2022 Aug Retreat SN 35.95 In the Seen is only the Seen...

The commentary on this says that the Buddha was both praising Malunkyaputta for the question, as well as criticizing him. Because he's saying, here you are in your old age, and you are still very much interested in the Dhamma. So what should I say to the young bhikkhus to try to inspire them? But at the same time, he's also saying, what took you so long?

Would you have any craving for things that you have not seen or things that you think you might not see? There's only one way really you could have craving. It's when there is some contact with that experience, contact and feeling. In other words, you've never seen it before. The idea of it, you've never seen it before, so you've never made contact with that experience, not even a memory of that. So no, you would not have desire for it because you don't even know what it is. Now, if somebody told you about it and you created an idea about it, then you would have some kind of image about it, but maybe it's not exactly what that person is describing, but they create this craving for you the same way. So he says, no, venerable sir.

So then he says, do you have any desire, lust, or affection in those sounds cognizable by the year that you have not seen and never saw before? That you do not, or rather have not heard and never heard before? That you do not hear and would not think might be heard? So likewise, for things that you have never seen, never heard, never touched, never smelled, never thought of, would there be any craving that would arise?

There was no contact with that object. Therefore, there is no feeling to give rise to any kind of craving dependent upon that feeling. You know, somebody might tell you, there's this great restaurant out there and it makes the best sushi steak or whatever it is. Now hearing that creates an image in your mind and then you might have craving for it. Oh, I better go check that out.

But having not actually tasted it, having actually not seen it, having actually not heard about it, would craving arise about it? No. So there's always going to be some kind of contact in relation to that object. There's always got to be some contact which gives rise to the experience, which gives rise to the craving. You could, but that's a very deep way of looking at it, because the Buddha really here is talking in very general terms. This is an example given of this, which I'll talk about. I'll go to that sutta. Let's see, which one would it be?

This one, 4211, which is Bhadrika. So I'll just read through it, and I might give you some more idea of what he's talking about when he says it in the very general terms. He says, reference to the past, saying, so it was in the past, perplexity and uncertainty about that might arise in you. And if I were to teach you about the origin and passing away of suffering with reference to the future, saying, so it will be in the future, perplexity and uncertainty about that might arise in you.

Instead, headman, while I'm sitting right here and you are sitting right here, I will teach you about the origin and passing away of the question is very basic. And he says, there are some people that he would have suffering for or suffering because of them being harmed. And then there are some instances where he won't. So let's explore why. Lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair would arise in you. Now here's what he says. He says, those people in this town, venerable sir, in relation to whom sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair would arise in me if they were to be executed, imprisoned, fined, or censured, these are the ones for whom I have desire and attachment.

But those people in the town in relation to whom no sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair would arise in me, these are the ones for whom I have no desire and attachment. Headman, by means of this principle that is seen, understood, immediately attained, fathomed, apply the method to the past and to the future thus. Whatever suffering arose in the past, all that arose rooted in desire, with desire as its source, craving. Desire is the root of suffering. Whatever suffering will arise in the future, all that will arise rooted in desire, with desire as its source, for desire is the root of suffering.

It is wonderful, Venerable Sir, it is amazing, Venerable Sir, how well that has been stated by the Blessed One. Whatever suffering arises, all that is rooted in desire, has desire as its source. For desire is the root of suffering. So then it repeats the same thing. So in other words, you would have desire and attachment for the things that you do know of. But those things that you don't have desire and attachment for are things that you could care less about. You couldn't care less about them because you don't have any desire for them. You don't know about them. Now on a deep level, if you want to think about it from the taint of sensual desire, you could.

Just saying, if you don't know about something, would you have desire for it? But because you know about it, you know of it, you know that person, there can arise desire in relation to that thing or to that person. And because of that, there can arise suffering. So now, here is a statement, or a couple of statements that the Buddha will talk about, which are identical to the Bahiya Sutta, which is in the Udana.

And the Bahiya Sutta is a very, very short set of instructions to Bahiya. Bahiya was this... So there are many different stories about Bahiya, but one story is that Bahiya was on a boat which crashed, this island or someplace, and he was given bark. He took the bark and he was called Bahiya of the Bark Cloth because he wore that tree bark as his clothes.

The other understanding is that Bahiya of the Bark Cloth was somebody who read and studied and understood what are known as the Upanishads. The Upanishads in ancient India were the teachings of Vedanta. The Upanishads were basically the end of the Vedas, which talked about the soul, the Atma, and Brahman, the universe and existence. So the idea was Atma, or the soul, and the universe and existence are one and the same thing. I am Atman Brahman in Sanskrit, which means the soul and existence are one and the same, permanent and everlasting, the source of happiness, first cause.

So in one of the Upanishads, it says that this soul, which is identical with Brahman, is the hearer, is the one who is behind the hearing, is the seer, is the one behind the seeing, is the taster, the cognizer, the sensor, the one who experiences it. So he or that soul is the experiencer, behind the experience. So it's assuming that there is some kind of an experiencer. Now Bahiya had this thought, or had this understanding, and he had this thought that now I have become fully awakened.

Now the story in some of the commentaries talk about it is that Bahiya was one of five monks of a previous Buddha. And all, I think, three of those monks became arahats. So they went up to this hill, and they used a ladder to go up to this place, which was like a plateau, and then they threw away the ladder and saying that we're going to live here now until we become arahats. Three of them succeeded, two of them did not. One of those two was Bahiya. The other was a deva who came to Bahiya and said to Bahiya, Bahiya, you think you're fully awakened, but that's not the case. You need to go to the Buddha to understand how to be fully awakened.

What is the actual meaning behind this? So, Bahiya goes to the Buddha and he says the same thing that Malunkyaputta says to the Buddha. Teach me the Dhamma in brief. And the Buddha says, come back later, it's lunchtime. Because he's going to go on his alms round. He says, now is not the right time to discuss the Dhamma. So, Bahiya says a second time. I might die. So please teach me the Dhamma. Again, the Buddha says, it's lunchtime, come back later. So a third time, Bahiya pleads. And finally, anytime you ask a Buddha three times, he has to answer you in one way or the other. So he finally says, here is the statement.

So the statement that he gives, I will tell you what that is. Now I'll just finish the rest of the story. So Bahiya listens to this instruction, completely understands it. And then he destroys the taints and becomes an arahat. And then he goes on his, he goes, thanks to Buddha and everything, and then goes. And this is what I tell everybody. Anytime we're on the street, I say, if you become an arahat, look both ways when crossing.

Because the next thing that happened to Bahiya after he became an arahat was he didn't look both ways and he was gored by a bull. So if you become an arahat, please always make sure you look both ways. So what were the instructions that were given to Bahiya that made him fully awakened? These are the instructions. In the seen, there will merely be the seen. In the heard, there will merely be the heard. In the sensed, there will be merely the sensed. In the cognized, there will be merely the cognized.

When you are not therein, then you will be neither here nor beyond nor in between the two. This itself is the end of suffering. This is the most compact, probably the most compact teaching that I've come across, that the Buddha has provided, that has allowed a mind to become fully awakened. Because there is so much in those two statements, and we'll break it down.

He says, Remember, the teaching that Bahiya had before from the Upanishads was what? Saying there is only the experience. The other teaching he had was there is an experiencer behind the experience. But in this case, the Buddha is saying in the experience there is merely that experience. So in the vedana there is only the vedana, in the feeling there is only the feeling. And then the Buddha says, when regarding things seen, heard... What does that mean? Then you will not be by that.

Why? Let's look at it from the context of dependent origination. Let's say you understand this fully, so there's no more ignorance. Whatever formations arise are just pure formations, formations that are not fettered by that conceit, by that ignorance, by that craving, by wrong views. That gives rise to a consciousness that is pure and untainted, unfiltered, unfettered by any kind of corruption. And so that gives rise to the experience of nama-rupa, mentality-materiality. And so there is then the sixth sense basis, something makes contact with one of the sixth sense bases, which gives rise to feeling. Feeling, vedana, is anything that is experienced, anything that is to be experienced or to be felt. So in that experience, in that vedana, if the mind is fully awakened, it will not see that there is someone who is originating that experience.

It will not see that there is someone in that experience. And it will not see that there is someone after the experience. A couple of days ago, I said that the experiencer arises dependent upon the experience. What did I mean by that? I meant that there is a superimposition of an experiencer added to that experience. That is the tendency that people or minds have that are not fully awakened, which is, oh, this happened to me, or this is happening to me, or I am causing this to happen. If you fully understand dependent origination, then you only see the experience as an experience.

That is the wise mind that only sees things as they actually are, because there is no superimposition of the I, no superimposition of the self to that experience in one of these different ways, before, during, or after the experience, that experience. The underlying tendency to craving won't arise because you don't take it personally. The underlying tendency to aversion won't arise for the same reason. Underlying tendency to ignorance won't arise. The underlying tendency to views, to doubt, to conceit, to becoming. None of those will arise because you see the experience for what it actually is.

You understand this experience to be conditionally arisen, dependently arisen. Anything that is dependently arisen means that you take away its condition and it will go away. Bring back that condition and it will come. With the arising of this, there is the arising of that. With the cessation of this, there is the cessation of that. So if it's conditionally arisen, if it's dependently arisen, that means it is unstable.

It is bound to arise and pass away dependent upon those conditions, liable to cause suffering in one way or the other. And so the Buddha always talked about the idea of the self or not self. He never talked about the idea that there is a self or that there isn't a self. When people asked him that question very directly, is there a self or is there not a self?

Is there self or is there no self? And the Buddha said he only teaches one thing, which is dependent origination. So the answer to that is that it's not that there is a self or there is not a self. It's that the self that you think is a self arises dependent upon causes and conditions. And he took it a step further, because in the ancient Indian tradition, there was the idea of that self. The idea of the self that experiences everything. The idea of the self that is behind all experiences.

And that self is said to be permanent. That self is said to be a source of happiness. That self is said to be all-pervasive. So everything in your experience, including the idea of you, arises dependent upon causes and conditions. If all of those are conditioned, then they are impermanent. And if they are impermanent, liable to cause suffering, match the idea of that self that is permanent or that is all-pervasive or that is the source of happiness.

So all things are not that there is no self. All things are not self. So the wise mind understands everything as not self. Everything that can be observed and experienced, including the notion of the observer, is not self. Because it does not concord with that idea of being permanent. It does not concord with that idea of being a source of happiness.

Because if you understand it in that way, then you will understand that all things are not self. And the Buddha goes even one step further and he says, even Nibbana is empty of self. Even Nibbana is impersonal. Even Nibbana is not self. If you really truly understand dependent origination, then you will not hold on to any experience.

You will not hold on to any experience in your day-to-day life, in your meditation, or anything, because you understand all of that to be dependently arisen. And therefore, you know that in holding on to something, it's delusion. That's the ignorance of holding on to something with the idea that it is a self. It's not seeing and being aware of the Four Noble Truths. Could it also be that everything is, from the concept of the Vedas, which I don't know much of, but could it not just be that everything is the self, the experience, all of this Nibbana, everything is that permeating energy of love or whatever? Well, the idea here is that the Buddha always talked about the subjective, never the objective.

So he never said anything in relation to an ontological idea. He never really said anything about that. All he talked about was, in terms of the subjective, if you want to cease suffering, let go of any notions and ideas of self. Because the mind that attributes anything with self will then identify with that. Of all things, our self, if it's rooted in the mind, that can create an identity from which then our suffering can arise. So the Buddha is really concerned about two things, as he always says, suffering and the cessation of suffering. So from a subjective understanding, we cannot attribute anything to be that self that we're talking about. That's really the core understanding.

So he talks about having experienced something with mindfulness muddled. What is that muddled mindfulness? That is the mindfulness that is not there at all, right? What are we talking about when we talk about mindfulness here? We're talking about remembering to observe how mind's attention moves from one thing to the other. understanding is you're seeing things as they actually are. Mind moved from here, then mind moved there. But nowhere in that are you saying myself was here, or myself was there, or myself came from here and went there. You're just saying this is what happened in the experience. You're observing things as they actually are.

With that kind of mindfulness, there is careful attention. There is yoniso manasikara, attention rooted in reality. The reality, what is that reality? The reality that all things are conditionally arisen or dependently arisen, and therefore impermanent, therefore liable to cause suffering, and therefore not to be seen as me, mine or myself. If there is a lack of understanding of this, a lack of intrinsic understanding, dependent upon clear mindfulness of observing how your mind responds to all situations, all experiences.

Then there will be a tendency for that mind to take that object personally, superimpose the self in relation to the experience, in relation to that object, and then have an infatuated mind. Now there's the underlying tendency to craving, underlying tendency to aversion, and so on, that arises, and one remains tightly holding on to it. Now there is the craving and the clinging, and so many feelings flourish from this, originating from that object, and so the craving and the aversion as well, by which one's mind becomes disturbed. So this is the process through which craving, clinging and becoming arise when the mind takes any object personally.

Anything at all personally. What does it mean to take something personally? It means that you have this sense of a self-image somewhere, and you're saying that this affects that self-image there. So with that self-image, if somebody criticizes you, there's a tendency for the mind to defend that self-image. There's a tendency to boast in that praise, be happy about that praise.

Likewise, with anything in terms of a sensual object, a sensory experience, if there is a sense of self there, if it is an unpleasant experience, the sense of self-image will say, "I don't like it." And attributing the sense of self to that, there will be aversion, and there will be clinging, the rational now, or the association of why it doesn't like what it is experiencing. And then from there, there will be a becoming, which is coming into a state of mind, a state of existence, where I am this person that does not like that, and therefore I will act from there. And that is the birth of action, which can lead to suffering.

If it's a pleasant feeling as well, feeling arises, and that mind with that sense of self-image will say, this is pleasing to me. I like it. I want more of it. And it clings to that experience. And so once it clings to that experience, then there is the bhava, the becoming, which says, I am this person that likes this, and then acts from there. And that is the birth of action.

And from there, there is dukkha. If it's a neutral experience, if there's still a sense of self there, then from there the mind will say, this is mine. And we'll hold on to it. We'll try to defend it. We'll do whatever it does, identify with it. And then cling to it, cling to views about it. Cling to a sense of self to it. Cling to sensual pleasures, whether that's neutral or whatever it is. And then from there have that bhava, that becoming.

That bhava or becoming will say, am this, and therefore from that I will act, and there is the birth of action. Using the six R's, you can six R the underlying tendencies in feeling, your reactions to that feeling, the craving or aversion that arises dependent upon that feeling, the clinging, there are these four types of clinging, and the becoming, the bhava, the identification with that, which creates this concrete sense of self.

You can use the six R's to do all of that, to let go of that. Dependent origination here is like a river, and then there is a waterfall. The bhava, the becoming, is the bend of that waterfall. The birth of action is going past that, and therefore you cannot recall it. Once you release the arrow, that arrow is the birth of action. The tension before all of that is the becoming. Before that, it's the clinging. Before that, it's the craving. All of that, you can stop and you can say, I'm not going to. You can relax and the arrow will not be shot. But the birth of action, mental, verbal, or physical, if you shoot the arrow, that is the birth of action.

You cannot call that arrow back. You cannot call an intention back. You cannot call the words that you say back. You cannot call the deeds that you say back. So you cannot 6R your actions. So there is this pause that you do and relax before you do anything, that allows you to act in a way that is rooted in the Eightfold Path, which ceases the suffering, doesn't cause the suffering.

Which means that action is ineffective karma. That karma will no longer produce new karma to be experienced at a future period of time. It is the cessation of old karma. When you look at dependent origination, there is old karma and there is new karma. Old karma is all of that that you have inherited as a result of previous choices, that is the formations, that is the consciousness, that is the nama-rupa, the mentality, materiality, that is the sixth sense basis, that is the contact, and that is the feeling, that is the experience.

If there is reactivity to that experience by identifying with it and saying this is me, this is mine, this is myself, and then there is further craving, then there will be new karma, with that experience, which leads to craving, which can lead to clinging, which can lead to becoming. That is the renewal of karma. That is the process that adds new karma to that repository of old karma. And then acting from there, you are now fully engrossed in that with a sense of self, which then adds to that repository to be experienced at a future period of time, that cycle at the level of feeling. Anything you are experiencing, see all that is being experienced as karma that you have inherited, that the mind has inherited as a result of previous choices.

Adding to it by personalizing it, adding to it by craving for it or having aversion towards it, is going to create further suffering for you. That is the new karma, to be experienced as old karma at a future period. When you are meditating, for example, you experience a hindrance. What is that hindrance? It's an unpleasant feeling. It's vedana, it's an experience.

That hindrance arose as a result of some choice you took in the past. Whether it was to break a precept. Now with restlessness, sometimes when you have too much coffee, it can cause restlessness. So that hindrance arises as a result of you drinking some caffeinated drink, let's say. How do you choose to respond to that hindrance? If you have craving or aversion towards that hindrance, what are you going to do? You're going to further propagate that hindrance.

That hindrance is going to further proliferate. And so you're causing that karma to come over and over and over. If you use right effort, you recognize the hindrance, you release your attention from it, you relax, you come back to the re-smile, and you return to your object. You're dealing with that hindrance in a way that does not identify with it, that does not take it personally, seeing things as they actually are.

Now that hindrance might arise again, just like old karma, but this time it will arise much weaker, and you 6R again. And it'll arise again, but it'll be even weaker, and you 6R again, and eventually it dissipates. Understanding this, you can apply it to all experiences, pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Your reactivity, your relationship with that experience, will either cause further suffering or will let go of that suffering. If you immediately notice the underlying tendency to have aversion towards an experience and you let go of it using the 6R's, then your response will be rooted in this Eightfold Path. Your response will be rooted in wisdom and compassion, and therefore you won't add to it with craving, clinging and becoming. And then that experience might happen again, but it will be weaker. It will appear weaker because the formations that arose rooted in that craving won't give rise to further reactivity.

Instead, the new formations that are rooted in the wisdom will help you further identify that experience as being impersonal. And eventually, because there's no more reactivity to that experience, you won't have to experience it again. This is the whole notion of rebirth. Rebirth is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That's the definition of insanity. You find yourself in similar situations, you find yourself in relationships with similar kinds of people over and over and over again, because you identify with it, because you take them personally, because you add craving to it, because you cling to it, because you become it. But the moment you let go, then you've learned your lesson.

Similar situations again. Or even if you do, your wisdom will help you understand it, and eventually those situations won't arise ever again. So rebirth can happen in one life too, at the very micro level with the arising and passing away of consciousness, but also on a whole life level, which is similar kinds of situations, similar kinds of patterns, similar kinds of people, similar kinds of relationships.

So this understanding of dependent origination will liberate the mind, because you will fully understand karma. And you will have let go of the factors that lead to further suffering, completely. And so all experience for the fully awakened mind is just seen as experience. There is only the experiencing. In the experience, there is only the experience. Know you in that, know you before that, know you after that.

That is why the fully awakened mind doesn't produce any new karma. It only inherits whatever karma was produced in terms of choices made prior to full awakening, which it continues to experience, but doesn't add to that repository. So that karma diminishes, dissipates, until it completely fades away. There is the remainderless fading away of that karma. So then Malunkyaputta says, "One fares mindfully in such a way that even as one sees the form, and while one undergoes a feeling, suffering is exhausted, not built up. Karma is exhausted, not built up. For one dismantling suffering thus, Nibbana is said to be close by."

"When firmly mindful one hears a sound, one smells an odor, one enjoys a taste, one feels a contact, one knows an object, one fares mindfully in such a way that even as one experiences that, and while one undergoes that experience, suffering is exhausted, not built up. For one dismantling suffering, thus Nibbana is said to be close by."

For this very reason, because one sees experience as it actually is, any karma that arises, suffering is exhausted, not built up through craving, through clinging, through becoming, through habitual tendencies. Then the Venerable Malunkyaputta, having delighted and rejoiced in the Blessed One's words, rose from his seat, and after paying homage to the Blessed One, keeping him on his right, he departed.

Then, dwelling alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent, and resolute, the Venerable Malunkya Putta, by realizing it for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life, entered and dwelt in the unsurpassed goal of the holy life, for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the household life into homelessness. He directly knew, destroyed is birth. The holy life has been lived. What had to be done has been done. There is no more for this state of being.

And the Venerable Malunkya Putta became one of the arahants. Hopefully he was looking both ways after that. Did you say there are four types of bhava or upadana? Oh, clinging, upadana. There is the clinging to sensual experiences, there is the clinging to views, there is the clinging to self-view, and there is the clinging to rites and rituals.

So the clinging to sensual pleasures is where the mind makes associations with that pleasure or with that painful experience. It will rationalize why it likes it or doesn't like that experience. It associates favorites about why it likes it or associates certain kinds of behaviors related to why it doesn't like it. So you grew up eating certain kinds of food. You cling to those kinds of food.

Now, you might look forward to having those kinds of food, and if they're not there, if your mind has craving, it is going to look forward to it, and if it's not there, your mind's going to get agitated by it, and so there's going to be clinging to it in the form of having aversion towards it. But if there is no craving in your mind, but your mind says, oh, that's great, I got this food coming in, and it's not there, your mind will say, all right, no big deal.

So the way to know if there is craving present in the mind is the object of craving and see how the mind reacts. So this is the clinging to sensual pleasures. The clinging to views. There's clinging to wrong kinds of view. There are 62 different types of wrong view. They have to do in relation to how you experience the world, in relation to the self. There's even a view that says that there is a self that experiences or that there is no self which is experienced by a self, and so on. So all kinds of different kinds of views like that. In the Buddha's time, there were these different types of views, six in number.

There was the view of materialism. There was the view of fatalism. There was the view of amoralism. There was the view of asceticism. and there was the view of, oh, I don't know, the skepticism, you know, doesn't conclude on one thing or the other. They were called the eel wrigglers, people who sat on the fence about anything.

So these six views were in direct violation of the understanding of the Dhamma for one reason or the other. So clinging to these kinds of views can happen. Or clinging to the Dhamma itself, right view itself. That kind of clinging has to be let go of by the anagami in order for that anagami to become an arahant.

Let go of the Dhamma itself. It doesn't mean you stop following the Dhamma. It doesn't mean you stop following the Eightfold Path. It just means you stop identification with that. Let go of the conceit in relation to saying, I am a great meditator. That's self-righteousness. That is one kind of thing. But just being a Dhamma defender, somebody criticizes you for doing something, you have this urge to defend that, that kind of clinging.

The clinging to self-view, right? There are different types of self-view. There's 20 kinds of self-view talked about in the suttas. That is in relation to the five aggregates multiplied by the four types of self-view. So it says that the aggregates are self. The aggregates are in a self. The self is in the aggregates. Or the self is apart from the aggregates.

Or possessed of the aggregates. This is another way of putting it. So this kind of view is both an intellectual and experiential understanding. And then the clinging to rites and rituals. The clinging to the rites and rituals with the idea that they will take you to Nibbana. So clinging to any kind of rites and rituals can also be having this idea that you have some kind of object that has some luck in it. That is in direct violation of the understanding of karma. Karma says everything is done through effort, through some kind of action.

But the idea that this will take me there if I only did this or if I only prayed to this god or if I only burned these many candles or this much incense or whatever it is, then the gods will hear me and they'll answer my prayers and all of these kinds of things. Or clinging to rites and rituals in terms of clinging to a kind of routine.

Things have to be done a certain way. It has to be done a certain way. Otherwise, I will suffer. That's another kind of clinging to rites and rituals. So these are the four types of clinging, upadana. All right, let's share some merit. May suffering ones be suffering free. May the fear struck fearless be. May the grieving shed all grief and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas and mighty power share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation.