Dhamma Investigation in Practice

Sayadaw U Tejaniya often refers to dhamma investigation or investigation of phenomena (dhamma-vicaya) in his discussions. Dhamma-vicaya is the second factor out of the seven factors of enlightenment (bojjhaṅgas) and is a kind of wisdom (cintāmayā paññā) that we use while practicing. Of the seven factors, the first three factors (sati, dhamma-vicaya, and viriya) are causes, factors that we can “input” or work on. The last four factors are effects: pīti, passaddhi, samādhi, and upekkhā. We can’t create or make them happen.

The following excerpt of a Dhamma discussion illustrates Sayadaw U Tejaniya’s dhamma-vicaya in practice.

THE PENDuluM

I was sitting in meditation and listening to Sayadawgyi (the late Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw) giving a Dhamma discourse nearby. Suddenly, I saw this very calm mind change in intensity. The mind that had been quite calm before was now agitated. How did this happen? How did this anger come about suddenly when the mind was so peaceful just moments ago?

The mind was now interested in knowing, so it backed up a bit and began to ask questions. What is happening inside? This interest to know and right thinking (sammā-saṅkappa) changed the path of the mind from anger towards Dhamma. Without this right thinking, the mind would have continued along the path of anger and aversion, still believing anger was an appropriate response for the situation.

Did I cut off the anger through other means? No. The mind was interested to know the truth and because of that, it just lightly and gently watched the anger running its own course. The anger was happening on its own.

What was happening in the mind? It was listening to sounds from two different sides. There was Sayadawgyi’s voice on one side and people talking on the other side. I was aware of the different objects and the mind going back and forth between the two. The mind wasn’t focused only on one thing; it knew a lot of things simultaneously and saw where the attention was going as well.

I then saw this aversion! On the one side, I wanted to hear Sayadawgyi but couldn’t hear him well. I also saw the mind talking about the situation and looking for trouble: “How can these people come and talk around here when they’ve come here for the Dhamma?” Feelings came up as much as this mind continued to talk.

The observing mind saw everything that was going on in the mind. Can you see how expansive the field of view was at this point? After it saw the mind going back and forth between these two sides a couple of times, it saw the dissatisfaction. It was because the mind couldn’t get what it wanted, which was to hear Sayadawgyi’s discourse. There was this realization at that moment. And in that moment, the mind did not favor one object or another but just remained in the middle. It saw the suffering and just died down. I could just take sound as sound.

What did I realize at that moment? The mind had taken one kind of sound, the sounds of Sayadawgyi’s discourse as good, favorable sounds, whereas the sounds of other people talking as bad, unwanted sounds!

I realized then that if there is greediness for something 30 degrees to one side of a pendulum,  there will be just as much of a 30 degree swing toward dissatisfaction to the other side  of the pendulum if it can’t get that something. 

No one can block this from happening. So what happens if it’s 45 degrees? What about 90 degrees? What if it’s 180 degrees? I had realized previously that even before anger arose that the mind would start talking if it liked something. But because of this previous realization and clear understanding, the mind was already reminding itself in this situation.

INTEREST AND INQuIRy

That’s how you need to meditate, with interest and inquiry every time defilements arise. When you are ready, the lesson will come and you will understand fully. What you want is this understanding, and development of ñāṇa.

When I had really good, continuous awareness, I would be fully aware of the object. I used to watch feelings until they calmed or died down. Of course, the mind would calm down eventually. Why? The mind can effectively calm down if it looks directly at something without being able to think about anything else. But no wisdom or understanding arose.

SEvEN FAcToRS oF ENlIGHTENMENT

What we need here is dhamma-vicaya, one of the causes in the seven factors of enlightenment (bojjhaṅgas). The seven factors of enlightenment are sati, dhamma-vicaya, viriya, pīti, passaddhi, samādhi, and upekkhā. The first three of the seven factors are causes and the latter four are effects. We don’t need to do anything to the effects of pīti, passaddhi, samādhi, and upekkhā. We can’t create them nor make them happen.

What we need to cultivate are the causes: Sati, dhamma-vicaya, and viriya. These are what we can work on. Out of these three, yogis often pay attention to sati and viriya,  forgetting dhamma-vicaya. Dhamma-vicaya is investigating phenomena,  investigating what is happening, why it is happening, or  how we are practicing by using the information we have,  our intelligence, and wisdom. 

Dhamma-vicaya is a type of wisdom that falls under cintāmayā paññā. This is needed here. We have to investigate with the desire to learn, to know, and to understand.

THE RolE oF AWARENESS

The role of awareness is just gathering data. In the incident, there was a wish to know. Awareness played the role of knowing everything that was happening. It knew the mind going back and forth, the feelings, and what was happening.

The answer will come when the data set is complete. It can’t arise when there is still some missing data. However, you do raise the level of interest and curiosity in the mind by posing some questions. The solution will eventually come to you when you have enough data for the problem at hand. When mindfulness is not there in full, it only knows gross-level objects. Right now you may have awareness and stability of mind but you also need to go from grosser, superficial levels, to more subtle levels. That is what it means for conditions to be complete.

Sharp awareness can see the inner workings of the mind. The causes that are present can’t be seen when there is only partial awareness. You may see that there is no anger or greed present, but with greater awareness, you’ll notice that delusion is always present. Yogis sometimes tell me that there is no greed or aversion present in the mind but that is a very surface-level observation. They haven’t really seen what is underneath. A strong awareness and a steady mind are needed in order to see more subtle levels. That’s what I mean when I say you need to be able to keep the steady mind in check for longer periods. If you can maintain that steadiness (which requires a presence of wisdom) and you ask a question, the answer will come.

DoN’T lET ANGER GRoW

You too can use different techniques as needed for the situation you are in. Suppose you are at work and there’s just too much work going on. What will you do? I would in the past just use awareness. Because there was already samādhi available from practice, the mind was able to use that. I had a lot of work to do at the market and it was tough to investigate, so I just cleared out the defilement using everything I had learned (samatha or vipassanā). I didn’t want anger to come up. When I had a lot of work to do, I didn’t think about anything else but just watched the anger gently but continuously. It just went down. There was no thinking involved. If I were to think while there was anger, the mind would only think about anger-related things. I didn’t think about anything anymore at that moment but just watched this anger for a few minutes and it went down.

Does the anger go to zero? No. You are not free yet at that moment. It’s still in there. But you will only see as deeply as the strength of sati and samādhi present. If the defilement is still there, it’ll just come right back up. But of course it’s better to handle the defilement while it’s still young.

When the fire is small, you can just throw some water on it. What happens if it has taken half the house?The water is gone, your energy is gone, and so is half the house! You’ll to have to put in something more. That’s why I wouldn’t even give these defilements a chance anymore. I wouldn’t allow them to come out. 

The Buddha said, “Don’t give defilements a chance to arise.” So what are you not giving a chance to? Present defilements? Future defilements? Past defilements? Defilements in the present are already happening. What defilements can you overcome? If you recognize that there is defilement present, you have not reached the stage of overcoming the defilement yet. 

If the defilement is happening, it’s already late. You are only at the point of investigation. In reality, if you begin to understand, wisdom will overcome it and close it down. That wisdom won’t even give it a chance to arise. That’s how you overcome it. How does someone overcome it by not letting it in? Do defilements have a chance to arise if there is sati, samādhi, and paññā, and paññā is strong?

What if awareness is strong and there’s a calm, stable mind, but wisdom is weak? Anger will definitely come up. Some people with sati and samādhi can sometimes have really strong tempers. Let’s say someone has really strong concentration. Samādhi alone (without wisdom) can amplify a situation. Defilements also exaggerate situations. Combine the two and you’ve squared it—what an explosion!

You’ll begin to look for a way out only when you can’t stand it anymore. Someone who lives in the shade will not be able to stand it when it becomes hot around him. So this person will make sure something like that won’t happen again in the future. He won’t let the anger out although the anger might want to come out.

MoHA IS DARkNESS

If you have just a little awareness, how much will you benefit? Do you see how much more the mind is at ease? It’s because you don’t know just how much is happening that you don’t know how much lighter it could be. There are always subtle defilements underneath. Delusion (moha) is always there. Delusion is there whenever wisdom is not present. It is only in those brief moments when wisdom is present that delusion is not present. How many times does “I” not happen? Even if you see that for just a brief moment… then delusion comes in to cover it up immediately. Moha is darkness. 

You have this tiny thief’s flashlight. When you turn it on, of course it’ll light up and you can see. You can only see this small part in front of you but you are probably just satisfied with that. Think about it. You think, “Oh, I know a lot now.” What about all that you haven’t seen? It’s vast. You only know what you have seen but you don’t know what you don’t know.

STIR THINGS uP A lITTlE

If you are able to observe this little wisdom as it is happening, then this wisdom will show the way. You don’t realize what you don’t yet know. You only understand this little portion. That is why you can’t just be satisfied and stop there. It’s not enough when you understand something. You don’t know the nature of delusion. When do you understand the nature of delusion? 

You will understand when there’s wisdom. Delusion steps down for a brief while when wisdom arises. Then you’ll see just how much delusion is present. That’s why I don’t just ask about objects. I ask you what you know and what is happening in the observing mind.

You have to stir things up a little to help wisdom arise. What is happening? What about the observing mind? Ask every so often. 

That’s why awareness and some questioning go hand-in-hand. There has to be this inquisitive thoughtfulness along with the awareness. As the mind changes, there’s this urge to know and understand what is happening. Only then the mind will be alert all the time. If the mind has a little energy, it’ll be aware, aware, aware… but let’s say it gets cloudy outside, then you become drowsy! When the mind calms down, you may become drowsy.

In reality, when the mind becomes calm, it’s prime time for you to use your prior knowledge and information. You previously couldn’t use too much of this when the mind was agitated because things would have just gotten jumbled up. You need to be putting these skills to use as awareness strengthens and there’s stability in the mind.