Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Vasubandhu’s image of a meal — body as plate, feelings as rice, discriminations as vegetables, compositional factors as the act of eating, consciousness as the eater — opens Khensur Rinpoche’s 52-minute commentary on the Four Close Placements of Mindfulness. Working through what “phenomena” covers in this context (mental factors, non-associated compositional factors, permanent phenomena like space), the talk then explains why these four objects were chosen: each counters a distinct way ordinary people project selfhood onto experience. Khensur Rinpoche maps the four placements onto the Four Noble Truths, and explains why feelings and discriminations are singled out from the fifty-one mental factors — feelings as the engine of cyclic existence, discrimination as the means of escape. A short Q&A closes the session. Suited to practitioners already familiar with Buddhist metaphysics and the Five Aggregates.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 02 IR 1997-06-07.mp3
UUID: 12b22c68-8add-4553-b6e3-b2b30a8d014a
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Insight Retreat (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1997-06-07
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 52.7 minutes
Words: ~2,133
So those this context, phenomena refers to the mental factors except for feelings. We’ve already listed feelings separately. So all the remaining mental factors, of which there are fifty, are being referred to here as phenomena. Also, they use the term non associated compositional factors. That is say impermanent factors which are neither form nor consciousness, such as persons.
Persons are non associated compositional factor. impermanence. So these are also being referred to here. And then it goes on to say unproduced phenomena. This is, for example, space, permanence, cessation.
These are permanent phenomena. So these these are what are meant here by phenomena. On the other hand, if if we were to use the the second of the of the ways in which held is being used or the word Dharma in terms of meaning held is being used. We would say that the, by the ethics of practicing the abandoning the ten unskillful actions, one is held back from falling into an unfortunate state of rebirth, or one is protected from that. For example, the awakening heart is a Dharma in the sense that it it it holds you back or protects you from faults of the mind.
Therefore, it would be referred to as dharma. And then there is in following the text, there’s quotation by Ārya Asaṇga from a text called Compendium of Knowledge, where he states, what are the objects of observation of the close placements of mindfulness, bodies, feelings, minds, and phenomena? So we’ve we’ve finished the first of the divisions, objects of observation. So this section goes on to say what are the reasons for positing these objects of observation as the objects of observation? Why do we take these objects of observation?
And then it goes on to say, as it states in the text, so the immature will abandon grasping at the bodies as the basis of the self, the feelings as the grounds of enjoyment of the self, the mind as the thing which is the self, and phenomena such as attachment and afflict as afflicting and faith as purifying the self. Here here it says the immature. Literally the word simply means the childish. It’s, I mean, a child, you know, and this is referring to an ordinary person, someone who hasn’t realized emptiness, but a child doesn’t really know what, his child just generally plays, and we are, that’s all we mostly do is play. We, moreover a child doesn’t know, where a child is or immature with regard to knowing the various points of what is to be adopted and what is to be rejected.
Let us say, knowing the way to practice. And we are as if immature with regard to that. So the the reasons that we take these objects of observation are because we as being ordinary people people grasp to firstly the body as the place where the I resides or the self resides. This is the place we grasp or conceive that the I is residing within the body. To overcome that.
And we we take the various the various feelings that we experience are like food for food for the I or the self. To overcome that conception. To overcome the grasping or the conception that the mind is in fact the I or the self. Fourthly we take phenomena as object of observation to overcome the conception that that, for example, various mental factors, some of which are afflictive and some which are purifying, are afflicting a self or purifying a self. So essentially, all of these conceptions which are attributed to the childish or the immature are conceptions of of of self, especially, conceptions of a truly, of true existence.
So if by meditating on these objects well, we will be able to abandon the conception of a of truly existent self or the the let us say grasping a true existence. With regard to each of them, we will be able to abandon holding each of them as it as the self, and therefore be able to abandon the the conception of a truly existent self. So Vasubandhu uses analogy in describing these, but including them within the five aggregates. The the aggregate of body, he says, is is which we hold as to be the resident the residence of of the self is analogous to a plate. So then the then the feelings, which the feelings which are regarded to be the are like the food within the plate.
And then the the the aggregate of discriminations or perceptions is like the salt. The salt, which is the seasoning. Which which which we see the salt is like that which we season the food with, with discriminations. Then the fourth aggregate compositional factors is activity of eating. And then fifthly, the aggregate of consciousnesses is the eater, the agent who’s doing the eating.
So okay. The The body is being likened to, analogized to a plate, the plate. I mean, we have a sense, we, the feelings are like the food. I think in this analogy, remember Jay went on to say, it’s like rice. So we put the rice, put the rice in the plate.
We have a sense that that’s the place where we have our feelings. If there’s no body, there’s no place for feelings to, there’s no place for us to experience. Where, where where experiences take place. The experiences take place with it within the body. So it’s like we place the rice on the plate.
The rice is analogous to the feelings. Then I I said salt. I think I think it should I should have said vegetables. It’s like adding something to the the the rice. The vegetables are put on the rice.
Which is the the aggregate of discriminations. Which is this is this is that. Or perceptions. And then there’s the aggregate compositional factors, which is the activity of actually eating. Like in India they eat with their hands.
Take a handful of rice and vegetable, and they feed themselves in that way. That’s like the compositional factors. And then the aggregate of consciousness is the experience or that that which is the agent of the eating, that which is the experience or of the of what’s going on. So if in terms of ourselves, if we can come to understand that the place of the self, the That which is experienced within the self, the activity of the experiencing and the experiencer are selfless. Then we will we will, by understanding that these inner phenomena are do not truly exist, achieve liberation.
So quoting, the text goes on to quote, again, Ārya Asaṇga in his Compendium of Knowledge, where it states, the things, the thing which is the dwelling place of the self, the grounds of enjoyments of the self, the thing which is the the self, and the things which afflict and purify the self. So this Where he says What is meant here when he says the things which afflict and purify the self. These are, that which, the afflictive phenomena are those those things which are to be abandoned. The purifying phenomena are those which are to be cultivated. If we if we apply it to the context of the Four Noble Truths, the first two of the Four Noble Truths, the truth of sufferings and the truth of the origins of suffering, are afflictive phenomena and they are to be abandoned.
We are to understand that these two are, do not, are not a truly existent self. And then the third and fourth noble truths, the cessation of suffering and the path leading to the cessation of suffering are purifying phenomena. They are to be cultivated. But additionally, we are to understand that they too are not a truly existent self. So we’re we’re going to stop there.
But if you have some we’ll spend a few minutes if you have some questions. Vasubandhu explains that because the neutral feelings or another way to translate that, it’s unspecified feelings, are little potency, they’re they are not explained in in these two ways. So they they they there does exist both neutral physical and mental feelings, but they are not explained. So that’s it’s extremely vast in its benefits. But if we were to explain why these four objects of observation are specified very briefly, it is because It would be It could be explained in terms of realizing the four noble truths By taking the body as the object of observation of the close placements of mindfulness, we are able to realize the truth of suffering.
By taking feelings, we’re able to realize truth of the origins of suffering. By taking minds, we are able to realize the truth of cessation. By taking phenomena, we are able to realize the path leading to cessation, the noble truth of the path leading to cessation. Therefore, these four are specifically taken as objects of observation in order to realize the Four Noble Truths. In terms of the individual vehicle, whether we attain liberation or not is completely dependent upon whether we realize the Four Noble Truths.
If we don’t realize the four noble truths, we are not liberated. If we do, we are liberated. They’re also extremely important in the universal vehicle. But these reasons will be explained in later on in the text. So by by realizing it is by realizing these truths that one will abandon the afflictive emotions.
By abandoning the afflictive emotions, one attains liberation. The And then the They don’t So the the relationship between the four objects of observation and the five aggregates are from the point of view of subject and object. Aside from that relationship, there’s there’s not another relationship? So the object are these four objects of observation and the subject that which during the observing are are is the close placement of mindfulness.
So that analogy that we used about a place the plate and and the and the rice and the veg, etcetera. That was those were an analog making use of analogy and explaining the five aggregates. Within the within the five aggregates, there are two which have been singled out. The aggregate of feelings, the aggregate of discriminations. Though it’s an extremely vast subject, there are fifty one mental factors or secondary consciousnesses.
And these two singled out from those fifty one. The reason this is done is because first, the feelings are the entity of experience. And it is in general, that dependent upon our experience, that we go on to develop afflictive emotions, whether So therefore it is explaining in terms of how the afflictive emotions are, the evolution of the afflictive emotions, feelings are singled out. The feelings are very much the basis for our continual circling within cyclic existence. Whereas on the other hand, discriminations are singled out because it is by being able to discriminate that we are able to withdraw from cyclic existence by understanding what is a correct view, what is an incorrect view, what is, what is conducive to liberation, and what is not conducive.
That we are able to develop, for example, renunciation. That being able to, there’s a great deal of debate between, you know, what is the correct and what is incorrect view. And it’s necessary to develop a proper discrimination with regard to that if we are to, what is pure and impure, if we are able to liberate ourselves. So feelings are the basis for continual cycling, general, feelings are the basis for continual cycling within cyclic existence, discrimination is the basis for liberating ourselves from cyclic existence. So those two are separated out from these fifty one mental factors.
So if you wanted to understand that well, you’d have to study knowledge, higher knowledge or Abhidharma. Remember, Jay said that these two feelings and discriminations would be included within phenomena, the object of observation of phenomena. I’ll put that one as well. Whatever you do. And then what was the last part of your question?
I just if if the sense faculty is the thing that ceases So the the the the basis of the sense faculty is the eye organ, the the flesh, the coarse the coarse coarse flesh, the white part, the iris of the eye. So that’s the sensory basis. The sense faculty is a very subtle matter within that. It’s like a mirror. It’s extremely small.
That there were problems with using feeling. I probably should have asked this question at the time this arose. But and then he said there’s another way to look at it, and that was whether it persisted after death or not, or whether it was extinguished after death.