Glossary (English translations of Pali terms)
aharaja = produced by nutrient
anekaja= produced by more than one cause or by many causes
avinibbhoga-rupa = The eight rupas comprising pathavi, apo, tejo, vayo, vanna, gandha, rasa and oja are bound together and are inseparable. The avinibbhoga-rupa sounds like the original definition of the atom. But atoms are later found to be divisible into electrons, protons and neutrons. According to Abhidhamma, these sub-atomic particles can be regarded as avinibbhoga-rupas. The four essentials and their innate four derivatives are produced together in nature as kalapas which are fundamental units of matter.
catuja = produced by four causes
cittaja = produced by citta (consciousness)
ekaja= produced by a single cause
jivita-rupa = physical life
kalapas = tiny material groups
kammaja = produced by kamma
rupa = corporeality, matter, materiality, form, body (however rupa comprises matter as well as energy).
utuja = produced by heat-element
In last week's class we studied types of rupa. One of the types listed was the group of eighteen kammaja-rupas.
The eighteen kammaja-rupas are the nine kammaja-ekaja rupas and nine kammaja-anekaja rupas (i.e. the nine catuja-rupas).
The nine kammaja-kalapas are formed from the 18 kammaja-rupas.
Dr Mehm Tin Mon writes in "The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma" (pp. 242 - 244):
The 28 types of rupa are not found separately in nature. They are produced by the four causes in the form of tiny material groups called kalapas. Kalapas have the following four features:
1. All the rupas in a kalapa arise together, i.e. they have a common genesis.
2. They also cease or dissolve together, i.e. they have a common cessation.
3. They all depend on the four great essentials present in the kalapa for their arising, i.e. they have a common dependence.
4. They are so thoroughly mixed that they cannot be distinguished, i.e. they co-exist.
It should be noted that kalapas are so small that they are invisible even under electronic microscopes. The size of kalapa in the human realm is just a 10 -5 th of a paramanu, which is smaller than an atom. So kalapas are comparable to electrons, protons and neutrons in size.
There are 21 types of kalapas - 9 kammaja kalapas + 6 cittaja kalapas + 4 utuja kalapas+ 2 aharaja kalapas.
In all kalapas, the 8 avinibbhoga-rupas form the nucleus. All the kammaja-rupa contain jivita-rupa which is the physical life. So a group of 8 avinibbhoga-rupas and jivita-rupa forms the simplest unit of kammaja-rupa. It is called jivita-navaka-kalapa meaning 'group of 9 rupas including jivita'. It may be shortened to 'jivita-nonad'.
By adding the remaining 8 kammaja-ekaja-rupas one at a time to this basic unit of 'jivita-nonad' we get the remaining 8 kammaja-kalapas.
1. Cakkhu-dasaka (eye-decad) = 8 avinibbhoga-rupas + jivita-rupa + cakkhu-pasada
2. Sota-dasaka (ear-decad) = 8 avinibbhoga-rupas + jivita-rupa + sota-pasada
3. Ghana-dasaka (nose-decad) = 8 avinibbhoga-rupas + jivita-rupa + ghana-pasada
4. Jivha-dasaka (tongue-decad) = 8 avinibbhoga-rupas + jivita-rupa + jivha-pasada
5. Kaya-dasaka (body-decad) = 8 avinibbhoga-rupas + jivita-rupa + kaya-pasada
6. Itthibhava-dasaka (female-decad) = 8 avinibbhoga-rupas + jivita-rupa + itthibhava-rupa
7. Pumbhava-dasaka (male-decad) = 8 avinibbhoga-rupas + jivita-rupa + pumbhava-rupa (purisabhava)
8. Hadaya-dasaka (heart-decad) = 8 avinibbhoga-rupas + jivita-rupa + hadaya-vatthu
9. Jivita-dasaka (vital-nonad) = 8 avinibbhoga-rupas + jivita-rupa
Note: atthaka = 8; navaka = 9; dasaka = 10; ekadasaka = 11; dvadasaka = 12; terasaka = 13
All rupa is subject to impermanence.
Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa writes in the Visuddhimagga (Chapter XXI, 24 - 28):
Appearance then as empty: while he is contemplating dissolution in this way he succeeds in making [formations] appear as void thus, 'Only formations break up; their break-up is death; there is nothing else at all. Hence the ancients said:
'Aggregates cease and nothing else exists;
'Break-up of aggregates is known as death,
'He watches their destruction steadfastly,
'As one who with a diamond drills a gem.
Is insight of higher understanding: what is meant is that the reflexion on the object, the contemplation of dissolution, and the appearance as void, are called insight of higher understanding.
Skilled in the three contemplations: a bhikkhu who is competent in the three beginning with contemplation of impermanence. And in the four-fold insight too: in the four kinds of insight beginning with dispassion.
Skilled in the three appearances: and owing to skill in this threefold appearance, namely, as liable to destruction and fall, as terror, and as void. The various views will shake him not: he does not vacillate on account of the various kinds of views such as the eternity view.
When he no longer vacillates and so constantly bears in mind that the unceased will also cease, the undissolved will also dissolve, then he disregards the arising, presence, occurrence, and sign, of all formations, which keep on breaking up, like fragile pottery being smashed, like fine dust being dispersed, like sesamum seeds being roasted, and he sees only their break-up. Just as a man with eyes standing on the bank of a pond or on the bank of a river during heavy rain would see large bubbles appearing on the surface of the water and breaking up as soon as they appeared, so too he sees how formations break up all the time. The blessed One said of such a meditator:
'And he who looks upon the world
'As one who looks upon a bubble,
'As one who looks upon a mirage,
'Is out of sight of Death the King (Dhammapada 170).
When he constantly sees that all formations thus break up all the time, then contemplation of dissolution grows strong in him, bringing eight advantages, which are these:
abandoning of [false] view of becoming,
giving up attachment to life,
constant application,
a purified livelihood,
no more anxiety,
absence of fear,
acquisition of patience and gentleness,
and conquest of aversion (boredom) and sensual delight.
Hence the ancients said:
'On seeing these eight perfect qualities
'He comprehends formations constantly,
'Seeing break-up in order to attain
'The Deathless, like the sage with burning turban'.
(see Samyutta Nikaya, v. 440)
In our next Abhidhamma classes we will study cittaja-kalapas (6), utuja-kalapas (3) and aharaja-kalapas (2).
References
Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa, (no date), "The Visuddhimagga", translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Nanamoli, Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre, Singapore
Dr. Mehm Tin Mon, 1995, "The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma", publisher Mehm Tay Zar Mon, Yangon
Our Ref: LAN 2 I:/abhi078.rtf