..续本文上一页 freedom”; I had direct knowledge: `Birth is exhausted, the religious life has been fulfilled, what was to be done is done, there is no more of being thus”.
"This was the third knowledge attained by me in the third watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed and knowledge arose, darkness was destroyed and light arose, accordingly as I dwelt vigilant, ardent and resolute. But such pleasant feeling as arose persisted without gaining power over my mind. (M.I,247ff; cf. M.I,22f;117)
These "Three Knowledges" were also realised by some of the disciples of the Buddha, although they are not special requirements for the realisation of Awakening. The profound insight which the Buddha realised in the experience of Awakening is expressed in a variety of ways in different parts of the Canon.
11. "So also, bhikkhus, have I seen an ancient path, an ancient road, travelled along by fully Enlightened Ones of former times. And what, bhikkhus, is that ancient path, that ancient road, travelled along by fully Enlightened Ones of former times
It is just this Noble Eightfold Path, that is to say, right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
"This is that ancient path, that ancient road, travelled along by fully Enlightened Ones of former times, and going along it I came to know ageing-and-death, I came to know the origin of ageing-and-death, I came to know the cessation of ageing-and-death, I came to know the way leading to the cessation of ageing-and-death. Going along it I came to know birth . . . becoming . . . grasping . . . craving [. . . feeling . . . contact . . . sixfold sense-field . . mind-and-body . . . consciousness .] I came to know volitional activities, I came to know the origin of volitional activities, I came to know the cessation of volitional activities, I came to know the line of conduct leading to the cessation of volitional activities.
Having understood it (through personal experience) I have taught it to the bhikkhus, bhikkhunis, the male and female lay-followers, so that this holy life has become rich, prosperous and wide-spread, known to many, widely known and announced by celestials and humans." (S.II,105f, Ireland trans., Wheel 107/109, p.25-6 )
Several times the Buddha”s experience of Awakening is expressed as the understanding of Conditional Causality (S.II,10;103ff; cf. Vin.1,1-2; Ud.1-3), and in other places as fully comprehending the satisfaction, misery and escape from the: 4 elements (S.II,169ff); 5 khandhas (S.III,27ff); 6 senses and 6 sense-objects (S.IV,6ff;97); feelings (S.IV,233); 5 faculties (S.V,203); world (A.I,258).
It is also stated that this Awakening was assisted by the development of mindfulness of breathing (S.V,316) and the basis of psychic power (S.V,264ff), seeing the peril in pleasures and being proficient in the entering and emerging from the 9 absorptions (A.IV,438ff).
12. "So, bhikkhus, being myself subject to birth, ageing, sickness, death, sorrow and defilement -- having seen the peril in what is subject to these things -- seeking the unborn, unageing, unailing, deathless, sorrowless, undefiled, supreme surcease of bondage, Nibbana -- I realised the unborn, unageing, unailing, deathless, sorrowless, undefiled, supreme surcease of bondage, Nibbana.
Knowledge and vision arose in me: unshakeable is my liberation, this is my last birth, there is now no renewed becoming." (M.I,150 abridged)
With the experience of Full Awakening, the Buddha-to-be”s six strenuous years of ardent spiritual search and striving were rewarded. He had realised the unshakeable liberation of Nibbana and was now known as the Buddha, the One-Who-Knows the Truth. However, this Truth was indeed very different from what most people know, an…
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