According to my Dharma practice and experience on the basis of the Teachings of Lord Buddha, I would like to let you know that in our body I have found that there is an extremely fine and delicate Paramattha Dharma.
Inside our own body, I have found that there is an emptiness which includes the 32 characteristics forming the Sankhara (body). Our skin is full of tiny holes on which there are tiny hairs. These hairs serve like transmission antennas in modern communication, like television or radio, for communication between the external and internal part of the body. When these holes or antennas receive information from the outside, they will transmit to the inside part of the body. Then feelings will occur. In relation to the feelings, there are all sort of feelings which I cannot describe them all. Some of the feelings are - hot, cold, pain, happy or sad, content or discontent and so on. These feelings are endless. Only Dharma practitioners can understand and know them all.
For example, hairs which grow on our skin. At their roots there are tiny holes penetrating inside our body where there exist some kind of oil-like substance combining with air running back and forward in every single part of our body. This is called the ‘inside air' which serve as a transmission assisting the circulation of blood to the heart for a body to survive. Otherwise, the heart will stop functioning and we will die. The oil-like substance under the skin acts like a protective system against dampness. That is to prevent water from penetrating inside our body. It helps us to stay alive. This can be seen when we are having a bath or a shower. We will see that water only wet the outside part of our skin, it cannot penetrate inside the skin. If it can, it will cause our body to be short of air and therefore the body cannot survive.
I would like to demonstrate to you by way of an example. Let us take a piece of tissue paper and then put it into a glass of water - any kind of water. We will see that the tissue paper will slowly disintegrate. This proves that the tissue paper has no protective system. Our body, especially, the internal part of the body, if it has no protective system under the skin, it will disintegrate like the tissue paper. Therefore, it can be said that the reason we are alive is because of the combination of natural parts of our body.
In relation to the oil-like substance, it can only prevent water from penetrating inside our body. It cannot act against severe temperature like extremely hot or cold. Here we have to use our wisdom. If we do not use our wisdom, we will suffer pain or we might even loose our life when it is either too hot or too cold. For example, when it is very cold, our body temperature will reduce, the tiny holes on our skin will start to close up. This will cause the internal body system from receiving any information from the external body system. The communication between the external and internal body system will collapse and as a result might loose our life. This is very important.
This is a fine Dharma gift which I would like to give to all Dharma practitioners. If any of you would like to know the where abouts of the Paramattha Dharma, you must keep practising Vipassana Khammathana. Then you will know the answer yourself. You do not have to search it very far. It is inside your body. Happiness is Dharma Wisdom. Before leaving, I would like to wish all of you to be happy and to be free from sufferings. Sadhu
LuongTa Chanhphy Panyano Manivong
21 July 1996