Beingness and the Being

"Beingness" is a natural law — conformity to nature. In other words, it is being subject to the climate, the seasons, change, the need for food, and the fact of continuity that operate in nature. This conformity, taking root within a being, is what we call beingness. Beingness arises on the foundation of a life endowed with material qualities.

To put it more precisely: this is about how beingness comes to rest within matter, as seen through Buddha-wisdom. It is about the root nature of "being-like" tendencies that arise within the body. Here we set questions of the mind (citta) to one side, and explain the being-root nature that exists within the material body. What we call life, or a living creature, arises when one consciousness gives rise to another consciousness. That question is not what "beingness" is examining here.

From Elements to Beingness

Trace beingness back to its root, and you find earth (pathavi) as the base element. Even air has earth-element in it; fire has it; water has it. Earth-element is a natural law. Understanding it is an extremely complex matter — something to be grasped through wisdom, not ordinary thought.

Earth-element alone does not create beingness. When a being comes into existence, something called prana — a particular energy — joins it. This is an energy source capable of directing the earth-element. When this force, which builds life within earth-element, joins in, beingness arises. Earth-element is what transforms into beingness; earth-element is what takes the lead in that transformation.

Why is this called "beingness"? Because a distinct energy source capable of directing earth-element becomes embedded within it. As this grows, earth-element cannot remain alone — the other elements (water, fire, air) begin operating alongside it, with earth-element as the foundation. This is how beingness arises.

A being's root element is the four great elements. The root of beingness is prana — life-force. A chair does not have beingness. Once dead, we no longer speak of beingness either.

Density and Variety

There is also a quality called "the density of the great elements" (mahā-dhātu, or dense nature). This density varies across different kinds of beings. Even where the outward form appears human to our eyes, the underlying density of the elements can range across an extraordinary variety — human, deva, yaksha, animal, brahma, and many other categories of being, each with a corresponding density. Within the human density itself, there can be a range of expressions — some closer to the deva-like, some to wisdom, some to delusion, some to unwholesome tendencies, some to animal-like traits, some to the arahant-like, and so on.

The underlying nature within earth-element is what we call this dense nature. Earth-element contains within it the natural laws of the four elements. The way these four elements centre, dominate and settle in a particular pattern is what gives rise to this dense underlying character. From there, further tendencies keep arising.

Have you ever wondered where your own beingness actually resides? Take a moment now, and ask: where is my beingness, right now? You might think it appears relative to some object of attention — but that is simply how mental formations (sankhara) work, and it isn't the underlying law being described here. The ordinary sense of "being a person" that you know is simply an opinion held in the mind. Whether you say "self exists" or "self doesn't exist," both are constructions of the mind. What is being described here is neither of those views — it is about the root nature of beingness as seen through Buddha-wisdom.

Life-Force, Karma, and Consciousness

A being has, at root, prana. Without prana there is no being. Beingness rests on prana. Prana can be called life-quality. Through that life-force, the earth-element is directed, and combined with the other natural laws, it begins to function as a separate unit. Within this process, mistaking something that is not truly "self" for "self" gives rise to the notion of "I" and the sense of selfhood built around it — that is a separate matter, the arising of the sense of "mine." When we consider the root nature of beingness, a being's conformity to nature happens through this activity centred on prana.

Now let's examine what a "being" actually is. A being comes into existence from the moment the first consciousness arises. The tendency for one consciousness to give rise to another can be called "life." When life first arises, there is a spontaneous quality to it (opapatika) that cannot really be analysed further. But once inside this process, as the behaviour of the four great elements becomes entangled with the fact of life, karma and consciousness begin to arise relative to the shifting balance of the four elements.

When a citta (a moment of mind) first arises, it is taken as the first living being — the first instance of life within the domain of citta, or the root nature of the citta domain. There are distinct fields: the Buddha domain, the karma domain, the being domain, the world domain, the citta domain. What's being discussed here belongs to the being domain. Within this domain's activity, consciousness and karma begin forming. Circling through this, on the imbalance of the four great elements, beingness is nourished. Within this beingness, life, karma and consciousness exist together. As this keeps operating, this very beingness becomes an animal, a hungry ghost, a demon, a human, or a deva. It likewise becomes a brahma, a bodhisattva, or a Buddha. This same beingness passes through all these states. This same beingness is what becomes a Buddha. In becoming a Buddha, the four-great-elements aspect called "being," along with karma and consciousness, still carries and supports that Buddhahood. Even an arahant, in many cases, still carries beingness — the arahant's bodhi and paramita rest upon it. An arahant still lives as a being. Then, within that bodhi, they pass into final nirvana, and at that point beingness itself disappears. The karma and cause-effect that had persisted are exhausted.

Beyond Beingness

Once one has understood the world and seen emptiness and become free, what remains is to be freed from beingness itself. At that point beingness can be extinguished — while realisations such as understanding of the Dhamma can still form even while beingness remains. If someone, through insight (vipassana) and true knowledge of things as they are, understands the Dhamma and awakens self-arisen wisdom, they become a Buddha. If someone brings sincerity and purity to complete fullness, they become a Maitri Buddha. Only by first becoming a Buddha can one become a Maitri Buddha — there is no other way. While beingness remains, understanding can be built and one can become a Buddha, but one cannot pass into final nirvana. Within beingness, understanding condenses, becomes dense, becomes earth-like, and binds as a distinctive force. It is through a Buddha who has cultivated the bases of psychic power (iddhipada) that such final nirvana becomes possible. A fully self-enlightened Buddha (samma sambuddha) is one who has become free of both beingness and Buddhahood.

When someone's beingness disappears, it means that all the being-existences they wandered through in samsara have ceased. Once that entire beingness has ceased, such a person no longer has beingness in this world. Someone whose beingness has ceased, upon encountering a being, either enters into that being's condition, or manifests that being's condition within themselves. Having manifested it, they teach the Dhamma suited to that being. This is something many people of developed mind can do.

In becoming omniscient, one descends into a being's beingness and, while becoming that beingness, also has the capacity to change it — the capacity to break cause and effect, or to create new cause and effect. If you, as a person, represent a "being-world," this capacity allows one to dive right into that being-world. Having dived in, one can make all of its beingness vanish — because the law by which beingness vanishes is common to all. Once beingness vanishes, any being can conform to the being-world. Having conformed, that being can be liberated from samsara. Looked at theoretically, what remains once beingness is gone? The very law by which every instance of beingness arose is the same law. The law by which beingness arises is what we call beingness itself — a natural law. It is conformity to nature. Nature holds the climate, the seasons, change, food, continuity — and conforming to these natural laws, within a being, is what gives rise to beingness.

Someone whose beingness has ceased has no remaining conformity to nature, no root of conforming to nature. Yet even such a person can, when needed, conform to nature at will. That is called "conforming to being." But in truth, nothing of the sort persists as a fixed thing.

Both nature and beings share the same underlying qualities and laws of the four great elements. Because of this, when a being connects with nature, that connection functions smoothly. Once the laws of these four elements have entirely ceased, nothing of that kind remains — that state is called the element of omniscience. Omniscience is the quality of being capable of transforming into anything. Because omniscience is not itself bound by the laws of the four great elements, it has the capacity to conform to every kind of beingness, in accordance with those laws. Once a Buddha has fully conformed to the four great elements, it is as though they have conformed to every being. Omniscience carries within it the capacity to alter the composition of any elemental nature — the capacity to change any karma, Dhamma or law. What is special about omniscience is precisely this capacity for transformation.

When it's sensed that someone has a particular kind of understanding, omniscient wisdom can arrange causes and conditions so that understanding surfaces. When someone's present way of thinking has obscured an understanding within them, omniscient wisdom can shift that thinking and arrange cause and effect so the hidden understanding comes forward.

The laws within the four great elements can be directed by omniscient wisdom. One could remove the deva-nature, brahma-nature, human-nature from a being. One could make someone an arahant, free them from samsara — anything at all is possible. But the real problem is: such a thought doesn't arise. If asked how such a thought would even arise, there is no answer to give. So if a being arrives bringing a wholesome cause or reason, it is very simple for a Buddha. The being must bring the merit or the cause. If they do, their beingness disappears. Every being in the being-world could be made to vanish — but the thought to do so doesn't arise. It is uncaused, without a cause. A cause strong enough for that thought to arise has to be created externally. A Buddha cannot manufacture that cause. The cause must arise from outside.