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.
