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

NIRVANA IN THE THERAVf DA BUDDHIST TRADITION
is one that is beyond normal comprehension, not that is a state of
nothingness. 5
Although the two interpretations are based on different sources, they have
one thing in common: as a fire extinguished does not finally end its existence
but goes back to its origin or latent state, the state of an enlightened person
after death cannot simply be mere non-existence.
However, it has not been proved that the allegedly common Indian view
was already presupposed in the early canon when the metaphor of a fire
extinguished was used to explain what happens to an enlightened person
after death. 6 That is to say, it should be determined through the context in
which this metaphor was used in the early canon. In this chapter, I am
dealing with this problem by examining Buddhist methodology seen in the
early canon, by clarifying the meaning of this metaphor in the context of
Vacchagotta’s unanswered questions and by exploring later developments,
especially within the Theravada system.
Buddhist methodology
In order to see how the metaphor of a fire extinguished was used in the
dialogue between the Buddha and Vacchagotta, we may need to look at
the methodology, or the way of thinking, underlying their conversation. The
methodology used by the Buddha could be termed yoniso manasikAra, meaning
‘thinking according to the cause’.
This term has been translated in various ways as wise attention, proper
attention, systematic attention, reasoning attention, critical reflection and
thinking according to the law. ‘Making in the mind’, the literal meaning of
manasikAra, seems to favour translating this word as ‘attention’. Actually,
manasikAra is not included in the category of good dhamma (kusala dhamma)
in the DhammasaWgaOi but added later by Buddhaghosa in its commentary,
the AtthasAlinC, as one of nine states. 7 That is to say, it is highly unlikely that
attention was the original meaning of this word manasikAra.
In the early canon, it is more likely to mean simply ‘thought’ or ‘reflection’
and is usually found together with yoniso. The word yoniso, an adverbial
form of yoni, the womb, origin or way of birth, tends to mean ‘from the
origin, methodically, wisely and thoroughly’. This compound, thus, means
‘thinking according to the origin’ or ‘reflecting from the origin’, and was
generally used in the early canon in three different ways.
First, it can be used as a means through which cankers (Asava) are removed
according to the SabbAsavasutta in the MajjhimanikAya:
Then, Oh monks, what is the cessation of cankers (Asava) of one
who knows and of one who sees? There is thinking according to the
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