The gist of Buddha’s teaching---11

The gist of Buddha’s teaching---11

Bhikkhu Dhammavaro
Buddharatana Monastery of Australia

The absence of self

What we can called ourselves are but the aggregates of body, feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness, besides these, if we were to search thoroughly there is nothing else that we can called our own. The body is but the combination of the four elements, i.e.; solid element, liquid element, fire element and the air element; or to look at it more closely, we find the thirty-two parts as mentioned in Maha-hatthipadopama Sutta or Maha-rahulovada Sutta, or the twenty four derived components as listed above. They are all impermanent; hence there is no perpetual self! The feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness arise through the six doors (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind) contact the outer phenomena, five of the six door are the body which is impermanent, the mind is able to function due to its base on the five doors, therefore the mind door and the consciousness are all impermanent, hence there is no perpetual self!

Then the Blessed One analysed the impersonality (anattá) and emptiness (suññatā) of the five aggregates in SN. XXII, 49, as:
"Whatever there is of form, feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness, whether past, present or future, one's own or external, gross or subtle, lofty or low, far or near, this one should understand according to reality and true wisdom: 'This does not belong to me, this is not me, this is not my Ego.' "

And he further analysed it: "Suppose that a man who is not blind were to behold the many bubbles on the Ganges as they are drifting along; and he should watch them and carefully examine them. After carefully examining them, however, they will appear to him empty, unreal and unsubstantial. In exactly the same way does the monk behold all the physical form phenomena ... feelings ... perceptions ... mental formations ... states of consciousness, whether they be of the past, present or future ... far or near. And he watches them and examines them carefully; and after carefully examining them, they appear to him empty, unreal and unsubstantial." (SN. XXII, 95)

The five aggregates are compared, respectively, to a lump of froth, a bubble, a mirage, a coreless plantain stem, and a conjuring trick (SN. XXII, 95).
In the Blessed One’s system of training, the hardest is the stilling of thoughts and consciousnesses, this the Blessed One said: “Where consciousness is signless, boundless, all luminous, that is where earth, water, fire and air find no footing. There are long and short, small and great, fair and foul. There ‘name and form’ are wholly destroyed. With cessation of consciousness, this is all destroyed” (DN I.223) the methods of getting there are nothing but meditation and contemplation.
We are consisted of the two broad components, i.e. the body (rūpa) and the mind (nāma), or a detailed classification of five aggregates (khandha), due to our attachment and extreme grasping on them, the Blessed One termed them as grasped aggregates (upādānakkhandha); these five aggregates are, i.e.,
(1) the form aggregate (rūpa-kkhandha),
(2) the feeling aggregate (vedanā-kkhandha),
(3) the perception aggregate (saññā-kkhandha),
(4) the mental formation aggregate (sankhára-kkhandha),
(5) the consciousness aggragate (viññána-kkhandha).
These five aggregates never exist for a single moment unchanged, permanent, as belonged to an entity of a permanent nature. The fact that these five are so easily misunderstood by the ignorant is that the mind see the continuity of the aggregate, and think they are me or mine.
That is why the Blessed One has to break them down into components like a butcher were to cut open a cow’s carcass and find that there is no such thing as a ‘Cow’.
In SN. XXII, 56, there five aggregates were defined as: "What, O monks, is the physical form? The four primary elements (mahā-bhūta or dhātu) and form depending thereon, this is called the aggregate of form.

The physical form are composed of by the four elements, i.e., the solid, or earth-element (pathavī- dhātu), the liquid, or water element (āpo-dhātu), the heat, or fire-element (tejo-dhātu), the motion, or wind element (vāyo-dhātu).

In Abhidhamma texts, the physical form is further divided into twenty four derived components, i.e., eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, form, sound, smell, taste, femininity (itthindriya), virility (purisindriya), mind base (hadaya-vatthu), bodily expression (kāya-viññatti), verbal expression (vací-viññatti), physical life force (rūpa jívita), space element (ākāsa-dhātu), physical agility (rūpassa lahutā), physical elasticity (rūpassa mudutā), physical adaptability (rūpassa kammaññatā), physical growth (rūpassa upacaya), physical continuity (rūpassa santati), decay (jarā), impermanence (aniccatā), nutriment (āhāra).

"What, O monks, is the aggregate of feeling? There are six types of feeling: reaction to visual impression, to sound impression, to smell impression, to taste impression, to bodily impression, and to mind impression....

All feelings are classified into five types; bodily pleasant feeling (kāyikā sukhā vedanā, sukhā), bodily painful feeling (kāyikā dukkhā vedanā, dukkhā), mental pleasant feeling (cetasikā sukhā vedanā, somanassa), mental painful feeling (cetasikā dukkhā vedanā, domanassa), and indifferent feeling (adukkha-m-asukhā vedanā, upekkhā).

"What, O monks, is the aggregate of perception? There are six types of perception: perception of visual objects, of sounds, of smells, of tastes, of bodily impressions, and of mental impressions....

All perceptions are divided into six types: perception of form, sound, odour, taste, bodily impression, and mental impression.

"What, O monks, is the aggregate of mental formations? There are six types of mental states (cetanā): with regard to visual objects, to sounds, to smells, to tastes, to bodily impressions and to mind objects....

This group comprises fifty mental phenomena, of which eleven are general psychological elements, twenty-five lofty (sobhana) qualities, fourteen karmically unwholesome qualities.

"What, O monks, is the aggregate of consciousness? There are six types of consciousness: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness."

The Blessed One pointed out that these five aggregates are inseparable:
''Whatever, O brother, there exists of feeling, of perception and of mental formations, these things are associated, not dissociated, and it is impossible to separate one from the other and show their difference. For whatever one feels, one perceives; and whatever one perceives, there is consciousness" (MN. 43). This is the greatest difficulty one faced in trying to contemplate and analyse about the body and the mind.

He said further: "Impossible is it for anyone to explain the passing out of one existence and the entering into a new existence, or the growth, increase and development of consciousness independent of physical form, feeling, perception and mental formations" (SN. XII, 53)


Bhikkhu Dhammavaro, Sydney, 1998. Revised in Taipei 3/ 2006, Adelaide 8/2007.

Notes:

[1] Right view on the ownership of kamma: All beings are owners of their kamma, inherit their kamma, are born of their kamma, are created by their kamma, are linked to their kamma and any intentional action (ie, kamma) they do, whether good or bad, the effects of that will be theirs, following them like a shadow, that follows.

[2] Giving alms has good effects, any self sacrifice results in pleasure, small gifts are also beneficial. There is resulting fruition thus of any good and bad behaviour. There is moral efficacy of any relation to mother and father. There is this world and there are other worlds. There are beings who are spontaneously and instantaneously born. There exist good and pure recluses and priests in this world, who having followed the right method of practice, themselves by their own supra-human abilities, have directly experienced the other worlds and who explain them and thereby make them known here.

[3] Right view of such is suffering; Right view of such is the cause of suffering; Right view of such is the end of suffering; Right view of such is the way to end suffering.
[4] Right contemplation is being motivated by a general absence of greed, craving, and desire. It is to give generously by relinquishing possessiveness, and to detach from the five sense-desires of tempting sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches, and to cut attachment to the five clusters of clinging to forms, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness.
[5] Right contemplation for non ill will is being motivated by universal friendliness, infinite goodwill, care, non anger, free of hate and a sympathy wishing and working for all sentient being's happiness, content, comfort, benefit and welfare.
[6] Right contemplation for harmlessness is being motivated by absolute non violence, absence of cruelty, and by compassionate pity, thereby offering all sentient beings guaranteed safety and protection from any evil, painful, bad or wrong treatment. Such giving of fearlessness is right contemplation or right motivation.
[7] The ten beneficial subjects of conversation: talk on the modesty of having few wants, talk on the bliss of contentment, talk on the joy of seclusion, talk on the ease of disentanglement, talk on the energy of enthusiasm, talk on the advantage of pure morality, talk on the calm of concentration, talk on the insight of understanding, talk on the freedom of release, talk on the direct knowledge and vision of release.

[8] The noble speech are; eliminating any false speech the noble friend dwells avoiding all lies, a truth-speaker, one to be relied on, trustworthy, loyal, not a deceiver of the world.

Abstaining from malicious speech, he does not tell them there, whatever he has heard about those here, or repeat here, whatever he heard there, repeat and harming those there. Thus is he a reconciler of those in conflict and a diplomat ending quarrels? The noble friend is rejoicing in peace, loving it, delighting in it, one who defends peace.

Abandoning all harsh and aggressive speech he refrains from it. He speaks whatever is blameless and pleasing to the ear, agreeable, touching the heart, elegant, gratifying and appealing to many.

Discarding idle and empty chatter, he speaks at the right time and only about what is correct, advantageous and to the point, of Dhamma and self control. He is a speaker whose words are to be treasured, timely, reasoned, well-defined, well-formulated, beneficial and leading to the goal.

[9] The many kinds of idle gossip and frivolous talk: such as talk on kings, robbers, ministers, armies, dangers, wars, foods, drinks, clothing, furniture, jewelry, cosmetics, relatives, vehicles, villages, towns, cities, countries, women, heroes, places, amusements, the dead, trifles, the origin of the world, the origin of the sea, whether metaphysical things are so or are not so. Such talk is pointless, irrelevant, detrimental, and empty of any good.

[10] There are three types of right action; avoiding all killing and injuring of any living being, abstaining from taking and stealing what is not given, stopping all misuse of sexual misconduct.

The first is the ending of intentional killing or destroying of beings either by physical action or by verbal incitement, ranging from killing eggs of lice and bugs, or causing abortion,
to any slaughter of living creatures, including human beings.

Secondly is the restraint from taking, what is not given, means abstaining from taking, with intention to steal, living beings or non-living articles, which have an owner, removing or appropriating them, without the owner's consent, either by physical effort or by inciting another to do so.

Thirdly is the restraint from sexual misconduct means abstention from any kind of sex, which will cause pain and suffering to others. Examples will be adultery, since this causes the disruption of marriage, rape, intercourse with minors protected by parents, and perversion of others.

Included here also is abstention from use of alcohols, drugs and any kinds of intoxicants, which causes carelessness, and gambling with cards, dices, on horses, government supported public gambling etc.

[11] Right livelihood has five types; earning a living not by trading of any living beings, earning a living not by selling any meat nor flesh, earning a living not by selling any weapons, earning a living not by dealing in alcohol nor drugs, earning a living not by selling any poison.

Right livelihood for Buddhist monks and nuns: Neither living nor receiving food by astrology, soothsaying, prediction of future events, nor by palmistry, geomancy, dream reading, charms and spells, or divination, nor by any rituals, running errands nor messages, flattering, arranging marriages, funerals nor divorces, medical praxis, nor by producing art nor poetry, nor by disputation or debate, this is right livelihood. Knowing right and wrong livelihood as right and wrong livelihood is right view. Awareness of presence of right and wrong livelihood is right awareness. Exchanging wrong livelihood with right livelihood is right effort.

[12] There are four types of right efforts: the effort to overcome already present detrimental mental states; the effort to prevent future detrimental mental states from arising; the effort to begin developing yet unarisen advantageous mental states; the effort to maintain and perfect already arisen advantageous mental states.

Again the four types of right efforts are 1: Control 2: Overcoming 3: Development 4: Maintenance.

What is the effort of control? When seeing an object with the eye, one neither grasps after the whole object, nor any of its details, thereby one strives to prevent bad, detrimental states, such as longing and misery, to flood in on one. One guards and controls the sense of sight and do similarly with the other senses.

What is the effort of overcoming? One does not accept any lust, hate or anger that has arisen, but leaves it instantly, dispels it, destroys it, and makes it vanish.

What is the effort of development? One develops the enlightenment factor of awareness, of investigation of Dhamma, of energy, of joy, of tranquility, of concentration, and the enlightenment factor of equanimity based on solitude, detachment, and ceasing, which is leading to maturity and culmination of spiritual self surrender.

What is the effort of maintenance? One dominated by desire maintains firmly in his mind a favourable object of concentration, such as a skeleton, or a corpse that is full of worms, bluish black, full of holes, bloated, while one dominated by anger maintains firmly in his mind a favourable object of concentration, such as infinite loving kindness, compassion, mutual joy or well balanced equanimity. Thus knowing right and wrong effort as right and wrong effort is right view. Awareness of presence of right and wrong effort is right awareness. Right effort has the function of striving, exertion and endurance.

[13] The Buddha said there are four types of Right Awareness: 1: The awareness of the body merely as a transient and compounded form. 2: The awareness of feelings just as assigned and passing emotional responses. 3: The awareness of mind only as a group of habituated and temporary moods. 4: The awareness of phenomena simply as momentary and constructed mental states. Right awareness is aware of these four, while being alert, clearly comprehending and mindful. And put away longing towards and aversion against anything in this world.

[14] The Buddha said: “Having eliminated the five mental hindrances, mental defects that obstruct understanding, quite secluded from sensual desires, protected from any detrimental mental state, one enters and dwells in the 1st jhana; full of joy and pleasure born of solitude, joined with directed and sustained thought. One makes this joy and pleasure born of seclusion drench, saturate, soak, and suffuse the body, so there is no part of the entire body not inundated by this joy and pleasure. Just as a skilled bath man puts soap powder in a copper basin and sprinkling it gradually with water, whips it until the water soaks and pervades all the soap powder, yet without dripping, so too, do the friend make the joy and pleasure born of solitude permeate and pervade the entire body.

Again, friends, with the stilling of directed and sustained thought, one enters and dwells in the 2nd jhana, calmed assurance and unification of mind with joy and pleasure now born of concentration, devoid of any thought! One makes the joy and pleasure born of concentration drench, saturate, soak, and suffuse the body, so there is no part of the whole body not inundated by this joy and pleasure. Just as a lake whose waters welled up from below within it itself, and it had no other sources neither by showers of rain, then this cool fount of water welling up from within would suffuse, fill, and pervade the entire lake, so do one make this joy and pleasure born of concentration infuse this entire body.

Again, friends, with the fading away of joy, the friend dwells in equanimity, aware and clearly comprehending, still feeling pleasure in the body, one enters upon and remains in the 3rd jhana, regarding which the Noble Ones declare: 'In aware equanimity one dwells in pleasure.' One makes the pleasure apart from of joy flood, saturate, soak, and suffuses the body, so there is no part of one's whole body not inundated by this pleasure divested of joy. Just as in a lotus pond some lotuses are born, grow and thrive immersed under the water and the cool water soaks them from their roots to their tips, so too, do a friend make the pleasure divested of joy drench, fill, flood and pervade this entire body.

Again, friends, with the leaving behind of both pleasure and pain, and with the prior disappearance of both joy and sorrow, one enters and dwells in the 4th jhana; a stilled mental state of awareness, purified by an equanimity of neither-pain-nor-pleasure. One sits illuminating the body internally with this pure bright mind, so there is no part of one's whole body not illuminated by this pure bright mind. Just as a man were sitting covered from the head down with a white cloth, so that no part of his whole body was uncovered by this white textile; so one sits encompassing this entire body with a pure bright radiant mind, so there is no part of one's whole body not illuminated by this pure bright and luminous mind. No trivial worldly pleasure surpasses such sublime bliss.”

Bhikkhu Dhammavaro, Brisbane Jetavana Burmese Monastery, 2/5/2008
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