Observing the Five Aggregates to Cut Through the View of Self (Part 2)
Chapter 3: How to Concretely Engage in Contemplative Practice (Vipaśyanā-Caryā) on the Five Aggregates
1. Contemplating the Five Aggregates Should Focus Primarily on Contemplating the Conscious Mind
When contemplating the emptiness and selflessness of the five aggregates and the eighteen dhātus, one must not only contemplate the five faculties and the five sense objects corresponding to them, but also contemplate the six consciousnesses and the manas, including the mental sense objects corresponding to the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. In fact, the manas also corresponds to the five sense objects: if the five sense objects appear and the manas is not interested in them, it will not give rise to the five consciousnesses to discern them, and the six consciousnesses will not know of the realms of the five sense objects and the mental sense objects. The arising of the six consciousnesses is all decided by the manas; the purpose of giving rise to the six consciousnesses is to discern and process the five sense objects and the mental sense objects. Therefore, the manas corresponds not only to the mental sense objects but also to the five sense objects. When the six consciousnesses are absent, or when the six consciousnesses are unable to discern, it is the manas alone that observes and attends to these dharmas. For example, in the case of the body faculty, the manas, following behind the tathāgatagarbha at all times and in all places, knows all the conditions of the body; sometimes it lets the mind consciousness and the five consciousnesses know, and sometimes it does not let the six consciousnesses know—and even when the mind consciousness does know, it finds it baffling.
Contemplating the five aggregates should primarily focus on contemplating the selflessness of the conscious mind. The main body of the five aggregates is the conscious mind, which is the easiest to mistake for the self, while the five faculties and the six sense objects are mistaken for what belongs to the self ("what is mine"). The selflessness of "what is mine" is relatively easy to recognize, whereas the self of the conscious mind is the hardest to see clearly. The conscious mind is also a kind of dharma, arising and ceasing moment by moment within the tathāgatagarbha. From the perspective of ultimate truth, these dharmas have no arising or ceasing—they are all the nature of the tathāgatagarbha; but from the perspective of conventional dharmas, apart from the tathāgatagarbha, all dharmas are subject to arising and ceasing, with phenomena constantly changing and existence and non-existence standing in opposition. What changes is not only the momentary arising and ceasing of the conscious mind—the seeds of consciousness being output and returning to cessation, fluctuating thought after thought—but the sense-object realms are also changing moment by moment, with the seeds of the four great elements being output and returning to cessation, and material form arising, ceasing, and mutating.
When meditative concentration is relatively deep, the dharmas of the five aggregates and eighteen dhātus will gradually become independent in the mind, no longer so tightly bound together. Once independent, they are easier to break through one by one; when stuck together, things are more complicated and appear more real, making it difficult to see their illusory and selfless nature. In a state of meditative concentration, the activities of the conscious mind are slower and more subtle, attachment to dharmas is slight, obstructions are small, and the true face of things is easily seen clearly by the conscious mind. Therefore, the benefits of meditative concentration are extremely many: it can clarify the truth of facts, the discerning and cognitive nature of the conscious mind becomes relatively objective and impartial, and wisdom is easily opened. It would be a great pity for a Buddhist practitioner not to cultivate meditative concentration. Having faith in the Buddha's words and being complete in precepts, concentration, and wisdom—only then is one a good disciple of the Buddha.
2. How to Deeply Contemplate Selflessness
When contemplating the five aggregates, if one has very deep meditative concentration, one's contemplation will be very deep and subtle, able to penetrate ever deeper into the meaning of the Dharma, thereby unraveling the mysteries of the Dharma layer by layer. When contemplating and reflecting, one should slowly, carefully, and deeply compare against one's own body, speech, and mind in the present moment, investigating and contemplating within as broad a scope as possible, thereby recognizing that the five aggregates are not the self. One must investigate why the aggregate of form is not the self, and why the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are not the self. When thinking, one should ask one more "why," resolve that question of "why," and contemplate deeply and subtly. If it is merely a formal understanding, not truly implemented in the mind, then all theoretical knowledge is hollow and cannot solve fundamental or practical problems.
How does one contemplate and reflect? For example, in contemplating that the physical body is not the self—"not the self" is a conclusion, but it is the Buddha's conclusion, not ours. Therefore this conclusion has nothing to do with us. Only after contemplation, when we ourselves have genuinely and truly arrived at this conclusion, does it become our own—the crystallization of our own wisdom—and only then does it have the merit and benefit of liberation. The Buddha's conclusion is merely a lead-in, serving as a reference for developing one's own wisdom. We can follow this conclusion and contemplate in reverse: Why is the physical body not the self? Because the physical body is empty. Why is the physical body empty? Because the physical body is suffering. Why is the physical body suffering? This is the starting point of our initial contemplation, requiring us to slowly reflect and search for various bases of support. Finally we arrive at the conclusion that the physical body is indeed not the self—this is the eradication of the view of the body and the eradication of the view of self.
After contemplation, the wisdom gained and the fruits realized are not necessarily the same for everyone, because conditions differ and contemplation differs; the degree of eradicating the view of the body varies, depending on the degree of realization and the degree of cultivation. Even realizing the first fruit has different levels, and the degree of bodily and mental benefit and transformation also differs. For example, children all enter first grade, but their level of learning in the same class differs; realizing the fruit is like graduating, so at graduation everyone's level differs, and some graduate early and some late. Each practitioner investigates the Dharma with a different scope, angle, and depth, and their power of reflection differs, so the wisdom of realizing the Dharma differs; with different wisdom, the degree of eliminating afflictions and changing behavior differs. The deeper and subtler the reflection, the better the power of concentration; the better the power of concentration, the deeper and subtler the reflection—then the degree of realization is deeper and more ultimate, and the transformation of mental conduct is more thorough.
3. The Starting Point for Contemplating That the Physical Body Is Not the Self
Sentient beings universally take the physical body as the self and as belonging to the self, and also appropriate the external living environment as their possession. If one wishes to contemplate that the physical body is not the self and not what belongs to the self, one must first contemplate that the living environment—the realms of the six sense objects—is not the self and not what belongs to the self; on that basis, contemplating that the physical body is not the self becomes relatively easier.
Why say this? Because the external six sense objects, like the physical body, are composed of the five great-element seeds of earth, water, fire, wind, and space within the tathāgatagarbha; their nature is the same. Moreover, the external six sense objects are slightly more distant from one's own mind than the physical body, so attachment and reflection are lighter, making them easier to start with. The Buddha said that the external six sense objects are our external body, also called our external realm, while the physical body is the internal realm and internal body; internal and external are mutually complementary and interconnected. Confirming that the six sense objects are not the self and not what belongs to the self is relatively easy; the physical body follows the same principle as the six sense objects. In this way, one creates distance between one's own mind and the physical body, able to separate them somewhat, and then contemplating and confirming that the physical body is not the self and not what belongs to the self becomes much easier.
In the conventional world, the science that studies the physical body is called medicine. Chinese medicine also says that the structure and construction of the physical body are similar and analogous to mountains, rivers, and the great earth. When treating the body, one should not regard the physical body as mysterious or special; treat it just like mountains, rivers, and the great earth, just like managing the living environment. This view of Chinese medicine is very scientific and close to the Buddha-dharma, giving us great inspiration; contemplation thus finds a point of entry, and getting started becomes faster.
The conventional saying goes: "Flowing water does not rot, and a door hinge does not get worm-eaten." The physical body is the same: when the body is blocked, there will be foul odor, and it will rot, developing tumors and cancer cells. When the four great elements of the inanimate world are out of balance, rivers burst their dikes, earthquakes and tsunamis occur, fires and wind disasters run rampant, and seas turn into mulberry fields and mulberry fields into seas. The physical body is likewise: when the four great elements are out of balance, qi deficiency and blood deficiency, wind-cold, internal heat, diarrhea, tumors, cancers, and so forth appear. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the various sages also contemplated the external earth, water, fire, and wind, then turned to observe the earth, water, fire, and wind within their own bodies, and thereby realized various meditative absorptions (samādhi) and achieved accomplishment. Therefore, starting from contemplating the realms of the six sense objects is a shortcut for contemplating the physical body.
4. Seeing Through the Physical Body Attains Liberation
By observing anatomical diagrams of the human body, one knows that the body's movements are formed by the contraction and extension of muscles—they are mechanized; there is not truly a self that moves. The human body is merely a tool used by the manas, highly precise, mechanized, and fully automatic; it is not real—in fact, it is all choreographed by the tathāgatagarbha. Look at this neural system: it is nothing but a bundle of positive and negative electrical wires, a pile of tangled ropes. From it are drawn out the aggregate of perception and the aggregate of feeling, and produced the aggregate of volitional formations and the aggregate of consciousness. What exactly is this flesh that can be disassembled and reassembled like this? Is it the self? Can it be taken as the self? In fact, it is nothing at all—it is fundamentally not the self, nor does it belong to the self; it is just used for a few decades or a hundred years, and if it doesn't work, one can exchange it for a better one. We should see through it, remove the burden in our minds, be at ease and liberated, without affliction or vexation.
Just use this physical body and be done with it; there is no need to be attached to it. The entire physical body, including the functions of the six consciousnesses, is entirely governed by fixed programs, designed and choreographed by the tathāgatagarbha for the manas to use. If someone slaps you or punches you, just let it go—don't fuss over it; they cannot hit you, and what they hit is not you. If someone makes unreasonable trouble for you, let it go too; they cannot violate you, and what they harm is not you. Let the world do as it pleases; good or bad, it doesn't matter—nothing is real, so why take it seriously? You hold a grudge against me, I hold a grudge against him; you hate me, I despise him—such affliction is utterly unreasonable and meaningless. From the struggles between microorganisms to wars between nations and world wars, the fighting is utterly senseless; no one can defeat anyone, no one can crush anyone. What arises ceases, what ceases arises; there is no birth and no death. Even if the world disappeared for millions of years, only a pile of tangled ropes would have disappeared.
Several hundred of Śākyamuni Buddha's relatives were killed by King Virūḍhaka; Ānanda wept in grief-stricken pain, yet the Buddha remained as calm as still water as always, without vexation or hatred. Why could the Buddha see through it so thoroughly? In all things there are no real persons and no real events—it is all illusory and empty. Therefore the Buddha was liberated, while Ānanda, not liberated, was in anguish.
5. How to Observe Where the View of Self Resides
To find where one's own view of self resides, one can observe it through one's own cravings: excessive demands are greed; unreasonable demands are greed; seeking what should not be sought is greed. Why are there so many demands? Because there is a self in the mind—one sees the physical body as the self, sees the aggregate of feeling as the self, sees the aggregate of perception as the self, sees the aggregate of volitional formations as the self—and thus craves for the sake of the five aggregates. If there is no self in the mind, one will have few desires and be content, knowing when to stop, not excessively seeking and grasping, and certainly not using unwholesome means, unreasonable methods, or even methods that harm others to pursue one's own benefit.
A person without self in the mind will not expend effort on seeking, still less seek by any means necessary, but will live in accordance with conditions. A selfless person, in handling matters, will stand in others' position to deal with problems, consider others' interests, and be mindful of others' feelings. But this mindfulness does not necessarily mean complying with others' unreasonable demands; rather, it takes others' long-term and ultimate benefit as the starting point, and one's intentions and actions may not necessarily be understood or approved by others.
A person with self in the mind, one with a heavy view of self, will inevitably have heavy grasping at self as well; in dealing with people and matters, everything proceeds from one's own mind, emphasizing the self, taking one's own views and opinions as the standard, not soliciting others' opinions and views, not considering others' feelings—often acting according to one's own habits first and explaining later, striking first and reporting afterward, regardless of whether others' interests are violated. If others do not comply, such a person becomes furious and takes retaliatory measures to reclaim self-interest and vent inner resentment, regardless of consequences. In this way, in the course of struggling with oneself and others, each victory pushes one a step backward on the path of cultivating selflessness, a step further into the pit of the suffering of birth-and-death, and the suffering of this and future lives will intensify.
Skillful observation is a very important link in cultivation. With skillful observation, one can weigh the true advantages and disadvantages in all matters; long-term benefit is always more important than immediate benefit, and long-term effects far exceed short-term effects. A person with a heavy view of self is short-sighted, often seeing only a tiny bit before their eyes, blinded by the extremely small immediate benefits—this is what is called karmic obstruction (karmāvaraṇa). What is karmic obstruction? The ignorance and karmic causes of past lives increase one's view of self and grasping at self, obstructing the arising of wisdom, so that one cannot see the truth of matters, does not know what one's true benefit is, and pursues useless things as if they were great benefit—with the result of going in the opposite direction, where the gains do not make up for the losses.
Sentient beings all feel that the term "ignorance" (avidyā) is rather euphemistic, while "foolishness" is rather crude. In fact, both terms mean the same thing. The Buddha used the word "foolishness" to describe the mental nature of sentient beings—and that is already quite euphemistic. Sometimes the Buddha would even shout at his disciples: "Hey! Fool!" In fact, no matter what language is used, it cannot fully express the foolishness and stupidity of sentient beings—nothing said is forceful enough, and whatever is said, sentient beings remain unmoved, leaving one speechless. Even using Mount Sumeru as a crowbar could not pry loose the foolishness, stupidity, and dullness in sentient beings' minds.
6. How to Make the Sense Objects Dissolve
Having realized the arising-ceasing mutability, unreality, falsity, and emptiness of the sense objects, afterwards the mind becomes empty and pure with regard to the objects; one's views change, one's knowledge changes, right view is fulfilled, there are no sense objects in the mind—one sees objects yet not as objects, attains the samādhi of sense objects, and abides in the samādhi of sense objects. But the sense objects do not dissolve or cease; the false appearances remain—only all cognition of them has changed: no longer deluded, no longer inverted, no longer grasping.
The sense objects are the marks that the mind discerns, including material marks, mental marks, and marks that are neither material nor mental. The mind is the faculty, the dharma is the object; the two are like traces on a mirror. Due to lacking meditative concentration, when studying the Dharma, principle is principle and phenomena are phenomena—forever two separate things; the moment one encounters a situation, the principle flees to the back of the head, and one is stuck by the situation. Studying the Dharma like this, when will one ever attain liberation?
7. How to Eradicate the View of Self as Quickly as Possible
Whether one can eradicate the view of self and realize the first fruit and even up to the fourth fruit depends on whether that person's view of the body and view of self are slight or severe. A person with a slight view of the body rarely cares about or attends to how the physical body is, does not spend much thought specially caring for the body, is not very worried about the body's safety, and has little sense of fear. Because such a person is not very attached to the physical body and the five aggregates, it is easy to eradicate the view of self and realize the fruit. Because they do not care much about the physical body and the five aggregates, there are few mental hindrances, meditative concentration comes easily, contemplation of the five aggregates can proceed ever deeper, and when contemplation is effective, eradicating the view of self becomes easier.
Practitioners of the past had deep roots of goodness and abundant merit; living in a world where material life was underdeveloped, they were not controlled by material desires, had fewer desires, did not crave enjoyment and entertainment, and did not squander their merit without cause, so they could make continuous progress single-mindedly on the path. People today are different: they crave enjoyment and comfortable living too much, their minds are obscured by various desires, their karmic obstructions not only cannot be eliminated but may even increase, and progress on the path is very difficult.
The arhats of the past could practice austerities (dhūta-guṇa) because they had no view of the body or view of self, had eradicated grasping at self, had no fear within regarding the self's safety, paid no attention to the environment surrounding the physical body, and only wished to extinguish all mental formations in order to realize nirvāṇa without remainder. Modern people care deeply about the physical body—various nutrition, maintenance, and health regimens—yet due to karmic obstructions, not many people are seen to have maintained their bodies particularly well; they have instead increased the view of the body, so breakthroughs in cultivation are very difficult. Meticulous care of the physical body turns out in the end to be not worth the cost—gaining little and losing much, not knowing what is light and what is heavy—all because of the influence of the modern living environment, compounded by insufficient roots of goodness and merit, leading people to blindly and carelessly squander their own merit.
Therefore, to eradicate the view of self and grasping at self as quickly as possible, do not constantly care about your own physical body and five aggregates; do not over-attend to yourself; try to take yourself and your living environment lightly, and devote your mind to the path. At the same time, be careful not to squander your merit without cause. Merit is extremely important for cultivating the path; even if you have the merit of the great bodhisattvas, do not casually expend it. Only by accumulating merit bit by bit can one ultimately achieve the Buddha's merit.
8. Honestly Judging Whether One Is in the State of Having Eradicated the View of Self
Question: Having sequentially contemplated the five aggregates as impermanent, suffering, and not-self, so that no view of self or view of what belongs to the self arises anymore with regard to feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness—how can one further advance from here? What is the subsequent direction? Or is it that after maintaining this state of non-activity and tranquility for a period of time, one will automatically be able to self-validate that "birth has been exhausted, the task has been done, and there will be no more receiving of future existence"? Because in actual practice, within a short time after emerging from concentration (an hour or two), the monkey mind comes back and wants to grasp and fabricate again. Going around in circles like this, I feel that perhaps somewhere I have not fully connected with the Buddha's teaching.
Answer: Self-validating that "my birth has been exhausted, the task has been done, and there will be no more receiving of future existence" is the realm of a fourth-fruit great arhat—let us not think about that. First securely, solidly, and genuinely obtain the first fruit, and then talk about what comes after. For those who have not eradicated the view of self in past lives, the first fruit is already extremely difficult.
When observing the five aggregates subject to clinging as suffering, empty, impermanent, and not-self, one must correctly judge whether one genuinely regards the five aggregates subject to clinging as truly suffering, empty, impermanent, and not-self. This is extremely important and is the crucial point. You cannot simply assume that because you think there is no self, there is no self. During contemplative reflection, the mind seems very pure; but when out of concentration and not contemplating, the mind still has self and is no longer pure. This shows the view of self has not been truly eradicated and it is not genuine selflessness. Then continue contemplating and keep up the practice.
9. Turning to Observe One's Own Mind
When you hear someone praise or boast about you, and you feel happy and comfortable—what mind is this? When you hear someone blame or mock you and you become angry—what mind is this? When you see people and things unrelated to yourself and pay no attention—what mind is this? When you see people and things closely related to yourself and pay special attention—what mind is this? How did these minds arise, how did they change, and how did they cease? At this moment, which of the five aggregates gave rise to this mind? Is this fivefold aggregate you? Does everyone cling to this mind, cling to this feeling?
10. Provisional and Ultimate Eradication of the Accumulation of Suffering
The sequence of cultivating the Four Noble Truths is: knowing suffering, eradicating accumulation, yearning for cessation, cultivating the path; or: knowing suffering, yearning for cessation, cultivating the path, eradicating accumulation. Eradicating accumulation is divided into provisional eradication and fundamental eradication. Provisional eradication means that when one has no meditative concentration and has not realized the fruits, the mind consciousness subdues and suppresses itself so as not to create unwholesome karma, or to create less of it. Fundamental eradication of accumulation is ultimate eradication: after the afflictions are eradicated, the manas no longer has the intention and impetus to create unwholesome karma; without the mind consciousness's subduing and suppressing, it spontaneously and automatically refrains from creating unwholesome karma. In this way, the old seeds of unwholesome karma are eliminated, new seeds of unwholesome karma do not accumulate, and there will be no suffering in future lives.
How does suffering come about? In the earliest phase of life, there was no world of the five aggregates and no suffering. Because of ignorance, the manas attended outwardly, wanting to know; thereupon the tathāgatagarbha gave birth to the world, and then to the body of the five aggregates. Living in the world, because of the manas's ignorance, the five aggregates create unwholesome karma that is not in accordance with reality; thus karmic seeds accumulate, and there is the retribution of suffering in future lives. After studying Buddhism and cultivating, one continuously reflects on the truth of suffering, understanding that the source of suffering is the unwholesome karma accumulated in past lives; then one seeks ways to end suffering, begins to cultivate the path and no longer accumulates unwholesome karmic formations; after realizing selflessness and eradicating ignorance and afflictions, suffering is gradually extinguished.
11. Without Sufficient Contemplative Practice, Views Cannot Change
Question: When contemplating that the mind consciousness is not the self, I simply cannot find any evidence. You said that the mind consciousness, after discerning one mental sense object, ceases and then operates on another mental sense object. But I feel that this "knowing" conscious mind is still me; although it constantly changes, the nature of this "knowing" does not change. I am rather troubled by this.
Answer: You have not yet observed things as they really are; your contemplative practice is insufficient, so your understanding is inadequate and your views cannot change. In the truth of suffering among the Four Noble Truths: suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and not-self—note the sequence in which the Buddha taught the truth of suffering: impermanence, emptiness, suffering, not-self; these are linked step by step in sequence. When contemplating, you need to contemplate in sequence: having completely contemplated out the first, it should lead to or yield the second conclusion; having contemplated out the second, you should draw out the third conclusion; having contemplated out the third, you should arrive at the fourth conclusion. If it does not go like this, obstructions and resistance have appeared. What is the obstruction? It is the inherent mental views fixed since beginningless kalpas obstructing yourself, making you unable to reverse your former views and unable to form new views and cognition. For example, impermanent dharmas are empty, unattainable, and cannot be grasped; if you only know impermanence but cannot enter into the thought of emptiness, then you stop and cannot proceed with further contemplation.
If you can completely contemplate the stage of emptiness but cannot form the view that what is empty is suffering, an obstruction appears, contemplation stalls, and you cannot proceed. If you contemplate that the five aggregates are all suffering but cannot arrive at the conclusion that the fundamental nature of suffering is not the self, then the last bottleneck appears. How can this bottleneck be broken through? Or how can each bottleneck be broken through and one's former fixed erroneous views be changed? This requires us to reflect deeply and deeply again. Among these, keeping the precepts, meditative concentration, reflection in accordance with reality, as well as merit and vow power, are very important; one should emphasize cultivation in these areas.
12. Eradicating the View of Self Is Not About Transforming the Physical Body
Eradicating the view of self is contemplating the unreality, emptiness, and selflessness of the five aggregates; it is not about turning the body into some particular form, nor is it necessary for the body to become mutilated before one can confirm that the physical body is without self. Changing the body relies on the power of meditative concentration; without eradicating the view of self, merely cultivating meditative concentration can change the physical body. Are not those who are paralyzed or disabled still deeply burdened with the view of self? If through contemplation one could turn the physical body into gold, perhaps the view of self would be even heavier. The key lies in one's mental understanding—directly perceiving that the physical body is false, empty, and unreal; change your thinking, not your body. Do not contemplate yourself into being a cripple—if your power of concentration increases and something really goes wrong with the body, wouldn't that be bad? It is enough to contemplate that the body is an assemblage.
13. The Most Crucial Point in Eradicating the View of Self Lies in Changing One's Views
Eradicating the view of self first requires changing old mental views and establishing new ones, forming a new cognitive framework, having clear cognition of the phenomena of impermanence, fully and soberly recognizing the impermanence of the world of the five aggregates—its arising, ceasing, and mutation—thereby establishing that dharmas of arising, ceasing, and mutation are empty and not-self. But establishing such a view is extremely difficult: phenomena are easy to observe, but views are not easy to change. Establishing correct views in accordance with reality is many times harder than contemplating the impermanence of worldly phenomena. Impermanence is actually easy to observe; it is just that because one is habituated to existence, it is hard to confirm it as empty; and even knowing it is empty, one cannot confirm it as not-self—precisely because the old view of self is not easy to break through.
This requires deliberate training in changing one's views. How to train? For example, take a toy car, take it apart and reassemble it, assemble and disassemble it, then observe: is there a real toy car in this? Is a thing assembled from a pile of tin sheets a toy car? Is there such a thing as a toy car? The toy car is a dharma produced by causes and conditions; it has no autonomy—it arises, abides, alters, and ceases, arising and ceasing and mutating; it is intrinsically empty, without the nature of self. One can also take a plastic doll apart and reassemble it, observing the causal conditionality that forms the doll, and the doll's own impermanence of arising-ceasing-mutation and its emptiness. Through repeated experimentation and observation, one gradually breaks the view of existence, establishes the view of emptiness, and forms new views and cognition—only then can the view of self be well eradicated.
