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 (piti)...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 jhana and then develop insight, still have to be aware, after they emerge from jhana, of the realities which appear. They should, for example, realize the rapture and joy experienced in jhana, as only namas which are impermanent and not self. If one develops insight "based on jhana", one should have the "fivefold mastery" (Visuddhimagga IV, 131), one should be able to attain jhana and emerge from it at any time and in any place. Then the jhanacitta 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 vipassana. 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 nama and rupa one will learn to see the body in the body, feelings in the feelings, citta in citta and dhamma in dhamma. One will realize nama and rupa as not self. Then the four applications of mindfulness will be brought to fulfilment.

Samatha and vipassana are two different ways of mental development, bhavana. The aim of samatha is to eliminate attachment to sense objects, and the aim of vipassana is to eradicate ignorance of realities. Some people want to apply themselves to samatha first, because they think that in this way vipassana can be developed more quickly afterwards. They should realize, however, that both samatha and vipassana are ways of mental development. The Pali term bhavana means: to make become, to produce, to increase. Developing first samatha before vipassana is certainly not a "short cut" to nibbana 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 jhana 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. Jhana purifies the mind, but the latent tendencies of defilements are not eradicated. After the jhanacitta has fallen away defilements are bound to arise again. As we have seen, those who have attained jhana 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 jhana, 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 jhana.

Vipassana 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 namas, otherwise they cannot be eradicated. Vipassana 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 jhana, it would help them with the development of vipassana. 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 panna in samatha are different from sati and panna in vipassana. In samatha there should be mindfulness and right understanding of the meditation subject and panna should know when there is true calm, freedom from akusala. In vipassana there is mindfulness of the nama or rupa which appears at the present moment through one of the six doors, so that panna can realize them as not self. If one confuses the different ways of development of samatha and vipassana, 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 sotapanna (streamwinner). We read in the Kindred Sayings (V, Maha-vagga, Book XI, Kindred Sayings on Streamwinning, Chapter I, § 5) that the Buddha said to Sariputta:

"A limb of stream-winning! A limb of stream-winning!" is the saying, Sariputta. "Tell me, Sariputta, 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, Sariputta! Well said, Sariputta! Indeed these are limbs of stream-winning...."

If we had not met the right person and listened to the Dhamma, if mindfulness of nama and rupa 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 nama and rupa, 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 panna 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 vipassana. Do we know the difference between concepts and nama and rupa, 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 vipassana 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 nama.

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 panna 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 panna which directly knows nama and rupa. 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 nama and rupa are known already there is no development of panna. 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 nama and rupa 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 panna 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 panna 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 namas and rupas 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 nama, 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 jhana can be attained, there will be the temporary elimination of defilements. If jhanacitta can arise shortly before dying there will be a happy rebirth in a higher plane of existence. However, the development of jhana, as we have seen, is extremely difficult and very few people can do it. One may take for jhana what is merely an unusual experience, not jhana. Even if one develops samatha in the right way and one attains jhana, 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. Jhana can lead to a happy rebirth, but vipassana 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, Salayatana-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 nama and rupa 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 Tipitaka 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 metta,    
   
Nina van Gorkom

 Glossary

December 2004