HOW SIMILARITIES IN TERMINOLOGY CONCEAL FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE
331
The following was one of them.
Maha-Kotthita asked : “How many factors has the first ecstasy (Dhyana) put from it and how many does it retain ?”
Sariputta replied: “Five of each. Gone are lusts, malevolence, torpor, worry and doubt. Observation, reflection, zest, satisfaction and a focussed heart persist.”
Maha-Kotthita asked : “Take the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch,—each with its own particular province and range of function, separate and mutually distinct. What ultimate base have they ? Who enjoys all their five provinces and ranges?”
Sariputta replied: “Mind (Mano).”
Maha-Kotthita asked : “On what do these five faculties of sense depend ?”
Sariputta replied : “On vitality.”
Maha-Kotthita asked : “On what does vitality depend ?
Sariputta : “On heat.”
Maha-Kotthita asked : “On what does heat depend ?”
Sariputta replied : “On vitality.”
Maha-Kotthita asked : “You say that vitality depends on heat, you also say that heat depends on vitality ! What precisely is the meaning to be attached to this ?”
Sariputta replied : “I will give you an illustration. Just as in the case of a lamp, the light reveals the flame and the flame the light, so vitality depends upon heat and heat on vitality.
Maha-Kotthita asked : “How many things must quit the body before it is flung aside and cast away like a senseless log ?”
Sariputta answered: “Vitality, heat and consciousness.”
Maha-Kotthita asked : “What is the difference between a lifeless corpse and an almsman in trance, in whom perception and feelings are stilled?”
Sariputta replied : “In the corpse not only
IV