What is "consciousness" in Buddhism?

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanatiloka Maha Thera, Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines (viññāna)

Buddhas of the past, sacred Dambulla cave, Sri Lanka (inquiringmind.com)

.

How are living beings conscious? (WHP)

"Consciousness" is one of the Five Groups [that comprise] Existence (Five Aggregates of Clinging). It is one of the Four Nutriments. It is the third link of the causal chain on the arising of suffering called Dependent Origination. It is the fifth in the sixfold division of elements.

Viewed as one of the Five Aggregates [trillions of discrete phenomena lumped into five groups or categories], it is inseparably linked with the three other mental aggregates (feeling, perception, and formations) and furnishes the bare cognition of the object, while the other three contribute more specific functions.

Conscious awareness (dhammawheel.com)

Its moral and karmic character, and its greater or lesser degree of intensity and clarity, are chiefly determined by the mental formations associated with it (particularly the most salient formation, "volition" or cetana, which determines if a karmic act is beneficial, unwholesome, or neutral).

 

Just like the other aggregates or "groups of existence," consciousness is not so much a thing as a flux (sotā, a "stream of consciousness") and does not constitute an abiding mind-substance. 

Free your mind. Rest will follow.

Nor is it in any way a transmigrating soul, entity, or abiding self, even though it is commonly regarded as such by ordinary uninstructed worldlings not yet freed of ignorance regarding existence. Arhats, the noble ones, who gain knowledge and vision recognize it for what it is and are freed of suffering, which is called enlightenment, the realization of nirvana, "the end of all suffering").

The Three Marks or Characteristics of Existence (the impermanent, unsatisfactory/disappointing/woeful, and impersonal nature of all conditioned phenomena) are frequently applied to consciousness in the texts (e.g., in the Anattalakkhana Sutra, S.XXII, 59).

The physical base of the "mind" is the heart (K)

The Buddha often stresses that "apart from conditions, there is no arising of consciousness" (MN 38). And all of these statements about its nature hold good for the entire range of consciousness -- be it "past, future, or presently arisen, gross or subtle, in oneself or another, that is, internal or external, inferior or lofty, far or near" (S. XXII, 59).

  

Six consciousnesses

The seven main chakras,energy centers, along the spine (Manifesto-Meditations)

 
According to the six senses it divides into six kinds: eye- (or visual), ear- (auditory), nose- (olfactory), tongue- (gustatory), body- (tangible), mind- (mental, intuitive, memory, psychic) consciousness. 

 

About the dependent origination or arising of these six kinds of consciousness, the Path of Purification (Vis.M. XV, 39) says: 

• "Conditioned through the [sense base or sensitive portion within the] eye, the visible object, light, and attention, eye-consciousness arises.
• Conditioned through the ear, the audible object, the ear-passage, and attention, ear-consciousness arises.
• Conditioned, through the nose, the olfactive object, air, and attention, nose-consciousness arises.
• Conditioned through the tongue, the gustative object, humidity, and attention, tongue-consciousness arises.
• Conditioned through the body, bodily impression, the earth-element [the solid quality of materiality or rupa], and attention, body-consciousness arises.
• Conditioned through the subconscious [or default, underlying] mind (bhavanga-mano [manas, mind]), the mind-object, and attention, mind-consciousness arises."

The Abhidharma literature distinguishes 89 classes of consciousness as being either karmically wholesome (skillful), unwholesome (unskillful), or neutral, and belonging either to the Sensual Sphere, the Fine-Material Sphere, or the Immaterial Sphere, or to supermundane consciousness. See Table I for the detailed classification.

Craving, motherhood, and rebirth (sutra)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly, Mata Sutta (SN 15.14-19)

There are better ways to be pregnant, to deliver, and to mother (Nirrimi Firebrace/NM)

 .

Craving is our first mother (Rudi'Peni)

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying in Savatthi when he proclaimed:

"Rebirth (again becoming, this continued wandering on through samsara -- a process which is impermanent, impersonal, and unsatisfactory) runs far back into an incomprehensible past. Yet no beginning point is discerned when beings -- hindered by ignorance, ensnared by craving, [and inflamed by aversion manifesting as anger and fear] -- set off on this wandering.

 

"So long has this wandering been going on that it is difficult to come across any being who has not already been one's mother, father, sister, brother, son, and daughter at some time in the past.

 

"And why is that?

"Rebirth (or the "continued wandering on" that is samsara) runs far back into an incomprehensible past. Yet no beginning point is to be discerned when beings -- hindered by ignorance, ensnared by craving -- set off on this wandering [this journey through time and place, this continued wandering on in search of pleasure now here, now there, in search of final satisfaction, fulfillment, security].

These three things are true.

"Long have we all experienced suffering (disappointment, dissatisfaction, distress), experienced pain, experienced loss (separation from the loved), swelling up cemeteries -- long enough to become disenchanted with all formations (conditional phenomena, composite things, i.e., Five Aggregates of Clinging), enough to become dispassionate, enough to be liberated."

Motherhood
But motherhood is the most beautiful thing

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Connected Discourses of the Buddha (sutras)

Bhikkhu Bodhi (librarum.org); Amber Larson, Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, CC Liu, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; edited book description

The golden Buddha, a forest-tradition itinerant teacher and wandering ascetic from India and Afghanistan shown here in modern Theravada Thailand (Nippon_Newfie/flickr.com)

  

FREE: Read the sutras (full text)

This volume offers a complete translation of The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Samyutta Nikaya), the third of the four great collections in the Sutra Collection (Sutta Pitaka) of the Pali Canon.

It consists of 56 short chapters, each governed by a unifying theme that binds together the Buddha's discourses into sets. The chapters are organized into five major parts.

The first, "The Book with Verses," is a compilation of sutras composed largely in verse. This book ranks as one of the most inspiring compilations in the Buddhist canon, showing the Buddha as the peerless "teacher of devas and humans."

Bringing Buddhism out of the clouds (HK)

The other four books deal in depth with the principles and meditative structures of early Buddhism. They are compiled in orderly chapters of important short sutras of the Buddha on such major topics as:

• Dependent Origination (how all things other than nirvana arise only in dependence on causes and conditions), 
• the Five Aggregates of Clinging (the four groups of physical phenomena lumped as one, "form," and the four psychological groups of phenomena -- "feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness" -- that give rise to the illusory ego, repeated rebirth, and all forms of disappointment/suffering),
• the Six Sense Bases (the five ordinary physical senses in addition to the mind),
• the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (the constituents developed immediately preceding awakening),
• the Noble Eightfold Path (a summary list of the limbs of the Middle Way pointed out by the Buddha), and
• the Four Noble Truths (the shortest possible summary of all Buddhist teachings as a path to liberation and complete freedom from all suffering).

Buddha, Sukhothai, Thailand

Among the four large divisions (nikayas) belonging to the Pali Canon, the Samyutta Nikaya ("Collection of Connected Discourses") serves as the repository for the many shorter sutras of the Buddha, where he discloses radical insights into the nature of reality and this unique Buddhist path to spiritual emancipation.

This collection was directed at all disciples but is of particular interest to intensive monastic practitioners capable of dedicating the effort to grasp the deepest dimensions of wisdom and compassion and of clarifying them for others.

Bhikkhu Bodhi (bodhimonastery.org)

Moreover, it provides guidance to meditators intent on consummating their efforts with the direct realization of the ultimate truth.

The present translation begins with an insightful general introduction to the collection a whole. Each of the five parts is provided with an introduction intended to guide readers through this vast collection of short Buddhist sutras.

To further assist readers the translator -- the eminent American scholar-monk, Bhikkhu Bodhi, the principal teacher of Wisdom Quarterly writers and translators -- has provided an extensive body of notes clarifying various problems concerning both the language and the meaning of these sacred texts.

Wheel of the Dharma above (NN)

Distinguished by its lucidity and technical precision, this new translation makes this ancient collection of the Buddha's discourses comprehensible to thoughtful readers today. Like its two predecessors in this series, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha is sure to merit a place of honor in the library of every serious student of Buddhism. The Connected Discourses

• Amazon: The Connected Discourses of the Buddha — a New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya
• Massive 2,600-year-old Buddhist temple complex found

Surf: "Foam" (sutra)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly, Ven. Thanissaro (trans.), WatMetta.org, Phena Sutta: Foam (SN 22.95) SUMMER SOLSTICE

If samsara is a "sea," a deluge, a flood, then what is the foam in the surf? (loltops.org)

  

Saltwater Buddha (jaimalyogis.com)

On one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Ayojjhans on the banks of the Ganges river. There he addressed the monastics:

"Meditators, suppose a large glob of foam were floating down this Ganges river, and a person with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, and examine it. To one seeing, observing, closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a glob of foam?

"In the same way, a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any FORM of the past, future, or present, internal (inside oneself) or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in form?

 

"Now suppose that in the autumn -- when it is raining in large, heavy drops -- a water bubble were to appear and disappear on the water, and a person with good eyesight were to see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a water bubble?
 

"In the same way, a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any FEELING of the past, future, or present, internal or or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in feeling?

 

Los Angeles Yoga (layoga.com)

"Now suppose that in the last month of the hot season (the summer) a mirage were shimmering, and a person with good eyesight were to see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a mirage?

"In the same way, a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any PERCEPTION of the past, future, or present, internal  or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in perception?

 

"Now suppose that a person desiring heartwood, on a quest for heartwood, seeking heartwood, were to go into a forest carrying a sharp ax. There one might see a large banana tree -- straight, young, of enormous height. One would cut it at the root and chop off the top. Having done so one would peel away the outer skin. And doing so one would not find even sapwood, to say nothing of heartwood.

Summer sun (Michelle Novak/almanac.com)

"Then a person with good eyesight would see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a banana tree?

"In the same way a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any FORMATIONS of the past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in formations?

 

"Now suppose a magician or magician's apprentice were to display a magic trick at an intersection, and a person with good eyesight were to see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a magic trick?

(OCCUPY.COM)

"In the same way a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any CONSCIOUSNESS of the past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in consciousness?

• Form, Feeling, Perception, Formations, and Consciousness are the Five Aggregates, the Five Groups of Existence

"Seeing things thus, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with formations, disenchanted with consciousness. 

"And disenchanted, one grows dispassionate. Through dispassion, one is released. With release there arises the knowledge, 'Released.' One discerns that 'Birth is ended, the supreme life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'"

 

Sun salutation on the sea (shareitfitness)

This is what the Blessed One said, and having said it, the Wayfarer (Well-Gone One), the Teacher, further uttered these verses:

 

Form is like a glob of foam;

feeling, a bubble;

perception, a mirage;

formations are like a banana tree;

consciousness, a magic trick --

This was taught by the Kinsman of the Sun.

However one observes them,

Closely examines them,

They are empty,

Void to whoever sees them (penetrates them with insight).

"Beginning with the body as taught by the Wise One:

When abandoned by three things --

Life, warmth, and consciousness --

Form is rejected, cast aside.

When bereft of these it lies thrown away,

Senseless, food for others.

That is how it goes:

It's a magic trick, an idiot's babbling.

It's said to be a murderer (See Yamaka Sutra, SN22).

 

No substance here is found.

So a meditator, persistence aroused, should view

The aggregates by day and night, mindful, alert;

One discards all fetters, all bonds;

One makes oneself one's own guide;

One lives as if one's head (hat, headdress, turban) were on fire --

In hopes of that state where there is no falling away.

Nirvana (definition) and the Turtle

Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanatiloka Thera (Anton Gueth) A Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines; Bhikkhu Bodhi "As It Is" (CD)

(Nathapol Boonmangmee/happySUN/flickr.com)

  

Awakening to knowing and seeing (happySUN)

Nirvana is hard to conceive or speak of because it is unlike anything in our conditional universe, but it can be directly experienced.

Once upon a time there was a turtle who lived in a polluted pond with many fish. For a long time the fish did not see the turtle. When they finally did they exclaimed, "Friend, turtle, where have you been? We have not seen you and were concerned!"

"I have been walking on dry land, friends!" the turtle answered.

"'Dry land'? What is this 'dry land' you speak of, turtle?

The wise eat the fruit of direct knowledge.

The turtle struggled for a comparison.

The fish were eager to help, "So this 'dry land' of yours, turtle, is it wet?"

"No, friends, it is not wet."

"Is it cool and refreshing, can you swim in it?"

"No, friends, it is not cool and refreshing, and you can't swim in it. And it's not polluted. Come and see for yourselves..."

Many are the dangers to conforming in "school" like the freshwater Ganges shark.

 

"Wait, turtle, it's not wet, not cool and refreshing, and you can't swim in it? And you say it's not polluted? Then we take it that this 'dry land' must be pure nothingness, nonexistence, annihilation, or complete fantasy!" the fish reasoned out loud each agreeing with the other. 

Pollution-free in the Allegory of the Pond

They did not go to see for themselves.

"That may, friends, that may be," the turtle replied and again went walking on dry land.

In no long time the water in the pond became so shrunken and polluted that a legend arose about the turtle and the wise instructions he had left behind to help them. But still no one went to investigate and see if the legend could be true.
  

DEFINITION

Buddhist Dictionary

Nirvana (Pali nibbāna) literally means to blow out (nir+ va, to cease blowing, to become extinguished), "extinction," the end of all suffering.

According to the ancient commentaries, it means "freedom from desire" (nir+vana). 

It constitutes the highest and ultimate goal of all Buddhist aspirations, namely, absolute extinction of greed, hatred, and delusion that clings to illusory separate or independent existence apart from the constituents of being (skandha, khandha, the Five Aggregates of Clinging). Final nirvana (parinirvana) is ultimate and absolute deliverance from all future rebirth, disappointment, old age, disease, and death, from every kind of suffering and misery.

 

"Extinction of greed, extinction of hate, extinction of delusion -- this is called nirvana (S. XXXVIII. 1).

 

This freedom has two aspects necessary to avoid confusion. (1) The full extinction of defilements (kilesa-parinibbāna), also called sa-upādi-sesa-nibbāna (see Itivuttaka 41), is "nirvana with the aggregates of existence still remaining" (see upādi). This takes place at the attainment of full enlightenment or sainthood. (See noble ones, ariya-puggala).

The Buddha by night with throngs of devotees and monastics, Thailand (happySUN/flickr)

 

(2) The full extinction of the aggregates of clinging (khandha-parinibbāna),also called an-upādi-sesa-nibbāna (see It. 41, A.IV.118), is "nirvana without aggregates remaining." 

In other words, the latter is the coming to rest, or rather the "no-more-continuing," of this psychophysical process of illusory existence. This takes place at the final passing of an arhat.

• The two terms defilement- (kilesa-) and aggregate- (khandha) final-nirvana (parinibbāna) are found only in the commentary; their corresponding two aspects sa-upādisesaand anupādisesa-nibbāna, however, are mentioned and explained in a sutra (Itivuttaka 44).

Sometimes both aspects take place at one and the same moment, as when one is passing away and practices very diligently, attaining full enlightenment and immediately passing away (see sama-sīsī). While this may sound strange or unusual or very technical, it is apparently sometimes easier to practice very close to death when everything clears away and there is a strong intention rooted in wisdom to finally be free of this endless cycle of rebirth.

Crossing over into the opposite of nirvana -- Bangkok -- Bhumibol Bridge (happySUN)

  
"This, O meditators, truly is the peace, this is the highest, namely the end of all formations, the forsaking of every substratum of rebirth, the fading away of craving, detachment, extinction, nirvana."

(A. III, 32)

 

"Enraptured by lust, enraged by anger, blinded by delusion, overwhelmed, with mind/heart ensnared, one aims at one's own ruin, at the ruin of others, at the ruin of both, and one experiences mental pain and grief.

"But if lust, anger, and delusion are given up, one aims neither at one's own ruin, nor at the ruin of others, nor at the ruin of both, and one experiences no mental pain and grief. Thus, is nirvana visible in this very life, immediate, inviting, attractive, and comprehensible to the wise."

(A.III.55)

 

"Just as a rock of one solid mass remains unshaken by the wind, even so neither visible forms, nor sounds, nor fragrances, nor tastes, nor bodily impressions, neither the desired nor the undesired, can cause such a one [an arhat] to waver. Steadfast is one's mind/heart, gained is deliverance." 

(A.VI.55)

 

"Verily, there is an unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, unformed. If there were not this unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, unformed, escape from the world of the born, the originated, the created, the formed would be impossible."

(Ud.VIII.3)

 

Wisdom dawns from behind clouds of obscuring delusion (happySUN/flickr.com)

  

But if there's no self? (HS)

One cannot too often and too emphatically stress the fact that not only for the actual realization of nirvana, but also for a mere theoretical understanding of it, it is indispensable to first grasp fully the truth of the impersonal nature of things, the egolessness and insubstantiality of all existence ("not-self," anattā). Without such an understanding, one will necessarily misconceive of nirvana -- according to one's materialistic or metaphysical leanings -- either as the annihilation of an ego, or as an eternal state of existence into which an ego or self enters or with which it merges. So it is said in an ultimate sense and not paradoxically: 

"Mere suffering exists; no sufferer is found. 

The deed [karma] is, but no doer of the deed is there.

Nirvana is, but not the one who enters it.

The path is, but no traveler on it is seen."

Path of Purification (Vis.M. XVI)

• Anattā and Nibbāna (Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, Wheel 11)
• The Buddhist Doctrine of Nibbāna (Ven. Dr. P. Vajiranana and Francis Story, Wheel 165/166)

The world, the world! (sutra)

Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; F.L. Woodward (trans.), Kindred Sayings, The Chapter on Channa and Others (Samyutta Nikaya, IV, Pali Text Society)

Saving the world, protesting economic and social injustices, Occupy L.A. (Wisdom Quarterly)

  

(84) Ven. Ananda came to see the Exalted One [Buddha]...and asked:

"'The world! The world!' it is said. venerable sir, please explain, how far does this saying go?"

"Ananda, what is transitory (paloka-dhamma = bhijjanaka, worldly phenomena, impermanent) by nature is called 'the world' in this noble doctrine and discipline [Arya-Dhamma-Vinaya].

 

"And what, Ananda, is transitory by nature? The eye, Ananda, is transitory by nature...visible objects... [The same is said for all six senses including the] mind is transitory by nature, mind-states, mind-consciousness, mind-contact [contact = the coming together of sense base, sense object, AND consciousness], whatever pleasure or pain (weal or woe) or neutral state experienced arises owing to mind-contact -- that, too, is transitory by nature. 

"Ananda, what is transitory by nature is called 'the world' in this noble doctrine and discipline."

Empty (void)

(85) Then Ven. Ananda...said to the Exalted One: "'The world IS empty! The world is empty!' it is said. Venerable sir, how far does this saying go?"

"Ananda, because the world is devoid of a self or anything belonging to a self (atta-niya, a self's property or possessions), therefore it is said, 'The world is empty.' And what, Ananda, is devoid of a self or what belongs to a self?

"Eye, visible objects, eye-consciousness... mind, mind-objects, mind consciousness are devoid of a self. Ananda, that is why it is said, 'The world is empty!'"

In Brief

Massive, sitting, golden Shakyamuni Buddha statue, Thailand (WQ)

 

(86) ...Then Ven. Ananda said to the Exalted One: "Well, for me, venerable sir, if the Exalted One would teach me a teaching in brief, a teaching which on hearing from the Exalted One I might dwell solitary, remote, earnest, ardent, and aspiring."

 

"Now what do you think, Ananda? Is the eye permanent or impermanent?" -- "Impermanent, venerable sir."

"What is impermanent, is that pleasant or painful (weal or woe)?" "Painful, venerable sir."

"Now what is impermanent, painful (woeful, disappointing), changeable by nature, is it fitting to regard that as, 'This is mine. This I am. This is my self'?" -- "Surely not, venerable sir."

 

"Eye, visible objects, eye-consciousness, eye-contact -- is that permanent or impermanent?" [This same is said of all six senses, types of sense objects, consciousness, and contact between the three].

"Then of what is impermanent, disappointing, and changeable by nature, is it fitting to regard that as, 'This is mine. This I am. This is my self'?" -- "Surely not, venerable sir."

"So seeing, Ananda, the well-taught noble disciple... [is] freed of conceits; one grasps at nothing in the world [does not cling to anything in the world or anything regarding an illusory ego]. Being free from grasping, one is not troubled. Being untroubled, one is by oneself set free. Thus one realizes, 'Rebirth is destroyed, lived is the highest life, done is the task. There is no more of this [suffering] to come.'

 

"This, Ananda, is the proper approach to the uprooting of all conceits [delusions]."

 

The Heart of Wisdom Sutra

(COMMENTARY)

The later Mahayana tradition says all of this much more cryptically in the "Perfection of Wisdom" literature (Prajna Paramita), epitomized in the Heart Sutra.

 

There the Five Aggregates of Clinging are laid bare: form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are empty. 

 

That is, they are devoid of a "self" through and through. Illusion exists. These constituents of being/becoming are generally regarded as a "self" by untaught, ordinary worldlings.

 

But because they are impermanent and unsatisfactory (disappointing), it is incorrect to regard them as personal. They are impersonal (not-self), beyond our control, brought into transient or momentary existence by causes and conditions. They do not arise by themselves but are brought into being by causes and conditions, which is to say they are dependently originated or arisen. 

 

All of this happens again and again based on ignorance. When liberating-insight arises, enlightenment dawns, and all suffering is brought to an end.

With pleasure, misery, and escape (sutra)

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly translation based on Frank Lee Woodward, Pali Tex Society, Book of the Kindred Sayings or Samyutta Nikaya PART IV (SN 4.17-22)

CHAPTER II, SECTIONS 17-22

In search of enlightenment

{17} Meditators, if there were not pleasure that comes from the eye, beings would not lust after (grasp for and cling to) the eye. 

But inasmuch as there is pleasure in the eye, beings lust after it.

Medtitators, if there were not misery that comes from the eye, beings would not be repelled by the eye.

But inasmuch as there is misery that comes from the eye, being are repelled by it.

If there were no escape from the eye, beings could not [become free] from it.

But inasmuch as there is a way of escape from the eye, beings do escape from it.

Likewise with regard to the pleasure, the misery, and the way of escape from the 

• ear,
• nose,
• tongue,
• body, and
• mind.... 

But inasmuch as there is a way of escape from the [ear, nose, tongue, body, and] mind, beings do escape from it.

The Buddha towering in Theravada Thailand

Meditators, so long as being have not understood as they truly are the pleasure as it is, the misery as it is, and the way of escape as it relates to this sixfold personal sphere of sense then, meditators, so long have beings not remained aloof, detached, and separated with the hindrances of the mind/heart done away with -- nor has the world with its shining ones (devas), killers (maras), divinities (brahmas), nor its legions of wandering ascetics (shramans) and temple priests (Brahmins), shining ones and human beings.

 

But, meditators, just as soon as beings thoroughly understand as they truly are the pleasure as it is, the misery as it is, and the way of escape as it relates to this sixfold personal sphere of sense -- then, meditators, beings and the world, with its light beings... do [finally*] remain aloof, detached, separated, with the hindrances of heart/mind done away with.

• *[NOTE: This letting go is accomplished by insight, not by an act of willpower or effort. Knowing-and-seeing, or insight into the true nature of things, is in itself liberating. There is no need to struggle and make the Truth true. Truth sets one free.]

[{18} The same is true of all other psycho-physical phenomena in addition to the eye, visible objects (sights), and the consciousness arising from seeing; ear, sounds, and the consciousness arising from hearing....]

DELIGHT

Silent stillness and vipassana to know-and-see

{19} Meditators, whoever takes delight in the eye takes delight in disappointment. And I declare, whoever takes delight in disappointment is not released from disappointment.

Whoever takes delight in the tongue... in the mind takes delight in disappointment, I declare. And I declare, whoever delights in disappointment is not released from disappointment.

 

But whoever does not take delight in the eye, the tongue... the mind -- that person does not delight in disappointment. And I declare, one who does not delight in disappointment is released from disappointment.

[{20} The same is true for visible objects (forms), sounds, fragrances, tastes, tangibles, and mind-states.]

 

{21} Meditators, that which is the arising, persisting, the rebirth, the manifestation of objects -- that is the arising of disappointment, the persisting of diseases, the manifestation of decay and death.

So also with regard to sounds, fragrances, tastes, and tangibles....

That which is the arising, the persisting, the rebirth, the manifestation of mind-states -- that is the arising of disappointment, the persisting of diseases, the manifestation of decay and death. 

But, meditators, that which is the ceasing, the quelling, the going out of objects -- that is the ceasing of disappointment, the quelling of diseases, the going out of decay and death.

So also with regard to sounds, fragrances, tastes, and tangibles...

 

That which is the ceasing, the quelling, the going out of mind-states -- that is the ceasing of disappointment, the quelling of diseases, the going out of decay and death.

[{22} The same is true for visible objects, sounds... mind-states -- for all psycho-physical phenomena.]

• Seeing things as they truly are (vipassana)
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"An Island to Oneself" (sutra)

Maurice O'Connell Walshe, Attadipa Sutta (SN 22.43); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

An island on a river at sunset with sudden bursts of lightning (Gary Story/plus.google.com)

 

Sitting is intensive but not the only way

"Meditators, be islands unto yourselves [Note 1], be your own [guide], having no other; let the Dharma be an island and a [guide] for you, having no other. Those who are islands unto themselves... should investigate to the very heart of things [2]:

"'What is the source of sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair? How do they arise?' [What is their origin?]

 

Buddha on island of Sri Lanka (NH53)

"Here, meditators, the uninstructed worldling [continued as in SN 22.7]. Change occurs in this person's body, and it becomes different. On account of this change and difference, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair arise. [Similarly with feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness].
 
"But seeing [3] the body's impermanence, its change-ability, its waning [4], its ceasing, he says 'formerly as now, all bodies were impermanent and unsatisfactory, and subject to change.' Thus, seeing this as it really is, with liberating insight, one abandons all sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair. One is not worried at their abandonment but, without worry, lives at ease. And thus living at ease one is said to be 'assured of deliverance [5].'" [Similarly with feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness].

NOTES: 1. Atta-dipa. Dipa means both "island" (Sanskrit dvipa) and "lamp" (Sanskrit dipa), but the meaning "island" is well-established here. The "self" referred to is of course the unmetaphysical pronoun "oneself" (cf. SN 3.8, n. 1).

2. It is necessary to withdraw, to be "an island to unto oneself," at least for a time (as any meditator knows), not for any "selfish" reasons but precisely in order to make this profound introspective investigation. Otherwise, in another sense, Buddhists would of course agree with John Donne that "No man is an island."

3. As Woodward remarks in [Book of the Kindred Sayings, a  translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, Vol. III, PTS, 1924], one would expect to find here the words which he inserts in the text: "The well-taught [noble] disciple," as in many passages. If one, in fact, sees these things and reflects as said in the text, one will cease to be [an ordinary] "worldling." 

4. Waning (viraga) is elsewhere also translated as "dispassion" (SN 12.16, n. 2).

5. Tadanganibbuto means rather more than Woodward's "one who is rid of all that."

• See island admonition in the Buddha's final sutra: DN 16.