34 CHAPTER TWOmental formations, and consciousness are each aniftman (not-self). Because
they are impermanent, they entail suffering; because they entail suffering, they
do not merit being regarded as "me," "my self," or "what I am." Hearing this
exposition, the five monks overcame their infatuation for the five skandhas
and were freed from the asravas. Thus they too became arhants (perfected
saints worthy of reverence).
2.3 COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST SERMON
All Buddhist traditions refer to the Buddha as a doctor, one who treats the
spiritual ills of the world (see M.75), and this reference provides a convenient
metaphor for understanding the form and content of his teaching. As noted
previously (see Section 1.4.3), the Buddha's analysis of dependent co-arising
resembles a medical diagnosis, pointing out both the causes of the disease of
suffering and the cure to be followed to attain what counts-according to the
Buddha's experience of Awakening-as the only true health: nirval).a. The
crucial element in effecting this cure is the discernment that does away with
ignorance arid craving. As one of the Pali Suttas states (D.33), discernment can
come from any of three sources-listening, thinking, and meditating-but
only the last is sufficient for effecting the cure. These considerations placed a
number of constraints on the Buddha as he undertook the task of teaching
others the Path he had found. He had to convince them of the truth ofhis di-
agnosis and at the same time inspire them to administer the cure to themselves.
Therefore, he prefaced his teachings by insisting on his status (as jina, arhant,
Buddha, and Tathagata, four terms current among the sramal).a sects), for only if
his listeners were receptive to his words would they benefit from them.
The claim of a mere Homo sapiens in bare feet and saffron rags to be to-
tally Awakened is rather incredible to the post-Darwinian world and was
scarcely less so to professional ascetics in the fifth century B.C.E. Unable to
convince the stranger he met on the road, Gautama eventually prevailed with
his old companions only by appealing to their knowledge of his responsible
character. His apparent motive in self-proclamation was not vanity but a desire
to prepare his listeners to receive the doctrine. He did not teach the five men-
dicants until they acknowledged his authority and were disposed to assent. His
style in the first sermon, as in many later discourses, was didactic rather than
demonstrative, elaborating the points but not attempting to prove them. The
chief guarantee of their truth is the character of the teacher, the assumption
being that people with keen faculties will find the points self-evident. The
tone is earnest and exalted, free from sentimentality and hyperbole. Gautama's
manifest desire to convince his hearers never shakes his gravity. This does not
mean, however, that he was a simple ideologue. In many of his discourses his
method was demonstrative-he was willing to reason and enter into dia-
logue-and he insisted that his listeners test his teachings for themselves, rather
than accepting them solely because they are his.