|
The Buddhist Teaching on Physical Phenomena
Preface
That which is made of iron, wood or hemp is not a strong bond,
say the wise; (but) that longing for jewels, ornaments, children and wives
is far greater an attachment.
Dhammapada
(vs. 345).
Attachment to people and possessions is strong, almost
irresistable. We are infatuated by what we see, hear, smell, taste,
experience through the bodysense and through the mind. However, all the
different things we experience do not last. We lose people who are dear to
us and we lose our possessions. We can find out that attachment leads to
sorrow, but at the moments of attachment we do not want to accept the truth
of the impermanence of all things. We want pleasant objects for ourselves,
and we consider the "self" the most important matter in the
world.
Through the Buddhist teachings we learn that what we take for
"self", for "our mind" and for "our body",
consists of changing phenomena. That part of the Buddhist teachings which
is the "Abhidhamma" enumerates and classifies all phenomena of
our life: mental phenomena or nåma and physical phenomena or rúpa. Seeing
is nåma, it experiences visible object through the eye-door. Visible object
or colour is rúpa, it does not experience anything. The eyesense, which
functions as the eye-door through which visible object is experienced, is
also rúpa. The rúpas that are the sense objects of visible object, sound,
smell, flavour and tangible object and the rúpas that are the sense organs
of eyes, ears, nose, tongue and bodysense, are conditions for the nåmas
which experience objects. Nåma and rúpa are interrelated.
Nåma and rúpa are ultimate realities. We should know the
difference bewteen ultimate truth and conventional truth. Conventional
truth is the world of concepts such as person, tree or animal. Before we
learnt about Buddhism, conventional truth, the world of concepts, was the
only truth we knew. It is useful to examine the meaning of concept, in
Påli: paññatti. The word concept can stand for the name or term that
conveys an idea and it can also stand for the idea itself conveyed by a
term. Thus, the name "tree" is a concept, and also the idea we
form up of "tree" is a concept. A tree is actually a
conglomeration of things; the component parts are just different rúpas. The
rúpas of which a tree consists do not last, they arise and fall away.
Through the eyes only the rúpa that is visible object or colour can be
experienced; through touch hardness, another type of rúpa, can be
experienced. Visible object and hardness are ultimate realities, paramattha
dhammas, each with their own characteristic. These characteristics do not
change, they can be experienced without having to name them. Colour is
always colour, hardness is always hardness, even when we give them another
name. The whole day we touch things such as a fork, a plate or a chair. We
believe that we know instantaneously what different things are, but after
the sense-impressions such as seeing or the experience of tactile object
through the bodysense, there are complicated processes of memory of former
experiences and of classification, and these moments succeed one another
very rapidly. Concepts are conceived through thinking. We remember the form
and shape of things, we know what different things are and what they are
used for. We could not lead our daily life without conventional realities;
we do not have to avoid the world of conventional truth. However, in
between the moments of thinking of concepts, understanding of ultimate
realities, of nåma and rúpa, can be developed. The development of
understanding does not prevent us from doing all the chores of daily life,
from talking to other people, from helping them or from being generous to
them. We could not perform deeds of generosity if we would not think of
conventional realities, such as the things we are giving or the person to
whom we give. But through the development of understanding we will learn to
distinguish between absolute truth and conventional truth.
The "Abhidhammattha Sangaha", a compendium of the
Abhidhamma composed in India at a later time 1
, states that concepts are only shadows of
realities. When we watch T.V., we see projected images of people and we
know that through the eyesense only visible object is seen, no people. Also
when we look at the persons we meet, only colour is experienced through the
eyesense. In the ultimate sense there are no people. Although they seem
very real they are only shadows of what is really there. The truth is
different from what we always assumed. A person is a temporary combination
of realities that are constantly in a process of formation and dissolution,
and thus the flux of life goes on. We cling to a conglomeration of
different objects, we take these as a solid "whole". So long as
we do not see the disruption of the continuity of body and mind we continue
to believe in a lasting self.
Ultimate realities are impermanent, they arise and fall away.
Concepts of people and things do not arise and fall away; they are objects
of thinking, not real in the ultimate sense. Nåma and rúpa, not concepts,
are the objects of understanding. The purpose of the development of the
eightfold Path is seeing ultimate realities as impermanent, suffering and
non-self. If the difference between concepts and ultimate realities is not
known the eightfold Path cannot be developed. The eightfold Path, that is,
right understanding of nåma and rúpa, is developed through direct awareness
of them. However, this is difficult and it can only be learnt very
gradually. When there is direct awareness of one object at a time as it
appears through one of the senses or through the mind-door, there is no
thinking of a concept of a "whole" at that moment. The study of
rúpas can help us to have more understanding of the sense objects and of
the doorways of the senses through which these objects are experienced. If
we do not have a foundation knowledge of objects and doorways we cannot
know how to be aware of one reality at a time as it appears at the present
moment. The study of nåma and rúpa is a condition for the arising of direct
awareness later on.
The study of rúpas is not the study of physics or medical
science. The aim of the understanding of nåma and rúpa is the eradication
of the wrong view of self and freedom from enslavement to defilements. So
long as one clings to an idea of self who owns things, it can give rise to
avarice and jealousy which may even motivate bad deeds such as stealing or
killing. Defilements cannot be eradicated immediately, but when we begin to
understand that our life is only one moment of experiencing an object
through one of the six doorways, there will be less clinging to the idea of
an abiding ego, of a person or self.
All three parts of the Buddha's teachings, namely the Vinaya
(Book of Discipline for the monks), the Suttanta (Discourses) and the
Abhidhamma point to the same goal: the eradication of defilements. From my
quotations of sutta texts the reader can see that there is also Abhidhamma
in the suttas, thus, that the teachings are one, the teaching of the
Buddha. I have added questions at the end of each chapter in order to
encourage the reader to check his understanding. I have used Påli terms
next to the English equivalents in order to help the reader to know the
precise meaning of the realities explained in the Abhidhamma. The English
terms have a specific meaning in the context of conventional use and they
do not render the precise meaning of the reality represented by the Påli
term. The texts from which I have quoted, including the scriptures and the
commentaries, have been translated into English by the Påli Text Society 2
.
The first of the seven books of the Abhidhamma, the
"Dhammasangaùi", translated as "Buddhist Psychological
Ethics" 3, is a compilation of all
nåma and rúpa, of all that is real. The source for my book on physical
phenomena is that part of the "Dhammasangaùi" which deals with
this subject, as well as the commentary to this book, the "Atthasåliní",
translated as "Expositor" 4 ,
written by the venerable Buddhaghosa. I also used the "Visuddhimagga",
translated as "The Path of Purification", an encyclopedia by the
venerable Buddhaghosa 5.
May this book on rúpas help the reader to develop right
understanding of nåma and rúpa!
*********
Footnotes
1.This work has been ascribed to Anuruddha. It has been
translated into English by the P.T.S. under the title of "Compendium
of Philosophy", and by Ven. Nårada, Colombo, under the title of "A
Manual of Abhidhamma".
2. 73 Lime Walk, Headington, Oxford OX 37, 7 AD.
3. Pali Text Society, 1974.
4. Pali Text Society, 1958.
5. I used the translation of Ven. Nyåùamoli , 1964, Colombo, Sri
Lanka. There is another translation by Pe Maung Tin under the title of "The
Path of Purity", P.T.S.
*******
Introduction The Abhidhamma teaches us that in the ultimate sense our life is
nåma and rúpa that arise because of their appropriate conditions and then
fall away. What we take for person or self is citta 1
or consciousness, cetasika 2 or mental
factors arising with the citta, and rúpa or physical phenomena. Citta and
cetasika are nåma, they experience objects, whereas rúpa does not know
anything. Citta experiences sense objects through the five senses. The
sense objects as well as the sense organs are rúpas. The five senses by
means of which cittas experience an object are called doors. When we think
of something we saw or heard citta does not experience an object through a
sense-door but through another door: the mind-door. Thus there are six
doorways. Through the mind-door citta can experience ultimate realities,
nåma and rúpa, as well as concepts.
Citta experiences only one object and then it falls away to be
succeeded by the next citta. We may have thought that there is one
consciousness that lasts, that can see, hear and think, but this is not so.
There can be only one citta at a time: at one moment there is a citta that
sees, at another moment a citta that hears and at another moment again a
citta that thinks. In our life there is an unbroken series of cittas
arising in succession.
Cittas can be good or wholesome, kusala cittas, they can be
unwholesome, akusala cittas, or they can be neither kusala nor akusala.
Seeing, for example, is neither kusala nor akusala, it only experiences
visible object through the eye-door. After seeing has fallen away, visible
object is experienced by kusala cittas or by akusala cittas. Thus, when an
object impinges on one of the six doors there are different types of cittas
arising in a series or process and all of them experience that object. They
arise in a specific order within the process and there is no self who can
prevent their arising. There are processes of cittas experiencing an object
through each of the five sense-doors and through the mind-door.
There is one citta at a time, but each citta is accompanied by
several cetasikas or mental factors that share the same object with the
citta but perform each their own function. Some cetasikas such as feeling
and remembrance or "perception" (saññå) accompany each citta,
others do not. Unwholesome mental factors, akusala cetasikas, only
accompany akusala cittas, whereas "beautiful" mental factors
(sobhana) cetasikas accompany kusala cittas.
As regards physical phenomena or rúpa, there are twentyeight
kinds of rúpa in all. Rúpas are not merely textbook terms, they are
realities that can be directly experienced. Rúpas do not know or experience
anything; they can be known by nåma. Rúpa arises and falls away, but it
does not fall away as quickly as nåma. When a characteristic of rúpa such
as hardness impinges on the bodysense it can be experienced through the
bodysense by several cittas arising in succession within a process. But
even though rúpa lasts longer than citta, it falls away again, it is
impermanent.
Rúpas do not arise singly, they arise in units or groups. What
we take for our body is composed of many groups or units, consisting each
of different kinds of rúpa, and the rúpas in such a group arise together
and fall away together. The reader will come across four conditioning
factors that produce rúpas of the body: kamma, citta, temperature and food.
The last three factors are easier to understand, but the first factor,
kamma, is harder to understand since kamma is a factor of the past. We can
perform good and bad deeds through body, speech and mind and these can
produce their appropriate results later on. Such deeds are called kamma,
but when we are more precise kamma is actually the cetasika volition or
intention (cetanå) that motivates the deed. Kamma is a mental activity and
thus its force can be accumulated. Since cittas that arise and fall away
succeed one another in an unbroken series, the force of kamma is carried on
from one moment of citta to the next moment of citta, from one life to the
next life. In this way kamma is capable to produce its result later on. A
good deed, kusala kamma, can produce a pleasant result, and an evil deed
can produce an unpleasant result. Kamma produces result at the first moment
of life: it produces rebirth-consciousness in a happy plane of existence
such as the human plane or a heavenly plane, or in an unhappy plane of
existence such as a hell plane or the animal world. Throughout life kamma
produces seeing, hearing and the other sense-impressions that are
vipåkacittas, cittas that are results. Vipåkacittas are neither kusala
cittas nor akusala cittas. Seeing a pleasant object is the result of kusala
kamma and seeing an unpleasant object is the result of akusala kamma. Due
to kamma gain and loss, praise and blame alternate in our life.
Rebirth-consciousness is the mental result of kamma, but at that
moment kamma also produces rúpas and kamma keeps on producing rúpas
throughout life; when it stops producing rúpas our life-span has to end.
Kamma produces particular kinds of rúpas such as the senses, as we shall
see. Citta also produces rúpas. Our different moods become evident by our
facial expressions and then it is clear that citta produces rúpas.
Temperature, which is actually the element of heat, also produces rúpas.
The unborn being in the womb, for example, needs the right temperature in
order to grow. Throughout life the element of heat produces rúpas.
Nutrition is another factor that produces rúpas. When food has been taken
by a living being it is assimilated into the body and then nutrition can
produce rúpas. Some of the groups of rúpas of our body are produced by
kamma, some by citta, some by temperature and some by nutrition. The four
factors which produce the rúpas of our body support and consolidate each
other and keep this shortlived body going. If we see the intricate way in
which different factors condition the rúpas of our body we shall be less
inclined to think that the body belongs to a self.
There are not only rúpas of the body, there are also rúpas which
are the material phenomena outside the body. What we take for rocks, plants
or houses are rúpas and these originate from temperature. We may wonder
whether there are no other factors apart from the element of heat that
contribute to the growth of plants, such as soil, light and moisture. It is
true that these factors are the right conditions that have to be present so
that a plant can grow. But what we call soil, light and moisture are, when we
are more precise, different combinations of rúpas, none of which can arise
without the element of heat or temperature that produces them. Rúpas
outside the body are only produced by temperature, not by kamma, citta or
nutrition.
Rúpas perform their functions, no matter one dresses oneself,
eats, digests one's food, moves about, gesiticulates, talks to others, in
short, during all one's activities. If we do not study rúpas we may not
notice their characteristics appearing all the time in daily life. We shall
continue to be deluded by the outward appearance of things instead of
knowing realities as they are. We should remember that the rúpa which is
the "earth-element" or solidity can appear as hardness or
softness. Hardness impinges time and again on the bodysense, no matter what
we are doing. When hardness appears it can be known as only a kind of rúpa,
be it hardness of the body or hardness of an external object. In the
ultimate sense it is only a kind of rúpa. The detailed study of nåma and
rúpa will help us to see that there isn't anything that is "mine"
or self. The goal of the study of the Abhidhamma is the development of
wisdom leading to the eradication of all defilements.
********
Footnotes
1. Pronounced as chitta
2. pronounced as chetasika.
Chapter 1
The Four Great Elements
Rúpas do not arise singly, they arise in units or groups. Each
of these groups is composed of different kinds of rúpa. There are four
kinds of rúpa, the four "Great Elements" (Mahå-bhúta rúpas),
which have to arise together with each and every group of rúpas, no matter
whether these are of rúpas of the body or rúpas outside the body. The types
of rúpa other than the four Great Elements depend on these four rúpas and
cannot arise without them. They are the following rúpas:
the Element of Earth or solidity
the Element of Water or cohesion
the Element of Fire or heat
the Element of Wind (air) or motion
Earth, Water, Fire and Wind do not in this context have the same
meaning as in conventional language, neither do they represent conceptual
ideas as we find them in different philosophical systems. In the Abhidhamma
they represent ultimate realities, specific rúpas each with their own
characteristic. The Element of Earth (in Påli: paìhaví dhåtu), translated
into English as "solidity" or "extension", has the
characteristic of hardness or softness. It can be directly experienced when
we touch something hard or soft. We do not have to name the rúpa designated
by "Element of Earth" in order to experience it. It is an element
that arises and falls away; it has no abiding substance, it is devoid of a
"self". It may seem that hardness can last for some time, but in
reality it falls away immediately. Rúpas are replaced so long as there are
conditions for them to be produced by one of the four factors of kamma,
citta, temperature or nutrition 1. The
hardness that is experienced now is already different from the hardness
that arose a moment ago.
We used to think that a cushion or a chair could be experienced
through touch. When we are more precise, it is hardness or softness that
can be experienced through touch. Because of association and remembrance of
former experiences we can think of a cushion or chair and we know that they
are named "cushion" or "chair". This example can remind
us that there is a difference between ultimate realities and concepts we
can think of but which are not real in the ultimate sense.
Viewing the body and the things around us as different
combinations of rúpas may be a new outlook to us. Gradually we shall
realize that rúpas are not abstract categories, but that they are realities
appearing in daily life. I shall quote the definitions of the different
rúpas given by the commentaries, the "Visuddhimagga" and the
"Atthasåliní". These definitions mention the characteristic,
function, manifestation and proximate cause or immediate occasion 2 of the rúpas that are explained. The "Visuddhimagga"
(XI,93) 3 gives, for example, the
following definition of the rúpa that is the earth element or solidity:
...The earth element has the characteristic of hardness. Its
function is to act as a foundation. It is manifested as receiving 4...
As to the proximate cause, I shall deal with that later on. Each
reality has its own individual characteristic by which it can be
distinguished from other realities. Solidity has hardness (or softness) as
characteristic, the fire element has heat as characteristic. Such
characteristics can be experienced when they appear. As to function, rúpas
have functions in relation to other rúpas or in relation to nåma. Solidity
acts as a foundation, namely for the other rúpas it arises together with in
a group, that is its function. Smell, for example, could not arise alone,
it needs solidity as foundation. It is the same with visible object or
colour that can be experienced through the eyesense. Visible object or
colour needs solidity as foundation or support, it could not arise alone.
Solidity that arises together with visible object cannot be seen, only
visible object can be seen. As regards manifestation, this is the way a
reality habitually appears. Solidity is manifested as receiving, it
receives the other rúpas it arises together with since it acts as their
foundation. With regard to the proximate cause, according to the
"Visuddhimagga" (XIV,35) each of the four Great Elements has the
other three as its proximate cause. The four Great Elements arise together
and condition one another.
At first the definitions of realities may seem complicated but
when we have studied them we shall see that they are helpful for the
understanding of the different realities, and this includes understanding
of the way they act on other realities and the way they manifest
themselves. The study of realities is a foundation for the development of
direct understanding, of seeing things as they really are.
In the "Greater Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant's
Footprint" (Middle Length Sayings I, no. 28) we read that Såriputta
taught the monks about the four Great Elements. We read about the element
of earth or solidity, which is translated here as "extension":
....And what, your reverences, is the element of extension? The
element of extension may be internal, it may be external. And what, your
reverences, is the internal element of extension? Whatever is hard, solid,
is internal, referable to an individual and derived therefrom, that is to
say: the hair of the head, the hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh,
sinews, bones, marrow of the bones, kidney, heart, liver, pleura, spleen,
lungs, intestines, mesentary, stomach, excrement, or whatever other thing is
hard, solid, is internal....
If the body can be seen as only elements the wrong view of self
can be eradicated. Solidity can be internal or external, outside the body.
Solidity is also present in what we call a mountain or a rock, in all
material phenomena. Såriputta reminded the monks of the impermanence of the
element of extension:
There comes a time, your reverences, when the element of
extension that is external is agitated; at that time the external element
of extension disappears. The impermanence of this ancient external element
of extension can be shown, your reverences, its liability to distruction
can be shown, its liability to decay can be shown, its liability to change
can be shown. So what of this shortlived body derived from craving? There
is not anything here for saying, "I", or "mine" or "I
am"....
The impermanence of the element of solidity may manifest itself
in such calamities of nature as an earthquake, but actually at each moment
rúpas arise and then fall away, they do not last.
As regards the Element of Water (in Påli: åpo dhåtu) or
cohesion, the "Visuddhimagga" (XI, 93) defines it as follows 5 :
...The water element has the characteristic of trickling. Its
function is to intensify. It is manifested as holding together.
The element of water or cohesion cannot be experienced through
the bodysense, only through the mind-door. When we touch what we call
water, it is only solidity, temperature or motion which can be experienced
through the bodysense, not cohesion. Cohesion has to arise together with
whatever kind of materiality arises. It makes the other rúpas it
accompanies cohere so that they do not become scattered. The "Atthasåliní
" (II, Book II, Ch III, 335) explains:
... For the element of cohesion binds together iron, etc., in
masses, makes them rigid. Because they are so bound, they are called rigid.
Similarly in the case of stones, mountains, palm-seeds, elephant-tusks,
ox-horns, etc. All such things the element of cohesion binds, and makes
rigid; they are rigid because of its binding.
We read in the above quoted sutta that Såriputta explained to
the monks about the internal liquid element (element of water):
.... Whatever is liquid, fluid, is internal, referable to an
individual or derived therefrom, that is to say: bile, phlegm, pus, blood,
sweat, fat, tears, serum, saliva, mucus, synovial fluid, urine or whatever
other thing is liquid, fluid, is internal....
When we shed tears or swallow saliva we can be reminded that
what we take for the fluid of "my body" are only elements devoid
of self. Såriputta reminded the monks that the external liquid element can
become agitated and can bring destruction to villages, towns, districts and
regions, or that the water of the oceans may go down and disappear. It is
liable to change and it is impermanent. Both the internal and the external
liquid element are impermanent and not self.
As to the Element of Fire, heat or temperature (in Påli: tejo
dhåtu), the "Visuddhimagga" (XI, 93) gives the following
definition of it 6 :
...The fire element has the characteristic of heat. Its function
is to mature (maintain). It is manifested as a continued supply of softness 7 .
The element of heat or temperature can be experienced through
the bodysense and it appears as heat or cold. Cold is a lesser degree of
heat. The element of heat accompanies all kinds of materiality that arises,
rúpas of the body and materiality outside. It maintains or matures them.
The element of heat is one of the four factors that produce rúpas of the
body. Kamma produces rúpa from the first moment of life and after that
temperature also starts to produce rúpas of the body. Rúpas which are
materiality outside such as those of a plant or a rock are produced solely
by temperature.
We read in the above quoted sutta that Såriputta explained to
the monks about the internal element of heat:
... Whatever is heat, warmth, is internal, referable to an
individual and derived therefrom, such as by whatever one is vitalized, by
whatever one is consumed, by whatever one is burnt up, and by whatever one
has munched, drunk, eaten and tasted that is properly transmuted (in
digestion), or whatever other thing is heat, warmth, is internal....
The "Visuddhimagga" (XI, 36) which gives an
explanation of the words of this sutta states that the element of heat
plays its part in the process of ageing: "... whereby this body grows
old, reaches the decline of the faculties, loss of strength, wrinkles,
greyness, and so on." As to the expression "burnt up", it
explains that when one is excited the internal element of heat causes the
body to burn. The element of heat also has a function in the digestion of
food, it "cooks" what is eaten and drunk.
We may notice changes in body-temperature because of different
conditions, for instance through the digestion of our food, or when we are
excited, angry or afraid. So long as we are still alive the internal
element of heat arises and falls away all the time. When heat presents
itself and there is awareness of it it can be known as only a rúpa element,
not "my body-heat". When we are absorbed in excitement, anger or
fear we forget that there are in reality only different kinds of nåma and
rúpa that arise and fall away.
The element of heat can be internal or external. Såriputta
explained that the liability to change of the external heat element and its
impermanence can be seen when it becomes agitated and burns up villages,
towns, districts and regions, and is then extinguished through lack of
fuel. Both the internal and the external element of heat are impermanent
and not self.
As to the Element of Wind (in Påli: våyo dhåtu) or motion, the
"Visuddhimagga" (XI, 93) defines it as follows 8 :
... The air element (wind) has the characteristic of distending.
Its function is to cause motion. It is manifested as conveying.
We may believe that we can see motion of objects but the rúpa
which is motion cannot be seen. What we mean by motion as we express it in
conventional language is not the same as the element of wind or motion. We
can conclude that something has moved because there are different moments
of seeing and thinking, and there is association of these different
experiences, but that is not the experience of the rúpa which is motion.
This rúpa can be directly experienced through the bodysense. When we touch
a body or an object with a certain resilience, the characteristic of motion
or pressure may present itself. These are characteristics of the element of
wind. It can also be described as vibration or oscillation. As we read in
the definition, the function of the element of wind is to cause motion and
it is manifested as conveying. It is, for example, a condition for the
movement of the limbs of the body. However, we should not confuse pictorial
ideas with the direct experience of this rúpa through the bodysense.
The element of wind or motion arises with all kinds of
materiality, both of the body and outside the body. There is also motion
with dead matter, such as a pot. It performs its function so that the pot
holds its shape and does not collapse.
Såriputta explained about the internal element of motion:
... And what, your reverences, is the internal element of
motion? Whatever is motion, wind, is internal, referable to an individual
and derived therefrom, such as winds going upwards, winds going downwards,
winds in the abdomen, winds in the belly, winds that shoot across the
several limbs, in-breathing, out-breathing, or whatever other thing is
motion, wind, is internal....
We may notice pressure inside the body. When its characteristic
appears it can be known as only a rúpa that is conditioned. As to the words
of the sutta, "winds that shoot across the several limbs", the
"Visuddhimagga" (XI, 37) explains that these are: "winds
(forces) that produce flexing, extending, etc., and are distributed over
the limbs and the whole body by means of the network of veins (nerves)".
The element of wind plays its specific role in the strengthening
of the body so that it does not collapse, and assumes different postures;
it is a condition for the stretching and bending of the limbs. While we are
bending or stretching our arms and legs the element of wind may appear as
motion or pressure. We read in the "Visuddhimagga" (XI, 92):
The air element that courses through all the limbs and has the
characteristic of moving and distending, being founded upon earth, held
together by water, and maintained by fire, distends this body. And this
body, being distended by the latter kind of air, does not collapse, but
stands erect, and being propelled by the other (motile) air, it shows
intimation, and it flexes and extends and it wriggles the hands and feet,
doing so in the postures comprising walking, standing, sitting and lying
down. So this mechanism of elements carries on like a magic trick,
deceiving foolish people with the male and female sex and so on.
We are deceived and infatuated by the outward appearance of a
man or a woman and we forget that this body is a "mechanism of
elements" and that it flexes and wriggles hands and feet because of
conditions.
The above quoted sutta mentions, in connection with the element
of wind, in-breathing and out-breathing. The "Visuddhimagga" (XI,
37) explains: "In-breath: wind in the nostrils entering in.
Out-breath: wind in the nostrils issuing out." We are breathing throughout
life, but most of the time we are forgetful of realities, we cling to an
idea of "my breath". Breath is rúpa conditioned by citta and it
presents itself where it touches the nosetip or upperlip. If there can be
awareness of it the characteristics of hardness, softness, heat or motion
can be experienced one at a time. However, breath is very subtle and it is
most difficult to be aware of its characteristic.
We read in the above quoted sutta that Såriputta explained that
the external element of motion can become agitated and carry away villages.
Its liability to change and its impermanence can be seen. Both the external
and the internal element of motion are impermanent.
As we have seen, the four great Elements always arise together,
and each of them has the other three as its proximate cause. The
"Visuddhimagga" (XI, 109) states that the four great Elements
condition one another: the earth element acts as the foundation of the
elements of water, fire and air; the water element acts as cohesion for the
other three Great Elements; the fire element maintains the other three
Great elements; the air element acts as distension of the other three Great
Elements.
We should remember that the element of water or cohesion cannot
be experienced through the bodysense, only through the mind-door, and that
the elements of earth, fire and wind can be directly experienced through
the bodysense. The element of earth appears as hardness or softness, the
element of fire as heat or cold and the element of wind as motion or
pressure. Time and again rúpas such as hardness or heat impinge on the
bodysense but we are forgetful of what things really are. We let ourselves
be deceived by the outer appearance of things. The "Visuddhimagga"
(XI, 100) states that the four Great Elements are "deceivers":
And just as the great creatures known as female spirits
(yakkhiní) conceal their own fearfulness with a pleasing colour, shape and
gesture to deceive beings, so too, these elements conceal each their own
characteristics and function classed as hardness, etc., by means of a
pleasing skin colour of women's and men's bodies, etc., and pleasing shapes
of limbs and pleasing gestures of fingers, toes and eyebrows, and they
deceive simple people by concealing their own functions and characteristics
beginning with hardness and do not allow their individual essences to be
seen....
The "Visuddhimagga" (XI, 98) states that the four
Great Elements are like the great creatures of a magician who "turns
water that is not crystal into crystal, and turns a clod that is not gold
into gold...." We are attached to crystal and gold, we are deceived by
the outward appearance of things. There is no crystal or gold in the
ultimate sense, only rúpas which arise and then fall away.
We may be able to know the difference between moments that we
are absorbed in concepts and ideas and moments that there is mindfulness of
realities such as hardness or heat which appear one at a time. Mindfulness
(sati) arises with kusala citta and it is mindful of one nåma or rúpa at a
time. When we are, for example, stung by a mosquito, we may have aversion
towards the pain and there may be forgetfulness of realities. But when
there are conditions for kusala citta with mindfulness a rúpa such as heat
can be object of mindfulness. This is the way to gradually develop the
understanding which knows nåma and rúpa as they are: only elements that are
impermanent and devoid of self.
As we read in the "Greater Discourse of the Simile of the
Elephant's Footprint", different "parts of the body" are
mentioned where the characteristics of the four Great Elements are
apparent. The aim is to see the body as it really is. When Såriputta explained
about the four Great Elements he repeated after each section:
...By means of perfect intuitive wisdom it should be seen of
this as it really is, thus: This is not mine, this am I not, this is not
myself....
*********
Questions
1. Can the element of water be experienced through touch?
2. Can the characteristic of motion be experienced through
eyesense?
3. What is the proximate cause of each of the four Great
Elements?
*****
Footnotes
1. See Introduction. This will be explained further on.
2.The Atthasåliní explains these terms in Book I, Part II,
Analysis of Terms, 63.
3. See also Dhammasangaùi § 648, and Atthasåliní II, Book II,
Part I, Ch III, 332.
4. See Atthasåliní II, Part I, Ch III, 332, which states that is
function is being a fulcrum or platform of coexisting dhammas and that its
manifestation is receiving them.
5. See also Dhammasangaùi § 652 and Atthasåliní II, Book II,
Part I, Ch III, 332.
6. See also Dhammasangaùi § 648 and Atthasåliní II, Book II,
Part I, Ch III, 332.
7. The Atthasåliní (II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 332) states
that it has "the gift of softening (co-existent realities) as
manifestation".
*********
Chapter 2.
The Eight Inseparable Rúpas
The four Great Elements of solidity, cohesion, temperature and
motion are always present wherever there is materiality. Apart from these
four elements there are other rúpas, namely twentyfour "derived rúpas"
(in Påli: upådå rúpas). The "Atthasåliní" (II, Book II, Ch III,
305) explains about them: "... grasping the great essentials (great
elements), not letting go, such (derived rúpas) proceed in dependance upon
them." Thus, the derived rúpas could not arise without the four Great
Elements. But not all kinds of derived rúpas arise with every group of
rúpas. However, four among the derived rúpas always arise together with the
four Great Elements in every group of rúpas and are thus present wherever
there is materiality, no matter whether rúpas of the body or materiality
outside the body. These four rúpas are the following:
visible object (or colour)
odour
flavour
nutrition
The four Great elements and these four derived rúpas, which
always arise together, are called the "inseparable rúpas" (in
Påli: avinibbhoga rúpas). Wherever there is solidity, there also have to be
cohesion, temperature, motion, colour, odour, flavour and nutritive essence.
As regards visible object or colour, this is a rúpa arising with
every kind of materiality. It is that which is experienced through the
eye-door. It is not a thing or a person. Visible object is the only rúpa
that can be seen.
Colours are different because of different conditions 1 , but no matter what colour appears we should
remember that what is experienced through the eye-door is the rúpa which is
visible, visible object. The "Atthasåliní" (II, Book II, Ch III,
318) gives the following definition of visible object 2
:
... For all this matter has the characteristic of striking the
eye, the function or property of being in relation of object to visual
cognition, the manifestation of being the field of visual cognition, the
proximate cause of the "four great essentials" (four Great
Elements).
Visible object has as its proximate cause the four Great
Elements because it cannot arise without them. However, when a
characteristic of one of these four Great Elements, such as hardness or
heat, is experienced, the accompanying visible object cannot be experienced
at the same time.
When there are conditions for seeing, visible object is
experienced. When we close our eyes, there may be remembrance of the shape
and form of a thing, but that is not the experience of visible object. The
thinking of a "thing", no matter whether our eyes are closed or
open, is different from the actual experience of what is visible.
We may find it difficult to know what visible object is, since
we are usually absorbed in paying attention to the shape and form of
things. When we perceive the shape and form of something, for example of a
chair, we think of a concept. A chair cannot impinge on the eyesense.
Seeing does not see a chair, it only sees what is visible. Seeing and
thinking occur at different moments. There is not thinking all the time,
there are also moments of just seeing, moments that we do not pay attention
to shape and form. There can be only one citta at a time experiencing one
object, but different experiences arise closely one after the other. When
one cannot distinguish them yet from each other, one believes that they
occur all at the same time. If we remember that visible object is the rúpa
which can be experienced through the eyesense, right understanding of this
reality can be developed.
As we have seen, odour is another rúpa among the eight
inseparable rúpas. Wherever there is materiality, no matter whether of the
body or outside the body, there has to be odour. The "Dhammasangaùi"
(§ 625) mentions different odours, pleasant and unpleasant, but they all
are just odour which can be experienced through the nose. The "Atthasåliní"
(II, Book II, Ch III, 320) defines odour as follows 3
:
... all odours have the characteristic of striking the sense of
smell, the property of being the object of olfactory cognition, the
manifestation of being the field of the same....
It has as proximate cause the four Great Elements. Odour cannot
arise alone, it needs the four Great Elements which arise together with it
and it is also accompanied by the other rúpas included in the eight
inseparable rúpas. When odour appears we tend to be carried away by like or
dislike. We are attached to fragrant odours and we loathe nasty smells.
However, odour is only a reality which is experienced through the nose and
it does not last. If one does not develop understanding of realities one
will be enslaved by all objects experienced through the senses. On account
of these objects akusala cittas tend to arise and even unwholesome deeds
may be committed. When someone thinks that there is a self who can own what
is seen, touched or smelt, he may even steal or kill. In reality all these
objects are insignificant, they arise and then fall away immediately.
As regards flavour, the "Dhammasangaùi" (§ 629)
mentions different kinds of flavour, such as sour, sweet, bitter or
pungent; they may be nice or nauseous, but they are all just flavour,
experienced through the tongue. The "Atthasåliní" (II, Book II,
Ch III, 320) defines flavour as follows 4
:
... all tastes have the characteristic of striking the tongue,
the property of being the object of gustatory cognition, the manifestation
of being the field of the same....
Its proximate cause is the four Great Elements. Flavour does not
arise alone, it needs the four Great Elements which arise together with it,
and it is also accompanied by the other rúpas included in the eight
inseparable rúpas. We are attached to food and we find its flavour very
important. As soon as we have tasted delicious flavour attachment tends to
arise. We are forgetful of the reality of flavour which is only a kind of
rúpa. When we recognize what kind of flavour we taste, we think about a
concept, but the thinking is conditioned by the experience of flavour
through the tongue.
Nutrition is another kind of rúpa which has to arise with every
kind of materiality. It can be exerienced only through the mind-door. The
"Dhammasangaùi" (§ 646) mentions food such as boiled rice, sour
gruel, flour, etc., which can be eaten and digested into the "juice"
by which living beings are kept alive. The "Atthasåliní" (II,
Book II, Ch III, 330) explains that there is foodstuff, the substance which
is swallowed (kabaîinkåro åhåro, literally, morsel-made food), and the
"nutritive essence"(ojå). The foodstuff which is swallowed fills
the stomach so that one does not grow hungry. The nutritive essence present
in food preserves beings, keeps them alive. The nutritive essence in gross
foodstuff is weak, and in subtle foodstuff it is strong. After eating coarse
grain one becomes hungry after a brief interval. But when one has taken
ghee (butter) one does not want to eat for a long time (Atthasåliní, 331).
The "Atthasåliní"(332) gives the following definition
of nutriment 5 :
As to its characteristic, etc., solid food has the
characteristic of nutritive essence, the function of fetching matter (to
the eater), of sustaining matter as its manifestation, of substance to be
swallowed as proximate cause.
Nutritive essence is not only present in rice and other foods,
it is also present in what we call a rock or sand. It is present in any
kind of materiality. Insects are able to digest what human beings cannot
digest, such as, for example, wood.
Nutrition is one of the four factors which produce rúpas of the
body. As we have seen, the other factors are kamma, citta and temperature 6. In the unborn being in the mother's womb, groups of
rúpa produced by nutrition arise as soon as the nutritive essence present
in food taken by its mother pervades its body (Visuddhimagga XVII, 194).
From then on nutrition keeps on producing rúpas and sustaining the rúpas of
the body throughout life.
We can notice that nutrition produces rúpas when good or bad
food affects the body in different ways. Bad food may cause the skin to be
ugly, whereas the taking of vitamins for example may cause skin and hair to
look healthy.
Because of attachment we are inclined to be immoderate as to
food. We forget to consider food as a medicine for our body. The Buddha
exhorted the monks to eat just the quantity of food needed to sustain the
body but not more and to reflect wisely when eating (Visuddhimagga I, 85).
The monk should review with understanding the requisites he receives. We
read in the "Visuddhimagga" (I, 124):
... For use is blameless in one who at the time of receiving
robes, etc., reviews them either as (mere) elements or as repulsive, and
puts them aside for later use, and in one who reviews them thus at the time
of using them.
The monk should review robes, and the other requisites of
dwelling, food and medicines, as mere elements or as repulsive. If he
considers food as repulsive it helps him not to indulge in it. Food
consists merely of conditioned elements. This can be a useful reminder,
also for laypeople, to be mindful when eating.
In the Commentary to the "Satipaììhåna Sutta" 7, in the section on Mindfulness of the Body, "Clear
Comprehension in Partaking of Food and Drink", we read that, when one
swallows food, there is no one who puts the food down into the stomach with
a ladle or spoon, but there is the element of wind performing its function.
We then read about digestion:
... There is no one who having put up an oven and lit a fire is
cooking each lump standing there. By only the process of caloricity (heat)
the lump of food matures. There is no one who expels each digested lump
with a stick or pole. Just the process of oscillation (the element of wind
or motion) expels the digested food.
There is no self who eats and drinks, there are only elements
performing their functions.
Whatever kind of materiality arises, there have to be the four
Great Elements and the four derived rúpas of visible object, odour, flavour
and nutrition.
Because of ignorance we are attached to our possessions. We may
understand that when life ends we cannot possess anything anymore. But even
at this moment there is no "thing" we can possess, there are only
different elements that do not stay. When we look at beautiful things such
as gems we tend to cling to them. However, through the eyes only colour or
visible object appears and through touch tangible object such as hardness
appears. In the absolute sense it does not make any difference whether it
is hardness of a gem or hardness of a pebble that is experienced through
touch. We may not like to accept this truth since we find that gems and
pebbles have different values. We have accumulated conditions to think
about concepts and do not develop understanding of realities; we tend to
forget that what we call gems and also the cittas that enjoy them do not
last, they are gone immediately. Someone who leads the life of a layman
enjoys his possessions, but he can also develop understanding of what
things really are.
In the ultimate sense life exists only in one moment, the
present moment. At the moment of seeing the world of visible object is
experienced, at the moment of hearing the world of sound, and at the moment
of touching the world of tangible object. Life is actually one moment of
experiencing an object.
The "Book of Analysis" 8
(Part 3, Analysis of the Elements, § 173) mentions precious stones together
with pebbles and gravel in order to remind us of the truth. It explains
about the internal element of extension (solidity) as being hair of the
head, hair of the body and other "parts of the body". Then it
explains about the external element of extension as follows:
Therein what is the external element of extension? That which is
external, hard, harsh, hardness, being hard, external, not grasped. For
example: iron, copper, tin, lead, silver, pearl, gem, cat's-eye, shell,
stone, coral, silver coin, gold, ruby, variegated precious stone, grass,
wood, gravel, potsherd, earth, rock, mountain; or whatever else there is....
The elements give us pleasure or pain. When we do not realize
them as they are, we are enslaved by them. We read in the "Kindred
Sayings"(II, Nidåna-vagga, Ch XIV, Kindred Sayings on Elements, § 34,
Pain) that the Buddha said to the monks at Såvatthí:
If this earth-element, monks, this water-element, this
heat-element, this air-element were entirely painful, beset with pain,
immersed in pain, not immersed in happiness, beings would not be lusting
after them. But inasmuch as each of these elements is pleasant, beset with
pleasure, immersed in pleasure, not in pain, therefore it is that beings
get lusting after them.
If this earth-element, monks, this water-element, this
heat-element, this air-element were entirely pleasant, beset with pleasure,
immersed in pleasure, not immersed in pain, beings would not be repelled by
them. But inasmuch as each of these elements is painful, is beset with
pain, immersed in pain, not immersed in pleasure, therefore it is that
beings are repelled by them.
We are bound to be attached to the elements when we buy
beautiful clothes or enjoy delicious food. We are bound to be repelled by
the elements when we get hurt or when we are sick. But no matter whether
the objects we experience are pleasant or unpleasant, we should realize
them as elements that arise because of their own conditions and that do not
belong to us.
********
Questions 1. Is there nutrition with matter we call a table?
2. Why are eight rúpas called the "inseparable rúpas"?
3. Nutrition is one of the four factors which can produce rúpa.
Can
it produce the materiality we call "tree"?
****
Footnotes
1. See also Dhammasangaùi § 617.
2. See also Visuddhimagga XIV, 54
3. See also Visuddhimagga XIV, 56.
4. See also Visuddhimagga XIV, 57.
5. See also Visuddhimagga XIV, 70.
6. See Introduction.
7. The Papañcasúdaní. See "The Way of Mindfulness", a
translation of the Satipaììhåna Sutta, Middle Length Sayings I, 10, and
its Commentary, by Ven. Soma, B.P.S. Kandy.
8. Vibhaòga, Second Book of the Abhidhamma, Pali Text Society,
1969.
******
Chapter 3 The Sense-Organs (Pasåda Rúpas)
So long as there are conditions for birth we have to be born and
to experience pleasant or unpleasant objects. It is kamma that produced
rebirth-consciousness as well as seeing, hearing and the other
sense-impressions arising throughout our life. For the experience of
objects through the senses there have to be sense-organs and these are
rúpas produced by kamma as well. The sense-organs (pasåda rúpas) are
physical results of kamma, whereas seeing, hearing and the other
sense-impressions are nåma, vipåkacittas which are the mental results of
kamma 6.
For seeing there must be visible object and also the rúpa which
is eyesense. Eyesense does not know anything since it is rúpa, but it is a
necessary condition for seeing. Eyesense is a rúpa in the eye, capable of
receiving visible object, so that citta can experience it. For hearing, the
experience of sound, there has to be ear-sense, a rúpa in the ear, capable
of receiving sound. There must be smelling-sense for the experience of
odour, tastingsense for the experience of flavour and bodysense for the
experience of tangible object. Thus, there are five kinds of sense-organs.
As regards the eye, the "Atthasåliní" (II, Book II, Ch
III, 306) distinguishes between the eye as "compound organ" and
as "sentient organ", namely the rúpa which is eyesense, situated
in the eye 7. The eye as "compound
organ" is described as follows:
... a lump of flesh is situated in the cavity of the eye, bound
by the bone of the cavity of the eye below, by the bone of the brow above,
by the eye-peaks on both sides, by the brain inside, by the eyelashes
outside.... Although the world perceives the eye as white, as (of a
certain) bigness, extension, width, they do not know the real sentient eye,
but only the physical basis thereof. That lump of flesh situated in the
cavity of the eye is bound to the brain by sinewy threads. Therein are
white, black, red, extension, cohesion, heat and mobility. The eye is white
from the abundance of phlegm, black from that of bile, red from that of
blood, rigid from the element of extension, fluid from that of cohesion,
hot from that of heat, and oscillating from that of mobility. Such is the
compound organ of the eye....
As to the "sentient eye" or eyesense, this is to be
found, according to the "Atthasåliní", in the middle of the black
circle, surrounded by white circles, and it permeates the ocular membranes
"as sprinkled oil permeates seven cotton wicks." We read:
And it is served by the four elements doing the functions of
sustaining, binding, maturing and vibrating 8
, just as a princely boy is tended by four
nurses doing the functions of holding, bathing, dressing and fanning him.
And being upheld by the caloric order, by thought (citta) and nutriment,
and guarded by life and attended by colour, odour, taste, etc., the organ,
no bigger in size than the head of a louse, stands duly fulfilling the
nature of the basis and the door of visual cognition, etc. ....
The "Visuddhimagga" (XIV, 37) gives the following
definition of eyesense 9 :
Herein, the eye's characteristic is sensitivity of primary
elements that is ready for the impact of visible data; or its
characteristic is sensitivity of primary elements originated by kamma
sourcing from desire to see. Its function is to pick up (an object) among
visible data. It is manifested as the footing of eye-consciousness. Its
proximate cause is primary elements (the four Great Elements) born of kamma
sourcing from desire to see.
We have desire to see, we are attached to all sense-impressions
and, thus, there are still conditions for kamma to produce rebirth, to
produce seeing, hearing and the other sense-impressions, and also to
produce the sense-organs which are the conditions for the experience of
sense objects. Also in future lives there are bound to be
sense-impressions.
Eyesense seems to last and we are inclined to take it for
"self". It seems that there can be a long moment of seeing and
that the same eyesense keeps on performing its function. However, eyesense
arises and then falls away. At the next moment of seeing there is another
eyesense again. All these eyesenses are produced by kamma, throughout our
life. We may find it hard to grasp this truth because we are so used to
thinking of "my eyesense" and to consider it as something
lasting.
The eyesense is extremely small, "no bigger in size than
the head of a louse", but it seems that the whole wide world comes to
us through the eye. All that is visible is experienced through the
eyesense, but when we believe that we see the world there is thinking of a
concept, not the experience of visible object. However, our thinking is
conditioned by seeing and by all the other sense-impressions.
The eye is compared to an ocean 10
, because it cannot be filled, it is
unsatiable. We are attached to the eyesense and we want to go on seeing, it
never is enough.
We read in the "Kindred Sayings" (IV,
Saîåyatana-vagga, Fourth Fifty, Ch 3, § 187, The Ocean):
... The eye of a man, monks, is the ocean. Its impulse is made
of objects. Whoso endures that object-made impulse - of him, monks, it is
said, "he has crossed over." That ocean of the eye, with its
waves and whirlpools, its sharks and demons, the brahmin has crossed and
gone beyond. He stands on dry ground.....
The same is said with regard to the other senses.
We read in the "Therígåthå" (Psalms of the Sisters,
Canto XIV, 71, Subhå of Jívaka's Mango-grove) that the Therí Subhå became
an anågåmí 11; she had eradicated
clinging to sense objects. A young man, infatuated with the beauty of her
eyes, wanted to tempt her. She warned him not to be deluded by the outward
appearance of things. In reality there are only elements devoid of self.
The Therí said about her eye (vs. 395):
What is this eye but a little ball lodged in the fork of a
hollow
tree,
Bubble of film, anointed with tear-brine, exuding slime-drops.
Compost wrought in the shape of an eye of manyfold aspects?....
The Therí extracted one of her eyes and handed it to him. The
impact of her lesson did not fail to cure the young man of his lust. Later
on, in the presence of the Buddha, her eye was restored to her. She
continued to develop insight and attained arahatship.
Eyesense is only an element devoid of self. It is one of the
conditions for seeing. The "Visuddhimagga" (XV, 39) states about
the conditions for seeing: "Eye-consciousness arises due to eye,
visible object, light and attention".
Earsense is another one of the sense-organs. It is situated in
the interior of the ear, "at a spot shaped like a finger-ring and
fringed by tender, tawny hairs.... " 12
. Earsense is the rúpa which has the
capability to receive sound. It is basis and door of hearing-consciousness.
The "Visuddhimagga" (XIV, 38) gives the following definition 13
:
The ear's characteristic is sensitivity of primary elements that
is ready for impact of sounds; or its characteristic is sensitivity of
primary elements originated by kamma sourcing from desire to hear. Its
function is to pick up (an object) among sounds. It is manifested as the
footing of ear-consciousness. Its proximate cause is primary elements born
of kamma sourcing from desire to hear.
Without earsense there cannot be hearing. The "Visuddhimagga"
(XV, 39) states: "Ear-consciousness arises due to ear, sound, aperture
and attention." "Aperture" is the cavity of the ear. If one
of these conditions is lacking hearing cannot arise.
As to the other pasåda rúpas, smellingsense, tastingsense and
bodysense, these are defined in the same way 14
. Smellingsense is a rúpa situated in the
nose. It is one of the conditions for smelling. The "Visuddhimagga"(XV,
39) states: "Nose-consciousness arises due to nose, odour, air (the
element of wind or motion) and attention." As to the element of wind
or motion being a condition, we read in the "Atthasåliní" (II,
Book II, Part I, Ch III, 315):
... the nose desires space, and has for object odour dependent
on wind. Indeed, cattle at the first showers of rain keep smelling at the
earth, and turning up their muzzles to the sky breathe in the wind. And
when a fragrant lump is taken in the fingers and smelt, no smell is got
when breath is not inhaled....
As to tastingsense, this is situated in the tongue and it is one
of the conditions for tasting. The "Visuddhimagga" states in the
same section: "Tongue-consciousness arises due to tongue, flavour,
water and attention." Also the element of water or cohesion plays its
part when there is tasting. We read in the "Atthasåliní" (same
section, 315) about the element of water being a condition for tasting:
... Thus even when a bhikkhu's duties have been done during the
three watches of the night, and he, early in the morning, taking bowl and
robe, has to enter the village, he is not able to discern the taste of dry
food unwetted by the saliva....
As to bodysense, this is situated all over the body and inside
it, except in the hairs or tips of the nails. It is one of the conditions
for experiencing tactile object. The "Visuddhimagga" states, in
the same section: "Body-consciousness arises due to body, tangible
object, earth and attention." The "Atthasåliní" (same
section, 315) explains:
... Internal and external extension (solidity) is the cause of
the tactile sense seizing the object. Thus it is not possible to know the
hardness or softness of a bed well spread out or of fruits placed in the
hand, without sitting down on the one or pressing the other. Hence internal
and external extension is the cause in the tactile cognition of the tactile
organ.
Thus, when there is tactile cognition, bodyconsciousness, there
are actually elements impinging on elements. The impact of tactile object
on the bodysense is more vigorous than the impact of the objects on the
other senses. According to the "Paramattha Mañjúsa", a commentary
to the "Visuddhimagga" 15, because of the violence
of the impact on the bodysense, body-consciousness (kayaviññåùa) is
accompanied either by pleasant feeling or by painful feeling, not by
indifferent feeling, whereas the other sense-cognitions (seeing, hearing,
etc.) are accompanied by indifferent feeling.
Through the bodysense are experienced: the earth element,
appearing as hardness or softness; the fire element, appearing as heat or
cold; the wind element, appearing as motion or pressure. When these
characteristics appear they can be directly experienced wherever there is
bodysense, thus also inside the body.
As we have seen, visible object, sound, odour, flavour and
tangible object (three of the four Great Elements) are experienced through
the corresponding sense-doors and they can also be experienced through the
mind-door. The sense-organs themselves through which the sense-objects are
experienced are rúpas that can only be known through the mind-door.
The five sense-organs are the bases (vatthus) or places of
origin of the corresponding sense-cognitions. Cittas do not arise outside
the body, they are dependent on physical bases where they originate 16
. The eyesense is the base where
seeing-consciousness originates. The earsense is the base where
hearing-consciousness originates, and it is the same in the case of the
other sense-organs. As regards the base for body-consciousness, this can be
at any place of the body where there is sensitivity. The sense-organs are
bases only for the corresponding sense-cognitions. All the other cittas
have another base, the heart-base, I shall deal with later on.
The five sense-organs function also as doorways for the five
kinds of sense-cognitions, as we have seen. The doorway (dvåra) is the
means by which citta experiences an object. The eyesense is the doorway by
which seeing-consciousness and also the other cittas arising in that
process experience visible object. As we have seen, cittas which experience
objects impinging on the senses and the mind-door time and again, arise in
processes of cittas 17. The cittas other than
seeing-consciousness which arise in the eye-door process do not see, but
they each perform their own function while they cognize visible object,
such as considering visible object or investigating it. Each of the five
sense-organs can be the doorway for all the cittas in the process
experiencing a sense-object through that doorway. The sense-organs can have
the function of base as well as doorway only in the case of the five
sense-cognitions.
The sense-organs arise and fall away all the time and they are
only doorway when an object is experienced through that sense-organ.
Eyesense, for example, is only eye-door when visible object is experienced
by the cittas arising in the eye-door process. When sound is experienced,
earsense is doorway and eyesense does not function as doorway.
The "Atthasåliní " (II, Book II, Ch III, 316) states
that "the senses are not mixed." They each have their own
characteristic, function, manifestation and proximate cause, and through
each of them the appropriate object is experienced. The earsense can only
receive sound, not visible object or flavour. Hearing can only experience
sound through the ear-door. We are not used to considering each doorway
separately since we are inclined to think of a person who coordinates all
experiences. We are inclined to forget that a citta arises because of
conditions, experiences one object just for a moment, and then falls away
immediately. In order to help people to have right understanding of
realities, the Buddha spoke time and again about each of the six doorways
separately. He told people to "guard" the doorways in being
mindful, because on account of what is experienced through these doorways
many kinds of defilements tend to arise.
We read in the "Kindred Sayings" (IV, Saîåyatanavagga,
Third Fifty, Ch 3, § 127, Bhåradvåja) that King Udena asked the venerable
Bhåradvåja what the cause was that young monks could practise the righteous
life in its fulness and perfection. Bhåradvåja spoke about the advices the
Buddha gave to them, such as seeing the foulness of the body, and guarding
the six doors. We read that Bhåradvåja said:
... It has been said, Mahåråjah, by the Exalted One... : "Come,
monks, do you abide watchful over the doors of the faculties. Seeing an
object with the eye, be not misled by its outer view, nor by its lesser
details. But since coveting and dejection, evil, unprofitable states, might
overwhelm one who dwells with the faculty of the eye uncontrolled, do you
apply yourselves to such control, set a guard over the faculty of the eye
and attain control of it. Hearing a sound with the ear... with the nose
smelling a scent... with the tongue tasting a savour... with the body
contacting tangibles... with the mind cognizing mind-states... be you not
misled by their outward appearance nor by their lesser details... attain
control thereof"....
We then read that King Udena praised the Buddha's words. He said
about his own experiences:
I myself, master Bhåradvåja, whenever I enter my palace with
body, speech and mind unguarded, with thought unsettled, with my faculties
uncontrolled,- at such times lustful states overwhelm me. But whenever,
master Bhåradvåja, I do so with body, speech and mind guarded, with thought
settled, with my faculties controlled, at such times lustful states do not
overwhelm me....
We read that King Udena took his refuge in the Buddha, the
Dhamma and the Sangha.
How can we avoid being misled by the outward appearance or by
the details of phenomena? By understanding realities as they are when they
appear, one at a time. The following sutta in the "Kindred
Sayings"(IV, Saîåyatanavagga, Second Fifty, Ch 3, § 82, The World)
reminds us not to cling to a "whole" but to be mindful of only
one object at a time as it appears through one of the six doors:
Then a certain monk came to see the Exalted One.... Seated at
one side that monk said to the Exalted One:
" `The world! The world!' is the saying, lord. How far,
lord, does this saying go?"
" It crumbles away, monks. Therefore it is called `the
world' 18. What crumbles away? The
eye... objects... eye-consciousness... eye-contact... that pleasant or
unpleasant or neutral feeling that arises owing to eye-contact... tongue...
body... mind... It crumbles away, monks. Therefore it is called `the world'
."
******
Questions
1. Can eyesense experience something?
2. Where is the bodysense?
3. Is eyesense all the time eye-door?
4. For which type of citta is eyesense eye-door as well as base
(vatthu, physical place of origin)?
********
Footnotes
1.See Introduction
2. In Påli: cakkhu pasåda rúpa
3. The earth element performs its function of sustaining, the
water element of holding together, the fire element of maintaining or
maturing, and the wind element of oscillation.
4. See also Dhammasangaùi § 597 and Atthasåliní II, Book II,
Part I, Ch III, 312.
5. Dhammasangaùi § 597. Atthasåliní II, Book II, Part I, Ch III,
308.
6. There are four stages of enlightenment. The anågåmí or
"non-returner" has reached the third stage. The arahat has
reached the last stage.
7. Atthasåliní II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 310.
8. See also "Dhammasangaùi § 601 and Atthasåliní II, Book
II, Part I, Ch III, 312.
9.See Dhammasangaùi § 605, 609, 613, Visuddhimagga XIV, 39, 40,
41, Atthasåliní, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 312.
10. See Visuddhimagga, XIV, footnote 56.
11.There are also planes of existence where there is only nåma,
not rúpa. In such planes cittas do not need a physical base.
12. See Introduction.
13. In Påli there is a word association of loko, world, with
lujjati, to crumble away.
******
Chapter 4 Sense Objects
We are infatuated with all the objects which are experienced
through the sense-doors. However, they are only rúpas that fall away
immediately; we cannot possess them. Sometimes we experience pleasant
objects and sometimes unpleasant objects. The experience of a pleasant
object is the result of kusala kamma and the experience of an unpleasant
object is the result of akusala kamma.
The objects which can be experienced through the sense-doors are
the following:
colour or visible object
sound
odour
flavour
tangible object
As we have seen, three of the four Great Elements can be
tangible object, namely: solidity (appearing as hardness or softness),
temperature (appearing as heat or cold) and motion (appearing as motion,
oscillation or pressure). The element of cohesion is not tangible object,
it can be experienced only through the mind-door. Visible object, odour and
flavour are included in the "eight inseparable rúpas" which
always arise together. Although they arise together, only one kind of rúpa
at a time can be the object which is experienced. When there are conditions
for the experience, for example, of flavour, the flavour that impinges on
the tastingsense is experienced by tasting-consciousness. Flavour arises
together with the four Great Elements of solidity, temperature, cohesion
and motion, and with visible object, odour and nutrition, but these are not
experienced at that moment.
Sound is the object of hearing-consciousness. Sound is not
included in the eight inseparable rúpas, but when it arises it has to be
accompanied by these rúpas that each perform their own function. Whenever
there is sound, there also have to be solidity, cohesion, temperature,
motion and the other inseparable rúpas. When sound is heard, the
accompanying rúpas cannot be experienced 1.
We read in the "Dhammasangaùi" (§ 621) about different
kinds of sounds, such as sound of drums and other musical instruments,
sound of singing, noise of people, sound of concussion of matter, sound of
wind or water, human sound, such as sound of people talking. The
"Atthasåliní" (II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 319), which gives a
further explanation of these kinds of sounds, defines sound as follows 2 :
... all sounds have the characteristic of striking the ear, the
function and property of being the object of auditory cognition, the
manifestation of being the field or object of auditory cognition....
Like the other sense objects, sound has as its proximate cause
the four Great Elements. No matter what sound we hear, it has a degree of
loudness and it "strikes the ear". Its characteristic can be
experienced without the need to think about it. We may hear the sound of a
bird and it seems that we know at once the origin of the sound. When we
know the origin of the sound it is not hearing, but thinking of a concept.
However, the thinking is conditioned by the hearing.
It seems that we can hear different sounds at a time, for
example when a chord is played on the piano. When we recognize the
different notes of a chord it is not hearing but thinking. When there is
awareness, one reality at a time can be known as it is.
Sound can be produced by temperature or by citta. Sound of wind
or sound of water is produced by temperature. Speech sound is produced by
citta.
We are inclined to find a loud noise disturbing and we may make
ourselves believe that there cannot be mindfulness of realities when we
hear a loud noise. We read in the "Theragåthå" (Psalms of the
Brothers, Part VII, 62, Vajjiputta) about a monk of the Vajjian clan who
was dwelling in a wood near Vesålí. The commentary to this verse
(Paramatthadípaní) states:
... Now a festival took place at Vesålí, and there was dancing,
singing and reciting, all the people happily enjoying the festival. And the
sound thereof distracted the bhikkhu, so that he quitted his solitude, gave
up his exercise, and showed forth his disgust in this verse:
Each by himself we in the forest dwell,
Like logs rejected by the woodman's craft.
So flit the days one like another by,
Who more unlucky in their lot than we?
Now a woodland deva heard him, and had compassion on the
bhikkhu, and thus upbraided him, "Even though you, bhikkhu, speak
scornfully of forest life, the wise desiring solitude think much of it,"
and to show him the advantage of it spoke this verse:
Each by himself we in the forest dwell,
Like logs rejected by the woodman's craft.
And many a one does envy me my lot,
Even as the hell-bound envies him who fares to heaven.
Then the bhikkhu, stirred like a thoroughbred horse by the spur,
went down into the avenue of insight, and striving soon won arahatship.
Thereupon he thought, "The deva's verse has been my goad!" and he
recited it himself.
By this Sutta we are reminded that aversion to noise is not
helpful. Our most important task is being mindful of whatever reality
presents itself. When sound appears correct understanding of this reality
can be developed. It can be known as a kind of rúpa and it does not matter
what kind of sound it is. We are infatuated with pleasant sense objects and
disturbed by unpleasant ones. Like and dislike are realities of daily life
and they can be objects of awareness. We often find reasons why we cannot
be mindful of the present moment.
We would like to hear only pleasant things. When someone speaks
unpleasant words to us we are inclined to think about it for a long time
instead of being mindful of realities. We may forget that the moment of
hearing is vipåkacitta, result produced by kamma. Nobody can change vipåka.
Hearing falls away immediately. When we think with aversion about the
meaning of the words that were spoken we accumulate unwholesomeness.
We read in the "Greater Discourse of the Elephant's
Footprint" (Middle Length Sayings I, 28) that Såriputta spoke to the
monks about the elements that are conditioned, impermanent and devoid of
self. He also spoke about the hearing of unpleasant words:
... Your reverences, if others abuse, revile, annoy, vex this
monk, he comprehends: "This painful feeling that has arisen in me is
born of sensory impingement on the ear, it has a cause, not no cause. What
is the cause? Sensory impingement is the cause." He sees that sensory
impingement is impermanent, he sees that feeling... perception... the
habitual tendencies (saòkhårakkhandha) are impermanent, he sees that
consciousness is impermanent 3 . His mind
rejoices, is pleased, composed, and is set on the objects of the element.
If, your reverences, others comport themselves in undesirable,
disagreeable, unpleasant ways towards that monk, and he receives blows from
their hands and from clods of earth and from sticks and weapons, he
comprehends thus: "This body is such that blows from hands affect it
and blows from clods of earth affect it and blows from sticks affect it and
blows from weapons affect it. But this was said by the Lord in the Parable
of the Saw: `If, monks, low-down thieves should carve you limb from limb
with a two-handled saw, whoever sets his heart at enmity, he, for this
reason, is not a doer of my teaching.' Unsluggish energy shall come to be
stirred up by me, unmuddled mindfulness set up, the body tranquillised,
impassible, the mind composed and onepointed. Now, willingly, let blows
from hands affect this body, let blows from clods of earth... from
sticks... from weapons affect it, for this teaching of the Awakened Ones is
being done."
Do we see our experiences as elements to such a degree already
that, when we hear unpleasant words, we can immediately realize: "This
painful feeling that has arisen in me is born of sensory impingement on the
ear"? In order to see realities as they are it is necessary to
develop understanding of nåma and rúpa.
There are different ways of classifying rúpas. One way is the
classification as the four Great Elements (mahå-bhúta rúpas) and the
derived rúpas (upåda rúpas), which are the other twentyfour rúpas among the
twentyeight rúpas.
Another way is the classification as gross rúpas (oîårika rúpas)
and subtle rúpas (sukhuma rúpas). Twelve kinds of rúpa are gross; they are
the sense-objects that can be experienced through the sense-doors, namely:
visible object, sound, odour, flavour and the three rúpas that are tangible
object, namely: solidity, temperature and motion, thus, three of the great
Elements, and also the five sense-organs (pasåda rúpas) that can be the
doors through which these objects are experienced. The other sixteen rúpas
among the twentyeight kinds are subtle rúpas 4.
The "Visuddhimagga" (XIV, 73) states that twelve rúpas
"are to be taken as gross because of impinging; the rest is subtle
because they are the opposite of that." The seven rúpas that can be
sense objects 5 are impinging time and
again on the five rúpas which are the sense organs. Subtle rúpas do not
impinge on the senses. According to the "Visuddhimagga", the
subtle rúpas are far, because they are difficult to penetrate, whereas the
gross rúpas are near, because they are easy to penetrate.
There is impingement of objects on the senses time and again,
but we are usually forgetful of realities. We have learnt about the four
Great Elements and other rúpas and we may begin to notice different
characteristics of realities when they present themselves. For example,
when we are walking, rúpas such as hardness, heat or pressure may appear
one at a time. We can learn the difference between the moments
characteristics of realities appear one at a time, and the moments we are
thinking of concepts such as feet and ground. The ground cannot impinge on
the bodysense and be directly experienced. The Buddha urged the monks to
develop right understanding during all their actions. We read in the
Commentary to the "Satipaììhåna Sutta" 6
, in the section on the four kinds of Clear Comprehension, about clear
comprehension in wearing robes:
... Within there is nothing called a soul that robes itself.
According to the method of exposition adopted already, only, by the
diffusion of the process of oscillation (the element of wind or motion)
born of mental activity does the act of robing take place. The robe has no
power to think and the body too has not that power. The robe is not aware
of the fact that it is draping the body, and the body too of itself does
not think: "I am being draped round with the robe." Mere
processes clothe a process-heap, in the same way that a modelled figure is
covered with a piece of cloth. Therefore, there is neither room for elation
on getting a fine robe nor for depression on getting one that is not fine.
This passage is a good reminder of the truth, also for
laypeople. We are used to the impact of cloths on the body, most of the
time we do not even notice it. Or we are taken in by the pleasantness of
soft material that touches the body, or by the colour of our cloths. We can
be mindful of softness or colour as only elements. In reality there are
only elements impinging on elements.
We read in the "Gradual Sayings" (II, Book of the
Fours, Ch XVIII, § 7, Råhula) that the Buddha said to Råhula:
Råhula, both the internal earth-element and that in external
objects are just this earth-element. Thus it should be regarded, as it
really is, by perfect wisdom: "This is not of me. Not this am I. Not
to me is this the self." So seeing it, as it really is, by perfect
wisdom, one has revulsion for the earth-element; by wisdom one cleanses the
heart of passion.
The same is said of the elements of water, heat and wind. The
Buddha then said:
Now, Råhula, when a monk beholds neither the self nor what
pertains to the self in these four elements, this one is called "a
monk who has cut off craving, has loosed the bond, and by perfectly
understanding (this) vain conceit, has made an end of Ill."
******
Questions
1. Which factors can produce sound?
2. When someone speaks, by which factor is sound produced?
3. Why are gross rúpas so called?
4. Which rúpas among the inseparable rúpas are gross?
5. Through which doorways can gross rúpas be known?
********
Footnotes
1. Because each citta can experience only one object at a time
through the appropriate doorway.
2. See also Visuddhimagga XIV, 55.
3. This sutta refers to the five khandhas. Conditioned nåmas and
rúpas can be classified as five khandhas or aggregates: rúpakkhandha
(comprising all rúpas), vedanåkkhandha or the khandha of feelings,
saññåkkhandha, the khandha of perception or remembrance, saòkhårakkhandha,
the khandha of "habitual tendencies" or "formations",
including all cetasikas other than feeling and perception, viññåùakkhandha,
including all cittas.
4. As we see, of the eight inseparable rúpas six are gross,
namely: three of the four Great Elements, visible object, odour and
flavour, and two are subtle, namely: cohesion and nutrition.
5. They are visible object, sound, odour, flavour and three
tangible objects which are three among the Great Elements.
6. In the Middle Length Sayings I, no 10. See the translation of
the commentary to this sutta in "The Way of Mindfulness" by Ven.
Soma, B.P.S. Kandy, 1975.
******
Chapter 5
Subtle Rúpas produced by Kamma
The objects that can be experienced through the sense-doors and
also the sense-organs themselves are gross rúpas, the other rúpas are
subtle rúpas. The sense-organs are produced solely by kamma, not by the
other three factors of citta, temperature and nutrition which can produce
rúpas. There are also subtle rúpas which are produced solely by kamma. They
are: the femininity-faculty, the masculinity-faculty, the life-faculty and
the heart-base.
With regard to the femininity-faculty (itthindriyaÿ) and the
masculinity-faculty (purisindriyaÿ), collectively called bhåvarúpa or sex,
these are rúpas produced by kamma from the first moment of our life and
throughout life. Thus, it is due to kamma whether one is born as a male or
as a female. The "Atthasåliní" (II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 322)
explains that birth as a male and birth as a female are different kinds of
vipåka. Being born as a human being is kusala vipåka, but since good deeds
have different degrees also their results have different degrees. Birth as
a female is the result of kusala kamma of a lesser degree than the kusala
kamma that conditions birth as a male. In the course of life one can
notice the difference between the status of men and that of women. It is a
fact that in society generally men are esteemed higher than women. Usually
women cannot so easily obtain a position of honour in society. But as
regards the development of wisdom, both men and women can develop it and
attain arahatship. We read in the "Kindred Sayings" (IV,
Saîåyatana-vagga, Part III, Kindred Sayings about Womankind, 3, § 34,
Growth):
Increasing in five growths, monks, the ariyan woman disciple
increases in the ariyan growth, takes hold of the essential, takes hold of
the better. What five?
She grows in confidence (saddhå), grows in virtue (síla), in
learning, in generosity, in wisdom. Making such growth, monks, she takes
hold of the essential, she takes hold of the better....
The "Atthasåliní" (II, Book II, Ch III, 321) explains
that women and men have different features, that they are different in
outer appearance, in occupation and deportment. But the feminine features,
etc. are not identical with the rúpa that is the femininity faculty. The
"Atthasåliní" states:
...They are produced in course of process because of that
faculty. When there is seed the tree grows because of the seed, and is
replete with branch and twig and stands filling the sky; so when there is
the feminine controlling faculty called femininity, feminine features, etc.
, come to be....
The same is said about the masculinity faculty. The
"Atthasåliní" (same section, 322) gives the following definitions
of the femininity faculty and the masculinity faculty:
Of these two controlling faculties the feminine has the
characteristic of (knowing) the state of woman, the function of showing
"this is woman", the manifestation which is the cause of
femininity in feature, mark, occupation, deportment.
The masculinity controlling faculty has the characteristic of
(knowing) the state of man, the function of showing "this is man",
the manifestation which is the cause of masculinity in feature, etc.1 .
These two faculties which, as the Visuddhimagga (XIV, 58)
explains, are "coextensive with" or pervade the whole body, are
not known by visual cognition but only by mind-cognition. But, as the
"Atthasåliní" (321) states, their characteristic features, etc.,
which are conditioned by their respective faculties, are known by visual
cognition as well as by mind-cognition.
Seeing experiences only visible object, it does not know "This
is a woman" or "This is a man". The citta which recognizes
feminine or masculine features does so through the mind-door, but this
recognizing is conditioned by seeing. When the commentary states that these
characteristic features are known by visual cognition as well as by
mind-cognition, it does not speak in detail about the different processes
of cittas experiencing objects through the eye-door and through the
mind-door.
Generally, women like to emphasize their femininity in make up
and clothes and men like to emphasize their masculinity. One clings to
one's feminine or masculine features, one's way of walking and deportment.
We should not forget that it is the femininity faculty or masculinity
faculty, only a rúpa produced by kamma, which conditions our outward
appearance or deportment to be specifically feminine or masculine. We take
our sex for self, but it is only a conditioned element devoid of self.
Life faculty, the rúpa which is jívitindriya, is also a subtle
rúpa produced by kamma from the first moment of life and throughout life 2 . Since this kind of rúpa is produced
solely by kamma, it arises only in living beings, not in plants 3. It is a "controlling faculty" (indriya),
it has a dominating influence over the other rúpas it arises together with
since it maintains their life. The "Visuddhimagga" (XIV, 59)
states about life faculty 4 :
The life faculty has the characteristic of maintaining conascent
kinds of matter 5. Its function is to make
them occur. It is manifested in the establishing of their presence. Its
proximate cause is primary elements that are to be sustained.
Life faculty maintains the other rúpas it arises together with
in one group, and then it falls away together with them. The
"Visuddhimagga" (in the same section) states:
It does not prolong presence at the moment of dissolution
because it is itself dissolving, like the flame of a lamp when the wick and
the oil are getting used up....
We cling to our body as something alive. Rúpas of a "living
body" have a quality lacking in dead matter or plants, they are
supported by the life faculty. We are inclined to take this quality for
"self", but it is only a rúpa produced by kamma.
The heart-base (hadayavatthu) is another rúpa produced solely by
kamma. In the planes of existence where there are nåma and rúpa cittas have
a physical place of origin, a base (vatthu). Seeing-consciousness has as
its base the eye-base, the rúpa which is eyesense, and evenso have the
other sense-cognitions their appropriate bases where they arise. Apart from
the sense-bases there is another base: the heart-base. This is the place of
origin for all cittas other than the sense-cognitions.
At the first moment of life the rebirth-consciousness
(paìisandhi-citta) which arises is produced by kamma. If this citta arises
in a plane of existence where there are nåma and rúpa it must have a base:
this is the heart-base, which is produced by kamma. Kamma produces this
rúpa from the first moment of life and throughout life.
The rúpa which is the heart-base has not been classified in the
"Dhammasangaùi", but it is referred to in the "Book of
Conditional Relations" ( Paììhåna), the Seventh Book of the
Abhidhamma. In the section on "Dependance Condition" (Part II,
Analytical Exposition of Conditions) it is said that dependant on the five
sense-bases the five sense-cognitions arise, and dependant on "this
matter" mind-element and mind-consciousness-element arise. "This
matter" is the rúpa which is the heart-base and the mind-element and
mind-consciousness-element comprise all cittas other than the five
sense-cognitions 6.
The "Visuddhimagga" (XIV, 60) gives the following
definition of the heart-base 7:
The heart-basis has the characteristic of being the (material)
support for the mind-element and for the mind-consciousness-element. Its
function is to observe them. It is manifested as the carrying of them....
The "Visuddhimagga" (VIII, 111,112) states that the
heart-base is to be found on dependance on the blood, inside the heart. It
is of no use to speculate where exactly the heart-base is. It is sufficient
to know that there is a rúpa which is base for all cittas other than the
sense-cognitions. We may not experience the heart-base, but if there would
be no heart-base we could not think at this moment, we could not know which
objects we are experiencing, we could not feel happy or unhappy. In the
planes of existence where there are nåma and rúpa all cittas must have a
physical base, they cannot arise outside the body. When we, for example,
are angry, cittas rooted in aversion arise and these originate at the
heart-base.
If we had not studied the Abhidhamma we would have thought that
all cittas originate in what we call in conventional language "brain".
One may cling to a concept of brain and take it for self. The Abhidhamma
can clear up misunderstandings about bodily phenomena and mental phenomena
and the way they function. It explains how physical phenomena and mental
phenomena are interrelated. Mental phenomena are dependant on physical
phenomena 8 and physical phenomena can
have mental phenomena as conditioning factors.
The conditioning factors for what we call body and mind are
impermanent. Why then do we take body and mind for something permanent? We
read in the "Kindred Sayings" (III, Khandhå-vagga, Kindred
Sayings on Elements, First Fifty, Ch 2, § 18, Cause) that the Buddha said
to the monks at Såvatthí:
Body, monks is impermanent. That which is the cause, that which
is the condition for the arising of body, that also is impermanent. How,
monks, can a body which is compounded of the impermanent come to be
permanent?....
The same is said about the mental phenomena (classified as four
aggregates or khandhas). We then read:
Thus seeing, the welltaught ariyan disicple 9
is repelled by body, is repelled by feeling, by perception, by the
"activities" 10. He is repelled
by consciousness. Being repelled by it he lusts not for it: not lusting he
is set free. Thus he realizes: "Rebirth is destroyed, lived is the
righteous life, done is my task, for life in these conditions there is no
here-after."
*********
Questions
1. Why can life faculty not arise in plants?
2. What is the base for citta rooted in aversion?
3. Does the brain have the function of base for cittas?
4. What is the base for rebirth-consciousness in the human plane
of
existence?
*******
Footnotes
1. See
also Dhammasangaùi § 633, 634 and Visuddhimagga XIV, 58.
2.
There is nåma-jívitindriya and rúpa-jívitindriya. Nåma-jívitindriya is a
cetasika among the "universals", cetasikas which
accompany every citta.
3. Plants consist of rúpas produced by temperature or the
element of heat.
4. See also Dhammasangaùi § 635. The Atthasåliní refers to its
definition of nåma-jívitindriya (I, Part IV, Ch I, 123, 124).
5. The rúpas arising together with it.
6. Mind- element are the five-sense-door adverting-consciousness
and the two types of receiving-consciousness, which are kusala vipåka and
akusala vipåka. Mind-consciousness-element are all cittas other than the
sense-cognitions and mind-element.
7. The Atthasåliní does not classify the heart-base separately,
but it mentions the "basis-decad", a group of ten rúpas including
the heart-base ( Book II, Ch III, 316). As I shall explain later on, from
the first moment of our life kamma produces three decads, groups of ten
rúpas: the bodysense-decad, the sex-decad and the heart-base-decad.
8. In the planes of existence where there are nåma and rúpa.
9. An ariyan is a person who has attained enlightenment.
10. Cetasikas other than feeling and perception are classified
as one khandha, that of the activities or formations, saòkhårakkhandha.
******
Chapter 6.
Intimation through Body and Speech
Citta is one of the four factors that produces rúpa. We look
different when we laugh, when we cry, when we are angry or when we are
generous. Then we can notice that citta produces rúpa.
Bodily intimation (kåyaviññatti) and speech intimation
(vacíviññatti) are two kinds of rúpa, originated by citta. They are not
produced by the other three factors that can produce rúpa, by kamma,
temperature or nutrition.
As to bodily intimation, this is movement of the body, of the
limbs, facial movement or gestures which display our intentions, be they
wholesome or unwholesome. The intention expressed through bodily intimation
can be understood by others, even by animals. Bodily intimation itself is
rúpa, it does not know anything. We read in the "Dhammasangaùi"
(§ 636):
What is that rúpa which is bodily intimation (kåyaviññatti)?
That tension, that intentness, that state of making the body
tense, in response to a thought, whether good or bad, or indeterminate
(kiriyacitta), on the part of one who advances, or recedes, or fixes the
gaze, or glances around, or retracts an arm, or stretches it forth - the
intimation, the making known, the state of having made known - this is that
rúpa which constitutes bodily intimation.
According to the "Atthasåliní" (I, Book I, Part III,
82, 83), in the case of bodily intimation citta produces the "eight
inseparable rúpas" 1 and among them
the element of air (wind, oscillation or motion) plays its specific part in
supporting the body and strengthen the postures. We read:
... But there is a certain peculiar, unique mode of change in
the primaries (four Great Elements) when set up by mind, through which, as
a condition, mobility (the element of wind or motion) is able to
strengthen, support and agitate the coexistent body. This is intimation.
... Because it is a capacity of communicating, it is called "intimation".
What does it communicate? A certain wish communicable by an act of the
body. If anyone stands in the path of the eye, raises his hands or feet,
shakes his head or brow, the movement of his hands, etc. are visible.
Intimation, however, is not so visible; it is only knowable by the mind.
For one sees by the eye a colour-surface moving by virtue of the change of
position in hands, etc. 2. But by
reflecting on it as intimation, one knows it by mind-door-consciousness,
thus: "I imagine that this man wishes me to do this or that act."...
The intention expressed through bodily intimation is
intelligible to others, not through the eye-door but through the mind-door.
Knowing, for example, that someone waves is cognition through the mind-door
and this cognition is conditioned by seeing-consciousness that experiences
visible object or colour. The meaning of what has been intimated is known
after reflection on it, thus it can only be cognized through the mind-door.
The "Visuddhimagga" (XIV, 61) defines intimation in a
similar way and then states about its function, manifestation and proximate
cause:
... Its function is to display intention. It is manifested as
the cause of bodily excitement. Its proximate cause is the
consciousness-originated air-element.
As to the proximate cause, as we have seen, the element of wind
or air plays its specific role in the intimating of intention by bodily
movement or gestures.
We are inclined to take intimation as belonging to self, but
bodily intimation is only a kind of rúpa, originated by citta. There is no
person who communicates by gestures. Are we aware of nåma and rúpa when we
gesticulate? Are there kusala cittas or akusala cittas at such moments?
Most of the time there are akusala cittas, but we do not notice it. Do we
realize which type of citta conditions the bodily intimation when we wave
to someone else in order to greet him, when we gesticulate in order to tell
him to come nearer, when we nod our head while we agree with something or
shake it while we deny something? Such gestures are part of our daily
routine and it seems that we make them automatically. Perhaps we never
considered what types of citta condition them. Akusala citta conditions
bodily intimation, for example, when we with mimics ridicule someone else
or show our contempt for him. In such cases it is obvious that there is
akusala citta. We should remember that bodily intimation is more often
conditioned by akusala citta than by kusala citta. There may be subtle
clinging that is not so obvious while we are expressing our intention by
gestures. When there is mindfulness we can find out whether there is kusala
citta or akusala citta. There may also be the performing of akusala kamma
through bodily intimation, for example when someone gives by gesture orders
to kill. There may be kusala cittas that condition bodily intimation when
we, for example, stretch out our arms to welcome people to our home, when
we stretch out our hand in order to give something, when we point out the
way to someone who is in a strange city, when we by our gestures express
courtesy or when we show respect to someone who deserves respect. However,
there may also be selfish motives while we are doing so, or we may be
insincere, and then there are akusala cittas that condition bodily
intimation. More knowledge about citta and rúpas which are conditioned by
citta can remind us to be aware of whatever reality appears, also while
gesticulating. Then there is at such a moment no opportunity for akusala
citta.
Our intentions are not only communicated by gestures, but also
by speech. Speech intimation (vacíviññatti) is a kind of rúpa, originated
by citta. The "Dhammasangaùi" ( Ch II, § 637) states:
What is that rúpa which is intimation by language (vacíviññatti)?
That speech, voice, enunciation, utterance, noise, making
noises, language as articulate speech, which expresses a thought whether
good, bad, or indeterminate - this is called language. And that intimation,
that making known, the state of having made known by language - this is
that rúpa which constitutes intimation by language.
When someone's intention is intimated through speech it is then
intelligible to others. The meaning of what is intimated is known after
reflection about it, thus, it is cognizable through the mind-door. Speech
intimation itself does not know anything, it is rúpa.
The "Visuddhimagga" (XIV, 62) gives the following
definition of speech intimation 3 :
Verbal intimation is the mode (conformation) and the alteration
(deformation) in the consciousness-originated earth-element that causes
that occurrence of speech utterance which mode and alteration are a
condition for the knocking together of clung to matter
4 . Its function is to display intention. It is manifested as
the cause of voice in speech. Its proximate cause is the
consciousness-originated earth element....
The proximate cause of bodily intimation is the element of wind
or motion which is produced by citta, whereas the proximate cause of speech
intimation is the element of earth or solidity which is produced by citta.
According to the "Atthasåliní" (I, Book I, Part III, Ch 2, 87),
in the case of speech intimation, citta produces the eight inseparable
rúpas and among these the element of earth or solidity (hardness) plays its
specific role when there is impact producing sound. A "certain unique
change" among the great elements produced by citta conditions the
impact between the sound base, a rúpa produced by kamma (called clung to
matter) and the element of solidity produced by citta.
Bodily intimation and speech intimation are rúpas conditioned by
citta, but these two kinds of rúpa are not rúpas with their own distinct
nature and characteristic. Rúpas can be classified as sabhåva rúpas, rúpas
with their own distinct nature (sa meaning: with, bhåva meaning: nature)
and asabhåva rúpas, rúpas without their own distinct nature. The eight
inseparable rúpas are sabhåva rúpas, they each have their own distinct
nature and characteristic. As we have seen, bodily intimation and speech
intimation are a "certain, unique change" in the great elements,
they are a quality of rúpa, namely: changeability of rúpa. Thus, they are
asabhåva rúpas. The eight inseparable rúpas on which the two kinds of
intimation depend are produced by citta, according to the "Atthasåliní"
(II, Book II, Part I, Ch 3, 337). In the case of bodily intimation the
element of wind and in the case of speech intimation the element of earth
plays its specific role.
Do we realize whether speech intimation is conditioned by kusala
citta or by akusala citta? We may know in theory that we speak with akusala
citta when our objective is not wholesomeness, such as generosity, kindness
or the development of understanding of the Buddha's teachings, but do we
realize this at the moments we speak? Even when akusala kamma through
speech, such as lying or slandering, is not committed, we may still speak
with akusala citta. We may find out that often our speech is motivated by
akusala citta. We speak with cittas rooted in attachment when we want to
gain something, when we want to be liked or admired by others. With this
objective we may even tell "tales" about others, ridicule or
denigrate them. We are attached to speech and we often chatter just in
order to keep the conversation going. We tend to feel lonely when there is
silence. Usually we do not consider whether what we say is beneficial or
not. We have to speak to others when we organize our work in the office or
at home. Do we realize whether there are at such moments kusala cittas or
akusala cittas? When we lie there is the committing of akusala kamma
through speech.
Speech intimation is produced by kusala citta when we, for
example, with generosity and kindness try to help and encourage others in
speaking to them. When we speak about the Buddha's teachings there may be
kusala cittas, but at times there also tend to be akusala cittas, for
example, when we are conceited about our knowledge, or when we are attached
to the people we are speaking to. Many different types of citta arise and
fall away very rapidly and we may not know when the citta is kusala citta
and when akusala citta. There can be mindfulness while speaking, but we may
believe that this is too difficult since we have to think of what we are
going to say. Thinking is a reality and it can be object of mindfulness.
There are sound and hearing and they can be object of mindfulness when they
appear. We are usually absorbed in the subject we want to speak about and
we attach great importance to our speech. We live most of the time in the
world of "conventional truth", and we are forgetful of ultimate
realities (paramattha dhammas). In the ultimate sense there is no speaker,
only empty phenomena, conditioned nåmas and rúpas.
When we gesticulate and speak there are only nåma and rúpa.
Hardness, pressure, sound or hearing may present themselves, they can be
experienced one at a time. If there is mindfulness at such moments
understanding of the reality that appears can be developed.
The "Visuddhimagga" (XVIII, 31) uses a simile of a
marionette in order to illustrate that there is no being in the ultimate
sense, only conditioned phenomena. We read:
Therefore, just as a marionette is void, soulless and without
curiosity, and while it walks and stands merely through the combination of
strings and wood, yet it seems as if it had curiosity and interestedness,
so too, this mentality-materiality is void, soulless and without curiosity,
and while it walks and stands merely through the combination of the two
together, yet it seems as if it had curiosity and interestedness. This is
how it should be regarded. Hence the Ancients said:
" The mental and material are really here,
" But here there is no human being to be found,
"For it is void and merely fashioned like a doll--
" Just suffering piled up like grass and sticks.
When one sees a performance with marionettes, it seems that the
puppets have lives of their own: they exert themselves, they are absorbed,
attached or full of hatred and sorrow, and one can laugh and cry because of
the story that is being enacted. However, the puppets are only wood and
strings, held by men who make them act. When one sees how the puppets are
stored after the play they are not impressive anymore, only pieces of wood
and strings. When we study the Abhidhamma it helps us to understand more that
this marionette we call "self" can move about, act and speak
because of the appropriate conditions.
As we have seen in the definitions of the two kinds of
intimation by the `Dhammasangaùi" (§ 636, 637), these two kinds of
rúpa can be conditioned by kusala citta, akusala citta or "inoperative"
citta (kiriyacitta). When we realize that intimation through body and
speech is very often conditioned by akusala citta, we come to see the
danger of being forgetful of nåma and rúpa while we make gestures and
speak. Then we are urged to remember the Buddha's words as to the practice
of "clear comprehension" (sampajañña) in the "Satipaììhåna
Sutta" (Middle Length Sayings no. 10, in the section on Mindfulness of
the Body, dealing with the four kinds of clear comprehension 5 ) :
And further, o bhikkhus, a bhikkhu, in going forwards (and) in
going backwards, is a person practising clear comprehension; in looking
straight on (and) in looking away from the front, is a person practising
clear comprehension; in bending and in stretching, is a person practising
clear comprehension; in wearing the shoulder-cloak, the (other two) robes
(and) the bowl, is a person practising clear comprehension; in regard to
what is eaten, drunk, chewed and savoured, is a person practising clear
comprehension; in defecating and in urinating, is a person practising clear
comprehension; in walking, in standing (in a place), in sitting (in some
position), in sleeping, in waking, in speaking and in keeping silence, is a
person practising clear comprehension.
******
Questions
1. Can bodily intimation be the body-door through which a
good deed or an evil deed is being
performed?
2. Through which door can what is being intimated by bodily
movement be recognized?
3. When a conductor conducts an orchestra and he makes gestures
in order to show the musicians how to play the music, which
types of citta can produce the bodily intimation?
4. When one slanders, which type of rúpa is the door through
which such action is being performed?
5. When we speak to others in order to organize our work, can
speech be conditioned by akusala citta?
**********
Footnotes
1.The four Great Elements of solidity, cohesion, temperature and
motion, and visible object, odour, flavour and nutrition.
2. Because of saññå, remembrance, one can notice the movement of
a colour surface. Seeing sees only colour, it cannot see movement of
colour.
3. See Dhammasangaùi Ch II, 636, 637, and also Atthasåliní I,
Book I, Part III, Ch 2, 86,87, and II, Book II, Part I, Ch 3, 324.
4. According to the Commentary to the Visuddhimagga, the
"Paramattha Mañjúså" (452): "The function (knocking
together) of the vocal apparatus (clung to matter)".
5. See the translation in "The Way of Mindfulness"
by Ven. Soma.
******
Chapter 7 Rúpas originating from different factors
The study of rúpas that are produced by kamma, citta,
temperature or nutrition is beneficial for the understanding of our daily
life. When we study the conditions for our experiences and bodily
functions, we shall better understand that our life is only nåma and rúpa.
This again reminds us to be aware so that realities can be known as they
are.
In this human plane of existence experiences through the senses
arise time and again, such as seeing and hearing, and these could not occur
without the body. The sense-cognitions have as their physical places of
origin their appropriate sense-bases (vatthus) an |