Chapter twelve
The four foundations of awareness are a complete
cycle
Mantra
The most popular
meditation teachings in Thailand and elsewhere I suppose are on the first
foundation of awareness, of which there are many different techniques due to
the expertise of each teacher. Some schools like their followers to be aware of
the breathing or movements in silence whilst some schools prefer to use words
or a mantra to accompany the movement. With walking meditation for example,
practitioners are guided to say lifting, stepping and touching as their feet
movements are going on. If the observation is based on the arising (pong) and
the collapsing (yoob) of the stomach, practitioners are advised to say
pong-nor, yoob-nor as they are watching the movement of their stomach. If the
observation is based on the breathing, Buddho is normally the term used;
breathing in saying Bood, breathing out saying dho.
The reason I bring this up
is because there are often debates about which technique should be the right
one - to observe in silence or to use words. I have had experience of both
schools of teaching. The latest school I attended two years ago was a
congregation of eighty people. To make sure that the members were practising
correctly and that the teachers could see, we were lined up in rows and had to
do the movement as well as repeating words in unison. The whole building was
filled with the roaring sound of “lifting, stepping and touching” of eighty
people while walking meditation was proceeding. I was told off a few times when
a teacher spotted me and said that my foot movements and my words were not
matching. They should have happened exactly at the same time. The head teacher said that this was the
only way that would work with teaching a big group of people.
Having understood the
fourth foundation of awareness, I can now put forward my view about which
technique is better. I can see that to repeat words on top of the movement may
prolong the advancing of the practice. We must understand that to think is to
talk either loudly in our head or uttering sounds and resulting languages. Not until we have fully
understood the third foundation of self awareness, do we know that it is about
eradicating all thoughts, sound or language in our heads. The focus point of
the fourth foundation of awareness is the silent mind which is the same state
as voidness, non-self and Nirvana, and is completely void of thought. The
silent mind and the thinking mind cannot share the same seat, just like playing
musical chairs. If the silent mind is the president, the thinking mind will
disappear and vice versa. Silence and sounds cannot claim the same moment.
Therefore, in deliberately creating the sounds, although they are totally
harmless while observation of the movements is proceeding, we have
unintentionally taken away the silent mind or the voidness or Nirvana which in
itself is indeed the focus point of the fourth foundation of awareness. This
practice will definitely obstruct practitioners from seeing the voidness,
although they have come so close to the jackpot. As I said, every teacher can
teach up to the level they have achieved and no further. I am sure that
teachers who can see and fully understand the fourth foundation of awareness
will not encourage practitioners to utter any word accompanying the movement. I
taught this myself in the past and now I want to undo it.
However, to compromise
this issue, I do not say that to utter words accompanying the movements is
wrong. It isn’t wrong. In some
circumstances, especially when novices experience a scattered mind and
day-dreaming, words and mantras are important to them so that their minds can
be led to the right track and reach a certain level of calmness. Different
people have different habits and character and can tune in with certain
techniques only. Nevertheless, the
most important factor is that the teacher must be able to point out certain
things for his or her pupils. Then again, it also depends on what level the
teacher has achieved. If the teachers have not yet understood the third
foundation of awareness, they cannot guide their pupils further than they know.
As I said, the four foundations of awareness are a natural progression. If the
path is correctly walked, signs of progress will definitely show. If the
development does not happen after so many years of practice, practitioners must
question both themselves and their teachers. I think this is the fairest view
that I can put forward.
When we are
told that this station is called Nirvana
Let’s come back to the
analogy of train spotting again. Whilst the third foundation of awareness is
the ability to spot the train coming in and out of the station, the fourth
foundation of awareness is indeed spotting the whole train station the moment
between the immediately departing train and the immediately arriving train.
That is the moment when the station is quiet and empty because there is no
train. Our mental mechanism works exactly the same as the above analogy except
that the speed involved is staggeringly faster. The third foundation of
awareness enables us to notice that the nature of thought is coming and going.
Alternatively, we can say that thought is illusive. As a result, there is a gap
in between the just passing thought and the arriving thought and this simple
gap is the focus point of the fourth foundation of awareness. This gap might
last only a fraction of a moment and it is impossible for non-practitioners to
notice it. Now, we can understand that the four foundations of awareness
prepare human consciousness to be
sharp and quick enough to spot this almost undetectable nature in our minds.
That is really all there is to it as far as the practice is concerned.
Those who can understand
the third foundation of awareness will definitely have a sharp and acute sense
of self-awareness so that they are able to detect the formation of each thought
and to notice the sudden flash of the gap in between two thoughts. This is a lifetime training according to the Buddhist
culture.
Despite its overwhelming simplicity
and ordinariness, this humble gap is however the spring of wisdom, which gives
us endless knowledge containing all the answers about life in relation to the
universe in which we live. This humble and simple gap is indeed the state of
Nirvana or non-self which Sekha persons have seen before but still lack the
final connection. Not until the train spotter asked the station controller: “Sir, could you please tell me which train I
can catch if I want to go to Nirvana ?”, will the answer be revealed. We’ll
come to our senses when the controller answers “There is no need to catch any train at all, this very station you are
sitting in is indeed called Nirvana.”
The train-spotter then exclaimed: “ Goodness
me, Nirvana is indeed our home station all along. I have been sitting here for
a long time but I didn’t have a clue until you confirmed it to me.” Such an
analogy is the intuitive wisdom which comes to confirm all practitioners about
the state of Nirvana when the time is right. This was what happened to me two
years ago.
Finally, Nirvana is like
the home we have been living in from day one of our lives and we gain endless
gifts and benefit from it without realising. Alternatively, we have been eating
rice since we were born but we didn’t know that the white steamy grains on our
plates were called rice until someone told us. However, it is the rice that has
made us grow and survive all this time. So does Nirvana do to us. We have been
gifted by Nirvana by keeping our sanity intact since day one of our lives
without us knowing. The four foundations of awareness are the only access that
can take us along the path to have this knowledge confirmed to us. Although I
can tell people about exactly what happens, all this is still my knowledge
which I have earned. I can only share with people so that the signpost can be
clear to them, but everyone has to earn their own knowledge. No one can do this
on behalf of another. For those who have a strong belief in God, they need to
just change the term Nirvana to God and they will find their only real God.
This is the unique and universal experience of human lives. Every religious
tradition only assists us to have the same experience since we are human all
the same.
Thinking
without foundation can cause disaster
Since we are on the topic
of train spotting or catching the formation of thought, I will take this
opportunity to talk about the use of thought. Whenever the issue of voidness
arises, many people especially intellectuals have doubts and are put off by it.
They don’t like to think that their brains are completely void from thoughts;
they can’t help thinking of the vegetative state. That is hardly the case.
For people who have no
knowledge of the ultimate purpose of life, nor the four foundations of
awareness, their use of thoughts can be compared to catching every train which
arrives at the station. There is no question as regards where they are going
and what train takes them to where and where they should get off, etc. All
these fundamental questions have never been asked, they only know that whenever
a train comes along, they will jump on and sit in there as long as it takes.
They will get off from one train and get on another train all the time. They
never notice anything else around them. It may sound patronising and offending
but this is the nature of people who have no ultimate purpose in life and
especially have no foundations of awareness. Naturally, they will follow and
engage in their thoughts just like sitting in a train. Intellectuals are
extremely good at boosting such a nature. They can be absorbed in their
thoughts and concepts (group of thoughts) and delve deeper and deeper in them
according to whatever interests them. The nature of thought and the use of
thought can easily be profuse and proliferated. It can go on and on like a
chain reaction. During the process of thought profusion, a lot of things are
created as well as destroyed. We must be very careful with terms like
development and achievement. We think that we have developed and advanced much farther
than our ancestors as far as materials and technology are concerned. There is
no doubt that we can now live better because of the use of our brain, thoughts
or intellect.
But this is the point: while we are thinking that we can live better than
our ancestors, this same statement will be repeated over and over by our
younger generations. Our technology now will undoubtedly be classed as ancient
by the end of the next century. There is no reason why a fantasy like Star Trek
cannot be true in the far future. That is what being human is all about. We can
leap away from animals because we have the ability to use our thoughts and
subsequently materialise abstract thoughts into action. This is humanity’s
unique ability. Consequently, we can make a metal fish float and a metal bird
fly exactly like what we have in our minds. We can transform what we think into
a real thing. This transformation has been happening since day one and will go
on forever. But then, we have to look again. If our future fantasy still involves
killing and destroying, it means this is what will happen too. I see no reason
why the fictional future like Star Trek cannot really happen. Our thoughts,
imagination and fantasy shape our future. The point is wars are still going on
between the Cadasian, the Clingon, the Bejourant and so on. The Ferangis are
still known as being greedy and selfish. What is the difference between now and
then. It doesn’t matter what style of weapons we will advance into, the bottom
line is that the destruction will still be there which means that we have not
yet leapt away from our ancient ancestors at all. At the end of the day, we
still cannot answer all the fundamental questions e.g. birth, ageing, illness,
death and especially about our standing point within this mysterious universe.
If we cannot answer those questions, it is very important that we question the
use of our intellect.
Thoughts and the use of thoughts are the most obscure nature. If we don’t
know the definite goal of using thoughts and have no foundation of awareness,
we can easily get lost. The worst thing is that we are lost in a way that we
don’t even know. If we are born in a dark cave and live there all our lives,
there is no way we can know that there is light outside the cave unless someone
who knows tells us. This is the sole reason why we must listen to the knower.
This is why the Buddha and Christ had to work so hard for humankind. They try
to tell us that there is light outside this cave because they have seen it. I
am now confirming their words of truth. I have no doubt when I say that our
education and the advancing of our precious technology are in the realm of
darkness. We are on the wrong track. Our modern culture is based on a
disastrous route, which is taking us to a brick wall or a dangerous cliff and
disaster is imminent.
Spiritual ignorance is the most difficult thing to detect. We have
intellectuals and scholars who can talk and answer questions as if they knew
everything. As a matter of fact, their knowledge is based on piecing together a
small patch of jigsaw puzzle which is considered very minute compared to the
whole outcome. If people still cannot stop their unwanted thoughts and
feelings, it means that they are still in the dark. It is a painful truth but
it can also be a u-turn for someone. Our trouble in the world is mainly the
result of pursuing the thoughts that we should not have pursued. Consequently,
we transform the destructive thoughts into action and subsequently cause
various kinds of crimes from domestic to international. Biology, the finding of
DNA will be an area of knowledge that can threaten the whole of humanity in the
future if scientists cannot stop their curious thoughts and still pursue the
experiment. We cannot do much to stop the overall destruction, not until we
talk about the ultimate purpose of life.
The Buddha
is the greatest thinker
This doesn’t mean that people who know the ultimate purpose of life, as
well as engaging in the four foundations of awareness, do not have any thought
or don’t know how to think. It is quite the contrary. Those people actually
have a better ability to think because they know the goal of thinking, which
closely relates to the ultimate goal of life. As a result, they do not lose
track whilst the thinking process is going on. If their use of thought begins
to get sidetracked, they can adjust by stopping thinking when they want to.
This is the ability that non-practitioners do not have. The best example is by
looking at the Buddha. Despite living in the state of voidness or Nirvana where
there is no thought, whenever the Buddha wants to use his thought, he can
generate the issue he wants to talk about as well as methodically and
systematically arrange the various subjects. This exceptional ability has not
happened to any other great sage in the world. As a matter of fact, Nirvana or
the ultimate truth is the only thing that the Buddha wants people in the world
to witness but he knows that it is difficult. So, he does his best to plan his
strategy and draws a detailed life map so that people can follow the trail just
like the man who found the pond of holy water. By the time the Buddha died, his followers could
gather 84000 different dhamma topics laid down by the great teacher of the
world. This detailed life map obviously aims at helping people of all
backgrounds, qualities and potential so that people from all walks of life can
witness the ultimate reality already existing right in front of them.
This is never an easy matter to explain especially to those who do not
know the practice, because the experience is unique and indescribable. However,
knowing the ultimate goal of life and engaging in the four foundations of
awareness can truly help people to have a better discipline of thinking. They
can delve into their thoughts as deeply as they want to when it is needed to do
so, at the same time they can switch their thoughts off when they finish with
them. In this way, they do not waste their energy. Above all, they don’t lose
track. As long as they know that the home station is called Nirvana, they can
jump on any train, which comes into the station, sit in it and ride as far as
they need to. No matter how far they go, they can always come back to their
home station or Nirvana or the kingdom of God.
That
Ayatana[1]
exists
Once the Buddha,
surrounded by his followers, was staying at the Shetawan monastery offered to
him by the kind millionaire, Anandhabhindika. He suddenly expressed his solemn
utterance to his Bhikkus who had great enthusiasm in listening to their
teachers’ dhamma.
“Listen to this Bhikkus, that Ayatana does exist. That Ayatana is not
earth, nor water, nor wind, nor fire, nor space, etc.. It isn’t this world, nor
the next world. It isn’t the moon, nor the sun. It isn’t coming, nor going, nor
existing, nor leaving, nor arriving, nor proceeding, nor becoming. It is not a
sense object. That Ayatana is indeed the end of all suffering.”
I used to wonder why the
Buddha uses the term “that Ayatana” to describe the state of Nirvana. This is
also another term that I have just recently realised its full meaning. I can
now understand why and know that it is the most suitable term too. There is no
doubt that that Ayatana is the
neutral state in nature, the state of the ultimate reality or truth, the state
of Godhood, Tao, Nirvana or the end of all suffering depending on whatever we
want to call it. However, this unique state in nature cannot be sensed with the
fragmented six sense bases, it has to be witnessed by the harmonious one sense
or “that Ayatana” where there is no
observer or observed. We cannot say that ultimate reality is witnessed by our
eyes, nose, ears, tongue, body or even the mind. This single being has to be experienced by that Ayatana only. This is the only way to witness the Dhamma
(everything) which is the focus point of the fourth foundation of
awareness.
Nirodha-samabat
or Sanna-vedayitanirodha
Many readers, especially
the enthusiastic Buddhists, would think like me that there is no way we can
understand such a difficult term as Nirodha-samabat. I always thought that it
had nothing to do with me and I never paid any attention to find out. I think
my lack of enthusiasm was due to being misled somehow. Having read some
spiritual fictions, I was led to believe that Nirodha-samabat was about sitting
in meditation with eyes closed and the spirit would leave the physical body and
travel near and far for so many days. The teacher always asked his faithful
follower to guard his physical body well so that no one would make the mistake
of thinking that the teacher had died and cremate it. Otherwise, there wouldn’t
be any body for the teacher to come back to. In the Tripitaka or the Pali
cannon, it has been recorded that the Buddha also entered Nirodha-samabat from
time to time. I do not know whether Nirodha-samabat has anything else involved
or not, anything that I do not know about.
It was just recently as
well that I came across this word in a Buddhist Dictionary, so I thought that I
would find out the meaning this time. After I scanned through the meaning, I
realised that I could understand this experience although it had never happened
to me before since I had always been put off by this term in the past. It was
obvious to me that Nirodha-samabat is the same state as the dhamma-nu-passana,
which is the focus point of the fourth foundation of awareness. Nirodha-samabat
or Sanna-vedayitanirodha is known as the highest level of meditation. It is the
attainment of extinction where memory (sanna) and feelings (vedana) come to an
end. Anyone who can retain the state of voidness long enough will know that it
is also the moment when there is no memory. Memory is also a function in our
life form which needs thought as its transporter. When we can remember
something, thought has to come into our head. Without thought, memory
disappears too. As for the extinction of feelings, I am sure it refers to
mental feelings. Thought is the cause of mental feeling, without thought, there
is no feeling. If this is the case, can it mean that whenever we can slip into
the state of voidness, this is also the state of Nirodha samabat or
Sanna-vedayitanirodha? If it is so, it means that we don’t need to have our
eyes closed to enter Nirodha-samabat. This is all I know as far as this
difficult term is concerned. If there is anything else more than this, I do not
know due to having no experience.
The four
foundations of awareness are a complete cycle
Having understood the
focus point of the fourth foundation of awareness, I can now clearly see that
the four foundations of awareness are indeed a complete cycle of practice. This
cycle starts from the point where we don’t know what is what; that is seeing
the world or everything in front of us attached to names, concepts, price and
value as well as having an “I” who observes everything. This is the state of
lacking ultimate harmony. Then luckily, we meet a good friend (kalayanamittata)
- a friend who guides us into the right path to know ourselves. We then listen
to someone talking about the dhamma (Paratoghosa).[2]
The mind journey subsequently begins; we then grasp the fundamental practice of
the first and second foundations of self-awareness. This is the process of
coming back to know our very self from our movements to our physical feelings
and mental feelings. Then, we gradually move up to the third foundation of
self-awareness which is catching up with the staggering speed of thoughts. This
stage is called having yonisomanasikara which is the important factor to get
rid of all doubts about life in relation to the universe in which we live. The
Buddha greatly admires his Bhikkus who have yonisomanasikara.
These three foundations of
awareness are however internal factors. Readers might have noticed that
whenever I mention the first three foundations, I always use the term
self-awareness. The reason is purely because they are indeed about
self-awareness, about coming back to observe this very life form of ours from
knowing our rough movements to the abstract nature of the arising and passing
away of thoughts. Having seen how the mind works until it reaches its automatic
state, we have taken away a thick layer of clutter or darkness from our mind
(heart). The mind then becomes innocent, pure, alert and awakened. The innocent
mind is indeed the true nature of the mind. This is when the sense of mental
self or I has disappeared from moment to moment. We then use our innocent mind to perceive the world. This
state is what I call having innocent perception and then we’ll see the innocent
world or the innocent universe. Witnessing the innocent world is indeed the
fourth foundation of awareness. But this time, the six sense bases have
disappeared along with all the names, concepts, price and value which used to
be attached to everything we perceived. Our mental-self too has disappeared
during the process of having yonisomanasikara. We can finally know the universe
with just one harmonious sense or that
Ayatana where there is neither observer nor observed. The universe in front
of us is still exactly the same as before we knew the practice, but being able to
witness through the torchlight of wisdom, we know that everything is not the
same. It is as if we were wearing a pair of dark glasses before, but by the
time we finish with the four foundations of awareness, we merely take our dark
shades off our eyes. That is all there is to it. So we still witness the same
world but with our naked eyes. This is the difference between those who engage
in the practice and those who don’t. We can see that the four foundations of
awareness are a complete cycle from the point of knowing nothing to knowing
everything.
Always
observing mindfulness with breathing
Sekha persons who have not
yet completely and permanently entered Nirvana must not be heedless and
complacent although they have reached the automatic state at some point. No one
is safe as long as he or she has not yet entered Arahantship. Consequently, all
Sekha persons still keep up with the first three foundations of self-awareness
although the practice has become rather natural by now. How can Sekha persons
not do that because even Asekha persons or Phra Arahants still do mindfulness
with breathing? I was quite surprised to come across in the Tripitaka that the
Buddha still advised his Bhikkus who had finished their duty or had already
become Phra Arahants to do Anapanasati or mindfulness with breathing. Once the
Buddha said:
“Listen to this Bhikkus, Bhikkus who have finished
their duty, become Phra Arahants, have done all the tasks that they were
supposed to do, have put down all their burdens, have achieved their
self-worth, have demolished all defilements which are the cause of attachment,
have gone beyond all suffering because of right understanding, the Anapanasati
which those Bhikkus have developed and cultivated is for the present happiness
and for self-awareness.”[3]
Having read the above
paragraph from the Tripitaka, I realised that the happiness resulting from
being aware of the breathing is indeed a very natural physical mechanism. This
is simply a scientific reality - the cause is being aware of the breathing, the
result is feeling good both physically and mentally. Everyone can prove this
mechanism right now and know that it is very true. It is like being thirsty and
hungry; drinking a glass of water and having some food will naturally make us
feel better. Although Phra Arahants no longer have any mental feelings, their
life forms are still under the law of nature. They are still thirsty and hungry
and they have to act accordingly. Their physical bodies and minds too can still
lack settlement and happiness although they are totally detached from all
things. This unsettlement of both body and mind is not the result of spiritual
ignorance any more but due to the natural mechanism of how body and mind work.
Phra Arahants who still have to
live with people and especially have to do administrative work can experience
the unsettlement of body and mind but this can easily be put right by a dose of
Anapanasati. That’s why the Buddha said that mindfulness with breathing or
Anapanasati done by Phra Aranhants is for their present happiness and self
awareness. We must understand correctly. As far as mindfulness with breathing
is concerned, I think we should use the term practising Anapanasati for Sekha
persons and doing Anapanasati for Asekha persons. The simple reason is that
Phra Arahants do not have to practise anymore. Their duty has finished but they
do Anapanasati in the same way that they have to drink, eat and go to
toilet.
Summary
The four foundations of
awareness are the detailed life map which can guide us to the ultimate purpose
of life. This life map is indeed the result of the Buddha’s matchless ability
and is aimed to help humanity which is made up of diverse individuals who have
different levels of potential. The most profound wisdom which ever existed in
the universe is to be able to witness ultimate reality (truth), Nirvana or God
right in front of us. When people cannot see it despite its distinctiveness, it
makes this whole thing become the most difficult task on earth. Nonetheless,
the Buddha manages to offer us the shortest route possible so that we can
engage in the mind journey and witness the only real thing in nature – the
innocent world. This is the way of the four foundations of awareness or
vipassana-bhavana.
If anyone has not yet
heard about this practice, they should quickly find a teacher and learn from
him or her, to fit in with the Thai saying “It
is lucky to be born as a human being and
bump into Buddhism.”
[1]
Ayatana means the sense-bases or sense fields. There are twelve sense-bases
which are made up of six internal sense-bases - eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body
and mind; and six external corresponding sense objects - sights, sounds,
smells, tastes, touch and thought. The Buddha classes the mind as the sixth
sense. It doesn’t mean telepathic ability. It has the rather straightforward
meaning of an abstract mental sense organ, which has the ability to know mental
objects or thought. That is all there is to it. I pinpoint the location of the
mind to my student as the abstract nature behind our chest just to make the
practice become easier.
[2]
The two sources or conditions, which pave the way to the arising of the right
view are: 1) Paratoghosa meaning hearing or learning from others or
Kalayanamittata (good friends who can tell us about the dhamma). 2)
Yonisomanasikara meaning placing the mind in the right frame. To understand
this term better, it is easier to say that practitioners engaging in the third
foundation of self-awareness are indeed having yonisomanasikara when the mind
is governed by wisdom and not darkness.
The Buddha said “ I cannot see any factor which is more beneficial to
the Sekha monks than yonisomanasikara. Bhikkus who have yonisomanasikara can
get rid of their sinful thought and bring forward the noble and righteous
thoughts.”
In other occasions the Buddha said: “ I
cannot see any dhamma but yonisomanasikara which cause the unborn doubt not to
be born and the existing doubt to disappear. “Yonisomanasikara is for great
benefit, for rooting, for not disappearing and for the nurture of ultimate
truth.”
[3]
Tripitaka, Sangyutnigai, mahawarawak 19/413