How to Contemplate Feeling (Vedanā)
I want to explain about Feeling (Vedanā) in detail. Feeling is the experience of sensation. There are three types: Pleasant Feeling (Sukhā Vedanā), Painful Feeling (Dukkhā Vedanā), and Neutral Feeling (Adukkhamasukhā Vedanā). These feelings are one of the Mental Aggregates (Nāma Khandha) included in the Five Aggregates. When the eye and form collide and seeing consciousness arises, this consciousness takes the object. Then Contact (Phassa)—the meeting of Object, Sense Door, and Consciousness—crushes it to extract the essence (rasa). Because of that crushing, Feeling experiences the good or bad essence/taste. Perception (Saññā) marks it, and Formations (Saṅkhāra) respond with Physical, Verbal, and Mental Actions.
So, Feeling is an effect that arises only upon contact with an object. Object is the Cause; Feeling is the Effect. If encountering a good object, Pleasant Feeling arises. If encountering a bad object, Painful Feeling arises. This is Nature. Because we cannot see this nature, we grasp with Self (Attā) saying "I am in pain," and then we make Feeling a problem by thinking "How do I make it stop hurting?" Pain is not the problem. We must accept painful feeling as a natural phenomenon. It is because we do not understand Anattā. The feeling that can hurt is already included in the Five Aggregates.
How to Contemplate so the Mind Doesn't Suffer Even if the Body is in Pain
The Buddha pointed out and taught: "Let only the body be in pain, but do not let the mind be in pain." In the Nakulapitu Sutta, the Buddha told Nakulapitu, who had been his parent in 1,500 past lives, "Let only the body be in pain, but do not let the mind be in pain." Nakulapitu did not understand yet. When Venerable Sāriputta explained, he said: "If you take the Five Aggregates, Mind and Matter (Nāma-Rūpa), as Self (Attā), the mind suffers when the body is in pain. If you do not take them as Self, the mind does not suffer even if the body is in pain." It is not easy for ordinary people to understand this.
So, when encountering a bad object, Painful Feeling (Dukkhā Vedanā) appears in the body. One must "contemplate with Mindfulness (Sati)" in the Subsequent Mind so that the mind does not follow the Preceding Mind of physical pain. It is contemplating with mindfulness to know the true nature of feeling as it really is. We treat pain like an enemy and want to fight it like a battle. In reality, there is no enemy. In nature, just as there is good, there is also bad. Just as there is a gentle breeze, there is a storm. Just as there is heat, there is cold. Opposites co-existing in the world is simply Nature.
Knowing Feeling as Cause and Effect
It is important to know Feeling as Cause and Effect. Object is the Cause; the Feeling arising in the body because the Object conditions it is the Effect. In Cause and Effect, does the Effect concern you? Does that Feeling concern you? If you know that, you will become a Sotāpanna. Look to see the Anattā of Feeling first. I want the foundation of knowing how Feeling arises. Feeling does not exist permanently in the body. Only when the condition called Object supports it does Feeling arise.
Object is the Cause; Feeling arising in the body is the Effect. This Cause and Effect is not the Cause and Effect we know with Attā. We must know it with Anattā. Noting the arising and passing of Feeling is a step further. What I want first is for you to know: Feeling is not always in the body. Only when the condition called Object supports it does Feeling arise.
Conditioned by Feeling, Craving Arises (Vedanā Paccayā Taṇhā)
Because of Feeling, Cravings arise. Feeling is neither Wholesome nor Unwholesome. Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and thinking are "Effect" phenomena arising due to Past Kamma. They are called "Resultant" (Vipāka). They are neither Wholesome nor Unwholesome. Feeling is the Preceding Mind. As the Preceding Mind, Feeling takes its own nature when it contacts an object.
Regarding "Conditioned by Feeling, Craving arises" (Vedanā Paccayā Taṇhā): What did Feeling condition? It conditioned the Unwholesome state called Craving. The Cause (Feeling) and the Effect (Craving) do not happen within the same mind-moment (Cittakkhaṇa); they happen separated by "many mind-moments." Only in those who have Latent Tendencies (Anusaya) does Craving arise due to Feeling. Only in those with the Latent Tendency for Craving does the active uprising of Craving (Greed)—called Pariyuṭṭhāna—appear through 'Arising-Standing-Dissolution' (Uppāda-Ṭhiti-Bhaṅga). In Arahants, whose Latent Tendency for Craving is exhausted, Craving does not arise due to Feeling.
Contemplating Feeling with Mindfulness
It is important to contemplate Feeling with Mindfulness. Instead of "Conditioned by Feeling, Craving arises" (Vedanā Paccayā Taṇhā), Mindfulness arises based on Feeling. Because of this Mindfulness, Wisdom will arise. Feeling does not only condition Craving. Feeling also conditions Mindfulness. If Wisdom arises because of this Mindfulness, one attains liberation through Wisdom.
By taking pain as an example, we practice with the Satipaṭṭhāna method to thoroughly understand Feeling. We learn what kind of mind to keep when encountering unpleasant objects. We learn the mental attitude of how to pay attention. If we know this as a skill/wisdom, we will know how to apply mindfulness and attention when encountering disliked objects in the world.
Attention (Manasikāra) in Daily Life
In daily life, you can apply attention based on your mindfulness. Depending on circumstances, pay attention through the dimension of Wholesome/Unwholesome Morality (Sīla). Pay attention that little volitions (cetanā), little mind-matter phenomena, little perceptions, and little feelings are arising. Depending on circumstances, if you truly see this body—the Truth of Suffering (Dukkha Sacca)—as true suffering, that is also good.
Depending on your situation, practice by yourself to see what kind of attention works best for you. Is it the Sīla Dimension, the Samādhi (Concentration) Dimension, or the Paññā (Wisdom) Dimension? How will you pay attention when paying homage to the Buddha? How will you pay attention when touching or lifting? Build this for yourself. How will you pay attention when climbing the stairs at home? If you build it like that, it will be okay in its own place.
When Mindfulness arises, you can see the lack of essence—that it is nothing. Since it is "nothing," what is the "something" (the real deal)? Having Mindfulness is the main thing. If this Mindfulness arises, the defilement that clings to Feeling is liberated. Instead of "Conditioned by Feeling, Craving arises," Mindfulness arises based on Feeling.
In this way, by knowing Feeling as Cause and Effect, seeing it as Anattā, and knowing how to contemplate with Mindfulness, we will come to know the wisdom of "Letting only the body be in pain, but not the mind."
Dr. Soe Lwin (Mandalay)