The Buddha preached , If one does not know and does not see (ajanan apassan) , the eye, the visible form , eye
consciousness , eye contact & the resultant sensations; pleasant , unpleasant ,neither
pleasant or unpleasant, as they are (Yatha Butan); he or she becomes obsessed
by being attached to the eye, the visible form , eye consciousness , eye
contact & the resultant sensations; pleasant , unpleasant ,neither pleasant
or unpleasant and thus take delight on those.
When one takes delight in these, the Buddha has stressed,
he or she becomes engrossed, bonded & perplexed. Therefore, the person is said to be preoccupied
with only the
pleasures (aswada) the above bring about and not the drawbacks or evils that accompany
them. The Buddha raises an important point here, i.e. though one could contemplate on the nature of impermanence, suffering
& selflessness of these dhammas and comprehend that they are subjected to
continuous transformation, as long as he does not see them as they really are,
he or she cannot be free from being
engrossed,
bonded & perplexed.
As the person continues to be attached to the eye, the
visible form, eye consciousness, eye contact and so on, relishing them,
he or she will crave & cling to them more and more resulting in further accumulation
of the five clinging aggregates. In other words, the person will continue to accumulate
suffering[1], i.e.
birth, decay & death, as craving & clinging grows in him. This is the craving
the Tathagata referred to as the one (desire) that grows within a person which
causes becoming with passion & delight, relishing at any given state, here
or there. By accumulating the clinging aggregates one is able to remember
things & persons as those that exist. In addition he or she develops the erroneous
notion that things are wholesome, permanent, pleasant & with self. However,
as said above, the sutra further states that by reflecting upon the, unwholesomeness,
impermanence, unsatisfactoriness & non-self of the said dhamma becomes mere
words and thoughts and does not help as long as the person is deluded.
As a consequence of being obsessed with pleasures as noted
above, it is further said that the person becomes disturbed and aggressive both
physically and mentally. In addition, the person’s bodily torments and mental
torments begin to grow & therefore he or she continues to suffer mentally
& physically.
For instance, say a person finds a precious stone, a diamond; as
soon as he sees the value of it he will develop craving & will do
whatever he can to protect the stone. He will hide it in the most secure place in
his house and may even carry a gun to protect it from burglars.
He will not get proper sleep in the night thinking about the valuable stone and its
security. The person's behaviour and character will change
drastically ending up in suffering both physically & mentally.
If one suffers through the mind and body in this way, it
is evidence for the accumulation of the five clinging aggregates and growth of
craving. In other words it is evidence for the presence of both suffering and
cause for suffering.
The Buddha goes on to explain this dhamma with reference
to the ear as well, if one does not know and does not see , the ear, sound
(audible form) , ear consciousness , ear contact & the resultant sensations,
pleasant , unpleasant ,neither pleasant or unpleasant, as they are; he or she becomes obsessed with the ear, the sound , ear
consciousness , ear contact & the resultant sensations, pleasant ,
unpleasant ,neither pleasant or unpleasant and thus take delight on those.
When the person takes delight in these, he or she becomes
engrossed, bonded & perplexed.
Therefor he or she is said to be preoccupied with only the pleasures
(aswada), but not the drawbacks or the evils that they bring about and hence clings
to them causing further accumulation of five clinging aggregates.
As a result the person becomes disturbed and aggressive,
both physically and mentally. His or her bodily torments and mental torments
begin to grow & therefore he or she continues to suffer mentally &
physically. This is proof for the accumulation of the five clinging aggregates
and growth of craving within the persons mind.
The Buddha has explained this dhamma in reference to the
other senses as well, where one becomes engrossed, bonded & perplexed by not
knowing or seeing the senses, objects & so on, causing accumulation of
the five clinging aggregates with growth of craving or in other words
suffering, i.e birth, decay & death.
Let’s see how one could reverse this, how can one live
without accumulating the five aggregates but by discarding them? Tathagata clarifies that, the one who does know and see (janan, passan), the eye, the
visible form, eye consciousness & so on, as they are (Yatha Butan), will not be attached to & thus
will not be obsessed with them and therefore does not take delight in the
same. When the person doesn’t take
delight in them, he or she will not become engrossed, bonded or perplexed.
Such person continues to live being aware of the drawbacks
or evils (Adeenawa) of those dhamma. In the earlier instance when one didn’t know or see, the five clinging
aggregates got accumulated, now they get dissipated. In addition, the person relinquish the craving that grew within him, which caused becoming with passion &
delight, relishing at any given state, here & there. When the five clinging
aggregates fade away, what is seen is not left behind, as one sees that the
sense (visual) experience ends with the ending of eye contact.
He or she would not return to see things that exist but will
be aware that they can be created and experienced when and where necessary.
There is a difference between going back to see things that one tend to think
as those that exist out there, as against going back to create and experience
again. In the first instance he or she goes back without being aware of the
reality and thus due to delusion forms greed or aversion. In the other instance
one goes back being fully aware, with wisdom, that the person can create and
experience as he or she wishes.
For
instance one can look into a mirror to see his or her image, being aware that
it is an image that does not exist but one that appears only when the person
looks into the mirror. Therefore
one does not leave things in the external as the craving is uprooted.
As a consequence, it is further said, one becomes calm and
soft both physically and mentally. The person’s bodily torments and mental
torments disappear and he or she is happy and content, both mentally &
physically. Free from suffering and cause for suffering, the person reaches the
state where he or she enjoys bliss. The Buddha went on to explain this dhamma in terms of all remaining senses, i.e. ear, nose, tongue, body etc. as well.
If we may go back to the earlier example, the person who found
the precious stone visits a dealer and shows him the stone expecting a good
price. The dealer checks it carefully and rejects it straightaway as a fake with no
value. The man not convinced goes to another dealer and gets the same response.
All hopes & expectations the man had suddenly falls apart and hence his attachment
to the fake stone. Being disillusioned & detached he becomes free from worry
and stress thus regains his composure.
The one who gains the vision (Yatha Butha Nana) as discussed is said to be having the Right View.
The person’s contemplation focused on such vision is the Right Contemplation.
The effort to achieve such vision is the Right Effort. The mindfulness aimed at
the above is the Right Mindfulness and the concentration that contributes to it
is the Right Concentration.
Being a virtuous person, his (or her) speech, action and
the livelihood are already purified and
such
person is said to have embarked on the Noble Eight Fold Path.
“Thus for him,
having thus developed the noble eightfold path, the four frames of reference go
to the culmination of their development. The four right exertions... the four
bases of power... the five faculties... the five strengths... the seven factors
for Awakening go to the culmination of their development. [And] for him these
two qualities occur in tandem: tranquillity and insight.”[2]
The person clearly comprehends the five clinging
aggregates (suffering) and the cause for it which he or she now discards along
with ignorance. Avidya translated as ignorance
has the literal meaning of ‘Nescience’, and thus Vidya is the ‘Science’ which the Buddha has comprehended (Yathabutha Nana) at his Enlightenment,
i.e the wisdom that was unheard of before.
The sutra goes on to say,
"He
comprehends through direct knowledge whatever qualities are to be comprehended
through direct knowledge, abandons through direct knowledge whatever qualities
are to be abandoned through direct knowledge, develops through direct knowledge
whatever qualities are to be developed through direct knowledge, and realizes
through direct knowledge whatever qualities are to be realized through direct
knowledge.”
The knowledge to be gained is the knowledge of the Five
Clinging aggregates, i.e. suffering. What need to be abandoned are the
ignorance, craving & existence. What one has to develop is tranquillity
& insight meditation, realisation should be the science and liberation. In
other words one has to see & know suffering as it really is and abandon
craving to realise cessation.
What we encounter & interact in our day to day life
is the form (visible, audible etc.) not
the eye, eye consciousness, contact or the resultant sensations. The Buddha’s words, when one does not know & do not see, in effect refers to the
form which we do not see as they really are. This applies to all forms whether
its visible, audible etc.
Now let’s explore how we could know & see form as it
is (janan passan)?
Ven Mankadawala Sudassana Thero refers to the example of
the reflection on water, which we can’t smell taste or touch, but only a visible form. It’s merely an image that can’t bring luck or bad luck to you.
Similarly, says the Thero, we can’t touch the visual
object which associates the Four Great Elements, if we attempt to touch we will
only feel the Four Great Elements. When we gain the realisation of this
phenomena, we do not get attached to a visual object and will not find delight
in it. We will not find value in it but will see as a void, therefore, the Buddha
has said “in the seen will be what is merely seen’ (Bhahiya Sutra).
Within our existence we can touch an object that we see, we
can even smell and feel, as we do not see the object as it really is. As we
don’t see objects as they really are we find gold, silver, sons , daughters etc.
which we grasp in terms of the pleasures they bring in. With the accumulation
of the five clinging aggregates we keep growing our desire (craving) that make us to go in search
of things & persons over and over again, leading to rebirth (punarbhava).
To overcome this unsatisfactoriness one needs to know
& see things as they really are (janan passan yathabutan) i.e. He or
she needs to develop his /her ability to see form as it is. Thereby, the person
can begin to live experiencing the drawbacks or evils of form, the eye, eye
consciousness, eye contact & corresponding sensations so he or she wouldn’t
accumulate the five clinging aggregates any more, in other words, does not
leave behind what the person saw, heard etc. This is the state where one sees
& realises ‘being non-existent things arise due to causes and cease when
the causes cease to exist’ (Yatha Bhutha Nana).
One cannot see the said reality of form due to hindrances
& thus needs to restrain senses adopting a tranquillity meditation
technique to calm the mind. Stillness of the mind develops concentration
required for insight meditation and thus the person begins to see things as
they really are. One needs to use both, tranquillity & Insight meditation
techniques concurrently in this manner until the ultimate goal is achieved.
[1]
The Buddha referred to the five clinging aggregates as suffering
[2]
"Maha-salayatanika Sutta: The Great Six Sense-media Discourse" (MN
149), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (Legacy
Edition), 30 November 2013
