Feeling can be associated with unwholesome consciousness (akusala citta) and mixed with unwholesome nature. It may also be associated and connected with wholesome consciousness (kusala citta) and mixed with wholesome nature. It is also present in resultant consciousness (vipāka citta) and functional consciousness (kriya citta) and imbued with their nature.
Where can we find the feeling (vedanä)? Vedanā is a mental concomitant, or mental factor (cetasika). It arises dependent on mind (citta). Whenever consciousness (citta) arises, feeling also occurs. How does it arise?
There are four ways:
i. It arises together with consciousness.
ii. It ceases together with consciousness.
iii. It takes the same object as consciousness.
iv. It is dependent on the same base as consciousness.
Feeling cannot be separated or divided from consciousness as it is one of the mental concomitants (cetasika) that arise together with consciousness (citta). Not all cetasikas arise with all kinds of citta; some do not arise with a citta. However by nature, feeling (vedanā) occurs with all cittas.
To summarize for easier understanding: when there is consciousness (citta), there is feeling; when feeling (vedanā) exists, consciousness also exists. In other words, as long as consciousness exists, feeling also exists. Feeling arises dependent on the nature of consciousness.
According to the Abhidhamma, we can analyze consciousness (citta) into 89 or 121 types. There are also 89 types of feelings, as one consciousness has one feeling. If there are 121 consciousnesses, there are also 121 feelings. Feeling arises based on consciousness. As feeling associates with consciousness, we cannot separate or extract it from consciousness.
For instance, the water of the big rivers in Myanmar like Irrawaddy, Zawgyi, Dutthawaddy and so on will flow into the sea. Once the rivers reach the sea and mix with its water, it will be impossible to differentiate the water from each river. We cannot say which water is from which river, whether from Irrawaddy or Zawgyi and so on. They have already mixed up thoroughly. In the same way, even though we can say “This is consciousness” or “That is feeling,” in actual fact we cannot separate them from each other.
At one time Venerable Säriputta and Venerable Mahākotthika were having a discussion on feeling. “Are feeling (vedana), perception (saññā) and consciousness (viññāņa) unconnected or independently existing? Or do they associate with one another and mix together?” Venerable Säriputta answered that they associate and link together.
The next question was “Can feeling, perception, and consciousness be separated from each other?” It is not possible to separate them from each other.
If they could be divided, then at that moment, there would not be mind anymore. Here, I’ll illustrate the mind by way of an example of water molecule. Scientists have determined that water (H20) is made up of three parts; 2 atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. So we need the combination of these three atoms to form a molecule of water. If they could be divided and removed from each other, it would not be H20 anymore; its quality would not exist anymore. Similarly, if we could separate perception, feeling, and consciousness from each other, then the mind (nāma) would not be there anymore; it would cease to exist.
In worldly usage, it is possible to note or label ‘this is perception’ or ‘this is feeling’ or ‘that is consciousness, but in actual fact it is impossible to divide, break up, and isolate them from each other.
Although it is impossible to divide the mind, these mental phenomena do have different and distinct functions. and characteristics. Those who have learned and studied Abhidhamma before know there are the minimum eight types of mental phenomena that arise together. They are one consciousness (viññāna) that simply accomplishes the bare knowing of the object and seven mental factors (cetasika) that associate and arise with this consciousness:
- Contact (phassa) it connects the mind with the object.
- Feeling (vedana) it experiences the taste of the object.
- Perception (saññā) it perceives, recognizes and remembers the object.
- Motivation (cetana) it does its work, and urges others to work.
- One-pointedness (ekaggata) – it focuses on the object.
- Life-faculty (jīvitindriya) – it sustains and protects the life of mind.
- Attention (manasikāra) – it turns the mind toward the object.
It is easier to see the life-faculty of matter. For example, if a flower has been cut off and just put aside, it will soon wither. But if we put the same flower into a vase that has some water in it, the flower will last for some time. So also, the life-faculty of mind protects the life of mind, and as long as it exists the mind is kept alive. When that life-faculty ceases, it will sustains the life of the next mind.
So the eight mental phenomena mentioned above (one consciousness and seven mental factors) cannot be separated from each other. We cannot even take out one from the eight. If we could do, it would not be called ‘a mind’ anymore.
In today’s Dhamma talk, we will focus on vedanā or feeling as distinct from the eight phenomena mentioned above. Feeling occurs when consciousness occurs. It depends on consciousness. If there is no consciousness, there can be no feeling. Hence, if the feeling arises, it has to arise together with consciousness. Feeling does not appear by itself in isolation but occurs with other mental factors like contact, perception, motivation, one-pointedness, life-faculty, and attention. These arise together but do not have the same function.
To understand the functions of these phenomena, we have to scrutinize our own body and mind. When you are reading a book, which is more prominent? The eyes are most active. When you are listening to the Dhamma talk, the ears take part actively. When you are eating, the tongue is more active. When you smell something, your nose is more active.
So also, the 8 phenomena occur in a single mind (nāma), but each plays a different role and has a different function. Feeling experiences the taste of the object. So, when we want to study feeling, first we ignore the other seven, and simply focus on the nature of feeling.
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