Meditation and Vipassana---5

Meditation and Vipassana---5

Bhikkhu Dhammavaro
Buddharatana Monastery of Australia

Vipassana

All phenomena around us are nothing but composite of materials which are made up by the four basic elements, i.e., earth, water, fire, and air. The Blessed One advised his disciples that to effectively destroy our wrong view that the form or body as ‘me’ or ‘I’ or ‘belongs to me’ is to investigate or contemplate thoroughly from outside of us first, then gradually working inwards to our body. Next you investigate from the past, present, and future times, next you go to other categories as listed below. One by one where a practitioner works his way to eliminate his wrong view or attachment about these forms, with persistent effort one may one day attain the noble fruit (phala), when one is working on those attachment it is considered one is on the path (magga).

The purpose of training of wisdom is to realize Nibbana. There are ten subjects for contemplation and recollection:

1. Contemplation of impermanence (Anicca).
2. Contemplation of selflessness (Anatta).
3. Contemplation of loathsomeness of the body (Asubha).
4. Contemplation of disadvantage (danger).
5. Contemplation of abandonment and renunciation.
6. Contemplation of detachment.
7. Contemplation of liberation (Vimokkha).
8. Contemplation of distaste for the samsaric world.
9. Contemplation of impermanence of all composite things.
10. Mindfulness of in breathing and out breathing. (Anapanasati)(AN V.108)

The Nama Rupa and consciousness are interweaved so tightly that we are often unable to separate them, in SN 47.5.2 the Blessed One said: “by the arising of Nama Rupa comes the arising of mind, by the ceasing of Nama Rupa comes the ceasing of mind.” In DN 11 the Blessed One said: “But, Bhikkhus, you should not ask your question in this way : where do the four great elements; ie. earth, water, fire, and wind, cease without remainder? Instead, you should put the question thus : where do earth, water, fire, and wind find no footing? Where are long and short, small and great, fair and foul, where the Nama Rupa are totally destroyed? And the answer is : Where consciousness is non manifestative, boundless, all luminous; that’s where earth, water, fire, and wind find no footing. There both the long and short, small and great, fair and foul, there Nama Rupa are wholly destroyed. With the cessation of consciousness this is all destroyed.” Therefore the Blessed One shown us clearly that the world arises dependent on the consciousness, the world does not exist independently of the consciousness.

It was further explained in AN IV, 336-347, the Blessed One said: “Monks, when mindfulness and clear comprehension are not there, in him who lacks mindfulness and clear comprehension, the sufficing condition of conscientiousness and fear of doing evil is destroyed; when conscientiousness and fear of doing evil are not there, in him who lacks conscientiousness and fear of doing evil, the sufficing condition of restraint of the senses is destroyed; when there is no restraint of the senses, in him who lacks restraint of the senses, the sufficing condition of virtue is destroyed; when there is no virtue, in him who lacks virtue, the sufficing condition of right concentration is destroyed; when there is no right concentration, in him who lacks right concentration, the sufficing condition of knowledge and vision of things as they really are (yathā-bhūta-ñāna-dassana) is destroyed; when there is no knowledge and vision of things as they really are, in him who lacks knowledge and vision of things as they really are, the sufficing condition of disenchantment-dispassion is destroyed; when there is no disenchantment-dispassion, in him who lacks disenchantment-dispassion, the sufficing condition of knowledge and vision of freedom is destroyed. Just as, monks, twigs, bark, sapwood, and heartwood do not come to perfection in a tree lacking branches and leaves, so, monks, when no mindfulness and clear comprehension are there, the sufficing condition of conscientiousness and fear of doing evil is destroyed....

When there are present mindfulness and clear comprehension, he who is endowed with mindfulness and clear comprehension, he is endowed with the sufficing condition of conscientiousness and fear of doing evil; when there are present conscientiousness and fear of doing evil, he who is endowed with conscientiousness and fear of doing evil, he is endowed with the sufficing condition of restraint of the senses; when there is present restraint of the senses, he who is endowed with restraint of the senses, he is endowed with the sufficing condition of virtue; when there is present virtue, he who is endowed with virtue, he is endowed with the sufficing condition of right concentration; when there is right concentration, he who is endowed with right concentration, he is endowed with the sufficing condition of knowledge and vision of things as they really are; when there is present knowledge and vision of things as they really are, he who is endowed with knowledge and vision of things as they really are, he is endowed with the sufficing condition of disenchantment-dispassion; when there is present disenchantment-dispassion, he who is endowed with knowledge and vision of freedom. Just as, monks, twigs, bark, sapwood, and heartwood come to perfection in a tree possessing branches and leaves, so, monks, when mindfulness and clear comprehension are there, he who is endowed with mindfulness and clear comprehension, he is endowed with the sufficing condition of conscientiousness and fear of doing evil...”

There are sixteen levels of contemplative knowledge, these sixteen knowledge are progressive:

1. Knowledge on the name and form (Namarupa pariccheda ñāna).
2. Knowledge on the causes (Paccaya pariggaha ñāna).
3. Knowledge on the characteristics of phenomena (Comprehension knowledge, Sammasana ñāna).
4. Knowledge on the arising and passing away of phenomena (Udayabbaya ñāna).
5. Knowledge on the decaying of phenomena (Bhanga ñāna).
6. Knowledge on the fearsome of phenomena (Bhaya ñāna).
7. Knowledge on the disadvantages of repetitive birth (Adinava ñāna).
8. Knowledge on the disgust of repetitive birth (Nibbida ñāna).
9. Knowledge on the renunciation (Muncitukamyata ñāna).
10. Knowledge on the reviewing the progress (Patisankha ñāna).
11. Knowledge on the renouncing of the formation (Sankharuppekka ñāna).
12. Knowledge on the entering of the holy stream (Anuloma ñāna).
13. Knowledge on the state of sainthood (Gotrabhucitta)
14. Knowledge on the paths (maggacitta).
15. Knowledge on the fruits (phalacitta).
16. Knowledge on the remainder defilements (Paccavekkhana ñāna).

These sixteen knowledge are gauges which the medieval Theras had devised as way to summarize our experience on the holy path. We have to be mindful of the difference between worded category and experience, and avoid being caught in these arbitrary categories, and lose touch with our practical experience which is real and useful. We should investigate our experience and only use these categories as a milestone to check our progress.