PART II

(Delivered on the Full Moon day of Tabound, 1328 M.E.)

In my last lecture I mentioned Særiputtaræ’s admonition that a Bhikkhu, accomplished in knowledge or wisdom, should also devote his attention to meditation on the five aggregates of clinging. It is but meet that morality be strengthened by knowledge, for, at times, a yogø might have the occasion to meditate without the benefit of a teacher.

KNOWLEDGE DEFINED

Visuddhi Magga says that a yogø in search of insight-knowledge would do well if he is well versed in the knowledge about khandhas, aggregates of mind and matter, æyætanas, sense-bases, dhætus, elements, indriyas, organs of the senses, saccæ, Truth and Paticcasamuppæda, Law of Dependent Origination, for, this knowledge will stand him in good stead in the determination of what is right or what is wrong in case confusion arises regarding the practical application of the Dhamma to his exercises in mind-culture.

Those who practice meditation under the proper supervision of instructors acting as “guide, philosopher and friend”, will undoubtedly gain a fundamental knowledge about the fact that all compound things are made up of mind and matter, that all Dhammas relate to cause and effect, that the phenomenal world is subject to the law of Anicca, that the truth of suffering Dukkha saccæ, and of the cause of suffering, Samudaya saccæ, can be discovered within our physical bodies and that the realization of the truth about liberation, Nirodha saccæ and the truth about the Path. Magga saccæ, can be achieved on contemplation of the nature Dukkha and Sammudaya. One who possesses elementary knowledge may be regarded as well-equipped for the attainment of insight.

Once the king of Devas requested Buddha to expound the dhamma in the most concise manner so that he can readily understand it and reach Nibbæna where all sufferings cease. Buddha gave him the following piece of advice.

            O King of devas! If in my sæsanæ, a bhikkhu realizes that it is wrong to adhere to the idea that this world of conditioned things is permanent, satisfactory and substantial, he is deemed to have gained the higher knowledge of the dhamma.

This, briefly, is what knowledge means in the present context. If the meditating yogø knows the three marks of Anicca, etc., our purpose is served. To try to know them, is in essence, the task of the practice of mindfulness-towards all phenomenal world. This is in agreement with what has been laid down in Mahæsatipa¥¥hæna Sutta. There Abhiññæ pañña is defined as follows:

            Abhiññæ pañña meass higher knowledge that directs one to understanding all that there is to understand relating to the nature and characteristics of the aggregates of mind and matter.

It means knowledge directed to Upædænakkhandhæs which are to be noted with mindfulness. Putting it simply, one must note seeing as one sees and hearing as one hears. Eventually one’s power of concentration will get strengthened with the result that one will come to know the characteristics of Næmarþpa. When you concentrate on hotness, you will know the characteristics of hotness. But here you must remember that hotness is one thing and the mind that notes it is another. If you can distinguish the matter denoted by its hotness from the mind that takes note of it, you should have gained Næmarþpapariccheda ñæ¼a.

As your power of concentration gets strengthened furthermore, you will come to realize that you see because you have eyes to see, and that your body bends because there is the will that dictates it to bend. Now you have come to know the cause and the effect. This knowledge about cause and effect is Paccayapariggaha ñæ¼a. When these two ñæ¼as of Næmarþpapariccheda and Paccayapari-ggaha arise in unison we say that Abhiññæ pañña is revealed.

INSIGHT CANNOT BE GAINED THROUGH MERE LEARNING

It has been shown that Abhiññæ is higher or supreme knowledge. According to the commentaries on Visuddhi Magga, there are other kinds of knowledge called Sutamaya, knowledge gained through learning from information supplied by others, Cintæmaya, knowledge gained through the process of thinking or reasoning, Bhævanæmaya, the knowledge gained through the exercise of mind-development, and abhiññæ pañña, knowledge gained through the acquisition of supreme wisdom. The nature of Næmarþpa is known by learning what others teach us. This is Sutamaya. Then we think deeper into it Bhævanæmaya going through mental exercises. But Abhiññæ pañña far transcends knowledge obtained by such means. A meditating yogø, however, must begin with Sutamaya knowledge so that he can arrive at Udayabbayañæ¼a, knowledge of the rise and fall of the Khandhas, and Bha³ga ñæ¼a, knowledge of dissolution. Of this Buddha has this to say.

            The bhikkhu who has gained wisdom relating to the nature of conditioned things will eventually come to realize that all dhammas are subject to the law of Anicca.

To summarize, I give below the salient points relating to the acquisition of Sutamaya ñæ¼a in preparation for the attainment of insight-knowledge.

1. All aggregates of mind and matter are impermanent, unsatisfactory and unsubstantial.

2. Possession of that knowledge just suffices for a yogø practicing insight-meditation.

3. A meditator should direct his intellectual attention to Næma and Rþpa which are to be noted with mindfulness.

4. A meditator should realize that all dhammas are but manifestations of the impermanent and unsatisfactory nature of things.

DEPENDENT ORIGINATION

The basic knowledge for a meditating yogø relates to the recognition of the khandhas as Dukkha saccæ, and of ta¼hæ, craving, as Samudaya saccæ. Ta¼hæ is the cause and the khandhas are the effect. This knowledge is enough for a yogø practicing Vipassanæ to realize the dhamma. If, having realized it, he knows the law of cause and effect, he may be regarded as accomplished is the knowledge of paticcasamuppæda, the Law of Dependent Origination, which, put briefly, run as follows.

Ye dhammæ hetuppabhævæ,
tesam hetum tathægato æha,
Tesañca yo nirodho,
evam vædi mahæsama¼o.

            All dhammas proceed from a cause. The Tathægata reveals the cause and the cessation of that cause. This is the Teaching of the Great Sama¼a.

This passage occurs in Sihanæda Sutta of Saµyutta Nikæya in extensor. There it says:

            Through avijjæ, delusion, are conditioned sa³khæ-ras, rebirth-producing volitions; through sa³khæras is conditioned viññæn¼, rebirth-linking consciousness; through viññæ¼a is conditioned næmarþpa, mind-and-matter; through næmarþpa are conditioned salæyatana, the six sense-bases; through sa¹æyatana is conditioned phassa, contact or sense of touch; through phassa is conditioned vedanæ, feeling; through vedanæ is conditioned bhava, the process of becoming; through bhava is conditioned jæti, the process of rebirth; and through jæti are conditioned old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair.

All these causes and effects are shown succinctly in a few words beginning with “Ye dhammæ.”

In the commentaries it has been shown that this gæthæ (stanza) reveals firstly, dukkha saccæ; secondly, samudaya saccæ; and lastly nirodha and magga saccæs. Dukkha reveals the cause and samudaya the effect. Magga saccæ lays down the Path, and nirodha saccæ is the result of treading the Path. So when we speak of the Four Noble Truths, they embrace the Law of Dependent Origination and vice versa.

My purpose of going at some length on this subject is to counter the efforts of detractors in their attempts at demoralizing meditators with their asseveration that one should not practice insight-meditation without the understanding of their version of the Law of Dependent Origination. They base their teaching on Channa Sutta.

It may be recalled that after Buddha’s Parinibbæna, some monks inflicted Brahma-punishment on Channa Thera who, becoming very much agitated, went into meditation under the supervision of senior monks. They taught him to note with mindfulness the true nature of the khandhas. “Matter”, they taught him, “is impermanent.” So are feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness. Matter is not “self” and not substantial. So are feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness. But Channa had previously been so rooted in the concept of “self” that he started reasoning in his own mind that it would not be possible for accumulations of actions to produce the results of actions if nothing is substantial. This is how clinging to di¥¥hupædæna, wrong view of self, arises in ordinary individuals. The Commentaries say:

            Not accepting the law of causality, Channa Thera practiced meditation: but his weak insight failed to shake off the idea of self giving him the impression that if all volitional activities are extirpated, they would be rendered void. Thus he became obsessed with fear that existence would end with death. Here as this type of weak and ineffectual insight fails to overcome craving for self, an ignorant wordling would be highly apprehensive of his self vanishing away. He would therefore reason within himself: “I shall be cut off from existence! I shall not come into being again! He thought he was about to fall into an abyss. He was very much like a certain Brahma¼a overhearing a thera reciting the Dhamma. Once Cþ¹anaga Thera, learned in the Three Baskets of the Law, was reciting the three marks of anicca, etc., in the ground floor hall of a tower-like monastery built in bronze. An unknown Brahma¼a who happened to be listening to the Dhamma at that time came to the knowledge that all sa³khæras are empty and void. Comprehending this, he felt like one thrown over an abyss. So he ran past the door of the monastery and got to his house where he took his son to his breast and said, “Son! Having reflected on the doctrine propounded by Sakyamuni, I felt like being lost and destroyed!”

Now a word about this comment. It is quite clear that Channa Thera failed to note næmarþpa with mindfulness. Had he done so he would have concentration developed and been able to distinguish næma from rþpa. Ultimately he would have discovered the truth about the origination and dissolution of conditioned things which are subject to the three marks of anicca, etc. But in his case, his thinking had been so superficial that he had not watched the flow of the khandhas with mindfulness. The kind of meditation that he practiced is called Dubbalavipassanæ or Pseudo-vipassanæ which the commentaries speak of in the story of the Brahma¼a who fled from truth. Insight-meditation conducive to the development of næmarþpapariccheda ñæ¼a and paccayapa-riggaha ñæ¼a is true vipassanæ, which, in its initial stage is usually called Tarunavipassanæ. So it is highly improper for detractors to cite the example of Channa Thera and mislead yogøs doing correct meditational exercises from their right path by suggesting that vipassanæ is not to be practiced without a knowledge of Paticcasamuppæda.

A yogø in the habit of meditating on næmarþpa acquires the power of concentration and becomes able to distinguish næma from rþpa. He cognizes the sense-bases and the sense-objects. He comprehends volition that prompts actions. He realizes that failure to note the phenomena results in the upsurgence of craving rendering him unable to appreciate reality. It drives him to the fulfillment of his desires which subsequently produce actions. Wholesome actions give wholesome results and unwholesome actions unwholesome results. When all these causal relations are known, his conviction in the three marks of anicca, etc., becomes firmly established. It would be pre-sumptuous to say that conviction can be gained at one stride without going through all the stages of development of knowledge. If one starts with the basic knowledge and proceeds step by step to higher knowledge one may not get thrown into confusion as Channa Thera did, even though one may not be well-grounded in the compendium of Paticcasamuppæda philosophy.

It may be noted here that Channa Thera, with all his failings, attained at long last to the fruition of the Path the moment he heard Ænandæ expound the Law of Dependent Origination. So even when a meditating yogø is ill-equipped in his knowledge of the dhamma, he will become proficient in it under the guidance of his teacher in kamma¥¥hæna.

So Særiputtaræ answered Ko¥¥hika Thera’s question in the following manner.

            “Friend Ko¥¥hika! One who is accomplished in wisdom should bend his mind rightly and well to the five aggregates of clinging as Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta.

Sølavanta sutta emphasizes morality while Sutavanta sutta wisdom or knowledge. Drawing an inference from these two suttas, it may be safely taken that a bhikkhu practising meditation would do better if he is accomplished both in morality and knowledge.

MEDITATING ON RÞPA AS AN AGGREGATE OF CLINGING

Aggregates of clinging comprise Næma and Rþpa as components. When rþpa is presented as a sense-object, it is considered as form or colour and is translated as such. When its intrinsic qualities are to be shown it is generally translated to its nearest equivalent as matter. Visible objects, audible objects, smell objects, taste objects and tangible objects are all rþpa. In Khajjaniya sutta of Khandha-vagga it is defined as follows.

            Kinca bhikkhave rþpam vadetha, rþppatiti kho bhikkhave tasmæ rþpanti vuccati. Kena ruppati. Sitena pi ruppati; unhenapi ruppati; jighacchayapiruppati; pipasayapi ruppati; damsa makasa vatætapasari-sapa sammassenapi ruppati. Ruppatiti kho bhikkhave tasmæruppanti vuccati.

            O bhikkhus! Why is Rþpa so called? It is so called because it is liable to change. Why does it change? It changes either because of cold or of heat or of hunger, or of thirst, or of flea-bite, or of mosquito bite, or of exposure to elements, or of solar radiation, or of snake-bite. As it is thus subject to change it is called Rþpa.

The root meaning of Rþpa is to change or to perish. It changes at the bha³ga stage of the three phases of the thought-moment, namely, arising, development and dissolution. But it does not mean that every type of matter is perishable all the time. It changes its character only when it comes into contact with factors that run counter to its stability.

CHANGE DUE TO COLD

The scriptures cite the instances of changeability of rþpa coming into contact with extreme cold. One of the nether worlds is Lokantariya, so called because it occupies space just beyond this world. It is so intensely cold that anyone destined to fall headlong into it will at once get frozen. We know this not from practical experience but from what the texts say. However I shall try to give you some sordid examples from life. In Mahimsaka Province in Southwest India, men die because of falling snow. Mahimsaka is modern Poona, which, I am informed, is very cold due to snow, perhaps, during winter. It is about 6,000 feet above sea-level. In Burma, Taunggyi, Mogok and Kyatpyin, 4,000 feet above sea-level, are also intensely cold. People living there, if they are insufficiently clothed, die of cold. It has also come to my knowledge that old people in the Kayah State usually die of cold in winter. They are mostly Padaungs; and among us we used to say winter is the season of death for those indigenous people.

Water and coconut-oil freeze in cold climate, mostly in central Burma. This proves that matter changes with temperature. When it is subject to sudden changes in temperature, it becomes unstable.

CHANGE DUE TO HEAT

The commentaries speak of destruction due to heat in Avici the lowest of the nether worlds. In summer we sweat copiously due to heat. Burns and electric shocks are examples of suffering due to heat. When you take broth piping hot, you experience what heat is. Sweating itself is the result of heat. So matter undergoes change when subjected to heat.

CHANGE DUE TO HUNGER AND STARVATION

            This change due to hunger and starvation can be found in the world of petas, departed spirits unable to get released from a state of suffering. Hunger is most acutely felt in times of famine in this human world. It brings about change in the stamina of the physical body. In the world of Asuræs, gloomy spirits, water is unknown. Kalakancika, an Asuræ, went in search of water to slake his thirst. He found the waters of the Ganges flowing; but when he got to the river the entire expanse of water turned into a sheet of stone-slab. He ran about the place the whole night in the fond hope that he would at least get a drop of water to drink. When it dawned, a monk in his daily round for alms-food met him, and discovering that the poor spirit was unable to reach for the water he sought, he poured it into his mouth. When it was time for the monk to go he asked the thirsty being if he was satisfied. Rude as he was, the Asuræ said, swearing, “Not one drop of water got into my mouth. That is the truth. If, what I said is untrue, may I continue to suffer in this Asuræ-world.” This is what the scriptures say. If you want to get a personal knowledge about thirsty conditions, go to villages where water is scarce. A little distance far off from my native place, Seikkhun village, there is a hamlet called Khunnakhaukkon where the story still runs current of a man who actually died of thirst.

CHANGE DUE TO INSECT-BITES ETC.

Everyone, I think, is aware of the effects of insect-bites. The bitten will feel itchy. His wound will swell. This is because Rþpa has suffered a change. Regarding change brought about by disease, everyone has his own experience. Change brought about in the physical body by the work of the sun is quite familiar with desert-dwellers. There is the story of a woman travelling with her child in a desert. One day she got parted from her companions and she had to go alone. It was usual for travellers to travel during the night, resting during the day under the tents or shelters. As she was alone and having no shelters, she sat on her basket carried along with her child. When the sun was unbearably hot, she was constrained to sit on the back of her own child for relief. From this incident comes the Myanmar proverb: “When she cannot help it, a mother fails to regard her own child as her ownest own.”

NOT EVERY RÞPA IS EVER-CHANGING

Some imaginative people would like to think that, as Rþpa means “change”, what changes is rþpa, and that solidity or hardness, Pathavø, is not rþpa, heat, tejo, is not rþpa and that what one sees is not rþpa. They are but Paññattis or concepts and are not real. Such is their way of thinking, the result of their intellectual exercises. It has come to my knowledge that a layman teaching kamma¥¥hæna used so far as to assert that the material body, the subject of contemplation is in itself changeable or perishable, suggesting the futility of Satipa¥¥hæna exercises in mindfulness. This shallow interpretation stems from not understanding the commentaries properly. Rþpa changes; but it is not changing all the time. The change takes place only when there is a sufficient cause which disturbs its stability. When cold or heat destabilizes rþpa, it changes. Visuddhimagga Mahæ¥økæ says;

            Rþpa has the characteristic of change. It signifies change. But change here means what takes place when opposing forces come into conflict revealing the fact that new Rþpas arise out of the old.

            Then how is it that Rþpa that changes is applied to the world of the Brahmas? There, too, rþpa is subject to change when two opposing factors confront each other. This nature cannot be dispensed with even in the world of the Brahmas.

But in the world of the Brahmas it is very rare to have two opposing forces, such as heat or cold, each working against the other. Hence, rþpas that go to make the Brahmas appear to remain unchanged from the moment of their rebirth-linking consciousness to that of their death-consciousness. However, the intrinsic quality of matter is there with them all the time. It may not be forever changing at every moment, but it changes when conditions set out above are present.

HOW UPÆDANAKKHANDHÆS ARISE

            The realities of the five aggregates of clinging can be seen when the six modes of consciousness relating to seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking arise. At a particular moment of arising, Næma and Rþpa are to be noted with reference to the law of Anicca, etc. Failure to reflect on the three marks would result in the birth of the idea of I or mine when clinging or attachment will dominate. Noting this attachment with mindfulness will arrest the flow of Kamma, actions and Sa³khara, mental formations, in the absence of which no new becoming can arise. When becoming ceases, ageing and disease cannot come up and all sufferings meet their end.

MEDITATING ON DUKKHA

When his power of concentration gets developed a meditating yogø will come to understand the causes and effects relating to conditioned things, able to see inwardly for himself the rise and fall of Næmarþpas. Things come into being and perish to become again and also perish, ad infinitum. If he thus sees inwardly this state of continual flux, he would have mastered Aniccanupassanæ, insight into the nature of impermanence of the phenomenal world. But one’s conviction in the reality of this nature must be deep-seated, for, only then will one truly realize that Dukkha is baneful and that all baneful things are fearful. This conviction will lead one to the development of Nibbidañæ¼a; knowledge which reflects on the aggregates as disgustful. Finally wisdom relating to the Path and its Fruition will arise. This reflection on dukkha is Dukkhænupassanæ.

All dhamma are impermanent. What is impermanent is unsatisfactory. But what exactly is Dukkha? Being oppressed again and again by the inevitableness of arising to perish the next moment is indeed dukkha. Oppression itself is the root of all ills. The characteristic of dukkha, therefore, is oppression. One practises Dukkhænupassanæ when one is constantly mindful that all conditioned things are arising and passing away.

One may think that becoming is not to be considered as unsatisfactory. But perishing is certainly unsatisfactory, Things come into existence to perish. You might have noticed at the beaches small crabs digging holes in mud flats at low tide. At high tide these holes are washed away and destroyed. When the tide recedes the little creatures start digging them again, but they are washed away at high tide as before. Don’t you think that it is dukkha for them? A woman wanted to have a baby but she was childless for some time. Eventually she gave birth to a child. She was highly pleased. But the child died afterwards. How sad! She beat her breast and cried, “Woe the day the child was born. It were better for me not to have conceived it!” Worse than her case would be mothers bearing children now and then and losing them every now and then.

The nature of origination and dissolution oppresses us constantly. A yogø notes this characteristic of dukkha with mindfulness every time it presents itself at the six sense-doors. Thereby he attains dukkhænupassanæ ñæ¼a.

It may not be possible for a yogø to know all the roots of suffering; but when he is noting conditioned things, he will have a personal experience of the appearance of suffering which stems from his material body and consciousness. A sense-object generating unwanted sense-impressions will certainly produce unpleasurable feelings that are disgusting. This is suffering.

That dukkha generates fear and anxiety needs no explanation. Depending on the material body for succour while that material body is subject to dissolution is like living in a dilapidated building which might come down at any moment to crush the resident to death.

RÞPA AS DISEASE OR WOUND

Rþpa is like a disease or wound. A sick man loses appetite and sleep, unable to do what he like to do as a healthy individual. He is dependent on others who nurse him. If he is bedridden it will be all the worse for him. He will have to be helped to be bathed, clothed, fed and led to his toilet. He will be compelled to take physical exercises whether he likes them or not. When he wants to scratch himself, he will be obliged to let someone do it for him. Thus he is always dependent on others. Rþpa is likewise dependent.

Rþpa is also like a festering sore. Kilesæs like greed, anger and delusion are verily pus flowing out from that sore of the six sense-organs. A meditating yogø should note this comparison while contemplating dukkha.

Rþpa is also like a thorn in the side. It pierces the flesh and remains tuck there. One cannot take it out all by oneself.

All evil actions produce unwholesome results. One pays for the crime one commits. When one’s kamma, action, is bad, one lands in trouble. Adversity drives one almost mad in the struggle for the satisfaction of one’s needs in respect of food, clothing and shelter. In that struggle for existence one may either be oppressed or victimized, competition being so keen in life. As you grow older you will realize how trouble-some it is to make out a living. If you have to do evil just for the sake of your material body and its mental formations, you shall be destined to the nether worlds.

Rþpa is also compared to fever. There may be many prescriptions for its cure. But there will hardly be any such for the cure of the fever of næma and rþpa which is constantly attacking you. You cannot escape from the onslaught of these aggregates of mind and matter wherever you may be, whether in the nether worlds, or in the animal world, or in the world of men or of devas. They are all made up of suffering. and even when you happen to be reborn a man, you will be subject to old age, disease and death.

THE STATE OF A STREAM-WINNER

The round of sufferings is endless. But insight-meditation on the aggregates of clinging as subject to the three marks of anicca, dukkha and anatta can pave the way to the realization of the Path and its fruition as befitting a sotæpanna, stream-winner. Alluding to this Særiputtaræ said:

            Thanam khe panetam ævuso vijjati yam silava bhikkhu ime pañcapædænakkhandhe aniccato dukkhato .. anattato yaniso manasikæ-ronto sotæpa¥¥iphalam sacchikareyya

            Friend Ko¥¥hika! A bhikkhu, accomplished in morality, should meditate on the five aggregates of clinging as subject to the law of anicca, dukkha and anatta in order that he comes face to face with the Fruition of the Path of a Stream-winner. He then knows that he can realize that state.

Which, in short, means that he can aspire to the state of a stream-winner if he practises insight-meditation on the aggregates of clinging in the manner above prescribed.

I conclude this discourse with the usual prayer that this audience attain Nibbæna as quickly as possible by virtue of their wholesome action in listening to this lecture and meditation on the five aggregates of clinging.

Sædhu!    Sædhu!    Sædhu!