Contents

A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sutta

by

The Venerable Mahs Saydaw

of Burma

Translated by U Aye Maung

Buddha Ssannuggaha Organization Mahs Translation Committee, Rangoon

A Discourse on the Ariyva Sutta

by

The Venerable Mahs Saydaw

of Burma Translated by U Ay Maung

First printed and published in the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma December 1980 New Edition Edited by Bhikkhu Pesala March 2011 All rights reserved

Contents
Editors Preface...........................................................................................iv A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sutta............................................................1 Introduction...........................................................................................1 Two Kinds of Bhikkhus....................................................................1 The Ten Ariyvsa-dhamma............................................................2 The Guard of Mindfulness...............................................................3 The Satipahna Method.................................................................4 Initial Doubt......................................................................................5 The Development of Concentration.................................................5 Empirical Knowledge.......................................................................6 The Story of Tambadhika..............................................................6 Things to Avoid................................................................................8 The Five Hindrances.........................................................................9 The Four Primary Elements............................................................13 Characteristic, Function, and Manifestation..................................15 Stages of Insight Knowledge..........................................................17 False Views and False Pursuits.......................................................19 Self-knowledge................................................................................20

iii

Editors Preface
The Venerable Saydaws discourses were addressed to meditators practising intensively at Mahs Ssana Yeikth, in Rangoon. They therefore contain many Pi words which, though familiar to those who have heard regular discourses, may not be so familiar to others. I have prepared this edition of the Ariyvsa Sua bearing in mind that it will be read by many who may be unfamiliar with Pi terms. This pocket edition is convenient to carry, and inexpensive to produce. If you nd any errors please let me know so that I can correct them in later editions. If you are able to compare it with the original Burmese edition any help you can oer will be especially valuable. The anslator has abridged the Saydaws original discourse, which would probably have lasted at least one and a half hours. A summary like this is quite easy to understand, even for those who have lile experience of intensive meditation. I hope it will encourage the readers to take up the practice of insight meditation in earnest, since this is the only way that one can ensure eedom om the mental delements the root causes of all unhappiness. This latest edition has been updated and reformaed with a Unicode OpenType font. Bhikkhu Pesala March 2011

iv

A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sutta

Introduction
The subject of todays talk is the Buddhas discourse on the Ariyvsa Sua of the Aguaranikya. A sua contains the Buddhas teaching, so we are sictly guided by the suas when we teach the Dhamma to lay people. In the Ariyvsa Sua the Buddha says, Monks! There are ten abodes of the Noble Ones (Ariyvsa-dhammas). The Noble Ones have dwelt in these abodes before, they dwell there now, and they will dwell there in the future. Ariya means the Noble One, and vsa means abode, so Ariyvsa means the abode of the Noble Ones. There are eight kinds of Noble One: the rst four have each aained one of the four stages on the noble path (magga); and the other four have aained the uitions (phala) corresponding to those four stages. To point out the rst four Noble Ones on the path is hard. The duration of their spiritual climax is just a single thought-moment. With the maturation of insight knowledge, the meditator glimpses nibbna, and because of this split-second experience, is called a magga-person at that moment. Then the experience of uition consciousness (ariya-phala) follows immediately. Then he or she is called a phala-person. These are the only meditators whom we can clearly point out as Noble Ones. Two Kinds of Bhikkhus The Ariyvsa Sua was addressed to bhikkhus. There are two kinds of bhikkhus, the sua-bhikkhu and the vinaya-bhikkhu. The sua-bhikkhu is, according to the commentaries, any person who practises the Dhamma to gain liberation om the cycle of existences (sasra). He or she is not necessarily a member of the Sagha he or she may be a deva or a lay person. The practice of the Dhamma enables the meditator to overcome delements. By observing morali, the meditator seeks to avoid active delements (vitakkama kiles) such as greed and haed, which lead to killing, stealing, and other misdeeds. The meditator who develops concenation overcomes the delements that habitually arise in the mind (pariyuhna kiles). Finally, the meditator eradicates dormant delements (anusaya kiles) through the development of insight knowledge and wisdom. Each moment of mindfulness aids the gradual desuction of 1

A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sua

latent delements. It is like sculpting a piece of wood with a small axe each soke helps to get rid of the unwanted agments of wood. Whenever the meditator focuses on the psychophysical phenomena arising om contact with the external senses, the delements become weak and impotent. Such a meditator is the bhikkhu of the Sua Piaka. The vinaya-bhikkhu is the monk who leads a good life based on the vinaya rules. In the time of the Buddha the Lord himself ordained some of them by saying, Come bhikkhu. Most, however, were ordained by the Sagha in accordance with the vinaya. The bhikkhu referred to in the Ariyvsa Sua is the sua-bhikkhu, a term that applies to any human being, deva, or Brahm who practises the Dhamma. The Buddha preached the Ariyvsa Sua so that we might dwell in the abode of the Noble Ones: safe, secure, and protected om the perils of sasra. The perils of sasra are more terriing that those beseing a man who does not live in a well-protected house. They follow us om one existence to another. One may land in the lower worlds as a hungry ghost (peta) or as an animal, and suer for many years; or one may be reborn as a poor man who has to face many hardships to earn a living, besides the universal ills of life old age, sickness, and death. These are the perils of sasra that repeatedly engulf those who do not live in the abode of the Noble Ones, in other words, those who do not practice the Ariyvsa-dhamma. The Ten Ariyvsa-dhamma There are ten Ariyvsa-dhamma: 2. The removal of the ve hindrances. 3. The conol of the six senses. 4. The presence of a guard, or mindfulness. 5. One living in the abode of the Noble Ones should have four supports. 6. One must have renounced all the false docines (paccekasacca) that do not accord with the nature of life although they claim a monopoly of uth. 7. One must give up all pursuits. The pursuit of something means lack of self-suciency whereas giving up all pursuits is a sign of non-aachment and self-fullment. 8. Ones mind is not confused but is clear and pure.

The Guard of Mindfulness

9. The possession of calm bodily functions (passaddha kya sakhra). Kyasakhra here means in-and-out breathing. So this dhamma requires the meditator to seek the fourth jhna that leads to the cessation of in-and-out breathing. This shows only that the fourth jhna is a spiritual experience that may appeal to some meditators. The main thing is to become an Arahant with the extinction of all delements, for some do become Arahants without aaining the fourth jhna. 10. A fully liberated mind, and 11. Knowledge that one is fully liberated om delements. The last two are linked. Once the mind is totally liberated, the awareness of total liberation follows. The Guard of Mindfulness We will begin by explaining the third dhamma mindfulness, which is the key to understanding the Ariyvsa Sua. Mindfulness is essential to the practice of the Ariyvsa-dhamma. It is the chief aibute of the Arahant. The commentary says that the Arahant is mindful even while asleep. Here it refers to mindfulness just before falling asleep, and just aer waking up. It is impossible to be mindful while sound asleep. The important point is that the Arahant is always mindful whenever acting, speaking, or thinking. Mindfulness does not develop suddenly only aer the aainment of Arahantship. It develops gradually as a result of previous eort and practice. It is fairly well established at the stage of a non-returner (angmi) due to the aining done at the stage of a once-returner (sakadgmi). Here too, the once-returner possesses good mindfulness because the foundation was laid at the stage of a seam-winner (sotpanna). A seam-winner, who is at the rst stage of the noble path, is not yet ee om craving, ill-will, haed, ignorance, and conceit. However, unwholesome inclinations are not song enough to lead him or her to kill, steal, or do other immoral deeds. A seam-winner is mindful, and mindfulness keeps him or her on guard. The Buddha says, A seam-winner avoids doing misdeeds that lead him to the lower worlds. Therefore he or she no longer takes life. So you should have condence in the Buddha and meditate seriously. When you progress in meditation, you will discover what mindfulness is. At the sight of a desirable object, you crave for it, and in the

A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sua

face of something oensive you become averse to it. You are not yet ee om these unwholesome emotions, but mindfulness stands you in good stead and helps to resain them. They lose their power and wither away. They are not out of conol, as is the case with most people. They are not song enough to make a seam-winner do evil. The Satipahna Method So mindfulness is vital in the aining of the meditator on the noble path. Practice in mindfulness must begin when the meditator is just an ordinary person. The practice of contemplating all psychophysical phenomena arising om the six senses is the foundation of mindfulness (satipahna). Mindfulness means full awareness of all physical and mental phenomena. It is easy to practise. We teach this method exactly as the Lord Buddha did. Gacchanto v gacchm ti pajnti Know that you are walking when walking. This is the simple insuction of the Buddha in the Satipahna Sua. It does not present any dicul by saying that one should know the fact of walking aer analysing materiali, consciousness, and so forth. The insuction is so simple that anyone can follow it. Some people insist that a meditator should avoid mentally saying, I walk as it implies self-view. There are three dierent aspects of self-view. The rst is the belief in self as the soul-enti. The second is the view of self based on conceit and pride, while the third is the self as a conventional term for the rst person singular as distinct om others. The self or I implicit in the Pi word gacchmi has nothing to do with delusion or conceit. It is a term of common usage that is to be found in the sayings of the Buddha and the Arahants. So we insuct the meditators to make a note of all phenomena in conventional terms, for example, to note walking whenever they are walking. As concenation develops, conventional terms disappear, leaving only the incessant arising and passing away of phenomena. Initial Doubt Some people who have never meditated may have some doubt, which is hardly surprising for only seeing is believing. Their scepti-

Emperical Knowledge

cism is due to their lack of experience. I was sceptical at one time, too. I did not then like the Satipahna method as it makes no mention of nma-rpa, anicca, anaa, and so forth. However, the Saydaw who taught the method was learned, so I decided to give it a ial. At rst I made lile progress because I had lingering doubts about the method, which, in my view, had nothing to do with ultimate reali. It was only later, when I had followed the method seriously, that its signicance dawned on me. I realised then that it is the best method of meditation since it calls for aentiveness to everything that can be known, leaving no room for absent mindedness. That is why the Buddha describes the Satipahna method as the only way Ekyano-maggo. The Development of Concentration At the outset the meditator eats the sense data as the raw material for his meditation and makes a note of walking, bending, etc. As concenation develops, he or she becomes aware of all the psychophysical phenomena arising om the six senses. Finally he or she is mindful only of the ceaseless passing away of the sense-object and the knowing consciousness. Thus the meditator nds nothing that is permanent, pleasant, and worthwhile, nothing to gives grounds for self-view. At our meditation cene the meditator begins the exercise in mindfulness by making a note of the rising and falling of the abdomen when breathing in and out. Later, all mental events such as thinking, feeling, or imagining, must be noted. The meditator who steadfastly keeps the mind occupied in this way can, in due course, become aware of all physical and mental events that occur on seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, or thinking. He or she is then following the ideal of the Ariyvsa Sua, which sesses the need for self-possession and mindfulness. Empirical Knowledge Our method of meditation does not presuppose a thorough knowledge of nma-rpa, anicca and other Buddhist concepts. Our main aim is to aain insight knowledge, which is only aainable through practice. With experience, the meditator observes the distinction between mind and maer and realises the impermanence of

A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sua

everything. Experience may be followed by explanation by the teacher, but not the other way round. Direct knowledge has nothing to do with pre-conceived notions, but must be based on personal experience. The empirical knowledge acquired by the meditator who sees the vanishing of everything is distinct and clear. This is knowledge of dissolution (bhagaa). The meditator learns about it, not om the scriptures or a teacher, but by experience. As he or she continues meditating, mindfulness develops until it becomes perfect at the nal stage of the noble path. Mindfulness is vital. It develops concenation and sharpens the intellect. It means being on your guard and dwelling in the abode of the Noble Ones, which protects you om the dangers of sasra. To dwell in the abode of the Noble Ones you have to pay the price in terms of condence, will, and eort. It is impossible to do anything without condence or conviction. You will practise mindfulness only if you believe that it will help to develop insight knowledge. Yet condence by itself will not suce. You also need a song will, and relentless eort to aain the path and nibbna. Possession of these qualities is essential to succeed in the practice of mindfulness and securi in the abode of the Noble Ones. The Story of Tambadhika Mindfulness even for a few moments ensures protection om the dangers of sasra as shown by the story of Tambadhika. Tambadhika was a public executioner in the life-time of the Buddha. On the day of his retirement he was about to drink milk-gruel when Venerable Sripua appeared, who had apparently come in search of food. Because of his song condence, Tambadhika promptly oered the milk-gruel. Aer drinking it, the elder gave a talk on almsgiving, morali, insight meditation and the noble path. Tambadhika could not follow the talk very well because he became sicken with remorse when he thought of his evil deeds in the past. He told the elder about his unhappiness. Questioned by the elder, Tambadhika said that he did not do the evil deeds of his own ee-will, but had to carry out the kings order. In that case, asked Sripua, would those evils be of your own making? This question was cleverly judged to ease his
Dhammapada Commentary to verse 100.

The Story of Tambadhika

conscience. His anxie being thus laid to rest, he was able to reect on the elders sermon, thus he aained the stage of insight knowledge of adaptation (anulomaa). The Dhammapada commentary identies it with the higher stage of equanimi. It is said that the bodhisaas in the Sagha practise meditation until they aained anulomaa, but theirs is not that of the path process (maggavthi). The aainment of anulomaa of the path process means ouight aainment of the path and its uition. Spiritual development does not end with the aainment of anulomaa. A bodhisaa can aain the goal of the path only in his last life when he is about to become a Buddha, he cannot aain it in earlier lives. So the anulomaa aibuted to the bodhisaas is the advanced stage of equanimi knowledge. The same may be said of the insight aained by Tambadhika. Tambadhika became mindful as a result of his spiritual experience. Soon aerwards he was gored to death by a cow. His death formed the subject of conversation among the bhikkhus. The bhikkhus were very surprised when the Buddha told them that Tambadhika had been reborn in the Tusita heaven. In spite of his evils deeds in the past, his mindfulness during the last moments of his life had protected him om the dangers of the lower worlds. Through practice, mindfulness may become spontaneous as in the case of Dhanajn, a lay follower of the Buddha. She was told by her husband not to say anything to extol the Buddha while his brahmin teachers were being entertained. Yet when she ipped, she spontaneously uered Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammsambuddhassa Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Fully Enlightened Buddha. Mindfulness in the face of suering or death is crucial since it helps to reduce pain and to ensure a good rebirth. One who seeks to develop it requires four supports. First one needs clothes, food, medicine, and a dwelling. One needs them not because of craving for pleasure, but because they are the basic necessities of life. To deny oneself these things is self-mortication, which was practised by some non-Buddhist sects in ancient India. The bodhisaa also practised it himself, but gave it up when he realised that it served no purpose. The Buddhas way is the middle way between selfmortication and indulgence in sensual pleasures.

A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sua

The second support for a meditator is mental fortitude to contemplate physical and mental pain. One should be prepared to face hardship or even death to aain insight knowledge. Meditation does not harm ones health; on the conary, it is benecial. This is borne out by many meditators who regained their health aer meditating for some time. One woman who practised insight meditation got rid of a growth in her womb, thereby making it unnecessary for her to undergo an operation as advised by her doctor. A meditator should bear pain as much as possible. Patience leads to nibbna, says a Burmese proverb. If a meditator dgets impatiently whenever unpleasant sensations occurs he or she will not gain concenation, and without concenation one cannot aain insight knowledge. So patience or fortitude is one of the supports of a meditator. Things to Avoid The third support of a meditator is avoidance of unsuitable things. One must not take unnecessary risks by going to improper places. You should not allow meditation to make you over-condent and foolhardy. You must be especially careful about intimacy with the opposite sex. In brief, a meditator should avoid anything that may cause physical or moral harm. The fourth support of a meditator is to reject unwholesome thoughts that are sensuous, malicious, or aggressive. It is hard to overcome evil thoughts as most people tend to think about things or people that they love or hate. A meditator should watch out for these thoughts and reject them. Some meditators nd this hard because they are accustomed to leing their minds wander eely. To watch every thought is burdensome, but it takes only two or three days sustained eort to establish the habit of watchfulness. Foreigners who come to our meditation cene are oen fond of reading and writing. This leads to discursive thinking, which hinders the development of mindfulness. We have to tell them not to read and write. They may resent this resiction, but they soon get used to it and nd it helps their meditation. One such foreigner was Mr. Duval, an American who spent several months at the cene. He was very impressed by the Satipahna method that had helped him to aain insight knowledge. He thought it would benet many Westerners, who have no inner peace in spite of their material prosperi.

The Five Hindrances The Five Hindrances

Through constant mindfulness the meditator seeks to remove the ve hindrances (nvaraa) sensual desire, ill-will, laziness, restlessness, and doubt. These hindrances block the way to nibbna, so their removal is the rst Ariyvsa-dhamma. Sensual desire is the craving for pleasant sense-objects such as sights, sounds, odours, and so forth. Here, the sense-object means not only the object that directly causes pleasant sensation, but also other objects associated with it. Thus the object of sound refers to a person who speaks persuasively as well as to musical insuments. Odour as a sensual object is represented by perfumes, and by human beings who use them. In short, all objects of desire are sensual objects. Love of pleasant sense-objects is the cause of conict among people and nations. Yet modern man is excessively fond of sensual pleasure. To him it is the highest goal of life, something to be sought by every possible means, regardless of moral considerations. According to the Buddha, sensual desire is like a debt that keeps a man in bondage. Just as a debtor has to be polite to a creditor, so too one has to respect the objects of ones sensual desire. If it is an inanimate object, one must handle it with care and keep it under lock and key. If it is a person one desires, one has to avoid doing or saying anything to displease them. If you have no desire, you are ee om worry about any object or living being. The best way to overcome desire is to watch it constantly. You should focus on it and ace it back to its source. If you focus on desire with persistence and song will, it usually disappears, then you are assured of a place in the abode of the Noble Ones. Those outside the abode of the Noble Ones remain aached to sense-objects, which sometimes leads to misery aer death. In the time of the Buddha a bhikkhu was so much aached to his robe on his deathbed that he was reborn as a louse in that robe. Sceptics may sco at such stories. They argue that a tamarind seed cannot produce any ee other than a tamarind ee, that gold cannot revert to its former state of ore, and that a man cannot be reborn in a lower form of life. However, this does not accord with the Buddhas teaching. In fact, there is no being life is only a process of mentali and materiali, and mentali is the determining factor. According to the law of dependent origination, kammic formations (sakhr) arise

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A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sua

because of ignorance. This in turn leads to consciousness, and so forth. When a new life arises, it is not the materiali of the previous life or its potential, but the result of kammic formations that continues. Moreover, there is no such thing as a big or small consciousness. The mind of an ordinary person does not dier fundamentally om that of an animal. It can revert to a lower state, as in the case of a man who becomes insane or is a victim of rabies. There is no basis for the view that it is impossible for a man to sink to a lower plane of existence aer death. So the pure mind of a dying person imbued with condence, good-will, and other wholesome states, ensures good rebirth whereas the deled mind full of greed, haed, and other unwholesome states leads to the lower worlds. We need not wonder how consciousness can arise in distant places like heaven or hell. Consciousness has no substance, so distance makes no dierence. Death means the vanishing of the last thought-moment and the arising of rebirthconsciousness. For the dying person, the nal state of consciousness is crucial, for if it is unwholesome it may lead to the lower world in spite of leading a moral life. That is why the Buddha insucted the bhikkhus to have the right aitude towards food, medicine, robes, and dwellings. They should use them only to meet their physical needs, avoiding sensual desire for them. One should also reect on the impermanence and emptiness of sensual objects to overcome aachment, but the best method is to watch the arising of desire and reject it. This insuction is vital for lay people, since they have many aachments that are aught with danger for the aerlife. They can avoid such danger through the practice of the Ariyvsa dhamma. First they must have condence born of sound reasoning and a thorough knowledge of the Buddhas teaching. However, the Buddha-dhamma insists on the need for empirical investigation according to the aibute of ehi passiko come and see! For the follower of the Buddha, practice is of paramount importance. Most of the Buddhas ordained disciples aained various stages of enlightenment because they practised Satipahna meditation zealously. They never did or said anything unmindfully. Their calm and gentle manners impressed even the wandering mendicants who did not follow the Buddhas teaching. One mendicant, Kandaraka, paid a high ibute

The Five Hindrances

11

to them for their poise and self-possession. So did his companion, a layman named Pessa. He appreciated the Buddhas teaching, which had reformed people who were given to deceit and hypocrisy. However, he was preoccupied with worldly aairs so he did not hear the Buddhas sermon to the end or practise the Dhamma thoroughly. There are other reasons why men like Pessa failed to aain any stage on the noble path. They lack good teachers and a good knowledge of the Dhamma. Association with a bad iend or teacher is disasous. Prince Ajtasau killed his father at the instigation of his teacher Devadaa. A good teacher, a good iend, and a good knowledge of the Dhamma will ensure that one realises the need for mindfulness as an antidote to delements. We must observe and note any sensation that arises om our contact with the external world. We should take note of the bodily sensations that occur when we make any movement. We should also be mindful of our mental processes. By noting all mental events we can guard ourselves against evil thoughts and emotions. Although there are ten Ariyvsa dhammas, mindfulness alone suces to ensure the aainment of nibbna. Mindfulness is the keystone of the Buddhas teaching. This is clearly borne out by the last saying of the Buddha, Vaya dhamm sakhra appamdena sampadetha, which may be anslated as follows: Bhikkhus, here is my last advice to you: all compounded things are subject to disintegration. Work out your own salvation with mindfulness. All compounded things (sakhra) are impermanent. Most people do not take this fact seriously. They believe in their personal identi and the permanence of their ego. The average man believes that he can live for a long time with his life-force and body. Here, sakhra means all the conditioned psychophysical phenomena; vaya dhamm means that they are by nature subject to decay. Liberation om existence, which is conditioned, impermanent, and unsatisfactory, means nibbna, and the way to it lies in the Buddhas last words: Appamdena sampdetha practise until you achieve constant mindfulness. The commentaries describe this advice as the essence of the Buddhas teaching. The cenal theme of the Ariyvsa Sua sesses the far-reaching importance of mindfulness. Through the practice of mindfulness one aains the rst stage on the noble path where one is ee om coarse desires leading to the lower realms. At the third

12

A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sua

stage one becomes wholly ee om desire for sensual pleasures. At the nal stage one has eradicated all desire for the material and the immaterial realms. Ill-will (vypda) is the second hindrance on the noble path. It is like a disease that creates a distaste for good food and makes its victim depressed and apathetic. Ill-will makes us irritable, bad-tempered, and suspicious. We do not even ust a iend when they are on good terms with someone we dislike. One who has ill-will should regard himself or herself as suering om a disease. Unless it is eated promptly, it may worsen and lead to death. Unresained ill-will may be disasous as is evident in newspaper reports of violent crimes. Some people appear to be good-natured as long as they nd everything agreeable, but something they dislike may lead to an outburst of bad temper. The Buddhist scriptures cite the story of Vedehik, a housewife who was noted for her aable manners. Her slave-girl had misgivings, however, so one day she purposely got up late to test her misess. Vedehik ew into a rage and showed her ue character. Ill-will is the root-cause of discord, iction, quarrels, and unhappiness among mankind. We tend to have ill-will against relatives, colleagues, and neighbours, yet these are the very people on whom we rely in times of ouble. To ensure uni, harmony, and mutual understanding, we should prevent the disease of ill-will. If the disease infects us, it should be eated promptly. When you become angry, note your anger mentally and expel it. Do not let it aect your speech and behaviour. If you are really angry, do not say too much. The third hindrance on the path is sloth or laziness. A lazy person does not y to understand the Dhamma or practise it, so fails to make any spiritual progress, lacking the insight knowledge aained by meditators who practise resolutely. He or she cannot imagine the ecstasy enjoyed by diligent meditators. Of course, ecstasy is not the goal of meditation, which anscends all other experiences, but the sublime experiences of insight cannot be appreciated by lazy people. The fourth hindrance is restlessness and remorse (uddhacca kukkucca). Restlessness means the wandering, unstable mind. Remorse means regret for the mistakes that one has made. Both these mental states should be removed since they obsuct progress on the noble path.

The Four Primary Elements

13

The h hindrance is doubt (vicikicch). It is scepticism about the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sagha. One who is too sceptical, hesitates so much that he or she cannot accomplish anything. The sceptic comes to grief as do those who fail to act decisively in important maers. Condence is opposite to doubt it enables a meditator to follow the insuctions of his teacher that accord with the Buddha-dhamma. The Four Primary Elements The meditator can contemplate any of the ve aggregates comprising a human being. It is best to start by contemplating the rising and falling of the abdomen, which is a manifestation of the element of motion. Motion or wind (vyo) is one of the four primary elements. According to the commentaries, those who have not achieved anquilli (samatha) should begin with the four primary elements, whereas the meditator who has aained jhna can begin by contemplating consciousness. The other three primary elements are earth the quali of hardness (pahav), re the quali of heat, cold, or warmth (tejo), and water the quali of liquidi or wetness (po). We should begin meditation with what is obvious and easy. The Buddha himself pointed out a very simple meditation method the contemplation of the four postures. He told his disciples to be mindful of what they were doing. This advice is so simple that many people do not take it seriously. They argue that since it makes no mention of nma, rpa, etc. it has nothing to do with ultimate reali. In one of his books Ledi Saydaw says, When you walk, focus on every step that you take. This accords with the teaching of the Buddha: When you walk, you should know that you are walking. Although you merely note walking, as your concenation develops you will realise that the movement of the body is due to mental desire. You should also observe physical changes such as the rising and falling of the abdomen, which can be clearly and easily noted. Some people have doubt about this practice. This is due to their lack of experience corresponding to what their teachers have told them about the distinction between mind and maer, the meaning of anicca, dukkha, anaa, etc. Lack of experience leads to doubt, which is one of the ve hindrances. The hindrances prevent good thoughts om arising. Good thoughts and evil thoughts do not occur together. You have good,

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A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sua

wholesome thoughts when you are mindful, and bad, unwholesome thoughts when you are unmindful. Unmindfulness is largely due to hindrances, so those who begin meditation are likely to be disacted by doubt, remorse, desire, and other delements. Some people do not meditate because they think they can rely on their acts of alms-giving, observance of precepts, and recitation of scriptures for mental puri. They are soon disillusioned if they take up meditation and nd themselves harassed by impure thoughts. An unmindful person cannot be morally pure for he or she is never aware of the ue moral character of his or her thoughts. Sensual desire, haed, ill-will, and other delements go unnoticed. It is only through meditation that we can know if the mind is pure or not, whether it is ee om greed, anger, and delusion. Repeated inospection helps to purge the mind of its impurities. You have puri of mind when you are mindful. It is a mistake to think that one can aain it only by gaining jhna. Puri of mind based on jhna is due to the continuous seam of jhnic consciousness. Puri of mind through meditation is the puri that emerges at the moment of aaining insight. Both kinds of consciousness are alike in respect of puri of mind and eedom om hindrances. Our method of meditation begins with the practice of keeping the mind on the rising and falling of the abdomen. It accords with the Buddhas teaching: Rising refers to the material aggregate. The element of motion is included in the material elements, and its characteristic is supporting. In the contemplation of mind and maer, quanti and shape do not maer. Some meditators y to focus on what they believe to be the combination of atomic particles in some shape. Shape is possessed only by objects that have colour or that can be touched. Characteristic, Function, and Manifestation Physical phenomena such as sounds and smells, may lend themselves to atomic analysis, but the same cannot be said of mind and its elements. It is impossible to imagine greed or anger as particles. The meditator should focus on the nature of a phenomenon in terms of its characteristic (lakkhaa), function (rasa) and manifestation (paccupahna). This is in accordance with the insuctions in the Visuddhimagga and the Abhidhammahasagaha.

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So you should focus on the rising and falling of the abdomen with reference to its characteristic, function, and manifestation. The characteristics of the wind element are rigidi, stiness, and looseness. These characteristics will escape your notice in the beginning because you have to aend to the hindrances and overcome them by suppression. Constant practice of mindfulness helps to overcome the hindrances. When the mind is ee om the hindrances, stiness and rigidi become apparent in the rising of the abdomen. Similarly, the falling movement reveals the quali of looseness. The function of the wind element is motion. Vyo is air which moves om one place to another when it is song, and remains still and rigid when weak. You cannot watch rising and falling without being aware of motion. When you note the rising, you are aware of the gradual movement outward; when you note the falling, you become aware of the gradual movement inward. The manifestation of the element of motion is the propulsion of things to wherever they tend. In the case of a voluntary movement like bending, the element of motion tends in the direction to which the mind is inclined. There is inward motion when you bend your arm, and outward motion when you setch it. These two kinds of motions are apparent too, in the rising and falling of the abdomen. The manifestation (paccupahna) is any impression that occurs to our mind when we think of something. While watching the rising and falling movements, the meditator may experience disagreeable feelings arising om cramp, pain, or heat. Regarding such feelings, the Buddha said, The monk is aware of disagreeable feelings even as he experiences them. Here experience as a verb is the anslation of the Pi word vedaymi in the text. Burmese Buddhists do not say, I experience heat, they say, It is hot. So the Burmese meditator is insucted to make a mental note of the specic sensation that occurs, It is hot or It is painful as the case may be. In this way the meditator becomes aware of painful feeling. Its function is to depress the spirit, its manifestation is irritation. The meditator who contemplates tension, aching, etc. realises the nature of painful feeling on the basis of its characteristic, function, and manifestation. The same may be said of pleasant, and indierent feelings.

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A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sua

The characteristic of mind or consciousness is to know the sense-object. We have dierent kinds of consciousness, each dependent on contact with dierent sense-objects. The function of consciousness is to lead its concomitants. Consciousness takes the initiative and is followed by greed, condence, or doubt. The manifestation of consciousness is its connection with the preceding mental state. By contemplating mental states, the meditator becomes aware of their impermanence, and their incessant arising, one aer another. If you make a mental note at the moment of seeing, you know that the eye and the colour are physical phenomena while the eye-consciousness is mental. The same may be said of the ear and the sound, the nose and the odour, the tongue and the taste, the body and tactile-objects. Each pair of physical phenomena has its corresponding mental phenomenon of consciousness. The range of tactile consciousness is very wide. Bending, setching, walking, etc., all belong to it. Stages of Insight Knowledge In taking a step, the tingling as you li your foot indicates the element of heat (tejo), tenseness and motion as you put your foot forward indicate wind element (vyo), the heaviness as you put the foot down is the water element (po), while the iction and resistance when the foot touches the ground show the earth element (pahav). Thus the distinctive features of each of the four primary elements is evident. Whenever you observe the behaviour of your body, you distinguish between maer, which does not know its sense-object, and the mind, which knows it. This insight is analytical knowledge of mind and maer (nmarpa-pariccheda-a). As concenation develops, the meditator becomes more aware of the nature of the phenomenal world. He or she nds, when bending the hand, that bending is preceded by the desire to bend the hand, that setching is preceded by the desire to setch; that seeing arises due to the eye and the visible object; that hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching are due to the corresponding sense-organs and sense-objects. It takes only a few days practice of mindfulness to realise that each phenomenon is only cause and eect, that there is no ego, person, or being who creates it.

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Then the meditator knows analytically the beginning and end of each pair of psychophysical phenomena. The beginning is the arising and the end is the vanishing of an event. As he or she observes this incessant process of arising and vanishing, the meditator realises the law of impermanence. Impermanence is the characteristic of the ve aggregates. It has two aspects: appearing om non-existence to momentary existence; and disappearing om momentary existence to non-existence. This appearance and disappearance is the sign of impermanence. If a thing does not arise at all, it cannot be called impermanent. This implies nibbna, which has no origination. Neither can we call a thing impermanent if it exists forever, but there is no such thing. Everything that has a beginning also has an end. The insight into the law of impermanence leads the meditator to realise the unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) and insubstantiali of life (anaa). These three marks of existence are intertwined, and therefore whenever we see anaa we are close to nibbna. Here, seeing anaa means not mere intellectual acceptance, but insight knowledge born of meditation. Aer gaining insight into impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and insubstantiali, the meditator ceases to reect, but just keeps on noting the psychophysical phenomena, so concenation deepens. He or she discriminates sharply between the beginning and the end of each phenomenon. He or she may see bright light and experience joy, rapture, sereni, song condence, and heightened awareness. However, the meditator should not mistake these delightful experiences for the peace of nibbna. He or she should note and overcome them. Then as he or she continues to practise, there comes a time when awareness is conned to ceaseless vanishing. When contemplating an object, the meditator no longer perceives its shape, size, or quali. He or she sees everything the object and the mind passing away incessantly. This is knowledge of dissolution (bhaga-a). Because the meditator sees everything passing away, he or she is seized with fear (bhayaa). Fear leads to recognition of the evils of conditioned existence (dnava-a). So the meditator becomes sick of life (nibbid-a). Because of this disillusionment, the desire to be ee (mucitukamyat-a) arises, and to achieve this the meditator has to re-observe phenomena (paisakh-a). This re-observation leads to the full comprehension of the three signs of existence impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and not-self.

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A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sua

With the emergence of this insight the meditator aains equanimi regarding formations (sakhrupekkh-a), which the Buddha describes as follows: Monks, the monk who has seen a visible object with his eyes is neither pleased nor displeased. His mind is in equilibrium, being aected neither by aachment nor by aversion. This is because he has right mindfulness. Note that the Pi text refers to the monk who has seen the object. It makes no sense to speak of a meditators equanimi in the absence of sense-objects that aact or repel. The meditator is unperturbed in the face of sense-objects, which is due to right mindfulness and insight into the nature of conditioned existence. Having seen an object, a monk recognises it with right understanding. Right understanding causes neither pleasure nor displeasure; it makes the meditator completely indierent to the contact with the external world. This is the special aibute of Arahants and as the commentary says, it is possible for meditators to possess it. They can have it when they aain the successive stages of insight knowledge through wholehearted eort. Some meditation teachers mislead their disciples by exaggerating the importance of their own lectures. The meditator should not accept their words blindly. One should not regard oneself as a seam-winner on the authori of ones teacher. Instead, one should examine oneself on the basis of experience, according to the Buddhas teaching. If one is a ue seam-winner, ones experience will leave no doubt about the three signs of conditioned existence, the nature of nibbna, and the other cenal teachings of the Buddha. So one has unshakeable condence in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sagha. The seam-winner also sictly avoids killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and drinking. These are four essential aibutes of a seam-winner. This teaching of the Buddha can help the meditator to decide whether he or she has aained the rst path. A real seam-winner has no desire to do evil. His or her moral life does not need self-resaint, since it is natural. In this respect a real seam-winner diers om the false one whose morali is supercial and prone to back-sliding. False Views and False Pursuits Two important Ariyvsa dhammas that we should consider next are those requiring the renunciation of false views about life aer death.

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The rst false view is that the ego survives death and is reborn in another body. The second false view rejects any idea of an aerlife, insisting on the annihilation of a living being at death. These two false views can be overcome through the constant practice of mindfulness. Equally important are the two pursuits to be rejected by a meditator on the noble path: the pursuit of sensual pleasures, and the pursuit of becoming. The rst pursuit dominates the meditator until the aainment of the third path. The second pursuit is motivated by the will to live. It does not end even at the third stage for there is still a lingering desire for immaterial existence. The meditator can overcome aachment to life only on the aainment of Arahantship. One should therefore renounce unwholesome pursuits and false views. One should follow the noble eightfold path that will ee one om illusions and unwholesome desires. The meditator should also seek the fourth jhna with its cessation of in and out breathing. He or she will have to make a special eort to aain it since it is not within the grasp of every Arahant. It is meant exclusively for specially gied Arahants. However, if the meditator cannot make great eort, it will be best to bypass the jhnic state and to seek nibbna. On aaining nibbna, it makes no dierence whether one is an ordinary Arahant, an outstanding Arahant, or a Buddha. Self-knowledge The last two essential aibutes of the meditator who dwells in the abode of the Noble Ones are: liberation om delements, and knowledge that one is so liberated. Full liberation means Arahantship. The Arahant is wholly ee om aachment and resictions associated with craving, haed, and ignorance. He or she is also independently aware of being liberated. This awareness is not conned to Arahants. The seam-winner also knows that he or she is relatively ee om delements. There are qualitative degrees of eedom corresponding to the dierent stages of spiritual aainment. At the rst stage the meditator is ee om doubt and self-view, and at the third stage om sensual desire and ill-will. Ignorant meditators are oen deluded into a false sense of eedom. They continue to do evil, thereby giving the lie to their claim. They say that it is not improper for a seam-winner to drink under certain circumstances. Their arguments are purely justication for unwholesome desires.

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A Discourse on the Ariyvsa Sua

For the meditator who has really aained important stages on the noble path, the realisation of eedom is not academic knowledge, but derives om personal insight. Personal experience leaves no doubt about its reali. If the meditator sees nibbna with the eye of wisdom, he or she becomes at least a seam-winner and will never be reborn in the lower realms aer death. Therefore one should constantly contemplate everything that arises, and guard the senses until one aains the rst stage of liberation. Then one should, of course, continue the practice of mindfulness until the achievement of Arahantship.