That Blessed One is such since (1) Accomplished, (2)
Perfectly Enlightened, (3) Endowed with knowledge and Conduct or Practice, (4)
Well-gone or Well-spoken, (5) the Knower of worlds, (6) the Guide Unsurpassed
of men to be tamed, (7) the Teacher of gods and men, (8) Enlightened, and (9)
Blessed.
(1) The Accomplished One (Arahan)
According to Visuddhimagga-Atthakatha, Arahan (Accomplished)
has five definitions. The Blessed One is accomplished for the following
reasons: 1. because Buddha is far away from all internal conflicts (Arahan),
2-3. Because Buddha destroyed the defilement — enemies and all the wheel’s
spokes (Ara-han), 4. because Buddha is worthy of requisites (Arahan), and 5. Because
buddha is devoid of secret evil-doing (A-rahan). (The beginningless round of
rebirths is called the wheel of the round of rebirths.)
(2) The Perfectly Enlightened One (Sammasambuddho)
The Lord Buddha is the Perfectly Enlightened One because the
perfect one has known all things rightly by Himself. In fact, Buddha has of
Himself known all the things, knowable things as knowable, comprehensible
things as comprehensible, removable things as removable, realizable things as realizable,
and things that may be developed as such.
(3) The Endowed One with Knowledge and Conduct (
Vijjacaranaasampanno)
The Lord Buddha is one who is endowed with three or eight
kinds of knowledge and fifteen kinds of conduct.
“Vijja” means (higher) knowledge and “Carana”, good conduct
(practice) that guides to a noble disciple and sends him towards the deathless.
* There are “Three Kinds of Knowledge”
1. The knowledge that the Buddha recollects past lives,
2. The knowledge capable of seeing the decease and rebirth
of beings, and
3. The knowledge capable of eradicating defilements.
* There are “Eight Kinds of Knowledge”
1. The knowledge or ability of attaining insight (With this
knowledge, He knows, “my body is material, made from four great elements, born
of mother and father, fed on rice and gruel, impermanent, liable to be injured
and abraded, broken and destroyed, and this is my consciousness which is bound
to it and dependent on it.”),
2. The knowledge of the production of a mind-made body, or
the supernormal power of the mind-made body (With this knowledge, out of this
body He produces another body, having a form, mind-made, complete in all its
limbs and faculities.),
3. the various supernormal powers (With the super-normal
powers, being one, The blessed one becomes many, and being many, becomes one; appears and disappears; passes through fences,
walls, and mountains unhindered as if through air; sinks into the ground and emerges from it as
if it were water; walks on the water without
breaking the surface as if on land; flies cross-legged through the air like a bird
with wings; even touches and strokes
with hand the sun and moon, mighty and powerful as they are, and travels in the
body as far as the Brahma world.),
4. The divine ear (With the divine ear, hears sounds both
divine and human, whether far or near.),
5. The knowledge of others’ minds [understanding the ways of
others’ thought] (With this knowledge, Buddha knows and distinguishes with mind
the minds of other beings.),
6. The knowledge of previous existences [the remembrance of
one’s former states of existence] (With this knowledge, remembers many previous
existences: one birth, two births,. . . . a hundred thousand births etc.),
7. The divine eye or the knowledge of the passing-away and
arising of beings (With this divine eye, sees beings passing-away and arising,
inferior and superior, well-favored and ill-favored, to happy and unhappy
destinations as kamma directs them.), and
8. The knowledge of eradicating defilements (With mind
concentrated, purified and cleansed, unblemished, free from impurities,
malleable, workable, established and having gained imperturbability, applies and directs mind to the knowledge of
eradicating defilements or destruction of corruptions. With this knowledge, knows
as it really is: “This is suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of
suffering, and the path leading to the cessation of suffering.)
(Digha nikaya, Vol.1,Samathaphala Sutta)
* The Fifteen kinds of the Good Conducts are as follows:
1. Restraint by virtue (moral restraint),
2. Guarding the doors of the sense faculties (Watching over
the sense-doors),
3. Moderation in eating,
4. Watchfulness,
5. Faith,
6. Shame of wrong-doing,
7. Fear of wrong-doing,
8. Great learning,
9. Energy,
10. Mindfulness,
11. Wisdom, and
12-15. Four Jhanas of the fine material sphere.
(4) The Well-gone One or The Well-spoken One ( Sugata)
The term “Sugata” has two definitions:
1. One who has gone to the deathless, Nibbana and
2. One who speaks rightly, (It means that the Lord Buddha
speaks only fitting speech in the fitting place).
* The Six kinds of Speech
The Six Kinds of Speech are as follows:
1. The first one which is untrue, incorrect, and unbeneficial,
and unwelcome and disagreeable to others,
2. The second, which is true and correct, but unbeneficial,
and unwelcome and disagreeable to others,
3. The third, which is true, correct, and beneficial, but
unwelcome and disagreeable to others,
4. The fourth, which is untrue, incorrect, and unbeneficial,
but welcome and agreeable to others,
5. The fifth, which is true and correct but unbeneficial,
and welcome and agreeable to others, and
6. The sixth, which is true and correct, and beneficial, and
welcome and agreeable to others.
Of them, only the third and sixth are the two kinds of
speech that the Lord Buddha speaks because those are true, correct, and
beneficial.
(Majjhima nikaya, Vol. 2, Abhayaraja-kumara Sutta)
(5) The Knower of the Worlds ( Lokavidu)
The Buddha is the Knower of Worlds because the blessed one
has known the world in all ways.
* There are Three Kinds of World:
1. The world of formations (Sankaraloka),
2. The world of beings (Sattaloka),
3. The world of location (Okasaloka).
(6) The Incomparable Leader of men to be Tamed (Anuttaro
purisadammasarathi)
The Buddha surpasses the whole world in the special
qualities of virtue, concentration, understanding, deliverance, and knowledge
and vision of deliverance, so buddha is the Incomparable Leader (Master) of men
to be tamed.
(7) The Teacher of Celestial and Human Beings (Sattha
devamanussanan)
It is usual for religious masters to seek advice or teaching
from the deities or gods, but this would never happen in the case of the
Buddha. The deities are also beings caught in the round of rebirths because
they could not find the way out of it. The Buddha did not seek counsel from
human beings either, and relied solely on own knowledge of the Dhamma. On the
other hand, deities and human beings merely come to Him for counsel or advice
and teaching, thus buddha is the teacher of them.
(8) The Enlightened One (Buddho)
The Lord has discovered the Four Noble Truths by Himself and
awakened others to them, thus enlightened.
* The Four Noble Truths that He has discovered are:
(1) The truth of suffering,
(2) The truth of the cause of suffering,
(3) The truth of the cessation of suffering, and
(4) The truth of the way leading to the cessation of
suffering.
(9) The Blessed One (Bhagava)
The Buddha is endowed with the six things:
(1) Lordship [Issariya],
(2) Doctrine [Dhamma],
(3) Fame [Yasa],
(4) Glory [Siri],
(5) Wish [Kama], and
(6) Endeavor [Payatta],
thus called the Blessed One.
1). The Buddha has the supreme lordship over own mind as
follows:
i. Anima – power to make the body minute (e.g. making the
size of an atom),
ii. Laghima – power to make the body light (e.g. walking on
air),
iii. Mahima – power to make the body huge,
iv. Patti – power to arrive where He wants to go,
v. Pakamma – power to produce what He wants by resolving,
etc.,
vi. Isita – power to make anyone or anything follow His
wishes,
vii. Vasita – power to create at will water, fire, etc., and
viii. Yatthakamavasayita – power to attain the perfection in
all ways, who wants to go through the air or do anything else of the sort.
2). The Buddha has the supramundane Dhamma.
3). The Buddha has the greatly pure fame, spread through the
three worlds, attained through the quality of veracity.
4). The Buddha has the glory of all limbs, perfect in every
appearance, which is capable of comforting the eyes of people eager to see buddha’s
material body.
5). The Buddha has the wish i.e., accomplishment of whatever
is wanted by Buddha whether it be for own benefit or for another’s (others’).
6). and the Buddha has the endeavor, the right effort, which
is the reason why the whole world reveres the prefect one.
May all Beings be well and happy & attains the fruits of
Nibbana.
Suranda Weediyage
BA, Tripitakachariya, Dip in Pali/ Buddhism (Pali & Buddhist University of Sri Lanka), HNDBF,
surandalk@gmail.com
http://www.thebuddhadhamma.wordpress.com
