data fields:
| Six Sense Faculties | Six Data Fields |
| eyes | form/color |
| ears | sound |
| nose | odor |
| tongue | flavor |
| body | tactile feeling |
| mind | mind phenomena |
Among these, the only one belonging to the sphere of psychology is the thought pattern of the intellect; as for the rest, such as the tactile feelings generated by the body, all are in the realm of biological and physical functions.
Then there are the four truths and twelve causal conditions, which relate to the view of human life and the worldview. The four truths are suffering, accumulation, extinction, and the Way. This says that all in the world of human life is suffering, pure suffering without pleasure, yet beings lack knowledge and take suffering for pleasure. Suffering is generally categorized in terms of eight pains: birth, old age, sickness, death, not getting what is sought, separation from loved ones, being together with the uncongenial, and flareup of the five shadows. All this is called the truth of suffering.
Because living beings spontaneously pursue passions, they thereby collect and accumulate causes of suffering and so produce suffering as a result, mistaking it for pleasure; this is called the truth of accumulation. If one would extinguish the causes of suffering and the resulting suffering, to arrive at detachment from suffering and enjoyment of bliss, this is called the truth of extinction. Based on this premise, it is inevitable to wish to seek realization of the fruition of the Way, to sublimate human life and attain the ultimate access to reality; this is called the truth of the Way.
Furthermore, since all things and affairs in the human world are changing and unstable, fundamentally lacking in permanent continuity, it is called "impermanent." Because everything in human life is pure suffering without pleasure, it is called "painful." Since all is insubstantial, it is called "empty." Moreover, analyzing the body, mind, and world, we find that there is ultimately no existence of self therein; the so-called world, body, and mind are just supports of self, and are not the reality of self at all, so they are called "selfless." Thus the overall view of the world of human life refers to it as "impermanent," "painful," "empty," and "selfless."
The twelve causal conditions start from ignorance. Ignorance means not understanding the fundamental, not knowing the source. Ordinarily, people are unclear about the origins of human life or the activity of mind and consciousness and do not understand the ultimate. The antithesis of this is to clearly awaken and find out the ultimate, but all living beings come from ignorance, so ignorance is provisionally defined as the first cause.
Activity, the second link in this chain of interdependent relations, arises from ignorance, the primary cause. Activity here means kinetic energy. Third, based on activity there arises the function of consciousness, which is the hidden power of the basic capacity for thought. Fourth, based on consciousness, names (abstract ideas) and forms (concrete biological and physical matter) are constructed. Fifth, based on names and forms, the phenomena of the six sense media are produced. Sixth, based on the six sense media, the feeling of contact arises. Seventh, based on contact, the function of reception in the mind is induced. Eighth, based on reception, the pursuit of cravings arises. Ninth, based on craving, there comes to be a need to grasp. Tenth, based on grasping, the existence of becoming appears. Eleventh, based on becoming, the process of birth takes place. Twelfth, based on birth, is the end result of aging and death. Then, based on aging and death, there is a reentry into ignorance, again forming another causally conditioned life.
Ignorance follows along the order of this cycle of causal conditions as both a cause and an effect, so that repeated birth and destruction are beginningless and endless like a circular ring; falsehood continues, setting up the illusory phenomenon of the process of the world of human life. This didactic model was also used to explain the principles of the physical and temporal extension and continuity of life in the past, present, and future. And if expanded to its fullest implications, it can also be used to interpret time and space.
In sum, the Hinayana Buddhist perspective on the world of human life is just like that of any typical religion, deriving purely from the standpoint of a philosophy of the transmundane, looking on the world as a world of pain and affliction, looking on human life as a life of tragedy and evil, and thus seeking to leave the world, to liberate human life, and to attain pure tranquil nirvana as the fruit of the Way. The praxis and ideology of Hinayana Buddhism are like those of the hermits of Chinese Taoism, biased somewhat like the philosopher Yang Chu; so it had a sort of spiritual affinity with one particular category within Chinese culture and hence was naturally absorbed to become a part of Chinese Buddhism.
The Practice of Hinayana Buddhism
Hinayana practice is based on the three successive studies of discipline, concentration practice, and cultivation of wisdom, ultimately to arrive at liberation and the knowledge and insight of liberation. The rules of discipline contain various different items for monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen. The basic stipulations of the rules are virtues commonly recognized by humanity, such as not killing, not stealing, not raping, and not lying.
Therefore the function of the Buddhist rules of discipline are very much like the spirit of the Book of Rites in Chinese culture, as expressed in the dicta "Do not look at what is improper, do not listen to what is improper, do not say what is improper, do not do what is improper." As for the other detailed regulations, some have to do with manners, and with the self-discipline necessary to prevent subtle and insidious errors. There is also a resemblance to Mo-tzu's lament about "dyeing plain thread with colors," as well as the disciplined frugality of his conduct and the lofty nobility of his aspiration. Except for some of the regulations that vary according to the time and place and are still debatable, really they are a model of virtue purifying the spirit and refining conduct.
Hinayana Methods of Seeking Realization
Hinayana Buddhist methods of seeking realization are mainly based on dhyana. The Sanskrit word dhyana is sometimes translated into Chinese as "quiet meditation," but this term comes from a paraphrase of the Chinese classic Ta-hsueh, or Great Learning, where it speaks of knowing, stilling, settling, quieting, stabilizing, meditating, and attaining. Nevertheless, there is some difference.
Dhyana includes both yoga and insight; it is a sort of method of transforming the temperament and training the mind and body. The meditation concentration of Mahayana Buddhism and the meditation of the Ch'an school of later Chinese Buddhism also have differences and similarities.
As to the methods for attaining dhyana, some start from the firmness of singleminded faith. Some start from the biological basis of anapana, which means tuning the breathing. Some start from the practice of cleaning the mind. Some start from psychological concepts and insights. Some start from mantra or recitation of esoteric writings. The so-called expedient methods for attaining dhyana are manifold, but when they are classified overall in terms of the process and order of their practice and realization, they are not beyond four meditations and eight concentrations (samadhi). They are also called the nine successive concentrations, nine steps of meditative concentration, or nine samadhi. This is because the four meditations and eight stages of concentration can be relabeled in a different fashion, and when the concentration in which senses and perceptions are extinguished is added in, which is the ultimate experience of arhats (those who have attained the highest level of Hinayana realization), they are called the nine successive concentrations.
In the first meditation, with one-pointedness of mind, concentration produces joy and bliss. The expression "one-pointedness
