For the meditator who sees things as they really are, explains
the late Mahasi Sayadaw, there is no “I” or
“being”—only mental and physical phenomena coming together in the
present moment.
Seeing the mind (mental phenomena, which incline toward
sense-objects) and body (physical phenomena, which change) as they
really are is the purification of view.
—Visuddhimagga 2, 222
A meditator will rarely have wandering thoughts once
concentration becomes strong. Instead, there will be an
uninterrupted flow of pure noting mind most of the time. If a
wandering thought does enter the mind, the meditator will be able
to note it immediately and the thought will pass away. The
meditator sees physical phenomena as they really are: that they are
subject to alteration and that they are not able to know or
experience anything. They are insensible (abyakata),
inanimate, just like a log or stone.
As the meditator is noting, it becomes obvious that the noting
mind resembles running to and sticking with the noted object.
Likewise, it becomes obvious that the six types of
consciousness—seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and
thinking—seem to go to their respective sense objects. The
meditator is seeing and understanding mental phenomena as they
really are, seeing their characteristic of inclining, or being
drawn toward, sense objects.
For the meditator who sees things as they really are, it is
obvious that the mental and physical phenomena are different. They
are not taken as one and the same anymore, as they were before the
practice of meditation. When the meditator observes the rising
movement (of the abdomen when breathing in), he or she can at least
discern between the rising movement and the noting mind. Similarly,
the meditator can differentiate between the falling movement (of
the abdomen when breathing out) and the noting of it; the sitting
posture and the noting of it; the intention to bend, the bending
movement, and the noting of it; the intention to stretch, the
stretching movement, and the noting of it; the visible form, the
eye, the seeing, and the noting of it.
Before a drum is beaten, its sound does not exist in the drum
itself, the drumstick, or anywhere in between. Even though a sound
occurs when the drum is beat, the sound does not originate from the
drum or the drumstick. The physical phenomena of drum and drumstick
are not transformed into a sound nor does the sound originate from
anywhere in between drum and drumstick. In dependence on the drum,
the drumstick, and the hitting of the drum, the sound is a
completely new phenomenon each time the drum is hit. The drum and
the stick are different from the sound.
In the same way, before you see something or someone, seeing
does not exist in the eye, in the visible form, or anywhere in
between. The seeing that takes place neither originates in the eye
nor in the visible form. The seeing consciousness neither
originates in the eye nor in the visible forms, which are physical
phenomena. It also does not originate from anywhere in between.
Seeing is actually a new phenomenon that arises due to the
combination of the eye, the visible form, light, and your
attention. Thus, the eye and the visible form are different from
the seeing. The same is true for the other senses.
When you understand the difference between mental and physical
phenomena, you are likely to reflect that neither the mind nor the
body alone can perform actions such as sitting, standing, walking,
bending, stretching, seeing, hearing, and so on. Only the mind and
body together can perform these activities.
Because of this, the mind and body together are mistaken for
“I.” One thinks, “I am sitting; I am standing up; I am going; I am
bending; I am stretching; I am seeing; I am hearing,” and so on. In
reality, there is no “I” or “being” that sits, stands up, and
walks, but only mental and physical phenomena. That is why the
Visuddhimagga (2, 231) says:
In reality, mind conditions matter, and matter conditions mind.
When the mind wants to eat, drink, speak, or change posture, it is
the body that actually eats, drinks, speaks, or changes
posture.
When we expand on this, we can say:
The volition to eat is mental, but what actually eats is the
body.
The volition to drink is mental, but what actually drinks is the
body.
The volition to speak is mental, but what actually speaks is the
body.
The volition to sit down is mental, but what actually sits down
is the body.
The volition to stand up is mental, but what actually stands up
is the body.
Some meditators may use similes to describe their experience of
mental and physical phenomena. The Visuddhimagga (2, 228)
gives these similes:
A coach is so called because of the way that its components are
assembled: the axles, wheels, body, and shafts. However, if you
examine each component separately, there is no coach to be found. A
house is so called when its materials, posts, beams, etc., are fit
together. Other than these materials, however, there is no house
that can be found. A tree is so called because it includes a trunk,
branches, and leaves, and so on. But apart from these parts, no
tree can be found.
In the same way, a being is so called because he or she is composed
of the five aggregates of clinging, i.e. mental and physical
phenomena. However, if you pay attention to each of these phenomena
separately, you will no longer have the conceit that, “I am so and
so,” or the wrong belief that, “I am a person.” You realize that,
in terms of ultimate reality, there is no being that exists. All
that exists is the mind, which is able to incline to the object and
know the object, and matter, which is not able to know the object
and is subject to alteration. This realization is called “seeing
things as they really are.”
Being able to come up with a good simile, however, doesn’t
matter. Without thinking deliberately, while you are simply noting,
you are able to discern between mental and physical phenomena, and
you understand that in this body there are only mental phenomena
that are able to know objects and physical phenomena that
are not able to know objects. Besides these two phenomena,
there is no being, I, soul, or self. This understanding comes
naturally and is the peak of the insight knowledge of mental and
physical phenomena. This insight knowledge in turn is called “the
purification of view,” as it helps to remove the deluded view that
a being really exists (atta-ditthi). That is why the
Mahātīkā [the commentary to the Visuddhimagga]
says:
The phrase “seeing mind and matter as they really are” means
seeing them as just phenomena and not a being by observing their
individual characteristics, thus: “This is mind; this much is mind;
there is nothing more than this (i.e., no being). This is matter;
this much is matter; there is nothing more than this (i.e., no
being).” This is purification of view, as it eliminates the deluded
view that a being really exists. Thus should it be understood.
The individual characteristics of physical phenomena (such as
alteration or roughness and hardness) and individual
characteristics of mental phenomena (such as inclining toward the
object, mental contact with the object, feeling, perceiving, or
knowing of an object) only really exist in the moment they
occur—not before or after. That is why you can only be truly aware
of the specific characteristics of mental and physical phenomena
when you observe them from moment to moment. In this way, you
understand that there is no “I” or being, but only mental and
physical phenomena. This understanding is called the purification
of view. It means that this understanding can eliminate the wrong
view of a person or being.
When the characteristics of mind and matter have been understood
as they truly are by noting the presently arising objects, the
meditator comes to see the causes of those phenomena. With this,
the insight knowledge of conditionality will arise: the realization
that certain causes give rise to certain phenomena, whether in the
past, present, or future. This insight knowledge can take various
forms, depending on a person’s aspiration, spiritual maturity, and
intellectual ability. The Visuddhimagga identifies five
forms, which are explained in the sections below.
Some meditators see the causes of matter. They see that physical
phenomena have been continuously occurring, from birth up to the
present moment, due to the four causes of ignorance, desire,
clinging, and volitional actions in the past. They also see that
the nutrition they receive in the present preserves the body, and
that the desire to sit, bend, and so forth results in the physical
actions of sitting, bending, etc. As well, they see that hot and
cold environments give rise to hot and cold physical
sensations.
A meditator can empirically observe the present causes for
physical phenomena, such as nutrition, consciousness, and weather.
But one cannot directly observe the causes from the past, such as
ignorance, desire, clinging, and volitional actions. However, even
before beginning meditation practice, a vipassana meditator has
already accepted intellectually that wholesome actions lead to a
good life and beneficial results, whereas unwholesome actions lead
to a bad life and unbeneficial results. Therefore, when one
practices and empirically observes ignorance, craving, clinging,
and volitional actions in the present, one will
inferentially realize that they were also operating in the
past.
The mental and physical phenomena that make up our lives are all
unsatisfying. Attachment to them is the cause of suffering. Not
knowing this truth is called “ignorance of suffering and its
cause.” Believing that the phenomena of life are actually
satisfying and the cause of happiness is called the “delusion of
pleasure and its cause.” These two kinds of delusion are deeply
rooted in the hearts of ordinary people. They devote themselves day
and night to enjoying as much pleasure as possible. Day and night,
they do everything they can to get the most out of their present
life and to enjoy better lives in the future. These delusions,
therefore, cannot be overcome simply through study.
On the other hand, the cessation of the defilements and
volitional actions as the causes of suffering leads to the complete
cessation of all mental and physical phenomena at the time of
entering parinibbana. One is no longer reborn as a human or deva,
man or woman. This is called the truth of cessation.
Ignorance of the peace and happiness of nibbana, as well as
ignorance of insight practice and the path (the causes of happiness
and peace), can be called “ignorance of suffering and its cause.”
Believing that nibbana must be awful and that insight practice and
the path are causes of suffering can be called the “delusion of
pleasure and its cause.” In other words, these are distorted and
wrong understandings of the truths about the cessation of suffering
and the way leading to its cessation.
If these two kinds of ignorance are very strong, one may
actually fear nibbana, thinking that after parinibbana nothing will
arise, nothing can be known or experienced, and one cannot meet
others anymore. One may even make disparaging comments about
liberation, saying, “Nibbana is complete annihilation. It can’t
possibly be good. Practicing to attain it is simply going to a lot
of trouble, mentally and physically, to attain annihilation!” For
ordinary people, this active form of ignorance and wrong
understanding of the four noble truths occurs only at certain
times. However, it occurs in its dormant form along with every
object that is not noted. Therefore, if ignorance is noted at the
time of its occurrence, it can be empirically seen by the
meditator.
In addition, if these mental and physical phenomena are
mistakenly believed to be satisfying, liking and attachment arises.
As a result, the desire to become more prosperous arises. This is
clinging. Because of clinging, various activities—volitional
actions—are performed.
Craving, clinging, and volitional actions can be seen by noting
them as they are occurring and by recollecting them from the past.
When the meditator sees in practice how volitional actions have
their origins in ignorance, craving, and clinging, he or she
realizes that because of volitional actions in the past there is
continuous arising of physical phenomena in this life starting at
the moment of rebirth-linking (the consciousness that gives rise to
rebirth after death based on karmic accumulation). At the same
time, the meditator understands that these physical phenomena also
arise because of ignorance, craving, and clinging. We call this
“realizing the causes of physical phenomena empirically and
inferentially.”
When seeing is noted, the meditator understands and comprehends
that seeing occurs when there is the eye and a visible form. Or the
meditator understands and comprehends that with the meeting of the
eye, the visible form, and the seeing, there is contact between the
object and the mind. The same is true for all the senses.
Furthermore, when a meditator notes “seeing,” or “hearing,” or
“touching,” or “thinking,” etc., he or she can see that contact
with the object arouses pleasure or displeasure in the body or
mind.
Pleasure is enjoyed and therefore the desire for continuous
enjoyment arises. The meditator wants to get rid of the displeasure
and wants pleasure instead. The clinging to pleasure causes actions
of body, speech, and thoughts with the aim of gaining enjoyment. In
this way, the meditator empirically sees the causes of the mind in
an adequate manner.
Once a meditator has empirically seen the causes of mental and
physical phenomena in the present life, he or she concludes with
inferential knowledge that they must be the same in the past and
future: “In the past, there were only these mental and physical
phenomena which occurred due to certain causes. In the future,
there will only be these mental and physical phenomena which will
occur due to certain causes.”
A meditator who understands and comprehends that in the past,
future, and present, there are only mental and physical phenomena
that give rise to other mental and physical phenomena can abandon
and overcome the belief in a self and the related sixteen kinds of
doubts, which are as follows:
Five doubts about one’s existence in the past:
1. Did I exist in previous lives? (the notion that the “I” has
existed forever)
2. Did I not exist in previous lives? (the notion that the “I”
only exists in this present life)
3. What was I in previous lives? (rich or poor, lay, ordained,
Myanmar, Indian, brahma, deva, human or animal,
etc.)
4. What did I look like in previous lives (tall, short, fat,
thin, fair, dark, etc.), and who or what created me in previous
lives (God, Brahma, or another celestial being or did I
spontaneously come into existence)?
5. What type of person was I in previous lives?
Five doubts about one’s existence in the future:
6. Will I have another life after death? (the notion that the
“I” is indestructible and eternal)
7. Will I not have another life after death? (the notion that
the “I” will disappear after death)
8. What will I be in my next life?
9. What will I look like in my next life, and who or what will
create my next life?
10. What type of person will I be in my next life?
Six doubts about one’s existence in the present:
11. Is there an “I” (being, self, soul, spirit) in this
body?
12. Is there not an “I” in this body?
13. What is this “I”? (rich or poor, lay, ordained, Myanmar,
Indian, brahma, deva, human, or animal, etc.)
14. What does this “I” look like?
15. From where or what previous life did this “I”
transmigrate?
16. To where or what future life will this “I” transmigrate?
These sixteen kinds of doubt only arise in those who believe in
the existence of a “self.” They do not arise in those who
understand that there is only a succession of mental and physical
phenomena based on cause and effect—devoid of a “self” or an
“I.”
One can only have doubts about whether or not a rabbit has horns
if one does not really know what a rabbit looks like. If one has
actually seen a rabbit, however, it would not be possible to
entertain this doubt.
Some meditators experience the conditionality of mental and
physical phenomena arising as follows:
I see due to the eye and visible forms. I hear due to the ear
and sounds. I smell due to the nose and odors. I taste sweet, sour,
and so forth, due to the tongue and flavors. I know touching
sensations due to the body and tangible objects. I think, reflect,
and note objects due to the heart-base and various mental objects.
Due to wise attention, living in a suitable place, associating with
virtuous people, listening to the dhamma expounded by the wise, and
having mature paramis (virtues or perfections), there
arises wholesomeness and the ability to practice insight
meditation. Due to unwise attention, living in an unsuitable place,
associating with evil people, listening to the words of immoral
people, and having poorly developed paramis, there arises
unwholesomeness.
Wholesome volitional actions based on delusion, craving, and
clinging result in a fortunate rebirth, in good and pleasant
objects at all six sense doors, and in many beneficial results.
Unwholesome volitional actions based on delusion, craving, and
clinging result in an unfortunate rebirth, in bad and unpleasant
objects at all six sense doors, and in many unbeneficial
results.
The physical phenomena that make up the heart-base, eye, ear,
and so on, have been arising continuously since the first moment of
this life due to past volitional actions.
The physical activities of sitting, walking, bending, and so on
are caused by the intention or desire to do so.
The temperature of the external environment causes physical
sensations of heat or cold. The nutrition in the food one eats
gives energy to the body…
Meditators who understand and comprehend that in the present,
there are only mental and physical phenomena that give rise to
other mental and physical phenomena, inferentially understand that
the same is true for the past and the future.
Some meditators see the arising, presence, and disappearance of
conditioned phenomena while observing presently arising objects.
From this, they understand that the first arising of the mind in
this life is just another moment of arising of the mind. They also
understand that death is just another moment of disappearance of
the mind. They understand that aging is the successive presence of
mental and physical phenomena. Therefore, the causes for mental and
physical phenomena are understood. It can be understood in this
way:
For aging and death, first there must be arising or
rebirth.
Arising or rebirth in turn is generated by
volitional actions.
Volitional actions are generated by clinging.
Clinging is caused by attachment to mental and physical
phenomena.
Attachment results from pleasant and unpleasant
sensations.
Sensations are brought about by contact between the mind
and sense-objects
Contact originates from the sense-bases, the sensitive
matter of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind (i.e., because
of the eye-sensitivity and the mind, seeing occurs, and so
on).
The sense-bases come into existence due to the mental and
physical phenomena on which they depend (i.e., the sensitive matter
of eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body are based on the physical
organs, and the mind is based on its physical base and the other
mental elements).
Mental and physical phenomena are generated by various
types of consciousness, such as rebirth-linking consciousness, the
life-continuum and sense-consciousness.
Consciousness has its origin in volitional deeds that one
has performed in past lives for one’s well-being.
Volitional actions arise from ignorance and delusion.
Noble beings, such as bodhisattas, fully realize conditionality
in this way, by seeing dependent origination
(paticcasamuppāda) in reverse order. Ordinary meditators
are also able to realize conditionality this way and overcome the
sixteen kinds of doubt. This is the third way of seeing the
conditionality of mental and physical phenomena.
Other meditators realize conditionality by seeing dependent
origination in forward order. That is, they realize that ignorance
and delusion generate volitional actions, and that volitional
actions generate consciousness, and so on. Noble beings, such as
bodhisattas, fully realize conditionality in this way. Ordinary
meditators are also able to realize conditionality this way and
overcome the sixteen kinds of doubt. This is the fourth way of
seeing the conditionality of mental and physical phenomena.
Some meditators see the conditionality of mental and physical
phenomena in terms of the relationship between volitional acts and
their results. This relationship between volitional action and its
results is divided into the cycle of volitional actions
(kamma-vatta) and the cycle of results
(vipāka-vatta). The cycle of volitional actions includes
ignorance and delusion, volitional action, attachment, clinging,
and existence based on volitional actions (kamma-bhava).
The cycle of results includes consciousness, mental and physical
phenomena, the sense-bases, mental contact, and feeling.
If a meditator considered conditionality in detail, he or she
would see each of the five causal factors and the five resultant
factors. If a meditator considered it in general, he or she would
not differentiate each individual cause and result. Instead, he or
she would simply see volitional action as the cycle of volitional
acts, and would see the kammic results of volitional actions as the
cycle of results.
In the following sections, I explain how the
Patisambhidāmagga, in the Pali Canon, explains the cycle
of volitional actions and the cycle of results.
The volition generated as one plans to perform a wholesome or
unwholesome action is sankhāra. It is the volition that
compels one to perform that action right away. However, the
volition that is generated while actually performing the wholesome
or unwholesome action is kamma-bhava.
Here’s an example of kamma-bhava: while giving
something to someone, you let go of the thing and hand it over to
the recipient so that he or she can do with it as he or she
pleases. In the case of killing, you do that act so that the other
being dies. In this way, the action is completed. It is just the
same with other wholesome or unwholesome deeds.
There are five causal factors that occur as follows:
Ignorance and delusionlead to craving
Craving leads to clinging
Clinging leads to volition involved in preparing to
act
Preparing to act leads to volition involved in carrying
out the act
After carrying out the act one mistakenly thinks that the
act is a cause for happiness and that the result to be experienced
will be happiness
With this, ignorance is generated again, followed by craving,
clinging, and so on. In this way, volitional actions, supported by
ignorance and craving, can lead to rebirth.
When a meditator is noting mental and physical phenomena from
moment to moment, it is obvious that successive moments of
consciousness (seeing, hearing, etc.) are part of an ongoing mental
process. In the same way, the moment of rebirth-linking
consciousness of this present life can be understood as the
successor to the last moment of consciousness (i.e., death) of the
previous life.
If a meditator notes phenomena continuously from moment to
moment, he or she will see new phenomena coming into existence. He
or she can then realize inferentially that the phenomena at the
moment of rebirth arose in the same manner. The same is true for
the six senses, contact, and feeling. These resultant phenomena
eventually give rise to the five causal phenomena when the six
sense-bases mature.
When the sense bases become mature in this present life, the
five causal factors are generated: ignorance or delusion, wholesome
or unwholesome volition, craving, clinging, and volitional action
that result in new life. These five factors are generated when
performing volitional acts in the present life and are the causes
of future rebirth.
—Patisambhidāmagga, 30
These present causal factors lead to the arising of the five
resultant factors in the future:
In the future, there will be rebirth-linking consciousness,
mental and physical phenomena, the six sense-bases, contact between
the mind and sense-object, and feeling or sensation. These five
resultant factors will arise in future existences caused by
volitional acts performed in this life.
—Patisambhidāmagga, 51
The five causal factors that were generated in past lives are
the same as those generated in the present life. Also, the five
resultant factors that will be generated in future lives will be
the same as those generated in the present life. Therefore, if one
empirically perceives the causal and resultant factors in the
present life, one will also inferentially realize the causes
generated in past lives and the results that will be generated in
future lives.
These five resultant factors are all contained within one
moment of consciousness. Therefore, if one is aware of these
resultant factors in a general way, one will see all of them
together as a whole. For example, when one notes a pleasant or
unpleasant object, one is aware that the sight, sound, smell,
taste, touch, or thought simply arises of its own accord as the
result of past volitional action. One is not aware of each
resultant factor separately, noticing, “This is consciousness;
these are the mental and physical phenomena,” and so on.
Instead, one experiences all five of the causal factors together
during a single moment of noting, seeing that they are the past
causes. One then realizes that all volitional activities performed
for the sake of one’s well-being, whether physical, verbal, or
mental, whether in this life or the next, constitute volitional
action that will lead to rebirth. However, one doesn’t see the
resultant factors separately as, “This is ignorance; this is
volitional action,” and so on.
Because the meditator finds only the causal and resultant
factors at the time of noting, he or she concludes, “In past lives
too, there was only volitional action and its result. In future
lives too, there will only be volitional action and its results.
There is only volitional action and its results, and no individual
or personality who produces volitional action or enjoys or suffers
its results.”
MAHASI SAYADAW was born in Burma in 1904 and
ordained as a Buddhist monk at age twenty. He published many
volumes of Buddhist literature in Burmese, including a Burmese
translation of the Visuddhimagga. The teaching presented
here is adapted from his newly translated Manual of
Insight, edited by Steve Armstrong and Deborah Ratner-Helzer.
Many of the early Insight Meditation teachers in the West were
trained in Mahasi Sayadaw’s tradition of vipassana meditation. In
1979 he traveled to the West and taught at the newly founded
Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. He died in
1982.