[Buddha-l] 9. Attadiipaa Sutta (Joy Vriens)

[L.S. Cousins]

I suspect that interpretations of this passage have more to do with 
Victorian ideas than with traditional Theravāda. Of course, that may 
partly be because it is not easy to understand what the commentators are 
saying. But I will try.

In the Mahāparinibbānasutta and the Gilānasutta (S V 154) the context is 
precise. The Buddha (around 80 years old and suffering various ailments) 
indicates that he or his body is more comfortable when he disregards all 
signs (nimitta = objects of the mind) and after the cessation of some 
kinds of feeling enters and abides in signless concentration of mind. 
That is understood by the commentators as referring to fruition 
attainment i.e. the experience of enlightenment that can be subsequently 
available for those who have previously reached some stage of enlightenment.

The instruction to be attadīpa, etc. follows immediately and explicitly 
for this reason (tasmātiha). To make this absolutely clear, the 
rhetorical question 'how is one attadīpa, etc. ?' immediately follows. 
The answer given is the practice of the four establishings/foundations 
of mindfulness.

So what does the instruction to have Self and nothing or no-one else as 
an island or refuge and to have Dhamma and nothing or no-one else as an 
island or refuge mean ? The subcommentator spells out what Buddhaghosa 
implies: 'self' can be a term for one's own continuity, but it doesn't 
mean that here. According to Buddhaghosa Self here means both ordinary 
and transcendent dhamma while Dhamma means the nine kinds of 
transcendent Dhamma (i.e. paths, fruits and nibbāna).

It is not easy to see what exactly Buddhaghosa means here, but he is 
clearly correct to interpret the passage in terms of advanced meditative 
experience. Trying to interpret this,  I would explain:

The monks are told to dwell (viharatha), taking as their refuge (i.e. 
source of authority and protection) their own meditative experience of 
whatever kind (= Self) or better, if they can, taking as their refuge 
their own experience of enlightenment.

In fact, it seems more likely that Self and Dhamma are actually intended 
as synonyms in the original passage. It's a general tendency in the 
commentaries to differentiate synonyms.  This often gives more 
interesting meanings but may not be historically correct. (And viharatha 
may mean 'wander' rather than 'dwell'.)

Lance Cousins