practice. Due to a close personal rapport and a respect for his wise
counsel, Ãcariya Mun considered him a mentor and always sought him
out whenever he traveled to Bangkok.
- The nãma khandhas are the four mental components of personal-
ity: feelings (vedanã), memory (saññã), thoughts (sankhãra), and con-
sciousness (viññãõa). They are all simply natural phenomena that con-
tinuously arise and pass away. Since no substantial and continuous
self-entity can be found anywhere in these mental phenomena, they
are said to be anattã (not-self).
- A theoretical understanding acquired from memory (saññã) greatly
differs from a genuine understanding based on wisdom (paññã). In this
context, saññã means the knowledge gained from studying the theories
and commentaries pertaining to Buddhist practice, that is, academic
learning. On its own, such intellectual comprehension is quite inade-
quate, for it relies on views and opinions, which lead to speculation and
guesswork. One can remember names and descriptions of all the factors
of Dhamma, for instance, but one cannot discover the truth of those
factors within oneself.
Paññã, on the other hand, is a clear intuitive insight gained by
directly probing, investigating, and analyzing the various factors that
arise during meditation in light of principles of reason until their cause-
and-effect relationships become clearly apparent. Such intuitive under-
standing, while not at odds with the theory of Dhamma, carries with it
the certainty of direct personal experience, which can confidently be
applied to help solve the next set of problems that arises in meditation
practice.
- Sandiååhiko means self-evident; immediately apparent; visible here
and now. It is a traditional epithet for the Dhamma.
- Literally, “a pool of understanding” (Thai: Nong Aw. The Thai word
aw is an oral inflection used to signify that one has just awakened to a
true understanding of a certain matter, as in “Ah! So this is how it is!”). In
Ãcariya Mun’s case, it might be phrased “Ah! So this is how the Buddha
attained enlightenment!”
