1.1. Coming Back to Your Senses
Inherent delusion
There's an inherent delusion built into language. When someone says, "I see you", the language presupposes an 'I', an act of seeing by that 'I', and a separate 'you' that is the object of seeing.
The Buddha had an entirely different way of understanding this process of seeing, and all the other acts of sense perception. He also left very clear instructions on how to develop his way of perceiving, and the understanding that results from it. Over the duration of this course, hopefully we can start to dismantle the common illusion of an 'I', a subject of experience that sees objects, hears sounds, smells scents, tastes flavours, feels physical sensations and cognizes thoughts, and replace it with a more realistic model of experience. You will still say, "I see you", but you will no longer be fooled that the structure of language in any way represents the structure of experience. And, most importantly, you will not be fooled that the structure of language has any actual bearing on the nature of an experiencing self.
To do this, we're going to use the framework of the Buddha's teaching on saḷāyatana.
Saḷāyatana etymology
Saḷ is a Pāḷi word, related to Sanskrit ṣaṣ and a cognate of, and identical in meaning to, the English word six.
Āyatana comes from the root √yat which means 'to stretch', in all literal and figurative senses. An āyatana is the act of stretching out, or something which stretches out, extends in a direction. Figuratively, it means a field, a dimension, a domain. So saḷāyatana literally means the six fields, the six dimensions, and in a Buddhist context refers to the six fields of sense experience.
And why six sense fields, when we commonly talk about five senses? The Buddha always included the five senses you are familiar with, and the mind as a sixth sense. More on that shortly.
Repeated ... repeated ... repetitions in Pāḷi texts
If you're familiar with Buddhist texts, saḷāyatana is one of those topics that is so frequently discussed in the suttas that one almost becomes immune to it. Hearing the words so often in theory, thinking you understand it, it's easy to gloss over it, and fail to look deeper into the topic experientially.
The Buddha repeated the main points of this topic so frequently that in texts they are just elided with peyyāla:
sotaṃ …pe… ghānaṃ … jivhā … kāyo … mano
the ear ... the nose ... the tongue ... the body ... the mind
Each one of the dot-dot-dots elides an entire paragraph. The monastic chanting the text is expected to correctly fill in the blanks from memory.
It's fine to elide these repetitious passages when going through the theory of the topic, but in meditation, one needs to carefully examine every aspect in detail. So, in this course, we're not going to be skipping over any peyyāla when the time comes to examine what the words are pointing at within our own experience.
The five senses
First, some basics about sense experience, which might sound so simple that they don't need to be said. But let's build up our understanding of the senses from the ground upwards, not taking anything for granted.
1. Specific objects
Each sense has specific objects. The eyes can only perceive visible matter. They cannot perceive invisible matter, like air, or anything which is not matter. They also cannot perceive sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations or thoughts.
Likewise, the ears can only perceive sonic vibrations within a certain frequency range. They cannot perceive sights, smells, tastes, tactile sensations or thoughts. Similarly, for each other sense.
An example of this being expressed in early discourses can be found in a sutta where a spiritually advanced Brahman approaches the Buddha and makes this very statement about the five senses.
pañcimāni, bho gotama, indriyāni nānāvisayāni nānāgocarāni, na aññamaññassa gocaravisayaṃ paccanubhonti. katamāni pañca? cakkhundriyaṃ, sotindriyaṃ, ghānindriyaṃ, jivhindriyaṃ, kāyindriyaṃ.
Sir Gotama, there are these five sense faculties—with different fields and different domains, which don't experience each other's fields and domains. What five? The sense of sight, the sense of hearing, the sense of smell, the sense of taste and the sense of touch.
-- SN48.42 uṇṇābhabrāhmaṇasuttaṃ
2. In the present moment
Each of the five sense can only perceive objects in the present moment. The nose can never smell a scent from the past, nor from the future, only one that is present. So sense perception is by its very nature a present moment activity. And present moment awareness cannot be of anything except what is happening through the senses in the present. So if you want to be present, simply come back to your senses.
Everybody, from a very young age, has the ability to know what they are experiencing through the senses right now. Anybody can do this. So why even discuss it? There's obviously nothing new to learn here if sense perception is something that young children can do.
Two things. Firstly, while anyone can perceive through the senses, very few people have the ability to sustain present moment awareness of the senses for any length of time. Not even for a minute in most cases. The mind quickly gets bored and wanders off into its own stories. So learning to maintain present moment awareness is a skill that needs to be practised and developed. That's the first thing we're here to do.
Secondly, because sense experience is so common, nobody gives it a second thought. Nobody questions the basic presumptions of sense experience. "Yes, I can see you," you might say. "So what?" That's the second thing we're here to do, to really examine the structure of this normal, everyday, common thing called sense experience and see if our basic assumptions about it are actually correct. Is there really a separate 'I' (a subject of experience), the activity of 'seeing' (a process of experiencing) and a 'you' (an object of experience)? Does the structure of language match the structure of experience? These are questions we hope to examine and answer in detail.
The sixth sense of mind
The Buddha always included the mind as the sixth āyatana, a distinct domain of sense experience. The mind is clearly different from the other senses, but also has some similarities. It too is dependent on an object—it can perceive all the objects of the five senses, as well as a broad range of mental experiences. This is expressed succinctly in the previously quoted sutta.
imesaṃ nu kho, bho gotama, pañcannaṃ indriyānaṃ nānāvisayānaṃ nānāgocarānaṃ na aññamaññassa gocaravisayaṃ paccanubhontānaṃ kiṃ paṭisaraṇaṃ, ko ca nesaṃ gocaravisayaṃ paccanubhotī'ti?...
imesaṃ kho, brāhmaṇa, pañcannaṃ indriyānaṃ nānāvisayānaṃ nānāgocarānaṃ na aññamaññassa gocaravisayaṃ paccanubhontānaṃ mano paṭisaraṇaṃ, manova nesaṃ gocaravisayaṃ paccanubhotīti.
These five sense faculties—with different fields and different domains, which don't experience each other's fields and domains—what do they rely upon, what experiences their field and domain?
These five sense faculties, Brahman, rely on the mind. Only the mind experiences their field and domain.
-- SN48.42 uṇṇābhabrāhmaṇasuttaṃ
Thus we have five senses which experience the external world, and the mind which experiences the five senses as well as its own fabrications, what we call thoughts.
Not only does the mind have the ability to produce mental experiences in the present, it also has the ability to remember past experiences, imagine future experiences, and create entirely imaginary experience. The mind alone has the ability to experience things which are tangibly real, as well as complete fictions.
Even thoughts of the past, thinking about the future, and fictitious imaginings are present moment experiences—they only take place in the present, even if their content is about the past, future, or entirely fabricated.
Interestingly, even though thinking about the past and thinking about the future are both present moment activities, it is common to completely lose present moment awareness when thinking about them. It is extremely rare to be actively engaged in thought and know that you are thinking at the same time.
So with that basic understanding in place, let's delve into the world of the senses.
Meditation on coming back to your senses
Transcript
This is a basic meditation instruction on coming back to your senses. Whatever you are doing, walking, standing, sitting or lying down, straighten out your posture, and relax. Take a deep breath in and out. And another one in and out. And another one in and out. Relaxed and alert is the ideal state to be in. The theme of our meditation is going to be experience itself. What do you need to do to have an experience? Nothing, it's already happening. So turn your attention to what's already happening. The sights, sounds, smells, tastes, physical sensations, and all the variety of mental phenomena that are present right now within experience. There's no need to create any special experience, merely know what is happening right now. What's happening to you right now is completely personal and unpredictable. But what is certain is that it will be some sight, some sound, some smell, some taste, some physical sensation or some mental activity. These are really the only experiences that ever happen. Stay with experience. Follow whatever happens. Nothing special will happen, just normal everyday experiences. Sounds, feelings in the body, thought appearing in the mind. Normal stuff. Pay attention to the normal stuff. It can be quite relaxing just to pay attention to whatever is happening. There's no stress to do anything, just be relaxed, comfortable and know experiences as they come up. Nothing is required other than some attention, some awareness of what is happening. All the rest happens quite naturally. There's absolutely nothing to do. Just relax and know what's happening. That's the only job you have to right now. It's great work if you can get it! What you're experiencing right now is the world of the senses. Six fields of sense experience, if your eyes are open—seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling physical sensations, and a whole range of mental experiences. This is the place where we are going to be working. This is the *kammaṭṭhāna*, quite literally, the place of work. Whenever you get lost in thought, come back to your senses. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind. ^^^ In the same way you'd follow a movie from one scene to the next, in the same way you'd follow a sports-match from one play to the next, follow your own experiences from one to the next, to the next. This world of the senses is the only world you've ever known. Everything that's ever happened in your life has happened right here. Everything that every will happen, will happen right here. This is where it all happens. You can tell others about your experiences, but nobody else has access to this. Your internal world, the immediate visceral experience of the six senses. This is your personal subjective reality. And the only reality you've ever known. ^^^ This practice of simply knowing what is happening is a base level for awareness practice. If you're not doing any specific exercise, this is the default practice to come back to again and again. Keep paying attention to the world of the senses. Keep coming back to your senses.Q&A
Q: Do you have any questions or doubts at this point?