This essay is a revised and expanded version of a talk I gave to three American psychologists in March 1995 at the Mahāsi Training School in Yangon. To this written form of the talk I have added the sections on “solidity” and “objective matter” as well as some concluding reflections.

The essay is intended to preserve the direct and informal tone of a listener-oriented, interactive talk; hence doctrinal expressions are reduced to the minimum. Passages representing my own thoughts are clearly introduced as such. My explanations are supported by many parallels, comparisons, and analogies from daily life as well as from science. My predilection for examples from physics should not give the impression that I am an expert in the subject. I assure the reader I am not.

As the background to this essay I rely on the original Teaching of the Buddha and on the Theravāda Abhidhamma. I sometimes distinguish between the “original Teaching of the Buddha” and the Theravāda. When I make this distinction, by the former I mean the teachings found in the main Nikāyas of the Pali Canon, which were part of the general Buddhist heritage; by the latter I refer to the specific mode of interpretation found in the Pali Abhidhamma and the Commentaries. For people not yet familiar with the Buddha’s doctrine I have included some basic information from the ancient texts. The doctrinal points, however, are not my main concern here.

My object in discussing the three themes of the ancient Teaching is to invite all sincerely, seriously investigating people to question deeply the so-called “given realities” of our lives and to reflect thoroughly on the nature and predicament of our existence.

-Ashin Ottama

Jonathan Nelson