Reply To: Post on “Saññā Gives Rise to Most of the Vedanā We Experience”

#50809
Lal
Keymaster

I thought of providing a bit more information to make things clear. 

The question was: “Furthermore, can bahiddha rupa, vedana, sanna, sankhara, and vinnana be referred to as pancakkhandha, and, in the same way, can ajjhatta rupa, vedana, sanna, sankhara, and vinnana be referred to as pancupadanakkhanda?”

  • The  “pure pancakkhandha” would have no defilements (raga, dosa, moha) and also no “distortions.” That is the same as the “pabhassara citta” we discussed.
  • That arises for the first time when one attains the Arahant phala.
  • After attaining the Arahant phala, the mind returns to the “kama dhatu” stage with uppatti bhavanga that one was born with.
  • Some Arahants can get back to the “Arahant phala citta” or “pabhassara citta,” at later times, which is called “Arahant phala samapatti.” 

Unless an Arahant is in a jhana or Arahant phala samapatti, their mind is in the uppatti bhavanga they were born with.

  • Then, upon getting a sensory input, their minds also receive the “kama sanna” associated with any human uppatti bhavanga. That is the “bahidda vinnana” state (with the corresponding “distorted sanna” and the rupa, which is also “distorted” per that sanna.) That is why it is not the same as “pure pancakkhandha.
  • However, Arahant‘s mind will not get to the next stage of “ajjhatta vinnana” because it will not attach to the “distorted sanna” or specifically “distorted kama sanna” in this case.
  • For a puthujjana, the “ajjhatta vinnana” is only the starting point of mind contamination. It can get further defiled within a fraction of a second, depending on the “kama gati” present at that time. It can go through several stages of contamination before it becomes “vinnana upadanakkhandha” (which is simply referred to as “vinnana” in most suttas.)

That contamination process is discussed in the following posts: 

Those posts are in the section: “Recovering the Suffering-Free Pure Mind

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