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　　What is it that this Eye of Dhamma sees

　　 This Eye sees that whatever is born has aging and death as a natural result. "Whatever is born" means everything! Whether material or immaterial, it all comes under this "whatever is born." It refers to all of Nature. Like this body for instance — it”s born and then proceeds to extinction. When it”s small it "dies" from smallness to youth. After a while it "dies" from youth and becomes middle-aged. Then it goes on to "die" from middle-age and reach old-age, finally reaching the end. Trees, mountains and vines all have this characteristic.

　　So the vision or understanding of the ”One who knows” clearly entered the mind of Añña Kondañña as he sat there. This knowledge of "whatever is born" became deeply embedded in his mind, enabling him to uproot attachment to the body. This attachment was sakkayaditthi. This means that he didn”t take the body to be a self or a being, or in terms of "he" or "me." He didn”t cling to it. He saw it clearly, thus uprooting sakkayaditthi.

　　And the vicikiccha (doubt) was destroyed. Having uprooted attachment to the body he didn”t doubt his realization. Silabbata paramasa 14 was also uprooted. His practice became firm and straight. Even if his body was in pain or fever he didn”t grasp it, he didn”t doubt. He didn”t doubt, because he had uprooted clinging. This grasping of the body is called silabbata paramasa. When one uproots the view of the body being the self, grasping and doubt are finished with. If just this view of the body as the self arises within the mind then grasping and doubt begin right there.

　　So as the Buddha expounded the Dhamma, Añña Kondañña opened the Eye of Dhamma. This Eye is just the "One who knows clearly." It sees things differently. It sees this very nature. Seeing Nature clearly, clinging is uprooted and the ”One who knows” is born. Previously he knew but he still had clinging. You could say that he knew the Dhamma but he still hadn”t seen it, or he had seen the Dhamma but still wasn”t one with it.

　　At this time the Buddha said, "Kondañña knows." What did he know

　　 He just knew Nature! Usually we get lost in Nature, as with this body of ours. Earth, water, fire and wind come together to make this body. It”s an aspect of Nature, a material object we can see with the eye. It exists depending on food, growing and changing until finally it reaches extinction.

　　Coming inwards, that which watches over the body is consciousness — just this ”One who knows”, this single awareness. If it receives through the ear it”s called hearing; through the nose it”s called smelling; through the tongue, tasting; through the body, touching; and through the mind, thinking. This consciousness is just one but when it functions at different places we call it different things. Through the eye we call it one thing, through the ear we call it another. But whether it functions at the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind it”s just one awareness. Following the scriptures we call it the six consciousness, but in reality there is only one consciousness arising at these six different bases. There are six "doors" but a single awareness, which is this very mind.

　　This mind is capable of knowing the truth of Nature. If the mind still has obstructions, then we say it knows through ignorance. It knows wrongly and it sees wrongly. Knowing wrongly and seeing wrongly, or knowing and seeing rightly, it”s just a single awareness. We say wrong view and right view but it”s just one thing. Right and wrong both arise from this one place. When there is wrong knowledge we say that Ignorance conceals the truth. When there is wrong knowledge then there is wrong view, wrong intention, wrong action, wrong livelihoo…

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