Metaphor and Literalism in Buddhism: The ... - misterdanger.net

THE DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT OF NIRVANA
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THE TWO NIRVANA THEORY IN
THE EARLY CANON
It is generally accepted that there are two nirvanas in early Buddhism and
they are differentiated as nirvana with a remainder of clinging and nirvana
without a remainder of clinging. There are, however, unsolved problems in
their descriptions: not only are they spelt differently, sa-upAdisesanibbAnadhAtu
and anupAdisesanibbAnadhAtu in Pali, as against sopadhiUeLanirvAOadhAtu and
nir/an-upadhiUeLanirvAOadhAtu in Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit, 1 but they also have
different meanings according to what the word upAdi, or upadhi in Sanskrit,
refers to.
The Theravada exegetical tradition takes upAdi to refer to ‘the aggregates’
and as a consequence the two kinds of nirvana correspond to the two most
important events in the Buddha’s life: enlightenment and final liberation at
death. 2 The first is expressed as nirvana with a remainder of clinging and is
explained as the cessation of defilements (kilesa-parinibbAna). That is to say,
although defilements, such as passion, hatred and delusion, have completely
ceased, the aggregates still remain (saupAdisesa). 3 The second is expressed as
‘nirvana without a remainder of clinging’ and is explained as the cessation
of the aggregates (khandha-parinibbAna). 4 That is to say, these remaining
aggregates cease completely. 5
Figuratively speaking, it is like stopping a potter’s wheel. The potter’s wheel
is spun around by the power of an electric motor. SaupAdisesa is like a wheel
spinning even after the power is turned off, due to momentum; anupAdisesa
is like the final stopping of the wheel because there is no more force left.
By contrast, some of the modern interpretations take upAdi to refer to
‘attachment’. Such scholars as Hermann Oldenberg, 6 A. O. Lovejoy 7 and
Peter Masefield 8 insisted that upAdi could not originally have meant ‘the
aggregates’, since the early canon gives another usage of upAdisesa. Not only
is it used in describing the first three of the four noble persons (ariyapuggala), 9
it is also used in describing a pair with perfect knowledge (aññA ), 10 one of
whom is a non-returner (anAgAmin) and the other a saint (arahant). 11 Thus,
the state of a non-returner can be expressed as nirvana with a remainder of
clinging, since there still is attachment left (saupAdisesa); whereas the state of
a saint (arahant) can be expressed as nirvana without a remainder of clinging,
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