Exercises for Insight Meditation

These are techniques for giving rise to knowledge and insight, via the mind, into the natural workings of physical and mental phenomena, as expressed in terms of the five aggregates, seeing them as naturally occurring conditions—inherently inconstant, stressful, and not-self—these three characteristics being the focal point of insight meditation.

If we’ve come to the topic of insight, why are we referring again to the five aggregates, inconstancy, stress, not-selfness, etc.? Weren’t these already covered under tranquility meditation?

The answer is that although insight meditation deals with the same raw material as tranquility meditation—i.e., form and formless objects, or in other words, physical and mental phenomena—it gives rise to a more refined level of knowledge and understanding. The treatment of the five aggregates and the three characteristics on the level of tranquility meditation is very crude. The understanding it gives of how the five aggregates are inconstant, stressful, and not-self is not very clear, simply enough to make the mind settle down to the point where it’s ready for the practice of insight meditation. Once we reach the level of insight, though, our understanding of how the five aggregates are inconstant, stressful, and not-self become clearer and more distinct. We can make the following comparison: The understanding gained on the level of tranquility meditation is like cutting down the trees in a forest but not yet setting them on fire. The understanding gained on the level of insight meditation is like taking the trees and burning them up. The forest in the second case is much more open and clear—even though it’s the same forest. This is how the levels of understanding gained in tranquility and insight meditation differ.

To develop insight, you first have to distinguish the five aggregates: physical phenomena, feelings, mental labels, mental fabrications, and consciousness. Once you have them distinguished, start out by focusing on and considering all physical phenomena, whether past—those that have occurred beginning with your conception as an embryo in your mother’s womb; present; or future—those that will continue to occur until the day you die; internal—the phenomena of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body, together with the visions that appear through the power of the mind; or external—sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations: Focus on examining all these forms down to a single point—that they are all inconstant, stressful, and not-self. They arise momentarily and then pass away, never satisfying the desires of those who want them, never offering anything of any substance or worth. This holds true equally for any and all things composed of the physical properties.

As for feelings, start out by distinguishing two sorts: external and internal. External feelings arise when the eye comes into contact with a visible object, the ear comes into contact with a sound, the nose comes into contact with an aroma, the tongue comes into contact with a flavor, or when tactile sensations—heat, cold, etc.—come into contact with the body. All five of these categories are classed as external feelings. If the mind is displeased, a bad mood is experienced; if the mind is neither pleased nor displeased, a neutral mood is experienced: For the mind to experience any of these moods is classed as internal feeling. Focus on examining both internal and external feelings—past, present, or future—down to a single point: the fact that they are all inconstant, stressful, and not-self. By nature they arise only to pass away.

As for mental labels, there are two sorts, external and internal. External labeling refers to the act of identifying visual objects, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and ideas when they come into the range of the senses. Internal labeling refers to the act of identifying pleasant, painful, or neutral moods as they are felt by the heart. Once you can make this distinction, focus on examining all acts of labeling—past, present, or future, internal or external—down to a single point: the fact that they are all inconstant, stressful and not-self. By nature they arise only to pass away.

As for fabrications, these should first be divided into two sorts: upādiṇṇaka-saṅkhāra, those that are dependent on the power of the mind for their sustenance; and anupādiṇṇaka-saṅkhāra, those that are not. Mountains, trees, and other inanimate objects fabricated by nature are examples of the second category; people and common animals are examples of the first.

Fabrications dependent on the power of the mind for their sustenance are of two sorts: external and internal. ‘External’ refers to the compound of the four physical properties fashioned into a body through the power of kamma. ‘Internal’ refers to the fabrication of thoughts—-either good (puññābhisaṅkhāra), bad (apuññābhisaṅkhāra), or neither good nor bad (aneñjābhisaṅkhāra)—in the mind.

Focus on examining all fabrications—past, present, or future, internal or external—down to a single point, in terms of the three characteristics, as follows:

‘How inconstant (and stressful) are fabrications. Their nature is to arise and decay. Arising, they disband…’ They are all bound to be inconstant, stressful, and not-self.

As for consciousness, this should first be divided into two sorts: internal and external. Internal consciousness refers to the act of being clearly aware that, ‘This is a pleasant feeling—this is a painful feeling—this is a neutral feeling,’ as such feelings are experienced in the heart. External consciousness refers to being clearly aware by means of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body whenever visual objects, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations come into range and the mind reacts with notions of liking, disliking, or being neutral. Focus on examining all acts of consciousness down to the three characteristics: Whether past (beginning with the ‘connecting consciousness (paṭisandhi viññāṇa)’ that gives rise to birth), present, or future, internal or external, all are inconstant, stressful, and not-self. There’s nothing permanent or lasting to them at all.

When you consider these themes until you see them clearly in any of these ways, you are developing the insight that forms the way to the paths and fruitions leading to nibbāna.

Thus the exercises of tranquility and insight meditation give rise to different levels of sensitivity and understanding, even though they deal with the very same raw material. If you truly desire to gain release from suffering and stress, you should begin studying your own aggregates so as to give rise to tranquility and insight. You may assume that you already know them, yet if you can’t let them go, then you don’t really know them at all. What you know, you say you don’t know; what you don’t know, you say you do. The mind switches back and forth on itself, and so always has itself deceived.

Knowledge on the level of information—labels and concepts—is inconstant. It can always change into something else. Even people outside of the religion can know the aggregates on that level—all they have to do is read a few books and they’ll know. So those who really want to know should start right in, probing down into the aggregates until they perceive clearly and truly enough to let go. Only then will they be genuine experts in the religion.

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Now we will discuss the stages of liberating insight, dealing first with the seven stages of purification, because these form their basis.