Mind and
Matter: Only a Momentary Arising and Ceasing!
As arising occurs the mind notices it, therefore do the emerged object and
the
mind coincide! As ceasing occurs the mind also notices it, and thus the object and
the mind coincide! In all perception, at each event of noting, there is always this
twin pair, the object
&
the mind, which knows the object. These two elements of
the object and the knowing mind always arise in pairs, and apart from these two,
there does not exist any other thing in the form of a 'person', an 'observer',
an
'experiencer' nor any 'Ego', 'Subject' nor any 'Self'! This
reality of impersonality
will be intuitively realized in due course. The fact that materiality and
mentality
are two distinct phenomena, will be clearly perceived during the time of noting
"arising, arising & ceasing, ceasing". The two elements of materiality and
mentality
are linked up in pairs and their arising coincides, that is, the process of
materiality
arises together with the process of mentality, which knows it. The process of
materiality
when ceasing, fades away together with the process of mentality, which
experiences it.
It is the same for lifting, moving and placing the foot or hand: being physical
or material
processes of arising & ceasing, starting and ending, together with the mental
processes
which induce & know them. This subtle knowledge is called the discriminating knowledge
of
mentality-materiality. It is a preliminary stage on the long path of insight
knowledge.
It is important to have this preliminary stage understood in an accurate way!
Continuing
the praxis of reflecting & noting for some time, there will be considerable
progress
in
the quality & alertness of both Awareness and concentration. It will then be
detectable
that on every occasion of noting, each process of mentality & materiality, arises
and
passes away, exactly at that very moment! It all ends instantly, right there and then.
However,
uninstructed people often believes that forms, the body & the mind remains
the
same,
in a permanent stable state, throughout life, so the same body of childhood
has
grown up into adulthood, and that the same young mind has grown up into
maturity,
and finally that both this continuously changing body & this continuously
changing mind
are one and the same person at all times...
In reality, this is not so. Nothing is permanent!
Everything comes into
a temporary existence for a moment & then passes instantly away!
Nothing can remain even for the blink of an
eye...
Changes are taking place very swiftly
and they will be clearly perceived & recognized after due training.
While carrying on the
contemplation by noting: "arising arising, ceasing
ceasing",
one will perceive that these
processes arise & fade away one after another in
ultra quick
succession. On perceiving
that everything passes away at the very point of
noting it,
the yogi knows directly & sees
directly, that nothing is permanent! This
knowledge
regarding the impermanent nature of
all phenomena is knowledge of impermanence!
The yogi then knows that this ever-changing
state of things, is distressing and
is not
to be desired. Not something pleasant or pleasing.
Neither something agreeable nor
satisfying.
This is the reflective knowledge of suffering.
On suffering many painful
feelings,
this body and mind complex is recognized as a mere
accumulation of suffering.
This is
also the reflective knowledge of suffering. It is then
observed, that these
elements
of impersonal materiality & mentality, whether internal or
external, never follow one's wish, but
arise and cease according to their given nature,
circumstances and conditioning. While being engaged in the act of noting
these processes,
the yogi understands, that these
processes are not controllable and that they are
neither
a 'person', a 'me', an 'I', an 'Ego', nor a 'living entity' nor any 'self'.
This is reaching the
reflective
knowledge of non-self.
When a yogi has completely developed the knowledge of
impermanence, suffering & non-self, he
will realize the state called Nibbana...
From time immemorial,
Buddhas, Arahats and The Noble Ariyas have realized this Nibbana
by this very same method of insight: Seeing any body as merely a changing form,
noting any
feeling as merely a transient reaction, knowing any mentality to be just a
passing mood, and
by realizing that any phenomena simply is a momentary mental state! This, only
this, in itself,
is the highway leading to Nibbana...!!!
Vipassana Insight in Detail:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/wheels/wheel370.html
