Body and Mental Pains

revised on 2019-11-05

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Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 22nd September 1962

The five khandhas are always changing. The nature of form (rūpa) is changing. The nature of earth elements (paṭhavīdhātu) is hardness. Disbanding its nature is changing. If disbands, its hardness nature is changing.

If the heat element is dissipating, also change. In feeling aggregate, pleasant feeling arises and passes away. Perception, mental formation and mind, all are arising and passing away by changing.

Therefore, there is nothing to say about that the khandha is always healthy and stable. We have to remember that all the five khandhas fall apart because of its unhealthy nature. With the insight knowledge, contemplate whatever arising as falling apart because of its unhealthy nature.

So it’s unhealthy at any time. The ariyas know that if separate from the khandha it will be healthy (The power of ignorance and delusion are quite amazing. The views of ariyas and worldlings never meet). So they prefer not to have the khandhas. That is the appreciation of Nibbāna. They are happy to lay down the khandhas.

(Some Buddhists take this as selfishness. This is misinterpreting the Dhamma with their own teachings. Only people having clinging are not free from selfishness and defilements. Coming and going are only possible with clinging. It’s like the root of a tree never grows back again after cutting off. This is the law of nature. Sabbe dhamma anatta).

But for the worldlings, they desire for the next burdened khandhas. If you look at it with the vipassanā eyes, will find out that it’s never healthy. It appears in the mind as vaṭṭa khandha or burdened khandha. If you don’t have these kinds of eyes, you will not prefer to lay down the khandha.

If you have this eye, you don’t want this present khandha, and don’t desire for the future khandha. Therefore, you have to practice hard in vipassanā. Practice of vipassanā does not want the present and future khandhas. Not wanting the present khandha is the arising of insight knowledge. Not desiring for the future khandha is the dying of taṇhā.

This is seeing sec ② as dukkha sacca and not connecting with sec ③. If develop more, Path Knowledge arises. Vipassanā has a great benefit. This is right seeing and becoming right view. Vipassanā magga knows dukkha and abandon samudaya.

(Continued to the story of Nakulamātā and Nakulapitā, SN.22.1 Nakulapitusuttaṃ) Leaving the fools of ignorance behind, this khandha is never healthy. (Not including advanced yogis and ariyas) Here it doesn’t mean pain, aches and numbness of the body.

So people who think themselves as healthy are included among the fools. They are talking about it with the blind eyes. Knowing the intrinsic nature of the khandha is ñāṇa eye. How to do the contemplation? Whatever arising in the khandha is a sore coming out and passing away is perishing.

A sore grows out is the body pain and let the contemplative mind as it is. Don’t let sorrow and lamentation arise. The ñāṇa mind has to contemplate whatever arises with its own nature. The khandha nature is always perishing. This is saying to the yogis as at the time of observing the khandha with equanimity. It’s the equanimity of insight — vipassanupekkhā.

Don’t let difficulty come in. Knowing the khandha nature is like this. It happens by itself and nothing to do with oneself and as an alien (parāto). Seeing impermanence is vipassanā and contemplation with equanimity is upekkhā. Combine together is called vipassanupekkhā.

Later it develops into the knowledge of equanimity towards formations — saṅkhār'upekkhā ñāṇa. After that Path Knowledge arises. Does it take long? I am urging you to do it quickly. If not, death can overtake you. The Buddha instructed them let the body pain and not the mind. Nakulapitā went to see Ven. Sāriputta and told him what the Buddha had said.

Ven. Sāriputta explained for him. Worldlings are taking the five khandhas as me and mine. When encountering the perishing of the khandha, take it as I am in misfortune. And then follow with sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. These are body pain and mental pain.

A person with the vipassanā contemplation and the knowledge will change with its own nature. But the mind observes with its own nature and no mental pain. It’s like watching the flowing water (a still flowing mind). Path factors mind (magga citta) is not a mental pain.

This is the mind contemplating impermanence; or the right knowing mind. Because sec ② not connects with sec ③. With body and mental pains, sec ② connects with ③, and sec ④. If you don’t have mental pain, D. A. process ceases in the beginning, in the middle and in the end.

It is because you are in body and mental pain if one of them arises. I didn’t give this talk in details before. If no mental pain, the three processes of D. A. are ceased to arise.

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revised on 2019-11-05; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4202&p=35990#p35990 (posted on 2019-02-20)

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• Content of Part 9 on "Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw"

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• Content of "Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw"

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• Content of Publications of Ven. Uttamo

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