Craving and Mindfulness -             An AI Image


Description

An exploration of the profound Dhamma of craving, feeling, and perception. Understanding the impermanent nature of the body and mind provides insight into the path to liberation from suffering.

The Body: Merely a Machine

This body is approximately like a tree, a rock, a chair, a table, or a bed. These things cannot think. Similarly, the body cannot think, feel, or perceive. There is no one within the body who thinks, feels, or perceives through its senses. Not only that, the body cannot move independently—walking, sitting, or sleeping happen without any knowledge or independent capability. The body is merely a machine.

For a machine to operate, it requires energy and direction. The energy of the body is what we call kabalinka food—food, water, and air. (Kabalinka food is not just a simple matter; it is profound.)

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Love and Hatred: From One Body to Another?

Now consider the body—whether one’s own or another’s—this is reality. Can a body love or form attachments to another body? If so, how distorted does that seem? Can a body hate or feel jealousy toward another body? How absurd does that sound?

There is no soul, no owner, nothing that belongs to anyone in this body. Only in the mind does feeling occur. Only in the mind does perception arise. Craving arises in the mind. If craving exists, its sole cause is feeling—nothing else.

The Buddha’s Profound Clarification

“Vedanāpaccayā taṇhā ti iti kho panetaṃ vuṭṭhaṃ, tadānaṃda imināpetañ pariyāyena veditabbaṃ, yathā vedanāpaccayā taṇhā. Vedanā ca hi, ānanda, nābhavissa sabbena sabbaṃ sabbathā sabbaṃ, kassa’ci kimhici, seyya pathi daṃ – cakkhusampassajā vedanā, sotasampassajā vedanā, ghānassampassajā vedanā, jivhāsampassajā vedanā, kāyāsampassajā vedanā, manosampassajā vedanā, sabbaso vedanāya asati vedanānīrodhā api nu kho taṇhā paññāyetha ti?”

The Buddha explained to Ānanda: “Ānanda, craving arises dependent on feeling. Understand this: at times, feeling arises through the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind. Is there craving without such feeling?”

This is profoundly important. Feelings arise dependent on sense organs—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind. This is the source of craving.

                                          Feelings and the Senses                  An AI Image


Sense Organs and Objects: The Roots of Feeling

The eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body encounter objects (rūpa, sound, smell, taste, touch). What are they?

1.      Visible forms perceived by the eye

2.      Sounds perceived by the ear

3.      Smells perceived by the nose

4.      Tastes perceived by the tongue

5.      Physical sensations perceived by the body

These cannot produce feeling on their own, because the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body cannot think or feel. Here, the mind enters—actually, five minds (consciousnesses) corresponding to each sense.

When the mind perceives objects, it experiences the “taste” of that object. This can be pleasant or unpleasant. However, no external object contains an inherent, permanent taste. It is only the mind that experiences it.

Relative Feeling and Impermanence

When the object’s taste is pleasant, the mind experiences pleasant feeling. When unpleasant, painful feeling arises. Neutral objects produce indifferent feeling. The mind experiences not the object itself, but the taste derived from the object.

Feelings are relative across beings—what is bitter to one may be sweet to another. No external object has intrinsic, eternal value; they are impermanent and subjectively experienced.

Craving arises when the mind clings to or rejects these sensations. This is the origin of taṇhā (craving).

 

The Logical Structure of Craving

“Iti kho panetaṃ, Ānanda, vedanaṃ paṭicca taṇhā, taṇhā paṭicca pariyesana, pariyesanaṃ paṭicca lābho, lābhaṃ paṭicca vinicchayo, vinicchayaṃ paṭicca chandarāgo, chandarāgaṃ paṭicca ajjhosānaṃ, ajjhosānaṃ paṭicca pariggahaṃ, pariggahaṃ paṭicca macchariyaṃ, macchariyaṃ paṭicca ārakkho…”

The Buddha explained to Ānanda:

1.      Craving arises dependent on feeling.

2.      Craving leads to seeking objects repeatedly.

3.      Objects are obtained.

4.      Their taste is evaluated—good, bad, beautiful, or ugly.

5.      Attachment (desire) or aversion arises, producing the illusion of “mine.”

6.      This illusion strengthens clinging.

(Dīgha Nikāya – Mahānidāna Sutta)


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The Suffering of Expectation

Sentient beings live in expectation, seeking pleasure and comfort. Permanent pleasure does not exist. The Eightfold Dhamma explains that pleasure turns to pain; gain becomes loss; praise, love, and compassion turn to neglect, hatred, or anger.

A tree grows, bears flowers and fruits, but does not enjoy them. It silently fulfills its purpose without expectation or suffering. Similarly, beings with expectations suffer.

Liberation from the Sea of Perception

There is no inherent suffering or pleasure in the world. Both are created by ourselves. Permanent suffering or pleasure does not exist. Liberation arises when craving and attachment are abandoned.

“Uno loko atittho taṇhādaso”
(Majjhima Nikāya – Rāṭṭhapāla Sutta)

Beings do not recognize that they are enslaved to craving. Consequently, they repeatedly seek pleasure, becoming servants to the desires of the mind.

The Path to Freedom

“Puṭṭhassa loka dhammehi
cittaṃ yassa na kampati
asokaṃ virajaṃ khemaṃ
etaṃ maṅgala muttamaṃ”
(Mahā Maṅgala Sutta – Gāthā 11)

If one can remain unattached to gains and losses, praise and blame—without craving or aversion—then the mind does not waver, and one is free from suffering.

“Etaṃ dukkhaṃ ñatvāna, mosadhammaṃ palokinaṃ;
puṃsā puṃsā vayaṃ passaṃ, evaṃ tattha virajjati”
(Saṃyutta Nikāya – Vedanā Saṃyutta, Sukhā Sutta)

Feelings arising through the eye, ear, nose, tongue, or body are transient and impermanent. Awareness of this impermanence prevents clinging and attachment.


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Conclusion: Insight into Impermanence

Contemplating the impermanence of all phenomena, and understanding the arising and passing of the five aggregates, allows liberation from craving. Proper mindfulness and insight are necessary. Craving strengthens attachment and perpetuates suffering.

Following the Eightfold Dhamma, a being can endure pain without attachment, enjoy pleasure without craving, and remain free from the illusion of “mine” or “I,” achieving freedom from the cycle of rebirth.


References

1.      Dīgha Nikāya – Mahānidāna Sutta

2.      Saṃyutta Nikāya – Vedanā Saṃyutta

3.      Majjhima Nikāya – Rāṭṭhapāla Sutta

4.      Mahā Maṅgala Sutta

5.      Buddhaghosa – Visuddhimagga