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WHAT IS DHAMMA ?
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S UBHUTI : What is the Bodhisattva’s perfection of concentration (or meditation) ?
T HE L ORD : He himself, through skill in means, enters into the trances, yet he is not reborn in the corresponding heavens of form as he could ; and others also he instigates to do likewise.
S UBHUTI : What is a Bodhisattva’s perfection of wisdom ?
T HE L ORD : He does not settle down in any dharma, he contemplates the essential original nature of all dharmas ; and others also he instigates to the contemplation of all dharmas.
It is Dhamma to cultivate these perfections.
§ 3. To Live in Nibbana is Dhamma
“Nothing can give real happiness as Nibbana.” So said the Buddha.
Of all the doctrines taught by the Buddha the doctrine of Nibbana is the most central one.
What is Nibbana ? Nibbana as taught by the Buddha has a totally different meaning and content than what has been given to it by his predecessors.
By Nibbana they meant the salvation of the soul.
Thus there were four ways in which Nibbana was conceived of : (1) Laukik (material, eat, drink and be merry type) ; (2) Yogic ; (3) Brahmanic and (4) Upanishadic.
There was one common feature of the Brahmanic and Upanishadic conceptions of Nibbana. They involved the recognition of a soul as an independent entity—a theory which the Buddha had denied. The Buddha had therefore no difficulty in rejecting the Brahmanic and Upanishadic teaching of Nibbana.
The Laukik conception of Nibbana was too materialistic to appeal to the Buddha. It meant nothing but the satisfaction of man’s animal appetites. There was nothing spiritual in it.
To accept such a conception of Nibbana the
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