The Essentials of Buddha-Dhamma in Practice

Sayagyi U Ba Khin, Rangoon, 1968

Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta are the three essential elements in the Buddha's teachings.

If you know Anicca (Impermanence) truly, you know Dukkha (Unsatisfactoriness) also as a sequel and Anatta (No-self) as the ultimate truth. It takes time to understand the three together. Anicca is, of course, the essential factor which must first be experienced and understood by practice. A mere reading of the books on Buddhism or book-knowledge of the Buddha-Dhamma will not be enough for the understanding of true Anicca because the experiental aspect will be missing. It is only through experience and understanding of the nature of Anicca as an ever-changing process within your very self that you can understand Anicca in the way the Buddha would like you to understand it. This understanding of Anicca can be developed, as in the days of the Buddha, by persons who have no book-knowledge whatsoever of Buddhism.

To understand Anicca, one must follow strictly and diligently the Eightfold Noble Path which is divided into the three steps of Sila, Samadhi, and Panna.

Sila or virtuous living is the base for Samadhi, that is, control of the mind to one-pointedness. It is only when Samadhi is good that one can develop Panna (Wisdom). So Sila and Samadhi are the prerequisites for Panna. By Panna is meant the understanding of Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta through the practice of Vipassana.

Whether a Buddha has arisen or not, the practice of Sila and Samadhi is present in the world of mankind. In fact, they are the common denominators of all religious faith. They are, however, not the means to the end--the end of suffering.

In his search for this end of suffering, Prince Siddhattha found this out and he worked his way through to find the Path which leads to the end of suffering. After solid work for six years, he found the way out, became completely enlightened and then taught men and gods to follow the Path which leads them to the end of suffering.

In this connection I should like to explain that each action, either by deed, word or thought, leaves behind a force of action, Sankhara (or Kamma), for everyone, which becomes the source of supply of energy to sustain life, which is inevitably followed by suffering and death. It is by development of the power inherent in the understanding of Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta that one is able to rid oneself of the Sankhara which becomes accumulated in one's own personal account. This process begins with the true understanding of Anicca while further accumulations of fresh actions and the reduction of the supply of energy to sustain life are taking place simultaneously from time to time and from day to day. It is, therefore, a matter of a lifetime or more to get rid of all one's own Sankhara or Kamma. He who has got himself rid of all Sankhara (or Kamma) comes to the end of suffering, because by then, there is no remainder of his Sankhara to give the necessary life energy to sustain him in any form of life. This end of suffering is reached by the Buddha and the Arahats on the termination of their lives, when they pass into Parinibbana. For us of today, who take to Vipassana meditation, it should suffice if we can understand Anicca very well and reach the stage of an Ariya (Noble One): a Sotapatti-puggala (the first stage of Enlightenment), one who will not live more than seven lives to come to the end of suffering.

This Anicca, which opens the door to the understanding of Dukkha and Anatta, and then leads to the end of suffering eventually, can be encountered only through a Buddha or, after he passes away, through his teachings for as long as those aspects relating to the Eightfold Noble Path and the 37 Factors of Enlightenment (Bodhi-Pakkhiya) remain intact and are available to the aspirant.

For progress in Vipassana meditation, a student must keep knowing Anicca as continuously as possible. The Buddha's advice to monks is that they shall try to maintain the awareness of Anicca or Dukkha or Anatta in all postures, whether sitting or standing or walking or lying down. The continuity of awareness of Anicca and so of Dukkha and Anatta is the secret of success. The last words of the Buddha, just before he breathed his last and passed away into Mahaparinibbana were:

Vaya-dhamma sankhara;

Appamadena sampadetha.

Decay or Anicca is inherent in all compounded things.

Work out your own salvation with diligence.

Digha-nikaya, Sutta 16[1]

This is in fact the essence of all his teachings during the forty-five years he taught. If you will keep up the awareness of Anicca that is inherent in all compounded things, you are sure to reach the goal in the course of time.

In the meantime, as you develop in the understanding of Anicca, your insight into "what is true of nature" will become greater and greater. So much so that eventually you will have no doubt whatsoever of the three characteristics of Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta. It is only then that you are in a position to go ahead for the goal in view.

Now that you know Anicca as the first essential factor, you should try to understand what Anicca is with clarity and as extensively as possible--so as not to get confused in the course of practice or discussion.

The real meaning of Anicca is Impermanence or Decay--that is, the inherent nature of impermanence or decay in everything that exists in the universe, whether animate or inanimate.

To make my work of explanation easy for the present-day generation, I might draw attention to the opening sentences of the chapter "Atomic Contents" in the book Inside the Atom by Isaac Asimov and also to a portion of the contents on page 159 of the book about chemical reactions going on at the same time in all parts of the body of a living creature such as a human being.

This should be sufficient to bring home the point of view that all things, different as they are, are made of tiny particles called "atoms." These atoms have been proved by science to be in a state of arising and dissolution or change. We should accordingly accept the concept of the Buddha that all compounded things are subject to change, decay or Anicca.

But in expounding the theory of Anicca, the Buddha started with the behaviour that makes matter, and matter as known to the Buddha is very much smaller than the atom that the science of today has discovered. The Buddha made it known to his disciples that everything that exists in the universe, whether animate or inanimate, is composed of Kalapas (very much smaller than atoms), each dying out simultaneously as it comes into being. Each Kalapa is a mass formed of the eight nature elements, namely, Pathavi, Apo, Tejo, Vayo, Vanna, Gandha, Rasa, Oja (solid, liquid, heat, motion, colour, odour, taste and nutriment). The first four are called material qualiites which are predominant in a Kalapa. The other four are merely subsidiaries which are dependent upon and born out of the former. A Kalapa is the minutest particle in the physical plane--still beyond the range of science of today.

It is only when the eight nature elements (which have merely the characteristics of behaviour) are together that the entity of a Kalapa (the tiniest particle of matter in the physical plane) is formed. In other words, the co-existence for a moment of these eight nature elements of behaviour makes a mass, just for that moment, which in Buddhism is known as a Kalapa. The size of a Kalapa is about 1/46,656th part of a particle of dust from the wheel of a chariot in summer in India. The life span of a Kalapa is a moment, there being a trillion such moments in the wink of an eye of a human being. These Kalapas are all in a state of perpetual change or flux. To a developed student in Vipassana meditation they can be felt as a stream of energy. The human body is not an entity as it seems to be, but a continuum of an aggregate of matter (Rupa) with the life force (Nama) co-existing.

To know that our very body is composed of tiny Kalapas, all in a state of change, is to know what is true of the nature of change or decay. This nature of change or decay (Anicca) occasioned by the continual breakdown and replacement of Kalapas, all in a state of combustion, must necessarily be identified with Dukkha, the truth of suffering. It is only when you experience impermanence (Anicca) as Dukkha (suffering or ill) that you come to the realization of the Truth of Suffering of the Four Noble Truths, on which so much emphasis has been laid in the teachings of the Buddha. Why? Because when you realize the subtle nature of Dukkha from which you cannot escape for a moment, you will become truly afraid of, disgusted with, and disinclined to continue your very existence of Rupa and Nama and look out for a way of escape to a state beyond--that is, beyond Dukkha, and so to the end of suffering. What that end of suffering would be like, you will be able to have a taste of, even as a human being, when you reach the level of a Sotapatti and are developed well enough by practice to go into the unconditioned state of the Peace of Nibbana within.

Be that as it may, for everyday life, no sooner are you able to keep up the awareness of Anicca in practice, than you will know for yourself that a change is taking place in you, both physically and mentally, for the better.

Before entering into the practice of Vipassana meditation, that is, after Samadhi has been developed to a proper level, a student should first be acquainted with the theoretical knowledge of Rupa (matter) and Nama (mind and mental properties). If he has understood these well in theory and has come to the proper level of Samadhi, there is every likelihood of his understanding Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta in the true sense of the words of the Buddha.

In Vipassana meditation, one contemplates not only the changing nature (Anicca) of Rupa or matter, but also the changing nature (Anicca) of Nama, thought-elements of attention projected towards the process of change of Rupa or matter. At times the attention may be on the Anicca of Rupa or matter only. At times the attention may be on the Anicca of thought-elements (Nama). When one is contemplating the Anicca of Rupa or matter, one realizes also that the thought-elements arising simultaneously with the awareness of the Anicca of Rupa or matter are also in a state of transition or change. In that case you are knowing the Anicca of both Rupa and Nama together.

All I have said so far relates to the understanding of Anicca through the body-feelings, to the understanding of the process of change of Rupa or matter, and also of the thought-elements depending upon such changing processes. You should know also that Anicca can be understood through other types of feeling as well.

Anicca can be developed through feeling: i) - by contact of visible form with the sense organ of the eye,; ii) - by contact of sound with the sense organ of the ear,; iii) - by contact of smell with the sense organ of the nose,; iv) - by contact of taste with the sense organ of the tongue,; v) - by contact of touch with the sense organ of the body,; vi) - by contact of thought with the sense organ of the mind.

In fact, one can develop the understanding of Anicca through any of the six organs of sense. In practise, however, we have found that, of all types of feelings, the feelings of the contact of touch with the component parts of the body in a process of change covers a wide area for introspective meditation. Not only that, but the feeling by contact of touch (by way of the friction, radiation and vibrations of the Kalapas within) with the component parts of the body is more tangible than other types of feeling, and therefore a beginner in Vipassana meditation can come to the understanding of Anicca more easily through body feelings of the nature of change of Rupa or matter. This is the main reason why we have chosen the body feeling as a medium for the quick understanding of Anicca. It is open to anyone to try other means, but my suggestion is that one should have oneself well established in the understanding of Anicca through body feelings before an attempt is made through other types of feeling.

There are ten levels of knowledge of Vipassana, namely: - Sammasana: the appreciation of Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta by close observation and analysis, of course, theoretically.