On Meditation (Seeing Is Believing-- Dhamma Talks by Sayadaw U Nyanabhasa)

Close your eyes. These are pasāda, kammic eyes—made by kammic results, that is, sensitive matter (pasāda-rūpa). Except for physical form, they cannot see anything. They cannot know or contemplate mind and body, nor can they contemplate cause and effect. They cannot discern the characteristics of arising and falling, the knowledge of disenchantment in all formations (nibbidā-ñāṇa), nor the ending of formations and the Path Knowledge. They can see only with the knowledge eye.

The knowledge eye will open by closing the kammic eyes.

At the beginning of sitting, one is unable to discern arising and falling because there is not yet samādhi. Therefore, according to the purification of mind (citta-visuddhi), establish samādhi by noting the in-breath and out-breath.

Pay attention at the entrance of the nostrils, but not at the tip. When breathing in, the air goes inside by touching the entrance of the nose; when breathing out, it goes out by touching the entrance of the nose. Note them as “going in” and “going out” until the mind calms down.

When samādhi is established, it will possess the three factors of samādhi (samādhi-magga), namely sati, viriya, and samādhi.

After that, contemplate the characteristics of the objects. This will become clear by noting the touching of the in-breath and out-breath. By training to know or discern the non-existence of the air after it goes in and out through the nostrils, one sees that all of them vanish at the touching point after the in-breath and out-breath.

You will then discern the arising and falling of them. This is done by using the in-breath and out-breath from the beginning to the end, which then become the primary object (mūla-kammaṭṭhāna).

If one is only able to note the in-breath and out-breath, but is unable to contemplate the arising phenomena when moving around and doing things—whatever arises from the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind (that is, the six sense doors)—then defilements will enter the mind, and the practice will take a longer time. Therefore, I will explain the practice taught by Sāriputta and Mogok Sayadaw, which will help to further develop the practice.

“Imaṃ kāyaṃ” refers to the present sitting aggregate of the body (that is, the khandha). At the time of moving, it is the moving khandha; at the time of sleep or lying down, it is the lying-down khandha, and so on. Sammasatha means observing with knowledge (ñāṇa).

This meditation is taught by Sāriputta and supported by the Buddha. According to the texts, it relates to the five khandhas. In daily life, this is experienced as the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind (at the heart area). These are called the six sense bases and are also known as the extension of the rounds of existence (saṃsāra).

(We should read or listen to the Buddha’s teachings attentively, because through contemplation we can understand their profundity and essence.) This body aggregate is fixed with six clear, mirror-like doors.

If you see physical form with the eyes, contemplate it as seeing-consciousness. After its seeing, it passes away. You have to watch and observe it at the place where it arises. Mogok Sayadaw said that if you do not discern it, then you did not truly watch and observe it.

In the Dhamma teaching of Venerable Nāgasena to King Milinda, it is compared to a tiger hiding behind a bush: when prey comes, it jumps on the prey (for example, a deer). If the tiger chases its prey but cannot catch it, it fails. In the same way, the six sense doors are the places where the “prey” comes—representing the arising and passing away of phenomena.

Whatever arises due to causes, watch and catch it. Just observe it when it arises as arising, and when it vanishes as vanishing.

Therefore, the task of insight practice is the task of observing, that is, the contemplation of impermanence. It is the task of watching one’s own death. Watching other people’s death is samatha. One’s seeing-consciousness, hearing-consciousness, and so on—these are one’s own death. You can see them only while you are still alive; when you die, you will not see them.

Therefore, you must have good sati, with good health, while still alive, in order to discern them.

Parijāṇātha punappunaṃ means watching and contemplating again and again. This repeated contemplation is one of the important factors for development.

During the period of sitting, most phenomena arise at the body and mind. Sounds arise at the ear; smells arise at the nose. Sometimes you have to contemplate them in order to discern the arising and falling of phenomena again and again. Insight (vipassanā) means bhāvitā-bahulīkata—development through repeated and frequent contemplation.

Only through such repeated observation will the obsessional defilements (pariyuṭṭhāna kilesa) not arise, and the latent defilements (anusaya kilesa) gradually become thinner and thinner, and eventually be cut off. Our defilements are very thick. These kilesa have been with us for many lifetimes, and even in this present life they remain strong. Many defilements arise from family duties and responsibilities.

During the contemplation of impermanence, one must actually discern phenomena and contemplate them as arising and falling. You cannot merely recite them without seeing them. Only by discerning them with one’s own knowledge do they become visible here and now—sandiṭṭhiko.

What, then, is the benefit of contemplating again and again?

Kāye sabhāvaṃ disvāna—this becomes clear discernment and knowledge of the impermanent nature of the bodily khandha. After some time, the shape and form of the body disappear; only the nature of arising and passing away is seen, and the shape and form vanish. Through one’s own knowledge, only the intrinsic nature appears.

Wrong view (diṭṭhi) falls away through contemplation. If you discern a great deal of inconstancy (anicca), you become a cūḷa-sotāpanna. You will not fall into the dangers of woeful existence (apāya) for one or two lives. If you continue the practice, it will close the doors to woeful existences—such as hell, the animal realm, and the hungry shades.

Mogok Sayadaw gave an example for this. If you hold a cup of water and tilt it slightly up and down, then straighten it again, and repeat this again and again, your attention is only on the tilting and straightening phenomena, and you are no longer aware of the water in the cup. In the same way, when the mind stays attentive to inconstancy, it is no longer aware of the body; it sees only arising and passing away. This is called kāye sabhāvaṃ disvāna.

What is the benefit of seeing in this way many times? It knows and discerns the truth of dukkha.

This discerning knowledge is the truth of the Path. The non-arising of kilesa is the truth of the cause. If one continues contemplation, it leads to disenchantment with anicca, followed by dispassion and non-clinging. At last, with the cessation of impermanence, Nibbāna arises.

The task of the yogi is to contemplate impermanence without fail. The development of knowledge depends on repeated contemplation. Dukkhassantaṃ karissathā means that one will realize, with knowledge, the ending of dukkha, which is Nibbāna.

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