Thank you, Yash and Gad!
1. I listened to most of the discourse. It is good. In particular, after around the 1-hour mark, Thero’s discussion of the “origins of the sensual pleasures” is excellent. As he explains it is made up by the mind. That is what I called “distorted saññā” in my recent posts.
- He discusses how “distorted saññā” arises. For example, the actual origin of a “taste” is a chemical signal that the brain receives. That signal is taken as a “pleasurable” by the mind. Based on that, the mind attaches with raga, dosa, and moha, and generates a “defiled saññā.”
2. The critical point here is that the receptiors in a pig’s tongue are wired differently compared to a human’s.
- Thus, while a a piece of rotten meat will taste great for a pig, it tastes yucky/disgusting for a human.
- In the same way, rotten meat or feces will smell bad for a pig, but a human finds that smell repulsive.
- It is just a matter of how sensory receptors are wired differently in a pig versus a human.
3. The second critical point is: That “wiring” is done by kammic energy.
- The “wiring” matches the “gati” of each sentient being.
- I will discuss that in upcoming posts.
4. Therefore, that discussion will help you understand my recent posts discussing “distorted saññā” and “defiled saññā.”
- See, for example, #8 and #12 of “Upaya and Upādāna – Two Stages of Attachment” and #9 of “Sotapanna Stage and Distorted/Defiled Saññā.”
5. There is nothing intrinsically “tasty” or “disgusting” in a piece of rotten meat or anything else!
- The same holds for all sensory inputs. A given object that looks desirable to one species may appear repulsive to another species. We don’t find grass to have any appeal, but a lush patch of grass looks appealing to cows. Even among humans, “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” as the commonly used saying goes.
- How “distorted saññā” gives rise to “mind-made vedanā” may be hard to believe but that is the truth discovered by the Buddha.
6. Types of vedanā (including “mind-made vedanā”) are discussed in many posts : For example, “Does Bodily Pain Arise Only Due to Kamma Vipāka?” and “Vēdanā and Samphassa-Jā-Vēdanā – More Than Just Feelings.”
