The reader may wonder what the purpose is of the many Påli terms used in this book. In the course of his study he will see that the Påli terms are helpful for precision of understanding. I have used the Påli terms next to their English equivalents but the English terms often have a specific meaning in the context of Western psychology or philosophy. We should try to understand the correct meaning rendered by the Påli terms.

In this study on cetasikas I have quoted from the first book of the Abhidhamma, the Dhammasangaųi (Buddhist Psychological Ethics). I also used Buddhaghosa's commentary to this book, the Atthasåliní (in English: The Expositor) and his encyclopedia on Buddhism, the Visuddhimagga (in English: The Path of Purification). Buddhaghosa's commentaries date from the fifth century A.D. He edited in Sri Lanka old commentary works with utmost conscientiousness and translated them from Singhalese into Påli. The reader will be impressed by the discriminative, refined knowledge of all the details of the Buddha's teachings and by the vivid way he illustrates points of the teachings with examples. He continuously points to the goal: the development of insight in order to see realities as they are. I quoted from the suttas texts which deal with the development of all kinds of kusala, comprising the development of calm and the development of insight. These texts can encourage us to keep in mind the purpose of our study. Some people believe that the Abhidhamma, the teaching on ultimate realities, is not the original teaching of the Buddha. The Buddhist scriptures, the Tipiėaka, consist of the Vinaya (book of Discipline for the monks), the Suttanta (discourses) and the Abhidhamma. The Abhidhamma enumerates all realities and the different conditions for the phenomena which arise. In order to show that the different parts of the scriptures are one, that they are the Buddha's teaching, I quoted also from the suttas texts which deal with ultimate realities. There is also Abhidhamma in the suttas. In the suttas we read time and again that the Buddha spoke about ultimate realities appearing through the senses and through the mind-door. In order to understand the suttas some basic knowledge of the Abhidhamma is indispensable. As we study the Abhidhamma we will become more convinced that the Abhi-dhamma pertains to our daily life, that it teaches about the phenomena we can experience at this moment. As we continue with the study of the Abhidhamma we will be impressed by the depth of its teaching. No ordinary person could conceive such a detailed exposition of everything which is real, except an Enlightened One.

The reader may find this book technical, but as he proceeds he will find that a detailed study of realities helps him to understand his daily life.

I wish to express my deepest thankfulness to Ms. Sujin Boriharnwannaket in Bangkok, who greatly assisted me in understanding the Dhamma and its application in daily life. I based my study of cetasikas on the lectures she held in the Saket Temple in Bangkok. I also wish to express my appreciation to the "Dhamma Study and Propagation Foundation" and to the publisher Alan Weller. With their help the publication of this book was possible. All the texts from which I quoted have been printed by the Påli text Society¹ .

I will now continue with a general introduction in order to help the reader to have more understanding of the nature of the cetasikas which accompany the different types of cittas.

Introduction

 

Dhammapada, vs. 183

 

The Buddha's teachings explain in a very precise way the objects which, each through the appropriate doorway, can be cognized by citta. For example, colour or visible object can be known through the eye-door, sound through the ear-door. Through each of the senses the corresponding object can be known. Through the mind-door all kinds of objects, also concepts and ideas, can be known. Before we studied the Buddhist teachings we had a vague, general idea of a thinking mind and we did not have a precise knowledge of objects which are cognized each through their appropriate doorway. Citta is varied because of the different kinds of objects it experiences. Seeing is totally different from hearing.

Citta is varied because of the different mental factors or adjuncts which accompany it in various combinations. The Påli term cetasika (pronounce: chetasika) is to be preferred to the English translations of this term which vary in different textbooks. Cetasika means literally: belonging to the mind (ceto). There are fifty two different cetasikas which each have their own characteristic and function. Later on I will explain the rational of these cetasikas and their classification. There is only one citta at a time, cognizing one object, and each citta is accompanied by several cetasikas which also experience the same object, but which each perform their own function while they assist the citta in cognizing that object. They arise and fall away together with the citta.

Citta and cetasika are mental phenomena, nåma, which are real in the ultimate sense. Ultimate realities or paramattha dhammas have each their own characteristic, their own function, they are true for everybody.

There are four paramattha dhammas:

 

citta

cetasika

rúpa

nibbåna

 

Citta and cetasika arise together, but they are different types of paramattha dhammas. In order to explain the difference between citta and cetasika the commentary to the first book of the Abhidhamma, the Atthasåliní, uses the simile of the king and his retinue. The king is the chief, the principal, and his retinue are his attendants. Even so are the cittas which arise in our daily life the leaders in cognizing the object, and the cetasikas are the assistants of citta. The cetasikas have to perform their own tasks and operate at each moment of citta. Citta with its accompanying cetasikas arise each moment and then they fall away immediately.

The reader may wonder what the use is of knowing the details about citta and cetasikas. Citta and cetasikas are not abstract categories, they are active at this very moment. We could not see, hear, think, act, be angry or have attachment without cetasikas. Seeing, for example, is a citta. It is the citta which cognizes colour or visible object. In order to perform its function it needs the assistance of cetasikas, such as contact, which contacts visible object, or one-pointedness, which focuses on the object. It is important to have more understanding of cetasikas. We should know that defilements are cetasikas and that good qualities are cetasikas. They arise in daily life and when they appear we should investigate their characteristics. Otherwise we would not know what is right and what is wrong. We would not know when defilements arise and how deeply rooted they are. If the Buddha had not taught in detail about defilements we would only have a vague idea about them. How could we see the danger of defilements when they are unknown to us? How could we develop what is wholesome if we would not know the characteristics of wholesome cetasikas and the different ways of good deeds? There is a great variety of cetasikas accompanying the different cittas. Akusala cittas are accompanied by cetasikas which are defilements, whereas kusala cittas are accompanied by cetasikas which are good qualities. Apart from defilements and good qualities there are also cetasikas which accompany cittas which are unwholesome, cittas which are wholesome and cittas which are neither wholesome nor unwholesome.

Citta and its accompanying cetasikas are closely associated and they condition one another. There is a relationship and interdependence between them. Citta conditions cetasikas. When the citta is wholesome, kusala, all accompanying cetasikas are also kusala, even those kinds of cetasikas which can arise with each type of citta. When the citta is unwholesome, akusala, all the accompanying cetasikas are akusala. Feeling, for example, is a cetasika which accompanies each citta. When there is pleasant feeling, it can accompany kusala citta or akusala citta rooted in attachment, but its quality is different in each case. Cetasikas condition the citta they accompany, and the cetasikas which arise together also condition one another. For example, the cetasika understanding, paņņå, conditions the citta and the other cetasikas it accompanies. When the citta with generosity is accompanied by paņņå which realizes that generosity is kusala, the degree of kusala is higher than in the case of kusala citta without paņņå.

When there is generosity, there is no person who is generous, generosity is a cetasika performing its function while it assists the kusala citta. When there is attachment, there is no person who is attached, attachment is a cetasika performing its function. The cetasikas which accompany the citta experience the same object as the citta while they each perform their own function. At one moment there can be attachment to colour which is experienced through the eye-door, at another moment there can be attachment to sound which is experienced through the ear-door, at another moment there can be attachment to the concept of a person which is an object experienced through the mind-door. Citta and its accompanying cetasikas arise and fall away extremely rapidly. When right understanding has not been developed we cannot distinguish between different objects experienced through the different doorways. We are inclined to join different realities together into a "whole", and thus we cannot realize their arising and falling away, their impermanence, and their nature of non-self. Through the study of the Buddhist teachings there can first be more understanding of the true nature of realities on the theoretical level. Only through the development of direct understanding of realities one will know the truth through one's own experience.

There is no abiding ego or self who can direct the operations of the mind. There is a different citta all the time and it is accompanied by different cetasikas. They arise because of their own conditions. We are so used to thinking in terms of a mind belonging to the human person. It is difficult to understand that there is no ego who can direct his mind, who can take his destiny in his own hands and shape it. If everything is beyond control where is the human dignity? If one walks the Buddha's Path one will know the difference between what is true in the ultimate sense and what is only imagination or a dream. There will be less delusion about the truth and there will eventually be elimination of all that is impure and unwholesome. This is mental emancipation and is that not the highest good one could attain?

The reader may find it cumbersome to know which types of cetasikas can accompany which types of citta, and to learn the different classifications of the groups of defilements. Such details, however, help us to be able to see the danger of unwholesomeness and the benefit of wholesomeness. When we know with what types of citta the various cetasikas are combined we will come to understand the underlying motives of our actions, speech and thought. Detailed knowledge will prevent us from taking for kusala what is akusala.

In order to help the reader to understand the variety of cetasikas which accompany different cittas, I shall first summarize a few basic points on citta I also dealt with in my Abhidhamma in Daily Life.

Cittas can be classified in many ways and one of these is the classification by way of "jåti" (literally birth or nature). Cittas can be of the following four jåtis:

 

akusala

kusala

vipåka (result)

kiriya (inoperative, neither cause nor result)

 

Cittas arise and fall away very rapidly and we often do not know that a different citta of another jåti has arisen after the present citta has fallen away. For example, we may think that the present citta is still vipåkacitta, the result of kamma, when it is actually akusala citta with attachment or with aversion on account of the object which is experienced. Seeing, for instance, is vipåka-citta. The moment of seeing is extremely short. Shortly after it has fallen away, cittas rooted in attachment, aversion or ignorance may arise and these are of a different jåti: the jåti which is akusala.

Cittas perform different functions. For example, seeing is a function (kicca) of citta. Seeing-consciousness which performs the function of seeing arises in a process of cittas; it is preceded and followed by other cittas which perform their own functions. Whenever there are sense-impressions there is not merely one citta, but several cittas arising in a process, and each of these cittas performs its own function. It is the same with cittas arising in a mind-door process. As for cittas which do not arise in either sense-door process or mind-door process, they also have to perform a function. The rebirth-consciousness (paėisandhi-citta), the life-continuum (bhavanga-citta) and the dying-consciousness (cuti-citta) do not arise in a process of citta². There are bhavanga-cittas in between the different processes of citta.

Summarizing the cittas which perform their functions in a sense-door process and then in a the mind-door process³ when a rúpa impinges on one of the sense-doors:

 

(paņcadvåråvajjan citta)

 

 

 

I think that it is useful for the reader to review the enumeration of cittas I have given above, since I, in the following chapters on cetasikas, shall refer to cittas performing different functions in processes and to cittas which do not arise in a process. All these cittas are accompanied by different types of cetasikas.

The study of cetasikas will help us to have more understanding of the intricate operations of the mind, of citta and cetasikas. It will help us to understand in theory that citta and cetasikas act according to their own conditions, and that an abiding agent who could direct mental activities is not to be found. The study of the realities as taught by the Buddha can remind us to investigate them when they appear in our daily life. Theoretical understanding of the truth is a foundation for the development of direct understanding of realities as they present themselves one at a time through the six doors, through the senses and the mind. Since the aim of the study of the Abhidhamma is the development of right understanding of the realities of our life, I refer in this book time and again to its development. Right understanding of nåma and rúpa is developed by being mindful of them when they appear. Sati, mindfulness or awareness, is a wholesome cetasika which is non-forgetful, aware, of the reality which appears at the present moment⁴. At the very moment of sati the reality which appears can be investigated, and in this way right understanding will gradually develop. Eventually nåma and rúpa will be seen as they are: as impermanent and non-self. We should not forget that also awareness, sati, is a cetasika arising because of its own conditions. If we have understood this we shall not force its arising or try to direct it to particular objects, such as this or that cetasika. The study of the Abhidhamma can prevent wrong ideas about the development of the Buddha's Path. The realities of our life, including our defilements, should be understood as not self. So long as we take defilements for self or "mine" they cannot be eradicated. The direct understanding of realities as non-self is the condition for not doing evil, for cultivating the good and for purifying one's mind.

In the chapters which follow I shall deal with fifty two different types of cetasikas. I shall first refer to seven types of cetasikas which accompany every citta. These are the Universals. Then I shall refer to six types of cetasikas which can arise with cittas of four jåtis, cittas which are kusala, akusala, vipåka and kiriya (neither cause nor result), but which do not accompany each citta. These are called the Particulars After that I shall deal with the Akusala Cetasikas and finally with the Beautiful (sobhana) Cetasikas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 1

 

The Universals

Chapter I

 

 

 

The universals arise with every citta and thus they arise with all the cittas of the four jåtis: with akusala citta, kusala citta, vipåkacitta and kiriyacitta. They arise with all cittas in all planes of existence where there is nåma: with the cittas of the woeful planes, in the human being plane, in the deva planes, in the rúpa-brahma-planes, except the asaņņå-satta plane (the plane where there is only rúpa not nåma)⁶ and in the arúpa-brahma planes. They arise with all cittas of all planes of consciousness: with kåmåvacara-cittas (sensuous plane of citta), with rúpåvacara cittas (plane of rúpa-jhånacittas), arúpåvacara cittas (plane of arúpa-jhånacittas) and with lokuttara cittas (cittas which experience nibbåna)⁷.

Contact, in Påli: phassa, is mentioned first among the universals. Phassa arises together with every citta; it "contacts" the object so that citta can experience it. When seeing experiences visible object, phassa which accompanies seeing-consciousness also experiences visible object but it performs its own function. At that moment phassa "contacts" visible object and conditions seeing-consciousness to see.

The Atthasåliní (Expositor, Part IV, Chapter I, 108) states about contact:

 

 

Phassa is different from what we mean in conventional language by physical contact or touch. When we use the word contact in conventional language we may think of the impingement of something external on one of the senses, for example the impingement of hardness on the bodysense. We may use words such as touching or impingement in order to describe phassa, but we should not forget that phassa is nåma, a cetasika which arises together with the citta and assists the citta so that it can experience the object which presents itself through the appropriate doorway. When hardness presents itself through the bodysense there is phassa, contact, arising together with the citta which experiences the hardness. Phassa is not the mere collision of hardness with the bodysense, it is not touch in the physical sense. Impact is the function of phassa in the sense that it assists the citta so that it can cognize the object.

Phassa is manifested by coinciding or concurrence, namely, by the coinciding of three factors: physical base (vatthu), object and consciousness.

When there is seeing, there is the coinciding of eye (the eyebase), visible object and seeing-consciousness; through this concurrence phassa, which is in this case eye-contact, is manifested.

We read in the `Discourse of the Honey-ball' (Middle Length Sayings I, no. 18) that Mahå-Kaccåna explained to the monks concerning contact:

 

 

Phassa is not the doorway through which citta experiences an object. In the case of a sense-door process the rúpa which is one of the senses is doorway and in the case of a mind-door process nåma is doorway, namely the last bhavanga-citta arising before the mind-door adverting-consciousness, the first citta of the mind-door process⁹.

In the planes of existence where there are nåma and rúpa, cittas have a physical base or place of origin, the vatthu¹⁰. The vatthu is rúpa. In the case of the `paņca-viņņåųas' (seeing, hearing, etc.) the vatthus are the `pasåda-rúpas' (the rúpas which are capable of receiving visible object, sound, etc.). In the case of the paņca-viņņåųas the pasåda-rúpa functions as both vatthu and doorway, `dvåra'. For example, the rúpa which is eye-sense (cakkhuppasåda-rúpa) is both doorway and vatthu for seeing-consciousness. Although it is one and the same rúpa, the functions of dvåra and vatthu are different. The dvåra is the means through which citta experiences an object, and the vatthu is the physical base for the citta. Only for the paņca-viņņåųas are the dvåra and the vatthu one and the same rúpa. For the other cittas of the sense-door process the dvåra and the vatthu are different rúpas; they have as their vatthu another kind of rúpa which is in the commentaries called the `heart-base' (hadaya-vatthu)¹¹. The cittas which arise in the mind-door process also have as their vatthu the `heart-base'. The vatthu is the physical base not only of citta, but also of the cetasikas which accompany the citta. When seeing-consciousness arises at the eye-base (cakkhu-vatthu), phassa and the other cetasikas which accompany seeing-consciousness arise also at the eye-base. Thus, citta and the accompanying cetasikas arise together at the same vatthu; they share the same object and they fall away together.

The different cittas with their accompanying cetasikas arise when there are the appropriate conditions for their arising. Even when our eyes are open, there is not seeing all the time. There are many different types of cittas which arise one at a time. When there is, for example, hearing or thinking there cannot be seeing at the same time. When there are the appropriate conditions for seeing-consciousness, it arises. Then there is the concurrence of the eye, visible object and seeing. Eye-contact performs its function so that seeing can experience visible object.

Contact `supports' the citta and the other cetasikas which accompany the citta. There must be contact arising with the citta in order that it can cognize its object. Contact also supports the other cetasikas it arises together with: without contact there could not be feeling, perception (saņņå) or volition (cetanå). The Atthasåliní (108) compares phassa with a pillar in a palace which is a strong support to the rest of the structure. In the same way contact is a strong support to the citta and the accompanying cetasikas.

Is there contact now? There is the experience of an object right now and thus there has to be contact as well. There are seeing, hearing or thinking occurring time and again. We think that it is `I' who sees, hears or thinks, but in reality there are different cittas conditioned by different factors. Knowing more about the different factors through which realities are conditioned will help us to understand that there is no self who experiences an object. Seeing is a nåma which arises because of the concurrence of different factors and it cannot stay, it has to fall away again. We cannot force it to arise nor can we force it to stay.

When we are busy with our work, there are different realities presenting themselves through the senses, but we are usually forgetful of them. When hardness presents itself, phassa performs its function so that citta can experience the object. There is no self who experiences hardness. Considering realities can condition the arising of mindfulness, no matter whether we walk, stand, sit or lie down.

When we study cetasikas we should not forget that cetasikas never arise alone; they have to arise together with citta. They arise with the cittas of our daily life, they are not abstract categories. Since citta and cetasikas which arise together condition one another, the cetasikas and thus also phassa have different qualities when they arise with different types of citta. Phassa which arises with akusala citta is also akusala; phassa which arises with kusala citta is also kusala. When phassa arises with lokuttara citta phassa is also lokuttara: at that moment it `contacts' nibbåna, the object of the lokuttara citta.

Phassa accompanies each of the cittas which arise in different processes: in the sense-door processes and in the mind-door processes¹². Phassa also accompanies the cittas which do not arise in a process of cittas¹³, it accompanies the paėisandhi-citta (rebirth-consciousness) the bhavanga-citta (life-continuum)¹⁴ and the cuti-citta (dying-consciousness). Although these cittas do not arise in a process, they experience an object: the same object as experienced by the last javana cittas arising before the cuti-citta of the previous life¹⁵. Phassa which accompanies these cittas contacts that object.

When there is seeing, visible object is experienced through the eyesense and at that moment there is eye-contact (cakkhu-samphassa). Phassa is eye-contact only at the moment of seeing-consciousness¹⁶. The phassa accompanying hearing-consciousness (sota-viņņåųa) is ear-contact (sota-samphassa). The phassas arising with the five sense-cognitions (paņcaviņņåųa) are named after the relevant sense-base¹⁷.

When the cittas of the sense-door process have fallen away, the object is experienced through the mind-door. When the mind-door-adverting-consciousness (mano-dvåråvajjana-citta) adverts to the object through the mind-door the phassa accompanying the mano-dvåråvajjana-citta contacts that object. The mano-dvåråvajjana-citta is succeeded by the javana-cittas which experience the same object and the phassas accompanying the javana-cittas contact that object.

The javana-cittas are, in the case of the non-arahats, either akusala cittas or kusala cittas. Most of the time the javana-cittas are akusala cittas; since we have accumulated many kinds of defilements akusala cittas are bound to arise. When we, for example, see a pleasant object, we are likely to be attached to it and to have pleasant feeling on account of the object. However, attachment does not arise at the moment of seeing-consciousness. Seeing-consciousness is vipåkacitta (citta which is result) and it is invariably accompanied by indifferent feeling. The phassa which accompanies the seeing-consciousness is also vipåka. When we like what we see there are javana-cittas which are lobha-múla-cittas (cittas rooted in attachment) and these may be accompanied by pleasant feeling or by indifferent feeling. The phassa which accompanies akusala citta is also akusala. The phassas which accompany different kinds of citta are different and the feelings which accompany the cittas are different as well. The following sutta in the Kindred Sayings (IV, Saîåyatana-vagga, Kindred Sayings on Sense, Third Fifty, Chapter III, §129, Ghosita) deals with realities as elements and it is explained that different phenomena which arise have different conditions. The sutta does not mention each moment of citta in the process of cittas. It is understood that the pleasant feeling and unpleasant feeling referred to do not arise at the moment of seeing-consciousness, but later on in the process. We read:

 

 

We have different contacts through the eyes and through the ears. When we are at the opera, we may dislike the sight of someone who is singing but we may like the sound. There are different objects and different contacts; there can be like and dislike at different moments. In reality there is no singer nor is there a person who can look at him and listen to his singing at the same time. There are only different elements, nåmas and rúpas, which each have their appropriate conditions for their arising and can only be experienced one at a time.

The citta and the accompanying cetasikas which experience visible object arise at one moment; the citta and the accompanying cetasikas which experience sound arise at another moment, in another process of cittas. The dislike of visible object cannot arise at the same time as the attachment to the sound; they arise in different processes of cittas. Cittas succeed one another very rapidly and at each moment there is a different contact accompanying the citta. Because of ignorance we do not know the reality which is experienced at the present moment. We do not know whether it is sound, visible object or a concept. We think that all these realities can appear at the same time. We think most of the time of concepts instead of being aware of realities as they appear one at a time.

The study of phassa cetasika can remind us that at each moment a different citta arises, dependant on different conditions. When there is seeing phassa cannot contact any other object but visible object. Seeing can experience only visible object; it cannot experience a person in the visible object. When there is hearing, phassa cannot contact any other object but sound. Hearing cannot experience a person in the sound. When there is thinking of a concept there is a different citta with a different phassa which contacts the object citta is thinking of. There cannot be more than one contact at a time.

A detailed knowledge of different cittas and their accompanying cetasikas will help us to understand the realities of our daily life as they appear one at a time. It is important to have more understanding of realities such as seeing or hearing. They are cittas arising time and again in daily life. They experience pleasant or unpleasant objects and on account of these objects kusala cittas or akusala cittas arise, but mostly akusala cittas. Through the Abhidhamma we acquire a more precise knowledge of realities, but the knowledge should not stay at the level of theory. When we study the Abhidhamma we can be reminded to be aware of whatever reality appears at the present moment, and in this way the study will lead us to realize fully the aim of the Buddha's teachings: right understanding of realities.

 

 

 

 

 

i How can we prove that there is contact?

ii Through how many doors is there phassa?

iii Is phassa nåma or rúpa?

iv What is the difference between eye-contact and the eye- door?

v Are `mano-samphassa' (mind-contact) and the mind-door different from each other?

vi Why is there not eye-contact every moment our eyes are open?

vii What kind of object does phassa contact when there is bhavanga-citta?

viii When a loud noise hurts our ears, through which doorway is it felt? What kind of object is experienced at that moment? Can other realities apart from sound be experienced through the ear-sense?

ix Why is it useful to know that phassa contacts only one object?

x Is a concept an object that phassa can contact?

xi Why must there be phassa with every citta?

Chapter 2

 

 

 

We may think that we all know what feeling is and we believe that it is easy to recognize pleasant feeling and unpleasant feeling. However, do we really know the characteristic of feeling when it appears or do we merely think of a concept of feeling? Throughout our life we have seen ourselves as a `whole' of mind and body; also when we consider our feelings we think of this `whole' which we take for `self'. When someone asks us: `How do you feel?' and we answer, for example, `I am happy', we do not know the characteristic of happy feeling, which is a mental phenomenon, a nåma; we cling to the `whole' of mind and body. Thus we only know concepts, not realities.

Is there feeling now? We think that we can recognize pleasant feeling or unpleasant feeling, but are we not mixing up feeling with bodily phenomena? Feeling is nåma, quite different from rúpa. So long as we do not distinguish nåma from rúpa we cannot know the characteristic of feeling as it is.

When we study the Abhidhamma we learn that `vedanå' is not the same as what we mean by feeling in conventional language. Feeling is nåma, it experiences something. Feeling never arises alone; it accompanies citta and other cetasikas and it is conditioned by them. Thus, feeling is a conditioned nåma. Citta does not feel, it cognizes the object and vedanå feels.

Feeling accompanies all cittas of the four jåtis: akusala citta, kusala citta, vipåkacitta and kiriyacitta. Feeling is of the same jåti as the citta it accompanies. The feeling which accompanies, for example, akusala citta is also akusala and entirely different from the feeling which accompanies vipåkacitta. Since there are many different types of citta there is a great variety of feeling. Although there are many kinds of feeling, they have one characteristic in common: they all are the paramattha dhamma, non-self, which feels.

All feelings have the function of experiencing the taste, the flavour of an object (Atthasåliní, I, Part IV, Chapter I, 109). The Atthasåliní uses a simile in order to illustrate that feeling experiences the taste of an object and that citta and the other cetasikas which arise together with feeling experience the taste only partially. A cook who has prepared a meal for the king merely tests the food and then offers it to the king who enjoys the taste of it:

 

 

Feelings are manifold and they can be classified in different ways. When they are classified as three feelings, they are:

 

 

 

Painful bodily feeling accompanies only the kåya-viņņåųa which is akusala vipåka. When, for example, temperature which is too hot or too cold impinges on the bodysense, kåya-viņņåųa which is akusala vipåkacitta experiences this unpleasant object. This akusala vipåkacitta is accompanied by painful bodily feeling. Painful bodily feeling cannot accompany any other kind of citta but the kåya-viņņåųa which is akusala vipåka.

Bodily feelings arise because of impingement of a pleasant or unpleasant object on the bodysense. The kåya-viņņåųa cognizes the pleasant or unpleasant object which impinges on the bodysense, phassa `contacts' the object and vedanå experiences the "taste" of the object. The feeling which accompanies kåya-viņņåųa is either pleasant feeling or painful feeling, it cannot be indifferent feeling. In the case of the other paņca-viņņåųas¹⁹ which are seeing, hearing, smelling and tasting, the accompanying feeling is always indifferent feeling, no matter whether the vipåkacitta which experiences the object is kusala vipåkacitta or akusala vipåkacitta.

The Paramattha Maņjúså, a commentary to the Visuddhimagga (XIV, note 56) explains why kåya-viņņåųa is accompanied by either pleasant feeling or unpleasant feeling. This is because of the `violence of the impact's blow'; there is the direct impact of tangible object on the bodysense. Tangible objects which are experienced through the rúpa which is the bodysense are the following rúpas: solidity, appearing as hardness or softness, temperature, appearing as heat or cold, and motion, appearing as oscillation or pressure. By way of a simile the difference is explained between the impact of tangible object on the bodysense and the impact of the other sense objects on the relevant senses. When a man places cottonwool on an anvil and strikes it with an iron hammer, the hammer goes right through the cottonwool because of the violence of the impact. In the case, however, of the other paņca-viņņåųas, the impact is gentle, like the contact between two pieces of cottonwool. Thus, they are accompanied by indifferent feeling. The `impact' of visible object on the eye-sense is gentle when compared with the direct physical contact of tangible object with the bodysense.

We may believe that bodily feeling can be indifferent, but this is not so. The moment of body-consciousness (kåya-viņņåųa) is extremely short; it is only one moment of vipåka and after it has fallen away akusala cittas or kusala cittas arise. Body-consciousness is accompanied either by pleasant bodily feeling or by painful bodily feeling. The akusala cittas or kusala cittas which arise shortly afterwards are accompanied by feelings which are different from bodily feeling. They can be accompanied by happy feeling, unhappy feeling or indifferent feeling.

Somanassa, happy feeling, can arise with cittas of all four jåtis, with kusala citta, akusala citta, vipåkacitta and kiriyacitta.

Somanassa is of the same jåti as the citta it accompanies. It does not arise with every citta. Somanassa cannot accompany dosa-múla-citta which has aversion towards an object and it cannot accompany moha-múla-citta, citta rooted in ignorance. Somanassa can accompany lobha-múla-citta but it does not always accompany lobha-múla-citta. Lobha-múla-citta can be accompanied by somanassa or by upekkhå, indifferent feeling. When somanassa accompanies lobha-múla-citta, somanassa is also akusala. There can be pleasant feeling when one likes a pleasant visible object, a beautiful sound, a fragrant odour, a delicious taste, a soft touch or an agreeable thought. We would like to have pleasant feeling all the time, it often seems to be the goal of our life. However, pleasant feeling cannot last and when it is gone we are sad. We find it very important what kind of feeling we have, but feelings are beyond control, they arise because of conditions. Lobha accompanied by somanassa is more intense than lobha accompanied by upekkhå.

Lobha-múla-citta accompanied by somanassa arises when there are the appropriate conditions; there is no self who can prevent this. If we study the different types of feeling and the cittas they accompany it will help us to recognize akusala cittas. If we would not know that somanassa may accompany lobha-múla-citta we would think that it is good to have happy feeling. One may see the disadvantage of unhappy feeling but does one recognize the disadvantage of all kinds of akusala, also when they are accompanied by somanassa? Somanassa does not stay. When we do not get the pleasant objects we are longing for our attachment conditions aversion which is always accompanied by unhappy feeling. If we realize the danger of all kinds of akusala, it can remind us to be aware of the reality which appears. This is the way leading to the eradication of akusala.

Somanassa can accompany kusala citta, but it does not accompany each kusala citta. When we perform dåna (generosity), observe síla (morality) or apply ourselves to mental development, there can be somanassa or upekkhå, indifferent feeling, with the kusala citta. We would like to have kusala citta with somanassa, but for the arising of somanassa there have to be the right conditions. One of these is strong confidence in the benefit of kusala. Confidence (saddhå) is a wholesome cetasika which accompanies each kusala citta, but there are many degrees of confidence. When one has strong confidence in kusala, one will perform it with joy. We read in the Atthasåliní (I, Part II, Chapter I, 75) that:

 

 

The pleasant feeling which accompanies kusala citta is quite different from the pleasant feeling which accompanies lobha-múla-citta. When we give a present to someone else and there is pleasant feeling, we may think that there is one kind of feeling which lasts, but in reality there are different moments of feeling accompanying different cittas. There can be a moment of pure generosity accompanied by pleasant feeling, but there are bound to be many moments of attachment after the kusala cittas have fallen away. We may be attached to the person we give to or to the thing we give, or we may expect something in return; we want to be liked by the person who receives our gift. Such moments of attachment may be accompanied by somanassa. Somanassa which is kusala and somanassa which accompanies lobha are different kinds of somanassa arising closely one after the other, and it is difficult to distinguish one from the other. It seems that there is one kind of somanassa and that it lasts. Without right understanding we cannot tell whether the somanassa which arises is kusala or akusala. Since there are many more akusala cittas arising than kusala cittas, there are many more moments of somanassa which are akusala than moments of somanassa which are kusala. We cling to somanassa but we cannot choose our own feelings. Who can control which feeling arises at a particular moment? Feelings arise when there are the right conditions for their arising, they are anattå, non-self. When a certain feeling appears it can be known as only a kind of experience, no self in the feeling.

Somanassa can accompany kåmåvacara cittas, cittas of the sense-sphere, rúpåvacara cittas (rúpa-jhånacittas) and lokuttara cittas. As regards rúpa-jhånacittas, somanassa accompanies the cittas of four stages of jhåna, it does not accompany the cittas of the fifth and highest stage of jhåna. At this stage the citta is accompanied by upekkhå, which is more refined and tranquil than somanassa.

Domanassa, unhappy feeling, arises only with cittas of the jåti which is akusala; it always arises with dosa-múla-citta, it does not arise with lobha-múla-citta or with moha-múla-citta. It depends on one's accumulations whether dosa-múla-cittas arise or not. When an unpleasant object such as a disagreeable flavour presents itself, dosa-múla-cittas are likely to arise. If there is, however, wise attention to the unpleasant object, kusala citta arises instead of akusala citta.

Dosa-múla-citta can arise only in the sensuous planes of existence, it cannot arise in the higher planes of existence where those who cultivate jhåna can be reborn. In the sensuous planes there is clinging to the sense objects and this conditions dosa. When one does not obtain pleasant sense objects dosa is likely to arise. Those who have cultivated rúpa-jhåna and arúpa-jhåna²⁰ have suppressed attachment to sense objects. They can be reborn in higher planes of existence, in rúpa-brahma-planes and in arúpa-brahma planes and in these planes there are no conditions for dosa. However, when they are reborn in sensuous planes where there are conditions for dosa, dosa-múla-cittas accompanied by domanassa arise again so long as they have not been eradicated. We dislike domanassa and we would like to get rid of it, but we should understand that dosa can only be eradicated by the development of the wisdom which sees realities as they are. There is no other way. Only the ariyan, the noble person, who has attained the third stage of enlightenment which is the stage of the anågåmí (non-returner), has eradicated clinging to sense objects and thus he has no more conditions for dosa. The anågåmí and the arahat have eradicated dosa and thus they never have any more unpleasant feeling.

Dosa and domanassa always arise together. It is difficult to distinguish between these two realities , but they are different cetasikas. Domanassa is feeling, it experiences the taste of the undesirable object. Dosa is not feeling, it has a different characteristic. Dosa does not like the object which is experienced. There are many degrees of dosa, it can be a slight aversion, anger or hate. But in any case dosa does not want the object and domanassa feels unhappy. We know so little about the different realities which arise. We may have a backache. Is it painful bodily feeling which appears, or is it the characteristic of domanassa which accompanies dosa-múla-citta?

Upekkhå, indifferent feeling, is different from somanassa and from domanassa; it is neither happy nor unhappy. Upekkhå can arise with cittas of all four jåtis, but it does not arise with every citta. When there is no awareness many moments of feeling pass unnoticed. There is feeling with every citta and when we do not notice any feeling there is still feeling: at such moments there is indifferent feeling. We may not feel either glad or unhappy while we are busy with our work or while we are thinking. Then there is indifferent feeling. Indifferent feeling accompanies vipåkacittas such as seeing or hearing. It can accompany lobha-múla-citta; this type of citta can be accompanied either by pleasant feeling or by indifferent feeling. Do we notice clinging which is accompanied by upekkhå? When we walk or when we get hold of different things we use in our daily life, such as a pen or a book, there is bound to be clinging even when we do not feel particularly glad. We cling to life and we want to go on living and receiving sense-impressions. We are attached to sense-impressions such as seeing and hearing. There are many moments of seeing and hearing and shortly after they have fallen away there are bound to be lobha-múla-cittas even when we do not have happy feeling. After seeing has fallen away there is a mind-door process of cittas which experience visible object through the mind-door and then there can be other mind-door processes of cittas which think of concepts. We may think of a person, a car or a tree. We like to notice a person, a car or a tree, these are concepts we are familiar with. We like to think and even when we do not feel glad there can be clinging with indifferent feeling, but we do not notice this. It is useful to know that lobha can be accompanied by upekkhå. Through the Abhidhamma we can come to know our many defilements. It is better to know realities than to mislead ourselves with regard to them.

Upekkhå can accompany mahå-kusala cittas, kusala cittas of the sense-sphere. We may help others, observe síla or study Dhamma with upekkhå. Feeling is a conditioned reality, we cannot force ourselves to have pleasant feeling while we apply ourselves to kusala. Upekkhå arises with kåmåvacara cittas (cittas of the sense-sphere), rúpåvacara cittas (rúpa-jhånacittas), arúpåvacara cittas (arúpa-jhånacittas) and lokuttara cittas. As regards rúpa-jhånacittas, only the cittas of the fifth and highest stage of rúpa-jhåna are accompanied by upekkhå. At that stage there is a higher degree of calm than at the lower stages; the upekkhå which accompanies that type of jhånacitta is very subtle. All the arúpa-jhånacittas are accompanied by upekkhå.

There are many different kinds of feeling and therefore we should not imagine that it is easy to recognize feelings. When we study the Abhidhamma we realize better what we do not know. It is difficult to distinguish painful bodily feeling from rúpa, or from domanassa. When we have pain, we `feel' that something is hurting and we may think that it is easy to discern bodily painful feeling. However, we may not be able to distinguish the painful feeling which is nåma from the rúpa which is impinging on the body-sense. We are usually thinking of the spot which is hurt and then we are thinking of a concept. The thinking is a reality which can be known when it appears, the concept is not a reality. It is important to know the difference between ultimate realities and concepts. A precise knowledge of the different nåmas and rúpas which arise each because of their own conditions will help us to be less deluded about our life.

When hardness impinges on the body-sense, the kåya-viņņåųa cognizes the hardness and the accompanying feeling experiences the `taste' of the hardness. Time and again vipåkacittas arise which experience pleasant or unpleasant objects through the bodysense. There are hardness or softness, heat or cold impinging on the bodysense, no matter whether we are walking, standing, sitting or lying down. There is the experience of hardness or softness time and again when we touch things or take hold of them, but we are so absorbed in what we want to get or want to do that we are unaware of the different experiences through the senses. The feeling which is vipåka is different from feeling which is associated with attachment or aversion. Pleasant bodily feeling which is vipåka is not associated with attachment, and painful bodily feeling is not associated with aversion. At the moment of pleasant bodily feeling there is no attachment to the object; pleasant bodily feeling merely experiences the pleasant object. At the moment of painful bodily feeling there is no dislike of the object; painful bodily feeling merely experiences the unpleasant object. After the vipåkacittas which experience pleasant or unpleasant objects have fallen away, akusala cittas which are rooted in lobha (attachment), dosa (aversion) or moha (ignorance) are bound to arise. Akusala cittas arise very often, because we have accumulated many defilements. On the other hand, when there are conditions for `wise attention'²¹ to the object, kusala cittas arise instead of akusala cittas. There may be, for example, after the experience of tangible object, mindfulness of nåma or rúpa.

We have considered the characteristics of pleasant bodily feeling, painful bodily feeling, happy feeling (somanassa), unhappy feeling (domanassa) and indifferent feeling (upekkhå)²² . Although all of them are the cetasika which is feeling (vedanå), they are different kinds of feeling with different characteristics. At every moment feeling is different, because at every moment there is a different citta. For example, upekkhå (indifferent feeling) which accompanies vipåkacitta is different from upekkhå which accompanies akusala citta or upekkhå which accompanies kusala citta. Upekkhå which accompanies the jhånacitta of the fifth stage is different again. All these feelings are upekkhå, but they are conditioned by different cittas and accompanying cetasikas.

Since there is such a variety of feelings, it is useful to know more classifications of feeling. Feelings can be classified by way of contact through the six doors of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body-sense and mind. Cittas experience objects through six doors and through these doors pleasant and unpleasant objects are experienced. On account of a pleasant object there is often lobha-múla-citta which can be accompanied by somanassa or upekkhå, and on account of an unpleasant object there is often dosa-múla-citta which is accompanied by domanassa. If we understand that the experience of pleasant and unpleasant objects and the different feelings which arise on account of them are conditioned we will attach less importance to the kind of feeling which arises at a particular moment.

The experience of pleasant or unpleasant objects through the senses is vipåka conditioned by kamma, and the kusala cittas or akusala cittas arising on account of the objects which are experienced are conditioned by our accumulated tendencies. There is no self who can exercise power over any reality which arises, there are only nåma and rúpa which arise because of conditions. Sometimes there are conditions for indifferent feeling, sometimes for pleasant feeling, sometimes for unpleasant feeling²³.

Cittas arise and fall away very rapidly, succeeding one another; there never is a moment without citta and never a moment without feeling. We cling to happy feeling, somanassa, but we know so little about ourselves and thus we may not recognize the different kinds of happy feeling. When we are laughing there is happy feeling with lobha-múla-citta, but we may not realize that there is happy feeling which is akusala. We should not try to suppress laughing, but it is useful to know the different types of realities which arise. When we see someone else there can be happy feeling arising with attachment or happy feeling arising with kusala citta. The cittas which think of the person we meet are akusala cittas when there is no dåna (generosity), síla (good moral conduct), or bhåvanå (mental development).

Feeling is saōkhåra dhamma, a conditioned dhamma. Feeling is conditioned by the citta and the other cetasikas it accompanies. Feeling which arises, falls away immediately, it does not stay. Feeling is a khandha, it is one among the five khandhas, namely, vedanåkkhandha²⁴. We cling to feeling and we take it for self. If our knowledge of feeling is merely theoretical we will not know feeling as it is. When there is awareness of feeling when it appears it can be known as only a type of nåma and not self.

 

 

 

 

 

i Through how many doors can pleasant mental feeling experience an object?

ii There is a great variety of feelings, but all feelings have something in common. What is the characteristic they have in common?

iii Feeling accompanies every citta. Can any kind of feeling accompany all cittas?

iv Can everybody know the reality of pleasant feeling or of unpleasant feeling?

v Why is body-consciousness (kåya-viņņåųa) never accompanied by indifferent feeling?

vi Which jåti is painful bodily feeling?

vii Which jåti is unhappy feeling (domanassa)?

viii When an unpleasant tangible object impinges on the body-sense, can kusala cittas accompanied by somanassa arise which cognize that unpleasant object?

Chapter 3

 

 

 

The Atthasåliní (I, Part IV, Chapter 1, 110) states about saņņå:

 

 

 

 

Saņņå is not the same as citta which is the `leader' in cognizing an object. As we have seen, saņņå recognizes the object and it `marks' it so that it can be recognized again. This is explained by way of a simile: carpenters put tags or signs on logs so that they can recognize them at once by means of these marks. This simile can help us to understand the complex process of recognizing or remembering. What we in conventional language call "remembering" consists of many different moments of citta and each of these moments of citta is accompanied by saņņå which connects past experiences with the present one and conditions again recognition in the future. This connecting function is represented by the words `recognition' and `marking'²⁸. When the present experience has fallen away it has become past and what was future becomes the present, and all the time there is saņņå which performs its function so that an object can be recognized. If we remember that saņņå accompanies every citta, we will better understand that the characteristic of saņņå is not exactly the same as what we mean by the conventional terms of `recognition', `perception' or `marking'. Each citta which arises falls away immediately and is succeeded by the next citta, and since each citta is accompanied by saņņå which recognizes and `marks' the object, one can recognize or remember what was perceived or learnt before.

The Atthasåliní mentions as a manifestation of saņņå:

 

 

The proximate cause of saņņå is an object, in whatever way that appears. The object can be a paramattha dhamma, i.e. nåma or rúpa, or a concept (paņņatti). Whatever object citta cognizes, saņņå recognizes and marks it.

Saņņå performs its function through each of the six doors. There is saņņå at this moment. When there is seeing there is saņņå and it recognizes and marks visible object. When there is hearing there is saņņå which recognizes and marks sound. There is saņņå when there is smelling, tasting, touching or when there is the experience of objects through the mind-door. Cittas experience objects through the six doors and the saņņå which accompanies citta experiences the object through the same doorway and performs its function accordingly. When we recognize someone's voice, this is actually the result of different processes of cittas which experience objects through the sense-door and through the mind-door. At each moment there is saņņå which performs its function. There are moments of hearing of what appears through the ears, of sound, and when we think of someone's voice there are cittas which experience concepts. The hearing conditions the thinking, we could not think of a voice if there were not hearing. It is the same when we think we `see' a person. There is thinking of a concept, but this thinking is conditioned by the seeing of visible object. The recognition of a person is the result of many different processes of citta and each moment of citta is accompanied by saņņå. There is seeing which experiences visible object and after the eye-door process has been completed visible object is experienced through the mind-door. There are other mind-door processes of cittas which experience concepts.

Saņņå accompanies every citta and also when citta experiences a concept saņņå marks and remembers that object. When we are engaged in the activities of our daily life, do we notice that there is recognition or remembrance? We remember how to use different objects, how to eat with fork, knife and spoon, how to turn on the water tap, how to write or how to find our way when we walk in our house or on the street. We take it for granted that we remember all these things. We should know that it is saņņå which remembers. When we are reading it is due to saņņå that we recognize the letters and know their meaning. However, we should not forget that when we are reading there are also moments of seeing and at such moments saņņå performs its function as well. It seems that we see and recognize what we see all at the same time, but this is not so. When we recognize letters and words and remember their meaning, this is not due to one moment of saņņå but to many moments of saņņå accompanying the cittas which succeed one another in the different processes. The study of saņņå can remind us that cittas arise and fall away extremely rapidly.

Countless moments of saņņå succeed one another and perform their function so that we can remember successive events such as sentences we hear when someone is speaking. There are moments of hearing and the saņņå which accompanies hearing-consciousness merely perceives the sound, it does not know the meaning of what is said. When we understand the meaning of what has been said there are cittas which experience concepts and the saņņå which accompanies those cittas remembers and `marks' a concept. Because of many moments of saņņå we can follow the trend of thought of a speaker or we ourselves can reason about something, connect parts of an argument and draw conclusions. All this is not due to `our memory' but to saņņå which is not self but only a kind of nåma. What we take for `our memory' or `our recognition' is not one moment which stays, but many different moments of saņņå which arise and fall away. Because of saņņå past experiences and also concepts and names are remembered, people and things are recognized.

Also when we do not remember something or we mistake something for something else, there is saņņå which accompanies the cittas at such moments. If we have forgotten something, we did not think of the object we wanted to think of but at that moment we were thinking of another object and this was remembered and marked by saņņå. For example, if we go to the market and forget to buy lettuce because we suddenly notice tomatoes and our attention turns to the tomatoes, we say that we have forgotten to buy lettuce. In reality there are moments of saņņå all the time since it accompanies each citta, and saņņå performs its function all the time. It depends on conditions what object is remembered at a particular moment, it does not always turn out the way `we' want it. Also when we in vain try to remember a name, there is still saņņå, but it remembers and `marks' an object which is different from the concept we think we should remember. We may have aversion because of our forgetfulness and also then there is citta accompanied by saņņå which performs its function.

Saņņå accompanies cittas which arise in a process and it also accompanies cittas which do not arise in a process, namely the paėisandhi-citta (rebirth-consciousness), the bhavanga-citta (life-continuum) and the cuti-citta (dying-consciousness). When we are sound asleep and not dreaming there are bhavanga-cittas and also in between the different processes of cittas there are bhavanga-cittas. The object of the paėisandhi-citta, the bhavanga-citta and the cuti-citta is the same as the object experienced by the javana-cittas which arose shortly before the cuti-citta of the previous life³⁰. `We', or rather the cittas which are thinking at this moment, do not know what that object is. However every time the bhavanga-citta arises in between the processes of cittas it experiences that object and the saņņå which accompanies the bhavanga-citta remembers that object.

Saņņå never arises alone, it has to accompany citta and other cetasikas and it is conditioned by them. Saņņå is saōkhåra dhamma, conditioned dhamma. Saņņå arises with the citta and then falls away with the citta. Saņņå is a khandha, it is one among the five khandhas. We cling to saņņå, we take it for self.

Saņņå arises with all cittas of the four jåtis. Saņņå is of the same jåti as the citta it accompanies and thus saņņå can be akusala, kusala, vipåka or kiriya.

Saņņå can be classified according to the six kinds of objects which are experienced through the six doors and this reminds us that saņņå is different all the time. We read in the Gradual Sayings (Book of the Sixes, Chapter VI, §9, A Penetrative Discourse):

 

 

Saņņå which arises with akusala citta is also akusala. Saņņå may arise together with wrong view. When one takes for permanent what is impermanent the citta with wrong view is also accompanied by saņņå which remembers the object in a distorted way. It is the same when one takes for self what is not self. We read in the Gradual Sayings, Book of the Fours, Chapter V, §9, Perversions) about four perversions (vipallåsas) of saņņå, citta and diėėhi:

 

 

When we think of a concept such as a flower, we may take the flower for something which lasts. The ariyans, those who have attained enlightenment, also think of concepts but they do so without wrong view. When they recognize a flower, they do not take that moment of recognizing for self. Neither do they take the flower for something which lasts.

So long as defilements have not been eradicated we are subject to rebirth, we have to experience objects through the senses and on account of these objects clinging arises. We tend to become obsessed by the objects we experience. We read in the Middle Length Sayings (I, no. l8, Discourse of the Honey Ball) about the origin of perceptions and obsessions and their ending. Mahå-Kaccana gave to the monks an explanation about what the Buddha had said in brief:

 

 

Saņņå is conditioned by the citta and the other cetasikas it accompanies and thus saņņå is different as it accompanies different types of citta. When we listen to the Dhamma and we remember the Dhamma we have heard there is kusala saņņå with the kusala citta. Remembering what one has heard and reflecting about it again and again are important conditions for the arising of sati which is mindful of what appears now. The saņņå which accompanies mindfulness of the present moment is different from the saņņå accompanying the citta which thinks of realities. Saņņå does not only arise with kåmåvacara cittas ( cittas of the sense-sphere), it arises also with cittas of other planes of consciousness. When one develops samatha saņņå recognizes and `marks' the meditation subject of samatha. When calm is more developed, one may acquire a `mental image' (nimitta³¹) of the meditation subject. The saņņå which remembers a `mental image' of a meditation subject is different from the saņņå which arises all the time in daily life and perceives sense-objects. When one attains jhåna, saņņå accompanies the jhånacitta and then saņņå is not of the sensuous plane of consciousness. When saņņå accompanies rúpåvacara citta (rúpa-jhånacitta) saņņå is also rúpåvacara and when saņņå accompanies arúpåvacara citta (arúpa-jhånacitta) saņņå is also arúpåvacara. The saņņå which is arúpåvacara is more refined than the saņņå which is rúpåvacara.

The fourth stage of arúpa-jhåna is the `Sphere of neither perception nor non-perception' (n'eva-saņņå-n'åsaņņåyatana)³². The saņņå which accompanies the arúpåvacara citta of the fourth stage of jhåna is extremely subtle. We read in the Visuddhimagga (X, 50):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i Saņņå accompanies each citta, but it falls away completely with the citta. How can we still remember things which happened in the past?

ii When we see a house, through which doorway does saņņå perform its function?

iii When we mistake something for something else, how can there still be saņņå at such a moment?

iv When we recognize a house, can there be perversion of saņņå?

v Can the sotåpanna think of concepts and recognize people and things?

vi Give examples of akusala saņņå.

vii How can one develop `perception of impermanence' (anicca saņņå)?

Chapter 4

 

 

 

The Atthasåliní (I, Part IV, Chapter I, 111) states about cetanå that its characteristic is coordinating the associated dhammas (citta and the other cetasikas) on the object and that its function is `willing'. We read:

 

 

The cetanå which accompanies kusala citta and akusala citta has, in addition to coordinating, another task to perform: `willing' or `activity of kamma'³⁵. According to the Atthasåliní, as to activity in moral and immoral acts, cetanå is exceedingly energetic whereas the accompanying cetasikas play only a restricted part. Cetanå which accompanies kusala citta and akusala citta coordinates the work of the other cetasikas it arises together with and it `wills' kusala or akusala, thus, it makes a "double effort". The Atthasåliní compares the double task of cetanå to the task of a landowner who directs the work of his labourers, looks after them and also takes himself an equal share of the work. He doubles his strength and doubles his effort. Even so volition doubles its strength and its effort in moral and immoral acts.

As regards the manifestation of cetanå which is directing, the Atthasåliní compares cetanå with the chief disciple who recites his own lessons and makes the other pupils recite their lessons as well, with the chief carpenter who does his own work and makes the other carpenters do their work, or with the general who fights himself and makes the other soldiers take part in the battle, "¤for when he begins, the others follow his example. Even so, when volition starts work on its object, it sets associated states to do each its own."

The cetanå which accompanies vipåkacitta and kiriyacitta merely coordinates the tasks of the other dhammas it accompanies, it does not `will' kusala or akusala and it does not motivate wholesome or unwholesome deeds. For example, seeing-consciousness, which is vipåkacitta, the result of kamma, is accompanied by cetanå and this cetanå is also vipåka. The cetanå which accompanies seeing-consciousness directs the tasks which the accompanying dhammas have to fulfil with regard to visible object. It directs, for example, phassa which contacts visible object, vedanå which feels and saņņå which marks and remembers visible object.

Cetanå which accompanies kusala citta or akusala citta has a double task, it is `exceedingly energetic'. Apart from coordinating the other dhammas, it `wills' kusala or akusala and when it has the intensity to motivate a deed through body, speech or mind, it is capable of producing the result of that deed later on. When we speak about kusala kamma or akusala kamma we usually think of courses of action (kamma pathas) which can be performed through body, speech or mind. However, we should remember that when we perform wholesome or unwholesome deeds it is actually the wholesome or unwholesome volition or intention which motivates the deed and this is the activity of kamma which is accumulated and can produce its appropriate result later on. Thus, akusala kamma and kusala kamma are actually akusala cetanå and kusala cetanå.

Akusala cetanå and kusala cetanå can have many intensities, they can be coarse or more subtle. When they are more subtle they do not motivate kamma pathas, courses of action, through body, speech or mind. For example, when we like our food there is lobha-múla-citta and it is accompanied by akusala cetanå. Although the lobha-múla-citta does not motivate an unwholesome course of action, it is not kusala but akusala; it is different from kusala citta with generosity, from kusala citta which observes síla or from kusala citta which applies itself to mental development. Whenever we do not apply ourselves to dåna, síla or bhåvanå, we act, speak or think with akusala cittas. Thus, there is likely to be akusala citta very often in a day, since the moments we apply ourselves to kusala are very rare. There is likely to be akusala citta when we take hold of objects, eat, drink or talk. When we laugh there is lobha-múla citta. We may not realize that there is akusala citta when the degree of akusala does not have the intensity of harming others, but in fact there are countless moments of akusala citta.

When we are lying or slandering the degree of akusala is more coarse and at such moments akusala cetanå motivates akusala kamma patha (course of action) through speech. The akusala cetanå directs the other dhammas it accompanies so that they perform their own tasks and it `wills' akusala. Moreover, it is able to produce the appropriate result of the bad deed later on, since the unwholesome volition or kamma is accumulated. Each citta which arises falls away but it conditions the succeeding citta. Since our life is an uninterrupted series of cittas which succeed one another, unwholesome and wholesome volitions or kammas are accumulated from moment to moment and can therefore produce results later on.

There are ten kinds of akusala kamma patha, courses of action, which are performed through body, speech or mind³⁶. They are: killing, stealing, sexual misbehaviour, lying, slandering, rude speech, frivolous talk, covetousness, ill-will and wrong view. The akusala cetanå (or akusala kamma) which motivates such a deed is capable of producing akusala vipåka in the form of rebirth in an unhappy plane of existence or it can produce akusala vipåka which arises in the course of one's life, vipåkacittas which experience unpleasant objects through the senses.

Kamma patha can be of different degrees and thus its result is of different degrees. Kamma patha is not always a `completed action'. There are certain constituent factors which make kamma patha a completed action and for each of the kamma pathas these factors are different. For example, in the case of killing there have to be: a living being, consciousness that there is a living being, intention of killing, the effort of killing and consequent death (Atthasåliní, I, Part III, Chapter V, 97). When a large animal is killed the degree of akusala kamma is higher than when a small animal is killed. The killing of a human being is akusala kamma which is of a higher degree than the killing of an animal.

In the case of slandering, there are four factors which make it a completed action: other persons to be divided; the purpose: `they will be separated', or the desire to endear oneself to another; the corresponding effort; the communication (Atthasåliní, same section, 100 ). We read:

 

 

We read in the Gradual Sayings (Book of the Eights, Chapter IV, §10, Very trifling) about different results which are produced by akusala kammas. The `very trifling result' which is mentioned in the sutta is the unpleasant result which arises in the course of one's life. We read:

 

 

Kusala kamma can be classified as dåna (generosity), síla (morality or virtue) and bhåvanå (mental development). Dåna comprises, apart from giving gifts, many other forms of kusala. Included in dåna are, for example, appreciating the kusala cittas of others and `sharing one's merits'. As to the sharing of one's merits, when someone has done a wholesome deed and he gives others the opportunity to rejoice in the kusala he has performed, it is a way of dåna; at such a moment he helps others to have kusala cittas as well. The observance of the precepts which is síla, can also be considered as a way of dåna. We read in the Gradual Sayings, (Book of the Eights, Chapter IV, §9, Outcomes of Merit) that going for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha leads to happy results and that there are further five gifts which lead to happy results. These are the following³⁸:

 

Síla is abstaining from ill deeds which are committed through body or speech, but apart from abstaining from ill deeds there are many other aspects of síla³⁹. When one abstains from killing it is kusala síla. But also when there is no opportunity for killing there can be kusala síla: someone can make the resolution to spare the lives of all living beings, even of the smallest insects he can hardly see. Even so, someone can make the resolution to abstain from other kinds of akusala kamma, even when the opportunity to commit them has not arisen. For example, when a person has found out that intoxicating drinks have a bad effect, kusala cetanå may take the resolution to refrain in the future from intoxicating drinks. The wholesome intention at such a moment can be a condition for abstaining later on when there is an opportunity for drinking. However, kusala citta is not self, it arises when there are conditions for it. A moment later akusala citta may arise and our good intentions are forgotten. We may be annoyed that we do not live up to our good intentions, but we should remember that kusala citta and akusala citta arise because of their own conditions. Akusala citta arises because of conditions which are entirely different from the conditions for the kusala citta which made the resolution to observe síla. We all have accumulated tendencies to kusala and to akusala and it depends on conditions whether we perform kusala kamma or akusala kamma. When there is no development of mahå-satipaėėhåna it is very difficult to observe the precepts.

The Visuddhimagga mentions in the section on síla (Chapter I, 53-60) the "guarding of the sense-doors", because this can be considered as an aspect of síla. When there is mindfulness of, for example, visible object and visible object is not taken for a `thing' or a person but is known as only a kind of rúpa appearing through the eyes, the eye-door is guarded. At that moment there is no attachment to visible object, no aversion towards it, no ignorance about it. Later on we may become absorbed in what we see and we may cling to it, but at the moment of mindfulness the doorways are guarded and there is restraint of the senses. Thus, mindfulness of nåma and rúpa, which is a form of bhåvanå (mental development), can also be considered as síla.

Kusala kamma which is bhåvanå comprises studying and teaching Dhamma, samatha, tranquil meditation, and vipassanå, the development of right understanding of realities. The development of right understanding is the highest form of kusala kamma because it leads to the eradication of ignorance. When ignorance has been eradicated there are no more conditions for rebirth in a next life, one is freed from the cycle of birth and death.

We have accumulated different degrees of kusala kamma and akusala kamma and they are capable of producing their appropriate results when there is opportunity for it. We may be inclined to think that the term "accumulation" only pertains to kamma, but not only kamma is accumulated, also tendencies to kusala and akusala are accumulated. When one steals, akusala kamma is accumulated which is capable of producing vipåka later on. However vipåka is not the only effect of this unwholesome deed. Also the tendency to stealing is accumulated and thus there are conditions that one steals again. We have the potential in us for all kinds of bad deeds and when there is an opportunity akusala cetanå can motivate a bad deed through body, speech and mind.

We should distinguish the condition for vipåkacitta from the condition for kusala citta or for akusala citta. Accumulated kamma which produces vipåka is one type of condition. The accumulated tendencies to good and evil due to which kusala citta and akusala citta arise are another type of condition. Thus, there are different types of condition which play their part in our life.

Tendencies to all kinds of defilements are accumulated. When, for example, lobha-múla-citta arises, the tendency to lobha is accumulated and thus there are conditions for the arising again of lobha-múla-citta. We are bound to be attached because we have accumulated such an amount of lobha. Not only unwholesome tendencies, but also wholesome tendencies can be accumulated. When there is a moment of right mindfulness of the reality which appears now, it is a condition for the arising of mindfulness again, later on. We tend to be attached rather than to be mindful, but when mindfulness has been accumulated more it will be less difficult to be mindful. Whatever tendency is accumulated now will bear on our life in the future⁴⁰.

In the Jåtakas (Birth Stories, Khuddaka Nikåya) we find many examples of people who committed the same deeds again and again in successive lives. For example, Devadatta who tried to kill the Buddha had tried to kill him before, in many former lives when the Buddha was still a Bodhisatta. We read in the `Dhammaddhaja Jåtaka' (220) that the Buddha said:

 

 

 

 

In the `Tila-Muėėhi Jåtaka (252) we read about a monk who fell easily into a rage and spoke roughly. The Buddha said: