Abhidhamma Papers |
The most important principles of abhidhamma could be summarised in the three marks of existence: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and no self. In abhidhamma there is no permanent 'I' experiencing the world, and no permanence in the world that is experienced. There are only four realities: consciousness, the mental factors that characterize consciousness, matter and nibbana. The first three are conditioned, and each unit of consciousness, each mental factor and each unit of matter last for an infinitesimally short period of time. Millions of thought-moments are said to occur in the twinkling of an eye. Matter is slightly more durable and coarser than consciousness. With certain exceptions seventeen thought-moments elapse in the life-time of one unit of matter. So what we call the self is simply a rapid succession of single thought-moments, occurring one at a time, each having its own object.
Despite the countless number of thought-moments which occur in the lifespan of a human being, there are altogether only one hundred and twenty-one different states of consciousness, each accompanied by its own specific attributes and functions. Some of these are active, in that they produce a result either skilful or unskilful; some are passive, or resultant, in that they are states of mind which are the product of earlier active mental tendencies, but which do not in themselves create further states of mind. So, if there has been an unskilful thought-moment rooted in aversion there will almost certainly be an unpleasant state of mind as a result of this some time in the future - this state of mind, however, will not in itself create further states of mind, though its occurrence may make it likely that active thought-moments rooted in aversion may arise in response to its unpleasantness. The other kinds of consciousness are functional, in that they operate outside the sphere of skilful and unskilful cause-and-effect. In everyday life, for instance, they are the thought-moments concerned with directing attention to the five senses or to mental states. While they are technically outside the world of cause-and-effect, they are extremely important in the tendencies of moment by moment consciousness, as it is these which direct the mind either inwards or outwards.
Each thought-moment is coloured or characterised by different mental factors, in various combinations. These could be termed the attributes of each perceiving moment of consciousness. There are fifty-two of them, and in different groupings there are varying numbers of them accompanying each thought-moment. They include phenomena such as pleasant feeling, unpleasant feeling, joy, aversion and wisdom. So a purely functional moment of consciousness, such as one directing attention to the senses, contains only ten mental factors. These include the seven factors common to all moments of consciousness, which provide a basic framework keeping all thought-moments in working order. A thought-moment with skilful roots, however, accompanied by knowledge and pleasant feeling, will have the nineteen mental factors present in all skilful consciousness, the seven universal factors, and other attributes such as joy and effort.
The non-perceiving world of matter has a lack of solidity comparable to the world of mind. What we regard as solid objects are merely rapidly changing conglomerations of units of matter. The shape of an object is merely the mental construct we impose on a constantly fluctuating series of sense impressions impinging on our consciousness.
As thought-moments can have only one object at a time, and as only one sensory thought-moment can be operative at any one time, the experience of looking at an object is not simply one activity but a rapid oscillation between different sense impressions, the organisation of these impressions to conform to the mental framework by which we order our world, and the various feelings arising from this constant stream of sensory information. The effect could be compared to a multi-dimensional television transmission, with three rapidly-moving dots that make up the picture - matter, consciousness and mental factors - working on the senses of smell, taste, hearing and touch as well as sight and mind.
It soon emerges from even the most cursory study of abhidhamma, then, that the view it gives of the world is entirely different from the one that we are used to. While it may appear that we are all experiencing highly individual states of emotion and that the world we see is composed of an enormous variety of sights, smells and textures, according to abhidhamma all these impressions may be reduced to a series of processes composed of certain specific attributes and functions.
The complexity in the world we see and in our emotional make-up is the result of different arrangements and fluid patterns of thought-moments, mental factors and units of matter. At various points in the succession of thought-moments intervention is possible. The processes are not simply automatic but may be redirected, so that more skilful mental tendencies may develop.
These categories in abhidhamma may be reduced even further, all the conditioned realities exhibiting the marks of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and no self. Only nibbana, the fourth reality, is not subject to the laws of cause-and-effect, impermanence and unsatisfactoriness.
Sarah
We also noted that the first three of the group are conditioned while nibbana is not. Another suggestion as to why the first three are termed 'realities' is that it is possible to work with them in order to develop understanding. This might be in line with the metaphor of the television in the sixth paragraph: there are three different kinds of dots producing a picture. In this sense, the dots are 'real' while the picture is not.
Another problem concerned with the three conditioned realities is that of the relationships between them. While one difference between consciousness and matter is that consciousness perceives and matter does not (paragraph five), it might also be possible to see matter as the basic, most gross reality and mental factors and consciousness as progressively more subtle forms of the same reality. This suggests that they are intimately connected with one another and separate only for the purpose of analysis. So while it might be said that at any given level they are separate, the level is not fixed. If the level changes, so there is a corresponding change in the constituents of consciousness, mental factors and matter. This might be connected with another statement in abhidhamma that 'seventeen thought moments elapse in the lifetime of one unit of matter' (paragraph two). This is perhaps an exact statement of the relationship between the levels of consciousness and of matter. Between these two, and linking them, are mental factors, which then may be seen as the way in which consciousness is applied to matter. These thus constitute a third level. Applying these principles, matter is by definition the lowest level for any given analysis. It will also be noted that the three levels are thus differentiated not only by degrees of grossness but also by their function.
An interesting problem arises in connection with this. As one of the four realities, rupa is usually translated as 'matter', which is suggestive of the solid world of objects around us. The first four meditations, or jhanas, however, are called rupa-jhanas (as opposed to the other four arupa-jhanas, or jhanas without rupa). Yet in the 'rupa-jhanas there is no perception of the realm which we are accustomed to call 'matter', which we know through our bodily senses. Why, then, are they termed rupa-jhanas? One suggested answer to this again involved the question of different levels which was raised in the last paragraph. The three realities are not fixed levels, but simply levels in relation to one another. Their 'actual' level may change according to what is being investigated. Thus attainment of jhana may involve a change in levels: what performs the role of consciousness in the lower realms is taken as the rupa of the jhana consciousness. According to this interpretation, the arupa-jhanas are so-called because there is no lowest level, i.e. they have no limit.
There was also some discussion about the statement in the third paragraph that there are 'one hundred and twenty-one states of consciousness'. Certainly in some versions of abhidhamma, there is a list of one hundred and twenty-one cittas, but perhaps this does not have to be taken too literally. An essential aspect of consciousness is that it is unitary and thus in this sense it cannot be divided up into different kinds. Also, different schools of abhidhamma give different numbers of cittas. It may be that each list is giving a useful way of understanding consciousness for a given purpose, rather than an inflexible definition.
