A discourse on
PATICCASAMUPPADA
OR
The Doctrine of Dependent Origination
by
The Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw
of
Burma
Translated by U Aye Maung
Published by:
U Min Swe
Buddhasasana Nuggaha Organization
Rangoon, Burma.
(Prepared at BuddhaNet for free distribution)
** ** **
CONTENTS
1. Importance Of The Doctrine
2. Reflection Of The Bodhisatta
3. Anuloma Reasoning
4. Beyond Reasoning And Speculation
5. Dhamma Is Only For The Wise
6. Difficulty Of Understanding
7. What Is Avijja (Ignorance)?
8. Ignorance Of The Origin Of Dukkha
9. Ignorance Of The Third And Fourth Noble Truths
10. Right View, Etc.
11. Avijja Leads To Sankhara
12. Unwholesome Kammas
13. Rejection Of Good Kamma Means Bad Kamma
14. Ignorance And Illusion
15. Sankhara Causes Vinnana
16. How Sankhara Leads To New Vinnana
17. Sassata And Uccheda
18. Death-Bed Visions
19. The Story Of Mahadhammika Upasaka
20. Vinnana and Nama-Rupa
21. Upapata Rebirth
22. Sansedaja Beings
23. Vithi-Cittas
24. Manodvara Vithi
25. Follow-Up Vithi
26. From Vinnana Arises Nama-Rupa
21. The Story Of Cakkhupala Thera
28. The Thera's Verdict
29. Pure Thought And Happiness
30. Nama-Rupa And Salayatana
31. Rupa And Ayatana
32. Summary
33. The Buddha's Emphasis On Practice
34. The Abstruseness Of The Doctrine
35. Relation Between Manodvara And Vinnana, Etc.
36. Recapitulation
37. Vedana Leads To Tanha
38. Six Kinds Of Tanha
39. Tanha And Samsara
40. Extinction Of Craving
41. The Story Of Mahatissa Thera
42. Story Of A Parrot
43. Contemplation And Extinction
44. Cutting Off At The Foundation
45. Kilesa And Unmindfulness
46. Thoughts And Tactile Impressions
47. Three Kinds Of Craving (Tanha)
48. Tanha Causes Upadana
49. Bases Of Sensual Pleasure
50. Ditthupadana (Bigotry)
51. Right Views
52. Seeing The World Beyond
53. Parami And Kamma
54. Silabbatupadana (Clinging To False Practices)
55. The Story Of Korakhatiya
56. Other Silabbata Practices
57. Attavadupadana (Clinging To Belief In Soul)
58. Clinging Leads To Becoming
59. Kammabhava
60. Upapattibhava
61. Story Of Mendaka
62. Upadana And Kammabhava
63. Puppharatta Jataka
64. Right And Wrong Good Kamma
65. Kamma And Rebirth
66. Four Kinds Of Kamma
67. Story Of Ajatasattu
68. Habitual And Death-Bed Kammas
69. Birth And Suffering
70. Grief And Lamentation
71. Story Of Subrahma Deva
72. Kamupadana Means All Kinds Of Excessive Craving
73. Attachment To Belief As The Cause Of Rebirth
74. Superstition And Evil Rebirth
75. Fanaticism Or Religious Upadana
76. Silabbatupadana - Attachment To Wrong Practices
77. Attavadupadana - Attachment to Ego-Belief
78. Story of Ugga
79. Vipassana Practice and Upadana
80. Life-Cycle and Three Time Dimensions
81. Five Causes in the Past
82. Distinction between Sankhara and Kammabhava
83. Present Effect Due to Past Cause
84. Knowledge for Vipassana Practice
85. Removing the Present Causes
86. Arahat's Outlook On Life
87. Not Annihilation But Extinction Of Suffering
88. Story Of Yamaka
89. Bhikkhuni Vajira On The Nature Of Khandhas
90. Four Layers, Three Links And Twenty Factors
91. Three Cycles
92. Four Aspects Of Paticcasamuppada
93. The False View Of Sati
94. Distinctive Character Of Each Phenomenon
95. Absence Of Effort (Avyapara)
96. Relevancy Of Cause To Effect
97. Conclusion
98. Cutting Off The Cycle Of Defilements
99. Arahan And The Attributes Of The Buddha
100. Story Of Baka Brahma
101. Sammasambuddha
102. The Fame Of The Buddha
103. The Four Noble Truths In Brief
104. Sammasambuddha And Buddhahood
105. Summary
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Importance Of The Doctrine
The doctrine of Paticcasamuppada or Dependent Origination is very important in
Buddhism. The bodhisatta began with dependent origination when he reflected deeply on the
nature of existence and attained Enlightenment. He first pondered old age and death as did every
other bodhisatta when he was about to become the Buddha in his last existence. For it was only
after seeing the old, the sick and the dead that the bodhisatta saw the ascetic (//samana//) and
renounced the world in search of the ageless and the deathless Dhamma. He had seen the evils of
life in old age, sickness and death.
Every living being wants to avoid these evils of life but there is no end to these evils which
follow him in one existence after another. In view of this endless process of life, all living beings
appear to be in bondage and subject to suffering. Life is in fact an infinite process of births and
deaths. The fate of fowls and ducks is terrible indeed. Some are eaten up while still in the
eggs. If they emerge from the eggs they do not live long but are killed when they grow up a little.
They are born only to be killed for human consumption. If the fate of a living being is thus to be
repeatedly killed it is gloomy and frightful indeed.
But the fowls and ducks appear to be well content with their lot in life. They apparently
enjoy life, quacking, crowing, eating and fighting with one another. They may think that they
have a lot of time to live although in fact they have little time to be happy, their life being a
matter of days or months, with each of them coming into existence and then dying after a short
time.
The span of human life, too, is not very long for the man in his fifties or sixties the past
seems in retrospect as recent as yesterday. Sixty or seventy years on earth is a day in the life of a
deva which is, however, very short in the eyes of a Brahma who may live as long as the duration
of the worlds (//kappa//). But even the Brahma who outlives hundreds of worlds is insignificant
and his life is short in the context of samsaric eternity. Devas and Brahmas, too, have to age
and die eventually. Although they are not subject to sickness and marked dotage, age tells on
them invisibly in due course of time. So every living being has to face old age and death and
nobody can escape from these evils of life.
Reflection Of The Bodhisatta
Reflecting on the origin of old age, the bodhisatta traced back the chain of dependent
origination from the end to the beginning. Old age and death have their origin in rebirth which in
turn is due to //kammabhava// (condition or kamma for renewed existence). Kammabhava
stems from grasping or attachment (upadana) which is caused by craving (tanha). Craving arises
from feeling (vedana) which is produced by sense-bases (ayatana) such as eye, visual form, etc.
Sense-bases are the product of nama-rupa (consciousness and corporeality) which results
from //vinnana// (consciousness) which is again caused by //nama-rupa//.
The full Pali texts about Paticcasamuppada attribute vinnana to sankhara and sankhara to
(kamma-formations) avijja (ignorance). But the bodhisatta's reflection is confined to the
interdependence of //nama-rupa// and vinnana in the present life. In other words, he reflected on
the correlation between vinnana and nama-rupa, leaving out of account the former's relation
to past existence. We may assume, therefore, that for the yogis, reflection on the present life will
suffice to ensure the successful practice of vipassana.
Anuloma Reasoning
The bodhisatta reasoned about the correlation between vinnana and nama-rupa thus: This
vinnana has no cause other than nama-rupa. From nama-rupa there results vinnana; from vinnana
there arises nama-rupa. Hence, from the correlation between vinnana and nama-rupa there arises
birth, old age and death; there may be successive births or successive deaths.
Moreover vinnana causes nama-rupa; nama-rupa causes sense-bases (ayatana). From
sense-bases there arises contact; contact leads to feeling; feeling gives rise to craving; craving to
grasping; and grasping results in rebirth which in turn leads to old age, death, anxiety, grief and
other kinds of mental and physical sufferings.
Then the bodhisatta reflected on dependent origination negatively. If there were no
vinnana there could be no nama-rupa; if no nama-rupa, then no ayatana and so on. The negation
of the first link in the chain of causation leads to the extinction of suffering that has beset us
ceaselessly in the infinite series of samsaric existences. After this reflection on dependent
origination in its positive and negative aspects, the bodhisatta contemplated the nature of
the aggregates of grasping. Then he attained the successive insights and fruitions (magga-phala)
on the Ariyan holy path and finally became the all-Enlightened Buddha. Every bodhisatta attained
supreme Enlightenment after such contemplation. They did not learn what and how to
contemplate from others but owing to cumulative potential (parami) that they had acquired
through innumerable lifetimes, they contemplated as mentioned before and attained
Enlightenment.
Beyond Reasoning And Speculation
Then when it was time to preach, the Buddha thought thus: This dhamma which I know is
very profound. It is hard to understand; it is so sublime and so conducive to inner peace. It is not
accessible to intellect and logic (atakkavacaro). It is subtle and it is to be realized
only by the wise.
All over the world, philosophers have racked their brains about freedom from old age,
sickness and death. so forth. Such knowledge is not vague and speculative; it is vivid and
empirical.
It is said on the authority of scriptures that nama-rupas are in a constant flux and that we
should watch their arising and passing away. But for the beginner this is easier said than done.
The beginner has to exert strenuous effort to overcome hindrances (nivarana). Even freedom from
nivarana helps him only to distinguish between nama and rupa. It does not ensure
insight into their arising and passing away. This insight is attained only after concentration has
been developed and perception has become keen with the practice of mindfulness. Constant
mindfulness of arising and vanishing leads to insight into anicca, dukkha and anatta of all
phenomena. But as merely the beginning of lower vipassana, this insight is a far cry from the path
and its fruition. Hence the description of the dhamma as something beyond logic and speculation.
Dhamma Is Only For The Wise
The dhamma is subtle (nipuno); it is to be realized only by the wise (panditavedaniyo). Here
the wise means only those who have wisdom (panna) relating to vipassana and the path and its
goal. The dhamma has nothing to do with the secular knowledge //per se// possessed by world
philosophers, religious founders, writers or great scientists who can split atoms. But it can be
realized by any one irrespective of sex, age or education; anyone who contemplates nama-rupa at
the moment of their arising, passes through vipassana insights progressively and attains the
Ariyan path and its goal.
Taking stock of the nature of all living beings, the Buddha found that most of them were
mired in sensual pleasure. There were of course a few exceptions like the five companions of
Siddhattha in the forest retreat or the two brahmins who were later to become the two chief
disciples of the Buddha. But the majority of mankind regard the enjoyment of pleasure as the
summum bonum of life. They are like children who delight in playing with their toys the whole
day. The child's toys and games make no sense to adults but grown-up people too derive
pleasure from the toys of the sensual world, that is, from the company of their children and
grand-children.
Such sensual pleasure has no appeal for Buddhas and Arahats. It is highly esteemed by
ordinary men and devas because they have no sense of higher values such as jhana, vipassana and
Nibbana.
A person who is thus fond of sensual pleasure may be likened to a peasant living in
out-of-the-way rural areas. To the urbanites those places are wholly devoid of the amenities of
life, what with poor food, poor clothes, dirty dwellings, muddy footpaths and so forth. But the
villagers are happy and they never think of leaving their native place. Likewise, common people
and devas delight in their sensual objects. Whatever the teaching of the Buddha and the Arahats,
they love pleasure and spend all their time indulging in it. They feel ill at ease in the absence of
sensual objects. They are so much pleased with their families, attendants and possessions that they
cannot think of anything higher than sensual pleasure. Because of their deep rooted love
of pleasure, it is hard for them to understand or appreciate the subtle, profound Paticcasamuppada
and Nibbana.
Difficulty Of Understanding
The Buddha-dhamma makes little appeal to the masses since it is diametrically opposed to
their sensual desire. People do not like even an ordinary sermon, let alone a discourse on Nibbana,
if it has no sensual touch. They do not seem interested in our teaching and no wonder, since it is
devoid of melodious recitation, sentimental stories, hilarious jokes and other attractions. It
is acceptable only to those who have practised //vipassana// or who seek the dhamma on which
they can rely for methods of meditation and extinction of defilements.
But it is a mistake to deprecate, as some do, the sermons containing stories, jokes, etc., as
sutta sermons. Suttas differ basically from popular sermons in that they are profound, as witness
Anattalakkhana sutta, Satipatthana sutta and so forth. The doctrine of Dependent Origination too
belongs to Sutta Pitaka. It is to be labelled Abhidhamma only because it is preached in the fashion
of Abhidhamma Pitaka.
Since our teaching is unadulterated dhamma, some people confuse it with Abhidhamma
and cannot follow it, much less grasp the Path and Nibbana which it emphasizes.
Paticcasamuppada is hard to understand because it concerns the correlations between causes and
effects. There is no ego entity that exists independently of the law of causation. It was hard to
accept this fact before the Buddha proclaimed the dhamma.
The commentaries also point out the abstruse character of the doctrine. According to them
there are four dhammas which defy understanding, viz., the four noble truths, the nature of a
living being, the nature of rebirth and dependent origination.
It is hard to understand and accept the truth of suffering, the truth about its cause, the truth
about its cessation and the truth about the way to its extinction. It is hard to appreciate these
truths, still harder to teach them to other people.
Secondly, it is hard to understand that a living being is a nama-rupa process without any
separate self, that the nama-rupa complex is subject to the law of kamma that determines a man's
future life according to his good or bad deeds.
In the third place, it is hard to see how rebirth takes place as a result of defilement and
kamma without the transfer of nama-rupa from a previous life.
Lastly, it is equally hard to understand Paticcasamuppada. It involves the above three
abstruse dhammas. Its negative aspect concerns the first two noble truths as well as the nature of
a living being and rebirth while its positive aspect involves the other two truths. Hence, it is most
difficult to grasp or teach the doctrine. It may be easy to explain it to one who has attained the
path and Nibbana or one who has studied the Pitaka but it will mean little to one who has
neither the illumination nor scriptural knowledge.
The writer of the commentary on the doctrine was qualified to explain it because he might
have attained the lower stages of the path or he might have a thorough knowledge of the Pitaka.
He refers to its difficulty probably in order that its exposition might be seriously studied by
posterity. He likens the difficulty to the plight of a man who has jumped into the sea and cannot
get to the bottom. He admits that he has written the exegesis on the basis of the Pitaka and the old
commentaries handed down by oral tradition. The same may be said of our teaching. Since it is
hard to explain the doctrine, the yogi should pay special attention to it. If he follows the
teaching superficially, he will understand nothing and without a fair knowledge of the doctrine, he
is bound to suffer in the wilderness of samsaric existence.
The substance of the Paticcasamuppada teaching is as
follows.
From ignorance there arises sankhara (effort or kamma-formation). From kamma-formation
there arises consciousness of the new existence. Consciousness gives rise to
psycho-physical phenomena or nama-rupa. Nama-rupa leads to ayatana (six bases). From ayatana
arises the phassa (impression). Phassa causes feeling; feeling leads to craving. From craving there
results clinging (upadana). Because of clinging there is the process of becoming (kamma-bhava),
from the process of becoming there arises rebirth (jati) and rebirth leads to old age, death,
sorrow, grief and lamentation. Thus arises the whole mass of suffering.
What is Avijja (Ignorance)?
According to the Buddha, avijja is ignorance of the four Noble Truths, viz., the truths
about suffering, its cause, its cessation and the way to its cessation. In a positive sense avijja
implies misconception or illusion. It makes us mistake what is false and illusory for truth and
reality. It leads us astray and so it is labelled //miccha-patipatti-avijja//.
Avijja, therefore, differs from ordinary ignorance. Ignorance of the name of a man or a
village does not necessarily mean misinformation whereas the avijja of Paticcasamuppada means
something more than ignorance. It is misleading like the ignorance of a man who has lost all
sense of direction and who, therefore, thinks that the east is west or that the north is south. The
man who does not know the truth of suffering has an optimistic view of life that is full of dukkha
(pain and evil).
It is a mistake to seek the truth of dukkha in the book for it is to be found in one's own
body. Seeing, hearing, in short, all nama-rupa arising from the six senses are dukkha. For this
phenomenal existence is impermanent, undesirable and unpleasant. It may end at any time and so
all is pain and suffering. But this dukkha is not realized by living beings who look upon their
existence as blissful and good.
So they seek pleasant sense-objects, good sights, good sounds, good food, etc. Their effort
to secure what they believe to be the good things of life is due to their illusion (avijja) about their
existence. Avijja is here like the green eye-glass that makes a horse eat the dry grass which it
mistakes for green grass. Living beings are mired in sensual pleasure because they see every
thing through rose-coloured glasses. They harbour illusions about the nature of sense-objects and
nama-rupa.
A blind man may be easily deceived by another man who offers him a worthless longyi,
saying that it is an expensive, high quality longyi. The blind man will believe him and he will like
the longyi very much. He will be disillusioned only when he recovers his sight and then he will
throw it away at once. Likewise, as a victim of avijja, a man enjoys life, being blind to its
anicca, dukkha and anatta. He becomes disenchanted when introspection of nama-rupa makes him
aware of the unwholesome nature of his existence.
Introspection of nama-rupa or vipassana contemplation has nothing to do with bookish
knowledge. It means thorough watching and ceaseless contemplation of all psycho-physical
phenomena that comprise both the sense-objects and the corresponding consciousness. The
practice leads to full awareness of their nature. As concentration develops, the yogi realizes their
arising and instant vanishing, thereby gaining an insight into their anicca, dukkha and anatta.
Avijja makes us blind to reality because we are unmindful. Unmindfulness give rise to the
illusion of man, woman, hand, leg, etc., in the conventional sense of the terms. We do not know
that seeing, for instance, is merely the nama-rupa or psycho-physical process, that the
phenomenon arises and vanishes, that it is impermanent, unsatisfactory and unsubstantial.
Some people who never contemplate die without knowing anything about nama-rupa. The
real nature of nama-rupa process is realized by the mindful person. But the insight does not occur
in the beginning when concentration is not yet developed. Illusion or the natural way of
consciousness precedes contemplation and so the beginner does not gain a clear insight into the
nature of nama-rupa. It is only through steadfast practice that concentration and perception
develop and lead to insight-knowledge.
If, for example, while practising mindfulness, the yogi feels itchy, he is barely aware of
being itchy. He does not think of the hand, the leg, or any other part of the body that is itchy nor
does the idea of self as the subject of itchiness, "I feel itchy" occur to him. There arises only the
continuous sensation of itchiness. The sensation does not remain permanent but passes away as
he notes it. The watching consciousness promptly notes every psycho-physical phenomenon,
leaving no room for the illusion of hand, leg and so on.
Illusion dominates the unmindful person and makes him blind to the unsatisfactory nature
(dukkha) of all sense-objects. It replaces dukkha with sukha. Indeed avijja means both ignorance
of what is real and mis-conception that distorts reality.
Because he does not know the truth of dukkha, man seeks pleasant sense-objects. Thus
ignorance leads to effort and activity (sankhara). According to the scriptures, because of avijja
there arises sankhara but, there are two links, viz., tanha and upadana between them.
Ignorance gives rise to craving (tanha) which later on develops into attachment (upadana).
Craving and attachment stem from the desire for pleasure and are explicitly mentioned in the
middle part of the doctrine of Paticcasamuppada. When the past is fully described, reference
is made to avijja, tanha, upadana, kamma and sankhara.
Ignorance Of The Origin Of Dukkha
People do not know that craving is the origin (samudaya) of suffering. On the contrary
they believe that it is attachment that makes them happy, that without attachment life would be
dreary. So they ceaselessly seek pleasant sense-objects, food, clothing, companions and so forth.
In the absence of these objects of attachment they usually feel ill at ease and find life
monotonous.
For common people life without attachment would be indeed wholly devoid of pleasure. It
is tanha that hides the unpleasantness of life and makes it pleasant. But for the Arahat who has
done away with tanha, it is impossible to enjoy life. He is always bent on Nibbana, the cessation of
conditioned suffering.
Tanha cannot exert much pressure even on the yogis (meditators) when they become
absorbed in the practice of vipassana. So some yogis do not enjoy life as much as they did before.
On their return from meditation retreat they get bored at home and feel ill at ease in the
company of their families. To other people the yogi may appear to be conceited but in fact his
behaviour is a sign of loss of interest in the workaday world. But if he cannot as yet overcome the
sensual desire, his boredom is temporary and he usually gets re-adjusted to his home life in due
course. His family need not worry over his mood or behaviour for it is not easy for a man to
become thoroughly sick of his home life. So the yogi should examine himself and see how much
he is really disenchanted with life. If his desire for pleasure lingers, he must consider himself still in
the grip of tanha.
Without tanha we would feel discomfited. In conjunction with avijja, tanha makes us blind
to dukkha and creates the illusion of sukha. So we frantically seek sources of pleasure. Consider,
for example, men's fondness for movies and dramatic performances. These entertainments cost
time and money but tanha makes them irresistible although to the person who has no craving for
them they are sources of suffering.
A more obvious example is smoking. The smoker delights in inhaling the tobacco smoke
but to the non-smoker it is a kind of self-inflicted suffering. The non-smoker is free from all the
troubles that beset the smoker. He leads a relatively care-free and happy life because he has no
craving for tobacco. Tanha as the source of dukkha is also evident in the habit of betel-chewing.
Many people enjoy it although in fact it is a troublesome habit.
Like the smoker and the betel-chewer, people seek to gratify their craving and this
tanha-inspired effort is the mainspring of rebirth that leads to old age, sickness and death.
Suffering and desire as its cause are evident in everyday life but it is hard to see these truths
for they are profound and one can realize them not through reflection but only through the
practice of vipassana.
Ignorance Of The Third And Fourth Noble Truths
Avijja also means ignorance of the cessation of dukkha and the way to it. These two truths
are also profound and hard to understand for the truth about cessation of dukkha concerns
Nibbana which is to be realized only on the Ariyan holy path, and the truth about the way is
certainly known only to the yogi who has attained the path. No wonder that many people are
ignorant of these truths.
Ignorance of the end of suffering is widespread and so world religions describe the supreme
goal in many ways. Some say that suffering will come to an end automatically in due course of
time. Some regard sensual pleasure as the highest good and reject the idea of a future life.
This variety of beliefs is due to ignorance of the real Nibbana. Even among Buddhists some hold
that Nibbana is an abode or a sort of paradise and there are many arguments about it. All these
show how hard it is to understand Nibbana.
In reality Nibbana is the total extinction of the nama-rupa process that occurs ceaselessly
on the basis of causal relationship. Thus according to the doctrine of Paticcasamuppada, avijja,
sankhara etc., give rise to nama-rupa, etc., and this causal process involves old age, death and the
other evils of life. If avijja, etc., becomes extinct on the Ariyan path, so do their effects and
all kinds of dukkha and this complete end to dukkha is Nibbana.
For example, a lamp that is refuelled will keep on burning, but if it is not refuelled there will
be a complete extinction of flame. Likewise for the yogi on the Ariyan path who has attained
Nibbana, all the causes such as avijja, etc., have become extinct and so do all the effects such as
rebirth, etc. This means total extinction of suffering, that is, Nibbana which the yogi must
understand and appreciate before he actually realizes it.
This concept of Nibbana does not appeal to those who have a strong craving for life. To
them the cessation of nama-rupa process would mean nothing more than eternal death.
Nevertheless, intellectual acceptance of Nibbana is necessary because on it depends the yogi's
whole-hearted and persistent effort to attain the supreme goal.
Knowledge of the fourth truth, viz., truth about the way to the end of dukkha is also of
vital importance. Only the Buddhas can proclaim the right path; it is impossible for anyone else, be
he a deva, a Brahma or a human being, to do so. But there are various speculations and teachings
about the path. Some advocate ordinary morality such as love, altruism, patience,
alms-giving, etc., while others stress the practice of mundane jhana. All these practices are
commendable. According to the Buddhist teaching, they lead to relative welfare in the
deva-Brahma worlds but do not ensure freedom from samsaric dukkha such as old age, etc.
So they do not form the right path to Nibbana although they are helpful in the effort to attain it.
Some resort to self-mortification such as fasting, living in a state of nature and so forth.
Some worship devas or animals. Some live like animals. From the Buddhist point of view all
these represent what is termed //silabbataparamasa// which means any practice that has nothing to
do with the Eightfold Path.
The Noble Eightfold Path comprises right view, right intention, right speech, right action,
right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right contemplation.The path is of three kinds,
viz., the basic path, the preliminary path and the Ariyan path. Of these the most vital is the
Ariyan path but this path should not be the primary objective of the yogi nor does it require him to
spend much time and energy on it. For, as the vipassana practice on the preliminary path develops,
the insight on the Ariyan level occurs for a thought-moment. For example, it requires much
time and effort to produce fire by friction but ignition is a matter of a moment's duration.
Similarly, the insight on the Ariyan path is instantaneous but it pre-supposes much practice of
vipassana on the preliminary path.
Right View, Etc.
Vipassana insight is the insight that occurs at every moment of contemplation. The yogi
who notes every psycho-physical phenomenon becomes aware of its real nature. Thus he focuses
his attention on the bending of his arms or legs and he realizes the elements of rigidity and
motion. This means right view in connection with //vayodhatu//. Without mindfulness there will
arise illusion of "It is the hand", "It is a man", and so forth. Only the mindful yogi sees things as
they really are.
The same may be said of right view in regard to sensation in the body, e.g. imagination,
intention. When the mind becomes fixed and calm, the yogi finds the nama-rupa phenomena
arising and vanishing and so he gains insight into their anicca, dukkha and anatta.
Right belief implies right intention and other associative dhamma on the path. Insight on
the path occurs at every moment of contemplation. With the attainment of perfect insight into the
three characteristics of existence, the yogi sees Nibbana. Hence, if Nibbana is to be realized here
and now, the practice of vipassana is essential. The yogi who cannot as yet practise vipassana
should focus on the path that is the basis of vipassana practice. This basic path means doing
good deeds motivated by the belief in Kamma. In other words, it is the practice of dana, sila etc.,
in the hope of attaining Nibbana.
All the paths (magga) - the basic, the preliminary and the Ariyan, form the three-fold path
leading to Nibbana. In particular, the yogi must recognize the Ariyan path as the dhamma that is
to be desired, cherished and adored. Such a recognition is essential to strenuous effort in the
practice of vipassana. The yogi must also accept the vipassana magga as a noble dhamma and
know how to practise it.
Some people are ignorant of the way to Nibbana. On top of that they belittle the
Nibbana-oriented good deeds of other people. Some deprecate the teaching and practice of other
people although they have never practised vipassana effectively. Some criticize the right method
because they are attached to their wrong method. All these people have avijja which means
ignorance of and misconception about the right path. It is avijja not to know that dana, sila and
bhavana lead to Nibbana and it is avijja too to regard dana, etc. as harmful to one's interest. The
more destructive avijja is ignorance of and illusion about the right method of contemplation.
Ignorance of the right path is the most terrible form of avijja. For it makes its victims blind
to good deeds and creates illusions, thereby preventing them from attaining human happiness or
divine bliss, let alone the Ariyan path and Nibbana. Yet most people remain steeped in ignorance,
unmindful of the need to devote themselves to dana, sila and bhavana.
Avijja Leads To Sankhara
To them sensual pleasure is the source of happiness, Nibbana as the extinction of
nama-rupa is undesirable and the way to it is arduous and painful. So they seek to gratify their
desire through three kinds of action (kamma) viz., bodily action, verbal action and mental
action. Some of these actions may be ethically good and some may be ethically bad. Some people
will practise dana, etc. for their welfare hereafter, while some will resort to deceit or robbery to
become rich.
A Pali synonym for kamma (action) is sankhara. Sankhara is also of three kinds, viz.,
sankhara by thought, sankhara by speech and sankhara by body. Sankhara pre-supposes cetana
(volition). The function of cetana is to conceive, to urge or to incite and as such it is the
mainspring of all actions. It is involved in killing, alms-giving, etc. The yogi knows its nature
empirically through contemplation.
In another sense there are three kinds of sankharas, viz., punnabhi (wholesome) sankhara,
with its good kammic result, apunnabhi (unwholesome) sankhara, with its bad kammic result and
anenjabhi-sankhara that leads to wholesome arupajhana which literally means immobile
jhana. Rupajhana and all the good actions having the kammic results in the sensual world are to be
classified as punnabhi-sankhara. Punna literally means something that cleanses or purifies. Just as
a man washes the dirt off his body with soap, so also we have to rid ourselves of kammic
impurities through dana, sila and bhavana. These good deeds are conducive to welfare and
prosperity in the present life and hereafter.
Another meaning of punna is the tendency to fulfil the desire of the doer of the good deed.
Good deeds help to fulfil various human desires, e.g. the desire for health, longevity, wealth and
so forth. If a good deed is motivated by the hope for Nibbana, it leads to a life that makes it
possible to attain his goal or it may ensure his happiness and welfare till the end of his last
existence. Abhisankhara is the effort to do something for one's own welfare. It tends to have good
or evil kammic results. So punnabhi-sankhara is good deed with good kammic result. There are
eight types of good deed in sensual sphere (kamavacarakusala) and five types in fine-material
sphere (rupavacara). All these may be summed up as of three kinds, viz., dana, sila and bhavana.
Giving dana gladly means wholesome consciousness which is kammically very fruitful. So the
donor should rejoice before, during and after the act of alms-giving. In the scriptures, this kind of
dana is credited with great kammic productivity. The attitude of the donor may also be one of
indifference (upekkha) but, if the mind is clear, his act of dana too has high kammic potential Any
act of alms-giving that is based on the belief in kamma is rational and it may bear fruit in the form of
rebirth with no predisposition to greed, ill-will and ignorance. An act of dana that has nothing to do
with a sense of its moral value or the belief in kammic result is good but unintelligent and it will lead
to rebirth with no great intelligence. It may bear such kammic fruit in everyday life but it does not
make the donor intelligent enough to attain the path in his next life.
Again one may do a good deed spontaneously without being urged by others
(asankharika-kusala); some do good deeds at the instigation of others (sasankharika-kusala). Of
these two kinds of good deeds, the former is kammically more fruitful than the latter. When we
consider the four kinds of good deeds mentioned earlier in terms of these last two attributes, we have
a total of eight types of wholesome consciousness in the sensual sphere. Whenever we do a good
deed, we are prompted to do so by one of these kusala dhammas; when we practise concentration
and meditation, we have to begin with these eight types of wholesome dhammas.
If it is bhavana that can lead to jhana, the yogi attains rupavacara jhana when his samadhi is
well-developed. Jhana means total concentration of mind on an object of mental training. Samatha
jhana is concentration for bare tranquillity. Jhana samadhi is like the flame burning in still air.
According to the Suttas, the rupavacara jhana has four levels; in Abhidhamma it has five levels.
Unwholesome Kammas
Opposed to punnabhisankhara is apunnabhisankhara or unwholesome kamma formations.
These immoral deeds lead to lower worlds and evils in human life such as ugliness, infirmities and so
forth. They number twelve in terms of consciousness, viz., eight rooted in greed (lobha), two rooted
in ill-will (dosa) and two rooted in ignorance (moha).
The lobha-based dhammas comprise four with wrong belief and four without it. Of the four
dhammas with wrong belief, two are joyful, spontaneous (asankharika) dhamma and joyful but
unspontaneous (sasankharika) dhamma. The neutral (upekkha) unwholesome dhammas may be
classified in the same way. Likewise there are two joyful lobha-based dhammas without wrong belief
and two lobha-based dhammas without joy or wrong belief. Every kamma is characterized by one
of these eight lobha-based dhammas. The dosa-based dhammas are of two kinds, viz., spontaneous
kamma and unspontaneous kamma. This dosa-based consciousness is the mainspring of anger,
dejection, fear and revulsion.
The two kinds of moha-based consciousness are doubt (vicikiccha) and restlessness
(uddhacca). The former concerns doubts about the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha, sila, samadhi, the idea
of a future life and so forth. The latter refers to the person who is distracted and absent-minded. The
mind is seldom calm and it usually goes wandering when it is not restrained through the practice of
bhavana. It is said, however, that uddhacca does not lead to the lower worlds. The other eleven
unwholesome dhammas do so under certain circumstances and even in case of a good rebirth, they
usually have bad kammic effects such as sickliness. These twelve kinds of unwholesome volition
(cetana) are called apunnabhisankhara.
All over the world people wish to be happy and so they strive for their material welfare in the
present life and hereafter. But it is greed and ill-will that largely characterize their activities.
Wholesome consciousness is confined to those who have good friends, who have heard their
dhamma and who think rationally.
Some go morally astray, being misled by their selfish teacher. In the lifetime of the Buddha,
a lay Buddhist abused good monks and so on his death he became a peta in the latrine of the
monastery he had donated to the Sangha. He told the elder thera Moggallana about his misdeed when
the latter saw him with his divine eye.What a terrible fate for a man who had materially supported
the Sangha for his welfare in after-life, but was misguided to the lower world by his teacher. This
shows that the person whose company we seek should possess not only deep knowledge but also
good character.
The mark of a good man is abstinence from any act, speech or thought that is harmful to other
people. Those who keep company with good men or good bhikkhus have the opportunity to hear the
good dhamma and if he thinks wisely, his thoughts will lead to wholesome kammas. On the other
hand evil teachers or friends, false teachings and improper thoughts may lead to moral disaster. Some
who bore unblemished character in the beginning were ruined by corrupt thoughts. They were
convicted of theft, robbery or misappropriation and their long-standing reputation was damaged once
and forever. All their suffering had its origin in the illusion of happiness. Contrary to their
expectations, they found themselves in trouble when it was too late. Some misdeeds do not produce
immediate kammic results but they come to light in due course and lead to suffering.If retribution
does not follow the evil-doer here and now, it overtakes him in afterlife as in the case of the donor
of the monastery who became a peta for his evil words.
His teacher who had misguided him fared worse after his death. For he occupied a place below
his former pupil and had to live on his excreta. The kammic result of his misdeed was indeed frightful.
He had committed it for his own end but it backfired and he had to suffer terribly for it.
Some jungle tribes make animal sacrifices to gods for good harvest, security, etc. These
primitive beliefs still prevail among some urban people. Some worship the chief nat'as if he were the
Buddha. Some kill animals to feed guests on the occasion of religious alms-giving. Even some
ignorant Buddhists have misgivings about this practice. Whatever the object of the donor, killing has
bad kammic result and it is not a good deed despite the belief of the killer to the contrary.
A good deed bears the mark of moral purity. Killing or hurting a living being cannot be morally
pure in any sense if you identify yourself with the victim. He faces death or endures ill-treatment only
because he cannot avoid it. He will surely retaliate if he is in a position to do so. Some people pray
for vengeance and so the killer is killed in his next existence or he has suffer in hell for his misdeed.
The Pitaka abounds in many instances of the kammic consequences of killing.
Some long for human or deva life and devote themselves to dana, sila and bhavana. Their good
deeds serve to fulfil their wishes and lead to welfare in afterlife, but every life is subject to old age and
death, and human life is inextricably bound up with ill-health, and mental suffering. Some crave for
the Brahma-world and practise jhana. They may live happily for many kappas (world-systems) as
Brahmas. But when life has run its course, they will be reborn as human beings or devas and any evil
deed that they do may bring them to the lower worlds. After all, the glorification of the Brahma-life
is an illusion.
The illusion of happiness is not confined to common people. The illusion (vipallasa and avijja)
that makes us regard dukkha as sukha lingers at the first two stages of the holy path, and even at the
anagami stage the yogi still mistakes material life (rupa-bhava) and immaterial life (arupa-bhava) for
a life of bliss. So the object of the Ariyas at the first three stages is to do good. As for the common
people, they are mired in all the four illusions that make them regard the impermanent as permanent,
the dukkha of nama-rupa as sukha, the impersonal as personality (atta) and the unpleasant as
pleasant. Associated with these illusions are the four avijjas. Because of these misconceptions and
ignorance, every bodily, verbal or mental action gives rise to good or bad kamma. A good kamma
arises only from volitional effort coupled with faith, mindfulness and so forth. If the mind is left to
itself, it is likely to produce bad kamma.
Rejection Of Good Kamma Means Bad Kamma
Some people misinterpret the lack of good or bad kamma on the part of the Arahat and say that
we should avoid doing good deeds. For an ordinary person the rejection of good kamma will mean
the upsurge of bad kamma, just as the exodus of good people from a city leaves only fools and
rogues, or the removal of useful trees is followed by the growth of useless grass and weeds. The man
who rejects good deeds is bound to do bad deeds that will land him in the lower worlds. It will be
hard for him to return to the human world.
In point of fact, the Arahat's dissociation from good kamma means only that because of the
extinction of avijja, his action is kammically unproductive. Indeed the Arahats do good deeds such
as revering the elder theras, preaching, giving alms, helping living beings who are in trouble and so
forth. But, with their total realization of the four noble truths and the elimination of avijja, their good
actions do not have any kammic effect. So it is said that the Arahat does not have good kamma, not
that he avoids doing good deeds.
An ordinary person who does not care for good deeds because of his avijja and mistaken view,
will build up only bad kamma that are bound to lead to the lower worlds. In fact the lack of the
desire to do good is a sign of abysmal ignorance that makes the holy path and Nibbana remote. The
mind becomes inclined to good deeds in so far as avijja loses its hold on it. A sotapanna yoga is more
interested in doing good than when he was an ordinary man. The same may be said of those at the
higher stages of the Ariyan path. The only difference is the increasing desire to give up doing things
irrelevant to the path and devote more time to contemplation. So, good deeds should not be lumped
together with bad deeds and purposely avoided. Every action that is bound up with avijja means either
good kamma or bad kamma. In the absence of good kamma all will be bad kamma.
Ignorance and Illusion
Truth and falsehood are mutually exclusive. If you do not know the truth, you accept falsehood
and vice versa.Those who do not know the Four Noble Truths have misconceptions about dukkha
which, posing as sukha, deceive and oppress them.
Apart from tanha which, when gratified affords pleasure, everything in the sensual world is real
dukkha. All sense-objects are subject to ceaseless flux and unreliable. Yet to the ignorant person they
appear to be good and pleasant. They make him nostalgic about what they regard as their happy days
in the past and optimistic about their future. Because of their misconception, they long for what they
consider to be the good things in life. This is the cause of their dukkha but they do not realize it. On
the contrary they think that their happiness depends on the fulfilment of their desires. So they see
nothing wrong with their desire for sensual pleasure. In fact, the truths about the end of dukkha and
the way to it are foreign to most people. Some who learn these truths from others or accept them
intellectually do not appreciate them. They do not care for Nibbana or the way to it. They think that
the way is beset with hardships and privations.
The hope for happiness is the mainspring of human action. Actions in deed, speech or thought
are called kamma or sankhara. We have referred to three kinds of sankhara, the two kinds of good
kamma comprising the first sankhara, viz., the eight good kammas in the sensual world and the good
kammas in the material world; we have also mentioned two kinds of good kamma or consciousness,
viz., one associated with intelligence and the other divorced from intelligence. In the practice of
vipassana the yogi's mind is intelligent if it becomes aware of the real nature of nama-rupa (anicca,
dukkha, anatta), through contemplation. It is not intelligent if it means little more than the recitation
of Pali words and superficial observation. In ordinary morality a sense of moral values is intelligent
if it is associated with the belief in the law of kamma.
Some people say that an intelligent act of dana must involve the contemplation of the anicca,
dukkha and anatta of the donor, the recipient and the offering. This view is based on Atthasalini (a
commentary on Abhidhammapitaka) which mentions the contemplation on the impermanence of
everything after giving alms. But the reference is to contemplation after the act of dana, not before
or while doing it. Moreover, the object is not to make the act intelligent but to create wholesome
kamma in vipassana practice. If by intelligent dana is meant only the dana that pre-supposes such
contemplation, all the other dana of non-Buddhists would have to be dubbed unintelligent acts and
it is of course absurd to do so.
The accounts of alms-giving by bodhisattas make no mention of contemplation nor did the
Buddha insist on it as a pre-requisite to an act of dana. The scriptures say only that the kammic
potential of dana depends on the spiritual level of the recipient and this is the only teaching that we
should consider in alms-giving. If the donor and the recipient were to be regarded as mere nama-rupa
subject to anicca, etc., they would be on equal footing. The act of dana would then lack inspiration
and much kammic potential.
In fact the object of alms-giving is not vipassana contemplation but the benefits accruing to the
donor. So the Buddha points out the would-be recipients who can make dana immensely beneficial
and the importance of right reflection (belief in kamma).
On one occasion Visakha, the lay woman asked the Buddha for lifelong permission to make
eight kinds of offering to the Sangha; these were (1) bathing garments for the bhikkhus, (2) food for
guest-monks, (3) food for travelling monks, (4) food for sick monks, (5) food for the monk who
attended on a sick monk, (6) medicine for the sick monk, (7) rice-gruel for the Sangha and (8)
bathing garments for the bhikkhunis. The Buddha asked Visakha what benefits she hoped to have in
offering such things and the substance of Visakha's reply is as follows.
"At the end of the lent, the bhikkhus from all parts of the country will come to see the Buddha.
They will tell the Lord about the death of certain monks and ask him about their rebirth and stages
on the holy path that they (the deceased monks) had attained. The Lord will reveal their spiritual
attainments. I will then approach the visiting monks and ask them whether their late fellow-monks
had ever visited Savatthi city. If they say yes, I will conclude that the Noble one who is now at the
sotapanna or any other stage on the holy path must have certainly used one of my offerings. This
remembrance of my good kamma will fill me with joy. It will be conducive to peace, tranquillity and
self-development."
Here it is worthy of note that the reference is not to the contemplation on the impermanence
of the namarupa of the deceased monks but to the spiritual attainments that distinguished them in
afterlife. Importance is attached to the contemplation that leads to ecstasy and training in
self-development. Hence, the most appropriate object of contemplation in doing dana is the noble
attributes of the recipient such as the noble character of the Buddha when laying flowers at the shrine,
the holy life of the bhikkhu when offering food and so forth.
Preaching or hearing the dhamma is a wholesome kamma and it is an intelligent act if the
dhamma is understood. Every good deed based on the belief in kamma is an intelligent kamma.
Without the belief, a good act is wholesome but unintelligent as are the good acts of some children
who imitate the elders and worship the Buddha image and the good acts of some people who reject
the belief in kamma but are helpful, polite and charitable.
The five material wholesome dhammas (rupakusala-dhamma) are those associated with five
jhanas. They are accessible only through the practice of samatha that leads to jhana. The eight
wholesome dhammas and the five material wholesome dhammas form the punnabhisankhara.
Apunnabhisankhara or unwholesome kammas number twelve in terms of consciousness. Here
sankhara means volition (cetana). Of the twelve unwholesome sankharas eight are based on greed,
two on anger and two on ignorance.
The greed-based (lobha-mula) consciousness is of eight kinds viz., four with joy and
attachment and four without joy, but with attachment (upekkha sahagutta). Of the first four kinds
two are bound up with belief and, of the two with the belief or without the belief, one is
non-spontaneous (sasankharika) and the other is spontaneous (asankharika). Belief is of three kinds,
viz., belief in ego-entity, belief in immortality of ego, and belief in annihilation of the ego without
there being any kammic effect of good or bad deeds.
Few people are free from the belief in ego-entity. The belief dominates those who do not know
that life is a nama-rupa process without a soul or a being. The belief is weak among those who have
some knowledge of Buddhist scriptures but their bookish knowledge does not help them to overcome
it completely. The yogis who have had a clear insight into the nature of nama-rupa through
contemplation are usually free from the belief. Yet they may hark back to the belief if they stop
contemplating before they attain the path. As for the common people, the ego-belief is deep-rooted,
making them think that it is the self or the ego which is the agent of whatever they do or feel or
think. Again those who believe in total extinction after death and reject the idea of future life and
kamma have unwholesome consciousness that is bound up with nihilistic beliefs.
Hatred-based (dosa-mula) consciousness comprises doubt and restlessness. Doubts about the
Buddha, Nibbana, anatta and so forth are labelled vicikiccha.
Hatred-based consciousness is of two kinds, viz., voluntary consciousness and involuntary
consciousness. But there are many kinds of hatred such as anger, envy, anxiety, grief, fear and so
forth. Ignorance-based (moha-mula) consciousness comprises doubt and restlessness. Doubts about
the Buddha, Nibbana, anatta and so forth are labelled vicikiccha. The mind is subject to doubt
(uddhacca) when it wanders here and there restlessly.
Thus apunnabhisankhara means the eight greed-based mental factors, two hatred-based mental
factors and two ignorance-based mental factors. It is opposed to punnabhisankhara. It serves to purify
nama-rupa, leads to good rebirth with good kammic results whereas the other defiles the nama-rupa
process and leads to bad rebirth with bad kammic results.
People do evil deeds for their welfare. They kill, steal, rob or give false evidence at court for
their wellbeing. Even those who kill their parents do so to achieve their own ends. For example,
prince Ajatasattu killed his father to become king. Misguided by his teacher Devadatta, he had
concluded that he would be able to enjoy life as a king for a longer period if he could do away with
his father and take his place. For his great evil of patricide and the murder of a sotapanna at that, he
was seized with remorse and anxiety that caused him physical suffering as well. Later on, he was
killed by his son and reborn in hell where he is now suffering terribly for his misdeed.
In the time of Kakusandha Buddha the Mara called Susi did his utmost to harm the Buddha
and the Sangha. Failing to achieve his object, he possessed a man and stoned to death the chief
disciple Arahat behind the Buddha. For this horrible crime he instantly landed in Avici hell, the lowest
of the thirty-one worlds of living beings. As a Mara he had lorded it over others but in Avici he lay
prostrate under the heels of the guardians of hell. He had hoped to rejoice over the fulfilment of his
evil desire, but now he had to suffer for his evil kamma. This is true of evil-doers all over the world.
It is the hope for happiness also that forms the mainspring of other two types of action, viz.,
punnabhisankhara and anenjabhisankhara. Anenjabhisankhara means the four
arupajhana-kusaladhammas. Anenja means equanimity or self-possession. A loud noise nearby may
upset the equanimity (samapatti) of a yogi who is absorbed in rupa jhana. But arupa jhana is
invulnerable to such distractions. Arupa jhana is of four kinds according as it relates to (1) sphere
of unbounded space (akasanancayatana jhana), sphere of nothingness (akincannayatana jhana) and
(4) sphere of neither perception-nor-non-perception (nevasannanasannayatana jhana). These four
jhanas are the sankharas that lead to the four arupa worlds. Apunnabhisankhara leads to the four
lower worlds and punnabhisankhara leads to human, deva and rupa-Brahma worlds.
People do these three kinds of kammas or sankharas for their welfare and as a result there
arises vinnana or consciousness. With vinnana there also come into being nama-rupa, salayatana,
phassa, etc., of the new existence.
Sankhara Causes Vinnana
Because of avijja there is sankhara which in turn causes vinnana. As a result of good or bad
kammas in the previous life there arises the stream of consciousness beginning with rebirth
consciousness in the new life. Evil deeds may, for example, lead to the four lower worlds. After that
there arises the stream of vinnana called bhavanga-citta which functions ceaselessly when the six kinds
of vithi consciousness do not occur at the moment of seeing, hearing, smelling, eating, touching and
thinking. In other words, bhavanga is the kind of subconsciousness that we have when we are asleep.
We die with this subconsciousness and it is then called cuticitta. So the rebirth-consciousness, the
subconsciousness and the cuti or death-consciousness represent the mind which results from the
kamma of previous life.
The five kinds of consciousness associated with the five unpleasant sense-objects such as
unpleasant eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, etc., are due to unwholesome kamma as are (1) the
consciousness that is focused on these five sense-objects and (2) the inquiring (santirana)
consciousness. There are altogether seven types of consciousness that stem from bad kamma
(apunnabhisankhara). As for anenjabhisankhara, because of the four arupakusala-dhammas there
arises the resulting arupa-consciousness in the four immaterial worlds in the form of
rebirth-consciousness in the beginning, the bhavanga citta in the middle, and the cuticitta as the end
of existence.
Similarly, because of the five rupakusala-dhamma there arise five rupa vipakacittas in
rupa-brahma worlds. Then there are eight mahavipakacittas corresponding to eight good kammas in
the sensual sphere. They form the rebirth, bhavanga and cuticittas in the human world and six
deva-worlds. They also register pleasant sense-objects (tadarammana) after seven impulse-moments
(javana) that occur on seeing, hearing, etc. Also due to good consciousness associated with five
pleasant sense-objects, the registering consciousness, the joyful, inquiring consciousness and the
nonchalant, inquiring consciousness. Hence, the resulting (vipaka) consciousness is of thirty-two
kinds, viz., four arupavipaka, five rupavipaka, seven akusala vipaka and sixteen kusala vipaka in
sensual sphere. All these thirty-two vipaka are resultants of sankhara.
How Sankhara Leads To New Vinnana
It is very important, but hard to understand how sankhara gives rise to rebirth-consciousness.
Ledi Sayadaw points out that this part of the teaching on paticcasamuppada leaves much room for
misunderstanding. It is necessary to understand the extinction of the last consciousness (cuticitta)
together with all nama-rupa as well as the immediate arising of the rebirth-consciousness together
with the new nama-rupa as a result of good or bad kammas in the case of living beings who are not
yet free from defilements. Lack of this understanding usually leads to the belief in transmigration
of souls (sassataditthi) or the belief in annihilation after death (ucchedaditthi) which is held by
modern materialists.
The belief in annihilation is due to ignorance of the relation between cause and effect after
death. It is easy to see how avijja leads to sankhara and how the sense-bases (ayatana), contact,
sensation, craving, etc., form links in the chain of causation for these are evident in the facts of life.
But the emergence of new existence following death is not apparent and, hence, the belief that there
is nothing after death.
Learned people who think on the basis of faith usually accept the teaching that sankhara
gives rise to rebirth consciousness. But it does not lend itself to purely rational and empirical
approach and today it is being challenged by the materialistic view of life. The way rebirth takes
place is crystal clear to the yogi who has practised vipassana. He finds that the units of
consciousness arise and pass away ceaselessly, that they appear and disappear one after another
rapidly. This is what he discovers by experience, not what he learns from his teachers. Of course he
does not know so much in the beginning. He discovers the fact only when he attains sammasana and
udayabbaya insights. The general idea of death and rebirth mental units dawns on him with the
development of paccayapariggaha insights but, it is sammasana and udayabbaya insights that leave
no doubt about rebirth. On the basis of his insight, he realizes that death means the disappearance of
the last unit of consciousness and that rebirth means the arising of the first unit of consciousness in
the manner of the vanishing and arising of consciousness-units that he notes in the practice of
vipassana.
Those who do not have vipassana insight miss the point. They believe in a permanent ego and
identify it with the mind. It is rejected by those who have a good knowledge of Abhidhamma but, it
lingers in some people because of attachment to it in their previous lives. Even the contemplating yogi
who is not yet intellectually mature sometimes feels tempted to accept it.
Sassata And Uccheda
To the ordinary people who are wedded to the ego-belief, death means the extinction of
individual entity or its displacement to another abode or existence. This is a misconception called
ucchedaditthi if it is the belief in annihilation, or sassataditthi if it is belief in the transfer of the soul
to another body or abode. Some believe that consciousness develops spontaneously with the growth
and maturation of the body (ahetukaditthi).
Some have misconceptions about samsara or nama-rupa process. They regard the body as the
temporary abode of the life principle that passes on from one abode to another. The disintegration
of the physical body is undeniable, but some people pin their faith to the resurrection of the body in
due course of time and so they treat the dead body with respect. These views confirm the Ledi
Sayadaw's statement that the causal links between sankhara and vinnana lends itself to
misinterpretation.
Ordinary Buddhists are not wholly free from these misconceptions but, because of their belief
in the Buddhist doctrine of anatta, they do not harbour the illusions so blindly as to harm their
vipassana practice. So even without a thorough knowledge about the nature of death, rebirth and
nama-rupa, they can enlighten themselves through contemplation.
For example, shortly after the parinibbana of the Buddha, the thera Channa practised vipassana
but made little progress because of his ego-belief. Then as he followed Ananda's discourse on
Paticcasamuppada, he contemplated, overcame his illusion and attained Arahatship. Again, in the
time of the Buddha, bhikkhu Yamaka believed that the Arahat was annihilated after his parinibbana.
Sariputta summoned and preached to him. While following the sermon, Yamaka contemplated, and
achieved liberation. So those who have faith in the Buddha need not be disheartened. If they practised
vipassana zealously and whole-heartedly, they will become enlightened.
Because of their ignorance and doubts about the nature of death and conception or leaning to
uccheda belief, some people ask whether there is a future life after death. The question by itself
presupposes atta or soul or life-force in a living being. Materialism rejects the idea of soul but the
ego-illusion is implicit in its differentiation of the living from the dead. The question of those who
accept the ego explicitly or by implication are hard to answer from the Buddhist point of view. If we
say that there is future life, they will conclude that we support the ego-belief. But Buddhism does not
categorically deny the future life. Hence, the Buddha's refusal to answer this question. Moreover, it
is hard to produce evidence for ordinary people. Psychic persons may be able to point out the hell
or the deva-worlds but sceptics will dismiss such exhibition as black magic or chicanery. So the
Buddha did not answer the question directly, but said that there is continuum of nama-rupa process
in the wake of death without the extinction of defilements.
The problem of future life does not admit any intellectual approach. It is to be settled only
through certain Buddhist practices. These practices enable the yogi to acquire psychic powers by
virtue of which he can see the dead, the good men who have attained the deva-worlds, as well as the
evil persons who are suffering in the nether worlds. What he sees is as clear as what an observer who
occupies a position directly opposite two houses sees - persons passing from one house to the other.
Among the many devas, animals, etc., of the higher and lower realms, he (the yogi) can easily find
the person whom he wants to see.
It is possible for the yogis to attain jhana and psychic powers. There is no teaching which rules
out this possibility. Some practising yogis have in fact had paranormal contact with the other world
(paraloka). But paranormal gifts are hard to come by. Their emergence depends on intense
concentration and so the easier way is to practise vipassana. The problem of life becomes fairly clear
when the development of paccaya-pariggaha insight makes the yogi well aware of the nature of death
and conception. It becomes clearer when he attains sammasana, udayabbaya and bhanga insights for
then he sees clearly how the consciousness units arise and pass away ceaselessly one after another and
how death means the passing away of the last unit to be followed by conception or the arising of the
first consciousness-unit in a new existence. But this insight is still vulnerable and it is only when the
yogi attains at least the sotapatti stage that he becomes wholly free of all doubts about future life. The
trouble is that people wish to inquire about it instead of practising vipassana. Some seek the verdict
of Western scientists and philosophers while others accept the teaching of those who are reputed to
be Arahats with psychic powers. But, the best thing is to seek the answer through vipassana practice
instead of relying on other people.
At the stage of udayabbaya insight the yogi can clearly see how in the wake of the
consciousness-unit that has passed away, there follows a new unit attached to a sense-object. On the
basis of this experience he realizes how the new existence begins with consciousness-unit that arises,
conditioned by attachment to an object at the moment of dying in a previous life.
Before death the stream of consciousness depends on the physical body and is continuous
with one unit following the other uninterruptedly. After death, the body disintegrates and the stream
of consciousness shifts to the physical process in another abode. This may be likened to the
continuous appearance of light in an electric bulb through the ceaseless generation of electricity.
When the bulb is burnt up, the light goes out but the potential electric energy keeps on coming. Light
reappears when the old bulb is replaced with a new one. Here, the bulb, energy and light are all
changing physical processes and we should be mindful of their impermanent character.
The commentary cites the analogies of echo, flame, impression of a seal and reflection in the
mirror. Echo is reflection or repetition of a sound produced by the impact of sound waves on walls,
woods, etc. But it does not mean the transfer of the original sound to a distant place although we
cannot deny the causal relation between the sound and the echo either. When you look at a mirror
your face is reflected on it, but you must not confuse the reflection with your face although it is
causally related to the latter. A lamp, which is burning, may be used to light up another lamp. The
flame of the new lamp is obviously not the flame of. the old lamp since the latter is still burning but,
neither is it causally unrelated to the flame of the old lamp. Lastly, the seal leaves an impression that
is like its face, but it is not the face and it cannot occur in the absence of the seal either.
These analogies help to throw some light on the nature of rebirth process. When a person is
dying, his kamma, the signs and visions related to it and visions of the future life appear. After his
death, there arises the rebirth consciousness conditioned by one of these visions at the last moment
of the previous existence. So rebirth does not mean the passage of the last unit of consciousness to
another life but, since it is conditioned by the visions on death-bed, it is rooted in avijja, sankhara,
etc., that form the links in the chain of causation leading to the visions of the dying person.
Thus, rebirth consciousness is not the consciousness of the dying person but it is causally
related to the previous life. Two consecutive units of consciousness are separate but, given the
stream of consciousness, we speak of the same individual for the whole day, the whole year or the
whole lifetime. Likewise, we speak of the last consciousness on death-bed together with rebirth
consciousness as representing a single person. A man's attainment of deva or any other world is to
be understood in the same sense. It does not mean the transfer of nama-rupa as a whole. We speak
of a man or a person only because the rebirth concerns the stream of causally related mental units.
So it is ucchedaditthi to believe that a person has nothing to do with a previous life since every
person is annihilated on death. Most Buddhists are free from this belief. As the two consecutive lives
are causally related, we speak of one person in conventional terms. But we must guard ourselves
against the sassata view that rebirth means the transfer of the ego to a new abode.
The yogi who has mature vipassana insight does not harbour the two beliefs because he is fully
aware of the rising and passing away of mental units in the present life and their causal relations. This
awareness leaves no room for the illusions of personal immortality or annihilation. The nature of
consciousness is evident even to those who think objectively. Joy may be followed by dejection and
vice versa or, a serene mind may give way to irritation and vice versa. These changing states of
consciousness clearly shows its heterogeneous nature. Moreover, mental states may be associated
through similarity, as for example, the intention to do a certain thing at night may occur again in the
morning. The mental states do not differ, but are causally related to one another. Those who
understand this relation between two consecutive states of consciousness can see that the same
relation holds between the two mental elements that are separated only by death.
Death-Bed Visions
Consciousness in the new existence is of two kinds,
viz., rebirth consciousness and the consciousness that
occurs during the whole life. There are altogether l9
kinds of rebirth consciousness, one in the lower worlds,
nine in the sensual worlds of human beings and devas,
five in rupa-brahma world and four in arupa-brahma
worlds. As for the others that occur during the rest of
life, they number thirty-two as resultant mental states
(vipaka-vinnana). These enumerations will be
intelligible only to those who have studied Abhidhamma.
To a dying person, there appears the flashbacks of what
he has done in life (kamma), the surrounding conditions
associated with his kammic acts (kammanimitta) and the
visions of his future life (gatinimitta). Kamma may
assume the form of a flashback about the past or the
hallucination about the present. A fisherman on his
death-bed may talk as if he were catching fish or a man
who has given much alms may think in his last hours that
he is doing dana. Many years ago, I led a group of
pilgrims from Shwebo to visit pagodas in Mandalay and
Rangoon. An old man in the group died shortly after our
return to Shwebo. He died muttering the words that were
reminiscent of his experience during the pilgrimage.
The dying man also has visions of the environment in
which kammic deeds were done such as robes, monasteries,
bhikkhus, Buddha images, etc., in connection with his
acts of dana or weapons, places, victims in case of the
murder he has committed.
Then he sees visions of what he will find in his
afterlife. For example, he will see hell-fire,
hell-guards, etc., if he is bound to land in hell;
devas, mansions, etc., if he is to pass on to
deva-worlds and so forth. Once a dying brahmin was told
by his friends that the vision of the flames which he
saw indicated the brahma-world. He believed them and
died only to find himself in hell. False beliefs are
indeed dangerous. It is said that some people tell their
dying friends to visualize their acts of killing a cow
for dana, believing that such acts are beneficial.
The Story Of Mahadhammika Upasaka
In the time of the Buddha, there were in Savatthi city
five hundred upasakas each with 500 followers. They all
practised the dhamma. The eldest of them, Mahadhammika,
the head of all upasakas had seven sons and seven
daughters who also lived up to the teaching of the
Buddha. As he grew old, he became sick and weak. He
invited the bhikkhus to his house and while attending
their recitation of the dhamma, he saw the celestial
chariot arriving to take him to the deva-world. He said
to the devas, "Please wait."
The bhikkhus stopped reciting as they thought that the
dying man had told them to do so. His sons and daughters
cried, believing that he was babbling for fear of death.
After the bhikkhus' departure, he came round, told the
people around him to throw a garland of flowers up into
the air. They did as they were told and lo! the garland
remained hanging in the air. The upasaka said that the
garland indicated the position of the chariot from
Susita heaven, and after advising his daughters and sons
to do good deeds like him for rebirth in the deva-world,
he died and landed in Susita. This is how the vision of
deva-world appears to the good man on his death-bed. A
layman in Moulmein said that just before he died he saw
a very good pucca building. This, too, may be a vision
of the deva-world. Some dying persons who are to be
reborn as human beings have visions of their would-be
parents, residence and so forth. A Sayadaw in Moulmein
was killed by robbers. Three years later a child from
Mergui came to Moulmein and identified by name the
Sayadaws with whom he said he had lived together in his
previous life. He said that the robbers stabbed him when
they did not get the money, that he ran away to the
jetty where he got into a boat, reached Mergui and dwelt
in the home of his parents. The flight, journey by boat,
etc., were perhaps visions of the Sayadaw's afterlife.
Flashbacks of kammic acts and visions of a future life
occur even in cases of instant death. According to the
commentary, they occur even when a fly on a bar of iron
is crushed to pieces with a hammer. Today, there arc
nuclear weapons that can reduce a big city to ashes in a
moment. From the Buddhist point of view, these weapons
have appeared because of the evil kamma of their
potential victims. Those who are killed by these bombs
also see the flashbacks and visions. This may sound
incredible to those who do not know the mechanism of the
mind thoroughly but, it presents no difficulty to the
yogi who contemplates the nama-rupa in action. For it is
said in the scriptures that units of consciousness arise
and pass away by the billions in the twinkling of an
eye. The yogi who has attained udayabbaya insight knows
empirically that hundreds of mental units arise and
dissolve in a moment. So he has no doubt about the
possibility of consciousness centering or flashbacks and
visions in those who meet violent and instant death.
Consciousness is always focused on objects. We often
recall what we have done and think of the deva-world or
the human society. If a man who has done good deeds dies
with these thoughts, he will be reborn as a deva or a
human being. The objects of these thoughts on death-bed
are called gatinimitta, visions of objects associated
with kamma are called kammanimitta.
References to these death-bed phenomena are to be found
not only in the commentaries, but also in the Pali
pitaka. In the Balapandita and other suttas, the Buddha
speaks of the death-bed memories of good or bad deeds
and likens them to the shadows of a mountain dominating
the plains in the evening. It is impossible to remove
them. Once I saw a dying woman who showed great fear as
if she were face to face with an enemy who was out to
treat her cruelly. She was speechless and her relatives
tried to comfort her but, it was in vain. Perhaps she
was having a foretaste of her unhappy future as a result
of evil kamma.
So it is necessary to do good kamma that will produce
mental images of objects and persons associated with it
and visions of a good afterlife at the moment of dying.
If the good deed is rational, strongly motivated and one
of the eight kinds of good deeds in sensual sphere, the
resultant consciousness is one of the four kinds of
rational vinnana. Rebirth is then associated with amoha
(non-ignorance) and as such it takes place with three
root-conditions (hetu) viz., amoha, adosa
(non-aggressiveness) and alobha (non-craving). A person
reborn with these innate tendencies can attain jhana and
psychic powers if he practises samatha and can attain
the holy path and Nibbana if he devotes himself to
vipassana. Good acts that are motivated by the desire
for Nibbana lead to such good rebirth and finally to the
path, and Nibbana through contemplation or hearing a
sermon.
If the motivation is weak or if it is a good, but
unenlightened deed, that is, a good deed divorced from
the belief in kamma, the result is one of the four kinds
of unenlightened (moha-vipaka) consciousness. The
rebirth is then devoid of amoha (non-ignorance), there
being only the other root-conditions, viz., alobha and
adosa. It is termed //dvehetupatisandhika//. A man
reborn in this way cannot attain jhanas or the Path as
he lacks the innate intelligence for it. If the good
deed is unenlightened and half-hearted, the result will
be good rebirth consciousness without any good
predispositions. The person concerned is likely to have
defective eyes, ears, etc.
So when you do a good deed you should do it with zeal
and with Nibbana as your objective. If you set your
heart on Nibbana, the good deed will lead you to it and
the zeal with which you do it will ensure rebirth with
good predispositions. It is not necessary to pray for
such noble rebirth because you are assured of it if you
do good deeds intelligently and zealously. But, if you
lack zeal in doing good, yours will be a rebirth with
only alobha and adosa.
Some people say that dana and sila mean good
kamma-formations (punnabhisankhara) which, being rooted
in ignorance, lead to rebirth and samsaric suffering.
This is a mistaken view that stems from ignorance. If
the practice of dana and sila is motivated by the desire
for Nibbana, it will ensure the noblest rebirth and lead
to the supreme goal. It was due to dana and sila that
Sariputta and other disciples of the Buddha finally
attained Nibbana. The same may be said of
paccekabuddhas.
The bodhisatta, too, attained supreme enlightenment in
the same way by praying that his good deeds contribute
to the attainment of omniscience (sabbannutanana). Here
rebirth with three good predispositions, viz., amoha,
adosa and alobha involved in the genesis of Buddhahood
is of two kinds, viz., consciousness associated with joy
(somanassa) and consciousness associated with equanimity
(upekkha). Again each of these two vinnanas is of two
kinds, viz., asankharika (spontaneous) and sasankharika
(non-spontaneous). The bodhisatta's rebirth
consciousness was powerful, zealous asankharika.
According to ancient commentaries, it was somanassa
consciousness. For the bodhisatta wanted very much to
promote the welfare of all living beings, he had
infinite metta (good-will or loving-kindness) for them.
A strong-willed metta is usually coupled with somanassa
and, hence, the bodhisatta's rebirth consciousness was
tinged with joy.
But, Mahasiva thera suggested upekkha as its
(bodhisatta's rebirth) concomitant. In his view, the
bodhisatta's mind was firm and profound, thereby making
equanimity rather than joy the characteristic of his
rebirth consciousness. In any event, this
rebirth-vinnana had its origin in his good deed that was
motivated by the desire for supreme enlightenment. Thus,
although the enlightened good kamma-formations
(sankhara) lead to rebirth, it does not prolong samsaric
existence; on the contrary it contributes to liberation
from the life-cycle.
Consciousness of any kind, whether it be rebirth
consciousness or otherwise, is a matter of very short
duration. It has only three points of time, viz.,
arising (//upada//), being (//thi//) and passing away
(//bhanga//). According to the commentaries, these
mental units arise and pass away by the millions in the
twinkling of an eye. The moment of each unit is so short
that it does not last even the millionth part of a
second.
After the cessation of rebirth-consciousness there
follows the stream of subconsciousness (bhavanga) which
flows ceaselessly unless it is interrupted by a
different kind of consciousness called vithi, that is
the kind of mental activity involved in seeing, hearing,
and so forth. The stream of bhavanga lasts as long as
there is life, its mainspring being sankhara as in the
case of rebirth consciousness. Its duration, too,
depends mainly on sankhara or kamma. It may be like a
stone thrown into the air. The stone will travel a long
way if the hand which throws it is strong, but it will
not go very far if the hand is weak. The force of kamma
may also be compared to the initial velocity of the
bullet, rocket, and so forth. Death means the
dissolution of the consciousness that is born of the
same kammic force. Hence the initial rebirth
consciousness, the stream of subconsciousness and the
last dying (cuti) consciousness of an existence comprise
the mental life that is wholly rooted in past kamma.
Also due the kamma or sankhara are the five kinds of
vithi consciousness, viz., those involved in seeing,
hearing, smelling, eating and touching as well as the
mental unit that focuses on the sense-objects, the
consciousness that reflects (santirana-citta) and the
consciousness that registers (tadarammana-citta) the
objects of impulse-moments (javana). These have their
roots in original kamma that leads to rebirth or other
kinds of kamma.
The Abhidhamma pitaka attributes all kinds of
consciousness, including wholesome, unwholesome and
non-kammic or kiriya-citta to sankhara. This view is
reasonable since the kiriya-cittas, too, evolve from the
bhavanga-citta that is rooted in sankhara. But the
doctrine of Paticcasamuppada specifically describes the
three rounds (vatta) of defilements, kamma, kammic
results and their cause-and-effect relationships. So it
ascribes to sankhara only the 32 types of mundane
resultant cittas that stem from kamma vatta. Of these 32
cittas we have described 19 cittas that comprise
rebirth, subconscious state and death of the other
cittas. Of the other cittas some are wholesome according
to the sankhara.
In the doctrine of Paticcasamuppada, the first two
factors i.e., avijja and sankhara are described as the
causes in the past life, vinnana, nama-rupa, phassa and
vedana as the consequences in the present life; tanha,
upadana and bhava as the causes in the present life and
jati and jaramarana (old age and death) as the
consequences that will occur in the future life.
Vinnana And Nama-Rupa
The doctrine says that vinnana gives rise to nama-rupa.
This means that with the arising of rebirth
consciousness there also arise mind and body. Rebirth
consciousness is invariably coupled with feeling
(vedana), perception (sanna), contact (phassa), volition
(cetana), mental advertance (manasikara) and other
elements of mind relating to the objects of death-bed
visions of a person. Every citta is bound up with these
mental elements. The high (tihetu) rebirth of some
Brahmas, devas and human beings also, involve the three
noble predispositions of alobha, adosa and amoha; some
devas and human beings have only alobha and adosa while
the earth-bound devas and human beings with defective
organs are totally devoid of noble predispositions.
Their rebirth is a good ahetu-birth as distinct from the
evil ahetu-rebirth of the denizens of the lower worlds
who are also devoid of good inborn tendencies.
Rebirth may assume one of the three forms: rebirth in
the mother's womb, rebirth generated in putridity
(samsedaja) and rebirth as sudden and spontaneous
emergence of the full-fledged physical body (opapatika).
Rebirth in the mother's womb is of two kinds, viz.,
viviparous as in the case of human beings and quadrupeds
emerging from the wombs with umbilical cords and
oviparous as in the case of birds coming out of eggs.
These living beings may differ in origin as they do in
size and gestation or incubation period. We will leave
it at that and now go on with the human rebirth as
described in the commentaries.
With the arising of rebirth consciousness there occur
simultaneously three kammaja-rupakalapa or thirty rupas.
These are rupas that have their origin in kamma, viz.,
ten kaya-rupas, ten bhava-rupas and ten vatthu-rupas.
The nine rupas, to wit, the solid, fluid, heat, motion,
colour, smell, taste, nutriment and life together with
the kayapasada (body-essence), rupa form the ten
kaya-rupas; bhava-rupa and the solid, etc., form the
group of ten bhava-rupas. Bhava-rupa means two germinal
rupas, one of manhood and the other for womanhood. With
the maturation of these rupas the mental and physical
characteristics of man and woman become differentiated,
as is evident in the case of those who have undergone
sex changes.
In the time of the Buddha Soreyya, the son of a
merchant, instantly turned into a woman for having
wronged Mahakaccayana thera. All masculine features
disappeared and gave way to those of the fair sex. He
even gave birth to two children. It was only when he
begged for forgiveness that he again became a man. Later
on, he joined the holy order and died as an Arahat. It
is somewhat like the case of a man who develops canine
mentality after having been bitten by a rabid dog. The
sex freak who is neither a male nor a female has no
bhava-rupa. He has only ten kaya-rupas and ten
vatthu-rupas. Vatthu-rupas are the physical bases of
rebirth, subconscious, death and other cittas. So at the
moment of conception there is already the physical basis
for rebirth consciousness. The three kalapas or thirty
rupas form the kalala which, according to ancient
Buddhist books, mark the beginning of life.
This embryonic rupa has the size of a little drop of
butter-oil scum on a fine woollen thread. It is so small
that it is invisible to the naked eye. It does not exist
by itself. We should assume that it arises from the
fusion of the semen (sukka) and blood (sanita) of the
parents. If we reject this view, it will be hard to
explain the child's resemblance to his parents in
physical appearance. It is also said in the suttas that
the physical body is the product of the four primary
elements and the parent's semen. Moreover, the pitaka
specifies three conditions necessary for conception,
viz., the parents' intercourse, the menstrual discharge
of the mother and the presence of something qualified to
become an embryo. Thus, it is clear that according to
the scriptures, the embryonic kalala has its origin in
the fusion of parents' semen and blood.
The semen and blood dissociated from the parents are
utuja (temperature-based) rupa but it is quite possible
for utuja-rupa to assimilate kammaja (kamma-based) rupa.
Modern doctors excise a lump of unhealthy tissue from
the human body and replace it with healthy tissue. The
graft is utuja-rupa when cut out from the body but, as
it becomes one whole with the natural tissues there
appears kayapasada or kammaja-rupa. There are also cases
of transplanting a goat's intestine or a human eye in
place of diseased organs. No doubt these transplants
develop kammaja-rupas in the form of kayapasada and
cakkhupasada. Likewise, we should assume that the three
kammajakalapas are fused with utuja-rupas of semen and
blood detached from parents.
According to Western biologists, it is the fusion of the
mother's ovum and the father's spermatoza that gradually
develops and becomes a child. The original embryo is so
small that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. The
findings of these scientists fairly agree with what the
Buddhist books say about conception. Without the help of
microscope or other instruments, but purely by means of
his intellect, the Buddha knew how life begins with
three kalapas or thirty rupas as kalala on the basis of
parents' semen and blood. This was the Buddha's teaching
2500 years ago and it was only during the last 300 years
that Western scientists discovered the facts about
conception after long investigation with microscopes.
Their discoveries bear testimony to the Buddha's
infinite intelligence. However, they are as yet unable
to reveal the genesis of thirty rupas probably because
the extremely subtle kammaja-rupas defy microscopic
investigation.
Thus, the cetasika and kammaja-rupa are the nama-rupas
born of rebirth consciousness. The kammaja-rupas are
renewed at every thought-moment as are the utuja-rupas
due to heat. From the arising of the first
bhavanga-citta there also occur cittaja-rupa
(consciousness-based) rupas at the moment of the arising
of citta. But, cittas which make us barely aware of
seeing, etc., cannot cause rupa. So cittaja-rupas do not
arise at the moment of the arising of the bare cittas.
Thus, with the arising of the rebirth citta, there
develop in due course all other kinds of citta, that is,
cetasikas, e.g., feeling, etc., as well as all kinds of
rupa, to wit, kammaja, utuja and cittaja-rupas. After a
week, the kalala becomes turbid froth (abbuda) which
turns into a lump of flesh after a week. This hardens
into //ghana// in another week and in the fifth week
there develops //pasakha// with four knobs for hands and
legs and one big knob for head.
The Buddhist books do not describe in detail the
development after the fifth week, but say that after 77
days the four pasada-rupas for seeing, hearing,
smelling, and tasting appear as do the ahara-rupas, the
product of the nutriment in the mother's body. It is
also said that the embryo has toe-nails, finger-nails,
etc. The books do not go into further details as it is
not necessary for the yogis to know them. Such knowledge
is beneficial only to doctors.
//Upapata// Rebirth
For heavenly beings like catumaharaja and others, as
soon as the rebirth-citta arises, there also arise 70
rupas or seven different kalapas, viz., cakkhu, sota,
ghana, jiva, kayabhava and vatthudasaka. Kalapas of the
same kind are innumerable according to the size of the
deva's eyes, ears, etc. There are no dasaka-kalapas,
that is, ghana, jiva, kaya and bhava in the three first
jhanic abodes, the three second jhanic abodes, the three
third jhanic abodes, the vehapphala and suddhavasa
abodes. The three dasakarupa-kalapas (cakkhu, sota and
vatthu-dasaka) and one navaka-kalapa or a total of four
different kalapas or 39 rupas arise simultaneously with
rebirth-citta. Of these four kalapas,
jivitanavaka-kalapa takes on the nature of kayadasaka.
The body of the Brahma is pervaded by jivita and nine
rupas as is the deva's body by kayadasaka-kalapa.
Asannasatta Brahmas have no citta from the moment of
rebirth. They have only jivitanavaka-kalapa which assume
Brahmanic form. Being devoid of citta and cittaja-rupa,
such a Brahma knows nothing and makes no movement. He is
like a wooden statue. More wonderful than these Brahmas
are arupa Brahmas who having no rupa live in arupa
(immaterial) worlds for thousands of world-systems
through the successive renewal of mind and its elements.
These accounts do not admit of scientific investigation
and they concern only the Buddha and holy men with
psychic powers.
The denizens of hell and the petas who are forever
burning and starving cannot be conceived in wombs nor
can they arise from putrid matter. Because of their evil
kamma they come into being by materialization. Like the
aforementioned devas they develop seven kalapas or 70
rupas simultaneously. They usually do not have defective
vision, hearing, etc., since they are doomed to
suffering through sense-contact with evil objects.
Sansedaja Beings
As the sansedaja beings are said to have their origin in
putrid matter, they are likely to develop gradually.
But, the Buddhist books refer to their full-fledged
materialization if they do not have defective visions,
etc. We cannot say which is true, development or
materialization, as the kammaja-rupas cannot be
subjected to scientific inquiry and so for the time
being it is better to accept the view as stated in the
scriptures. The development of kammaja and other rupas
in sansedaja and upapata rebirths are generally like
that in gabbhaseyyaka (womb) rebirth. The only
difference is that in the case of the former beings,
aharaja-rupas arise from the time they eat food or
swallow their saliva.
Vithi-Cittas
Vithi-cittas differ in kind from bhavanga-cittas.
Bhavanga-citta resembles rebirth-citta in respect of
objects and process. It is the stream of consciousness
that follows rebirth-citta, having its root in kamma. It
is focused on one of the three objects viz., kamma,
kammanimitta or gatinimitta of the previous existence.
It is not concerned with the objects in present life. It
is the kind of mental state that we have when sound
asleep. But there occur certain changes when we see,
hear, smell, eat, have bodily contact or think and these
changes in mental phenomena are called six vithi-cittas.
Suppose the visual form is reflected on the sensitive
rupa of the eye (cakkhupasada), these rupas, each
lasting only 17 thought-moments, are renewed ceaselessly
together with the visual objects and their mental
images. A group of eye-rupas and a group of visual
objects occur simultaneously. But, a rupa is not
powerful at the moment of arising and so there is no
contact between the eye and its object during the moment
of bhavanga-citta. In other words, there is no
reflection of the visual object on the eye. The bhavanga
that passes away before such reflection is called
atitabhavanga. Then another bhavanga-citta arises and
reflection occurs. As a result, the bhavanga-citta is
disrupted. Its attentiveness to its accustomed object
wanes and it begins to consider the visual object. This
is termed bhavangacalana or bhavanga in motion. Then
another bhavanga takes its place but, it is so weak that
with its cessation, the bhavanga stream is cut off. The
mind becomes curious about the visual form that the eye
sees. This inquiring mind is called avajjana-citta and
there are five kinds of such cittas corresponding to
five sense-organs. There follows the eye consciousness,
and after its cessation, there arises the citta which
receives and attends to the visual object.
Bhavanga is the resultant citta that stems from
sankhara, as are eye-citta and the receiving citta. They
are called vipaka (resultant) cittas. There are two
kinds of vipaka-cittas, viz., good and bad according to
good and bad sankhara. On the other hand avajjana-citta
(mental advertance) is ethically neither good nor bad;
it is not a vipaka-citta either. It is termed
kiriya-citta which means mere action without any kammic
effect, the kind of citta that is usually attributed to
Arahats.
After the mind has received the visual object, it
inquires about its quality, whether it is good, bad,
etc., (santirana-citta). Then, there follows decision
(vutthocitta), that it is good, etc. This leads to
javana which means seven impulse moments flashing seven
times in succession. Javana occurs very quickly. It has
speed and impetus that are absent in other factors of
the consciousness process. It is associated with
powerful mental factors which may be good or bad such as
lobha or alobha. No wonder that evil minds rush towards
their objects speedily. Thus, greed makes us inclined to
scramble for the desired object and seize it by force,
and anger arouses in us the desire to rush and destroy
its object blindly. Doubt, restlessness and ignorance,
too, speedily associate themselves with their respective
objects. The same may be said of good mental factors.
Because of their frantic and impulsive nature, the
sensual desires are also called kamajavana. After the
seven impulse moments, there follow two
tadarammana-citta moments. This citta is concerned with
the object of javana and thus its function is to fulfil
the lingering desire of its predecessor.
In the consciousness process the eye-vinnana is
dependent on eye organ (cakkhu-pasada) that arises
together with atitabhavanga. Other vinnanas are
dependent on the heart (hadaya-vatthu) rupa that arises
along with other cittas. The 14 cittas from avajjana to
the second tadarammana are focused only on present
objects. So these 14 cittas are vithi-cittas that differ
in kind from bhavanga-cittas. In other words, they are
active cittas. After the cessation of second
tadarammana-citta that marks the end of the
consciousness process, the mental life reverts to the
subconsciousness (bhavanga) state that is something like
sleep.
An analogy may throw some light on the process (vithi)
of consciousness. A man is sleeping under a mango tree.
A mango falls and he wakes up. Picking up the fruit, the
man examines it. He smells it and knowing that it is
ripe, he eats it. Then he thinks over its taste and
falls asleep again. Here the bhavanga state with kamma,
kamma-nimitta and gatinimitta as its objects is like the
state of being asleep. Waking up with a start due to the
fall of the mango may be like the rising and passing
away of bhavanga-citta. Reflection after awaking is
avajjana. Seeing the visual object is seeing the fruit.
Santirana-citta is involved when the man examines the
fruit. To conclude that it is ripe is vuttho-citta.
Javana is like eating the fruit and tadarammana is like
thinking over its taste. Reverting to bhavanga state is
like falling asleep again.
If the visible object is not very clear, it appears on
the eye-organ after the arising of atitabhavanga twice
or thrice. In case of such objects the vithi process
does not last till the emergence of tadarammana but ends
in javana and sinks into bhavanga state.
If the visible object is still weaker, it is reflected
only after the arising of atitabhavanga from five to
nine times. The vithi process does not reach javana, but
ends after vuttho arises twice or thrice. The vithi that
thus ends in vuttho is of great importance in the
practice of vipassana. For the yogi who practises
constant mindfulness does not seek or attend to defiling
sense-objects. So reflection is slow, avajjana is weak,
eye-consciousness is not clear, reception is not proper,
inquiry is not effective and decision is indefinite. So
after reflecting twice or thrice the mind relapses into
bhavanga state. The object is not clear enough to defile
the mind and the yogi becomes aware of anicca, dukkha
and anatta of the phenomena. There is only bare
awareness of seeing and the vithi process is wholly free
from defilements.
The vithi process that we have outlined above for the
eye equally applies to the ear, nose, tongue and body.
Manodvara Vithi
The mind vithi is of three kinds according to the javana
involved, viz., kammajavana, jhanajavana and
maggaphalajavana. Here, what matters is vithi with
kammajavana. While the bhavanga stream is flowing, there
appear mental images of the sense-objects that one has
experienced or, sometimes, those which one has not
experienced. Then bhavanga is disturbed and next time it
is cut off. This is followed by reflection which is
somewhat like vuttho (decision) in the five
sense-organs. Like vuttho, reflection (avajjana) leads
to javana, giving rise to agreeable or disagreeable
emotions such as fear, anger, confusion, devotion, awe,
pity and so forth. The impulses arising at the five
sense-organs are weak and they neither lead to good or
bad rebirth nor produce much other effects. But the
impulses in the mind are potent enough to determine the
quality of rebirth and all other kammic results. So it
is necessary to guard and control these impulses. After
seven impulse-moments followed by two
tadarammana-moments the mind sinks into bhavanga state.
Thus, the vithi process at manodvara involves one
avajjana-moment, seven javana-moments and two
tadarammana-moments. In the case of dim and indistinct
objects, the mind skips tadarammana, passes through
javana and reverts to bhavanga. If the object is very
weak, the mind does not attain even javana but has two
or three avajjana-moments. This is natural if we bear in
mind the way we have to focus on mind-objects in
vipassana practice. The only resultant citta in this
mano-vithi is tadarammana, the other two being
kiriya-citta, the citta that does not stem from
sankhara.
Follow-Up Vithi
The mind vithi may involve the review of the
sense-objects after rising from bhavanga state in the
wake of the vithi rooted in the respective sense-organs.
Up to this vithi the mind has, as its object, only rupa
in its ultimate sense (paramattharupa). It is not
concerned with the conventional modes of usage, e.g.
man, woman, etc. So at this moment the yogi is not
misled by appearances for he is aware of ultimate
reality. He should try to contemplate immediately after
seeing, etc. We, therefore, stress the importance of
immediate and present moment as the yogi's focus of
attention.
If after this kind of manovithi the yogi is unmindful,
there arises another manovithi in connection with the
visual object, etc. Then the sense-object becomes a
specific object of attention in terms of conventional
shape and form. This vithi is open to strong but
unwholesome impulses. It gives way to another manovithi
where the attention is focused on conventional
designations such as man, woman, etc., thereby making it
more susceptible to stronger evil impulses.
In the face of a strange, unfamiliar object, the
vithi-process involves three stages, viz., seeing,
reflection and cognizance of the form and substance in
conventional terms. The vithi stops short of cognizing
the conventional names. In the case of vithi that arises
in connection with a conventional term, it involves
hearing, reflection and cognizance of the conventional
term, and awareness of the relevant form and substance.
From Vinnana Arises Nama-Rupa
Because of rebirth consciousness there arise mental
phenomena associated with it such as feeling,
remembering, perception, reflection, etc., together with
the three kalapas or thirty rupas. After the cessation
of rebirth consciousness, cetasikas (mental factors)
arise in the wake of every activity of vinnana and so do
rupas conditioned by citta, kamma, utu (heat) and ahara
(nutriment).
There is no doubt, about the close connection between
citta and cetasika. When citta is active we feel, we
remember, we think, there arise greed, anger, faith and
so forth. Equally obvious are the physical phenomena
that stem from cittas. We stand, sit, go or do anything
that we wish to do. According to the commentary, this
obvious fact gives ground for our knowledge that the
rebirth consciousness at the moment of conception leads
to three kalapas or thirty rupas. In fact, the arising
of rebirth consciousness and rupa at the moment of
conception takes place in a split second and as such it
is invisible even to the divine eye. The divine eye may
see what happens shortly before death and after rebirth,
but it is only the Buddha's omniscience that sees
death-citta and rebirth-citta directly. But, from what
we know about the cause of physical phenomena, we can
infer the arising of rupa from the rebirth-citta at the
moment of conception.
Some physical phenomena have their origin not in citta
but in kamma, utu (heat) and material food, but without
citta they will have no life. A corpse is lifeless
although it is composed of utuja-rupas. It is because of
the contribution of citta that the rupas based on kamma,
utu and nutriment exist and form a continuous stream of
life. Once death supervenes, cutting off the stream of
consciousness, the cetasikas and living rupas cease to
exist. Hence, the teaching that nama-rupa is conditioned
of vinnana.
Because of sankhara (good or bad kamma) there is an
uninterrupted flow of vinnana in the new existence.
Coupled with every citta is nama-rupa which arises
ceaselessly. The duration of nama-rupa depends on citta.
If citta lasts an hour, so does nama-rupa. If the stream
of citta, flows for 100 years, we say that the life of
nama-rupa is 100 years. In short, we should understand
that life is only the continuum of ceaseless causal
relationships between nama-rupa and vinnana.
To sum up what we have said so far. Avijja causes
sankhara. Because of the ignorance of the four noble
truths people exert effort (sankhara) to be happy. They
think that they will be happy if they get what they
want. But, the objects of their desire are impermanent
and so they lead to suffering. Not knowing the truth
about dukkha, they think, speak and do things for their
welfare in the present life and hereafter. These kammic
actions lead to rebirth consciousness in the lower or
the higher worlds. Beginning with this rebirth
consciousness, there is a stream of citta that flows
continuously until death, and the nature of this mental
life is determined by kamma. The physical body too is
conditioned by kamma as well as by citta, utu (heat) and
nutriment.
The physical phenomena as conditioned by citta are
obvious for all our bodily and verbal actions such as
moving, speaking, etc., are rooted in citta. The yogi
has to practise mindfulness on the basis of these
cittajarupas and it is important to know them
empirically for himself. Hence, the Buddha's teaching in
Mahasatipatthana sutta: "The bhikkhu knows that he walks
when he walks and that he stands when he stands."
According to the commentary, if we know experientially
the dependence of cittajarupa on citta, we can know by
inference the contribution of vinnana to kammajarupa,
cittajarupa, utujarupa and aharajarupa. Hence, the
teaching of Paticcasamuppada: Conditioned by vinnana,
there arises nama-rupa.
The yogi cannot know empirically the rebirth-citta or
for that matter any other citta in the past in its
ultimate sense. All that he can know is the reality
about consciousness as it is functioning at present and
he can know this only if he is always mindful. If he
focuses on present vinnana, he comes to know nama-rupa
fairly well. For, if he notes "seeing, seeing" and knows
the eye-consciousness, he also knows the nama-rupa that
is bound up with it. Here, by eye-consciousness we mean
not only the eye-vinnana but the whole mental process of
seeing (cakkhudvara-vithi). The yogi notes it as a whole
and not by piecemeal. Moreover, the vithi appears to the
yogi as a single unit of consciousness. This way of
introspection is in accord with Patisambhidamagga which
says: "The citta that focuses on rupa arises and passes
away. The yogi then contemplates the dissolution of the
citta that has watched the dissolution of the rupa."
In other words, when the rupa is manifest, the citta
watches it; but since the citta has attained bhanga
insight, it too sees impermanence in the rupa and
dissolves away. The dissolving vipassana citta itself
becomes the object of contemplation. This vipassana
citta is not a simple citta; it is composed of at least
avajjana and seven impulse moments. But, these eight
cittas cannot be watched one by one; the whole vithi is
to be the object of attention.
Here, the eye-consciousness means the whole mental
process (vithi) of seeing and it includes good or bad
kamma and impulses. So attentiveness to it leads to
awareness of vedana (feeling), sanna (perception),
phassa (contact), manasikara (reflection), cetana
(volition) and so forth. But, cetana is more apparent in
connection with thinking. Thus, it comes into full play
when at night we think of what we have to do the next
day. It urges and agitates us and its function is
unmistakable. The yogi who constantly watches his
nama-rupa is aware of cetana in action whenever he
speaks or moves any part of his body. For example, if
while practising mindfulness, you feel an itch you wish
to get rid of, you note the desire and you feel as if
you are being urged to remove the itch. It is cetana
which urges you to do and so it is manifest in your
everyday action, speech and thinking.
In short, if you know the eye-consciousness through
contemplation, you know the nama (mental) khandhas that
are born of it as well as the rupas of the whole body
that form its basis. This is in accordance with the
teaching: "From vinnana there arises nama-rupa."
The same may be said of the consciousness in connection
with hearing, etc., awareness of vinnana means awareness
of all the nama-rupa that are bound up with it. The
awareness of contact is based on pleasant and unpleasant
sensations when these sensations are manifest; it is
based on contact when motion and rigidity are manifest;
when you note the desire to bend the arm, you know the
volition (cetana) behind it.
When you contemplate the vinnana which thinks, you know
the nama-rupa that is coupled with it. When you find
yourself committing something to memory, you know sanna;
when you note your intention to do or speak something,
you become aware of cetana; when you note your desire
for something, you know that it is your lobha. When you
note your irritation, you know that it is dosa; you know
moha when you note your view of a being in terms of a
permanent and happy individual. You know alobha when you
know the lack of desire in you. Moreover, your intention
to do or say something is followed by bodily behaviour
or verbal expression and so through contemplation, you
become aware of vinnana-citta as the cause of rupas in
the body.
Vinnana and nama-rupa are interdependent. Just as
vinnana gives rise to nama-rupa, so also nama-rupa leads
to vinnana. Nama-rupa contributes to vinnana by way of
simultaneous arising (sahajatapaccaya) foundation
(nissayapaccaya) and so forth. It is only through the
contribution of all cetasikas collectively or the body
(rupa) as the physical basis, etc., that vinnana comes
into being.
Mahapadana sutta tells us how the bodhisatta reflected
on dependent origination just before he attained
enlightenment. He found nama-rupa, six bases of mental
activity, impression, feeling, craving, clinging and
becoming (bhava) to be the links in the chain of
causation leading to old age and death. Then it occurs
to him that nama-rupa is conditioned by vinnana and
vice-versa. The sutta ascribes this statement about the
correlation between vinnana and nama-rupa to Vipassi
bodhisatta, but we should understand that it is a fact
discovered by all bodhisattas before they attained
supreme enlightenment.
Although vinnana and nama-rupa are interdependent, the
former is the determining factor and, hence, it is
described as the cause of nama-rupa. In fact, when
vinnana arises because of sankhara, its concomitant
cetasikas as well as the rupas resulting from sankhara
come into being at the same time. So vinnanas and
nama-rupas arise together from the moment of rebirth.
Moreover, vinnana and nama-rupa include the six ayatana
(the six bases or sense-organs) as well as phassa
(sense-contact) and vedana (feeling