Where Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind Find No Footing

Once, Kevaddha, in this order of Monks the thought occurred to a certain Monk: “I wonder where the four great elements - the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the wind element - are eliminated without remainder.’ And that Monk attained to such a state of mental concentration that the way to the heavenly realm appeared before him.

(And that Monk attained to such a state of mental concentration that the way to the heavenly realm appeared before him. He went to the heavenly realm of The Four Great Kings and asked the question.

When none of them could answer the question, the Monk went to the Thirty-Three Gods who said “We don’t know, but Sakka, Ruler of the Heavenly Beings, may know…”. Sakka told the Monk to ask the Yama heavenly beings, the Suyama, the Tusita heavenly beings, the Santusita, Nimmanarati, Sunimmita, Paranimmita-Vesavatti heavenly beings, Vasavatti, Brahma’s associates and all the way to the Great Brahma. The Great Brahma avoided to answer and finally said that the heavenly beings believe there is nothing Brahma does not know but the truth is he does not know where the four great elements cease without remainder. It is the Monk’s fault that he did not ask The Perfectly Enlightened One. In the end, the Monk went back to The Perfectly Enlightened One.)

So that Monk, as swiftly as a strong man might flex or unflex his arm, vanished from the Brahma world and appeared in my presence. He prostrated himself before me, then sat down to one side and said: Venerable Sir, where are the four great elements - the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the wind element - eliminated without remainder?

I replied: Monk, once upon a time sea traveling merchants, when they set sail on the ocean, took in their ship a land sighting bird. When they could not see the land themselves, they released this bird. The bird flew to the east, to the south, to the west, to the north, it flew to the zenith (over head) and to the intermediate points of the compass.

If it saw land anywhere, it flew there. But if it saw no land, it returned to the ship. In the same way, Monk, you have been as far as the Brahma world searching for an answer to your question and not finding it, and now you come back to me.

But, Monk, you should not ask your question in this way: Where are the four great elements — the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the wind element — eliminated without remainder?

Instead, this is how the question should have been put: Where do earth water, fire, and wind find no footing?

Where are long and short, small and great, fair and foul — Where are “name-and-form” wholly destroyed?

And the answer is: Where consciousness is quieted, immeasurable, all-radiant, that’s where earth, water, fire, and wind find no footing, There both long and short, small and great, fair and foul — There “name-and-form” are wholly destroyed.

With the elimination of consciousness, this is all destroyed.

(Reference: DN 11)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares that to eliminate existence is accomplished through the elimination of the consciousness.

During the lifetime of The Buddha and now in traditional medicine, the body is described through The Four Elements. The body is categorized into four (4) different elements such as: earth, water, fire, and wind. Each of these is used to describe the characteristics of the body.

Earth is the solids of the body. For example, hair, teeth, bones, finger and toe nails, etc.

Water is the liquids of the body. For example, tears, saliva, pus, urine, blood, etc.

Fire is the temperature of the body. For example, the heat that is generated to sustain the body. This element is also connected with the process of digestion.

Wind is the movement within the body. For example, the movement of food and feces through the intestines of the body.

Space is the lack of any other of The Four Elements. For example, the voids or empty spaces in the body like the nasal cavity or other locations where there is nothing that exists.

The Four Elements are used in traditional medicine to understand symptoms of illness and provide remedies to the patient.

Not only can the human body be described through The Four Elements, but we can also describe any physical object through The Four Elements as all material objects have a combination of The Four Elements.

The question The Buddha explains is appropriate for the Student to ask is “where are “name-and-form” wholly destroyed?”.

Name-and-form relate to the physical body. The question the Student is asking is “how is this physical existence eliminated?”.

The Buddha teaches the following about “name-and-form” in other discourses of his Teachings.

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And what, Monks, is name-and-form?

Feeling, perception, volitional formation, contact, consciousness: this is called name. The four great elements and the form derived from the four great elements: this is called form. Thus this name and this form are together called name-and-form.

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Name-and-form is describing the physical body and what makes “a being a being”.

It is through the elimination of consciousness that a Practitioner eliminates existence in The Cycle of Rebirth. This is further explained in The Buddha’s Teachings on Dependent Origination.

Detailed explanation of Dependent Origination is available in this same book series found in the book “The First Stage of Enlightenment (Stream-Enterer)” (Volume 5).