REALITIES AND CONCEPTS

What is real and what is only concept? Or is anything real? We might think these perennial questions are the irrelevant musings of philosophers. In fact, as the following pages make clear, they are pertinent to every moment of our lives. More than 2500 years ago, Siddhattha Gotama, the Buddha, comprehended the answers to them; and with unlimited patience and compassion explained how to develop that same knowledge. We are extraordinarily fortunate to live in a period where his complete teachings are still available.

There are now many books in English that give an overview of Buddhism, but the deeper aspects that people in Thailand receive on a daily basis, on the radio and in print, are seldom seen in the West. This book is, accordingly, a very welcome addition to this sparsely sown area. However, for those not steeped in the Buddhist scriptures, it is a difficult read. The subject is profound and many words from Pali language are used. Nevertheless, it is not beyond the capacity of anyone who perseveres. The Pali terms actually promote clarity, as their meaning is precise; they are used because the English equivalents are too approximate and have varying connotations. It should also be understood that the goal of the book is not to help readers gain mere intellectual comprehension. It aims, rather, to b a support for experiential understanding of realities as they arise at the six doors. If this practical purpose is kept in mind the apparent technicality of the text will be brushed aside and the deep truths may be glimpsed.

Wise readers will then hopefully pursue further knowledge and consult the Tipitaka (the collection of the Buddha’s teachings) and commentaries; they may even be encouraged to begin to study realities directly, as they appear at this moment.

Realities and Concepts is a section from a much larger book, A Survey of Paramattha Dhammas, by Sujin Boriharnwanaket. This comprehensive guide has been reprinted many times in its original Thai version and has now been translated into English. Further sections will be published in the future.

For those who would like background reading The Buddha’s Path and Abhidhamma in Daily Life, both by Nina van Gorkom, are recommended (Zolag, London). English translations of the Tipitaka and many of the commentaries can be obtained from the Pali Text Society, Oxford.

About the Author

Sujin Boriharnwanaket has been explaining Abhidhamma and the path of vipassana for forty years. Her talks are broadcast daily on more than twenty radio stations throughout Thailand and are a source of guidance for monks, nuns and lay people alike.

Realities and Concepts

Part 1

Paramattha dhammas[1] are realities; they are not beings, people, or self. The paramattha dhammas that arise are only citta, cetasika, and rupa,[2] each of which has its own characteristic, its own nature. They arise because of conditions and then they fall away again very rapidly. If one does not know the characteristics of citta, cetasika and rupa, paramattha dhammas, which arise and fall away and succeed one another very rapidly, one knows just concepts. One takes rupa and nama,[3] which arise and fall away in succession, for things that are lasting. Thus, one lives in the world of conventional truth, sammutti sacca. When realities appear, one clings to shape and form, to a “whole,” one takes fleeting realities for things that exist.

However, when one has studied paramattha dhammas and knows how to develop panna (wisdom), there can be awareness of the characteristics that appear and panna can become keener. Then the stage of insight can be reached which is the clear understanding of realities that arise and fall away at this moment. One will clearly see that there is no being, person or self. One will know that there are only paramattha dhammas that appear one at a time. This is in accordance with the truth which the Buddha realized at his enlightenment and which he taught to others.

Ignorance is deeply rooted and very persistent. It conditions us to cling to conventional truth and to take realities for things, beings, and people. From the moment of rebirth-consciousness there are nama and rupa which are arising and falling away, succeeding one another all the time. When we leave our mother’s womb and enter this world we experience the sense objects which appear through the six doors. We see, hear, smell, taste, and experience cold and heat through the body sense. We do not know that what appears through the eyes is only a kind of reality that can be seen, visible object.

Realities arise and fall away and succeed one another all the time, but it seems as if they do not arise and fall away and thus they are taken for “something.” We cling to a concept of things as a mass, a conglomeration or whole (gana pannatti). We may do this even when we don’t yet know the conventional terms of things. Even small children, who cannot talk yet and do not know the meanings of things as expressed in language, and also animals, know concepts of a “whole.” When a child grows up it learns the correct meaning of the words used in language, which denote concepts. Thus, the child becomes familiar with conventional truth.

If we only know conventional truth, and do not develop right understanding of nama (mentality) and rupa (physical phenomena), realities appear as if they do not arise and fall away. It seems that we see things, beings, and people. We may touch a cup, a plate, a spoon or fork, but in reality it is just the element of earth[4] or hardness that is touched. What do we see or touch in daily life? When we touch something we are not used to realizing that the reality of hardness can be touched. We have the feeling that we touch a spoon, a fork, a plate, or a cup.

Since realities arise and fall away and succeed one another very rapidly, we cling to the shape and form of things, to a conglomeration or mass. It seems that the spoon is hard, the fork is hard, the cup is hard, and the plate is hard. In reality, what is touched is only the rupa (physical phenomena) which is hardness, the element of hardness. Since we remember the different shapes and forms of things we know that a cup is not a dish, a spoon is not a fork. What is real in the absolute sense is rupa dhamma, which has the characteristic of hardness, but we remember only what is real in the conventional sense. We remember that a dish is for serving rice, a bowl for curry and a spoon for serving food.

One recognizes the conventional things, which are in reality different elements. When one sees, for example, a radio or a television, one takes it for granted that they are composed of iron, plastic, and other materials. However, in reality the component parts are only different rupa elements. One may be forgetful of the characteristics of nama dhammas and rupa dhammas that appear one at a time and then fall away. One remembers the conventional terms of things after seeing what appears through the eyes. There are, all the time, more and more conventional terms needed because every day there are new inventions. When we know the shape and form of different things that appear as a mass or a whole, we know concepts, conventional truth, not absolute truth.

We know the concept of a whole or a mass (gana pannatti) because of the experience of visible object. Apart from this we know the concept of sound, (sadda pannatti), we know the meaning of sounds. All this occurs in daily life. We should know precisely what is absolute truth and what is conventional truth. Conventional truth is not real in the absolute sense. We recognize the shape and form of things and they appear as a cup, a dish, a spoon, a radio, a car, or a television.

Human beings can utter sounds that form up words; they use conventional terms with which they name the things that appear. Thus we can understand what thing is being referred to. Animals cannot, to the same extent as human beings, refer to things by means of language. Sound is a reality; different sounds constitute words or names. There cannot be words or names without sounds. When someone has eyesight he can see different things, but he needs also speech sounds which form up words and names in order to refer to what he sees. When someone knows the meaning of the sounds that form up words, he can speak; he can name things and refer to different subjects. We all cling to names which are used in conventional language.

We should also know absolute realities. We should know the characteristic of sound, a kind of reality that can be heard. The reality of sound is named differently in different languages. In English the word “sound” is used to denote this reality. In Pali it is called “sadda-rupa.” No matter how one names it, it is a reality that has its own characteristics: it is a rupa (physical phenomena) which appears through the ears. It is not nama (mentality), a reality which experiences.

The commentary to the Abhidhammattha Sangaha[5], the Abhidhammattha Vibhavani, (Book 8), gives an explanation of paramattha dhammas (fundamental or ultimate realities), sammutti dhammas (conventional realities) and pannatti dhammas (concepts). This subject pertains to daily life, it is deep in meaning and it should be correctly understood. Names can be given because there is the reality of sound. Sounds form up names, in Pali: nama. This word nama does not refer to nama-dhamma, the reality that experiences. A name “bends towards,” conveys the meanings of things. “Namati” in Pali means: to bend, incline towards. According to the subcommentary there are two kinds of names: a name which is suitable to convey a meaning, and a name which is used because of preference.

About what do we speak in daily life? Why do we speak? We speak in order that someone else will understand the subject we refer to. Thus, sadda-rupa (sound) functions then as name, nama, it bends towards, conveys the meaning of the different subjects we want to make known. The fact that someone else understands the meaning of what we say and the subjects we speak about depends on the words we use to convey the meaning, it depends on the language we choose to express ourselves.

The Abhidhammattha Vibhani deals with several other aspects concerning different kinds of names. It distinguishes between four kinds of names. There are names which are generally agreed upon (samanna nama), such as sky, rain, wind, or rice. There are names denoting a special quality (guna nama), such as “Arahatta Sammasambudho.”[6] Someone who does not have the special qualities of a Buddha cannot have this name. Then there are names denoting activity (kiriya nama) and names that are given according to one’s liking. The Dhamma is very intricate and detailed. We should study all realities that the Buddha realized at his enlightenment and taught to others. He wanted to help people to understand the true nature of the realities that appear. The Abhidhammattha Vibhani states:

Question: For which reason did the Buddha teach the Dhamma in such an extensive way?

Answer: Because he wished to help three groups of beings. There are beings who are slow in understanding nama (mentality), beings who are slow in understanding rupa (materiality, physical phenomena), and beings who are slow in understanding both nama and rupa. They have different faculties: some have keen faculties, some have faculties of medium strength, and some have weak faculties. There are people who like short explanations, there are those who like explanations of medium length, and there are some who like detailed explanations. Those among the different groups who are slow in understanding nama can understand realities as explained by way of the five khandhas,[7] because nama is classified by way of four khandhas, thus, in a more extensive way. Those who are slow in understanding rupa can understand realities as explained by way of ayatanas.[8] The five senses and the five sense objects are ten kinds of rupa which are ayatanas. As to dhammayatana, this comprises both nama and rupa. Thus, in this classification rupa is explained more extensively. Those who are slow in understanding as to both nama and rupa can understand realities as explained by way of elements, dhatus,[9] because in this classification both nama and rupa are explained in detail.

We should consider whether we are people who are slow in understanding only as regards nama (mentality), only as regards rupa (materiality) or as regards both nama and rupa. If we are of slow understanding as regards both nama and rupa we need to listen to the Dhamma very often, and we need to study different aspects of the teachings in detail. This is necessary in order to have right understanding of realities and to be able to cultivate all kinds of kusala. In this way there wil be supporting conditions for satipatthana to arise and be aware of the characteristics of realities, just as they naturally appear in daily life.

The Abhidhammattha Vibhavani (Book 8) distinguishes between six kinds of concepts that are names, nama-annatti (see Visuddhimagga VIII, note 11).

1. Vijjamana pannattis, concepts, which make known what is real, for example, the words rupa, nama vedana (feeling), or sanna (perception).[10]

2. Avijjamana pannattis, concepts that make known what is not real, such as the words Thai or foreigner. These concepts do not represent absolute realities, citta and cetasika that are nama and rupa. Thai or foreigners are not real in the absolute sense; they are conventional realities, sammutti dhammas. Could akusala citta[11] (unwholesome consciousness) be Thai or foreign? Akusala citta is a paramattha dhamma (a reality); it is a dhamma that has its own characteristic. It is not Thai or foreign.

3. Vijjamanena avijjamana pannattis, concepts of the non-existent based on the existent. There is the expression “the person with the six abhinnas.”[12] The six abhinnas are real but person is not real. Thus, this concept stands for what is real and for what is not real.

4. Avijjamanena vijjamana pannattis, concepts of the existent based on the non-existent. There is the expression “woman’s voice.” The sound is real, but the woman is not real.

5. Vijjamanena vijjamana pannattis, concepts of what is real based on what is real. There is the term cakkhu-vinnana (eye-consciousness). Cakkhu (eye) is a reality, namely the cakkhu-pasada-rupa (eye sense, a reality sensitive to colour or visible object), and vinnana (consciousness) is also a reality, namely the reality that experiences.

6. Avija amanena avijjamana pannattis, concepts of what is not real based on what is not real. There is the expression “the king’s son.” Both king and son are not real, they are sammutti dhammas, conventional realities.

There are objects that are real and there are objects that are not real. Objects can be experienced through six doors and they can be classified as sixfold:

As to visible object, this is the reality that appears through the eyes. It is the object of vithi-cittas[13] that arise depending on the eye sense, the cakkhu-pasada-rupa. When visible object has fallen away there are many bhavanga-cittas[14] arising and falling away, and then vithi-cittas of the mind-door process experience the visible object which has just fallen away. Thus, visible object can be experienced through two doors: through the eye-door, and, after there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, through the mind-door.

As to sound, this is the reality that appears through cars. It is the object of vithi-cittas that arise depending on the ear sense, the sota-pasada-rupa. It appears through the mind-door after there have been bhavanga-cittas in between. There have to be bhavanga-cittas after each process of cittas. Thus, there must always be bhavanga-cittas in between a sense-door process and a mind-door process. When we hear a sound and know the meaning of what is heard, these are different processes. When one knows the meaning of a word there are mind-door processes of cittas that think of that word. These cittas are different from cittas of the ear-door process that experiences the sound that has not yet fallen away.

As regards odour, this is the reality that appears through the nose. It is the object of cittas that arise depending on the rupa that is smelling-sense. After there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, there are cittas of the mind-door process which experiences odour.

As to flavour, this is the reality that appears through the tongue. It is the object of cittas that depend on the rupa that is tasting-sense. After there have been bhavanga-cittas in between there are cittas of the mind-door process which experience flavour.

Tangible objects are cold, heat, softness, hardness, motion and pressure that appear through the body sense. They are the objects of cittas that arise depending on the body sense. After there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, there are cittas of the mind-door process which experience tangible object.

The five classes of sense objects, which have just been mentioned, can appear through the six doors. When the cittas of the eye-door process have arisen and experienced visible object through the eye-door there are, after there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, cittas of the mind-door process which experience visible object through the mind-door. It is the same with the experience of the other sense objects. These objects are experienced by the cittas of the corresponding sense-door processes, and then, after there have been bhavanga-cittas, they are experienced through the mind-door. Thus, each of the five classes of sense objects are experienced through their corresponding sense-door and through the mind-door. They are experienced through the six doors: the eye-door, the ear-door, the nose-door, the tongue-door, the body-door and the mind-door.

There is one other class of objects, namely dhammarammana (mental objects). This class of objects can only be experienced through the mind-door. There are six kinds of dhammarammana:

Five classes of dhammarammana, namely, the pasada-rupas, the subtle rupas, citta, cetasika, and nibbana are paramattha dhammas. One class, the pannattis, is not paramattha dhamma.

The cittas of the eye-door process, namely the eye-door adverting-consciousness, seeing-consciousness, receiving-consciousness, investigating-consciousness, determining-consciousness, the javana-cittas[16] and the tadalambana-cittas[17] (retention), experience visible object that has not yet fallen away. They do not have a concept as object.

The cittas of the ear-door process experience sound that has not yet fallen away, they do not have a concept as object. It is the same with the cittas of the nose-door process, the tongue-door process and the body-door process.

When the vithi-cittas of a sense-door process have fallen away, there are many bhavanga-cittas in between, and then there are cittas of the mind-door process. The first series of cittas of the mind-door process which arise after a sense-door process experience a sense object which has only just fallen away; they do not have a concept as object.

In each series of mind-door process cittas there are two or three kinds of vithi-cittas, namely: one moment of mind-door adverting-consciousness, seven moments of javana-cittas and two moments of tadalambana-cittas. When the first series of mind-door process cittas has fallen away, there are many bhavanga-cittas in between, and then there is another series of mind-door process cittas which can have as object a concept (such as shape and form, or the image of something as a “whole”) on account of a sense object. When this series of mind-door process cittas has fallen away there are bhavanga-cittas in between, and then there are more rounds of mind-door process cittas that follow. They know the meaning of something; they know words and names. In between the different series there are bhavanga-cittas. When we know that we see people or different things, the citta experiences a concept, not a paramattha dhamma that is rupa. The object that is a paramattha dhamma appearing through the eyes are only different colours. When the vithi-cittas of the mind-door process know that there are beings, people and different things, then the cittas have pannattis, concepts, as object. They know what a particular thing is.

Paramattha dhammas are not pannatti dhammas. Paramattha dhammas are realities that have their own characteristics that can be directly experienced, even if one does not use terms to name them. Pannatti dhammas, concepts, are not absolute realities. We may see a painting of fruit, such as grapes, or mangoes, and we may see real grapes and mangoes. What is then a concept? When we see a painting of mountains, of the sea, or trees, we know that it is a picture. When we see real mountains or trees do we believe that these are realities, not concepts?

It is evident that names are concepts, pannattis, because they convey the characteristics or the meaning of phenomena. However, even if one does not yet name things, or there is not yet a nam, one can already think of a concept of a “whole” or a mass. There can be a concept or idea of “something” which appears even though one does not know any language or words to express its meaning. When we know what it is that appears, even without naming it, we know a pannatti (concept).

When we see what is only a painting of fruit and real fruit, both the painting and the real fruit are pannattis. A pannatti (concept) is not a paramattha dhamma (reality). As we have seen, there are many aspects with regard to pannatti. It can be an idea of a whole or a mass; or it can be a name or term that refers to something, be it real or not real.

What is the difference between real fruit and a painting of fruit? What appears through the eyes while one sees are not beings, people, or different things. No matter whether one sees a painting of grapes or real grapes, only colour appears through the eyes. We may believe that only the picture is a pannatti and that the real grapes are not a pannatti (concept). However, in reality, the picture as well as the real grapes that appear are objects that are pannatti experienced by mind-door process cittas. The cittas of the eye-door process experience only colour that appears. The cittas of the mind-door process that experience a concept know the meaning of something; they know what something is. They know that there are grapes. Thus, the cittas (moments of consciousness) which know that there are grapes have a concept, a pannatti, as object, not a paramattha dhamma. When we see somebody, we should know that this is in reality the same as seeing a picture, in both cases, a concept. It is difficult to separate concepts from realities, for example, when we notice that there is a chair. The object that is the paramattha dhamma appearing through the eyes and the object which is the paramattha dhamma appearing through the body sense are not pannattis.

Question: I do not understand conventional realities very well. At this moment I see a pen. You say that when one sees that there is a pen, it is evident that the sense-door process has passed and that a mind-door process has begun. I do not know how I should study or practice so that I won’t let the sense-door process pass without knowing it.

Sujin: One should listen to the Dhamma so that one will really understand when the object of citta (consciousness) is a concept and through which door citta knows a concept. When citta has a paramattha dhamma (ultimate reality) as object, there are no beings, people or things, there is no self. At this moment realities arise and fall away and succeed one another so rapidly that it seems that we see a thing, such as a fan. The fan rotates, and it seems that we can see rupas (matter) moving. In reality, there are many series of mind-door process cittas that have a pannatti (concept) as object and thus the characteristics of the paramattha chammas are hidden. One does not know the characteristics of the paramattha dhammas as they really are.

S.: That is not possible. However, one should understand correctly that, when one knows that there are beings, people or things, there are at such moments mind-door process cittas which have a concept as object.

S.: Even when we do not think of words we can know a concept. When we know the shape and form of something, when we have a concept of something as a whole or know the meaning of something; that is, we know what something is, then the object is a pannatti (concept), not a paramattha dhamma (reality). The characteristics of realities should be known precisely so that their arising and falling away can be realized. Someone may believe that he does not see that a chair falls away. When we cannot distinguish the different characteristics of paramattha dhammas as they appear one at a time, we take them all together as a whole. When we see a chair we know a concept. How could a concept fall away?

As to the example of a picture of grapes and real grapes, is there any difference when one touches them and there is the experience of tangible object through the bodysense? Is the element of hardness not the same in both cases? The element of hardness originates from different factors and this is the conditon that there are different degrees of hardness and softness. Hardness is a reality which appears through the body sense, whether it is a picture of grapes or real grapes.

However, the grapes in the picture do not have the flavour of real grapes. Real grapes can be recognised because there are different types of rupas (physical phenomena) which arise together. Flavour is one type of rupa, odour is another type of rupa. Cold or heat, softness or hardness, motion or pressure, these are all different types of rupa which arise together and fall away very rapidly and are then succeeded by other rupas. Thus we think of a concept of a thing which does not seem to fall away. In reality, the rupas that constitute grapes, such as cold or heat, harness or softness, or flavour, fall away. Each rupa lasts only as long as seventeen moments of citta, no matter which colour, sound or other type of rupa it may be.

Panna (wisdom) should consider realities and know them one at a time, it should resolve the whole which is remembered by sanna (mental factor of remembrance or perception) into different elements. Thus it can be known that what one takes for particular things are in reality only different paramattha dhammas, each with its own characteristics which arise and fall away together. When we join them together and have an image of a whole there are mind-door process cittas which have a concept of a whole, gana pannatti, as object.

Question: If it is known through the mind-door that there is a pen, is that right or wrong?

S.: It is not wrong. The object at that moment is a concept which is included in dhammarammana (mind-door object). However, panna should realize the difference between the mind-door process and the eye-door process. When one does not develop panna one cannot distinguish the sense-door process and the mind-door process from each other and then one believes that there are beings, people and different things. To what are we attached in daily life? What does lobha (mental factor of craving) like? It likes everything, and what does this mean?

S.: Lobha likes everything, including concepts. The world is full of concepts. We cannot stop liking paramattha dhammas as well as pannattis. Whenever we like something we do not merely like a paramattha dhamma, we also like a concept. When we, for example, like a particular belt, we like the colour which appears through the eyes.

S.: We like everything. When we say that we like colours, what are these colours? The colours of eyebrows, eyes, nose, or mouth. If there were no colours appearing how could there by eyebrows, eyes, nose, or mouth? There could not be. However, when we see colours such as red, green, grey, blue, or white we should know that colour is only the reality which appears through the eyes. Neverhtheless, we like the colours of eyes, nose, and mouth. Thus, we like concepts. Paramattha dhammas are real. However, when we like something we like both the paramattha dhamma which appears and the concept which is formed up on account of that paramattha dhamma.

Part II

The Atthasalini (II, Part II, 400) explains about being unguarded as to the “controlling faculties,” the indiryas. Here, the indriyas of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body sense and mind are referred to. We read: “Grasps the general appearance, i.e., grasps by way of lusting, desire a sign such as is of the male, or female, pleasant, etc., and which is the basis of corruption.”

When we cling to the general appearance of male or female, it shows that the object is not a paramattha dhamma. When we know that we see a man or woman, we don’t just know the reality which appears through the eyes, but we have an image (nimitta), a concept on account of what appears through the eyes. The image of the general appearance of a man or woman is the foundation of defilements.[18] Through the power of desire (chanda raga) we take that image for something attractive. When we like a concept such as a belt, it shows that the belt is an attractive image. One is attached to it, one is ruled by desire. If the belt is not beautiful, if it is not an attractive nimitta (image), one does not like it. On account of colours which appear through the eyes, there can be different nimittas, attractive or unattractive. We read further on in the Atthasalini:

Grasps the details (anuvyanjana), i.e., takes the various modes of hands and feet, of smiling, laughing, speaking, looking straight ahead, looking askance, which have earned the name of “details,” they manifest, reveal the defilements.

The details are the conditons that cause defilements to appear. When someone likes a belt he likes the general appearance, the image, and the details. If all belts were the same, if there were no variety of them, the details would not be different. However, there are many kinds of belts and they are different as to the details. The details conditon the arising of different kinds of defilements.

Question: If we don’t cling to concepts, I fear that we won’t know that this is a pen.

Sujin: That is not so. We should know realities in accordance with the truth. What appears through the eyes falls away, and then there are mind-door process cittas, which arise afterwards and know a concept. Panna (wisdom) should know realities as they are. It should know what is visible object, which appears through the eye-door. It should know that the experience of visible object is different from the moment that citta knows a concept. Thus we can become detached from the idea that visible object which appears are beings, people, or things; we can become detached from that which is the foundation of clinging. We should understand that when it is known that there is a man, a woman, beings, or different people, the object is an image or concept known through the mind-door. When we develop satipatthana we should know, in order to be able to realize the arising and falling away of nama and rupa, the characteristics of the realities just as they naturally appear. It should be known that paramattha dhammas are not concepts. One should continue to develop panna when realities appear through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, bodysense, and mind-door.

Question: Did you say that a concept is a kind of dhammarammana (mind-door object)?

S.: A concept is dhammarammana. It is an object which can only be known through the mind-door.

Question: Are there also paramattha dhammas (ultimate realities) which are dhammarammana?

S.: There are six classes of dhammarammana.[19] Five classes are paramattha dhammas and one class is not paramattha dhamma. We should know when the object is a concept. When the object is not a paramattha dhamma the object is a concept.

When we think of concepts in daily life the characteristics of the paramattha dhammas which are experienced through the six doors are hidden. Thus, realities are not known as they are. One does not know that what appears through the eyes is not a being, person or self. It is only colour which appears when it impinges on the eye sense. When will panna become keener so that it will know the truth when there is seeing?

When the truth is known we will let go of the idea that there is a self, that there are beings or people. One will be able to distinguish between the object which is a paramattha dhamma and the object which is a concept and one will have right understanding of the realities which appear through the six doors.

Everyone, except an arahat, is sure to dream. When we have woken up we say that we in our dream saw a relative who had passed away already. Do we, while we are dreaming, see a concept or a paramattha dhamma? If we do not consider this we will not know the truth. It seems as if we can really see in our dreams. However, if we ask someone what he sees in his dreams, he will answer that he sees people, relatives and friends, that he sees different beings. Thus, when we dream we see concepts. At such moments the eye-door process cittas do not arise since we are asleep. However, cittas arising in the mind-door process are thinking, they “see” beings and people. When we are dreaming we think of concepts which are conceived on account of what we formerly saw, heard or experienced through the other senses. Also, when we read about different subjects in the newspaper and see pictures we only think of concepts. Then we don’t know the characteristics of paramattha dhammas (realities) which appear, we don’t know the difference between concepts and paramattha dhammas. When we read or perform our tasks in daily life, there is seeing of what appears through the eyes, but we pay attention only to concepts and keep on thinking of them.

Concepts are conceived on account of what was heard. A small child often hears sounds but it does not know words yet, it does not understand conventional language. It sees, hears, smells, tastes, experiences tangible object, it experiences pain, it is angry, it has likes and dislikes, and it cries. However, it does not know words with which it can explain its feelings, it cannot speak yet until it has become older. Can anybody remember all that has happened from the moment he was born? Seeing, hearing, and other sense-cognitions arose but we could not use words to express ourselves since we did not yet understand the meaning of the different words used in speech. That is why the memory of the events of early childhood fades away. When we grow up we know the meaning of the different sounds which form up words in current speech which are used to express ourselves. We take in more and more impressions through eyes and ears and combine these experiences, and thus many kinds of events of our lives can be remembered. The world of conventional truth expands and there is no end to its development.

When one reads a story one also wants to see a moving picture of it and hear the corresponding sounds. We should realize to what extent the world of conventional truth hides realities, paramattha dhammas. We should consider what are concepts, not paramattha dhammas, when we, for example, watch television, when we watch a play and look at people talking. It seems that the people who play in a film on television are real people, but the story and the people who play in it are only concepts. The paramattha dhammas that appear fall away very rapidly and then they are succeeded by other realities. When we know that there is a particular person the object of the citta is a concept.

The characteristics of paramattha dhammas are hidden because of ignorance, avijja, which does not know the difference between paramattha dhammas and concepts, pannattis. Therefore, one is not able to realize the realities which appear through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body sense and mind-door as not a being, a person, or self. If we study citta, cetasika (mental factors), and rupa in more and more detail, the intellectual understanding of the Dhamma will develop. This understanding is accumulated and thus conditions are developed for the arising of sati (mindfulness) which can be directly aware of the characteristics of paramattha dhammas. Thus, there can be more detachment from the outward appearance (nimitta) and the details (anuvyanjana) which are forms of pannatti.

Question: From what I heard just a moment ago, it seems that a concept can be the object of satipatthana.

S.: Only paramattha dhammas can be the object of satipatthana. When flavour impinges on the rupa which is tasting sense, there are conditions for the arising of cittas which experience flavour through the tongue-door. First, there is the five sense-door adverting consciousness and then there are tasting-consciousness, receiving-consciousness, investigating-consciousness, determining-consciousness, the javana-cittas and the tadalambana-cittas (registering or retention). Then, the flavour falls away and thus there is no grape in the absolute sense. However, when one joins different realities together into a whole, such as a grape, then the object is a concept.

Satipatthana is developed when there is awareness of the characteristics of paramattha dhammas and they are realized as not a being, a person or self. When sati does not arise the characteristics of paramattha dhammas cannot be discerned, only concepts are known. Then, there is all the time the idea of beings, people and self.

Q: You said that concepts can be known through the mind-door. Therefore, I am inclined to think that if there is awareness through the mind-door, concepts can be the object of satipatthana.

S.: In order to have more understanding of satipatthana we should begin with this very moment. Is there a concept while you hear sound now? Sound is a paramattha dhamma. When citta knows the meaning of the sounds it knows a concept and it knows this through the mind-door. Citta thinks about different words. Sati can follow and be aware of that citta, so that it can be realized as just a type of citta which thinks of words.

Question: Thus, satipatthana can know the reality which is thinking, but it cannot know concepts. As far as I understand, each of the sense-door processes has to be followed by a mind-door process, it cannot be otherwise. When there is seeing there is an eye-door process, and after bhavanga-cittas in between, there is a mind-door process of cittas which experiences visible object. Is that right?

S.: The vithi-cittas of the mind-door process which follow vithi-cittas of a sense-door process have to experience the same rupa. If the javana-cittas of the sense-door process are lobha-mula-cittas[20] (cittas rooted in attachment), the javana-cittas of the first mind-door process after that sense-door process have to be the same types of lobha-mula-citta. The mind-door process follows extremely rapidly upon the sense-door process. With respect to this there is a simile of a bird perching on a branch. As soon as the bird perches on the branch its shadow appears on the ground. Even so, when the object has been experienced through the sense-door and there have been many bhavanga-cittas in between, arising and falling away very rapidly, it is immediately afterwards experienced through the mind-door. Since cittas succeed one another so rapidly one does not know that visible object which is experienced through the eyes is only a paramattha dhamma that can appear because it has impinged on the eye sense.

Question: When there is seeing through the eyes and we know that it is a pen, it shows that we know the word pen through the mind door. Is that right?

S.: Before we can think of the word pen we already know a concept. A pannatti is not merely sadda pannatti, a concept of sound, a word or name.

Question: After seeing I remember what was seen. Is the object then already a concept?

S.: The Pali term pannatti means: it makes something known (derived from pannapeti).

Question: Must each of the sense-door processes be followed by a mind-door process so that the meaning of things can be known?

S.: The five sense objects which are visible object, sound, odour, flavour, and tangible object appear through two doorways. Thus, visible object appears through the eye-door and then, after there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, it appears through the mind-door. In the same way, sound, odour, flavour, and tangible object appear through the corresponding sense-doors and then through the mind-door.

Question: When we taste a sour flavour and we notice that it is sour, do we experience a concept?

S.: The flavour is a paramattha dhamma, and when we think of a sour orange the object is a concept. The words sour orange are sadda pannatti, concept of sound. When we name something the object is a nama pannatti, a concept which is a name. If there are no sounds, no words, and we do not think of the meaning of things, we do not pay much attention to objects. When sound is the object of cittas of the ear-door process, and then of cittas of the mind-door process, sanna (mental factor of perception) which remembers the meaning of the different sounds, conditions thinking about words and names.

Everything can be called by a name, such as a pen, a pencil, a table or a chair; rhese are all names. There is no dhamma which cannot be called by a name. Since dhammas have distinctive characteristics, names are needed to make these known. Thus, dhammas are the cause of name giving. The Atthasalini (Book II, Part II, Ch. II, 391) describes the process of name giving. We read:

There is no being, no thing that may not be called by a name. Also, the trees in the forest, the mountains are the business of the country folk. For they, on being asked, What tree is this?”, say the name they know, as “Cutch,” “Mango tree.” Even of the tree, the name of which they know not, they say, “It is the nameless tree.” And that also stands as as the established name of that tree. . .

If there were no names it would be most difficult for people to understand one another. Even paramattha dhammas need to be named. The Buddha used concepts to classify dhammas according to their characteristics, such as the following names:

Thus, the Dhamma the Buddha taught needs different terms and names in order to be understood.

The Atthasalini uses different synonyms for nama pannatti, concepts which are names.[23] It is an interpretation, an expression which renders the meaning of something in language (nirutti). A name is a distinctive sign which shows the meaning of something (vyancana). There are sounds which people utter, letters combined as words which express the meaning of something (abhilapa). These synonyms explain the meaning of nama pannatti, a name or term. A term makes the meaning of something known. The idea or notion which is made known can also be called concept. Thus, there are, generally speaking, two kinds of pannatti:

If we remember these two classes of concepts it will be easier to understand what a concept is. There are many kinds of concepts and they can be classified in different ways. One way of classifying them is the following (see Abhidhammattha Sangaha Ch. VIII, section 4, on pannattis):

i) formal concept: (sanihana pannatti), corresponding to the form of things, such as land, mountain or tree, which are so designated on account of the mode of transition of the elements.

ii) collective concept (samuha pannatti), corresponding to modes of construction of materials, to a collection of things, such as a vehicle or a chariot.

iii) conventional concept (sammutti pannatti), such as person or individual, which is derived from the five khandhas.

iv) local concept (disa pannatti), a notion or idea derived from the revolving of the moon, such as the directions of east or west.

vi) concept of season (masa pannatti), notions corresponding to seasons and months. The months are designated by names, such as Vesakha.

vii) concept of space (akasa), such as a well or a cave. It is derived from space which is not contacted by the four Great Elements.

viii) nimitta pannatti, the mental image which is acquired through the development of samatha, such as the nimitta of a kasina.

All such different things, although they do not exist in the ultimate sense, become objects of thought in the form of shadows of ultimate things. They are called pannatti because they are thought of, reckoned, understood, expressed, and made known on account of, in consideration of, with respect to, this or that mode. This kind of pannatti is so called because it is made known. As it makes known, it is described as name concept, name, name-made.

Lobha-mula-citta (consciousness with attachment) arises time and again through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, bodysense and mind-door. Even when lobha-mula-citta is without wrong view (ditthigata vippayutta), it is not merely attached to paramattha dhammas (realities) which appear through the six doors, but it is also attached to concepts. It is attached to the general appearance of things and to the details; it is attached to names and to subjects of thought.

We should ask ourselves at this moment what kinds of objects we usually experience in our daily life? The objects are mostly concepts and thus the characteristics of paramattha dhammas are hidden, they are not known as they are.

Question: When we touch grapes or a picture of grapes, softness and hardness[24] are paramattha dhammas, the flavour of grapes is a paramattha dhamma. Many realities which are joined together constitute a real grape and this we call a concept. Thus, I am inclined to think that a concept is real.

Sujin: The rupa of flavour arises and then falls away; it can only last as long as seventeen moments of citta.[25] The rupa which is the color of grapes arises and then falls away very rapidly since it only lasts as long as seventeen moments of citta. Can we then say that grapes exist?

S.: There is a concept, a notion that there are grapes, but in reality there is only flavour which arises and then falls away, or hardness which arises and then falls away.

Q.: A concept is formed because many paramattha dhammas are joined together into a mass or a whole.

S.: When one does not realize the arising and falling away of one reality at a time, one takes what appears to be a whole for a thing which exists.

Question: Is a concept not real? A concept is constituted of many kinds of paramattha dhammas (realities): softness, hardness, heat, colour, odour or flavour. They are joined together, they are a whole, a thing which has such or such color, this or that shape. There is a concept of this or that person with such and such outward appearance. Thus a concept is made up of paramattha dhammas.

Sujin: One will know that concepts are not paramattha dhammas if one learns to discern the characteristics of the different paramattha dhammas which arise together. One should be aware of one characteristic at a time as it appears through one doorway at a time. In order to know the truth we should realize the arising and falling away of rupa, which appears through one doorway at a time.

Each rupa lasts only as long as seventeen moments of citta and then it falls away. Therefore, rupa which arises has no time to stand, walk, or do anything. During the time one lifts one’s hand already more than seventeen moments of citta have passed. One sees people walking or lifting their hands, but in reality the rupas which arise fall away immediately and are succeeded by other rupas. The rupa which is visible object appears to cittas of the eye-door process and then, after there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, there are many mind-door processes of cittas. That is why one can see people walking or lifting their hands. Seventeen moments of citta pass away extremely rapidly. Thus, we should consider what happens in reality.

It should be known that the rupa which appears at this moment through the eyes only lasts seventeen moments of citta and that it must fall away before sound can be experienced through ears. It seems that there can be hearing and seeing at the same time, but in between the moment of hearing and the moment of seeing there is an interval of more than seventeen moments of citta. The visible object, which appears through the eyes, and lasts seventeen moments of citta must have fallen away before the citta which hears arises.

It seems that there can be hearing and seeing at the same time, but these are different moments of citta experiencing different objects. Rupas arise and fall away and succeed one another.[26] Visible object appears through the eye-door and after there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, it appears through the mind-door. Then, there are many mind-door processes of cittas that think of concepts. That is why people who walk, lift their hands or move, can appear. When we see people lifting their hands or walking there are countless nama dhammas and rupa dhammas arising and falling away all the time. So long as we don’t realize the arising and falling away of nama and rupa, we cling to the idea that what appears are people, women, men, or this or that thing. We cling to the concept of somebody or something.

When one studies paramattha dhammas one should remember that they are real, that they are not beings, people or self, that they are not women, men, or different things. The dhammas, which are true, can be verified. One may have often heard the words that paramattha dhammas are real, that they are not beings, people or self, and one may have repeated these words oneself.

However, panna should be developed to the stage when the truth can be directly understood. Flavour and hardness are realities that appear and then, on account of these realities, there is a concept of grapes. The rupas that arise and then fall away are real but there are, in the absolute sense, no grapes, no beings, or people. There are only rupa dhammas and nama dhammas that arise and fall away, succeeding one another very rapidly. Paramattha dhammas are real; they are not concepts.

From the beginning, the practice of the Dhamma should correspond to the theoretical knowledge acquired through listening and through study. The practice should be in accordance with the true characteristics of realities. We have, for example, learned that paramattha dhammas are anatta (not-self), and thus we should try to understand the meaning of this, even on the theoretical level. We should consider it and develop panna so that we can realise the truth in accordance with what we have learned before.

Question: Someone asked before whether concepts are real. There is, as you said, absolute truth (paramattha sacca) and conventional truth (sammutti sacca). Could one not say that concepts are real in the conventional sense?

S.: On can, but one should remember that concepts are not paramattha dhammas. The idea of grape has no flavour at all. Flavour is a reality and when it has appeared we have a concept on account of it, we have a concept of flavour of grapes and we call it the flavour of grapes.

Part III

Lobha-mula-citta (consciousness with attachment) without wrong view,[27] ditthivippayutta, which arises in our daily life, is not only attached to visible object, sound, odour, flavour, tangible object and concepts, it is also attached to miccha samadhi, wrong concentration. Someone may, for example, apply himself to yoga exercises such as concentration on the breath in order to improve his bodily health. Then, there is a kind of samadhi.

When the citta is not kusala, at such moments there is lobha-mula-citta with miccha-samadhi, wrong concentration. There may only be attachment to samadhi with the aim of improving one’s bodily health. Someone may not necessarily have the wrong view that he should apply himself first to samadhi in order that he afterwards can consider nama and rupa and have right understanding of them more quickly, and that this is the way to realise the Noble Truths. If he has such wrong understanding he will not know the characteristics of right mindfulness, samma-sati. He will not know that sati is not self, anatta.

It is not true that when someone applies himself first to miccha-samadhi it will help panna to know the characteristics of nama and rupa. In order for sati to be samma-sati, a factor of the Eightfold Path,[28] it must accompany samma-ditthi, right understanding, which understands the characteristics of the realities that are appearing. These are the objects sati should consider in the right way. It should be mindful of them so that right understanding can become more and more refined.

Right understanding of nama and rupa is accumulated as sankharakkhandha[29] and thus conditions are being developed for the arising of direct awareness of the realities that are appearing. When there is seeing one should know when the object is a pannatti, a concept, and when a paramattha dhamma. It is the same in the case of hearing, smelling, tasting, the experience of tangible object and the experience of an object through the mind-door.

When we watch television, a football game or tennis match, when we read a newspaper or look at pictures, we should know when the object is a concept and when a paramattha dhamma. If we do not know this we may mistakenly think that only the story in television is a concept. In reality, however, there are concepts when we watch television and also when we do not watch television. Even the names of all of us here are nama-pannattis; they are words of conventional language, which refer to citta, cetasika and rupa which arise together and thus we know that there is this or that person.

Miccha-samadhi (wrong concentration) can be the object of lobha-mula-citta without wrong view or with wrong view. In the latter case one believes that this kind of samadhi is the way to realise the Four Noble Truths. There is miccha-samadhi all over the world. While people apply themselves to concentration with citta which is not kusala citta (wholesome consciousness) accompanied by panna, there is miccha-samadhi. When they believe that this is a faster way to achieve mindfulness of the characteristics of nama and rupa there is wrong understanding. Samma-sati of the Eightfold Path can be mindful in the right way of the realities that appear if first the difference between the characteristics of nama and rupa is understood. Miccha-samadhi cannot condition right mindfulness.

Question: It is said that samadhi (concentration) is the proximate cause for vipassana.

Q.: It must be samma-samadhi (right concentration) which is the proximate cause.

S.: It must be samma-samadhi which arises together with samma-sati, samma-ditthi (right understanding), samma sankappa (right thinking) and samma-vayama (right effort).

Concepts are the object of citta in daily life, at the moments that it does not have paramattha dhammas as object. We should find out ourselves how often we have concepts as object. There is seeing and then we think of a story about what appears through the eyes. There is hearing and then we think about what appears through the ears. It is the same with regard to the other sense doors. The cittas (moments of consciousness) that arise in a mind-door process experience visible object, sound odour, flavour and tangible object, and they think in many different ways about all these objects.

Can there be other kinds of objects in our daily lives? There can be either paramattha dhammas or concepts as objects in this life, in previous lives, or in future lives, in whatever plane or world one is living. There cannot be other kinds of objects. There are only six classes of objects (the objects which are experienced through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind) and in these classes paramattha dhammas as well as concepts are included.

We may wonder whether the Buddha experienced objects that were concepts. Let us first speak about the daily life of ordinary people. When the cittas of an eye-door process have fallen away and there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, there is one series of mind-door process cittas that have as object the same paramattha dhamma as the eye-door process cittas that have just fallen away. After bhavanga-cittas in between, there can be mind-door process cittas that think of the shape and form of what appeared. What appears through the eyes is a kind of rupa, visible object, and this arises together with the four Great Elements of earth, water, fire and wind.[30]

We cannot separate colour from these four Great Elements. Wherever there are these four Great Elements, the rupas that are colour, odour, flavour and nutritive essence also have to be together with them. These eight rupas cannot be separated from each other.[31] Thus, since we cannot take colour away from the four Great Elements, there can, after we have seen colour through the eye sense, be a concept on account of colour. We can have a concept of a whole, we can know that there is this or that thing, this or that person. Seeing conditions thinking of concepts. If there were no colour impinging on the eye sense and no seeing, could we then notice people, beings and different things?

The Buddha certainly had concepts as objects. When we listen to the Dhamma we should also consider which cause leads to which effect. There are paramattha dhammas as well as concepts that can be the object of citta. At the moment a paramattha dhamma is not the object, a concept must be the object. This has been repeated time and again so that there are conditions for sati to be aware of the characteristics of the realities that appear.

Thus, it can be understood correctly that what appears through the eyes are only different colours. Since colour arises together with the four Great Elements and cannot be separated from them, different concepts are conceived on account of the colour that was seen. If satipatthana arises it can distinguish visible object, it can consider it and be aware of it, so that it can be correctly known that what appears are just different colours. Colour can be realised as only a kind of reality appearing through the eyes. It can be correctly understood that when one knows what different things are, there are, at the same time, mind-door process cittas that know concepts.

When we have studied the Dhamma and considered it, we shall see that the cittas of all beings, which arise in daily life, sometimes have a paramattha dhamma and sometimes a concept as object. There are not only cittas of the eye-door process that have colour as object. When the cittas of the eye-door process have fallen away and there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, mind-door process cittas arise experiencing the colour that was just before experienced by the eye-door process cittas. When that series of mind-door process cittas has fallen away and there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, there can be another series of mind-door process cittas which have a concept as object. If we do not know concepts how can we lead our daily lives? If one didn’t know what different things are, such as a table, a chair, food, a bowl, a plate or a spoon, one could not lead one’s daily life. Also, animals must have concepts as objects, otherwise they could not stay alive. They must be able to know what is food and what is not.

Is there a difference in the ways different people experience concepts, namely in the ways the Buddha, the arahat, the anagami, the sakadagami, the sotapanna[32] and the ordinary person experience them? There is a difference between ariyans and non-ariyans as to the way they experience concepts. Ordinary people who do not know anything about paramattha dhammas take concepts for things that are real. The ariyans who have realized the Noble Truths know that all dhammas are anatta. The realities that arise and appear through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body sense and mind-door are impermanent, whereas concepts are not realities with the characteristics of impermanence and anatta. Concepts are not realities but they are the means to make things known. Concepts are the object of citta and cetasika when we know the meaning of the things that appear, when we know what different things are.

We should carefully consider phenomena and the conditions for their appearing; we should consider which cause leads to which effect. If there were no citta and cetasika could there be concepts? That would be impossible. If there were only rupas but no namas, no citta and cetasika, there could not be concepts. Rupa is the reality that does not know an object, whereas citta and cetasika are the realities that know an object. Therefore, if citta and cetasika did not arise, concepts could not be known. Ariyans as well as non-ariyans have concepts as object, but there is a difference. Non-ariyans take concepts for realities whereas ariyans know when citta has a paramattha dhamma as object and when it has a concept as object.

When citta has a concept as object is there wrong view, miccha-ditthi? It depends on the kind of citta that has a concept as object. All ariyans have concepts as object but they do not have wrong view; they have completely eradicated the cetasika that is wrong view, miccha-ditthi. If we do not carefully consider realities we will not know the difference between lobha-mula-citta with wrong view and lobha-mula-citta without wrong view.

Lobha-mula-citta without wrong view is attached to all objects. It is attached to what appears through the eyes and to the concept conceived on account of it. It is attached to sound that appears through the ears, and to a concept on account of the sound. It is the same in the case of the objects appearing through the other doorways. This is our ordinary daily life. Thus, lobha-mula-citta can be attached to all objects without wrong view about them.

The sotapanna and the sakadagami have lobha-mula-citta (consciousness with attachment) without wrong view, and this citta can be attached to all six classes of objects. The anagami has lobha-mula-citta without wrong view that is attached to the class of objects that are dhammarammana, objects that can only be experienced through the mind-door. He has eradicated attachment to the sense objects that are visible object, sound, odour, flavour and tangible object. The arahat has neither kusala dhammas nor akusala dhammas on account of the six classes of objects. He has completely eradicated all defilements and akusala dhammas.

The person who is not an arahat may understand the characteristics of the objects as they are, he may know when the object is a paramattha dhamma and when a concept. However, so long as one has not eradicated all defilements, there are conditions for their arising. There can be happiness or sadness, like or dislike on account of the object, be they paramattha dhammas or concepts. To what extent defilements arise for the non-arahat depends on the degree of understanding that has been developed; it depends on whether a person is a non-ariyan or an ariyan who is a sotapanna, a sakadagami or an anagami.

We should carefully consider when there is sakkaya-ditthi, personality belief. Although concepts are not realities, paramattha dhammas, we may take them for things that really exist, and then there is wrong view. When someone clings to the concept of self, being, person, or different things and really believes that they exist, there is the wrong view of sakkaya-ditthi (personality belief). So long as sakkaya-ditthi has not been eradicated there are conditions for the arising of many other kinds of wrong view as well. There may be the wrong view that there is no kamma, no result of kamma. There may be the belief in an almighty god, the creator of the world and of all beings and all people. When we do not know the conditions for the arising of all sankhara dhammas, conditioned dhammas, there can be different kinds of wrong view. However, clinging to wrong view does not occur each time citta has a concept as object.

Can concepts be the object of akusala citta (unwholesome consciousness)? They can, and they are, in fact, usually the objects of akusala citta. There can be lobha-mula-citta which is attached to a concept. Or, there can be dosa-mula-citta which has aversion towards a concept. When one does not like this or that person, does one realise what the object is? At such moments a concept is the object of citta. Thus we see that a concept can be the object of any kind of akusala citta.

Can a concept be the object of kusala citta (wholesome consciousness)? It can be the object of kusala citta. Concepts belong to our daily life and thus they are the objects of all kinds of cittas arising in our daily life. If we want to perform dana (giving) but we don’t know concepts, we wouldn’t know what a gift is in a conventional sense. In such a case there could not be kusala citta that performs dana. There cannot be abstention (virati) from wrong deeds or speech if one does not know what it is in a conventional sense; if one does not know that there is a being or a person.

When someone develops samatha can concepts be the object of citta? One may think that it is difficult to answer this question when he has not studied in detail the way of development of samatha and the subjects of calm. However, it is important to remember that when a dhamma (reality) is not the object of citta, a concept must be the object. Thus, also in samatha a concept can be the object of citta. All cittas other than the cittas that develop satipatthana, and the sense-door process cittas, can have concepts as object.

Only if we develop satipatthana can we know whether a phenomenon is a paramattha dhamma. When satipatthana does not arise, at such moments there is no awareness, no study and no investigation of the characteristics of paramattha dhammas. In our daily lives the object of citta is sometimes a paramattha dhamma and sometimes a concept. The development of satipatthana is very intricate, because panna must become very refined in order for it to see all the realities that appear, as they are.

Question: Satipatthana cannot have concepts as object and therefore when we develop satipatthana should we try to stop citta having a concept as object?

S.: That is not right because then we could not lead our ordinary daily lives. We cannot stop citta having concepts as object. However, panna can be developed so that it can be known that when a concept is the object, it is citta, a type of nama that knows that concept. A concept could not be the object at that moment if there were no citta that knows it. When we develop satipatthana we should not force ourselves not to think of concepts. We should not try not to stop knowing what the different things are that we normally see and recognize in daily life. Then, we would not be able to know the characteristic of nama dhamma, the reality that knows something. When a concept is the object, one should realize that citta and cetasika, which are nama dhammas, have arisen and that they know at that moment an object that is a concept.

Satipatthana can study and consider realities and be aware of them. Thus it can be known that when there is thinking it is nama which thinks, an element, a reality which experiences, not a self, a being or person. We should know that all dhammas are non-self, anatta, and that we cannot stop citta thinking of different things. Panna should penetrate the characteristics of the different namas that experience different objects through the six doors. Then, doubt about the characteristics of nama dhammas can be eliminated. Nobody can prevent the arising of the phenomena of our daily life. It is because of ignorance that one tries not to think or not to know the concepts of the things that appear. If someone tries to avoid thinking of concepts panna cannot be developed.

We should consider our way of practice. One may follow a kind of practice which is not the development of panna (wisdom) which studies, notices, and considers the characteristics of nama dhammas and rupa dhammas. People don’t lead their usual daily lives when they try to follow a particular practice. Then they develop the wrong Path, miccha-magga, which is: wrong understanding, wrong thinking, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, wrong concentration. That is not the right Path, the development of satipatthana, and the development of vipassana.

If someone does not know the characteristics of the realities that appear, as they are, and if he does not understand which cause leads to which effect, there will be wrong understanding. He will cling to wrong view; he will search for a way of practice that is the wrong Path. There will be ignorance while he sees different colours and perceives different things.

We read in the Kindred Sayings (V, Maha-Vagga, Book I, XLV, Kindred Sayings on the Way, Ch. 1, §4, The Brahmin):

Savatthi was the location for this discourse . . . Then the Venerable Ananda, robing himself in the forenoon and taking bowl and outer robe, entered Savatthi on his begging round.

Now, the Venerable Ananda saw Janussoni, the brahmin, driving out of Savatthi in his carriage, drawn by pure white mares. White were the steeds harnessed thereto and white the trappings, white the carriage. White was the fittings, white the reins, the goad, the canopy, his turban, his clothes and sandals, and by a white fan was he fanned. And when the people saw it they cried out, “Ah! There is the best of carriages! There is the best of carriages for beauty!”

Someone may just see white colour and then there can be wrong understanding if he does not know realities, and if he does not know the way to realise the truth of not self. He may look for another way to know the truth. He may have the wrong understanding that a white carriage is the best. We read further on that the Venerable Ananda, after going on his begging round, came back, ate his meal and visited the Exalted One. He told him that he had seen Janussoni in his white carriage and that the people had cried out that it was the best of carriages. Ananda asked the Buddha whether he could point out the best of carriages in the Dhamma and Discipline. The Buddha explained that the defilements could be eradicated through the development of the Eightfold Path, not by seeing a white carriage with white trappings. The best of carriages is the ariyan Eightfold Path. The Dhamma carriage is unsurpassed for its conquest in the fight.[33] The Buddha then said the following verse:

Thus we see that the white carriage and all the white paraphernalia have nothing to do with ariyan wisdom.

In the commentary to this sutta, the Saratthappakasini, it is said that when the Brahmin Janussoni drove around town, he had people announce his coming ahead of time. When people had something to do outside of town, they would purposely not leave, in order to see Janussoni driving out. If people had already left town, they would return in order to see him. They believed it to be an auspicious sign to see the treasures and wealth of someone like Janussoni. When the Brahmin Janussoni was going to drive around the whole day, the people in town swept the roads from early morning on. They made them smooth with sand and scattered flowers all over. They helped each other put up flags and banners and they caused the whole town to be filled with the smell of incense.

Janussoni rode through the town in a white carriage with white accoutrements, pulled by four white horses. The wheels and fittings of the carriage were made of silver. Janussoni had two carriages, one for battle and one for all his accoutrements. The battle carriage was four-sided and not so big; it could only take two or three people. But the carriage for all his accoutrements was very big. There was room for the eight to ten people who carried the canopy, the fan and palm leaves. These people could stand or comfortably lie down. The horses that pulled the carriage, were all white and their ornaments were made of silver. The carriage looked white because its coverings were made of silver and it was decorated with ivory. The coverings of other carriages were usually lion and tiger skins or yellow cloth. However, Janussoni’s carriage was covered by very precious cloth. The reins, and even the bridles, were covered with silver. The canopy erected in the middle of the carriage was white.

Janussoni’s turban was seven inches wide and made of silver. His clothes were white, the colour of foam. His clothes and the coverings of his carriage were all of very expensive material. His sandals, unlike the sandals of those that travel or go into the forest, were meant to be worn when going in his carriage, and they were ornamented with silver. His fan was white with a handle of crystal.

He was the only person whose adornments were completely white. He used white face powder and white flowers to adorn himself. His jewelry, including the rings on his ten fingers and in his ears, was made of silver. His retinue consisted of ten thousand people and they were dressed in white clothes and adorned with white flowers and white jewelry.

Janussoni enjoyed his wealth and dignity from early morning, while he took his breakfast, applied perfumes and dressed himself in white. He went outside his palace and took off in his carriage. The brahmins of his retinue who were also dressed in white, adorned with white cosmetics and white flowers, surrounded him while they carried his white canopy. Then, coins were scattered about for the children, and the people of the town would gather and cheer, tossing pieces of cloth. Janussoni went around town to display his wealth. Thus, he would give people who wanted to have auspicious signs and blessings for good luck, an opportunity to see him. People who were lucky entered the palace and went up to the first floor, opened the windows and looked down for a good view. When people saw the carriage of Janussoni, they exclaimed that this was the best of carriages.

The Buddha said to Ananda that people might give money to small children so that the giver will be praised because of loveliness, beauty and wealth. However, if one only receives praise, one will not necessarily be lovable for being rich. Although the people who saw Janussoni’s carriage praised it as the best of carriages, it would not be the best just because people praised it as such. The Buddha said that in reality, that carriage was a miserable, ugly thing.

The Buddha further said to Ananda that the best of carriages is an idea that may be applied to the Eightfold Path. This is an excellent way because it liberates one from all that is wrong. By the Noble Eightfold Path one can become an ariyan and attain nibbana. The wisdom carriage, the Dhamma carriage, is the best vehicle, the best battle carriage. Nothing can excel this carriage, and with this carriage, the defilements can be conquered.

Thus, we see the difference between the carriage of Janussoni and that of the Dhamma. There can be wrong view and wrong practice just from seeing. Some people may believe that white is an auspicious colour which conditions them to become pure, and without defilements. However, the Buddha said that in reality, Janussoni’s carriage was a miserable, ugly thing because it caused people to have wrong view. They had thought it was the best of carriages. The understanding of things as they are has nothing to do with the colour of someone’s clothes or ornaments. When satipatthana arises and is aware of the characteristics of the realities that appear, it can be said that it is the vehicle of panna that leads to the eradication of defilements.

When a sense object, which is rupa, impinges on one of the sense doors, it is experienced by several cittas arising in a sense-door process. Counting from the “past bhavanga,” there are seventeen moments of citta if the sense-door process of cittas runs its full course. Rupa lasts as long as seventeen moments of citta, and then it falls away when that process is over. The seventeen moments of citta are as follows:

3. Bhavangupaccheda (arrest bhavanga), the last bhavanga arising before the object is experienced through the sense-door.

4. Five sense-door adverting consciousness (pancadvaravajjana-citta), which is a kiriyacitta.

5. Sense-cognition (dvi-pancavinnana, seeing consciousness, etc.), which is vipakacitta.

9-15 Seven javana-cittas (“impulsion,” kusala or akusala cittas in the case of

After a sense object has been experienced through a sense-door, it is experienced through the mind-door, and then that object will have just fallen away. Before the mind-door process begins, there are bhavanga-cittas and the last two of these are specifically designated by a name. These are the following cittas:

After the mind-door process has been completed, there are bhavanga-cittas again.

[1] Paramattha dhammas: usually translated as ultimate, absolute, or fundamental realities.

[2] Citta, cetasika, and rupa: Citta is a moment of consciousness which cognizes an object; seeing, for example cognizes colour. There is one citta at a time and it is accompanied by several cetasikas, mental factors, which each performs its own function. Rupa, physical phenomena (materiality, matter), does not know anything.

[3] Nama: mental phenomena, that is citta and cetasika. Rupa: physical phenomena.

[4] The element of earth denotes solidity appearing as hardness or softness. It can be experienced through touch.

[5] Abhidhammattha Sangaha: an encyclopedia of Abhidhamma, ascribed to Anuruddha and composed somtime between the 8^th and 12^th century A.D. It has been translated as A Manual of Abhidhamma by Venerable Narada, Colombo, and as a Compendium of Philosophy in a Pali Text Society edition.

[6] The Fully Englightened One, Epithet of the Buddha.

[7] The Five Khandhas (aggregates) are rupa (matter), sanna (perception, memory), vedana (feeling), sankhara (all other mental factors) and vinnana (citta or consciousness).

[8] The twelve ayatanas (bases) are eye base, visible object base, ear base, sound base, nose base, odour base, tongue base, flavour base, body base, tangible-data base (includes hardness, softness, heat, etc.), mind base, mental object base. Dhammayatana, mental object base includes objects experienced through the mind-door. Mind base, manayatana, includes all cittas.

[9] The eighteen dhatus (elements) include three for each sense-door. For the eye-door these are: eye element, visible object element, seeing-consciousness element. The other five doors are ear, nose tongue, body and mind. (See Visuddhimagga XV,17)

[10] Vedana and sanna are cetasikas which accompany each citta.

[11] Akusala citta includes mind states with greed, delusion, or aversion. Kusala citta includes all wholesome, or skillful mind states.

[12] Abhinnas are supernatural powers.

[13] Cittas experiencing objects that impinge on the six doors arise in a process of cittas; they are vithi-cittas. Visible object is not only experienced by seeing-consciousness, but also by other cittas arising within a process. See appendix.

[14] Bhavanga-cittas, translated as life continuum. Bhavanga-cittas arise in between the processes of cittas. They do not experience the objects which impinge on the five sense-doors and the mind-door. They experience the same object as the rebirth-consciousness, the first citta in life. See appendix.

[15] There are 28 kinds of rupas. Twelve are gross and sixteen are subtle. The gross rupas are the five sense-organs and the sense objects which can be experienced through eyes, ears, nose, and tongue, and three rupas which can be experienced through the bodysense, namely, solidity, temperature, and motion. Subtle rupas include, for example, cohesion and nutritive essense.

[16] Javana literally mans “running through,” impulsion; the javana-cittas arise in the sense-door processes, and they “run through the object.” There are usually seven javana-cittas in a process of cittas, and these are kusala or akusala in the case of non-arahats. Arahats do not have kusala cittas or akusala cittas, they have kiriyacittas.

[17] Tadalambana: this is also called tadarammana. See appendix.

[18] There are numerous defilements (unwholesome mental factors), such as lobha, greed, attachment, aversion, ignorance and wrong view.

[19] The six classes are: the five sense organs, the sixteen subtle rupas, citta, cetasika, nibbana, and concept.

[20] Unwholesome cittas, akusala cittas, are cittas rooted in unwholesome roots, akusala hetus. They are lobha-mula cittas, dosa-mula cittas (cittas rooted in aversion or hate) or moha-mula cittas, cittas rooted in ignorance.

[21] The Four Noble Truths are: dukkha (suffering), the origin of dukkha, the cessation of dukkha, the way leading to the cessation of dukkha.

[22] Indriya (faculties): see Visuddhimagga XVI, 1

[23] See footnote Dhammasangani (translated as Buddhist Psychological Ethics by P.T.S.) par. 1306

[24] Softness and hardness are tangible objects, rupas, which can be experienced through the body sense.

[25] See appendix

[26] Rupas that fall away are immediately replaced by new rupas so long as there are conditions for them. Rupas of the body are produced by four factors: kamma, citta, temperature and nutrition.

[27] Lobha-mula-cittas can be accompanied by wrong view or they can be without wrong view. When they are accompanied by wrong view there is clinging to a distorted view of reality.

[28] The sobhana cetasikas, beautiful cetasikas, which are the factors of the Eightfold Path are: right understanding, right thinking, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. The development of the Eightfold Path is actually the development of right understanding of nama and rupa that appear at the present moment.

[29] This is the khandha or aggregate that includes all cetasikas except vedana, feeling, and sanna, remembrance or perception. Panna and all sobhana cetasikas are included in sankharakkhanda and they are together the accumulated condition for the growth of panna, eventually leading to enlightenment.

[30] The four Great Elements of earth, water, fire and wind are conventional terms that refer to characteristics of rupa such as solidity, cohesion, temperature and motion or pressure.

[31] Rupas do not arise singly; they arise in groups, each consisting of at least eight rupas.

[32] The arahat is fully enlightened; he has extinguished all defilements. The sotapanna (first stage of realization) has uprooted wrong view but still has other defilements. The sakadagami and anagami are at the second and third stage of realization, respectively. All four are called ariyan, noble.

[33] In Pali, there is a word association of yana, carriage, and nana, wisdom.

SUJIN BORIHARNWANAKET

Translated from the Thai by Nina van Gorkom

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