Extracted from Sermon No. 5 (Page 18-19) >> Pahan Kanuwa Sermon – No. 187
Let us briefly touch upon it for the present. It is the Kaccānagotta Sutta 24 of the Saṁyutta Nikāya. A monk, Kaccānagotta by name, approaches the
Buddha and says
:“Venerable Sir, ‘Right View’, ‘Right View’ it is said. In what way Venerable Sir, is there right view?” You may have heard various definitions of right view. Here is something peculiar:
The Buddha says: “Dvayanissito khvāyaṁ Kaccāna loko yebhuyyena atthitañceva natthitañca. Lokasamudayaṁ kho Kaccāna yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passato yā loke natthitā sā na hoti. Lokanirodhaṁ kho Kaccāna yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passato yā loke atthitā sā na hoti.”
(“This world, Kaccāna, for the most part depend upon a duality – upon the notion of existence and the notion of non-existence. For one who sees the arising of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no notion of non-existence in regard to the world. And for one who sees the cessation of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no notion of existence in regard to the world.”
Here the Buddha points out that the world is resting on the two extreme views of existence and non-existence. Then this is how the Buddha shows us the middle way. For one who sees the arising of the world as it is with correct wisdom, there is no notion of nonexistence. To the insight meditator who sees the arising aspect of the world, the notion of absolute non-existence does not occur. And to the insight meditator who sees the cessation aspect of the world, the notion of absolute existence does not occur.
The world is holding on to the two dogmatic views of absolute existence and absolute non-existence. But the Buddha avoids this absolutism. Paticcasamuppanna means arisen in dependence on causes and conditions. The world is incessantly arising and ceasing. But the worldling resting on the notion of the compact due to craving and grasping, tenaciously believes that a thing exists absolutely. If absolute existence is one end the other end should be absolute non-existence, tantamount to annihilation. But as we sometimes pointed out, if anything is lost, it is only the ignorance that ‘there is something’ and the craving that ‘there isn’t enough.’ That is all. There is nothing to lament. This is precisely why Gotama Buddha as well as Vipassi Buddha made known their realization with the words:
Read more – The Law of Dependent Arising – Bhikkhu Katukurunde Ñāṇananda
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