Glossary
pasada-rupas = sensitive material qualities
ajjhattika = internal
bahira =external
vatthu = physical base
olarika = gross, coarse
sukhuma = subtle, fine
santike = near
dure = far
sappatigha = with striking
appatigha = without striking
Dr. Mehm Tin Mon writes in "The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma" (1995: pp. 235 - 238 ):
1. Ajjhattika-rupa
The five pasada-rupas are called ajjhattika (internal), and the remaining 23 rupas are called bahira (external), because the five sensitive organs are essential for seeing, hearing, smelling, etc. People value them highly. Without them they are inanimate logs.
2. Vatthu-rupa
The five pasada-rupas together with hadaya-vatthu are named vatthu-rupa while the rest are called avatthu-rupa. They act as seats of consciousness.
3. Dvara-rupa
The five pasada-rupas together with the two vinnatti-rupas are called dvara-rupas while the rest are called advara-rupas. The five pasada-rupas serve as doors which give rise to pańca-dvara-vitthis whereas the two vinnatti-rupas are the places and the means for performing bodily actions (kaya-kamma) and verbal actions (vaci-kamma).
4. Indriya-rupa
The five pasada-rupas, the two bhava-rupas and jivita-rupa together form eight indriya-rupas while the remaining 20 rupas are termed anindriya-rupas.
'Indriya' means 'faculty' which has controlling power in its sphere. For instance, cakkhu-pasada controls seeing, sota-pasada controls hearing, and so on. Itthi-bhava controls femininity and purisa-bhava controls masculinity.
5. Olarika-rupa
The five pasada-rupas and the seven gocara-rupas together form 12 olarika-rupas while the remaining 16 rupas are termed sukhuma-rupas.
'Olarika' means 'gross or coarse'; 'sukhuma' means 'subtle or fine'. Because of their grossness and coarseness, the sensitive organs and the five sense objects can be easily seen and understood. And beause they are easily understood, they are regarded to be close to the wisdom-mind. So the olarika-rupas are also called santike-rupas (santike = near) whereas the sukhuma-rupas are called dure-rupas (dure = far).
Moreover, the sensitive organs and the sense-objects can strike one another - the visual object strikes the eye-door, the audible sound strikes the ear-door, and so on. So the 12 olarika-rupas are also called sappatigha-rupas whereas the 16 sukhuma-rupas are called appatigha-rupas. 'Sappatigha' literally means 'with striking' whereas 'appatigha' means 'without striking'.
6. Upadinna-rupa
The 18 kammaja-rupas are called upadinna-rupas; the rest are termed anupadinna-rupas. The 18 rupas produced by kamma are grasped by the kamma as its resultants in collaboration with craving (tanha) and false view (ditthi).
7. Sanidassana-rupa
Ruparammana (vanna) is called sanidassana-rupa, because it can be seen by the eye. The remaining rupas are called anidassana-rupas, because they cannot be seen by the eye.
8. Gocaraggahika-rupa
The five pasada-rupas can take external sense-objects as pasture. So they are called gocaraggahika-rupas while the rest are called agocaraggahika-rupas.
Of the five sense organs, the eye and the ear cognise distant objects without any direct contact. We can see a flower without the flower coming in contact with the eye. We can hear what a man says without the man coming in contact with the ear.
On the other hand, the smell must come in contact with the nostril, the taste must directly touch the tongue, and something must actually touch the body in order to cognise these senses.
Thus, cakkhu-pasada and sota-pasada are called asampatta-gahaka whereas the remaining three pasada-rupas are called sampatta-gahaka.
9. Avinibboga-rupa
The eight rupas comprising pathavi, apo, tejo, vayo, vanna, gandha, rasa and oja are bound together and are inseparable and indivisible. So they are called avinibbhoga-rupas whereas the rest are called vinibbhoga-rupas.
The definition of '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.
These kalapas have about the same size as electrons. So, however small a particle may be, it is always made up of the avinibbhoga-rupas, which are really indivisible, and inseparable.
Now a dust particle or the whole earth is made up of avinibbhoga-rupas. So the earth must contain all the eight rupas: pathavi, apo, tejo, vajo [the four great elements], vanna (visible object), gandha (smell), rasa (taste) and oja (nutritive essence); of these pathavi is predominant.
"One dust particle swallows heaven and earth" (this is the title of a book written by Dhamma Master Ji Kwang Dae Poep Sa Nim.
To gain a deeper understanding about elements and rupa, today we will study the "Analysis of the Elements" as expounded in "The Book of Analysis" (Vibhanga), the Second Book of the Abhidhamma Pitaka (translated from the Pali of the Burmese Chatthasangiti Edition by Pahamakyaw Ashin Thitthila (Setthila) Aggamahapandita, Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1988).
ANALYSIS OF THE ELEMENTS
Analysis according to the discourses
Six elements are: The element of extension, element of cohesion, element of heat, element of motion, element of space, element of consciousness.
Therein what is the element of extension? [Pathavi]
The element of extension is twofold: (It) Is internal; (it) is external. Therein what is internal element of extension? That which is personal, self-referable, hard, harsh, hardness, being hard, internal, grasped (by craving and false view).
For example: head hair, body hair, nails, teeth, skin; flesh, sinews, bone, bone-marrow, kidneys; heart, liver, membraneous tissue, spleen, lungs; intestines, mesentery, un-digestable food, excrement; or whatever else there is, personal, self-referable, hard, harsh, hardness, being hard, internal, grasped. This is called internal element of extension.
Therein what is external element of extension?
That which is external, hard, harsh, hardness, being hard, external, not grasped. For example: iron, copper, tin, lead, silver, pearl, gem, cat's eye, shell, stone, coral, silver coin, gold, ruby, variegated precious stone, grass, wood, gravel, potsherd, earth, rock, mountain; or whatever else there is, external, hard, harsh, hardness, being hard, external, not grasped. This is called external element of extension. That which is internal element of extension and that which is external element of extension; (taking) these together collectively and briefly, this is called the element of extension.
Therein what is the element of cohesion? [Apo]
The element of cohesion is twofold: (It) Is internal; (it) is external. Therein what is internal element of cohesion? That which is personal, self-referable, water, fluid, viscid, viscous, cohesiveness of matter, internal, grasped. For example: bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, lymph, saliva, nasal mucus, synovial fluid, urine; or whatever else there is, personal, self-referable, water, fluid, viscid, viscous, cohesiveness of matter, internal, grasped. This is called internal element of cohesion.
Therein what is external element of cohesion?
That which is external, water, fluid, viscid, viscous, cohesiveness of matter, external, not grasped. For example: the juice of roots, juice of stems, juice of bark, juice of leaves, juice of flowers, juice of fruits, milk, soft curd, clarified butter, fresh butter, oil, honey, molasses, waters of the earth or sky; or whatever else there is, external, water, fluid, viscid, viscous, cohesiveness of matter, external, not grasped. This is called external element of cohesion. That which is internal element of cohesion and that which is external element of cohesion; (taking) these together collectively and briefly, this is called the element of cohesion.
Therein what is the element of heat? [Tejo]
The element of heat is twofold: (It) Is internal; (it) is external. Therein what is internal element of heat? That which is personal, self-referable, fire, fiery, heat, hot, warmth, warm, internal, grasped. For example: that by which (one) is heated; that by which (one) becomes decayed; that by which (one) is burned up; that by which the eaten, the drunk, the chewed, the tasted gets completely digested; or whatever else there is, personal, self-referable, fire, fiery, heat, hot, warmth, warm, internal, grasped. This is called internal element of heat.
Therein what is external element of heat?
That which is external, fire, fiery, heat, hot, warmth, warm, external, not grasped. For example: wood-fire, straw-fire, grass-fire, cow-dung-fire, husk-fire, rubbish-fire, lightning-fire (i.e., lightning), fire-heat, sun-heat, heat (generated) in a heap of wood, heat (generated) in a heap of grass, heat (generated) in a heap of paddy, heat (generated) in a heap of goods; or whatever else there is, external, fire, fiery, heat, hot, warmth, warm, external, not grasped. This is called external element of heat; (taking) these together collectively and briefly, this is called the element of heat.
Therein what is the element of motion? [Vajo]
The element of motion is twofold: (It) Is internal; (it) is external. Therein what is internal element of motion? That which is personal, self-referable, air, airy, the inflation of matter, internal, grasped. For example: ascending wind; descending wind; abdominal wind; intestinal wind; wind circulating in the limbs; knife-like wind; razor-like wind; rending wind; in-breath or out-breath; or whatever else there is, personal, self-referable, air, airy, the inflation of matter, internal, grasped. This is called internal element of motion.
Therein what is external element of motion?
That which is external, air, airy, the inflation of matter, external, not grasped. For example: easterly winds; westerly winds; northerly winds; hot winds; erly winds; dusty winds; dust-free winds; cold winds; hot winds; gentle winds; strong winds; black winds (i.e., winds accompanying black clouds); high altitude winds; wing winds (i.e., air motion caused by birds' wings); supanna winds (i.e., air motion caused by the mythical garula bird); winds from a circular palm-leaf (fan); wind from a fan; or whatever else there is, external, air, airy, the inflation of matter, external, not grasped. This is called external element of motion. That which is internal element of motion and that which is external element of motion; (taking) these together collectively and briefly, this is called the element of motion.
Therein what is the element of space? [Akasa-dhatu]
The element of space is twofold: (It) is internal; (it) is external. Therein what is internal element of space? That which is personal, self-referable, space, spatial, void, voidness, interstice, interstitial, not in contact with flesh or blood, internal, grasped. For example: aural passage, nasal passage, mouth-door; that by which the eaten, the drunk, the chewed, the tasted rests; that by which the eaten, the drunk, the chewed, the tasted passes out lower down; or whatever else there is, personal, self-referable, space, spatial, void, voidness, interstice, interstitial, not in contact with flesh or blood, internal, grasped. This is called internal element of space.
Therein what is external element of space? That which is external, space, spatial, void, voidness, interstice, interstitial, not in contact with the four great elements, external, not grasped. This is called external element of space. That which is internal element of space and that which is external element of space; (taking) these together collectively and briefly, this is called the element of space.
Therein what is the element of consciousness?
The eye-consciousness-element, ear-consciousness-element, nose-consciousness-element, tongue-consciousness-element, body-consciousness-element, mind-consciousness-element. This is called the element of consciousness.
Another six elements are: The element of pleasure (bodily), element of pain (bodily), element of mental pleasure, element of mental pain, element of indifference, element of ignorance.
Another six elements are: the element of desire, element of illwill, element of cruelty, element of renunciation, element of absence of illwill, element of absence of cruelty.
Thus (taking) these three groups of six together collectively and briefly, there are eighteen elements.
You can read a detailed explanation of the latter two groups of six elements in "The Book of Analysis" (Vibhanga) in Chapter 3, Elements.
In our next Abhidhamma classes, we will study rupa-samutthana (The Causes of Material Phenomena).
References
Dr. Mehm Tin Mon, 1995, "The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma", publisher Mehm Tay Zar Mon, Yangon
'Analysis of the Elements' in "The Book of Analysis" (Vibhanga), The Second Book of the Abhidhamma Pitaka, translated from the Pali of the Burmese Chatthasangiti Edition by Pahamakyaw Ashin Thitthila (Setthhila) Aggamahapandita, Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1988.
Our Reference: LAN2 I:abhi74.rtf