Buddha · බුද්ධ
Iddhipada and Parinirvana
How cultivating the four bases of power completes what beings lack, how a Buddha comes to be classified among six kinds, and the precise mechanism by which iddhipada is relinquished at parinirvana
17 min read
Buddha · බුද්ධ
How cultivating the four bases of power completes what beings lack, how a Buddha comes to be classified among six kinds, and the precise mechanism by which iddhipada is relinquished at parinirvana
17 min read
An English adaptation, shorter than the original (17 min read). Switch to Sinhala for the teaching in full (12 min read).
Cultivating the four bases of power (iddhipada) is a phenomenon distinctive to the domain of Buddhahood. What occurs within this Dhamma-principle is the growth of Buddha-nature relative to a being's karma and thinking. Every being carries within them a certain not-knowing. Cultivating the four iddhipada is a fulfilment of wisdom relative to that lack in a being. It is because of this relative growth that it becomes possible to give each being a path to liberation suited to them.
Cultivating iddhipada gathers together a powerful force. Because of this, one cannot attain parinirvana until iddhipada has been relinquished. Relinquishing iddhipada requires a mechanism that operates relative to another Buddha who has also cultivated iddhipada. A Buddha who has cultivated iddhipada attains parinirvana only after relinquishing the iddhipada-mind within this mechanism.
Buddhas and pacceka buddhas who cultivate iddhipada can exist simultaneously, several at once, within the same era. They may have cultivated iddhipada to differing degrees. Even so, only a single Buddha can teach the Fourfold Noble Power at any one time. Only Buddhas or pacceka buddhas cultivate iddhipada, and in a given era, only one Buddha at a time reaches its fulfilment. If another Buddha comes to surpass that one, the other Buddha attains parinirvana. A pacceka buddha lacks sufficient paramita to cultivate iddhipada to the extent of encompassing an entire world-system.
There is also a mechanism, occurring together with another Buddha who has cultivated iddhipada, needed for a person who has cultivated iddhipada to attain parinirvana. During Gautama Buddha's era, the Venerable Kassapa was a pacceka buddha who had cultivated iddhipada. As iddhipada is cultivated, one's relative speed increases. Through this, further frequencies of the universe become visible. And yet pacceka buddhas are unable to teach Dhamma, because the paramita needed to construct the Dhamma has not developed alongside that speed. The increased speed that arises through cultivating iddhipada is rebalanced again through the paramita built up over the course of one's journey through samsara.
In explaining iddhipada, the matter of paramita must first be explained. For a being to eventually be born as a Buddha, there are things that must be passed through, built up, and created by that being: relinquishment, endurance, patience, compassion, loving-kindness, and dedication within the Dhamma to the sasana, among other qualities. Fulfilling all of these, everything needed to reach the state called arahant or Buddha, is what is called paramita.
It is only Buddhas and pacceka buddhas who cultivate iddhipada. When a Buddha cultivates iddhipada, that Buddha has already completed all these paramitas in full. What a person becoming an arahant cultivates is not iddhipada, but the five powers (pancha bala): faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom, each cultivated as a form of power. To truly become an arahant in this complete sense, one must genuinely give alms, exert energy, cultivate mindfulness, and meditate, taking the whole process together. It is through this that one gains the capacity to bear the fruit of arahantship.
Mindfulness comes to notice the passage of breath: it is felt entering, felt leaving. In the first stage of cultivating iddhipada, mindfulness must become able to see, right at the point where the in-breath rises, its ceasing, and, in that very act of seeing it cease, to simultaneously see it arise. Ceasing is seen; arising is seen. Within this act of seeing, the Buddha cultivates in a manner that runs in reverse relation to it, building up frequency and energy correspondingly. As this happens, within that very mindfulness, the iddhipada-mind (citta) begins to form. As the frequency increases in this way, the citta comes to be cultivated relative to the four great elements. What becomes Buddha-knowledge is this same citta. This citta is cultivated relative to everything: relative to beings, to forms of energy, to lust, to hatred, to delusion, to ignorance, to the defilements accumulated across samsara, and relative to the whole totality of unwholesome states that beings generate. Cultivated in this way, it becomes a citta with a fixed object; the entire world-system is contained within this citta.
Buddha-knowledge contains within it this cultivated citta. What is this cultivated citta? It is the citta developed through iddhipada. The Dhamma-principle, the law by which a being can be liberated, exists within this citta, because you yourself exist within this citta. Whatever unwholesome act is done, all beings exist within this citta. So the task of Buddha-knowledge is to give the path, within this citta, to the being that exists there, and thereby that being is liberated. All beings are already caught within this citta; relative to this citta, they are like specks of dust. If a being brings forward the cause that already exists within this citta, that being can be liberated. The Dhamma-principle that being needs for liberation has already been built up within Buddha-knowledge.
There is no limit to cultivating iddhipada. The iddhipada-citta grows beyond this solar system, and at that point becomes fixed, a settled certainty. Beyond that, one can cultivate further still, beyond entire world-systems; once cultivated, that too becomes fixed, and nothing can challenge it. It is cultivated even relative to a black hole: relative to the darkness present within a black hole. A black hole breaks apart particles of light. Because it draws in light, cultivation cannot proceed relative to light there; instead, one cultivates relative to darkness itself, taking hold of the Dhamma-principle present within darkness, and overcomes the black hole. Nothing can act upon this citta. This citta becomes a Dhamma-principle belonging to the universe itself.
The frequencies of all beings become graspable to this citta. This is what is meant by becoming a fully self-enlightened Buddha. The entire world of beings exists within a Maha-Bodhisattva; it is within this that Buddhahood is attained. Other Buddhas who say they became Buddha have not necessarily become Buddha according to this exact principle. Many say they became Buddha simply through connecting with Buddha-nature. This is not incorrect, but such Buddhas are unable to make use of that Buddha-energy. Only the iddhipada-citta has the capacity to make use of Buddha-energy. A great many exist connected to Buddha-nature. But unless such Buddhas develop the wisdom to relinquish Buddha-nature itself, they cannot attain parinirvana. They do not know the method of release from Buddha-nature.
Why is iddhipada cultivated at all? Nothing directly can be done about a being's weakness, so that lack in the being must instead be filled. This is, in truth, not something done for oneself at all, but a decision made and acted upon for the sake of beings.
Why does a fully self-enlightened Buddha appear in the world? For exactly one reason: to fill the lack present in beings. If that lack cannot be fulfilled, one does not become a fully self-enlightened Buddha. Iddhipada is cultivated precisely relative to a being's lack.
What is the lack present in beings? It is their not knowing about their own lack.
What methods does a Buddha have available to complete that lack?
There is, however, one thing the Buddha does not possess: cause (hetu). If a being supplies the cause, then the cessation of defilement, the cessation of consciousness, the cessation of delusion, and the cessation of karma complete the lack: the lack of Buddha not yet having awakened within that being is completed. But for this, the being themselves must supply the cause. The Buddha's cause is the being.
What people call 'delusion' is only something they have assumed to be delusion. What they call 'consciousness' is only something assumed to be consciousness. What is called 'defilement' is only something assumed to be defilement. What is called 'karma' is only something assumed to be karma. All of it amounts to nothing more than belief.
How does a defilement become a defilement? How does consciousness become consciousness? How does delusion become delusion? People do not know any of this. They do not know the underlying principle by which these things come to be as they are. They hold only beliefs, or disbeliefs.
Cultivating iddhipada means completing wisdom relative to a being's lack. In Gautama Buddha's time, this mechanism was described as the cultivation of citta, chanda (will), viriya (energy), and vimansa (investigation).
Within the Maithri Buddha sasana, what is cultivated instead is called the seed (bija), then power, life, and 'fitting together' (gælapeema): meaning that, in the end, things arrive at a state of correspondence and balance.
The Seed: To cultivate iddhipada, one must first obtain the iddhipada-citta, the seed, from a Buddha who already possesses it. How is this seed obtained? If, within the course of one's journey through samsara, one becomes able to recognise a bodhisattva who has cultivated iddhipada, then anyone can obtain this seed. To be able to recognise one who has cultivated iddhipada, one must have associated with such cultivators throughout samsara: it is through this that the necessary causal and karmic energies mature and arrive; this familiarity must be understood. The Buddha who gives the iddhipada-citta is endowed with omniscient knowledge. What is given here is called the Buddha-seed (buddha bija). The Buddha-seed is connected with the matter of becoming Buddha. The bodhisattva who receives the Buddha-seed may, in the end, not become a fully self-enlightened Buddha at all; instead, some matter concerning the sasana may come to be fulfilled through that bodhisattva. The Buddha-seed is a matter directly relevant to the Mahayana. A Buddha teaches iddhipada while dwelling within iddhipada itself. Relative to a being's merit and karmic energy, this changes at any given moment: it is somewhat like an unnatural naturalness; no fixed nature can be imposed upon it. That very unnatural naturalness is itself the nature.
The Power: Simply obtaining the iddhipada-citta accomplishes nothing on its own: it must be strengthened. That is: the seed, the citta, has been obtained; the necessary exposition has been received; the necessary path has been received. So how is the seed strengthened? Two things must come together: will (chanda) and energy (viriya), that is, power and life. Chanda is the wish. For the wish to be fulfilled, viriya, energy, power, is needed. Without power, nothing can be accomplished. Power is something that depletes. For power to be sustained, the quality of life is needed, just as a jak-fruit seed needs the quality of life within it in order to grow into a jak-fruit.
How is this power built? Through self-confidence, confidence in oneself. This confidence must be built relative to all beings. A bodhisattva who cultivates the four iddhipada must have greater self-confidence than all beings. It is this that gives such inconceivable power to word and to deed. A Buddha is the unthinkable strength of self-confidence at its very height. In just the same way, a Buddha has the capacity to bear and endure anything, with nothing considered too costly to relinquish.
The Life: 'Life,' here, means the fruit, not the 'self' or the self-view you ordinarily understand. It is built upon feeling, upon the heart. It builds itself upon the being. This is where this particular sense of self is formed: the great compassion that says, 'this being must somehow, someday, be carried across samsara.' That is what is meant here by 'life': the self-view built upon the heart. Buddha is formed neither in the brain nor even in the mind, but upon the heart. The heart becomes a ground, a field. Within the heart lies wisdom; within it, great compassion abides. In Gautama Buddha's era, it was energy (viriya) that constituted this life, that is, the heart.
One must be able to bring all of these into correspondence: the iddhipada-citta, self-confidence, dedication, the compassion built up within the heart, and wisdom. All of this must rest upon great compassion. Whatever you come to understand, whatever you do, whatever you endure, none of it should be for your own sake. First, second, and third, it must be entirely for the sake of beings. This settled establishment is what is meant by 'fitting together' (gælapeema). This stream must flow continuously down upon beings.
What must be done, then, is this: building self-confidence, dedication and endurance, and building up great compassion for the sake of beings upon the heart.
Receiving the seed for iddhipada, and having that great compassion flow down upon beings like a stream of water, is something that happens through the Dhamma-principle itself.
Only Buddhas cultivate iddhipada. Iddhipada is cultivated only after one has broken free of the karma path one previously followed. At that point, because of great compassion, a new karma path is set in place through it. Within one who cultivates the four iddhipada, the path they had followed until then comes to an end, and what begins, in the form of iddhipada, is an entirely new journey.
Buddha is a Dhamma-principle that exists as an independent unit, one that is built up relative to the universe, yet is not itself bound to the universe. Even so, if a certain person becomes connected with this Dhamma-principle called Buddha, we cannot yet call that person 'Buddha.' The reason is that they exist mixed together with the Dhamma-principle called Buddha. Being mixed together in this way, the nature called Buddha is present within them, and it can be said that they are connected with Buddha-nature. Becoming Buddha means something more specific: it is when, within a being's individual personhood, the Dhamma-principle called Buddha has the capacity to be built up as that person's own independent unit of power. At that point, that person must be able to govern the nature called Buddha themselves. It is within that governing that they become what is called 'Buddha.' Next, if that capacity can be built up as a separate unit, distinct from oneself, that becomes Buddha-knowledge (Buddha-nana). If that Buddha-knowledge can be used to carry a being across samsara, then, once the first being carried across in this way has come into existence, this fact is proven to the world. That this capacity, using the knowledge called Buddha to carry a person across, applied to this individual personhood, has appeared, becomes established as a Dhamma-principle within this world. And the entire mechanism, the whole process that begins in this way, becomes the 'Samma Sambuddha sasana.' What happens then? It becomes 'Samma Sambuddha jnanena': Samma Sambuddha knowledge. What is this knowledge? It is a knowledge belonging to the Samma Sambuddha sasana. This is what is meant by 'Samma Sambuddha jnanena, Samma Sambuddha sasanam.'
Buddhas can be classified as: Samma Sambuddha, Pacceka Buddha, Samma Buddha, Buddha, Maharahat Buddha, and Rahat Buddha.
'Buddha': for this one, the sutra of parinirvana has not yet been grasped. So they remain within the nature called Buddha. Within that nature there is still a sense of selfhood. They exist having become Buddha, but remain caught within that nature, and a Buddha caught within that nature does not cultivate iddhipada.
'Samma Buddha': this one has grasped the sutra of parinirvana, and so exists released from Buddha-nature.
'Samma Sambuddha': this is a Buddha who has cultivated iddhipada to its utmost extent, relative to every frequency there is. Only a single Samma Sambuddha can exist at any one time: two teachers (sasthru) never arise within the same era.
'Maharahat Buddha' comes into being in accordance with bodhi and the degree to which knowledge-vision has been conjoined. A maharahat is a Mahayana Buddha.
'Rahat Buddha' belongs to the Hinayana. Through understanding the Dhamma, this one has become free of the nature that says 'I' and 'mine,' but a Rahat Buddha does not know exactly what has taken place. What a Rahat Buddha has is the fruit of arahantship.
There can also be those who, while not possessing the fruit of arahantship, have an arahant-like nature: beings free of defilement in character.
'Pacceka Buddhas' may be able to teach the Dhamma to some extent, though their paramita may not be sufficient for it. But they cannot teach the Fourfold Noble Power. Pacceka buddhas, too, cultivate iddhipada. However, a pacceka buddha cannot take a Dhamma-principle that is free of the four great elements and establish it as a phenomenon of the four great elements.
There can be Buddhas who see the Dhamma and cultivate iddhipada, yet who exist within concepts such as Hinduism or Catholicism. The Dhamma such Buddhas see is not, in itself, any different.
For a Samma Sambuddha, parinirvana means relinquishing iddhipada. That is: taking leave of beings, and taking leave of Buddha-knowledge. In taking leave of beings, responsibility for them is handed over to the next Buddha. In the end, a Buddha attains parinirvana not as a Buddha, but as an arahant.
The Buddha who is about to attain parinirvana cultivates iddhipada relative to the Buddha who has been given the prophecy as the next Buddha, and relative to beings. What is cultivated relative to the next Buddha passes through all beings. Within this, the Buddha-knowledge of the Buddha attaining parinirvana ceases, and he passes into the condition of an arahant.
The next Buddha, the Maha-Bodhisattva, already possesses the iddhipada-citta. What must especially be present is great compassion. And that bodhisattva must also be willing to take on responsibility for beings.
A Samma Sambuddha has a span of time allotted for remaining in the world, a lifespan that has been formulated (ayu sanskarana), a fixed period during which he can continue to bear whatever needs to be borne. Once that period comes to an end, he comes to understand that he can no longer keep that Buddha-energy in balance, because he no longer belongs to that era. When that happens, the time for parinirvana arrives, and he comes to know that the time for parinirvana has come. The bodhisattva who is to become the next Buddha is, correspondingly, made ready, and is invited to cultivate the citta relative to him. When a given Buddha attains parinirvana, all knowledge passes into parinirvana. What remains is this iddhipada-citta. A certain portion of this iddhipada-citta is transmitted to the one who is to become the next Buddha: without this, parinirvana cannot take place.
Having given the citta needed for cultivating iddhipada to the new Buddha, the new Buddha then begins to cultivate, relative to the present Samma Sambuddha, the iddhipada-citta he has received. As he cultivates iddhipada in this way, a certain portion is transmitted onward to the new Buddha, while the remaining portion is allowed to settle and build up upon beings. The Buddha who is about to attain parinirvana relinquishes his iddhipada-citta. Within this mechanism, a certain measure of iddhipada grows within the new Buddha upon that citta, and from that point on, the new Buddha begins to cultivate iddhipada relative to beings. This requires that this specially developed citta, and the paramita needed to bear the weight of Buddhahood, have already grown to sufficiency.
If the next Buddha does not take on responsibility for beings, the present Samma Sambuddha cannot attain parinirvana. This is exactly why the account tells us that Gautama Buddha's funeral pyre would not light until the Venerable Kassapa arrived. The Venerable Kassapa arrives there together with the next Buddha.
This is exactly how the mechanism by which a new Buddha is formed, and the shaping of the karma path, take place relative to beings' karma. Through the karma path being formed in this way for the new Buddha, the present Buddha attains parinirvana. And yet, beyond that point, it is the old Buddha whom beings continue to carry forward and hold onto. Beings do not recognize the Buddha until his parinirvana; only a very small number come to recognize him. It is by seeing the Buddha that they cross over. There is much that must be fulfilled in a Buddha, all the way through to this final relinquishing of Buddha-knowledge.
Adapted from “ඍද්ධිපාද සහ පරිනිර්වාණය”, read the original Sinhala article.
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