Chapter 1 - Vipassana Practice And Upadana

The practice of vipassana, too, is to be attributed to kamupadana of a person who seeks permanent deliverance from evils of existence. Ordinary people have to contemplate to be free from the four upadanas while the Ariyas have to contemplate to overcome kamupadana. Thus, vipassana practice stands for the conquest of upadana. According to Visuddhimagga and another commentary, viz., Sammohavinodani, avijja is indirectly the cause of good acts in that one has to do good for liberation from avijja and it is also said that bhavana or vipassana practice is one of the good acts in the sensual world which one has to do for such liberation.

The question then arises as to whether vipassana practice can lead to rebirth. The commentaries on Anguttara Nikaya and Patthana point to such a possibility. According to the commentary on Anguttara Nikaya, the first three right views lead to good rebirth, the last two right views, viz., the view that is born of fruition on the path (phala sammaditthi) and the view that results from vipassana practice tend to liberate the yogi from life cycle (samsara). It says, however, on the authority of a learned thera (Culabhaya) that the yogi is subject to rebirth for seven times before he attains Arahatship. According to Patthana, contemplation of appamana (conditions of existence) leads to rebirth in sensual sphere, and the commentary defines appamana cetana as maturity (gotrabhu cetana). Hence, it is reasonable to assume that vipassana practice can give rise to rebirth before Arahatship is won.

But vipassana can ensure freedom from samsara through insight into anicca, dukkha and anatta of all sense objects - an insight that keeps off the defilement of craving for them. This non arising of craving means non arising of kamma and rebirth. Thus, vipassana insight helps to offset kamma and its samsaric consequences by tadangapahana (overcoming by opposite).

Moreover, through inductive generalization, the yogi realizes the anicca, dukkha and anatta of other phenomena that he has contemplated. Thus, he keeps off the defilements and their kammic potentials by repression (vikkhambhana pahana). Then, there follows the Ariyan insight on the path that helps to root out the defilements. The emergence of this insight may be likened to the signing of an official letter by the head of a government department. The act of the officer in charge is, in fact, to give the finishing touch to the lot of work done by his subordinates. We cannot ignore the major contribution of vipassana practice in the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment any more than we can ignore the work of office staff or the cumulative effect of repeated use of a saw that makes it finally possible for the woodcutter to exterminate the tree once and forever. As the sub commentary on Visuddhimagga says:

“Transcendent insight on the path helps to stamp out, root and branch only the defilements which the yogi has done his utmost to overcome through mundane vipassana insight.”

Those who do not contemplate, labour under the illusion of bliss and ego entity. The illusion leads to craving, kammic efforts, rebirth and all the sufferings that are inherent in life cycle.