Bhikkhu Buddhad#sa's Interpretation of the Buddha

Donald K. Swearer
Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 64, No. 2. (Summer, 1996), pp. 313-336.
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Journal of the American Academy of Religion LXIV/Z
Bhikkhu Buddhadasa's
Interpretation of the Buddha*
Donald K. Swearer
BHIKKHU BUDDHAD~~A. MODERN Thailand's noted interpreter
of Buddhism, died on July 8, 1993. Born in 1906 in Chaiya, soGthern
Thailand, he entered the monkhood in 1927. He spent most of his
monastic life at Wat Suan Mokkhabalarama (the Garden of Empowering
Liberation) which he founded in 1932. At that time Thailand was under-
going momentous changes. The monarchy surrendered its absolute
power to a military and civilian oligarchy the very year Buddhadasa
founded Wat Suan Mokkhabalarama. Economically the country was in
severe straits due to the worldwide economic depression. The gradual
pace of socio-cultural transformation was on the brink of ever more rapid
acceleration that ensued in the period following the Second World War
and the prolonged Vietnam conflict.
During his sixty years of active monastic life at Wat Suan Mokkhabala-
rama Buddhadasa produced an immense corpus of oral and written work
Donald K. Swearer is the Charles and Harriet Cox McDowell Professor of Religion at Swarthmore
College, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1397.
*This essay is modified from a paper 1 delivered at the International Thai Studies Conference,
SOAS, July 7, 1993. An earlier version appeared as "Buddha, Buddhism, and Bhikkhu Buddhadba,"
m Radical Conservatism: Buddhism in the Contemporary World. Articles in Honor of Bhikkhu BuddhadllsaS
84th Birthday Anniversary, ed. by S. Sivaraksa (Bangkok: Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Devel-
opment, 19901, pp. 230-245. For support of my research on Thai Buddhism 1wish to acknowledge
the following: the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars (Fulbright), the John Simon
Guggenheim Foundation, Swarthmore College, and the hospitality of the Social Research Institute of
Chiang Mai University
314 journal of the American Academy of Religion
shaped in part by the changing, modernizing environment in which he
lived. Although a few monographs in European languages on Buddha-
dasa's life and work have been published, Buddhadasa scholarship is only
at the begnning stages of systematically digesting, studying, analyzing
and evaluating his contribution to Buddhist thought.'
In this essay I offer a preliminary analysis of Buddhadasa's under-
standing of the Buddha. Buddhadasa's interpretation will be set within
two contexts: traditional Theravsda lives of the Buddha and the modem
Thai reformist tradition of which Buddhadasa can be seen as both a repre-
sentative and a progenitor. My analysis is based on Buddhadasa's refer-
ences to the Buddha in such seminal essays as Phas~1 Khon, Phaa Tham
[Ordina Language, Truth Language], but relies most particularly on Phra
Phutha 2'hao Khu' Khrai [Who Is the Buddha?], Kan Upati Khu'n Khong
Samrnaamphutha &ao [The Appearance of the Fully Enlightened Bud-
dha], Kan Hen Phra Phuta &ao Ong &ing [Seeing the True Buddha], Phra
Phuta &ao Mi Yii Nai Thuk Hon Thuk Haeng [The Buddha Is Present
Everywhere All the Time], Phra Phuta Chao Yii Kap Raw Dai Talqt Wdii
[The Buddha Is With Us All of the Time], and Phra Phuta Chao Thi Than
Yang Mai Rii &ah [The Buddha You Still Do Not Know] . 3 Buddhadasa also
composed five different studies of the life of the Buddha (Phuta Prawat
[Buddha histories]): a) one comprised of selections translated from the
Pali Suttas (Phuta Phrawat t hak Phra bt [The History of the Buddha Based
on the Pali Suttas]), b) a life of the Buddha translated from English (Phuta
Phrawat Samrap Naksu'ksa [A History of the Buddha for Students]), c) a
popular life of the Buddha (Kiatikhun Phra Phuta t hao [The Renowned
Deeds of the Buddha]), d) Phuta Phrawat t hak Salakyuk Kqn Mi Phra
Phuta Riip [A History of the Buddha from Stone Inscriptions Prior to the
1For the most detailed, critical study of Buddhadasa see Gabaude (1988). Also useful is Jackson
(1988). An American monk at Wat Suan Mokkhabalararna, Phra Santikaro, is one of the major trans-
lators of Buddhadasa's Dhamma talks published in Thailand. For an English translation of
Buddhadasa's essays, see Me and Mine. Selected Essays of Bhikkhu Buddhadasa (1989b), edited with an
introduction by Donald K. Swearer.
2 Transliteration of Thai terms follows the Library of Congress fonnat with slight modification. Book
titles and proper names follow the Thai pronunciation of Pali spellings, e.g., Pathomsomphat for
Pathamasambodhi and Wachirayanawarorot for Vajiraliamvarorasa. In general usage, however, Pali
terms are transliterated as Pali rather than Thai, e.g., dhamma instead of tham, Buddha instead of
Phuta. 1 also transliterate Buddhadasa in the Pali rather than the Thai form (Phutatht).
3 1 am grateful to Phra Santikaro for providing me the following audio tapes of Buddhad~sa's
Dhamma talks, Phra Phuta duo Khu' Khrai [Who Is the Buddha?] and Kan Upati Khu'n Khong Sam-
masamphutha Chao [The Appearance of the Fully Enlightened Buddha]. Respectively, they were
Buddhadasa's 1980 VMkha Pcja and Asalh Ptijja talks. Kan Hen Phra Phuta duoOng Ching [Seeing
the True Buddha] and Phra Phuta &o Mi Yii Nai Thuk Hon Thuk Haeng [The Buddha Is Present
Everywhere All the Time] were lectures printed as volume 48 in the series Chut Mun 4 (Turning the
Wheel). Phra Phuta Chao Yii Kap Raw Dai Tafqt Wela [The Buddha Is With Us All of the Time] was
Buddhadaa's Makha Ptija talk in in 1977. Phra Phuta Chao Thi Than Yang Mai Ric Chak [The Buddha
You Still Do Not Know] was his VissIkha Ptijh?j8 lecture in 1989, Both were published in a single vol-
ume in 1990.
315 Swearer: Bhikkhu Buddhaddsa's Interpretation of the Buddha
Appearance of the Buddha Image]), e) Phuta Phrawat Chapap Wi&n [A
Critical History of the Buddhal .4
The person or figure of the Buddha naturally occupies a place of cen-
tral importance in the Buddhist tradition. It is generally stated that Thera-
vada acclaims the centrality of the historical Buddha, while Mahayana
and Vajrayana digress into more philosophical and esoteric constructions;
however, even the casual observer of various forms of Buddhism realizes
the inadequacy of such a categorization from either historical or contem-
porary perspectives. Each strand of Buddhism has a Buddhologcal com-
plexity that defies stereotypes and easy generalizations. Furthermore,
conceptions of the Buddha are dynamic and changing, reflecting evolving
philosophical and religious committments as well as differing cultural cli-
mates and historical environments. No religous tradition is static, even
when it comes to such central items of belief as the nature of the founder
of that tradition or its locus of faith and devotion.
It is beyond the scope of this essay to discuss the complexity of the
historical development of stories of the Buddha or "Buddha histories" as
they are known in Thai (Buddha-phrawat). This important subject has
been studied and debated by such noted western Buddhist scholars as
E. J. Thomas, Ernst Waldschmidt, Andrea Bareau, Etienne Lamotte,
Alfred Foucher, and Erich Frauwallner among others5 However, to better
understand Buddhadasa's interpretation of the Buddha within the con-
text of Theravada Buddhism, I shall look briefly at two classical Thera-
vada biographies-the Nidanakatha, a fifth century Pali commentary, and
a later Pali biography, the Pathamasambodhi [The Buddha's First Enlight-
enment] (Thai, Pathomsomphdt). The fame of the nineteenth-century Thai
version of the Pathomsomphbt composed by Prince-Patriarch Paramanu-
Ehit (d. 1853) has obscured the fact that this Buddha history-at least
one by the same title-originated several centuries earlier in northern
Thailand. The original Pathomsomphbt may have been written in Chiang
Mai in the sixteenth century during one of the greatest periods of Pali
scholarship in Thailand.
4 Phuta Phrawat Samrap Naksu'ksa [A History of the Buddha for Students] is a translation of Bhikkhu
Silacara (J. E McKenchnie), A Young People's LiJe ofthe Buddha, Colombo: W E. Bastian & Co., 1953.
The essays in Phuta Phrawat Chapap Withan [A Critical History of the Buddha] appeared between
1943-1945 in Nangsfi' Phuta Sasana [The Buddhist], a periodical published by the Dhammadana
Foundation connected with Wat Suan Mokkhaballlr&na.
5 In particular see Thomas, Foucher, and Bareau (1963, 1971). I am particularly indebted to Frank
Reynolds (1976) for my discussion of the backgrounds to this study of Buddhad%asa's interpretation
of the Buddha.
6 George Coedes notes the possibility of sixteenth-century Chiang Mai authorship of the Pathama-
sambodhi citing the existence of an old Tai Yiian recension as evidence. He also notes other options.
In an article (1968) Coedes discusses manuscript variants and differences between central Thai and
northern Thai ( U ~ M) versions. Bumphen Rawin of Chiang Mai University has published a Thai
transliteration of the Tai Yiian text (1993).
-- -
316 Journal of the American Academy of Religion
The second half of this essay focuses on Buddhadasa's interpretation
of the Buddha. I shall analyze Buddhadasa's views within the context of
late nineteenth and early twentieth-century modernist tendencies in Thai
Buddhism, in particular, Chao Phraya Thipakorawong's demythologized
version of the cosmological treatise, the Traiphiim Phra Ruang (The Three
Worlds of Kmg Ruang), and Supreme Patriarch Sa's (d. 1900 ) modernist
rendering of the Pathomsomphbt. I shall argue that Buddhadasa's picture of
the Buddha continues this modernist, demythologizing trend, although it
goes far beyond it and constitutes one of the reasons Buddhadasa has been
accused of being Mahayanist. While elements of Buddhadasa's interpreta-
tion of the Buddha are consistent with Mahayiina Buddhology, the various
currents of thought that have influenced his own views should not detract
from his unique and orignal contribution.'
Buddhadasa's study of different religous traditions naturally included
Mahayana sources, especially Zen. For example, he translated John Blo-
feld's English translation of Huang Po into Thai, and several murals on
the interior walls of the Spiritual Theater at Wat Suan Mokkhabalarama
are inspired by Zen sources. Nevertheless, to claim that Buddhadasa's
Buddhology is a Mahayanist construction is as problematic as claiming
that his epistemology borrows from Nagarjuna or that his ethics derives
from his reading of the Gospel of Matthew in the Christian Bible.8
Buddhadasa's dhamma is indebted to many influences, the Pali suttas in
particular, but to non-Theravada sources as well. He saw himself as an
interpreter of buddhadhamma, not as a conveyor of Theravada orthodoxy.
Indeed, he was especially critical of Abhidhamma scholasticism and of the
fifth-century commentator, Buddhaghosa, who more than anyone else
established normative Theravada doctrine.
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA: TRADITIONAL T HE RAV~ A
There is no single life story of the Buddha in the Pali canon. The
absence of such a story might be explained by the view held by many
contemporary Theravadins that the Buddha's primary function was to
reveal the dhamma or that the Buddha's story serves only as a vehicle of
propagating the dhamma. Supporters of this view point out that the Bud-
dha said his successor would be the dhamma and the vinaya, not one of
Critical Western studies of Buddhadasa tend to make him a product of his times. For example,
Jackson (19891, Section 11. The subject of Buddhadasa and Mahayana has been addressed by
Gabaude (19881, esp. ch. 7, and Satha-Anand (1992).
For Buddhad- on Christianity, see Donald K. Swearer, Dialogue: The Key to Understanding Other
Religions (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1977), ch. 7.
Swearer: Bhikkhu Buddhadasa's Interpretation of the Buddha 31 7
his disciples. From this viewpoint the Pali Suttas constitute not only the
Buddha's dhamma but also, taken together, these teaching episodes con-
stitute his life.9
Despite the fact that no single canonical narrative of the Buddha's life
exists, the Pali canon does contain various fragments of biographical
material which were eventually brought together and elaborated in fifth-
century CE commentaries several hundred years later than the earliest
Sanskrit sources, e.g., Lalitavistara. The Nidanakatha became the normative
Theravada life story of the Buddha. Formally this text is a commentary
introducton to the Pali Jataka, stories of previous bodhisatta lives of the
Buddha found in the fifth section of the Pali canon (Khuddaka Nikaya). It
begns with the lineage of the twenty-four Buddhas anterior to Siddhattha
Gotama recounted in the Buddhavamsa, focusing in particular on the story
of the virtuous Brahman, Sumedha, whom the first Buddha, Dipankara,
predicts will realize Buddhahood as Siddhattha Gotama. The story con-
cludes with the Buddha's enlightenment and first teaching followed by
Anathapin&ka's donation of the Jetavana monastery where the tathagata is
represented as having related the greater part of thelataka stories. As its
date indicates, the standard Theravada life of the Buddha was compiled
several hundred years after the founder's death. It represents a rich syn-
thesis of various traditions-canonical and non-canonical, royal and
monastic, monkish and popular.
The traditional life of the Buddha as it is known today in Theravada
Buddhism reflects a process of gradual historical development of various
biographical cycles (F: Reynolds 1976). Scholars point to four historical
periods seminal to the development of the traditional Theravada life of
the Buddha: the Buddha's own lifetime (traditional dates circa 567-483
BCE), the reign of King Asoka (circa 275-236 BCE), the formation of the
written Pali canon (circa first century CE), and the compilation of the
major Pali commentarial life of the Buddha (circa fifth century CE). From
the standpoint of the development of the Buddha biography four major
segments can be distinguished: stories of the Buddha's previous lives as
tathagata recorded principally in the Buddhavamsa and as bodhisatta for
which the jataka is the major source; accounts of the Buddha's genealogy,
birth, and youth; stories of the Buddha's enlightenment and early years of
his teaching; accounts of the final months of his life, his parinibbana, and
first teaching (E Reynolds: 42-43).
The most recent Western scholarship on this issue sees a tension in early Indian Buddhism
between a devotional construction of the Buddha that promotes the person of the Blessed One and a
counter-tendency that emphasizes the dhamma over the person of the Buddha. Late nineteenth and
early twentieth-century Western Buddholopts tended to emphasize the rational nature of early Bud-
dhism and, hence, highlighted those texts that promoted the latter view. This position is now being
challenged and in some cases reversed on the grounds that from the very beginning Buddhism was
rooted in a devotional construction of the Buddha as a charismatic holy man. For example, see Ray
(1994).
318 Journal of the American Academy of Religion
jataka stories are a particularly important biographical genre in the
popular Theravada tradition. Many were probably Buddhacized sermons
adapted from oral, vernacular folk contexts. The jntaka was already a
well-established genre in the pre-Asokan period as well as during and
after Asoka's reign. Jatakas certainly both reflected and influenced popu-
lar views of the Buddha. Moreover, texts closely related to the jataka (e.g.,
the Buddhavamsa, stories of the future Buddha's encounters with the
twenty-four previous Buddhas, and the Cariyapitaka, stories in which the
future Buddha acquires the moral perfections that lead to Buddhahood)
contributed to the formation of a continuous ndrrative of the Buddha's
life. Even after the creation of the Nidanakatha in the fifth century as an
introduction to the present 547 canonical jatakas, both Pali and vernacu-
lar stories of the Buddha's previous lives continued to be written. North-
em Thailand, in particular, was an important source of jataka tales.
Although the best known is the Pannasajataka [Fifty Jataka Stories],
many single, uncompiled stories are still extant in monastery library col-
lection~. ' ~
The Pali Suttas give little attention to the Buddha's birth and youth.
For example, the Mahapadana Sutta recounts episodes in the life of the
Buddha Vipassi, events mirrored in the life of Gotama as well. Half of the
sutta is devoted to the birth and youth of the Buddha including his
descent from Tusita heaven. It contains the seminal story of the four
sights (old age, suffering, death, renunciation) and the Buddha's subse-
quent departure from the Sakyan capital, Kapilavatthu. Scholarly opinion
suggests that stories of the Buddha's family, birth, and youth probably
developed in conjunction with the practice of pilgrimage, especially to
Kapilavatthu, and that a cycle of legends emerged relating the Buddha to
a royal geneology (E Reynolds 1976; Foucher: Part I). Other important
elements added to this segment of the Buddha story included scenes
from the great renunciation, the great departure, and the Buddha's
encounter with Mara. This last episode figures prominently in popular
northern Thai Buddha histories such as the Pathomsomphb t and the Eye
Opening Sutta (Suat Berk Phranct) chanted on the occasion of Buddha
image consecration rituals.
The Buddha's enlightenment figures more prominently in the Pali
scriptures than accounts of his youth, e.g., the Bhayabherava, Dvedhavi-
takka, Ariyapariyesana, Mahrisaccaka Suttas in the Majjhima Nikaya (I) and
the relatively expansive account in the Mahavagga of the Vinaya Pitaka.
Episodes surrounding the Buddha's enlightenment may also have been
'OMost palm leaf and mulberry paper album texts in northern Thai monasteries are in a sad state
of disarray and disrepair. For several years efforts have been made by various groups, in particular
Chiang Mai University, to survey, catalogue, and preserve manuscript collections. The largest collec-
tion of northern Thai palm leaf texts on microfilm is stored in the manuscript archives of the Social
Research Institute, Chiang Mai University For the Pannasajataka, see Homer and Jaini.
319 Swearer: Bhikkhu Buddhaha's Interpretation of the Buddha
generated by the practice of pilgrimage to Uruvela, Benares, and Riijagaha
(Foucher: Parts I and 11). Especially prominent are the following epi-
sodes: the Buddha's apprenticeships with Alara Kalama and Uddaka
Riimaputta, Sujata's offering to the Buddha under the Bodhi tree," his
preaching of the Abhidhamma to his mother in Tavatimsa heaven, his vic-
tory over Mara, and conflicts between the Buddha and and his treacher-
ous cousin, Devadatta, who functions as the human counterpart of Mara.
The Buddha's death is recounted in one of the richest and most interest-
ing of the Pali Suttas, the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (Bareau 1971, 1979).
Later texts of the chronicle or vamsa type, e.g., Thiipavamsa, Dhatuvamsa,
elaborate the growing cult of Buddha relics which is at the heart of much
popular Buddhist piety, especially in conjunction with pilgrimage.
The Nidanakatha links together several of the elements in the various
segments of the Buddha story referred to previously. The narrative high-
lights the following: the canonical perspective of the Buddha as a his-
torical figure, the virtue of renunciation as evidenced in the Buddha's
previous lives, the great departure, Siddhattha's ascetic apprenticeship
and his eventual rejection of extreme ascetical practice, and the close rela-
tionship between the themes of the universal monarch (cakkavattin ) and
the fully enlightened being (sammiisambuddha). In sum, the author suc-
ceeds in fusing "the human, ascetic and royal themes so that they become
absolutely inseparable and interdependent" (E Reynolds 1976: 52). Like
the Lalitavistara, one version of the Buddhacarita, and the biographical
portion of the Mahiivastu, the Nidanakathii does not include the parinib-
bana and subsequent events.
The Nidiinakathii commences with the Buddhavamsa story of Sume-
dha. The tale, related by the Buddha to his disciples, describes how in a
previous existence as the Brahman Sumedha, he first resolved to strive
for Buddhahood. Following this story the compiler then describes the
twenty-four Buddhas who preceded Gotama and the ten perfections of a
future Buddha abridged from the Cariyapitaka. In this way the text sets
the stage for the Buddha's subsequent birth, youth, renunciation, and his
eventual enlightenment. Except for brief mention of the Buddha's re-
turn to Kapilavatthu and donations by Anathapindaka and Visakha, the
Buddha's post-enlightenment history up to and including his parinibbana
is omitted from the Nidanakatha. The commentary on the Buddhavamsa,
however, extends the tale to include the first twenty years of the Buddha's
teaching career.
The Nidiinakatha is essentially a legendary or mythic genre with little
demarcation between gods and humans, or between myth and history.
11 In the northern Thai Buddha image consecration ritual the Snjata episode is actually reenacted
with the preparation of milk and honey sweetened rice which is offered to the Buddha image before
the conclusion of the ceremony
320 Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Some elements such as the mythic battle with Mara have no canonical
grounding. Other aspects of the tale represent hagiographic elaboration
of canonical material. For example, in the Majjhima Nikiiya (i.246) a
relatively unembellished story is told of young prince Siddhattha's jhanic
attainment. One day while the future Buddha's father was working, Sid-
dhattha was seated in the shade of a roseapple tree when he achieved
the first trance state (jhana). In the commentary on the text and in the
Nidanakatha, however, Prince Siddhattha's father's work becomes an
elaborate Brahmanical first ploughing ceremony, and the young prince's
trance attainment is signaled by a miraculous event: "The nurses left [the
young prince] and he sat up cross-legged, practiced in and out breath-
ing, and attained the first trance. Upon the return of the nurses the shad-
ows of the other trees had turned, but that of the roseapple had stood
still" (Thomas: 44-45).
Later Theravada Buddha histories or biographies extend this imagina-
tive mythic and legendary construction of the life of the Buddha. Two
prime examples are the eighteenth-century Burmese MSxlalankara~atthu~~
and the nineteenth-century Thai Pathamasambodhi (Alabaster; Bennett;
Bigandet). These texts elaborate both the historical-human and divine-
miraculous sides of the Buddha story. For example, chapter sixteen of
Paramanuthit's Pathomsomphbt exalts the supermundane dimension of
the biography. In it the Buddha overcomes the hardheartedness of the
people of Kapilavatthu by miraculously appearing on a crystal bridge in
the sky, an episode found in the Buddhavamsa. Subsequently, the follow-
ing chapter, Bimba's Lament, portrays the human side of the narrative-
Prince Siddhattha's wife's sorrow over being deserted by her husband.')
As suggested by this example, ParamanuEhit's nineteenth-century Pa-
thomsomphbt reflects the same disregard for modem distinctions between
myth and history, divine and human, space and time also characteristic of
the fifth-century commentaries.
In contrast to the Nidanakatha, ParamanuEhit's Pathomsomphbt contin-
ues the Buddha's story to his parinibbana and the distribution of the Bud-
dha relics (dhatu). This substantial text of 451 printed pages is divided
into the following twenty-nine chapters: 1) the wedding of Suddhodana
and Mahamaya; 2) the Buddha in Tusita heaven, beseeched by the gods to
help humankind, enters the womb of Mahamaya; 3) the birth of the Bud-
dha and the miraculous appearance on the same day of his future wife
Yasodhara, his beloved disciple Ananda, his horse Channa, his charioteer
Kanthaka, and the Bodhi tree; 4) predictions by Brahmans that he will be
lZTheMizlizlankciravatthu (better known in Burma by its Burmese title. Kawiwunthabiha) was com-
piled at Amarapura in 1798 by the monk, Dutiya Medi Hsayawad (1747-1834) (Herbert: 10).
Scenes from an early nineteenth-century illustrated manuscript of this text have been published as a
book. See Herbert.
13For parallel episodes in the Nidanakatha, see Davids: 22Off.
321 Swearer: Bhikkhu Buddhadiisa's Interpretation of the Buddha
either a world ruler or a fully enlightened Buddha, and that he is destined
to become fully enlightened because he possesses the thirty-two marks of
the great man (mahapunsa); 5) the Buddha is gven the name Siddhattha;
his mother dies seven days after giving birth; Siddhattha marries Yaso-
dhara at age sixteen; 6) the four encounters-an aged person, a sick per-
son, a corpse, and a mendicant-prompt the Buddha to follow the
mendicant path; 7) Siddhattha follows an ascetic way, e.g., abstaining
from food and restraining his breath for six years, and then adopts a
middle path more appropriate to the development of mental awareness;
his five followers desert him; 8) Sujata makes a food offering to the Bud-
dha believing him to be a tree devata; the Buddha's begging bowl miracu-
lously flows upstream as a sign he will become enlightened; the Buddha
determines not to move from his seat under the Bodhi tree until he
realizes his highest goal; 9) Mara and his forces attack the Buddha; he suc-
cessfully repulses them by calling upon Nang Thorani (Pali, Dha r a ~) to
witness on his behalf; Nang Thorani drowns the forces of Mara by wring-
ing the water from her hair that had collected whenever the Buddha per-
formed an act of dana; 10) attainments immediately prior to enlighten-
ment-the eight trances states, knowledge of previous lives, clairvoyance,
the cycle of dependent co-arising (paticca samuppada); the Buddha's
enlightenment; 11) the Buddha spends seven days at each of seven places
subsequent to his enlightenment, e.g., the Bodhi tree, the location where
he surveys the Abhidhamma, the place where Mucalinda, the Nagaraja,
protects him from the rain, the spot where Indra and his first two lay fol-
lowers make offerings; 12) the Buddha contemplates whether anyone will
be able to understand his teaching; the gods of Brahmaloka heaven per-
ceive his concern and send deities to assure him that there are people in
the world capable of understanding the Buddha's Dhamma; 13) the Bud-
dha preaches the first sermon (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta); 14) the
five ascetics to whom the Buddha teaches the discourse become arahants;
ordination of Yasa and fifty friends; 15) the Buddha's activities in Uruvela;
the Buddha preaches to King Bimbisara of Rajagaha; 16) Sariputta and
Moggalana become followers of the Buddha; 17) Suddhodana requests
that the Buddha come to Kapilavatthu; Sakyans become the Buddha's fol-
lowers; 18) Yasodhara's sorrow over her husband's rejection of the house-
holder life; 19) Prince Nanda and other Sakyans are ordained; Devadatta,
the Buddha's cousin, attempts to kill the Buddha and then to create dis-
sension within the sangha; for punishment the earth swallows him up; 20)
the Buddha predicts the future coming of Metteyya and tells Ananda that
the bhikkhu with the lowest seniority will be the one reborn as the future
Buddha; 2 1) the Buddha heals his father's illness; Suddhodana becomes
an arahant before his death; an order of nuns is established at Ananda's
request but not on equal terms with the bhikkhu sangha; 22) the Buddha
performs twin miracles but forbids his disciples to do so without first
seeking permission; 23) the Buddha travels to T2vatimsa heaven where he
- -
322 Journal of the American Academy of Religion
preaches the Abhidhamma to his mother; 24) the Buddha descends from
Tgvatimsa heaven on a crystal ladder presented by Indra; the Buddha
ascends to the top of Mt. Sumeru where he performs a miracle witnessed
by everyone from the Pretaloka to the Brahmaloka; 25) the death of Sari-
putta and Moggallana; 26) the Buddha's parinibbana; 27) the Buddha's
funeral; Buddha relics divided among eight rulers; Mahakassapa buries
the remainder of the relics which are not exhumed until the time of King
Asoka who enshrines them in 84,000 stiipas throughout India; 28) the
binding of Mara; 29) reasons for the decline of Buddhism in India (Para-
manuait; Santirak: 135-162).
The Pathomsomphbt omits the first third of the Nidimakathii, called the
distant epoch (diirenidana),which narrates previous lives of the bodhisatta
from Sumedha to Vessantara. However, there are many parallels between
the second and third sections of the Nidanakatha and the Pathornsomphbt.
The latter often provides more elaboration of particular episodes and, as
previously noted, includes a significant amount of material not found in
the Nidiinakatha, including expanding the story of the Buddha's life
to include his death and the distribution of relics rather than conclud-
ing with the enlightenment, first sermon, and Anathapindaka's dana. The
Pathornsomphat incorporates Pali Sutta and commentarial sources into its
story omitted by the compiler of the Nidanakatha. It is also reasonable to
assume that Paramanuait used elements from other stories of the Bud-
dha.14 The mythic and legendary richness of Pramanuchit's Pathamasam-
bodhi has led one student of modem Thai Buddhism to observe that this
work stands as "one of the last important expressions of the Siamese
imagnation before the penetration of European culture in the second half
of the nineteenth century" (C. Reynolds: 133).
BUDDHADASA AND MODERN THAI BUDDHISM
Scholars trace the bepni ng of modem Thai Buddhism to the reforms
of King Mongkut (reign, 185 1-1868) and the establishment of the Tham-
mayut order. As did Buddhist kings of old, Mongkut sought to purify the
sarigha by improving the monks' discipline and monastic education, espe-
cially encouraging the study of Pali. At the same time he sought to refur-
l4A critical cornpaxison of the Pathomsomphbt with other lives of the Buddha in Pali, Sanskrit, Prak-
rit, and vernacular languages, including the Enna version, should be undertaken. Bumphen Rawin
offers a brief comparison of the h Mversion with Paramanuchit's text (see hi introduction). Rawin
speculates that the Enna Pathamasambodhi may have been influenced by the Lalitavistara, a tantaliz-
ing suggestion in the light of current work on Sarvastivada influences in this part of the Buddhist
world (see Strong). Tradition supports the view that Paramanuchit collected manuscripts for his own
Pathamasambodhi from Chang Mai (i.e., Erma).
323
Swearer: Bhikkhu Buddhadasa's Interpretation of the Buddha
bish Thailand's religious heritage, particularly Buddhism, as a way of
legitimating his reforms.15 He set in motion changes that were to be more
fully realized during the reign of his son, Chulalongkom (1873-1910)
and the tenure of Prince Wachirayanawarorot (Pali, Vajiraxia~avarorasa),
the Supreme Patriarch of the Thai Sangha (C. Reynolds). In addition to
modernizing monastic education and restructuring the Buddhist monas-
tic order along national political lines, Mongkut and others advocated a
demythologized and more rationalized Buddhist worldview while at the
same time standardizing Buddhist ritual observances. This trend has con-
tinued to the present. Buddhadasa and other contemporary reformist
voices seek to recapture what they consider to be the essence of the
Buddha's teachings without the mythological trappings that might stand
in the way of a more "rational" understanding of the world.
The work considered to be the barometer of the changing Thai Bud-
dhist worldview in the nineteenth century is KitcYnanukit [All Kinds of
Duties] (1867) by Chaophraya Thiphakorawong. In essence, the Kitaii-
nukit transforms the traditional Thai Buddhist worldview represented by
Phya Lu'thai's fourteenth-century cosmological treatise, the Traiphiim Phra
Ruang, [The Three Worlds of King Ruang] (E Reynolds and M. Reynolds;
Gosling: chapter 6) through the application of modem nineteenth-century
Westem science: "The book distinguished between science and religion
by presenting examples from the Traiphum cosmography and then coun-
tering the Traiphum's explanations with alternative explanations derived
from meterology, geology, and astronomy" (C. Reynolds: 130).
In some cases the Kitaiinukit counters traditional mythological ex-
planations for natural phenomena with more rational justifications. For
example, the book contends that rain falls not because rain-making
deities emerged from their abode or because a great serpent thrashed its
tail but because winds sucked water out of clouds. The author applies a
similar scientific or naturalistic point of view to epidemic disease, the
formation of mountains, and so on. Yet, rather than rejecting the mythic
explanations of traditional Theravada cosmogony as false, the KitcYniinukit
preserves their symbolic value. In the case of eclipses of the sun or
moon, for example, the author sees the traditional mythological account
of a serpent (Phra Rahu) swallowing the sun or moon as a parable. In
other words, the ancient myths of the Traiphiim may be bad science, but
they should be respected as part of the inherited tradition. Indeed, in
some cases the author believes one should suspend judgment: "It cannot
be asserted that the Lord [the Buddha] did not preach on Davadungsa
[Tgvatimsa] any more than the real existence of Mount Meru [the axial
15Among scholars of Thai culture and history there has been a heated debate as to whether Mong-
kut discovered or fabricated King Ramkhamhaeng's Sukhothai inscription with its description of an
Asoka-like conception of a benevolent Buddhist monarch (see Chamberlain).
- - -
324 journal of the American Academy of Religion
mountain of the Indian Buddhist cosmology] can be asserted ...[Wlith
respect to the Lord preaching on Davadungsa as an act of grace to his
mother, I believe it to be true, and that one of the many stars or planets
is the Davadungsa world (Alabaster: 25).
In the above paragraph Chaophraya Thiphakorawong combines
three interpretative perspectives: ethical, mythical, and scientific. He sus-
pends judgment on the mythic claim that the Buddha preached the
dhamma to his mother in Tgvatimsa heaven, but opines that, if such a
heaven exists, it has a naturalistic explanation, e.g., a star or planet. But,
more importantly, he emphasizes the ethical import of this mythological
episode from the life of the Buddha, namely, that it represents honor to
and respect for one's mother.
In the assessment of Henry Alabaster, a contemporary and friend,
Chaoprayii Thiphakorawong represents a modem Thai Buddhist con-
struction with which he has considerable sympathy: "[The 'modem
Buddhist'] is a deeply religious man . . . throughout his work there is a
spiritual tone which shows, that with him, as with us, religion is a link
which connects man with the Infinite, and is that which gives a law of
conduct depending on a basis more extensive than the mere immediate
present" (xvi). While Chaophraya Thiphakorawong might have disagreed
with some of the comparisons Alabaster makes between Buddhism and
Christianity in his book The Wheel of the Law,he probably would have
agreed with this liberal Western Christian's statement regarding the
nature of a modem religious worldview.16
This modem, rationalized approach to the Thai Buddhist worldview
is also represented in a version of the Pathomsomphijt written in the 1890s
by Somdet Phra Ariyawongsakhatayana known as Supreme Patriarch Sa
(1813-1899). Sa's life of the Buddha was composed as a Visakha Ptija
sermon preached on four suc'cessive lunar sabbath days. It was subse-
quently serialized in a Buddhist periodical, distilled into one sermon,
reprinted several times as a book, and finally revised and expanded
by Prince Patriarch Wachirayanawarorot (Pall, Vajiraiianavarorasa, 1869-
1921) as the Thammayut edition of the Pathomsomphdt.17
Sa's life of the Buddha is divided into four sermons or chapters: the
birth (jati), the enlightenment (abhisambodhi), the death (parinibbana),
16Alabaster3sThe Wheel ojthe Law includes a Thai life of the Buddha he translated from the "Path-
omma Somphothiyan." The common assumption that this story represents a translation of
Paramanuchit's life of the Buddha is highly problematical. Although the ten chapters of Alabaster's
Buddha biography roughly parallel the fist ten chapters of Paramanu?hit3s text, the differences in
content and the fact that ParamBnuZhit's book is twenty-nine chapters long suggest that Alabaster
used a different but unidentified source.
l7WachirayBnawarorot's version of the Pathomsomphat remains an important textbook in the Bud-
dhist studies cumculum for monks and novices. The 1990 edition was the 22nd printing bringing
the total number of published copies to 218,000. In the preface Wachirayanavarorot states that his
book is a revision and expansion of Supreme Patriarch Sa's sermons.
325 Swearer: Bhikkhu Buddhadiisa's Interpretation of the Buddha
and the distribution of relics (dhnb). Each chapter begins with two pages
of Pali verse followed by a Thai prose explanation and elaboration of ap-
proximately thirty pages printed pages. Sa offered his listeners and
readers an abbreviated, demythologized account. For example, the birth
story eliminates both Mahamaya's dream of the white elephant touching
her side as a symbol of the bodhisatta's entry into her womb and also
deletes her journey ten months later that precipitates her labor and the
birth of the Buddha (Sa 1990: 13). Sa's account emphasizes the purity of
the Buddha's conception and birth. Moreover, sounding a philosophical
tone characteristic of the biography, Sa subordinates the physical aspects
of the Buddha's appearance (fipakiiya) to his enlightenment and subse-
quent teaching (dhammakaya) (Sa: 10).
In sum, while the Supreme Patriarch's life of the Buddha covers the
most symbolically important moments of that life, the basic teachings of
Buddhism, the founding of the order, the distribution of the relics, it dif-
fers significantly from Paramanuthit's text, even omitting entire mytho-
logical episodes including Upagutta's binding of Mara. Furthermore, it
does not conclude with Buddhaghosa's prediction that Buddhism will
disappear 5,000 years after the Buddha's enlightenment. Rather, in
accord with King Chulalongkom's decree that monks should not begin
sermons with this prediction, the Supreme Patriarch's text emphasizes
the Buddha's teachings as motivation for behavior in this world rather
than ". . . fear that the religion's disappearance would obviate their salva-
tion" (C. Reynolds: 136).
How does Buddhadasa's view of the Buddha fit into this development
of the lives of the Buddha from the traditional fifth-century Pali story to
the nineteenth century? In general, Buddhadasa's interpretation of the
figure of the Buddha reflects the modernized, demythologized, and more
rational view of the "modem Buddhist" of the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. In other words, he is an inheritor of the reformist
tradition initiated by King Mongkut and his son Chulalongkom, Prince
Patriarch Sa, Prince Patriarch Wachirayanawarorot, and others. His own
Buddha histories emphasize the historical and ethical at the expense of
the mythical and supernatural. That he constructs one of his lives of the
Buddha from the Pali Suttas rather than the later commentaries illustrates
his firm conviction that the commentaries depart from the fundamental
spiritual and ethical teachings of the Buddha. The essays in Phuta Prawat
Chapap WicYniin [Critical History of the Buddha] are grouped into three
sections, the first on the religion, culture, and philosophy of India during
the time of the Buddha, the second on the history of the Sakyas, and the
third on the revolutionary changes taking place in the historical and reli-
gious realms of that period. The essays even refer to standard Western
scholarly works such as the Cambridge History of India. Thus, as the title
suggests, Buddhadasa's examination of the life of the Buddha has more
affinities with modem Western scholarship than with Paramanuthit's
326 Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Pathomsomphbt. To be sure, the picture of the Buddha he draws from his-
tory is that of a religious founder who was not only a product of his age
but who also exemplifies timeless truths relevant to people today who
live in an equally revolutionary era. In short, Buddhadasa's Buddha of his-
tory, rather than of myth, speaks with a voice attuned to modem ears.
However, Buddhadasa rejects an interpretation of the Buddha that merely
reduces the tathngata to a historical figure.
Buddhadasa's Buddhology is not only consistent with modernizing
trends in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Thai Buddhism; he
was influenced by various non-Thai modem Theravada interpreters,
including the early twentieth-century Sinhalese reformer, the Anagarika
Dharmapala, and Western Buddhists such as Christmas Humphreys of
the London Buddhist Society Furthermore, he read widely in non-
Theraviida sources, especially Zen, as well other religions, in particular
Christianity (Gabaude: chapters 1 and 2). Despite these influences, how-
ever, in the final analysis, Buddhadasa's interpretation of the Buddha
should be seen as a unique and creative synthesis of traditional and mod-
em elements. In the remainder of this essay I will examine Buddhadasa's
interpretation of the Buddha based on a number of his published public
talks. Two fundamental principles underlie his Buddhology: the identity
of Buddha and dhamma; and the distinction between two levels of seeing,
understanding, and expressinglspeaking (Thai: phnsn khonlphasa tham).
After an initial look at Buddhadasa's discussion of "taking refuge in the
Buddha," my analysis will be organized around these two interpretive
principles.
WHO SEES ME SEES THE DHAMMA
Virtually every Buddhist ritual in Thailand begns by taking refuge in
the Buddha, dhamma, and sangha. In his 1971 Makha PUja talk at Wat
Suan Mokkhabalarama, Buddhadasa provoked his audience to reconsider
the meaning of going for refuge to the Buddha: "Most Buddhists repeat
the formula, Buddham saranam gacchnmi, in parrot-like fashion without
really meaning it or because they believe that it is meritorious. The first
is stupid; the second is false (Buddhadasa 1990: 8). He then interprets
"going to" the Buddha using the Thai terms, thu'ng (attain) and thn' (abide
in). To sincerely go to the Buddha for refuge means that one intends to
make the Buddha present in one's life all the time: "If we vow that we are
going to attain and to abide in the Buddha, it means that we attain and
abide in the Buddha in our heart and mind at every moment (1990:
8-9). Going for refuge to the Buddha expecting a boon or as an act of
merit making cannot relieve suffering (dukkha). When our minds are
fully aware (sati-pafifia) of the Buddha's presence, then we are able to
overcome suffering" (1990: 10).
Swearer: Bhikkhu Buddhaddsak Interpretation of the Buddha
327
One should not read Buddhadasa's claim regarding attaining and
abiding in the Buddha as a metaphysical statement. That is, the Buddha
is not present as a universal Buddha body (buddhakaya), but as the
dhamma-vinaya. "Whoever sees me [the Buddha] sees the dhamma; who-
ever sees the dhamma sees me [the Buddha] ." This canonical statement
attributed to the Buddha stands at the very core of Buddhadasa's under-
standing of the meaning and significance of the person of the Buddha. To
know the Buddha, indeed, to "be wi t h the Buddha, is to know and to be
with the dhamma. The real Buddha, claims Buddhadasa, is rooted firmly
in the dhamma (dhammadhitthana) (1990: 13). The true character, quality
or essence (guna-sampatti) of the Buddha is the dhamma (1990: 14). To
attain and abide in the Buddha, therefore, means to attain and abide in
the dhamma. Buddha and dhamma, then, refer to one and the same reality;
or, if you will, to one and the same experience.18
Buddhadasa explains the Buddha dimension of this reality in terms
of the Buddha's mind or consciousness (citta), on the one hand, and the
Buddha's inherent quality or character (guna), on the other. Since the
Buddha perceived the dhamma by his mind or citta, the saying, "to
see the Buddha is to see the dhamma," means that when one sees the
dhamma, one sees the mind or citta of the Buddha. Citta, in this usage,
connotes that which is essentially or truly the Buddha. After all, that
which defines the Buddha, i.e., his enlightenment, is a matter of mind or
consciousness.
In his enlightenment (nibbana) the Buddha embodied the essential
quality (guna) of the dhamma. In Buddhadasa's interpretation this quality
is tripartite: purity (parisuddhi-guna), tranquillity (santi-guna), and wis-
dom (patina-guna) (1990: 15). To really attain and abide in the Buddha
means that we grasp the dhamma with our inner eye or our mind (i.e.,
citta). To so grasp the dhamma requires that our mind be suffused with
purity, tranquillity, and wisdom. When we attain and abide in the Bud-
dha, we attain and abide in the dhamma. We achieve this experience
when we embody the four noble truths, when we overcome depravity
(kilesa), or when we are in a state of purity, tranquillity, and wisdom. For
most of us this experience is brief, possibly momentary. It abides with the
attainment of arahantship, for only the arahant has transcended grasping
(tanha) and kilesa (1990: 25).
Buddhadasa defines the dhamma-dimension of this reality or experi-
ence as the interdependent and co-arising nature of things (idapaccayata,
paticca-samuppada) or, in more general terms as nature, (Thai, thamma-
chat; Pali, dhammajati) or "natural," namely, the way all things are in their
true, normal (pakati) condition. To attain and abide in the dhamma as
l8 While terms like "experience" and "reality" can be distinguished at the level of discourse, they
both function as facets or aspects of the inherently multi-dimensional and co-arising nature of things.
-- - - - - - -
328 Journal of the American Academy of Religion
interdependent and co-arising necessarily means to be liberated from any
sense of the self as independent and self-existent:
The principle of liberation from the self is emptiness OufiAata).This is
to abide in the principle of not-self (anatta). To abide in anatta is to real-
ize that the body and mind are simply part of nature (dhammajati); that
"I" or "we" is simply a construct of the mind; that "I"am simply a part of
the law of natural process-birth, old age, sickness, death. This is na-
ture, natural, ordinary . . . It is extinction without remainder. It is nibbana.
(1990: 34-35)
To see the true Buddha or to attain and abide in the Buddha means
that one grasps the essential meaning of the dhamma as interdependent
co-arising (=the law of nature or the way things really are). To grasp this
truth (saccadhamma) necessitates achieving a condition of freedom or
non-attachment (Thai, ?hit wang) in which the mind sees with a clarity
no longer clouded by kilesa (depravity, unregenerate nature). In sum,
Buddhadasa's claim that the essential meaning of the Buddha is the
dhamma-vinaya entails three fundamental levels of meaning: 1)ontologi-
cal-that the world is or operates in a particular way which we may char-
acterize in general terms (i.e., the law of nature) or in specifically Buddhist
terms (i.e., idapaccayata, paticca-samuppztda), 2) epistemological-a par-
ticular way of understanding the nature of the world and of human exist-
ence freed from the clouds of kilesa and, 3) ethlcal-a particular path or
way of beinglacting in the world in which one is freed from ordinary
attachments to self and conventional distinctions between good and evil.
EVERYDAY LANGUAGE1 DHAMMA LANGUAGE
The second major principle that informs Buddhadasa's views about
the nature of the Buddha is the important distinction he makes between
two levels of language and, hence, two levels of understanding: everyday
or ordinary language and truth or dhamma language (Thai: phaa khonl
phtlsa tham).lg This principle contributes to Buddhadasa's paradoxical
Buddhology, which is simultaneously both particularistic and universalis-
tic. Another way of stating this paradox is that particularistic views of the
Buddha, e.g., the physical person of the Buddha, the Buddha as a histori-
cal being, Buddha biographies, and Buddha images, should point in the
direction of the eternal and universal buddha-dhamma. Buddhadasa's
polemic against particularistic and conventional constructions of the
Buddha stems from the fact that in actual practice they often obscure the
' 9 Although traditional Theravada makes a distinction between the language of the sutta and the lan-
guage of abhidhamma, Buddhadasa's differentiation between ordinary language and dhamma lan-
guage has a greater affinity with the Madhyamika theory of two levels of truth.
329 Swearer: Bhikkhu Buddhadasa's Interpretation of the Buddha
deeper and more profound significance of the Buddha. He does not,
however, totally reject the legendary lives of the Buddha or physical
reminders of his historical presence.
The most concise way to assess Buddhadasa's application of the
everyday language/dhamma language distinction regarding the Buddha is
to examine his treatment of the term in his essay by that title (1989b). Al-
though this discussion reflects several previous points, my analysis of the
following statement will be based on Buddhadasa's epistemic distinction:
As you know, the Buddha in everyday language refers to the historical
Enlightened Being, Gotama Buddha. It refers to a physical man of flesh
and bone who was born in India over two thousand years ago, died, and
was cremated. This is the meaning of the Buddha in everyday language.
Considered in terms of dhamma language, however, the word Buddha
refers to the Truth that the historical Buddha realized and taught, the
dhamma itself... Now the dhamma is something intangible. It is not some-
thing physical, certainly not flesh and bones. Yet the Buddha said it is
one and the same as the Enlightened One. Anyone who fails to see the
dhamma cannot be said to have seen the Enlightened One. Thus, in
dhamma language the Buddha is one and the same as that truth by which
he became the Buddha, and anyone who sees the truth can be said to
have seen the true Buddha ...
Again the Buddha said, "The dhamma and the vinaya which T have pro-
claimed . . . these shall be your teacher when I have passed away." So the
real Buddha has not passed away, has not ceased to exist. What ceased to
exist was just the physical body, the outer shell. The real teacher, that is,
the the dhamma-vinaya, is still with us. This is the meaning of the word
Buddha in dhamma language. (198913: 127-128)
In Buddhadasa's view ordinary language and truth language are two
distinct and different modes of perceiving, conceptualizing, and speaking;
however, truth language does not obviate-although it may subrate-
ordinary language. All religious language should reflect the experience of
enlightenment or the experience of dhamma: "Dhamma language is the
language spoken by people who have gained a deep insight into the truth,
the dhamma. Having perceived dhamma, they speak in terms appropriate
to their experience . . ." (1989b:126). By way of contrast, everyday or
ordinary language is based only on physical and sensory objects, tangible
things perceived under ordinary, everyday circumstances, language lack-
ing knowledge of the truth or, if you will, the depth of spiritual insight.
When this distinction is applied to the Buddha, it can be seen that an
ordinary language understanding of the Buddha cannot encompass the
intangible, non-physical, and, hence, dhammic level of the meaning of
the person of the Buddha or of the Buddha's history. On the other hand,
the logic of Buddhadasa's distinction does not necessitate a rejection of
the historical Buddha or even the use of Buddha images or relics. If the
traditional Buddha story or new versions of that story written in different
330 Journal of the American Academy of Religion
times and circumstances reflect the author's own enlightenment or pene-
tration of the dhamma, then that story has the potential of pointing
beyond itself to a deeper meaning. Whether that deeper meaning is per-
ceived, however, depends on the insight of the reader as well as the writer.
The same claim can be made for images, relics and any other physical
or tangible forms of the Buddha. These historical or physical expressions
(i.e., ordinary language terms) may-and, unfortunately most often do-
obscure a more profound perception of the true nature of things. In
short, they become an object of attachment. On the other hand, they can
function as a medium to a true grasp of the meaning of the Buddha.
Buddhadasa's center in southern Thailand, Suan Mokkhabalarama, re-
flects the way in which the distinction between ordinary and truth lan-
guage works when applied to the Buddha. Unlike the radical aniconic
approach of the contemporary Santi Asok movement founded in the
1970s in Thailand which eschews the use of Buddha images, Buddhadsa
does not reject outright the use of Buddha images or other representa-
tions of the Buddha. To be sure, he has a special appreciation for the art
of the ancient Indian Buddhist sites wherein the Buddha is depicted by
symbols, e.g., Bodhi tree, footprint, rather than a physical form. Never-
theless, mural depictions of the Buddha appear on the walls of the spirit-
ual theater, and Buddha images are found in the dhamma hall. Within the
context of Suan Mokkhubalarama the physical presence of the Buddha in
painting, image, and spoken and written word do not obstruct one's
journey to the non-physical truth of the dhamma but are seen as potential
means toward a more profound understanding of the meaning of the
Buddha.
Even though Buddhadasa's distinction between everyday and dham-
mic language provides a rationale for the place and role of historical con-
structions and iconographic depictions of the Buddha, he roundly
criticizes conventional Thai attitudes toward these particular forms: "If
we understand the Buddha only as a historical person who lived in India
over 2000 years ago, or as statue in a temple, or as an amulet around our
neck, there is no way that this Buddha can abide in our heart and mind
or that we can become the Buddha (1990: 37). In concert with other
reformist voices in Thailand, (Dhammapitaka 1993; 1994) Buddhadasa
directs his sharpest attack against various magical beliefs and practices
involving relics, amulets, images, and shamanistic invocations of the
spirit of the Buddha. He ridicules those who pray to Buddha images for
material things such as a new car or having a child as though the image
were possessed by the Buddha's spirit (vififidna) or ghost (Thai, phi). He
has littje regard for the common practice among Thai Buddhists of wear-
ing Buddha amulets in the belief that they offer protection from danger or
bad luck (1990: 20-21). Further, he directs sarcastic barbs at the many
popular religious magazines that print stories of the miraculous powers
of various material representations of the Buddha and those who invoke
Swearer: Bhikkhu Buddhaddsa's Interpretation of the Buddha
33 1
the Buddha's presence at seances: "It's laughable if they say that they
invite the spirit of the Buddha from Tavatimsa heaven, and it's totally
incomprehensible if they claim that the spirit of the Buddha returned
from nibbana!" (1990: 21).
Although Buddhadasa's rhetoric can be extreme, his method is more
often one of humor and irony, much like the technique of Zen tricksters
he held in high regard. In his 1989 Visakha Rija talk at Suan Mokkhabala-
rama he praised the Zen master who likened the Buddha to horse
manure. "In Thailand we're afraid to make such a statement for fear of
offending someone. However, the statement points to a profound truth,
namely, that everything is conditioned whether it's a beautiful lotus or
horse shit" (1990: 63).
In order to provoke his listeners to move beyond a literalistic interpre-
tation of the Buddha as a historical personage or as a presence embodied
in relics, images, and amulets, Buddhadasa often makes startling claims:
We can forget about the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Bud-
dha!--or that he was someone's child, nephew, or lived in such and such
a city. The dhamma in the deepest sense is the truth of nature (sacca-
dhamma), the law of nature (dhammajiiti). The Buddha that is not circum-
scribed by time and place-to that [Buddha] the historical Buddha, him-
self, referred to as the dhamma. Indeed, the dhamma of "who sees me sees
the dhamma" is nothing other than the law of nature, and the fundamen-
tal law of nature is the extinction of suffering. This is the true dhamma, so
to see the true Buddha is to see the arising and cessation of suffering.
This is an eternal truth not limited to a particular time and place. There-
fore, it is not limited to such events as the birth, enlightenment, and the
death of the historical Buddha. (1989a: 51-52)
Buddhadasa's claims are purposely designed to jolt the average Thai
Buddhist listener out of a conventional or commonplace understanding
of the historical figure of the Buddha or of such reminders of his physical
presence as relics and images. Bilddhadasa's critics have used these state-
ments to suggest that he rejects the significance of the historical Buddha.
Such a view is unfair and inadequate. Earlier I pointed out that Buddha-
dasa takes a historical approach to the Buddha and his times in his early
essays. I would argue, furthermore, that his epistemic distinction be-
tween everyday language and dhamma language does not dismiss the his-
torical particularity of the person of the Buddha. Indeed, in his talk
"Seeing the True Buddha" (Kan Hen Phra Phuta Chao Phra Ong Ching)
(1989a), he argues strongly for the historical uniqueness of the Buddha,
i.e., the Buddha's dhamma. He contends that the Buddha came to teach
the dhamma; that his message was unique to his time; that the funda-
mentals of the message were set forth in the Dhammacakkappavattana
Sutta, namely, that the highest, eternal freedom is a matter of citta (mind),
that through the mind one can overcome depravity (kilesa) and suffering
(dukkha). Buddhadasa asserts, without undue concern for historical justi-
332 Journal of the American Academy of Religion
fication, that at the time of the Buddha the dominant religious teaching
was the attainment of an eternal self. The Buddha appeared in history to
bring a new message: that true freedom is non-attachment to everything,
including an eternal self. For the same reason he also transformed teach-
ings about heaven and hell. Previously they had been understood as
physical places of reward and punishment. The Buddha reinterpreted
them as internal states, namely, the six spheres of sense consciousness
(iiyatanii).
In several talks at Wat Suan Mokkhabalarama Buddhadasa referred to
at least three different but related interpretations of the Buddha. One
fourfold definition reflects traditional Theravada categories: 1) summaam-
buddha, 2) paccekabuddha, 3) anubuddha or arahant and 4)sutta-b~ddha.~~
The first refers to the founder of the tradition (sasiina), the fully enlight-
ened one who taught the truth of dhamma; the second is one who reaches
enlightenment by individual effort but who is unable to propagate the
dhamma; the third achieves the same knowledge as the first two and has
overcome the kilesas or moral depravities but achieves that state by rely-
ing on the Buddha: the fourth is one who has mastered the Buddhist
scriptures but has not achieved spiritual and moral transformation. Of
these four terms implied by the name Buddha, the first is preeminent. It
is the sammaambuddha that is meant in the statement, "whoever sees me
[Buddhal sees the dhamma; whoever sees the dhamma sees me" [Buddha].
Buddhadasa also develops dual and tripartite Buddhological schemes.
The dual scheme distinguishes between the Buddha as a historical person
(puggaliidhitthiina) and as the dhamma (dhammiidhitthiina). This scheme
parallels Buddhadasa's distinction between everyday language and
dhamma language. The tripartite structure distinguishes between the his-
torical Buddha, the mind (citta) of the historical person, and the essential
nature of things (dhammadhatu=idapaccayatii,paticca-samuppada). In my
analysis of Buddhadasa's interpretation of the Buddha, the tripartite
scheme underlies the principle, "whoever sees me sees the dhamma."
In the light of Buddhadasa's discussion of the figure of the Buddha in
relationship to the principles, "whoever sees me [Buddhal sees the
dhamma; whoever sees the dhamma sees me [Buddhal ," and to the dis-
tinction between everyday language and truth language, the claim can be
made that he holds simultaneously a particularistic and a universalistic
view regarding the figure of the Buddha. That is, historically the Buddha's
uniqueness hinges both on the fact that he brought a new message to
humankind and that the bearer of this message, himself, was qualitatively
unique (Buddhaguna); at the same time, however, the historical Buddha
20Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Kan Upati Khu'n Khong Sammasamphuta &ao [The Appearance of the Fully
Enlightened Buddhal (audio tape). In another talk Buddhadaa divides the same terms more conven-
tionally into three levels by equating the paccekabuddha and anubuddha and by defining the sutta-
buddha simply as one whose enlightenment comes from the study of the suttas (1990:13).
333 Swearer: Bhikkhu Buddhaddsa'sInterpretation of the Buddha
servesonlyasavehicletomaketheeternaldhammapresentinhistory.To
beattachedtothephysicalpresenceof theBuddhaortheBuddhamerely
asahistoricalpersonagemeansthatonefailstograsptheessenceof the
Buddha.Oneisstuckintheoutercovering.Thus,Buddhistswholimit
the Buddha to the commentarialstoryabout him,or whose religious
practicefocusesonimagesorrelicsof theBuddha,havenotattainedand
donotabideinthetrueBuddha.Similarily,inBuddhadasa'scriticalview,
scholarswhodonotseebeyondtheBuddhaasahistoricalfigureinIndia
inthe fifthcenturyBCE also failto graspthe essentialmeaningof the
Buddha.
WheredoesBuddhadasafitintothelongTheravadatraditionof lives
of the Buddha? In contrast to the Nidanakatha and Paramanuthit's
Pathomsomphdt,BuddhadasadoesnotconstructaBuddhabiographyout
of mythandlegend.Yet,unlikethelatenineteenthandearlytwentieth-
century Thai modernizers, e.g.,Chao Phaya Thipakorawongand Su-
premePatriarchSa,hedoesnotfeelcompelledtoreconcilethemythic
world view of traditional Theravada with modem science. In Budd-
hadasa's view Buddhismisalreadyscientificin that it isbased on the
experienceof thingsastheyreallyare;however,science,whichislimited
to thephysical andtangible,cannotsatisfythedeepestlongingsof the
humanmindandheart.
Buddhadasa'sinterpretationof theBuddha,aswellasotheraspectsof
thesasana(religion),seeksto revealthecore or essenceof thebuddha-
dhammabutnottotheexclusionof therichandvariegatedtexturesof the
tradition.Hisunderstandingof thepersonof theBuddhaintermsof the
principlesof "Whoeverseesme [Buddha] seesthedhamma;whoeversees
thedhammaseesme [Buddha]",andthepolarityof everydaylanguage
anddhammalanguagemakeauniquecontributiontotheongoinginter-
pretationof themeaningandsignificanceof thefounderof Buddhism.In
himwefindtheviewsof aTheravadamonkwhosecreativitychallenges
traditional,sectarianBuddhologicalconstructions.
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