Saṃyuktāgama (289), Part Four

(4) Original text:多闻圣弟子于诸缘起。善思惟观察。所谓乐触缘生乐受。乐受觉时。如实知乐受觉。彼乐触灭。乐触因缘生受。亦灭止。清凉息没。如乐受。苦触喜触。忧触舍触因缘生舍受。舍受觉时。如实知舍受觉。彼舍触灭。彼舍触因缘生舍受。亦灭止。清凉息没。彼如是思惟。此受触生触乐触缚。彼彼触乐故。彼彼受乐。彼彼触乐灭。彼彼受乐亦灭止。清凉息没。

Explanation: The Buddha said that learned noble disciples should be adept at contemplation and observation of all conditioned arising. When the conditions of the mind's arising dharmas—such as pleasant contact—converge and pleasant feeling arises, at the moment one feels the pleasant feeling, one should know the feeling of pleasant feeling as it truly is; when the pleasant contact ceases, the feeling born from the conditions of pleasant contact also ceases, and the mind becomes cool, tranquil, and subsided. Just as with pleasant feeling, when painful contact arises, one should know the painful feeling as it truly is; and even when the conditions of joyful contact, sorrowful contact, and neutral contact give rise to the feelings of joy, sorrow, and neutrality, one should know the pleasant feeling, sorrowful feeling, and neutral feeling as they truly are. When the conditions of joyful contact, sorrowful contact, and neutral contact cease, those contacts also cease, and the mind becomes cool and tranquil.

Learned noble disciples should contemplate thus: because these feeling-contacts can give rise to the pleasant feeling of contact and the bondage of contact, when the pleasant feeling of one contact after another arises, one pleasant feeling after another arises; when the pleasant contacts one by one have all ceased, the pleasant feelings one by one also cease, and the mind becomes cool and tranquil.

Learned noble disciples are able to contemplate and observe well all conditioned arising. All dharmas in the world arise from causes and conditions; there is not a single dharma that does not arise from causes and conditions. With causes and conditions, worldly dharmas assemble; without causes and conditions, dharmas do not manifest. When the conditions differ, the dharmas that arise differ, sentient beings' physical bodies differ, and their living environments differ as well. Where do the conditions come from? From the seeds formed by bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Learned noble disciples can contemplate and observe well all conditioned arising, whereas ordinary beings do not contemplate or observe; they consider everything to be normal and take it for granted. When noble disciples observe conditioned arising, they deeply investigate the source and causes of birth, aging, sickness, and death, tracing it all the way back to that initial conditioned arising.

Taking pleasant feeling as an example of dharmas born of causes and conditions: painful contact, joyful contact, sorrowful contact, and neutral contact are all feelings produced through the arising of conditions. Pain, pleasure, sorrow, joy, and neutrality—these feelings arise because there is contact: the contact of pain, the contact of pleasure, the contact of joy, the contact of sorrow, and the contact of neutrality give rise to feelings. Without these conditions of contact, these mental feelings would not arise. Therefore, the contacts of pain, pleasure, sorrow, joy, and neutrality are all illusory, and the feelings are also illusory, subject to arising and ceasing, changing and impermanent. Behind all conditioned arisings there are reasons and mysteries. 

What is neutral feeling? It is feeling neither pain nor pleasure, feeling neither comfort nor suffering, as if one has forgotten oneself, with no other feelings—this is called neutral feeling. When does neutral feeling arise? Neutral feelings appear relatively often during sitting meditation. Occasionally one seems to forget oneself and forget everything around one, without producing pleasant feeling or painful feeling. At that time it is neutral feeling. When the mind has concentration, one can clearly feel: I am now experiencing painful feeling, I now have pleasant feeling, I now have joyful feeling, I now have a feeling of sorrow—I truly know these feelings, I am aware of them as they truly are. If those contacts of pain, pleasure, sorrow, joy, and neutrality cease, the feelings of pain, pleasure, sorrow, joy, and neutrality will also disappear and cease. After they cease, everything becomes tranquil and settles down, and the mind becomes cool and serene.