Once the Buddha spoke to the monks. “Bhikkhus, I will teach you the all. Listen to this…”
“And what, bhikkhus, is the all? The eye and forms, the ear and sounds, the nose and odours, the tongue and tastes, the body and tactile objects, the mind and mental phenomena. This is called the all.
“If anyone, bhikkhus, should speak thus: ‘Having rejected this all, I shall make known another all’—that would be a mere empty boast on his part. If he were questioned he would not be able to reply and, further, he would meet with vexation. For what reason? Because, bhikkhus, that would not be within his domain.”
And at another time, Bahiya, a wandering seeker, requested the Buddha to share his teaching. To him, the Buddha said,
“In that case, Bāhiya, you should train yourself thus: In what is seen there must be only what is seen, in what is heard there must be only what is heard, in what is sensed there must be only what is sensed, in what is cognized there must be only what is cognized. This is the way, Bāhiya, you should train yourself.
“And since for you, Bāhiya, in what is seen there will be only what is seen, in what is heard there will be only what is heard, in what is sensed there will be only what is sensed, in what is cognized there will be only what is cognized, therefore, Bāhiya, you will not be with that; and since, Bāhiya, you will not be with that, therefore, Bāhiya, you will not be in that; and since, Bāhiya, you will not be in that, therefore, Bāhiya, you will not be here or hereafter or in between the two—just this is the end of suffering.”
Both the sutta’s above point to the fact that the Buddha says there is nothing beyond the senses and the sensed. It is the all. Note that this includes the mind and its contents – thoughts, memories, interpretations, and meanings. If one stays with it and does not proliferate thoughts and ideas, which is grasping, it is the end of suffering.
According to the Buddha, there is nothing else to achieve in life, but just the end of suffering. It is not the finding of happiness, peace or bliss. Suffering in this sense is not seeing the seen in the seen but trying to recognize what it is. Suffering is not hearing only what is heard, but trying to interpret what it is, good or bad. Suffering is not just noticing the sensations but also trying to seek pleasurable sensations and avoid unpleasant ones. Suffering is creating a barrage of thoughts from identification / personalization, triggering emotions and actions motivated from them.
J Krishnamurti used to say – the observer is the observed. The Buddha would have said, in the observed, there must only be the observed. If you create an observer, that will lead to suffering. Krishnamurti is not saying something different; he is saying when you have awareness, you can see that the observer, which you think to be yourself, is just another thought, something which can be observed. Hence, the observer is the observed.
Thought Experiment
Imagine, there is a person who is totally deaf and blind. So, it means, he has no sense of hearing and seeing. For him, there are no sights and no sounds. So what remains? He has a nose so can smell. He has a tongue, so he can taste food and he has a body so he can sense objects and wind and temperature. For him that is the all, including the mind and thoughts, which will pre-dominantly be able to touch, smells and tastes but not about images and sounds.
For a person who has no sense of seeing and hearing, can there be any sense of distance? Because, he will only be touching, smelling and tasting. Since more than 80% of our brain is tuned to hearing and seeing, when these two are not there, the brain will be more free to notice smells, tastes and sensations.
Taking the thought experiment further and removing his senses of taste and smell and body also, will there be only the mind that remains? But since there is nothing to perceive, what kind of experience will there be for this person. I believe there will be no experience.
Sensory Deprivation
Experiments done in sensory deprivation tanks have shown that participants experience hallucinations, because no new sensory input is coming in, their mind is creating images and sounds based on memories and associations from previous experiences.
So basically the mind of the person consists of images, concepts, ideas, associations, connections – all gathered from the life experiences, which are triggered by further experiences.
Don’t Create Any Dough
Think of experience as flowing water. Seeing, hearing, sensing, thinking are all flowing seamlessly. The Buddha says, in the water, there must only be the water. But if you add flour in to the water, flour representing ideas, meanings, interpretations, then you will get a solid dough, which you further manipulate into various shapes of roti, puri, etc – all of which you continue to cook and consume which leads to mental indigestion and all the subsequent suffering.
But if you stay with the experience itself, without adding any flour, that itself is the end of suffering.
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