THE CAVE OF FIRE WORSHIPPERS

The task here is to understand fully what is

presented in the following Sermon:

The Ādittapariyāya Sutta, or Fire Sermon.

Liberation from suffering through detachment from the five senses and mind.

Translated from the Mahâ-Vagga. Sacred Texts

Then the Blessed One, having dwelt in Uruvelâ as long as he wished, proceeded on his wanderings in the direction of Gayâ Head, accompanied by a great congregation of priests, a thousand in number, who had all of them aforetime been monks with matted hair.

And there in Gayâ, on Gayâ Head, the Blessed One dwelt, together with the thousand priests. And there the Blessed One addressed the priests:

"All things, O priests, are on fire. And what, O priests, are all these things which are on fire?

"The eye, O priests, is on fire; forms are on fire; eye-consciousness is on fire; impressions received by the eye are on fire; and whatever sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent, originates in dependence on impressions received by the eye, that also is on fire.

"And with what are these on fire?

"With the fire of passion, say I, with the fire of hatred, with the fire of infatuation; with birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, and despair are they on fire.

"The ear is on fire; sounds are on fire; . . . the nose is on fire; odors are on fire; . . . the tongue is on fire; tastes are on fire; . . . the body is on fire; things tangible are on fire; . . . the mind is on fire; ideas are on fire; . . . mind-consciousness is on fire; impressions received by the mind are on fire; and whatever sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent, originates in dependence on impressions received by the mind, that also is on fire.

"And with what are these on fire?

"With the fire of passion, say I, with the fire of hatred, with the fire of infatuation; with birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, and despair are they on fire.

"Perceiving this, O priests, the learned and noble disciple conceives an aversion for the eye, conceives an aversion for forms, conceives an aversion for eye-consciousness, conceives an aversion for the impressions received by the eye; and whatever sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent, originates in dependence on impressions received by the eye, for that also he conceives an aversion.

"[The learned and noble disciple] conceives an aversion for the ear, conceives an aversion for sounds, . . . conceives an aversion for the nose, conceives an aversion for odors, . . . conceives an aversion for the tongue, conceives an aversion for tastes, . . . conceives an aversion for the body, conceives an aversion for things tangible, . . . conceives an aversion for the mind, conceives an aversion for ideas, conceives an aversion for mind-consciousness, conceives an aversion for the impressions received by the mind; and whatever sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent, originates in dependence on impressions received by the mind, for this also he conceives an aversion.

"And in conceiving this aversion, he becomes divested of passion, and by the absence of passion he becomes free, and when he is free he becomes aware that he is free; and he knows that rebirth is exhausted, that he has lived the holy life, that he has done what it behooved him to do, and that he is no more for this world."

Now while this exposition was being delivered, the minds of the thousand priests became free from attachment and delivered from the depravities.

Now I am sure that almost everyone will have read through this sermon and, with a nod perhaps of the head, declared it true, or perhaps not.

In any case what I wish to declare here and now is that you must take the Buddha Dharma Sermons and look at them in a more profound way. So we will approach this sermon, which is one of the most important taught by Gotama Buddha, Gotama the Awakened. We will begin this profound examination with a cognitively intelligent and logical view.

Shanjian

THE LOGIC OF THE FIRE SERMON

We are told in this sermon that Buddha addressed a group of priests, "a thousand in number, who had all of them aforetime been monks with matted hair."

Let it be clear first of all that the number "one thousand" simply is an expression which indicates that there were a great number of priests, not precisely one thousand.

They were, we are told, all ex-monks of "matted hair." This means that they were or had been "Fire Worshippers."

Examining the Fire Worshippers

When we spek of a Fire Worshipper we must understand what his base of thought really is and where this idea may arise. He worships Fire because he sees it as the most powerful thing that he can conceive. Its power is such that it can destroy anything.

But let us examine that further. That Fire, personified, is understood in great part because he can see that fire with his eyes; he can hear the sound of the burning with his ears; he can smell the acrid fumes with his nose; if those fumes touch his tongue then he tastes that fire; if he touches that flame he will be burnt.

In other words he knows that fire intimately through his five senses. Furthermore he understands the power of its destruction with his mind.

Yet, we can see that he does not know the Fire that he worships. He only believes that Fire exists by means of the characteristics of Fire that his five senses and his mind have managed to receive. To him it is the most Powerful phenomenon, worthy of respect and worship.

But there could equally be another that refutes that power, and declares that Water is more worthy of worship, because "water quenches fire although fire may burn a stick." The Fire worshiper may reply that if the Fire is hot enough it will destroy water and turn it into vapour.

So the discussion might continue without either changing his mind. Yet those who worship Fire do not really know Fire beyond what the senses and their minds tell them. Those that worship Water are in the same position. They do not really know Water. Both have seen certain characteristics and have called the unknown power behind what is sensed "Fire" and "Water" respectively.

Many of those who read may worship a God, called by many names perhaps, but that worship is based also upon characteristics that you have received by way of the senses and your mind. You do not know your God. But that is alright because you need not know if you have Faith.

Now Buddha is not interested in changing your faith, no matter if you worship Fire, Water or a perhaps more abstract God.

What he wishes to point out are the inherent dangers which rise as a belief in what the six senses (including the mind) present to you.

Examining All that is on Fire

Buddha declared:

"All things, O priests, are on fire. And what, O priests, are all these things which are on fire?

He begins, naturally, with the most predominant sense for most people and declares that the eye itself is on fire. Then he moves higher into the visual system within the limits of his own physiological knowledge, and declares that the actual FORMS produced by the eyes are also on fire. Then he says the CONSCIOUSNESS of those forms is on fire, that the SENSE IMPRESSIONS are on fire, and then that the DISCRIMINATIONS then made of pleasant, unpleasanrt or indifferent are also on fire.

Let us run through those again. He is saying that the Sense-door called the EYE, the FORMS produced, the CONSCIOUSNESS of the forms, the SENSATIONS related to those forms and finally the DISCRIMINATIONS are on fire.

He is declaring that in every level of visual processing there is the presence of destruction.

But what does he mean when he says that they are on fire?

What is this fire burning?

He told the priests that just as FIRE indeed burns and destroys, the "fruits" of the senses which they possess and the potential fruits of the mind itself are in a state of "being burned and destroyed".

Examining the Manner in which this Fire is Burning and Destroying

Buddha then declared, quite logically:

"With the fire of passion, say I, with the fire of hatred, with the fire of infatuation; with birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, and despair are they on fire."

The "fire of passion" is the destructive power of what is stored within memory regarding the negative Visceral attitudes and intentions.

The "fire of hatred" is the destructive power of every memory trace of Aversion that is stored in memory that can be brought to focus upon all that enters the system.

The "fire of infatuation" is the destructive power of all the clinging and craving with an acquisitive "greed" that is within memory that may also be brought to bear upon any stimulus that enters.

But in addition these three Identity elements, "Mara's three daughters" bring then the burning experiences that we call the suffering of "birth itself, death, sorrow, lamentation, grief and despair."

He is then clearly indicating that this burning and destruction arises from within ourselves, from the stored traces within memory that are recuperated and stain whatever arises from the sense of vision.

It is to be understood that each of the other four senses at each of the levels of operation call out from memory that same burning and destructive fire and that even the mind itself, as the sixth sense, is no different.

Conceiving and Developing Aversion

So what can one do? Buddha suggested this:

One has to Conceive and Generate an Aversion. But the astute person will here detect that "Aversion" was one of the fires assaulting the system.

That is correct and we must therefore understand why that is necessary.

What we term the "fire of the Visceral" causes confusion within the operating system and in modern Freudian terms it is what we term "Id." Likewise the "fire of Acquisitiveness" is what we call the "Ego" and the third fire, that of "Aversion" is that which we term "Super-Ego."

The mental base of this Super-ego is "what should be done."

Since those who are beginning upon the path have no higher resources liberated, one has to use what is available and that is the conceptual idea of what "should be done," a motivating force to change this burning and destruction, including the destruction of the very tool one is using, "the tool of Aversion."

The Application of the Tool of Aversion

Buddha declared that he upon the path:

"Conceives an aversion for the ear, conceives an aversion for sounds, . . . conceives an aversion for the nose, conceives an aversion for odors, . . . conceives an aversion for the tongue, conceives an aversion for tastes, . . . conceives an aversion for the body (tactile sense)... conceives an aversion for things tangible . . . conceives an aversion for the mind, conceives an aversion for ideas, conceives an aversion for mind-consciousness, conceives an aversion for the impressions received by the mind; and whatever sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent, originates in dependence on impressions received by the mind, for this also he conceives an aversion."

This is quite clear. One must be constantly aware of what is happening internally during the operation of all our behaviour for each of the six senses at the SENSE DOORS and at each of the other four levels of operation, the FORMS produced, the CONSCIOUSNESS of the forms, the SENSATIONS related to those forms and finally the DISCRIMINATION of those forms.

These five levels we call the five SKANDHAS, placing them in a different order as:

SENSE-DOOR CONTACT

SENSATION

DISCRIMINATION

PERCEPTION, the FORMS

CONSCIOUSNESS

What is the Consequence of this Correct Application?

Buddha's teaching declared:

Here he declares that the correct application of this Aversion, carried to its conclusion, will eliminate all the negative symptoms of the Visceral stains of Id and will eliminate all the negative symptoms of the Emotional Acquisitive stains of Ego so that he becomes free.

Then what about destroying the symptoms of Aversion? Buddha declared that once he is free of the Visceral and the Acquisitive stains then he becomes Aware. In this sense he is speaking of the Awareness of the stains of Aversion itself.

He now declares that "Rebirth is exhausted". There are those who cling to the traditional idea of reincarnation, once evident also in the Jewish and Christian faiths. But here what is referred to is the constant second-by-second rebirth of a new "stained identity."

When the six senses at the five levels are "cleansed," or if you prefer "purified," then that is alright, then the Identity no longer has the material to reconstruct and refine the negative elements of the three sets in memory concerning the visceral, the acquisitive, or the aversive.

Buddha then goes on further to declare that the person knows that he is doing the correct thing, living a holy life and that he has done what is natural and correct for him to do. Then he says that he is no more for this world. This does not mean that he is to die, but that he is ready to accept death without Identity fear and can live within Stained Samsara (this world) without being stained.

Here it is clear that Gotama Buddha does not go into the details with regard to this cleasing, for his intention was to draw attention to the problem and the basic approach to be taken by calm determined introspection.

But our examination of the Fire Sermon is not complete.

Passing Beyond the Logic of the Fire Sermon

All that you will have done at the moment is intellectually understand a little better what is logically presented. That is insufficient.

Buddha declared:

"All things, O priests, are on fire. And what, O priests, are all these things which are on fire?

Experience the Eye on Fire

"The eye is on fire" as a consequence of the operation of the three negative sets of memory traces which are VISCERAL; Acquisitive, better termed EMOTIONAL; and Aversive, better called MENTAL.

The eye, after all, as a sense door, is just an eye, no more. It has no sensations, discrimination or perceptions associated with it. Yet the eye does have Consciousness associated with it. It is the "Consciousness of actually seeing without any data concerning what is seen attached to it."

Can "seeing" in that very physiological sense be stained?

Yes, indeed, it can.

It is stained by the attachment of Identity to that natural unstained physiologically correct operation. Seeing becomes "I am seeing."

That is where the contamination first arises.

So when Buddha declared "The eye, O priests, is on fire", then it is not sufficient to merely accept that fact, but to experience that act of seeing with the presence of the contamination of the "I" that sees.

That means that one should sit quietly now upon reading the short partial phrase and in actually "seeing" anything that is in front of you detect that you never divorce the "I" from that seeing.

That I, you will learn, is a useful tool for every human creature, but the service to which it is put now is detrimental, because you believe really that that "I" is actually doing the "seeing" when that is really just a mental illusion.

You will not at present be able to change the force of that illusion, but what is essential is to Experience, here and now that "presence of Identity" which is the fire of the sense-door in operation. The same clearly also applies to the other simple senses and very evidently to the sense of the mind, which is "thinking."

Is there ever a thought in your mind without there being a subtle present "I"?

See then now, and experience, the fire present even in the sense door of the mind.

Experience All Forms on Fire

Now how can Buddha declare "forms are on fire" before they have been sensed or discriminated or even perceived?

The forms are on fire because what is received by the sense doors, even when clear comprehension has "pulled" something out of the undiscriminated mass of potential forms for attention, can later be known by its characteristics.

But where do those characteristics come from? Are they inherent within the apparent object selected by attention? No, the characteristics are derived by the mind, namely, Memory.

When examining the fire worshipers we said:

Fire, personified, is understood in great part because he can see that fire with his eyes; he can hear the sound of the burning with his ears; he can smell the acrid fumes with his nose; if those fumes touch his tongue then he tastes that fire; if he touches that flame he will be burnt.

In other words, he knows that fire intimately through his five senses. Furthermore, he understands the power of its destruction with his mind.

Let us examine that more closely.

The eye picks up reflected light. All those apparent potential forms of the undifferentiated mass are reflecting light energy in and among the mass.

We can call that then "undifferentiated light."

Then we can say that reflected light is one characteristic of every object and that reflected sound, the smell, the taste, and the texture of objects are characteristics. But these are only the characteristics that we as human creatures can perceive. Some animals hear much more than we do and some see in a more effective and distinct manner. Some have a tactile sense much more refined than ours. But since all creatures stem form the same root it is these basic five which form the useful characteristics.

But these are just five of the characteristics which we are able to detect and they vary between species. Does that mean then that we have the capacity to detect every characteristic of all the potential illusions that we derive from the mass?

It does not. All we know is what our mind characteristics reveal. The rest is mystery and, as Dao says, "mystery and more mystery."

There is then an Apparent Truth that we call 'real' and there is another Truth that we know nothing about. Yet both these ideas are just illusions of our minds.

So let us go back to those "forms that are on fire".

They are on fire because the characteristics received as forms, still not conscious, will be believed as being True and the phenomena received by the doors as actually existing as such, separate from all other phenomena.

Thus those "FORMS" are on fire with potential Duality imposed upon them.

But this is just an intelligent and logical assessment. What is required here to understand the Fire Sermon, is to EXPERIENCE the VACUITY of those forms. It is to experience the fact that what is apparently received are just characteristics which are incomplete and at best information relative to the capacity to receive in a certain manner rather than indicating the true nature of the subject.

You must then sit quietly and, although it is difficult, try to look beyond that which is illusion understanding that you are receiving nothing except refelctions of light, sound, etc., from the exterior and what you are detecting is within your mind not outside it.

Experience Perception on Fire

Now Buddha declared that the Perceptions were on fire, saying that "eye-consciousness is on fire." Now how is perception on fire?

Perception in the sense used that is not common, is the operation of giving any form that has been derived from the undifferentiated by Clear Comprehension a specific NAME. Thus we have what in the Abhidhamma is called "Nama-Rupa."

By giving the form a name, instead of simply using that name as a tool, knowing that that form is just a differentiated illusion taken from the whole, we give it INDIVIDUAL IDENTIFICATION and thus separate that form from all other forms, believing that it has individual existence. This is a grave error.

The wonderfully evolved tool of naming that allows efficient storage and retrieval is converted into a grave stain.

The task, of course, is not simply to know this but to EXPERIENCE directly that the FORM is not the NAME and that the name is an artificial tool. We must see also the clinging we have to naming and see the danger of clinging to the subject because the name has been given. Silent and deep introspection is the first step in seeing the clear separation of these and the vacuity of the subject.

Yet, there is still one more important EXPERIENCE to generate in order to fully understand this sermon.

Among the important characteristics of the human creature that are essential for survival are the following three drives: the Drive to Belong, the drive for Comfort and the Drive for Security.

It is within Perception that we find this mental Drive to Belong in operation.

It operates in the following manner. When NAMES are given from Memory to FORMS the human balanced and harmonious system, knowing that the appended names are just tools, maintains the Drive that declares "these names are illusion, all really is ONE." That knowing, when maintained, is the DRIVE FOR BELONGING.

But when the Dual mind generates the conception of real individual separate existence for phenomena then the correct and natural drive that elicits the mental ONENESS is set aside. Yet the energy of that drive continues and elicits instead a psychological dissonance that insists on the person belonging to something. That urge is the assuaged by a mental membership in any GROUP that either Comfort or Security may suggest.

Thus, natural Belonging is distorted and a "Stained Belonging" becomes the rule dictating behaviour.

The EXPERIENCE then which it is essential to develop in order to understand this sermon is derived from an introspection upon whatever drive to belong is generated.

So, within introspection, reflect upon that urge to belong to something greater than oneself. It may be to religion, a football club, a woman's sewing circle or any group that brings the satisfaction of belonging. It may elicit the behaviour of "social benefit" it may be rather "neutral" or may result in the dangerous belonging to a "hate" group.

See that drive to belong within oneself, see that the drive has been distorted and EXPERIENCE the emptiness of the target that your Drive of Duality has generated.

Experience the Visceral Sensations on Fire

Human SENSATIONS, named in the Sutra as "impressions received by the eye" also have two aspects. One is the Drive for Comfort that we have mentioned and the other is the cognitive experiences of the natural function of sensation, which is that of RECOGNITION. What sensation performs is the operation of evaluating any new stimulus as having been "received before" and stored in memory as a named phenomenon or as being "novel".

It should be evident that this is an important first evaluation necessary for the survival of the system. If the new stimulus is not recognized then an immediate search is evoked to gather more information in order that DISCRIMINATION may deliver a verdict that declares the stimulus as dangerous or beneficial.

All received stimuli have a VISCERAL response associated with it and when that response is labeled as "seen before" the EXPERIENCE generated is that of COMFORT at this level.

The FIRE manifests itself in the stained desire for "visceral comfort" which is centred upon Id-related body comfort, being "my body" and "my comfort."

The task then in order to understand the sermon is to EXPERIENCE that "stained comfort" and see it to be empty of real content and debilitating for the human natural operation. When that is accomplished then the CONFUSION generated by the Id necessity of examining every possible stimulus which enters the system is transformed into CONFIDENCE.

Experience All Discrimination on Fire

Buddha declared that the DISCRIMINATIONS of the "pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent" are on fire.

While the other operations of the system may be considered as terrible in terms of debilitating the natural functioning, the Fire within DISCRIMINATION is the greatest cause of all SUFFERING.

The simple elements of the phrase "pleasant," "unpleasant," or "indifferent" when operating in an untainted way are the natural experiences and behaviour of AFFECT, DISAFFECT and EQUANIMITY.

But when stained by COGNITION, where DISCRIMINATION operates, they become as dreadful as LOVE, HATE and INTELLECTUAL INDIFFERENCE or provoke the craving and clinging to LIKES, DISLIKES and intellectual indifference.

The accompanying behaviour is "self-" and "other-" destructive.

The stained DISCRIMINATIONS then have thousands of subtle faces, which sometimes conflict with the stained drive to BELONG ruled by THOUGHT, named as Super-Ego, or the stained DRIVE for COMFORT, ruled by VISCERAL EMOTIONS, named as ID. Sometimes these three may operate in stained unison, but never except by accident are they in harmony with the natural Drives.

I am sure that most will be aware of the raging internal fires of clinging and craving. One must examine by clear introspection this DISCRIMINATION, which is EGO-ruled, of all that you personally have attached with labels as "like, dislike or indifference," up to the most debilitating elements that are clung to and craved.

But with introspection if you look deeper, you will find that although there is a natural DISCRIMINATION in the human creature as it has evolved today, it is stained by this acquisitive craving and clinging and that it has its base in a distorted desire for SECURITY.

This SECURITY is, of course, when there is no EGO impediment in a natural and primitive correct response which becomes in the higher human state FEARLESSNESS.

In experiencing these fires which Buddha enumerated you will with great fortune understand the full importance of the Sermon and begin to refrain from pouring fuel onto the fire. If you do not, without the slightest doubt you will remain in the false but blissful state of INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE, dwelling in the uncontrollable fires while telling yourself that you know and have Prajna.

The eye, ear, nose, tongue and body are afire with Identity.

The forms derived by their action are afire with potential Duality

The perception of these forms is afire with a stained belief in the individual and separate existence of things and a Drive for false BELONGING.

The Sensations related to these perceptions are stained by a visceral clinging to a false COMFORT of body and mind.

The Discriminations attached to these Sensations are stained by an emotional clinging and craving brought about by a false sense of requirement of SECURITY from predators.

Understanding this Fire Sermon will bring those who understand more profoundly closer to a freedom from the symptoms of Id, Ego and Super-Ego and freedom from a captivity to the Dual constructions of the mind.

It will bring the first breath of liberation from a state of false STAINED BELONGING and produce the first steps upon the path of true natural awe, knowing ONENESS with all living things.

It will bring the first sense of liberation from the stains of false COMFORT, beginning the new experience of CONFIDENCE in the natural comfort of the system.

It will bring the first natural joy of liberation from the clinging and craving that causes the most intense and frequent SUFFERING which has its roots in a deeper primitive clinging and craving for SELF SECURITY. This freedom brings a natural FEARLESSNESS.