5. Vedanā
You may have noticed that everything we are dealing with here is a part of the standard explanation of paṭiccasamuppāda, the chain of causation or dependent origination.
… viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpaṃ, nāmarūpapaccayā saḷāyatanaṃ, saḷāyatanapaccayā phasso, phassapaccayā vedanā, vedanāpaccayā taṇhā …
SN12.1 paṭiccasamuppādasuttaṃ
… dependent on consciousness there are mental and physical phenomena, dependent on mental and physical phenomena there are the six sense fields, dependent on the six sense fields there is phassa, dependent on phassa there is vedanā, depending on vedanā, there is craving …
So now we turn to examine the relationship between phassa—contact, a conditioned conscious experience—and vedanā. Let's return to the chachakkasuttaṃ for an explanation.
cakkhuñca paṭicca rūpe ca uppajjati cakkhuviññāṇaṃ, tiṇṇaṃ saṅgati phasso, phassapaccayā vedanā, sotañca paṭicca sadde ca uppajjati sotaviññāṇaṃ, tiṇṇaṃ saṅgati phasso, phassapaccayā vedanā, ghānañca paṭicca gandhe ca uppajjati ghānaviññāṇaṃ, tiṇṇaṃ saṅgati phasso, phassapaccayā vedanā, jivhañca paṭicca rase ca uppajjati jivhāviññāṇaṃ, tiṇṇaṃ saṅgati phasso, phassapaccayā vedanā, kāyañca paṭicca phoṭṭhabbe ca uppajjati kāyaviññāṇaṃ, tiṇṇaṃ saṅgati phasso,phassapaccayā vedanā, manañca paṭicca dhamme ca uppajjati manoviññāṇaṃ, tiṇṇaṃ saṅgati phasso, phassapaccayā vedanā. cha vedanākāyā veditabbā’ti – iti yaṃ taṃ vuttaṃ, idametaṃ paṭicca vuttaṃ. idaṃ pañcamaṃ chakka
MN148 chachakkasuttaṃ
Dependent on the eye and forms, eye consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is phassa. Dependent on phassa, there is vedanā.
Dependent on the ear and sounds, ear consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is phassa. Dependent on phassa, there is vedanā.
Dependent on the nose and smells, nose consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is phassa. Dependent on phassa, there is vedanā.
Dependent on the tongue and tastes, tongue consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is phassa. Dependent on phassa, there is vedanā.
Dependent on the body and tangible sensations, body consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is phassa. Dependent on phassa, there is vedanā.
Dependent on the mind and mental phenomena, mind consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is phassa. Dependent on phassa, there is vedanā.
It was with reference to this that it was said, "The six classes of vedanā should be known." This is the fifth group of six.
You'll notice I've left vedanā untranslated, because so many translations can cause confusion and misunderstanding about vedanā.
Vedanā comes from the root √vid, which has the meaning 'to know, sense, or feel'. It has the -anā suffix which creates feminine abstract process nouns, the process of doing something abstract. But before giving a definitive meaning, perhaps it's useful to discuss what vedanā is not, so that we can clearly understand what it is.
Vedanā is sometimes translated as 'emotion'. It's definitely not an emotion like anger or sadness, it is much simpler than that.
Vedanā in Sanskrit texts can often mean 'perception'. That is completely unrelated to the Buddhist use of the word.
In modern Indic languages, vedanā can even mean 'pain' or even 'agony'. Again, that's not the primary meaning found in ancient Buddhist texts.
Vedanā is sometimes translated as 'feeling' or 'sensation', which is getting warmer, but is misleading in that vedanā is not a feeling or sensation in the body, it is entirely mental.
So what is vedanā, and how does the word get used in the context of the early discourses? Here's a useful definition: In immediate response to every single instance of phassa, conscious sense experience, there is a pleasant, unpleasant or neutral feeling tone in the mind. Obviously there is no English word that covers the full range of this definition, so perhaps it's best to leave the word untranslated to minimise confusion.
Some examples of vedanā
Think of the warm sun on your skin on a cold day. Notice the feeling in the mind in response to that. The pleasantness that most people experience is sukha-vedanā, a pleasant feeling tone in response to the bodily experience.
What's your least favourite food? Imagine tasting that now. Take a look at your mind, the unpleasantness of the experience is dukkha-vedanā, an unpleasant feeling tone in response to the mental experience.
But by far the most common response to experiences is adukkham-asukha-vedanā, a neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant feeling tone in response to an experience. This is sometimes call neutral vedanā.
Notice what kind of mental feeling, pleasant, unpleasant or neither, you have associated with the following:
The sight of a sunset The sight of mud The site of food in the dustbin The sound of techno The sound of dogs barking The sound of farting The smell of old books The smell of fish The smell of wet grass The taste of pineapple The taste of paprika The taste of celery The sensation of knee pain The sensation of goosebumps The sensation of an ice-cold shower The thought of your mother The thought of the next meal The thought of tax returns
Every person has a different response to these stimuli. No one is responding to an objective world, everyone is responding to their own subjective experience. It's no wonder that people have wildly divergent responses and opinions when presented with the identical stimulus.
These feelings in the mind in response to sense experience are so subtle that most people are only ever aware of the most extreme pleasant and unpleasant vedanā, but with practice it is possible to fine tune awareness to notice ever more subtle vedanā, and even learn to distinctly recognize the neutral ones, or more correctly, the absence of pleasantness and unpleasantness.
All meditation on vedanā starts with identifying the three types within experience. For example, the Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta in Majjhima Nikāya begins the analysis of vedanā with:
kathañca pana, bhikkhave, bhikkhu vedanāsu vedanānupassī viharati? idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sukhaṃ vā vedanaṃ vedayamāno sukhaṃ vedanaṃ vedayāmī’ti pajānāti, dukkhaṃ vā vedanaṃ vedayamāno dukkhaṃ vedanaṃ vedayāmī’ti pajānāti, adukkhamasukhaṃ vā vedanaṃ vedayamāno adukkhamasukhaṃ vedanaṃ vedayāmī’ti pajānāti
MN10 mahāsatipaṭṭhānasuttaṃ, vedanānupassanā
And how does a monk remain among vedanā, following vedanā? Experiencing a comfortable vedanā, one knows, "I am experiencing a comfortable vedanā." Experiencing an uncomfortable vedanā, one knows, "I am experiencing an uncomfortable vedanā." Experiencing a neither-uncomfortable-nor-comfortable vedanā, one knows, "I am experiencing a neither-uncomfortable-nor-comfortable vedanā."
So let's spend some time tuning into the comfort or discomfort, the pleasantness or unpleasantness of every sense experience.
This is something that you may never have really paid attention to before, so in the beginning it might be difficult. But don't give up, with practice it becomes easier and easier. In time, more and more subtle vedanā become apparent.
With practice and repetition, vedanā becomes a very reliable object of meditation. SO much so that, after the body, it is the next theme of contemplation in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta. By itself it is a theme that is capable of taking one all the way to the final goal of liberation.
phasse, bhikkhave, āhāre pariññāte tisso vedanā pariññātā honti. tīsu vedanāsu pariññātāsu ariyasāvakassa natthi kiñci uttarikaraṇīyanti vadāmi.
SN12.63 puttamaṃsūpamasuttaṃ
When the fuel of phassa is fully understood, then the three types of vedanā are fully understood. When the three types of vedanā are fully understood, I say, for a disciple of the Noble One, there is nothing more to be done.