Exercise 16: Discriminative Investigation

When the factor of awakening, investigation-of-phenornena, is present in him, he is aware, 'Investigation-of phenomena is present in me.' He is aware when not-yet-born investigation-of -phenomena is being born and when already-born investigation-of-phenomena is perfectly developed.

Ignorance, or delusion, is the erroneous perception of things. In order to correct our erroneous perceptions, the Buddha teaches us a method of discriminative investigation, which relates to the Establishment of the mind and the Establishment of the objects of mind. The objects of mind are also called dharmas (all that can be conceived of as existing). They include the six sense organs, the six sense objects, and the six sense consciousnesses. The six sense organs are the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. The six sense objects are form and color, sound, smell, taste, tactile objects, and mind-objects (every concept and everything which belongs to the sphere of memory and mental experience). The six consciousnesses are eye-consciousness (or sight), ear-consciousness (or hearing), nose-consciousness (or smelling), taste-consciousness (or tasting), body-consciousness (or touching) and mind-consciousness. All dharmas are contained within these eighteen realms (Sanskrit: dhatus), which include all psychological, physiological, and physical aspects. All eighteen realms are also called objects of mind, including mental formations. When mind is observing mind, the mind becomes an object of mind.

The basic characteristic of all dharmas is interdependent origination. All dharmas arise, endure, and fade away according to the law of interdependence. In the Majhirna Nikaya, it is taught: "This is, because that is; this is not, because that is not. This is produced, because that is produced. This is destroyed, because that is destroyed." The Buddhist principle of interdependence, put forward with the utmost simplicity, is immeasurably deep. According to this teaching, no single dharma can arise by itself, endure by itself, and fade away by itself. The coming-to-be of one dharma is dependent on the coming-to-be, endurance, and destruction of other dharmas, in fact, of all other dharmas. Dharmas do not have independent existence. They are empty of a separate, independent existence.

In our daily life, we are inclined to perceive things as real and independent of each other. Take, for example, a leaf which we see on the branch in front of us. We may think that this leaf exists independently of all the other leaves, independently of the branch, the trunk, and the roots of the tree; independently of the clouds, the water, the earth, and the sky. In truth, this leaf could not be here without the presence of all the other things which we see as different from it. This leaf is one with the other leaves, the branch, the trunk, and the roots of the tree; with the clouds, the river, the earth, the sky, and the sunlight. If any one of these things were not present, the leaf could not be. If we look deeply into the leaf, we can see the presence of all these things. The leaf and these things are present together. This is the principle of interbeing and interpenetration, the principle of one is all and all is one, which the Avatamsaka Sutra, the most complete and sufficient expression of the Buddhist principle of interdependent origination, teaches. Things do not exist outside of each other. Things exist within each other and with each other. That is why the Buddha said: "This is, because that is." With the power of concentration, we can observe all that is in the light of this principle. All phenomena in the universe, including the thoughts, words, and feelings of both ourselves and those around us, need to be observed in the light of interdependence. 

This method of discriminative investigation begins by classifying the dharmas into categories like the six sense organs, the six sense objects, and the six sense consciousnesses, namely, the eighteen realms, which can also be classified according to the Five Aggregates of form, feeling, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. By "form," we mean all physiological and physical phenomena. "Feelings" means pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral feelings. "Perceptions" means basic conceptualizations and naming. "Mental formations" means psychological states which arise and manifest in us. "Consciousness" is the function of maintaining, cognizing, comparing, storing, and remembering all the seeds. The basic Abhidharrna writings and the teachings of the Vijiianavada school of Buddhist psychology give very thorough explanations of the essential nature of these five categories and the ways in which they function.