..續本文上一頁s none other than his former fellow monk, one of the seven, the one who had become an Anāgāmī. (It is of interest to add that the remaining four fellow monks were also reborn at this time, and they all, like Bāhiya, eventually attained full Enlightenment. (They were Pukkusāti, Sabhiya, Kumārakassapa and Dabba the Mallian.) Then the Anāgāmī-deva informed Bāhiya about a true Arahant, the Buddha, living at that time on the other side of India, at Sāvatthi. Bāhiya immediately left Suppārakā (present day Sopāra, just north of Mumbai) and reached Sāvatthi (just 17 kilometres west of Balrumpur) in only one night. Bāhiya met the Buddha while he was on alms round and asked for a teaching. The Buddha at first refused, for it was an inappropriate time. But on being asked a third time, the Buddha interrupted his alms gathering and gave the famous teaching presented above. Within seconds of hearing that Dhamma, Bāhiya was fully Enlightened. A few minutes later, the Arahant Bāhiya was killed by a cow with calf.

　　So, Bāhiya”s background was exceptional. He had been a monk under the previous Buddha, Kassapa. His powers of determination were so strong that he went to meditate on the mountain with the resolve to become Enlightened or die. In this life, he could hear deva”s speak to him and he could travel more than halfway across India, some 1,300 Kilometres as the levitator flies, in only one night. If you had such a background from your previous life, and had such psychic powers already in this life, then perhaps you too would have been Enlightened when you read Bāhiya”s Teaching a few minutes ago!

　　It is usually the case that one requires very deep samādhi, Jhānas, to achieve such psychic powers. Certainly, Bāhiya would have had a pre-disposition for meditation, taking account of his previous life. And the psychic power of the ”pine ear” that enabled him to hear the deva, and the other psychic power that enabled him to travel so fast, suggest that he was practising Jhāna before he heard the deva. Perhaps this was another reason why he thought himself an Arahant. But there is more evidence to suggest that, though it was not mentioned in the texts, Bāhiya had been practising Jhānas.

　　Few people are aware that the very same teaching, that here I call Bāhiya”s Teaching, was also given by the Buddha to the old monk Mālunkyaputta (SN 35.95). Mālunkyaputta appears several times in the suttas. In particular, in sutta 64 of the Majjhima Nikāya, occurring certainly before the occasion when Mālunkyaputta was given Bāhiya”s Teaching, the Buddha first disparages Mālunkyaputta for his wrong view and then teaches the necessity of attaining at least one of the Jhānas in order to destroy the five lower fetters3 (and thereby attain the level just below full Enlightenment called Non Returning). The Buddha said in front of Venerable Mālunkyaputta that it is impossible to achieve Non Returning (let alone Full Enlightenment) without a Jhāna just as much as it is impossible to reach the heartwood of a tree without first going through its bark and sapwood. Think about it.

　　So, Venerable Mālunkyaputta was first taught the necessity of Jhānas, and then later he was given Bāhiya”s Teaching. After hearing Bāhiya”s Teaching ”dwelling alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent and resolute” Mālunkyaputta soon became an Arahant. It is therefore certain that Mālunkyaputta achieved Jhāna before Bāhiya”s Teaching could be effective. Or else the Buddha would be blatantly inconsistent. It also adds weight to the inference that Bāhiya also had experience of Jhāna before he heard the same teaching – otherwise he would have reached the heartwood of the tree without going through its bark and sapwood!

　　The Vipallāsa4

　　So what did Bāhiya, and Venerable Mālunkyaputta, see in the Buddha”s words t…

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