..续本文上一页e the other properties can move, enter, and leave, the passages that permit air to enter and leave, and allow us to move — such as the ear canal, the nasal passages, and mouth, all the way to the pores — are called the space property.

　　(6) These various aspects of the body, if there”s no consciousness overseeing them, are like a dead flashlight battery that can no longer produce the power to give rise to brightness or movement. As long as consciousness is in charge, it can cause the various qualities and parts of the body to be of use to living beings. Good and evil, merit and demerit can arise only if consciousness is giving the orders. Thus, good and evil come ultimately from awareness itself. This is called the property of consciousness.

　　All six of these properties are one class of sankharas on the level of the Dhamma.

　　b. Khandha: The various categories of things that we experience are called the five aggregates —

　　(1) Form: All visible sense data, both within us and without, are called the aggregate of form.

　　(2) Feeling: the feelings of pleasure, pain, and neither pleasure nor pain that result when consciousness and sense data come into contact with one another are called the aggregate of feeling.

　　(3) Perception: The act of labeling and identifying people and things, both within and without, is called the aggregate of perception.

　　(4) Formations: The thoughts and mental constructs that arise from the mind — good, bad, right, wrong, in line with the common nature of all thinking — are called the aggregate of formations.

　　(5) Consciousness: Distinct awareness in terms of conventional suppositions — for example, when the eye sees a visual object, the ear hears a sound, a smell comes to the nose, a taste comes to the tongue, a tactile sensation comes to the body, or an idea arises in the intellect — being clearly aware through any of the senses that, "This is good, that”s bad, this is subtle, that”s fine": To be able to know in this way is called the aggregate of consciousness.

　　All five of these aggregates come down to body and mind. They are sankharas on the level of the Dhamma that arise from unawareness.

　　c. Ayatana: This term literally means the "base" or "medium" of all good and evil. Altogether there are six sense media: the senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste, feeling, and ideation.

　　All of these things are sankharas on the level of the Dhamma. They arise as a result of unawareness, i.e., knowledge that doesn”t penetrate into the truth.

　　Thus, we have sankharas on the level of the world and sankharas on the level of the Dhamma. The Buddha taught that all of these sankharas are undependable, fleeting, and unstable. They appear, remain for a moment, and then disband. Then they appear again, going around in circles. This is inconstancy and stress. Whether they”re good or bad, all sankharas have to behave in this way. We can”t force them to obey our wishes. Thus the Buddha taught that they”re not-self. Once we”ve developed precise powers of discernment, we”ll be able gradually to loosen our attachments to these sankharas. And once we”ve stabilized our minds to the point of Right Concentration, clear cognitive skill will arise within us. We”ll clearly see the truth of sankharas on the level of the world and on the level of the Dhamma, and will shed them from our hearts. Our hearts will then gain release from all sankharas and attain the noblest happiness as taught by the Buddha, independent of all physical and mental objects.

　　Although this discussion of these two topics has been brief, it can comprehend all aspects of the Buddha”s teachings.

　　To summarize: Heedfulness. Watchfulness. Non-complacency. Don”t place your trust in any of these sankharas. Try to develop within yourself whatever virtues should be acquired and attained. That”s what it means not to be heedless.

《Handbook for the Relief of Suffering》全文阅读结束。