Post on “Saḷāyatana Are Not Sense Faculties”

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    • #52156
      dosakkhayo
      Participant

      Saḷāyatana Are Not Sense Faculties

      #2 third bullet

      The brief explanation: When we attach to things in the external world, we convert our senses into āyatana (ajjhatta āyatana), i.e., we start using them to enjoy “pleasurable things” in the external world. Those “pleasurable things” then become “external āyatana” (bāhira āyatana.)

      Can you check if ‘bahira’ and ‘ajjhatta’ are used correctly in this post? Thank you.

    • #52157
      Lal
      Keymaster

      Yes. That is correct.

      The following is an easy way to avoid confusion between “bahira” and “bahiddha.”

      1. When sense faculties (cakkhu, sota, ghana, jivha, kaya, mana) are used with defilements (raga, dosa, moha) in mind, they become  “ajjhatta ayatana.”

      • When that happens, the corresponding external rupas (rupa, sadda, gandha, rasa, phottabba, dhamma) become “bahira ayatana.”

      2. The term “bahiddha” is usually used with the five aggregates or pancakkhandha (rupa, vedana, sanna, sankhara, vinnana.) These are generally pancupadanakkhandha for a puthujjana.

      • They arise with a coming together of bahira and ajjhatta ayatana (for example, sota and sadda.) 
      • That contact leads to the arising of pancupadanakkhandha characterized by the set rupa, vedana, sanna, sankhara, and vinnana. In the above example of sota and sadda coming to contact, a “sadda rupa” is created in two steps involving bahiddha sadda rupa (with only distorted sanna; no attachment yet) and ajjhatta sadda rupa (with subsequent attachment to distorted sanna).
      • With that bahiddha sadda rupa the mind will generate bahiddha vedana, bahiddha sanna, bahiddha sankhara, and bahiddha vinnana. If the mind attaches to that bahiddha sadda rupa, it becomes ajjhatta sadda rupa. Then, corresponding ajjhatta vedana, ajjhatta sanna, ajjhatta sankhara, ajjhatta vinnana will also arise.

      3. I hope that will help remember the usage of “bahiddha” and “bahira.”

      • Bahiddha” is used with pancupadanakkhandha and “bahira” is used with ayatana.
      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #52158
      dosakkhayo
      Participant

      Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

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