Our Murderers

revised on 2019-11-05

Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 25th December 1960

I’ll teach you the contemplation of feeling. If you want to become a noble person, you should know these seven points on feeling.

You should have to know these things before.

① To know six kinds of feeling (Feelings arise from the six senses-doors. Here Sayadaw mentioned 13 types of feeling which are arising from the six senses-doors according to his teaching on the contemplation of feeling).

② All these feelings arise from contact (phassa). Phassa paccaya vedanā – contact conditions feeling.

③ With the cessation of contact and feeling also ceases. Because it caused by contact

④Practice with the five path factors. The yogi has to know the arising and passing away. Knowing is maggaṅga (path factors). This is to know the cessation of feeling. If all feelings come to the cessation and what’ll leave behind? This is the cessation of dukkha sacca. Have to practice up to this point.

⑤ if you don’t practice in this way, because of feeling and gratification arises (assāda). Taking them with pleasure arises. For example, it’s pleasant to see it. With pleasure arises and following behind are craving, clinging and action. I am worrying about craving arising and telling you practice for the cessation.

Is it not sure, if pleasure arises and dukkha will follow? Taking no. ④ as a main point for practice. What I am teaching is also focus on no. ④. (That is true. With research on Sayadaw’s talks and find out that mostly he concentrated on this point).

⑥ If pleasure arises and you’ll fall into the danger of dukkha (ādīnava). And then taṇhā, upādāna, kamma and jāti will follow. If gratification arises (assāda) and these things will follow behind (i.e., craving, clinging, action and birth). So, it’s impossible not to contemplate (i.e., must have to do it).

⑦ If you want to know the escape from feeling, practice with no. ④. And then, it’ll become the eight path factors (i.e., escape from feeling or dukkha). This dhamma was showing the process of the practice (by the Buddha). ④ First, contemplate with the five maggaṅga. If you succeed, you will fulfill the eight path factors.

⑥Feeling is under the fault of three characteristics, such as impermanence, suffering and not-self. Doing the contemplation is to understand the fault or danger. Know these two faults of the khandha with the contemplation.

First, with the contemplation, know the fault of khandha with the three characteristics. Second, know that the khandha dukkha processes are following someone without the contemplation. We are always under the fault of three characteristics.

Can you destroy it? You will escape from it if we know under the fault of three characteristics. Do you still want it? You will not get it if you don’t want. Not getting it, you become free. I’ll talk about another way of without the contemplation how dangers arise (the connection of D.A. process).

I’ll talk only regarding to seeing. The fish in the water dies on land. You may ask the fish in the water should die in the water. It dies on land because of encountering danger. There are also men die in water (fishermen). They die for feeling. If there are no feelings, do they need to die? The fish in the water is seeing the bait with the hook. Just seeing, it is neither pleasant nor unpleasant feeling, it is neutral feeling (upekkha vedanā). After seeing and wanting to eat, pleasant feeling arises (somanassa vedanā or taṇhā). And it eats the bait and is pierced its mouth with the hook. Then it arrives on land and is beaten by a stick and dies with painful feeling. (dukkha vedanā).

Neutral feeling is the showman. Pleasant feeling is the gulper or swallower. And painful feeling is the killer. These are showing the danger of feeling. Which type of feeling is your friend? All three feelings are the messengers of death. They all are enemies. We can’t overcome these three feelings and always living with death.

Therefore, you can’t leave feelings on its own (Sayadaw continued to explain about feeling connects with the five other sense-doors in the daily life). These three feelings exist in your khandha and will kill you together. You are also living with these three feelings.

Therefore the Buddha said: vedanā māro – feeling is the murderer, or killer. The messenger of death has to be contemplated in this way. Without them only, you are free from death. Therefore, have to contemplate until it extinct. If not, they’ll kill you. They are the most fearful things.

We are living together with the messenger of death. Don’t want to contemplate feeling and prefer them is still wanting to die. By hearing about heaven is good and prefer heaven. We are taking the Brahma world also in the same way. Wherever you’ll be and will be killed by them.

Tonight I am talking about feeling very clear. Whatever life you are praying and asking for feeling, it is the same as I may meet the murderers. May I live with them together? Without knowing them and it happens in foolish ways. Therefore there are only murderers in the 31 realms of existence.

You have to practice to escape from feeling. See impermanence of feeling; and then its disenchantment and not wanting it. Then you’ll not get the aggregate of feeling. Not getting it, you'll be free from death. And then you are separating from the murderers.

Today talk is emphasizing on practice. And also it includes sense of urgency (saṁvega). You are out of your mind, if you make friends with the three murderers. If you can contemplate to see impermanent, disenchantment and not wanting it and the eight factors will complete. With the khandha disappears and no khandha for dying anymore. No khandha for dying is Nibbāna.

revised on 2019-11-05; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4241&p=36065#p36065 (posted on 2019-03-03)

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