INVESTIGATION FOR INSIGHT
by
Susan Elbaum Jootla
The Wheel Publication No. 301/302
SL ISSN 0049-7541
Copyright 1983 Buddhist Publication Society
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
KANDY SRI LANKA
* * *
DharmaNet Edition 1995
Transcription: Joe Crea
Proofreading: Joe Crea, John Bullitt
Formatting: John Bullitt
This electronic edition is offered for free distribution
via DharmaNet by arrangement with the publisher.
DharmaNet International
P.O. Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704-4951
* * * * * * * *
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Contents of Investigation
1. The Four Noble Truths
2. The Three Signata
3. Dependent Origination
4. The Five Aggregates
5. The Sense Bases
Investigation in Meditation
Systematic Attention and Control of the Hindrances
Investigation Conduces to Insight
The Seven Factors of Enlightenment
The Noble Eightfold Path
Conclusion
* * * * * * * *
PREFACE
We have come into this world at a remarkable time, one of those brief
periods when the teachings of a Buddha are readily available. There is
his Noble Eightfold Path of wisdom, morality and concentration and
specifically the technique of vipassana meditation by means of which we
can train our minds to see the ultimate nature of all phenomena of the
world, their transience, unsatisfactoriness and essencelessness. With
the development of this detached wisdom, our minds gradually lose their
tensions, anguish and lust, and so real peace and happiness can
develop.
This article is written in all humility by one who has just begun to
walk on the Path, in the spirit of "ehipassiko," the characteristic of
the Dhamma that invites all to come and see and try it. There is yet a
long way to travel, but there is no doubt whatsoever that the Path
leads to the Goal and so this article is an expression of the mind's
wish to encourage and urge others to undertake for themselves this
profoundly beneficial task of eliminating ignorance and craving and so
end all suffering.
Susan Elbaum Jootla
Dalhousie
* * *
INTRODUCTION
All the teachings of the Buddha had one goal -- the elimination of all
suffering, all grief, misery, pain and anguish. All the kinds of
meditation he explained were designed to train the mind of the student
to become detached from all the phenomena of the world, within and
outside of himself. This is the aim of Buddhist meditation because
detachment is the opposite of //tanha// or craving and it is this
//tanha// that is the source of all the sorts of suffering experienced
by sentient beings. This desire is very deeply ingrained in our minds
because of our ignorance about the real nature of the phenomena of the
world. So, vipassana, insight-meditation techniques of the Buddha, are
designed to enable us to penetrate our illusions about the nature of
reality which are perpetuated by our inaccurate perception of the world
and ourselves. Insight has to be gained into the impermanent,
unsatisfactory and essenceless nature of all conditioned phenomena, of
everything mental and physical, all of which is the effect of certain
causes. Insight is often conceived of as a magical experience suddenly
just happening and instantly making all things clear. But, by and
large, insight develops slowly and gradually through the careful
process of observation, investigation and analysis of phenomena until
the ultimate nature that lies behind their apparent, conventional truth
is distinctly and indubitably perceived. It is this process known in
Pali as //dhammavicaya// (Investigation of Dhamma) and also the closely
related one of //yoniso-manasikara// (systematic attention) which will
be examined here. Ledi Sayadaw in this //Bodhipakkhiya Dipani// [*]
defines //dhammavicaya// as identical with //panna// (wisdom) and
//Samma Ditthi// (Right Understanding of View) and then describes the
investigative process with the simile: "Just as cotton seeds are
milled, carded, etc., so as to produce cotton wool, the process of
repeatedly viewing the five khandhas (our personal aggregates of body,
perception, feeling, volitions and consciousness) with the functions of
//insight knowledge (vipassana nana)// is called //dhammavicaya//."
First the subjects to be investigated, or the contents of the
investigation for insight leading to liberation, will be examined. Then
the role of //dhammavicaya// specifically as a part of vipassana
meditation will be discussed. Then will come the role of systematic
attention in preventing the arising of the mental hindrances which can
block progress in meditation and as one of the basic factors conducive
to the growth of wisdom. Finally the way to use investigation of
Dhamma with the other Factors of Enlightenment and then with the
elements of the Noble Eightfold Path are shown. A well-trained,
well-controlled mind is a powerful tool capable of rationally thinking
through and continually comprehending the ultimate truths of existence.
By developing the mind's ability to penetratingly and objectively
investigate, we are working to free ourselves of all ignorance, and
thus of all craving and its resultant suffering.
[*] Translated as //Requisites of Enlightenment// in The Wheel No.
171/174.
* * *
Contents of Investigation
Investigation of Dhamma is one of the key factors, the development of
which can lead us to liberation from all suffering. The Buddha defines
this //dhammavicaya// as "searching, investigation, scrutinizing, for
insight into one's own personal conditions ... and ... externals."
//dhammavicaya// is one of the Seven Bojjhangas or Factors of
Enlightenment and usually translated [*] as "Investigation of Dhamma."
The word "Dhamma" has two quite distinct uses and so investigation of
it implies both analysis of //the Dhamma// -- the essential truths of
existence as taught by the Buddha, and analysis of //dhammas// -- all
things whatsoever. Investigation of the Dhamma must include careful
thought leading to a thorough understanding of at least these
teachings: the Four Noble Truths, the Three Salient Characteristics of
Existence, and the Doctrine of Dependent Origination, and some idea of
the workings of kamma. When we study the dhammas, we are primarily
concerned with determining for ourselves the ultimate nature of our own
Five Aggregates, the mind-and-matter phenomenon, with its six sense
organs and of the six respective classes of sense objects which are the
basis of all consciousness, contact, feeling, perception and mental
activities.
[*] //Kindred Sayings//. (Translation of //Samyutta Nikaya//). 5
vols. Pali Text Society, London. (Quoted as:) K.S., V, p.93.
When we investigate the Dhamma, we are trying to thoroughly
understand and grasp the significance of the Teachings of the Buddha.
These truths are things which he discovered for himself and therefore
knew with total certainty. For us to just accept them on faith alone
will not be of too much benefit. In the well-known discourse the
Buddha gave to the Kalamas, he said, "Be ye not misled by report or
tradition or hearsay ... Nor out of respect of the recluse (who holds
it). But Kalamas, when you know for yourselves: 'These things are
unprofitable, these things are blameworthy,' ... then indeed do ye
reject them ... But if at any time ye know for yourselves: 'These
things ... when performed and undertaken conduce to profit and
happiness,' -- then Kalamas, do ye, having undertaken them, abide
therein." [*] And he intended that the Kalamas treat his words just
like those of any other teacher. We must explore the teachings of the
Buddha thoroughly, carefully and rationally for ourselves by taking the
Four Noble Truths, the Three Salient Characteristics, and the Doctrine
of Dependent Origination (including Kamma) as working hypotheses which
are to be understood and demonstrated to the satisfaction of our own
minds. Even if on first contact with these ideas we cannot understand
them, we must not for that reason alone reject them out of hand -- this
kind of attitude will block and prevent all our progress on the Path.
After all, it is quite reasonable to assume that there have been people
in the world wiser than ourselves and that the Buddha was one of them.
Once we have worked even a little on the Path and gained some benefit
from it, we know that the Buddha was far wiser than we are as it was he
who first taught this means of liberation. So we willingly keep our
minds open to explore what he says even if it does not initially make
much sense to our limited way of thinking. On the basis of full
comprehension of these Truths gained by this balance between an open
mind and confidence, liberating wisdom automatically must grow.
[*] //Gradual Sayings//. (Translation of //Anguttara Nikaya//). 5
Vols. Pali Text Society, London. I, p. 173.
* * *
1. The Four Noble Truths
The first aspect of the Dhamma to deal with is the Four Noble
Truths: Suffering, its Origin, its Cessation and the way leading to
the Cessation of Suffering, the central teaching of the Buddha, because
"It is through not understanding, not penetrating the Four Ariyan
truths that we have run on, wandered on, this long, long road" of
Samsara, (K.S., V, p. 365).
We must carefully consider the nature of life to determine for
ourselves whether it is essentially happy or unhappy, satisfactory or
unsatisfactory, full of joy or woe. No matter what we look at -- our
body, our mind, the external world -- if we penetrate the apparent
superficial truth of it, we are bound to find that //dukkha//
(suffering) predominates vastly over //sukha// (happiness) because all
the seemingly pleasant experiences and aspects of life are doomed to
fade away and leave behind them the same state of unsatisfiedness that
was there before the momentary respite given by the sensual pleasure. If
we think about the nature of the body, obviously it //has// to grow
old, get sick and ultimately die and at almost no moment from the time
of birth do we find ourselves in perfect health; and from then on it
is all a downhill battle since death is the only possible outcome of
life. If we keep this in mind, how can we say there is lasting
satisfaction or happiness in life? Ledi Sayadaw puts it this way in
the //magganga Dipanii// [*] "From the time of conception there is not
a single moment ... when there is no liability to destruction. When
actual destruction comes, manifold is the suffering that is
experienced." If we examine our minds, there, too, we see that the
vast majority of the time they are in some unhappy state -- ranging
from mild dissatisfaction through anxiety to downright despair. Only
rarely are there moments of joy and to these we react by attempting to
cling to them, and that state of desiring, too, is //dukkha//. If we
look to the external world that we learn about through our senses and
realize how many people are in agony with dread disease, how many
sentient beings are preying on one another for food, for sport, for
power, how many are dying lonely and helpless -- at this very moment --
we cannot doubt that //dukkha// predominates. The Buddha summarizes
the First Noble Truth saying, "Birth is suffering, death is suffering,
sorrow is suffering; not to get what one desires is suffering; in
short all the Five groups of existence are suffering." (Digha Nikaya
22). We have to investigate and see just how it is that all existence
is //dukkha//, and one way to do this is to ponder over the "sights" of
suffering seen by the Buddha before his Enlightenment, which caused him
to leave home and seek the ultimate liberation for Suffering. We would
do well to consider an old being, a seriously ill person, and a corpse.
Such attention to these will teach us a great deal about both internal
and external //dukkha//.
[*] Translated as //The Noble Eightfold Path and its Factors
Explained// in The Wheel No. 245/247.
In order to find our way out of all this suffering, we have to be
very clear about its cause, and as the Buddha saw it, //tanha//
(clinging, craving, desire, lust, etc.) is the basic cause of dukkha.
"From craving springs grief, from craving springs fear," from all kinds
of craving unhappiness comes; from endearment, affection, attachment,
lust (as well as from the negative side of it: hatred, aversion,
ill-will) (Dhp. v. 216). Craving is in itself //dukkha//, and it
inevitably leads to more ill in this and in future existences. To
realize how this is true, so that we are convinced of the necessity of
giving up absolutely all craving, we have to examine the workings of
our own mind thoroughly. We must observe how our mind is virtually
always engaged in some form of craving or desire -- either positively
reaching out for some object or obversely trying to push something away
-- whether the object is gross or subtle. While we are actually
craving for some object -- be it something as mundane as food or as
lofty as rebirth among the Brahma gods -- we are in a state of mind
that is unsatisfied, that is incomplete and longing for completion --
this lack of satisfaction, of completionness, is //dukkha//. Then, if
we should attain the object, our //tanha// does not disappear; it is
actually reinforced and more //dukkha// results. Getting what we want
may lead to a new object for desire, or to modify the original one to
avoid boredom. But satisfying //one// craving does nothing to
eliminate the basic mental process of //tanha//; in fact more fuel is
simply added to its fires when we obtain what is wanted. If the
desired state, experience or thing is unobtainable, then a more acute
form of //dukkha// results -- frustration. And if we consider the
feelings associated with the negative form of //tanha//, aversion, they
are always clearly unhappy, //dukkha//. Thus we can determine for
ourselves how //tanha// causes all our suffering in this lifetime.
Craving (//tanha//) is also the cause of rebirth, and once there is
a new life the whole chain of //dukkha// inevitably culminating in
death automatically comes into play. Most of us, cannot know the
phenomenon of rebirth directly for ourselves as the Buddha did, but we
certainly see the logic in it. All kinds of craving, if looked at
carefully, turn out to be just different forms or manifestations of the
underlying desire to perpetuate our existence. The great power of this
force pushing for life does not just vanish at the time of death, but
these urgings for renewed existence (//bhava sankharas//) become the
cause of rebirth in the appropriate place. Most of these forces in
sentient beings are not wholesome, so when most beings die and the life
continua take a new form, it is in the Realms of Woe. Thus we can see
how //tanha// produces a new life with all the //dukkha// that comes
along with it. Seeing how much suffering is experienced, all because
of craving, surely is strong motivation for us to figure out how to
eliminate this //tanha//.
The Third Noble Truth says that there //is// a cessation of
suffering; and suffering will and must cease when the cause
(//tanha//) is eliminated. "For who is wholly free from craving there
is no grief, whence fear?" (Dhp. v. 216). Any phenomena which arise
due to causes and conditions have to pass away when those causes cease
to operate. So, if we ponder on it, we must conclude that the vital
task for us is to root out all our tendencies to crave; all our
desires and aversions irrespective of their objects must be given up if
we are to be liberated of //dukkha//. To become utterly detached from
every thing, state of mind or experience on any plane of existence, to
see that absolutely nothing is worth clinging to: this is the wisdom
that must be cultivated by investigating all such phenomena. The
insight thus gained will necessarily eliminate all desires and so all
//dukkha//.
The Noble Eightfold Path was the means given by the Buddha to gain
this liberating wisdom. It is by clearly understanding and following
the steps of the Path that we gain the insight that there is nothing
worth craving for. As this insight deepens through more and more
thought on the subject, //tanha// decreases and eventually must
disappear, and so we free ourselves of all suffering. The Path is
divided into three sections: morality (//sila//), concentration
(//samadhi//), and wisdom (//panna//). It is through the practice of
//sila// that //samadhi// can develop and through //samadhi//,
//panna//. The eight steps of the Path are all actually to be
developed, not consecutively, but at any opportune time as they feed
into one another at every stage. (For a detailed discussion of the
Path, please see the final section of this paper.) There is a
well-known analogy which describes the respective roles of morality,
concentration and wisdom, and if we examine the simile carefully, we
will come to understand how we must proceed in order to eliminate our
//tanha//. A thirsty man comes to a pond overgrown with weeds and he
wishes to drink the water in the pool. If he pushes the weeds aside
with his hands and quickly gets a sip or two from in between them, it
is like practicing virtue (//sila//), restraining the gross verbal and
bodily actions by very temporary means. If the man somehow fences off
a small area of the pond keeping all the weeds outsides the fence, this
is like meditative concentration //samadhi// where even unwholesome
thoughts disappear for a time, but they are only suppressed and can
reappear if the fence breaks down. But if the man uproots every single
weed in the pond leaving the water really pure and potable, this is
like wisdom (//panna//). It actually only through wisdom, through
constantly seeing things as they really are -- changing,
unsatisfactory, essenceless -- that the subconscious, latent tendencies
to craving are totally rooted out, never again to return. By means of
careful investigation we can thus understand how the Fourth Noble
Truth, the Noble Eight-Fold Path operates, how "Right View, Right Aim,
Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right
Mindfulness, Right Concentration if cultivated and made much of, end in
the restraint of lust, ends in the restraint of hatred, ends in the
restraint of illusion" (K.S., V, p. 5). Having thoroughly
investigated, understood and penetrated these Four Noble Truths, we are
bound to eventually put an end to our wanderings in //Samsara// and to
all our suffering.
* * *
2. The Three Signata
(//Ti-lakkhana//)
Investigation of Dhamma for full liberation also must include, in
addition to the Four Noble Truths, a study of the Three Universal
Characteristics or Signata of existence, (//ti-lakkhana//): //anicca//
-- impermanence, //dukkha// -- suffering, and //anatta// --
essencelessness. Everything in the universe, mental or physical, inside
or outside of us, real or imaginary, that comes into being due to
causes and conditions, has these three traits as its nature. And since
there is nothing that exists without depending on other things, there
is absolutely nothing which we can determine to be permanent, full of
happiness only, or having any real substance. We must examine these
three truths very carefully to know how thoroughly and totally they
apply in all cases. Once there is this deep insight into the nature of
reality, detachment and thereby liberation follow.
The first of these to be investigated and in some ways the
characteristic that underlies the other two is //anicca// -- the
utterly transitory, ephemeral, unstable nature off all mental and
physical phenomena. On the level of the apparent truth, we know quite
well that things change but we have to train ourselves to see how the
process of change is going on continually at every instant in
everything. How else could the gross conventional alterations like
maturing and aging actually come about? We have to carefully examine
all the evidence we can find to comprehend the profundity of the
//anicca//-nature of existence. There is nothing which we can think of
that would be as we know it conventionally if things were permanently
stable. Change is synonymous with life -- our bodies could not exist,
let alone function, if the elements of which they are made remained
constant or unchanged for even a brief time. Our minds could neither
feel nor think nor perceive nor be conscious, if the mind were
unalterable in nature. Likewise in inanimate objects, change is
essential although sometimes less apparent. We must thoroughly
investigate this universal trait so that we can get beyond the limited
scope of our usual perception which mistakenly takes apparent form for
ultimate reality. Because of the incredible rapidity with which both
mind and matter alter, we can only occasionally notice that a
particular change has come about; we are never able to perceive the
continual ongoing process of change which actually makes up existence.
Everything is just in a state of flux, always becoming something else,
never, really stopping to //be// something; all //nama// (mind) and
all //rupa// (matter) are just a continual series of risings and
vanishings following very rapidly one after the other. The ultimate
reality of everything is just these vibrations. The importance of
really knowing //anicca// is described by the Buddha with the simile of
a farmer ploughing his field. "In the autumn season a ploughman
ploughing with a great ploughshare, cuts through the spreading roots as
he ploughs, even so, brethren, the perceiving of impermanence, if
practiced and enlarged, wears out all sensual lust, wears out all
ignorance, wears out, tears out all conceit of 'I am'... Just as,
brethren, in the autumn season (after the monsoon rains) when the sky
is opened up and cleared of clouds, the sun, leaping forth up into the
firmament, drives away all darkness from the heavens, and shines and
burns and flashes forth; even so, brethren, the perceiving of
impermanence, if practices and enlarged, wears out all sensual lust,
wears out all lust for the body, all desire for rebirth all ignorance,
wears out, tears out all conceit of 'I am'" (K.S., III, p. 132-33).
The characteristic of //dukkha// has been dealt with on the grosser
level as the First Noble Truth, in which the suffering of illness, age,
of separation from the desired and association with the undesired, in
our own minds and bodies and in the external world and in the external
world were considered. but there are many subtle ways in which we can
see how life is -- and must be -- unsatisfying. It has been seen how
life is inseparable from change, how without the perpetual process of
development and disintegration there would and could be no existence at
all. And yet there is the very profound contradiction between this
//anicca//-nature of life and our constant desire and wish for
stability, for security, for lasting happiness. If a situation is
pleasant, we always hope that it will last and try our utmost to make
it do so; but all experiences of life are doomed to pass away as
everything on which they are based is completely impermanent, changing
at every moment. So all our desires (and we are almost never without
some form of //tanha// in our minds) are bound to be frustrated in the
long run; we can never find the durable satisfaction we seek in this
world of mind and matter. There is nothing in this universe of
//anicca// that has even the potential capability of giving any real
happiness because each and every things is so completely unstable. We
have to give careful attention to all the apparently pleasant and happy
experiences that come in through the six sense doors (five physical
ones and the mind as the sixth), to see whether they really can bring
us satisfaction. The Buddha warns: "In him, brethren, who
contemplates the enjoyment that there is in all that makes for
grasping, (in all the sense pleasures) craving grows ... Such is the
uprising of this entire mass of ill." If we analyze how we ourselves
develop strong //tanha// -- and in inevitable consequence //dukkha// --
when we think about and dwell on our pleasurable experiences, we can
come to see how this fearful irony of pain caused by considering
pleasure unwisely is all too true. With this understanding, then, we
will instead contemplate //dukkha// in these same phenomena because,
"In him, brethren, who contemplates the misery that there is in all
that makes for grasping, craving ceases ... Such is the ceasing of this
entire mass of ill." (K.S., II, p. 59). As we are able to comprehend
this //dukkha//-nature of everything more and more, naturally the mind
will cease to long for that which it knows cannot bring happiness. And
so the mind grows detached and moves toward liberation.
The third universal characteristic, //anatta// -- essencelessness,
soullessness, egolessness -- is the teaching unique to the Buddhas; it
does not appear in any other religious or philosophical tradition. A
complete understanding of //anatta// for and in oneself must be
developed before liberation is possible. The Buddha explained this
doctrine, so alien to our conventional way of thinking, in many
discourses beginning with the second discourse after his Enlightenment.
"Body ... feeling ... perception, the activities and
consciousness (the five aggregates that make up everything
there is in a 'being') are not self. If consciousness etc.,
brethren, were self the consciousness would not be involved in
sickness and one could say of consciousness, etc.: 'thus let my
consciousness be, thus let my consciousness not be'; but
inasmuch as consciousness is not the self, that is why
consciousness is involved in sickness. That is why one cannot
(so) say of consciousness.
"Now what think ye brethren. Is body permanent or impermanent?"
"Impermanent, Lord."
"And what is impermanent, is that weal or woe?"
"Woe, Lord."
"Then what is impermanent, woeful, unstable by nature, is it
fitting to regard it thus: 'This is mine; I am this; this is
the self of me'?"
"Surely not, Lord."
"... Therefore, brethren, ... every consciousness, etc.,
what-ever it be, past, future or present, be it inward or
outward, gross or subtle, low or high, far or near, -- every
consciousness, I say, must be regarded as it really is by right
insight: 'this is not mine; this I am not; this is not the self
of me.'
"So seeing, brethren, the well-taught Ariyan disciple feels
disgust for body, etc. So feeling disgust he is repelled, being
repelled he is freed ... so that he knows 'destroyed is rebirth
... done is my task.'"
-- K.S., III, p. 56-60
To develop insight in order to fully comprehend the implications of
//anatta// takes a great deal of careful, systematic thought in
combination with direct meditative experience. We must try and see
that this thing we have habitually for an immeasurably long time called
"I" actually has no real existence. This word can only be accurately
used as a term of reference for the Five Aggregates -- each of which
is constantly changing -- that go to make up this so-called "being."
Only by investigating all the Five Khandhas in depth and finding them
to be void of any essence or substance at all which might correctly be
called one's "self" can we come to fully understand //anatta//.
There are two main ways to come to grips with this doctrine: via
//anicca// and via //dukkha//. These two signata are to some extent
manifest as apparent truths as well as being ultimate realities, while
//anatta// is the complete opposite of the apparent truth. When we
think of ourselves and use "I" or "me" or "man" etc., there is the
inherent implication that these words refer to some constant, ongoing
being. But we have previously seen that if we carefully investigate --
intellectually and by direct observation in vipassana meditation -- all
the Five Groups that comprise what we customarily consider "I" and all
the physical and mental sense organs that are taken as "mine," that
there is no trace of anything even slightly durable in any of them.
Ledi Sayadaw explains the relationship between //anicca// and
//anatta// by showing how people with untrained minds assume that there
is some on-going core or stable essence somewhere in the Five Khandhas
(and take this substance to be their //atta//, their self or soul.
"Those beings who are not able to discern the momentary arisings and
dissolutions of the physical and mental phenomena of the five
constituent groups of existence and thus are not able to realize the
characteristic of //anicca// maintain: 'the corporeality-group (or
sensation, perception, activities or consciousness-group) is the
essence and therefore the atta of beings.'" [*] If we wish to take any
of these groups as our substance, then we must admit that "I" "decay,
die and am reborn every moment"; but such an ephemeral "I" is very far
from our usual conception of ourselves. If we have carefully
considered //anicca// as it exists in everything internal that could be
considered "I," then we must come to the conclusion that this "I" is
nothing but a mistaken idea that has grown from inaccurate perception
which has been habitually reinforced for a long, long time. As the
truth of //anatta// becomes clearer, we gradually let go of this "I"
and so are closer and closer to Enlightenment, where not the slightest
shadow of a trace of this misconception can remain.
[*] //Manuals of Buddhism//. Ledi Sayadaw. Union of Burma Buddha
Sasana Council, Rangoon. '//Samma-Ditthi Dipani//', p. 91.
If we discern all the mental and physical //dukkha// we have to
undergo in life, we learn about //anatta// from a different angle. This
//nama-rupa// phenomenon is constantly subject to this pain and that
anguish, and yet we foolishly insist on calling the body and mind
"mine" and assuming that they belong to "me." But the very idea of
possession means that the owner has control of the property; so "I"
should be able to keep my body and mind as I want them to be, naturally
healthy and happy. As the Buddha stated in the quotation at the start
of this section, "Let my body be thus; let it not be thus." But
obviously and undeniably, suffering is felt and cannot be prevented by
mere exertion of will or wishing. So, in reality, we have to come to
the conclusion that there is no "I" who controls this //nama-rupa//;
mind and body are in no way fit to be called "mine." "The arising of
the five constituent groups do not yield to the wishes of anyone."
(SDD, p. 93). Phenomena which are dependent upon specific causes which
operate strictly according to their nature from moment to moment cannot
be subject to control by any "being" and as we explore it thoroughly,
we come to understand how this Five Aggregate phenomenon which we
wrongly tend to consider "I" is just such a conditioned and dependent
process. And suffering (or pleasure, for that matter) likewise comes
about because of certain conditions, chief amongst them being
//tanha//. There is no "being" who controls what ultimately happens to
these five aggregates.
Being caught in personality belief, (//sakkaya ditthi//) -- the
inability to comprehend //anatta// -- causes tremendous //dukkha// to
creatures on all the planes of existence from the lowest hell to the
highest brahma worlds. This great source of suffering must be
carefully examined and its workings understood if we are to escape from
its powerful, deep-rooted grasp. "Ego-delusion is the foremost of the
unwholesome Kamma of old and accompanies beings incessantly. As long
as personality belief exists these old unwholesome actions are fiery
and full of strength ... those beings who harbor within themselves
this personality-belief are continually under pressure to descend or
directly fall towards the worlds of woe." [*] (A of A, p. 50). By
thoroughly rooting out, seeing through and letting go of this mistaken
conception that there is a real substantial "I," "all wrong views,
evil mental factors and evil Kammas which would lead ... to the Lower
Worlds will disappear." (SDD, p. 87). Thus if we can really know our
//Anatta//-nature totally, there is no longer any possibility of the
extreme //dukkha// of rebirth in the lower realms of existence and the
life continuum will "always remain within the fold of the Buddha's
Dispensation wherever ... reborn." (A of A, p. 52). But if one does
not understand the impersonal nature of this five aggregate phenomenon,
he will "undoubtedly have to preserve his soul (or self) by
entertaining evil thoughts and evil actions as the occasion arises."
(SDD, p. 50) We can see that if we act on the assumption that there is
an "I" we are always in the position of attempting to protect and
preserve this 'self' and thus very much prone to commit unwholesome
thoughts, words and deeds in relation to other "beings." "People are
generally concerned with what they consider to be themselves or their
own ... and their bodily, verbal and mental acts are based on and are
conditioned by that concern. So the root of all vice for the foolish
concern is 'self' and one's 'own.'" Ledi Sayadaw explains how the
belief that there is an "I" causes this continual rebirth with a strong
downward tendency with the analogy of a string of beads:
In a string of beads where a great number of beads are strung
together by a strong silk thread, if one bead is pulled all the
others will follow the one that is pulled. But if the silk
thread is cut of removed, pulling one of the beads will not
disturb the other beads because there is no longer any
attachment between them.
Similarly, a being that possesses personality-belief harbors a
strong attachment to the series of Aggregates arisen during past
existences ... and transforms them into an ego ... It is thus
that the innumerable unwholesome karmic actions of the past
existences which have not yet produced resultants, will
accompany that being wherever he may be reborn. These
unwholesome actions of the past resemble beads that are strung
and bound together by a strong thread.
Beings, however, who clearly perceive the characteristic of
Not-self and have rid themselves of personality-belief, will
perceive that the bodily and mental Aggregates that arise and
disappear even within the short period of one sitting, do so as
separate phenomena and not as a closely interlinked continuum.
The concept of 'my self' which is like the thread, is not longer
present. Those bodily and mental processes appear to them like
the beads from which the thread has been removed."
-- A of A, pp. 53-54
[*] "The Advantages of Realising the Doctrine of Anatta" by Ledi
Sayadaw in //The Three Facts of Existence: III Egolessness//,
The Wheel No. 202/204, p. 50. Henceforth: A of A.
Thus the dispelling of personality belief removes all the mental
factors which might cause one to behave in such a way that would lead
to rebirth in the realms of woe as well as cutting off the link of
attachment to an "ego" that has kept us connected to all our evil deeds
of the past. Even in this present life it is clear if we think about
it that //Sakkaya Ditthi// (personality-belief) causes us great
suffering and its elimination would be of great benefit. For example,
"When external or internal dangers are encountered or disease and
ailments occur, beings attach themselves to them through such thoughts
as, 'I feel pain, I feel hurt,' thus take a possessive attitude towards
them. This becomes an act of bondage that later may obstruct beings
from ridding themselves of those diseases ... though they are so
greatly oppressive" (A of A, p. 56).
However, understanding that it is this erroneous personality-belief
that keeps us thinking that there is some ongoing essence or substance
in this five aggregate phenomena that can rightly be called "I" will
not immediately or automatically prevent the thought of "I" from coming
up in the mind as it is a very deeply rooted //Sankhara// that has been
built up over a long period of time. Whenever a thought related to "I"
does appear, we must mindfully apply the wisdom of //anatta// we have
already gained and realize that "I" is nothing but an idea originating
form an incorrect perception of reality. Whenever we notice ourselves
thinking of an "I" as one of the aggregates or as related to one of
them, we have to consider carefully the thought and reinforce our
understanding that "Whatsoever material object ... whatsoever feeling,
whatsoever perception, whatsoever activities, whatsoever consciousness
... (must be rightly regarded as) 'This is not mine, this I am not;
this is not the self of me.'" This process of seeing the ignorance
arise and repeatedly applying the Right View to it, gradually wears
away even the thoughts of "I," "myself" and "mine." This total
elimination of "I"-consciousness which is nothing but a subtle form of
conceit, and of this concept of "mine" which is subtle form of
//tanha//, does not happen until Arhantship is reached. But our task
is to deepen the comprehension and investigation of //anatta// to
greater and greater depths of insight by means of Vipassana meditation.
A group of monks once questioned the Venerable Khemaka about
//anatta// and inquired whether he had attained Arhantship. He replied
that he was not yet fully liberated because he still had subtle
remnants of "I am" in his mind. He said to them:
I see that in these five grasping groups I have got the idea of
"I am" yet I do not think that I am this "I am." Though (one is
a Non-returner) ... yet there remains in him a subtle remnant of
the I-conceit, of the I am-desire, of the lurking tendency to
think "I am" still not removed from him. Later on he lives
contemplating the rise and fall of the five grasping groups
seeing thus: "Such is the body, such is the arising of body,
such is the ceasing of it. Such is feeling ... perception ...
the activities ... consciousness."
In this way ... the subtle remnant of the I am-conceit, of the I
am-desire, that lurking tendency to think "I am" which was still
not removed from him -- that is now removed.
-- K.S., III, p. 110
This explanation of Khemaka's was so clear and profound that as a
direct result of his discourse, all the monks who listened to it and
Khemaka himself as well, were fully liberated -- with no remnants of "I
am" remaining. So we would do well to carefully study what this wise
monk said about the development of //anatta// so that we can come to
understand how by means of this process of carefully observing, clearly
experiencing, and thoroughly investigating the rise and fall of the
five khandhas we gradually eliminate the gross layers of //Sakkaya
Ditthi// and by the same means, more and more refined, ultimately root
out even the latent, subconscious tendency to think "I am."
Investigation into the Three Universal Characteristics --
//anicca//, //dukkha//, and //anatta// -- is a fundamental requirement
for the growth of liberating insight. Once we have thoroughly analyzed
our own //nama-rupa// and also the phenomena of the external world, and
completely understood how everything we can conceive of -- real or
imaginary, mental or physical, internal or external -- is totally
unstable, incapable of bringing real durable happiness and without any
actual substance, detachment must follow and with it freedom from the
//dukkha// of existence. The process of gradually overcoming ignorance
with wisdom comes through the direct bodily experience of the
unsatisfactoriness and essencelessness of this //nama-rupa// in
vipassana meditation, combined with careful thought, so that these
"experiences" have their full impact on the mind. Once again, it is by
investigation in meditation that detachment from the "all" is won --
and so too the ultimate peace free from all desire.
* * *
3. Dependent Origination
(//Paticcasamuppada//)
The doctrine of Dependent Origination (Paticcasamuppada) is one of the
most profound and far-reaching teachings of the Buddha and as such this
law of causality requires very thorough investigation and comprehension
by anyone seeking liberation. Without clearly knowing the causal law,
the Three Signata and the Four Noble Truths cannot be fully understood
with the full insight that leads to dispassion, to Nibbana. All of
these are included within //Paticcasamuppada// which demonstrates their
relation with each other. The Buddha himself pointed out the great
significance of this teaching to Ananda when Ananda said that he found
the causal law quite plain. The Buddha admonished him saying, "Say
not so, Ananda, say not so! Deep indeed is this causal law, and deep
indeed it appears. It is through not knowing, not understanding, not
penetrating, that doctrine, that this generation has become entangled
like a ball of string ... unable to overpass the doom of the Waste, the
Woeful Way, the Downfall, the Constant Faring on." (K.S., II, p.64)
And elsewhere Sariputta quotes the Exalted One as saying, " Whoever
sees conditional genesis sees the Dhamma, whoever see the Dhamma sees
conditioned genesis." (M., I, p. 237)
The general all-encompassing form of the law of Dependent
Origination is a very simple statement of cause and effect but is
something to which the meditator must give "his mind thoroughly and
systematically"; succinctly it states "this being that comes to be;
from the arising of this, that arises; from the ceasing of this that
ceases." (K.S., II, p.45) This is really just another more abstract
formulation of the Second and Third Noble Truths -- the cause of and
the cessation of suffering. The full twelve-link formula of the
//Paticcasamuppada// is an expansion of these two middle Truths, a full
explanation of the process by which suffering is generated and how by
the removal of the causes, suffering also comes to cease. Thus in
order to understand completely the Four Noble Truths, one must have
contemplated on and gained insight into dependent origination as well.
Another very important aspect of this doctrine to be understood is how
its description of the process of life, the process of becoming,
clearly demonstrates how it is totally impersonal manifestation of
certain causes, with no "I" or 'being' in any way involved in or
related to it, //anatta//. Finally, this doctrine enables us to discern
just how kamma operates in generating the causes of rebirth.
The list of twelve links in direct order explaining the arising of
suffering, is usually described as beginning with the past life, going
on to the present life and then to future life (or potential lives.)
//Avijja-paccaya sankhara// -- ignorance conditions mental volitions.
It is due to the root cause of ignorance (about the ultimate nature of
reality) that the mind generates desires, //sankharas//, kamma.
//Sankhara-paccaya vinnanam// -- these mental volitions, this kamma of
the past, gives rise to the rebirth-linking consciousness which is the
first mind moment of the new (present) birth. Note there is no "thing"
transmigrating from one life to another, only a process of cause and
effect goes on: //Vinnana-paccaya nama-rupam// -- the mind and matter
phenomenon (five aggregates) of the present life come to be due to the
existence of this rebirth-linking consciousness. Conception has taken
place and this //nama-rupa// phenomenon continues its processes until
death intervenes. //Nama-rupa-paccaya salayatanam// -- through mind
and matter, the six sense bases are conditioned; with this very start
of the new life the five physical sense organs and mind as the sixth
come into being. //Salayatana-paccaya phasso// -- throughout the life
these six senses are the condition for the arising of contact (with
their appropriate objects) which occur from moment to moment.
//Phassa-paccaya vedana// -- feeling (pleasant, unpleasant or neutral)
is conditioned by sense impression and this feeling rises in relation
to contacts at first through one then another sense door, ad infinitum.
//Vedana-paccaya tanha// -- craving arises based on feeling. In terms
of practice, this is the most important step of the
//Paticcasamuppada// as it is at this point that we can learn to turn
around the whole process and make it lead to the cessation of
suffering. The other (unnamed) factor which conditions craving along
with feeling is ignorance (the same as the first factor) -- the
inability to see that in reality there is nothing worth craving for,
nothing that can actually be held, and no ongoing being truly capable
of having its desires satisfied. At this link volition can alter the
old habitual sequences and the feeling part of the mind by means of
training in the Noble Eightfold Path can be made to condition the
arising of wisdom, and //panna// will forestall the arising of
//tanha// (and the whole mass of suffering that is conditioned by this
craving). //Tanha-paccaya upadanam// -- craving gives rise to clinging,
tenacious desire. Actually, for most of us, the application of wisdom
and mindfulness is very rarely such that it can totally prevent the
deep habits of //tanha// from surfacing after feeling, but what we can
do is prevent either of the next two links -- //upadana// and //bhava// -- from
developing out of the initial spurt of desire. //Upadana-paccaya
bhavo// -- conditioned by clinging, becoming arises. Due to the power
of the accumulation of //sankharas//, of kamma (//tanha//, //upadana//
and //bhava being simply mental volitions of increasing strength), the
very strong kamma which is responsible for the process of becoming
arises and it is these //bhava-sankharas// that generate the momentum
for a new birth at the appropriate moment. //Bhava-paccaya jati// --
becoming conditions birth in a future life at the dissolution of this
present five aggregate phenomenon. If we seriously consider the
matter, we can perceive that all desires are just particular
manifestations of the will to exist or to continue; and all such
craving and clinging are future directed energies whose function is the
seeking of fulfillment. This force of kammic energy does not cease
with death. Becoming is just the very strong form of desire and it
contains sufficient momentum behind it that at the time of death it is
the force that makes for a new birth. This energy manifests and a new
//nama-rupa// begins. Thus once again the start of life is shown to be
a completely impersonal, conditioned process working totally
irrespective of anyone's wishes, hopes or desires, leading to a
phenomena with no essence of "I." This link repeats the second one in
the series just in different words. //Jati-paccaya jaramaranam// --
once there is birth there automatically comes to be old age and death
and all the other manifold forms of suffering encountered in life --
the First Noble Truth. And thus the cycle beginning with our inherited
ignorance leads inexorably towards more and more suffering in the
future.
The inverse form of the cycle is stated alongside the form above.
It is the inverse that demonstrates the Third Noble Truth, how with the
cessation of the cause, the effect must cease; so //avijja nirodha,
sankhara nirodho// etc., -- when ignorance ceases, no more sankharas
are generated and carried through all the intervening links, the way of
ending all suffering is thus shown.
This is but a very rough sketch of the workings of the
//Paticcasamuppada// that must be wisely considered and thoroughly
elaborated on and then incorporated into the meditator's own thought
processes for it to serve him as a means to liberation. Each link has
to be investigated in terms of the Four Noble Truths -- to understand
the factor itself, its arising, its ceasing and the way leading to its
cessation (always the Fourth Noble Truth -- the Path). The Buddha has
Sariputta explain to him the way the meditator in training who is still
a learner, considers things. Sariputta states: "'This has come to
be,' Lord -- thus by right insight he sees as it really is; and seeing
it in this way he practices revulsion from it, and that it may fade
away and cease. From the ceasing of a certain sustenance that which
has come to be is liable to cease -- so he sees by right insight as it
really is. And seeing that in this way he practices revulsion from
that which is liable to cease that it may fade away and cease." The
revulsion to be practiced in relation to //all// conditioned phenomena,
to all things that have arisen dependent on causes, is closely akin to
detachment and dispassion. Unlike aversion, revulsion is based on
wisdom and developed in relation to all pleasant, unpleasant or neutral
experiences. The Arahant makes the same observations about the
unstable nature of conditioned phenomena, but for him the stage of
practicing has passed, and when by right insight, the fully liberated
one sees "This has come to be," then "because of revulsion at that
which has come to be, because of its fading away and ceasing he becomes
free, grasping at nothing ...." (K.S., II, p. 36-37) So the lesson to
be learned from the Doctrine of Dependent Origination -- as from all
the Dhamma -- is that nothing that arises due to causes and conditions
can possibly provide secure happiness due to its inherent
changeability and instability; so there is absolutely nothing on any
plane of existence worth developing the slightest interest in or
attachment to as all such involvement can only lead to suffering. So
detachment and revulsion are the result of a complete understanding of
the workings of the causal law -- and this is liberation.
In one place, the Buddha actually describes the series of causes
leading to liberation itself, beginning with suffering, thus: "What is
that which is the cause of liberation? Passionlessness is the answer
... and repulsion is causally related to passionlessness ...
knowledge-and-vision of things as they really are is causally
associated with repulsion ... concentration is causally associated with
knowledge-and-vision ... happiness is causally associated with
concentration ... serenity is causally associated with happiness ...
rapture is causally associated with serenity ... joy is causally
associated with rapture ... faith is causally associated with joy ...
And what is the cause of faith? Suffering is the answer. Suffering is
causally related with faith." (K.S., II, p. 25-26) The Buddha then
continues with the origins of suffering back to ignorance following the
usual //Paticcasamuppada// formulation backwards, thus showing the
whole length of the route -- the Path, the Fourth Noble Truth -- out of
the causal cycle. It is because of the experience of suffering that
beings seek a way out and put their faith in the Buddha as a guide and
in his teachings as the true method to attain freedom from all ill.
Thus the causal cycle proceeds from //dukkha//, the end of the usual
twelve-link Dependent Origination formula, through //saddha// (faith)
and all the steps here named to final and total emancipation.
Kamma is one of the basic causes in the cycle of Dependent
Origination (in the past life it goes under name //sankhara// and in
the present life it encompasses //tanha//, //upadana//, and //bhava//)
and a deep investigation of its significance and operation must be
made, as, after all, it is through our own wholesome and unwholesome
kamma that we are tied down to the infinite cycle of rebirths and it is
by means of good kamma that we are able to transcend this universe of
kamma, rebirth and //dukkha//.
It is important to remind ourselves and to discover how in our own
minds, at every moment we are creating new kammas. When we investigate
the thinking process carefully in our meditation, we come to observe
that all our thoughts are related to some //tanha//, some desire or
aversion, some volition. And each moment the kamma we are creating is
either beneficial or harmful to us both in the immediate and far
distant future; there is not an instant when we are molding our
future fate. And no matter how good an act of body or speech may seem,
it is only a gross manifestation of a mental volition, and if the
thought behind it is impure, the kammic effects are in the long run
bound to be painful. Hence it is vital to analyze our own minds and
then cultivate the beneficial volitions that aid us on the Path to
Liberation, otherwise the old habitual tendencies rooted in ignorance
are bound to take us to the unhappy realms for rebirth, and once reborn
there it is almost impossible to be reborn on the human plane for an
extremely long period of time.
But we must also consider that in the ultimate analysis, even good
volitions must be given up, as "That which we will, brethren, and that
which we intend to do, that wherewithal we are occupied -- this becomes
an object for the persistence of consciousness," and so anything we
think about will become nourishment for a new birth either in the lower
or higher realms, depending on the purity of the willing, the intention
or the occupation (K.S., II, p. 45). And ultimately in order to
totally eradicate all suffering (even the very subtle //dukkha// that
is inherent in the fact that the life span of even the most long-lived
Brahma is limited, finite), rebirth must be eliminated -- and this
means rooting out its causes as explained in the cycle of Dependent
Origination.
Particularly for the Western mind this infinite Samsaric cycle of
rebirth has to be thought about quite thoroughly before our
understanding of it can influence our behavior, making us act on the
basis of a very long-term view. "Incalculable is the beginning,
brethren, of this faring on. The earliest point is not revealed of the
running on, the faring on of beings cloaked in ignorance, tied to
craving ... For many a long day, brethren, have ye experienced death of
mother, of son, of daughter, have ye experienced the ruin of kinfolk,
the calamity of disease. Greater is the flood of tears shed by you
crying and weeping of one and all these as ye fare on, run on this many
a long day, united with the undesirable, sundered from the desirable,
than are the waters in the four seas. (Because) incalculable is the
beginning, brethren, of this faring on." (K.S., II, p. 120)
Ledi Sayadaw reminds us that, "Lack of wholesome kamma will lead
to the lower worlds where one has to suffer grievously. Fearing such
suffering, one has to perform wholesome kamma which can lead one to be
reborn as man or deva in the existences to come." (//Manuals of
Buddhism//, p. 227, Magganga Dipani). One important aspect of Right
View which as to be investigated relates to kamma. We have to know for
ourselves that "Only the wholesome and unwholesome actions of beings
are the origin of their wanderings in many a becoming or world cycle";
and that only these actions "are their real refuge wherever they may
wander" (Magganga Dipani, p. 221). There is nothing very strange in
this idea of kamma being the one thing that endures (while always being
influenced and altered by present mental volitions), carrying over from
one life to the next. If we ponder over the matter, we see that just
as a moral cause and effect works within this life to only some extent,
the effects of many kammas can only show up in future lives; so over
an infinite span of lives //kusala// (wholesome) kammas ultimately must
bring good results and //akusala// (unwholesome) kammas bring unhappy
states. As we study the cycle of Dependent Origination it clearly
shows that there is no entity or ongoing being involved anywhere in all
these births, deaths and rebirths, but only past kamma manifesting in a
five aggregate phenomenon which changes every moment and which in turn
continues to generate new kamma leading to new births, in a process
that evolves endlessly from moment to moment.
As seen above, it is of vital importance to investigate thoroughly
the causal law and kamma in order for full insight into the nature of
existence to develop, for some causes lie behind the arising of
absolutely everything. "Whether any ... mental or physical phenomena
arises, the arising of any thing whatsoever is dependent on conditions,
and without condition, nothing can ever arise or enter into existence."
[*] It is only through giving systematic thought to the twelve factors
and the connections between them in the //Paticcasamuppada// cycle that
we can introduce the appropriate causes to make this law cease
operating. And only thus can we bring to an end the process of rebirth
and its attendant suffering, by substituting wisdom for ignorance when
feeling arises -- and so prevent the development of //tanha// which
would inexorably lead to rebirth. Most important of all to train the
mind in wisdom is to understand clearly how completely impersonally and
automatically moment to moment every link in the cycle operates; the
sequence goes on strictly as a matter of cause and effect with no room
for, no need for, any "I" to explain the continual rise and fall of
//nama-rupa//.
[*] //Buddhist Dictionary, Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines//
Nyanatiloka. Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy. p. 135.
In this religion, brethren, a pondering brother ponders: 'This
diverse and manifold ill that arises in the world as old age and
death -- what is this ill based on, how comes it to pass? ...
What being there does old age-and-death come to be? What not
being there does old age-and-death not come to be?' He pondering
comes to know that this ... is based on birth ... He comes to
know old age-and-death, he comes to know its arising, he comes
to know its ceasing and he comes to know the way going to its
ceasing.
-- K.S., II, p. 56-57
He ponders similarly on all the other factors in the Dependent
Origination and thus he is called a "brother who has wholly practiced
for the complete destroying of ill." Full comprehension through very
careful analysis of the //Paticcasamuppada// must make us detached,
must make us see that there is nothing which really corresponds to the
word "I," and must make us learn to cease creating sankharas by
willing actions. Once we cease to create any more kamma of any kind,
the other links in the cycle must automatically fall away. And the
Buddha ends this discourse emphatically referring to this process of
breaking the causal chain saying, "Believe me, brethren, be convinced
of this, be ye without doubt herein, without hesitation just this is
the end of Dukkha!"
* * *
4. The Five Aggregates
(//khandha//)
//Dhammavicaya// in addition to the definition used in the previous
three sections of investigation of the Dhamma, may also be interpreted
as meaning investigation of dhammas, of all things, all phenomena,
mental or physical, real or imaginary, conditioned or unconditioned. In
this connection the most important things to be examined are perhaps,
first the five khandhas or aggregates that make one life continuum,
one //nama-rupa//, a "person": and second the six sense doors -- five
physical ones and the mind, and their corresponding six categories of
sense objects.
We have to examine the aggregate of body and four of the mind --
perception, feeling, mental volitions and consciousness -- that in
combination make up this thing we have been calling "I," very
thoroughly and deeply in order to see how ultimately there is nothing
lasting, satisfying or which deserves to be considered "myself" in any
of them; to know how all that we associate with "me" is just
//anicca//, //dukkha// and //anatta//, and to understand how these
aggregates arise to pass away. The khandhas are the basic components
which make up what we perceive of as an individual. But each of these
aggregates in itself has no essence; each is merely a process of
continual minute momentary risings and fallings.
//Vinnana// is consciousness, just the process or faculty of
knowing, or awareness, that arises immediately upon the coming together
of any sense organ and its respective object. //Sanna// is perception
or recognition of the object, defining it by associating it with past
memories. //Vedana// is the feeling that arises as an immediate result
of contact when the internal and external sense bases get together and
the appropriate consciousness comes into being. //Vedana// can be
pleasant, unpleasant or neutral feeling of body or of mind.
//Sankhara// is mental volitions or activities; the thinking process
of the mind is the facet of //nama// governed by this khandha. The
past mind-moment with its consciousness, feeling, perception and
volition is the condition for the arising of the next, but there is
nothing of any of those four mental components (nor anything outside of
them) that continues over from one instant to the next. The body
aggregate, too, is utterly impermanent and insubstantial, just like any
form of matter, living or inorganic. All matter is made up of the
infinitely small //kalapas// (sub-atomic particles or vibrations) which
come to be and vanish at only a slightly slower rate than the mind, but
still so extremely quickly that we get the illusion of continuity,
unity and substance where these do not actually exist.
The Buddha tells the monks the importance of such examination of
the aggregates thus: "So soon, brethren, as beings thoroughly
understand, as they really are the satisfaction as such, the misery as
such, the way of escape as such in these five factors of grasping (the
aggregates) then, brethren, beings do remain aloof, detached ... with
barriers of the mind done away with." (K.S., III, p. 30) Once we
intellectually realize that none of the khandhas can rightly be called
"mine," then we are faced with the urgent task of rooting out,
eliminating this aspect of personality belief from our minds, of
becoming truly aloof and detached. The Buddha described this work
thus: "What is not of you, brethren, put it away. Putting it away
will be for your profit and welfare. And what, brethren, is not of
you? Body ... feeling ... perception ... the activities, consciousness
is not of you. Put it away." (K.S., III, p. 231-2). Putting away or
giving up or letting go of what we incorrectly think of as "mine" is a
gradual and long term process. In fact, not only is this process of
investigating and giving systematic attention to the //anicca//,
//dukkha//, //anatta// nature of the aggregates the work of the
beginner, the same thing is done by beings at any stage along the way,
even by the fully-liberated ones. "The grasping groups, friend
Kotthita," says the great disciple of the Buddha, Sariputta, "are the
conditions which should be pondered with method by a virtuous brother,
as being impermanent, sick, as a boil, as a dart, as pain, as
ill-health, as alien, as transitory, empty and soulless ... It is
possible for a virtuous brother so pondering with method ... to realize
the fruits of stream winning ... of once returning ... of never
returning ... of arahantship ... For the Arahant, friend, there is
nothing further to be done ... Nevertheless, these things, if practiced
and enlarged conduce to a happy existence and self-possession even in
this present life" for him. (K.S., III, p. 143)
Very frequently the Buddha refers to the five aggregates or groups
of existence as the //upadanakkhandha// or grasped-at groups,
aggregates (as objects) of clinging, etc. It is worthwhile to
contemplate why he considered these components of life so inseparable
from //tanha// and //upadana// that he actually called them
clinging-aggregates. First of all, these aggregates only come into
being because of //tanha//; through craving and clinging the past
sankharas gave rise to the present birth, the current //namarupa//
which is precisely the same as these five grasped-at groups. What has
its cause in clinging must have clinging as its very core. Secondly,
these aggregates are the means by which we are //conscious// of and
//perceive// through the six sense doors; an impression is then
//felt// and as a result of this process the input leads to mental
//volitions// as well as to actions of //body// directed by some
//tanha// to gain, grasp at, cling to something. Thirdly, and most
important, it is just these five constituent groups that we tend to
cling to most tenaciously, convinced that they are "I" and "mine." We
have already looked into this misperception of reality and by means of
a strong simile the Buddha illustrated the danger in such clinging to
any of the aggregates or seeing in them any security:
Suppose ... a mountain torrent ... rising from afar,
swift-flowing, and on both its banks are growing grasses
overhanging the stream; ... and a man is swept away by that
stream and clutches at the grasses, but they might break away
and owing to that he might come by his destruction.
Even so, brethren, the untaught manyfolk ... regard the body as
the self, or the self as having body, or the body as being in
the self, or the self as being in the body. Then the body
breaks away, and owing to that they come by their destruction.
And so with feeling, perception, the activities ...
consciousness.
-- K.S., III, p. 116
We also subject ourselves to tremendous suffering because we "are
possessed by this idea" that the body belongs to "me" for, when the
body or any of the aggregates "alters and changes, owing to the
unstable nature of the body, then sorrow and grief, woe, lamentation and
despair arise" if these changes are not what we wanted (K.S., III, p.
3).
Only by completely investigating the ultimate reality of these five
aggregates will we see that they are incapable of giving satisfaction
and so not worth grasping at, that actually they are so unstable that
holding onto them is impossible, and there is no one who can cling
anyhow (as the 'self' arises and vanishes every moment and so cannot
possibly continue to possess anything for any period of time). So, in
order to attain liberation, one must attain insight into these five
aggregates so that the necessary dispassion arises, for "by not
thoroughly knowing, by not understanding, by not being detached from,
by not renouncing body (and the other khandhas) one is unfit for the
destruction of suffering ... But, brethren, by thoroughly knowing
(them) ... one is fit for the destruction of suffering" (K.S., III, p.
26).
* * *
5. The Sense Bases
(//Ayatana//)
The investigative process also must be applied to the internal and
external sense bases (//ayatana//), so that the pleasure and misery in
them, their cause and cessation, and their //anicca//, //dukkha// and
//anatta// nature is fully comprehended. Only with this insight are we
able to let go of our attachments to, desire for, and clinging to, the
eye and visible objects, the ear and sounds, the nose and smells, the
tongue and tastes, the body and things tangible, the mind and mental
objects. One must especially learn how the mind operates as just
another sense organ, whose field is all the perceptions and thoughts
that have occurred in the past, in order to dissociate the workings
of the mind from the "I" notion. In his third sermon, the Buddha
stated, "The all is on fire" and the nature of this conflagration must
be seen and understood before it can be extinguished and freedom gained
from it. "The eye, brethren, is on fire, objects are on fire,
eye-consciousness ... eye contact ... that weal or woe or neutral state
experienced, which arises owing to eye-contact (//vedana//, feeling);
... that also is on fire ... On fire with the blaze of lust, the blaze
of ill-will, the blaze of infatuation, the blaze of birth, decay and
death, sorrow ... ," (K.S., IV, p. 10) and so are tongue and
mind-related phenomena -- and by extrapolation those coming from the
other senses as well.
The six internal sense organs (//salayatana//) and their
corresponding objects have a crucial role in the present lifetime phase
of the //Paticcasamuppada//. Consciousness, //vinnana//, is not
permanent or abiding; instead it arises and ceases every moment, and
it is the coming together of one of the sense organs and its respective
object that causes the arising of a moment of consciousness. Thus
every consciousness is eye-consciousness, or ear-consciousness, or
nose- or tongue- or body- or mind-consciousness, depending on which
sense organ at that instant has met its object. The cycle of causality
continues on from there: "Owing to eye and objects arises
eye-consciousness. The coming together of the three is contact.
Dependent on contact is feeling. Dependent on feeling is craving ...
grasping ... becoming. Dependent on becoming is rebirth, decay and
death, sorrow and grief ... This is the arising of the world." (K.S.,
IV, p. 53) From thus analyzing the genesis of existence (the "world")
and of //dukkha// (as it is more often formulated) we can understand
the absolutely impersonal nature of the arising of consciousness, as
well as the germinal role in creating sankharas played by the internal
and external sense bases.
Consciousness, or mind, is analogous to the proverbial monkey
constantly on the move high up in the trees in the jungle, always
grasping at something or the other. Similarly with the mind, at each
and every mind-moment when awake, consciousness must be connected with
one or another of the sense doors; there is no underlying substratum
of consciousness that endures through time, but only momentary
clutching after sights, grabbing for sounds, clinging to smells,
holding on to tastes, attachment to tangibles or (and often most
predominantly) hanging onto mind objects. It is because the sense
organs and their objects inherently contain the danger of tempting us
to create craving (//tanha//) and an urge to renewed existence
(//bhava-sankhara//) that the Buddha frequently warned the monks about
keeping the sense doors well guarded, since the external objects cannot
be eliminated. By means of ongoing mindfulness, rooted in insight into
the true nature of all the phenomena that appear at the sense doors, it
is necessary to observe how craving starts to rear its head (as it
inevitably will, due to the old completely automatic mental
conditioning) once contact and feeling have taken place, and not allow
the desire to take over the mind and becomes a strong rebirth producing
force. If we do not keep watch over our senses and reactions
attentively, we are like the fish attracted by the well-baited hook on
the line held by the fisherman. "Just as a fisherman, brethren, casts a
baited hook in some deep pool of water, and some fish greedy for the
bait, gulps it down and thus ... comes to destruction, -- even so,
brethren, there are these six hooks in the world, to the sorrow of
beings ... objects cognizable by the eye inciting to lust ... If a
brother delights therein, persists in clinging to them, such a one is
called 'hook-swallower' ... is come to destruction." (K.S., IV, p.
99) And of course the other hooks to be wary of in the world are
alluring sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles and mental objects. If we
give careful, systematic attention to these external sense objects as
we meet them, we cannot help but realize that the pain of swallowing
the hooks by clinging to the sense objects far outweighs the possible
momentary pleasure of tasting the bait.
The basic aim of investigating the sense organs is the same as for
the aggregates -- to see how thoroughly they are //anicca// and //
Dukkha// and so to cease to cling to them as "I" and "mine." "A
brother beholds no trace of the self nor what pertains to the self in
the six-fold sense sphere. so beholding, he is attached to nothing in
the world. Unattached he is not troubled. Untroubled he is of himself
utterly set free" (K.S., IV, p. 104).
The specific subjects in the Dhamma that must be investigated for
insight have in this section been given initial exploration. The task
is to turn these thoughts and ideas into real wisdom, so that the whole
course of the life becomes oriented to and aimed at liberation. We must
learn to keep before us at all the time the ultimate nature of all
dhammas -- all phenomena of any conceivable kind that can enter
consciousness -- so that the gross perceptual illusion or hallucination
of the apparent truth loses its strength and the ignorance it fosters
vanishes and with it all craving. We have to analyze completely this
body-and-mind and all the external phenomena that appear from time to
time at the six sense doors until the pleasure and misery in them are
understood, until the causes of their arising and ceasing are
comprehended, until their ultimately impermanent, unsatisfactory,
conditioned and essenceless nature is clearly known. This is done by
means of careful investigation in meditation of the Three Signata of
Existence, and the Doctrine of Dependent Origination. With this
insight fully developed there can be no clinging or craving, no
ill-will or aversion, and ultimately one becomes "independent,
unattached to anything in the world," and so with all its causes
uprooted, liberation from all suffering is achieved.
* * *
Investigation in Meditation
There are a number of other aspects of Dhamma Investigation that have
to be examined now that the contents of such exploration have been
discussed. The very basic and essential relationship between
investigative thinking and insight meditation, how the two are required
to support each other and send the meditator's mind to its goal of
ending all possibility of dukkha, is the appropriate one to deal with
first.
For investigation of Dhamma to lead to liberating insight it must
be combined with and done in the course of insight meditation. It is
just through investigation and wise consideration of phenomena that
insight into their ultimate nature develops. At the time of the Buddha
there were people who became fully Enlightened in just a few moments of
time, but even for them some sort of thought process had to go on. But
these individuals had accumulated such a vast store of //paramis// --
accumulated good acts and mental dispositions of the past -- that the
liberating wisdom came with nearly instantaneous impact. While just a
Bodhisatta, the Buddha went back to the first jhana, a deep absorption
(after having mastered seven still deeper, more profound concentrative
states) -- which includes thinking -- when he sat under the Bodhi Tree
with the final and total determination to become fully liberated.
"Before my enlightenment, while I was still only an unenlightened
Bodhisatta, I thought: This world has fallen into a slough for it is
born, ages and dies, it passes away and reappears, and yet knows no
escape from this suffering. When will an escape from this suffering be
described? I thought: what is there when aging and death come to be?
What is their necessary condition? Then with ordered attention I came
to understand ... birth is a necessary condition for them." And so as
he exerted the utmost effort to become a Buddha, a fully self-liberated
being, he proceeded carefully thinking through all the links of the
cycle of Dependent Origination in both directions. "I thought: This
is the path to enlightenment that I have now reached ... that is how
there is a cessation to this whole aggregate mass of suffering. 'The
cessation, the cessation' such was the insight, the knowledge, the
understanding, the vision, the light, that arose in me about ideas no
heard of before." [*]
[*] "The Life of the Buddha," Nanamoli, Buddhist Publication
Society, pp. 25, 27 quoting from //Samyutta Nikaya, XII, 65.
Also to gain the full understanding of the khandhas at this crucial
juncture of this life, the Bodhisatta used careful intellectual
consideration. "I thought: in the case of material form, of feeling,
of perception, of formations, of consciousness what is the
gratification, what is the danger, what the escape? Then I thought:
In the case of each the bodily pleasure and mental joy that arise in
dependence on these things (the five categories) are the gratification;
the fact that these things are all impermanent, painful and subject to
change is the danger; the disciplining and abandoning of desire and
lust for them is the escape." [*]
[*] //Ibid//. p. 28
These quotations show how vital wise investigative thinking was to
the Buddha himself in his meditations while moving towards his
Enlightenment and so must we, too, carefully combine the thought
process and meditation to liberate ourselves from suffering.
The long quotation given in the section on investigating the
khandhas shows how it is the process of pondering deeply on things that
brings us dispassion towards them all, and so to the stages of
Enlightenment. So insight, clarity of vision into the ultimate nature
of reality, //bhavana-maya-panna//, (wisdom born of meditation) the
personal direct knowledge that bears concrete fruit in our behavior in
life, is really based on careful thinking so that the apparent truths
are seen through and no longer allowed to delude us by coloring and
covering up the real nature of our minds and bodies and of the external
world.
This liberating insight can, however, only develop if the
investigating is done by a person who meditates regularly. Meditation
provides us with the relatively concrete evidence of personal
experience to guarantee the validity of our more abstract thinking.
There are times when meditation consists of just observing, in a very
one-pointed manner, the rise and fall of the sensations (//vedana//)
caused by the subtle biochemical changes going on in the body. But
there are other occasions either when thinking is going on quite
strongly or when there is a tendency to sloth and torpor, and at these
times it is very beneficial to do Dhamma investigation. When the mind
is busy thinking, it is always involved in ignorance, always full of
clinging or aversion, always dwelling in the past or future because
this is the nature of the conditioning that it has gotten from the
past. By this kind of thinking we are creating "heaps and heaps" of
unwholesome mental volitions, //sankharas//, //akusala kamma//, which
are bound to bear fruit in some sort of //dukkha// in the future. If
instead we apply the mind in a systematic way to thinking about Dhamma,
trying to eliminate craving, trying to see through to the ultimate
realities of phenomena, we are creating very powerful good kamma for
ourselves which has to lead us toward liberation. At the same time,
this kind of consideration clarifies in our minds the fundamental
truths of Buddha Dhamma that we have read or heard previously so that
they become fully comprehensible and meaningful. Thus carefully
directed thought, while sitting in vipassana meditation, is a vital
tool for the rooting out of all our ignorance and for contrasting the
path to emancipation.
Also investigation is important to practice strenuously when there
is a tendency to a daydreaming, lazy kind of meditation, when the
hindrances of sloth and torpor are attacking. The Buddha told the
monks, "... at such time, monks, as the mind is sluggish, then is the
season for cultivating the limb of wisdom that is Norm-investigation,
the season for cultivating the limb of wisdom that is energy, the
season for cultivating the limb of wisdom that is zest. Why so?
Because, monks, the sluggish mind is easily raised up by such
conditions." (K.S., V, p. 96) By energetically applying the mind to
trying to understand more thoroughly than before the Four Noble
Truths or another important aspect of Dhamma, the mind will be directed
and stimulated. When this happens, the tendency of the mind to drift
must disappear and zest for meditation and the clarity of mind which is
crucial to real understanding return.
Thus to use investigation in meditation is to apply Right Thought,
one of the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path. Obviously, analytical
thinking takes places in relation to Dhamma outside of meditation as
well -- when listening to discourses or when doing Dhamma reading, for
example. But for the information gained from outside to become truly
meaningful to us, for it to become our own "wisdom-born-of-meditation"
(//bhavana-maya-panna//), for this information to influence how we live
our lives, it must be thoroughly thought through while we are actually
sitting in meditation. At such times the mind is much more
concentrated and subtle than usual and as the hindrances to
concentration and insight (i.e.: doubt, excitement and restlessness,
sloth and torpor, greed, and ill-will) are at a fairly low level, the
mind is much more pliable and fit to assimilate pure Dhamma thoughts.
As we increase our understanding and wisdom through meditative
investigation, we decrease our ignorance, and as ignorance diminishes
we are loosening the bondage of our suffering and becoming more and
more free of craving (//tanha//).
* * *
Systematic Attention and Control of the Hindrances
Another important role played by investigation is in preventing the
arising of all the hindrances that tend to block our progress now and
again. It is by means of analytical thought, systematic attention,
//yoniso-manasikara//, that we can keep the hindrances under control.
In this process the two Enlightenment Factors of investigation and
mindfulness are employed, as it takes careful thought in combination
with continuous awareness to keep control of the mind. "And what,
monks, is no food for the arising of sensual lust not yet arisen?" The
Buddha answers his own question saying that sensual lust is kept from
growing by "systematic attention" to "the repulsive feature of
things." To counter the hindrance of ill will, systematic attention
must be given to metta, the quality of unbounded loving kindness. To
deal with sloth and torpor, systematic attention must be applied to
"the element of putting forth effort, the element of exertion, the
element of striving." Against excitement, one must apply systematic
attention to tranquility of mind. To still doubt, one must give
systematic attention to Dhamma, or in the Buddha's words, to "things
good and things bad, things blameworthy and things not blameworthy,
things mean and things exalted, things that are constituent parts of
darkness and light" (K.S. V, p. 88).
These five great hindrances to concentration, to meditation, to
living the Dhamma life are all quite familiar habits to us. But we can
develop the tools to prevent their arising and to control them when
they do come up. And chief amongst these is the application of
systematic attention to the external situations that stimulate the
sensual lust, the ill will, the sloth and torpor, the excitement and
the doubt that lie latent in our minds, and to the internal negative
tendencies themselves. Thus when it is seen that with wisdom these
inappropriate deep-rooted, habitual mental reactions to impermanent,
unsatisfactory and essenceless phenomena, the hindrances must lose
strength and gradually disappear, leaving behind a pure mind.
* * *
Investigation Conduces to Insight
Investigation of Dhamma is one of the four factors which the Buddha
frequently describes as conducing "to growth in wisdom, to acquiring
insight, to growth of insight, the increase of insight." The four
elements involved are: "Association with good men (following after the
good), hearing //Saddhamma// (the Good Norm), thorough work of mind
(systematic attention to Dhamma), and behavior in accordance with
Dhamma (living in accordance with the precepts of the Norm)." When the
Buddha spoke, of course, the good man to associate oneself with was
specifically the Tathagata himself and his Arahant disciples, all fully
liberated beings. Today we do not have this opportunity, but we
certainly can choose our associates from amongst those who are on the
Path and who are striving to gain wisdom. If we associate with the
foolish, we are wasting our time and tempting ourselves unnecessarily,
making our task of self-purification all the more difficult. But if we
spend time with other strivers, we will reinforce our own motivation
and also perhaps get some direct help or encouragement in times of
need. As for the second factor, only rarely do we get the opportunity
to actually "hear" the Dhamma and then of course not directly from the
Fully Enlightened One. But when we take a meditation course, this
purpose is served by the teacher's discourses which are designed to
inform us of and elucidate to us the fundamentals of the Dhamma.
Naturally this opportunity, too, is limited, and to supplement live
Dhamma teachings regularly, we have to do some reading both of the
direct words of the Buddha as preserved in the translated Pali texts,
and also of what later meditators have written about him and his
teachings. Without this beneficial material for our minds to
thoroughly think about, to consider wisely, to give systematic
attention to, we are apt to find our meditation getting into ruts which
become so habitual as to lose their impact on our minds -- and on how
we live our lives as well. On the other hand, reading Dhamma as an
intellectual pastime without combining it with meditation and trying to
make what we read our own wisdom which can influence our life patterns,
is a complete waste of time. But if we are associating with a Sangha
(the community of those walking on the Noble Eightfold Path), if we are
learning the basics of Dhamma and carefully and persistently applying
our minds to it, then our behavior cannot help but reflect the wisdom
we are so gaining. Thus these four factors must "if cultivated and
made much of, conduce to realising the fruits of stream-winning ... of
once-returning, of non-returning and of Arahantship" (K.S. V, p. 351).
* * *
The Seven Factors of Enlightenment
Investigation of Dhamma, //dhammavicaya//, usually the second in the
list of the seven Factors of Enlightenment, has a unique place amongst
these limbs of wisdom whose function is to purify and train the mind
and to "conduce to downright revulsion, to dispassion, to cessation,
to calm, to full comprehension, to wisdom, to Nibbana." (K.S., V, p.
69) Thinking over the Buddha's teachings is the very basis for the
development of these seven factors, as described in the following
quotation:
When a monk ... remembers and turns over in his mind that
teaching of the Norm, it is then that the limb of wisdom which
is mindfulness is established in that monk; ... Thus, he,
dwelling mindful, with full recognition investigates and applies
insight to that teaching of the Norm and comes to close scrutiny
of it.
Now, monks, at such a time as a monk, dwelling thus mindful,
with full recognition investigates and applies insight to that
teaching of the Norm, then it is that limb of wisdom which is
Norm-investigation that, as he comes to close scrutiny of it, by
his culture of it, it comes to perfection.
-- K.S., V, p. 55
Clearly, from the Buddha's description of the cultivation of the two
limbs of wisdom of mindfulness and investigation, they are closely tied
up with each other; certainly neither can be perfected without the
help of the other. But thinking about the Norm is the most basic
feature involved in the development of these seven Bojjhangas because
it is the original motivator behind their development. That is why the
Buddha placed it at the very beginning of his description of the seven
as well as in its regular spot as the second factor, //dhammavicaya//.
Mindfulness is a vital skill to develop, for without mindfully
observing one's mind and body to see the defilements as they tend to
creep in, it is impossible to purify oneself. But without some degree
of understanding of the ultimate facts of existence (//anicca//,
//dukkha// and //anatta// and the relationship between //tanha// and
//dukkha// particularly), the practice of "bare attention" (//sati//)
would probably be futile. Just watching what is going on at the gross
level of bodily action is unlikely in and of itself to take us to that
deep insight that automatically begins to rid our minds of greed,
hatred and delusion, the roots of //tanha// and hence of //dukkha//.
Only if our minds are also carefully at work to try and delve into the
ultimate realities is mindfulness, constant watchfulness, guaranteed to
bear fruit. The Buddha describes this when he defines "the
cultivation of a station of mindfulness. Herein a monk dwells
contemplating the rise of things in body. He so dwells contemplating
the fall of things in body, ... and also in feeling, mind and
mind-states." (K.S. V, p. 160) In other words, it is by the
consideration of the //anicca// (and by extrapolation, the //dukkha//
and //anatta// nature as well) of the body, the feelings, the mind and
the mind-states that mindfulness is actually developed.
On the other hand, investigation alone also tends to be sterile, a
merely intellectual knowledge. Only by continuing meditative
mindfulness and observation of whatever comes into the mind via any of
the six sense doors, can we put into practice our understanding of
Dhamma. The Pali phrase "//yoniso manasikara//" combines the two
factors of mindfulness and investigation in itself, although the stress
seems to be on the latter. //Yoniso manasikara// is translated as
systematic attention or wise consideration. Systematically, mindfully,
with full awareness, one considers the Dhamma; one thinks about the
matter at hand until its apparent nature has been penetrated and the
ultimate truth is clear. Once the wisdom is gained and the mindfulness
of the ultimate reality of the body, feelings, mind and mental states
(the Four Stations of Mindfulness) is constant, then it is only a
matter of effort, of energy (the third Enlightenment Factor) of just
patiently and persistently doing the work -- the results of these
conditions (detachment leading to liberation) must come about
automatically.
This energy is the Enlightenment Factor which follows
//dhammavicaya//. "As with full recognition he investigates and
applies insight to that Norm-teaching, then unshaken energy is
established in him" (K.S., V, p. 56). On the basis of understanding
the utter suffering of existence we become so convinced of the need to
escape from the perpetual rounds of Samsara, that we are completely
willing to put out all the effort needed to do so. Knowing that we are
doing what has to be done brings us //piti//, the next limb of wisdom.
//Piti// is pure joy or pleasurable interest or zest -- it is the
positive feeling that arises from knowing we have the technique for
eliminating our suffering which sustains us further, encouraging us to
continue to apply that method wholeheartedly. Tranquillity of mind
and body, the next limb, develops, with //piti//; with the elimination
of doubt a deep sense of peace of mind based on wisdom comes about.
When one has thought about life very carefully and knows that there is
nothing in the world worth getting the least bit involved with or
attached to, then the mind runs after objects less and less and tends
to settle down and get well concentrated (the sixth factor), as no
possible phenomena at any of the six sense doors appear worthwhile for
it to try and grasp onto. This pure concentration as it is rooted in
insight and allows insight to grow more and more, makes the mind
balanced and calm, and so equanimity (the final limb of wisdom) grows.
This is not bored, mundane callousness, but an equanimity that is
rooted in clear thought and deep understanding which has made it
apparent that there can be absolutely nothing, mental or physical,
anywhere on any plane of existence, past, present or future, worth
reacting to or getting involved with.
Thus it is that the Buddha declared, "As a matter concerning one's
own self, monks, I see no other single factor so potent for the arising
of the seven limbs of wisdom as systematic attention. Of a monk who is
possessed of systematic attention we may expect that he will cultivate,
that he will make much of the seven limbs of wisdom," and developing
these seven Enlightenment Factors is precisely developing liberation
from suffering (K.S., V, pp. 84-5). Hence, careful investigation,
persistently pursued is the root cause of, as well as the route to,
wisdom in all its facets.
* * *
The Noble Eightfold Path
The Buddha states that it is this same factor of systematic attention
(//yoniso manasikara//) that brings one onto the Noble Eightfold Path,
the Fourth Noble Truth, which leads to the cessation of all suffering.
Just as the dawn, monks, is the forerunner, the harbinger of the
sun, even so possession of systematic thought, monks, is, the
forerunner, the harbinger, of the arising of the Ariyan
Eightfold Way.
Of a monk who is possessed of systematic thought, it may be
expected that he will cultivate, that he will make much of the
Ariyan Eightfold Way. And how monks, does a monk so possessed
make much of the Ariyan Eightfold Way?
Herein a monk cultivates right view, that is based on seclusion,
that is based on dispassion, on cessation, that ends in
self-surrender, and he makes much of it ... He cultivates right
aim (thought), right speech, right action, right living
(livelihood), right effort, right mindfulness, he cultivates and
makes much of right concentration that is based on seclusion, on
dispassion, on cessation, that ends in self-surrender.
-- K.S., V, p. 27)
The Noble Eightfold Path is divided into three sections: the first
is //Panna// (wisdom) and includes the first two factors of
//samma-ditthi// (Right View or Understanding) and //samma-sankappa//
(Right Thought); second is //sila// (morality) which includes
//samma-vaca// (Right Speech), //samma-kammanta// (Right Action) and
//samma-ajiva// (Right Livelihood); the third division is //samadhi//
(concentration) including the final three elements of the Path --
//samma-vayama// (Right Effort), //samma-sati// (Right Mindfulness) and
//samma-samadhi// (Right Concentration). Investigation is important to
each group. Although it is virtually identical with the //panna//
section of the Path, the faculty of reasoned contemplation has
significant role to play in the development of both //sila// and
//samadhi//, and //samadhi// and //sila// in turn both support
investigation.
Careful investigation of the apparent truth must enable to break
through the barriers of our conditioned, colored and unclear
perception of things until we thoroughly penetrate and clearly
comprehend their ultimate truth. This is vipassana -- insight; this
is //panna// -- Right Understanding and Right Thought, wisdom. As the
Buddha shows us in a simile, all perception is as unsubstantial and
essenceless as a mirage. "Just as if, brethren, in the last month of
the dry season at high noontide there should be a mirage and a
keen-sighted man should observe it and look close into the nature of
it, so observing it he would find it to be without essence." (K.S.,
III, p. 119) If we accept the information we get about the world both
internal and external from our sense organs automatically without
carefully examining it, we are bound to act on the basis of the mirage
of ignorance as all the past thinking that influences the perception --
and so the feeling and reaction which come along with it -- was based
on the inaccurate assumptions of permanence, beauty, happiness and
self. But once we begin to develop Right View, we come to see
gradually how in actual fact nothing lasts, nothing can really be
called beautiful (since everything is always changing, undergoing
corruption and decay), nothing can really bring us satisfaction and
there is no essence in any of the apparently solid objects, beings or
mental phenomena of the universe. And we come to understand that there
can only be the conditioned processes of becoming that arise and cease
strictly and solely in accordance with the appropriate conditions.
Right Thought is a vital means to the attainment of this Right
Understanding or View; and investigation of truth is one and the same
with Right Thought.
"Whatsoever there is of thinking, considering, reasoning, thought,
ratiocination, application ... the mind being holy, being turned away
from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path being
pursued" is called Right Thought (Majjhima Nikaya, 117) [see errata].
Right Thought is also specifically, and on the more mundane level,
thinking that is free from ill-will or cruelty and thinking relating to
renunciation of greed and lust. Right Understanding grows deeper and
deeper the more thoroughly we investigate the essentials of Buddha
Dhamma. As we apply our minds to them, the Three Salient
Characteristics of Existence, the nature of wholesome and unwholesome
Kamma, the Doctrine of Dependent Origination and the Four Noble Truths
all become more meaningful to us and we comprehend more clearly how
they explain the phenomena of existence and the way out of all
suffering. "He understands what is worthy of consideration ... He
considers the worthy ... What suffering is he wisely considers; what
the extinction of suffering is he wisely considers, what the path that
leads to the extinction of suffering is, he wisely considers."
(Majjhima Nikaya, 2) And thus wisely considering, we come to act on
the basis of such thought; with such purified deeds of body, speech
and mind we are bringing ourselves nearer and nearer to the cessation
of all suffering.
//Sila// is morality; in the context of the Noble Eightfold Path
it refers specifically to Right Speech, Action and Mode of Livelihood.
However, there are many broader kinds of //sila// -- from the Five
Precepts every lay disciple tries to live by to the 227 rules for
monks. The culmination of //sila// is the culmination of the Path --
perfect purity of bodily and verbal action rooted in similarly cleansed
mental volition; when the mind can no longer develop //tanha// for any
object whatsoever, then it is completely pure and totally free from all
suffering. We may keep the //sila// precepts rather mechanically, by
tradition, or automatically reciting the Five Precepts at the start of
a meditation course and this may for a time seem to serve our purpose.
But if such morality is not based on Right Understanding, it will be
very weak when put under duress by adverse conditions. Unless we have
thought through and understood the drastic kammic results, in future
lives as well as in this one, that we must expect from breaking
//sila//, we may well be tempted to lie for our own gain, to earn our
livelihood by some means involving subterfuge or dishonesty, or to take
something that actually belongs to someone else. An understanding of
the fact that "Only the wholesome and unwholesome volitional actions
(//kamma//) done by beings are their own properties that always
accompany them, wherever they may wander in many a becoming,"
(//Subha-sutta// quoted in Ledi Sayadaw, //Manuals of Buddhism// p. 75,
//Samma-ditthi Dipani//) will greatly strengthen one's resolve to
abstain from doing unwholesome deeds, of body, speech and most
importantly mind. Clearly understanding the Path and how //sila//
relates to the other sections is also a great support for keeping the
moral code. //Sila// makes up the preliminary steps in
self-purification. If we indulge in intoxicants or sexual misconduct
(e.g., adultery) or break the other three precepts, we cannot hope to
gain concentration or wisdom. This is because it is the nature of such
behavior that it keeps the mind distracted, either over-excited or very
dull. But if we keep our morality pure on this gross level of bodily
and verbal actions, then we are able to undertake the task of mental
concentration and purification which is the work of //samadhi// and
//panna//. Right View and Understanding, roots out the causes of all
our unwholesome mental volitions. With ignorance thus eliminated, free
from //tanha//-related thoughts, we automatically keep perfect //sila//
of body and speech. Working on these principles of Dhamma in our minds
so that we really comprehend both the results of our immoral actions
and the importance of keeping //sila// as the basis for progress on the
Path will make our //sila// much stronger and less likely to break no
matter what provocative situation may crop up.
The three final elements of the Path make up the concentration
group. They are effort, mindfulness and concentration. Strenuous,
tireless effort is required if we are to be able to apply our minds
sufficiently to penetrate through the apparent truths of life and
really understand the ultimate realities. Without some understanding
and careful thinking we will not be able to clearly distinguish those
unwholesome states of mind that effort must be put forth in order to
eliminate from the wholesome ones which must be cultivated with
similarly great energy. Unless these distinctions are known, the
effort cannot be Right Effort which is the Path factor. "A monk puts
forth desire, makes an effort, begins to strive, applies his mind, lays
hold of his mind to prevent the arising of ill unprofitable states not
yet arisen. As to all unprofitable states that have arisen, he puts
forth desire to destroy them. [As to profitable states that have not
yet arisen, he puts forth desire for their arising.] As to the
profitable states that have already arisen, he puts forth desire, makes
an effort, begins to strive, applies his mind, lays hold of his mind
for their continuance, for the non-confusion, for their more-becoming,
increase, culture and fulfillment. That, monks, is called 'right
effort'" (K.S., V, p. 8). Hence effort strengthens and supports
thorough, deep investigation, and conversely, investigation leads to
the understanding of how effort is to be correctly applied.
As has already been discussed at some length, there is a very close
link between mindfulness and investigation; they are totally
interdependent and it is often impossible in practice to distinguish
them from each other at any given moment. The four stations of
mindfulness -- of body, of feelings, of mind, and of mental objects --
are to be cultivated by means of contemplating on, thinking through
their //anicca// (and also //dukkha// and //anatta//) nature. "A monk
dwells contemplating the rise of things in body. He dwells
contemplating the fall of things in body; he dwells contemplating both
the rise and fall of things in body; and in feelings, in mind, in
mind-objects, ardent, composed and mindful by having restrained
coveting and dejection with regard to the world ... This, monks, is
called 'the cultivation of a station of mindfulness'" (K.S., V, p.
160). Mindfulness of the body must include a well thought out
understanding of its transient nature, of the inevitability of its
decay and death -- //anicca//; of its unsatisfactoriness as,
ultimately, we cannot control its fate as it brings with it the myriad
forms of physical suffering -- //dukkha//; and of the fact that it
cannot rightly be considered "I" or "mine" since we cannot control
its changes or make it remain as we wish to -- //anatta//. The
specific exercises in mindfulness of the body (such as on the breath or
the thirty-two parts of the body) if practiced for insight not just for
concentration, must include such contemplation on the essential nature
of the body.
The same kind of thought is required for the proper cultivation of
(//vedananupassana//) contemplation of feelings, contemplation of mind
(//cittanupassana//) and contemplation of mind-objects
(//dhammanupassana//). The Buddha told a group of elder monks to
instruct the novices in this fashion: "In feelings do ye abide
contemplating feelings (as transient) ardent, composed, one-pointed, of
tranquil mind, calmed down, of concentrated mind, for insight into
feelings as they really are. In mind ... for insight into mind as it
really is. In mind-states ... for insight into mind-states as they
really are" (K.S., V, p. 123). This means that feelings, mind and mind
objects are to be observed and considered most carefully,
concentratedly and objectively in order to gain true insight into their
ultimately unstable nature. In //vedananupassana// (the particular
technique taught by S. N. Goenka //et al//), it is the combination of
the meditative experience of //feeling//, the subtle changing
sensations, produced in the body by its bio-chemical processes which
reflect the changing //mind-states//, with Right Thought about the
ultimate nature of all the five aggregates that can free us of all our
ignorance and so of our //tanha// and //dukkha//. The experience of
free flow -- feeling the sensations throughout the body in one sweep or
all at one time (the sensations which are continually being produced by
the changing kalapas, the subatomic particles of which the whole mass
of the body is composed) -- alone, without understanding the
far-reaching significance of these sensations, can be just like any
other experience, a thing of passing interest that has no substantive
effect on our lives. Similarly infertile will be mere
intellectualizing about ultimate realities without any direct way of
knowing them within our own five aggregate phenomena through mindful
meditation. Careful analysis and rational thinking must also be
applied mindfully, in an ongoing way, to the activity of the //mind//
and to the objects of thought. Thus in order to carry the four
stations of mindfulness to their goal, the transiency,
unsatisfactoriness and essencelessness of these phenomena must be
comprehended.
On the other hand, without one-pointed concentration investigation
will be shallow and unable to penetrate through the conventions of the
apparent truths we perceive because the mind will not be able to remain
on one subject long enough. Concentration cannot be powerful if the
mind is constantly intrigued by and grasps at the thoughts that come
and go; and only when we understand how useless and //dukkha//-ridden
is everything in the mind, will it become detached and disinterested
and so naturally tend to stay put on the chosen salutary object.
Thus we see how investigative Dhamma thinking is an integral part
of the development of Right Thought and Right Understanding, how
careful contemplation strengthens morality, how //sila// allows
//dhammavicaya// to deepen, how careful consideration shows where
effort is to be applied, the ultimate significance of the objects of
mindfulness, which enables concentration to grow, and conversely how
the development of these three elements of the //samadhi// section of
the Path contributes to the deepening and widening scope of Dhamma
investigation. So, once we begin to develop systematic attention, we
are starting to walk on the Path, the Fourth Noble Truth set out by the
Buddha, the Way which enables us to develop minds which are totally
detached and at peace, free from ignorance, from craving, and so from
suffering. //dhammavicaya// -- Right Thought -- supports us at all
stages and all aspects of the Path and developments of the other Path
factors similarly contributes to the growth of investigation of Dhamma.
* * *
Conclusion
//Dhammavicaya// -- investigation of reality -- is one of the most
important tools to be used by the meditator seeking liberating insight
and freedom from //dukkha//, suffering, as has here been shown. By
means of careful investigation in meditation we are able to penetrate
the apparent truths and come to full realization of the ultimate nature
of the phenomena of existence. So by keen thinking in the course of
Vipassana meditation we come to understand thoroughly how our own five
aggregates and all the external mental and material universe
(nama-rupa) perceived by the senses, are utterly transient, arising and
passing away at every moment as the causes that produced them do
likewise. Because every dhamma is so unstable, the five aggregates can
never bring true happiness but only //dukkha//, as such changing and
unsatisfactory phenomena are utterly essenceless and not worth clinging
to, not to be taken as "I" or "mine." As we seriously consider all
this and also investigate the cause-and-effect nature of all life
processes and contemplate the Noble Truths of Dukkha, its Cause, its
Cessation and the Way leading to its Cessation, while persevering in
our meditation, craving (//tanha//) must weaken and detachment,
liberation must develop. And as the other Enlightenment and Path
Factors are also brought to perfection with the support of
//dhammavicaya// -- complete freedom from all future birth and so of
future suffering is attained.
Our good tendencies from the past have put us in the exceedingly
fortunate position of being born as human beings during the time of a
Buddha's dispensation, and they have brought us into contact with this
incomparable jewel, the Dhamma. So now is the time to exert and
strengthen our present mental volition towards liberation. To free
ourselves from //dukkha//, we must strive to experience and
investigate, to realize and understand, the ultimate truths of
existence. With this insight, this wisdom, the mind becomes utterly
detached, and since it is completely independent of all the world's
changing, unsatisfactory and essenceless phenomena, there is absolute
Peace and Freedom.
May all beings be Happy!
May all beings be Peaceful!
May all beings be Liberated!
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