Dependent on Contact, Feeling Arises (Phassa paccayā vedanā )

Yesterday, we talked about how the six types of contact (phassa) occur. Today, I will explain how, because of those six types of contact, six types of feeling (vedanā) arise. Phassa paccayā vedanā — because of contact, feeling arises. Here, regarding vedanā (feeling), we must take the six types of feeling associated with the thirty-two worldly resultant (lokiya vipāka) mental states. The six types of feeling are: 1. Cakkhu-samphassajā vedanā: Feeling born of eye-contact. 2. Sota-samphassajā vedanā: Feeling born of ear-contact. 3. Ghāna-samphassajā vedanā: Feeling born of nose-contact. 4. Jivhā-samphassajā vedanā: Feeling born of tongue-contact. 5. Kāya-samphassajā vedanā: Feeling born of body-contact. 6. Mano-samphassajā vedanā: Feeling born of mind-contact. To put it in standard terms: The feeling associated with the pair of eye-consciousness is cakkhu-samphassajā vedanā — feeling associated with seeing consciousness. Similarly, the feeling associated with the pair of ear-consciousness is sota-samphassajā vedanā — feeling associated with hearing consciousness; with nose-consciousness is ghāna-samphassajā vedanā — feeling associated with smelling consciousness; with tongue-consciousness is jivhā-samphassajā vedanā — feeling associated with tasting consciousness; with body-consciousness is kāya-samphassajā vedanā — feeling associated with touching consciousness; and the feeling associated with the remaining twenty-two types of worldly resultant consciousness, excluding the ten twofold sense-consciousnesses (dvipañca viññāṇa), is mano-samphassajā vedanā — feeling associated with thinking consciousness. Please remember this. As we said yesterday, eye-contact arises from the coming together of the eye, visual object, and eye-consciousness. As soon as that eye-contact arises, feeling also arises. They don't arise at separate times; they arise simultaneously. However, it is taught that feeling arises because of contact — phassa paccayā vedanā. If contact doesn't arise, feeling doesn't arise either. As soon as contact arises, understand that feeling has arisen. So, when seeing consciousness arises, know that contact arises and feeling arises. However, it is because of contact that feeling arises. Without contact, there is no feeling. Here, since the six types of feeling arise due to contact, and there are six types of contact, feeling also becomes six types. If contact arises at the eye, feeling also arises at the eye. If contact is at the ear, feeling is also at the ear. If contact is at the nose, feeling is also at the nose. If contact is at the tongue, feeling is also at the tongue. If contact is at the body, feeling is also at the body. If contact is at the mind, feeling also arises at the mind. This is a classification based on the location of their arising. Only the location differs; the name 'contact' is the same. Similarly, only the location differs; the name 'feeling' is the same. Understand it this way for now. We will classify feelings further later. I'm explaining this now so you don't get confused with these six types later. So, let's discuss it in terms of the human mental process. As soon as the eye, visual object, and eye-consciousness come together, both contact and feeling arise simultaneously. No one can prevent this from happening. Understand the other senses in the same way. Contact is the impingement of an object. Feeling is the experiencing of that object. When there is contact with an object, experiencing arises. An object can be a visible form, sound, smell, taste, tangible object, or a mental object (thought). Whenever these objects are contacted, experiencing always arises. It may be subtle or obvious. This is called vedanā (feeling). The eye experiences a visible object. The ear experiences a sound object. The nose experiences a smell object. The tongue experiences a taste object. The body experiences a tangible object. The mind experiences a thought object. This experiencing is feeling. Whenever you see, whatever you see, it should be understood as upekkhā vedanā (neutral feeling). The mere occurrence of seeing consciousness is upekkhā vedanā. While walking, you might see level ground, rough ground, good road, a pothole, tents, houses, buildings, shops nearby. While seeing all this, it's not another feeling; upekkhā vedanā is present. Where is it present? At the eye. Whenever you see, as long as you are seeing, understand that upekkhā vedanā is present. While walking, you hear car horns, motorcycle sounds, people talking. Whenever you hear, as long as you are hearing, upekkhā vedanā is present — at the ear. Similarly, whenever you smell, whatever the smell, pleasant or unpleasant, while the smelling consciousness is present, upekkhā vedanā is present at the nose. Whenever you eat, whatever you eat, while the tasting consciousness is present, upekkhā vedanā is present on the tongue. If a pleasant, happy feeling arises in your body, then sukha vedanā (pleasant bodily feeling) is present in the body. If an unpleasant, painful, difficult feeling arises in your body, then dukkha vedanā (painful bodily feeling) is present in the body. When you are just thinking about various things (not strongly positive or negative), upekkhā vedanā is present in the mind. If you are happy, pleased, then somanassa vedanā (joyful mental feeling) is present in the mind. If you are sad, displeased, mentally unhappy, then domanassa vedanā (unpleasant mental feeling) is present in the mind. If we group these together, we find the five types of feeling: sukha, dukkha, somanassa, domanassa, upekkhā. These are the feelings to be contemplated in Vipassanā. Remember, whenever you see, as long as seeing consciousness is dominant, upekkhā vedanā is present at the eye. If seeing consciousness is no longer dominant and hearing consciousness becomes dominant, then upekkhā vedanā arises at the ear. You must understand this distinction. Only one type of consciousness arises at a time; two cannot arise simultaneously. The mind process is so rapid that it may seem like seeing and hearing happen at once, but actually, when seeing consciousness arises, hearing consciousness is dormant. When hearing consciousness arises, seeing consciousness and others are dormant, not manifesting. When thinking consciousness arises, other consciousnesses are dormant. For example, if you are lost in thought and miss a step while descending stairs, you might slip and fall. Your eyes are open, visible objects are there, but because the thinking consciousness is dominant, the seeing consciousness is dormant. If someone is talking beside you while you are thinking about something, you won't understand what they are saying. Because the mind is engaged in thinking, how can it also be in seeing and hearing? "Lack of attention, fail to see the cave; lack of mindfulness, might not even hear an elephant trumpet" — this can happen. In such thinking, if you are just neutrally pondering, you are thinking with upekkhā vedanā. If you are thinking about happy, delightful, satisfying things, it's with somanassa. If you are thinking about sad, grievous, depressing, disappointing things, then domanassa vedanā is present in the mind. Also remember that seeing consciousness is paired with upekkhā vedanā. Understand that when seeing arises, upekkhā arises. Similarly, for hearing, smelling, tasting consciousness, it's upekkhā vedanā. For itching, aching, any physically unpleasant, painful, aching consciousness arising in the body, it's dukkha vedanā. For pleasant, comfortable, happy feelings arising in the body, it's sukha vedanā paired with it. For thinking, if it's just neutral, it's upekkhā; if happy/pleased, it's somanassa; if unhappy/displeased, it's domanassa. You should also understand that there can be internal shifts. For example, suppose seeing consciousness arises — upekkhā vedanā is present. While seeing, based on the experience of the seen object, if you feel a little pleased with what you see/encounter, then somanassa vedanā arises in the mind. If you feel displeased with what you see, then domanassa vedanā arises in the mind. It has moved from the eye to the 'stomach' (i.e., the mind door, manodvāra). As soon as you see, if a thought instantly pops in, it enters, and the feeling is experienced in the 'stomach' — the feeling has moved to the mind. Similarly, you hear that your son got a good job — the initial hearing is upekkhā; the feeling of approval, little joy, elation is somanassa vedanā arising in the mind. Suppose you hear that your son studying abroad is depressed because he can't keep up, doesn't understand English. You feel dissatisfied, worry he might fail, feel anxious — this is domanassa vedanā present in the mind. Understand smelling and tasting consciousness in the same way. Itching, pain, numbness, tingling consciousness arising in the body is sukha/dukkha vedanā (depending on nature) in the body. Feeling mentally unhappy, dissatisfied, restless, worried, sorrowful is domanassa vedanā arising in the mind. A good, happy feeling in the body is sukha vedanā. Feeling pleased, delighted, satisfied is somanassa vedanā in the mind. For precise understanding, we would need to analyze using cognitive series (vīthi). For instance, when seeing consciousness arises, it's an eye-door process (cakkhu-dvārika vīthi). Later, subsequent mind-door processes (mano-dvārika vīthi) occur. These processes analyze whether what was seen is liked or disliked. But we'll leave vīthi aside here. It's not practical to contemplate every single mind moment in Vipassanā. That covers quite a lot. So, remember this: when mind arises, feeling arises. We are alive because mind is arising. If a previous mind ceases and a new one doesn't arise, the death-consciousness (cuti-citta) will come. As long as mind arises, we are alive. Therefore, understand that as long as mind exists, feeling exists. Understanding this, you will comprehend the saying of the Most Venerable Mogok Sayadaw: "We live with vedanā." As long as we are alive, there is no time when mind does not arise, and likewise no time when feeling does not arise. Therefore, if you contemplate the mind, there will always be objects to contemplate. If you contemplate feeling, there will always be objects to contemplate, never exhausted. If you don't know when feeling arises, you might miss the object of contemplation. That's why I've explained the way feeling arises in various ways for thorough understanding. People see the same thing but experience it differently. Both see the same person, but one feels "I can't stand looking at this person," while the other feels "This person isn't bad." So the feeling that arises is also different. For the one who can't stand the sight: upekkhā at the eye, but the mental feeling of "can't stand it" is domanassa vedanā in the mind. For you, seeing is upekkhā, and the thought "not bad" is somanassa vedanā arising in the mind. Thus, even seeing the same object, because perception and interpretation differ, the experience differs, and consequently the feeling that arises can also differ. This is why people see the same thing but have different views. For example, the English 'put on shoes' (view it as wearing on the feet), Burmese 'put on shoes' (view it as riding on the shoes), but the phrasing might differ conceptually). Similarly, hearing the same sound differently: English hear a gunshot as "Bang!", Burmese might hear it as "Dai!". Smelling the same smell differently: Indians may find the smell of spices fragrant, while Burmese may find it pungent, etc. Expand your knowledge. The reason for this is that the way objects are perceived, heard, etc., differs, so the experiences differ. Because experiences differ, the way feelings arise can also vary. However, generally, pleasant objects are mostly experienced positively, and unpleasant objects are mostly experienced negatively. Neutral objects are experienced with a neutral feeling. The object itself remains the same; the experience changes, it's not the same for everyone. He likes fish paste relish, I don't. The fish paste relish doesn't change. The experience has changed. From my perspective, fish paste relish is an undesirable object (aniṭṭhārammaṇa); from his perspective, it is a desirable object (iṭṭhārammaṇa). So, you should now understand that even when people see the same thing, their views are not the same. Ven. Dr. Ashin Parami