The Ending of The Round

On seeing a form with the eye,

he does not crave after it if it is pleasing;

he is not averse to it if it is unpleasing....

On hearing a sound with the ear,

he does not crave after it if it is pleasing;

he is not averse to it if it is unpleasing....

On smelling an odor with the nose,

he does not crave after it if it is pleasing;

he is not averse to it if it is unpleasing....

On tasting a flavor with the tongue,

he does not crave after it if it is pleasing;

he is not averse to it if it is unpleasing....

On touching a physical object with the body,

he does not crave after it if it is pleasing:

he is not averse to it if it is unpleasing....

On recognizing a mental object with the mind,

he does not crave after it if it is pleasing;

he is not averse to it if it is unpleasing....

He resides with mindfulness of the body established, with an immeasurable mind, and he understands as it actually is the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom wherein those evil unwholesome states are eliminated without remainder.

Having thus abandoned favoring and opposing whatever feeling he feels, whether pleasant or painful or neither painful-nor-pleasant, he does not seek excitement in that feeling, welcome it, or remain holding to it. As he does not do so, excitement in feelings is eliminated in him.

With the elimination of his excitement comes elimination of clinging;

with the elimination of clinging, elimination of existence;

with the elimination of existence, elimination of birth:

with the elimination of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, grief, pain, displeasure, and despair are eliminated.

Such is the elimination of this whole mass of discontentedness.

(Reference: MN 38)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares the elimination and destruction of craving/desire/attachment through The Six Sense Bases. To accomplish the elimination of discontentedness, a Practitioner will need to eliminate craving and aversion through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind (i.e. The Six Internal Sense Bases) for forms, sounds, odors, flavors, physical objects, and mental objects (i.e. The Six External Sense Bases). The well trained mind no longer views forms, sounds, odors, flavors, physical objects, or mental objects as pleasing or unpleasing, agreeable or disagreeable but instead, just impermanence experiences.

The well trained mind is not craving the pleasing and agreeable nor averse to unpleasing or disagreeable because a mind that has eliminate sensual desire is no longer chasing after pleasantness and rejecting unpleasantness.

Instead, the mind “resides with mindfulness of the body established, with an immeasurable mind, and he understands as it actually is the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom wherein those evil unwholesome states are eliminated without remainder”. Residing with mindfulness of the body established is to have developed The Four Foundations of Mindfulness so well that a Practitioner can clearly observe arising pleasant feelings, painful feelings, and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant as bodily sensations, and is then able to cut them off and let them go.

Having done this in multiple situations through a long term and consistent approach, a Practitioner will have “abandoned favoring and opposing whatever feeling he feels, whether pleasant or painful or neither painful-nor-pleasant, he does not seek excitement in that feeling, welcome it, or remain holding to it. As he does not do so, excitement in feelings is eliminated in him”. The mind will have eliminated craving pleasing and agreeable contact through The Six Sense Bases, and will have eliminated aversion to unpleasing and disagreeable contact through The Six Sense Bases.

The mind will no longer see this distinction between pleasing/agreeable and unpleasing/disagreeable because it will have “abandoned favoring and opposing”.

The mind will see clearly that welcoming or to remain holding on to excitement (i.e. pleasant feelings) only invites in painful feelings and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant. Being disinterested in discontentedness, the Practitioner can then actively apply energy and effort to eliminate discontentedness through eliminating craving/desire/attachment/clinging, etc.

Through the elimination of chasing after pleasant feelings such as excitement through The Six Sense Bases, the mind can eliminate clinging. The elimination of clinging brings about the elimination of existence, birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, grief, pain, displeasure, and despair. The entire massive amount of discontentedness can be completely eliminated from the mind, and a being will no longer experience rebirth in The Cycle of Rebirth.

Detailed explanation of The Cycle of Rebirth is available in this same book series found in the book “Realms of Existence” (Volume 11).