The Language of the Heart

　　The Venerable Acariya Mun taught that all hearts have the same language. No matter what one”s language or nationality, the heart has nothing but simple awareness, which is why he said that all hearts have the same language. When a thought arises, we understand it, but when we put it into words, it has to become this or that language, so that we don”t really understand one another. The feelings within the heart, though, are the same for everyone. This is why the Dhamma fits the heart perfectly, because the Dhamma isn”t any particular language. The Dhamma is the language of the heart. The Dhamma resides with the heart.

　　Pleasure and pain reside with the heart. The acts that create pleasure and pain are thought up by the heart. The heart is what knows the results that appear as pleasure and pain; and the heart is burdened with the outcome of its own thoughts. This is why the heart and the Dhamma fit perfectly. No matter what our language or nationality, we can all understand the Dhamma because the heart and the Dhamma are a natural pair.

　　The heart forms the core within the body. It”s the core, the substance, the primary essence within the body. It”s the basic foundation. The conditions that arise from the mind, such as thought-formations, appear and vanish, again and again. Here I”m referring to the rippling of the mind. When the mind ripples, that”s the formation of a thought. Labels, which deal with conjecturing, memorizing, and recognizing, are termed sañña. ”Long” thoughts are sañña; short thoughts are sankhara. In other words, when a thought forms — ”blip” — that”s a sankhara. Sañña refers to labeling and recognizing. Viññana refers to the act of taking note when anything external comes and makes contact with the senses, as when visible forms make contact with the eye and cognition results. All of these things are constantly arising and vanishing of their own accord, and so the Buddha called them khandhas. Each ”heap” or ”group” is called a khandha. These five heaps of khandhas are constantly arising and vanishing all the time.

　　Even arahants have these same conditions — just like ordinary people everywhere — the only difference being that the arahants” khandhas are khandhas pure and simple, without any defilements giving them orders, making them do this or think that. Instead, their khandhas think out of their own free nature, with nothing forcing them to think this or that, unlike the minds of ordinary people in general.

　　To make a comparison, the khandhas of ordinary people are like prisoners, constantly being ordered about. Their various thoughts, labels, assumptions, and interpretations have something that orders and forces them to appear, making them think, assume, and interpret in this way or that. In other words, they have defilements as their boss, their leader, ordering them to appear.

　　Arahants, however, don”t. When a thought forms, it simply forms. Once it forms, it simply disappears. There”s no seed to continue it, no seed to weigh the mind down, because there”s nothing to force it, unlike the khandhas governed by defilements or under the leadership of defilements. This is where the difference lies.

　　But their basic nature is the same: All the khandhas we have mentioned are inconstant (aniccam). In other words, instability and changeability are a regular part of their nature, beginning with the rupa khandha, our body, and the vedana khandha, feelings of pleasure, pain, and indifference. These things appear and vanish, again and again. Sañña, sankhara, and viññana are also always in a state of appearing and vanishing as a normal part of their nature.

　　But as for actual awareness — which forms the basis of…

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