Insight: Comprehension by Groups

6. Here is the text:

“How is it that understanding of defining past, future and present states by summarization is knowledge of comprehension?

“Any materiality whatever, whether past, future or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near—he defines all materiality as impermanent: this is one kind of comprehension. He defines it as painful: this is one kind of comprehension. He defines it as not-self: this is one kind of comprehension. Any feeling whatever … Any perception whatever … Any formations whatever … Any consciousness whatever … He defines all consciousness as impermanent: … He defines it as not-self: this is one kind of comprehension. The eye … (etc.) … ageing-and-death, whether past, future or present, he defines it as impermanent: this is one kind of comprehension. He defines it as painful: this is one kind of comprehension. He defines it as not-self: this is one kind of comprehension.

“Understanding of defining by summarization thus, ‘Materiality, whether past, future, or present, is impermanent in the sense of destruction, painful in the sense of terror, not-self in the sense of having no core,’ is knowledge of comprehension. Understanding of defining by generalization thus, ‘Feeling …

view should be regarded as included under the heading of ‘perception.’ So too with what follows. ‘Becoming dispassionate’ is seeing formations with dispassion by means of the contemplation of dispassion induced by the contemplations of impermanence, and so on. ‘Delighting’ is craving accompanied by happiness. ‘Causing fading away’ is contemplating in such a way that greed (rāga) for formations does not arise owing to the causing of greed to fade (virajjana) by the contemplation of fading away (virāgānupassanā);for one who acts thus is said to abandon greed. ‘Causing cessation’ is contemplating in such a way that, by the contemplation of cessation, formations cease only, they do not arise in the future through a new becoming; since one who acts thus is said to abandon the arousing (originating) of formations because of producing the nature of non-arising. ‘Relinquishing’ is relinquishing in such a way that, by the contemplation of relinquishment, formations are not grasped anymore; hence he said, ‘He abandons grasping’;or the meaning is that he relinquishes apprehending [them] as permanent, and so on” (Vism-mhṭ 780).

[608] (etc.) … Consciousness … Eye … (etc.) … Ageing-and-death, whether past …’ is knowledge of comprehension.

“Understanding of defining by summarization thus, ‘Materiality, whether past, future, or present, is impermanent, formed, dependently arisen, subject to destruction, subject to fall, subject to fading away, subject to cessation,’ is knowledge of comprehension. Understanding of defining by generalization thus, ‘Feeling … (etc.) … Consciousness … Eye … (etc.) … Ageing-and-death, whether past, future, or present, is impermanent, formed, dependently arisen, subject to destruction, subject to fall, subject to fading away, subject to cessation’ is knowledge of comprehension.

“Understanding of defining by summarization thus, ‘With birth as condition there is ageing-and-death; without birth as condition there is no ageing-anddeath,’ is knowledge of comprehension. Understanding of defining by generalization thus, ‘In the past and in the future with birth as condition there is ageing-and-death; without birth as condition there is no ageing-and-death,’ is knowledge of comprehension. Understanding of defining by generalization thus, ‘With becoming as condition there is birth … With ignorance as condition there are formations; without ignorance as condition there are no formations,’ is knowledge of comprehension. Understanding of defining by generalization thus, ‘In the past and in the future with ignorance as condition there are formations; without ignorance as condition there are no formations’ is knowledge of comprehension.

“Knowledge is in the sense of that being known and understanding is in the sense of the act of understanding that. Hence it was said: ‘Understanding of defining past, future, and present states by summarization is knowledge of comprehension’” (Paṭis I 53f.).

9. Herein, the abbreviation, “The eye … (etc.) … Ageing-and-death,” should be understood to represent the following sets of things elided:

1. The states that occur in the doors [of consciousness] together with the doors and the objects.
2. The five aggregates.
3. The six doors.
4. The six objects.
5. The six kinds of consciousness.
6. The six kinds of contact.
7. The six kinds of feeling.
8. The six kinds of perception.
9. The six kinds of volition.
10. The six kinds of craving.
11. The six kinds of applied thought.
12. The six kinds of sustained thought.
13. The six elements.
14. The ten kasiṇas.
15. The thirty-two bodily aspects.
16. The twelve bases.
17. The eighteen elements.
18. The twenty-two faculties.
19. The three elements.
20. The nine kinds of becoming.
21. The four jhānas.
22. The four measureless states.
23. The four [immaterial] attainments.
24. The twelve members of the dependent origination.

10. For this is said in the Paṭisambhidā in the description of what is to be directly known: “Bhikkhus, all is to be directly known. And what is all that is to be directly known? [609] (1) Eye is to be directly known;visible objects are to be directly known; eye-consciousness … eye-contact … feeling, pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant, that arises due to eye-contact is also to be directly known. Ear … Mind … feeling, pleasant or painful or neither-painful-norpleasant, that arises due to mind-contact is also to be directly known.

11. “(2) Materiality is to be directly known … consciousness is to be directly known. (3) Eye … mind … (4) Visible objects … mental objects … (5) Eye-consciousness … mind-consciousness … (6) Eye-contact … mind-contact … (7) Eye-contact-born feeling … mind-contact-born feeling … (8) Perception of visible objects … perception of mental objects … (9) Volition regarding visible objects … volition regarding mental objects … (10) Craving for visible objects … craving for mental objects … (11) Applied thought about visible objects … applied thought about mental objects … (12) Sustained thought about visible objects … sustained thought about mental objects … (13) The earth element … the consciousness element … (14) The earth kasiṇa … the consciousness kasiṇa … (15) Head hairs … brain … (16) The eye base … the mental object base … (17) The eye element … the mind-consciousness element … (18) The eye faculty … the final-knower faculty … (19) The sense-desire element … the fine-material element … the immaterial element … (20) Sense-desire becoming … fine-material becoming … immaterial becoming … percipient becoming … nonpercipient becoming … neither percipient nor non-percipient becoming … oneconstituent becoming … four-constituent becoming … five-constituent becoming … (21) The first jhāna … the fourth jhāna … (22) The mind-deliverance of lovingkindness … the mind-deliverance of equanimity … (23) The attainment of the base consisting of boundless space … the attainment of the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception … (24) Ignorance is to be directly known … ageingand-death is to be directly known” (Paṭis I 5f.).

12. Since all this detail is given there it has been abbreviated here. But what is thus abbreviated includes the supramundane states. These should not be dealt with at this stage because they are not amenable to comprehension. And as regards those that are amenable to comprehension a beginning should be made by comprehending those among them that are obvious to and easily discernible by the individual [meditator].