..续本文上一页kas) that the mind contains are called “dhamma”. The law of nature is that whatever mental concomitants arise in the mind, they start flowing in the body in the form of a sensation.

　　Sensations are also produced by the interaction of body and mind, due to posture, environment and food.

　　Mind

　　Besides the above causes for the arising of sensations, different sensations arise at different times due to the four mental aggregates: viññāṇa (consciousness that cognizes), saññā (perception that recognizes and evaluates), vedanā (the sensation), saṅkhāra (conditioning in response to the sensation).

　　Body

　　Besides the mind, there are four elements of the body: earth, fire, water and air. Different sensations associated with these keep arising time and again.

　　Among these various types of sensations, two types of sensations are generally predominant—pleasant or unpleasant. They are instantly experienced by the deepest level of the subconscious mind. If the sensation is perceived as pleasant, a reaction of craving occurs and if it is perceived as unpleasant, there is a reaction of aversion. These reactions are our saṅkhāras. Many of these saṅkhāras (kammas) tend to grow stronger at the depth of the mind.

　　Some of these saṅkhāras are very feeble, like a line drawn on water; as one is drawing the line, it fades away. Some of these are like lines drawn on sand; they fade away in a short while. But some lines are like those drawn on hard rock with a chisel and hammer; they don”t fade away for years.

　　Among these saṅkhāras some are unwholesome and some are wholesome. Unwholesome saṅkhāras lead us to the lower worlds and wholesome saṅkhāras lead us to higher, pine worlds. Saṅkhāras that are not very deep-rooted remain on the surface level of the mind. The saṅkhāras that have strong and deep roots are connected with the innermost mind.

　　Due to lack of understanding, we frequently repeat certain feeble, unwholesome saṅkhāras and make them intense and deep. Consequently, we make our present and future more miserable.

　　These discoveries of the Buddha were not intended to merely satisfy intellectual curiosity. Rather, his purpose was to find the right means of eradicating suffering with the help of these truths. So he discovered the technique of Vipassana which gives results here and now. One learns how not to react towards sensations and to remain equanimous. From then on to this day, it has liberated innumerable people from suffering.

《The Essence of the Buddha’s Teaching》全文阅读结束。