Question: How to contemplate the five aggregates, to see that these five aggregates are all anattā?
Than Ajahn: When we contemplate, it is just like doing homework. First, we have to prepare ourselves to let go of the five aggregates and before we can let go of these five aggregates, we have to know why we have to let go. We study the five aggregates to see that they are not ourselves; they don’t belong to us; we cannot keep them. One day sooner or later they will have to leave and separate from us. Right now, the separation is still not happening, so we are preparing our mind for the examination that will come about when we get sick or when we die.
When we contemplate on the five khandhas, we are merely teaching the mind to know the truth of the body, the five aggregates, and when the time comes for us to let go of them, we can let them go because we understand why we have to let them go. We understand that if we are attached to them, we will be sad; if we let go, we will be peaceful and happy.
We have to wait for the time for us to relinquish the five aggregates. We can do this in two ways. First, we let go of the body, then we let go of the nāma-khandhas. These are two separate problems that we have to solve. With the body you have to constantly look at the body that it is going to get sick, get old and die and once you know this, you have to let go of it because if you cling to it, your mind will suffer due to your fear for the body to die. The desire not to die is the cause of your suffering.
If you don’t want to suffer then you have to let go of your desire, stop desiring for the body not to die because nothing can stop the body from dying. When you see this truth, you will realise that if you still have the desire for the body not to die, you will suffer deeply.
However, when you are contemplating, this is only at the level of imagining the situation and you are preparing yourself to meet the actual event, when something really happens to your body. If you want to take the test, you have to find a place where you can give up your body, like going to the forest and living with the wild animals, which you might not know whether you are going to be attacked by wild animals.
So, when you suddenly feel that you are about to be attacked, that you’re going to die, then you will have to use this wisdom that you have developed in your contemplation to teach the mind to let go of the body, not to cling to the body, not to have the desire not to die because when you have this desire not to die, you will suffer but if you see that the body is going to die and you can do nothing, then you’re willing to let it go. Stop your desire from arising. When there is no desire, then your mind becomes peaceful and calm.
And you might die but your mind is peaceful and happy. So, this is the way how to abandon, to let go of the five aggregates. This is the body part.
For the nāma-khandhas part, you have to deal with this painful feeling which is dukkha-vedanā. For the other vedanās, there are no problems. So, we have to deal with the one which is problematic. The one that is problematic is dukkha-vedanā, painful feeling.
First, when we get sick, we suffer and the reason why we suffer is because we don’t want to get sick. We want to get well. This is the cause of your suffering, not the sickness itself.
But it’s your desire not to get sick or desire to get well, so you have to use wisdom to see that you cannot force the dukkha-vedanā to disappear. They come and go by themselves.
The only thing you can do when they come is to just accommodate them: not to have the desire to get rid of them, because when you have the desire to get rid of them, you (will) have suffering. But if you have no desire, then you just keep your mind calm and peaceful, and acknowledge the existence of this painful feeling.
Then, this painful feeling will not cause any suffering. The cause of your suffering is your desire for the painful feeling to disappear. So, when you have painful feeling, teach your mind to remain calm, accommodate the painful feeling, don’t deny it, don’t want to get rid of it, then your mind will not suffer. Then, you can let go. This is the way of letting go of your nāma-khandhas.
The other khandhas work in conjunction with the vedanā-khandha. So, you only have to deal with vedanā-khandha. Saññā, saṅkhārā, viññāna are just parts of the group. But dukkha-vedanā is the leader. If you can deal with the leader, then the other three fall in line.
So, you don’t have to worry about saññā, saṅkhārā, viññāna.
You’re actually ‘changing’ saññā, saṅkhārā, viññāna. Saññā tends to tell you that this vedanā is controllable. You can change it but the truth is you cannot change it. We change it by moving the body around.
When we sit and feel painful, we move the body, then the pain disappears. We think that we can manage the feeling. But there are times when you get sick and there is nothing you can do, even with medicine.
Sometimes the medicine will not help either. You know that this is something that you cannot change but you can live with it and it cannot make you suffer if you have no desire for it to disappear.
So, the problem is your desire to have the painful feeling disappear. If you can stop this desire and accept the painful feeling, then you don’t have to do anything. When you get sick, you just remain peaceful and calm, and then the sickness will come and go. The painful feeling will come and go, and your mind will not be hurt by the painful feeling.
Dhamma in English, Dec 27, 2016.
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
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