Namo tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammāsambuddhassa///
Many people have doubts about the Path to follow to attain the „Fruits of Sothapatthi‟. How can we dispel the personality view – sakkāya diññhi. What is most important to traverse the Path, so I shall explain these first.
You the good people, in this sāsana the realisation of sainthood does not always depend on concentration of the mind – samatha – or the aggregates which are less or more. It depends on the purity of the mind.
There are two ways of purifying the mind, specially overcoming of the 10 fetters, – saüyojana – they are wrong view as well as fetters. But there are some fetters that are not wrong views. Of these fetters the first three are personality view, sceptical doubt and clinging to rites and rituals, are both wrong views and fetters. The rest of the fetters i.e. sensuality, ill will, craving for fine material existence, craving for immaterial existence, conceit, restlessness and ignorance are fetters but not of wrong view.
To dispel these defilements of the mind there are two ways. The first three fetters with wrong view cannot be dispelled however much virtue, concentration or effort you have. They disappear only through right view. They are called fetters that can be removed only by right view. The rest of the fetters do not disappear however much keen intellect and wisdom you have. There must be impeccable virtue, concentration and effort. It is such condition that is conducive to arising of wisdom and finally eradicating all defilements. So first we must see how we can eradicate the first three fetters by seeing with wisdom. It is difficult until you enter the Path. The one who enters the Path with right view is born into samsara only seven times.
Namo tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammāsambuddhassa///
Many people have doubts about the Path to follow to attain the „Fruits of Sothapatthi‟. How can we dispel the personality view – sakkāya diññhi. What is most important to traverse the Path, so I shall explain these first.
You the good people, in this sāsana the realisation of sainthood does not always depend on concentration of the mind – samatha – or the aggregates which are less or more. It depends on the purity of the mind.
There are two ways of purifying the mind, specially overcoming of the 10 fetters, – saüyojana – they are wrong view as well as fetters. But there are some fetters that are not wrong views. Of these fetters the first three are personality view, sceptical doubt and clinging to rites and rituals, are both wrong views and fetters. The rest of the fetters i.e. sensuality, ill will, craving for fine material existence, craving for immaterial existence, conceit, restlessness and ignorance are fetters but not of wrong view.
To dispel these defilements of the mind there are two ways. The first three fetters with wrong view cannot be dispelled however much virtue, concentration or effort you have. They disappear only through right view. They are called fetters that can be removed only by right view. The rest of the fetters do not disappear however much keen intellect and wisdom you have. There must be impeccable virtue, concentration and effort. It is such condition that is conducive to arising of wisdom and finally eradicating all defilements. So first we must see how we can eradicate the first three fetters by seeing with wisdom. It is difficult until you enter the Path. The one who enters the Path with right view is born into samsara only seven times.
Once the Buddha had in his palm 7 small pebbles as small as mung beans and asked the monks which is bigger – these beans or the Himalayan Mountains. Venerable Sir these beans are so small, there is no comparison with the Himalayan Mountain. Just like that is the one who attains the 1st stage of sainthood with right view. The pain and suffering he has overcome is like the Himalayan Mountain, the amount that remains is the size of the pebbles.
Our human mind is not disciplined. If we can attain the state of sainthood, then only we have achieved some use of this human existence. So to enter the Path what is most important are the Noble Friends. Meeting the Noble Friend and listening to the Dhamma is like having the key to open up the Path to Nibbàna. Having listened to the Dhamma one must practice with great effort to achieve the wisdom. I will now briefly explain the wisdom that is necessary to destroy personality view, sceptical doubt and attachment to rights and rituals.
Dear friends in the Dhamma, to destroy these three fetters it is necessary to realise the four Noble Truths. One must experience the truth of suffering, give up the cause of suffering and realise the ending of suffering and practice the eight fold Path
It is important to realise the causes and conditions – pañiccasamuppàda – in order to realise the four Noble Truths because the four Noble Truths and causality are not two but one and the same. It is through the grasping of causality that one understands the four Noble Truths. Causality is a synonym for the four Noble Truths. It is through understanding causes and conditions that one realises the four Noble Truths. Then only wisdom and right view arises. Then these fetters must be destroyed with wisdom and right view.
Now I will explain to you dear friends in the Dhamma, the 1st Noble Truth. Having enumerated the 1st Noble Truth briefly, the pain and suffering of birth, sickness, old age and death, separation from loved ones and associating the enemy, the Buddha shows that in short the clinging to the five aggregates is suffering.
The above mentioned pain and suffering due to the physical body – the body aggregates depends on nourishment, lack of nourishment destroys the body aggregates. To give up the 5 kinds of false views that these five aggregates masquerade in terms of ‘me, I, and mine and soul’ one must see them separately as body feelings, perception, volition and consciousness. Thus there are 20 kinds of personality views. Sakkāyaditthi arises because;
One takes the body as me, I, mine and self.
One takes the feeling as me, I, mine and soul.
One takes the perception as me, I, mine and soul. One takes the volition as me, I, mine and soul.
One takes the consciousness as me, I, mine and so
Personality view is another synonym for these five aggregates. There is a wrong view such as sakkàya- i.e. the presence of a permanent unchanging soul in every being. When one sees this as ditthi – i.e. a false view, then only personality view can be got rid of.
To get rid of personality view one must see the four Noble Truths. To realise the four Noble Truths one must see the causes and conditions. I will explain how you can do this.
In analysing the causes and conditions the twelve links must be understood. First we will see the five links that we call `life‟, also these five are the causes and conditions for pain and suffering, they are:
1. Consciousness – vi¤¤àna
2. Mind and matter – nàmaråpa
3. Six bases – àyatana
4. Contact – phassa
5. Feeling – vedanà
These five causes are seen as the 1st Noble Truth. They are the present causes of pain and suffering.
I will clarify by a simple example. Take the instance of a mango seed, planted on earth with moisture. With the help of the seed and moisture a seedling arises. Now there is no more seed. It is the cause of the arising of the seedling. This seedling has not yet sprouted into branches but with the help of the nutrients in the soil, it grows into a huge tree with branches. Now the flowers arise and due to pollination fruits are formed. The idea in planting the seed was to obtain fruits. But the fruits don‟t appear at once. There are causes and conditions for the appearance of fruit. First the seed and then the soil, moisture and nutrients and then the tree. Next the flowers and pollination for the appearance of the fruit.
Now we pluck the mango and holding in the hand, say „the mango is me, and mine‟. To whom does the mango belong? The mango belongs to the stem, the stem belongs to the branch, the branch belongs to the tree trunk and the trunk belongs to the seed, the nutrients and moisture. The seed planted in the ground grew into a tree and produced fruit; there is no soul or person responsible – but the causes and conditions and the nature.
Now we remember this example and leave it aside for a while and turn our attention to understand the causality. The five factors responsible to sustain life i.e. consciousness, mind and matter, six bases, contact and feeling must be understood.
1. Re-birth consciousness must be seen as the seed planted in the soil. When re-birth consciousness enters the mother‟s womb, it is like the seed placed in the soil.
2. The seed has the nature to absorb the nutrients from the soil and grow into a tree. Similarly the karmic nature of re-birth.consciousness with the help of the nutrients from the mother, grows into mind and body just like the mango seed grows into a tree. The nutrients in the mother‟s womb are derived from the food taken by the mother.
According to the Karmic nature of consciousness and the nutrition provided by the mother, birth consciousness develops into mind and body. Now do not see rebirth consciousness as different from mind and body. It is just that the same karmic nature of rebirth consciousness disappeared giving rise to mind and body. Similarly do not see the mango seed and the tree as different. It is just that the nature of seed disappeared giving rise to a tree of similar nature. So they are one and the same.1
So according to the karmic nature of re-birth consciousness, there arises the `mind and body‟. Therefore the same karmic nature prevails in the mind and body. Just as the seedling matures into a tree, so does the one celled fertilised ovum when penetrated by the karmic consciousness develops into a foetus – just as the seedling has no trunk and branches the foetus has no eye, ear, nose, tongue and body.
As time goes on the seedling grows into a tree taking nourishment from the soil. So does the consciousness, and the nourishment develops the sensory organs. When grown in height and weight we call it a full grown – mind and body – just as the tree, with all the full grown branches.
There is no being growing apart from the mind and body.
3. Just as the external pollen pollinates to form a seed, the external objects such as materiality, sound, smell, taste and touch give rise to mental contact and feeling. There is no agent such as me and mine doing this.
Eye contact gives rise to feeling
Ear contact gives rise to feeling
Nose gives rise to feeling etc.
But we have the false perception that feeling is me and mine and my soul. Not different from calling the mango in the hand „my mango‟ but if you see carefully feeling belongs to contact, contact belongs to the six sense bases. The sense bases belong to mind and body and mind and body belongs to consciousness. They are derivatives from sources.
Thus consciousness, mind and body, six sense bases, contact and feeling, can be seen as natural phenomena – `the Dhamma‟. None of them can be me, I or mine or soul. The eye, ear, nose tongue and body are not me I mine or soul. They are derived from mind and body – (due to causes and conditions). Mind and body is derived from birth consciousness and nutrients. A tree does not arise spontaneously. Neither does it arise due to some agent, there are causes and conditions for its arising. Similarly consciousness, mind and body, six sense bases, contact and feeling arise due to causes and conditions and not due to a person or spontaneously without causes and conditions. Hence, the non-self nature – anatta- of these phenomena.
As enumerated in the 12 links of causality these five phenomena, consciousness, mind and body, six sense bases, contact and feeling arise due to causes. Their original source is nutrients. They all belong to the 1st Noble Truth of suffering.
It is also possible to show this sequence in a different way. i.e. the body is derived from food and nutrients and mind is formed from ignorance, kamma and craving. The mind further gives rise to mind and mental factors. They are like reversible reactions.
Ignorance, kamma and craving ->mind ->mind and mental factors.
What I want to show is that these factors cannot be assigned to a person, but happen due to causes and conditions which are changing phenomena. Similar to the mango seed -> mango tree arising due to causes and conditions and changing phenomena. They are natural processes that exist in generation.
If these phenomena are taken as me, I and mine and soul, then the process of the mango seed giving rise to branches and flowers and seed due to pollination etc. could be called me I and mine and soul – they are natural processes taking place due to causes and conditions. They are connected processes and cannot be seen separate. They are a generation /descendent/cyclic.
These five aggregates of consciousness, mind and body, six bases, contact, feeling are changing processes and occur in sequence. When they are seen as me, I, mine and soul pain and suffering arises. This is the 1st Noble Truth.
Sankhittena pa¤cupadanakhandà dukkà – which means in short clinging to these as me I and mine and soul is `suffering‟.
When wisdom dawns regarding the cause of suffering, it becomes knowledge of the past. From where and how did the mango seed arise? Obviously from a previous tree. Similarly wisdom of the cause of suffering goes back to past life kamma. The „sign‟ of the death consciousness makes kamma (without knowing result of kamma). The result of that kamma becomes the cause of re-birth consciousness. Re-birth is like the sprouted seedling, the seed that belonged to a tree formally is now starting a new tree. A person who realises the 2nd Noble Truth of cause of suffering sees the previous life kamma that resulted in rebirth consciousness – pubbante ¤àõaü – He also sees the arising of new life – aparante ¤àõaü.
The ignorance and kamma of the previous life at death consciousness has now given rise to mind and body that proliferates into six sense bases. Today if we see the six sense bases with ignorance, that kamma will give rise to future re-birth, which entails the fearful clinging to the five aggregates which is the cause of suffering.
Thus knowing suffering of the 1st Noble Truth – dukkhe ¤àõaü – should also know the five aggregates as causes and conditions for suffering. The 2nd Noble Truth. i.e. the present suffering must see the past cause – dukkha samudaye ¤àõaü. The present clinging to the five aggregates must be seen as the cause for future suffering; both pubbante and aparante ¤àõaü – must be known just as it is the previous seed that gave rise to the tree. If more fruits and seeds are growing, they will give rise to other trees.2
Pañiccasamuppàda dhammesu ¤àõaü means the `knowledge of causality‟. If one has no knowledge of causality, one cannot see that kamma is committed due to ignorance of karmic result. One does not know that the present 5 aggregates (consciousness, mind and body, 6 sense bases, contact and feeling) have arisen due to that ignorance. If one fails to see the truth of causality, one will again commit karma and get the 5 aggregates in the future.
Thereafter one gets the knowledge of cessation of suffering. Dukkha nirodha ¤àõaü – This knowledge of the Four Noble truths arises through the knowledge of causality. If one did not save the mango seed having eaten the mango, there is no way a new plant will sprout and grow into a tree with branches and fruits. This is pubbante ¤àõaü – `knowledge of the past‟.
When one realises that having eaten all the mangoes and destroyed all the seeds, there is no nature of sprouting and growing a tree, it is knowledge of the future – aparante ¤àõaü.
If all the seeds are destroyed, there is no nature to sprout and grow trees. But the tree that is existing due to a former seed will continue to exist 50-100 years but because there is not even one seed with the dying of the mango tree, there will be no more mango trees. It is the end of the story of the mango tree.
In this way a person realises that if he was not ignorant in the past life of the activity of contact with the 6 sense bases, consciousness could not have entered the mother‟s womb and proliferated into 6 sense bases. He has investigated and understood the cause of the arising of the 5 aggregates but he has no repentance about past kamma. The answer comes, `there is nothing that can be done for the results of previous kamma‟. If one drops the seed on the ground and it grows into a tree, that is the nature and it cannot be avoided. If today one gives up the ignorance of contact with 6 sense bases there arises wisdom and he does not make any more kamma through contact. Then there is no way a `death consciousness‟ can enter a womb in the future.
When one contemplates on the four Noble Truths, wisdom dawns on him and the Path becomes clear. He sees the 5 aggregates of suffering; dukkhe ¤àõaü – the cause of dukkha of the present is seen as previous ignorance and volition/kamma.
Due to ignorance and kamma of the past he has reaped the 5 aggregates of suffering of this birth. The kamma and defilement of today arise due to ignorance of „self‟ me I and mine that are present aggregates arising and passing away due to causes and conditions.
If one puts an end to the grasping of present aggregates and the ignorance of `self‟ he has put an end to future arising of aggregates in…….. (incomplete yet..)
කච්චානගොත්ත සුත්රාන්ත දේශනා හය 
2019-01-10- යද නිච්ච සුත්රය 1 කොටස @ මෙල්බර්න් 
Ven Mankadawala Sudassana Thero's Desana 