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Yes. Our color perception is due to the physical properties of our eyes and the interaction with light.
- Humans and various animals “see” using different wavelength bands of light. Humans perceive colors within the “colored light wavelengths” (violet to red), which is why we see in vivid colors. Dogs don’t see with color; they see in black and white. Bats “see” using a very different technique.
- Gandhabbas (our mental bodies) see without using light when they come out of the physical body, as in OBE and NDE. Of course, they cannot use physical eyes. They don’t need light to see, and they can see better than we, because of that. A friend of mine can come out of the body and says she can see things much clearly while “out-of-the-body.” That “seeing” is, however, without color. The “color scheme” is associated with seeing through the physical eyes of humans.
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Maybe you misunderstood what that bhikkhu was saying (or did he actually mean it)? The following is my understanding.
1. Yes. The world that I experience is mental and “real” for me.
2. But my mental experience is based on sensory inputs coming from the external world, and that external world is also real.
3. However, another person may experience the same external world differently from me.
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I think the above points describe the fundamental basis.
- In other words, everyone experiences the same external world.
- However, the “mental experience” depends on the person. The simplest example is the following. Two people, A and B, look at person X (who is a friend of A and an enemy of B). A experiences joy upon seeing X, but anger arises in B upon seeing the same person X.
Yes. It is a simple yet good example to get the basic idea.
- Of course, we can extend to deeper issues.
- For example, if you like to eat ice cream, it seems that it is an action of “nicca nature” while eating it. Then you keep eating ice cream every day to get “more of it.” Eventually, it will have adverse health consequences.
- Going a bit deeper, sensual pleasures, in general, seem to provide a sense of “nicca” or “satisfaction.” Yet, seeking sensual pleasures will keep one away from Nibbana; it is, thus, of anicca nature in the long term. Furthermore, if one engages in immoral deeds to obtain more sensory pleasures, it will have negative consequences even in this life.
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On May 29, 2025, at 5:34 pm (above), I wrote the following:
4. Kāya saṅkhāra refers to sankappa (subtle version of “abhisaṅkhāra“) that are automatically generated in the “purāna kamma” stage; see “Purāna and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation.”
- I have not explicitly discussed the fact that kāya saṅkhāra refers to sankappa. I will explain that when I start rewriting the posts on Satipaṭṭhāna.
- Until then, I can only state the meaning of “Assāsapassāsā kāyasaṅkhāro” as “one must fully comprehend how sankappa arises in the purāna kamma stage.” Thus, “Assāsapassāsā” is not a definition of kāya saṅkhāra. It merely states that to cultivate Satipaṭṭhāna, one must fully comprehend how sankappa arises in the purāna kamma stage.
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In the coming weeks, I will start a series of posts on Satipaṭṭhāna. I am still setting up the necessary background, and I am almost finished with that.
- There, I will explain the above in detail.
- It will take a few posts to explain that.
1. I listened to about 20 minutes from that point. The Thero is saying the following:
- Just breathing in and out is only saṅkhāra, not abhisaṅkhāra.
- One needs to breathe to move body parts (He quotes a Waharaka Thero‘s discourse on this, and I have also listened to it).
- If one moves body parts with sañcetanā, or “defiled cetanā” or “defiled intentions,” then those involve abhisankhara.
2. All of those are correct.
- That is precisely what I am saying, too.
- Moving the body requires breathing. If you move your body to steal or kill someone, that involves abhisaṅkhāra, not pure saṅkhāra (without raga, dosa, moha)
3. The problem is the following: The Buddha always referred to abhisaṅkhāra. In the suttas, the word saṅkhāra almost always refers to abhisaṅkhāra. There is no point discussing pure saṅkhāra in the suttas, because kamma generation involves raga, dosa, and moha.
- Pure saṅkhāra (without raga, dosa, moha) are generated by Arahants, too. There is no point talking about pure saṅkhāra in the suttas.
- The suttas discuss only those saṅkhāra involving sañcetanā, i.e., abhisaṅkhāra.
4. Conclusion: Assāsapassāsā in “Assāsapassāsā kāyasaṅkhāro” (discussed in the Cūḷavedalla Sutta) cannot be “breathing in and out.”
- “Breathing in and out” is due to pure saṅkhāra.
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If any of the above is incorrect, you (or the Thero) should respond to each incorrect point. I don’t have the time to read other documents or watch more videos.
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I think it is a good idea to emphasize the following.
- “Kamma” in Buddha’s teachings does not refer to all actions.
- Only those actions, speech, and thoughts involving rāga, dosa, and moha are “kamma.”
- Thus, the goal (“kamma nirodha“) does not refer to stopping all actions, speech, and thoughts, but only those involving rāga, dosa, or moha.
- The Buddha lived for 45 years after attaining Buddhahood and engaged in countless actions, speech, and thoughts.
- Additionally, “kamma nirodha” is equivalent to “saṅkhāra nirodha.” Still, as we have discussed, saṅkhāra refers to abhisaṅkhāra performed with sañcetanā, or “defiled cetanā” or “defiled intentions” (characterized by rāga, dosa, or moha).
- This is a crucial yet simple point to remember. That is why “breathing in and out” cannot be a type of abhisaṅkhāra.
- Please feel free to ask questions, because this is a critical point. Also see “Kamma are Done with Abhisaṅkhāra – Types of Abhisaṅkhāra.”
You asked: “Do you agree with the implied meaning from Cūḷavedallasutta (MN 44) that assāsapassāsā means breathing in and out?”
No. I don’t agree. I suppose I didn’t make it clear enough. So, I have revised my comment above to add the following (please see my comment above):
“P.S. Therefore, Assāsapassāsā cannot possibly mean “breathing in and out.” That translation is wrong.”
- The correct meaning is explained in #4 of my comment.
- As we have discussed many times, a word can have different meanings depending on the context. That holds not only for Pāli, but also for English and most languages. See, for example, “Pāli Dictionaries – Are They Reliable?“
1. All five components of pañcupādānakkhandha (pañca upādānakkhandha, i.e., rupa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, and viññāṇa) are mental entities, i.e., they arise in the mind.
- In the recent post “Etaṁ mama, esohamasmi, eso me attā’ti – Connection to Taṇhā, Māna, Diṭṭhi,” I presented evidence that “rupa” in the suttās refers to “rupa upadanakkhandha” and is mental.
2. Similarly, “saṅkhāra” in the suttās always refers to “abhisaṅkhāra” with “sañcetanā.” As we know, “sañ” refers to defilements or “rāga, dosa, moha.”
3. (Abhi)saṅkhāra can also be categorized as kāya saṅkhāra, vacī saṅkhāra, and citta saṅkhāra. They are all done with “sañcetanā.”
- Yes. The “Cūḷavedallasutta (MN 44)” explains them as “Assāsapassāsā kho, āvuso visākha, kāyasaṅkhāro, vitakkavicārā vacīsaṅkhāro, saññā ca vedanā ca cittasaṅkhāro”ti.” The English translation in the link translates the first part as “Breathing is a physical process,” implying that Assāsapassāsā means “breathing in and out.”
- Of course, breathing is also controlled by the mind, but it does not involve “sañcetanā.” P.S. Therefore, Assāsapassāsā cannot possibly mean “breathing in and out.” That translation is wrong.
- In some older posts, I also may have referred to kāya saṅkhāra incorrectly. I realized that error within the past couple of years (there may be posts that require revision). I haven’t had time to look for and correct such possible errors in old posts.
4. Kāya saṅkhāra refers to sankappa (subtle version of “abhisaṅkhāra“) that are automatically generated in the “purāna kamma” stage; see “Purāna and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation.”
- I have not explicitly discussed the fact that kāya saṅkhāra refers to sankappa. I will explain that when I start rewriting the posts on Satipaṭṭhāna.
- Until then, I can only state the meaning of “Assāsapassāsā kāyasaṅkhāro” as “one must fully comprehend how sankappa arises in the purāna kamma stage.” Thus, “Assāsapassāsā” is not a definition of kāya saṅkhāra. It merely states that to cultivate Satipaṭṭhāna, one must fully comprehend how sankappa arises in the purāna kamma stage.
- Here, “Assāsapassāsa” has the same meaning as “jānato passato.” See “Jānato Passato” and Ājāniya – Critical Words to Remember.”
5. Buddha’s teachings are much deeper and profound than most people realize. I realized this only within the past couple of years.
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I found the following account from the Tipitaka of Ven. Adhimutta (an Arahant).
- He was captured by a band of bandits. In those days, some people believed in making sacrifices to the Gods.
- They were taking him to be sacrificed, but were astonished to see that the Thero was not afraid of being killed. Usually, their victims would be screaming and begging for their lives.
- The following account starts with the bandits asking him why he is not scared: “Adhimuttattheragāthā.”
- Thero‘s response is from marker 3.1 through 15.4. He explains to them why he is not afraid of dying (he had broken all ten samyojana, including asmi māna or the “sense of me”); in fact, he is looking forward to Parinibbāna to be free of even a trace of suffering.
- As stated there, in the end, some of the bandits become bhikkhus and attain Arahantship.
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1. Whether or not one believes in a “sense of me,” that “sense of me” is in everyone except for an Arahant.
- It is a “sansāric bond” (specifically “asmi māna” samyojana) that binds all except Arahants to the rebirth process.
- The easiest way to check this is to think about the following: Are you not afraid to die? If someone tries to kill you, would you not panic and try to avoid getting killed using all your resources?
2. In the same way, all ten samyojana (sakkāya diṭṭhi, vicikicchā, silabbata parāmāsa, kāma rāga, paṭigha, rupa rāga, arupa rāga, māna, uddaccha, avijjā) are in an average human (puthujjana).
- See #14 of “Etaṁ mama, esohamasmi, eso me attā’ti – Connection to Taṇhā, Māna, Diṭṭhi“ and my comments on May 25, 2025, above.
- They can be broken only by fully understanding the Buddha’s worldview, i.e., by cultivating paññā. That is a step-by-step process. Getting rid of asmi māna comes at the end. Even thinking about how to remove the “sense of me” is unfathomable even to a Sotapanna. It is like trying to learn calculus without knowing how to add and subtract.
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Yes, I seem to have missed an enormous factor, 9 orders of magnitude! Thank you!
- However, we can also look at it the other way, i.e., if the time taken is 10 billion years, then the mass removed by each stroke is about 36 × 10^-9 grams. The correct numbers could be somewhere in between.
- So, I need to think about how to correct it. Either way, it shows the magnitude of the time scale.
Yes, if you mean that the flow of life is real and will be there as long as the fuel (raga, dosa, moha) to feed it is there.
- An Arahant lives until the end of the physical body that he/she was born with. That physical body was born before attaining Arahanthood and will survive until the kammic energy it came with is exhausted. Once the physical body dies, all fuel is exhausted, and the lifestream of the Arahant ends—no more rebirths in any of the 31 realms in this world.
- On the other hand, a puthujjana (average human) — or even a Noble Person below the Arahant stage — would have more fuel to sustain another life at the death of the physical body. But a Sotapanna would not have fuel to initiate a rebirth in an apaya; an Anagami would not have fuel to initiate a rebirth in the kama loka.
I have updated the post “Etaṁ mama, esohamasmi, eso me attā’ti – Connection to Taṇhā, Māna, Diṭṭhi“ to discuss the above.
- I think it is a valid point to discuss. Thank you for bringing it up.
