The materiality aggregate includes internal elements that occur within our own bodies and external elements that occur as organic or inorganic forms outside our bodies. As previously noted, the primary elements of matter are considered to be earth, water, fire, and wind.
The earth element has the property of resistance—it resists being displaced from the space that it occupies. We experience the quality of earth as hardness, softness; roughness, smoothness; heaviness, lightness. The Abhidhamma describes earth as having the characteristic of hardness, functioning as a material foundation for other elements that arise together as a group, manifesting through receiving those material elements that exist in the same kalāpa, and arising dependent upon the presence of the other three primary elements (water, fire, and wind) that exist in its own group. The property of earth occurs in every material particle of the body, but it will be most obvious in the bones of the skeleton, firm nails, and hard teeth. The traditional reflection on the four elements begins with the familiar sequence of solid body parts from the thirty-two parts meditation (see chapter 5):
Summary of the Five Phases to Four Elements Meditation183
This system describes all material phenomena as made of the four elements: earth, water, fire, and wind. Each of the four elements has a function and is characterized by certain properties.
Earth element (paṭhavīdhātu): hardness, roughness, heaviness, softness, smoothness, lightness.
Water element (āpodhātu): flowing, cohesion.
Fire element (tejodhātu): heat, cold.
Wind element (vāyodhātu): supporting, pushing.
The existence of any element requires the support of the other elements. Thus, they always occur in groups that include all four primary elements, along with several from a list of twenty-four derived material phenomena (see Table 12.2).184
Such a group is called a rūpa kalāpa. Rūpa means “matter” and kalāpa means “grouping.” The constituent elements (rūpas) of the group are considered the ultimate realities, and the groupings (kalāpas) are concepts that refer to a momentary configuration of these elements that arise and pass as a mutually dependent unit. Although every physical manifestation in the world—whether hair, leaf, blood, strawberry, stone, or steel—contains all four mutually dependent elements, one element may be noticeably dominant. In the four elements meditation, we repeatedly observe the characteristics of the primary elements within the body. We know earth by sensing hardness, roughness, heaviness, softness, smoothness, or lightness; water by properties of flowing or cohesion; fire by the spectrum of temperature from hot to cold; wind by the properties of supporting and pushing.
1. To begin the process, we contemplate twelve specific characteristics of material phenomena.
2. After comprehending the characteristics of matter, we look more closely to see that materiality consists of small groups of elements.
3. After seeing the material formations, we deconstruct them into their constituent parts: the four primary elements of earth, water, fire, wind; plus twenty-four additional material properties (See Tables 12.2–12.6). This phase of practice is referred to as the discerning of ultimate materiality.
4. Next we analyze materiality by discerning the causes, functions, and interactions of the material elements; watching as fundamental particles of matter interact with other material elements, reproduce, cause movement, and impinge on the mind.
5. Last, we contemplate all ultimate materiality as just materiality. We discern, analyze, and contemplate the six sense bases and forty-two parts of the body internally and externally (the thirty-two parts that were introduced in chapter 5, plus four fire elements and six wind elements presented in chapter 12), including animate and inanimate material.185
These five phases may progress very quickly for a meditator who easily discerns phenomena through brief instruction, or they may progress slowly and methodically for a meditator who benefits from detailed, careful, systematic, and nuanced instructions.
TABLE 12.2
Twenty-Eight Types of Material Phenomena (rūpa)
CONCRETE MATERIALITIES (18) NONCONCRETE MATERIALITIES (10)
Great Essentials
1. Earth element (pa?havīdhātu)
2. Water element (āpodhātu)
3. Fire element (tejodhātu)
4. Wind element (vāyodhātu)
Sensitive Phenomena
5. Eye-sensitivity (cakkhupasāda)
6. Ear-sensitivity (sotapasāda)
7. Nose-sensitivity (ghānapasāda)
8. Tongue-sensitivity (jivhāpasāda)
9. Body-sensitivity (kāyapasāda)
Objective Phenomena
10. Color (vaṇṇa)
11. Sound (sadda)
12. Odor (gandha)
13. Flavor (rasa)
Other Phenomena
14. Femininity (itthibhāva rūpa)
15. Masculinity (purisabhāva rūpa)
16. Heart materiality (hadayarūpa)
17. Life faculty (jīvitindriya)
18. Nutritive essence (ojā)
19. Space element (ākāsadhātu)
20. Bodily intimation (kāyaviññatti)
21. Verbal intimation (vacīviññatti)
22. Lightness (lahutā)
23. Malleability (mudutā)
24. Workability (kammaññatā)
25. Production (upacaya)
26. Continuity (santati)
27. Aging (jaratā)
28. Impermanence (aniccatā)
What, friends, is the earth element? The earth element may be either internal or external. What is the internal earth element? Whatever internally, belonging to oneself, is solid, solidified, and clung-to; that is, head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, contents of the stomach, feces, or whatever else internally, belonging to oneself, is solid, solidified, and clung-to; this is called the internal earth element. Now both the internal earth element and the external earth element are simply the earth element. And that should be seen as it actually is with proper wisdom thus: “This is not mine, this I am not, this is not myself.” When one sees it thus as it actually is with proper wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the earth element and makes the mind dispassionate toward the earth element.186
The water element has properties of cohesion, fluidity, and binding. To bake a cake a cook adjusts the cohesive properties of the batter by modifying the proportions of liquid and flour. Adding water to flour causes the wheat particles to cohere into dough; adding lots of water causes the batter to ooze around in the pan. If the quantity of water is minimal, the flour particles will not cohere; if there is an excess of water, the dough might lose cohesiveness. We cannot directly feel the element of water; it is not a tangible experience. The properties of water are known through inference as we observe their effects. For instance, when you place your hand in a bucket of water, you infer the element of water from the combined experience of other characteristics: coldness, softness, and pushing. The Abhidhamma describes the characteristic of water as flowing, trickling, and oozing; its function is to intensify the other elements of its own group; it manifests as the holding together or cohesion of the material phenomena; and it arises dependent upon the other three primary elements (earth, fire, and wind) in its own group. The Buddha described it this way:
What, friends, is the water element? The water element may be either internal or external. What is the internal water element? Whatever internally, belonging to oneself, is water, watery, and clung-to; that is, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, and urine, or whatever else internally, belonging to oneself, is water, watery, and clung-to: this is called the internal water element. Now both the internal water element and the external water element are simply water element. And that should be seen as it actually is with proper wisdom thus: “This is not mine, this I am not, this is not myself.” Wh
en one sees it thus as it actually is with proper wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the water element and makes the mind dispassionate toward the water element.187
The fire element has the property of maturation or ripening. Fire burns fuel, whether as a candle flame consuming wax, a lamp flame consuming oil, or digestive fire transforming garlic mashed potato into caloric energy units. It is the fire element that causes fruit to ripen, food to digest, skin to age, and bodies to decay. We experience the fire element as the feeling of heat and cold. The Abhidhamma describes the characteristic of the fire element as heat or cold; its function is to mature or ripen the elements in its own group; it manifests as pliancy or softness; and it arises dependent upon the other three primary elements (earth, water, and wind) in its own group. The Buddha taught:
What, friends, is the fire element? The fire element may be either internal or external. What is the internal fire element? Whatever internally, belonging to oneself, is fire, fiery, and clung-to; that is, that by which one is warmed, ages, and is consumed, and that by which what is eaten, drunk, consumed, and tasted gets completely digested, or whatever else internally, belonging to oneself, is fire, fiery, and clung-to: this is called the internal fire element.188
The wind element, alternatively called the air element, has the properties of pressure, movement, and vibration. It can be experienced as expansion and contraction in breathing, envisioned through the inflating and deflating of balloons, compared to a breeze that causes a flag to flutter, or recognized in a gust that catches in a sail and propels a boat across a lake. The Abhidhamma describes the characteristic of wind as physically supporting the other elements in its own group; it functions by pushing, which causes motion in the other material phenomena; it manifests as propulsion, to set going, by being the cause for the successive arising in locations nearby which create an illusion of continuous movement, or as conveying to other places; and it arises dependent upon the other three primary elements (earth, water, and fire) in its own group.
In reality no element ever moves or changes its location. When we walk or make a physical gesture, the wind element provokes a successive arising in nearby locations, thereby causing a stream of events that appear as movement. It also provides stabilization and support for matter, thereby preventing total dissolution and collapse. You can discern the kinetic energy experienced as the continuum of supporting and pushing to glimpse the nature of the wind element. The Buddha said:
What, friends, is the air element? The air element may be either internal or external. What is the internal air element? Whatever internally, belonging to oneself, is air, airy, and clung-to; that is up-going winds, down-going winds, winds in the belly, winds in the bowels, winds that course through the limbs, in-breath and out-breath, or whatever else internally, belonging to oneself is air.189
A complex conjunction of these elemental properties is integral to every physical experience. When you walk to the store, the element of wind manifests as the dynamic pushing and supporting that moves your legs forward and keeps your body erect. When eating toast you might notice the warmth (fire element) of the bread, the roughness (earth element) of the crusts, heat (fire element) in your belly as digestion converts the nutrients into fuel, the flowing (water element) of moist saliva as you chew, and the pulsing contractions of swallowing (wind element). Waving your arms in the air demonstrates the characteristic of earth through momentary expressions of heaviness and lightness, the characteristic of wind through the dynamic gestures, the subtle element of water that holds the configuration of elements together to form an arm, and the element of fire that produces temperature changes.
Four Elements in Your Daily Life
Practice continuously seeing four elements in every activity and every object you see, touch, taste, or smell. You eat, touch, and interact with four elements all day long. Your morning coffee is a cluster of elements. Your knee pain includes elements. The chair that you are sitting on is composed of elements. The book in your hand is just elements. As the meditation progresses you will understand all matter as nothing but elements and interactions of elements.
You may periodically highlight a characteristic. For example, observe the manifestation of hardness for fifteen minutes in everything you touch or encounter, or watch the fluctuations of temperature during a meal. You might examine the experience of painful sensations by teasing out the rigidity, stiffness, softness, heaviness, cohesion, and pushing characteristics as expressions of earth, water, fire, and wind.
The Twelve Characteristics of Matter
The first phase in the four elements meditation is to contemplate twelve specific characteristics; these are the hallmarks of the four elements. To facilitate a clear recognition of each characteristic, Pa-Auk Sayadaw sometimes introduces beginners to the characteristics in order of how easily they can be sensed: pushing, hardness, roughness, heaviness, supporting, softness, smoothness, lightness, heat, coldness, cohesion, and flowing. After discerning them clearly in this order, the meditator then switches to the traditional order to develop the four elements meditation: hardness, roughness, heaviness, softness, smoothness, lightness, flowing, cohesion, heat, cold, supporting, and pushing.
MEDITATION INSTRUCTION 12.1
Identifying the Four Elements through Twelve Characteristics
We shall use the easier order to introduce these elemental properties one by one, and then by groupings. Begin every meditation by establishing concentration. If you have skill in jhānas, you can refresh concentration with absorption, ideally establishing the fourth jhāna using the breath or any kasiṇa. Then, apply your concentrated mind to discern material characteristics found in your body. If you do not have skill in jhāna, you may focus on the breath or a meditation subject of your choice until your attention is steady and your mind cleared of distraction. Alternatively, you may begin directly with the four elements meditation and allow concentration to gradually accrue in the course of this exercise. As you discern the characteristics again and again with increasing clarity and speed,distractions fall away, concentration increases, and the mind grows supple, pure, and steady.
Pushing: Try to sense a genuine expression of pushing in your body. You might notice the sensations caused by the breath pushing inside the chest or belly. Once you feel a sensation of pushing in a place that is obvious, such as the rising belly, try to find the characteristic of pushing in every part of your body by scanning outward from the diaphragm to the chest, arms, hands, legs, feet, back, neck, and head. Wherever there is movement, try to discern the characteristic of pushing. Contemplate the characteristic of pushing in whatever way that you experience it in your body. Scan from head to toe, again and again, mindfully observing the body until the characteristic of pushing is vividly clear.
Hardness: To discover an obvious expression of hardness in your body, clench your teeth together or press two finger nails together. Once you sense the characteristic of hardness, begin to scan from head to toe, discerning the characteristic of hardness as it appears throughout your body. Then discern pushing and hardness together as you continue to scan attention through your body. Use the knowledge you have of your body beyond physical sensations. Do this many times until it becomes easy and clear.
Roughness: Stroke an area of rough, calloused skin such as your heel or elbow, or rub your tongue against the rough edge at the tip of a tooth. Once you have a vivid sense of roughness, scan through the body, discerning roughness in subtle and obvious areas. Then look for the three qualities together—pushing, hardness, and roughness. Repeat the body scan many times.
Heaviness: Lean your weight on one leg to amplify heaviness in the lower body, or drop your head forward and feel its heaviness. Repeatedly scan from your head to your toes for the characteristic of heaviness; then continue scanning while discerning pushing, hardness, roughness, and heaviness together. If it is difficult to see them together at a glance, then alternate observing each characteristic individually until concentration builds. Then try aga
in to see them together at a glance.
Supporting: The supporting characteristic is what holds the body upright, stabilizes posture, and resists movement. Whereas pushing causes the body to move, supporting stabilizes the body and enables us to halt and control movement. To identify the supporting quality, mindfully slump forward and then correct your posture to an upright alignment, hold your jaw closed, or feel the dynamic interplay of pushing and supporting as you walk. Once you sense the characteristic of supporting and discern it throughout the entire body, repeat the meditative scan many times and include the previous characteristics, either by sequencing through the series or observing them together within one body scan.
Softness: You might feel softness if you stroke your lips with your tongue or caress a protected fatty area (such as your belly) with your hand. After the characteristic of softness is clear in an obvious location, discern softness throughout the body; then incorporate the previous characteristics. Repeat many times to build concentration and clarity.
Smoothness: Press your tongue against the inside of the lower lip and sense a sensation of smoothness. Discern smoothness throughout the body. Continue mindfully developing the body scan by adding all the previous characteristics—pushing, hardness, roughness, heaviness, supporting, softness, smoothness—either alternately or as a group.
Lightness: Wiggling a little finger or gently fluttering the eyelids may demonstrate lightness. Notice the characteristic of lightness and then observe it throughout the body. First notice it in isolation, then in conjunction with the previous characteristics.
Heat: Hold your hands together and feel the warmth that they generate. Notice warmth in enclosed places such as the space under your arms or inside your mouth; feel the warmth of the exhalation. Use the mindful body scan to discern the characteristic of heat throughout the body, and then include all the previous characteristics.
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