Post # 6 - Concepts and Reality Part 3 –  to be read after reading the  Post # 5

Concepts and Reality Part 3 - Reality

Now let’s discuss – the word ‘Reality’ – as presented in the discussion.

What therefore is Reality? This is a big question but the answer could be quite simple if you see it the following way.  We saw that our frame of reference is conceptual as it is based on the experiences in the mundane domain. For example we saw that the world we live in is created by us based on what we perceive as happening in this world. This perception is based on our own frame of reference. Therefore I have a world created by me. So have the others. Thus there are many individual worlds within this one world which means the frame-of-reference that created one's world is based on concepts.  Therefore the simple answer that I can give  for reality is  Buddha Dhamma, which explains the true nature of things.

To accept these two statements we have to first see the deficiencies and vulnerabilities in our frame-of-reference to understand its conceptual nature. On the one hand it was argued that the contents in our frame-of-reference was conceptual. On the other hand it is suggested that the universal truths that are taught in Buddha Dhamma, are the reality. We have to therefore examine  each of them more closely.      

The vulnerability of the frame-of-reference is clear when we look at how the contents are created. The Suthamaya part is made up of borrowed knowledge. This cannot always be right for all time, as this knowledge changes with intellectual development. The ‘Monomaya’ part often using the contents of the Suthamaya part is also subject to the quality and accuracy of the ‘Suthamaya’ part as we saw before, and therefore has its limitations.

Our physical experiences that consist of another part of the frame-of-reference are also limited to the extent that our sensory perceptions have limits. For example, there is a lot more that our eye cannot see, but is there to be seen with proper supportive means. Eg. through a microscope or telescope etc. Similarly there is a lot more that our ear cannot hear than there are those that can be heard. This is so for our other sensory perceptions as well.  Therefore it is clear that much of this real world exists outside our sensory perceptions. Therefore relying totally on sensory perceptions is also inadequate.

Our frame-of reference in its day-to-day application has been good and adequate, in so far as our activities were confined to this world around us.  But when we have to use this frame-of-reference to understand things outside this world, such as life after death, what preparations are necessary therefore etc., this frame-of-reference becomes inadequate.

Buddha Dhamma on the other hand is reality and limitless in its application. In order to understand this let us understand what Buddha Dhamma really is?

It is not a religion as religions go. It is not a philosophy as there are no concepts established through rational or logical explanations as in philosophies that are not physically experienced or are verifiable.  More accurately Buddha-Dhamma is a teaching associated with a right view and a  right way of life leading  to liberation or emancipation,  where they can be experienced. 

Thus examining the meaning of Buddha-Dhamma in its etymological composition we see the following make up. The word Dhamma as included here means the phenomena existing in the Cosmos or the abiding laws and principles that govern the dynamics of the Cosmos. This means that Dhamma exists today, it existed yesterday and did exist well into the past, also during the time of Siddharta Gauthama (later the Buddha) and even before that time. It also means Dhamma will exist tomorrow, also well into the future and for eons of time beyond. Therefore it is the unchanging universal truth.

The other word Buddha - means a title given to a person with an extremely   developed mind. This is achieved through a process of concerted commitment to purifying and developing the mind. This is done by the relentless application of a way of life for the refinements of Seela (morality), Samamdhi (concentration) and Panna (wisdom).

Therefore the one who is a Buddha, using this enlightened state of mind, sees the Dhamma. It is a discovery of what is already there.  It is not a new invention or a creation. Buddha Dhamma, as a teaching therefore includes the universal truths, how they apply and influence human beings, the impacts or consequences of such influences and the way of life to cope or mitigate these adverse influences.

Then one has to ask, what is then the reality that Buddha discovered? Buddha told his disciples when questioned whether the Thathagatha (the perfect one) can see everything and has taught everything, he replied that, what an enlightened one has to experience, see and experiment for reaching enlightenment by himself, can be compared to all the leaves in a forest, and what he has taught (84000 dhamma points as later recorded), is like a palm-full of such leaves held in his hand. However he said that this is the most relevant and necessary part, for the followers to practice to attain awakening and free themselves from the eternal cycle of rebirth. 

He explained the fundamental nature of all conditioned formations characterized by impermanence (annicca), un-satisfactory-ness  (dukka), no-self (anantha)  and about the entrapment of all living beings in an eternal cycle of Samsara (the eternal cycle of rebirth) due to ignorance (not knowing) of the fundamental four noble truths. They are respectively Dukka (un-satisfactory-ness or suffering), its cause (thanna), its cessation and the path to its cessation.  He described the pattica smuppada or the process of cause and effect and the unique discovery about the true nature of the two domains of- mundane and supra mundane. The mundane domain is where all worldly beings are entrapped in an unending cycle of Samsara and the Supra-mundane domain is, as Buddha has taught, the escape from Samsara. These teachings came from what he himself experienced.

That is why Buddha-Dhamma which is unchanging with time is called the reality, when we talk about Concepts and Reality.

A wise person will not want to be entrapped in concepts.  There is the real danger that living by concepts one can make serious mistakes not knowing why and can lead one in an endless cycle of suffering in the Samsara.  So what does a wise person do in this situation?

If one were to create another frame-of-reference based on Buddha-Dhamma -Buddha’s teachings- it will give a basis for comparison, a benchmark. This frame-of-reference can be created in the same way as before by listening to Dhamma, review and contemplating on the teaching and experiencing through meditation, in the same Suthamaya, Manomaya and Bahavanamaya ways.  

When one overlays the Buddha Dhamma frame-of-reference with one’s own, one will be able to see the inconsistencies, that are there.  A person using his or her frame-of-reference to lead a good and virtuous life will find that the overlap is quite good. He/she only has to pick the mismatches and change the concepts contained in his/her frame-of-reference into reality as given in Buddha Dhamma. This is particularly so where the activities being reviewed are those in the Mundane Domain.

In this situation understandably, there will be many mismatches in respect of the Supra-mundane Domain. Here the wise person will follow what is given in the Buddha-Dhamma frame-of-reference by trusting the source (Sadda) until one’s own realization dawns. 

This way one can escape from Samsara and realize the ultimate permanent happiness there is, in a state of mind that is Nibbana.

May you be well and happy.