Regarding namarupa, consciousness specifically in Dependent Origination. I had to continually keep in mind that I was not looking for an experience which renders us inoperable or comatose, we are all seeking the insight to end suffering and the cause of suffering only. Whilst I have a body I still must feed it and interact with a complicated world. I say this because I noticed that imagination will make it harder for us and perhaps try to explain Dependent Origination or Unbinding as an experience of ending or ceasing in a way which it isn't i.e. it isn’t a state of mental in-operability. Or we may feel overwhelmed, in a thicket of views, which again I feel was not Buddha’s objective. So it is about just getting our heads around it.
As SN 12.2 namarupa or name&form ceases on the “Cessation of Consciousness”. Some sources explain that Consciousness and Name&form arise together, so the explanation of DO is linear but we can consider that the parts arise together [1]. This makes it easier for me as I can tackle the topic more practically, where I see it most apparent through insight. By name and form I understand it is the way we see the world around us. We see each object having a quality, such as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. I take a flower as good, but another person may see a flower as a bad weed. So we need to see all things with equanimity and to do so we need to remove the automatic sense of a quality in objects. We also need to remove our habitual clinging or craving/aversion to objects because we see good or bad in them as if they contain that quality as part of their nature, which they do not (anatta). Objects do not have any inherent self or quality so they are just objects or form (rupa), it is wrong view to cling to an object thinking it is a good object or let the feeling of aversion arise on sensing a ‘bad’ object. We can go through the world perfectly intelligently without craving and aversion.
SN 12.2 Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta:
"Now from the remainderless fading & cessation of that very ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications. From the cessation of fabrications comes the cessation of consciousness. From the cessation of consciousness comes the cessation of name-&-form. From the cessation of name-&-form comes the cessation of the six sense media. From the cessation of the six sense media comes the cessation of contact. From the cessation of contact comes the cessation of feeling. From the cessation of feeling comes the cessation of craving. From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance. From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming. From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth. From the cessation of birth, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of stress & suffering."
So when we understand the cessation of name&form, all the rest will cease to be a part of the system or chain which leads to dukkha.
What we are doing all the time is labelling form, as explained above with ‘good/pleasure, bad/displeasure or neither good nor bad’ this correlates to craving, aversion or delusion. In order to put an end to this once and for all we need to use anicca and anatta. If anatta and anicca are difficult to comprehend then we can engage in the Eightfold path and meditation.
Through anicca we can see that no object or any event has permanence, it arises and passes away. Keep a focus on how things end or cease, as this is ‘letting go’ and helps to remove any current ongoing clinging or aversion. Hence we will see there is no need to cling, and no need to label form as good/bad etc. We pull our attention back on how we automatically label things, and instead of labelling them we keep in mind anicca and anatta and let things pass through our senses without given them any label. So it could be a beautiful face or an ugly face, we just ‘see’ we don’t need to label form with a name or feeling like “pleasurable” or “repulsive”. By removing this labelling affect of the mind, through mindfulness of anatta and anicca, this will cease consciousness from going on to ‘contact’ and ‘feeling’ in the chain of DO. By being mindful at the 6 sense gates throughout our day it will make consciousness more clear and stop it from leading to craving and suffering.
Below is what the Buddha said on the “cessation of consciousness” and then "form", a potentially tricky topic. You will notice that he doesn’t mean we become unconscious but rather there is a change to the run-of-the-mill consciousness in that it become more refined (my terms):
Sattatthana Sutta SN 22.57"He discerns consciousness, the origination of consciousness, the cessation of consciousness, the path of practice leading to the cessation of consciousness. He discerns the allure of consciousness, the drawback of consciousness, and the escape from consciousness.
"And what is form? The four great existents [the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, & the wind property] and the form derived from them: this is called form. From the origination of nutriment comes the origination of form. From the cessation of nutriment comes the cessation of form. And just this noble eightfold path is the path of practice leading to the cessation of form, i.e., right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. The fact that pleasure & happiness arises in dependence on form: that is the allure of form. The fact that form is inconstant, stressful, subject to change: that is the drawback of form. The subduing of desire & passion for form, the abandoning of desire & passion for form: that is the escape from form.
Link: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I hope this helps! I will also cover the 3 parts of DO and how I apply this practically if of interest.
metta
[1] http://www.vipassati.ch/english/books/P ... ebook.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; the wind property] and the form derived from them: this is called form. From the origination of nutriment comes the origination of form. From the cessation of nutriment comes the cessation of form. And just this noble eightfold path is the path of practice leading to the cessation of form, i.e., right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. The fact that pleasure