TRIPITAKA DHAMMA
The Sutra should be revered above all else, as supermundane Dhamma of Lord Buddha itself or as pertaining to the preachings of the Samma Sambuddha. This is an eternal verity. Through these sacred sutras it is as close as one can get to the providence of the living Lord Buddha. It is clear from the Sumanagla Vilasini texts that Atuwa, unlike Sutras are the ‘Acharyawada’, the teachings of the most erudite Arahaths at the time. This notion is further endorsed in the Samanthapasadikawa. Samanthapasadikawa further expounds that though Acharyawada are ‘Arthakatha’ and not sutras themselves, they are devoid of errors of interpretations and personal opinions, thus the unadorned, authentic Dhamma itself as was preached by the Sama Sambuddha because they are the teachings of the five hundred most erudite Maha Arahats. As such, Acharyawada, can be described as doctrinal works of scholarly Maha Arahanths, expatiating the nuanced discursive and consist parts of the sacred Tripitaka, devoid of errors.
Sarathadeepaniya, takes a different conviction. It takes the notions that various preachings of the Lord Buddha at various times are ‘arthakatha’. This is also reiterated in the Anguththara Teeka and Vimathividoniya. So the questions remains, which view should be accepted.
Tripitaka should be considered according to the following four points.
Sutta/sutra (Lord Buddha’s original preaching)
Suttanuloma
Achariyavada (Commentries and supplementary explications of Tripitaka Sutras by erudite monks)
Atthanomathiya
In order to comprehensively investigate this question, a thorough understanding of the fourfold discipline is essential. We shall take the following example.
The Sutra – Ahachcapadaya
Ahachchapada is the Sutra pertaining to this fourfold. Ahachchapadaya is the pre-eminent Sutra that explains the crucial teachings (pela dhamma) of how all noble precepts are connected in the path to enlightenment in the Vinaya Pitakaya (the first of the tri-pitaka).
The Suttanuloma – Four noble (Satharamahapadesa)
Satharamahapadesa in this instance is the Kappiya and Kappiwasthu that teaches how and when the anuloma of the sensation should and should not be considered anuloma.
The Acharya Vadaya
Here it is the Arthakatha separate from the Acharya Vamsa or The scriptures set at the first Buddhist Council. However these Arthakatha are based on verified practice and experience.
The Aththanomathiya
Atthanomathiya is something altogether separate from the Sutra, Suttanulomaya, Acharyavadaya. Atthanomathiya is at best an estimation of the un-enlightened mind connecting secondary and received wisdom to ones life experiences. As such atthanomathiya is entirely underpinned by arbitrary understandings, opinions and one’s own intellectual capacity. As such, any concepts that have been developed based on atthanomathiya should not be considered dogmatically. In this instance one must inexorably compare one’s own atthanomathiya with the pure sutras and acharyavadha in order to elicit the truest meaning of dharma. If bear resemblance that atthanomathiya and concomitant opinions must be accepted. If incomparable or conflicting, such opinions and interpretations must be discarded.
If as per the Sarathadeepaniya, Anguththara Teeka or Vimathividoniya, Lord Buddha’s sacred teachings themselves are Arthakatha, then there cannot be any areas of conflict, irresolution, contradiction or ambivalence. Athanomathiya is self-restricting. Acharyavada, Anulomavadha and Sutra are venerable in the reverse order. As such, any Arthakatha incongruous with Sutra and Sutra-anuloma should be eliminated. As such, it is clear Lord Buddha’s teachings are not Arthakatha.
When a difference in opinion/interpretation/aththanomathiya occurs, respectfully and with equanimity the Aththanomathiya should be compared with Acharyavada, Sutranulomaya and Sutra in that order so as to disabuse of erroneous concepts.
However, in the context of texts such as the Vaitulya Pitaka, which are spurious and outside of the Lord Buddha’s sacred teachings and any text that is combined with such contrived texts, then one must trust ones own aththanomathiya more than such acharyavada, concomitant sutranuloma and sutra.
However, since the nature of the Dhamma can only be understood at a worldly level by the worldlings, Dhamma has always customarily been imparted by the un-enlightened theros as in a way that was comprehendible to them. Hence it is the noble custom of the disciples to investigate and accept the most germane and cogent teachings.
To this extent, views held by others’, in the path to understanding the Theravada dhamma, should be regarded as Aththanomathiya. In contrast, the irrational and glib arguments put forward today by the educated or ignoramus people alike are not aththanomathiya and should not be described as aththanomathiya. Such untenable thoughts and arguments with no foundation put forward by cunning sophists, both ordained and unordained should be vehemently rejected. Such solipsistic, deliberate dissimulations or philippic must not be misconstrued as aththanomathiya; they are far more pernicious and detrimental.
The Mahātaṇhāsaṅkhayasutta commentary, in the first section of the Majjhimanikāya states:
Tasmā ayaṃ bhikkhu buddhena akathitaṃ katheti,
(If a monk says something that was not said by the Buddha),
Jinacakke pahāraṃ deti,
(Attacking the Dhammachakka of the Blessed Ones)
Vesārajjañāṇaṃ paṭibāhati,
(Completely rejecting the fourfold wisdom of the Blessed One)
Sotukāmaṃ janaṃ visaṃvādeti,
(Deceiving the People who like to hear the word of the Blessed One with specious lies)
Ariyapathe tiriyaṃ nipatitvā mahājanassa ahitāya dukkhāya paṭipanno.
(Impeding the path of the disciples who are trying to follow the noble path and facilitates the misery of the masses)
Yathā nāma rañño rajje mahācoro uppajjamāno mahājanassa ahitāya dukkhāya uppajjati, evaṃ jinasāsane coro hutvā mahājanassa ahitāya dukkhāya uppannoti veditabbo.
(Thus it should be known that as a thief of the Royal Court and the treasury may steal from the public and be inimical to the felicity of the subjects, the pilferer of the Buddha shasana, will cause ineffable damage, calamity and suffering to the disciples of this noble path).
The Blessed Lord Buddha strived for an ineffably long time in order to be able to impart the the Noble and Pure Dhamma in its most accurate form to others. If one disregards the immeasurable sacrality and the incalculable Noble Wisdom thus gained and disrespects it as pagans, and discards even a single element of the Dhamma, such a person inherits an ineluctable and limitless kamma. It is difficult to imagine if ever such a person may be able to expend such boundless malevolent kamma.
May the Devout consider this matter very carefully and be saved from the four infernal realms!
May you all gain peace for yourself and others!