“Venerable sir, it is said, ‘the world, the world.’ In what way, venerable sir, might there be the world or the description of the world?”
“Where there is the eye, Samiddhi, where there are forms, eye-consciousness, things to be cognized by eye-consciousness, there the world exists or the description of the world.
“Where there is the ear …the mind, where there are mental phenomena, mind-consciousness, things to be cognized by mind-consciousness, there the world exists or the description of the world.
“Where there is no eye, Samiddhi, no forms, no eye-consciousness, no things to be cognized by eye-consciousness, there the world does not exist nor any description of the world.
“Where there is no ear …no mind, no mental phenomena, no mind-consciousness, no things to be cognized by mind-consciousness, there the world does not exist nor any description of the world.”
Samiddhilokapañhāsutta: Samiddhi (SN 35.68),
translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
The Buddha taught that the term “world” (loka) has three different meanings. The first: okāsaloka — the world of space, that is, the world of space-time reality, or, one could say, the astronomical world.
The second: sattaloka — the world of beings. This is the most understandable for us: we are sitting here together, discussing the Dhamma, we are in the same world. Nearby, a dog is walking, some insects are flying — they are all in a different world. They do not know that there are Buddhists sitting here, talking with a monk, discussing the Dhamma. For them, there are no temples, monks, or religions. All of this, which exists for us, does not exist in their world. And there are many such worlds. This is called sattaloka — the world of beings.
And third: saṅkhāraloka — the world of formations, mental formations. The Buddha explains in great detail how the world arises, how the world exists, and how the world disappears, as well as the causes of the world’s arising.
There is a sutta called the Sammādiṭṭhisutta (Right View, MN 9), in which the Venerable Sariputta, one of the two chief disciples of the Buddha, explains in detail what sammādiṭṭhi, the right views, are. He says that if a person knows what the world is, the causes of the world’s arising, the cessation of the world, and the Path leading to the cessation of the world, these are the right views. If a person knows what feeling (sensations) is, the causes of sensations, the cessation of sensations, and the path leading to the cessation of sensations, these are the right views. In this way, he explains many things: birth, existence, nourishment, aging and death, clinging, and more.
And there are suttas in which the Buddha explains the Four Noble Truths. The First Noble Truth is the truth of suffering, dukkha. Then, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the possibility of the cessation of suffering, and the last truth — the truth of the Path leading to the cessation of suffering (Vibhaṅgasutta: Analysis, SN 45.8).
And in this sutta, Thera Sariputta explains it differently: instead of “suffering” (dukkha), he says “world” (bhava). Thus, the “truth of suffering” becomes the “truth of the world,” the “cause of suffering” becomes the “cause of the arising of the world,” the “cessation of suffering” becomes the “cessation of the world,” and the “Path leading to the cessation of suffering” becomes the “Path leading to the cessation of the world.” This means that the world is suffering.
Once, someone asked the Buddha what the world is. The Buddha replied that the world is suffering. If a person understands what the world is, they understand suffering. But they not only understand suffering; they must also understand the cessation of suffering.
Now let’s see how the Buddha explains the world. The world consists of eighteen elements (dhātu).
Five sense organs:
- Element of the eye (cakkhu-dhātu).
- Element of the ear (sota-dhātu).
- Element of the nose (ghāna-dhātu).
- Element of the tongue (jivhā-dhātu).
- Element of the body (kāya-dhātu).
Five objects (perceived through the five sense organs):
- Element of color (rūpa-dhātu).
- Element of sound (sadda-dhātu).
- Element of smell (gandha-dhātu).
- Element of taste (rasa-dhātu).
- Element of tangible objects (phoṭṭhabba-dhātu).
Five elements of consciousness through the five sense organs:
- Element of eye consciousness (cakkhu-viññāṇa-dhātu).
- Element of ear consciousness (sota-viññāṇa-dhātu).
- Element of nose consciousness (ghāna-viññāṇa-dhātu).
- Element of tongue consciousness (jivhā-viññāṇa-dhātu).
- Element of body consciousness (kāya-viññāṇa-dhātu).
And three additional elements:
- Element of the mind (mano-dhātu).
- Element of mental objects (dhamma-dhātu).
- Element of mind consciousness (mano-viññāṇa-dhātu).
There are different classifications that are also called elements, but now we will talk specifically about these eighteen elements.
So, we have the eye as one element, colors as another element, and eye consciousness as yet another element. The task of eye consciousness is to know colors and forms, and that’s it.
The same applies to the ear, sounds, and ear consciousness.
The tongue, taste, and tongue consciousness.
The nose, smells, and nose consciousness.
The body, touches (or objects of the body), and body consciousness.
The mind, mental objects, and mind consciousness.
In total, there are eighteen elements. Now let’s think, besides these eighteen elements, does anything else exist in the world?
There is also Nibbāna, but Nibbāna is not conditioned by causes. What are the causes? There are nine causes.
The first three: lōbha — greed, dōsa — ill will, mōha — ignorance.
The next three: alōbha — absence of greed (or generosity), adōsa — absence of ill will (or kindness), amōha — absence of wrong views.
And there are three more, but they are also alōbha, adōsa, and amōha. That is, we can have two types of generosity, kindness, and right views.
Let’s look at the difference using the example of generosity. Generosity is practiced in every religion; I don’t know of any religion that does not encourage generosity. But why do we practice generosity? To live well in this life, in the next life, or, as explained in other religions, to go to heaven. And this is the first type of generosity: it helps us in saṃsāra, helps us receive good results in saṃsāra, and in generalhelps us live better.
And the second type of generosity is when a person thinks: all mental defilements arise from greed, from craving. Even when we are dying, no one says: “I had enough; that’s enough, I don’t want to see, hear, or feel anymore.” Everyone wants to keep living, to keep seeing, hearing, and feeling; everyone wants to continue perceiving the world through the sense organs. And this is craving, taṇhā, and because of this, we are in saṃsāra, in eternal wandering.
If a person understands: I need to overcome this craving, otherwise saṃsāra will prevail, and because of this, they practice generosity not to receive something later, but to overcome greed, if a person gives dāna with this intention — they will not have greed, they will not have pride. Why then does a person practice generosity? To attain Nibbāna, liberation from the eternal cycle of suffering and rebirth, this becomes their motivation in their practice of generosity.
These nine causes are absent in Nibbāna. In Nibbāna, there is no generosity, no craving, no greed. When these causes are absent, then there is Nibbāna. And then it is clear that Nibbāna is not in the world; Nibbāna is Supramundane. And our world is the eighteen elements.
Let’s now analyze our world: we have eighteen elements. Where then is the Buddha, is he there in these elements? We are now discussing your world; is there a Buddha in your world? If we answer that he is in the mind, then we need to understand that the mind is three elements: the mind itself, mental objects, and mind consciousness. The task of mind consciousness is to know; it knows mental objects, thoughts. But we do not realize mental objects as mental objects, thoughts as thoughts. We take them as reality. We perceive thoughts as the Buddha, as Jesus, as “good,” as “bad,” as “monk,” as mine, as right and wrong, as reality. So, where is the Buddha? In our thinking. And where is “I”? Also in our mind. These are all our thoughts.
Look at how subtle and elevated the Teaching is. The Buddha says: see thinking as thinking: citte cittānupassī viharati, contemplate the mind as the mind ( Satipaṭṭhānasutta: Mindfulness Meditation, MN 10). If we see thinking as thinking, we do not see any permanent being there, no self, we do not see the Buddha there.
For example, at night, if we hear loud drilling sounds from our neighbors, without knowledge of the Teaching, some aversion immediately arises in our mind, dissatisfaction, ill will: why so loud, why at this time? The mind says something about it. How do we see these thoughts? As reality. We see “I” in these thoughts, we see “other people,” and we do not see our ill will in our thinking. If we saw: this is anger, when it arises I feel bad, I should not sustain it, because it will also make me feel bad. If we saw this — we would immediately let go of this anger. And in reality, we do not hear the drilling personwe hear sounds. So, where is this person? He is in the mind.
We can fully disassemble our world. You have your entire past life: you remember what your school was like, what friends you had, what pleasant and unpleasant people you met, who your enemies are. And where are they all? They are all in the mind. But we believe that they are real. In fact, the mind cannot remember everything exactly 100%. And what does it do?
For example, today we went to the botanical garden. The mind cannot retain all the details of this day 100%, so it remembers what we think today about this situation, our attitude towards it. For instance, someone might decide that today was a very bad day. We wanted to visit so many places, but it started raining and everything changed, so we didn’t go anywhere afterwards. But even if a person thinks this way now, a month might pass, and the person will return to their homeland, and there, in another country, they “How wonderful it was, we all went to the botanical garden together, and then it started raining, it was so beautiful, how great it was!” And then the memory of this situation changes, and this situation becomes a good one for them.
Look — the mind truly knows nothing, which means our past is just our current thoughts. We do not know what actually happened! I can ask you: where were you on this day ten years ago? Think about it now. We can try to remember and attempt to answer, but we cannot be sure. And in reality, these are all empty thoughts.
Look, where is Russia? Usually, we think that Russia exists, it is there, in a certain direction. Or that it is on planet Earth. But if we analyze this again as the eighteen elementsit is again in the mind. Now we claim that the Earth is round, and for us, it is so, this is our reality. But before, people said and thought it was flat, and in the minds of all people, the Earth was like that! Recently, it has been said that it is not even round, but slightly flattened.
Or, for example, in Hinduism, it is said that Brahma holds the Earth with his hand, and people in India imagined a giant Brahma. But now we think that the Earth is round, and the Moon revolves around it. Our parents taught us this, then in school and university, and now we believe it as if it were reality. But in fact, we do not know — these are all our thoughts. Maybe it is actually so, maybe it is not, it doesn’t really matter — these are all our thoughts.
For example, I think: “Max is here.” And this is actually my perception, this is how I think — Max is here. And what is Max like? He is like how I know him, how I think about him. Therefore, people strive to ensure that others have a good perception of them, because I live not only in my own mind, but I also live in your minds. And I want to be good in your minds. So, each person wants to have a good perception of themselves. And even when a person is dying and understands that they are about to die, they still want to continue to exist. Where can they still exist? In the minds of other people. Therefore, some say: you will die, and no one will remember you. And this scares peopleit is as if I will not exist at all.
Or I can ask: “Where is Alex?” You point to him and touch him, but is that Alex? Those are elements. So, where is Alex? In the mind. And if Alex is not here, then what can I see, what can I touch? What is that then? Those are elements.
As an example of another classification, there are primary elements, or great elements — mahābhūta, into which everything material is decomposed. Matter, or rūpa, is composed of four primary elements, or four “basic” physical phenomena: solidity (literally “earth”), cohesion (literally “water”), heat (literally “fire”) and motion (literally “air”).
The element of tangible objects, or body objects (phoṭṭhabba-dhātu), includes the following three mahābhūta:1.The element of earth, or solidity (paṭhavī-dhātu), which manifests as hardness or softness.2.The element of fire, or temperature (tejo-dhātu), which manifests as heat or cold.3.The element of wind (vāyo-dhātu), which manifests as movement or pressure.
The element of water, or cohesion (āpo-dhātu), cannot be physically felt — for us, it will still be solidity, heat, and motion, so it is not included in body objects. It is accessible to us only as a result of analysis.
Even if we analyze one element, it will provide immense wisdom. The Buddha says: one who knows solidity (paṭhavī, the element of earth) can understand that solidity is not “I,” and can detach from the element of solidity, and can detach from the world. The Buddha explains this in great detail.
Now both the internal earth element and the external earth element are simply earth element. And that should be seen as it actually is with proper wisdom thus: “This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.” When one sees it thus as it actually is with proper wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the earth element and makes the mind dispassionate toward the earth element.
Now there comes a time when the water element is disturbed and then the external earth element vanishes. When even this external earth element, great as it is, is seen to be impermanent, subject to destruction, disappearance, and changeˌ what of this body, which is clung to by craving and lasts but a while? There can be no considering that as “I” or “mine” or “I am.”
And we touch the elements, feel the solidity, and I think — this is Max. I see some colors and a certain image arises in my mind, and the mind says: “This is Max, this is Alex, this is Pasha.” This is what the mind says. If we analyze our world in this way, then for our world to exist, we need concepts and elements, nāma and rūpa (nāmarūpa).
Feeling, perception, volition, contact, and attention — these are called mentality. The four great elements and the material form derived from the four great elements — these are called materiality. So this mentality and this materiality are what is called mentality-materiality. With the arising of consciousness there is the arising of mentality-materiality. With the cessation of consciousness there is the cessation of mentality-materiality. The way leading to the cessation of mentality-materiality is just this Noble Eightfold Path.
Sammādiṭṭhisutta: Right View (MN 9), translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
Without nāma and rūpa there will be no reality, no world. To make our presentation real, we need some elements.
Remember your school. To make this memory real for you, you think: the school is in Russia, on a certain street, in a specific building, on a particular territory. And then your thinking becomes reality. But if we see this as elements, as thinking — then we see that this is not reality, but thoughts. And seeing this way, we free ourselves from defilements. Our perceptions, our concepts that arise in our mind, we compare with some elements that we think exist in the external world, and we think: “Yes, this is real.” And what do we think is real? Our thoughts and concepts, that they exist in the world. But in the world, only elements exist.
For example, there is a fish. It has two legs. And two arms. And a head. And it can walk. And it can talk. And even drive! Look, when we say something like this — the mind does not perceive it as something real. And why doesn’t it perceive it? It doesn’t know such things, it doesn’t know how to drive in the water, what kind of cars there might be, nothing like this is in our experience. When we say “a fish with two legs” — the mind starts imagining the ocean and some fish in it. When we get to the part where it can talk and drive — the mind already considers it unreal. And when it is unreal — it is no longer scary to us because we know that it is just imagination, a concept.
We watch cartoons, and we know they are not real, and after watching them, we do not have the impression that something like that exists in reality, unlike when we watch the news. But then, the characters from these cartoons live in our minds. Remember, someone saw a drawing from a cartoon and immediately said: “Oh, that’s Totoro!” And where is Totoro? Is he on the arm as a tattoo, or on paper? No, he is in someone’s mind! Someone imagined him, drew him, and now these Totoros live in the minds of everyone who has seen that cartoon. They see and recognize — “oh, Totoro!”
The same happens with other people: we see a person and say, “he is my friend!” But what does that mean? How does a friend come into existence? Or here is another person — he is my enemy, and I feel unpleasant. But what does that mean? We actually think that these thoughts are out there, in the world. I think: “Here is my Max, here he is sitting.” This is called upādāna, attachment.
When we say “attachment,” we think it’s a very simple concept. Attachment to a phone — that’s when I can’t live without the phone, that’s attachment.
Can you imagine attachment to ants? If a person has not attained arahantship, they have attachment to ants. To all the plants they know, to their school. Why is that? Because we take our concepts in the mind as reality. When our concepts become reality for us — this is upādāna, because we have a certain attitude towards all of this. And these are real objects for us, which exist in the world, and they can change, break, die, and all of this affects us, all of this is significant to us. If we can at least somewhat understand what reality really is, and what the deception of the mind is — this is already some wisdom, this already gives us some freedom.
When we match our mental khandha (formations or constructs) with external elements, with some rūpa, we say: “This is that person, and this is such a tree, and these are ants,” this is already upādāna, attachment. Or when we see a cat, it appears in the mind and we think that it is somewhere out there, in the world. And we attach it to the external world. And we begin to perceive some elements as a cat. If I say it is bad, then a bad cat arises; if I say it is good, then a good cat arises. But we do not see the arising and passing away of the world. For us, existence (bhava) appears. In dependent origination, after attachment, existence arises: upādānapaccayā bhavo — from attachment as a necessary condition, existence arises.
Here is a good example with a tattoo on the hand. Look, we look at a hand with a tattoo, and we see a face or any other image there. But when we see the image — we do not see the hand, when we see the hand — we do not see the image. Or when we look at a wall with a beautiful drawing, for example, a pond with lotuses: we either see the wall itself, and then we do not see the lotuses and the pond, or we see the pond, and then we do not see the wall.
Imagine someone made a statue in the shape of a body and very carefully painted it to look exactly like a body. Not knowing it is a statue, we might look at it and mistake it for a person. But whether we are looking at a statue or a person — we actually do not see the body in either case: we see “pictures” made up of various colors. But in reality, we are always only seeing pictures, and we think there are people, that they are doing something. But in reality, we see elements, colors. Seeing occurs in the eye: the eye perceives color, through eye consciousness this color is recognized. But when we think that what we see with our eye is somewhere in front of us, then the mind creates the notion that these colors are a tree, people, statues, ants, and so on. And then, in our mind, trees, people, and the whole world instantly appear. Although, in reality, the eye perceives only colors.
First and foremost, we need to purify our views. If our views become correct, we will feel much better, much lighter, because a huge amount of our suffering (one could say almost all of it) is due to ignorance. We invent it ourselves, create it ourselves, and live in this prison ourselves. Even if our ignorance diminishes a little, our lives will become much better. And we do not need to seek happiness somewhere in the world. If we have no suffering, that is happiness, that is peace. Such happiness is always available to us; we do not need to seek it in the external world. Then, even when there is physical pain, our mind can remain free from suffering, because physical pain and mental suffering are different things. We want to find some other happiness, and that is our mistake. As long as we are looking for it, even our body will feel tense, and if there is pain, it will increase. When we have craving, it is never enough for us, and we cannot be calm, we cannot stop, we cannot relax.
Try to observe the elements as elements; this will already give you some understanding. If even once we see the elements as elements, our world will change.
The Buddha called his Teaching vibhajjavāda: vibhajati — to analyze, divide, and separate, and vāda — teaching. And that’s what we do — we take everything apart. To gain understanding, you can divide your world into eighteen elements. If you practice this way, you can disassemble any of your suffering, any problem. And you can see and understand where the problem really is: it is in the fact that the problems that exist in our mind, we see as problems in the external world, and we want to solve them in the external world, we want to do something with them. But if we see thinking as thinking — they disappear. And so of course: almost all problems are in our minds. Why then do we try to solve them in the external world?
Here is an example of what elements are and how to see elements as elements. Close your eyes. What do you feel right now? You feel that other people are here, we are all sitting here, there are other huts around, nature. Where is all this really? If you see that it is in the mind, you can let it go, because it is all just mental representations. Besides the sensations of the body, we do not feel anything, and we do not really know anything.
Imagine that you are now in space. Under your feet is a spaceship, around you is space. And all these sounds are actually a recording played from speakers. Try to imagine yourself on this spaceship.
What did you feel when you imagined this? If you can imagine the spaceship and that we are sitting in it — the Earth immediately disappears, and space appears around us. And if we imagine that all these sounds are actually from speakers and are played on a computer, then all these people and animals — they immediately disappear for us, they are not there. Or if we play an audio file with the sounds of rain, we immediately imagine rain. If we play an audio file with the croaking of frogs — we hear each sound, and we immediately imagine a frog. But in reality, there is no rain or frogs near us.
We need to assimilate this knowledge, remember it, and reflect on it. We need to form our own understanding. We should try to see the world in this way. Such practice provides refuge: a person will always have a way out, even in the most difficult life situation. If one sees elements — there are no problems in them. A person sees the mind, sees mental objects, colors, sounds — just elements, and there is no suffering in them. These are just our perceptions of reality, these are just our thoughts. We ourselves imagine this and suffer from it ourselves.
Tell me, without recalling any past, what would you want in the future? This is impossible. Thus, we can understand that memories are our thoughts. Yesterday is all about memories and how we feel about them. These are thoughts arising right now. We can see thoughts as thoughts, as mental objects.
Reflect on this, try to disassemble your world into eighteen elements. And you will either have many questions, or you will no longer have any questions — all questions will disappear. With this knowledge, we disassemble our world through these eighteen elements. And we see how they arise and how they disappear.
May the wisdom that arises in you from reading this lecture help you to be free from all suffering!
Mendicants, sights are impermanent, decaying, and perishing. Sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas are impermanent, decaying, and perishing.
Someone who has faith and confidence in these Teachings is called a follower by faith. They’ve arrived at surety in the right way, they’ve arrived at the level of the true person, and they’ve transcended the level of the untrue person. They can’t do any deed which would make them be reborn in hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm. They can’t die without realizing the fruit of stream-entry.
Someone who accepts these Teachings after deliberating them with a degree of wisdom is called a follower of teachings. They’ve arrived at surety in the right way, they’ve arrived at the level of the true person, and they’ve transcended the level of the untrue person. They can’t do any deed which would make them be reborn in hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm. They can’t die without realizing the fruit of stream-entry.
Someone who understands and sees these principles is called a stream-enterer, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, bound for awakening.
Rūpasutta: Sights (SN 25.2), translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Sujato
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