U PUN
By U Ba Than
Translated by Ba Thet Gyi
I was ordained for five days
and during that time, one of the monks of the monastery came
to the Dhamma discussion in my presence. In the course of
the discussion, the monk asked me “ Is this fan a rupa
or a nama?”
U Pun :-“ It
is nama.”
Monk :- “ I
said this is the rupa dhamma.”
U Pun :-“ If
it is rupa, please count them.”
Monk :- “Pahtavi,tezaw,ahbaw,vayaw,wunna,gandha,rasa,awza.
All together eight in all.”
U Pun :-“ Oh!
The fan is not among the eight you have recited, isn’t
it?”
Monk :- (
After seriously thought ) There isn’t a fan in the
nama skandha.”
U Pun :-“ At
the beginning, a child looking at a fan and do not understand
it as a fan. It is the older people who taught him to call
it a fan. Remembering it is called sannakhanda isn’t
it?”
Monk :- “ Yes “
U Pun :- “ What
is sannakhanda? A rupa or nama?”
Monk :- “ It
is nama”
U Pun :-“ That
is why when you ask what it is, the answer will be a rupa.
When you ask what is a fan, then the fan is a nama.”
** * * * * **
At one time, there came to
Ko Shwe’s house, two nuns, to preach how to differentiate
between pannati (conventional reality) and paramata(the ultimate
truth). After an hour, the preaching concluded, I asked the
nuns “ You were preaching the difference between the
pannati and paramata. Are you aware of it yourself?” The
nun said, annoyed, “Of course I can differentiate them.”
U Pun :-“If
you can answer my question, I will agree that you are aware
of it, otherwise you do not understand it yet.”
The nun :- “Please
go ahead.”
U Pun :-“In
that case, there is a well one hundred cubit deep. There
is a man in the bottom of the well. Without using a ladder
or a rope, how could you bring the man to the surface? If
you can, then you are aware of it. If you cannot, then you
do not know it yet.” The nun “ I will lift him
up to the surface in my mind.”
U Pun :-“The
man you wanted to lift is still in the well.” She was
startled. I continued “ You cannot differentiate it
yet. All of what I was telling you are conventional truths,
or concepts in your mind. The well was only a mental construction.
The man was also just a concept in the mind. So were the
ladder as well as the rope. You don’t know the conventional
truth and yet you wanted to lift the man. When you don’t
know the conventional truth as conventional is, how can you
differentiate the difference between the conventional truth
and the ultimate truth?”
* * * * * * *
Once I was invited to a dhamma
friend’s house. His wife asked me “U Pun, for
the dana that I have given, please tell me whether I will
get to nibbana?” To that question, I answered “ You
will get to nibbana provided that you do not expect any thing
in return.” There was an ex-monk, U Hla Shwe, in the
corner of the room, interrupted by saying “ I cannot
accept that statement”. I invited him to come closer
and asked,:“ So you accept the fact that you will get
to nibbana only when you are expecting something?”
U Hla Shwe :- “Yes.”
U Pun :-“ Please
let me listen to your explanation.”
U Hla Shwe :- “ I
do not long for peace and quiteness for humans or devas but
for the nibbana equanimity”.
U Pun :-“Good.
Please tell me what nibbana is.”
U Hla Shwe :- “Nibbana
is aloba,adosa and amoha.”
U Pun :- “When
I said I wasn’t expecting anything for my self-interest,
is it loba or aloba?” U Hla Shwe “ That is aloba.”
U Pun :-“You
were preaching aloba. I was also preaching aloba. Why can’t
you accept my statement? Please be careful. The danna you
mentioned was based upon the avijja, which was, so to speak,
nibbana on credit. What I am pointing out is the dana based
on v vijja. It is a cash down nibbana. What I said was to
let go of the material objects and the clinging inwardly.
You were saying to let go of the material object but still
cling inwardly.”
On one occasion, at the house
of Ko Nyi Pu and DawSaw Nyunt’s house, there was a
lay Dhamma teacher, U Myint Thein of Sule Pagoda of Rangoon.
I was invited to this gathering. U Myint Thein said that
one can not achieve nibbana by merely practicing sila. It
was only for the longevity. After his discourse, I had the
following discussion with him.
U Pun :-“You have said that one
cannot achieve nibbana with sila. Isn’t it true?” U
Myint Thein” Yes.”
U Pun :-“ Can
one achieve nibbana with the Eight Noble Paths?”
U Myint Thein :- “ Yes,
it is possible.”
U Pun :-“ If
you put the Eight Noble Paths in a nut shell, what will you
get?”
U Myint Thein :-“ Sila,samadhi
and panna.”
U Pun :-“Why
did you include sila in the nut shell? You should exclude
it, isn’t it? It proofs that one could achieve nibbana
with sila alone.”
U Myint Thein :-“ Please
enlighten me.”
U Pun :-“The
story is about Angullimal, which you already knew. What he
needed was one finger only. With anger he asked Lord Buddha ‘ Hey,
monk. Are you afraid to die?’ The reply was ‘ I
am not ‘. He asked again ‘If you are not afraid
to die, why then are you running?’ Lord Buddha answered ‘ I
am not running,
but you are.’ Angullimal asked‘ ‘Why are you telling lies,
a monk shouldn’t be telling lies.” To that, Lord Buddha explained
that ‘what I was telling you was you were running in the samsara.’ After
that Angullimal requested Lord Buddha to give a sermon. He was asked to drop
the sword and said,‘you are the one who is running in samsara. You were
trying to steal the finger. My mind is free from stealing thoughts. Your stealing
mind is going round in the samsara. When Angullimal heard that,he became enlightened.
How was he enlightened? Because he has upheld the sila by abstaining from stealing,
isn’t it? Sila is also a dhamma. It all depends on the person who uses
the sila, whether he has the wisdom or not.” After that U Myint Thein
asked the following questions suspiciously.”.
U Myint Thein :- “ Will
you agree with me if I said that Lord Buddha still had some
wrong view?”
U Pun :-“Did
Lord Buddha claimed that he had one? Or was it you who thought
that Lord Buddha had some wrong view?”
U Myint Thein :- “It
is not from the Lord Buddha saying it. It is my own conjecture.”
U Pun :-“Please
relate to me how you saw it.”
U Myint Thein :- “After
Lord Buddha was enlightened, he went back to the country
of his parent. With the exception of his wife, Yasadoya,
every one of the relatives came out to welcome him. He personally
went to her room and gave a discourse. This was because of
his wrong view, isn’t it?”
U Pun :-“Irrespective
of whether the person was a relative or an enemy, whoever
could be delivered, he will do so. Don’t you think
it is more appropriate to say compassion instead of belief.” |
