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Philosophy of language in the Five Nikayas

by K.T.S. Sarao | 2013 | 141,449 words

This page relates ‘Buddhist Terms: Nibbana� of the study of the Philosophy of language in the Five Nikayas, from the perspective of linguistics. The Five Nikayas, in Theravada Buddhism, refers to the five books of the Sutta Pitaka (“Basket of Sutra�), which itself is the second division of the Pali Tipitaka of the Buddhist Canon (literature).

[Full title: Distinctive Issues of the Five ±·¾±°ìÄå²â²¹²õ and some Important Buddhist Terms Relating the Study; (2): ±·¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹]

The term ²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹ (Skt, ²Ô¾±°ù±¹Äå²Ô²¹) has been used since the Vedic period. According to T.W. Rhys Davids and Stede (1993), the main reference of the word ²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹ is to the root ±¹á¹� ‘to coverâ€�, and not to ±¹Äå ‘to blowâ€� as often taken.

They demonstrate four meanings of ²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹; that is,

(i) going out of a lamp or fire (popular meaning);
(ii) heath, the sense of bodily well-being (probably, at first, the passing away of feverishness, restlessness;
(iii) the dying out in the heart of the threefold fire of lust (°ùÄå²µ²¹), ill will (dosa), and delusion (moha); and
(iv) the sense of spiritual well-being, of security, emancipation, victory and peace, salvation, bliss (Pali-English Dictionar: 362).

The word ²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹, in Buddhism, is commonly assumed to refer to the state ending cyclic existence in the round of births (²õ²¹á¹ƒsÄå°ù²¹). Thus, ±·¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹ is the solution of ²õ²¹á¹ƒsÄå°ù²¹. It is described as the end or absence of undesirable things, such as suffering (dukkha).

A comprehensive look at the notion, the Buddhist account is said to have two kinds of ²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹:

(i) ²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹ with remainder (sa-upadhisesa-²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹); and
(ii) ²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹ without remainder (²¹²Ô³Ü±èÄå»å¾±²õ±ð²õ²¹-²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹) or final ²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹ (pari²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹).

The former is attained through the destruction or the extinction of the defilements (Äå²õ²¹±¹²¹), while the later is characterized by bringing to a halt for all time the dynamic activity of the psycho-physical factors, the ²õ²¹á¹ƒsÄå°ù²¹ that composes the human individual. On the other hand, ²¹²Ô³Ü±èÄå»å¾±²õ±ð²õ²¹-²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹ ‘remainderâ€� occurs at death of an Arahant at which point rebirth ceases and personal existence comes to the end. Thus, an Arahant in this later condition is free from the effects of kamma ‘actionâ€� while the Arahant in the former condition is not, although no more new kamma will be more produced (see Dictionary of Buddhism by Damien Keow: 195). There are various kinds of ²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹ which are mentioned in several Suttas in the Five ±·¾±°ìÄå²â²¹²õ, such as Majjhima ±·¾±°ìÄå²â²¹, Sutta number 103, 105, 106; 107.

±·¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹ is the ultimate reality which cannot be described. It is “profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoningâ€� and can only be implied by partly equivalent negative words such as ‘unbornâ€�, ‘unageingâ€�, ‘unailingâ€�, ‘deathlessâ€�, ‘sorrowlessâ€�, ‘undefiledâ€� supreme security from bondage (Majjhima ±·¾±°ìÄå²â²¹, Sutta number 26.18-9). The preeminent reality of ²Ô¾±²ú²úÄå²Ô²¹ is affirmably declared by the Buddha as the supreme foundation of truth, which has an undeceptive nature (Majjhima ±·¾±°ìÄå²â²¹, Sutta number 140.26). Such supreme noble truth can be experienced only by the wise who has destroyed all lust, hate, and ignorance and uprooted all taints in his own mind and could abide in the depths of meditation (Majjhima ±·¾±°ìÄå²â²¹, Sutta number 64.9; 75.24).

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