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Lal, please see #17:
“…There have been 30 mahā kappa without a single Buddha prior to the current mahā kappa. That is 120 billion years!…”A complete cycle takes 40 billion years, thus 30×40 billion = 1200 billion, right?
There are 4 kappa: destruction, void, formation, existence. Why does it take a kappa for the destruction? A supernovae would destroy the solar system within a short time (e.g. a few days depending on the distance sun <-> earth). If the star in another solar system would first need to expand before the final supernovae blast we would not be affected during that time. But 10 billion years for the destruction phase is much. Do I missunderstand something?
Ok, thank you. When this is the case, then the statement in the post above “…even the letter “a” is comprehended by the mind via billions of citta..” is wrong. The mind just needs a few citta vithi to comprehend the letter “a” in “apple”. It takes only a fraction of a second to hear the “a” and thus only a few pancadvara and manodvara citta vitthi, right?
Hi Lal,
please see the post Kanha (Dark) and Sukka (Bright) Kamma and Kammakkhaya,
#11:
“…A purified mind of an Arahant will not have either sōbhana or asōbhana cetasika. The “mental hooks” are due to those cetasika….”Do the sobhana cetasika really cease? I thought the citta will be sobhana, but only functional.
Within the last few weeks I also came to the point where the concept of a “mind” is just a worldly idea (pannatti). There is only rupa sensed by the citta/cetasika and corresponding sankhara are carried out. With this one can creep closer to a deeper understanding about existence and how useless it is to do (abhi)sankhara in order to achieve something in the world. Also any thinking about future or past will worry the “mind”. There can no peace be gained. But before reaching such a stage one has to analyse the dhamma and needs hints and proof to establish saddha/panna.
Lal,
you said: “Two apple seeds are not the same. They both will yield apple trees. …”
That applies to plants, OK. But how can the gati (the nama component) be stored in rupa (e.g. nucleus)? Is the gati somehow linked to rupa?
Normally when a sense input comes in, the gati gets triggered and creates citta contaminated with cetasika, thus vinanna will arise. But in the case of artificial fertilization the vinnana are long gone when the fertilization takes place.It is a bit strange that the gati could be stored in rupa (egg/sperm). For plants of course the construction details should be stored in the seeds. There is no nama-component involved.
There is a question regarding artificial fertilization: The egg and/or the sperm of a donor can be some days old (or older if frozen years before) when the union of the both take place outside the womb. How can the gatis of the parents get matched in that case? Where is the “mind-component” stored all this time?
In the Abhidhamma manual from Dr. Mehm Tin Mon I found on p.29/30:
7 akusala vipaka citta
8 ahetuka kusala vipaka cittaThe one extra citta in the kusala vipaka cittas could be the missing link to kama guna. It is the somanassa-sahagatam santirana cittam or investigating consciousness accompanied by joy. Thus when eating tasty food we will have
– tongue-consciousness accompanied by upekkha,
— followed by receptive consciousness accompanied by upekkha,
— followed by investigating consciousness accompanied by upekkha,
—- followed by investigating consciousness accompanied by joy.All are vipaka citta but the end result is joy (somanassa).
Perfectly explained. Thank you, Lal!
The mistake is when amoha is taken to be panna. But regarding tihetuka the term amoha is more than “without moha”. That is not easy to see.Dr. Mehm Tin Mon describes tihetuka kamma in his book Buddha Abhidhamma Ultimate Science, p. 200:
“If one performs a wholesome deed with the knowledge of kamma and its effect, i.e. kammasakata-nana, then nana-sampayutta maha-kusala cittas arise. The cetana associated with these cittas are accompanied by three good roots, namely, alobha, adosa and amoha. So tihetuka-kusala kamma is acquired.”
Can it be that for tihetuka patisandhi an “early stage” of panna is required, i.e. an understanding that ones actions will have consequences (kamma effect)?
I come back to the terms tihetuka/dvihetuka. From the Abhidhamma perspective the 2 cetasika of alobha and adosa are universal sobhana cetasika. They are in every sobhana citta. Sobhana and asobhana cetasika are not mixed in a citta. Hence when a being has sobhana citta at cutipatisandhi there will be no moha cetasika, i.e. amoha. But that means every sobhana (vipaka) citta at cutipatisandhi generates a tihetuka patisandhi, right?
