Talk Eight: Observing Anicca from the Six Sense Doors (Step by Step)
Sayadawgyi says that looking at one’s own death is insight. Kammic death—the end of a life—cannot be seen. But now there is knowledge (ñāṇa) of death, so one can see one’s own death in the present.
For example, you can now discern with knowledge that a speaking sound, after being heard, no longer exists. If one truly dies, one cannot see it. When many deaths converge together, this becomes what is called the Great Death.
If you want to be freed from the Great Death, you must make effort to be freed from the small deaths, that is, from anicca. These words have profound meaning and correspond to the Dependent Arising (D.A.) process.
To see and discern these small deaths requires effort, mindfulness (sati), and contemplation with wisdom (paññā). After seeing the small deaths, one will see Nibbāna, which is freedom from the Great Death.
The Buddha taught that ānāpāna has sixteen stages. It is suitable for people practising in forests and mountains. After establishing samādhi, and as sakkāya-diṭṭhi (self-identity view) falls away, one should then contemplate whatever arises at the six sense doors—seeing, hearing, and so forth—as they occur.
After samādhi becomes more refined, observe seeing, hearing, and other phenomena in terms of their non-sameness, noting them in detail. If the noting mind becomes so close that it is no longer able to note them as “seeing,” “hearing,” and so on, then at that time simply continue with knowing only.
How far must one contemplate in satipaṭṭhāna—that is, contemplation of arising phenomena? One must contemplate until the khandhas disappear in one’s knowledge. Some people think that only the lower body or upper body disappears, but this is not correct. Before the compactness (ghana) of the body disappears, the contemplative mind experiences wide gaps. Therefore, yogis still know the existence of the body.
It is like two rows of fences or trees in a garden: when they are far apart, you can see through to the other side; when they are too close together, you cannot see through them.
In the same way, there is no time to attend to individual arising phenomena, because the yogi sees the mind series one by one, continuously, in rapid succession. For example, with knee pain: before, the concept of “knee” seemed clearly present. Now, one cannot attend to it in that way—the knee seems to have disappeared. People sitting nearby may still see the knee, but in the yogi’s mind it has disappeared. (This is similar to the nature of jhāna, but occurring in a different dimension.)
Some may think they are floating in the air. Yogis should not take this as real, nor should they open their eyes to check or touch the floor with their hands.
The yogi contemplates form (rūpa) by seeing one’s own forms (not the external world), and contemplates mind by seeing one’s own minds. At that time, sakkāya-diṭṭhi (self-identity view) falls away. However, this level is still within satipaṭṭhāna.
One must then climb to bhāvanā (satipaṭṭhāna-bhāvanā). At this stage, phenomena are not seen as “me,” but only as minds arising in series. This is the state of a small stream-enterer (cūḷa-sotāpanna)—the discernment of mind and matter conditionally. If one discerns this directly, one will never forget this view.
Therefore, such a yogi will not fall into woeful existences (apāyas) for one or two lives. This knowledge does not come from books or from others. It comes from direct practice, by using the khandhas themselves and by establishing sati and samādhi.
Let us continue to observe the mind series—whether it is stable or not.
Before, we took these khandhas as “my khandhas.” Now, clinging to self falls away, and there is only seeing phenomena as khandhas. Yesterday, I taught the contemplation of the rising and falling of the in-breath and out-breath. When this becomes mature, one sees the rising and falling of the minds that desire to breathe.
Regarding painful feelings, one must observe that pains are not the same in every moment. If pain appears continuous and lasts for a long time, it can become unbearable and one may abandon the practice. Only by discerning non-sameness can one see the rising and falling (anicca).
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據英譯者—鄔達摩比丘交待，此譯文僅能免費與大眾結緣，作為法的禮物（Dhamma Dāna）。你可以在任何媒體上重新編製、重印、翻譯和重新發布這部作品。