Eighteen Realms

The Eighteen Realms are comprised of the Six Organs, the Six Objects, and the Six Consciousnesses.

The Six Organs are: 1) eyes, 2) ears, 3) nose, 4) tongue, 5) body, 6) mind.

The Six Objects are: 1) sights, 2) sounds, 3) smells/odors, 4) tastes/flavors, 5) objects of touch, 6) dharmas (or objects of mind).

The Six Consciousnesses are: 1) eye-consciousness , 2) ear- consciousness, 3) nose-consciousness, 4) tongue-consciousness, 5) body-consciousness, 6) mind-consciousness.

The Six Organs and the Six Objects taken together are known as the Twelve Bases. They are the bases for the production of the Six Consciousnesses.

Like the Five Skandhas, the Eighteen Realms are a way of analyzing the entire psycho-physical world as an aid to breaking attachments to it. Everything that we experience is included in the Eighteen Realms. The first five or the Six Objects include the entire external world. The first five of the Six Organs describe our physical bodies. Together they comprise the entire physical world. The mind organ, dharmas as objects of mind, and the Six Consciousnesses comprise the world of mind. All mental experience is included within them. Since both mental and physical worlds are completely included, there is no need for recourse to a real, permanent self or soul to describe any experience.

According to the teachings of the Mahayana, all dharmas are empty of any real, permanent, inherent identifying characteristics.

Therefore, in emptiness there . . . [are] no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch or dharmas; no field of the eyes, up to and including no field of mind-consciousness. (HS 56-57)

1) Ch. , 2) Skt. , , 3) Pali , 4) Alternate Translations: fields, sense-fields, constituents, element, factors,psycho-physical constituent elements, elements in sense consciousness.

See also: Eight Consciousnesses.

BTTS References: HD 31; HS 56-59; PS 334-335

The Heart Sutra

“NO EYE, EAR, NOSE, TONGUE, BODY OR MIND; NO FORM,
SOUND, SMELL, TASTE, TOUCH OR MIND OBJECT; NO REALM OF THE EYE, UNTIL WE COME TO NO REALM OF CONSCIOUSNESS.”

This portion of the Sutra is the Teaching on Emptiness in connection with the eighteen worldly dharmas, or the eighteen realms; the uninstructed lack understanding of the Dharma, of Emptiness and repeatedly yield to the play of delusion as permanence and as independent existence. Ultimate Emptiness is not the obstinate void of the worldlings nor the annihilation view of those on the heterodox path; it is not the analysis of the Void as practiced by Theravadins, nor the Void of the present moment as perceived by the bodhisattva.

The supramundane Emptiness of True Existence is not possessed by buddhas alone: All of us are endowed with the same truth and would come to know it, if only we relinquished our discriminating mind; that is the supramundane Void of True Existence. In order to have correct practice it is not necessary to apply the method of Theravada, the Middle Vehicle or the Mahayana. Anyone can become buddha spontaneously by deeply comprehending that “all existence is Void.” The Arhat of Theravada is equal to a worldly person of great potential.

A worldling of superior potential can sharpen his/her wisdom and receive the radiant Dharma at any time. People of mundane concerns wear themselves out in the realm of the eighteen mundane dharmas that lead to confusion and craving; for them there can be no salvation. The six organs, i.e., eye, car, nose, tongue, body and mind, and the corresponding six sense- data or dust, i.e., form, sound, smell, taste, touch and mental formations generate the six kinds of consciousness, i.e., eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness and mind consciousness. The group is referred to as the eighteen realms or the eighteen mundane dharmas. To be conscious means to be conscious of something, to distinguish or to discriminate.

The average person works to make a living, eats and drinks every day always bound by the eighteen realms. He/she always sees with his/her eyes, hears with his/her ears, smells with his/her nose, tastes with his/her tongue, touches with his/her body and knows mental objects with his/her mind. The cognitive objects are discerned, produce sense data and from the six kinds of consciousness arise all the other functions.

People assume the reality of subject and object behind the process, unaware as they are of it being a mere assumption unverifiable by experience. To understand this doctrine means liberation, but getting confused about it means falling into the ocean of suffering. Six kinds of consciousness arise from the six organs and the six data. The six organs are useless to a dead body. How could the six kinds of consciousness receive the six data and act upon receiving them? Since Emptiness is the substance of the six organs and, consequently, of the six kinds of data, what do the six kinds of consciousness depend on for their existence? The sutra says: “No realm of the eye all the way up to no realm of consciousness,” meaning no realm of eye consciousness, no realm of ear consciousness, no realm of nose consciousness, no realm of tongue consciousness, no realm of body consciousness and no realm of mind consciousness.

The mundane Dharma of eighteen realms and their range is clear: Each of them has a character of its own. As a matter of fact, just as one hundred rivers merge into one ocean, all dharmas are contained in one teaching, the teaching of Emptiness. To attain enlightenment instantly, all one needs is to comprehensively understand the Dharma of Emptiness as the essence of reality. The uninformed majority submerge their True Nature in confusion resulting from misconception regarding the eighteen realms, a concept that has no counterpart in reality. Whenever mind touches a point, there is feeling; it may itch, hurt, feel numb, burn, or produce any of the countless sensations, and the knowing consciousness is alerted. When the taste buds are stimulated, there is the knowing of tasting. There is sweet, bitter, sour, etc. and the tasting nature becomes confused by the variety and the complexity. Similarly, the moment the eye makes contact, the eye consciousness engages in making distinctions in terms of light/dark, and the pristine seeing nature gets covered over by them. When the ear catches a sound, the hearing nature gets lost in judgments regarding it. These cognitive patterns are so deep it is difficult to trace and abandon them. And yet, it manifests complete misunderstanding of the original nature of consciousness. Looking at the city at night, we see the brilliant lights of ten-thousand households: Such is the form of light. During blackout we are able to observe the form of darkness. Light and darkness both have birth and death, yet the nature of seeing is free of cyclic existence. It is in the nature of seeing to perceive darkness in the absence of light and light in the absence of darkness. This should help us to understand the timeless nature of seeing. Our tendency to crave and grasp the object of seeing is a major obstacle to an understanding of the true nature of reality.

Attachment resulting from pleasurable eye contact, once established, is exceedingly difficult to relinquish. Most people do not have any understanding of the subject of seeing. The organ of the eye does not have the ability to see - only the nature of seeing does. The one who can enlighten himself/herself as to the subject of the nature of seeing can understand his/her own mind and see his/her own nature immediately. Whether a person is holy or worldly depends entirely on his/her ability (or the lack of it) to see his own Original Nature. This holds true for the nature of hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and for the nature of knowing. The Surangama Sutra says: “When one organ has returned to its source all six of them are liberated.” Our study and practice should begin by looking inward in order to free ourselves from the effect of light and dark. It is truly important to turn our attention completely onto our nature of seeing. When it is accomplished it means a true awakening to the supreme Tao. At first we should learn the BuddhaDharma and try to understand the doctrine. When we start to practice we should apply what we have learned: Without practice there is no learning.

The World Honored One is said to have attained Buddhahood in the previous asamkhiya kalpa; nevertheless, he appeared in the world in order to save all sentient beings, manifesting himself as a worldling and a prince. The son of king Suddhodana of the Sakya clan, he renounced his regal status at the age of twenty-nine so he could dedicate himself wholeheartedly to the quest for liberation from suffering. He practiced ascetic meditation in the Himalayas, and at the age of thirty-five the former prince attained perfect and complete enlightenment while meditating beneath a Bodhi tree. Noticing a bright star in the eastern sky, the Buddha observed that the nature of seeing is boundless. He commented that all sentient beings have the same wisdom and virtue as the Tathagata, but since it is covered over with delusion, attachment and aversion, sentient beings do not attain enlightenment. All evidence affirms that the Buddha attained the Original Nature, but most people are confused regarding their own, mistaking the four elements for their bodies and the reflections of their six conditioned sense data for their minds. That is delusion and grasping, and these are major hindrances to attaining the Tao.

The preceding explanation dealt with the eighteen realms consisting of six sense organs, six sense data and six kinds of consciousness. Now I would like to sum up, using the eye organ for illustration:

There are two aspects to the eye: There is the organ of sensation and the faculty of sensation; the eye is the organ; the faculty of sensation has two parts - seeing and form. The capacity of the eye to see, or the subject of seeing, is called the nature of seeing. The form of seeing is related to the object of seeing: It is always connected to an object, and therefore the eye is always seeing something, whether a thing, a shape, a color or a size. The object of seeing is most confusing, and the uninstructed can easily fall into self-deception as to the independent existence of whatever they are looking at. The process of experience gets twisted so it suits the volition to grasp and to possess, thus changing into a source of suffering. The Buddha’s teaching is the path to liberation and whoever understands this, understands all the Mahayana sutras as well.

We return once more to the example of the mirror and the reflection. The mirror was made to reflect whatever it faces, including mountains, rivers, even the great earth; the problem arises when the reflection is mistaken for the object and when it is no longer realized that it may vanish at any time, it being part of the birth/death cycle. The susceptibility to reflect is the real self, the timeless characteristic of the mirror we are talking about, yet it is very seldom realized. There was a Ch’an master who said: “Always facing it, yet not knowing what it is!”, meaning that worldlings do not recognize the nature of seeing for what it is: Ignoring the clarity of the mirror they hold on to the reflection.

Time passes very quickly; even if we live for one-hundred years, it still is a very brief period of time. Those who inhabit heavens still worry about death although their lives last much longer. Things seen during one’s life are completely useless after one has died. The nature of seeing, however, is not amenable to birth or death, it is not dependent on the organ of the eye. To have eyes does not necessarily mean having seeing awareness. The nature of seeing is like the capacity of the mirror to reflect images, shapes or actions; after the images, shapes or actions vanish, the nature of seeing remains, unmovable and unchangeable. The same applies to the nature of hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and knowing.

Simply stated, people should not hold reflections as permanent, clinging to them and grasping them. To perceive the reflectivity of the mirror as the True Self means quick release from defilement and an expeditious liberation. The remaining five sense doors can be inferred from the example of the eye organ; the six sense-organs with their corresponding six data and six kinds of consciousness collectively generate the eighteen realms or the eighteen worldly Dharmas: All of these are reflections, impermanent, subject to birth and death. Only the nature of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and knowing, like the nature of the mirror, remains unchanged. Furthermore, that which reflects is the also reflection, and the reflection becomes that which reflects it: They complement one another.

Thus there is “no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind: No form, sound, smell, taste, touch and no mind object. No eye realm until no realm of consciousness.” According to the phrase “all five skandhas are empty” the five skandhas are the true Void of the supramundane existence and the Dharma of the Five Skandhas is the fundamental Dharma. In the true Void of supramundane existence, when there are no more skandhas, there is nothing to be attained. The eighteen realms are void at this very moment. Without the mirror, how can there be reflection?

Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudipa,i.e., the Great PraBuddha Bharath (Scheduled Caste)Buddhist movement

The Scheduled Caste Buddhist movement (Pāli नवयान “navayāna” as dubbed by certain Ambedkerites)Omvedt, Gail. Buddhism in India : Challenging Brahmanism and Caste. 3rd ed. London/New Delhi/Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2003. pages: 2, 3-7, 8, 14-15, 19, 240, 266, 271] in India began with support of Sri Lankan Buddhist monks. It received an impetus with B. R. Ambedkar’s call for conversion of Dalits to Buddhism in the context of a caste based society that considered them to be at the lower end of the hierarchy. [citebook|title=Political Ideas in Modern India: thematic explorations |author= Thomas Pantham, Vrajendra Raj Mehta, Vrajendra Raj Mehta,|year= 2006|publisher=Sage Publications|id=ISBN 0761934200|url= http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0761934200&id=KJejtAaonsEC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22Self-respect+movement%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=2MFf1OTrHpydPFBq6ZS4SdlaHjs]

Origins

Buddhism was once dominant through much of India, it had however begun to decline by the 12th century (seeDecline of Buddhism in India). The Buddhist revival began in India in 1891, when the Sri Lankan Buddhist leaderAnagarika Dharmapala founded the Maha Bodhi Society. [cite book
last=Ahir
first=D.C.
title=Buddhism in Modern India
year=1991
publisher=Satguru
id=ISBN 81-7030-254-4] The Maha Bodhi Society mainly attracted upper-caste people.citation
last=Das
first=Bhagwan
title=Revival of Buddhism in India. Role of Dr Baba Sahib B.R.Ambedkar
year=1998
publisher=Dalit Today Prakashan
location=Lucknow
id=ISBN 81-7030-254-4]

South India

In 1890 Pandit C. Ayodhya Dasa (1845-1914), better known as Iyothee Thass, founded the Sakya Buddhist Society (also known as the Indian Buddhist Association). The first president of the Indian Buddhist Association was the German born American Paul Carus, the author of “The Gospel of Buddha” (1894).

Thass, a Tamil Siddha physician, was the pioneer of the Tamil Scheduled Caste movement. He argued that Tamil Scheduled Castes were originally Buddhists. He led a delegation of prominent Scheduled Castes to Henry Steel Olcott and asked for his help in the reestablishment of “Tamil Buddhism.” Olcott helped Thass to visit Sri Lanka, where he received “diksha” fromBhikkhu Sumangala Nayake. After returning to India, Thass established the “Sakya Buddhist Society” in Madraswith branches in many places including Karnataka. [cite book
last=Geetha
first=V.
title=Towards a Non Brahmin Millennium - From Iyothee Thass to Periyar
year=2001
publisher=Bhatkal & Sen,India
id=ISBN 81-8560-437-1] Thass established a weekly magazine called “Oru Paisa Tamizhan” (”One Paisa Tamilian”) in Chennai in 1907, which served as a newsletter linking all the new branches of the Sakya Buddhist Society. The magazine discussed traditions and practices of Tamil Buddhism, new developments in the Buddhist world, and the Indian subcontinent’s history from the Buddhist point of view.

Brahmananda Reddy, a Scheduled Caste leader of Andhra Pradesh, was also fascinated by Buddhism.

Uttar Pradesh

In the early 20th century, the Barua Buddhists of Bengal under the leadership of Kripasaran Mahasthavir (1865-1926), founder of the Bengal Buddhist Association, Calcutta (1892) established viharas in cities such as Lucknow,Hyderabad, Shillong and Jamshedpur.

In Lucknow, Bodhanand Mahastavir (1874-1952) advocated Buddhism for Scheduled Castes. Born Mukund Prakash in a Bengali Brahmin family, he was orphaned at a young age, and was then raised in Benaras by an aunt. He was initially attracted to Christianity, but became a Buddhist after a meeting with Buddhists monks from Ceylon at aTheosophical Conference in Benares. He later lived in Lucknow where he came in contact with Barua Buddhists, many of whom were employed as cooks by the British. In 1914, Prakash was ordained Bodhanand Mahastavir in Calcutta in the presence of Kripasaran Mahasthvir. He began preaching Buddhism in Lucknow. He founded the “Bharatiye Buddh Samiti” in 1916, and set up a vihara in 1928. In his book “Mula Bharatavasi Aur Arya” (”Original Inhabitants and Aryans”), Mahastavir stated that the shudras were the original inhabitants of India, who were enslaved by the Aryans.citation|last=Bellwinkel-Schempp|first=Maren|chapter=Roots of Ambedkar Buddhism in Kanpur |editor-last=Jondhale |editor-first=Surendra |editor2-last=Beltz|editor2-first=Johannes |title=Reconstructing the World: B.R. Ambedkar and Buddhism in India|location=New Delhi|publisher=OUP|year=2004|pages=221-244| chapter-url=http://www.maren-bellwinkel.de/artikel/ambedkarbuddhism.pdf]

Bodhanand Mahastavir wrote another book on Buddhist rituals called “Baudha Dvicharya”. His associate, Chandrika Prasad Jigyasu, founded the “Bahujan Kalyan Prakashan”. The two co-authored a book on the life and teaching of the Buddha.

Acharya Ishvardatt Medharthi (1900-1971) of Kanpur also supported the cause of the Scheduled Castes. He had studied Pali atGurukul Kangri and Buddhist scripture was well known to him. He was initiated into Buddhism by Gyan Keto and the Lokanatha in 1937. Gyan Keto (1906-1984), born Peter Schoenfeldt was a German who arrived to Ceylon in 1936 and became a Buddhist. Although Medharthi heavily criticized the Indian caste system, he didn’t criticize Hinduism. He claimed that the Dalits (”Adi Hindus”) were the ancient rulers of India and had been trapped into slavery by the Aryan invaders. He also claimed that the sanatana dharma was the religion of “Adi Hindus”, and tried to reconcile Buddhism with the Sant Mat.

Another Bhikkhu of Kanpur, Bhikshu Uttam, was a strong supporter of the Arya Samaj and the “Jat Pat Todak Mandal”, the anti-caste wing of the Arya Samaj.

B. R. Ambedkar

At the Yeola conference in 1935, prominent Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar declared that he would not die a Hindu, saying that it perpetuates caste injustices. Ambedkar was approached by various leaders of different denominations and faiths. Meetings were held to discuss the question of Dalit religion and the pros and cons of conversion. On May 22, 1936, an “All Religious Conference” was held at Lucknow. It was attended by prominent Dalit leaders including Jagjivan Ram, though Ambedkar could not attend it. At the conference, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and Buddhist representatives presented the tenets of their respective religions in an effort to win over Scheduled Castes.

Buddhist monk Lokanatha visited Ambedkar’s residence at Dadar on June 10, 1936 and tried to persuade him to embrace Buddhism. Later in an interview to the Press, Lokanatha said that Ambedkar was impressed with Buddhism and that his own ambition was to convert all Dalits to Buddhism [cite book
last=Keer
first=Dhananjay
title=Dr Ambedkar Life and Mission
year=1990
publisher=Popular Prakashan, Bombay
id=ISBN 81-8560-437-1] . In 1937, Lokanatha published a pamphlet “Buddhism Will Make You Free”, dedicated to the Depressed Classes of India from his press in Ceylon.

In early 1940s, Ambedkar visited Acharya Ishvardatt Medharthi’s Buddhpuri school in Kanpur. Medharthi had earlier been initiated into Buddhism by Lokanatha, and by the mid-1940s, he had close contacts with Ambedkar. For a short while, Ambedkar also took Pali classes from Medharthi in Delhi.

Bodhananda Mahastvir and B. R. Ambedkar first met in 1926, at the “Indian Non-Brahmin Conference” convened by Shahu IV of Kolhapur. They met on two more occasions and for a short while in the 1940s, where they discussed dhamma. Mahastavir was objected to Dr Ambedkar’s second marriage because his wife was a Brahmin. Later, his followers actively participated in Ambedkar’s Republican Party of India.

Ambedkar’s conversion

After publishing a series of books and articles arguing that Buddhism was the only way for the Untouchables to gain equality, Ambedkar publicly converted on October 14, 1956 in Nagpur. He took the three refuges and the Five Precepts from a Buddhist monk, Bhadant U Chandramani, in the traditional manner and then in his turn administered them to the 380,000 of his followers that were present. The conversion ceremony was attended by Medharthi, his main disciple Bhoj Dev Mudit, and Mahastvir Bodhanand’s Sri Lankan successor, Bhante Pragyanand. Ambedkar would die less than two months later, just after finishing his definitive work on Buddhism.

Many Dalits employ the term “Ambedkar(ite) Buddhism” to designate the Buddhist movement, which started with Ambedkar’s conversion.

22 Vows of Ambedkar

After receiving ordination, Ambedkar gave “dhamma diksha” to his followers. The ceremony included 22 vows given to all new converts after Three Jewels and Five Precepts. On 16 October 1956, Ambedkar performed another mass religious conversion ceremony at Chanda. He prescribed 22 vows to his followers:

# I shall have no faith in Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara nor shall I worship them.
# I shall have no faith in Rama and Krishna who are believed to be incarnation of God nor shall I worship them.
# I shall have no faith in Gauri, Ganapati and other gods and goddesses of Hindus nor shall I worship them.
# I do not believe in the incarnation of God.
# I do not and shall not believe that Lord Buddha was the incarnation of Vishnu. I believe this to be sheer madness and false propaganda.
# I shall not perform “Shraddha” nor shall I give “pind-dan“.
# I shall not act in a manner violating the principles and teachings of the Buddha.
# I shall not allow any ceremonies to be performed by Brahmins.
# I shall believe in the equality of man.
# I shall endeavor to establish equality.
# I shall follow the noble eightfold path of the Buddha.
# I shall follow the ten “paramitas” prescribed by the Buddha.
# I shall have compassion and loving kindness for all living beings and protect them.
# I shall not steal.
# I shall not tell lies.
# I shall not commit carnal sins.
# I shall not take intoxicants like liquor, drugs etc.
# I shall endeavor to follow the noble eightfold path and practice compassion and loving kindness in every day life.
# I renounce Hinduism, which is harmful for humanity and impedes the advancement and development of humanity because it is based on inequality, and adopt Buddhism as my religion.
# I firmly believe the Dhamma of the Buddha is the only true religion.
# I believe that I am having a re-birth.
# I solemnly declare and affirm that I shall hereafter lead my life according to the principles and teachings of theBuddha and his Dhamma.

Dalit Buddhism movement after Ambedkar’s death

The Buddhist movement was somewhat hindered by Dr. Ambedkar’s death so shortly after his conversion. It did not receive the immediate mass support from the Untouchable population that Ambedkar had hoped for. Division and lack of direction among the leaders of the Ambedkarite movement have been an additional impediment. According to the 2001 census, there are currently 7.95 million Buddhists in India, at least 5.83 million of whom are Buddhists in Maharashtra [http://www.censusindiamaps.net/page/Religion_WhizMap1/housemap.htm Census GIS HouseHold ] ] . This makes Buddhism the fifth-largest religion in India and 6% of the population of Maharashtra, but less than 1% of the overall population of India.

The Buddhist revival remains concentrated in two states: Ambedkar’s native Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh — the land of Bodhanand Mahastavir, Acharya Medharthi and their associates.

Developments in Uttar Pradesh

Acharya Medharthi retired from his Buddhapuri school in 1960, and shifted to an ashram in Haridwar. He turned to the Arya Samaj and conducted vedic yajnas all over India. After his death, he was cremated according to Arya Samaj rites. His Buddhpuri school became embroiled in property disputes. His follower, Bhoj Dev Mudit, converted to Buddhism in 1968 and set up a school of his own.

Rajendranath Aherwar appeared as an important Dalit leader in Kanpur. He joined the Republican Party of India and converted to Buddhism along with his whole family in 1961. In 1967, he founded the Kanpur branch of “Bharatiya Buddh Mahasabha”. He held regular meetings where he preached Buddhism, officiated at Buddhist weddings and life cycle ceremonies, and organized festivals on Dr. Ambedkar’s Jayanti (birth day), Buddha Jayanti, Diksha Divas (the day Ambedkar converted), and Dr Ambedkar Paranirvan Divas (the day Ambedkar died).

The Dalit Buddhist movement in Kanpur gained impetus with the arrival of Dipankar, a Chamar bhikkhu, in 1980. Dipankar had come to Kanpur on a Buddhist mission and his first public appearance was scheduled at a mass conversion drive in 1981. The event was organized by Rahulan Ambawadekar, an RPI Scheduled Caste leader. In April 1981, Ambawadekar founded the Scheduled Caste Panthers (U.P. Branch) inspired by the Maharashtrian Scheduled Caste Panthers. The event met with severe criticism and opposition from Vishwa Hindu Parishad and was banned.

Kanshi Ram Ji - Founder of BSP

By Bahujan Samaj P

Mayawati pays floral tributes to Kanshi Ram

Lucknow, Oct 9 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today paid floral tributes to Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) founder Kanshi Ram on his 4th death anniversary which remained a low key affair owing to the imposition of model code of conduct in view of the ongoing Panchayat elections.