Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (44)

The Nature and Function of the Wind Element

The nature of the wind element is light and drifting. When the wind pushes us along, walking and cycling become very fast; when the wind blows, some light things are swept upward by it. The wind element also has the characteristic of movement: it can make objects unstable and set them in motion. What is it that enables our body to function? It is because there is the wind nature within the body. Without the wind nature, our limbs could not move, nor could we speak.

How is speech produced? When there are initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra) and feelings within the mind, we want to speak and express them. Then a stream of wind arises in the body; the wind touches the navel, then moves upward, touching the heart and lungs, then further up touching the windpipe and the throat opening, then touching the tongue, teeth, and lips, and after that speech is produced. Without the wind element, speech cannot arise. The wind nature is by nature moving, and speech is also moving; without this wind nature, no sound can be uttered. No matter how many thoughts we have in our minds, without the function of wind, our ideas and views cannot be expressed and speech cannot be produced. This shows that there must be a wind nature within the body; when the wind moves and touches the internal organs, speech is expressed.

Speech is also illusory. Where are the individual sounds of speech stored? There is nowhere they can be stored. After we finish speaking, the words cease—where do they go? There is no place of cessation. Thus all dharmas are just this illusory, utterly unattainable, with no principle to be argued; from nothing at all they come, and to nothing at all they go. Analyze and infer all matters and principles: everything we come into contact with is just as illusory and unreal as this. By engaging in much contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and reflection in this way, one can realize the emptiness of all dharmas, achieve the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa), and realize srotāpanna; afterwards, gradually, there will be nothing left that one cannot let go of.