Exposition of Paramattha Dhammas II (Rūpa)

Rūpa paramattha dhamma is the reality that does not know anything. It arises and falls away because of conditions, just as in the case of citta and cetasika.

Rūpa paramattha dhamma includes 28 different kinds of rūpa. The meaning of rūpa, material phenomena, or matter, is different from matter in the conventional sense, such as table, chair, or book. Among the 28 kinds of rūpa, there is one kind of rūpa, visible object or colour, citta can experience through the eyes. That which appears through the eyes is the only kind of rūpa that can be seen by citta. As to the other 27 rūpas, these cannot be seen by citta, but they can be experienced through the appropriate doorways by the cittas concerned. Sound, for example, can be experienced by citta through the ears.

Just as twenty-seven rūpas are invisible realities, citta and cetasika are invisible realities, but there is a great difference between rūpa dhamma and nāma dhamma. Citta and cetasika are paramattha dhammas that can experience an object, whereas rūpa is a paramattha dhamma that does not know any object. Rūpa paramattha dhamma is saṅkhāra (conditioned) dhamma; it has conditions for its arising. Rūpa is dependent on other rūpas for its arising, it cannot arise alone, without other rūpas. There must be several rūpas together in a small unit or group that arise together and are dependent on one another. The rūpas in such a group, called in Pāli kalāpa, cannot be separated from each other.

Rūpa is a dhamma that is infinitesimal and intricate. It arises and falls away very rapidly, all the time. When comparing the duration of rūpa with the duration of citta, one unit of rūpa arises and falls away in the time seventeen cittas arise and fall away, succeeding one another. This is extremely fast. For example, it seems that at this moment the citta which sees and the citta which hears appear at the same time, but in reality they arise and fall away separately from each other, with more than seventeen moments of citta in between them. Therefore, the rūpa which has arisen and is the object of the citta which sees, must have fallen away before the citta which hears arises.

Each rūpa is infinitesimal. If a mass of rūpas that arise and fall away together could be split up into the minutest particles, which cannot be divided again, such particles are extremely small units or groups (kalāpas) of rūpas, each consisting of at least eight different rūpas, which cannot be separated from each other. These eight rūpas are called the indivisible or inseparable rūpas, avinibbhoga rūpas. Among these are the four principle rūpas, mahā-bhūta rūpas, which are the following:

• the Element of Earth or solidity (paṭhavi dhātu), the rūpa which is softness or hardness;

• the Element of Water (āpo dhātu), the rūpa which is fluidity or cohesion;

• the Element of Fire or heat (tejo dhātu), the rūpa which is heat or cold;

• the Element of Wind (vāyo dhātu), the rūpa which is motion or pressure.

These four principle rūpas, mahā-bhūta rūpas, arise interdependently and they cannot be separated. Moreover, they are the condition for the arising of four other rūpas. These rūpas, which are dependent on the four principle rūpas, arise together with them in the same group. They are the following rūpas:

• colour or visible object (vaṇṇo), the rūpa which appears through the eyes;

• odour (gandho), the rūpa which appears through the nose;

• flavour (raso), the rūpa which appears through the tongue;

• nutritive essence (ojā), the rūpa which is one of the conditions for the arising of other rūpas.

These four rūpas, together with the four principle rūpas, are included in the eight rūpas that cannot be separated from each other. These eight rūpas constitute the minutest unit, kalāpa, of rūpas that arise and fall away together very rapidly. The four principle rūpas cannot arise without these four derived rūpas (upādāya rūpas), which arise dependent on the four principal rūpas.

The four principle rūpas are the condition, the foundation, for the derived rūpas that arise together with them in the same group. However, although the derived rūpas arise simultaneously with the principle rūpas in the same group and are dependent on them, they are not in their turn the condition for the arising of the four principal rūpas.

There are altogether 28 kinds of rūpas, namely the four principle rūpas and 24 derived rūpas. If the four principle rūpas did not arise, the twenty-four derived rūpas would not arise either.

The twenty-eight rūpas can be classified in different ways, but here they will be explained from the perspective of their interrelation, to facilitate comprehension and memorization.

The different groups, or kalāpas of rūpas, that arise do not fall away immediately. A sabhāva rūpa, a rūpa with its own distinct nature or characteristic lasts as long as the duration of seventeen cittas arising and falling away, succeeding one another. With regard to the arising and falling away of rūpa, four different aspects can be discerned which have been classified as four lakkhaṇa rūpas:

• upacaya rūpa, the arising or origination of rūpa;

• santati rūpa, the development or continuation of rūpa;

• jaratā rūpa, the decay of rūpa;

• aniccatā rūpa, the falling away of rūpa.

These four lakkhaṇa rūpas are rūpas without their own distinct nature, asabhāva rūpas, but they are themselves characteristics inherent in all rūpas. All rūpas, which have their own distinct nature, sabhāva rūpas, must have these four characteristics. These four characteristics are different: the arising of rūpa, its development, its decay and its falling away are all different characteristics. In other words, upacaya rūpa and santati rūpa are characteristics indicating the moments rūpa has arisen but not yet fallen away, whereas jaratā rūpa indicates the moment close to its falling away and aniccatā rūpa its falling away.

The rūpa that is space, ākāsa rūpa, has the function of limiting or separating all the different groups or kalāpas of rūpas. Space in this context is not outer space, but the infinitesimal space surrounding each kalāpa. After its function, it is also called pariccheda rūpa (pariccheda meaning limit or boundary). What we call matter consists of kalāpas, units of rūpas arising and falling away. The rūpas within a kalāpa hold tightly together and cannot be divided. Matter, be it large or small, can only be broken up because the rūpa space is in between the different kalāpas, allowing them to be distinct from each other. Without space, or pariccheda rūpa, all rūpas would be tightly connected and could not be separated. Pariccheda rūpa is another kind of asabhāva rūpa, which does not have its own distinct nature and does not arise separately; it arises simultaneously with the different kalāpas, and in between them.

No matter where rūpa arises, in whichever plane of existence, be it rūpa in living beings or in dead matter, the eight inseparable rūpas (avinibbhoga rūpas), the four lakkhaṇa rūpas and the pariccheda rūpa must be together. These thirteen rūpas are never absent. With regard to the rūpas of the body in people or other living beings, in the planes of existence where there are five khandhas (nāma and rūpa), there are pasāda rūpas, sense organs, produced by kamma as condition. The following five rūpas are sense organs:

• eyesense, cakkhuppasāda rūpa, which can be impinged on by visible object;

• earsense, sotappasāda rūpa, which can be impinged on by sound;

• smelling-sense, ghānappasāda rūpa, which can be impinged on by odour;

• tasting-sense, jivhāppasāda rūpa, which can be impinged on by flavour;

• bodysense, kāyappassāda rūpa, which can be impinged on by tangible object: cold and heat (Element of Fire), softness and hardness (Element of Earth) and motion and pressure (Element of Wind).

Rūpas of the body cannot arise without citta, and, in the planes of existence where there are nāma and rūpa, citta is dependent on rūpas of the body. Each citta must have a particular rūpa of the body as the appropriate base for its arising. Seeing-consciousness (cakkhu-viññāṇa), which performs the function of seeing, arises at the cakkhuppasāda rūpa. Hearing-consciousness (sota-viññāṇa), which performs the function of hearing, arises at the sotappasāda rūpa. It is the same for smelling-consciousness, tasting-consciousness and body-consciousness, they each arise at the rūpa that is the relevant base.

All other cittas, besides these sense-cognitions, arise at the physical base, which is called the heart-base, hadaya rūpa.

Some kinds of rūpa are produced solely by kamma and in each kalāpa the rūpa that is life-faculty, jīvitindriya rūpa, is produced by kamma. This rūpa sustains and maintains the life of the rūpas that it accompanies in one kalāpa; it is not found in dead matter. Therefore, the rūpas in the bodies of people and other living beings are different from the rūpas found in dead matter.

The differences in sex that occur in humans and other living beings is due to two different kinds of rūpa, bhāva rūpas (bhāva meaning nature), which are the following:

• Itthibhāva rūpa, femininity, a rūpa which permeates the whole body, so that it is manifested in the outward appearance, manners, behaviour and deportment which are feminine.

• Purisabhāva rūpa, masculinity, a rūpa which permeates the whole body, so that it is manifested in the outward appearance, manners, behaviour and deportment which are masculine.

Each individual with bhāva rūpa, the rūpa that is sex, has either the rūpa that is femininity or the rūpa that is masculinity. In some cases the bhāva rūpa is lacking. Moreover, those who live in the “Brahma world” (higher planes of existence where one is born as result of jhāna, absorption concentration) do not have conditions for bhāva rūpa.

There can be motion of the body, or by parts of the body, in people and other living beings, owing to citta, but there must also be specific rūpas that originate from citta. If there were rūpas only produced by kamma one could not move or perform different functions. For the movement of the body and the performance of its functions, there are three kinds of vikāra rūpas, rūpas that are changeability, and these are:

• lahūta rūpa, buoyancy or lightness, as occurring in the body of those who are healthy;

• mudutā rūpa, plasticity, the absence of stiffness, as occurs in well-pounded leather;

• kammaññatā rūpa, wieldiness, as occurs in well-melted gold.

These three vikāra rūpas are asabhāva rūpas, rūpas without their own distinct nature. They constitute the adaptability of the four principle rūpas, the mahā-bhūta rūpas, they cause them to be light, soft and wieldy. The three vikāra rūpas arise only in the bodies of living beings, not in dead matter. The three vikāra rūpas cannot be separated. If there is lahutā rūpa, lightness, in one kalāpa, there must also be mudutā rūpa, plasticity and kammaññatā rūpa, wieldiness. The vikāra rūpas are produced by citta, by temperature and by nutrition. Since citta causes motion in any part of the body, there must also be vikāra rūpas produced by temperature (the right temperature, not too hot, not too cold) and vikāra rūpas produced by nutrition (ojā rūpa, nutritive essence), otherwise the rūpas of the body could not move, even if citta wanted them to do so. For example, when people are paralyzed or incapacitated by a sprain or by other ailments, these vikāra rūpas are not present.

When citta wants to display a sign expressing its intention by means of rūpas of the body, citta produces the rūpa that is bodily intimation, kāyaviññatti rūpa. This is a specific mode of expression by rūpas of the body that arise and display the intention of citta, in the expression of facial features, comportment of the body or gestures. Citta may convey its intention, for example, by staring in a stern way, or by making grimaces displaying contempt or disapproval. If citta does not wish to display its intention, kāyaviññatti rūpa does not arise.

When citta is the condition for sound, such as speech sound or the uttering of other sounds that convey a specific meaning, citta produces the rūpa that is speech intimation, vaciviññatti rūpa. When this arises, it is the condition for the rūpas that are the means of articulation, such as in the lips, to produce speech sound. Without the arising of speech intimation it would not be possible to speak or emit other sounds which convey a specific meaning.

Bodily intimation and speech intimation are asabhāva rūpas, rūpas without their own distinct nature, which arise and fall away together with the citta that produces them.

Some sources classify the three vikāra rūpas (the rūpas which are changeability of rūpa) and the two viññatti rūpas together as five vikāra rūpas.

Another rūpa is sound, sadda rūpa. Sound is different from speech intimation, vaciviññatti rūpa. Sound is the rūpa that contacts the earsense, sotappasāda rūpa, and which is the condition for the arising of hearing-consciousness, sota-viññāṇa. Some sounds arise conditioned by citta, and some do not, such as the sound of thunder, of storm, of engines, of drums, of the radio or of the television.

Summarizing the twenty-eight kinds of rūpa, they are:

the 8 inseparable rūpas, avinibbhoga rūpas, including the 4 principle rūpas, mahā-bhūta rūpas, namely:

• solidity (Earth),

• cohesion (Water),

• temperature (Fire),

• motion or pressure (Wind),

and the 4 derived rūpas which are:

• colour,

• odour,

• flavour,

• nutrition.

Furthermore, there are the following rūpas:

• 1 pariccheda rūpa or space (akāsa), delimiting groups of rūpa;

• 5 pasāda rūpas, sense organs;

• 1 rūpa which is heart-base, hadaya vatthu (base for cittas other than the sense-cognitions);

• 1 rūpa which is life faculty, jīvitindriya rūpa;

• 2 rūpas which are sex, bhāva-rūpas;

• 3 vikāra rūpas, rūpas of changeability (lightness, plasticity and wieldiness);

• 2 rūpas which are body intimation, kāya-viññatti, and speech intimation, vaciviññatti;

• 1 rūpa which is sound;

• 4 lakkhaṇa rūpas (origination, continuity, decay and falling away), characteristics common to all sabhāva rūpas, but which are themselves asabhāva rūpas.

Altogether, there are 28 kinds of rūpa.

In some sources, the number of rūpas that are classified varies. For example, in the “Atthasālinī” (“Expositor” II, Book II, Material Qualities, Ch 3, 339, 340) we find rūpas classified as twenty-six in number, because the elements of earth (solidity), fire (heat) and wind (motion or pressure) are classified together as one kind of rūpa, as tangible object (photthabbāyatana) that impinges on the bodysense, the kāyappasāda rūpa.

There are always several rūpas arising within one kalāpa. The number of rūpas that arise together is different depending on the types of rūpa concerned. There are several ways of classifying the twenty-eight rūpas and this will be dealt with later on in the Appendix.