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.What does this mean exactly?It is certain that the arahant path will produce arahant fruition,and it is certain that it will destroy all defilements, all unwhole-some kamma and all wholesome kamma, which would otherwise174 Questions and Answers (6)have produced their result at the time following the time ofParinibbana.This law of kamma is called the definite fixed-lawand cannot be changed.So the definite fixed-law and definiteprophecy are not against the law of impermanence.Here again I wish to make a further comment.Making an as-piration or wish alone is not enough to attain the OmniscientKnowledge.When bodhisattas receive a definite prophecy theabove eight factors must already be present in them.Moreover,a definite prophecy alone cannot produce Buddhahood.Evenafter the definite prophecy they must continue to perfect the tenparamis on three levels:1.They must fulfil the ten paramis by giving up sons,daughters, wives and external property.This is the tenordinary paramis (parami).2.They must fulfil the ten paramis by giving up theirlimbs and organs, such as eyes, hands.This is the tenmedium paramis (upaparami).3.They must fulfil the ten paramis by giving up theirlives.This is the ten superior paramis (paramattha-parami).Altogether there are thirty paramis.If we summarise thesethirty paramis they are only giving (dana), virtuous conduct(sila), and mental cultivation (bhavana) through Samatha andVipassana.They are superior wholesome kamma.Bodhisattasmust fulfil these wholesome kamma by giving up animate andinanimate property, their limbs, and their lives.If you believeyou are a bodhisatta, can you and will you fulfil these paramis?If you can and if you have also received a definite prophecy froma Buddha, then one day you will attain the Omniscient Knowl-edge.But according to the Theravada teachings, two or moreBuddhas cannot appear at the same time, cannot appear simulta-neously.At one given time, only one Buddha can appear.Andhow long must they fulfil their paramis? In the case of our Sak-175 Knowing and Seeingyamuni bodhisatta, after he had received his definite prophecy,he fulfilled the paramis for four incalculables and a hundredthousand aeons.This is the shortest time.But prior to the defi-nite prophecy we cannot say exactly how long will it take.Soyou should remember that making an aspiration or a wish aloneis not enough to become a Buddha.Question 6.8: When an ordinary disciple (pakati-savaka) haspractised Samatha-Vipassana up to the Knowledge of DiscerningCause and Condition (paccaya-pariggaha-bana), the Knowledgeof Arising and Passing-Away (udayabbaya-bana), or the Knowl-edge of Equanimity Towards Formations, he will not fall intoany of the four woeful planes (apaya) after death.Even if heloses his Samatha-Vipassana due to negligence, the kamma ofhaving practised Samatha-Vipassana still exists.The SotanugataSutta also says that he will attain Nibbana quickly.So, why didthe Sayadaw in the Question-and-Answer session of June 2nd saythat a bodhisatta who has received a definite prophecy from aBuddha, even if he practises meditation up to the Knowledge ofEquanimity Towards Formations, will still fall? In which sutta isthis mentioned?Answer 6.8: This is because the bodhisatta way and ordinarydisciple way are not the same.If you want to check the Pali Textyou can look at Buddhavamsa Pali Text and Cariyapitaka PaliText.How are the two ways different? Although a bodhisatta hasreceived a definite prophecy from a Buddha, his paramis havenot yet matured to attain the Omniscient Knowledge.He mustcultivate his paramis up to maturity.For example, in the case ofour Sakyamuni bodhisatta, after receiving the definite prophecyfrom Dipavkara Buddha, he had to continue to cultivating hisparamis for four incalculables and a hundred thousand aeons upto their maturity.During the interim between the definite proph-ecy and the life prior to the last life, a bodhisatta is sometimes176 Questions and Answers (6)reborn in the animal kingdom because of his previous unwhole-some kamma.At that time he was still unable to totally destroythat unwholesome kammic force.So when those unwholesomekamma mature and are ready to produce their results, he cannotavoid them.He must experience their results.This is an eternallaw.But for ordinary disciples who have attained the Knowledge ofDiscerning Cause and Condition, the Knowledge of Arising andPassing-Away, or the Knowledge of Equanimity Towards For-mations, their paramis are mature to attain the Path Knowledge(magga-bana) and Fruition Knowledge (phala-bana).For thisreason they attain path and fruition, and see Nibbana in theirsubsequent future life.This is also an eternal law.This eternallaw manifests itself as a kammic force, it is not an ultimate phe-nomenon or ultimate dhamma (paramattha-dhamma).Only ul-timate phenomena are impermanent.Kammic force is not im-permanent because it is the energy of wholesome kamma whichwe can call parami.That wholesome kamma, especially whole-some intention (kusala-cetana), is an ultimate phenomenon.Theenergy of that ultimate phenomenon is the kammic force, whichis not the same as the ultimate phenomenon.Question 6.9: An arahant can also give a definite prophecy tosomeone; what is the definition of definite prophecy here? Inwhich sutta or source can this information be found?Answer 6.9: For that please refer to the Buddhavamsa Pali andApadana Pali.But not every arahant can give a definite proph-ecy.Only arahants who possess the divine eye psychic power(dibba-cakkhu-abhibba), especially the Knowledge of Discern-ing Future (anagatamsa-bana) which is a secondary psychicpower of divine eye, can give a definite prophecy.They can seethe future for a few lives only.They cannot see many incalcula-bles (asavkhyeyya), or many aeons (kappa), because their psy-chic power is not as strong as the Buddha s psychic power.177 Knowing and SeeingQuestion 6.10: Can one practise Vipassana while in the base ofneither-perception-nor-non-perception attainment (nevasabba-nasabbayatana-samapatti)? In which sutta or source can theanswer be found?Answer 6.10: One cannot practise Vipassana while in anyjhana attainment (jhana-samapatti).After having emerged fromjhana one can practise Vipassana meditation on the jhanadhammas, the consciousness and mental-concomitants of jhana.For example, if a meditator enters into the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception jhana attainment he cannot prac-tise Vipassana while in that attainment.But having emergedfrom that attainment he can practise Vipassana meditation onthose jhana dhammas of the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, in this case especially the thirty one mental forma-tions.This is mentioned in the Anupada Sutta in Uparipannasa.In that Sutta the Buddha explains in detail the experiences of theVenerable Sariputta in the fifteen days after his attainment ofstream-entry path and fruition.For example the Venerable Sariputta entered into the firstjhana attainment.Having emerged from it, he discerned thethirty-four first-jhana dhammas one by one as impermanence,suffering, and non-self by seeing their arising, static and passing-away stages.He discerned in this manner up to the base-of-nothingness jhana
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