Mind-and-Matter, Rightly Seen

Now, it was said that, having made a familiarity of knowledge with respect to these states that constitute the "ground," by way of learning and inquiring into them, the two root purifications — namely, purification of virtue and purification of mind — are to be accomplished. Herein, purification of virtue is the fourfold, thoroughly purified virtue beginning with restraint according to the Pātimokkha; and this has already been treated in full in the Description of Virtue. Purification of mind is the eight attainments together with access; and these too, spoken of under the heading of "mind," have already been treated in every respect in the Description of Concentration. Therefore they should be understood there, in just the way they were treated in detail there.

But as to what was said — that purification of view, purification by overcoming doubt, purification by knowledge and vision of what is path and not-path, purification by knowledge and vision of the way, and purification by knowledge and vision: these five purifications constitute the "body" — herein, the seeing of mind-and-matter as they truly are is what is called purification of view.

One desiring to accomplish this should, if he follows the vehicle of serenity, first emerge from any one of the fine-material or immaterial jhānas — setting aside only the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception — and should then grasp the jhāna factors beginning with applied thought, together with the states associated with them, by way of their characteristic, function, and so on. Having grasped them, he should determine all of this, in the sense of its bending toward the object, as "mind," by reason of its very bending.

Then, just as a man who has seen a snake inside a house, and follows it, sees its lair — in just the same way this meditator too, examining that mind, searching, "in dependence on what does this mind occur?", sees its support, the matter of the heart. Then he grasps, as matter, the great elements that are the support of the heart-matter, and the remaining derived matter that is supported by the great elements. He determines all of this, by reason of its being deformed, as "matter." Then he determines mind-and-matter in brief thus: mind has the characteristic of bending; matter has the characteristic of being deformed.

The practitioner of bare insight, or this same practitioner following the vehicle of serenity, grasps the four elements — by whichever of the "doors" of elemental analysis already stated in the determining of the four elements, either in brief or in detail. Then, as the elements become evident to him according to their own true characteristic: first, in the kamma-originated hairs, [he sees] — "the four elements, colour, odour, taste, nutritive essence, life, body-sensitivity" — thus ten material phenomena by way of the body-decad; in that same [hair], because sex is also present, ten more by way of the sex-decad; there too, the nutriment-originated octad-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth, the temperature-originated [octad], and the mind-originated [octad] — twenty-four more; thus, across the four originations, in the twenty-four portions, forty-four material phenomena each become evident. In the case of the four [parts] originated from temperature-and-mind [only] — sweat, tears, saliva, nasal mucus — by way of two nutritive-essence-octads, sixteen material phenomena each become evident. In the case of the four [parts] originated from temperature only — gastric fluid, feces, pus, urine — by way of the nutritive-essence-octad belonging to temperature-origination alone, eight material phenomena each become evident. This, for now, is the method as applied to the thirty-two aspects.

But when these thirty-two aspects have become evident, a further ten aspects become evident besides. Herein: first, in the kamma-originated portion of fire that digests what is eaten and so on, there are nine material phenomena — the nutritive-essence-octad together with life; likewise, in the mind-originated portion that is the in-breath-and-out-breath, there are also nine — the nutritive-essence-octad together with sound; in the remaining eight aspects, which have all four originations, thirty-three material phenomena become evident — the life-nonad together with three nutritive-essence-octads.

When, in this way, this great-elements-and-derived-matter has become evident in detail, by way of the forty-two aspects, then, by way of the [sense-]bases and doors, a further sixty material phenomena become evident as well — the five [decads] beginning with the eye-decad, and the heart-basis-decad. He then takes all of these together, by the characteristic of being deformed, and sees: "this is matter."

For one who has thus grasped matter, the immaterial states become evident by way of the [sense-]doors. That is: the two sets of five [sense-]consciousnesses, the three mind-elements, and the sixty-eight mind-consciousness-elements — eighty-one mundane states of consciousness in all — and, without distinction, arisen together with those states of consciousness, the seven mental factors of contact, feeling, perception, volition, life, stability of consciousness, and attention, in each and every case. Supramundane states of consciousness, however, come within the grasp neither of the practitioner of pure insight nor of the practitioner of the vehicle of serenity, since they have not yet been attained. He then takes all of these immaterial states together, by the characteristic of bending, and sees: "this is mind." This is how one determines mind-and-matter in detail, by way of the method of determining the four elements.

Another determines it by way of the eighteen elements. How? Here, a monk, having adverted to the elements — "there is, in this very person, the eye-element … and so on … the mind-consciousness-element" — without taking hold of what the world, seeing a lump of flesh bound by a sinew-cord in the eye-socket, variegated with white and black circles, long and broad, recognizes as "the eye," determines instead, as "the eye-element," the eye-sensitivity of the kind already described among the derived material phenomena in the Description of the Aggregates.

As for the four elements that are its support, the four accompanying phenomena of colour, odour, taste, and nutritive essence, and the life faculty that maintains it — these nine co-arisen material phenomena; and, standing there as well, the twenty kamma-originated material phenomena by way of the body-decad and the sex-decad; and the twenty-four not-clung-to material phenomena by way of the three nutritive-essence-octads beginning with the nutriment-originated one — these remaining fifty-three material phenomena there are, and he does not determine them as "the eye-element." This same method applies also to the ear-element and the rest. In the case of the body-element, however, the remaining material phenomena number forty-three. Some, however, say forty-five, counting the temperature-and-mind-originated [octads] together with sound as nine each.

Thus these five sensitivities, and their five objects — visible form, sound, odour, taste, and the tangible — are ten material phenomena, constituting ten elements. The remaining material phenomena belong solely to the mind-object-element. Now, the state of consciousness that occurs in dependence on the eye, taking visible form as its object, is called the eye-consciousness-element; thus the two sets of five sense-consciousnesses are the five consciousness-elements. The three states of consciousness of the mind-element are the one mind-element; the sixty-eight states of consciousness of the mind-consciousness-element are the mind-consciousness-element; so all eighty-one mundane states of consciousness together are the seven consciousness-elements. The states associated with them, beginning with contact, are the mind-object-element. Thus, herein, ten-and-a-half elements are matter, and seven-and-a-half elements are mind. This is how one determines mind-and-matter by way of the eighteen elements.

Another determines it by way of the twelve bases. How? Setting aside, exactly as stated for the eye-element, the fifty-three other material phenomena, he determines the mere eye-sensitivity as "the eye-base." Herein, by exactly the method already stated, he determines the ear-, nose-, tongue-, and body-elements as "the ear-, nose-, tongue-, and body-bases"; the five phenomena that are their objects as "the visible-form-, sound-, odour-, taste-, and tangible-bases"; the seven mundane consciousness-elements as "the mind-base"; and the states associated with them, beginning with contact, together with the remaining material phenomena, as "the mind-object-base." Thus, herein, ten-and-a-half bases are matter, and one-and-a-half bases are mind. This is how one determines mind-and-matter by way of the twelve bases.

Another determines it more briefly still, by way of the aggregates. How? Here, a monk reflects: in this body there are the four elements, having four origins; dependent on them, colour, odour, taste, and nutritive essence; the five sensitivities beginning with eye-sensitivity; the heart-basis-matter; sex; the life faculty; and sound, which has two origins — these seventeen material phenomena are susceptible to comprehension and are actual, real matter. But the following ten material phenomena — bodily intimation, verbal intimation, the space-element, the lightness, malleability, and wieldiness of matter, growth, continuity, decay, and impermanence of matter — are not susceptible to comprehension in that same way; they are merely the modes, alterations, and boundaries of other matter, not actual matter, not real matter. Nevertheless, since they are merely the modes, alterations, and boundaries of matter, they are reckoned as "matter." Thus all these twenty-seven material phenomena together are the matter-aggregate; the feeling that arises together with the eighty-one mundane states of consciousness is the feeling-aggregate; the perception associated with it is the perception-aggregate; the formations are the formations-aggregate; consciousness is the consciousness-aggregate. Thus the matter-aggregate is matter, and the four immaterial aggregates are mind. This is how one determines mind-and-matter by way of the five aggregates.

Another, having grasped matter in this very person quite briefly, thus — "whatever is matter, all such matter is the four great elements, and matter derived from the four great elements" — and having likewise grasped, as mind, the mind-base together with a portion of the mind-object-base, determines mind-and-matter in brief: "such is mind, and such is matter; this is called 'mind-and-matter.'"

But if, having grasped matter by this or that method, and then grasping the immaterial, the immaterial does not become evident to him on account of its subtlety, then, without giving up the task, he should again and again comprehend, attend to, grasp, and determine matter itself. For in whatever measure his grasp of matter becomes well rinsed clean, free of tangle, and thoroughly purified, in that same measure the immaterial states that have it as their object become evident of themselves.

For just as, when a sighted man, looking at the reflection of his own face in an impure mirror, cannot make out that reflection, he does not, on that account, throw the mirror away, thinking "the reflection cannot be made out" — rather, he polishes it again and again; and then, once the mirror is pure, the reflection becomes evident of itself. And just as one who seeks oil, having poured sesame flour into a trough and sprinkled it with water, does not, when the oil fails to come out after pressing it once or twice, throw the sesame flour away; rather, he sprinkles it with hot water again and again, kneads it, and presses it — and as he does so, clear sesame oil comes out. And just as one wishing to clarify water, having taken a clearing-nut and lowered his hand inside the water-jar, does not, when the water fails to become clear after rubbing it once or twice, throw the clearing-nut away; rather, he rubs it again and again — and as he does so, the mud and silt settle down, and the water becomes clean and clear — in just the same way, that monk, without giving up the task, should again and again comprehend, attend to, grasp, and determine matter itself.

For in whatever measure his grasp of matter becomes well rinsed clean, free of tangle, and thoroughly purified, in that same measure the defilements opposed to it settle down, and the mind becomes clear, like water above the settled silt. And the immaterial states that have it as their object become evident of themselves. This same meaning should be illustrated in the same way by other similes as well — of sugarcane, a thief, an ox, curds, a fish, and so on.

Now, for one whose grasp of matter has thus become thoroughly purified, the immaterial states become evident in three ways: by way of contact, by way of feeling, or by way of consciousness. How? First, for one grasping the elements by the method beginning "the earth-element has the characteristic of hardness," the first impingement appears as contact; the feeling associated with it, as the feeling-aggregate; perception, as the perception-aggregate; volition, together with contact, as the formations-aggregate; and the state of consciousness, as the consciousness-aggregate. Likewise, for "in the hairs, the earth-element has the characteristic of hardness … and so on … in the in-breath-and-out-breath, the earth-element has the characteristic of hardness," the first impingement appears as contact; the feeling associated with it, as the feeling-aggregate … and so on … the state of consciousness, as the consciousness-aggregate. In this way the immaterial states become evident by way of contact.

For another, in the case of "the earth-element has the characteristic of hardness," the feeling that experiences the flavour of that same object appears as the feeling-aggregate; the perception associated with it, as the perception-aggregate; the contact and volition associated with it, as the formations-aggregate; and the state of consciousness associated with it, as the consciousness-aggregate. Likewise for "in the hairs, the earth-element has the characteristic of hardness … and so on … in the in-breath-and-out-breath, the earth-element has the characteristic of hardness," the feeling that experiences the flavour of that same object appears as the feeling-aggregate … and so on … the state of consciousness associated with it appears as the consciousness-aggregate. In this way the immaterial states become evident by way of feeling.

For yet another, in the case of "the earth-element has the characteristic of hardness," the consciousness that cognizes the object appears as the consciousness-aggregate; the feeling associated with it, as the feeling-aggregate; perception, as the perception-aggregate; contact and volition, as the formations-aggregate. Likewise for "in the hairs, the earth-element has the characteristic of hardness … and so on … in the in-breath-and-out-breath, the earth-element has the characteristic of hardness," the consciousness that cognizes the object appears as the consciousness-aggregate; the feeling associated with it, as the feeling-aggregate; perception, as the perception-aggregate; contact and volition, as the formations-aggregate. In this way the immaterial states become evident by way of consciousness.

By this same method, the application should be made, following through every variation of method, by way of the four elements taken one by one, across the forty-two elemental portions, beginning with "in the kamma-originated hairs, the earth-element has the characteristic of hardness" — and likewise across the remaining approaches to the grasping of matter, beginning with the eye-element and the rest.

And since it is only for one whose grasp of matter has thus become thoroughly purified that the immaterial states become evident in these three ways, the effort to grasp the immaterial should be made only on the basis of a thoroughly purified grasp of matter, and not otherwise. For if, when one or two material phenomena have become evident, one abandons matter and undertakes the grasping of the immaterial, one falls away from one's meditation subject — like the mountain-bred cow described in the development of the earth kasiṇa. But for one who makes the effort to grasp the immaterial only on the basis of a thoroughly purified grasp of matter, the meditation subject reaches growth, increase, and fullness.

Having thus made evident, by way of contact and the rest, the four immaterial aggregates, he determines them as "mind"; and he determines, as "matter," the four great elements that are their object, together with the matter derived from the four great elements. Thus, taking all states of the three planes — the eighteen elements, the twelve bases, the five aggregates — he determines them, twofold, as mind and matter, just as one might open a casket with a sword, or split a double palmyra shoot down the middle. He arrives at the conclusion: apart from this mere mind-and-matter, there is no other being, or person, or god, or Brahmā.

Having in this way determined mind-and-matter according to their own true nature, he correlates and confirms this same conclusion — "this is mind-and-matter alone; there is no being, no person" — by way of a great many discourses, so as to more thoroughly abandon this worldly convention of "a being, a person," so as to overcome confusion about beings, and so as to establish the mind on the ground free of confusion. For this was said:

"Just as, when the parts are assembled, there occurs the term 'chariot' — so, when the aggregates are present, there occurs the convention 'a being.'"

It was also said elsewhere: "Just as, friend, when space is enclosed by means of timber, and creepers, and clay, and grass, it comes to be reckoned as 'a dwelling' — just so, friend, when space is enclosed by means of bone, and sinew, and flesh, and skin, it comes to be reckoned as 'matter.'"

It was also said:

"For only suffering arises, only suffering stands and passes away; nothing other than suffering arises, nothing other than suffering ceases."

In this way, mind-and-matter alone, and not a being, not a person, is illuminated through many hundreds of discourses. Therefore: just as, when the parts — axle, wheel, frame, pole, and the rest — are arranged in a certain fashion, there is a mere manner of speaking, "a chariot," while in the ultimate sense, when each part is examined, there is no such thing as "a chariot" — and just as, when timber and the rest, forming the parts of a dwelling, stand enclosing space in a certain fashion, there is a mere manner of speaking, "a dwelling," while in the ultimate sense there is no such thing as "a dwelling" — and just as, when the fingers and thumb stand in a certain fashion, there is a mere manner of speaking, "a fist"; when strings are stretched over a body of wood, "a lute"; when elephants and horses are assembled, "an army"; when ramparts, houses, and gates stand together, "a city" — and just as, when the trunk, branches, and foliage stand in a certain fashion, there is a mere manner of speaking, "a tree," while in the ultimate sense, when each constituent part is examined, there is no such thing as "a tree" — in just the same way, when the five aggregates subject to clinging are present, there is a mere manner of speaking, "a being," "a person," while in the ultimate sense, when each single state is examined, there is no such thing as a being that could serve as the basis for the grasping "I am" or "I." In the ultimate sense, however, there exists only mind-and-matter. And seeing in this way is called seeing things as they truly are.

But one who, abandoning this seeing of things as they truly are, grasps "a being exists" — such a person must then hold either that it perishes, or that it does not perish. Holding that it does not perish, he falls into eternalism. Holding that it perishes, he falls into annihilationism. Why? Because, on that view, there would be the coming-to-be of something else in succession, without the original persisting — like curds coming after milk. One who grasps "a being is eternal" is said to "sink back." One who grasps "it is annihilated" is said to "overshoot." Hence the Blessed One said:

"Bhikkhus, gods and humans possessed by two kinds of views sink back, some overshoot, and those with eyes see.

"And how, bhikkhus, do some sink back? Gods and humans, bhikkhus, delight in existence, take pleasure in existence, rejoice in existence. When the Dhamma is being taught to them for the cessation of existence, their minds do not leap forward into it, do not gain confidence in it, do not become settled in it, do not become resolved upon it. It is in this way, bhikkhus, that some sink back.

"And how, bhikkhus, do some overshoot? Some, on the other hand, oppressed, humiliated, and disgusted by existence itself, delight in non-existence, thinking: 'Since, sirs, this self is cut off and destroyed at the breaking-up of the body, and does not exist after death — this is peaceful, this is excellent, this is just as it should be.' It is in this way, bhikkhus, that some overshoot.

"And how, bhikkhus, do those with eyes see? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu sees what has come to be as what has come to be; having seen what has come to be as what has come to be, he practices for disenchantment with it, for dispassion toward it, for its cessation. It is in this way, bhikkhus, that those with eyes see."

Therefore it should be seen thus: just as a wooden mechanism is empty, lifeless, without any striving of its own, and yet, by the conjunction of wood and cords, it moves and it stands still, and appears as though it were striving, as though it had purpose — in just the same way this mind-and-matter, too, is empty, lifeless, without any striving of its own, and yet, by the conjunction of one part with another, it moves and it stands still, and appears as though it were striving, as though it had purpose. Hence the ancients said:

"Mind and matter truly exist here; but no being, no person, is found herein. Empty is this, constructed like a mechanism — a mere heap of suffering, like grass and sticks."

Nor should this meaning be made clear only by the simile of the wooden mechanism — it should also be made clear by other similes, beginning with that of two bundles of reeds: just as, when two bundles of reeds are set standing, leaning one upon the other, each is a support for the other, and when one falls, the other falls too — in just the same way, in a mode of existence with five constituents, mind-and-matter occurs in dependence on one another, each being a support for the other; and when one falls, through death, the other falls as well. Hence the ancients said:

"Twin are mind and matter, each dependent on the other; when one breaks apart, both break apart, since each is a condition for the other."

And just as, when sound occurs in dependence on a drum struck with a stick, the drum is one thing and the sound another — drum and sound are not mixed together, the drum is empty of the sound, the sound is empty of the drum — in just the same way, when mind occurs in dependence on matter reckoned as basis, door, and object, matter is one thing and mind another; mind and matter are not mixed together, mind is empty of matter, matter is empty of mind; and yet, just as sound occurs dependent on the drum, mind occurs dependent on matter. Hence the ancients said:

"Not from the eye alone are the five, headed by contact, born; nor from visible form alone, nor yet from between the two: conditioned things arise dependent on a cause — just as sound arises from a drum that is struck.

"Not from the ear alone are the five, headed by contact, born; nor from sound alone, nor yet from between the two … [and so on, as before] …

"Not from the nose alone are the five, headed by contact, born; nor from odour alone, nor yet from between the two … [and so on, as before] …

"Not from the tongue alone are the five, headed by contact, born; nor from taste alone, nor yet from between the two … [and so on, as before] …

"Not from the body alone are the five, headed by contact, born; nor from the tangible alone, nor yet from between the two … [and so on, as before] …

"Not from the basis-matter alone do conditioned things arise, nor have they issued forth from mind-objects alone: conditioned things arise dependent on a cause — just as sound arises from a drum that is struck."

And here, moreover, mind is without power of its own; it cannot occur by its own power; it does not eat, does not drink, does not speak, does not perform any bodily posture. Matter, too, is without power of its own; it cannot occur by its own power. For matter has no desire to eat, no desire to drink, no desire to speak, no desire to perform any posture; rather, matter occurs in dependence on mind, mind occurs in dependence on matter; and it is when mind has the desire to eat, the desire to drink, the desire to speak, the desire to perform a posture, that matter eats, drinks, speaks, and performs a posture.

To make this meaning clear, they cite this simile: suppose a man blind from birth and a cripple wished to set out in some direction. The man blind from birth said to the cripple: "See here, friend — I am capable of doing what is to be done with the feet, but I have no eyes with which to see what is even and what is uneven." The cripple, in turn, said to the man blind from birth: "See here, friend — I am capable of doing what is to be done with the eyes, but I have no feet with which to go forward or go back." Delighted, the man blind from birth lifted the cripple onto his shoulders. Seated on the shoulders of the man blind from birth, the cripple said: "Let go the left, take the right; let go the right, take the left." Herein: the man blind from birth, being without power, being weak, cannot go by his own power, by his own strength; the cripple, too, being without power, being weak, cannot go by his own power, by his own strength; and yet, in dependence on one another, their going does not fail to occur. In just the same way, mind, too, is without power; it does not arise by its own power; it does not occur in this or that activity. Matter, too, is without power; it does not arise by its own power; it does not occur in this or that activity; and yet, in dependence on one another, their arising and occurrence does not fail to happen. Hence it is said:

"Not by their own strength are they born, nor by their own strength do they stand; following the power of things other than themselves, conditioned things are born, weak in themselves.

"From another's condition they are born, arisen from another's object; by conditions that are objects, and by things other than themselves, are these produced.

"Just as, in dependence on a boat, people travel upon the ocean — just so, in dependence on matter, the mind-body occurs.

"And just as, in dependence on people, a boat travels upon the ocean — just so, in dependence on mind, the matter-body occurs.

"Dependent on each other do they travel — people and boat, upon the ocean; just so do mind and matter, both dependent on each other."

Thus, for one who determines mind-and-matter by these various methods, overcoming the perception of a being, the seeing of mind-and-matter as they truly are, established on the ground free from confusion, should be understood as purification of view. "The determination of mind-and-matter" and "the delimitation of formations" are likewise designations for this same thing.

Thus, in the Path of Purification, composed for the joy of good people,
in the section on the development of wisdom,
the discussion called "The Description of Purification of View"
constitutes the eighteenth chapter.