Insight

First, we will talk about insight, or understanding. What do we mean by wisdom of insight? One can define understanding or wisdom as that which makes known, that which reveals. It is like turning on the light—when the light is turned on, it reveals what is around you, Having known the escape from sensual desires and what is reality. To emphasise the point again, the commentary in the Visuddhi Magga (The Path of Purification), gives three similes on the three levels of knowing. These are “perception,” “consciousness,” and “understanding.” Perception is defined as that knowing which takes note or takes the marks. This is compared to a young child knowing something. The second kind of knowing is consciousness. Consciousness does not approach the degree of knowing as in understanding or wisdom. The third kind of knowing is wisdom knowledge. At this point, the dhamma differentiates two types of understanding— worldly understanding or worldly wisdom, and spiritual wisdom. The difference here lies in the control of the mind and the defilements. Although we can think very well in worldly wisdom, get many answers, and do many things, there is not much in terms of controlling the defilements. That is why you can have very clever people who can end up doing many terrible things like building atomic bombs. This comes under the worldly wisdom of thinking. Nevertheless, the main power, which is controlling the thought processes, behind worldly wisdom of thinking can be the defilements—greed, anger, and delusion. Therefore, such type of understanding is dangerous if it is misused. Spiritual understanding is different. Spiritual understanding involves the purification of mind, the overcoming of greed, anger and delusion and the reduction of the defilements. This type of understanding can be further classified into three levels of the dhamma. The first level is that which comes from hearing, this refers more to information or theoretical knowledge. For example, when you read the dhamma you know what is good and bad kamma, what is greed, and why it is bad, and so forth. All this is theory. One step further is understanding which comes with thinking. For example if one studies the Abhidhamma and knows how many mental factors there are, how many types of consciousness there are, you may turn this around and round in your mind and analyse it inside out, and from there you gain a different kind of understanding. Alternatively, you can apply Spiritual understanding involves the purification of mind, the overcoming of greed, anger and delusion and the reduction of the defilements. this learning in your daily life, you can think about it, and come to a new understanding. This is called the second level, which you do not normally get from books. This is the knowledge gained from contemplation and thinking. What needs greater emphasis, is the third level, the knowledge that comes from meditation because in meditation the mind can develop at much deeper levels than is normally possible in ordinary thinking.

There are two types of meditation—tranquillity (samatha) meditation and insight meditation (which is what we are writing about here). In tranquillity meditation, although the main factor involved is concentration, there still needs to be understanding and wisdom to be able to develop deep concentration. When deep concentration is developed and the mind becomes very powerful, one can develop skills such as telepathy, clairvoyance and know many things not possible otherwise. This is also an understanding, which comes from mental development. This, then, is wisdom from tranquillity meditation.

Vipassana meditation

In vipassana, the understanding, which comes about, involves the true nature of the world ie, of the mind and body processes. The whole world which includes us can generally be classified into two types of things; mind processes and material processes. When one develops deep understanding from thorough observation of these processes, the mind sees them as impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self. When the mind sees them repeatedly, one gains much deeper understanding in this regard. This type of understanding of insight into the mind and body processes as well as into the three universal characteristics of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self, helps us to develop dispassion and detachment from all that is impermanent, suffering and non-self. Therefore we go beyond the mundane and find the peace of the supramundane. This is the unique nature of vipassana (insight) meditation. It is only through this type of meditation that we are able to see clearly, how one develops the knowledge and why one abandons the world to experience the unconditioned.

DEVELOPMENT OF INSIGHT

As I have said, insight knowledge is not knowledge which comes from thinking and it is not what you get from reading a book. It comes from practice. It is knowledge that can be considered empirical, or experiential. It comes from a level of the mind that is clearer and more deeply concentrated than at other times. That is why when we do insight meditation, from the very start we emphasise mindfulness and clear awareness that comes without thinking. It is not concerning the past nor the future but the present experience. If you go to the past, you tend to think about the past. If you go to the future, it is a mere projection of your thoughts. Insight meditation concerns the present—when you do not think— when you experience the actual nature of what is happening to your mind and body.

This type of awareness is built up over a period so that it can be continuous both when you are doing walking and sitting meditation, as well as when you are eating and drinking. From moment-to-moment, we develop this clear awareness of the present occurrence. When we do that, this type of awareness and noting becomes more powerful and more concentrated. Finally it becomes a strong current that keeps building up and experiencing what is happening moment-to-moment. If you can maintain fairly continuous mindfulness, it is only a matter of time before you can be more concentrated on the object. However, what must be emphasised is the nature of the vipassana object—which has to be a real object. It should not be a concept. So at this point, it is necessary to give you a better understanding of what a concept is. Insight knowledge is not knowledge which comes from thinking and it is not what you get from reading a book.

WHAT IS A CONCEPT?

As I have said, a concept is what is thought out, imagined or created by the mind. One form which is very obvious is when we think and plan things which has not yet happened, or when we imagine and “build castles in the air.” All these are mere concepts, they are not real, and they are created with our minds. There are other types of concepts, which are subtler, and we have to recognise them. These come not actively but passively. They come with the processes of the mind. One type is what we call sound concepts, eg, words and melodies. These are not real because they are created by the mind. For instance, the word “selfish” does not really exist in the ultimate sense. It is made up of consonants and vowels, which are only sounds. The word has two syllables, “self” and “fish.” At one moment of time, you cannot hear the whole word “selfish.” What you hear are different sounds passing away. It is only the sequence of sounds, which gives the mind the idea. Actually, there is only vibration of sounds following each other. Another type of sound concept is the melody, “do-re-me… do, a deer, a female deer…” At no one moment does the melody exist. There are only musical notes arising one after another. The mind gets a mental imprint and so a melody arises. These are sound concepts. Another form of concept is that which involves form. A form involves distance, direction, and size. All this is ultimately not real. For example, if I say that this is my right and this is my left, from your perspective, which is really my right and which is really my left? Right and left are concepts dependent on the relationship of one object and another, which way you are facing and so on. Similarly, things like distance and time. Even the idea of form and shape are concepts. We seem to see whole things at once but in the thought processes, we know it does not occur like that. Pictures on television are an example. They occur rapidly one after another but we see the forms and shapes created as simultaneous. Form and shapes are concepts. In the case of form, we experience only the colour and the light, which comes and goes very rapidly. Time is also a concept— dependent on the functions of many things—which come and go. That Desire born of association Is severed by non–association. is all there really is; things that come and go. They arise and dissolve, and then they are already in the past. If it has not arisen, then we say that is the future. When it is happening, we say it is the present. All these are concepts and in them we cannot find the ultimate reality and truth.

There is another important concept which I must mention too, that is the concept of the person—“I”. This is a very central concept. While the mind holds on to the concept of the person and is clouded with clinging to this concept, you cannot go beyond this level of thinking logic or experience. When we say a person—“I,” “you,” “Mr Smith,” or “Ms Smith”—who is this person? You try to look within. What is there when you have been noting “sitting” and “touching,” do you find yourself in the body? What you find is the body walking and sitting, the movement, the tensions, the heat and so forth. This is not you—you cannot find yourself there. Then when you watch the feelings—the feelings will come and go and they are not you either. Look at your mind. Your mind does not listen to what you say. When you do not want it to think it thinks, when you want to think it does not think. When you do not want to sleep it sleeps and when you do want to sleep, it does not sleep. It is as if it has a life of its own. What we usually say “I”—is a function of all these processes but if you hold on to the person as absolutely real, you cannot go beyond this view. When we say, “Who is this person?” and you look within, there are just these complex mind and body processes.

There are also other concepts we meet with. Those, for instance, that come with visualisations—these are more involved with tranquillity (samatha) meditations. Sometimes people visualise many things; they visualise deities and Buddhas for instance. All these are mind created. If you know you created them, normally you do not take them seriously. However, there are people who have created a Buddha in their mind and they think that it is the real Buddha. When you are able to recognise visualisations as concepts and when they arise in your meditation, you do not focus nor concentrate on them. You concentrate on the realities—the mind and body processes, body contemplation like the four great elements (earth, fire, water and wind elements). For example, in your sitting meditation you watch the “rising” and “falling,” you attend to those realities rather than the shape of the stomach which is a concept. Likewise, the words “rising” and “falling” are also concepts. Nevertheless, in the beginning we have to have some tools for convenience. These are to help you concentrate your mind on the realities. Even when you are walking you say, “right step, left step,” and the words “right” and “left” are concepts. As you watch the footsteps “lifting” and “stepping,” you will have an idea of the form of the leg— those are also concepts—but in the beginning, this cannot be helped. After some practice when you concentrate on the footsteps you do not think of the shape of the leg, position of the toes and heels and so on; you are just aware of the movements and sensations which are the processes of the walking. Similarly, when you watch the “rising” and “falling” you do not think of the shape of the stomach but you get the feeling of the extension, of the expansion and the contraction, of the movement. What is important is to get a clear feel of the perception of all these. This is where mindfulness comes in.

MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is like a very clear light that shines in the sense of knowing in a very thorough manner these sensations, these processes. If you ask a person to put his hand on the abdomen and watch the “rising” and “falling,” he will know that it rises and falls. However, if you ask the person to describe in detail how the processes were, the person will not be able to tell you; he will just say, “Well, it goes up and down.” That is a very superficial level of mindfulness and not penetrative. At most, it is ordinary knowing with a little bit of mindfulness—not sufficient to give insight. If you can follow the rise and fall for a long time, it will become a little clearer because you have a better hold of it. That mindfulness is a bit better in the sense that it is enough to build up the concentration but it is not thorough enough to produce the insight. Insight goes beyond concentration. For insight to arise, you have to watch the “rising” and “falling” in terms of the three universal characteristics (impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self). Take for example a person who watches the “rising” and “falling” so that he can follow it mindfully. When he is more mindful he must watch the different types of “rising” and “falling” which are sometimes long, sometimes short, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, so that he can detect the sequence of events. Then it goes further and becomes like waves “rising” and “falling,” or goes this way and that way. All this shows that the form and the manner are getting clearer. At first, it is mainly the form. The whole abdomen rises, it expands like a balloon; then it sinks, contracts or deflates like a balloon—these are forms. It goes fast this way and that way, all that is the manner. These, though, are still concepts but the aspect of movements, the characteristics of tension, vibrations, and so forth will become clearer. When it becomes very clear, there is just the tension, there is no this way or that way. There is just one moment of appearance and the disappearance of the characteristic.

Take again the example of the “rising” and “falling.” It has a beginning, it proceeds slowly, or quickly until the end, then it stops. If it proceeds slowly—the “rising” and “falling” seems long. When it proceeds quickly—it seems shorter. They are related. If we talk in terms of long and short or slow and fast then we are aware of the movement but concepts are also involved. So, there can be no beginning, middle, and end of “rising” and “falling.” If it is at the end, then it is not at the beginning. If it is at the beginning, then it is not the end. End and beginning are two different moments. In the middle, however, there are many points, many movements. So at one moment of time how can you experience a long or a short “rising” and “falling?” How can you experience a slow or fast one? These terms, long, short, slow, fast, etc are all useful at the beginning, otherwise it is not possible to see anything at all, it is not possible to concentrate and concentration cannot develop. When you have learned to concentrate you will be told to feel the movement (eg, the nature, the feeling, or the sensation) moment-to-moment. That is to be able watch the movement as if it is a point rather than a length. When you can do so, you will arrive at the point where just pure sensation arises and nothing else. Then you arrive at what we call the paramattha dhamma—the ultimate reality, eg, the pure element of motion, or as we say, the pure wind element. When you are able to watch it very clearly, you can also watch the three universal characteristics.

At this point, it is also necessary to emphasise that the ability to watch and get hold of the ultimate reality does not mean that insight will arise. Another ultimate reality for which you do not need too much effort to find is pain. Pain is a feeling. No matter who is having the pain, it is pain, it is not subjective, neither the past nor the future. In addition, when you watch pain it too arises and disappears. However, seeing pain itself does not mean that you have insight knowledge. Instead, you may be grumpier or angrier. Nevertheless, if you are able to keep your mind calm and concentrated on the present moment, on the present occurrence, on the feeling we call pain, and you watch it very clearly, then you can realise its nature.

INSIGHT KNOWLEDGES

The first insight knowledge is the knowledge of the discrimination of mind and body. They say that when you watch the “rising” and “falling,” you will be able to notice the nature of the mind, which is doing the watching. The noting mind is one thing, whereas the rising movement is another. Insight knowledge is the ability to recognise phenomena according to their natural occurrences. We may see them as the pure ultimate realities that we call paramattha dhamma in Pali. A natural occurrence is present when you free your knowing mind from concepts. When you experience it free from thinking and concepts, whether they are active or passive concepts, it will be there because it is a natural occurrence. In addition, when you watch that nature very clearly you will note clearly that it is not you. The mind that watches is also another natural occurrence and that is not you either. There is no person there. Both observer and observed are natural occurrences. This is a very clear experience which, once you have experienced it, you can arouse it and bring it up to any other object. It is the mind having pure ultimate reality as its object. When one is able to watch pain, what normally happens is that one may think, “My leg is painful!” Then the concept of the leg comes in two ways—“my” and the “leg.” If the idea of the leg is put aside, then it is “I am painful!” left. When you put away the thought of “I” there is just the pain and the mind but if the mind is not mindful then the mind just gets agitated and cannot know anything properly. However, if the mind is mindful you can bear the pain and only know that the pain is there. If the mindfulness is very thorough and you watch the pain, it will be very clear and the pain in all its nature will be very vivid, so vivid that the pain will have nothing to do with you, it is simply a natural occurrence by itself. The mind that knows it is also a natural occurrence by itself—there should not be any disturbance. In this way, what you know will correspond more to what I think is the level of insight. Then you know this as truth, not because it is in the books, not because somebody says so, not because you think it is, but you know it with clear mindfulness, it is not imagination. The awareness is very clear and sharp. It is sharper than ordinary kinds of awareness.

What often happens with lower forms of knowledge is that conceptualisation follows after the experience. Especially when insight is very clear, it can give rise to other types of theories, which complicate matters. The experience is one thing. The thoughts that follow are another. You may start creating a theory of how all this happens and you may start relating the experience to so many different things, all of which may not be accurate. So, there are two things. One thing is the actual experience and the other is the impact of the thought processes in ordinary life. The impact of the initial insight experience can be very sharp and some people may not be ready for it. In this case, many unfavourable thought processes might follow. Fear may arise because in ordinary life a person may have, for instance, a lot of attachment. At this point, if there is no proper guidance or no support group, they may be completely discouraged. Your insight may be strong but it may not be strong enough to cut off all the defilements, and if the related defilements are very strong, they may complicate matters. They may encourage one to see things in a different light to the extent that one may become frightened. The original experience is a true experience but if the mind is not ready for it, the thought processes that follow may have a negative impact. Of course, this varies with different people. Some people will easily take to it while others will not. If one is in a retreat when this happens and the retreat is extended, the actual insight into the nature of mind and body, without concepts, without thinking, keeps deepening to the point where it is well established. It can even reach the level of magga phala—the level of enlightenment, total realisation. Of course, this process does not come in a spark or in a second. Usually it is a long process. The whole process for all the stages—for example, are given in the commentaries and to some extent in the suttas—as the seven stages of purification or the sixteen insight knowledges.

The first insight knowledge involves the purification of views, the abandoning of the concept of “I.” In one of the suttas, the Buddha gave us an idea of wise attention to the normal procedure and system of thinking that arises. Normally when a person thinks the thought processes revolve around one—the “I,” “me” and “mine,” the ego— everything one does and one’s whole world revolves around oneself. This, the Buddha describes as unwise attention especially when there is a clinging to an “I.” This is not correct view because with such a view, craving, anger, etc arises. But in the dhamma, when one is able to see that there is actually no “I” but only mind and body phenomena, the whole world which seems to be centred around oneself is not seen as related to the person but is seen dependent on the pure and unprejudiced mindfulness, a pure clear awareness, ie, just this nature of phenomena and characteristics. Everything is not On seeing that he has won the battle, “I,” not mine. They are just occurrences that arise owing to dependency. At this stage we say there is the purification of views from all wrong views and wrong opinions which are based on the clinging to the self; clinging on the idea of the person, the “me,” the mine. The sixty-two wrong views mentioned in Brahmajala Sutta, are dependent on this wrong view of the clinging to the self. When one is able to observe this phenomena according to the unique or specific characteristic, when one sees them very clearly one after another, the relationship of dependent origination or dependent existence, the conditioned aspect of life becomes very clear. This dependent origination or conditioning is concerned with the second purification of view and the second insight knowledge. This is in relation to the overcoming of the deep concepts concerning time, the past, the future, etc. It breaks down the concept of time and so forth. Once this is possible, the three universal characteristics can become clearer. All the sixteen insight knowledges—sometimes they talk about as eighteen insight knowledges—can be classified under three. These are insight into impermanence or concerning impermanence, insight into suffering or concerning suffering, and insight into non-self or concerning non-self.