Venerable Rakwane Gnanaseeha Thera
Version in Russian: Чувствовать свой ум
There are two kinds of reality: conventional (sammuti) reality and ultimate (paramattha) reality. Another way to say this is conventional truth (sammuti sacca) and ultimate truth (paramattha sacca).
Paramattha means ultimate, absolute reality, the final level. “Absolute” means that it cannot be further divided or broken down — it is the ultimate limit. It is the point where we reach the end. This is what “absolute” means.
We can say that paramattha is reality as it truly is. But the problem is that when we simply say “reality as it is,” this phrase by itself does not give us any special understanding.
How is this explained in the Dhamma? For example, take a table. A table is conventional reality. We can divide it into parts: there is the tabletop, the legs, and if we go further — the boards, and within the boards there are wood fibers, and so on.
But the ultimate reality for us is paramattha — the final, irreducible level. For example, the four great elements (satara mahābhūtā).
- The earth element, or solidity (paṭhavī-dhātu), which manifests as hardness or softness.
- The fire element, or temperature (tejo-dhātu), which manifests as heat or cold, temperature.
- The wind element (vāyo-dhātu), which manifests as movement or pressure.
- The water element, or cohesion, fluidity (āpo-dhātu).
The Buddha explains that wherever the four great elements (satara mahābhūtā) are present, there will also be four dependent material phenomena (upādāyarūpa):
- vaṇṇa — color;
- ghandā — smell;
- rasa — taste;
- ojā — nutritional essence.
These can no longer be divided any further.
So, where for us there is a “table,” at the level of ultimate reality there is hardness, temperature, color, and so on. This is as far as we can go — this is the ultimate reality for us.
And what is a table? It is perception, it is a name that we have given. It is a certain feeling. For example, if it were my table, or if it were a table made of gold, we would feel it in a different way. There is saṅkhāra — some kind of mental formation. And there is viññāṇa, consciousness: the way we know it. Or we can say, it is that by which we know everything. This is all ultimate, we cannot divide it any further.
Paramattha is when we can no longer divide anything further, when we have reached the end. This is the edge of the world. Aṭṭhārasa dhātuyo (the eighteen elements) is paramattha, and saḷāyatana (the six sense bases) is paramattha.
It is often said that we need to learn to let go. But if people really knew how to let go, no one would suffer. The function of consciousness is to know and to be aware of objects. Whatever arises in the mind, that is what consciousness knows.
Look and see how this arises, and how it can be let go of.
I recently saw a video: a little boy had his birthday, and his friends came to him in the dark with lamps and a cake while he was sleeping. They wanted to surprise him and woke him up. He got so scared. He looked around: it was dark, he couldn’t clearly see their faces, the candles were burning. They were laughing, but he was afraid — he screamed.
And then, at some point, he realized that these were his friends. And immediately he let it go. He was instantly freed from fear. Then they offered him the cake. In that moment he was not yet joyful, but he had already let go of his fear.
What happened? He was dreaming about something, and then he was woken up. There were some impressions in his mind: maybe he took them for demons because he had seen some movie before, or maybe he had read some story. And he began to see demons. Or ghosts, or something else.
When his consciousness perceived his friends as demons, he began to see demons there. He was afraid, he screamed, he felt it, his whole body was filled with that excitement, with that fear. That was his reality at that moment.
And look, when did he let it go? At some point his mind began to think logically: “Look, these are your friends, they brought you a cake.” There were some thoughts. And this turned his mind back from the demons. This was his logical thinking. And this logical thinking is also saṅkhāra.
And when we are frightened by something unreal, this will happen to us sooner or later: when we mistake a rope for a snake, or shadows in the jungle for a tiger, something like that. For example, thunder: the first time we may be very frightened, but then we understand that it is actually far away from us, and we let it go, and we are no longer afraid.
When some kind of deception happens in the mind, we need to think logically. For example, just now there was a person here, and then he went to cook. When we saw him, that was cakkhu āyatana, the eye. When we heard him, that was sota āyatana, the ear. When we are now thinking about him, that is mano āyatana, the mind.
This means that reality is such that I can think about him. But where does this happen? It happens in my mind. When I think about him, these are objects of my mind.
But that’s not how I feel. I feel that this person is walking somewhere out there, that he is at home now, cooking. Whatever I think — it is my mind. If this is let go of, it will be a great letting go, a great liberation for us. But the mind does not let it go.
Then we need to think logically in order to explain certain things to the mind, because the mind does not understand them just like that. And then, after this kind of work, after some time, the mind will need only a single moment — to remember that this is mano-dhātu, the mind element. That there is no person there, these are my thoughts. And then the person immediately disappears for us.
Right now, as we are sitting, we can remember what is behind us: that there is a staircase to the first floor, a window, trees. All of this is the mind, it is not cakkhu āyatana (not the eye), not sota āyatana (not the ear). All of this is my thoughts, it is the mind, mano.
For example, someone calls us. We talk with this person and then we hang up. And we can immediately understand that everything that is now happening in relation to this person is all happening in my mind, and that’s all. This actually helps us a lot to let go, to be free. But to reach this understanding, we need this knowledge and logical reflection, we need to work with it a lot and carefully, to remember it, to think it over, to clarify things if something is not clear. This is how it happens.
The main thing is not to strain yourself and also not to give up. Just practice calmly, observe, and develop your mindfulness everywhere. It helps to simply remind yourself that I am here, my body is here.
There is also a very good question: what is actually happening right now? Right now there are simply some bodily sensations, breathing, something can be heard — some sounds, something can be seen — some colors, there may be some thoughts in the mind. And in this way we can develop our mindfulness.
When we first begin to develop it, it seems to us that the whole world is here with us. Then the mind develops further, and we begin to see other levels of the mind: how the world arises together with us in the mind, how it disappears, how it can be let go of. We can observe the mind. And to observe, we simply need to develop mindfulness, and we need this knowledge.
And so, each retreat will be new. Each time our practice is different. Because each time we are new. But the most important thing is that it becomes easier. Why is it easy? Because we understand what needs to be done.
What we are feeling right now is our mind, our mental states. And in the next moment it will be gone. If there are other thoughts, other states, we will no longer feel this; we will not feel the way we feel now.
Sometimes it seems to us that everything is bad: the food is not right, the weather is not right, the people are not right, the practice is not right — everything is wrong. And we think that this is how the world is. But it is just our state. This is not reality. It is just how I feel right now.
But to truly understand this — how great the level of mindfulness must be, how high the level of wisdom must be to truly understand: this is not reality, this is just how I feel right now.
“When a bhikkhu is skilled in elements, Ānanda, skilled in the bases, skilled in dependent origination, skilled in the possible and impossible, in that way a bhikkhu becomes worthy to be called a wise man and an inquirer.”
Elements
“But venerable sir, in what way does a bhikkhu become skilled in elements?”
“There are these eighteen elements, Ānanda: eye-element, form-element, eye-consciousness-element; ear-element, sound-element, ear-consciousness-element; nose-element, odour-element, nose-consciousness-element; tongue-element, flavour-element, tongue-consciousness-element; body-element, tangible-element, body-consciousness-element; mind-element, dhamma-element, mind-consciousness-element. When once he knows and sees these eighteen elements, in that way he becomes worthy to be called: skilled in elements.”
“But, venerable sir, might there be another way in which a bhikkhu is worthy to be called skilled in elements?”
“There might be, Ānanda. There are these six elements: earth element, water element, fire element, air element, space element and consciousness element. When once he knows and sees these six elements, in that way he becomes worthy to be called skilled in elements.”
“But, venerable sir, might there be another way in which a bhikkhu is worthy to be called skilled in elements?”
“There might be, Ānanda. There are these six elements: bodily-pleasure element, bodily-pain element, mental-joy element, mental-grief element, equanimity element and ignorance element. When once he knows and sees these six elements, in that way he becomes worthy to be called skilled in elements.”
“But, venerable sir, might there be another way in which a bhikkhu is worthy to called skilled in elements?”
“There might be, Ānanda. There are these six elements: sensual desire element, renunciation element, ill-will element, non-ill-will element, cruelty element, non-cruelty element. When once he knows and sees these six elements, in that way he becomes worthy to be called skilled in elements.”
“But, venerable sir, might there be another way in which a bhikkhu is worthy to be called skilled in elements?”
“There might be, Ānanda. There are these three elements: the sensual desire element, the form element and the formless element. When once he knows and sees these three elements, in that way he is worthy to be called skilled, in elements.”
“But, venerable sir, might there be another way in which a bhikkhu is worthy to be called skilled in elements?”
“There might be, Ānanda. There are these two elements: the conditioned element and the unconditioned element. When once he knows and sees these two elements, in that way he is worthy to be called skilled in elements.”
Bases
“But, venerable sir, in what way is a bhikkhu worthy to be called skilled in the bases?”
“There are these six in-oneself external bases, Ānanda: eye and form, ear and sound, nose and odour, tongue and flavour, body and tangible, mind and dhamma. When once he knows and sees these six in-oneself external bases, in that way he is worthy to be called skilled in the bases.”
Bahudhātukasutta: Many Sorts of Elements (MN 115),
translation by Ven. Nyanamoli Thera
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