BUDDHIST
COSMIC CONUNDRUM
by Dr. Gautam
Chatterjee
Is
the world or self eternal or not or both? Whether the world is finite
or infinite or both or even not that? Whether even after attaining Nirvana
does one exist or not or only dwell in deathlessness? These are few
questions which haunts a common man since the olden days while addressing to
the cosmic speculation within the framework of Buddhist philosophy.
Renowned scholar Dr.W. Randolph, who in his
recent research Buddhist Cosmology writes that ‘The Buddha refused
to answer these questions because they were vain and had no significance for
salvation. All of the proposed alternatives are rejected by tradition as false or heretical. The
scholastic difficulties inherent in apparent corollaries of these positions
shed additional light on the implications of these cosmological questions.’

However, denying the importance of these
cosmic speculations could "not prevent his followers from accepting the
general cosmological beliefs of their time, modified by conclusions drawn
from his specific moral and religions teachings" says Encylopeadia
Britanica. It further states that the cosmic phenomenon of creation,
destruction and recreations are inevitable process ! Nothing is of permenant
nature or transidental within the scope of the concept called "realm of
desire", wherein
gods, human being and other creatures are
nothing but embodiment of impermenance.
One cosmic speculation states that the world
system has four stages of becoming--the first layer is the heaven wherein
six-tiers are there. Those are occupied by gods who are also impermenant but
has longer duration of life. Then come the four-tired dvipa(Islands)
around Mount Meru wherein the top is occupied by gods. Then there are
Jambudvipa where in human beings and other creatures share that space. Below
this dvipa
there are terrible hells or a place for
evildoers to suffer punishments.
With these speculations the concept of
Heaven, Earth and Hell is promulgated which are inter-wovened with
conditions of rebirth and by karma(action) one courses through the positions
and layers to finally attain Nirvana or Moksha. Encyclopeadia Britanica sums
up by saying ‘Depending upon their actions men are reborn in any of these
five conditions: as gods, men, animals, tormented spirits,or in the hells.
Later a sixth condition, that of Titans, was added. These five or six states
represents the ever revolving wheel of life. When the world system comes to
an end, the combined potency of previous actions(karman) restarts the whole
process, just as present individual actions (which become Karmen in the
future) result in a continuous life series (Sanatana) of
apparently personal existences. Thus, for practical purposes, the process of
existence appears as infinite, and only the practice of Buddhist
teaching can bring it to an absolute end,which is the deathless state of
enlightenment’.
The karma (actions of life) remains
the basic essence of Buddhist cosmic speculations, however the Karmic
manifestation is yet to be fathomed by us. In the Mahayanic practice we get
some indication of cosmic Buddha based on his karma philosophy. Dr.
Nalinaksha Dutt wrote in his article "Emergence of Mahayanic
Buddhism" in Cultural Heritage of India that "The higher
Mahayanic practices commence after {chapter} adhiprajna-vihara,
i.e. in the seventh bhumi{textual layers} of the Dasabumika-Sutra,Henceforward
the bodhisattva continues the practice of the four brahma-viharas,viz.
maitri (friendliness), Karma (compassion), mudita (joy
at other’s success) and upeksa (equaninity) tries to realize the
substance lessness (Nairatmyas, Nissattva) and non-duality(advaya)
of all objective existence which appear to him as echo or mirage, and
strives to visual the cosmic body of the Buddha. He follows the ways of the
world, but remains dissociated from them. He now goes beyond the sravaka and
pratlyeka-buddha stages."
Now again we come back to the question of
Buddhist Cosmic conundrum after learning about cosmic Buddha within the
definition of Karma. Academically speaking most scholars restrict their
quest to the idea of single world and much of the treatise are written on
this concept. However, Dr.W. Randolph Kloetzli has done some pioneering
research and for the first opened up the four-tier cosmic symbolism. Those
are Single World System, Cosmology of thousands; Cosmology of innumerables
and the cosmologies of the pure land sects.
Dr. Kloetzli says that the single world
system or ‘the cakravala is represented as a disk ringed with a series of
seven circular golden mountain ranges. These mountain ranges are arranged
concentrically with Mt. Meru at the centre and the Cakravala wall of iron at
the perimeter.Proceeding outward from the centre, the mountains are
known as Meru, Yugandhara, Isadhara,
Khadisika,Sundarasana,Avakarana Vinataka, Nimindhara and cakravala...Mt.Meru
has a height of 80,000 yojans and each of the mountain ranges is onehalf the
height of the preceeding range. All of the mountains except the cakravala
rings are excrescences of the golden earth. The cakravala ring is made of
iron. The waters of the various seas(sita)fill the regions between the
mountain ranges.The mountain penetrate these waters...processed of the
following eight qualities; cold, clear swiftly, flowing,pleasant to
the taste, fresh, inoffensive in smell, offensive to the neither throat nor
the stomach.’
Furthermore, documents indicate that
Mahasamudra flows about the seventh mountain ranges around dvipa as well.
Coming to the celestial world of Mt. Meru it is said that there leaves two
group of Gods i.e. Caturmaharajakayika and Trayastrimsa. However, there were
foul classes of Caturmaharajakayika gods who live in parisanda or
terraces of Mt. Meru.The Traystrimsa or celestial arena is ruled by
Indra or Sakra who leave atop Mt. Meru.
The fourth heaven is of the Kamadeva.
These are some glimpses of cakkravala and
cakravala cosmology referred by Dr.Koletzli. However, Dr. L.A. Waddell had
sketched Lamist view of cakravala which is bit different and been dominating
idea in the last century in amongst the lamas of Tibet.
Dr. Waddell wrote "Each Universe...rests
upon a wrap and woof of ‘blue air’ or wind, liked crossed thunderbolts (Vajra)hard
and imperishable as diamongs (vajra),upon which is set ‘the body of the
waters’ upon which is a foundation of gold, on which is set the earth,
from the axis of which towers up the great Olympus---Mt.Meru (Su-meru Tib.
Rab)
84,000 miles high surmounted by the heaven
and overlalying the hills.
In the ocean around this central mountain,
the axis of Universe are set...four great continental world with their
satellite, all with bases of solid gold in the form of a tortoise....And the
continents are separated from Mt. Meru by seven concentric ring of golden
mountains...The yoke alternating with seven oceans of fragnang, milk, curds,
butter, blood or sugar juice, poison or wine, fresh water and salt water
....the whole system is girdled externally by
a double iron wall(cakravala)312 and half miles high and 3,602,625 miles in
circumference....This will shut out the light of the sun
and moon, whose orbit is the summit of the
inmost ring of mountains, along with the sun composed of ‘glazed fore’
enshrined in a crystal palace, is driven in a chariot with ten (seven)
horses; and the moon of ‘glazed water’ in a silver shrice drawn by seven
horses, and between these two hand the jewelled umbrella of royalty and the
banner of victory, as shown in the figure. And inhabitting the air, on a
level with these, are the eight angelic or fairly mothers".
Thus we see even within the single concept
cosmic variations and changes in the interpretative value are noticed though
all the Buddhist idea still revolve around the cosmic Mountain Meru.
The "Cosmology of thousands" is
another important aspect of Buddhist cosmological speculation. Dr. Kloetzli
informed that there are thousands of worlds within the definition of
Brahmaloka ‘the realm of the dhyana heavens’. The Buddhist textual
tradition Majjhimankya gives us a striking example of these
various worlds. He says ‘These we find a distinction between a shassobrahma
governing a sahassi lokadhatu and equivalent realms governed by a dvishasso-brahma
a trisahasso-brahma, a catusshasso-brahma,pancassohasso-brahma
and stasahasso-brahma gods which rule over 1000 upto (1000)
worlds’.
Moreover, we find the buddhaksetra is
embodiment of sixty one triple chiliocosms.A further expression we find in
La Valle Poussin’s translation of ancient text Avatamsakasutra which
goes:
‘On whirlwinds rests the
Fragrant ocean, which carries an infinite number of world-germs (lokabija);
from it there issue lotuses infinite in number--very far removed, indeed,
rom each other.From each of these lotuses is born a universe (great
chilicosm) above which (separated bly whirlwinds) there are three, then five
and so on upto the twentieth tiers, where there are 39 great chilicosms....
The Sahalokadhatu form part of the thirteenth stage, and constitutes the ‘field
of the Buddha Vairocana, and.... on the same level at the same stage, in the
extreme west, is blessed universe of the Buddha Amitabha, the Sukhavati,
where a kalpa of our universe is equal to
a day and a night’.
Further the Anguttara-nikaya explained
that there are 1,000,000,000 Universes smaller and bigger thus giving birth
to the concept of innumerable Universe. In the Pali texts of Buddhaghasa’s
Atthasalini which says four things are infinite namely Space, The
number of Universe, number of living beings and Wisdom of Buddha.
Thus the indication of infinite cosmology is
found which denotes that manifestation of Buddha in 10 regional directions (dasadis)
which are East(Purva); North-East (Uttarapurva); South East (Purvadakshina);
West (Pasclhima); South West (Dakshinapaschima); North West (Paschimottara);
South (Dakshina) North (Uttara).Then there are Urdvam (Zenith)
and Adahah (Nadir).
In these ten directions the eternal light of
Cosmic Buddha spreads all around Buddhakshetra the land of celestial
Buddha within the concept of time and space. In Buddhist philosophy the
soul is replaced with these eternal lights which are no mere cosmic jyoti
but are embodiment of knowledge. To attain these knowledge one has to course
through karma then the nirvana dawns upon which is the state of
deathlessness or Moksha. One wonders, why Gautama Buddha only talked about
Nirvana(emancipation and salvation) and not the cosmic world and
avoided discussions on the speculative cosmic theories. Perhaps, Gautama
realised that it was useless to discuss the Cosmology at the academic level
rather one should get engaged to attain nirvana which is the state of
realization and becoming and there one needs no cosmic theory to discuss
because he merges into adibuddha the transidental one. Does all these
indicate that the whole Buddhist cosmic theory is hidden in Nirvana which is
a state of experiencing the eternal truth without any doubt or dilemma!
.