“Monks, understanding form, having knowledge regarding it, eradicating [desire for] it,21 being free from desire for it, one is able to go beyond the dread of birth, old age, disease and death.22 Monks, understanding it, having knowledge regarding it, being free from desire and lust for it, one will liberate the mind and be able to go beyond the dread of birth, old age, disease and death.23 In the same way understanding feeling ... perception ... formations ... consciousness, having knowledge regarding it, eradicating [desire for] it, being free from desire and lust for it, one will liberate the mind and be able to go beyond the dread of birth, old age, disease and death." (4. [Second Discourse on Not Understanding]19)
On the Five Aggregates (1) — A Translation of Saṃyukta-āgama Discourses 1 to 32
This passage reminds me of Spinoza, who also attributed passive emotions (like being drawn into something, or desire, or a passion) to a lack of understanding or knowledge. To be drawn emotionally is to be drawn into a specific view of the world that is locked in, or somehow fixed. Liberation from that view often requires stepping away from desire to embrace it in a more distant way.
How does this work? Perhaps what it means is that understanding the impermanent nature of form allows us to feel less desire for forms. Forms, after all, are like images that make impressions on the mind briefly, only to be replaced with other forms. It's when I am less attached to forms that I am also less fearful toward death as well as life itself. If a person is truly in vexation, it means that they are wrapped up in forms: in likes, dislikes, wanting this, not wanting that, and also wanting to protect my body from things I don't want or deem as unpleasant. If I can contemplate all these forms as ever-changing and in a dream, would I be so attached to them?
To put it in a more practical way, whenever I am suffering or in distress (or anxious) about something, I might ask the questions: what forms am I attached to? What sensations arise as a result of those forms? What do I perceive as happening, and how might these forms relate back to a sense of self that is being impacted by these very same forms?
No comments:
Post a Comment