Practice Only One

revised on 2019-12-02

Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; no date noted

I’ll talk about four kinds of person:

The first person is indulging in sensual pleasure and doing unwholesome things. The second person is abandoning of sensual pleasure and practicing vipassanā with pain and difficulties. It can be said that he is the one like you are here, going against the flow of saṁsāra.

The third person is referring to stream enterer (sotāpanna), once returner (sakadāgāmin) and non-returner (anāgāmin). He is not flowing down nor reaching beyond yet. And he stands fast in the middle. (In the sutta mentioned only for the anāgāmin).

The 4nd person is seeing impermanence, its disenchantment, etc. and going upwardly against the flow (In the sutta mentioned only as someone practiced for transcending dukkha. It is only can go upwardly against the flow and becoming of standing fast. By seeing the ending of impermanence can become a person standing fast with the flow).

(Sayadaw talked about Todeyya rich man as an example for the first person. And then continue to talk about questions and answers between Ven. Mahākoṭṭhika and Ven. Sāriputta. It was from the Sheaves of Reeds Sutta, Saṁyutta Nikāya.)

Ven. Mahākoṭṭhika asked Ven. Sāriputta: “Is ageing and death created by oneself, or is it created by another, or is it created by both (oneself and other) or has it arisen fortuitously?” Ven. Sāriputta answered: “No! with birth (jāti) as condition, ageing and death come to be.”

[Using the reverse order (paṭiloma) of the D.A. process and tracing the source and ending up at consciousness (viññāṇa). Viññāṇa → nāma / rūpa → saḷāyatana → phassa → vedanā → taṇhā → upādāna → bhava → jāti → jarāmaraṇa. Between consciousness and mind / matter: consciousness conditions mind / matter, and mind / matter condition consciousness. Therefore they are mutuality conditioning to each other. Viññāṇa ↔ nāma / rūpa]

Therefore if mind and matter cease, consciousness also ceases. (Ven. Sāriputta gave the simile of the sheaves of reeds. If one were to remove one of those sheaves of reeds and the other would fall, vice versa). Consciousness and mind / matter are the body, and sense-bases (saḷāyatana) are appeared on them by kamma.

Consciousness and mind / matter are mutuality conditioning to each other (aññamaññapaccayo). Therefore contemplate one of the five khandhas will fulfill the practice. By contemplation of feeling (vedanā) and all the other khandhas also included.

In Ven. Sāriputta’s answers, this point was the most important one. You may be reasoned, should we have to contemplate only one? The Buddha taught to contemplate one of the four satipaṭṭhāna was coming from seeing this point.

Viññāṇa – paccaya nāmārupaṁ – Nāmarūpapaccayā viññāṇaṁ = consciousness conditions name and form (mind and matter) – Name and form condition consciousness. Viññāṇa nirodhā nāmarūpa nirodho; Nāmarūpa nirodhā viññāṇa nirodho = with the cessation of consciousness comes the cessation of name and form, with the cessation of name and form comes the cessation of consciousness.

These were in the Pali Suttas. If you go and ask the yogis, they’re also seeing in this way. With the cessation of one khandha and all other khandhas are ceasing. For example, someone contemplates feeling and all the five khandhas disappear. Ven. Sāriputta gave a simile; two sheaves of reeds were standing by supporting each other. The other also fell if one of them fell.

revised on 2019-12-02; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4362&p=36304#p36304 (posted on 2019-04-12)

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