4.2. The External Dependency
rūpāyatanaṃ, saddāyatanaṃ, gandhāyatanaṃ, rasāyatanaṃ, phoṭṭhabbāyatanaṃ, dhammāyatanaṃ. cha bāhirāni āyatanāni veditabbānī’ti – iti yaṃ taṃ vuttaṃ, idametaṃ paṭicca vuttaṃ. idaṃ dutiyaṃ chakkaṃ.
The field of forms, the field of sounds, the field of smells, the field of tastes, the field of tangible sensations, the field of mental phenomena. It was with reference to this that it was said, "The six external fields should be known". This is the second group of six.
-- MN148 chachakkasuttaṃ
The second dependency is on the bahiddhā āyatanaṃ, literally the 'external field', the objects of experience. These are the forms that the eyes can see, the sounds that the ears can hear, the scents that the nose can smell, the flavours that the tongue can taste, the tangible sensations that the body can feel and the entire range of mental phenomena that the mind can perceive.
It's very interesting how the Buddha classified thoughts, as 'outside' just like visible forms and sounds. This might seem strange to you if you come from a Western cultural background, but from the point of view of introspection, it makes perfect sense.
Here we are dealing with the second way that every experience is dependent. Without an object of experience, subjectively, nothing happens.
Once again, in order to really bring this home, let's do a practical exercise of seeing the external dependency of every experience. We will begin with awareness of the six sense fields, and from there we can look at the second external dependency of each experience.
As with the previous practice, this one consists of normal sense experience plus a little bit of analysis. If you find the analysis tiring, please come back to basic awareness of the six channels of experience. If you find the analysis effortless and energising, then by all means, continue with it.
All you are doing is creating a condition in the mind to perceive experience in a different way.
Meditation on the external dependency
Transcript
As always, bring your attention to the experience you are having right now. Pay attention to naturally occurring experience. --- When seeing, know that this experience is completely dependent on external forms. Without those forms, there is nothing to see. When hearing, know that this experience is completely dependent on external sounds. Without those sounds, there is nothing to hear. When smelling, know that this experience is completely dependent on external smells. Without those scents, there is nothing to smell. When tasting, know that this experience is completely dependent on external flavours. Without those flavours, there is nothing to taste. When feeling a physical sensation, know that this experience is completely dependent on some tangible sensation. Without those sensations, there is nothing to feel. When perceiving mental activity, know that this experience is completely dependent on the mental phenomena. Without those mental phenomena, there is nothing to cognize, nothing to know. This is practising to know the external dependency, dependency on the sense objects. --- What is the experience you are having right now? What is the external dependency of this experience? --- If you are only able to analyse the external dependency every ten seconds, then do it every ten seconds. If you are able to analyse the external dependency once a second, then do it once a second. If you are able to analyse the external dependency ten times a second, then do it ten times a second. To whatever level you are capable, keep analysing the external dependency of each experience --- What is the experience you are having right now? What is the external object of this experience? What is the external dependency of this experience? ---- There are no sense experiences which stand by themselves. Every sense experience has certain conditions for its appearance. Keep knowing the external condition of every experience. --- Keep following experiences. Keep knowing the external condition of every experience. Use this exercise to help you to understand the external dependency of experience. --- ^^^ Seeing is a construction. What is the second building block of this construction? Hearing is a construction. What is the second building block of this construction? Smelling is a construction. What is the second building block of this construction? Tasting is a construction. What is the second building block of this construction? Feeling sensations is a construction. What is the second building block of this construction? Mental phenomena is construction. What is the second building block of this construction? --- Keep analysing the external dependency of each experience. What is this experience based on externally? What is the external condition necessary for it to occur?Stay with this exercise for a few sessions at least. Change posture a few times, go for a walk, take something to eat or drink, maintain your awareness of experience and keep analysing the external dependency.
Q&A
Q: Do you have any questions or doubts at this point?