Identity and Experience_Hamilton_1996

The attitude towards the body
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mentioned, and whether or not he has experienced certain levels of
meditation (jhina). This is expressed by his meditating on whether he has
experienced a state of mind that "has become great" or "has not become
great", (mahaggatam, amahaggatam). I referred to these terms in chapter VII.
They are glossed in the commentary as indicating that he has been
associated through meditation with the subtle and formless cosmological
levels and the gross material level re~pectively.~~ In understanding other
states of mind, the bhikkhu is also able to see to what extent he has gained
insight. He sees, for example, whether or not his state of mind has other
states of mind "superior to it", whether or not it is "composed" (in the
sense of having equilibrium), and whether or not it is "liberated".25
Again, as with the other exercises which comprise the four foundations
of the practice of mindfulness, the bhikWzu does this "precisely to the extent
necessary for knowledge, sufficient for mindfulness" so that "he proceeds
unattached, not grasping anything in the Understanding his state
of mind not only enables him to understand his progress on the path to
liberation, but also allows him to see that any volitional activity is directed
towards the body or feelings or abstract mental objects by certain mental
states. By separately meditating on the body qua body, on feelings qua
feelings, and so on, the bhikkhu sees that volitional activity need not accompany
those constituents of the human being: they originate in mental states
because of lack of insight.
So our consideration of the key meditation exercise, sati, which concentrates
on the distinctiveness of the five khandhas, clearly indicates that in the
Pali ~VikcZya~ the attitude towards the body that the bhikWlu is to adopt is one
of analytical observation. Such analytical observation is conducive to
gaining insight into impermanence and selflessness. It also suggests that
there is no foundation for stating that the body is the origin of passion,
hatred and thoughts which toss up the mind.
I turn now to discussing the question of the attitude towards the body
and the origin of passion, hatred and thoughts which toss up the mind in
the light of the interrelatedness of the khandhas. In view of the many
references I have made to the way in which the khandhas work together, this
discussion need only be brief. As already stated, it is together that one is to
understand the khandhas as aspects of the psychophysical continuum called
an 'individual'. Each of the khandhas, and part thereof, has precisely the
same conditioned (samkhata) status, and as such is characterised by
impermanence (aniccati), unsatisfactoriness (dukkhati) and impersonality
(anattati), the 'three characteristics' of the tilakkhana formula. They are
unsatisfactory precisely because they are impermanent, or transitory, and
impermanent in that they do not exist independently. Their very lack of
independently existing identity is the most fundamental aspect of their
interrelatedness. This interrelatedness is emphasised by the fact that the
khandhas are collectively defined by the Buddha as what constitutes dukkf~a.~~