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Good questions.
“1) The 6 ajjhatta äyatana are not the 6 physical eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mano indriya right? Ajjhatta äyatana are the 6 mental pasada rupa that is in the gandabba? Specifically cakku pasada rupa, sota pasada rupa, ghana pasada rupa, jivha pasada rupa, kaya pasada rupa, hadaya vatthu?”
Correct.
“2) Are all those 6 ajjhatta äyatana made up of mano rupa? Even the hadaya vatthu?”
No. Those are actually (barely) above the “mano rupa” or “vinnana” stage. They are at suddhashtaka stage (the smallest “rupa rupa” or “vanna rupa”).
– They are created by kammic energy at the cuti-patisandhi stage, when a new bhava is grasped.
– Those are really the “essence” of a living being.
– In the case of a brahma, that is basically all there is. Of course, there is arising of thoughts (cittaja kaya), and the utuja kaya (“aura body”) that is due to the cittaja kaya.
– That is also the essence of a human or animal gandhabba. However, a gandhabba can “absorb” aroma and acquire a trace of matter, the finest state of a karaja kaya. Our karaja kaya (physical body) is the VERY DENSE form of that karaja kaya.“3) The 6 bahiddha äyatana are also not the 6 physical sense faculties either right? Bahiddha äyatana are the rupa rupa from the material world that enter the 5 physical sense doors(eye, ear,nose, tongue, body) and the mano rupa from the mental world that enter the mano indriya?”
Correct. Very good observation.
“4) The 6 external physical sense doors(eyes, ear,nose, tongue, body, mano indriya) are not what does the actual sensing right? They are merely the doors, the gateway for either rupa rupa/mano rupa to enter these doors and eventually transfer to the 6 internal mental sense faculties? Because it’s these 6 internal mental sense faculties(pasada rupa and hadaya vatthu) which does the actual feeling/sensing of the material and mental world?”
Yes. Our physical eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and the mana indriya just help in getting the “signals” coming from bahiddha äyatana to the ajjhatta äyatana.
“5) Why are they called ayatana instead of indriya? Because isn’t everything we sense initially neutral thus are indriya rather than ayatana?”
Those indriya become ayatana due to avijja and tanha: We not only “see”, “hear”, etc, but also attach our likings/cravings to those signals.
– That is why only an Arahant uses them as indriya.
“Indriya and Āyatana – Big Difference”You are almost there in grasping the essence!
Yes. As one cultivates the Path, anusaya (as well as samyojana, ditthi, etc) are weakened.
– Then they are removed in four stages:
Conditions for the Four Stages of Nibbāna“I was wondering suppose a human reaches Sotapanna stage and dies to be born as a human again or in some other bhava, how does he/she remember the Dhamma that was learned from the past life?”
The same way that a child remembers a past life.
– The only difference is that a Sotapanna’s mind will never lose that “knowledge” whether born as a human or deva.“If there is no real thoughtful or conscious plan or intention to kill but one kills habitually, does that differ regarding kamma-vipaka? My feeling is it does. ”
The whole idea of practicing Buddha Dhamma is to remove such bad habits.
– One kills (or steals, or misbehaves) out of habit BECAUSE one has cultivated those (even starting from previous lives).
– So, one needs to start getting rid of any such habit by being mindful.“Sati in Ānapānasati/Satipatthāna – Two Meanings of Sati”
Also:
“9. Key to Anapanasati – How to Change Habits and Character (Gathi)“Being conscious means generating thoughts (citta).
We lose consciousness (i.e., do not generate thoughts) under the following conditions:
– Deep sleep
– While being unconscious either due to a traumatic injury or under anesthesia.In addition, an Arahant can DELIBERATELY get into nirodha samapatti for up to 7 days, where again no thoughts are generated.
– In order to get into nirodha samapatti, one must go through the four rupavacara jhana first, and then successively go to higher arupavacara jhana up to the highest, the “neva sanna na sanna” state. From there, an Arahant can make a determination on how long to stay in nirodha samapatti and get into it. (other yogis may be bale to get to the “neva sanna na sanna” state, but CANNOT get in to nirodha samapatti).
– Just like while being unconscious in the above mentioned “mundane situations”, the physical body of an Arahant in nirodha samapatti is kept alive by kammic energy.Attaining Nibbana (or the Arahanthood) does not mean losing thoughts. One just will not generate any DEFILED thoughts; this is also called saupadisesa Nibbana.
– That is called “vinnana nirodha”, where vinnana is a defiled mindset, where defiled thoughts may be generated.
– However, when the physical body of an Arahant dies, another birth in the 31 realms does not happen. Thus thoughts (citta) cease to exist PERMANENTLY and the Arahant merges with the Nibbana dhatu (element) or attains anupadisesa Nibbana.
– Two types are Nibbana were discussed here: “Reply To: Nibbana, not of this world?“.I think that summarizes all possibilities for “ceasing consciousness”.
Tien wrote: ” it’s all black, no self-talking, no feelings, no everything, it’s very hard to explain by words, it not mere black but there is something to it and I can’t know what inside of it because I wouldn’t know anyway (there is no senses operate while this state happens.”
Do you really “see the blackness during that whole time” or does it just flashes black and then you are out until you “come back”?
– In other words, does it remain black during the “out time”?They are both called karaja kaya. However, karaja kaya of a gandhabba is MUCH FINER. A normal human cannot see a gandhabba.
When a gandhabba enters a womb, it sheds the fine karaja kaya due to aroma absorption that grew while waiting for a womb. P.S. Of course, the material discarded is too fine to be noticed by anyone; finer than dust that we can see.
A new karaja kaya starts when the gandhabba merges with the zygote in the womb:
“Buddhist Explanations of Conception, Abortion, and Contraception“.P.S.
Tobias asked: “But the aroma “inhaled” is utu, right? It comes from “external”.”No. utu does not mean “external”. It means “due to change”. Utuja kaya arises due to the “transformation” of the cittaja kaya. It is really the energy in the cittas transformed to an “energy field”.
– It is also called the “aura body” or “aura field”.The post is: “Manomaya Kaya (Gandhabba) and the Physical Body”
The “fine physical body by inhaling aroma” is NOT part of the utuja kaya.
It belongs to the fourth kaya, the karaja kaya. It is a fine form of karaja kaya. Our karaja kaya is much more dense.
The utuja kaya is more like an “energy field” surrounding the body. It arises due to cittaja kaya.
– Basically citta arise in our minds and are immediately gone. Part of the javana energy created by cittas are converted to the utuja kaya.
– Brahmas have only those three kaya: kammaja, cittaja, and utuja.
– So, a new human (or animal) gandhabba is “born” at the cuti-patisandhi moment with those three kaya. Then with time, it will get a bit more dense by “inhaling” aroma. Here, “inhaling” does not imply they have noses. It is more like absorption.Questions by upekkha100:
1) Everything in this entire world is essentially energy (whether it is mano rupa or rupa rupa)?
2) Everything is either mano rupa(below sudastaka) or rupa rupa(at/above sudastaka)?
3) Mano rupa is precursor. All rupa rupa started out as mano rupa before condensing to rupa rupa?
Yes to all.
– It is significant to note that Einstein proved that matter and energy are the same. They are related by his famous equation: E = mc^2.It is also important to realize that mano rupa are created by vinnana.
Vinnana is different from other nama: vedana, sanna, sankhara:
“Introduction to Citta, Vēdanā, Saññā, Sankhāra, and Viññāna”More detailed analyses at:
“Viññāna Aggregate”This is why, “Nibbana is attained via stopping the arising of vinnana (vinnana nirodha)”.
– That is explained in that subsection given in the last link.
– It is also discussed in the post: “Viññāna (Defiled Consciousness)“VERY IMPORTANT CORRECTION!
upekkha100 wrote:” Sotapanna Anugami are one of the 8 Ariyas and part of the 4 pairs of Ariyas. I was under the impression that all Ariyas would have avecca pasada.”
Very good point. I should have been more careful. Thank you, upekkha100!
It seems that the Sotapanna Anugami is NOT FREED from the apayas, but it merely says “does not go to apayas”. I have revised my previous post with the following addition:
It is important to see that there is a difference between those with magga phala (1-4) and the last two types of Sotapanna Anugamai. It seems that the last two are not really FREED from the apayas. It seems to mean that they merely will not go to apayas at the end of this bhava.
– For each of the 4 magga pahala:
“Ayampi kho, mahānāma, puggalo parimutto nirayā parimutto tiracchānayoniyā parimutto pettivisayā parimutto apāyaduggativinipātā.”
“..That man is entirely free… from the apayas.”
– For the last two types (Sotapanna Anugamai):
“Ayampi kho, mahānāma, puggalo agantā nirayaṃ agantā tiracchānayoniṃ agantā pettivisayaṃ agantā apāyaṃ duggatiṃ vinipātaṃ.”
“..That man does not go to the apayas”.Yes. The state of mind at that moment affects the decision made at the vottapana citta:
“State of Mind in the Absence of Citta Vithi – Bhavanga“You may want to read the post: “Difference Between Tanhā and Upādāna“
firewns wrote: “I guess this is the bodily part of what is meant by giving up attachment to the Buddhadhamma in order to attain Nibbana.”
That is right.
“Attachment to Buddha Dhamma” is not a craving. It is “chanda”, one of the four iddhipada: chanda, citta, viriya, vimansa.That “chanda”, comes from understanding of the unfruitfulness (and dangers) in attachment to worldly things (thus extending the rebirth process, where most births are in the apayas).
Now, some people confuse “chanda” with “kamaccandha”. The latter is one of the five hindrances (panca nivarana) that “cover the mind”.
Kamaccandha is “kama” + icca + andha, or “blinded by attachment to sense pleasures”.Therefore, when one understands the key concepts of Buddha Dhamma, one’s mind will give up kamaccandha AND cultivate chanda (the desire to attain Nibbana and stop future suffering from arising).
firewns said: “For example, the links in paticca samuppada (which is the ultimate dhamma niyama) can operate only under suitable conditions,.”
This is the key.
– Those CONDITIONS are related to one’s mindset.
– A more defiled mindset triggers many paticca samuppada (PS) cycles.
Each PS cycle ends up in suffering.
– As one purifies one’s mind (by engaging in true Anapana/Satipatthana), those CONDITIONS will slowly reduce and eventually cease to exist.
– That is when one attains the Arahant stage. No more suffering after that.
– But it is step-by-step process.That is a very brief summary.
As I mentioned in the topic, “Akasa dhatu vs vinnana dhatu” a little while ago, the essential steps are in the “Essential Buddhism” subsection.
