Buddha · බුද්ධ

Arahant Bodhi and the Paths of Liberation

Why liberation unfolds through a path unique to each person, and how it is bodhi itself, not the person, that attains parinirvana

20 min read

A vision of the path arises together with the opening up, through the Dhamma-principle called Buddha, of paths suited to each being. Whoever comes with a wholesome cause, the truth of the path relevant to them opens up through the Buddha. There is no other way by which a vision of the path opens for a being. Those who receive the path in this way, and attain understanding or liberation within that path-truth, speak only Dhamma. They cannot give the path itself to anyone else.

Parinirvana is a Dhamma-principle concerning bodhi. There is no person who attains parinirvana. It is bodhi that attains parinirvana.

Arahantship Is a Universal Law, but the Path Is Personal

Becoming an arahant is a law of the universe. Most people have heard of the path in which one cultivates the wholesome path, gains path and fruit, and reaches the fruit of arahantship. But within that path, it is not enough merely to eliminate personality-view (sakkaya-ditthi) at the point of stream-entry in order to reach the fruit of arahantship — one needs to have received a vision of the path (marga darshanaya). Otherwise, it becomes difficult to go beyond the fruit of once-returning (sakadagami). One needs to know the path relevant to oneself. Vision of the path cannot be realised alone, by oneself; it must be received through the Mahayana — that is, from a Buddha, a pacceka buddha, or a great arahant. Those who receive such a vision of the path in this way have insight regarding the path arise within them. Otherwise, one must receive bodhicitta — through bodhicitta too, insight regarding the path arises.

There can be a connection between the nature of stream-entry and once-returning fruits and vision of the path, and there can equally be no such connection. Someone may proceed along the wholesome path without any vision of the path. But it becomes difficult to proceed beyond the fruit of once-returning without such a vision. Eventually, having reached the bodhi of arahantship, it is that very bodhi which attains parinirvana. For one to reach the bodhi of arahantship and then attain parinirvana, each person has their own path, distinct and unique to them. The path-truth relevant to a person is received only from a form of knowledge-vision capable of giving that vision of the path. Path-truth is not received through discussing Dhamma in conversation — what happens through such discussion is only an understanding of the Dhamma.

Why Not Every Arahant Has a Bodhi

According to Dhamma theory, it is bodhi that attains parinirvana. One who has attained the fruit of arahantship sustains their existence, up until parinirvana, through bodhi. Put another way, at the point of bodhi, one shifts from the karmic course followed up to that point into a different karmic course. But not every arahant has a bodhi. There are occasions on which a fully self-enlightened Buddha, when giving an exposition regarding someone's attainment of the fruit of arahantship, explains how that person's bodhi should be structured, and grants them a bodhi. Often this happens in order to clarify the tasks connected with bodhi so that some service may be performed for beings. Only rarely can someone establish their own bodhi by themselves — and when this happens, it happens according to the nature of that person's bodhicitta. When someone who has attained the nature of arahantship without receiving a bodhi comes to attain parinirvana, a bodhi arises at that point, and it is that bodhi which attains parinirvana. If this does not happen, such a person's parinirvana takes place through a fully self-enlightened Buddha. As an example, beings dwelling in the Pure Abodes (Suddhavasa) attain parinirvana through a stream of luminous mind-energy from a fully self-enlightened Buddha.

In Gautama Buddha's sasana, the foundation was primarily a method of realising Dhamma through practical activity. Accordingly, there were occasions when, having observed a person's karmic course and matching it accordingly, a meditation subject was given — such as drawing water using a coconut shell. In the present age, because the mind has developed, there are fewer occasions where such methods prove useful. Today, Buddha-nature is comparatively developed, and iddhipada is comparatively cultivated — not for the sake of matters like these, but in a manner that can act directly upon karma. Methods like the one described above tend to be less successful today because they invite greater analysis by the mind. During the era of Vipassi Buddha, a brahmin known as Ekasataka offered his one and only cloth to the Buddha and thereby received bodhicitta. In that instance, Gautama Buddha sees this as an instance of receiving the robe; Vipassi Buddha, through omniscient knowledge, sees it as something as complete as a definite prophecy fulfilled. The brahmin did not need to know this himself for the fruit to be established. What is remarkable, as this fruit comes to be formed, is that a realm can be created in which the person is sustained until parinirvana — a place where one can remain, without birth, ageing, sickness and death, until parinirvana, until the exhaustion of karma. Through the flexibility available within the power of the paramita of loving-kindness (metta), one can enter that person's world, become that person, and create that fruition. All that is required from the being, for this, is their own sincere and pure nature. That is the very cause they themselves must fulfil. Through this, cessation of karma occurs. There is no need for any cultivation of a path.

When Bodhi Is Missing, the Old Karmic Course Continues

Even if realization has been attained, if bodhi has not been received, then because of not knowing how to shift from one's own karmic course into a different course within the web of karma — and not knowing the manner of that shift — one continues to act within the same old karmic course. Within that, balance is lost, and existence (bhava) is rebuilt within that very course. Even though the nature of arahantship is present, one does not know how to bring that existence to an end. This is exactly why parinirvana cannot occur without bodhi.

Those who arrive without a vision of the path do not have a deeply spiritual nature, because they arrive through a conceptual transformation built on devotion — devotion either to the Buddha or to the Dhamma. Being spiritual is something far deeper than this. A spiritual person sees the beginning, middle and end, and the cause and effect, of any matter as entirely external to themselves. They are not caught by it. They do not build a sense of self around it. These matters are seen as entirely external, seen fully, and then set aside.

Coming Out of the Fruit

Once a fruit has been attained, one must come out of that fruit. Otherwise it is like going to a barber's salon to have one's hair cut, and then remaining in the salon after the haircut is finished. If realization is complete, there is no need to remain caught within it. If you have climbed a coconut palm and plucked the coconut, you have to climb back down the tree. One must let go of Buddha-nature and come to the ordinary mind. The difference is this: at that point there is no longer any fruit-state, no cause and effect, no 'mind' in the old sense, no new karma. The way one comes out of the fruit-state is by seeing that a subtle sense of self has been built up within one's own fruit-state — a subtle self-view. Letting go of this releases the karmic course one has travelled up to that point. As it is let go, existence is built anew together with the mind. If one has been working, say, in a butcher's shop, one may keep working there — there is no fault in this, no karma involved. Within this letting-go, something new is formed appropriate to the environment one finds oneself in. This newly formed thing is what is called bodhi. Within it, there is no karmic course. There is something called Buddha's knowledge (buddha-nana) — but there is no 'arahant's knowledge.' There is only arahant bodhi.

One who has attained the fruit of arahantship, upon seeing the sense of self that has been built up within that state, lets go of that fruit, and rebuilds existence anew through the mind. At that point, one must reflect through the mind on how to live within this environment. The mind then rebuilds this method anew from within. For such a person, there is no longer anything called 'heart' — only mind remains. Together with this newly built method, they carry out whatever tasks are needed in each moment.

Bodhi means intelligence, wisdom. One receives bodhi at the moment of passing away. Once bodhi becomes complete, it is that very bodhi which attains parinirvana. After passing away, bodhi is the method that allows one's existence in this world to be rebuilt. In some cases, some role within the bodhisattva path may be assigned within one's bodhi. From another angle, the way one's karma is to be applied up to parinirvana is seen through knowledge, and a form of continued existence consistent with that is what is received through bodhi. It is a form of existence that reconciles how one arrived through samsara with how one needs to continue, bringing all of this together. It is possible for things outside this plan to happen through a person's own actions. When that happens, the manner in which those things are balanced out through karma can, at times, be more complicated than the manner in which the middle way given through bodhi would have balanced them. It is rather like it being able to rain, and darkness falling — so if one is told to take an umbrella and a torch and go, and one does not, one ends up getting soaked walking home in the dark.

Each Bodhi Is Its Own

Each person's bodhi-roots differ from one another. They differ according to a person's aim, and according to the task there is to accomplish for the good of beings. Within that task, bodhi can feel, to a person, like something that runs contrary to the middle way, or contrary to theory. Bodhi is something one thinks through and develops with one's own intelligence. From time to time, it is set aside entirely and built anew, again and again, in new ways. It is a method for restoring balance.

Even so, in the end, one must let go of the fruit-state and come to the mind. One must set the mind up wisely for continued existence. But within the mind, the memories that were there before gradually begin to fade. Their value diminishes. There is nothing worth holding onto in them, since they are not true. It is arahant intelligence that helps build continued existence at this point. At first, it was the sense of self that built up one's continued existence. Now, it is arahant bodhi that builds it. But within it, there is none of the old karmic course that had continued up to that point — one is free of it. It is rather like dying and being reborn. That is exactly why it is called attaining parinirvana. And there is no story here about that continued existence being built for the comfort of the being's own heart.

How Path-Vision Arises: Three Routes

Within vision of the path, according to Dhamma-principles, the way each person's path-truths are formed can be divided broadly into three: the wholesome path (kusala marga), the fulfilment of cause (hetu poornaya), and associating with the wise (prajnavantayan).

There are those who come through the wholesome path and attain the nature of arahantship. What is called the wholesome path is the path of stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning and arahantship. As wholesome qualities increase, balance builds up within the path. What happens within the wholesome path is the cultivation of wholesome qualities such as mindfulness, recollective mindfulness, wisdom born of mindfulness, and insight (vipassana). Even among those who cultivate the wholesome path, the path develops for each person in a manner unique to them. For example, one person may cultivate mindfulness well, develop recollective mindfulness through it, develop wisdom born of mindfulness through that, and through wisdom born of mindfulness, attain the nature of arahantship through the cessation of the sense-bases. Such a person may have little occasion to gain a realization of the Dhamma; they may attain the nature of arahantship having realized, alongside an understanding of life, principles such as gratification, danger and escape. Another person may develop mindfulness well, arrive at the middle way through mindfulness, and have a Dhamma never heard before awaken from within themselves. Such a person gains realizations of the Dhamma. Attaining the nature of arahantship upon seeing, within the cultivation of wholesome qualities, the point where duality breaks apart, is another path. Yet another wholesome path is cultivating mindfulness well and then extending and observing the five aggregates of clinging. This is a path accompanied by deep insight. It is possible for a person's knowledge-vision to develop as far as the knowledge that sees things exactly as they truly are (yathabhuta-nana), reaching even towards Buddha-knowledge, by directly seeing the point at which the root nature of a thing — its reality — actually comes into being.

Realizations of the Dhamma are not, in themselves, spiritual transformations. Realizations of the Dhamma are often an occasion on which many people are misled into believing they have attained a path and fruit. A spiritual transformation, or the attainment of a path-fruit, does not mean that something has been gained. What happens there is that the things one had mistakenly believed to be oneself simply cease to be. This cessation actually occurs only if wisdom grows alongside the realization of the Dhamma. If wisdom does not grow, the sense of self can resurface again within these very realizations of the Dhamma. People who investigate the Dhamma after hearing and reading matters in books, or hearing what others say, or hearing the Dhamma-points described by those who have had realizations of the Dhamma, develop an interest in this too. Because so much value is placed on information in this age, such inclinations are especially common. Those who lack the proper grounding for genuine realizations of the Dhamma often fall into these inclinations, construct Dhamma-matters purely within the mind, and end up closing off their own spiritual path.

Meditation and the Deeper Layers of Mind

Dhamma is not something built up through language. What is built up through language is only a single stage. Within meditation, Dhamma can be understood in various forms. One such form is reflecting on the nature (jati) of consciousness. As meditation goes deeper, the deeper qualities within consciousness begin to surface. Past existences, past memories, matters of the wholesome and unwholesome, and latent tendencies such as suppressed lust begin to resurface. Such forces begin to arise powerfully as feelings and sensations. They begin to take shape as various views and forms. To build a true path in the right direction without being caught by such things, one's perfections (paramita) need to be fulfilled. Otherwise, one will not even accept the guidance received through association with wise friends (kalyana mitra). One goes about trying to remove the delusions of this present existence and ends up building further existences instead. That is exactly why liberation through realization of the Dhamma is not easy — it requires a long period of preparation across samsara. Because of that maturity, such a person is able to speak the Dhamma skilfully. A person who has the correct vision of the path may travel a path where realizations of the Dhamma occur, yet as they travel it, they know how to find their own correct direction without being caught by the various experiences that arise along the way.

After reflecting on the nature of consciousness in this way, anyone travelling the path of the Dhamma must be careful about these things becoming taken as one's own. After that, one's own material starts to mix in with them. Mixed together like this, stories get constructed. By that point, a great deal of extraneous material has become mixed into the realization. Among these experiences, some people genuinely come to understand new things. There are various kinds of realization: seeing through form, understanding Dhamma-principles by seeing through form, becoming extremely sensitive to form, understanding arising together with that sensitivity to form, and realizing — as a Dhamma-point becomes understood — how many times across samsara it has already been understood, and where it was first heard, matching up the earlier and later links in this way. Another way understanding occurs is realizing a Dhamma-point while, in that very moment, also knowing the cause that brought about that realization. For example, when impermanence (anicca) is realized, one may sense exactly what it is, within one's own mind, that needs to fall away because of that realization. There is a stage of Dhamma-realization known as the Dhamma becoming fruit (dhamma phala-gata). This means that you yourself become the very Dhamma-principle being realized. Here, you no longer sense two separate things as convention (sammuti) and ultimate reality (paramattha). Reflection itself becomes impossible. When you say 'arahant,' you become the quality of an arahant. When you say 'impermanent,' you become impermanence itself. Here, there is no longer a 'name' and a 'form' as two separate things.

Fruition Attainment and the Boundary That Dissolves

A further stage that can arise is gaining the ability, the very instant one looks at a Dhamma-point, to settle directly into the fruit of that Dhamma-point. At this stage one can easily enter fruition attainment (phala samapatti). Maturing further within this, one reaches a state where, even while experiencing fruition attainment, one can allow defilements to stir and still direct them through wisdom. At that stage, one can experience great masses of Dhamma being felt within a span of time as brief as a flash of lightning.

The Trap of "I Am the One Walking This Path"

Another aspect present here is falling into the delusion of thinking, 'I am someone walking the Dhamma in this particular way,' 'this is how I will become an arahant,' 'I will become a Buddha,' 'I will become a pacceka buddha,' 'I will become an arahant,' and so on. These thoughts only help carry the sense of self further forward within the Dhamma. It is good to hold an aspiration. But what tends to happen, for the most part, is that all of this becomes a kind of mental bribe one gives oneself to feel settled.

The Path of Fulfilled Cause

There is another group too: those who arrive directly at the nature of arahantship through the fulfilment of a cause (hetu poornaya). What happens here is that a person performs some act with extreme purity of intention, and, as a wholesome result of it, is given the opportunity to be released from their karmic course. This fulfilment of cause happens between one sincere, pure person and another sincere, pure person. What changes for such a person is simply what they think and what they feel. There is no story of path and fruit here. There is no need to specifically come to understand something called Dhamma. What exists is simply a nature that has let go, entirely, without effort. The Dhamma too becomes understood in a way never heard before. Attachments and aversions fall away. Such people usually cannot be taught Dhamma in the ordinary way — they fall into the category of those with limited direct realization. They can only be taught Dhamma once knowledge-visions (nana-darshana) arise in them. This is how the path of the 'truth-seeker' (sacca gaveshi) begins. Such people are called great arahants (maha-rahat). One becomes a great arahant by coming to understand the whole field. For a person for whom the cause has been fulfilled, the Buddha ordinarily explains how to go about building their continued existence, doing so after observing their karmic course. The Buddha is able to describe that person's entire karmic course, from its very origin up to that point, in full. Through this, it becomes confirmed for that person through their own direct evidence. From then on, they have no further need to maintain mindfulness or practise meditation in order to bring about cessation. All that remains is to live, rebuilding their continued existence together with the mind. This is what is meant by building continued existence through arahant intelligence. At first, continued existence was built from greed, hatred and delusion. Now, continued existence is built through arahant intelligence.

The Path of Hearing, and the Seed of Faith

Within the path of wisdom (prajna marga), there is another group who become arahants by fulfilling the path and the fruit of samsara together, all at once. It is also possible to stop partway, at one of the intermediate fruits. Here, it is hearing (sravana) that forms the basis on which the path of liberation is developed. If a person can awaken their own Buddha-nature and truly hear through it, they can become a disciple of the Buddha (buddha shravaka). If a person can settle upon faith to the point of letting go of themselves entirely, bringing the Buddha alive within them and listening to the Dhamma in that way, then that seed of faith becomes a seed of Buddha-nature. This path is also an easy one for people who already possess learned knowledge (sutamaya nana). A person with such learned knowledge, on hearing the Dhamma, can see for themselves — they can see, too, exactly what point a given teaching is grounded upon.

Perfect Wholesomeness, and the Path of the Four Elements

If a person is able to perform a perfectly wholesome act, a path to nirvana exists through that as well. If a being, knowing that this is truly the Buddha, has their mind become clear and inspired, and performs some act because of it, that being's faith becomes complete in that moment. Through this, a perfectly wholesome act comes about.

It is also possible, by fully understanding the nature of the four great elements, to establish bodhicitta within that understanding, and through it, to establish bodhi. That is yet another path.

Other Paths a Buddha Opens

Beyond these, a Buddha opens up a great many further paths, relative to each being, according to that being's particular differences. Some come to the Buddha already carrying a special wholesome quality or an already-ripening cause. Breaking a cause-and-result bond, disconnecting a karmic course, the fulfilment of cause-and-result, and the fulfilment of wholesomeness are among the further methods that stand as paths of liberation. Breaking a cause-and-result bond involves a principal cause-and-result formed during an earlier Buddha's sasana being broken apart by a later Buddha. Those who arrive having been specifically prepared, within a Buddha's sasana, to carry out a particular task, attain liberation through the fulfilment of cause-and-result or the fulfilment of wholesomeness once that task is complete. There are others still who come seeking out a particular word from a Buddha. Their journey through samsara ends through a phrase such as 'Come, monk' (ehi bhikkhu) or 'I have stopped; you too, stop.' Having already completed everything necessary for liberation, they arrive simply in search of the Buddha's word.

The Buddha as a Principle Relative to the Being

Buddha is a Dhamma-principle that is built up relative to each being. However that Dhamma-principle comes to manifest, in whatever way, it is ultimately the being itself that draws its own liberation out from within that Dhamma-principle. That is why it is said that your liberation lies within you. Likewise, it is only by seeing the Buddha that one sees nirvana. For your continued existence to come to an end, the Dhamma-principle called Buddha must meet you through some path or other. It does not belong to any one religion or culture. It is your own Dhamma-principle. Your existence within delusion comes to an end through that Dhamma-principle. The way this Dhamma-principle meets each person differs from person to person. Within the vision of the path that a Buddha opens up, it is this very Dhamma-principle that manifests as different paths, relative to each being.

Adapted from “රහත් බෝධිය සහ විමුක්ති මාර්ග” — read the original Sinhala article.

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