Realization and Proper Attention (Seeing Is Believing)

According to Mogok Sayadaw, a teacher should not teach a new yogi the contemplation of inconstancy (anicca) at the very beginning. Instead, the teacher should first teach the yogi the correct way of contemplation. Only with proper attention (yoniso manasikāra) will the discernment of anicca be correct. Even if one discerns anicca with improper or unwise attention, that discernment is unable to lead to the realization of Dhamma. An example is Venerable Channa. He practised on his own without anyone’s help. Although he saw anicca, he did not know what he should rely on, nor did he know where to take refuge. Later, he began searching for refuge. At that time, he was already over eighty years old. Other monks tried to help him through teachings, but without success. He then remembered Venerable Ānanda, who was staying at Kosambī, and went there for help. Ānanda questioned him about his practice and understood that he held wrong view and was clinging to the self. Venerable Ānanda then gave him the teaching that the Buddha had taught to the monk Kaccānagotta. First, Venerable Channa had to dispel wrong view through intellectual understanding—ñāta-pariññā. Therefore, the first requirement is proper attention; the second is contemplation of inconstancy. After that, a suitable teaching was selected for him. Eventually, Venerable Channa became an arahant.

Note:

[For Venerable Channa’s practice, see Khandhasaṃyutta, Sutta No. 82 (Channa).

For the teaching given to Venerable Kaccānagotta, see Nidānasaṃyutta, Sutta No. 15 (Kaccānagotta).

Another important sutta concerning wrong view and doubt is the Mahāpuṇṇama Sutta, Sutta No. 109, Majjhima Nikāya.

From these texts, we can see that dangers and problems arise from wrong view and doubt—not only in the canonical texts, but also in modern times. We can discern their results in yogis’ experiences, as well as in the destruction and suffering found in societies up to international levels, its worst results are woeful births.]

Therefore, proper, wise, and right attention is of primary importance. Eyes exist, but seeing-consciousness does not exist by itself; it is a phenomenon that does not exist independently. In the same way, hearing, smelling, tasting, body-consciousness, and thinking or planning minds do not exist by themselves.

The sense doors, or the internal six sense bases (āyatana), exist in the body (as explained in section two of the Dependent Arising cycle). With the six base elements, the external object elements, and the six elements of consciousness, phenomena arise.

The base elements are subject to aging, sickness, and death (as aggregates, khandha), and there is no need to contemplate them as permanent, including external objects. Instead, you must contemplate the arising of seeing-consciousness and hearing-consciousness at the moment they arise—through the contact of the base element and the object element.

The physical consciousness of pleasant or unpleasant sensation is related to materiality (rūpa), such as hardness, tightness, motion, pressure, and so forth (the earth and air elements, etc.).

You must observe the anicca aggregate that is now appearing through the Dependent Arising process. In this aggregate, there is no essence. The physical body must grow old, become sick, and die—where, then, is its essence? This is the truth of dukkha.

The arising of seeing-consciousness, hearing-consciousness, and other consciousnesses is also impermanent (anicca) and unsatisfactory (dukkha sacca). Where is their essence? There is nothing reliable that exists; all phenomena are truly non-self.

Let us observe arising phenomena. They do not exist before they arise. Taking them as arising from external sources is wrong view. If one believes that they exist before arising, this becomes eternalist wrong view (sassata-diṭṭhi). If one believes that they appear by themselves, without conditions, this becomes causeless wrong view (ahetuka-diṭṭhi or uccheda-diṭṭhi). They do not arise without causes.

Taking these phenomena as “I,” “mine,” or as entities is the wrong view of personality belief (sakkāya-diṭṭhi). Therefore, I will explain the proper attention needed for seeing-consciousness, hearing-consciousness, etc.

Hearing-consciousness does not exist beforehand; only the ear exists. The ear is the base (a passive element), and sound is the object (an active element). When they meet together—when sound strikes the ear-base—hearing-consciousness arises. Sounds exist in many places, but if they do not strike our ear-bases, or if these conditions do not meet, we do not hear them.

Thus, hearing-consciousness arises through meeting together, that is, through conditioning. With their contact, in a brief moment, hearing-consciousness appears. Does it exist beforehand by itself? The answer is no. Does it appear from outside? There is no hearing-consciousness outside; only sounds exist. Only matter (rūpa) exists. The ear-base element is also matter.

When the two elements—the ear and sound—meet together, hearing-consciousness arises momentarily. Therefore, it does not come from outside. It comes from an unseen place and disappears at an unseen place. The Buddha taught us to understand it in this way.

According to Mogok Sayadawgyi, it does not come from anywhere and does not go anywhere. It arises here and disappears here. This point is very important.

For example, hearing-consciousness and seeing-consciousness arise at the ear and the eye respectively. They do not come from inside or outside. They arise at the point of contact and disappear at the same place, without moving anywhere. You must contemplate this point carefully.

The Buddha gave a simile of the sound of a lute. The sound or music is not in the strings of the lute, nor is it in the fingers that pluck it. The music appears through the contact of both.

Another example is a mirror. A mirror is a clear element or base element, similar to the clear elements of the eye and ear. If you stand in front of a mirror wearing red-colored clothes, the red color appears in the mirror. With the contact of the body and the mirror, an image appears. There is no image in the mirror beforehand, and there is also no image in the body.

The body has a visible form. With two causes present, a shadow appears (here, the body and the mirror are the main causes, along with other supporting conditions). When one of the causes changes, the shadow disappears. It appears at the base element and disappears at the same place. It arises here and vanishes here—arising instantly and vanishing instantly.

In the same way, at the base elements of the eye, ear, and so forth, when objects of sight, sound, and other sense objects come into contact, seeing-consciousness, hearing-consciousness, and the like appear. To say that they come from “here and there” is wrong. To say that they arise without any cause is also wrong. Being able to see phenomena in this way—free from these wrong views—constitutes right view and right attention.

Another example is a gas lighter. The small stone is the base element, and the small wheel is the striker element. Neither of them has fire by itself. When they strike together, a spark of fire appears between them and then quickly vanishes. Did the fire already exist there? Did it happen by itself, or did it arise by me or by others? No, it did not. When causes combine, it arises and vanishes.

Another example is a bell and a wooden striker. When the striker hits the bell, the sound “dong” appears. The sound does not exist in either of them beforehand, nor does it come from them independently. Through these examples, you can understand the process. Now let us examine the body.

In the suttas, the Buddha explains two causes, and in the commentaries, four causes. With the contact of the eye and visible form, seeing-consciousness arises. It does not arise by “me,” by others, or by itself—these are the wrong views of personality belief (sakkāya-diṭṭhi) and annihilationism (uccheda-diṭṭhi).

Does it exist before it arises, remain afterward, or move from somewhere else? These are eternalist views (sassata-diṭṭhi). After its arising, it does not stay anywhere permanently. Nothing is left behind in the process. When one hundred moments of consciousness arise, all one hundred moments vanish.

If you are able to contemplate with right attention that dhammas arise due to causes and conditions, and that resultant dhammas also arise accordingly, then your understanding becomes right. You are free from sakkāya, sassata, and uccheda views. This is the correct understanding of the Dependent Arising process.

According to Mogok Sayadawgyi, if one does not understand Dependent Arising and does not know the aggregates (khandhas) as objects for contemplation, correct insight cannot develop.

If you contemplate the present body merely as a body (conceptual khandha) is incorrect. If one does not understand the khandhas, one’s contemplation will also be incorrect. The inconstancy of all conditioned phenomena (saṅkhāra anicca) will not appear if one merely contemplates the head, body, feet, or hands.

Seeing-consciousness, hearing-consciousness, and so forth are conditioned phenomena (saṅkhāra). They arise through conditioning. Discernment of anicca occurs through seeing the arising of phenomena (dhamma). With the cause of dhamma, the result of dhamma arises; when the cause vanishes, the result also vanishes—arising here and vanishing here.

In brief, do not look at the present physical body as a fixed entity. Observe this body as processes. When the eye and visible form, the ear and sound, and so forth come into contact, seeing-consciousness, hearing-consciousness, and other consciousnesses arise. After their arising, they vanish; yet the eye, ear, and other sense bases remain intact. If they were to vanish completely, there would be no basis for practice. What, then, are we watching and observing? We are observing the arising of new khandhas.

What is the benefit of observing these impermanent khandhas? One will attain insight knowledges. With the attainment of knowledge, craving, clinging, and action cease. Impermanence is the truth of dukkha; the fading away of craving is the truth of the cause. With the cessation of the anicca process, one realizes Nibbāna.

With the clearing away of wrong views, one sees Nibbāna. When craving dies away, one sees Nibbāna. Therefore, the important point here is to be free from wrong views and to establish proper attention (yoniso manasikāra). When anicca is seen correctly, wrong view (diṭṭhi) is removed. With right understanding of impermanence, disenchantment knowledge arises. With the maturity of knowledge, Nibbāna is realized.

Only by seeing Nibbāna are the doors to woeful planes (apāya) closed.

Whatever arises is just its intrinsic nature. It arises due to causes; after arising, it vanishes. If the causes are still present, it arises again; when the causes cease, it vanishes again. In this way, one should continue the development of contemplation.

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