The idea of having a system that can help to comprehend the entirety of existence has intrigued mankind for millennia. This very idea was, in fact, what in ancient times constituted the loftier part of religion.
In modern times this urge to comprehend existence is represented by science, where however it has become almost entirely divorced from the agenda of religion — to overcome suffering.
In Buddhism this idea of course also exists. The Buddha himself is an icon of enlightenment and stands for millions of people for the person who has comprehended the whole of existence.
To his followers however, the Buddha rarely spoke about unchanging laws and the pursuit of realising more than one’s own personal reality, and if he did, he would treat it usually only as a side matter. Various statements about things that in later times were grouped under the “heading” of the five Niyāma can be found both throughout the Suttas and the Vinaya, but they don’t form a central aspect of his teachings.
After the Buddha’s demise however, with the emergence and growth of Abhidhamma literature, the idea of five Niyāma, five universal laws of existence, began to take a more concrete shape. In the Visuddhimagga, the great treatise on meditation, which is fundamental in Theravada Buddhism, even though the term “Niyāma” itself never is used, many ideas about universal laws in regard to the physical universe, and in regard to nature, mind, kamma and Dhamma can be found. These were later further systemised and developed to form what we now call the five Niyāma (Pañca Niyāma).
In my book, “Paramattha”, I built up, in a step-by-step manner, a scheme which gradually led to my treatment of the Five Niyāma. I do not have much more to add to what I have written there. However, as I know that many people have a primary interest in the Five Niyāma without necessarily having much interest in what I have written in the chapters that preceded that part of the book, I thought it might not be a bad idea to create a small booklet devoted entirely to the Five Niyāma.
If you have an interest, you may download it using the button below. Else you can also read my former web-posts on them, in which I treated them separately.
For that you can either read the summary post on them:
Pañca Niyāma – Laws of Existence
Or follow the following links:
