THE AṅGULIMĀLA-SUTTA: THE POWER OF THE FOURTH KAMMA
Keywords:
Buddhism, kamma, Angulimala, commentaries, ethicsAbstract
This paper examines the difference in the content (stories and teachings) between the Aṅgulimāla-sutta and the Pali commentaries on it. It presents several scholarly opinions of the purpose and relevance of the commentariesas well as on the meaning of the sutta. Commentarial and other retellings of the Aṅgulimāla story are discussed to show the evolution of Aṅgulimālafrom abrutal killer to a fundamentally good person trapped into wrong doing. These retellings alter the role of kamma in the story and thus alter the teaching of the sutta itself. The paper speculates on the functioning of kamma in light of the four types of kamma and how the commentaries change the kamma of Aṅgulimāla and thus the meaning and goal of the original sutta. Thus the commentaries do not explain the meaning ofsutta rather it changes it.The paperargues that the sutta teaches a swift jhānic path to enlightenment and the commentaries teach a gradual kammic path to enlightenment.
References
Bardin, Laurence. (1977). L’analyse de contenu. Paris: Presses universitaire de France.
Bodhi, Bhikkhu. (1995). The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. (Trans. of thePali). Boston: Wisdom Publications.
_____. (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. (Trans. of the Pali).Boston: Wisdom Publications.
_____. (2012). The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. (Trans. of the Pali).Boston: Wisdom Publications.
Bond, George D. (1988). The Gradual Path as a Hermeneutical Approach to the Dhamma. In Lopez, Donald S. (Ed.), Buddhist Hermeneutics, pp.29-45. Honolulu:University of Hawaii Press.
Feer, M. Léon. (Ed.). (1898, 2008). Saṃyutta-nikāya (Vol. 5). (Trans. of the Pali). Oxford:Pali Text Society.
Geertz, Clifford (1973, 2000). The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Gombrich, Richard F. (2006). How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings. London: Routledge
Harris, Elizabeth J. Violence and Disruption in Society: A Study of the Early Buddhist Texts. accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved from http:// www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/harris/wheel392.html
Hecker, Hellmuth. Angulimala: A Murder’s Road to Sainthood. access toinsight.org Retrieved from http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/ authors/hecker/wheel312.html
Horner, I. B. (1951, 2007). The Book of Discipline (Vol. 4). (Trans. of the Pali). Lancaster, England: Pali Text Society.
Jenkins, Stephen. (2011). On the Auspiciousness of Compassionate Violence. Journal of International Association of Buddhist Studies, 33(1-2) 299-331.
Kalupahana, David J. (1995). Ethics in Early Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Loy, David R. (2000). How to Reform a Serial Killer: the Buddhist Approach to Restorative Justice. In Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 7 145-168. Retrieved from http://blogs.dickinson.edu/ buddhistethics/2010/04/23/how-to-reform-a-serial-killer-the-bud dhist-approach-to-restorative-justice/
Morris, Richard. (Ed.). (1976, 1995). Aṅguttara-nikāya (Vol. II). (Trans. of the Pali). Oxford:Pali Text Society.
Norman, K.R. (Ed.). (1969, 1995). The Elder’s Verses I: Theragāthā. (Trans. of the Pali). Lancaster, England: Pali Text Society.
_____. (1997, 2006). A Philological Approach to Buddhism. Lancaster, England: Pali Text Society.
Oldenberg, Hermann, (Ed.). (1964, 2007) Vinaya-piṭakaṁ: The Mahāvagga (Vol. I).(Trans. of the Pali). Oxford: Pali Text Society.
Pals, Daniel L. (2006). Eight Theories of Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Rachawet,A., īa prasœ̄ t,W., Hatdam,M., Hīkakhunthot,K.(2011). Ongkhulimānbun čhōn long phi tǣ plīan chīwit daidāi thamma. krung thēp thēp : bō̜ risat ʻAmarin Phrinting ʻǣ phap litching .
Sao Htun Hmat Win. (1991). Eleven Holy Discourses of Protection: Maha Paritta Pali.Yangon, Myanmar: Department of Religious Affairs.
Stede. W. (1957). Angulimāla and Liberation. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 20(1/3), 533- 535. http://www.jstor.org/
Thanissaro, Bhikkhu. (1996). The Wings to Awakening. Barre, Mass: Dhamma Dana Publications.
Trenckner, V. (Ed.). (1888, 2002). Majjhima-nikāya (Vol. 1). (Trans. of the Pali). Oxford: Pali Text Society.
Walshe, Maurice. (1987, 1999). The Long Discourses of the Buddha. (Trans. of the Pali). Somerville, Massachusetts: Wisdom Publications.
Weber, Max. (1956, 1993) The Sociology of Religion. (Ephraim Fischoff Trans.) Boston:Beacon Press. (Original work published 1922)
>Read more