Vipassana Meditation : Lectures On Insight Meditation by Venerable

impermanent nature. Only if you have personal experience of the Dhamma, doyou conclude that it is impermanent. You can then accept, "I may not even liveuntil tomorrow. I may die this very second because every phenomena is subjectto impermanence Actually, when a man has not realized the arising andpassing away of mental arid physical phenomena, he takes them to bepermanent. The idea of personality is based on the belief in a permanent entitywithin us. So atta-ditthi and sakkaya-ditthi are the same.If we say, "Now I am lifting my hand", then you ask me who is lifting thehand. I will say, "I am lifting the hand." Who is that 'I'? A Bhikkhu, a man, or abeing who is living? If we do not believe in the permanent nature of mindbodyprocesses, we do not take them to be a being. But actually, the dualprocess of mentality and physicality, which constitutes a so-called person, issubject to change, arising and passing away but we do not realize it. We takethis dual process to be a person, a being, a dog or an animal. This view iscalled sakkaya-ditthi. Unless we can rightly comprehend these mind and bodyprocesses in their true nature we are unable to overcome or destroy this falseview.That is why the Buddha teaches us to be mindful of any activity of mindand body, or any mental and physical processes as they really are, so that wecan realize the two processes as natural processes. This insight is calledknowledge of Sabhava-lakkhana (right understanding of the specificcharacteristics or individual characteristics of mental and physicalphenomena). This insight knowledge destroys the concept of soul or self,person or being which is the main cause of defilements (kilesas) such as greed,anger, delusion and conceit and so on. So we can say that this concept of asoul or a self is the seed of all defilements. When we have exterminated theseed there will not arise any defilements and we have got rid of suffering. Thatis:Sakkaya-ditthi pahanaya sato bhikkhu paribbaje.'Sakkaya-ditthi pahanaya' means to overcome this false view of a soul, aself or a person; 'sato' means mindful; Bhikkhu means monk. A Bhikkhu who ismindful of phenomena must strive or practice to overcome the false view.When he is able to destroy that sakkaya-ditthi, he is sure to deliver himselffrom all kinds of suffering. This sakkaya-ditthi is the cause of all kinds ofdefilements or the seed of all defilements. So we have to try to exterminate itthrough right understanding of mental and physical processes by means ofmindfulness meditation.May all of you practice this mindfulness meditation strenuously and attainthe cessation of suffering.Sadhu...Sadhu...Sadhu!47