From our childhood we are used to the idea that this world we are

vipassana.info

From our childhood we are used to the idea that this world we are

living in with all the people around us is the real world. The Buddha

taught that the world is composed of the objects which come to us

through the senses of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, bodysense and through

the door of the mind. These are all fleeting phenomena which change

within splitseconds. Seeing is there just for a moment and then it

falls away. Visible object is there just for a moment and then it

falls away. What we used to take for our solid world consists of

impermanent elements. Our world crumbles away, there is the

disintegration of our world and of ourselves.

When the reader is in the first page of this book confronted with two

different kinds of truths, the conventional truth and the absolute

truth, he may wonder whether there is a discrepancy here which makes

it impossible to practise Buddhism and at the same time to live one's

life in the world. We have to do our work, to be with other people and

we want to enjoy our possessions, all the things of this world. The

Buddha did not deny that there is the conventional truth we have to

live with. However, it is a great blessing that he taught us the

absolute truth, the truth of mental phenomena, nåma, and physical

phenomena, rúpa. Nåma and rúpa are terms in Påli, the language in

which the Buddhist scriptures have been written. We can develop

understanding of the absolute truth, of nåma and rúpa, while we live

our daily life naturally. Absolute truth is not a truth which cannot

be grasped, it is not something abstract, it is the truth about daily

realities. Understanding this truth will help us to be able to lead

our life in the world in a more wholesome way and to face

contrarieties in our work, and in our relationships.

How to develop understanding of nåma and rúpa naturally, while we are

eating, doing our daily tasks, doing everything we normally do? This

was the topic of the letters I wrote while living in Tokyo to someone

who was wondering how to develop right understanding of nåma and rúpa

in daily life. The Buddha taught mindfulness, in Påli: sati, of the

nåma and rúpa of our life, in order to acquire direct understanding of

them. We discussed what sati is; it is difficult for all of us to

understand this reality which seems so elusive. Sati is different from

thinking, but what is it then? We have to accept that we cannot

understand immediately what sati is, we have to study carefully all

the phenomena of our life the Buddha taught. We need knowledge of them

as a foundation. Gradually we can learn to investigate the nåmas and

rúpas which appear in our life and then there can be conditions for

direct awareness of them, for sati.

The reader may wonder what the purpose is of the study of nåma and

rúpa. Why should one take so much trouble? It is important to have

less ignorance about our life, about ourselves. The real cause of all

our troubles is not the behaviour of other people or the situation we

are in, but our own defilements. Our ignorance conditions many other

defilements, such as selfishness, hatred, avarice and jealousy.

Through the development of understanding there will be elimination of

ignorance. When there is less ignorance it will be for the benefit of

both ourselves and others. The development of understanding can only

be very gradual. We need patience to investigate all phenomena which

appear. At first we may believe that we know already what phenomena

such as seeing, hearing or thinking are, but gradually it will dawn on

us how ignorant we are of the most common phenomena of our life. That

is the right beginning. We are hearing sounds the whole day, but what

do we know about hearing? We may have thought that we can hear and

define the sound or recognize what we hear all at the same time.

Hearing is one moment, and knowing the meaning of what we hear such as

the meaning of words are other moments. The reader may wonder why it

is important to know this. It is important, because defilements arise

immediately on account of what we experience through the senses. We

ought to learn more about our defilements and the way they are

conditioned. We hear pleasant and unpleasant sounds and after that,

when we know the meaning and think about what was heard, we

immediately react to it either in a negative way, or in a positive

way. There may be unwholesome moments of clinging or aversion, or

there may be wholesome moments of patience and wisdom. All this

happens so quickly, within splitseconds, it is actually beyond

control. When we investigate such processes in our life we can

experience ourselves that there are many different nåmas which are

beyond control. We cannot create our own hearing, nor can we direct

the way we react, it has happened already when we realize it. The

Buddha taught that nåma and rúpa arise because of their own

conditioning factors. For example, when one reacts with patience to

harsh sounds one can do so because it is in one's character to react

in that way. Such inclination has already been accumulated. This is an

example which illustrates that there is not one mind, but many

different mental phenomena which change all the time.

We may wonder why we also have to learn about physical phenomena,

rúpas. Is it necessary to learn so many details? Rúpas affect us very

much all the time. We cling to pleasant rúpas and we dislike

unpleasant rúpas. Through the ears the rúpa which is sound is

experienced by hearing-consciousness. When we hear harsh words it is

only sound which is heard, only the rúpa which impinges on the

earsense. However, we think with anger or sadness about an unkind

person who spoke harsh words, we think in a negative, unwholesome way

and this happens most of the time. In the absolute sense there is no

person who speaks unkind words. The moments of consciousness which

motivated his speaking are only fleeting moments, they have fallen

away but we keep thinking about his unkindness. There is no person, no

self who hears, hearing arises only for a moment and then it falls

away. The sound which is heard is only a kind of rúpa which does not

last. Right understanding of the objects we experience through the six

doors will eventually lead to more patience. The effect will be that

we are less inclined to feel hurt by what others say to us and that we

will be able to forgive more easily.

The Buddha taught the impermanence of the phenomena of our life. We

may believe that we know already that our body is subject to decay and

that our thoughts and feelings change. We can think of impermanence

but this is not the same as the direct knowledge of the changes from

moment to moment of nåma and rúpa. A very precise knowledge of nåma

and rúpa has to be developed so that later on their arising and

falling away, their impermanence, can be directly experienced. When

one has come to that stage there will be less enslavement to the

objects one experiences. However, this is a learning process which has

to continue for a long time, even longer than this life. There is no

quick result, no shortcut.

The person who wrote to me wanted to create particular situations in

order to have more mindfulness. He thought that concentration on

breathing would help him to reach the goal sooner. In Letter 6 and 7,

I deal with mindfulness of breathing. There are many misunderstandings

about this subject. When one concentrates on breathing one may be able

to eliminate worry for those moments, one cannot think of anything

else when one thinks of breathing. However, there is right

concentration and wrong concentration, as I tried to explain in these

letters. When there is right concentration there is calm which is

wholesome and when there is wrong concentration there is unwholesome

consciousness. When one clings to a quick result there is wrong

concentration. I deal with this subject and quote from the commentary,

the Visuddhimagga, in order to show how complex this subject is. If

one does not know precisely the way of development of mindfulness of

breathing there is wrong concentration and this is useless. It is

already a gain when one understands that mindfulness of breathing is

not just sitting and trying to concentrate on breath without knowing

anything.

The Buddha taught that nåma and rúpa are impermanent and not self.

What we take for a person or a self are only fleeting elements. When

we begin to develop understanding of nåma and rúpa we have not

eliminated the idea of self. There is still another person who speaks

harsh words to us, and there is still "self" who hears them and is

angry. The fact that we think in this way is conditioned by

remembrance of past experiences, we always thought in that way. Also

thinking is a conditioned nåma, it is a reality. The person we think

of is not an absolute reality but a conventional reality. We do not

have to behave in an artificial way while we develop understanding of

phenomena, but while we answer back to someone who speaks to us there

can be a short moment in between of realising the truth that whatever

we say or do is conditioned, that it is not "I". We are not used to

such an approach, but gradually it can be learnt if we see its

benefit. When we do not want to mislead ourselves about the fleeting

phenomena of our life right understanding can begin to develop, it

develops, there is no self who develops it. We may feel happy or sad,

just as we used to, but in between understanding of such phenomena can

very gradually be accumulated.

We can learn from our own experience the difference between the

moments we are living in the world of conventional realities, the

world of self, people and possessions, and the moments there is one

nåma or rúpa appearing through one of the six doorways. We usually

live with our illusions and dreams, we are led by the outward

appearance of things and we are ignorant of what is really going on

within us or around us. We look at our surroundings and at other

people and we make our own mental pictures of what we observe. We are

all different, with different inclinations, and this conditions the

way we see the people and things around us. Each of us lives in his

own world of thinking. We live most of the time in our own world of

thinking, but through the study of the Buddha's teachings we begin to

understand the difference between imaginations and realities.

The Buddha taught that there is no person, no self who can exert

control over nåma and rúpa, they are beyond control. It may be

difficult to accept this since we want to control our life. When there

is seeing which experiences a pleasant visible object there is

attachment to this object immediately. When there is seeing which

experiences an unpleasant object there is aversion to this object

immediately. The Buddha taught about realities in detail. A very

precise knowledge of the different realities should be developed. Then

we will find out that there are many more unwholesome moments, moments

of attachment, aversion and ignorance, than we ever thought. These

moments arise because of their own conditions but there can be the

development of understanding of them. When understanding has been

fully developed unwholesomeness can be eradicated, but that is a long

way off. Even though the final goal is a long way off it is valuable

to develop understanding. When there is a short moment of

understanding we learn to see that there is only a nåma or only a

rúpa, and consequently we will be less inclined to see them as very

important. Understanding will condition more even-mindedness.

Gradually we will learn to see nåma and rúpa as they are: impermanent

and not self.

The reader may wonder why I use Påli terms. The Buddhist teachings are

contained in the Tipiìaka, the three "Baskets" which are the Vinaya

(the book of discipline for the monks), the Suttanta (discourses), and

the Abhidhamma, which deals with absolute realities in detail. The

Scriptures as they have come to us date from the Buddha's time, the

sixth century B.C. and they are in the Påli language. I have also

quoted from the Visuddhimagga which is a summary of the teachings

written by Buddhaghosa in the beginning of the fifth century A.D. In

different English translations of the texts the Påli terms have been

rendered differently and thus confusion may arise as to which reality

has been referred to by which term. The Buddha's teaching of realities

is very precise and therefore it is useful to learn some of the Påli

terms which represent these realities. In the back of this book is a

glossary to help the reader. The reader should not be discouraged by

the Påli terms. When one continues to study one will find that they

are helpful for a more precise understanding of what the Buddha taught

about all the different phenomena which occur right now.

The scriptures are deep in meaning and it is difficult to understand

the application of the Buddha's teachings. Therefore I feel deep

gratitude to Ms. Sujn in Thailand, who helped me to understand the

Buddha's teachings and pointed to me the way to develop understanding

of realities in daily life. Without such a good friend in Dhamma one

will easily misunderstand the scriptures and apply them in the wrong

way. I also wish to express my appreciation to the "Dhamma Study and

Propagation Foundation" and to the publisher Alan Weller. Without

their help the publication of this book would not have been possible.

While we study we should not forget the purpose of our study. The

purpose is not theoretical knowledge, but direct understanding of our

own life, of all our wholesome moments and unwholesome moments, all

the nåmas and rúpas occurring at this moment. When we learn more about

the conditions for these phenomena we will begin to see that they are

beyond control, not self. The Buddha's message to us is to investigate

the truth and to prove the truth through developing direct

understanding, and this understanding can eradicate ignorance and all

other defilements. May the reader investigate the truth himself!

Nina van Gorkom

                               Tokyo

15 January

Dear Mr. G.,

You asked me questions about mindfulness in daily life. You said that

you can be aware while shaving, but that you are not yet sure about

the experience of different characteristics of nåma (mental phenomena)

and rúpa (physical phenomena). I would like to quote from the Kindred

Sayings (IV, Saîåyatana-vagga, Second Fifty, Chapter IV, § 84,

Transitory). We read that Ånanda asked the Buddha what the world is:

"The world! The world!" is the saying, lord. Pray, how far, lord, does

this saying go?

What is transitory by nature, Ånanda, is called "the world" in the

Ariyan discipline. And what, Ånanda, is transitory by nature? The eye,

Ånanda, is transitory by nature¤objects¤tongue¤mind is transitory by

nature, mind-states, mind-consciousness, mind-contact, whatsoever

pleasant feeling or unpleasant feeling or indifferent feeling arises

owing to mind-contact, that also is transitory by nature. What is thus

transitory, Ånanda, is called "the world" in the Ariyan discipline.

We cannot yet directly experience the impermanence of nåma and rúpa,

but we will know the "world in the sense of the ariyan discipline" if

we develop right understanding of absolute realities, paramattha

dhammas, by being mindful of their characteristics as they appear one

at a time through the six doorways.

We are used to thinking that there are the world of our work, of our

home, of meditation, so many kinds of worlds. Actually we should

consider what the realities are which can be directly experienced.

These are the nåma and rúpa which appear through the six doors. There

is seeing-consciousness, which experiences visible object through the

eye-door. There is hearing-consciousness which experiences sound

through the ear-door. There is smelling-consciousness which

experiences odour through the nose. There is tasting-consciousness

which experiences flavour through the tongue. There is

body-consciousness which experiences tangible object through the

body-door. There is mind-consciousness which experiences mind-objects

through the mind-door. Thus, there are actually six worlds appearing

through the six doors. It will take a long time to develop a clearer

understanding of the six worlds. Thinking about them is not enough. In

being mindful of different characteristics we will come to understand

"the world in the sense of the ariyan discipline" through our own

experience.

Coming back to your example of shaving, you notice different moments.

Can you notice that there are different realities with different

characteristics? When you look into the mirror, touch the razor, when

you are thinking , could you simply, without any need to "detect" nåma

and rúpa, just realize that these different moments are different

experiences which have different characteristics ? We should know that

there are different realities. When you are looking into the mirror is

there no seeing? It experiences just what appears through the

eyesense, visible object. When you close your eyes the reality which

appeared when you were looking does not appear anymore. Considering

this is the first step to know what realities are. Later on one will

learn more through direct experience.

You write that you experience "touching the razor". Which realities

appear? Cold, motion or hardness? These are physical phenomena which

can be experienced through touch. Or does a nåma appear which

experiences one of these rúpas? Can you realize that they have

different characteristics? This will help you to know the world in the

ariyan sense.

When you eat breakfast you touch the fork. We call it "fork", but what

can you directly experience through the bodysense? The rúpas which are

cold, hardness or motion? You can learn that, no matter whether we

touch a razor or a fork, rúpas such as cold, hardness or motion can be

experienced through the bodysense. It is not you who experiences them,

but only a type of nåma which experiences them. Through the eyesense

the rúpa which is visible object or colour can be experienced. The

world of tangible object is different from the world appearing through

the eyesense.

You might say, "But I experience the razor and the fork. I know when I

touch the razor and when I touch the fork." How do you know what is a

razor and what is a fork? Because of remembrance or perception, saññå,

a mental factor, cetasika, which arises with every moment of

consciousness, citta. There isn't any experience which is not

accompanied by saññå. Because of saññå we remember things, we remember

what different things are used for. We remember, "when we do this, it

has that effect". Saññå is another reality, it is a kind of nåma, not

self.

In the "absolute sense", or, in the "ariyan discipline", there is no

fork, no razor, no mirror; these are only ideas we can think of, but

they are not realities. When there is seeing, it is visible object

which is experienced; when there is touching, it is hardness, coldness

or another rúpa presenting itself through the bodysense , which is

experienced. When we remember that we call a particular thing a "fork"

or a "razor", or when we remember how to use them, the reality

presenting itself at that moment is a kind of nåma. Realities are

experienced through the six doorways, presenting themselves one at a

time. They are not a person, not a thing which can stay, they are nåma

and rúpa which arise and then fall away immediately. This is the truth

which can be directly experienced, this is the "world" in the ariyan

discipline.

Is this not more simple than you would have thought at first? There is

thinking when you are shaving. Is that not different from seeing ,

from touching? Attachment or aversion may arise on account of what is

experienced. Are these not realities different from seeing, from

visible object, from the experience of tangible object or from the

rúpas which are experienced through the bodysense? It would be helpful

to realize that all these realities which appear are different, that

they have different characteristics. They are nåma and rúpa which

arise because of conditions, not self. We cling so much to concepts

and ideas which we convey to others by means of conventional terms in

language. We cling to saññå, we are infatuated with all the ideas and

stories we remember, such as razor, fork, person. This blinds us to

the world in the ariyan sense. It prevents us from understanding nåma

and rúpa as they present themselves through the six doors, one at a

time.

You wrote that you often wake up with mindfulness. I often wake up

with attachment, lobha, or aversion, dosa. For example, I think, "What

difficult thing do I have to do today?" Sometimes I have to hear

unpleasant words from other people, and then I feel unhappy. Why?

Because at those moments I do not see the world in the ariyan sense.

When we hear unpleasant words, the hearing is only vipåka (citta which

is result of kamma), it is nåma which arises just for a moment and

then falls away immediately. When I have aversion, there is akusala

citta (unwholesome consciousness), which is another kind of nåma. In

the ariyan sense there is no "I"who experiences, there is no

experiencer. There is not this or that person who says unpleasant

words to me. There are only nåma and rúpa. There is seeing, hearing,

thinking and other phenomena which appear for a moment and are then

gone. There are different feelings arising because of different

conditions. The teachings are very helpful for the understanding of

our life. When we listen to the sutta texts we can be reminded to be

aware of realities.

You find that there is more awareness when you do things which do not

require so much attention, things which are done automatically, like

shaving. You wrote "Shaving is there. It presents itself as if done by

someone else."

"Shaving is there", these are words you use to describe a whole

situation you can think of, but which are the realities you can

directly experience? There is the world in the ariyan sense: different

phenomena presenting themselves through the six doors. Seeing,

touching or thinking are realities, but shaving is not a reality.

"Shaving presents itself as if done by someone else". What is this? It

is a thought, that is all. We should not cling to special sensations,

they are only nåmas which do not stay. Thinking is only one kind of

reality which appears, and then there are other realities.

Is it true that there is more awareness when we do things which do not

require much attention? At the Japanese school I have to be attentive

to the teacher who asks me questions in Japanese which I have to

answer, applying the grammar I learnt. We should not exclude

beforehand the arising of awareness in such situations. If there can

be awareness sometimes of different realities one can begin to develop

understanding of them. Mindfulness arises when there are conditions

for its arising and we cannot say beforehand, "In such circumstances

it will arise, in such circumstances it will not arise". Awareness is

anattå, not self. We may think that it cannot arise in particular

circumstances, but this is only our thinking. We should realize such a

moment of thinking as only a kind of nåma which arises because of

conditions.

Sati, mindfulness, of the Eightfold Path will not arise often when it

has not been accumulated enough yet. We may take for mindfulness what

is actually only a sensation of quietness and "some notion of what is

going on", as you write. But this is not knowing a characteristic of a

reality which appears through one of the six doors, it is merely

pondering at leisure.

When hardness is experienced through touch we may take for sati what

is actually attachment. Do we wish to have many moments of sati? Then

we are clinging and right understanding cannot develop. Our aim should

be to learn more about the realities which appear one at a time. We

cling to visible object, sound and all the other sense objects. We may

not notice it that we cling to them, but is it not true that we are

usually absorbed by these objects and think about them for a long

time? We think that we see people and different things, but we can

learn that what appears through eyes is only visible object. We think

that we hear the voice of someone, but what appears through the ears

is only sound, there is no person in the sound. We can learn to

consider the phenomena of our daily life as only different realities

which appear one at a time.

There can be "study" of visible object, sound, hearing and other

realities when they appear one at a time. The word "study" is

appropriate, because it is a learning process. It is not theoretical

study but study of nåma and rúpa in daily life. We should not have

expectations about the arising of clear, direct understanding of nåma

and rúpa. When there are expectations there is attachment to an idea

of self who is successful, whereas mindfulness and right understanding

should lead to detachment from the idea of self. We should remember

that mindfulness of nåma and rúpa accompanies kusala citta and that

kusala citta does not arise as often as akusala citta. There are

countless more moments of akusala citta than kusala citta. If we

remember this we will be less inclined to false expectations. When we

have understood that there should be study of the characteristics of

nåma and rúpa in order to have more understanding of them, we will

stop wondering what mindfulness is or doubting about it.

There is usually forgetfulness of nåma and rúpa, but sometimes there

can be kusala citta accompanied by mindfulness of the reality which

appears at the present moment, a nåma or a rúpa. We cannot do anything

special to cause the arising of sati because sati is anattå. It arises

because of its appropriate conditions. The right conditions for sati

are: listening to the Dhamma, theoretical understanding of nåma and

rúpa and deeply considering the Dhamma in our life. One may be

discouraged about it that, although one has listened for many years,

there is hardly any awareness in daily life. When one merely listens

but does not deeply consider what one heard and does not test the

meaning of it, there are no conditions for awareness. Through