Tokyo

                                              May 25                                                  

1971           Dear Mr. G.,

In my previous letter I quoted the sutta on Mindfulness of Breathing 

in the Kindred Sayings (V) and the word commentary of the Visuddhimagga

, I will now continue with this subject. In the "Discourse on 

Mindfulness of Breathing" in the Middle Length Sayings (III, 118) we 

read that mindfulness of breathing, when developed, brings to 

fulfilment the four applications of mindfulness. The four applications 

of mindfulness are mindfulness of the body, of feelings, of cittas and 

of dhammas. We read:

`And how, monks, when mindfulness of in-breathing and out-breathing is 

developed, how when it is made much of, does it bring the four 

applications of mindfulness to fulfilment? At the time, monks, when a 

monk breathing in¤breathing out a long breath¤a short breath 

comprehends, "I am breathing in¤breathing out a long breath¤a short 

breath"; when he trains himself, thinking, "I will breathe in¤breathe 

out experiencing the whole body¤tranquillizing the activity of the 

body," at that time, monks, the monk is faring along contemplating the 

body in the body, ardent, clearly conscious (of it), mindful (of it) 

so as to control the covetousness and dejection in the world¤the monk 

trains himself, thinking, "I will breathe in experiencing rapture 

(píti)¤I will breathe out experiencing rapture¤I will breathe 

in¤breathe out experiencing joy (sukha)¤I will breathe in¤breathe out 

experiencing the activity of thought¤I will breathe in¤breathe out 

tranquillizing the activity of thought"; at that time, monks, the monk 

is faring along contemplating the feelings in the feelings, ardent, 

clearly conscious (of them), mindful (of them) so as to control the 

covetousness and dejection in the world...' 

We then read that the monk, when he is developing mindfulness of 

breathing, contemplates citta in citta and dhamma in dhamma. Further 

on we read that the four applications of mindfulness bring the seven 

enlightenment factors to fulfilment. The seven enlightenment factors 

bring to fulfilment freedom through knowledge. 

From the quotations of the Visuddhimagga in my previous letter we have 

seen that those who first develop samatha to the degree of jhåna and 

then develop insight, still have to be aware, after they emerge from 

jhåna, of the realities which appear. They should, for example, 

realize the rapture and joy experienced in jhåna, as only nåmas which 

are impermanent and not self. If one develops insight "based on 

jhåna", one should have the "fivefold mastery" (Visuddhimagga IV, 

131), one should be able to attain jhåna and emerge from it at any 

time and in any place. Then the jhånacitta is for such a person a 

reality which naturally appears in his daily life. Only thus can it be 

object of mindfulness. 

The Buddha encouraged people to be mindful while walking, eating, 

talking, in short, while doing all the things they would normally do. 

He did not say that samatha is a necessary requirement for the 

development of vipassanå. To those who had accumulated great wisdom 

and skill and who were inclined to the development of mindfulness of 

breathing, he explained how the development of this subject could bear 

great fruit, how it could bring the four applications of mindfulness 

to fulfilment. In being aware of nåma and rúpa one will learn to see 

the body in the body, feelings in the feelings, citta in citta and 

dhamma in dhamma. One will realize nåma and rúpa as not self. Then the 

four applications of mindfulness will be brought to fulfilment.

Samatha and vipassanå are two different ways of mental development, 

bhåvanå. The aim of samatha is to eliminate attachment to sense 

objects, and the aim of vipassanå is to eradicate ignorance of 

realities. Some people want to apply themselves to samatha first, 

because they think that in this way vipassanå can be developed more 

quickly afterwards. They should realize, however, that both samatha 

and vipassanå are ways of mental development. The Påli term bhåvanå 

means: to make become, to produce, to increase. Developing first 

samatha before vipassanå is certainly not a "short cut" to nibbåna as 

some people believe. Those who want to develop samatha should do so 

only if they really have accumulated skill for samatha. If one wants 

to apply oneself to a meditation subject, one needs a great deal of 

preparation, one has to lead a secluded life and many conditions have 

to be fulfilled. Right understanding of the way to develop calm with 

the meditation subject is essential. If one just sits without any 

understanding, is that mental development? For the attainment of 

"access-concentration" and jhåna one needs perseverance with the 

development and one has to acquire great skill. Samatha, when it is 

really developed, is a way of kusala which is of a high degree. Jhåna 

purifies the mind, but the latent tendencies of defilements are not 

eradicated. After the jhånacitta has fallen away defilements are bound 

to arise again. As we have seen, those who have attained jhåna should 

still develop all the stages of insight in order to become enlightened.

One may apply oneself to samatha, but if one does not have 

accumulations for the attainment of jhåna, or even access 

concentration, one should consider for oneself whether it is 

beneficial or not to continue developing samatha. Even while one 

applies oneself to a meditation subject akusala cittas still arise; 

the hindrances are not suppressed until one has attained 

access-concentration and jhåna.

Vipassanå is to be developed in our daily life. If it is not developed 

in daily life we will not come to know our accumulated inclinations. 

Also our defilements should be known as they are, as conditioned 

nåmas, otherwise they cannot be eradicated. Vipassanå leads eventually 

to the eradication of defilements. It leads to the "ariyan calm" which 

is the highest degree of calm. We read in the "Discourse on the 

Analysis of the Elements" (Middle Length Sayings III, number. 140):

"For this, monks, is the highest ariyan calm, that is to say the calm 

with regard to attachment, hatred and ignorance..."

It is still felt by some that if they apply themselves to samatha, 

even if they have not accumulated skill for jhåna, it would help them 

with the development of vipassanå. If one wants to use samatha as a 

way to attain enlightenment more quickly one should consider whether 

this is motivated by lobha or not. We should also know that sati and 

paññå in samatha are different from sati and paññå in vipassanå. In 

samatha there should be mindfulness and right understanding of the 

meditation subject and paññå should know when there is true calm, 

freedom from akusala. In vipassanå there is mindfulness of the nåma or 

rúpa which appears at the present moment through one of the six doors, 

so that paññå can realize them as not self. If one confuses the 

different ways of development of samatha and vipassanå, there will not 

be right understanding of cause and effect. One may erroneously think 

that the development of samatha is the way to obtain a great deal of 

sati of the Eightfold Path.

It is understandable that those who are discouraged about their 

akusala cittas and lack of mindfulness want to make special efforts to 

cause mindfulness to arise more frequently. As you wrote in your 

letter, you thought that concentration on breathing was for you the 

right condition for mindfulness of the Eightfold Path. You found that 

after this exercise the six doors were wide open; seeing and hearing 

seemed so clear. You felt like a spider in a web, ready to catch.

If there is mindfulness right now of, for example, sound or hardness, 

what is the condition for mindfulness? Is it necessary to concentrate 

on breathing first, in order to become more relaxed? We should 

remember the sutta in which are mentioned the four conditions, 

necessary for the attainment of the first stage of enlightenment, the 

stage of the sotåpanna (streamwinner). We read in the Kindred Sayings 

(V, Mahå-vagga, Book XI, Kindred Sayings on Streamwinning, Chapter I, 

§ 5) that the Buddha said to Såriputta:

` "A limb of stream-winning! A limb of stream-winning!" is the saying, 

Såriputta. Tell me, Såriputta, of what sort is a limb of 

stream-winning?

Lord, association with the upright is a limb of stream-winning. 

Hearing the good Dhamma is a limb of stream-winning. Applying the mind 

is a limb of stream-winning. Conforming to the Dhamma is a limb of 

stream-winning

Well said, Såriputta! Well said, Såriputta! Indeed these are limbs of 

stream-winning....'

If we had not met the right person and listened to the Dhamma, if 

mindfulness of nåma and rúpa had not been explained to us, could there 

be "applying the mind", which is "wise consideration", and "conforming 

to the Dhamma", which is the practice of the Eightfold Path? Could 

there be awareness of nåma and rúpa, right at this moment? Mindfulness 

and understanding are still weak, but, when one has listened to the 

Dhamma, there can be a beginning of the study of different realities 

which appear.

You felt like a spider in a web, ready to catch. When there is a 

thought of catching realities, there is a concept of self. Realities 

appear and if there are conditions for mindfulness it arises. It may 

arise or it may not, this does not depend on a self. Seeing and 

hearing seemed so clear to you. When are these realities clear? Only 

when paññå realizes the characteristics of seeing and hearing as not 

self, not when we have a sensation that they are clear. Can we say 

that anything is clear when we do not even know the difference between 

seeing and visible object, hearing and sound?

You thought that after concentration on breathing, when you were 

relaxed, awareness was frequent and acute. How much understanding is 

there? Which realities are understood? If there is no right 

understanding we may take for awareness what is not the right 

awareness. The realities which appear through the six doors at this 

moment have to be understood. They cannot be understood immediately, 

but we can begin to study them with awareness. Is there not something 

which appears through the eyes now? We do not have to think about it 

or to define it in order to experience it. We can call it visible 

object or colour, it does not matter how we name it; it is just that 

which appears through the eyes. When we think that it is a particular 

person or thing, we are thinking of concepts. A concept is not visible 

object, it is formed up by our thinking. A concept is not a reality 

and thus it is not the object of right understanding in the 

development of vipassanå. Do we know the difference between concepts 

and nåma and rúpa, the realities which can be directly experienced, 

without there being the need to think about them? It is essential to 

know the difference, otherwise we will continue confusing thinking and 

awareness, and then vipassanå cannot be developed. When visible object 

appears it is evident that there must also be a reality which 

experiences it, otherwise it could not appear. Seeing which 

experiences visible object is not self, it is only a type of nåma. 

Seeing can be studied with mindfulness when there is seeing, and there 

is seeing time and again. There is seeing now. We used to live in the 

world of our thoughts, of concepts, but now we can begin to study 

realities such as seeing, visible object, hearing or sound. We are not 

used to doing this but when we see the value of knowing what is real, 

not a concept or idea, there will be conditions to study realities. We 

are ignorant about all the realities of our daily life. It seems to us 

that there are seeing and thinking about what is seen at the same 

time, but in reality they are different realities arising at different 

moments. Do we realize this? It seems to us that there are hearing and 

thinking of the meaning of what is heard at the same time but they are 

different realities. When we do not clearly distinguish between 

different realities, can we say that any reality is clearly 

understood? If there is still doubt it is evident that paññå is weak. 

It is beneficial to realize what one does not know yet.

Ignorance and doubt can only be very gradually eliminated through the 

development of paññå which directly knows nåma and rúpa. We may not be 

aware of one object at a time yet, there may be a notion of self who 

is watching realities. When there is an idea of "watching" we are not 

on the right path. Realities such as hardness or sound appear already, 

because of their own conditions. They can be studied with mindfulness 

which also arises because of its own conditions, namely, as we have 

seen, listening to the Dhamma and considering it. When we remember 

that the realities which appear one at a time have to be studied in 

order to have more understanding of them, there will be less worry 

about the frequency of sati. If one erroneously believes that nåma and 

rúpa are known already there is no development of paññå. When there is 

right mindfulness realities appear one at a time and there is no self 

who is watching.

If there cannot be awareness of all kinds of nåma and rúpa which 

appear in our daily life, no matter whether we are busy or agitated, 

we will not really know ourselves. If we think that we have to be 

relaxed first we limit the objects of awareness.

The development of paññå should be very natural. There should be no 

excitement about awareness, no thoughts about its frequency or 

acuteness. Is there still doubt about the reality which appears now? 

If there is awareness doubt can gradually be eliminated. If one 

believes that one has to calm down first before there can be awareness 

there cannot be awareness of whatever reality naturally appears. If 

the development of paññå is not natural one hinders its development.

If you are inclined to concentrate on breathing when you are agitated 

or have aversion, it would be very helpful if you could be aware of 

realities appearing at such moments. Are there not akusala cittas and 

should these realities not be known? When you wish to become relaxed 

through concentration on breathing is there no attachment? It is a 

reality and it can be object of mindfulness. Are there not different 

feelings: pleasant feeling, unpleasant feeling and indifferent 

feeling? These can be object of mindfulness. If there can be awareness 

when you feel tense you can find out that there are nåmas and rúpas at 

such moments. Insight can only be developed if there is mindfulness of 

any reality which appears. If you believe that there cannot be 

awareness of aversion this reality will not be known as only a nåma, 

arising because of conditions. If there can be awareness in your daily 

life you will start to know yourself. You will be able to find out 

whether concentration on breathing is beneficial or not, whether it 

helps you to develop right understanding or not.

When there are many akusala cittas we may be inclined to look for a 

way to eliminate them quickly. Those who think that they want to apply 

themselves to samatha in order to have less akusala cittas, should 

find out whether they really have accumulations to develop samatha and 

whether the circumstances of their lives are such that the conditions 

which are necessary for its development can be fulfilled. It is 

important to know which cause brings which effect in life. If samatha 

is developed in the right way and jhåna can be attained, there will be 

the temporary elimination of defilements. If jhånacitta can arise 

shortly before dying there will be a happy rebirth in a higher plane 

of existence. However, the development of jhåna, as we have seen, is 

extremely difficult and very few people can do it. One may take for 

jhåna what is merely an unusual experience, not jhåna. Even if one 

develops samatha in the right way and one attains jhåna, one still has 

to develop insight in order to become detached from the concept of 

self and in order that all latent tendencies of defilements can be 

eradicated. Jhåna can lead to a happy rebirth, but vipassanå can lead 

to the end of birth, to the end of dukkha. The growth of insight 

knowledge cannot be forced, it has to be developed stage by stage.

We read in the Kindred Sayings (IV, Saîåyatana-vagga, Kindred Sayings 

on Sense, Second Fifty, Chapter III, § 74, Sick) that the Buddha 

visited a sick monk, who said that he did not understand the meaning 

of the purity of life in the Dhamma taught by the Buddha. When the 

Buddha asked him in what sense he understood it, he answered:

"Passion and the destruction of passion, lord,-that is what I 

understand to be the Dhamma taught by the Exalted One."

"Well said, monk! Well said! Well indeed do you understand the meaning 

of the Dhamma taught by me. Indeed it means passion and the 

destruction of passion.

Now what think you, monk? Is the eye permanent or impermanent?"

"Impermanent, lord."

"Is the ear¤nose¤tongue¤body¤is mind permanent or impermanent?"

"Impermanent, lord."

"And what is impermanent, is that happiness or dukkha (suffering)?"

"Dukkha, lord."

"And what is impermanent, dukkha, by nature changeable,-is it proper 

to regard that as `This is mine. I am this. This is myself'?" 

"No, indeed, lord."

"If he sees thus, the well-taught ariyan disciple is repelled by the 

eye, the ear, the tongue¤so that he realizes `For life in these 

conditions there is no hereafter.'" 

`Thus spoke the Exalted One. And that monk was delighted and welcomed 

the words of the Exalted One. Moreover, when this discourse was 

uttered, in that monk arose the pure and flawless eye of the Dhamma, 

(so that he saw) "Whatsoever is of a nature to arise, all that is of a 

nature to cease."` 

For the sick monk the four necessary conditions for enlightenment were 

fulfilled: he had met the right person, he had listened to the Dhamma 

which was explained to him, he had wisely considered it and he had 

developed right understanding of realities. Should we be surprised 

that the Buddha, in order to show the way to the destruction of 

passion, first asked: "Is the eye permanent or impermanent?". And the 

same for the other doorways? People who wish to get rid of passion 

quickly may wonder whether they should suppress it, rather than 

develop understanding of realities appearing through the six doors. 

The development of under-standing seems to be a long way to get rid of 

passion. However, the Buddha showed cause and effect. There cannot be 

the destruction of passion without there being first the eradication 

of the wrong view of self through awareness of all realities which 

appear. When right understanding of nåma and rúpa has been developed 

they can be realized as impermanent and not self. This is the only way 

that leads to detachment from the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, 

the body, the mind, to detachment from all realities. Realities 

appearing through the six doors are explained in the Tipiìaka time and 

again, and whenever we read about this we can be reminded to be aware 

right at that moment. Are there not phenomena appearing through the 

six doors all the time? We should not be forgetful of them so that the 

way leading to enlightenment can be realized. 

With mettå,            

Nina van Gorkom

                                              Tokyo

                                              June 15                                                 

1971           Dear Mr. G.,

You found it difficult to be aware while doing complicated things. I 

will quote from your letter:

`When I do things which can be performed automatically, like shaving, 

eating and walking, there can be awareness. But when I do complicated 

things like remembering a combination of numbers in order to open a 

safe, there cannot be awareness. I find that a special effort is 

needed for awareness of nåma and rúpa. While I have to exert myself to 

do complicated things I have no energy left for awareness. When I, for 

example, study a foreign language and I make an effort to memorize the 

words, I exclude all other things from my mind. At such moments I 

could not be aware.'

Shaving, walking, eating, opening a safe, all these things we can do 

because there are conditions to be able to do them. If you had not 

been taught you would not know how to open a safe. Remembering 

something is nåma, arising because of conditions. If we forget 

something, that also depends on conditions. The more we understand 

that realities are only nåma and rúpa, arising because of their own 

conditions, the less will there be hindrances to awareness. Realities 

such as visible object, hardness or feeling arise already because of 

their own conditions and you can begin to consider their different 

characteristics. You should not think of having to make an effort for 

sati because then there is still a notion of self who is aware. Sati 

can arise naturally in your daily life. When there is the study with 

awareness of one reality at a time there is a beginning of 

understanding. One should not try to hold on to realities in order to 

study them, because they do not stay. 

We believe that realities are the way we experience them, but in fact 

we experience them in a distorted way. It seems to us that realities 

such as hardness or visible object stay because their arising and 

falling away has not been realized yet. Their impermanence cannot be 

realized so long as paññå has not yet been developed to that stage. We 

know in theory that there is no self, but we still cling to the idea 

of self who is aware. We may take energy or effort for self. Effort or 

energy (viriya) is a cetasika, a mental factor which arises with many 

cittas, though not with each type. It arises with the citta and falls 

away together with it. When it accompanies kusala citta it is kusala 

and when it accompanies akusala citta it is akusala. There is no self 

who can exert control over effort, who can cause it to be kusala. When 

there is right awareness of a nåma or rúpa which appears through one 

of the six doors, there is already right effort accompanying the 

kusala citta. We do not have to try or to think of effort. When there 

is still wrong view, we may think that we cannot be aware while doing 

complicated things. We may think that at such moments awareness is 

more difficult than when we are walking or doing things which do not 

require much attention. In reality there is no difference. If one 

believes that there is a difference, one does not know what right 

awareness is. If there is less of a preconceived idea that in 

particular situations awareness is impossible, there can be awareness 

also while doing complicated things. We may be absorbed in what we are 

doing, but that doesn't matter. Being absorbed is a reality, it can be 

known as only a type of nåma. Realities appear already because of 

their own conditions, and gradually we can learn to study their 

characteristics. 

Misunderstandings are bound to arise as to what awareness really is 

and because of these misunderstandings people think that it is 

impossible to be aware in daily life. Someone wrote, for instance, 

that awareness is the same as keeping oneself under constant 

observation. We should observe ourselves in action, he said, and this 

can be done quite simply by asking oneself, "What am I doing?". He 

thought that in this way we learn to be aware of what we are doing and 

that this constitutes awareness. 

The word awareness in conventional language has a meaning which is 

different from awareness, sati, of the Eightfold Path. When we ask 

ourselves, "What am I doing?", what is the reality at that moment? 

There are many types of citta which think at such moments. If we do 

not realize that it is nåma which thinks while we ask ourselves, "What 

am I doing?", the wrong view of self will not be eradicated. There is 

only thinking about the self who is performing different actions. 

There is no sati of the Eightfold Path, there is no development of 

understanding of the different characteristics of nåma and rúpa. When 

we are reading and we answer the question, "What am I doing?", with, 

"I am reading", without development of understanding, we live only in 

the world of conventional truth. We will continue to be ignorant of 

the absolute truth, the truth about nåma and rúpa. When we are 

reading, is there not the nåma which experiences visible object, is 

there not the rúpa which is visible object, is there not the nåma 

which thinks about the meaning of what is read, and should these 

realities not be known? It is the same when we are walking, talking or 

eating, if we only know "I am walking, talking and eating", it is not 

at all helpful for the development of paññå. There is still the wrong 

view of self. While we are walking, talking and eating there are nåma 

and rúpa appearing through the six doors, and right understanding can 

be developed of them. Some people believe that they have to slow down 

all their movements in order to be able to be aware. Is there desire 

for awareness? If one is not aware naturally in one's daily life paññå 

cannot develop. The "Satipaììhåna sutta" (Middle Length Sayings I, no. 

10) reminds us to be aware in our daily life, no matter what we are 

doing. 

We read under the section of mindfulness of the body, regarding the 

postures:

`And again, monks, a monk, when he is walking, comprehends, "I am 

walking"; or when he is standing still, comprehends, "I am standing 

still"; or when he is sitting down, comprehends, "I am sitting down"; 

or when he is lying down, comprehends, "I am lying down". So that 

however his body is disposed he comprehends that it is like that. Thus 

he fares along contemplating the body in the body internally, or he 

fares along contemplating the body in the body externally, or he fares 

along contemplating the body in the body internally and externally...'

The commentary to this sutta, the "Papañcasúdani"[6] explains the words, 

"When he is going, a monk understands `I am going' " as follows:

`In this matter of going, readily do dogs, jackals and the like, know 

when they move on that they are moving. But this instruction on the 

modes of deportment was not given concerning similar awareness, 

because awareness of that sort belonging to animals does not shed the 

belief in a living being, does not knock out the perception of a soul 

and neither becomes a subject of meditation nor the development of 

satipaììhåna.' 

The commentary explains that there is no living being. There is going 

on account of the diffusion of the process of oscillation (motion) 

born of mental activity. There are only nåma and rúpa which arise 

because of conditions. When the monk is walking, standing, sitting or 

lying down, he contemplates the body in the body, he does not take the 

body for self. He is mindful of the realities which appear. 

We read in the following section of the sutta, the section on clear 

comprehension:

`And again, monks, a monk when he is setting out or returning is one 

acting in a clearly conscious way; when he is looking in front or 

looking around¤when he has bent in or stretched out (his arm)...when 

he is carrying his outer cloak, bowl and robe¤when he is obeying the 

calls of nature¤when he is walking, standing, sitting, asleep, awake, 

talking, silent, he is one acting in a clearly conscious way. 

Thus he fares along contemplating the body in the body 

internally...externally¤internally and externally¤'

If one thinks of the body as a "whole" the arising and falling away of 

rúpas cannot be realized and one will continue to cling to the idea of 

"my body". During all one's activities there can be the development of 

right understanding, so that wrong view can be eradicated. 

Sati is not: observing oneself in action. Sati arises with each 

"beautiful" (sobhana) citta and its function is being non-forgetful of 

what is wholesome. Sati is different from the cetasika saññå, 

remembrance or "perception", which arises with each citta. Saññå 

recognizes or "marks" the object, so that it can be recognized later 

on. Sati of the Eightfold Path is mindful of the reality which 

presents itself at the present moment, and then right under-standing 

of it can be developed. We do not have to think of sati, it arises 

when there are conditions for it. When right understanding of a 

reality which presents itself is being developed, there is also sati 

which is mindful, non-forgetful, of that reality. For example, when 

the characteristic of hardness appears and it is realized as a kind of 

rúpa, it is evident that there is sati. When we think, "I am eating" 

and we are not aware of different nåmas and rúpas which appear, there 

is a concept of self who is eating. When right understanding is 

developed the "self" is broken up into different nåma-elements and 

rúpa-elements. In order that right under-standing can be developed 

there should be mindfulness of a characteristic of nåma or rúpa, not 

mindfulness without knowing anything.

If one thinks that sati means keeping oneself under constant 

observation, one is bound to believe that it is impossible to be aware 

while doing things which require special attention. One may be urged 

to make special efforts in order to create conditions for a great deal 

of sati. Any speculation about creating conditions for the arising of 

sati distracts from the study of the reality appearing right at this 

moment. It is thinking of the future instead of being aware of 

aversion now, seeing now, thinking now. There is clinging to an idea 

of self who can control awareness, and in that way there will not be 

detachment from the concept of self.

If we understand more clearly that our life consists of nåma and rúpa 

which arise because of conditions, we will be less absorbed in the 

idea of self while we do complicated things. Also at such moments 

there are only nåma and rúpa. We may believe that while we are talking 

there cannot be awareness, since we have to think about what we are 

saying. There is sound and can there not be awareness of it? It is 

citta, not self, which thinks about what we are going to say and which 

conditions sound. There can be awareness of realities in between 

thinking. I noticed that while I am writing the Chinese script 

(Kanji), it is possible to hear other people talking or to think of 

other things. This shows that there are many different types of cittas 

which succeed one another so rapidly that it seems that they occur all 

at the same time. Since there can be hearing or thinking in between 

the writing of Kanji, there can also be awareness in between.

You mentioned that you could not be aware while learning a foreign 

language. Learning a foreign language can teach us about reality. When 

we learn a foreign language such as Japanese we cannot in the 

beginning translate quickly. Later on we acquire skill and it seems 

that we do it automatically. When we hear a Japanese word we 

immediately know the meaning, it seems that hearing and knowing the 

meaning occur at the same time. However, we know that they are 

different moments of citta. Also when we hear words spoken in our own 

language there is hearing and then "translating" going on, we 

interpret the sounds so that we understand the meaning. The process of 

translation goes on very rapidly, it goes on the whole day. When there 

is seeing, visible object is experienced, but immediately we translate 

what we see, we interpret it, and then we discern people and things. 

If we consider the process of translation we can understand more 

clearly that seeing and hearing are different from thinking. The 

moments that we do not translate seeing and hearing can be studied. 

Thus, no matter whether you learn a foreign language or whether you 

are merely thinking after seeing or hearing, there is translating 

going on time and again. No matter what we do, there are nåma and 

rúpa, and sometimes sati can arise and be aware of them. We cannot 

control the cittas which arise. They arise and perform their own 

functions. So long as we believe that we can create conditions for the 

arising of sati, the right awareness will not arise. One may believe 

that there is sati when there is only ignorance of realities. 

Awareness can arise if there are conditions for it. The conditions are 

listening to the Dhamma and considering it. We may believe that we 

have listened and considered enough, but, when there are still 

misunderstandings about the Eightfold Path it is evident that our 

listening and considering have not been enough. We should not assume 

too soon that we studied enough. We have accumulated ignorance for 

aeons and therefore it will take aeons before it can be eradicated. 

This should not discourage us, but we should continue to listen, to 

read and to study, and we should consider thoroughly what we learnt. 

We should consider the Dhamma with regard to our own experiences in 

daily life.

Råhula, the Buddha's son, attained arahatship when he was only twenty 

years old. For him the conditions necessary for enlightenment were 

fulfilled: he associated with the right person, the Buddha, he 

listened to the Dhamma, he considered it and he developed the 

Eightfold Path. We read in the Middle Length Sayings (II, no. 62, 

"Greater Discourse on an Exhortation to Råhula") that Råhula asked the 

Buddha how mindfulness of breathing, when it is developed and made 

much of, is of great fruit, of great advantage. The Buddha did not 

speak immediately about mindfulness of breathing, he first taught 

Råhula about the elements of solidity, cohesion, heat, motion and 

space. No matter whether these elements are internal or external, they 

should not be taken for self. The Buddha then said to Råhula:

`Develop the mind-development that is like the earth, Råhula. For,