digha agama 28 (07)
TC Nguyen
V. The 62 fishes in the net.
From the Pali canon :
25. 'Well, Lord, if this question of self and perceptions is difficult
for one like me
- tell me: Is the world eternal? 219 Is only this true and the opposite
false?'
'Po.t.thapada, I have not declared that the world is eternal and that
the opposite
view is false.' 'Well, Lord, is the world not eternal?' 'I have not
declared that the
world is not eternal...' 'Well, Lord, is the world infinite .... not
infinite?...' [188] 'I
have not declared that the world is not infinite and that the opposite
view is
false.'
( Maurice Walshe )
and the Chinese Agama :
- You are right, venerable Gautama. It's difficult for me to know
the arising,
the anihilation of thoughts because I have different views, different
trainings,
different acceptances, I rely on different matters, I have different
lessons. Why ?
Because the self and the world are permanent, only this is true else are
wrong.
Because the self and the world are impermanent, only this is true else
are wrong.
I don't understand the connection between the 1st phrase, to the 2nd in
this
phrase of the Chinese Agama. The Pali does not commit this obscurity.
Then to each of the other statements :
the self and the world are eternal,
the self and the world are impermanent
the self and the world are both permanent and impermanent
the self and the world are finite
the self and the world are infinite ....
( I think in this sutta, it talks about the 62 views put forth in
the Bhrama-gala
sutta, but not written in detail and the list is not complete ).
The answer of the Buddha is :
'I have not declared that the .... ( is true ) and that all else is
false.'
Chinese Agama is corrupted here, it state that :
- For " the world is eternal... the Tatha-gata is neither
anihilated nor not
anihilated ", I don't accept those views.
which is inconsitent with the saying below in the same sutta :
" Those are 'The self and the world are eternal ... The Tatha-gata is
not
anihilated, and not not anihilated' . I also speak so, but does not
categorically
accepted them ".
( notice the saying I also speak so ) . This statement is not found in
the Pali
version.
It's interesting to note that this statement of Gautama strenghten my
argument in
my Bhrama-gala sutta thread.
In the thread Bhrama-gala, I wrote that not all 62 statements are wrong.
Some are
good. They are wrong only when people do not know them, but speculate
them.
With people who know them, experience them, Gautama did not criticize.
He
spoke them, but he did not categorically accept them as wrong or right,
for the
sake of not letting his disciples accept in blind faith. And people now
jump to the
conclusion that those are of Hinduism, Buddhism does not see that way
!!!