Samyutta Discourses BOOK II. NANDANA Lesson #1 Nandana

II. NANDANA

(1) Nandana

Thus have I heard . On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Savatthi in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's Park. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus:

- "Bhikkhus! "

- "Venerable sir!" those bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:

- "Once in the past, bhikkhus, a certain devata of the Tavatimsa host was reveling in Nandana Grove, supplied and endowed with the five cords of celestial sensual pleasure, accompanied by a retinue of celestial nymphs. On that occasion he spoke this verse:

"They do not know bliss

Who have not seen Nandana,

The abode of the glorious male devas

Belonging to the host of Thirty.'

"When this was said, bhikkhus, a certain devata replied to that devata in verse:

"Don't you know, you fool,

That maxim of the arahants?

Impermanent are all formations;

Their nature is to arise and vanish.

Having arisen, they cease:

Their appeasement is blissful."'

* Explanatory Notes:

a). Tavatimsa, " the realm of the thirty-three," is the third sense-sphere heaven. It is so named because thirty-three youths, headed by the youth Magha, had been reborn here as a result of their meritorious deeds. Magha himself became Sakka, ruler of the devas. Nandana is the Garden of Delight in Tavatimsa, so called because it gives delight and joy to anyone who enters it. This deva had just taken rebirth into this heaven and, while wandering through the Nandana Grove, he spoke the verse as a spontaneous paean of joy over his celestial glory.

b). this rejoinder to a female deva who was a noble disciple. Thinking, "This foolish deva imagines his glory to be permanent and unchanging, unaware that it is subject to cutting off, perishing, and dissolution," she spoke her stanza in order to dispel his delusion.

c). Formations here are all formations of the three planes of existence, which are impermanent in the sense that they become nonexistent after having come to be. Their appeasement (peaceful resolution) is blissful: Nibbana itself, called the appeasement of those formations, is blissful.

What Buddhism Has to Say About Peace and the Peaceful Resolution of Conflict:

* Like all of the major world religions, at its core, Buddhism is a religion of peace. An early Buddhist collection of verses on practice in everyday life, the Pali (Theravadin) Dhammapada, makes this abundantly clear.

    "Hatred is never appeased by hatred.
     Hatred is only appeased by Love (or, non-enmity/non-hostility).
    This is an eternal law.“

* The Pali term for "eternal law" here is dharma, or the Buddhist teachings. So, this verse on non-enmity has to do with a tenet of the Buddhist faith that is fundamental, namely, peace and non-harm. (Moreover, though not often cited, the very last verses of the Dhammapada condemn the class (varna) and other prejudicial distinctions that would divide people.)

As we move ahead several centuries, we find the famed 8th century Mahayana poet, Santideva, saying pretty much the same thing. For example, one finds in Santideva's great work, the Bodhicaryavatara, these verses regarding the dangers of hatred:

"There is no evil equal to hatred, and no spiritual practice equal to forbearance. Therefore, one ought to develop forbearance, by various means, with great effort." --(Ch. 6, verse 2).

And again:

"One's mind finds no peace, neither enjoys pleasure or delight, nor goes to sleep, nor feels secure while the dart of hatred is stuck in the heart" -- (Ch.6, verse3)

* Buddhist teachings tell us that hatred and aversion, like their opposites desire and greed, all spring from a fundamental ignorance. That ignorance is our mistaken notion of our own permanent, independent existence. In ignorance, we see ourselves as separate beings, unconnected with others. Blinded to our true state of interdependence and interconnectedness, it is this basic ignorance that keeps us divided. Only practice that leads to overcoming such ignorance will help to free us from the prisons we make for ourselves and for others.

* We all harbor prejudices of various sorts. There is no exception to this fact. Not one of us is completely freed of prejudicial attitudes. We don't like certain colors or sounds; we're annoyed by certain circumstances, behaviors, or styles of doing things. We are harsh critics even of ourselves. Having likes and dislikes is taken for granted. Indeed, the ability to discriminate is considered an essential part of what makes us human beings. After all, human beings, unlike other living creatures, can form judgments and make choices. Free will and choice are taken as fundamental rights. So, one might ask, what's the problem?

* Since September 11th, we now know that such hate-filled actions are not just events that can be observed from a distance, on television, from the safety of our living rooms. It is no longer the case that we can view ourselves as simply the innocent observers of the "bad guys.“

* In reality, at our innermost cores we are all exactly the same: we are human beings who wish to have happiness and to avoid suffering. Yet, out of ignorance, we go about seeking these goals blindly and without insight. In short, we suffer because we embrace the mistaken notion of our separateness from one another. The illusion of separateness actually works to prevent us from finding the beginning of this erroneous spiral.

* Buddhist traditions tell us that from the very moment the notions of 'I' and 'mine' arise, there simultaneously arise the notions of 'not me' and 'not mine.' That is, from the moment we conceive of 'us,' there is a 'them.' Once the notions of separateness, difference, and otherness enter our thinking, we see the world in terms of us vs. them, me vs. everyone else, mine vs. yours. We are immediately caught up in a world of mistaken, logically unfounded, and seemingly uncontrollable hatred and prejudice. And all these dualistic bifurcations (divisions) occur at lightning speed and for the most part impossible to perceive.

* In Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, one is taught to use the end as the means, that is, in order to become a Buddha, we must begin now, to act and think as Buddha. We must stop thinking of peace as some distant and perhaps unachievable goal and make it our goal right now. *  "There is no path to peace; peace is the path.“