of being associated with the chief, all of these are appropriately applicable here. Since there is no lordship of anyone over actions, whether skillful or unskillful, the action is called the chief in actions, therefore, the faculties produced by action here indicate their generating action, and because they are established by that, they are faculties by the characteristic of indicating the chief, and by the characteristic of being established by the chief.