The Life or Legend of Gaudama, the Buddha of the Burmese (Volume II)Bigandet, Paul Ambroise
Religion
The Life or Legend of Gaudama, the Buddha of the Burmese (Volume II)
Bigandet, Paul Ambroise
Buddhism -- Burma; Burma -- Religion; Gautama Buddha
The Tsedathits, or results essentially connected with ideas, are
fifty-two in number. The seven enumerated at the end of this article
are: contact, sensation, perception, inclination, fixity, command over
self, and remembrance: they are inherent in all ideas. Six Tsedathits
are connected with the act of perception, viz., thought, reflection,
decision, energy, pleasure, and liberty. Fourteen others are connected
with the ideas of demerits, viz., impudence, audacity in evil,
unsteadiness, concupiscence, pride, boasting, grievous offence, envy,
anxiety, want of respect, lowness of feelings, doubt or indecision,
covetousness.
The Tsedathits connected with merits are: affection for all that refers
to religion, remembrance of all that is good, shame of all that is bad,
fear of evil, exemption from concupiscence and from anger, serenity
of soul, freedom from evil inclinations and evil thoughts, swiftness
of the body and of the mind, good habits of the body and of the soul,
uprightness in the feelings and the thoughts, good words, good actions,
good behaviour, compassion, joy at the prosperity of others, wisdom, or
the acquirement of the knowledge of truth by reflection.
[51] Having in two previous notes explained what regards the ideas, and
the results from or the things connected with ideas, we must come to
the third great principle, viz., _Rupa_, or form, or matter, and state
further the curious divisions of our Burmese metaphysicians. 1. The form
of all that is visible is found in the four elements: earth, water, fire,
and air. 2. The form for coming in contact are the five senses, the eyes,
the ear, the nose, the tongue, and the body, or rather the skin of the
body. 3. The form of the objects of the senses is likewise divided into
five parts, essentially connected with the five above-enumerated senses.
4. The forms peculiar to the living beings are the male and female sexes.
5. The forms of life taken abstractedly are the life of the body and
the life of language or uttered words. 6. The forms in which appearance
exhibits itself are swiftness, softness, and acting. 7. The forms of
the signs of being are: the appearance of being, on coming into being,
the remaining into being, the fulness of the state of being, and the
destruction of being.
The last great principle is Neibban, that is to say, the exemption
from the action of the influence originating from merits and demerits,
from the volitions of the mind, from the seasons or time, and from
nourishment, which are the causes of mutability; it is the end of
existence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account