THE ABSTRUSENESS OF THE DOCTRINE
Nevertheless, the doctrine is abstruse
in terms of effects, causes, teaching, and empirical knowledge
(pativeda).
In the first place it is very hard to
understand sankhara, etc., as the results of avijja and and other
causes. For most people mistake the suffering of namarupa for happiness.
This is avijja and they do not know it as an illusion. They believe that
it is their ego-entities that think, they do not know sankhara (effort)
as an effect of avijja but they think it is they themselves who make the
effort. So it is hard to see good or bad deeds (kamma) as the effects of
ignorance. More difficult to understand is the causal relation between this
sankhara of the previous life and the rebirth consciousness of the
present existence. Likewise, it is hard to understand that namarupa,
salkayatana, etc., are conditioned by vinnana, etc.
Equally incomprehensible are the causes
involved in dependent origination. For people believe that they shape their own
destiny. Some say that they are created by God or Brahma while some insist that
everything happens by chance. Most of them do not see avijja, etc. as
the mainspring of their existence
Again some teachings of the Buddha on
the doctrine begin with avijja and ends with death. Some are set forth
in reverse order. Some begin with the middle links in the chain and proceed or
to the end. These various versions of the doctrine adds to the difficulty of
understanding it.
In order to gain an
insight into the doctrine one has to practise vipassana and realize the
facts of causal relationship empirically. This Vipassana approach to the
study of Paticcasamuppada is by no means easy for the method must be right and
one will have to practise it steadily and thoroughly.
In Spite of these
difficulties the doctrine seemed clear to Ananda, because of his unusual
qualifications. So the Buddha's words "Do not say like this, Ananda!"
may be an implicit compliment to him. But according to the commentary, the
Buddha's saying may be an indirect reproach to him. It may mean in effect, you
say Paticcasamuppada is easy to understand. Then why did you become a sotapanna
only after hearing my teaching? Why have you not attained any stage higher than
the first stage on the path? You should think of your shortcoming. You are my
disciple with average, limited intelligence and what you say does not agree
with my words. It is a saying that should not have been uttered by a close
disciple like you. I have had to develop intelligence for aeons to know this
doctrine and so you should not speak lightly of it."
Thus after chiding
Ananda implicitly by a few words, the Buddha stressed the profundity of
Paticcasamuppada. "Profound, Ananda, is this
dependent origination and profound does it appear. It is through not
understanding and not penetrating this law that this world of living beings
resembles a tangled ball of thread, a bird's thicket of sedge or reed and that
man does not escape from the lower states of existence, from the course of
suffering, from the round of rebirths"
In other words, this
law concerning the conditioning of vinnana, namarupa, etc. by avijja,
sankhara, etc. is very profound. So people do not know that there are only
cause-and-effect relationships and that there are no permanent being. They
believe that a living being exists in a permanent form from the time of
inception; that there is a permanent entity behind the being that develops and
grows up. Some hold that this core or soul of the being has many previous
lives. All these illusions are due to ignorance of the reality underlying the
dependent origination.
A living being's acts, words and
thoughts are clearly due to ignorance of the four noble truths and dependent
origination. Undeniably, good acts bear good fruits, bad acts bear bad fruits
and everyone fares according to his deeds. So ignorance leads to kammas or
sankharas which in turn give rise to rebirth, consciousness, etc. This
fact is clear to an intelligent person.
Because of their inability to
understand dependent origination, living beings remain mired in the round of
rebirths, wandering ceaselessly from one existence to another. By and large
they land in the lower worlds and pass onto the deva—realms only
occasionally by virtue of their good kamma. When the good kammic effects run
out, they revert to the lower worlds
It is hard for the denizens of the
lower worlds to pass on to the human or deva worlds. For attainment of the
higher planes of existence is possible only when a dying person has memories or
visions of his good deeds and a good act is simply unthinkable among the lower
forms of life. Animals kill one another and the law of the jungle prevails in
their world, leaving no room for love, pity and other spiritual values. They
usually die stricken with pain and fear. So a lower being is very likely to be
reborn in the lower worlds.
Because of the
ignorance of dependent origination, a living being is unable to free himself
from the round of rebirth. He is like an ox yoked to the mortar. No matter how
long it goes round and round, the animal cannot leave the strictly limited area
of its mobility. Likewise, the ignorant person is mired in the life—cycle
(samsara) which largely means confinement in the nether worlds and for
aeons he remains subject to rebirth.
Understanding of
Paticcasamuppada is as vital to spiritual liberation as the understanding of
the four noble truths. In fact the four noble truths are synonymous with the
dependent origination. The object of vipassanapractice is to gain
insight both intellectually and empirically into these teachings. But these
teaching are deep and hard to understand. Even in vipassana practice it
is not easy to have clear ideas about avijja, sankhara, etc.
The Buddha reflected on
Paticcasamuppada before and shortly after his attainment of supreme
enlightenment. For seven days the Buddha was absorbed in the peace of
liberation (vimuttisukha) and on the seventh day at night he
contemplated Paticcasamuppada in terms of conditioning (paccaya ) or
cause and effect relationship.
Having dealt with the first links in
the chain of causal sequence we will now proceed to phassa that is
conditioned by salhayatana. Salhayatana means the six sense-organs and
the six sense-objects, viz., visual form, Sound, smell, taste, tactile object
and mind-object. The contact between a sense organ and the corresponding
sense-object is called phassa It is an intangible Phenomenon of mental
life but it shows itself clearly when the object has an unmistakable impact on
the mind. For example we are shocked when we see someone being ill-treated,. It
makes us tremble when we see a man whose life is hanging by a thread on the top
of a tree. Seeing a ghost will send the shivers down the spine. Hearing or
reading an interesting story often leaves some impressions that may remain
indelible for a long time All these show what it means when there is phassa
or the impact of a sense-object on the mind of a person.
The impact is occasionally very violent
and gives rise to violent emotions and outbursts of passion anger, etc.
According to the commentary on Anguttara Nikaya, in the time of the
ancient Sinhalese king, Dutthagamani, a young monk happened to see a girl. The
girl looked at him too and both of them were so much consumed with a burning
desire that they died. Again an elderly monk became insane after looking
unmindfully at the queen of king Mahanaga.
In Mudulakkhana
jataka the bodhisatta was a rishi (recluse) who went to the king's
palace to have his meal. He went there by air as he had psychic powers. When
the rishi appeared suddenly, the queen rose to her feet in a hurry and her
garment slipped. The queen's seductive pose instantly aroused the long-dormant
sexual desire of the rishi. He could not eat any food. His psychic powers
having vanished, he walked back to his abode and there he lay, afflicted with
the fires of lust and passion.
On learning what had
happened, the king offered the queen to the rishi as he was confident of the
holy man's ability to recover his higher self eventually. He secretly
instructed the queen to do her best for the welfare of the rishi.
Taking the queen, the
rishi left the king's palace. Once outside the gate the queen told him to go
back and ask the king for a house. He was offered an old house but there he had
to fetch a hatchet and a basket for the disposal of excreta and filth. Again
and again he had to go and ask the king for other things that he needed. Going
to and fro and doing all household chores at the bidding of the queen, the
rishi was dead tired but he did not come to his senses as he was still
dominated by lust and passion.
After having done
everything that he was told to do, he sat down near the queen to take rest,
Then she pulled his moustache with a jerk and said, "Are you not aware of
your being a samana (ascetic) whose object is to do away with Passions and
desires? Are you so much out of your senses?" This awakened the rishi to a
sense of his blind folly and ignorance. After handing back the queen to the
king, he went to the Himalayan forest, practised Vipassana and recovered
his Psychic Power. On his death he attained the Brahma world.
The moral is that even
a person of spiritual calibre like a bodhisatta could not escape the
fires of defilements. The rishi might have casually seen the queen before but
the impact was not violent enough to jolt his emotional life. It was the clear,
vivid impressions of the queen's physical appearance that harassed and engulfed
him with the fires of lust and Passion for many days.
In Ummadanti
jataka king Sivi became almost crazy after seeing Ummadanti the wife of his
commander-in-chief. The woman was so famous for her beauty that the king sent
his brahmin advisers to see whether she had the qualities of a noble lady. But
at the sight of the woman they were so much bewitched by her beauty that they
lost self-control and made a mess of the feast given by their host. Disgusted
by their disorderly behaviour, Ummadanti had them hustled out of the house.
Thereupon the disgruntled brahmins reported to the king that she was not
qualified to be a queen. The king lost interest in her and she became the wife
of the supreme commander. She was, however, determined to make things even with
the king and so when he went round the city during a festival she showed her
beauty and charms to the best of her ability.
The king was half beside himself with
infatuation for the woman. Unable to sleep, he raved about her and gave vent to
his blind passion in a gatha which says that if he were granted a boon by the
king of devas, he would ask for an opportunity to sleep one or two nights with
Ummadanti. The impact of a sense-object depends largely on the nature of the
impression conveyed by the object. If the impression is vague and dim, it
produces only mild feeling and craving but much vedana, tanha, etc.,
follow in the wake of clear and vivid impressions.
The impact may also
lead to outburst of temper. We show anger at the sight of an offensive object,
and we fear a frightful object. Unpleasant words are irritating to us. Pride
wells up in us when we think of something that boosts our ego, we hold wrong
views when we toy with the idea of soul or with a teaching that makes a farce
of kamma and its fruit. Objects of envy make us envious and objects
which we wish to possess exclusively make us miserly. These are instances of
phassa that fuel unwholesome kammas.
Wholesome kammas too
arise from phassa. Objects of devotion arouse faith, those whom we
should forgive or tolerate help to foster forbearance and contemplation of the
Buddha and the Arahats make us mindful, kindly and so forth. So
Patisambhidamagga says: "Conditioned by phassa, there arise fifty
cetasikas (mental factors)." It attributes feeling, perception and
kamma formation to phassa.
We see because of
phassa and this phassa occurs because of the eye, the visual
object and the Visual consciousness. The Buddha's teaching makes a distinction
between the visual consciousness and the visual object· Ordinary People
tend to confuse the former with the latter but the Buddha stated clearly that
visual consciousness arises from the eye and the visual object and that
phassa means the conjunction of the eye, the visual object and the
visual consciousness.
This is the impact of
seeing for which the three ayatanas, viz., the eye, etc., form the three
necessary and sufficient conditions. The nature of impact is realized
empirically by the yogi who practises mindfulness. The yogi notes, seeing,
seeing" at every moment of seeing and as concentration develops, he comes
to realize that seeing is not uncaused, that it is not made or created by a
person; that it is a psycho-physical phenomenon, having the eye and the visual
object as its cause and the visual consciousness as its effect.
The impact on the
sense-organ leads to feelings that may be pleasant, unpleasant or indifferent
according to the nature of the sense-object. If the object is beautiful there
arises pleasant feeling; if it is ugly, we have unpleasant feeling. If the
object is neither ugly nor lovely, the feeling is indifferent. This feeling
(upekkha vedana) does not give rise to any comment, whether favourable
or unfavourable; indeed it is not even recognized as a feeling but it is
accepted by the ego. In fact these three kinds of feeling have nothing to do
with the ego or self but are aspects of the mental process stemming from
sense-contact.
To understand Paticcasamuppada means to
be free from skepticism and illusion. Since this freedom is the essential
attribute of the yogi at the first stage on the holy path it is important to
understand the doctrine. Ignorance of it tends to cause doubts about the
Buddha, the Dhamma and so forth. There are eight kinds of doubt.
(1) Doubt about the Buddha. This
leads the skeptic to raise questions such as "Was the Buddha really a
being who was free from all defilements? Or Was he an ordinary man who
commanded the blind faith of his followers?
(2) Doubt about the Teaching.
" Are there the Path and Nibbana that really ensure the extinction of
craving hatred and ignorance.
(3) Doubt about the Sangha. "Are there Ariyas, the Noble Ones
who are really free from defilements? Sotapannas who having overcome
illusion and doubt will never be reborn in the lower worlds? Sakadagamis who
do not have much sensual desire and anger? Anagamis who are wholly free from
sensual desire and anger? Or the Arahats who have freed themselves from all
defilements
(4) Doubt about the practice "Is the practice of morality or
contemplation beneficial and helpful to the higher spiritual Progress?"
(5) Doubt about the past. "Did I exist in the
past? Why and how did I exist in the past? What kind of person was I in my
previous life? Did I originate with the mass or did I come into being
spontaneously?"
(6) "Will I exist
after my death? What kind of person will I become in my next life?"
(7) . According to the
sub—commentaries, this doubt refers to the present life that is between
the past and the future of a man's life—cycle. This interpretation agrees
with the Pali text of Sutta pitaka which says: "Now there arises doubt as
regards one's self in the present." Such doubt may raise questions such
as, "Am I really myself? Does the ego exist or does it not exist? If the
ego exists, what kind of being is it? Is it big or small? Why or how does the
ego exist? Was it created or did it come into being spontaneously? From where
did the ego come and where will it go after the final dissolution of the
body?"
These questions show
that there are five doubts about the past, five doubts about the future and six
doubts about the present. The yogi overcomes all these doubts when he is free
from all illusions about the self or ego (kankhavitarana-visuddhi).
(8) The last subject
that raises much doubt is the doctrine of Paticcasamuppada emphasizes
the Primacy of cause and effect relationship in the world of living beings. Is
effort really due to ignorance of the true dhamma? Is rebirth really
conditioned by kamma. Is it a fact that bad kammais harmful and
good kamma beneficial to a future life? Is there really a cause for
every phenomenon? Is everything the outcome of the combination of atoms and
electrons by chance ? These doubts centers on causal links, e.g. avijja,
sankhara etc. and resultant links, e.g. Vinnana, rebirth, etc. in
the chain of causal sequence as enunciated in the doctrine of the
Paticcasamuppada.
These doubts give rise
to wrong views in the long run, The false beliefs that conflict with the
dependent origination are rooted in these doubts. Speculations on the nature of
life that are above one's intellectual level produce doubts in the beginning
but eventually turn the skeptic into one who clings to illusions. Such
skepticism and false views are due to ignorance of Paticcasamuppada. One who
understands the teaching clearly harbours no doubt, let alone illusions.
In the final analysis a
living being is a compound of causes and effects as are non-living things like
the earth, the sun, tree, etc. The law of causation governs the universe
leaving no room for creation or spontaneous occurrence. Modern science provides
overwhelming evidence for the absolute dependence of the non—living
material world on the interplay of cause and effect. It tends to bear out the
truth of the Buddha's teaching about the conditionality of everything in the
world, whether it be life, mind or matter.
The Buddha laid emphasis on the
conditioned nature of man's internal life. The teaching leaves out of account
the external world of inanimate matter because the material world has no
life—cycle and is not subject to rebirth and suffering. What matters most
from the Buddhist point of view is the living being. If left to itself, the
namarupa comprising the living being passes through innumerable lives
and for the most part the individual suffers on the lower planes of existence.
But if we understand the namarupa process and act wisely, we can make
progress gradually on the way to liberation. Even if we are not yet liberated
we can achieve a better life and fare fairly well in the round of rebirths. A
clear understanding of Paticcasamuppada is vital for it ensures complete
extinction of defilements.
We have described ignorance as the
cause of effort (sankhara) and kammic effort as the cause of
rebirth. It is necessary to say something more about the origin of rebirth
consciousness.
In a sutta of Anguttara Nikaya the
Buddha likens the Wholesome or unwholesome volitional (cetana) action
(kamma) to a thriving field, consciousness (vinnana) to seeds and
craving (tanha) to water for irrigating the field, The planting of trees
requires fields and nurseries. Likewise, rebirth consciousness presupposes
arable land in the form of kamma, kamma gives rise to the potential for
rebirth and although the former states of consciousness disappear the rebirth
potential remains bound up with the psyche, Like a budding plant it does not
materialize as yet but it is bound to become actual under favourable
circumstances, just as a man who has committed a crime is a potential prisoner
or a worker who has distinguished himself in a state factory is a potential
winner of government reward for good service.
Furthermore, rebirth depends on
wholesome or unwholesome consciousness no less than does a plant depend on
seeds for its germination. The good or bad vinnanasarise and pass away
but they touch off a ceaseless flow of similar states of consciousness
These states are the outcome of former
kammic Vinnanas just like the transformation of a snake's skin. The most
vital of them is the death-bed consciousness centering on One's kamma or
objects associated with it (kammanimitta or Visions of future life
(gantinimitta).This encounter of a dying person with signs and visions
is called upatthanasamangita which means the foreshadowing of the future
life as conditioned by sankhara-kamma. In a sense it marks the
transition from dying consciousness to rebirth consciousness somewhat similar
to the development of a plant from a seed to a sprout.
A seed needs water to turn into a
plant. Without water or at least moisture from the air it will remain sterile.
In the same way although kamma forms the basis for a future life, there
is no rebirth in the absence of craving (tanha). So in the case of
Arahats although there are conditions for rebirth in terms of vinnana
and the kamma that they have done as ordinary persons, the rebirth
consciousness cannot arise because of the extinction of craving.
Tanhais inherent in non-Arahats
and it is most powerful in common people. It makes the sense-objects pleasant,
attractive and desirable. It creates the illusion of pleasure, happiness and
hope. It likes what is good and makes happiness and prosperity the main object
of life for mankind. Tanha motivates the kammic consciousness which
leads to other mental states. On the approach of death these mental states give
rise to signs and visions. The dying person delights in pleasant visions and he
becomes lively and cheerful. This shows that his kammic seeds are beginning to
sprout. He does not welcome unpleasant visions but still these visions have
something to do with himself and this self-attachment too, leads to the
germination of the kammic seed.
Therefore in the case of common people
rebirth is conditioned by three factors, viz., kamma (action), cittavinnana
that is linked to kammic consciousness and tanha. Kamma as the fertile
soil for rebirth is evident in deathbed visions and signs, , the germination of
the seed is shown by the dying Person's interest in these signs and visions and
one's self, So after death there arises rebirth consciousness as conditioned by
the mental state at the last moment of the previous life.
Rebirth consciousness brings into play
namarupa, ayatana, phassa, vedana and their interrelations that concern the
whole life, So in a sense we may regard it as the seed of present existence. It
is inextricably bound up with namarupa. All namarupa, whether in or
out of the body, is suffering as they are subject to constant arising and
passing away. But ignorance makes us blind to dukkha creates illusion
and attachment and keep us engaged in the pursuit of sense objects.
This preoccupation leads to the renewal
of existence.
With rebirth consciousness as the basis
of a new existence there arise the physical body as its basis and the
concomitant mental factors such as phassa, vedana, etc. When rebirth
consciousness ceases, there follow other mental states in succession which may
touch off good or bad kammas such as greed, anger, contentment,
forbearance, etc. These mental states in turn lead to physical actions such as
sitting, standing, and so forth.
Hence the Buddha's teaching:
"Cittena niyate loko--- " a Pali verse which may be freely
translated as: "The mind (thought, will, etc.) leads the world. It draws
the world wherever it pleases. The whole world follows the mind." Here the
world (loka) refers to the world of living beings. The mind lead the
living beings rightfully or wrongfully. The mind of a good man who develops
faith, morality, etc. will lead him to do good deeds. It will make him hear the
dhamma and practise vipassana . It will land him on the higher planes of
existence or bring him to the goal of Nibbana. On the other hand, the mind of
an evil man will lead him to seek sensual objects and do evil deeds. After
death it takes him to the lower worlds and makes him subject to much suffering.
This verse shows that all namarupas
are dominated by the mind. It accords with the teaching of Paticcasamuppada
that because of vinnana there arise psycho-physical phenomena such as
phassa, etc. We have already given an account of phassa arising
from the eye and now a few words about the phassa of hearing. As in the
case of seeing, hearing also involves three factors, viz., the ear, the sound
and the ear-consciousness.
Hearing is impossible
without the ear-organ and the Sound. Scientists say that sound-waves travel at
the rate of 1100 ft. per Second. This is the natural speed of sound; the radio
broadcast can carry it all over the world in a moment. When it comes into
contact with the ear, it is like the reflection in the mirror and the hearing
Occurs.
But it is a mistake to
believe that it is the original owner of the ear who hears. The sensitive
organs of the ear are in a ceaseless flux, the rupas involved are
forever arising and passing away. They are like the ever changing waters of a
flowing stream. It is the contact of sound-waves with the stream of rupas
that sparks the ear-consciousness. The consciousness occurs only for an
instant and vanishes.
This is followed by the
citta that continues to focus on the sound, inquire it and decide. Each
of these cittas occurs for a moment and vanishes. Then there flash forth
successively with much speed seven impulse-moments, after which there occur two
thought-moments that focus on the Sound.
Such is then the consciousness-process
involved in hearing. Whenever we hear a sound, the ear-vinnana is
renewed on the basis of the ear and the sound. So the yogi who practises
mindfulness realizes that hearing is conditioned by the ear and the sound, that
there is no person or being who hears. In fact the yogi is more aware of the
causal relation in nearing than in seeing.
Thus hearing means the conjunction of
the ear, the sound and the ear-consciousness. The impact of the sound is
phassa and it is quite clear to the meditating yogi. Some are so
sensitive that when they hear a harsh sound, they feel like being attacked by a
tremendous onrush of it towards the ear. Some may even be startled by the
dropping of a leaf. The impact is evident when out of a variety of sounds that
reach our ears we select and attend to the Sound that we wish to hear. As for
loud, harsh and piercing sounds, we cannot avoid hearing them. We may not look
at an unpleasant object but the sound cannot be so ignored.
We have pleasant or unpleasant feelings
according to the pleasant or unpleasant sounds that we hear. Songs and sweet
voices are welcome to the ear while harsh sounds and abusive words are odious
to us. When we hear ordinary sounds, we have feelings that are neither pleasant
nor unpleasant. In such cases we may not even be aware of our feeling, the
upekkha vedana that is so subtle that it escapes our notice.
True, the Abhidhamma books deny that we
have pleasant or unpleasant feeling when we have consciousness in connection
with the eye, the ear, the nose or the tongue and describe it only as
upekkha vedana. But for the contemplating yogi it is not advisable to
focus on eye-consciousness, etc. He should contemplate the whole process of
consciousness (vithi) which involves pleasant feeling along with some
thought-moments, e.g. santirana, javana and tadarammana and
unpleasant feelings along with javana or impulse-moments.
Moreover, even though the
eye-consciousness, etc. may be upekkhavedana at the moment of their
arising they will be accompanied by unpleasant feeling if they happen to be the
effects of unwholesome kamma as is evident in our contact with
unpleasant sense-objects that cause painful emotions such as fear. Loud noise
may make us deaf, evil smells may cause headache while unwholesome food may do
harm to our health. Likewise, the upekkhavedana that is conditioned by
the four kinds of pleasant sense-objects implied pleasant feelings. We enjoy
seeing beautiful objects, hearing pleasant sounds, etc. This shows the pleasant
character of upekkhavedana because of its being the product of
wholesome kammas. In this connection the sub-commentary on
Visuddhimagga says:
"The
upekkhavedana which being the full blown product of low kamma is
painful and as such it is of low character." In other words, the
upekkhavedana that is based on unwholesome kamma may be
indifferent and neutral but since it stems from evil kamma it is low
just like the flower that blooms in a heap of excreta. More over although it is
not as worse as dukkhavedana, it is unbearable and so it is low. In
fact, the kammic effect of a bad deed is never good or free from pain and
suffering.
Then elaborating the
function of vedana in the chain of causation, the sub-commentary says:
"The upekkhavedana that results from unwholesome kamma
should be described as dukkha since it is undesirable. The
upekkhavedana that has its origin in wholesome kamma should be
described as sukha since it is desirable." It is evident in the
pleasant feeling that we have when we hear a pleasant sound. Sweet words are
welcome to the ear while harsh words jar on it. The nature of some feelings
caused by ordinary sound is not obvious and such feelings are termed
upekkhavedana.
The three kinds of
vedana due to hearing is distinctly familiar to the ever mindful yogi.
He knows that the dukkha or Sukha vedana arises from contact between the
sound and the ear; that there is no soul or atta to be affected by it; that the
vedana arises and vanishes instantly and that everything is impermanent.
As his concentration develops he becomes aware of the ceaseless arising and
vanishing of all the three kinds of vedana.
Like hearing, smelling
is also conditioned. The smelling consciousness arises from the contact between
the nose and the odour. It is impossible to smell without the odour or the
sensitive part of the nose (ghanapasada) People without sensitive nose
are rare. Once I met a monk who said that he had practically no scent even when
he smelled handkerchief moistened with perfume. Even when the nose is sensitive
you cannot have any scent if you plug it or if there is nothing to be scented.
The scent is detected only when it is wafted in the air and comes into contact
with the sensitive part of the nose. Ordinary people labour under the delusion
that it is the person or the living being who smells. In fact it is the contact
between the air-borne scent and the rupasof the nose in continual flux
that causes smelling consciousness. As in the case of seeing and hearing this
ghana-vinnana is a process that involves advertence (avajjana) ,
impulsion (javana), investigation and other stages. The crux of the matter is
of course the smelling consciousness which ceaselessly arises and vanishes,
depending on the nose and the smell.
We are all familiar with the offensive
smell of something rotten or the fragrance of a flower. Common people believe
that it is they who smell whereas the yogi knows that it is only a phenomenon
arising from the conjunction of the nose, the odour and consciousness and he
comes to realize the ceaseless influx and impermanence of everything. That is
the difference between the yogi and the common people.
Vedana (feeling) may be
agreeable or disagreeable according to the nature of impact (phassa).
Scents of flowers and perfumes cause pleasant feelings whereas the stench
of the de composing matter is offensive to the nose. The ordinary smells cause
neither pleasant nor unpleasant feelings and this is upekkhavedana; a
feeling that is so subtle that we do not notice it. The yogi notes the smelling
consciousness and becomes aware of the three kinds of feelings, and their
arising and dissolution.
Consciousness in eating
(jivhavinnana) arises from contact between the tongue and the food.
Without the tongue or the flavour of food there can be no consciousness of
taste. But if the tongue is so unhealthy as to lack sensitivity, the food will
be tasteless. Common people believe that it is a living being who eats and
enjoys the flavour. In fact the rupas forming the sensitive part of the
tongue are forever in a flux and it is from the contact of these rupa;
and the flavour of food that there arises consciousness which involves the
thought. moment that we have mentioned before. The events at this stage are so
rapid that they seem to form a s thought-moment. This consciousness
(jivhavinnana) changes at every moment depending on the tongue and the
flavour. It is this citta that knows sweetness, sourness bitterness and
so forth.
The conjuction of the
tongue, the flavour and consciousness means what in Pali is called
phassa. This is familiar to everybody. But common people think that it
is they as living beings who experience the flavour. Only the Yogi who notes
all the psycho-physical events that occur while he is eating knows it as a
phenomenon dependent on the tongue, the flavour and consciousness. Later on he
gains a clear insight into its ceaseless flux and impermanence
Contact with flavour is
followed by sensations (vedana) that may be good or bad according to the
flavour. Eating good food gives us pleasure, we like it whereas we complain of
bad food or the bitter taste of some medicine. The feeling that we have when we
eat some food is indifferent. Although this is upekkha vedana, the
opportunity to eat is the outcome of good kamma. Hence eating such food
also has a pleasant aspect and leads to attachment. But as for the yogi with
developed samadhi who notes the namarupa at every moment, he
becomes empirically aware of the arising of all sensations (pleasant,
unpleasant or indifferent) and their passing away.
Another source of
contact, feeling, etc., is the sensitive part of the body (kayadvara).
It is said: "Body consciousness arises from the body or tactile organ
and the tactile object. Body-impression (phassa) arises from the
conjunction of the body, the tactile object and tactile consciousness and the
tactile impression conditions the (tactile) sensations (vedana )."
This needs some
elaboration. Seeing, hearing, smelling and eating-each of these physical events
concerns only its respective organ, viz the eyes, etc. Consciousness in
connection with them also arises only in a certain part of the head. These
psycho-physical events are restricted in terms of locality and duration. You
are conscious of eating only when you are eating, conscious of hearing only
when there is something to be heard. As for the body-consciousness, it is
present in regard to every part of the body. You have tactile impression
somewhere on your body at any time whenever you think of it. So its sphere is
extensive and its duration is long. For the beginner in vipassana
practice contemplation of tactile impression is most important and so the
yogi should know something about it.
The fine, Sensitive matter (rupa)
that can receive the tactile impression pervades the whole body. It exists
in every healthy part of the body and so it can give rise to tactile
consciousness everywhere through contact with an external or internal rupa
in the body. These rupas are impermanent and are in a flux from
moment to moment. They are like the electric energy that passes into the bulb
and gives light.
In this state of ceaseless flux the
sensitive body rupa that has not yet passed away collides with an
external or internal rupa, thereby giving rise to body consciousness As
in the case of seeing, etc., this consciousness involves a series of
thought-moments, viz., citta that inquires the tactile object, citta
that knows, citta that registers, etc. But these cittas arise
and vanishes rapidly that the tactile consciousness appears to involve only a
single thought-moment.
Body-consciousne is always present. It
is not apparent when the mind is absorbed in any object other than the body.
But if the attention is directed to the body, there is no doubt about the
tactile impression somewhere as, for example, the contact between the body and
the floor, the body and the clothes, and so forth.
So the yogi who practises mindfulness
in regard to physical contact of his body is aware of its conditionality. He
knows that it is neither uncaused nor created, that it in fact depends on the
conjunction of tactile object and the sensitive rupa in healthy
condition. The object of contact is called photthappha in Pali and it is
of three kinds, viz,, pathavi, tejo and vayo.
Pathavi element has the
attribute of hardness and coarseness and this attribute is to be found if one
examines or focuses on a part of the body that gives a clear impression of
contact. Softness too is to be regarded as pathavi for softness and
coarseness do not differ essentially. We call velvet a smooth object in
comparison with many things that are coarser than it but it appears to be rough
when it hits the soft part of the human eye. So softness and roughness are
relative terms that differ only in degree, not in kind. Softness and smoothness
represent solidity that is a mark of pathavi element.
According to commentaries, solidity as
the essence of pathavi element serves as the abode of other elements
that have to depend on it just as all objects have to depend on earth. For
example, rice-powder when mixed with water turns into a lump in which it may be
termed pathavi because of its solidity or its predominantlt solid
character. The particles of powder are combined and held together by the water
(apo) element. The lump also contains tejo, element that is
concerned with heat or cold, as well as the wind (vayo) element that
supports stiffness and expansion. So this lump of rice powder contains all the
four elements and of these the element of solidity (Pathavi) is the
basis of other elements. All the other three elements are also inherent in the
rice powder. Thus just as rice powder is the support of water element, etc., so
also the earth element is the support of its associated rupas. This is
the function of the earth element.
Thus to the yogi, the
earth-element appears to be the basis for its co-elements. This is its
paccupatthana and so is of heaviness and lightness. In
Dhammasangani one of the books of Abhidhamma pitaka and its
commentary, the Pathavi element is described as heavy and light. So when
you move a thing and feel that it is heavy or light, that feeling or idea is to
be included in the paccupatthana of the pathavi element. The yogi
is aware of the characteristics of pathavi element through its
roughness, softness or smoothness. He is aware of its function when he realizes
that it serves as the basis of other rupas. He is aware of its
paccupatthana when he knows that other rupas lie in the
pathavi element, that it bears other rupas, that it is heavy or
light. Such awareness of pathavi element in terms of characteristics
(lakkhana) function (rasa) and paccupatthana means
realization of truth and discriminative insight into the nature of
namarupa.
As for the common
people, contact with pathavi element is usually understood in terms of
hands, legs, clothes, man and so forth. This way of thinking is wrong but the
yogi knows the truth through the practice of mindfulness.
Tejo element
means heat. It is evident when we change the position of the body because we
feel heated and pressed in some part of the body. Coldness too is a kind of
weak tejo element. A thing is hot or cold relative to other things. The
shade of a tree may be cool in comparison with the heat of the sun but it is
hot relative to the interior of a cave or house. The water in the pot is cool
relative to that in the open air but hot when compared to iced water. Hot, warm
and cool are relative terms that mean essentially tejo dhatu (element).
Tejo or heat is
essential to maturation and development. The function of heat is to make
organisms mature and ripe. Old age and decay of trees, buildings, the earth,
rocks, etc. are due to heat of the sun and it is the heat of the physical body
that gives rise to grey hair, decaying teeth, wrinkled skin and other signs of
senility. The greater the heat, the more rapid is the process of maturation.
Tejo element makes the rupas soft and pliant. So as the yogi
notes, "hot" "hot", he realizes its function, viz., to
soften and loosen.
When heat or cold is
manifest in the body, the mindful yogi is aware of tejo element in terms of its
characteristics. He knows its function (rasa) when he knows that it
makes things soft and pliant. Thus the yogi has discriminative insight into the
nature of namarupa. He is free from the illusion that common people have
when they think of tejo element in terms of substance and entity such as
hand, man, woman and so forth.
Vayoelement has
the characteristics of stiffness and rigidity. If you sit erect and stretch
your back and introspect yourself, you will find rigidity. Again stretch your
arm and fix your mind inside the hand. You will find stiffness there. So if you
sit and note mentally, "sitting" you become aware of vayo
element in terms of its characteristics. You know it not as an ego, as
atman, etc., but as stiffness and this insight into the real nature of
vayo is important.
But initially the
yogi's insight will not be necessarily confined to the reality of stiffness.
Ideas of substance, self, and so forth continue to obtrude upon his mind. For
in the beginning the average person's concentration is weak and he tends to let
his mind wander freely. His mind is usually dominated by sensual desire and
other hindrances (nivarana) that conflict with tranquillity and
insight-knowledge and impede their progress. As a result, the mind is not
confined to the reality of elements. Some teachers would have us believe that
all conventional notions go by the board at the outset but this is impossible.
It is indeed hard for any beginner to be free from hindrances and pure in mind
and belief. Exceptions may be made in the case of those who heard the Dhamma
right from the Buddha and attained the holy path but such kind of attainment is
unthinkable for other people.
Vipassana practice does not
help to develop insight in the beginning. While contemplating namarupa,
the yogi develops concentration strongly, thereby leaving almost no room
for stray thoughts and keeps himself constantly mindful. It is only at this
stage of mental purity that there arises the insight into the real nature of
namarupa. Even so conventional notions linger before the attainment of
insight into the dissolution of all forms of existence (bhanganana). So it is
said in Visuddhimagga that at the earlier stage of insight (udayabbayanana)
the yogi tends to see "the lights, flowers on the pagoda platform or
fishes and turtles in the sea." But later on both the namarupa
objects of contemplation and the contemplating mind are found to pass away
on after another. Conventional ideas of shape, figure, etc., do not arise any
longer. As Visuddhimagga says, "attention is fixed on cessation,
disappearance and dissolution."
Therefore initially the
yogi knows only the object that he contemplates in the right way. Rigidity
(vayo) is evident at the moment of lifting the foot, etc. To make us
aware of this, the Buddha says, "When he (the yogi) walks, he knows that
he is walking." Here the yogi is instructed to be aware only of the fact
that he is walking; he is not told to reflect on the vayo or rigidity.
This means that names are not relevant, that what matters most is to see thing
as they really are, that the yogi can note them in terms of popular usage.
Again vayo element is manifest in the movement of any part of the body.
Awareness of rigidity in such movement or in the abdominal rising and falling
means awareness of the real marks of vayo element. Looseness too is a
mark of vayo. For we speak comparatively when we refer to tightness or
looseness of any thing.
It is also the function
of vayo element to move, incline tilt or displace. The yogi notes the
motion of his hands when he bends them and become aware of the true nature of
vayo element. He knows it also when he focuses on walking, etc. At such
moments he does not think of the object as man, woman, body and so forth. He is
aware only of the gradual movement which means the real nature of vayo element.
He is also aware of something pushing or leading another from one place to the
other. Thus he knows vayo by means of the phenomenon that appears on his
mental horizon. This is awareness by paccupatthana which the scriptures
describe as "Abhinihara paccupatthana — the phenomena which
appears as leading.
All the three primary
elements — pathavi, tejo and vayo are to be known only by
experience. You cannot know them by hearing, etc. You can hear the sound of
something but you cannot say whether it is coarse or soft, hot or cold, rigid,
stable or moving. Neither will its smell, taste or visual form tell you
anything about its primary quality. Yet it is a popular belief that we can
identify the primary elements by seeing.
No doubt a rock or a block of iron
apparently gives us the impression of hardness. But this is not due to seeing.
It is merely an inductive generalization based on past experience. What we know
by seeing is only the visual form which sometimes gives a false impression as
is evident when we tread on what we believe to be solid ground and stumble into
a quagmire or when we get burnt by handling a heated iron bar unknowingly.
Nor can we know vayo element by
seeing. For it is an element that we can know only empirically. We see that an
object is moving because we see it here and there and the idea of its motion is
only an inference from our observation of its displacement. Yet when one of the
two trains at rest starts moving, the other train appears to be in motion and
to a traveller in a fast moving train, the trees appear to be running in the
opposite direction. These optical illusions bear out the fact that we cannot
rely on our eyes for the truth about motion.
Once an elderly layman who was
interested in meditation told us about his dialogue with a monk-teacher. Taking
a pillow and shaking it, he asked the monk, "Now, Sir, what dhammas do you
see passing away ?"
"Well, I see the vayo
element passing away."
"Sir, you are wrong. What you see
with your eyes is only the visual form. If you are mindful at the moment of
seeing, you know only what happens to the visual form. You cannot know
empirically anything about vayo element at the moment of seeing.
Vipassana is a practice that gives priority to what is to be known
actually by introspection. It is only afterwards by reasoning. It is natural to
contemplate each sense-object only through its respective sense-organ. Vayo
is an object that is known only through body-contact. We can know the
motion of vayo if we introspect while walking, bending, etc. Now without
being in contact with vayo, you say that you know its dissolution. What
you say is unnatural and wrong."
There is much truth in my informant's
criticism. Instead of relying on Satipatthana, and other suttas for
information, some teachers give purely speculative instructions on the basis of
Abhidhamma books that deal with natural phenomena exclusively. There are yogis
who practise according to these instructions. The practice may benefit them
spiritually but they cannot rely on it for the attainment of real insight and
stages on the holy path. The only exceptions are a few gifted yogis who gain
insights through speculative introspection.
The best thing to do is to follow the
Buddha's instruction in Satipatthana sutta and contemplate the psycho-physical
phenomena that arise from the six senses. This is, as the Buddha says, eka
yano maggo: "the only way". In the case of body-sense
corresponding to body— consciousness we should note and recognize the
body-impression when we are aware of any body-contact internally or externally.
Otherwise the impression tends to
dominate us in conjunction with avijja and other defilements. We tend to
harbour illusions of permanence, happiness and ego-belief. Thus through contact
We become attached to certain parts of the body, we consider them permanent and
make distinctions according to our preferences. If we note every contact and
realize their sensory, impermanent, unsatisfactory and insubstantial nature,
there is no attachment and we are on the right path of vipassana that
will certainly lead to enlightenment and Nibbana.
Body-sensitive
(kayapasada) is a quality that pervades the whole body when it is in a
healthy condition, There are many things such as clothes, air and others that
can give the body tactile impressions. The body, too, possesses many things,
e.g., hair, skin, that lend themselves to contact. Thus there are always both
external and internal objects of contact for the body sensitivity. Reflection
will point clearly to the possibility of contact in every part of the body and
there is no place, however small, that does not admit of contact and this
contact gives rise to body-consciousness
From the conjunction of
the body-sensitivity, object of contact and body-consciousness there arises
impression (Phassa) that is very obvious. Pleasant impression of contact
gives rise to pleasant feeling while unpleasant impression results in painful
feeling. The deeper the impression the more intense is the feeling.
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