Category Archives: Divine Revelation

Agni and the Brahman

Masefield’s final chapter, The New Brahmin, reinforces the truth that the Buddha did not condemn Brahmanism per-se, but that rather it was brought to fulfillment in the new Atman—the arahant: read more

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Transmission of the Dhamma

Masefield contends that the early Transmission of the Dhamma instantly instituted arahantship without one having to laboriously “till the soil” of the path through rigorous training of mastering the senses and gradually overcoming the debilitating effects of the āsavas (mental defilements). What mattered, above all, was simply being in the presence of the Blessed One, being perfumed with his Holy Essence, and taking to heart the salvific Dhamma talk that issued from the hallowed lips of the Sugata. Masefield reinforces his contention through what he labels as the five different methods that sealed the initial Dhamma discourses: read more

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The Dustless Dhammacakkhu

One of the best descriptions of the Great Deathless Vision (Noble-Ariyan Path) is recalled in the Vimānavatthu: read more

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Ariyasāvaka and Puthujjana

Perhaps the most vivid illustration that transcends traditional categories is how Masefield distinguishes the ariyasāvaka* and puthujjana: it does not involve “religious monks” and “secular layman”, but a higher manifestation of the Noble Spirit that is present or absent in each. Firstly, he defines the ariyasāvaka as one who is empowered to discern right view* and in so doing has become emboldened to traverse the ariyan ten-fold (Masefield includes “right knowledge” and “Right Release”) path in the company of the Noble Ariya—thus establishing themselves as one in the same. He defines the puthujjana as an assutavant—one devoid of the Self-realization of Noble Wisdom and thus devoid of insight into the Four Noble Truths: “The puthujjana is thus one who has not heard [and has not internalized, inclusion mine] the teaching or the tradition (MLS i 3 n 8; cp Dhs trans 258 n 2), that is to say, the Dhamma; it is in this crucial knowledge that he is deficient.” (Masefield, pg. 3) The puthujjana does not see Reality AS IT Really IS: Yathābhūtaṁ. Whereas the Noble Ariyasāvaka is one who has heard AND internalized the Holy Dhamma. It can also be shown that the ariyasāvaka can discern another ariyasāvaka and those who are not: read more

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Divine Revelation in Pali Buddhism

Dr. Peter Masefield’s groundbreaking study, Divine Revelation in Pali Buddhism, has become a standard-bearer for those who approach the early narratives of Buddhism, not exclusively through the torch of Historical-Critical-Analysis, but through a direct and synthesized correlation of what transpires in those sacred chronicles via a series of recurring themes and general non-sectarian mystical vantage points. Masefield contends that his study is a revaluation and a re-mythologization of what mainstream academia shuns and holds as anathema to their rigid methodologies. One reviewer writes: read more

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