Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta
-- Impermanence, suffering and Egolessness -- are the
three essential characteristics of things in the
Teaching of the Buddha. If you know Anicca correctly,
you will know Dukkha as its corollary and Anatta as
ultimate truth. It takes time to understand the three
together.
Impermanence (anicca)
is, of course, the essential fact which must be first
experienced and understood by practice. Mere
book-knowledge of the Buddha-Dhamma will not be enough
for the correct understanding of Anicca because the
experiential aspect will be missing. It is only through
experiential understanding of the nature of Anicca as an
ever-changing process within you that you can understand
Anicca in the way the Buddha would like you to
understand it. As in the days of the Buddha, so too now,
this understanding of Anicca can be developed by persons
who have no book-knowledge whatsoever of Buddhism.
To understand
Impermanence (anicca) one must follow strictly
and diligently the Eightfold Noble Path, which is
divided into the three groups of Sila, Samadhi and Pañña
-- Morality, Concentration and Wisdom. Sila, or virtuous
living, is he basis for Samadhi, control of the mind
leading to one-pointedness. It is only when Samadhi is
good that one can develop Pañña. Therefore, Sila and
Samadhi are the prerequisites for Pañña. By Pañña is
meant the understanding of Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta
through the practice of Vipassana, i.e., insight
meditation.
Whether a Buddha has
arisen or not, the practice of Sila and Samadhi may be
present in the human world. They are, in fact, the
common denominators of all religious faiths. They are
not, however, sufficient means for the goal of Buddhism
-- the complete end of suffering. In his search for the
end of suffering, Prince Siddhattha, the future Buddha,
found this out and worked his way through to find the
path which would lead to the end of suffering. After
solid work for six years, he found the way out, became
completely enlightened, and then taught men and
gods to follow the Path which would lead them to the end
of suffering.
In this connection we
should understand that each action -- whether by deed,
word or thought -- leaves behind an active force called
"Sankhara" (or "kamma" in popular terminology), which
goes to the credit or debit account of the individual,
according to whether the action is good or bad. There
is, therefore, an accumulation of Sankhara (or Kamma)
with everyone, which functions as the supply-source of
energy to sustain life, which is inevitably followed by
suffering and death. It is by the development of the
power inherent in the understanding of Anicca, Dukkha
and Anatta, that one is able to rid oneself of the
Sankhara accumulated in ones own personal account. This
process begins with the correct understanding of Anicca,
while further accumulations of fresh actions and the
reduction of the supply of energy to sustain life are
taking place simultaneously, from moment to moment and
from day to day. It is, therefore, a matter of a whole
lifetime or more to get rid of all one's Sankhara. He
who has rid himself of all Sankhara comes to the end of
suffering, for then no Sankhara remains to give the
necessary energy to sustain him in any form of life. On
the termination of their lives the perfected saints,
i.e., the Buddhas and arahants, pass into Parinibbana,
reaching the end of suffering. For us today who take to
Vipassana Meditation, it would suffice if we can
understand Anicca well enough to reach the first stage
of an Ariya (a Noble person), that is, a Sotapanna or
stream-enterer, who will not take more than Seven lives
to come to the end of suffering.
The fact of Anicca,
which opens the door to the understanding of Dukkha and
Anatta and eventually to the end of suffering, can be
encountered in its full significance only through the
Teachings of a Buddha, for so long as that Teaching
relating to the Eightfold Noble Path and the
Thirty-Seven Factors of Enlightenment (bodhipakkhiya
dhamma) remains intact and available to the
aspirant.
For progress in
Vipassana Meditation, a student must keep knowing Anicca
as continuously as possible. The Buddha's advice to
monks is that they should try to maintain the awareness
of Anicca, Dukkha or Anatta in all postures, whether
sitting, standing, walking or lying down. Continuous
awareness of Anicca and so of Dukkha and Anatta, is the
secret of success. The last words of the Buddha just
before He breathed His last and passed away into
Maha-parinibbana were: "Decay (or Anicca) is inherent in
all component things. Work out your own salvation with
diligence." This is in fact the essence of all His
teachings during the forty-five years of His ministry.
If you will keep up the awareness of the Anicca that is
inherent in all component things, you are sure to reach
the goal in the course of time.
As you develop in the
understanding of Anicca, your insight into "What is true
of nature" will become greater and greater, so much so
that eventually you will have no doubt whatsoever of the
three characteristics of Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta. It
is then only that you will be in a position to go ahead
for the goal in view. Now that you know Anicca as the
first essential factor, you would try to understand what
Anicca is with real clarity as extensively as possible
so as not to get confused in the course of practice or
discussion.
The real meaning of
Anicca is that Impermanence or Decay is the inherent
nature of everything that exists in the Universe --
whether animate or inanimate. The Buddha taught His
disciples that everything that exists at the material
level is composed of "Kalapas." Kalapas are material
units very much smaller than atoms, which die out
immediately after they come into being. Each kalapa is a
mass formed of the eight basic constituents of matter,
the solid, liquid, calorific and oscillatory, together
with color, smell, taste, and nutriment. The first four
are called primary qualities, and are predominant in a
kalapa. The other four are subsidiaries, dependent upon
and springing from the former. A kalapa is the minutest
particle in the physical plane -- still beyond the range
of science today. It is only when the eight basic
material constituents unite together that the kalapa is
formed. In other words, the momentary collocation of
these eight basic elements of behavior makes a man just
for that moment, which in Buddhism is known as a kalapa.
The life-span of a kalapa is termed a moment, and a
trillion such moments are said to elapse during the wink
of a man's eye. These kalapas are all in a state of
perpetual change or flux. To a developed student in
Vipassana Meditation they can be felt as a stream of
energy.
The human body is not,
as it may appear, a solid stable entity, but a continuum
of matter (rupa) co-existing with mentality
(nama). To know that our very body is tiny kalapas
all in a state of change is to know the true nature of
change or decay. This change or decay (anicca)
occasioned by the continual breakdown and replacement of
kalapas, all in a state of combustion, must necessarily
be identified as Dukkha, the truth of suffering. It is
only when you experience impermanence (anicca) as
suffering (dukkha) that you come to the
realization of the truth of suffering, the first of the
Four Noble Truths basic to the doctrine of the Buddha.
Why? Because when you realize the subtle nature of
Dukkha from which you cannot escape for a moment, you
become truly afraid of, disgusted with, and disinclined
towards your very existence as mentality-materiality
(namarupa), and look for a way of escape to a state
beyond Dukkha, and so to Nibbana, the end of suffering.
What that end of suffering is like, you will be able to
taste, even as a human being, when you reach the level
of sotapanna, a stream-enterer, and develop well enough
by practice to attain to the unconditioned state of
Nibbana, the Peace within. But even in terms of
everyday, ordinary life, no sooner than you are able to
keep up the awareness of Anicca in practice will you
know for yourself that a change is taking place in you
for the better, both physically and mentally.
Before entering upon the
practice of Vipassana Meditation, that is, after Samadhi
has been developed to a proper level, a student should
acquaint himself with the theoretical knowledge of
material and mental properties, i.e., of Rupa and Nama.
For in Vipassana Meditation one contemplates not only
the changing nature of matter, but also the changing
nature of mentality, of the thought-elements of
attention directed towards the process of change going
on within matter. At times the attention will be focused
on the impermanence of the material side of existence,
i.e., upon Anicca in regard to Rupa, and at other times
on the impermanence of the thought-elements or mental
side, i.e., upon Anicca in regard to Nama. When one is
contemplating the impermanence of matter, one realizes
also that the thought-elements simultaneous with that
awareness are also in a state of transition or change.
In this case one will be knowing Anicca in regard to
both Rupa and Nama together.
All I have said so far
relates to the understanding of Anicca through bodily
feelings of the process of change of Rupa or matter, and
also of thought-elements depending upon such changing
processes. You should know that Anicca can also be
understood through other types of feeling as well.
Anicca can be contemplated through feeling:
(i)
by contact of visible form with the sense organ of the
eye;
(ii) by contact of sound with the sense organ of the
ear;
(iii) by contact of smell with the sense organ of the
nose;
(iv) by contact of taste with the sense organ of the
tongue;
(v) by contact of touch with the sense organ of the
body;
(vi) and by contact of mental objects with the sense
organ of the mind.
Once can thus develop
the understanding of Anicca through any of six sense
organs. In practice, however, we have found that of all
the types of feeling, the feeling by contact of touch
with the component parts of the body in a process of
change covers the widest area for introspective
meditation. Not only that, the feelings by contact of
touch (by way of friction, radiation and vibration of
the kalapas within) with the component parts of the body
is more evident than other types of feeling and
therefore a beginner in Vipassana Meditation can come to
the understanding of Anicca more easily through bodily
feelings of the change of Rupa or matter. This is the
main reason why we have chosen bodily feeling as a
medium for quick understanding of Anicca. It is open to
anyone to try other means, but my suggestion is that one
should be well-established in the understanding of
Anicca through bodily feeling before any attempt is made
through other types of feeling.
There are ten levels of
knowledge in Vipassana, namely:
(i) Sammasana:
theoretical appreciation of Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta by
close observation and analysis.
(ii) Udayabbaya:
knowledge of the arising and dissolution of Rupa and
Nama by direct observation.
(iii) Bhanga: knowledge
of the rapidly changing nature of Rupa and Nama as a
swift current or stream of energy; in particular, clear
awareness of the phase of dissolution.
(iv) Bhaya: knowledge
that this very existence is dreadful.
(v) Adinava: knowledge
that this very existence is full of evils.
(vi) Nibbida: knowledge
that this very existence is disgusting.
(vii) Muncitukamyata:
knowledge of the urgent need and wish to escape from
this very existence.
(viii) Patisankha:
knowledge that the stage is now set to get detached from
all conditioned phenomena (sankhara) and to break
away from egocentricity.
(x) Anuloma: knowledge
that would accelerate the attempt to reach the goal.
These are the levels of
attainment which one goes through during the course of
Vipassana Meditation; in the case of those who reach the
goal in a short time they can be known only in
retrospect. Along with one's progress in understanding
Anicca, one may reach these levels of attainment,
subject, however, to adjustments or help at certain
levels by a competent teacher. One should avoid looking
forward to such attainments in anticipation, as this
will distract from the continuity of awareness of
Anicca, which alone can and will give the desired
reward.
Let me now deal with
Vipassana Meditation from the point of view of a
householder in everyday life and explain the benefit one
can derive from it -- here and now -- in this very
lifetime.
The initial object of
Vipassana Meditation is to activate the experience of
Anicca in oneself and to eventually reach a state of
inner and outer calmness and balance. This is achieved
when one becomes engrossed in the feeling of Anicca
within. The world is now facing serious problems which
threaten all mankind. It is just the right time for
everyone to take to Vipassana Meditation and learn how
to find a deep pool of quiet in the midst of all that is
happening today. Anicca is inside of everybody. It is
within reach of everybody. Just a look into oneself and
there it is -- Anicca to be experienced. When one can
feel Anicca, when one can experience Anicca, and when
one can become engrossed in Anicca, one can at will cut
oneself off from the world of ideation outside. Anicca
is, for the householder, the gem of life which he will
treasure to create a reservoir of calm and balanced
energy for his own well-being and for the welfare of the
society.
The experience of
Anicca, when properly developed, strikes at the root of
ones physical and mental ills and removes gradually
whatever is bad in him, i.e., the causes of such
physical and mental ills. This experience is not
reserved for men who have renounced the world for the
homeless life. It is for the householder as well. In
spite of drawbacks which make a householder restless in
these days, a competent teacher or guide can help a
student to get the experience of Anicca activated in a
comparatively short time. Once he has got it activated,
all that is necessary is for him to try and preserve it;
but he must make it a point, as soon as time or
opportunity presents itself for further progress, to
work for the stage of Bhangañana -- the third level of
knowledge in Vipassana. If he reaches this level, there
will be little or no problem because he should then be
able to experience Anicca without much ado and almost
automatically. In this case Anicca will become his base,
to which all his physical and mental activities return
as soon as the domestic needs of daily life for such
activities are over. However, there is likely to be some
difficulty for one who has not reached the stage of
Bhanga. It will be just like a tug-of-war for him
between Anicca within, and physical and mental
activities outside. So it would be wise for him to
follow the motto of work while you work, play while you
play. There is no need for him to be activating the
experience of Anicca all the time. It should suffice if
this could be confined to a regular period, or periods,
set apart in the day or night for the purpose. During
this time, at least, an attempt must be made to keep the
attention focused inside the body, with awareness
devoted exclusively to Anicca; that is to say, his
awareness of Anicca should go on from moment to moment
so continuously as not to allow for the interpolation of
any discursive or distracting thoughts which are
definitely detrimental to progress. In case this is not
possible, he will have to go back to
respiration-mindfulness, because Samadhi is the key to
the contemplation of Anicca. To get good Samadhi, Sila
(morality) has to be perfect, since Samadhi is build
upon Sila. For a good experience of Anicca, Samadhi must
be good. If Samadhi is excellent awareness of Anicca
will also become excellent. There is no special
technique for activating the experience of Anicca other
than the use of the mind, adjusted to a perfect state of
balance, and attention projected upon the object of
meditation. In Vipassana the object of meditation is
Anicca, and therefore in the case of those used to
focusing their attention on bodily feelings, they can
feel Anicca directly. In experiencing Anicca in relation
to the body, it should first be in the area where one
can easily get his attention engrossed, changing the
area of attention from place to place, from head to feet
and from feet to head, at times probing into the
interior. At this stage, it must clearly be understood
that no attention is to be paid to the anatomy of the
body, but to the formations of matter -- the kalapas --
and the nature of their constant change.
If these instructions
are observed, there will surely be progress, but the
progress depends also on Parami (i.e., on one's
dispositions for certain spiritual (qualities) and the
devotion of the individual to the work of meditation. If
he attains high levels of knowledge, his power to
understand the three characteristics of Anicca, Dukkha
and Anatta will increase and he will accordingly come
nearer and nearer to the goal of the Ariya or noble
saint, which every householder should keep in view.
This is the age of
science. Man of today has no Utopia. He will not accept
anything unless the results are good, concrete, vivid,
personal, and here-and-now. When the Buddha was alive,
He said to the Kalamas:
Now look, you Kalamas.
Be not misled by report or tradition or hearsay. Be not
misled by proficiency in the scriptural collections, or
by reasoning or logic or reflection on and approval of
some theory, or because some view conforms with one's
inclinations, or out of respect for prestige of a
teacher. But when you know for yourselves: these things
are unwholesome, these things are blameworthy, these
things are censured by the wise; these things when
practiced and observed, conduce to loss and sorrow --
then you reject them. But if at any time you know for
yourselves: these things are wholesome, these things are
blameless, these things are praised by the intelligent;
these things, when practiced and observed, conduce to
welfare and happiness, then, Kalamas, do ye, having
practiced them, abide.
The time-clock of
Vipassana has now struck -- that is for the revival of
Buddha-Dhamma Vipassana in practice. We have no doubt
whatsoever that definite results would accrue to those
who would with an open mind sincerely undergo a course
of training under a competent teacher -- I mean results
which will be accepted as good, concrete, vivid,
personal, here-and-now, results which will keep them in
good stead and in a state of well-being and happiness
for the rest of their lives.
May all beings be happy
and may Peace prevail in the world.
U Ba Khin:
An Appreciation
by
Eric Lerner
Over the centuries
Theravada Buddhist teachings have been preserved by and
large in a monastic tradition. The requisite for the
true practice has been the renunciation of worldly
existence for a life behind walls or in the forest.
Householders were left with the observances of morality,
almsgiving, and worship to accrue merit for future lives
when they could actually embark on the formal path to
liberation. As the sutras themselves reveal, however,
this was not the case at all when the Buddha was alive
and preaching. Vast numbers of householders received the
teaching and the practice as well, and attained high
levels of spiritual development.
In the past few decades
in the Theravada Buddhist countries there has been a
general revival of interest in insight meditation among
the robed Sangha, and with it a spreading of the
practice outside the monastery walls. This has in a
sense revivified the whole outlook toward meditation,
practicalizing it, in a way, by focusing on two
important aspects. First, how can a man who does not
have his entire life to devote to silence and
contemplation approach meditation? And second, what role
can the meditative discipline play in worldly life?
These problems were
dealt with in great detail and with remarkable strength
of imagination by one of the most important meditation
masters of modern day Burma, Thray Sithu U Ba Khin. He
was well known within his country as an important
Government servant, for many years the Accountant
General of the Union of Burma as well as the chairman of
a number of important boards and commissions. At one
time he held four such posts simultaneously, was the
father of six children and found the time to teach
meditation at the International Meditation Center in
Rangoon, which was established under his guidance in the
early 1950s.
The unique
characteristics of his spiritual teaching stem from his
situation as a lay meditation master in an orthodox
Buddhist country. It was not appropriate for him to
instruct monks, so all of his practice was geared
specifically to lay people. He developed a powerfully
direct approach to Vipassana meditation that could be
undertaken in a short period of intensive practice and
continued as part of householding life. His method has
been of great importance in the transmission of the
Dhamma to the West, because in his twenty five years at
the Center he instructed scores of foreign visitors who
needed no closer acquaintance with Buddhism per se
to quickly grasp this practice of insight. Since U Ba
Khin's demise in 1971 several of his commissioned
disciples have carried on his work, both within and
outside of Burma. Hundreds of Westerners have received
the instruction from S.N. Goenka in India, Robert Hover
and Ruth Denison in America and John Coleman in England.
In addition, several of U Ba Khin's closest disciples
still teach at the Center in Rangoon.
What is the goal of
Insight Meditation? And does it differ in any way for
the man whose whole life is devoted to its practice and
the man who earns a living and supports others? In the
broadest sense there is no difference. The end of
suffering is the goal. The experience of Nibbanic Peace
within, as U Ba Khin referred to it, is the aim of the
practice. But also the end of suffering each moment.
Harmony between beings, the end of internal tension, the
manifestation of loving-kindness, the ability to perform
one's daily tasks free from anger, greed and anxiety.
For the lay person and the monk it is the same. The way
to proceed, however, differs, at least at the outset.
U Ba Khin understood
that unlike the monk, his students faced severe
limitations of time to devote to their practice.
Furthermore, they had to function in a completely
uncontrolled environment generally hostile to proper
moral conduct and good concentration, the requisites for
insight. Thus he gave them a method that could withstand
that pressure. In the short span of ten days, most of
his pupils could experience at least a glimpse of the
reality within and continue expanding their awareness
with two hours daily of formal meditation after they
left the Center.
This technique has three
distinctive qualities to it. First is its emphasis on
the development of sufficient one-pointed concentration.
Concerning this, U Ba Khin wrote:
Samadhi
(concentration) is a way of training the mind to become
tranquil, pure and strong and therefore forms the
essence of religious life... It is, in fact, the
greatest common denominator of all religions. Unless one
can get the mind freed from the impurities and develop
it to a state of purity, he can hardly identify himself
with Brahma or God. Although different methods are used
by people of different religions, the goal for the
development of mind is the same, viz, a perfect state of
physical and mental calm. The student at the Center is
helped to develop the power of concentration to
one-pointedness by encouraging him to focus his
attention to a spot on the upper lip at the base of the
nose, synchronizing the inward and outward motion of
respiration with the silent awareness of in-breath and
out-breath... In the Anapana meditation technique (i.e.,
that of respiration mindfulness), which is followed at
the Center, one great advantage is that the respiration
is not only natural, but also available at all times for
the purpose of anchoring one's attention to it, to the
exclusion of all other thoughts. With a determined
effort to narrow down the range of thought waves,
firstly, to the area around the nose with respiration
mindfulness and gradually, with the wavelength of
respiration becoming shorter, to a spot on the upper lip
with just the warmth of the breath, there is no reason
why a good student of meditation should not be able to
secure the one-pointedness of mind in a few days of
training.
-- The Real Values of
True Buddhist Meditation, pp. 5-6.
The reason for the
necessity of good concentration, he felt, was that with
only a limited period of time available, one's mind had
to have a degree of penetrating power to really
experience the inner reality on more than a conceptual
level. He departed from the most traditional monastic
view that concentration had to be developed to very high
states requiring great time and isolation. But neither
did he agree with the approach that began with little
specific concentration training. He was interested in a
sufficient level for the work of real insight.
The second quality of
his teaching was its focus on the characteristic of
anicca, impermanence. The Buddha described reality
as having three marks, or characteristics: impermanence,
unsatisfactoriness, and the absence of a real I or self.
In the practice of mindfulness, observance of just what
is, focusing the attention of these true marks of
reality breaks down false view and weakens attachment, U
Ba Khin taught that the most direct access to
understanding the process of life was through awareness
of impermanence, anicca. He felt that anicca
is the most apparent and readily comprehensible of the
three marks and that its understanding leads naturally
to the others. So the observance of change, or the
alteration of all phenomenon at increasingly subtler
levels was the real object of his Vipassana technique.
The method itself was
the systematic awareness of physical sensation in the
body. As the Satipatthana Sutta of the Buddha makes
clear, the process of life is identical in every aspect
of the mind-body continuum. Choose whichever you like
and observe it closely enough and all of reality
unfolds. U Ba Khin found that the unfolding is most
dramatic and rapid in the physical sensation within the
body. His students were directed to place their
concentrated attention on that and become sensitive to
the process of change observable in the tactile reaction
of heat, cold tingling, pain, numbness, pressure or
whatever was there. Simply observe the changing nature
of the phenomenon within you, he taught.
Continued practice of
the method, as he points out in the following articles,
yields spiritual and worldly results as well. He
maintained that a householder could enjoy the fruit of
the Nibbanic experience in this life-time. And he
encouraged men not to be content with ritual practice of
simple book knowledge of the teachings. In addition, the
practice, as his disciple S.N. Goenka terms it, is an
art of living. So convinced was U Ba Khin of the power
of this method for clearing the mind that he insisted
that all of his employees in the Accounts Department
take a course of meditation from him and that a portion
of the office be set aside for a meditation space. Mr.
Robert Hover recounts the story that his teacher told
him. Sometimes U Ba Khin, attending particularly
unfocused meetings of government with men of more biased
minds, would in the midst of heated argument rise from
his chair and stand for some moments gazing out the
window before returning to the conference table. His
colleagues thought he was watching the world outside. In
fact, U Ba Khin explained, he was busy within,
reestablising mindfulness to deal with the demands of
life.
The Buddhist Publication
Society
The Buddhist Publication
Society is an approved charity dedicated to making known
the Teaching of the Buddha, which has a vital message
for people of all creeds.
Founded in 1958, the BPS
has published a wide variety of books and booklets
covering a great range of topics. Its publications
include accurate annotated translations of the Buddha's
discourses, standard reference works, as well as
original contemporary expositions of Buddhist thought
and practice. These works present Buddhism as it truly
is -- a dynamic force which has influenced receptive
minds for the past 2500 years and is still as relevant
today as it was when it first arose.
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION
SOCIETY
P.O. Box 61
54, Sangharaja Mawatha
Kandy
Sri Lanka
http://www.bps.lk
With an Essay on U Ba
Khin by
Eric
Lerner
The Wheel Publication
No. 231
Copyright © 1981
Buddhist Publication Society
For free distribution
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edition was transcribed from the print edition in 1995
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