Feeling (vedanā) is the cause of illusion

Question: When the foot is cut by a knife, the tactile sense-object of the foot is transmitted to the supreme faculty (rūpa-prasāda) at the back of the brain; the faculty and the sense-object make contact, producing the body consciousness and the mind consciousness, and when these three converge in contact, pain is felt. The sensation of bodily pain is all produced at the supreme faculty in the back of the brain; the gross physical sense organ—the foot—has no sensation and no pain. I can understand and accept the Dharma teaching in this way. However, the real sensation of pain is in the foot that was cut by the knife, and there is no sensation of pain at the back of the brain. For someone like me who lacks the capacity for meditative contemplation, how can this be explained with the Buddha-Dharma?

Answer: The various conditions and various sense-objects of all parts of the body must be transmitted through the nerves to the corresponding locations within the supreme faculty, and in this way consciousness is born to receive the corresponding sense-objects. Because consciousness discerns within the supreme faculty, contact and feeling all occur within the supreme faculty. Since feeling is the feeling of the consciousness-mind, then the two material forms—the supreme faculty and the gross physical sense organ—naturally have no sensation of feeling and cannot feel pain; the sensation of pain must be with the consciousness-mind within the supreme faculty. The location within the supreme faculty that the consciousness-mind feels corresponds to the bodily part corresponding to the gross physical sense organ, so it feels as if that part is in pain; in fact, it is the consciousness-mind at the supreme faculty corresponding to the gross physical sense organ that feels the pain.

Therefore it is said that all sensations of feeling are mistaken perception. When can this mistaken perception disappear and no longer appear? Only after attaining the fourth dhyāna and breaking through the domain of the aggregate of form can the sensations of feeling be extinguished; at that time, even if the body is cut by a knife, burned by fire, or dismembered, one will not feel pain. Because at this point one has transcended the domain of the aggregate of form, the physical body no longer obstructs the consciousness-mind, and no longer affects or blocks the consciousness-mind. The body is material form, and it has the function of covering over and deceiving the consciousness-mind; this is called the aggregate of form. To break through the covering of the aggregate of form requires the power of meditative concentration; reaching the fourth dhyāna allows one to break through it, no longer being swayed by the physical body, and no longer being swayed by the environment.

One physical body has only one supreme faculty, located at the back of the brain, where the six consciousnesses are born and function. The manas is not limited by the supreme faculty, and the eighth consciousness even less so; it exists and operates pervading all places. Outside the supreme faculty there is still material form existing; the entire physical body is distinct from the supreme faculty—the two are both connected and different.