I think both of you are ‘overthinking’ the issue. Let me give the crude, direct answer that I have been trying to avoid because I was not sure whether it could psychologically affect some people.
- Suppose our world is as follows: Nothing has colors, not even black and white, because those are also colors. Foods don’t have taste, not even salty taste; absolutely no taste. No ‘pleasing music.’ No smells. No sexual enjoyment (that is also a saññā).
- For those who enjoy jhāna/samāpatti, there will be no ‘jhānic/samāpatti pleasure.’ That is also a saññā.’
Now, you may have to think through this in detail. It would be impossible to live in a colorless world, let alone being able to enjoy it. It would be as if we didn’t have eyes. This is why the Buddha called ‘saññā‘ a mirage.
- Again, science has confirmed that nothing in this world has color, and Sunlight is colorless as well. See “The Illusion of Perception (Saññā) – It Is Scientific Consensus.”
- As discussed there, scientists have also confirmed that other sensory inputs do not have the corresponding attributes of taste, smell, etc.
That is the ‘ultimate truth’ or ‘paramattha sacca.’ It can also be called ‘ultimate reality’ or ‘paramattha dhamma.’
- The ‘experienced reality’ of a world with colors, smells, tastes, etc., is generated in the mind (in the brain, according to scientists).
- I guess scientists do not consider this an issue to worry about, because they do not believe in rebirth. They say that the perception (saññā) of color, taste, etc., gradually evolved over time. According to them, life started with inert molecules forming more complex versions, and perception and other ‘mental entities’ (such as feelings of joy and sorrow) emerged over time!
- Of course, they are unable to explain how that happens, i.e., how a bunch of complex molecules can give rise to feelings, perception, and consciousness. This is called the ‘hard problem of consciousness.’
- Most people are not even aware of this astonishing fact. The general public believes that colors are either in objects or in sunlight.
- When I read books or publications on the ‘hard problem of consciousness,’ no one seems to be bothered about it. They are only bothered by the inability to explain how it occurs via evolution.
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Lang wrote: “I have always understood ‘paramattha sacca‘ to mean the 4 “ultimate realities”: rūpa, citta, cetasika, nibbāna.”
- That is also correct. The world of 31 realms and the living beings in them, in ultimate reality, can be described by only rūpa, citta, and cetasika. When an Arahant separates from the ‘world of 31 realms,’ Nibbana is the result.
- “Things” in the world of 31 realms are described by rupa, which do not possess colors, tastes, etc. The ‘living beings’ have rūpa, citta, cetasika.
