An Atheist Explores the Dhammapada Part 26: The Mysterious Five (The Monk/Bikkhuvagga)

Dhammapada Part Twenty Five: The Monk (Bikkhuvagga)

The Mysterious Five.

“Good is restraint in the body; good is restraint in speech; good is restraint in thought. Restraint everywhere is good. The monk restrained in every way is freed from all suffering.”

Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Dhammapada).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Dhammapada, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/3IbwtwE

For the online Dhammapada that I use, see here https://bit.ly/3IgCiJr

And now:

Dhammapada Part Twenty Five: The Monk (Bikkhuvagga)

Something that I’ve questioned previously on the Dhammapada is whether or not it’s a guide for the lay person, or if it’s meant for monks, and also whether in order to achieve Nibbana one must necessarily become a monk, or nun.

I’ve noticed that other sections of the Pali Canon are dedicated to instructions for monks (Bikkhu) and nuns (Bikkhuni), and it does make me wonder if this is seen as the *only* possible route, or if a person can achieve Nibbana without having to live *quite* as Spartan as a monk.

Restraint and control in all things are the order of the day in this chapter – over the eye, ear, nose and mouth, for example. The text says that “He who has control over his hands, feet and tongue; who is fully controlled, delights in inward development, is absorbed in meditation, keeps to himself and is contented — him do people call a monk”, which seems to imply (“him do people call a monk”) that it’s the behaviour that makes one a monk, and not necessarily any kind of formal ordination. It’s phrased as “if a person behaves this way, then they are a monk”, not as “a monk is expected to behave this way”).

A lot of the behaviours are what we’d expect by now. Non-attachment, for example, is an important element – “He who has no attachment whatsoever for the mind and body, who does not grieve for what he has not — he is truly called a monk”. Meditation is also expected – “The monk who has retired to a solitary abode and calmed his mind, who comprehends the Dhamma with insight, in him there arises a delight that transcends all human delights”. Devotion to the teaching of the Buddha (both following it and teaching it are implied) is another important behaviour for one who would be called a monk.

There are a few metaphors for shedding desires, attachments, wordliness, such as emptying a boat, or a jasmine shedding withered flowers. And there is an oblique reference to “the Five” (“Cut off the five, abandon the five, and cultivate the five. The monk who has overcome the five bonds is called one who has crossed the flood”). Buddhism does love its listicles. The various “fives” are explained in the notes as “The five to be cut off are the five "lower fetters": self-illusion, doubt, belief in rites and rituals, lust and ill-will. The five to be abandoned are the five "higher fetters": craving for the divine realms with form, craving for the formless realms, conceit, restlessness, and ignorance. Stream-enterers and once-returners cut off the first three fetters, non-returners the next two and Arahants the last five. The five to be cultivated are the five spiritual faculties: faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. The five bonds are: greed, hatred, delusion, false views, and conceit.” I’m not sure that’s a particularly useful mnemonic to be honest.

Finally there is a reminder that we are our own arbitrators. “By oneself one must censure oneself and scrutinize oneself” and “One is one's own protector, one is one's own refuge”. The change must come from within; there’s no “grace of God” here, no quick salvation through belief. In this, we can see how modern therapies like CBT borrow a lot from Buddhism. Although it has features of supernatural concepts like Nibbana, it’s also very grounded in behaviour.