The teaching of the Buddha can be summarised as:
Dukkhaṃ ca, dukkhanirodhaṃ ca.
There is suffering, and there is the cessation of suffering.
The Buddha elucidated this in the paṭiccasamuppāda (the Law of Dependent Origination), the cattāri ariya-saccāni (the Four Noble Truths), the ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo (the Noble Eightfold Path) and the cattāro satipaṭṭhānā (the Fourfold Establishing of Awareness)—all of them very important teachings on suffering and its cessation.
In the paṭiccasamuppāda, he explained the process of dukkha as twelve ordered causal links (anuloma) and the cessation of dukkha as the reverse process of breaking the links (paṭiloma). The arising of suffering is taṇhā (craving). The paṭiccasamuppāda states that dependent on vedanā (sensations), there arises taṇhā (craving), and if vedanā ceases, then the taṇhā automatically ceases: Vedanā-nirodha, taṇhā-nirodho.
The cessation of craving is nibbāna (cessation of suffering). Emphasising vedanā in the practice of the Eightfold Path, the Buddha said:
Tisso imā, bhikkhave, vedanā. Katamā tisso? Sukhā vedanā, dukkhā vedanā, adukkhamasukhā vedanā—imā kho, bhikkhave, tisso vedanā. Imāsaṃ kho, bhikkhave, tissannaṃ vedanānaṃ pariññāya ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo bhāvetabbo.1
There are, meditators, three types of sensations. What are the three? They are pleasant sensations, unpleasant sensations and neutral sensations. Meditators, it is for knowing these three types of sensations in totality that the Noble Eightfold Path should actually be practised.
Further, in the same Saṃyutta, he adds:
Tisso imā, bhikkhave, vedanā. Katamā tisso? Sukhā vedanā, dukkhā vedanā, adukkhamasukhā vedanā—imā kho, bhikkhave, tisso vedanā. Imāsaṃ kho, bhikkhave, tissannaṃ vedanānaṃ abhiññāya pariññāya parikkhayāya pahānāya…pe… ayaṃ ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo bhāvetabbo ti.2
There are, meditators, three types of sensations. What are the three? They are pleasant sensations, unpleasant sensations and neutral sensations. Meditators, it is for the full realisation of these three sensations, for knowing them in totality, for their gradual eradication and for their abandonment… that the Noble Eightfold Path should actually be practised.
In the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, he describes three steps in the realisation of dukkha:
Idaṃ dukkhaṃ ariyasaccanti …
Taṃ kho panidaṃ dukkhaṃ ariyasaccaṃ pariññeyyanti ...
Taṃ kho panidaṃ dukkhaṃ ariyasaccaṃ pariññataṃ …3
This is the noble truth of suffering...
This noble truth of suffering has to be completely known...
This noble truth of suffering has been completely known….
The knowing of suffering is of utmost importance; unless a person knows suffering, he is not able to come out of it. Elsewhere, the Buddha uses 'vedanā' as a synonym of suffering.4 Therefore, to understand vedanā is to understand suffering, and vedanā has to be understood in the same way as dukkha.
In the Satipaṭṭhāna Saṃyuttaṃ the Buddha said about satipaṭṭhānā:
Tisso imā, bhikkhave, vedanā. Katamā tisso? Sukhā vedanā, dukkhā vedanā, adukkhamasukhā vedanā – imā kho, bhikkhave, tisso vedanā. Imāsaṃ kho, bhikkhave, tissannaṃ vedanānaṃ pariññāya cattāro satipaṭṭhānā bhāvetabbā. 5
There are meditators, three types of sensations. What are these three? Pleasant sensations, unpleasant sensations, and neutral sensations. The fourfold establishing of awareness (cattāro satipaṭṭhānā) should be practised to understand these three sensations in totality.
Then in the Vedanāsaṃyuttaṃ of Saṃyutta Nikaya, the Buddha states what is to be known about vedanā:
Yato ca bhikkhu ātāpī, sampajaññaṃ na riñcati; Tato so vedanā sabbā, parijānāti paṇḍito. So vedanā pariññāya, diṭṭhe dhamme anāsavo; Kāyassa bhedā dhammaṭṭho, saṅkhyaṃ nopeti vedagū ti. 6
When a meditator, practising ardently, does not neglect his faculty of thorough understanding, then such a wise person fully understands all sensations. And having fully understood them, within this very life he becomes freed from all impurities. At his life's end, such a person, being established in Dhamma and understanding sensations perfectly, attains the indescribable stage.
A notable feature of the above quotation is the frequent use of the term 'pariññāya' in connection with 'vedanā'. Let us now analyse what pariññāya is and its importance in paṭipatti (the practice of Dhamma).
The term 'pariññāya' is grammatically in the instrumental case, but actually in form and meaning it is the gerund of 'parijanati' (instead of the usual 'parijanitva'). It is derived from the root 'na', which means 'to know', with a prefix 'pari' meaning 'fully' or 'in totality'. Hence, the English translation of the term is “knowing in totality, having exact or accurate knowledge of an object, thorough understanding, total understanding, full understanding of an object or profound knowledge of something”. Tissannaṃ vedanānaṃ pariññāya, for the practitioner, means that the entire field of vedanā has been explored by direct experience. The tradition mentions three kinds of pariññās:
- Ñāta-pariññā (differentiating knowledge)
- Tīraṇa-pariññā (analytical knowledge)
- Pahāna-pariññā (dispelling knowledge) 8
- Ñāta-pariññā refers to accurately or thoroughly knowing and differentiating between the empirical truth (sammutisacca) and the ultimate truth (paramattha sacca).
- Tīraṇa-pariññā refers to knowing analytically in detail about an object and understanding its true nature.
- Pahāna-pariññā refers to knowing the object to the point where it totally ceases, which means one has covered the entire (paridhi) field of the object. By practising ñāta-pariññā and tīraṇa-pariññā, one attains pahāna-pariññā, the cessation of the object (nirodha). If the object is vedanā, then pahāna-pariññā is where vedanā totally ceases. Only then can the entire field of vedanā be said to have been thoroughly explored to the end (pariyanta) and transcended. Therefore, the ultimate state of liberation—a state of saññā-vedayita-nirodha where saññā and vedanā cease—is the result of vedanā pariññā at the level of pahāna-pariññā. This is only possible if the arising and passing away of vedanā is observed from the beginning to the end; only then can it be complete (paripuṇṇa).
Let us understand these three types of pariññā with the help of an illustration. A Vipassana meditator wants to cross a river. The first step is to enter the river and experience that there is a constant flow of water. Although the river seems to be the same, it is not permanent; it keeps on passing away, allowing more to follow. Similarly, each vedanā seems to be the same for a meditator, but ultimately each is impermanent, each rapidly passing away. This is ñāta-pariññā, which differentiates between the apparent and ultimate truth.
Going deeper, he finds that even if he tries to observe vedanā objectively, being a beginner, he is again liable to sink into the depths of reaction, rolling and reeling. For a short time, his head rises above the surface, then again sinks below, and he is carried away by the current towards unknown destinations.
As the experience repeats itself, gradually it becomes clear to him that his mind is conditioned to wallow in sensations, relishing the pleasant (āssada) and so generating aversion towards the unpleasant.
As he continues, learning to observe the vedanā objectively, he realises the danger (ādinava) in this situation: craving and aversion reinforce vedanā, which in turn reinforces the reaction, creating a vicious cycle. The successful swimmer starts to emerge from this habit and develops equanimity, understanding the impermanence of vedanā. As he does so, he breaks the vicious cycle of misery, at least temporarily, and stops suffering. He now knows what suffering is and how it begins and multiplies. This is tīraṇa-pariññā—all vedanā are anicca (impermanent), dukkha (suffering) and anattā (substanceless). As he continues to work properly, the meditator is able to swim easily in vedanā without reacting.
As a result, a moment comes when he is able to successfully cross the river and reach the other shore. Stepping out of the river of vedanā, he experiences the nissaraṇa, that is, the emergence from the entire field of vedanā. This is called pahāna-pariññā. At this stage, he has a foothold on a field totally different from vedanā, on the shore beyond the river. He has gone beyond vedanā and reached vedanā-nirodha (total cessation of vedanā). This is how ñāta-pariññā and tīraṇa-pariññā lead to pahāna-pariññā, where vedanā is totally eradicated and the entire river of vedanā is crossed. In the words of the Buddha:
Vedanānaṃ samudayañca atthaṅgamañca assādañca ādīnavañca nissaraṇañca yathābhūtaṃ viditvā anupādāvimutto, bhikkhave, tathāgato.9
Having experienced, as they really are, the arising of sensations, their passing away, the relishing of them, the danger in them, and the release from them, the Tathāgata, meditators, is fully liberated, being free from all attachment.
This is the practice of vedanā-pariññāya to reach dukkha-nirodha by crossing the entire river of vedanā.
Notes: (All references are to the VRI edition.)
- Saṃyutta Nikāya 1.5.29 Maggasaṃyuttaṃ, Micchattavaggo, Vedanāsuttaṃ
- Ibid. 1.5.169 Maggasaṃyuttaṃ, Esanāvaggo, Vedanāsuttaṃ
- Mahāvagga (Vināya Piṭaka), 15
- Majjhima Nikāya 3.299 Uparipaṇṇāsapāḷi, Mahākammavibhaṅgasuttaṃ “…yaṃ kiñci vedayitaṃ taṃ dukkhasmi’’nti.
- Saṃyutta Nikāya 3.5.415 Satipaṭṭhānasaṃyuttaṃ, Vedanāsuttaṃ
- Saṃyutta Nikāya 2.4.251 Vedanāsaṃyuttaṃ, Pahānasuttaṃ
- Pāli-English Dictionary, ed. T. W. Rhys Davids, Pāli Text Society, London, 1925, p. 425
- Visuddhi Magga 20 Maggāmaggañāṇadassanavisuddhiniddeso 693; Paṭisambiḍhamagga I 75
- Dīgha Nikāya 1.36 Brahmajālasuttaṃ