Buddhist Theory of Matter – Fundamentals

Buddhist theory of matter is a comprehensive description of matter with and without “life,” i.e., everything in the world. In contrast, modern science starts with matter without life and tries (and fails) to show life (or consciousness) arises out of “lifeless matter.”

October 5, 2024

Modern Science – Matter Is Primary

1. Since the time of the early Greek philosophers, modern science has been based on the assumption that everything in the world has origins in matter. Since physics is the field of modern science that studies the fundamental properties of matter, the expectation is that physics will be able to explain everything about the world, including consciousness!

  • I am a physicist with a Ph.D. in atomic physics. I became a physicist because I was fascinated with physics. However, after learning Buddha’s teachings after retirement, it became clear that Buddha’s worldview is logical and that consciousness will never be proven to arise from inert matter. My thought process for that conclusion is described in the section “Origin of Life.”
  • As physicists probed the matter, they discovered that matter at a small scale behaves quite differently from matter at the scale we deal with in our daily activities. The ground-breaking experiments conducted around 1900 led to the invention of quantum mechanics.  
  • Even though quantum mechanics revealed fascinating and unexpected aspects of the behavior of matter at the microscopic level (at and below the scale of atoms), it was unable to make any connections to mental phenomena or consciousness. See “Will Quantum Mechanics Be Able to Explain Consciousness?” 
Matter and Energy are Related

2. Although quantum mechanics was unable to make a breakthrough in the issue of how consciousness arises from matter, it led to the discovery that matter and energy are related. Matter can be converted to energy and vice versa!

  • That observation by scientists will help us understand Buddha’s teachings more easily. Defiled minds (with rāga, dosa, moha, or equivalently, taṇhā and avijjā) create subtle energies (kammic energy). 
  • Such subtle kammic energies maintain everything in the universe, including all inert matter and all living beings! It is a complex subject fully discernible to a Buddha’s mind, but we can get a rough idea of that “bigger picture,” which is truly fascinating!
Buddha’s Teaching – Mind Is the Origin of Matter

3. Everything is made based on a single fundamental entity called suddhāṭṭhaka. Just like all programming languages are based on two digits of zero and one, all living and non-living things are made of suddhāṭṭhaka with eight subunits. Just like combinations of two digits can handle the complexity of programming, various combinations of the eight constituents of suddhāṭṭhaka — together with internal rotation (paribbramana) and spin (bramana) — are enough to describe the highly complex world.

  • Suddhāṭṭhaka (“suddha” for “pure” or fundamental” + “aṭṭha” or “eight”) means  a unit of matter consisting of eight fundamental entities (usually translated as the “pure octad,” for example, in Bhikkhu Bodhi’s book per below.) Those eight constituents are in two categories: pathavi, āpo, tejo, vāyo, and vaṇṇa, gandha, rasa, oja. The reason for the two categories will become apparent below.
  • Suddhāṭṭhaka is not even mentioned in many Thēravada Texts, especially in the Sutta Piṭaka. It is discussed in “Bhikkhu_Bodhi-Comprehensive_Manual_of_Abhidhamma,” by Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000); see pp. 246, 253-254. I have discussed it in several posts, including “The Origin of Matter – Suddhāṭṭhaka,” “Bhūta and Yathābhūta – What Do They Really Mean” and “31 Realms Associated with the Earth.”
  • However, I suggest reading through this post first so that you can get the basic idea. After that, you should read the references, including those above, for further details. A rough idea is sufficient even if you don’t fully understand the above posts. We need to realize the critical importance of the role of the mind. A mind contaminated with rāga, dosa, moha (equivalently, taṇhā and avijjā) maintains the rebirth process and associated suffering. See “Manōpubbangamā dhammā..”
Avijjā and Taṇhā – Origin of a Suddhāṭṭhaka

4. A suddhāṭṭhaka is a “packet of energy” and the basic building block of matter. Furthermore, hadaya vatthu (seat of the mind) and the five pasāda rupa each is also a suddhāṭṭhaka. We are all familiar with modern science’s concepts that everything is made of atoms and molecules. When scientists probed the composition of matter into deeper and finer levels, they discovered a set of “subatomic fundamental particles” that the atoms are made of. A suddhāṭṭhaka is smaller than any of those. 

  •  How can such a variety of “things” (e.g., rocks, trees, animals, people, etc. ) exist based on just one “fundamental composite particle”? 
  • The proportion of the eight constituents dictates any specific entity. For example, the Earth’s crust is made of “hard things” like rocks. Those are made of suddhāṭṭhaka with mainly the pathavi element, which determines the “hardness.”
  • Water and most liquids are made of suddhāṭṭhaka with predominantly the apo element. Similarly, air (wind) and fire have suddhāṭṭhaka made predominantly with the vayo and tejo elements.
  • This set of four constituents (pathavi, āpo, tejo, vāyo) is added to suddhāṭṭhaka due to moha (or avijjā).

5. The other four constituents (vaṇṇa, gandha, rasa, oja) are added to suddhāṭṭhaka due to rāga and dosa, both of which arise based on taṇhā. 

  • In simple terms, “rāga” means to crave things in the world; living beings in kāma, rupa, and arupa loka have kāma rāga, rupa rāga, and arupa rāga respectively. As we have discussed, “kāma rāga” means craving “close contact sensory inputs” (especially taste, smell, and touch, including sex); “rupa rāga” means craving jhāna experiences, and “arupa rāga” means craving arupāvacara samāpatti experiences.
  • The mental pollutant/defilement dosa (anger) arises only in kāma loka when deprived of sensory pleasures. Thus, it is associated with kāma rāga.
  • Another way to say that is that the four constituents (vaṇṇa, gandha, rasa, oja) arise due to craving (taṇhā) kāma assāda (close-contact sensory pleasures), jhānic pleasures, or samāpatti pleasures. 

6. The four components of vaṇṇa, gandha, rasa, oja get incorporated into suddhāṭṭhaka because of the craving for sense experiences.

  • For example, the “rasa” component originates from our craving for tasty foods. Thus, greedy thoughts based on the taste of honey, for example, would create suddhāṭṭhaka , leading to the availability of honey. Honey would have a dominant presence of the rasa component; since it is a liquid, it would also have a significant apo component.
  • In another example, a cake or a ripened fruit would have significant rasa, gandha, and pathavi components.
  • On the other hand, gasoline would have suddhāṭṭhaka with the dominant presence of apo (it is liquid) and tejo (it is highly combustible).
Two Types of Suddhāṭṭhaka

7. When one generates greedy thoughts based on the taste of honey, for example, two types of suddhāṭṭhaka are created via javana citta: (i) One type of suddhāṭṭhaka will contribute to the sense faculty of taste (jivhā pasāda rupa) in future existences. (ii). The other type of suddhāṭṭhaka will contribute to the process of generating honey in the external world; that includes generating plants bearing flowers (so that bees can make honey).

  • Thus, suddhāṭṭhaka generation leads to two effects: (i) Generating kammic energy to create sensory faculties for each person’s future existences. (ii) Formation of the external world via the collective effort of all sentient beings. 
  • I hope you get the basic idea. Also see “The Origin of Matter – Suddhāṭṭhaka,“
World = Suffering 

8. Thus, we can summarize the above discussion as follows. Defiled minds generate the fundamental unit of matter (suddhāṭṭhaka) and sustain the “suffering-filled world”!

  • The above-highlighted statement summarizes the basis of Buddha’s teachings at a deep fundamental level. 
  • Buddha explained that suffering will persist as long as one is associated with world; see “Loka Sutta – Origin and Cessation of the World.”
  • A puthujjana (average human) willingly attaches to the “world” or the rebirth process. That attachment (taṇhā) arises because our minds and the external world arise to provide a “distorted view and perception” about our sensory experiences.
  • Once we understand the Buddha’s worldview (explained with Paṭicca Samuppāda), we can understand the root causes of taṇhā. That is how we can dispel avijjā (ignorance about the true nature of the world) and eliminate taṇhā as well. That is the way to Nibbāna!
Summary

9. I made this a short post to summarize the basis of Buddha’s core teachings using a logical approach. Understanding the following basic ideas is critical, even if the details are unclear.

  • Minds generate the building blocks of the whole world, suddhāṭṭhaka.
  • The types of suddhāṭṭhaka created by a particular mind (i.e., a given living being) determine its possible future existences.
  • On the other hand, the collective accumulation of suddhāṭṭhaka created by all living beings leads to the sustenance of the “external world.”

10. The origin of a suddhāṭṭhaka is the mind. Specifically, a mind contaminated with rāga, dosa, and moha (or avijjā) can generate suddhāṭṭhaka. Of course, there are details (in other posts), but I am only presenting the fundamental concepts in this post. 

11. Each person accumulates suddhāṭṭhaka that can contribute to their future existences and also to the maintenance of the external world via Paṭicca Samuppāda processes. Each Idappaccayatā Paṭicca Samuppāda process is initiated by a sensory input; it does not happen if one does not attach to a sensory input with taṇhā based on avijjā!

What Is the Reason to Discuss Concepts Not in Sutta Piṭaka?

12. This approach to learning Buddha Dhamma is not in the Sutta Piṭaka. Only a basic framework of Abhidhamma was available at the time of the Buddha. See “Abhidhamma – Introduction.”

  • The Sutta Piṭaka does not even mention suddhāṭṭhaka. It is also true that many people attained various stages of Nibbāna during the time of the Buddha without learning Abhidhamma details.
  • Those people born as humans during the time of a living Buddha had done most of their work (i.e., fulfilled pāramitā) in their previous lives. They only needed a “little push.”
  • However, most people today are still fulfilling their pāramitā, and it takes more effort to “get there.”

13. Another way to say that is as follows. The Buddha described four types of people in the “Ugghaṭitaññū Sutta (AN 4.133).” They are ugghaṭitaññū (one who understands immediately), vipañcitaññū (one who understands with brief explanation), neyyo (one who understands with detailed explanation), and padaparamo (one who will not fully understand in this life.) See “Vipassanā – Buddhist Meditation.”

  • Those born with a “higher level of wisdom” (ugghaṭitaññū) like Ven. Bāhiya Dārucīriya may not require much effort. Most people who attained magga phala during the time of the Buddha were ugghaṭitaññū and vipañcitaññū. In contrast, most people today fall into the latter two categories of neyyo (one who understands with detailed explanation) and padaparamo (one who will not fully understand in this life; nonetheless, they also must strive to fulfill pāramitā.) 
  • I will discuss this further in the next post.
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