Dhamma Talk 02

 

Seeing as It Truly Is: Insights from the Bāhiya Sutta

A Dhamma Talk with Pali References & Live Links
Prepared by: Chamila Randeniya

Contents

• Introduction
• The Structure of Sense Experience in Early Buddhism
• Eye, Form, and Consciousness
• From Contact to Concept
• In the Seen, Only the Seen
• Comparison with Vedānta Non-Dualism
• Implications for Buddhist Practice
• Conclusion
• Supplementary Texts (Pali & English)
• References

Dear Dhamma Friends,

Let us begin with a simple experience: seeing a flower. Imagine looking at a beautiful flower in a garden. For most of us, the mind immediately labels it: “This is a flower. I like it. It belongs to me.” Thoughts, feelings, and memories attach themselves to that experience. Desire or aversion may arise. In short, the moment of direct experience becomes a momentum of conceptualization and clinging.

The Buddha’s teaching to Bāhiya (Udāna 1.10) helps us see this process clearly:

Pali:

“Diṭṭhe diṭṭhamattaṃ bhavissati, sute sutamattaṃ bhavissati, mute mutamattaṃ bhavissati, viññāte viññātamattaṃ bhavissati.”

English:

“In the seen there will be only the seen, in the heard only the heard, in the sensed only the sensed, in the cognized only the cognized.” (Ud 1.10; Sujato, 2018)

If, while seeing the flower, we notice it as it is, without labeling, owning, or attaching, we touch a moment of direct experience — pure and free from suffering.

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The Structure of Sense Experience in Early Buddhism

Eye, Form, and Consciousness

Perception arises through dependent origination:

Pali:

“Cakkhuñca paṭicca rūpe ca uppajjati cakkhuviññāṇaṃ; tiṇṇaṃ saṅgati phasso.” (SN 35.93)

English:

“Dependent on eye and forms, eye-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact.”

• Eye (cakkhu): sensory base enabling vision
• Form (rūpa): visual phenomena such as color, shape, and patterns
• Consciousness (viññāṇa): awareness arising from the meeting of eye and form

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From Contact to Concept

When eye, form, and consciousness meet, contact (phassa) arises. Contact conditions:

• Feeling (vedanā)
• Perception (saññā)
• Mental formations (saṅkhāra)

Conceptual overlay — like thinking “This is a flower” or “I like this flower” — is secondary. The raw experience of seeing the flower is neutral, impermanent, and without self.

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In the Seen, Only the Seen

Bāhiya’s instruction invites us to remain with direct awareness:

Pali:

“Yato kho te, Bāhiya, diṭṭhe diṭṭhamattaṃ bhavissati … tato tvaṃ, Bāhiya, na tena …”

English:

“When in the seen there will be only the seen … then, Bāhiya, you will not be ‘by that.’ When you are not ‘by that,’ you will not be ‘in that.’ … That is the end of suffering.”

Applied to the flower, this means seeing the flower simply as a flower, without labeling, judging, or claiming it. That is a direct taste of freedom.

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Comparison with Vedānta Non-Dualism

Similarity: Both traditions critique subject-object duality.

Differences:

• Dependent Origination: Phenomena arise conditionally; no permanent self or Brahman exists.
• Pragmatic Goal: Liberation from suffering, not metaphysical speculation.

As Jayatilleke (1963) notes, “the Buddhist rejection of a permanent self distinguishes its phenomenological analysis from Vedānta non-dualism.”

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Implications for Buddhist Practice

• Mindfulness of Direct Experience: Observe raw sensory data without conceptual overlay.
• Insight into Dependent Origination: See how eye, form, and consciousness arise conditionally.
• Freedom from Identification: Avoid inserting “I” into perception; reduce clinging and mental proliferation.

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Conclusion

The teaching to Bāhiya provides a succinct yet profound insight into perception.

“In the seen, only the seen” is both an epistemic insight and a liberative practice.

Eye and form are conditioned phenomena; consciousness arises in dependence upon them.

Naming, labeling, and sense of “I” are secondary constructions.

By seeing without seer and seen, hearing without hearer and heard, and tasting without appropriation, we touch the cessation of suffering. Even the simple act of seeing a flower can become a doorway to freedom.

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Supplementary Texts (Pali & English)

Theme	Pali Passage	English Rendering
Eye, Form, and Consciousness	“Cakkhuñca paṭicca rūpe ca uppajjati cakkhuviññāṇaṃ; tiṇṇaṃ saṅgati phasso.” (SN 35.93)	“Dependent on eye and forms, eye-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact.”
Contact, Feeling, Perception	“Phasso paccayā vedanā, vedanā paccayā saññā, saññā paccayā saṅkhāraṃ, saṅkhāra paccayā viññāṇaṃ.” (MN 18)	“Contact conditions feeling, feeling conditions perception, perception conditions formations, formations condition consciousness.”
Direct Seeing (Bāhiya Sutta)	“Diṭṭhe diṭṭhamattaṃ bhavissati, sute sutamattaṃ bhavissati, mute mutamattaṃ bhavissati, viññāte viññātamattaṃ bhavissati.” (Ud 1.10)	“In the seen there will be only the seen; in the heard, only the heard; in the sensed, only the sensed; in the cognized, only the cognized.”
Ending of Appropriation / Suffering	“Yato te, Bāhiya, diṭṭhe diṭṭhamattaṃ bhavissati … tato tvaṃ, Bāhiya, na tena …” (Ud 1.10)	“When in the seen there will be only the seen … then, Bāhiya, you will not be ‘by that.’ When you are not ‘by that,’ you will not be ‘in that.’ … That is the end of suffering.”
Dependent Origination (Insight into Experience)	“Yato cakkhu paccayā rūpa, rūpā paccayā cakkhuviññāṇaṃ; tiṇṇaṃ saṅgati phasso.” (SN 35.93)	“Dependent on eye and form, eye-consciousness arises; the meeting of the three is contact.”

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References

• Bodhi, Bhikkhu (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
• Jayatilleke, K. N. (1963). Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge. London: Allen & Unwin.
• Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu & Bodhi, Bhikkhu (1995). The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
• Sujato, Bhikkhu (2018). SuttaCentral translations of the Pali Canon.
• Udāna 1.10, Bāhiya Sutta. Pali & English, SuttaCentral.