Three Levels of Practice > Sotāpanna Stage of Nibbāna > Sotāpanna Stage – Previous Posts > Assāda, Ādīnava, Nissaraṇa > Feelings: Sukha, Dukha, Somanassa, and Domanassa

December 11, 2015; Revised November 19, 2018; June 15, 2024

In this post, we will discuss an important classification of vedanā based on whether they arise due to kamma vipāka or our defiled thoughts (saṅkhāra).

1. This is a sequel to the previous post, “Vedanā (Feelings) Arise in Two Ways,” where we discussed how feelings arise due to kamma vipāka and also due to mano saṅkhāra.

▪As discussed in several posts, we can prevent certain kamma vipāka from actually taking place by not creating suitable conditions for them to appear, but some strong ones are hard to avoid; see, “What is Kamma? – Is Everything Determined by Kamma?.”

▪However, feelings (both good and bad) that arise due to saṅkhāra are totally avoidable, and Arahants are completely free of them. We discussed this in the previous post.

▪Now let us discuss in detail what types of feelings arise from those two causes.

2. First, let us discuss the feelings that we feel in our physical bodies.

▪They include sukha vedanā such as bodily comforts one feels sleeping in a luxurious bed, eating tasty food, smelling nice odors, seeing something attractive, etc. They arise via the five physical senses.

▪Then there are dukha vedanā that are again brought in via the five physical senses: injuries to the body, headaches, eating something bitter, smelling a foul odor, hearing to an ear-piercing sound, etc.

▪Both those types of vedanā are due to kamma vipāka, and Arahants feel them too. Sukha vedanā arise due to kusala kamma vipāka (past good deeds) and dukha vedanā arise due to akusala kamma vipāka (past bad deeds).

▪These sukha and dukha vedanā mainly exist in the kāma loka, where the dense bodies of the beings are sufficiently dense to impart them. It is mainly in the lower five realms (including the human realm, that dukha vedanā exists as kamma vipāka. However, the worst types of dukha vedanā are in the lowest four realms (apāyā), and that is why a Sotāpanna is said to have overcome the worst of the suffering forever.

▪In the Deva realms, it is mainly the sukha vedanā that results from good kamma vipāka. That is why a Sakadāgāmī is never born at or below the human realm, and is said to become “healthy forever.”

▪In the rūpa loka and arūpa loka, beings mainly have jhānic pleasures. Thus, an Anāgāmī, who will never be reborn in the kāma loka, is said to become “peaceful forever.”

3. Some vipāka vedanā felt by the body are neutral. Furthermore, all vipāka vedanā coming through the other four physical senses are also neutral: adhukkhamaasukha (adhukkhama asukha or without being painful or joyful, just neutral) vedanā, which are commonly called upekkhā vedanā.

▪It is important to note that such adhukkhama asukha or upekkha vedanā are the true reality of experience. Vedanā comes from (“ve” + “danā”) which means “veema danaveema” (වීම දැනවීම means being (vīma) notice [dænavīma]) in Sinhala. Basically, when we sense something via our six senses, we become aware that something happened, i.e., seeing a picture, hearing a sound, etc.; that is vedanā.

▪For example, seeing a person X only leads to an upekkha vedanā for ANYONE initially.

4. However, within a fraction of a second of that seeing event, it COULD LEAD TO pleasant (somanassa) or unpleasant (domanassa) feelings DEPENDING ON WHO IS SEEING X. Person X’s wife or child will generate somanassa vedanā upon seeing X. However, an enemy of X will generate domanassa vedanā upon seeing X.

▪On the other hand, a total stranger (or an Arahant) will not generate either somanassa or domanassa vedanā upon seeing X, and that is the true reality, as mentioned in #3 above.

▪Thus, both somanassa and domanassa vedanā are MIND MADE, and arise due to mano saṅkhāra. And such saṅkhāra are generated based on one’s own gati and āsavas. [āsava ： [m.] 1. that which flows; 2. spirit; 3. discharge from a sore; 4. ideas which intoxicate the mind.]

▪In another example, if two people who are strong supporters of two opposing political parties see the leader of one political party, one will generate somanassa vedanā and the other will generate domanassa vedanā upon seeing that politician. Thus, those feelings could not have resided with the politician, but arose entirely due to the gati of those two people.

▪An Arahant will not generate either kind, because there is no attachment (or repulsion) to anything or anyone for an Arahant.

▪This is a very important point that one could do insight meditation on.

5. We also know that both sukha and dukha vedanā can LEAD TO somanassa and domanassa vedanā too. For example, When one gets a headache due to a kamma vipāka, one could be agonizing over how long that will last, whether that will prevent one from going to a party the next day, etc. Those are domanassa vedanā due to that initial dukha vedanā from the headache.

▪On the other side, when one eats a tasty piece of cake (good vipāka vedanā), one might start thinking about buying more of that cake and enjoying it later; that gives rise to somanassa vedanā.

▪Both the domanassa vedanā and the somanassa vedanā in the above two examples are totally mind-made, i.e., due to saṅkhāra.

6. Therefore, based on the three types of vedanā (sukha vedanā, dukha vedanā, and upekkhā vedanā) that arise due to kamma vipāka, ADDITIONAL two types of vedanā (somanassa and domanassa vedanā) COULD arise depending on the āsava and gati of the person experiencing them.

▪Those feelings that we feel IN THIS LIFE due to saṅkhāra are MOSTLY two kinds: somanassa vedanā and domanassa vedanā. Those saṅkhāra also make bhava/kammic energy (via thoughts, speech, and actions,) and those give rise to kamma vipāka mostly in future lives but also in this life itself, as we discuss below in #11.

▪Thus rebirths are also generated via (abhi)saṅkhāra and that is how the cycle of rebirths is maintained. That is why it is called saṁsāra (“saŋ” + “sāra,” where “sāra” means “good”), i.e., one perceives that it is good to keep doing saṅkhāra (“saŋ” + “kāra”, where “kāra” or “kiriya” is action).

7. This is why Dukkha Sacca (First Noble Truth) does not mean that we can ELIMINATE the dukha vedanā arising in our present physical body; those are due to kamma vipāka (the causes were already done).

▪However, by gradually reducing saṅkhāra (with increased understanding of Buddha Dhamma), we can stop making new saṅkhāra and thus eliminate future suffering. This is the key to dukkha sacca. Such saṅkhāra are also called assāda (āsvāda in Sinhala); see, “Assāda, Ādīnava, Nissaraṇa – Introduction.”

8. Still, we can reduce bad consequences from past kamma vipāka using what are called “strategies” (“upakkama”) in Buddha Dhamma.

▪One is to be mindful and not to let conditions for past kamma vipāka to take place. This is discussed in, “What Is Kamma? – Is Everything Determined by Kamma?” and “Anantara and Samanantara Paccaya.”

▪If the kamma vipāka has already started imparting its effects (say, someone finds out that one has cancer), then one can work to alleviate that condition by using another related “strategy”: One can get medical help and adopt a lifestyle that opposes the spreading of cancer. Even here, we should focus on overcoming this bad condition by making a suitable environment for “opposing good kamma vipāka” to bear fruit. Thus, if one does not make an effort, the bad kamma vipāka will run its course, and one may not have a long life.

9. Each living being’s body is designed to impart appropriate good and bad kamma vipāka suitable for the kamma seed that gave rise to that particular life.

▪For example, an animal cannot implement “strategies” (“upakkama”) to overcome most of its kamma vipāka. For example, it cannot do anything about a wound (other than licking it) or think about dragging its cot to a sunny spot (our dog likes to be in the sun, but we must move her cot!).

▪Some animals have built-in defenses for their survival, but they cannot make them any better. For example, some birds instinctively know how to build a nest, but their “nest design” has not improved for millions of years. Also, baby turtles “know” the way to the ocean and start trotting in the right direction minutes after their hatching; see, “How Character (Gati) Leads to Bhava and Jāti.”

▪Animals are also unable to do strong good or bad kamma. Even though most animals kill other animals, that is not done with greed or hate, but just for survival. It is just like the instinct for birds to build nests or baby turtles to head in the right direction to the sea. In the Abhidhamma language, they generate mostly “upekkha sahagata citta” and those have much less javana power.

▪Thus, animals cannot accumulate much good or bad kamma. Otherwise, they will never be able to escape that “bhava,” since most survive by killing other animals. In the same way, whenever they get a “good life” (say as a human)– which is very rare — that is due to a good kamma vipāka done in a previous “good life.”

▪But not all animals are the same. Those “higher up” animals like monkeys can accumulate kamma than “lower ones” such as worms, and cats and dogs are somewhere in between.

10. The potency of human saṅkhāra comes from the ability of humans to generate both “somanassa sahagata citta” (thoughts with joy) for kusala kamma and akusala kamma. The javana power of those cittā is very high.

▪Thus, when one is doing a good deed with joy, that brings much more merits compared to someone who is doing it just because others are doing it (with neutral feelings,) i.e., with an “upekkhā sahagata citta”; see, “‘A Simple Way to Enhance Merits (Kusala) and Decrease Demerits (Akusala).”

▪Even stronger javana arise when a good deed is done with the knowledge that it will lead to good results and why, i.e., one knows right from wrong.

▪But the most potent javana arises when a good deed is done with an understanding of the anicca nature, i.e., when one does it with “somanassa sahagata ñāṇa sampayutta citta.” Thus, paññā (or ñāṇa) comes from an understanding that is deeper than just knowing right from wrong.

▪It works the other way around for bad deeds: the most potent javana (with high kammic power that can lead to rebirth in the apāyā) are generated with “somanassa sahagata diṭṭhi sampayutta citta,” i.e, thoughts with joy and wrong vision. A good example is someone who commits murder and enjoys it, and it is done with the diṭṭhi that such an action cannot bring bad consequences.

▪But when one commits murder due to anger that is done with aversion and displeasure: “domanassa sahagata paṭigha sampayutta citta”; see, “Akusala Citta and Akusala Vipāka Citta.”

11. Now let us consider the consequences of saṅkhāra in this life, which we mentioned in #6 above. Suppose a teenager starts associating with bad friends and starts drinking alcohol. Initially, he does not even like the taste of it, i.e., he may be generating a domanassa vedanā due to the taste of alcohol. But with the insistence of those friends he continues drinking.

▪Then he makes a habit (gati) of it, begins to perceive the taste as a somanassa vedanā, and starts making saṅkhāra about drinking. Even in the middle of some other task, he starts thinking about the next party where he can drink, what types of drinks there will be, and so on.

▪Now, the “saṅkhāra paccayā viññāṇa” step in the Paṭicca Samuppāda leads to making a “new viññāṇa for drinking.” The more he thinks about such parties and generates those somanassa vedanā, the more viññāṇa, nāma rūpa, etc., he makes for such “drinking events.”

▪And the stronger that “viññāṇa for drinking” gets, the more he will be thinking about it (making more saṅkhāra). Then the habit is strengthened; see “How Habits are Formed and Broken – A Scientific View.”

12. Mind phenomena are complex. However, with the background we have accumulated, we can figure out some of the causes and possible effects. There is no need to memorize all these different terms; they will be carved into the memory as one contemplates and sorts out one’s experiences.

To summarize, Sukha and dukha vedanā arise due to kamma vipāka. Somanassa and domanassa vedanā arise due to saṅkhāra, which in turn arise due to our gati and āsavas. The more saṅkhāra we do, the stronger a given gati (habit) becomes, which in turn become āsavas (cravings) and fuel the saṁsāric journey (rebirth process). This vicious cycle can be broken only through comprehending the anicca nature of this world.