Realities and Concepts
Part III
Lobha-mula-citta
(consciousness with attachment) without wrong view,27
ditthivippayutta, which arises in our daily life, is not only attached to
visible object, sound , odour, flavour, tangible object and concepts, it is
also attached to miccha samadhi, wrong concentration. Someone may, for example,
apply himself to yoga exercises such as concentration on breath in order to
improve his bodily health. Then there is a kind of samadhi.
When the citta is not
kusala at such moments there is lobha-mula-citta with miccha-samadhi, wrong
concentration. There may only be attachment to samadhi with the aim of
improving one's bodily health. Someone may not necessarily have the wrong view
that he should apply himself first to samadhi in order that he afterwards can
consider nama and rupa and have right understanding of them more quickly, and
that this is the way to realize the noble Truths. If he has such wrong
understanding he does not know the characteristic of right mindfulness,
samma-sati, he does not know that sati is not self, anatta. It is not true that
when someone applies himself first to miccha-samadhi it will help panna to know
the characteristics of nama and rupa. In order that sati is samma-sati, a
factor of the Eightfold Path,28 it must accompany samma-ditthi,
right understanding, which understands the characteristics of the realities
that are appearing. These are the objects sati should consider in the right
way, it should be mindful of them so that right understanding can become more
and more refined. Right understanding of nama and rupa is accumulated as
sankharakkhandha29 and thus conditions are being developed for the
arising of direct awareness of the realities which are appearing. When there is
seeing one should know when the object is a pannatti, a concept, and when a
paramattha dhamma. It is the same in the case of hearing, smelling, tasting,
the experience of tangible object and the experience of an object through the
mind-door.
27
Lobha-mula-cittas can be accompanied by wrong view or they can be without wrong
view. When they are accompanied by wrong view there is clinging to a distorted
view of reality.
28The sobhana
cetasikas, beautiful cetasikas, which are the factors of the eightfold path
are: right understanding, right thinking, right speech, right action, right
livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. The
development of the eightfold path is actually the development of right
understanding of nama and rupa which appear at the present moment.
29This is the
khandha or aggregate which includes all cetasikas except vedana, feeling, and
sanna, remembrance or perception. Panna and all sobhana cetasikas are included
in sankharakkhanda and they are together the accumulated condition for the
growth of panna, eventually leading to enlightenment.
When we watch television, a
football game or tennis match, when we read a newspaper or look at pictures, we
should know when the object is a concept and when a paramattha dhamma. If we do
not know this we may mistakenly think that only the story in television is a
concept. In reality however, there are concepts when we watch television and
also when we do not watch television. Even the names of all of us here are
nama-pannattis, they are words of conventional language which refer to citta,
cetasika and rupa which arise together and thus we know that there is this or
that person. Miccha-samadhi (wrong concentration) can be the object of
lobha-mula-citta without wrong view or with wrong view. In the latter case one
believes that this kind of samadhi is the way to realize the noble Truths.
There is miccha-samadhi all over the world. While people apply themselves to
concentration with citta which is not kusala citta (wholesome consciousness)
accompanied by panna , there is miccha-samadhi. When they believe that this is
a faster way to achieve mindfulness of the characteristics of nama and rupa
there is wrong understanding. Samma-sati of the eightfold Path can be mindful
in the right way of the realities which are appearing if first the difference
between the characteristics of nama and rupa is understood. Miccha-samadhi
cannot condition right mindfulness.
Question: It is said that
samadhi (concentration) is the proximate cause for vipassana.
S.: What kind of samadhi is
meant?
Q: It must be
samma-samadhi (right concentration) which is the proximate cause.
S.: It must be
samma-samadhi which arises together with samma-sati, samma-ditthi (right
understanding), samma-sankappa (right thinking) and samma-vayama (right
effort).
Concepts are the object of
citta in daily life, at the moments that it does not have paramattha dhammas as
object. We should find out ourselves how often we have concepts as object.
There is seeing and then we think of a story about what appears through the
eyes. There is hearing and then we think about what appears through the ears.
It is the same with regard to the other sense-doors. The cittas (moments of
consciousness) that arise in a mind-door process experience visible object,
sound, odour, flavour and tangible object, and they think in many different
ways about all these objects. Can there be other kinds of objects in our daily
life? There can be either paramattha dhammas or concepts as objects in this
life, in previous lives, or in future lives, in whatever plane or world one is
living. There cannot be other kinds of objects. There are only six classes of
objects (the objects which are experienced through the eye, ear, nose, tongue,
body and mind) and in these classes paramattha dhammas as well as concepts are
included.
We may wonder whether the
Buddha experienced objects which were concepts. Let us first speak about the
daily life of ordinary people. When the cittas of an eye-door process have
fallen away and there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, there is one series
of mind-door process cittas which have as object the same paramattha dhamma as
the eye-door process cittas which have just fallen away. After there have been
again bhavanga-cittas in between there can be mind-door process cittas which
think of the shape and form of what appeared. What appears through the eyes is
a kind of rupa, visible object, and this arises together with the four Great
Elements of earth, water, fire and wind.30 We could not separate
colour from these four Great Elements. Wherever there are these four Great
Elements there also have to be together with them in one group of rupas, the
rupas which are colour, odour, flavour and nutritive essence. These eight rupas
cannot be separated from each other.31 Thus, since we cannot take
colour away from the four Great Elements, there can, after we have seen colour
through the eyesense, be a concept on account of colour. We can have a concept
of a whole, we can know that there is this or that thing, this or that person.
Seeing conditions thinking of concepts. If there were no colour impinging on
the eyesense and no seeing, could we notice people, beings and different
things?
30 The four great
elements of earth, water, fire and wind are conventional terms which refer to
characteristics of rupa such as solidity, cohesion, temperature, and motion or
pressure.
31Rupas do not
arise singly , they arise in groups consisting of at least eight rupas.
The Buddha certainly had
concepts as objects. When we listen to the Dhamma we should also consider which
cause leads to which effect. There are paramattha dhammas as well as concepts
which can be the object of citta. At the moment a paramattha dhamma is not the
object, a concept must be the object. This has been repeated time and again so
that there are conditions for sati to be aware of the characteristics of
realities which appear. Thus it can be understood correctly that what appears
through the eyes are only different colours. Since colour arises together with
the four Great Elements and cannot be separated from them, different concepts
are conceived on account of the colour which was seen. If satipatthana arises
it can distinguish visible object, it can consider it and be aware of it, so
that it can be correctly known that what appears are just different colours.
Colour can be realized as only a kind of reality appearing through the eyes. It
can be correctly under-stood that when one knows what different things are
there are mind-door process cittas which know concepts.
When we have studied the
Dhamma and considered it, we shall see that the cittas of all beings which
arise in daily life have sometimes a paramattha dhamma and sometimes a concept
as object. There are not only cittas of the eye-door process which have colour
as object. When the cittas of the eye-door process have fallen away and there
have been bhavanga-cittas in between, mind-door process cittas arise
experiencing the colour which was just before experienced by the eye-door
process cittas. When that series of mind-door process cittas has fallen away
and there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, there can be another series of
mind-door process cittas which have a concept as object. If we did not know
concepts how could we lead our daily life? If one wouldn't know what the
different things are, such as a table, a chair, food, a bowl, a plate or a
spoon, one could not lead one's daily life. Also animals must have concepts as
objects, otherwise they could not stay alive. They must know what is food and
what is not food.
Is there a difference in the
ways different people experience concepts, namely in the ways the Buddha, the
arahat, the anagami, the sakadagami, the sotapanna32 and the
ordinary person experience them? There is a difference between ariyas and
non-ariyas as to the way they experience concepts. Ordinary people who do not
know anything about paramattha dhammas take concepts for things which are real.
The ariyas who have realized the Noble Truths know that all dhammas are anatta.
The realities which arise and appear through eyes, ears, nose, tongue,
bodysense, and mind-door are impermanent, whereas concepts are not realities
with the characteristics of impermanence and anatta. Concepts are not realities
but they are the means to make things known. Concepts are the object of citta
and cetasika when we know the meaning of the things which appear, when we know
what different things are. We should carefully consider phenomena and the
conditions for their appearing, we should consider which cause leads to which
effect. If there were no citta and cetasika could there be concepts? That would
impossible. If there would only be rupas but no namas, no citta and cetasika,
there could not be concepts. Rupa is the reality which does not know an object
whereas citta and cetasika are the realities which know an object. Therefore,
if citta and cetasika would not arise concepts could not be known. ariyas as
well as non-ariyas have concepts as object, but there is a difference.
Non-ariyas take concepts for realities whereas ariyas know when citta has a
paramattha dhamma as object and when it has a concept as object.
32 The arahat is
fully enlightened, he has extinguished all defilements. The sotapanna (first
stage of realisation) has uprooted wrong view but still has other defilements.
The sakadagami and anagami are at the second and third stage of realisation,
respectively . All four are called ariyas, noble.
When citta has a concept as
object is there wrong view, miccha-ditthi? It depends on the kind of citta
which has a concept as object. All ariyas have concepts as object but they do
not have wrong view, they have completely eradicated the cetasika which is
wrong view, miccha-ditthi. If we do not carefully consider realities we will
not know the difference between lobha-mula-citta with wrong view and
lobha-mula-citta without wrong view. Lobha-mula-citta without wrong view is
attached to all objects. It is attached to what appears through the eyes and to
the concept conceived on account of it. It is attached to sound which appears
through the ears, and to a concept on account of the sound. It is the same in
the case of the objects appearing through the other doorways. This is our
ordinary daily life. Thus, lobha-mula-citta can be attached to all objects
without wrong view about them.
The sotapanna and the
sakadagami have lobha-mula-citta (consciousness with attachment) without wrong
view, and this citta can be attached to all six classes of objects. The anagami
has lobha-mula-citta without wrong view which is attached to the class of
objects which is dhammarammana, objects which can only be experienced through
the mind-door. He has eradicated attachment to the sense objects which are
visible object, sound, odour, flavour and tangible object. The arahat has
neither kusala dhammas nor akusala dhammas on account of the six classes of
objects. He has completely eradicated all defilements and akusala dhammas. The
person who is not arahat may understand the characteristics of the objects as
they are, he may know when the object is a paramattha dhamma and when a
concept. However, so long as one has not eradicated all defilements there are
conditions for their arising. There can be happiness or sadness, like or
dislike on account of the objects, be they paramattha dhammas or concepts. To
what extent defilements arise for the non-arahat depends on the degree of
understanding that has been developed, it depends on whether a person is a
non-ariya or an ariya who is a sotapanna, a sakadagami or an anagami.
We should carefully
consider when there is sakkaya-ditthi, personality belief. Although concepts
are not realities, paramattha dhammas, we may take them for things that really
exist, and then there is wrong view. When someone clings to the concept of
self, being, person, or different things and really believes that they exist,
there is the wrong view of sakkaya-ditthi (personality belief). So long as
sakkaya-ditthi has not been eradicated there are conditions for the arising of
many other kinds of wrong view as well. There may be the wrong view that there
is no kamma, no result of kamma, there may be the belief in an almighty god,
the creator of the world and of all beings and all people. When we do not know
the conditions for the arising of all sankhara dhammas, conditioned dhammas,
there can be different kinds of wrong view.
However, not each time when
citta has a concept as object there is clinging to wrong view. Can concepts be
the object of akusala citta (unwholesome consciousness)? They can, they are in
fact usually the object of akusala citta. There can be lobha-mula-citta which
is attached to a concept. Or there can be dosa-mula-citta which has aversion
towards a concept. When one does not like this or that person does one realize
what the object is? At such moments a concept is the object of citta. Thus we
see that a concept can be the object of any kind of akusala citta.
Can a concept be the object
of kusala citta (wholesome consciousness)? It can be the object of kusala
citta. Concepts belong to our daily life and thus they are the object of all
kinds of cittas arising in our daily life. If we want to perform dana (giving)
but we didn't know concepts, we wouldn't know what the gift is in conventional
sense, thus there could not be kusala citta which performs dana. There could
not be abstention (virati) from wrong deeds or speech if one did not know what
is there in conventional sense, if one did not know that there is a being or a
person.
When someone develops
samatha can concepts be the object of citta? Someone may think that it is
difficult to answer this question when he has not studied in detail the way of
development of samatha and the subjects of calm. However, it is important to
remember that when a dhamma (reality) is not the object of citta a concept must
be the object. Thus also in samatha a concept can be the object of citta. All
cittas other than the cittas which develop satipatthana and the sense-door
process cittas can have concepts as object. Only if we develop satipatthana can
we know whether a phenomenon is a paramattha dhamma. When satipatthana does not
arise there is at such moments no awareness, no study and investigation of the
characteristics of paramattha dhammas. In our daily life the object of citta is
sometimes a paramattha dhamma and sometimes a concept. The development of
satipatthana is very intricate, because panna must become very refined in order
that it can see, as they are, all the realities which appear.
Question: satipatthana
cannot have concepts as object and therefore when we develop satipatthana
should we try to stop citta having a concept as object?
S.: That is not right
because then we could not lead our ordinary daily life. We cannot stop citta
having concepts as object. However, panna can be developed so that it can be
known that when a concept is the object, it is citta, a type of nama, which
knows that concept. A concept could not be the object at that moment if there
were no citta which knows it. When we develop satipatthana we should not force
ourselves not to think of concepts. We should not try not to know what the
different things are which we normally see and recognize in daily life. Then we
would not be able to know the characteristic of nama dhamma, the reality which
knows something. When a concept is the object one should realize that citta and
cetasika which are nama dhammas have arisen and that they know at that moment
an object which is a concept. satipatthana can study and consider realities and
be aware of them. Thus it can be known that when there is thinking it is nama
which thinks, an element, a reality which experiences, not a self, a being or
person. We should know that all dhammas are non-self, anatta, and that we
cannot stop citta thinking of different things. Panna should penetrate the
characteristics of the different namas that experience different objects
through the six doors. Then doubt about the characteristics of nama dhammas can
be eliminated. Nobody can prevent the arising of the phenomena of our daily
life. It is because of ignorance that one tries not to think or not to know the
concepts of the things that appear. If someone tries to avoid thinking of
concepts panna cannot be developed.
We should consider our way
of practice. One may follow a kind of practice which is not the development of
panna (wisdom) which studies, notices, and considers the characteristics of the
nama dhammas and rupa dhammas. People don't lead their usual daily life while
they try to follow a particular practice. Then they develop the wrong Path,
miccha-magga, which is: wrong understanding, wrong thinking, wrong speech,
wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, wrong
concentration. That is not the right Path, the development of satipatthana, the
development of vipassana. If someone does not know as they are the
characteristics of the realities which appear, and if he does not understand
which cause leads to which effect, there will be wrong understanding. He will
cling to wrong view, he will search for a way of practice which is the wrong
Path. There will be ignorance while he sees different colours and perceives
different things. We read in the Kindred Sayings (V, Maha-vagga, Book I, XLV,
Kindred Sayings on the Way, Ch. I, par.4, the Brahmin):
Savatthi was
the occasion for this discourse
Then the venerable Ananda, robing himself
in the forenoon and taking bowl and outer robe, entered Savatthi on his begging
round. Now the venerable Ananda saw Janussoni, the brahmin, driving out of
Savatthi in his car, drawn by pure white mares. White were the steeds harnessed
thereto and white the trappings, white the car. White were the fittings, white
the reins, the goad, the canopy, his turban, his clothes and sandals, and by a
white fan was he fanned. And when the people saw it they cried out: "Ah!
There is the best of cars! There is the best of cars for beauty!"
Someone may just see white
colour and then there can be wrong understanding if he does not know realities,
and if he does not know the way to realize the truth of not self. He may look
for another way to know the truth. He may have the wrong understanding that the
car which has a white colour is the best of cars. We read further on that the
venerable Ananda, after going his begging round, came back, ate his meal and
visited the Exalted One. He told him that he had seen Janussoni in his white
car and that the people had cried out that that was the best of cars. Ananda
asked the Buddha whether he could point out the best of cars in this Dhamma and
Discipline. The Buddha explained that the defilements can be eradicated through
the development of the eightfold Path, not by seeing a white carriage with
white trappings. The best of carriages is the ariya eightfold Path. The Dhamma
carriage is unsurpassed for its conquest in the fight.33The Buddha
then said the following verse:
Whoso has
Confidence (saddha) and Wisdom, these two states,
Forever yoked together lead
him on:
Conscience (hiri) the pole,
and Mind the yoke thereof,
And heedfulness (sati) his
watchful charioteer.
The car is furnished with
Righteousness (sila),
Rapture its axle, Energy
its wheels,
And Calm, yoke fellow of
the balanced mind,
Desirelessness the drapery
thereof,
Goodwill and Harmlessness
his weapons are,
Together with Detachment of
the mind.
Endurance is his leathern
coat of mail:
And to attain the peace
this car rolls on.
It is built by oneself, and
thus it becomes
The best of cars,
unconquerable in battle.
Seated therein the sages
leave the world,
And verily they win the
victory.
Thus we see that the white
carriage and all the white paraphernalia have nothing to do with the ariya
wisdom.
33 In Pali there
is a word association of yana, car, and nana, wisdom.
In the commentary to this
sutta (in the Saratthappakasini) it is said that when the brahmin Janussoni
would drive around town he had people announce his coming ahead of time. When
people had something to do outside town they would not go away, in order to see
Janussoni driving out. If people had gone out of town already, they would
return in order to see him. They believed it to be an auspicious sign to see
the treasures and wealth of someone like Janussoni. When the brahmin Janussoni
was going to drive around the whole day the people in town swept the roads from
early morning on. They made them smooth with sand and scattered white flowers
all over. They were helping each other to put up flags and banners and they
caused the whole town to be wafted with the smell of incense. Janussoni rode
through the town in a white carriage with white paraphernalia, pulled by four
white horses. The wheels and the fittings of the car were made of silver.
Janussoni had two cars: a battle car and a car for his paraphernalia. The
battle car was quadrilateral and it was not so big, it could take two or three
people. The car for his paraphernalia was very big. There was room for eight or
ten people who carried the canopy, the fan and palm leaves. These people could
stand or comfortably lie down. The horses which pulled the carriage were all
white, their ornaments were made of silver. The carriage was called white
because its coverings were made of silver and it was decorated with ivory. The
coverings of the other carriages were lion skins and tiger skins or yellow
cloths. It was different in the case of Janussoni's carriage, this was covered
by very precious cloths. The reins and even the bridles were covered with
silver. The canopy erected in the middle of the carriage was white. Janussoni's
turban was seven inches wide and made of silver. His clothes were white, of the
colour of a lump of foam. His clothes and the coverings of his carriage were
all of very expensive material. His sandals, unlike the sandals of those who
travel or go in the forest, were meant to be worn when going on his carriage,
and they were ornamented with silver. His fan was white with a handle of
crystal. Janussoni was the only person whose paraphernalia were all white. He
used white face powder and white flowers to adorn himself. His jewelry,
including the rings on his ten fingers and in his ears, were made of silver.
His retinue consisted of ten thousand people and these were dressed in white
clothes and adorned with white flowers and white jewelry. Janussoni enjoyed his
wealth and dignity from early morning, while he took his breakfast, applied
perfumes and dressed himself in white. He went outside his palace and took off
on his carriage. The brahmins of his retinue who were dressed in white, adorned
with white cosmetics and white flowers, surrounded him while they carried his
white canopy. Then coins were scattered about for the children, and the people
of the town would gather and cheer, tossing pieces of cloth. Janussoni went
around town to display his wealth. Thus he would give people who wanted to have
an auspicious sign and blessings for good luck an opportunity to see him.
People who were lucky entered the palace and went up to the first floor, opened
the windows and looked down to have a good view. When people saw the carriage
of Janussoni they exclaimed that this was the best of cars.
The Buddha said to Ananda
that people may give money to small children so that the giver will be praised
because of loveliness, beauty, and wealth. However, only by being praised one
will not really be lovable and rich. Although the people who saw Janussoni's
car praised it as the best of cars, it could not be the best of cars just
because people praised it. The Buddha said that in reality that car was a
miserable, ugly thing.
The Buddha said to Ananda
that the best of cars is a term that may be applied to the eightfold Path. The
eightfold Path is the excellent way because it liberates from all that is
wrong. By the noble eightfold Path one can become an ariya, and attain nibbana.
The wisdom car, the Dhamma car, is the best vehicle, the best battle car.
Nothing can excel this car and by this car the defilements are conquered. Thus
we see the difference between the car of Janussoni and the Dhamma car. There
can be wrong view and wrong practice just be-cause of seeing something. Some
people may believe that white is an auspicious colour which conditions them to
become pure, and without defilements. However, the Buddha said that in reality
that car was a miserable, ugly thing because it caused people to have wrong
view. They thought that it was the best of cars. The understanding of things as
they are has nothing to do with the colour of someone's clothes or ornaments.
When satipatthana arises and is aware of the characteristics of the realities
which appear it can be said that there is the vehicle of panna which leads to
the eradication of defilements.
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