Abhidhamma Papers

Essay: Rupa, sense impression, the jhana factors and the hindrances

A first reading of the Abhidhammattha-sangaha gives the impression that abhidhamma consists of learning a long series of complicated lists which present the 'basic facts' about the way the mind works. This impression is very misleading. A particular group of factors is not a list of separate items, like a shopping list, but the individual factors are related to one another. The different lists also relate to one another, and both these types of relationship are important in order to understand abhidhamma method. These aspects are illustrated in the following discussion of four groups of factors.

Rupa

The first group is that of the five elements of rupa. Rupa is usually translated as 'matter', but in its most general sense it is also useful to translate it as 'the world' - the principle that our experience is 'of' or 'in' a world. The existence of the world is the functioning of four basic principles, the so-called primary elements, whose symbolic names are earth, water, fire and air (or breath). The world, as it exists, is extension (earth), cohesion (water), heat (fire) and motion (air).

These four elements exist in a primary sense; the fifth, space, does not. It is the field of action of the four elements, dependent for its existence on them but not existing in the same way as them.

In terms of a diagram, the five elements can be drawn as a pyramid. The basis is formed by the four primary elements, which define and limit. Space can be the point either above or below, depending on how it is viewed. In other words, it underpins the other four, or goes beyond them.

The Five factors of experiencing objects

Rupa in its widest meaning is the principle that the world exists in some sense independently of our experience. But when particular experiences are examined, there is an awareness of particular aspects of rupa. Something is selected as the centre of our attention - the so-called object - while the rest becomes background to it. Abhidhamma describes this process in terms of a second group of five factors:
  1. Contact - the fact that our experience is of a particular object.
  2. Feeling - described as the 'taste' of the object, which conveys the immediacy of this factor. It is not feeling 'about' the object.
  3. Marking the object - so that it can be recognized again.
  4. Drive - the active, instinctive response of the organism to the presence of the object.
  5. Consciousness (citta).
Even though we have now moved from rupa to the activity of the mind, the same principles of the functions of the elements apply. Contact establishes the foundation for mental experience (earth). Feeling intensifies the experience, so that the mind identifies with it and is held to the object (water). Marking is the process by which the object becomes incorporated into the mind, so that the experience of it can mature and the object can be recognized later on (fire). Drive is the fact that the mind is not just a passive recipient of impressions but that contact is a food for mental movement (air).

Consciousness is the field in which the object and associated mental processes take place (space), and this correspondence emphasises the fact that abhidhamma analyses experience in terms of three basics: consciousness, mental factors and rupa. Consciousness is the central point of organisation of the processes described above and is thus the active force. Rupa, as the object of consciousness, is the passive force, while the mental factors are the mediating force.

The five intensifying factors

By itself, the sort of mental functioning described above is very much dependent on the nature of the surroundings in which the person finds himself. But the mind is also capable of functioning to a greater degree of inner strength and purpose, so that it is less at the mercy of its surroundings. This mode of functioning is, in abhidhamma, also described in terms of a group of five.
  1. Directing the mind to the object (vitakka)
  2. Examining the object (vicara)
  3. Energization (piti)
  4. Harmonizing (sukha)
  5. Unifying of the mind (ekaggata)
Like many abhidhamma lists, the different factors can be understood in one way as forming stages of a process:
  1. Vitakka - the initial movement of the mind to a new object.
  2. Vicara - the mind, now firm in its direction, can examine the object in more detail.
  3. Piti - continued contact with the object draws together energies which were previously scattered.
  4. Sukha - the energisation settles down and pervades the mind in a harmonious type of happiness.
  5. Ekaggata - the mind, now in harmony, can be unified and stilled at a point of focus.
Similarly the first four can also be understood as corresponding to the stages of practice of breathing mindfulness. Counting fosters vitakka by the continual directing of the mind to the numbers. Following fosters vicara by encouraging the mind to 'stay with' the breath. Touching fosters piti by drawing together the resources of the mind to a single place, and the settling fosters sukha by encouraging the mind to be at ease. The fifth factor, ekaggata, both underpins the practice and is the outcome of it.

This sort of description should not be interpreted narrowly as meaning that one factor occurs, then the next and so on. At any one time, all may be present to some degree. However, the description is appropriate in that it conveys something of the dynamic relationships between the factors, as opposed to the 'shopping list' approach.

The factors can also be understood in terms of the five elements. Vitakka is the way in which the mind is extended to objects (earth). Vicara is the cohesion between the mind and the object (water). Piti energises the mind, raising its 'temperature' (fire). Sukha is the harmonious vibration of the mind (air), while ekaggata, in limiting the mind to a particular focus, creates a new field in which it can act (space)

The Five hindrances

In Abhidhamma, the intensifying factors are not described as being skilful of themselves. They may be aspects of the functioning of the mind in both skilful and unskilful states. Perhaps because it is their nature to intensify experience, it is possible that they may become out of balance and misused, thus forming the basis for those aspects of malfunctioning of the mind called the five hindrances. These can therefore be seen as the result of 'too much' or 'too little' of the five intensifying factors, which is brought out by placing the two groups side by side:

Vitakka Dullness and drowsiness
Vicara Wavering of the mind
Piti Dislike
Sukha Restlessness and anxiety
Ekaggata Motivation based on attachment   

Thus dullness and drowsiness are opposed by and dispelled by the application and extension of the mind in vitakka which gives it a skilful purpose. But if there is too much vitakka, the mind has a strong impulse to action without being able to do anything, causing bewilderment and fear or 'wavering'. Wavering is thus opposed by harnessing the mind to the object. However, as with the proverbial horse, you may be able to bring it to the water and even push its nose in the water, but you may not be able to make it drink. In effect, too much vitakka and vicara force the mind to do something that it does not really want to do. Dislike of the whole process, the next hindrance, is the inevitable result. Dislike is opposed by piti, which creates an enthusiastic interest in the object, but if there is too much energy, the mind does not know what to do with it. The energy vibrates in an unskilful way and the mind becomes restless and anxious. These states are opposed by sukha, which harmonizes the energy. If the mind then finds this harmony too enjoyable, its action becomes transmuted into action based on attachment. This is characterized by anything from over-exuberance to a subtle form of excitement, which is remedied by stilling the mind at a point and focussing its energies. The drawback of this process is that it may overreach itself, focussing the mind down too much, so that it becomes dull and drowsy once more.

Like the intensifying factors, the hindrances can also be seen in terms of the five elements, although this time the correspondence is based on the malfunctioning of the five elements. In dullness and drowsiness, the mind is shut down and closed in; in other words, the awareness is not sufficiently extended (earth). With such a poor foundation, it is not surprising that the mind can do so little in such a state. In wavering, there is the characteristic feeling that the mind does not flow. It continually stops and starts and there is no cohesion between the mind and the object (water). The energy is scattered and no intensifying of the experience is possible. In dislike, the mind is 'heated up' but in a negative sort of way - the characteristic fieriness of anger and irritation (fire). In restlessness and also in anxiety, the movement of the mind is of a negative kind, moving endlessly but never resting anywhere (air). Finally, when the mind acts through desire, the whole field of its action is distorted (space).

As mentioned before, the five intensifying factors are not in themselves skilful, and cannot alone form the basis for skilful action. Their use, balancing and proper development depends on further aspects of mental functioning which are described in further lists in abhidhamma.

Mark

Discussion: Rupa, sense-impression, the jhana factors and the hindrances

The concept of rupa aroused a great deal of interest, and the discussion following essay three, on basic principles of abhidhamma, was continued. In the present essay, the translation of rupa as the 'world' posed some difficulties. What is the rupa of a thought, or a memory or a dream? When the mind is turned to the imagination or to a dream, a mental world is conjured up or entered that is as complex and highly-coloured as the world outside. In technical terms, this involves the consciousness process at the mind door rather than at the sense door (see essay six on the thought process). If this elaborately-constructed mental landscape involves rupa then the term 'world', with its connotations of materiality in the scientific sense, is not quite applicable.

So what is the rupa of the imagination or the mind door? In the discussion after essay three, it was emphasised that the terms citta, cetasika and rupa do not require fixed designations: the rupa jhanas, for instance, are so called because they involve a shift to a more subtle level of matter than the rupa of the physical world. Perhaps there is a comparable contrast between the world of the senses and that of the mind, that occurs throughout our ordinary experience and which also involves a shift of level. In abhidhamma a distinction is made between three major realms: that of arupa (formless being), of rupa (as in the rupa-jhanas) and of sense objects (kama). Ordinarily one tends to think of the arupa and rupa realms in terms of the rupa- and arupa-jhanas. Yet, as with so many principles in abhidhamma, it is intended that these distinctions apply not just on a vast, ultimate scale but also on smaller scales as well. Thus there is something in our usual experience which inherently concerns a distinction between three realms. Perhaps, then, arupacorresponds to consciousness, which is also characterized by a kind of boundlessness; rupa may then be seen as mental factors, or the subtle matter of mentality, while sense objects can be regarded as the usual objects to which the mind is applied.

The fifth element, space, also stimulated much discussion, mainly as a result of our difficulties in understanding it. It is sometimes called 'the kind of matter which cannot be pointed to or defined'. The question was then raised as to why space does 'not exist in a primary sense' (paragraph three). The purpose of space, it seems, is to delimit the other elements, and traditionally it is a name for the relationship between the other four. The analogy between space and ekaggata (concentration, or, in this essay, unification) helps to illuminate this relationship. In terms of meditation practice, this mental factor is the means by which the mind can discard the hindrances and enter another world, and it thus acts as a limiting factor for the mind in the same way as space delimits the other elements. When the mind is concentrated it becomes a body to enter another world which it could not experience when scattered and confused by the hindrances. In this respect, ekaggata should not be confused with vitakka. Whereas ekaggata may be seen as a point of temporary equilibrium in which the mind is poised between two modes of functioning, it is vitakka which takes the step from one mode to another. The 'fiveness' of the jhana factors was also discussed, and it was recalled that the factors are referred to as the jhana limbs. In Buddhist tradition, the number five is particularly associated with man, with the head, arms and legs forming a five-pointed star.

Finally there was some discussion about whether there can be 'too much' of a jhana factor. While strictly speaking impossible - all in theory occur together, in varying degrees - in practice there may be an imbalance, which can lead to the arising of a hindrance. The jhana factors were also presented as stages in a process. So, while the presence of one factor tends to arouse the others, the idea of a progress from one factor to another does in practice seem to have meaning. One could then think of one factor naturally culminating in the next providing one allows the process of development to occur. The point was made in this context that the transition from vicara to piti in meditation practice often seems to present difficulty: it is relatively easy to block the process at this point. The mental factor of commitment (adhimokkha) is now important, as by releasing the mind on to the object there is a letting go and the transition is allowed to take place.