Dhamma Talks > eBook > A Talk at WBD, Australia (1990)

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A Talk at WBD, Australia (1990)

…(Excerpt) When you see any visible object, you should note 'seeing, seeing..'. When you smell any odour, then you should note 'smelling, smelling..'. When you taste any food, you should note 'tasting, tasting..'. When you touch any tangible thing, you should note 'touching, touching..'; but sometimes you may feel hard then you should note 'hard, hard..', sometimes you may feel soft, then 'soft, soft..'. When you think about something, then you should note 'thinking, thinking..'. The mind object and the mind that knows it.

Yesterday I explained to you the visual object and the consciousness of seeing. Then why does the consciousness of seeing arise? The consciousness or the mind sees the object with the help of the eye or is dependent on the eye; so the eye doesn't see the object, do you agree? Then what sees the object? The mind. The mind sees the object. That is why we have to note the consciousness of seeing 'seeing, seeing..'

The Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw who is the founder of the technique of Mahasi tradition said in his first book on meditation that if you note the consciousness of seeing, it means you are noting the eyes and also the visible object because without the visible object and the eyes you can't see the object. So when you note 'seeing, seeing' it means that you are aware of the consciousness of seeing. When you are aware of the consciousness of seeing, it means you are aware of the eye and also the visible object. In the Maha Satipatthana Sutta, the Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, in the chapter on the mindfulness of mind object and mental states, the Omniscient Buddha teaches us that you know the eye, you know the visible object, you know the contact between them and you know the samyojana or the mental fetter (i.e. mental fetter that binds a person to the cycle of rebirth) which arises dependent on eyes, visible object and contact.

But first of all if you can note the consciousness of seeing as 'seeing, seeing' and if your noting is strong enough then the consciousness of seeing may disappear; then again it may reappear, then it may disappear again. But later on the consciousness of seeing has completely disappeared, then you should note the other objects of mental or physical phenomena. However sometimes the visible object and eye don't disappear, so the consciousness doesn't disappear even though you observe it very attentively. It arises and then passes away and then very instantly it arises and then you note and very instantly it passes away. In this way the consciousness of seeing arising and passing away, one after another, in between the process of your noting mind. Then even though the consciousness of seeing repeatedly arises, you are not able to judge the object because your mind is quite occupied with the noting of consciousness of seeing, so it hasn't the ability or strength to judge the object, whether it is good or bad, whether it is pleasant or unpleasant. The noting mind is not able to judge the quality of the visible object because it is fully occupied with the noting of the consciousness of seeing, then you don't know whether the consciousness is pleasant or unpleasant. When you don't know the consciousness is pleasant or unpleasant, you don't have like or dislike. You don't like the object because you don't know it is pleasant; you do not dislike it because you don't know it is unpleasant. Then at this stage of noting, you are just noting the consciousness of seeing.

You note the consciousness of seeing 'seeing, seeing..' then gradually when the concentration becomes good, then you come to distinguish between the two processes: the process of seeing consciousness and the process of noting mind. There is the consciousness and there is the mind that notes it. Then you come to realize that it is not person, not a self, not a being that sees the object. What really sees is the consciousness. And because of this consciousness of seeing arising, so there is the mind that notes it. Then you find the dual process of mental phenomena. One process is the consciousness of seeing, the other process is the process of the noting mind. Then here you do not identify the noting mind process or the process of the consciousness of seeing with yourself , with your person because in your mind there is no person, no self who sees or notes the object. What you are realizing is the dual process of noting mind and the consciousness of seeing, that's all. Only this dual process exists; there is no person, no being, no self. Then this dual process of mentality destroys the false idea of a person, a being, an 'I' or a 'you', a self, Sakkaya ditthi, Atta ditthi.

The 'Atta' from the point of view of Buddhist philosophy means an everlasting entity which is regarded as reality in the view of some people in India. The Buddha delivered many discourses against this view of an Atta, everlasting entity because he himself realized the ever changing process of mental and physical phenomena which constitutes a so-called person or a being. There is no everlasting entity in him. Through his experience he realized it this way, so he declared that there is no Atta which is an everlasting entity as in the view of some people in India.

Here you yourself through your experience can realize that there is no everlasting entity with you or in your body. What you are realizing is the dual process of consciousness of seeing and the noting mind. With deep concentration, if you proceed with your practice, then your insight knowledge or experiential knowing becomes more penetrating and sharper so that you can realize the appearance and disappearance of the consciousness of seeing and the noting mind. When your concentration is deep enough, the mind realizes the consciousness of seeing as arising and passing away or appearance and disappearance constantly and instantly. If the insight knowledge is not penetrating enough, then the mind knows it as flickering; not clearly, so it knows it as if the consciousness of seeing is flickering. When the concentration becomes deep, then the mind realizes the consciousness of seeing arising and passing away instantly, from moment to moment. Then here you know that there is no everlasting entity or so called person or being. What really exists is the compounded aggregate of matter, aggregate of sensation, aggregate of perception, aggregate of mental formation and aggregate of consciousness. Nothing but these five aggregates which are arising and passing away is discovered by a meditator when his concentration is good enough. Then when he sees this dual process of consciousness of seeing and the noting mind as an ever changing natural process of mental phenomena he realizes there is no everlasting entity. This is right understanding, Samma ditthi, one of the eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path.

The everlasting entity is sometimes called the soul. Based on the idea of Atta there arises the idea of a person, a being, a self, an individual, a man or a woman. Some hold that this person or self is everlasting because since the time of his birth he has been living until now and he will live in the future, maybe infinity or until he is dead. Some Buddhists take this person to be also everlasting (non-changing) until he or she is dead. In between birth and death, he or she is everlasting. Actually there is no mental or physical process which is everlasting.

Please contemplate on the rising and falling movements of your abdomen. When the abdomen rises you note, 'rising, rising' and when it falls you note 'falling'. Rising movement is not everlasting because it has an end. Falling movement is also not everlasting. After falling, there arises rising; after rising there arises falling. If you want to note rising movements, could you note, say for an hour? No, because rising movement has disappeared after some time. (At this point the yogis who were listening to the talk were amused and laughed softly) So here you can realize that rising movement is also impermanent, transcient. After that you have to note falling movement. When the abdomen falls, you note 'falling'. Could you note falling movement for an hour? No, because falling movement also disappears after some seconds, so it is also subject to impermanence. In the same way you can consider the movements in your walking meditation. These movements too are subject to impermanence, appearance and disappearance. So some of the physical phenomena is permanent. Then where is the person who is everlasting? None at all.

Then what about the consciousness, the mind? Just about one minute ago you were laughing, amused. That process of mentality which is amused is no longer now. You are now thinking about this talk very seriously. Here the thought of amusing (or the amused mind) is no longer seen. What you see is the serious thought about the Dhamma talk. It is seen by you. So mental states are also subject to impermanence. Because we are not able to realize these two processes of mental and physical phenomena as everchanging processes which are arising and passing away very instantly and swiftly, we take both of them to be a person, a being, a self which is permanent. If we realize one of the processes, either mental or physical phenomena as impermanent, the process of appearance and disappearance, then we don't take either the process of mentality or physicality for a person, a being, a self.

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