Joticanda. Reflections on Feeling 20160311

8/18/2019 Joticanda. Reflections on Feeling 20160311

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THE 2ND AGGREGATE,

A REAL-LIFE INVESTIGATION BY GOTAMA BUDDHA

Joticandā HANG HO 03/2016



Reflections on Feeling | Joticandā HANG HO

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Table of Contents

HOME OF CONSCIOUSNESS............................................................................................... 2

MEANINGS .............................................................................................................................. 2

FIVE AGGREGATES & DEPENDENT CO-ARISING ...................................................................... 3

BODILY FEELING AND MENTAL FEELING ............................................................................ 5

THE DART ................................................................................................................................ 6

FEELING ROOTED IN CONTACT ............................................................................................... 6

CLINGING-AGGREGATES | DISCERN FEELING AND CLINGING-FEELING ................................. 7

3 UNIVERSAL CHARACTERISTICS ....................................................................................... 9

PLEASANT FEELING SHOULD BE SEEN AS SUFERING ......................................................... 10

EMOTIONS ARISEN UNDER MENTAL PROCESS................................................................. 11

FEELING OF THE WORLD OR SEEING THEM AS THEY REALLY ARE? ................................... 12

DISCERN FEELING FROM SEEING .......................................................................................... 12

CONCLUSION: RIGHT VIEW COMES FIRST ........................................................................ 12

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 13




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REFLECTIONS ON FEELINGTHE 2ND AGGREGATE, A REAL-LIFE INVESTIGATION BY GOTAMA BUDDHA

Dragging the exhausted body to the quiet room, he vaguely felt a burden of oldage after a long day at work. Dropping down on the old couch to the back, he

sighed heavily. Suddenly he felt an emptiness, lonely in the neatly furnished room.Has this place ever been the home of his mind?

HOME OF CONSCIOUSNESS

MEANINGSIn this section we deal with ‘Feeling’. In today’s modern society, there seems to be a trendymovement of ‘solitude’. The more time people spend in high -tech devices, the more isolatedthey feel when being back to regular routines with themselves such as eating, walking,dressing and even breathing. As for a Buddhist or the one who understands Buddhism, thepractice of being mindful or careful attention to every single action is highly important.Because that is beneficial for them to discern feelings and realities. How should weunderstand ‘feeling’ thus?

The definition of ‘Feeling’ is variable:

Feeling is the nominalization of the verb ‘to feel’. The word was first used in the English languageto describe the physical sensation of touch through either experience or perception. The word isalso used to describe experiences other than the physical sensation of touch, such as "a feeling ofwarmth" and of sentience in general. In Latin, sentire meant to feel, hear or smell (‘Feeling’ n.d). 1

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica (2016 Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., ‘Feeling’, para. 1)wrote:

Feeling, in psychology, the perception of events within the body, closely related to emotion. Theterm ‘feeling’ is a verbal noun denoting the action of the verb ‘to feel’, which derivesetymologically from the Middle English verb felen , “to perceive by touch, by palpation.” […] Manypsychologists, however, still follow the German philosopher Immanuel Kant in equating ‘feeling’to states of pleasantness and unpleasantness, known in psychology as affect. 2

* Many monastic scholars agree that ‘consciousness’ is the basis for ‘feeling’, ‘perception’ and ‘volitional formation’.

In terms of citta or mano and under the aspect of Abhidhamma (Buddhist psychology), their exegeses arecomprehensible. “Consciousness co nditions mind-and- body ...” - proclaimed by the Buddha (D 15:63), which alsoexplains this fact. We see it more clearly in the Dependent Co-arising & Aggregates diagram, Figure 1, p. 5.




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With reference to vedanā (Pal., Skr.), the Buddhist term which stands for ‘feeling’ is identifiedtime after time with other key factors in the basic teachings of Gotama (Pal.) Buddha or

Gautama (Skr.) Buddha . Vedanā has the root vid which means ‘to feel’. In Theravada Buddhism, vedanā or feeling is mentioned as one of seven universal mental factors ( cetasika) (Nandamālābhivaṃ sa 2015, p. 52) 3; one of twelve links of Dependent Origination (D 15 4, MN115.3:64 5 , MN 38.1:261-264 6); one of five aggregates (Pal. khandhas , Skr. skandhas ) (SNIII.22:47-48 7, MN 109 8); and one out of four foundations of mindfulness practice (D 22 9 or MN10). Vedanā in this respect is “born of eye -contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact,body-contact, mind- contact” (DN 15:58). Which means that a ‘feeling’ is conditioned bycontact between sense-base and its corresponding object. It is common to understand‘feeling’ in the conventional sense. However, to comprehend ‘feeling’ in the ultimate truth,

in other words, to follow the Buddha’s teachings on vedanā ; it is imperative to see ‘feeling’as one in five aggregates [that constitute a human-being] and the feeling-and-perceptionprocess * [which is tacitly indicated in Dependent Co-arising doctrine (Pal.

pa ṭiccasamuppāda) ].

FIVE AGGREGATES & DEPENDENT CO-ARISINGIn the Saṃyutta nikāya , part III - the book of the aggregates (Khandhavagga) , VenerableMahākaccāna expounded the deliverance from five clinging-aggregates to the householderHaliddakani (SN III.22:9-12). Known as "the foremost among those who explain in detail themeaning of what has been stated [by the Buddha] in brief" (AN I.14:24) 10 , Venerable

Mahākaccāna clarified the “abode” of consciousness, which is consisting in “the sign of forms [...]the sign of sounds [...] the sign of odours [...] the sign of tastes [...] the sign of tactile objects [...]the sign of mental phenomena” (SN III.22:10). As each of those signs diffuses and confines one’sconsciousness, they roam about in the “abode”, time and time again.

Now for those who have researched Abhidhamma in Tipi ṭ aka (Pal.) or Tripi ṭ aka (Skr.), the term‘consciousness’ would make some confusion about its canonical meaning. Citta , or‘consciousness’, here is contained in the fourfold ultimate realities ( catudha paramattha) whichaltogether denote the intrinsic nature of all things ( dhammas) . In this regard, there exists twokinds of dhammas : (1) conditioned things which are rūpa - form, matter or body , citta -

consciousness or mind , cetasika - mental factors and (2) unconditioned thing – Nibbāna (Pal.). Onfurther consideration, we see that ‘the body’ ( rūpa) in the ultimate sense is intrinsicallyconditioned by physical organs and its origin of elementary particles group ( kalapa) : kamma -born, mind-born, temperature-born and nutriment-born ( Nandamālābhivaṃ sa 2015, pp. 78-85) .

* There appeared an element namely the cessation of perception-and-feeling element in the Dhātu saṃyutta (SN II.14:150-151). Its Pali term is saññāvedayitanirodhadhātu , based on the Pali text, viewed online 04 March2016, https://suttacentral.net/pi/sn14.11

In the Cittasamyutta (SN IV:293-294), it was indicated by Venerable Kamabhu that “Perception and feelingare the mental formation” ("Sañña ca vedanā ca cetasika etc dhamma cittapatibaddha, tasma sañña ca

vedanā ca cittasankhare ti") .In the Culavedalla sutta: the shorter series of questions and answers , Venerable Dhammadinnā stated:

“Perception and feeling are the mental formation” (SN 44:301).

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We also see ‘the body’ as one in five aggregates and consisting of five [out of tota l six] sense-bases(eyes, ear, nose, tongue and body). There remains ‘the mind’ - the sixth-sense door ( nāma) which

is composed of four aggregates of mentality.In the Mahanidana sutta 11 : the great discourse on origination , the Buddha proclaimed:

‘Nāmarūpapaccayā phasso’ti iti kho panetaṃ vutta ṃ, tadānanda, imināpetaṃ pariyāyenaveditabba ṃ, yathā nāmarūpapaccayā phasso. | “Mind -and- body conditions contact ...” (D 15:62).

‘Viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpan’ti iti kho panetaṃ vutta ṃ, tadānanda, imināpetaṃ pariyāyena veditabba ṃ ,yathā viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpaṃ . | “Consciousness conditions mind -and- body ...” (D 15:63).

‘Nāmarūpapaccayā viññāṇan’ti iti kho panetaṃ vutta ṃ, tadānanda, imināpetaṃ pariyāyena veditabbaṃ ,yathā nāmarūpapaccayā viññāṇ aṃ. | “Mind -and-body condit ions consciousness ...” (D 15:63).

Nāmarūpa or mind-and-body is conditioned by consciousness ( viññāṇ a). On account of aprevious rebirth- linking consciousness, one will be [karmically] born in the mother’s womb.As soon as six sense-bases contact their corresponding objects (eyes and form, ear and sound,nose and odor, tongue and taste, body and tactile objects, mind and mental phenomena), asense-base consciousness is conditioned. There appears either one of three kinds of feeling:pleasant feeling ( sukha vedanā) , unpleasant feeling ( dukkha vedanā) and neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling ( adukkhamasukha) (D 15:66) *. One perceives those feelings to some extent,and he conventionally labels or recognizes the mental object because of sañña or perception.In this mental process, he may cling to previous experiences or knowledge which leads tovolitional thoughts ( saṅkhāra) in his mind. The results of these processes are performed inbodily action, speech and mind. Which creates the round of kamma and kamma -vipāka (karma-result) on and on. A new mind-and-body is born, in terms of changing its formation andqualities. On the other hand, in the circle of mental process, five aggregates or mind-and-bodyconditions new consciousness (citta) ** every single moment. Were there no new

* The original Pali text is: “ tisso kho imā, āvuso, vedanā -sukhā vedanā dukkhā vedanā adukkhamasukhā vedanā. ”SuttaCentral, viewed 05 March 2016, https://suttacentral.net/pi/dn15 ** It is interesting to see the discernment among three Pali terms: citta, mano, viññāṇa which are generallytranslated as ‘consciousness’. Abhidhamma scholars analyze that in one moment, one citta arisen which iscomposed of various cetasikas (mental factors); but a citta constantly contains seven universal mental factors,that are: phassa (contact) , vedanā (feeling) , sañña (perception) , cetanā (volition) , ekaggat ā (one-pointedness) ,

j ī vitindriya (life faculty) and manasi-k ā ra (attention). Viññāṇa , on the other hand, is understood as the seed forrebirth karma (AN I:223). Original Pali texts: “Iti kho, ānanda, kammaṃ khettaṃ, viññāṇaṃ bījaṃ, taṇhā sneho.

Avijjānīvaraṇānaṃ sattānaṃ taṇhāsaṃyojanānaṃ hīnāya dhātuyā viññāṇaṃ patiṭṭhitaṃ evaṃ āyatiṃ punabbhavābhinibbatti hoti.” (SuttaCentral, viewed on 05 March 2016, https://suttacentral.net/pi/an3.76 ). In theMarasamyutta: Godhika sutta (SN I:122), Mara the Evil One tried to search for the consciousness ( viññāṇa) ofVenerable Godhika at the moment he took his own life with a knife. However, Venerable Godhika had attainedfinal nibbana by the time he used the knife, the [rebirth] viññāṇa could not be established for Mara to see.

Further reference of Citta, Mano, Viññāṇa , by Rune E. A. Johansson, viewed on 05 March 2016,https://ahandfulofleaves.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/citta_mano_ viññāṇa _a-psychosemantic-investigation_ucr_1965_johansson.pdf

Further reading on Paṭiccasamuppāda and Khandhas , Boisvert M, 1995, The five aggregates, p.142 viewed on 08

March 2016,http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/The%20Five%20Aggregates_Understanding%20Theravada%20Psychology%20and%20Soteriology_Boisvert.pdf

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consciousness * [conditioned], human beings would never make inventions or innovations asmany as they have today. To understand further linkings of five Aggregates and Dependent Co-

arising, we can see the figure below: Figure 1: Round of kamma, kamma-result 12 and Dependent Co-arising

We go back to the Saṃyutta Nikāya: Haliddikanisutta 13 where Venerable Mahākaccāna firstexplained that “the home” (oka) should be understood as the habitation of consciousness(viññāṇ a) . He indicated that all elements of four other aggregates ( rūpadhātu - the formelement , vedanādhātu - the feeling element , sañña dhātu - the perception element ,sa ṅkhāradhātu - the volitional formations element) are the homes of consciousness. Clingingto those [including the consciousness element], one cannot end the cycle of [rebirth]consciousness because of attachments to sensual pleasures, to the self-clinging aggregates,to greed-rooted deeds and to worldly disputes.

BODILY FEELING AND MENTAL FEELING

How many kinds of ‘Feelings’ had the Buddha ever taught? He had taught not only three kindsmentioned above.

There are two kinds of feelings: bodily and mental. There are also three kinds of feelings:pleasant feeling, painful feeling and neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. There exists five kinds

* ‘Consciousness’ here can be understood as citta or viññāṇa .




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of feelings: pleasure, pain, joy, displeasure and equanimity. There appears six kinds of feelingswhen they are born of eye-contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact

and mind-contact. As six kinds of feelings above accompanied by joy, by displeasure and byequanimity, they are called eighteen kinds of feelings. From eighteen kinds of feelings, whenthey are based on the household life and renunciation, thirty-six kinds of feelings are borne.Since these feelings are constantly changeable in the ‘Three times’ *: the past, the future andthe present, there are 108 kinds of feelings. (SN IV.36:232)

THE DARTAs for those who put the Buddha-dhamma into practice, it is clear and comprehensible toidentify bodily feeling and mental feeling. Nāmarūpa or mind-and-body or five aggregatesconstitute this human-being (SN I.5:135), and feeling is conditioned by either eye-contact,

ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact or mind-contact. That is to say: anyfeeling based on material forms and physically bodily senses is called bodily feeling; while fouraggregates of mentality (feeling, perception, formations and consciousness) in associationwith their mental phenomena condition mental feeling.

As nāmarūpa contact the objects, there appears bodily-consciousness and mind-consciousness.Which means both the instructed noble disciple (ariyasavakassa) and the uninstructed world-ling (puthujjanena) feel the contact. But what is the disparity between them? The Buddha tooka simile of the dart (salla) to imply the detachment of mental feeling and craving from painfulfeelings [of the instructed noble disciple]. Because of this detachment, he no longer suffers

from birth, aging and death; no longer attaches to sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure anddespair (SN IV.36:208-210). In the Sunakkhatta sutta: to sunakkhatta , the dart or the arrow(salla ) was said to be the simile of ‘craving’ ( ta ṇhā) for worldly material things (MN 105:260).Thus the Buddha’s advice to Sunakkhatta here is to ardently practise restraint in the six basesof contact since they are metaphors for the poisonous snake or perfect bronze cup of beveragebut mixed with poison. As it is attachments to worldly fetters that confines a man to the endlesscycle of rebirth-consciousness and leads him to death and suffering.

FEELING ROOTED IN CONTACTBack to the Mahanidana sutta: the great discourse on origination , it was taught by the Buddhathat:

* (Buddhaghosa, Visuddhimagga , p. 676) The term ‘three lives’ was used in the footnote No.48 (to explainDependent Origination as a possibly applicable doctrine). Model ‘Three lives’ stands for past life, present lifeand future life as the author’s expoundation of kamma which was then illustrated in Table VI – DependentOrigination, p.885 (Nyanatiloka). This is a kind of understanding [of Venerable Buddhaghosa and thetranslators or other Buddhist scholars] more or less. Atītā, anāgatā, paccuppannā in its Pali text have far-reaching implications. They are not only limited in ‘three lives’ (in case a meditator can recollect their past livesduring jhanas ) but also applied in this present life in regard to rebirth-consciousness. Because of ‘rebirth’ -consciousness, one either suffers sickness, lamentation, grief, ect. or navigates his current life to wholesome

karma based on Right View. Truth be known, the Buddha’s advice to Bhikkhus in practice [meditation orcontemplation] is to be “indifferent towards form of the past”, not to “seek delight in form of the future” butto “practice for revulsion towards form of the present, for its fading away and cessation.” (SN III.22:19)








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Contact conditions feeling [...] Therefore contact is the root, the cause, the origin, thecondition for feeling. (DN 15:62)

How does contact condition feeling?

[…] by repeated contact through the six-sense bases. (D 1:45)

Refer ring to ‘Feeling’ which is “born of eye -contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact, mind- contact” (DN 15:58), the Buddha also mentioned “The Dyad” toclarify six pairs of sense bases. They are: “the eye and forms, the ear and sounds, the noseand odours, the tongue and tastes, the body and tactile objects, the mind and mentalphenomena” (MN 115:63, SN IV.35:67 14). When a sensitivity faculty in the eye-ball meets thevisible object, there appears an eye-consciousness. Which constitutes contact, thenconditions ‘feeling’ (MN 148:281 15, MN 18:112 16).

Are the eye and forms permanent? No, infinitely. Eyes are impermanent because they arechanging. One can have a good eye-sensitivity faculty when he is young. However, possiblydue to an accident his eyes may be gone. Or else, when he is getting older, the eye-sensitivityis not as good as before. Neither are the forms. Visible objects are changing withoutestimation. Yesterday (2011) Tōhoku city in Japan was suffered from the most powerfulearthquake ever, today new locals still keep moving on. Who knows certainly what willhappen tomorrow in their life?

Thus, can be eye-consciousness permanent when it depends on the eye and forms? Definitely

not. Neither is contact. Contact is impermanent because it is constituted by impermanentcomponents. Contact conditions feeling. Neither is feeling permanent in truth.

CLINGING-AGGREGATES | DISCERN FEELING AND CLINGING-FEELINGIn the Khandhasa ṃyutta: aggregates sutta (SN 22:47-48), the Buddha preached the Aggregates tothe monks:

Pañca, bhikk have, khandhe desessāmi, pañcupādānakkhan dhe ca. Ta ṃ suṇātha 17 ...

Literally pañca means five, khandhe means aggregates, pañcupādānakkhandhe means thefive clinging- aggregates. Here ‘clinging’ is translated from the original Pali word: upādāna ,which means attachment, grasping or clinging. In this discourse, the Buddha differentiatedbetween the five aggregates and the five clinging-aggregates. The aggregate-subject-to-clinging is tainted, or clung to whatever kind of “past, future, or present, internal or external,gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near” of the mentioned aggregate (either form,feeling, perception, volitional formations or consciousness). The five aggregates constitute a[human] being (SN I.5:135) 18 . Therefore, when one clings to five aggregates for sensualpleasures, for existence, for extermination, he suffers (SN III.22:25-26). And, because ofclinging to those, h e thinks: ‘my body’, ‘my feeling’, ‘my perception’, ‘my thoughts’, ‘myknowledge’, etc. (SN III.22:113 -114, SN III.22:151- 152). As long as the wrong view of ‘self’

exists, one is confined in the worldly fetters and cannot innately discern five aggregates fromthe willing of control rooted in greed and ignorance (or delusion).




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Notwithstanding the Buddha’s teachings on non -self and five clinging-aggregates, manyBuddhist scholars may raise a same question as the monk in the Mahapunnama sutta: the

greater discourse on the full-moon night 19

:So, it seems, material form is not self, feeling is not self, perception is not self, formations are notself, consciousness is not self. What self, then, will actions done by the not-self affect? (MN 109:19)

The simple answer might be: ‘No -self [will be affected] thus. What will be affected is a certain newmind-and-body ( nāmarūpa) that is composed of material form, feeling, perception, volitionalformations and consciousness.’

Referring to ‘Feeling’, 31 (thirty -one) suttas have been collected in the Vedanāsaṃ yutta: connecteddiscourses on feeling (SN IV.36) 20 . It is not only because vedanā or ‘feeling’ is the second

aggregate. There were 159 suttas in the collection of ‘The book of the Aggregates(Khandhasa ṃyutta) ’ but vedanā was still focalized on *. What are implications for those criticalinstructions?

In many suttas , the Buddha briefly summarized three kinds of feeling: pleasant feeling ( sukhavedanā) , painful feeling ( dukkha vedanā) and neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling(adukkhamasukha vedanā ) with the aim of giving further guidance to the cessation of allsufferings. While it has been a long haul to make an end to suffering **, it is crucial to perceive“the origination and the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in thecase of these three feelings”. In other words, it is crucial to perceive “the suffering [...] the

origin of suffering [...] the cessation of suffering [...] (and) the way leading to the cessation ofsuffering” (the Saccasa ṃyutta: the si ṁsapā grove , SN V.56:438 21). As in the Vedanāsaṃ yutta:ascetics and brahmins, the Buddha stated:

Bhikkhus, those ascetics and brahmins who understand these things as they really are: theseI consider to be ascetics among ascetics and brahmins among brahmins, and these venerableones, by realizing it for themselves with direct knowledge, in this very life enter and dwell inthe goal of asceticism and the goal of brahminhood." (SN IV.36:235)

Why are “the origination and the passing away” of sukh a vedanā, dukkha vedanā andadukkhamasukha vedanā seen as “the suffering”?

Because they are impermanent:

"Bhikkhus, these three feelings are impermanent, conditioned, dependently arisen, subjectdestruction, subject to vanishing, subject to fading away, subject to cessation. What three?Pleasant feeling, painful feeling, neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. These three feelings are

* Spk: For the benefit of mankind, the attempt to discern vedanā should be centralized in applied Buddhist practice.** To attain arahantship –Theravada Buddhism denotes the fruition of arahantship as the final goal (thecessation of suffering). However, an arahant may not be the one who has reached full Buddhahood (likeGotama Buddha) . In the Mahacattarisaka sutta: the great forty, it is said [by the Buddha] that the arahantpossesses ten factors, inclusively “right knowledge” (wisdom) and “right deliverance” (to uproot all

defilements to get final liberation) (MN 117:76). Its Pali text: Iti kho, bhikkhave, aṭṭhaṅgasamannā gato sekkho,dasaṅ gasaman nāgato arahā hoti. Tatrapi sammāñāṇena aneke pāpakā akusalā dhammā vigatābhāvanāpār i pūriṃ gacchanti , SutraCentral, viewed on 06 March 2016, https://suttacentral.net/pi/mn117 .

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impermanent, conditioned, dependently arisen, subject to destruction, subject to vanishing,subject to fading away, subject to cessation." (SN IV.36:215)

That is to say: if one can see and accept the feelings as they are, he will not cling to either ofthem. Holding either pleasure, dissatisfaction or the neutral [without mindfully noticing] willlead to suffering. When grasping a pleasant feeling, he wants to prolong it. Because of this,he finds ways to satisfy the wishes and inevitably, cetanā or volitional thought of ‘becoming’is conditioned (Figure 1). The fact that human beings keep ‘wanting more’, they keep makinginnovati ons and inventions. For a large group, it is ‘nature’ to keep making money and beingafter sensual pleasures, up until they experience sickness, old age and death.

On the other hand, when clinging to an unsatisfactory feeling (dukkha vedanā) , he dislikesand does not want to suffer. Because of this, he finds ways to remove it. If he cannot

relinquish the pain, he becomes irritated, sad or angry. Which may lead to some evil actionsthat make his mind restless, inharmonious and un-peaceful. And because no one teaches himthe right practice (or he is ineligible to learn), he finds resolution in ‘some other happiness’ inorder to replace the painful feeling. But the root of suffering does not end.

What if a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling is arisen without mindfully noticing? He mayfeel ‘empty’ (in a negative sense) then keeps searching for some other pleasant feeling.Because his mind isn’t still, he doesn’t accept adukkhamasukha feeling as it is. However, bypracticing meditation, it’s easier to mindfully notice this kind of feeling and he knows how todeal with it.

Those above are called ‘clinging -feeling (aggregate)’ or vedanupādānakkhandho which oneneeds to be aware of. Once one detects the impermanence of those three feelings, he seesthe world inside the five aggregates. Now he is ready to investigate the two remaining (noble)Truths taught by the Buddha or his noble disciples.

3 UNIVERSAL CHARACTERISTICS

Impermanence (anicca) , unsastisfactoriness (dukkha) and non-self ( anattā ) are the threeuniversal characteristics that belong to nāma -rūpa (the mentality-materiality or mind-and-

form). From the first preaching [to five ascetics] (the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta ) to thelast words before entering parinibbāna *, the Buddha recited:

Now, monks, I declare to you: all conditioned things are of a nature to decay - strive onuntiringly. (D 16:156 22)

Throughout the teachings in over forty years, the Buddha crucially recited these three factsof existence. Most of the times He started with impermanence. To perceive the law of

* The term parini bbāna (Sanskrit: parinirva ṇa ) is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occursupon the death of the body of someone who has attained nirvana during his or her lifetime | Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parinirvana

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impermanence grossly or subtly in all conditioned things is a diligent job for the wise. Since itmay not be easy to see clearly the impermanence of four aggregates of mentality.

Better than a hundred years in the life of a person who does not perceive the arising and thedissolving of the five aggregates ( khandhas ), is a day in the life of one who perceives the arisingand dissolving of the five aggregates. ( Dhammapada , verse 113) 23

So we see: Feeling is impermanent because feeling is rooted in contact *. Whatever isimpermanent is suffering ( dukkha ) (SN III.22:44-45). Why? Because whatever is impermanentor changing is out of ‘our’ control. Whatever is uncontrollable is unsatisfactory to us. Whateveris impermanent and uncontrollable is not ‘ours’, not ‘mine’. Thus, they are calledimpermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self.

Contacted, bhikkhus, one feels, contacted one intends, contacted one perceives. Thus thesethings too are moving and tottering, impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. (SN IV.35:68)

The above quote denotes feeling (vedanā) , volitional formations (sa ṅkhāra) and perceptions(sañña) - three aggregates respectively - that are conditioned by contact, are impermanent.Physical senses (rūpa) are impermanent. Therefore, sense-based consciousness (viññāṇ a) which is constituted by senses and forms, is impermanent either. It is suggested that yogis ** should contemplate these three universal characteristics based on some insight meditation(vipassana) techniques.

In view of the fact that all feelings are impermanent, pleasant feeling should be seen as

suffering.

PLEASANT FEELING SHOULD BE SEEN AS SUFERING

Pleasant feeling, bhikkhus, should be seen as painful. – said the Buddha (SN IV.36:207)

In the above part: “Clinging -Aggregates | Discern Feeling and Clinging- Feeling”, we analyzedthe feeling-subject-to-clinging, they are: pleasant feeling, painful feeling and neither-painful-nor-pleasant-feeling. Not only painful feeling is dukkha , but clinging to pleasant feeling is alsodukkha . Because they do not last. Since pleasures are transient, tottering and not long-lasting,we tend to grasp to them. And because we think happiness or satisfaction is the healing forpain, we search for happiness relentlessly. In fact, to uproot completely mental defilements,we need an authentic treatment, not the ‘painkiller’. In this regard, should one see pleasantfeeling as suffering, he will not attach to happiness but only mindfully notice the happymoment without any expectation. As for this practice, he keeps in mind a tranquil and calmstate to detach clinging from the feeling intelligently.

* See “Feeling rooted in contact”, p. 6-7.** yogis are the ones who practise meditation frequently.




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EMOTIONS ARISEN UNDER MENTAL PROCESS

According to Barbara Fredrickson’s Broaden -and-Build theory, emotion of love, joy and

happiness are called positive emotions. The unpleasant emotion of fear, anger, and disgustare included in the category of negative emotions.

Barbara Fredrickson’s Broaden -and-Build theory is one of the cornerstones of positivepsychology. Her theory aims to explain the contributions of positive emotions to human well-being. Negative emotions, such as fear, anger, and disgust, lead to narrow responses focusedon avoiding or confronting threat. Positive emotions, on the other hand, lead to cognitiveflexibility and a broad range of behavioral tendencies. Emotions tend to be fleeting, but thebehaviors that follow from broadened behavioral tendencies lead to durable resources, suchas social ties and expanded skills. (Positive Psychology News) 24

Whilst Psych ology researches “emotions” as one of their mainsprings to unfold humanbehaviors and personal/social tendencies, cittavīthi (translated as ‘mental processes’) is aquite close category to expound ‘emotions’ under the aspect of Abhidhamma or Buddhistpsychology ( Nandamālābhivaṃ sa , chp. V-VI, pp. 114-180). Nonetheless, to go with cittavīthi (the cognitive process of the mind), we should start with six basic roots * which condition one’semotions and volitional actions (kamma) .

There are three unwholesome roots (greed, hatred, delusion) and three wholesome roots(non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion) (AN I:201-205) which are the causes of kamma (ANI:135-136) 25 .

Contacted, bhikkhus, one feels, contacted one intends, contacted one perceives. Thus thesethings too are moving and tottering, impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. (SN IV.35:68)

Once there is contact: feeling, volitional thoughts and perception are conditioned as a result.These mental processes happen in the mind, which leads to volitional actions ( kamma ). Theemotions come under volitional thoughts ( saṅkhāra) affected by strong feelings. There arepossibilities for the arahants who attained the cessation of perception and feeling, then onlythree kinds of contact are [mentally] borne for vedanā (feeling): voidness contact, signlesscontact and desireless contact. Which was asserted by Venerable Dhammadinn ā , an arahantand also the ex-wife of householder Visākha (MN 44:302).

* In this assignment, we are not dealing with cittavīthi or cittavega (the mind’s impulse) since they are ‘heavy’modules in Abhidhamma . BUPH 22082 - Buddhist Psychology Learning outcomes is a subject under theBuddhist and Pali University, Sri-lanka which mentioned cittavega as “emotions” category to be dealt with.However, in “Notes from Buddhist and Pali University for the second year” by ven. Czech monk Sarana , p.176-181 (viewed on 08 March 2016,http://bpunotes2.weebly.com/uploads/5/2/5/4/5254610/bphil_second_year_all.pdf ) it seemed that theydeveloped the ‘understanding’ of cittavega following the ‘criteria’ of fetters abandoned by ariyas (the

instructed noble ones, in the other words: the stream-enterer, once-returner, non-returner and arahant). Inthose commentaries, it is said that early Buddhist psychology sees “emotions” in associated with six basic rootsas we see above.

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Because the ‘worldling’ is influenced by emotions, it is important to se e emotions and feelingsin the right way.

FEELING OF THE WORLD OR SEEING THEM AS THEY REALLY ARE?

DISCERN FEELING FROM SEEINGIn the Brahmajala sutta: the supreme net, what the teaching is not (Walshe 1996, pp. 67-90),the Buddha 13 times referred to this repeatedly:

... having truly understood the arising and passing away of feelings , their attraction and peril andthe deliverance from them, the Tathāgata [the Buddha] is liberated without remainder. (D 1)

And the Buddha came to the conclusion 13 times:

[...] that is merely the feeling of those who do not know and see, the worry and vacillationof those immersed in craving.” (D 1)

That is to say: The first and foremost thing the Buddha wanted His disciples to see was todiscern feelings of the world(s). Which was a real-life investigation by Gotama Buddha . Onemay think he knows the outside world. Truth be known, he only knows the world inside thefive aggregates or through the six sense bases. In other words, he sees the world as it iscontacted, felt, perceived and thought [by himself], not as the way it really is. This is thereason why science nowadays has been evolved to detect not only new planets or wild livesbut also human mind.

As one can discern feeling from seeing [this material world], he stays ‘balanced’ or keeps themind still to observe things mindfully. He does not judge or hastily come to conclusions, butpatiently investigate and contemplate mental phenomena ( dhammas) . He who diligentlypractises in this way is a true Buddhist practitioner.

CONCLUSION: RIGHT VIEW COMES FIRST

All things considered, it is crucial to see ‘Feeling’ in association with other Aggregates(khandhas) and Dependent Origination (pa ṭiccasamuppāda ), with the aim at understandingthe Right Path leading to the cessation of all sufferings. That is to distinguish ‘feelings ’ from‘clinging-feeling ’ and ardently practise to perceive the nature of all things (dhammas) . As onecognizes objects through six sense doors, he learns to detach them from feeling-subject-to-clinging. When having understanding of doctrine, he contemplates the impermanence ofcontact which conditions vedanā (feeling) , sañña (perception) and saṅkhāra (volitionalformations). He also detects the impermanence of forms ( rūpa ) and consciousness ( viññāṇ a). By further efforts, he gains the knowledge of discerning nāma -rūpa or mind-and-matter, andthe knowledge of causality. These are the first two among other insight ‘knowledge s’ ( ñāṇ as) to be fathomed in Buddhist practice.

“Therein, bhikkhus, Right View comes first.” (MN 117 26)




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REFERENCES

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‘Feeling’ n.d., Wikipedia , wiki article, viewed 03 March 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeling 2 2016 Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., Feeling , Encyclopædia Britannica, viewed 03 March 2016,http://www.britannica.com/topic/feeling 3 Nandamalabhivamsa, 2010, Fundamental of Aabhidhamma, Selangor Vipassana Buddhist MeditationSociety, Malaysia.4 Walshe, M 1996, DN 15, Mahanidana sutta: the great discourse on origination, Wisdom Publications,Massachusetts, USA.5 Nanamoli, Bhikkhu 1960 & Bodhi, Bhikkhu 1995, MN 115, Bahudhatuka sutta: the many kinds ofelements, Wisdom Publication, Boston, USA.6 Nanamoli, Bhikkhu 1960 & Bodhi, Bhikkhu 1995, MN 38, Mahatanhasankhaya sutta: the greater discourseon the destruction of craving, Wisdom Publication, Boston, USA.7 Bodhi, Bhikkhu 2000, SN III.22, Khandhasamyutta: connected discourse on the aggregates, WisdomPublications, Boston, USA.8 Nanamoli, Bhikkhu 1960 & Bodhi, Bhikkhu 1995, MN 109, Mahapunnama sutta: the greater discourse onthe full-moon night, Wisdom Publication, Boston, USA.9 Walshe, M 1996, DN 22, Mahasatipatthana sutta: the greater discourse on the foundations ofmindfulness, Wisdom Publications, Massachusetts, USA.10 Bodhi, Bhikkhu 2012, AN I.14, The book of the ones: foremost, Wisdom Publications, Somerville, USA.11 SuttaCentral, Mahanidana sutta: paticcasamuppada , SuttaCentral, viewed 04 March 2016,https://suttacentral.net/pi/dn15 12 Buddhaghosa, 2012, The path of purification (visuddimagga), trans. Nanamoli, Bhikkhu, The CorporateBody of the Buddha Educational Foundation, Taiwan.13 SuttaCentral, Samyutta nikaya , nakulapituvagga: Haliddikanisutta , SuttaCentral, viewed 04 March 2016,https://suttacentral.net/pi/sn22.3 14 Bodhi, Bhikkhu 2000, SN IV.35, Salayatanasamyutta: the book of the six sense bases, WisdomPublications, Boston, USA.15 Nanamoli, Bhikkhu 1960 & Bodhi, Bhikkhu 1995, MN 148, Chachakka sutta: the six sets of sixs, WisdomPublication, Boston, USA.16 Nanamoli, Bhikkhu 1960 & Bodhi, Bhikkhu 1995, MN 18, Madhupindika sutta: the honeyball, WisdomPublication, Boston, USA.17 SuttaCentral, Khandhasamyutta: aggregates , SuttaCentral, viewed 05 March 2016,https://suttacentral.net/pi/sn22.48 18 Bodhi, Bhikkhu 2000, SN I.5, Bhikkhunisamyutta: vajira, Wisdom Publications, Boston, USA.19 Nanamoli, Bhikkhu 1960 & Bodhi, Bhikkhu 1995, MN 109, Mahapunnama sutta: the greater discourse onthe full-moon night, Wisdom Publication, Boston, USA.20 Bodhi, Bhikkhu 2000, SN IV.36, Vedanā samyutta: connected discourses on feeling, Wisdom Publications,Boston, USA.21 Bodhi, Bhikkhu 2000, SN V.56.31, Saccasamyutta: the simsapa grove, Wisdom Publications, Boston, USA.22 Walshe, M 1996, DN 16, Mahaparinibbana sutta: the buddha’s last days, Wisdom Publications,Massachusetts, USA.23 Tipitaka, Dhammapada: verse 113 , Tipitaka, viewed 07 March 2016,http://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/verseload.php?verse=113 24 Positive Psychology News, Positive Emotion in General , Positive Psychology News, viewed 08 March 2016,http://positivepsychologynews.com/image-maps/positive-emotions/positive-emotions-in-general 25 Bodhi, Bhikkhu 2012, Angttara Nikaya , Wisdom Publications, Somerville, USA.26 Nanamoli, Bhikkhu 1960 & Bodhi, Bhikkhu 1995, MN 117, Mahacattarisaka sutta: the great forty, WisdomPublication, Boston, USA

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Joticanda. Reflections on Feeling 20160311

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