Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I haven’t watched the video posted by TGS.
- I wanted to make a comment about the question about the ‘vaṇṇa’ component of a suddhāṭṭhaka raised by Ajith, but in a wider perspective regarding the Colors are mind-made (Due to kama sanna) post.
As the post, Buddhist Theory of Matter – Fundamentals (with more details in “The Origin of Matter – Suddhāṭṭhaka“) explains, 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 in the world (via Paticca Samuppada); see “Paṭicca Samuppāda Creates the External World, Too!” Honey would have a dominant presence of the rasa component; since it is a liquid, it would also have a significant apo component.
- In the same way, certain things that give off an enticing aroma (like flowers) are created via Paticca Samuppada to fulfill our desire for “nice-smelling things.” There, the aroma is associated with the ‘gandha‘ (meaning odor) component in a suddhāṭṭhaka.
- The ‘vaṇṇa’ component in a suddhāṭṭhaka arises due to our craving in general for ‘mind-pleasing things,’ including attractive people and things, music, etc.
The only way that Nature (via Paticca Samuppada) can satisfy those cravings is by ‘creating illusions of nice taste, smells, sights, sounds, etc ‘ via saññā.
- That is why the Buddha compared saññā to a mirage. It has no substance. See “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā).”
- For example, there are no ‘colors’ in objects or the light. Colors are totally mind-made! They are there to satisfy that craving for attractive things. The following video explains that life would be boring without colors:
Life would be pretty boring without colors! But the world is truly ‘colorless.’ It is the ‘ultimate reality.’
- It is from the post, “Colors Are Mind-Made (Due to Kāma Saññā).”
The following video is also from that post, which explains that modern science also accepts that color is a perception and not there in objects or light. But scientists believe that perception (saññā) is made in the brain. But a brain is made of inert atoms and molecules, and cannot perceive anything!
- The ‘color perception’, according to modern science, is explained well in the following video by a physicist.
- At 2.30 minutes, he says that the process by which the brain interprets the signals from the sensors at the back of the retina as ‘red’ is not understood by science. That is because ‘color perception’ does not occur in the brain.
If one can understand the posts on saññā, one would lose cravings for sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and even sex.
- We are bound to this suffering-filled rebirth process only because we are fooled by ‘kama saññā‘ in our kama loka.
- Understanding saññā will help immensely with attaining the Sotapanna stage and beyond.
1 user thanked author for this post.
Yes. You are correct that only the four maha bhuta are mentioned as components of the ‘fundamental element of matter’ in the suttas. In fact, the suttas do not use the word suddhāṭṭhaka for that ‘fundamental element of matter.’
- That is because Abhidhamma was not taught (or even fully developed) during the lifetime of the Buddha. The Buddha taught the essential elements to Ven. Sariputta, and ‘his lineage of bhikkhus‘ developed the Abhidhamma theory over many generations. It was finalized about 200 years after the Buddha’s passing. See “Abhidhamma – Introduction.”
- The eight elements in a suddhāṭṭhaka are discussed in “The Origin of Matter – Suddhāṭṭhaka.” The following is in that post:
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’).
- Four of these belong to the “bhūta” stage of pathavi, āpo, tejo, and vāyo arising due to avijjā.
- The craving for material things leads to four more due to taṇhā. Those are vaṇṇa, gandha, rasa, and oja are created due to taṇhā. The four upādāya rūpa are based on tanha that you mentioned (as the suttas refer to) are these four.
- Since Abhidhamma was not taught during the time of the Buddha, the four units arising due to tanha were only referred to as ‘upādāya rūpa.’
P.S. The word ‘upādāya‘ is related to ‘upādāna‘ and thus, tanha.
1 user thanked author for this post.
A ‘dhammatā‘ is something taking place according to ‘nature’s laws, and those laws are based on Paticca Samuppada.
- The post Tobias refers to is “Kāya Can be Pañcupādānakkhandha or Physical Body” and #6 of the post is as follows:
6. “Sakkāya Sutta (SN 22.105)” asks, “Katamo ca, bhikkhave, sakkāyo?” (What is sakkāya?). The answer is “Pañcupādānakkhandhātissa vacanīyaṁ” (“I say it is Pañcupādānakkhandhā“).
- The same answer is given in the “Sakkāyapañhā Sutta (SN 38.15)“: “Pañcime, āvuso, upādānakkhandhā sakkāyo vutto bhagavatā” or “āvuso, the Buddha said that pañcupādānakkhandhā are sakkāya.”
- Here, “sakkāya” is “sath kāya” or “beneficial kāya.” Furthermore, “sakkāya ditthi” is “to view (pañcupādānakkhandha)kāya as beneficial.”
- One will have sakkāya ditthi as long as they view sensory pleasures as beneficial. However, since a Sotapanna has not removed kāma rāga, they will still be attached to sensory pleasures; still, they would not do apāyagāmi deeds that lead to rebirths in the apāyās. That happens automatically, without conscious thinking, i.e., it is a dhammatā.
1 user thanked author for this post.
Hello Ajith,
No. There is no contradiction with that post.
- Can you pinpoint a bullet number or a statement in that post such a contradiction is implied?
- It is possible that you may be thinking about the ‘vaṇṇa’ component of a suddhāṭṭhaka (in #6 of the second post). Sometimes ‘vaṇṇa’ is translated into Sinhala as ‘වර්ණ ‘ meaning ‘color’; but that is not what it means in this case.
- There, you need to take the meaning of ‘highly impressed’ (as in the case of attaching to something because one is enjoying it very much). In Sinhala, one could say ‘වර්ණනා කිරීම.’ That could be regrading something that is seen.
New:
First Stage of Ānāpānasati – Verses in Ānāpānasati Sutta
Revised:
2 users thanked author for this post.
I understand your frustration.
- The issue is that the audience has a wide range of understanding. Some are just starting, some others could be at the Sotapanna stage, and many are in between. So, it is difficult, if not impossible, to write a post that satisfies the whole audience.
- The current series of posts (“Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta – New Series”) is the hardest, since it tackles the deepest aspects of Buddha’s teachings. At that level, one cannot teach without using Pali words, because many Pali words do not have a single corresponding word in English.
- You can look at posts in the following sections. They address fundamental aspects: “Moral Living and Fundamentals” and “Living Dhamma.”
- Also, look at Bhikkhu Bodhi’s YouTube videos. They are not fully compatible with this website, but one can get a good idea of the fundamentals, as I recall (I have not watched one in recent years). See, for example, “Bhikkhu Bodhi: Introduction to Buddhism Series.”
1 user thanked author for this post.
Anyone who is not an Ariya (at least a Sotapanna Anugami) is a puthujjana. So, most of the ‘Buddhists’ today are probably puthujjana, because they are not at least Sotapanna Anugami. But they are likely to be more ‘moral’ compared to others.
- Even for a puthujjana, not all sensory inputs lead the mind to the nava kamma stage. Most of the things we encounter (for example, looking out of the window while riding a bus) do not lead the mind to attach to them. Those sensory events stop at the pūrana kamma stage even for a puthujjana.
2 users thanked author for this post.
Moving to the ‘purana kamma‘ stage happens depending on the number of samyojana that remain intact. In the following, we will consider a human in kama loka.
- A puthujjana enters the ‘purana kamma‘ stage with all ten samyojana intact. Thus, the likelihood of getting to the ‘nava kamma‘ stage is high.
- A Sotapanna enters the ‘purana kamma‘ stage with seven samyojana intact. Thus, a Sotapanna’s mind will still move in the “Aniccaṁ vipariṇāmi aññathābhāvi” direction. However, the likelihood of reaching the ‘nava kamma‘ stage is lower, since he has three fewer samyojana intact. A Sotapanna’s mind does not attach with the three ditthi samyojana (i.e., with ‘wrong views’). That is why a Sotapanna is incapable of doing ‘apayagami kamma.’
- An Anagami will not enter the ‘purana kamma‘ stage even though he has five samyojana intact. An Anagami has eliminated the five samyojana that bind one to the kama loka; therefore, he will not generate ‘kama sankkappa‘ to attach to the ‘kama sanna‘ in the ‘kama dhatu‘ stage. Thus, an Anagami‘s mind will stay in the ‘kama dhatu‘ stage. See, for example, “Upaya and Upādāna – Two Stages of Attachment.”
- The above statements (for an Anagami) also hold for an Arahant, of course. In addition, an Arahant‘s mind will not enter rupa loka or arupa loka either, since it has eliminated all ten samyojana. See “Loka and Nibbāna (Aloka) – Complete Overview.”
I recommend reading those posts carefully. Feel free to ask questions. This is what is needed to become a Sotapanna.
2 users thanked author for this post.
Jaro wrote: “Sankhara-Dukkha: The ceaseless effort and strain we invest in trying to recreate the causes and conditions of pleasure. – Among these, Sankhara-Dukkha is considered the most dangerous form of suffering.”
- Yes. Sankhara-Dukkha applies to every sensory input for a puthujjana.
- The mind of a puthujjana gets into the kama loka with any sensory input and at least generates kama sankappa in the ‘purana kamma‘ stage. Even if the mind does not proceed to the ‘nava kamma‘ stage, subtle/weak kamma are done with kama sankappa.
- That is a clear expression of ‘anicca nature’ and can be seen in the following chart.
- “Aniccaṁ vipariṇāmi aññathābhāvi” nature is associated with all sensory inputs for a puthujjana.
- If one comprehends that fact, one can become a Sotapanna Anugami.
- I discussed that in several posts. For example, “Sotapanna Anugāmi and Anicca/Viparināmi Nature of a Defiled Mind” and “First Stage of Ānāpānasati – Seeing the Anicca Nature of ‘Kāya’ .”
P.S. It is called Sankhara-Dukkha because of the ‘sankhara generation’ in panupadanakkhandha accumulation (or equivalently, the initiation of Paticca Samuppada process.)
- “Avijja paccaya sankhara” is how kamma accumulation (a Paticca Samuppada process) starts.
- That starts automatically in the ‘purana kamma‘ stage with the automatic generation of kama sankappa.
2 users thanked author for this post.
The suttas you quoted are two of a series starting with “Pañcamacchariya Sutta (AN 5.254)” which state the five kinds of extreme greed (macchariya).
- I would translate the five as, “extreme greed for dwellings, family lineage (if born in a ‘high class’ or wealthy family), expensive material possessions, praise and respect from others, and (sharing one’s knowledge of) Dhamma.”
It is a good idea to look at the series of suttas starting with the above.
- The next sutta (AN 5.255) says one must give them up to live a spiritual life.
- The subsequent suttas state one cannot attain any jhanas or magga phala if one doesn’t give them up.
- That makes sense, doesn’t it?
1 user thanked author for this post.
I have rewritten an old post:
“What is Suñyatā or Suññatā (Emptiness)?“
1 user thanked author for this post.
One’s number of teeth has absolutely nothing to do with the ability to attain a magga phala.
- Buddha’s teachings are focused on the mind, not the physical body.
1 user thanked author for this post.
The Buddha said when the mind becomes empty of greed (rāga), hate (dōsa), and ignorance (mōha), it becomes empty of those defilements: “rāgakkhayō Nibbānan, dosakkhayaō Nibbānan, mohakkhayō Nibbānan.” The ’emptiness’ is complete when the mind has attained full Nibbāna, i.e., at Arahanthood.
- That is the emptiness (suñyāta) in Buddha Dhamma. It is regarding defilements.
- I will make a further comment when I have some time.
The following description in the summary provided by Chat DeepSeek in SengKiat’s above comment provides a good summary. Still, the connection to raga, dosa, and moha is not made. While AI bots can provide excellent summaries of existing translations, the translations must be good to start with to get the correct interpretation.
- “The Cūḷasuññata Sutta is the Buddha’s step-by-step guide for a meditator to progress through ever-subtler states of concentration, using the method of “emerging and entering” to recognize how each state is “empty” of the previous one, culminating in a shift to the “signless” concentration and a final abiding in the ultimate emptiness that is the liberation of the mind—a state empty of defilements but fully aware of the dependently-arisen sensory world.”
1 user thanked author for this post.
The following are two publications that discuss the fact that objects inherently do not have colors:
“Color realism and color science“
2 users thanked author for this post.
The following are two videos that explain the phenomenon of ‘terminal lucidity in dementia patients.’
It turns out that science cannot explain it. I am not sure whether Buddha’s teachings on the gandhabba (explained in my above comment) can explain it either.
- May be the arising of strong ‘javana cittas‘ in the gandhabba can make it possible.
2 users thanked author for this post.
