The Meaning of Anattā

Questioner: There are four Applications of Mindfulness: mindfulness of the body, of feeling, of citta and of dhammas. The commentator compares these four subjects with four gateways of a city, one of which faces east, one west, one north and one south. People can go to the centre of the city by anyone of these four gates. Many teachers today say that just as one can use anyone of the gates to enter the city, it is sufficient to cultivate only one of the Four Applications of Mindfulness; one does not need all four. Only mindfulness of the body would be sufficient. Can one then in this way reach nibbāna?

Sujin: The development of paññā is very subtle. It is not so that anyone who reads the commentary can practise. Where is the gate? If people do not know where the gates are, through which gate can they enter?

Questioner: The gates are: body, feeling, citta and dhammas.

Sujin: What do you know through the bodysense? One should really consider all realities in detail, no matter whether they are classified as khandhas, āyatanas, dhātus (elements) or the noble Truths. They are not beings, people or self. Conditioned realities appearing in daily life are either nāma, the reality that experiences something, or rūpa, the reality that does not know anything. We may understand this in theory, but that is not the direct realization of the characteristic of non-self of nāma and rūpa. As far as the level of theoretical understanding is concerned which stems from listening to the Dhamma, one may have no doubt that rūpa is real, that the rūpa that arises and appears through the eyes are only different colours. One may have no doubt that sound is the rūpa which appears through the ears, odour the rūpa which appears through the nose, flavour the rūpa which appears through the tongue, and so on. People may have no doubt that nāma is real, that it arises and experiences different objects; they can have theoretical understanding of this. However, if there is no awareness of the characteristic of nāma, how can there be paññā that directly understands nāma as the reality which experiences an object, as the element, the nature that knows? Can the development of only awareness of the body be the condition to realize the characteristic of nāma?

The person who develops paññā should be aware of the characteristic of nāma while he is seeing. He can investigate and study that characteristic so that it can be realized as only a kind of experience. When there is hearing, there can be awareness of it and it can be understood as a reality which experiences sound. When someone develops satipaṭṭhāna he should study and investigate time and again the characteristic of the nāma which experiences an object through one of the six doorways, so that he can understand nāma as it really is. When paññā realizes that there are nāmas which are not yet known, it will also study and investigate these, and in this way the characteristic of nāma can clearly appear as only an element which experiences, only a reality, not a being, person or self.

Someone may make an effort to be aware just of the characteristic of the nāma that hears and he is not aware of the nāma that sees. How can he then understand the true characteristic of the element that experiences while he is seeing? People can verify for themselves that this is not the right way of development.

Paññā can develop by awareness that considers and studies the characteristics of the nāmas experiencing an object through the senses and through the mind-door. If paññā clearly understands all kinds of nāma that appear, if it understands these as the element which experiences an object, doubt about nāma can gradually be eliminated. Paññā can become keener and more accomplished as it develops in successive stages. However, if someone intends to know only one kind of nāma, it is evident that there is still ignorance and doubt with regard to the characteristics of the other kinds of nāma he has not been aware of. And thus, ignorance and doubt with regard to nāma as the element which experiences cannot be eliminated.

Questioner: People gain understanding from listening to the Dhamma. When they practise they can attain the first stage of vipassanā ñāṇa, “defining of nāma and rūpa.” They pass that stage.

Sujin: How do they pass that stage?

Questioner: I do not know anything about that.

Sujin: People should not become excited when they are wondering whether others have passed a stage of insight knowledge. It is by a person’s own understanding that he can know that paññā has been developed to the degree of the first vipassanā ñāṇa. He knows that insight knowledge realizes nāma and rūpa as they naturally appear, one characteristic at a time, in a mind-door process. At the moments of vipassanā ñāṇa, not merely one kind of nāma or one kind of rūpa has been penetrated.

Questioner: Someone may have practised insight unto to the fifth stage of mahā-vipassanā ñāṇa, the “knowledge of dispassion”(nibbidā ñāṇa). He watches the rūpa that sits, stands or walks, and he practises until he reaches the “knowledge of dispassion.” I have doubts about how he watches the rūpa that sits, stands or walks. How should we practise so that we can attain that stage of vipassanā ñāṇa?

Sujin: What is the meaning of the first stage of insight, “defining of nāma and rūpa”? So long as one has not realized that stage yet, one cannot attain “knowledge of dispassion.”

There is mindfulness of the body when sati is mindful of one characteristic at a time of rūpa paramattha, as it appears through the bodysense. It may be a rūpa such as cold, heat, softness, hardness, pressure or motion. Mindfulness of the body is not watching the postures of sitting, lying, standing or walking. When, for example, cold appears, there is only the characteristic of cold, there is no “I,” it is not “mine,” not self. If someone does not know the characteristic of rūpa as it appears through one doorway at a time, as only a kind of rūpa, he cannot even attain the first stage of insight knowledge, which discerns the difference between the characteristic of nāma and the characteristic of rūpa. How could paññā then realize the stage of “knowledge of dispassion,” the fifth stage of “principal insight” (mahā-vipassanā)?

Questioner: In the section of “Clear Comprehension” (sampajañña) in the “Satipaṭṭhāna sutta,” it is explained that when we are standing, we should know that we are standing, when walking, sitting, bending or stretching, we should know that we are doing so. We should know the characteristics of the different postures. When we know that we are walking while we are walking, is that the practice with regard to the rūpa that walks?

Sujin: If there would be no rūpa, could we walk?

Questioner: If there would be no rūpa, there would be only air and this cannot walk.

Sujin: When you are walking there is one characteristic of rūpa appearing at a time and it can be known as it appears through one doorway.

Questioner: Is it rūpa that walks?

Sujin: The rūpa which appears, no matter whether we are sitting, lying down, standing or walking, appears through the sense-doors or through the mind-door. It is anattā, it appears anyway because of the appropriate conditions; it is of no use trying to select a particular rūpa.

Questioner: As we have seen, in the commentary, the Papañcasūdanī, a simile is used of the four gateways leading to the centre of the city. A person who enters the city can enter through any one of these four gateways. Therefore, some people select a particular object; they develop only mindfulness of the body, not the other applications of mindfulness.

Sujin: When someone reads the commentary he ought to understand what paññā should know in order to eradicate wrong view, which takes realities for self.

There are two kinds of realities: nāma and rūpa. So long as people do not clearly know the characteristics of nāma and rūpa, they take them for self.

As regards the wording, “while walking, we should know that we are walking,” in reality it is not “I” or self who is walking. When sati is aware of the characteristics of rūpas of the body that appear while walking, there is mindfulness of the body (kāyānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna). However, people cannot force sati to be aware all the time of rūpas appearing through the bodysense. Sati is anattā and it depends on conditions whether it will arise and be aware of a characteristic of nāma or rūpa. It can be aware of any characteristic of nāma or rūpa that arises and appears naturally, just as it is. The paññā that eradicates wrong view knows clearly the characteristics of nāma and rūpa as they appear through the six doors and it realizes them as non-self.

We read in the “Kindred Sayings” ( IV, Saḷāyatana vagga, Kindred Sayings on Sense, Fourth Fifty, Ch III, § 193, Udāyin):

“Once the venerable Ānanda and the venerable Udāyin were staying at Kosambī in Ghosita Park. Then the venerable Udāyin, rising at eventide from his solitude, went to visit the venerable Ānanda, and on coming to him... after the exchange of courtesies, sat down at one side. So seated the venerable Udāyin said to the venerable Ānanda: ‘Is it possible, friend Ānanda, just as this body has in divers ways been defined, explained, set forth by the Exalted One, as being without the self, is it possible in the same way to describe the consciousness, to show it, make it plain, set it forth, make it clear, analyze and expound it as being also without the self?’

‘Just as this body has in divers ways been defined, explained, set forth by the Exalted One, as being without the self, friend Udāyin, so also is it possible to describe this consciousness, to show it, make it plain, set it forth, make it clear, analyze and expound it as being also without the self. Owing to the eye and visible object arises seeing-consciousness, does it not, friend?’

‘Yes, friend.’

‘Well, friend, it is by this method that the Exalted One has explained, opened up, and shown that this consciousness also is without the self.’ ”

(The same is said with regard to the other doorways).

If someone does not clearly know the reality that is nāma, doubt has not been eliminated yet. If there is still doubt, how can he realize the noble Truths? Through which gate will he enter? The gateways mentioned in the commentary refer to the moments before lokuttara citta arises and realizes nibbāna. In the process of attaining enlightenment, mahā-kusala kāmāvacara cittas (of the sense sphere) arise before lokuttara citta arises, and it depends on conditions which of the four satipaṭṭhānas this kāmāvacara citta takes as object. However, this does not mean that someone could enter the city, that is, realizing nibbāna, without clearly knowing the characteristics of rūpakkhandha, vedanākkhandha, saññākkhandha, saṅkhārakkhandha and viññāṇakkhandha.

Before someone can understand that this body is anattā and that also this consciousness is anattā, the characteristics of nāma and rūpa appearing at this moment must be “described, shown, made plain, set forth, made clear, analysed and expounded”, as we read in the sutta. Characteristics of nāma and rūpa appear at this moment, while we see, hear, smell, taste, experience tangible object or think.

It is not easy to be able to penetrate the meaning of anattā, to understand the true nature of all realities, to realize them as anattā. If Ānanda had not been a sotāpanna, he would not have known thoroughly the realities that are nāma and rūpa. Only paññā of that degree can eradicate wrong view that takes nāma and rūpa for self, being or person. If Ānanda had not been a sotāpanna, he could not have said to Udāyin that it is also possible to describe consciousness, to show it, make it plain, set it forth, make it clear, analyse it and expound it as being anattā. Therefore, when someone realizes the true nature of a particular dhamma, then that dhamma will appear clearly to him.

At this moment, realities arise and then fall away very rapidly. If a person has not realized the true nature of realities, they do not appear to him as they are, even if he says that, while there is seeing or hearing, nāma is the element which experiences an object. Whereas, when realities have appeared to him as they are, it is evident that he clearly knows their true characteristics.

Ānanda had no doubt about the characteristics of nāma and rūpa, no matter through which doorway they appeared. If someone at the present time thinks that he should develop mindfulness of only one of the Four Applications of Mindfulness, such as mindfulness of the body, or that he should know only one type of nāma or rūpa, could he know the true characteristics of nāma and rūpa? If he would understand the truth of realities, why does he not know, while he is seeing, the nāma which experiences an object through the eyes, as the element which sees? Why does he not know, while he is hearing, the nāma that experiences an object through the ears, the element that hears? Why does he not realize, while thinking, that it is only nāma which knows concepts or words? If he would really understand what nāma is, he would be able to understand the true nature of the element that experiences an object.

There is a way to find out whether one knows the truth of realities or not. When a nāma or rūpa appears through one of the six doors and paññā can distinguish between the characteristic of nāma and the characteristic of rūpa, their characteristics are known as they are. Paññā should be able to discern the different characteristics of nāma and of rūpa when there is seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, experiencing tangible object or thinking. In this way, the meaning of anattā can be penetrated; the nāma and rūpa that appear can be realized as anattā.

When Ānanda asked Udāyin whether seeing-consciousness arises owing to the eye and visible object, Udāyin had no doubt about eyesense and the rūpa appearing through the eyes, while seeing at that moment. We read further on in the Udāyin Sutta that Ānanda said:

“ ‘Well, if the condition, if the cause of the arising of seeing-consciousness should altogether, in every way, utterly come to cease without remainder, would any seeing-consciousness be evident?’

‘Surely not, friend.’

‘Well, it is by this method that the Exalted One has explained, opened up, and shown that this consciousness also is without the self.’”

If one really understands that while there is hearing, there is no seeing, one can know the characteristics of realities as they are. When there is thinking about different matters, there is no seeing, no hearing. There is only the nāma that thinks at such a moment about different subjects. In this way, the characteristics of realities can be understood as they are.

As Ānanda said to Udāyin, seeing arises dependent on eyesense and visible object which appears through the eyes, but, when eyesense and visible object which are impermanent have completely fallen away, how could there be seeing? Seeing must have fallen away.

If someone at this moment would clearly know the characteristic of the reality which experiences an object, as an element which experiences, he would have attained already the first stage of insight knowledge, the “defining of nāma and rūpa.” One cannot develop paññā immediately to the degree of insight that is the fifth stage of “principal insight,” “knowledge of dispassion” (nibbidā ñāṇa). After the first stage of insight, paññā has to be developed further so that it can directly understand conditions for the realities that arise. The second stage of insight is “discerning conditions for nāma and rūpa” (paccaya-pariggaha-ñāṇa).

Then paññā can be developed further to the degree of realizing the arising and falling away of realities in succession. This is the third stage of insight, “comprehension by groups” (sammasana ñāṇa).

After that paññā should be developed to the degree of realizing the arising and falling away of one reality at a time, separately. This is the first stage of “principal insight” (mahā-vipassanā), “knowledge of the arising and falling away of nāma and rūpa” (udayabbaya ñāṇa).

After that paññā must be developed further so that it can penetrate more the impermanence of realities that fall away all the time. This is the second stage of principal insight, “knowledge of dissolution” (bhaṅga ñāṇa). Then paññā must be developed still further to the stage of seeing more clearly the danger and disadvantage of the falling away of realities. This is the third stage of principal insight, “knowledge of appearance as terror” (bhaya ñāṇa). After that the fourth stage can be realized, which is “knowledge of danger” (ādīnava ñāṇa). After that paññā, should be developed to the degree of the fifth stage of insight, “knowledge of dispassion” (nibbidā ñāṇa). After that several more stages of insight have to be reached before enlightenment can be attained.

Paññā should clearly understand the characteristics of realities. It is impossible to enter the gateway to nibbāna if the characteristic of nāma is not known, and if only the postures of sitting, lying down, standing or walking are

known. If someone knows which posture he has assumed, he has only remembrance or perception of the rūpas that arise together and constitute a “whole” of a posture. He does not realize the characteristics of nāma and rūpa, one at a time, as they arise and appear naturally, just as they are, through the different doorways and then fall away.

As we read in the Udāyin Sutta, Ānanda said to Udāyin with reference to seeing-consciousness, that the Buddha had explained that this is also without the self. Ānanda said to Udāyin:

“ ‘Owing to the eye and visible object arises seeing-consciousness, does it not, friend?”

“Yes, friend.”

“Well, friend, it is by this method that the Exalted One has explained, opened up, and shown that this consciousness also is without the self.”

He repeated the same about the other sense-cognitions and the consciousness that experiences objects through the mind-door.

This sutta shows how beneficial it is that the Buddha explained the Dhamma completely and in all details. He explained about all types of citta, which are nāma. If someone could realize the noble Truths by having only one kind of object of mindfulness, of what use would it be that the Buddha explained about all the other dhammas? He explained all about seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, the experience of tangible object, thinking, pleasant and unpleasant feeling, remembrance and other dhammas. He did so in order to help people to be mindful of these realities, to consider, study and clearly comprehend them. That is the way leading to the complete eradication of doubt and wrong view about nāma and rūpa.

Someone may believe that, by knowing only one type of nāma or one type of rūpa, he can still realize the noble Truths. He pretends to be able to realize enlightenment, but he does not understand the characteristics of nāma and rūpa as they naturally appear, just as they are. Then he is sure to have doubt and uncertainty about the nāma and rūpa he believes he cannot know. It is evident that he in that way cannot attain enlightenment.

We read further on in the Udāyin Sutta about a simile Ānanda used. He said to Udāyin:

“Suppose, friend, that a man should roam about in need of heart of wood, searching for heart of wood, looking for heart of wood, and, taking a sharp axe, should enter a forest. There he sees a mighty plantain-trunk, straight up, new-grown, of towering height. He cuts it down at the root. Having cut it down at the root, he chops it off at the top. Having done so he peels off the outer skin. But he would find no pith inside, much less would he find heart of wood.

Even so, friend, a monk beholds no trace of the self nor of what pertains to the self in the sixfold sense-sphere. So beholding, he is not attached to anything in the world. Unattached he is not troubled. Untroubled, he is of himself utterly set free. So that he realizes, ‘Destroyed is rebirth. Lived is the righteous life. Done is the task. For life in these conditions there is no hereafter.’ ”

We just read that Ānanda said that a man in search for heart of wood enters a forest and sees a mighty plantain-trunk, straight up, new-grown, of towering height. So long as it is a plantain-trunk, it still has the appearance of a “whole.” Then we read, “Having cut it down at the root, he chops it off at the top. Having done so, he peels off the outer skin.” We should eliminate clinging to what we are used to taking for a “whole”, for a “thing”, for self.

We then read, “But he would find no pith inside, much less would he find heart of wood.” Thus, he becomes detached from the idea of plantain-trunk. It is the same as in the case of a cow that is still not cut up by a cattle butcher, as we read in the Papañcasūdānī, the commentary to the Satipaṭṭhānasutta. If the cattle butcher does not skin it and cut it up in different parts, he is bound to see it as a cow, he does not see it as different elements. So long as rūpas are still seen as joined together, one perceives them as a “whole,” or as a whole posture such as the “sitting rūpa”. People are bound to consider realities as a thing, a self, a being or person who is there. Only if someone knows nāma and rūpa as they are, he does not take them for beings or people anymore. It is just as after peeling off the skin of the plantain, any pith in it is not to be found, much less heart of wood. As we have read, Ānanda said: “Even so, friend, a monk beholds no trace of self nor what pertains to the self in the sixfold sense-sphere.”

In the sixfold sense-sphere (phassāyatana) there is no posture. Eyesense is an internal “āyatana”, and visible object is rūpāyatana, an external āyatana, it is only what appears through the eyes. Someone may see a person who is sitting and cling to the idea of “person” or “self”, although he says that there is no self. If he has only theoretical understanding, he may not realize that the truth of anattā can be understood only by awareness of seeing and other realities that appear. Paññā should know that seeing only sees what appears through the eyes. After having seen visible object, one thinks of and remembers the shape and form of what appears and knows what it is. Also at that moment there is a type of nāma that knows and remembers something, it is not a being, person or self who does so. When hearing arises which experiences sound through the ears, no remembrance remains of what was experienced through the eye-door, no remembrance of a perception of people sitting and talking to each other. When hearing presents itself, sati can be aware of the reality that hears, an element which experiences only sound. After that, citta thinks of words or concepts, on account of different sounds, low and high, which have been heard. Paññā can know, when words are understood, that only a type of nāma understands the meaning of words.

If different types of realities are known, one characteristic at a time, as nāma and rūpa, the wrong view that takes realities for self is eliminated. One will let go of the idea of realities as a “whole” or a posture. Then it can be understood what it means to have inward peace, because citta does not become involved in outward matters, such as self, people or beings. There is no longer the world one used to cling to, the world outside, which is full of people and different things. There is no longer what one used to take for a particular person, for a thing, for self, all permanent and lasting. Whenever sati arises paññā can at that moment understand realities clearly, and then there is inward peace, because there are no people, beings or things. Whereas, when there are many people, many concepts in one’s life, there is no peace. If someone sees a person he is acquainted with or he has a particular relation with, he thinks, as soon as he has seen him even for a moment, a long “story” about him. If he sees a person he does not know, the “story” is short; he thinks only for a little while about him and then the “story” is over. He does not continue to think about him.

As a person develops paññā, he acquires more understanding of the excellent qualities of the Buddha and of the Dhamma he taught in all details. One can appreciate the teachings also at the level of restraint or “guarding” of the senses (saṃvara sīla) as contained in the Pāṭimokkha, the Disciplinary code for the monks. This is the conduct through body and speech befitting the “samana,” the person who is a monk, who leads a peaceful life. We read in the “Visuddhimagga” (I, 50) about the restraint of the monk with regard to seeing:

“What is proper resort as guarding? Here ‘A bhikkhu, having entered inside a house, having gone into a street, goes with downcast eyes, seeing the length of a plough yoke, restrained, not looking at an elephant, not looking at a horse, a carriage, a pedestrian, a woman, a man, not looking up, not looking down, not staring this way and that.’ This is called proper resort as guarding.”

This was said to remind us not to continue the “story” after the seeing and dwell on it for a long time, thinking in various ways of this or that person or matter. When we have seen, we should know that it is only seeing. No matter whether one looks no further than the length of a plough yoke ahead or not, there is seeing and then it is gone. In that way, one will not be absorbed in the outward appearance and details. Paññā can clearly understand that it is just because of thinking that we are used to seeing the outward world that is full of people. If we do not think, there is only seeing and then it is gone. Can there be many people at that moment? However, one is used to thinking for a long time, and thus one is bound to think time and again of many different subjects.

In what way someone thinks, depends on the conditions that have been accumulated. People may see the same thing, but each individual thinks differently. When people see, for example, a flower, one person may like it and think it beautiful, whereas someone else may dislike it. It all depends on the individual’s thinking. Each person lives with his own thoughts, and thus, the world is in reality the world of thinking. When sati is aware of nāma and rūpa, it will be clearly known that it is only a type of nāma that thinks of different subjects. If the characteristic of the nāma that thinks is clearly known, it can be understood that someone’s conception of people and beings is not real. When someone is sad and he worries, he should know that there is sadness just because of his thinking. It is the same in the case of happiness, it all occurs because of thinking. When someone sees on T.V. a story he likes, pleasant feeling arises because he thinks of the projected image he looks at. Thus, people live only in the world of thinking, no matter where they are.

The world of each moment is nāma that arises and experiences an object through one of the sense-doors and through the mind-door, and after that citta continues to think of different stories.

Questioner: You just said that happiness and sadness are only a matter of thinking. I do not understand this yet. Who likes to think of something that makes him unhappy? Nobody likes to be unhappy. In what way does a person think so that he is unhappy?

Sujin: It is not so that a person thinks in order to be unhappy. There are conditions for the arising of unhappiness due to the thinking.

Questioner: Does this mean that there are conditions for sadness when someone, for example, has to part with his possessions or when he has lost a horse-bet? He returns home and thinks of the horse-bet he has lost. Then the horse-bet may be a condition for his unhappiness.

Sujin: If he would not think about the horse which has lost the race, could there be sorrow about it?

Questioner: No, there would not.

Sujin: When there is seeing or hearing and after that thinking, paññā should know that thinking is only a type of nāma which thinks about different subjects and then falls away. When someone thinks about a horse, there is no horse at that moment. There is remembrance of an idea or concept of a horse and this causes the arising of unhappiness. Thus, unhappiness arises because a person thinks about something he does not like, and happiness arises because he thinks about something he likes.

The Dhamma we study, the whole Tipiṭaka, together with the commentaries and sub-commentaries, have been taught so that paññā can arise and understand the realities that are naturally appearing at this moment, just as they are. People may have listened and studied much, they may have had many Dhamma discussions and pondered over the Dhamma very often, but all their learning should lead to accumulating conditions, that are all good qualities included in saṅkhārakkhandha, for the arising of right awareness. Then sati can be aware, study and consider the characteristics of the realities appearing at this moment through the sense-doors and the mind-door. People may have heard this time and again, but they need to be reminded to investigate the dhammas that are real, one at a time. If sati is aware, there will be right understanding of dhammas and eventually they will be realized as anattā. Day in day out there are only nāma and rūpa, arising and falling away each moment. When they have fallen away, there is nothing left of them, they do not last even for a moment.

We should know that our enjoyment or sorrow that arose in the past have fallen away, that they are completely gone. Now there is just the present moment and it is only at this moment that we can study realities and understand them as not self, not a being or a person. Some people say that they do not wish to meet a particular person again in a next life. If they would have right understanding of the Dhamma, they would not have such thoughts. In a next life, there will not be this or that person one meets at the present, nor will there be “I”. After death, the existence of someone as this particular person in this life has definitely come to an end. Only in this life there is this person and in a next life he is another person. Therefore, one should not worry nor have anxiety about meeting a particular person again. This is impossible, since the existence as this or that person does not continue on to the next life.

If someone has irritation or annoyance about another person, he should understand that in reality there is not that person. There are only dhammas, citta, cetasika and rūpa, which arise and then fall away. Life, in the ultimate sense, lasts only as long as one single moment of citta.

If we reflect time and again on death, it can support the development of satipaṭṭhāna. If we consider that we may die this afternoon or tomorrow, it can be a supporting condition for sati to be aware of the characteristics of nāma and rūpa that appear. For those who have not realized the noble Truths, thus, for those who are not ariyans, it is not certain whether, after the dying-consciousness has fallen away, the rebirth-consciousness will arise in a happy plane or in an unhappy plane of existence. It is not certain whether there will be again an opportunity to listen to the Dhamma and to develop satipaṭṭhāna.

At death, a person parts with everything in this life, it is all over. There is nothing left, not even remembrance. When a person is born into this life, he does not remember who he was, where he lived and what he did in his former life. His existence as a particular person in a former life has come to an end. Even so, in this life, everything comes to an end. A person performs kusala kamma and akusala kamma, he may have conceit about his race, family, possessions, honour and fame, all this comes to an end. There will be no ties left with all the things in this life. All that we find so important in this life, all that we are holding on to and take for self, will come to an end. If people realize the true characteristics of paramattha dhammas that arise because of their own conditions, they will eliminate the inclination to take them for beings, people or self.

Even remembrance that arises and falls away is only a type of nāma. If sati is aware of nāma and rūpa and paññā understands them clearly, one can let go of the wrong view of a self or person who exists in this life. Then one has realized the characteristic of “momentary death” (khaṇika maraṇa) of realities, their passing away at each moment. There are three kinds of death:

• momentary death, khaṇika maraṇa, which is the arising and falling

  away of all conditioned dhammas;

• conventional death, sammuti maraṇa, which is dying at the end of a

  lifespan;

• final death, samuccheda maraṇa, which is

  parinibbāna, the final passing away of the arahat who does not have

  to be reborn.