Understanding Impermanence as a phenomenon of Cause & Effect

In his very first sermon, Dhamma Cakkapavattana Sutra, Tathagatha revealed to the five disciples the cause and effect phenomena[1] in all conditioned things when he preached, “Whatever that is subject to arising all that is subject to cessation"[2].

What is referred to as 'all' here is nothing but the twelve sense bases i.e., eye, ear, nose, tongue, body & mind as well as forms seen by the eye, sound heard by the ear and so on. The one who sees the momentary nature of these sense bases comprehends that they do not exist before or after the occurrence of seeing, hearing etc. but arise to the occasion and cease thereafter without leaving anything behind.

Seeing forms hearing sound etc. are experiences of the senses or the state of consciousness. Seeing things as they really are is the wisdom.

Mirror Image

When we are in front of a mirror we know that it produces a reflection on it and that is due to the presence of several factors, i.e. Mirror, our body and light. We also know that the image formed on the mirror disappears when we move away from the mirror and therefore, we do not grasp the mirror image as a thing that exists permanently. It is said that if one can meditate on that occurrence alone the person can develop wisdom to remove the delusion he or she is subject to in day to day visual encounters, in the process realising the impermanent nature of all things. One will know that the eye, the object and eye consciousness are not permanent and just arise to the occasion and cease thereafter. The person will see nothingness in what he or she crave for and cling onto as things that exist permanently, like the image falling on the mirror.

Animals don’t have the wisdom that we demonstrate in the above instance and hence react to its image on the mirror noting it as another animal; nevertheless, we do not use our acuity in this particular experience, elsewhere in our day to day life to see beyond the world.

The challenge we have in front of us is to see and note cessation of sense basses similar to how we do when interacting with the mirror image.

The Fridge example

When a fridge door is opened we see that its interior is illuminated by a light bulb. However, one may not know whether it looks the same prior to opening the fridge or after closing the door and hence will assume that the fridge interior is illuminated all the time. Even if we tell the person that the light is not on all the time and that it turns on only when the door is opened, he (or she) will not agree for the simple reason that each time he opens the fridge he finds that the bulb is always on. This is the perception of existence that we adhere to in all our sense experiences. It is due to our ignorance that things do not exist before or after but arise to the occasion, or our lack of wisdom.

On account of this experience one may attempt to understand the philosophy of impermanence by contemplating on the fact that the light emitting from the filament is momentary and that it does not exist permanently. However, such observation is limited to the extent of his contemplation as his attention is on a light bulb he has already perceived as one that exists & turned on. This is considered as merely an assumption of impermanence of something that is already perceived as a thing that exists. Meditating in this manner is no different, it is said, to contemplating on impermanence of things, say a house while having noted and accepted the existence of the house already. Here one can only contemplate on transformation of the elements rather than impermanence. This practice does not conform to the noble practice of observing impermanence as a phenomenon of cause and effect due to arising and cessation of sense bases as revealed by the Buddha.

The notion that we have a house that we left this morning and that we will see it when we get back later in the day is the perception of existence, similar to what we discussed above in the fridge example. It is this notion of existence that makes us to enjoy worldly pleasures as a result of which the feeling of me mine and myself develops. Ignorance of causality fosters the notion that things exist and are permanent.

In order to demonstrate the switching mechanism of the fridge light we need to open the door and reveal the switch that is concealed and show how it turns off the light as it get pushed in when the door closes and similarly, how it turns on the light as it is released when the door is opened. This develops the knowledge of the observer that the light is not on before the fridge is opened or after it is closed but turns on only when the door is opened. This is an example for the assumed knowledge of cause and effect.

Similarly, when the eye meets an object eye consciousness arises and the three together through contact creates sensation and thus perception of form. When the eye ceases the contact ceases and hence the perception of form or what is seen, without leaving anything behind. The notion that things exist is simply a mental perception and not the reality. According to the Buddha’s teachings, such notion of existence or becoming is driven by craving and clinging.

'We are only aware of the arising of aggregates but not their cessation, therefore,' says Venerable Sudassana, 'we keep accumulating defilements'. Coming back to the Fridge example, if the person keeps on opening not one but several fridges, his notion will be that the light inside all those fridges exist all the time. Similar to the person’s delusion in the said example, we are deluded in our day to day experiences, assuming that things we have seen, heard smelt and so on, exist. However, if we are able to see cessation of the aggregates as well, we will comprehend that nothing remains after the occurrence of seeing, hearing etc. and therefore nothing exists, and moreover, we will also know that there is no one who exists as ‘me’, an experiencer, either.

Liberation from all six senses releases us from the feeling of an entity or a being that exists or in other words from the personality (or identity) view. In reality no one uses the six sense bases concurrently and the one who believes that he (or she) does is tormented by suffering.

All that we have grasped are considered purely as defilements. When these defilements of greed, hatred and delusion cease we won’t have any things or persons that exist externally to worry about. This realisation is only achieved through the path to liberation which is the Noble Eight Fold Path.

Morality (Sila) is essential in this practice and when it is observed with the Right View it’s known as ‘dittinca anupagamma sila’ as taught in the teachings. Restraining action and speech helps with restraining the mind which is essential to develop concentration (Samadhi).

Insight meditation requires concentration developed through tranquillity meditation (Samatha Bhavana). Contemplating on the impermanence and unwholesome nature of aggregates helps one in subduing greed and hatred; however, it is difficult to address each object individually to achieve this.

Walking on a land of thorns.

The person who wants to walk on a land, say a forest, that is covered with thorns adopts a simple method of wearing a slipper or a shoe to cover his feet rather than covering the whole ground filled with thorns, with timber planks, for instance. Similarly, one should restrain the mind by particularly focusing on areas where craving arises and dwells. It is said that grasping as ‘me’ which usually extends to grasping as ‘my family’ entail craving and clinging encompassing all other related factors such as my house, my car etc. When one is released from such form of grasping, starting from  grasping as 'me', everything else gradually falls apart. In this endeavour one has to contemplate on everyone that is noted as a sentient or a person. Further, he needs to consider both himself and the others, noting both as bodily formations made of hair nails, teeth, flesh etc. and not as sentient or person (Four States of Mindfulness meditation). The aim is to see differently to how the worldly beings see, with a vision that is beyond this world.

The reason to the animal’s deception in regard to the image on the mirror is it’s inclination to the image. Similarly, though we are not deceived by the mirror image we in fact are in our worldly encounters, which is said to be owing to our inclination to objects. An Enlightened person is the one who has no inclination whatsoever under any circumstance.

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[1] hethu-pala dahama

[2] Yan kinci samudaya dhammam sabbantham nirodha dhammam

SEEING BEYOND FORM: INSIGHT TO REALITY

Albert Einstein one day asked his friend, the Danish scientist Neils Bohr, ‘Do you really think the moon isn’t there if you don’t look at it’? Bohr’s response was, “Can you prove to me the opposite that the moon is there when we don’t look? it is not possible.”

Paradoxes of quantum physics baffled even Einstein.

Reality and Modern Science

Since early last century Quantum Physicists began to focus on emerging theories on the reality of physical matter in their attempts to explain how quantum mechanics inform our understanding of nature. Some argued that physical objects appear only when we look at them and disappear when we look away, perhaps they do not exist at all in physical form. 

Stephen Hawkings in his program called Grand Design, discusses the notion of reality as explained by models of Physics, he questions if a coffee table in the middle of a room is still there when the observer leaves the room.  

‘How do you know the table still exist if you go out of the room? Can it pack up and disappear out of the window? Could even pay a visit to the international space station; perhaps even fly to the moon, before it returns to the exact same spot instantly before you re-enter the room? This seems like an unlikely scenario, says Hawkins, ‘but one, that we can’t rule out!’ (Stephen Hawking’s, Grand Design, BBC 2012)

‘It is easier to assume that the table stays put when you are not there, that is our best fit model of reality. This is what we do in science; we create best fit models of how we believe the universe actually work’, adds Hawkings.

Reality is a best fit model as our mind can perceive and not probably what is out there.

These scientists have been experimenting on formation of matter for number of years and yet were unable to determine the true nature of the reality as they continue to seek answers from the external. Quantum physicists have been able to make predictions of the composition of the sub atomic particles of matter. In 1960s they predicted the existence of tiny particles called Quarks, proposed to be the building blocks of sub atomic particles, protons. However, this model also applied that there is no way that one can ever see a single isolated quark. If they cannot be seen can we say they exist?

Theoretical Physicist, Lenny Susskind proposed the holographic principle in his attempt to find where information that is fundamental to reality is stored. He went on to say that if reality is holographic our three dimensional world is an illusion projected from information stored in the outer universe. (‘What is Reality ‘, BBC Horizon, 2011)

Physicists such as Anton Zeilinger used the double slit experiment to demonstrate that atoms and molecules (particles) behave strangely and not as we assume them to be. It made them to believe that tiny particles can be at different places at the same time. However, to the astonishment of the researchers conducting this experiment, particles did behave as they expected initially, when they are being observed. That made the scientists to agree that we can change how reality behaves just by looking at it.

             

Double Slit Experiment: When single photon particles were fired, one at a time, the projection on the screen which expected to create two lines, created 3 or more. But when detectors were placed in front of the slits only two lines were displayed.

Source: New Scientist

Cosmologist Max Tegmark suggested the existence of a parallel universe in trying to explain how particles can be at different places at the same time. Later, he attempted to explain the reality through mathematics and proposed that everything around us can be explained through mathematical formulas and that the entire universe is a giant mathematical structure.

Notwithstanding, the scientists seem to agree that though they know how to use and even to make predictions of quantum mechanics no one understood it fully. There are fundamental limits to what we can know, says Stephen Hawkings.

What appears to be the principle error in these observations is that the scientists examine the products formed by our senses rather than directing their attention to the conditions that cause formation. Once we accept the form as we perceive, with designations, the error has been made and any study that follows will be not to avail, In other words it is closing the stable after the horse has bolted.

The Buddhist Perspective

According to Buddhist teachings we do not see things as they are, in other words, all objects sensed through our sense bases are identified only as how we interpret them to be. Formation occur as a mental fabrication which takes place in accordance with how we perceive information sensed through the six sense bases as visible form, sound, smell, taste, touch and dhamma. The one gripped with form believes that things that we see exist and remain even when we are not looking. This is what we are made to believe, due to ignorance, but we need to change this view in order to see beyond the form.

Shapes or forms do not belong to objects or the particles that it constitutes of. We don’t note particles in forms neither do we see atoms in objects. The eye derives relevant aspects of object particles (colours etc.) to create shapes and forms. For instance, when we look at stars from far away we see shapes formed in the sky. In ceremonial parades , when a number of parade participants wearing different colours are grouped in a particular order, interesting colour patterns and shapes are displayed, e.g. Olympic parade formations. Similarly, colourful formations of light can be seen during night time in a busy town centre when seen from far. In these instances colour components of modules (Stars, human figures and lights) placed far apart are gathered closer, together by the eye to create different forms, patterns and shapes.

Thousands of participants rehearse a formation on Tiananmen Square in Beijing

Source: Telegraph Media Group Limited

City by Night: Lights and colour patterns highlight building forms

This occurrence in the eye is a form of distortion of view resulting from what is known in Buddhist teachings as Densities or Crowding (Ghana) which in this instance is noted as Density of Whole (Samuha Ghana).

The Densities or crowding (Ghana) are of continuity, of whole, of function and of Object which give rise to illusions or distortions (Vipallasa) by three functions of the mind i.e. by perception (sanna), by thought (citta), and by view (ditti) as to create four false notions of Permanence, Wholesomeness, Happiness and Self in what are essentially Impermanent, Unwholesome, Unsatisfactory and without Self.

Density of Whole is the notion of wholeness of a body whereas it consists of parts and units such as when one imagine a chariot as one whole body though it consist of many parts. (Jayasuriya, W.F, 1988, Psychology and Philosophy of Buddhism) Chariot example is referred to in the commentary with regard to corporeal, as a shape formed due to combination of several components such as hair, skin, nails, teeth & flesh etc.

In the parade formation example the patterns usually change momentarily as the participants changes positions and make different body movements so that the spectators see a pattern in motion for eg. a waving Flag. In the night city view example cars in motion with lights turned on, create interesting patterns when viewed from a distance. This aspect of Crowding is called the Density of Continuity (Santati Ghana), an occurrence comparable to seeing a single ring of light when a torch is whirled.

Another example for Density of Whole is seeing a heap of sand when in real terms it’s a pile of sand particles grouped together.

Heap of Sand Example

Heap of Sand

Our belief is that the heap of sand exists and remains even when we are not looking at it. That’s the perception of the world. The teachings guide us to examine this with insight through a vision beyond how worldly beings perceive. 

Renowned Dhamma teacher, Venerable Mankadawala Sudassana thero, proposes a simple experiment, “Let’s assume that we ask thousands of people to remove sand from the heap, the rule is that one person can only remove one particle. We see that when all particles have been removed the heap is gone too! Where is it now? No one removed the heap? Now, let’s assume that everyone brings back the particle they removed and place as it was before. We see the heap again. Furthermore we also note that when we touch we only touch the sand particles, not a heap. “The shape of the pile of sand or ‘Heap’ is a formation of the eye which appears when the eye consciousness arises and disappears when we look away, without leaving any trace.

The notion of ‘Heap’ arises within the mind and hence belongs to the mind and not to the external space or sand particles.

Similar to sand particles which are piled up in space, the four great elements are grouped in different ways in space and when sighted we see a shape & colour, for e.g. round or rectangular, red or blue as formed by the eye.

Four Great Elements are identified as Patavi (Earth Element), Apo (Water Element) Tejo (Fire Element) and Vayo (Wind Element) being the most basic or primary elements of matter.

We can’t touch these ‘forms’ or feel them to experience any sensations for e.g. as pleasant or unpleasant or as cold or hot, since they do not exist externally. When we touch we feel the element of solidness as a form of touch, which is unrelated to the visible form. Note here that the eye consciousness that arises when the eye meets the object (visual stimuli) is different to body consciousness resulting from touch (i.e. tactile stimuli).

The four Elements or Mahabhutha do not pose as they are but appear in disguise hence are called ‘Bhutha’, meaning ‘spirit’. What is seen by the eye is described in the script as ‘Upadaya Rupa’ meaning, a shape that associates the Four Great elements subject to other factors. 

The Venerable goes onto explain this Buddhist theory of ‘Form’ (Rupa) with reference to an image (or reflection) falling on water when one looks into a pond. We cannot interact with this image by touching or smelling and it appears when we look into the water and disappears when we move away. If we reach to touch it we will feel the water but not the image.

Reflection in Water

He further relates the state of perceiving visible form to a wall painting (mural). We see people, buildings and flowers in it with real surroundings though it is just a series of paint brush strokes on the wall, if we attempt to feel a flower for instance, we will touch the wall. The reality identified in the mural is framed entirely in our mind. The Enlightened one pointed out that there is no substance in the form that we sense and compared it to a lump of foam. We add substance to form with defilements and fermentations (Klesha or keles and asrava or asava) we have accumulated, grasping them as people and things. 

There is no difference in the experiences mentioned above, it is said, to what we experience in our day to day encounters with external objects. We sense mere shapes and colours but our defilements and fermentations come to the fore and make them real. Not only we create the world around us consisting of things and people that are formed in our mind, we continue to believe that they exist out there regardless of us looking at them or not.

Moreover, the dilemma is that we tend to tie our sense experiences, for instance, a visual experience to an experience from another sense door, such as smell, taste, touch etc., which in reality occur in isolation of each other.

Identifying individual sense experiences in isolation is the key to see form as it is which is called in teachings as being skilful in Sense Bases (Ayatana Kusala). As soon as eye contact ceases the act of seeing ceases and nothing remains, however, we attempt to connect say, a hearing experience that may follow to what has just been seen. We often integrate what is sensed through mind consciousness as something that we saw or heard before whereas it is only a thought arisen in the mind in contact with a mental object. Our defilements grow upon things we retain as seen, heard, smelled etc. integrated at mind consciousness level and we continue to believe that they exist out there.  

  

Venerable Sudassana relates to an experiment to explain how we form a ‘net of craving’ by connecting sense experiences. Post six pegs on ground in a circle, say at equal distance, and each one with a rope tied to its top end. If the other end of the rope belonging to each peg is tied to another peg in the circle a net will be created automatically connecting all pegs. The six pegs represent our six sense bases and the ropes tied to them denote relevant sense experiences. Similarly as we tie our sense experiences to experiences from other senses, creation of a net of craving is inevitable. Instead, if we tie each rope around the peg that it belongs to, the net will disappear, hence, the Venerable stresses, unbraid the ‘net of craving’ that entraps you in samsara by refraining from integrating sense experiences.

Net of Craving

One should not be able to go in search, looking for an object, with reference to another sense experience say, something heard, smelt or tasted. In simple terms we should not go in search of an elephant after hearing a trumpet.

This may sound bizarre in the worldly sense as the expectation is completely the opposite; however, the teachings focus on deliverance from the world in absolute terms.

The Buddha revealed how we misinterpret sense experiences by tying experience from one sense base to another constructing the sense of an entity in the process as an expereincer. The integrations, he has said, takes place at mind consciousness state creating an illusory self in mind, which results in formation of ego and conceit. On the other hand, by tying one sense experience to the others we compose a person or a thing in our mind as one that continue to exist out there and hence we come back in search of  that person/thing to experience or re-cognise - forming Re-link consciousness (prathisandhi vinnana) .

The blessed one identified this fundamental error and urged to refrain from tying experience from one sense door to another. In his discourse to Bahiya Darucheeli, the ascetic wearing trees bark. The Buddha preached,

"Then, Bāhiya, you should train yourself thus: In reference to the seen, there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard, only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. That is how you should train yourself.

When for you there will be only the seen in reference to the seen, only the heard in reference to the heard, only the sensed in reference to the sensed, only the cognized in reference to the cognized, then, Bāhiya, there is no you in connection with that.

When there is no you in connection with that, there is no you there. When there is no you there, you are neither here nor yonder nor between the two. This, just this, is the end of suffering." added the blessed one. ("Bāhiya Sutta" (Ud 1.10), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 3 September 2012).

It is said that Bhahiya Darucheeli became an Arhat having listened to this sermon.

The functioning of the mind in its attempt to integrate sense experiences has been demonstrated in an experiment by scientists recently. “By staging an experiment that manipulates the senses, we can explore how the brain draws – and redraws- the contours of where our selves reside.”(New Scientist 23 February 2013)

In its article titled “Where are You” the writer, Anil Ananthaswamy, explains the experiment,

“One of the simplest ways to see this is in action is via an experiment that’s now part of neuroscience folklore, the rubber hand illusion. The setup is simple: a person’s hand is hidden from their view by a screen while a rubber hand is placed on the table in front of them. By stroking their hand while they see the rubber hand being stroked, you can make them feel that the fake hand is theirs (see diagram).”

Source: New Scientist

It is evident here that the person experiencing the stroking (touch) is attempting to integrate the tactile stimuli to visual stimuli and in the process to redefine the boundaries of self.

Anil goes on to say, “The mind integrates various senses to create aspects of our bodily self, in the rubber hand illusion; the mind is processing touch, vision and proprioception  - the internal sense of the relative location of our body parts.  Given the conflicting information the brain resolves it by taking ownership of the rubber hand. “

"one's own", "individual" and perception, is the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement’

We believe that we are born to a world that exists consisting of things and people including ourselves as experiencers. The Buddha preached otherwise, having realised the reality of the world as it is he called upon the worldly beings to see the reality by themselves and to realise from within than looking for answers from outside. 

The Eye is the Ruler

The Eye cannot be seen and it is known by its function only, the faculty of the ‘eye’. The eye arises when it meets an object formed by the four great elements, and ceases when there is no more contact. When the two are in the presence of each other the eye cognition occurs.  What we identify as eye being part of our body is yet another object that is external seen by eye faculty .Here; we combine the function of the eye with an external form in the process of forming ‘my eye’. 

Similarly ear or nose can’t be known in isolation of their function, hence they are called senses. Only the external objects can be seen.

The role of the eye is to compose forms depicting colour and shape.  Say, there is a coloured sticker on our external window, anything that comes in front of the window, say a white car, will be seen in colour through the window. The sticker determines what we see. If a child, from his birth, sees outside through a coloured glass window he would think that everything outside is of the colour of that glass. He won’t see what really exist out there until such time he walks out of the house one day.

The Eye is called indriya for its role as a ruler; it governs the act of seeing by composing groups of particles into form. What we see is conditioned by the eye, like the glass in the above example. If we don’t see the eye as it is with insight, we will continue to see forms that exist externally.

The two examples, the heap of sand and the reflection in water, discussed above conforms to the Buddhist theory of impermanence of conditioned phenomena, being non-existent things arise due to conditions and cease when the conditions cease. (‘Yan kinci samudaya dammam sabbattam nirodha dhammam’)

Venerable Sudassana relates to the Buddha’s word when he states, “associate forms but be free from it.” He further reminds, “You  associate with your image in the mirror to comb you hair and so on, but you do not ‘leave’ the image behind when you move away. “

The realisation of the act of ‘seeing’ as a mental process (with insight), identifying what is seen is not an object that exist externally but an image formed in the mind by the great elements that are present out there, develops the Right View which is paramount in breaking the cycle of re-birth.  

Seeing beyond form

The Buddha advised to see beyond the form, as a name-matter composition formed due to combination of factors, a product of the cause and effect phenomenon. He pointed to the causality & momentary nature of form and stressed the importance of observing the arising and ceasing phenomenon to recognise its impermanent nature. By pursuing in this manner through insight meditation, he has said, one can realise that things do not exist before or after the occurrence of ‘seeing’ but arise to the occasion when conditions are present  and cease thereafter when conditions cease to exist.

With regard to the question that baffled Scientists, it can now be stated that the moon, round in shape and luminous, is not there unless we look at it.

Though we can contemplate on the form and the eye as discussed we still can’t see their momentary nature through our senses due to hindrances and our defilements and fermentations. (Five Hindrances are Sense Desires, Ill will, Slope & Toper, Restlessness and Doubt.)

We cannot witness it ourselves as personality get in the way; however, when hindrances are removed things begin to appear as they really are. 

The Buddha declared that the one who sees beyond form with insight reach the state of a non-returner (anagami), the fourth state of enlightenment, and will not be born again in the sensual realm.

Meditation, through Tranquillity (Samatha) and insight (vidarshana) methods are recommended as essential in this regard, the former to calm the mind and the latter to see the reality of existence with insight. One need not give up the lay life completely to practice such meditation but can do it while leading a normal life. Adherence to moral conduct while restraining the senses helps with cultivating concentration that enables insight to see things as they are, the right view, which is inevitable to see beyond the form. The one who reaches this state proceed on the Noble Eight Fold Path, detached from worldly perceptions & formations, to be free from craving and consequently, future becoming.

He, who is liberated from six levels of worldly perceptions, sees beyond form and thus the world, hence, is not called a man, a god or a brahmin but an Enlightened one.

Why are'nt we Happy?

We are constantly seeking happiness. Every morning we greet people whom we meet wishing them a ‘good day’ or a ‘Good morning’. This is keeping with our natural desire to be free from unhappiness that we commonly experience in our day to day life. It’s interesting to note that we wish happiness at all our life events as well such as, Birthdays, Anniversaries and so on. Does this imply that we are usually unhappy? or is it that there is more likelihood to be unhappy than happy? 

Historically the man is preoccupied with activities that are supposed to keep him happy. He went in search of food to satisfy his hunger and built shelters to protect him from elements.  In terms of the basic needs one needs to live, there is no difference from these early times to the present other than that the man has made things complicated in his attempt to fulfil the basic needs and to be happy.

It is evident that in his attempt to find happiness he has embraced more and more things that bring unhappiness than happiness. For instance, to satisfy the hunger now he needs to prepare complex meals and thus requires sophisticated appliances and different forms of energy, at a cost. In terms of a shelter he needs a modern house that is energy dependent for the comforts he is attracted to. He raises children keeping up with social norms and practices to gain happiness and perhaps to take over the possessions after him. All these, though they seemingly bring happiness, without his knowledge, drags him towards unhappiness eventually causing unsatisfactoriness.

An example of how we aggravate our burdens is explained though the following analogy.

An old person goes to his field in his bullock cart every day and he use to carry his plough in the cart. One day he felt bad that the weight of the plough is burdening the bull and thus he decided to carry it on his shoulder while still standing on the cart. Due to lack of his intelligence he did not realise that it is not making any deference to the bull but makes him carry the burden as well. Unfortunately, we behave in the same manner when it comes to our actions to overcome unsatisfactoriness by exposing ourselves to more and more burdens.  The Buddha advised to let go of all burdens.

One cannot be free from unsatisfactoriness, without knowing what unsatisfactoriness is. The Enlightened one saw how people are ignorant of this and hence came forward to teach them what unsatisfactoriness is, cause for unsatisfactoriness, cessation of unsatisfactoriness and the path to cease unsatisfactoriness.

If there is a leak in our roof, first we need to find where the leak is before we fix it. Similarly, we need to know what unsatisfactoriness is and identify the cause to find our way out of that.

If we drop a rock into a well it will sink, regardless of whether you make a wish that the rock should float or not. If you go near a plant that is growing well and whether you wish or not that it shouldn’t grow it will keep growing. This is the way the nature behaves. If the tree catches a disease it will get weaker and become frail and when it reaches its life expectancy it will die.

Similarly, our body is prone to diseases and as we grow old it decays. The body is also destined to die one day like the tree. Just because we have grasped this body as me, mine and my-self, it will not make any difference to the laws of nature, i.e, the body will catch diseases, decay and eventually meet death. As we are ignorant of how the nature behaves we experience unsatisfactoriness due to decay and death. The Buddha said, the cause for unsatisfactoriness is our grasping of the body as me mine and my-self. He urged to consider the things in the world, both animate and inanimate, as grass or wood which are lifeless, free from sentients or persons.

As we don’t see the real nature of the body we experience unsatisfactoriness. We need to distinguish between the name and matter (nama-rupa) aspects and the fact that the body is manoeuvred by the name (nama) which occupies it. When we see them apart, it is said, we will not take the body as me mine and my-self any more. Venerable Sudassana argues that if the body is me how could we see our body in our dreams?

The one who sees this dhamma through insight is said to be free from sensual pleasures and free from unwholesomeness. It is the state known in pali as ‘vivicceva kame,  vivicceva akusale’ experienced in the first dyana . A state where one feels the pleasantness that is beyond the worldly pleasures.

This makes us to believe that the treatments we have undertaken so far to cure unsatisfactoriness haven’t worked and that we need to seek alternative treatment. The Buddha diagnosed the cause and prescribed us how to treat this illness of unsatisfactoriness hence he was called ‘Sathhata wana bhava dukata vedananan’, the doctor to all beings who experience the suffering of existence.

He showed us that the real happiness we can experience is found when we liberate from the body, by seeing the body as it is.

How do we see this, Venerable Sudassana explains,  ‘look at the body as a composition of five components, hair, bodily hair, nails, teeth and skin, the ones that we see.’ As the mind associates the body we feel sensations. It is the mind that sees form, sound, smell and so on and manoeuvres the body movements as well.

The sensations are felt by the mind but not the body, the leg or the hand. There aren’t any people who sit and experience, for instance see forms etc. The body does the role of the chair when we sit, and we say we are seated taking account of the posture of the body which is in a seated position.

When we recognise that it’s the mind that sees, through arising of eye consciousness and that  it’s the mind that hears through arising of the ear consciousness and so on, we liberate from the feeling of self or of an entity. We realise that it’s not me, mine or my self. This is vidarshana or insight meditation.

In order to improve our ability to see insights we need to develop concentration by making use of a tranquillity meditation technique such as In and Out breathing (Anapanasati), loving kindness, Qualities of Buddha or foulness meditation (Asubha). Morality helps with restraining speech and action that is vital in maintaining concentration.

Rohitassa Sutra

When the Buddha was residing at Jethavana in Savathnuwara,  one night, a god named Rohitassa approached him and after seeking permission asked the blessed one ‘ whether it is possible for someone to reach the edge of the world by walking, where birth, death, decay , passing away and reappearance , do not exist. The Buddha responded saying that no one can  reach the edge of the world by walking where, birth, death, decay, passing away and reappearance do not exist.

Rohitassa was delighted with this response from the Buddha and exclaimed, ‘oh, isn’t it wonderful that the blessed one said that no one can reach the edge of the world by walking ,where  birth, death, decay , passing away and reappearance do not exist,’ he went on to admit that in his previous existence as a rishi he possessed super natural powers that enabled him to  travel so fast, however, despite his attempts throughout his entire life, he still couldn’t reach the edge of the world which is  free of  birth, death, decay , passing away and reappearance.

Nevertheless, the Buddha added ‘though it is true that no one can reach the edge of the world by walking where birth, death, decay , passing away and reappearance do not exist , I claim that without reaching the edge of the world one cannot find the refuge, free from of  birth, death, decay , passing away and reappearance .

He declared that the edge of the world in fact is found within the twelve sense basses, i.e. eye, ear, nose, tongue body, mind, visible objects, sound, odour and so on and hence, the Enlightened one preached,

“It is in this very fathom-long physical frame with its perceptions and mind that, I declare, lies the world, and the arising of the world, and the cessation of the world, and the path leading to the cessation of the world.”

(“Imasmin yeva wyama matte kelavare sa sangnimbhi lokan cha pannambhi samanake loke cha, Panchapemi lokasamudayancha loka nirodan cha, Loka nirodha gamini papipadan cha panchapemi”)

Rohitassa Sutta: Samyutta Nikaya (Translation: Bikkhu Nanananda, 2007)

The Buddha went on to say ‘I consider that understanding the sense bases, the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, the mind and visible objects, sound, odour, tactile and dhamma alone is reaching the edge of the world, the unconditional state or the asankathaya.’

In order to understand this dhamma we need to distinguish between the world and the edge of the world says Venerable Sudassana, First you need to know the garden before you look for the periphery or boundary.

The world is the state of mind where one believes in the existence of objects that is seen, both before and after seeing. It is where someone uses the eye, the ear, the nose and so on throughout his or her life to perceive things and persons. Perceiving gold, silver, car, father, mother, child and so on is the nature of the mind in the world. To the one who finds people and things in what he or she sees, hears, and smells & so on, in short everything that one associates with and is able to remember, is the world. It is said that such persons mind is heavily burdened with associations with greed, aversion or delusion.

The edge of the world is where you see the reality as it is. It is where you encounter four great elements and the forms created by those elements (upadaya forms) yet in sketchy format. For example if you capture the scene in front of you by a camera and print it to a life size photo, it will portray the shapes and colours but you will not find life in it as you see now in front of you with people and perhaps animals. The state of cognition is identical to this experience apart from that you give life to the shapes of people and things that you see, in your mind, influenced by defilements you have accumulated. We project our sensual thoughts onto the picture and make it real. In other words we see according to the way we behold.

The blessed one has preached,

‘Objects of sensuality in the world become sensual only due to man’s lustful conceptions. The things of beauty exist in this world as they are; they do not carry sensuality that man associates with. The wise, subdue their desire, in this regard.

When we behold a visual object as a man or a woman we associate him or her accordingly, same with sounds such as vehicle sound, voice of singers etc. In perceiving sound we have a habit of identifying them with visual images, for example, when we hear a sound of a vehicle we quickly connect it to an image of a car or a truck in our mind. Same with odour and taste, the other sense bases.

Venerable Sudassana explains, ‘If you meet a foreigner who talks to you in a strange language you will not have any feeling either with like or dislike though he may even be accusing you. However, if you know the language and understand what he says you will either like him or dislike him and may even express your feelings.’

At the edge of the world we only meet sketches with no details; similar to how we sensed when we were toddlers. This is the true nature of the world. As adults we project our knowledge to the sketchy images that we encounter to associate them as things or persons that exist.

The mind can only recall or memorise impressions of our own mental constructions and not what is out there. We combine our mind impressions with external elements for our satisfaction. As long as we are deluded in this manner in the sensual world we continue to have attachments and thus craving prevails. The one who realises the truth will eventually get dissatisfied.

Venerable Sudassana explains how one could get dissatisfied; ‘a person who is having a meal thinks that the taste he enjoys is in the food on his plate where in fact it is the taste of the morsel of food that has become a pulp mixed with saliva while chewing. For some reason if he has to put it out he will throw it away with disgust. The one who realises that what he enjoys when eating is nothing pleasant to look at as the piece of meat or fish on the plate, he will no longer crave for food.’

To overcome our delusion we need to understand the true nature of the sense bases which is found at the edge of the world. The sketchy images that we encounter initially is a result of our past ignorance, kamma and craving.

When we see the true nature that is present at the edge of the world (or the sense bases) we liberate from death, decay etc. and suffering due to losing valuables, separating from the beloved and so on. This state is called attaining Sopadishesha nirvana.

The teachings guide us to live while enjoying the truth free from fermentations (cankers). The edge of the sense basses is the edge of the world and the truth, whether a Buddha is present or not, is that. When the truth is not known we do not see the reality and we are said to be having a wrong view and due to the wrong view the truth in turn gets concealed. In other words owing to the Ignorance, fermentations are formed and these fermentations in turn cause ignorance.

Other religions show us how to live while we associate the things that exist in the world. On the contrary Buddha showed us how the world is created within this fathom long body and it is the excellence of his dhamma.