07/13/10
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Materiality and Meditation
Earlier we saw that the Buddha stressed the uniformity of the four great primary elements by stating that the internal and external both share the same nature. He then said: "By means of perfect intuitive wisdom it should be seen as it really is, thus: 'this is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.'" This instruction shows that there is nothing special about this body we are accustomed to think of as "mine" and sometimes believe to be a special creation. It is, in essence, the same as the outer material world.
The Venerable Saariputta, one of the Buddha's two chief disciples, makes the same point in a different way.1
Having described the four great primary elements as the Buddha did, he then declares that there comes a time when each of the external elements gets agitated and destroyed, so "what of this short lived body derived from craving?"
When the solid element in the body gets agitated all kinds of growths form, from a wart to a cancerous tumor. When the fluid element is agitated dropsy results — swelling due to an accumulation of fluid. The heat element causes fever, frostbite, etc.; the wind element flatulence and colic. The geologist tries to find the reasons for physical disturbances and the medical researcher the causes for bodily disorders. But, wherever the four primary elements are found, agitation is, too, and the result is dis-ease — a state of disorder. Regarding the space element, the Venerable Saariputta said: "Just as, dependent on stakes, creepers, grass and clay, space is enclosed and the designation 'a dwelling' is used, in the same way, dependent on bones, sinews, flesh, and skin, space is enclosed and the designation 'material form' (body) is used."
The parts of the body also serve as a subject of meditation. Such meditation gives understanding of the body's nature without morbidity or fascination. The contemplation of the body mentions thirty-two parts — none of which, considered separately, is the least bit attractive, not even the hair, skin, nails, and teeth, which are generally tended for personal beautification. Though a man considers a woman to be beautiful on account of her "lovely hair," if he should find one of her hairs in his breakfast cereal, he will find it repulsive rather than attractive. Since non of these parts has beauty of its own, it is impossible that they can make an attractive whole. The meditation on the parts of the body aims to dispel the common perverted perception (sañña vipallaasa) of seeing the unattractive as attractive. It is practiced not to repress desires or to build up an emotional revulsion but solely to help us understand the body's nature.
Another meditation, the analysis of the body into the four primary elements, helps to dispel the delusion of the body's compactness. The Mahaasatipa.t.thaana Sutta gives a simile of a butcher who, having slaughtered a cow and cut it into various parts, sits at the junction of four high roads. The butcher, the commentary explains, thinks in terms of a "cow" even after the animal has been slaughtered, as long as he sees the carcass on the floor. But when he cuts up the carcass, divides it into parts, and sits at the cross roads, the "cow percept" disappears and the perception "meat" arises. He does not think he is selling "cow" but "meat." In the same way, if one reflects on the body by way of the elements, the "person-percept" will disappear, replaced by the perception of the elements.
Once an elderly householder named Nakulapitaa approached the Buddha and said: "Venerable Sir, I am an old man, far-gone in years, I have reached life's end, I am sick and always ailing." He wanted the Buddha to instruct and advise him. The Buddha said: "So it is, householder, so it is, householder! Your body is sick and cumbered! Householder, he who, carrying this body around, would consider that it is healthy even for a moment, what else is he but a fool? Therefore, householder, this is how you must train yourself: 'My body may be sick but my mind shall not be sick.' Thus, householder, should you train yourself."
Pondering on these incontrovertible truths about the body will help us:
1.
To get rid of complexes, whether superior or inferior, relating to the body. 2.
To adopt a sensible attitude towards it, neither pampering it nor molesting it.
3. To regard its fate — decay, disease, and death — with realism and detachment.
4. To gain insight into the no-self (anattaa) aspect of all phenomena.
VR1
(WE ARE ONE )
+VE NEWS
MAY YOU BE EVER HAPPY, WELL AND SECURE!
MAY YOU LIVE LONG!
MAY ALL BEINGS BE EVRER HAPPY, WELL AND SECURE!
MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE CALM, QUIET, ALERT, ATTENTIVE AND
EQUANIMINTY MIND!
WITH A CLEAR UNDESRSATNDING THAT
NOTHING IS PERMANENT!
MERITS makes us HAPPY
MORALITY makes us HAPPIER
MEDITATION makes us HAPPIEST
Comprehensive Course on Abhidhamma
The Abhidhamma in Practice
The essence of all the Buddhas' teachings expounded in Suttanta, can be summarized as:
"Not to do evil; to do good; and to purify one's mind"
In accordance with this admonition, in order to avoid evil and to cultivate good, we should be able to differentiate good from evil. In Abhidhamma, the characteristics, feeling and consequences of these concepts are categorized in minute details. When we come to understand their nature and result, we would try to avoid evil, just as we avoid taking something poisonous which brings harm to us. Moreover, the nature of mind, the associated mental phenomena which either purify or defile the mind are explicated and analyzed in minute details. In this way, Abhidhamma can be analogous to a guide to purify the mind. Thus, through the application of Abhidhamma knowledge to our daily life, we can live in accordance with the instructions of the Buddhas.
Furthermore, in Suttanta, the aggregates (khandha) are only classified into fivefold whereas Abhidhamma analyzes the five aggregates in terms of mentality and materiality, their natures, how they arise and harmoniously perform their functions, are explicated in much more detail. Understanding the nature and function of mind and matter provides assistance not only for the clear comprehension of Suttanta but also for Vipassanâ practice because higher attainment of knowledge is absolutely impossible without such understanding. In fact, Abhidhamma pinpoints to us what we are, the world around us and how to live peacefully and beneficially. These are a few instances that highlight how Abhidhamma knowledge is essential for the better understanding of the Buddha's teachings and why it is held in high regards.
The Ultimate Realities
The Abhidhamma deals with realities existing in an ultimate sense, called in Pali paramattha dhammaa. There are four such realities:
1. Citta, mind or consciousness, defined as that which knows or experiences an object. Citta occurs as distinct momentary states of consciousness.
2. Cetasikas, the mental factors that arise and occur along with the cittas.
3. Ruupa, physical phenomena, or material form.
4. Nibbaana.
Citta, the cetasikas, and ruupa are conditioned realities. They arise because of conditions and disappear when their conditions cease to sustain them. Therefore they are impermanent. Nibbaana is an unconditioned reality. It does not arise and therefore does not fall away. These four realities can be experienced regardless of what name we give them. Any other thing — be it within ourselves or without, past, present, or future, coarse or subtle, low or lofty, far or near — is a concept and not an ultimate reality.
Citta, cetasikas, and nibbaana are also called naama. The two conditioned naamas, citta and cetasikas, together with ruupa make up naama-ruupa, the psycho-physical organism. Each of us, in the ultimate sense, is a naama-ruupa, a compound of mental and material phenomena, and nothing more. Apart from these three realities that go to form the naama-ruupa compound there is no ego, self. The naama part of the compound is what experiences an object. The ruupa part does not experience anything. When the body is injured it is not the body, which is ruupa, that feels the pain, but naama, the mental side. When we are hungry it is not the stomach that feels the hunger but again the naama. However, naama cannot eat the food to ease the hunger. The naama, the mind and its factors, makes the ruupa, the body, ingest the food. Thus neither the naama nor the ruupa has any efficient power of its own. One is dependent on the other; one supports the other. Both naama and ruupa arise because of conditions and perish immediately, and this is happening every moment of our lives. By studying and experiencing these realities we will get insight into: (1) what we truly are; (2) what we find around us; (3) how and why we react to what is within and around us; and (4) what we should aspire to reach as a spiritual goal.
The Cittas
Awareness is the process of cittas experiencing objects. For a citta to arise it must have an object (aaramma.na). The object may be a color, sound, smell, taste, something tangible, or a mental object. These are the six external objects. Strictly speaking a mental object can be an internal phenomenon, such as a feeling, a thought, or an idea, but as forming the objective sphere of experience they are all classed as external. Corresponding to these external objects there are six internal sense faculties, called "doors" since they are the portals through which the objects enter the field of cognition. These are the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind. Each of the five physical sense faculties can receive only its appropriate object; the mind door, however, can receive both its own proper mental objects as well as the objects of the five physical senses. When a door receives its object, there arises a corresponding state of consciousness, such as eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, etc. The union of the object, the door or sense faculty, and the consciousness is called "contact" (phassa). There can be no awareness without contact. For contact to occur all three components must be present — object, door, and consciousness. If one is missing there will be no contact. The process of the arising of consciousness and the subsequent train of events is analyzed in detail in the Abhidhamma. A study of this analysis will show that only "bare phenomena" are taking place and that there is no "self" involved in this process. This is the no-self characteristic of existence.
The Arising of the Cittas
Cittas are classified in various ways. One such classification is according to their nature (jaati). In this classification we have:
1. Cittas which are resultant states of consciousness, vipaaka, the effects of previous kamma.
2. Cittas which are causes for action (kamma) through body, speech, or mind. We may call these "causative cittas." A wholesome citta (kusala citta) will issue in wholesome action and an unwholesome one (akusala citta) in unwholesome action.
3. Cittas which are neither kamma nor its result. These are called kiriya cittas. They are kammically ineffective, being merely functional. Some kiriya cittas perform simple functions in the process of consciousness, others represent the actions and thoughts of arahants, who no longer generate fresh kamma.
When we see a form, hear a sound, smell, taste, or touch, it is a vipaaka citta, a resultant consciousness, that functions as the actual sense-consciousness. This citta is the result of some previous kamma. Thus, for example, when we hear an unpleasant sound, the ear-consciousness which actually hears the sound is the result of an unwholesome deed (kamma) previously done by that continuum of experience called a "person"; it is an akusala-vipaaka citta. If one sees a pleasant sight it is the result of a wholesome deed; the eye-consciousness that sees it is a kusala-vipaaka citta. This is a "bare phenomenon" that is taking place and there is no power that can stop the arising of this resultant citta. However, this resultant citta, having arisen, perishes in a moment.
To be aware of the momentariness of this vipaaka citta is of great practical importance. If one does not recognize the disappearance of this citta — and this can be done only by the practice of mindfulness — then subsequent cognitive processes having the same object as the vipaaka citta (which has already passed) can occur in the mind-door, bringing defilements into play. If the vipaaka citta had an unpleasant object, aversion can arise; and if the vipaaka citta had a pleasant object, attachment can arise. To make spiritual progress one should try to avoid the arising of those causative cittas associated with either aversion or attachment, which are both unwholesome mental factors building up further unwholesome kamma. Mindfulness of the instant perishing of the vipaaka citta after it has arisen is of immense practical value. Only one citta can exist at a time. Thus the citta with mindfulness, occurring through the mind-door, taking the perished vipaaka citta as its object, will prevent the arising of causative unwholesome cittas that lead to future suffering.
When the mind is not experiencing objects through the five sense doors — the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body — it can still be active through the "mind door," taking as its object either something previously experienced through the five sense doors, recently or long ago, or some idea or image peculiar to itself. Past experiences are registered in the life-continuum (bhava"nga) in a subliminal form, where from time to time they can surface through the mind-door to serve as objects for the citta. Kammically active cittas can follow this mental activity, and here again the practice of mindfulness — that is, being aware that there is thinking — will prevent the arising of unwholesome causative cittas. On the other hand, if mindfulness is absent there can be unwholesome mental activity, such as longing for things of the past, worry, remorse, regret, grudge, and doubt.
Cittas exhibit certain other interesting features which are dealt with in the Abhidhamma. Some of these are as follows:
Association with "roots." Cittas may be associated with certain mental factors called "roots" (hetu, muula), or they may be dissociated from roots. The former kind of cittas are called sahetuka cittas, the latter ahetuka cittas; these are, respectively, rooted and rootless states of consciousness. The roots are particular mental factors (cetasikas) that arise together with the citta, often giving it a determinate ethical quality. Because the citta and its constituent factors, the cetasikas, arise together and because both have the same object and base, it is difficult to appreciate the subtle differences in their characteristics unless one's mindfulness and insight are very sharp.
There are six roots. Three are kammically unwholesome (akusala); the other three may be either kammically wholesome (kusala) or indeterminate (abyaa-kata), depending on the type of consciousness they arise in. The unwholesome roots are greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha). The three roots which are wholesome in some cittas and indeterminate in others are greedlessness (alobha), hatelessness (adosa), and undeludedness (amoha). Though these last three roots are expressed negatively they have positive manifestations. Greedlessness manifests as generosity and renunciation, hatelessness as loving-kindness, and undeludedness as wisdom or understanding.
In the ordinary unawakened worldling these six roots can occur in various combinations. When one enters the path leading to awakenment, the unwholesome roots are eradicated in stages until final emancipation is achieved. For the arahant, the liberated one, the cittas that arise in him can no longer be associated with any unwholesome roots. The cittas that the arahant experiences are neither wholesome nor unwholesome, as he does not generate any further kamma; his cittas are exclusively indeterminate. These indeterminate cittas can be functional (kiriya), as on occasions when he is mentally active, or resultants (vipaaka) when he is experiencing the effects of past kamma or abiding in the meditative attainment of fruition.
For spiritual progress it is important to be aware of the roots associated with the citta that we are experiencing at any particular moment. This is possible only by the practice of mindfulness as expounded in the Mahaa Satipa.t.thaana Sutta. This awareness helps us get rid of the unwholesome roots and cultivate the wholesome roots. This practice will enable one to purify moral virtue, to develop concentration, and to achieve insight.
Association with feeling. Cittas differ according to the feeling associated with them. Every citta has a concomitant feeling, but the quality of this feeling differs from citta to citta. Some cittas are accompanied by a pleasant feeling (sukhaa vedanaa), some by a painful feeling (dukkhaa vedanaa), some by an indifferent feeling (upekkhaa vedanaa).
It is important to recognize the feeling that accompanies each citta, for feelings serve as a condition for defilements to arise. The mind's natural tendency is to develop attachment to a pleasant feeling and aversion to an unpleasant one. Any attachment will eventually cause suffering; for everything within and around us is impermanent, so when inevitable separation takes place, if there is attachment the result will be sorrow, lamentation, and despair. Aversion, apart from giving further nourishment to the unwholesome roots, is a totally futile response. We cannot change the essentially unsatisfactory nature of sa.msaara, but we can alter our reactions to our experiences in sa.msaara. Therefore, the sanest attitude would be neither to get attached to anything pleasant nor react with aversion to anything displeasing. This would be an attitude of indifference. Indifference, however, is of two kinds. One is the callous indifference which is a total disregard for one's own well-being and that of others. This type of indifference is born of the unwholesome roots and obviously should not be cultivated by the spiritual seeker. The other type of indifference is a highly refined mental state which might be better referred to as equanimity. This attitude, born of wisdom pertaining to the real nature of phenomena, is an attitude of mental calmness amidst all the vicissitudes of life. This is the kind of indifference that we must try to cultivate.
Prompted and unprompted cittas. A prompted citta (sasankhaarika citta) is an act of consciousness that arises either as a result of deliberation and premeditation on one's own part or through the inducement of another. If it is an unwholesome citta resulting in unwholesome action, then the result of such action will rebound on the agent in proportion to the degree of deliberation involved; for the one who induced it, his unwholesome cittas will also rebound on him, causing him future suffering. Therefore it is important not only that one should refrain from unwholesome deeds oneself, but that one also refrain from inciting others to perform such deeds.
If the prompted citta is a wholesome one resulting from one's own wise consideration, the actions issuing from such a citta will bear good results for the doer; if it was induced by one with good intentions, his wholesome cittas will bring good results for him. Therefore, whenever possible, we should not only foster our own welfare by performing wholesome deeds but whenever possible should also try to bring out the goodness in others.
An unprompted citta (asankhaarika-citta) is one which arises spontaneously, without deliberation or premeditation on our own part and without inducement by others. These unprompted cittas, too, may be unwholesome or wholesome.
There are some people in whom greed and hate are so strong that the cittas that arise in them need no prompting from within or without. They spontaneously cling to what they think they possess and try to enhance their belongings by exploiting others. They do not know what generosity is, they are quick to criticize others; if they get a chance they will destroy everything that stands in the way of their attempts to boost their own ego. On the other hand, there are others who give willingly and joyfully, who do not hesitate to help their needy fellow beings, and who will even risk their own lives to save those in distress.
These divers characters — the misers, tyrants, murderers, heroes, and benefactors — are what they are because of their past tendencies built up in previous lives. However, the law of kamma and its fruit prevails at all times at all times and a change can occur for the better or worse, as in the cases of Angulimaala and Devadatta. The former started off as a vicious murderer but later became an awakened saint; the latter, the Buddha's cousin, entered the Order as a monk but later attempted to kill the Buddha and take control of the Sangha himself.
Mind in its passive and active forms
The mind occurs in both passive and active modes. The passive gives way to the active when a stimulus is received through one of the sense doors. The passive state of mind is called bhava"nga, cuti, or paa.tisandhi, according to the occasion.
Bhava"nga. The bhava"nga citta, mentioned earlier, is the primary form of mind. It flows from conception to death except when interrupted by a stimulus through one of the sense doors. When a stimulus enters, consciousness becomes active, launching into a thought process (citta viithi). Thought processes have been analyzed in great detail in the Abhidhamma.
A complete thought process, occurring through the physical sense doors, is made up of seventeen thought moments (citta kha.na). These are:
1. A bhava"nga that flows by in a passive state when one of the five physical sense organs comes in contact with its object (atiita bhava"nga).
2. A bhava"nga that vibrates for one thought moment (bhava"nga calana).
3. A bhava"nga that cuts off the flow (bhava"nga upaccheda).
4. A citta that turns towards the object through the sense door that has been stimulated (pañcadvaara-vajjana).
5. The appropriate sense consciousness; in the case of the eye, for example, eye consciousness (cakkhu viññaa.na).
6. Next a thought moment — the sampa.ticchana citta — which has the function of receiving the object.
7. When the object has been received another thought moment, called the santiirana citta, arises, performing the function of investigating the object.
8. The act (kamma) itself, especially if it was a weighty one.
9 to 15.
The object having been determined, the most important stage from an ethical standpoint follows. This stage, called javana, consists of seven consecutive thought moments all having an identical nature. It is at this stage that good or evil is done, depending on whether the cittas have wholesome or unwholesome roots. Therefore, these javana thought moments have roots and also produce new kamma.
16 and 17.
Following the seventh javana the registering stage occurs, composed of two thought moments called tadaalambane. When the second registering citta has perished, the bhava"nga follows, flowing on until interrupted by another thought process.
These thought moments follow one another in extremely rapid succession; each depends on the previous one and all share the same object. There is no self or soul directing this process. The process occurs so rapidly that mindfulness has to be alert and brisk to recognize at least the determining thought moment — the vottapana — so that one can govern the javana thought moments by wholesome volition.
When the mind-door receives a mind-object, the sequence of events is a little different from that occurring through the physical senses. The mind-door-adverting citta is the same type of citta as the determining moment — the votthapana — that arises in a sensory process. This mind-door-adverting thought moment can cognize an object previously seen, heard, smelt, tasted or touched, thus making memories possible. Since the mind-object here has already been received and investigated, these functions need not be performed again and the mind-door-adverting thought moment gives way immediately to the javanas. These are, again, of great ethical significance. For example, unpleasant words previously heard can suddenly come to mind and, unless proper mindfulness (sammaa sati) is practiced, call up javana cittas rooted in hatred, i.e., unwholesome kamma.
The mind at the time of death
When a person is about to die the bhava"nga is interrupted, vibrates for one moment and passes away. The interruption is caused by an object which presents itself to the mind-door. As a result of this a mind-door-adverting citta arises. This is followed by five javana thought moments which are weak, lack reproductive power, and serve only to determine the nature of rebirth consciousness. The javanas may or may not be followed by two registering thought moments (tadaalambana). After this comes the death consciousness (cuti citta), which is identical in constitution and object to the bhava"nga citta. The cuti citta merely serves the function of signaling the end of life. It is important to appreciate the difference between the cuti citta and the javanas that precede it. The cuti citta is the end of the bhava"nga flow of an existence and does not determine the nature of rebirth. The javanas that occur just before the cuti citta arises form a kammic process and determine the nature of the rebirth consciousness.
The object that presents itself to the mind-door just before death is determined by kamma on a priority basis as follows:
1. Some weighty action performed earlier by the dying person. This may be meritorious such as a jhaanic ecstasy, or it may be demeritorious, some heinous crime. Either of these would be so powerful as to eclipse all other kammas in determining rebirth. This is called garuka kamma.
2. If there is no such weighty action, what has been done habitually — either good or bad — will ripen. This is called aaci.n.na kamma.
3. If habitual kamma does not ripen what is called death-proximate kamma fructifies. In this case the thought that was experienced at the time of a good or bad action in the recent past recurs at the time of death. This is referred to as aasanna kamma.
4. If the first three are lacking, some stored up kamma from the past will ripen. This is called ka.tatta kamma.
Dependent on one of the above mentioned four types of kamma, the object that presents itself to the mind-door could be one of three kinds:
1. The act (kamma) itself, especially if it was a weighty one.
2. Some sign of the act (kammanimitta); for example, a butcher may see a knife, a hunter may see a gun or the slain animal, a pious devotee may see flowers at a shrine or the giving of alms to a monk.
3. A sign of the place where the dying person will be reborn (gati nimitta), a vision of heaven, hell, etc.
This brief account of what will happen to us at death should impress on us the urgency of avoiding all evil acts by deed, word or thought and of performing wholesome meritorious acts. If we do not do so now, we cannot do so at the moment of death, which may come quite unexpectedly. As the Dhammapada states in verses 288 and 289:
There are no sons for one's protection,
Neither father nor even kinsmen;
For one who is overcome by death
No protection is to be found among kinsmen.
Realizing this fact,
Let the virtuous and wise person
Swiftly clear the way
That to nibbaana leads.
— Dhp 288
Rebirth Consciousness This is called pa.tisandhi citta, literally "relinking consciousness." The pa.tisandhi citta is the act of consciousness which arises at the first moment of life, the moment of conception. It is determined by the last kammic citta of the preceding life.
This kammic factor for the arising of a being operates through the pa.tisandhi. The accumulated tendencies of past lives are carried on to the pa.tisandhi and so the process of being born, dying and being born again goes on. Each pa.tisandhi citta is a new one, not the continuation of the old one in the previous life. Thus there is no place for a soul concept in rebirth. In the course of one particular life there is only one pa.tisandhi citta. Once the function of linking two existences has been performed by the pa.tisandhi, consciousness in the newly formed embryo immediately goes into the bhava"nga state. This flows along in the new existence with infinite interruptions by various stimuli and ends as the cuti citta of that particular existence.
The practice of chanting Buddhist scriptures in the presence of a dying person is intended to evoke kusala kamma cittas in him so that the last thought process will be a wholesome one and lead to a favorable rebirth.
Regardless of the conditions into which humans are born, be they handicapped or favored in various ways, birth in the human plane is the result of kusala kamma. It is only in the human plane that one can make a start to end all suffering. The Buddha has told us that, having left this human existence, not many will return to it for a long, long time. Therefore, it is up to us to make the most of this opportunity we have as human beings.
The Jhaana cittas
The cittas that occur through the five physical sense doors, and the mind-door cittas taking sense objects, belong to the sensuous plane of consciousness. They are called kaamaavacara cittas. The jhaana cittas are meditative states of consciousness. Their object is not a sense impression but a meditation object experienced through the mind-door. The jhaana citta may depend on subtle materiality (ruupaavacara citta) or, if more refined, may be independent of materiality (aruupaavacara citta).
There are five stages of ruupa jhaana and four of aruupa jhaana. No attempt will be made to analyze these stages except to state that each is more refined than its predecessor.
It is extremely difficult to attain even the first stage of jhaana. To do so one has to be well established in virtue (siila) and eliminate the five mental hindrances, at least temporarily. These five hindrances are: sense desire (kaamacchanda), ill-will (vyaapaada), sloth and torpor (thiina and middha), restlessness and worry (uddhacca and kukkucca), and doubt (vicikicchaa).
Though difficult, it is well worth attempting to attain jhaana by regular and ardent practice of samatha bhaavanaa, i.e., concentration-meditation. Even if we do not reach the first stage of jhaana, even a brief elimination of the five mental hindrances will give us a taste of a happiness which far surpasses that derived from the senses. When restlessness, anxiety and worry try to overwhelm us in our daily lives we will benefit by sitting for a period and developing concentration. We will realize that nothing is more satisfying than the ability to keep a check on the frivolous, fickle mind.
Lokuttara cittas The word lokuttara is derived from loka and uttara. In this context loka refers to the five aggregates; uttara means beyond. Thus lokuttara applies to those states of consciousness that transcend the world of mind and body, i.e., they are supra-mundane.
These states of supra-mundane consciousness are possessed by those who have developed insight into the three aspects of existence — impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and no-self. As a result of this insight, such a person passes beyond the level of a worldling (puthujjana) and becomes a Noble One (ariya puggala). With this transformation there is a radical change in the person's life and nature because a determinate number of defilements are totally eradicated, never to arise again. These defilements go to form the ten fetters (sa.myojanaa) that bind a person down to the wheel of existence. They are eradicated in stages as one becomes, in succession, a stream-winner (sotaapanna), once-returner (sakadaagaamii), non-returner (anaagaami) and arahant. We shall refer to these states of supra-mundane consciousness again when we discuss nibbaana.
The Cetasikas
The second reality or paramattha dhamma is the cetasikas. The cetasikas are the mental factors or concomitants that arise and perish together with consciousness (citta), sharing its object and basis.
The Abhidhamma lists 52 kinds of cetasikas. One is feeling (vedanaa), another is perception (saññaa). The remaining 50 are grouped together under the term sa"nkhaaraa.
Feeling (vedanaa)
In the Abhidhamma context the word "feeling" signifies the affective experience of an object; it does not imply emotion, which comes under a different heading. Feeling is associated with every type of consciousness. Like the citta itself it is of momentary duration, arising and perishing in an instant. This arising and perishing occur in rapid succession, so much so that they create an illusion of compactness and stability obscuring the momentariness. But the momentariness can be experienced through the practice of mindfulness. It will then be realized that there is no self or agent that experiences the feeling. There is only the arising and disappearing of an impersonal process. As long as we do not see how this impersonal process occurs we will be led to believe that feeling is the self, or the self possesses feeling, or feeling is in the self, or the self is in feeling. These beliefs keep us bound to suffering — to sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.
Feelings are commonly classified into three types: pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. Pleasant feeling, in the absence of wise consideration (yoniso manasikaara), leads to attachment, unpleasant feeling to repugnance, and neutral feeling to ignorance. A pleasant feeling is pleasant while it lasts but when it changes, as it must, it yields to displeasure — i.e., an unpleasant feeling. An unpleasant feeling is unpleasant while it lasts, but when it passes a shallow satisfaction arises which misleads the average person into thinking: "Now, I am all right." A neutral feeling, in the absence of wise attention, can foster ignorance and a callous indifference to one's own and others' welfare. If, however, one has developed wholesome awareness based on insight, when a neutral feeling arises the mind remains in equanimity, undisturbed in all circumstances. This balanced state of mind is one of the highest forms of happiness.
Relevant to the Abhidhamma, two other classifications of vedanaa must be mentioned.
Five Kinds:
1. bodily agreeable feeling — kaayikaa sukhaa vedanaa (sukha)
2. bodily disagreeable feeling — kaayikaa dukkhaa vedanaa (dukkha)
3. mentally agreeable feeling — cetasikaa sukhaa vedanaa (somanassa)
4. mentally disagreeable feeling — cetasikaa dukkhaa vedanaa (domanassa)
5. indifferent or neutral feeling — adukkha-m-asukhaa vedanaa (upekkhaa)
Six Kinds:
Feelings born of eye-contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact and mind-contact.
Perception (saññaa)
Perception is awareness of an object's distinctive features. It becomes six-fold in relation to the five physical sense objects (color, sound, smell, taste, touch), and mental objects. It is sañña that enables us to recognize an object previously perceived.
As in the case of feeling, perception is an impersonal process which arises and perishes in a moment. If the momentariness and impersonal nature of perception are not appreciated by insight, here again, wrong conceptions will result that perception is the self, or the self possesses perception, or perception is in the self, or the self is in perception.
There are four perversions (vipallaasa) that distort perception — the perversions of regarding:
1. What is impermanent (anicca) as permanent (nicca)
2. What is unsatisfactory (dukkha) as pleasant or happiness-yielding (sukha)
3. What is without self (anattaa) as self (attaa)
4. What is impure (asubha) as pure (subha)
These distortions, born of ignorance, increase craving, grasping, and suffering. Only by the practice of mindfulness can one see through these perversions and avoid them.
Perception and memory. Memory occurs not through a single factor but through a complex process in which perception plays the most important role. When the mind first cognizes an object through the senses, perception "picks out" the object's distinctive mark. When the same object is met with on a subsequent occasion, perception again notices that its distinctive mark is identical with the previous one. It "grasps" the identity of the distinctive marks. This "grasping" is a complex series of thought processes, one of which connects the present object with the previous one and another attaches to the present object the previous one's name. Memory will be good if this "grasping" functions well, and "grasping" will function well if the initial "picking out" of the object's distinctive marks was clear, not obscured by irrelevant thoughts. Clear perception comes through attention. As the Buddha says: "In what is seen there must be just the seen, in what is heard there must be just the heard, in what is sensed there must be just the sensed, in what is thought there must be just the thought."
Sa"nkhaaraa
Sa"nkhaaraa is a collective term for the other fifty cetasikas. These fall into four groups:
1. Universal mental factors (sabba citta saadhaaranaa)
2. Particular mental factors (paki.n.nakaa)
3. Unwholesome mental factors (akusalaa)
4. Beautiful mental factors (sobhanaa)
The universal mental factors. There are seven mental factors which are called universals because they are common to every state of consciousness. Two are feeling and perception mentioned above. The order in which the other five are given has no sequential significance as they all co-exist in any state of consciousness. They are:
1. Contact (phassa), the coming together of the sense organ, object, and appropriate consciousness.
2. Concentration (ekaggataa), the mental focus on one object to the exclusion of all other objects.
3. Attention (manasikaara), the mind's spontaneous turning to the object which binds the associated mental factors to it.
4. Psychic life (jiivitindriya), the vital force supporting and maintaining the other mental factors.
5. Volition (cetanaa), the act of willing. From a psychological standpoint, volition determines the activities of the associated states; from an ethical standpoint it determines its inevitable consequences. Volition leads to action by body, speech and mind and thus becomes the principal factor behind kamma. Therefore the Buddha said: "cetanaaha.m bhikkhave kamma.m vadaami" — "Volition, O monks, is kamma, I declare." Thus wholesome or unwholesome acts, willfully done, are followed at some time by their appropriate consequences. But if one unintentionally steps on an insect and kills it, such an act has no moral or kammic significance as volition is absent. The Buddha's position here contrasts with that of his contemporary, Niga.n.tha Naataputta, the founder of Jainism. Naataputta taught that even involuntary actions constitute kamma, thus release from sa.msaara (the round of rebirths) can be achieved only by abstaining from all activities.
The particular mental factors. Six mental factors are called particulars for, unlike the universals, they need not exist in every citta. The six are:
1. Initial application (vitakka), which applies the other mental factors to the object when attention has brought it into range.
2. Continued application (vicaara), which makes the mental factors dwell on the object.
3. Resolution (adhimokka), which prevents the mental factors from wavering and makes a decision.
4. Effort (viriya), which energizes the mental factors and opposes idleness.
5. Joy (piiti), which creates an interest in the object, giving the mind buoyancy.
6. Wish-to-do (chanda), the desire to act, the wish to achieve an aim.
The universals and particulars are, in themselves, ethically indeterminate but become wholesome, unwholesome, or neither, depending on the state of consciousness in which they occur.
The unwholesome mental factors. There are fourteen unwholesome mental factors. The first four listed below are present in all unwholesome states of consciousness. The others are variable.
1. Delusion (moha) is synonymous with ignorance regarding the Four Noble Truths.
2. Shamelessness of evil (ahirika) is lack of conscience, not as a mysterious inner voice, but as an abhorrence towards evil.
3. Fearlessness of evil (anottappa) is moral recklessness resulting from ignorance about the moral law.
4. Restlessness (uddhacca) is a state of excitement that characterizes all unwholesome acts, contrasting with the peace that accompanies wholesome acts.
5. Attachment (lobha), synonymous with craving, is one of the three unwholesome roots, occurring in both gross and subtle forms.
6. False view (di.t.thi) is seeing things in a distorted way. There are several kinds of false views:
A. the view of a truly existent self (sakkaaya di.t.thi);
B. eternalism (sassata di.t.thi) or nihilism (uccheda di.t.thi);
C. the view denying the efficacy or fruits of kamma (natthi di.t.thi), causality (ahetuka di.t.thi), and the moral law (ahiriya di.t.thi).
7. Conceit (maana) is self-evaluation which arises from comparing oneself with another as better, equal or inferior.
8. Hatred (dosa), another unwholesome root, is a negative response to the object ranging from a slight aversion to destructive rage.
9. Envy (issaa) is the inability to endure the prosperity of others; this is associated with hate.
10. Selfishness (macchariya) is the wish to exclude others from one's own prosperity; this too is associated with hate.
11. Worry (kukkucca) is remorse, brooding, and repenting over evil acts done in the past or good acts left undone.
12. &13. Sloth (thiina) and torpor (middha): this pair indicates laziness or boredom, a frequent hindrance to spiritual progress.
14. Doubt (vicikicchaa) is the undecided frame of mind.
The beautiful mental factors. There are twenty-five beautiful factors. Nineteen are common to all beautiful thoughts, six are variable. The latter are the three "abstinence factors," two "illimitables," and the wisdom factor.
The common beautiful factors (sobhanaa saadhaaranaa) are as follows:
1. Confidence (saddhaa), also called faith, which for a Buddhist means trust in the Three Jewels — the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, and in the principles of the Buddha's teachings.
2. Mindfulness (sati): this is alertness, which makes us aware of what is happening to us, from moment to moment, through the five physical senses and the mind. Mindfulness is essential to insight meditation, when it must be conjoined with a clear comprehension of the suitability, purpose, and conformity with reality of any action. Then it is called right mindfulness (sammaa sati). Usually the average person acts without any form of mindfulness; his acts are prompted by force of habit. Right mindfulness has two functions: one is to increase the power of recollection and the other is to evaluate what is wholesome and what is unwholesome. Right mindfulness is a spiritual faculty that maintains a proper balance of the other faculties — faith, energy, concentration and wisdom.
3. & 4. Shame of evil (hiri) and fear of evil (ottappa) are the opposites of the second and third unwholesome mental factors, already discussed.
5. Non-attachment (alobha) restrains attachment and fosters generosity.
6. Good-will (adosa) is synonymous with loving kindness (mettaa). It keeps a person free from resentment and anger.
7. Equanimity (tatramajjhattaa, upekkhaa) is balance of mind, a quality of neutrality free from attachment and repulsion.
8. -19. The other twelve common beautiful factors fall into six pairs, one member affecting the "body" of mental factors (kaaya), the other affecting consciousness as a whole (citta). The six are as follows, the terms themselves indicating their nature:
A. composure (passaddhi) of the mental factors and consciousness
B. buoyancy (lakhutaa) of the mental factors and consciousness
C. pliancy (mudutaa) of the mental factors and consciousness
D. efficiency (kammaññataa) of the mental factors and consciousness
E. proficiency (paguññataa) of the mental factors and consciousness
F. rectitude (ujukataa) of the mental factors and consciousness
The abstinence factors (virati) restrain a person from committing evil acts. These are three in number:
20. Right speech (sammaa vacaa) is abstinence from lying, slandering, abusive language, and idle talk.
21. Right action (sammaa kammantaa) is abstinence from killing, taking what is not given, and wrong conduct with regard to sense pleasures.
22. Right livelihood (sammaa aajiiva) is abstinence from any livelihood that brings harm to other living beings.
The illimitable factors (appamaññaa) are compassion and sympathetic joy; they are called illimitable because they are boundless and extend to all living beings.
23. Compassion (karu.naa) has the nature of being moved by the suffering of others. The sadness we might experience over the suffering or loss of a loved one is not true compassion. Such sadness is sentimental, a manifestation of grief. Real compassion arises when the mind, detached from self-referential concerns, is stirred by the suffering of others, feeling the suffering as its own.
24. Sympathetic joy (muditaa) has the nature of rejoicing in other's happiness. Usually people rejoice at the success of someone who is near and dear to them, but it is rare for them to rejoice when success and prosperity are enjoyed by someone unknown, not to speak of an adversary. Muditaa embraces all beings and cannot coexist with the unwholesome mental factor of jealousy.
Compassion and sympathetic joy, together with goodwill and equanimity, form the Four Sublime Abodes (brahma vihaara). Goodwill and equanimity were mentioned under the common beautiful factors.
25. The wisdom factor (paññaa) enables one to see things as they truly are, that is, in the light of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and selflessness.
It is important to know the unwholesome and wholesome mental factors that operate in our minds. If we do not know them for what they are we will not be able to recognize them when they arise. But when our insight develops, we can understand that it is not a "self" that commits unwholesome and wholesome acts but just these mental factors.
In Dhamma practice our aim should be to get rid of the unwholesome factors and cultivate the wholesome ones. This has been outlined by the Buddha under Right Effort (sammaa vaayaama), the fifth factor of the Noble Eightfold Path, in terms of four practices. The disciple rouses his will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to:
1. prevent the arising of unarisen evil, unwholesome thoughts;
2. abandon evil, unwholesome thoughts that have arisen;
3. produce wholesome thoughts that have not yet arisen;
4. maintain the wholesome factors that have arisen and not let them disappear, but bring them to growth, maturity and full perfection of development.
Regarding the unwholesome thoughts, to prevent them from arising or to abandon them as soon as they have arisen, we have to be mindful of the state of the mind, i.e., whether the mind is with greed, hate and delusion or not. By the constant practice of mindfulness we can learn to catch the unwholesome mental factors as soon as they arise. This mere recognition is often enough to prevent them from gaining ground, from leading to action by deed, word or thought. If this is done on a regular basis, these unwholesome thoughts can become attenuated and eventually cease.
Sometimes, however, unwholesome thoughts keep recurring and mere observation of the state of the mind may not be enough to deal with them. In such situations there are five methods proposed by the Buddha, described in the 20th Middle Length Discourse (Majjhima Nikaaya), MN 20. These are, briefly, as follows:
1. to give one's attention to a different object of a wholesome nature;
2. to reflect on the danger in those unwholesome thoughts;
3. to try not to give any attention to them;
4. to give attention to the removal of the source of those thoughts;
5. to clench the teeth, press the tongue against the palate and restrain, subdue, and suppress the mind with the mind.
Meditation is an important aspect of Buddhist practice. There are forty subjects of samaadhi meditation to suit different individual temperaments and also many types of insight meditation. To select a suitable subject of meditation it is best to seek the help of a competent teacher. If such a teacher is not available, then one has to make a sincere and honest search of one's temperament and character and find guidance in a standard book on meditation. A few examples are given below:
1. The four sublime abodes — loving kindness for those with ill will; compassion for those with a streak of cruelty; sympathetic joy for those with envy, jealousy, aversion, and boredom; equanimity for those with lust and greed.
2. For the conceited: meditation on the absence of an abiding self in all bodily and mental phenomena of existence.
3. For those with sexual obsession: meditation on the unattractive nature of the body.
4. For those with wavering confidence:meditation on the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha.
The ultimate aim should be to develop wisdom (pañña). This is achieved by insight meditation (vipassanaa bhaavanaa), which leads to fully comprehending by direct experience the three characteristics of existence — impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selflessness.
Ruupa
The third reality or paramattha dhamma is ruupa, matter or material form. In its analysis of matter the Abhidhamma recognizes twenty-eight kinds of material phenomena. Four of these are called primary, twenty-four secondary. The secondary kinds are dependant on the primary.
The four primary elements (cattaari mahaa bhuutaani)
These are metaphorically referred to under their ancient names but signify distinct properties of matter:
1. The Earth element (pa.thavi dhaatu) = solidity
2. The Water element (aapo dhaatu) = adhesion
3. The Fire element (tejo dhaatu) = heat
4. The Wind element (vaayo dhaatu) = motion
There is no unit of matter that does not contain these four elements in varying proportions. The preponderance of one element over the other three gives the material object its main characteristic.
The solid element gives consistency to matter varying from hardness to softness. The more predominant the solid element, the firmer the object. This is also the element of extension by virtue of which objects occupy space. It has the function of supporting the other material phenomena.
The adhesion element has a cohesive function. It holds the particles of matter together and prevents them from scattering. It predominates in liquids because, unlike solids, liquids unite when brought together. This adhesion element is intangible.
The heat element accounts for an object's temperature. An object is hot or cold depending on the amount of heat element. This element has the function of maturing or vitalizing. It accounts for preservation and decay.
The motion element imparts motion and causes expansion and contraction.
In the Mahaa Raahulovaada Sutta (MN 62) the Buddha explains these four elements in concrete terms to his son, the Venerable Raahula. He says:
"The earth element may be internal (i.e., referable to an individual) or it may be external. Regarding the internal, whatever is hard, solid, or derived therefrom, such as hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, and various organs, is the earth element. Whatever is an internal earth element and whatever is an external earth element are just earth element.
"The water element may be internal or external. Regarding the internal, whatever is liquid and derived therefrom, such as bile, phlegm, pus, and blood is the water element. Whatever is an internal water element and whatever is an external water element are just water element.
"The fire element may be internal or external. Regarding the internal, whatever is heat, warmth, and derived therefrom, such as that by which one is vitalized, consumed, or burnt up, and that by which the ingested food is digested, this is the fire element. Whatever is an internal fire element and whatever is an external fire element are just fire element.
"The wind element may be internal or external. Regarding the internal, whatever is motion, wind, and derived therefrom, such as the winds going up and down, winds in the belly, winds that shoot across the limbs, inbreathing and outbreathing, is the wind element. Whatever is an internal wind element and whatever is an external wind element are just wind element."
In this sutta the Buddha also describes the space element (aakaasa dhaatu) which, he says, may likewise be internal or external: "Regarding the internal, whatever is space, spacious and derived therefrom, such as the different orifices and cavities in the body, is the space element. Whatever is the internal space element and whatever is the external space element are just space element."
It will be noted that in each instance the Buddha pointed out a fundamental identity between the internal and the external elements. The significance of this will be discussed later.
The secondary elements (upaadaaya ruupaani)
The twenty-four secondary elements are divided into two groups. Like the four primary elements, fourteen are directly caused (nipphanna). These are essentially particles of matter. The other ten are indirectly caused (anipphanna). These are only the properties of the directly caused elements and are not particles of matter. Therefore, this classification covers both the physical and functional aspects of matter.
Directly caused secondary elements comprise the following:
1. Five sensory receptors (pasaada ruupaani): the sensory matter of the eye (cakkhu pasaada), ear (sota pasaada), nose (ghaana pasaada), tongue (jivhaa pasaada), and body (kaaya pasaada).
2. Four stimulation elements (gocara ruupaani): color (va.n.na), sound (sadda), odor (gandha), and taste (rasa). Tactile sensation is not mentioned in this group because, unlike the others, tactile sense is not a unique sensory element but three of the four primary elements — solidity, heat and motion — which account for the object's pressure, texture, heat and resistance. The exception is the element of adhesion which is far too subtle to create any tactile impression. Whereas tactile stimuli evoke either pain or pleasure, the other four stimuli arouse only a neutral feeling.
3. Two sex elements (bhaava ruupaani): the male (purisa bhaava) or the female (itthi bhaava), which comes into being at the moment of conception determining the person's sex. This sex determination is related to kamma.
4. The heart or mind-base element (hadaya vatthu): in the Buddha's time the view was held that the heart forms the seat of consciousness. The Buddha never accepted or rejected this theory. He referred to the basis of consciousness indirectly as: ya.m ruupa.m nissaaya — "that material thing depending on which mind-element and mind-consciousness-element arise." Since mind and matter are inter-dependent, it is reasonable to conclude that by the phrase "that material thing" the Buddha intended any tissue in the body that can function as a basis for consciousness, except those serving as the basis for sensory consciousness. We can understand it as the living nerve cell.
5. The life element (jiivitindriya): just as the psychic life faculty, one of the universal mental factors, vitalizes the mind and its factors, the physical life faculty vitalizes the organic matter of the body. Born of kamma, it is reproduced from moment to moment. Both psychic life and physical life cease with death.
6. The nutriment element (aahaara ruupa): is the nutritive essence which sustains the body.
Indirectly caused secondary elements are:
1. The space element (aakaasa dhaatu): this is what keeps the material units apart and prevents their fusion. It is not an objective reality but a concept that results from the coming into being of the material units.
2. Two intimating elements (viññatti): these are bodily intimation (kaaya viññatti) and verbal intimation (vaci viññatti), responsible repectively for bodily communication and verbal communication. They are called "intimation" because they make possible communication between beings. These two elements occur seventeen times more rapidly than the other physical elements, being equal in duration to a thought unit. In physiological terms they probably correspond to nerve impulses.
3. Three alterable elements (vikaara ruupaani):
A. buoyancy (lahutaa)
B. pliancy (mudutaa)
C. eficiency (kammaññataa)
These elements are responsible for health, vigor and activity of the body. They are brought about by wholesome thought, moderation in eating habits and favorable climate.
4. Four phase elements (lakkha.na ruupaani):
A. initial arising (upacaya)
B. subsequent genesis (santati)
C. decay (jarataa)
D. ceasing (aniccataa)
These are stages in the life duration of an element in a continual process of change.
The Arising of Material Form (samu.t.thaana)
The material elements never occur in isolation but in groups or clusters called kalaapas. A kalaapa can contain from eight to thirteen material elements. There is no cluster of matter without at least eight elements, the four primary elements and four secondary elements — namely color, taste, smell, and nutriment. A unit containing only these is called a Pure Octad.
Material phenomena arise through four causes: kamma, consciousness, heat, and nutriment.
1.
Kamma conditions the physical organism at conception. At the moment of conception three kalaapas are generated through kamma — the decads of sex, body, and the mind-base. The sex decad (bhaava dasaka) has the essential octad plus the sex element, either male or female, and the life element. The body decad (kaaya dasaka) is made up of the essential octad plus the element of bodily sensitivity and the life element. The mind-base decad (vatthu dasaka) is made up of the essential octad plus the mind-base element and the life element. After the embryo has been formed through these three decads, from about the eleventh week of gestation onwards, the decads of the other four sense organs begin to form. Kamma causes and sustains these material phenomena through the whole course of life. 2. Consciousness (citta). The mind can not only influence matter but also produce material phenomena. Psychosomatic illnesses like duodenal ulcers, high blood pressure, and asthma indicate such operations. Other examples are levitation, telekinesis, and fire-walking. In the normal course of events consciousness is responsible for volitional bodily action and speech, the postures, respiration, production of sweat and tears, and the three alterable elements — buoyancy, pliancy, and efficiency.
3. Heat (utu). The heat element (tejo), one of the four primaries present in all clusters of matter, can itself cause different kinds of matter to arise, both simple octads and more complex formations.
4. Nutriment (aahaara). The nutriment element (ojaa), present in all clusters, when supported by external nutriment, has the capacity to produce different kinds of material phenomena which in turn have reproductive power. These begin to arise from the time the mother's nutriment circulates in the fetus. This nutritive element is one of the causes of long life.
Decay of Material Form (jaraa)
The proximate cause of aging or decay is the maturing of matter, which occurs through the continuing action of the heat element on the kalaapas generated at various times. There are two forms of decay. One, which is invisible, occurs continuously in each cluster from its arising to its ceasing. The other, which is visible, manifests itself as decrepitude, brokeness of the teeth, gray hair, wrinkled skin, etc. Material decay is paralleled by a failing of the sense faculties and the dwindling of the life span as the Buddha points out in the suttas.
Death of Material Form
Like decay, death too has two forms. One is the continual dissolution of matter which is invisible; the other is the visible form of death (mara.na), characterized by the vanishing of the life element, the heat element and consciousness.
Physical death may be due to one of the following four causes:
1. Exhaustion of the reproductive karmic energy (kammakkhaya). The reproductive (janaka) kamma is responsible for the arising and continuation of the material phenomena essential to life. When the reproductive kamma is exhausted, the production of these vital phenomena ceases and death results.
2. Expiration of the life span (aayukkhaya). Life in different planes of existence has its own maximum duration. When this maximum is reached, death occurs even if the reproductive karmic force is not exhausted. Any reproductive kamma left unexpended will re-materialize a new life in the same plane.
3. Simultaneous exhaustion of the reproductive karmic energy and the expiration of the life span (ubhayakkhaya).
4. The interference of a stronger opposing kamma (upacchedaka kamma), which obstructs the flow of the reproductive kamma, causing death before the life term expires. This cause accounts for sudden "untimely" deaths, seen especially in children.
The first three causes are responsible for "timely" deaths (kaala mara.na), the fourth for "untimely" deaths (aakaala mara.na). The four may be illustrated by the extinguishing of an oil lamp, which may be due to any of four causes: exhaustion of the wick, exhaustion of the oil, simultaneous exhaustion of both wick and oil, or some extraneous cause like a gust of wind.
The Five Groups (pañcakkhandhaa)
The word khandha means group, mass, or aggregate. The Buddha often described a "person" as a composite of the five groups of existence. He qualified the description with the term upaadaana, meaning "grasping" or "clinging." So we have the term pañcuupaadaanakkhandhaa, translated as "the five groups of existence which form the objects of clinging." The five are:
1. Corporeality group (ruupakkhandha)
2. Feeling group (vedanaakkhandha)
3. Perception group (saññaakkhandha)
4. Mental formation group (sa"nkhaarakkhandha)
5. Consciousness group (viññaa.nakkhandha)
The Buddha described each group as being connected with the aasavas. An aasava is a canker, taint, corruption, intoxicant, or bias. There are four aasavas, namely that of sense desire (kaamaasava), desire for existence (bhavaasava), wrong views (di.t.thaasava), and ignorance (avijjaasava).
It must be emphasized that these five groups do not exist in their totality simultaneously. They form a classificatory scheme filled only by single members that are evanescent and occur in various combinations at any particular time. The Buddha illustrated the emptiness and insubstantial nature of each group by comparing corporeality to a lump of froth, feeling to a bubble, perception to a mirage, mental formations to a coreless plantain stem and consciousness to a conjuring trick (SN 22.95).
Materiality and Meditation
Earlier we saw that the Buddha stressed the uniformity of the four great primary elements by stating that the internal and external both share the same nature. He then said: "By means of perfect intuitive wisdom it should be seen as it really is, thus: 'this is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.'" This instruction shows that there is nothing special about this body we are accustomed to think of as "mine" and sometimes believe to be a special creation. It is, in essence, the same as the outer material world.
The Venerable Saariputta, one of the Buddha's two chief disciples, makes the same point in a different way.1
Having described the four great primary elements as the Buddha did, he then declares that there comes a time when each of the external elements gets agitated and destroyed, so "what of this short lived body derived from craving?"
When the solid element in the body gets agitated all kinds of growths form, from a wart to a cancerous tumor. When the fluid element is agitated dropsy results — swelling due to an accumulation of fluid. The heat element causes fever, frostbite, etc.; the wind element flatulence and colic. The geologist tries to find the reasons for physical disturbances and the medical researcher the causes for bodily disorders. But, wherever the four primary elements are found, agitation is, too, and the result is dis-ease — a state of disorder. Regarding the space element, the Venerable Saariputta said: "Just as, dependent on stakes, creepers, grass and clay, space is enclosed and the designation 'a dwelling' is used, in the same way, dependent on bones, sinews, flesh, and skin, space is enclosed and the designation 'material form' (body) is used."
The parts of the body also serve as a subject of meditation. Such meditation gives understanding of the body's nature without morbidity or fascination. The contemplation of the body mentions thirty-two parts — none of which, considered separately, is the least bit attractive, not even the hair, skin, nails, and teeth, which are generally tended for personal beautification. Though a man considers a woman to be beautiful on account of her "lovely hair," if he should find one of her hairs in his breakfast cereal, he will find it repulsive rather than attractive. Since non of these parts has beauty of its own, it is impossible that they can make an attractive whole. The meditation on the parts of the body aims to dispel the common perverted perception (sañña vipallaasa) of seeing the unattractive as attractive. It is practiced not to repress desires or to build up an emotional revulsion but solely to help us understand the body's nature.
Another meditation, the analysis of the body into the four primary elements, helps to dispel the delusion of the body's compactness. The Mahaasatipa.t.thaana Sutta gives a simile of a butcher who, having slaughtered a cow and cut it into various parts, sits at the junction of four high roads. The butcher, the commentary explains, thinks in terms of a "cow" even after the animal has been slaughtered, as long as he sees the carcass on the floor. But when he cuts up the carcass, divides it into parts, and sits at the cross roads, the "cow percept" disappears and the perception "meat" arises. He does not think he is selling "cow" but "meat." In the same way, if one reflects on the body by way of the elements, the "person-percept" will disappear, replaced by the perception of the elements.
Once an elderly householder named Nakulapitaa approached the Buddha and said: "Venerable Sir, I am an old man, far-gone in years, I have reached life's end, I am sick and always ailing." He wanted the Buddha to instruct and advise him. The Buddha said: "So it is, householder, so it is, householder! Your body is sick and cumbered! Householder, he who, carrying this body around, would consider that it is healthy even for a moment, what else is he but a fool? Therefore, householder, this is how you must train yourself: 'My body may be sick but my mind shall not be sick.' Thus, householder, should you train yourself."
Pondering on these incontrovertible truths about the body will help us:
1. To get rid of complexes, whether superior or inferior, relating to the body.
2. To adopt a sensible attitude towards it, neither pampering it nor molesting it.
3. To regard its fate — decay, disease, and death — with realism and detachment.
4. To gain insight into the no-self (anattaa) aspect of all phenomena.
Develop Maoist-affected areas as Ambedkar villages: Mayawati
TNN, Jul 13, 2010, 04.38am IST
LUCKNOW: In a new roadmap for the development of Maoist-infested
areas, chief minister Mayawati on Monday directed officials to declare
all villages in such areas as 'Ambedkar villages' for accelerated
development, and asked the forest department to issue necessary no
objection certificate (NOC) at the earliest for road construction and
other development work.
This was directed by the CM after a review meeting held in the city.
The meeting was conducted by Cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh
and chief secretary Atul Kumar Gupta.
In this scheme of things, the CM said, top priority should be accorded
to electrification and improvement in health care and drinking water
facilities, besides upgradation of the public distribution system. She
also said landless people should also be allotted Panchayat land on
pattas on a priority basis.
This way, she said, the scheme should be prepared for five districts,
namely Sonebhadra, Chandauli, Mirzapur, Chitrakoot and parts of Karvi
and Banda. The CM said development programme should be formulated on
the basis of demands of local people and added 61,487 cheap houses
should be constructed in the area under the Kashi Ram Shehari Garib
Awas Yojna on a priority basis. Expressing concern over delay in the
execution of scheme already prepared for the region, she said work
should be expedited and officers concerned should be held accountable
for lapses. As for the irregularities in the allotment of land on
patta to those of Scheduled Castes, the CM said deterrent action
should be taken against the officials found guilty on that count and
any such patta should be cancelled immediately. In such a matter, she
said, SDMs would be held directly responsible for any lapses.
She said the sale of land owned by SC/ST should be screened thoroughly
and nobody should be allowed to exploit them. Land useful for
agriculture and housing purposes should be allotted on a priority to
landless people of to SC/ST.
Taking strong exception to the rising incidents of adulteration in
consumable items, she said action should be taken to discourage such a
practice through a sustained drive. She said divisional commissioners
and district magistrates concerned should constantly monitor such
drives in their respective areas and also inform the Secretariate
about the outcome of the drives.
Likewise, the sale of spurious and banned drugs should be monitored
and deterrent action should be taken against those found guilty. As
for the availability of fertiliser and seeds to farmers, she said
special efforts should be made to ensure their supply at block and
village level. There was no dearth of such items and, therefore, any
complaints would be deemed as a lapse on part of the officials
concerned, she added.
She also said identification of beneficiaries under the UP
Mukhyamantri Garib Arthik Madad Yojna should be completed without any
delay. Under the scheme, Rs 300 per month is earmarked to be given to
each beneficiary. This is expected to benefit nearly 30 lakh
beneficiaries in the state.
Prabuddha Bharath Matha Maha Mayawati distributes the State's wealth equally among all sections of the society. She not only distributed land to the tillers, but also healthy seeds to the farmers. BSP government distributes loans to all the needy upcoming bussiness men. This self-employment will help the unemployment problem. Her administration is excellent and the government employees are doing their work efficiently. She is firm in punishing the corrupt govt.employees.
Maya begins overhaul of party set-up
Lucknow : Upper castes, OBCs to be given key posts; MLAs, MLCs to be
included in local decisions
To ensure the presence of upper caste and OBC leaders in key posts at
the district-level the Bahujan Samaj Party has made several changes in
its organisational structure.
Recently, Chief Minister Mayawati had dissolved all party committees
and asked senior functionaries like zonal coordinators to select
office bearers who can ensure a good show for the party in the coming
assembly elections.
The party is now overhauling its district units — and one of the key
changes is to revive the post of the vice-president there.
"The post existed about a year ago. Now, the party leadership has
decided to restore it," said a BSP leader. The district units will
have four key posts — president, vice-president, treasurer and office
secretary.
According to the new system, the posts of vice-president or treasurer
can be given to upper castes, Muslims or the OBCs.
"It all depends on the caste profile of the district," a leader said.
"If the district has a good number of Muslim population, the party's
vice president can become from the Muslim community."
If an upper caste member gets the post of vice-president, the
treasurer can be selected from the OBC community. "In case the
treasurer is from the Brahmin community, the post of vice-president
can be given to the OBC community."
The party, however, will continue its practice of selecting the its
district unit presidents from the SC community. "Members from Pasi,
Dhobi and Dhanuk communities will also become the party president at
the district level," the leader said.
A decision has also been made to accommodate MLAs and MLCs at the
district level as member of the executive committee. The CM has given
clear instructions to zonal coordinators to constitute district units
with their consent.
"The step is meant to empower MLAs in party affairs at the district
level," said a legislator. "Earlier, the legislators were not directly
associated with the district units. They were supposed to be
communicated about the party's decision by the zonal coordinators."
The party has also started appointing its members as "Zila Prabhari".
"A Zila Prabhari is virtually a replacement of the Lok Sabha
Prabhari," the legislator said. He is supposed to assist the district
president.
Party insiders say Mayawati's chief focus now is organisation. "She
wants to gear up the party's district-level organisation before
September. Thereafter, she will unfold her next plan for the assembly
elections," a leader said.
