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February 11, 2017
1. As we have discussed in this subsection and elsewhere at the site, we have two bodies: the physical body (karaja kāya) and mental body (gandhabba). Both these bodies need food to survive.
▪The food we eat to sustain the physical body is called kabaliṅkāra āhāra.
▪Our mental body consumes three more types of food: phassa, mano sañcetanā, and viññāṇa.
▪The four types of food are called “satara āhāra.” We will see that all four can be food for the mental body (gandhabba).
2. Food is essential for all living beings. If one stops taking kabaliṅkāra āhāra (which includes water) for about seven days or so, one’s physical body will die.
▪However, unless one is an Arahant, one will be reborn somewhere in the 31 realms upon death, because one’s mental body (gandhabba) will not die.
▪We cannot stop suffering by committing suicide, i.e., via the death of the physical body. The mental body needs to die in order to stop the rebirth process.
3. If one can stop giving food to the mental body for seven days, it will die, and one will never be reborn anywhere in the 31 realms, i.e., one will attain Nibbāna; then that Arahant will not be reborn upon death of the physical body. Thus the unimaginable suffering associated with the rebirth process will be over (as I discussed in the beginning of this section on “Living Dhamma,” stopping the rebirth process seems scary and it should not be contemplated when one is starting on the Path).
▪This is why in the Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, the Buddha said that if one can practice the sutta without making any mistakes, one will attain Nibbāna in seven days.
▪Let us discuss how this is possible.
4. There are two conditions that must be satisfied to generate a new mental body at the cuti-paṭisandhi moment: (i) There must be a kamma bīja available to grasp, and (ii) one’s mind must willingly grasp that kamma bīja.
▪We all have accumulated numerous kamma bīja, so the first condition is always satisfied for anyone. Therefore, it is the second condition — grasping a new existence (bhava) at the cuti-paṭisandhi moment that can stop the rebirth process.
▪At the beginning, we need to just focus on not grasping a bhava in the four lowest realms (apāyā).
▪As we have discussed before, this grasping of a new bhava is not done consciously, but automatically.
▪For example, a Sotāpanna’s mind will not grasp a bhava in the apāyā; A Sakadāgāmī’s mind will not grasp a human bhava in addition, an Anāgāmī will not grasp a bhava in the kāma loka, and an Arahant will not grasp any.
5. There is another way to look at this mechanism of grasping a new bhava at the cuti-paṭisandhi moment. In the upapatti Paṭicca Samuppāda (PS) cycle, a certain bhava is grasped at “upādāna paccayā bhava.”
▪When we trace the cycle backwards, we see that it starts at “avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra” and “saṅkhāra paccayā viññāṇa.”
▪The grasping (upādāna) happens only if that PS starts with avijjā and generates an appropriate viññāṇa for grasping that bhava.
6. Therefore, it is important to realize the two roles that viññāṇa play. We can understand this by examining how a Sotāpanna avoids birth in the apāyā.
(i) If one cultivates “apāyagāmī viññāṇa” by doing extremely hateful/greedy actions, viññāṇa will keep GENRERATING kamma bīja (energy) that fuel a new bhava in the apāyā. When one attains the Sotāpanna stage, one will automatically stop generating any more such kamma bīja, but those ones that had been created will be there.
(ii) However, after someone attains the Sotāpanna stage, his/her mind will not start a upapatti PS cycle with an apāyagāmī viññāṇa, because that level of avijjā has been removed. That type of viññāṇa has been “killed” or removed from her mind and is no longer able to grasp a new bhava in the apāyā, even though apāyagāmī kamma bīja will still be there.
7. A good example from the Tipiṭaka is Ven. Aṅgulimāla. He killed almost 1000 people and definitely had accumulated enough strong kamma bīja to be born in the apāyā.
▪But at death his mind was devoid of that kind of bad viññāṇa to grasp any type of bhava in the 31 realms. Therefore, he was not reborn anywhere in the 31 realms.
8. Therefore, the word viññāṇa represents much more than just consciousness: It can be “food” for accumulating new kamma bīja AND also “food” or “fuel” that leads to grasping a new bhava.
▪Viññāṇa is opposite of ñāṇa (pronounced “gnana”) or wisdom. When one cultivates ñāṇa, one’s avijjā is reduced and certain types of viññāṇa are concomitantly reduced.
▪Pronunciation of viññāṇa:
WebLink: Pronunciation of Viññāṇa
▪Pronunciation of ñāṇa:
WebLink: Pronunciation of ñāṇa
▪There are many types of viññāṇa; see, “2. Viññāṇa (Consciousness) can be of Many Different Types and Forms.”
▪As one attains the four stages of Nibbāna, avijjā is removed in four stages and the strength of all types of viññāṇa are accordingly reduced (removed) and all are eventually removed at the Arahant stage.
▪This pure level of consciousness — without any defilements and thus any cravings — is called pabhasvara citta; see, “Pabhassara Citta, Radiant Mind, and Bhavaṅga.”
▪In other words, an Arahant can experience the world with a purified mind that is not blemished by even a trace of greed, hate, or ignorance. Therefore, at death, his purified mind will not grasp any existence (bhava).
9. As long as one has viññāṇa, one will be born somewhere in the 31 realms. This is why viññāṇa is called a type of food for the mental body.
▪As one proceeds at successive stages of Nibbāna, one will crave for less and less things in this world. For example, at the Anāgāmī stage, one would have lost all cravings (and hopes) — or viññāṇa — for any type of sensual pleasures.
▪It must be noted that the birth in the apāyā is not due to cravings to be willingly born there (no one has such cravings), but due to immoral deeds one one had done to enjoy sensual pleasures AND has not yet removed that mentality (desire to enjoy sense pleasures at any cost) or bad viññāṇa.
10. Any type of viññāṇa is cultivated by thinking, speaking, and acting in such a manner. Thinking, speaking, and acting is done based on mano, vacī, and kāya saṅkhāra which arise due to sañcetanā (“saŋ” + “cetanā” or defiled intentions; cetanā is pronounced “chethanā”).
▪For example, an alcoholic regularly thinks about drinking, likes to speak about it and likes to drink. The more he does those, the more that viññāṇa will grow.
▪It is easy to see how a gambler, smoker, etc grow their corresponding viññāṇa the same way.
▪Having such viññāṇa can lead to other immoral activities and corresponding viññāṇa, say tendency to lie, steal, and even murder.
▪Therefore, all activities done in cultivating such viññāṇa are based on mano sañcetanā. That is why mano sañcetanā are also food for the mental body.
11. The triggers for such sañcetanā are sense contacts or phassa. These are not mere sense contacts, but those that give rise to “samphassa ja vedanā.”
▪Phassa is a sense contact. When one just looks at something that is phassa. But if one looks at it with greed or hate (and ignorance) in mind, that is samphassa (“saŋ” + “phassa”); see, “Vedanā (Feelings) Arise in Two Ways.”
▪This is why sense contacts or phassa (more precisely samphassa) are food for the mental body. Such sense contacts can lead to thoughts about bad actions and can give rise to future kammaja kāya.
▪Therefore, one needs to avoid sense contacts with sense objects that one has taṇhā for. We need to remember that taṇhā is attachment to something via greed or hate; see, “Taṇhā – How We Attach Via Greed, Hate, and Ignorance.”
▪So, it is a bad idea for a gambler to visit casinos, an alcoholic to make visits to bars, etc. Furthermore, one needs to avoid friends who encourage such activities too.
▪It is best to avoid any type of contacts that can lead to sense exposures that provide “food” for the mental body, i.e, get us started thinking about those bad activities.
12. Now we can see how those three types of food act in sequence to feed the mental body: Sense contacts (phassa) can lead to mano sañcetanā, which in turn cultivate viññāṇa.
▪Such sense contacts (samphassa) automatically start mano saṅkhāra; then we start thinking and speaking about those favorite activities, i.e., we start vacī saṅkhāra (consciously think about them and even speaking about them). Then when the feelings get strong, we will start doing them (using kāya saṅkhāra).
▪It is important to realize that mano saṅkhāra, vacī saṅkhāra, and kāya saṅkhāra are all generated in the mind: Vacī saṅkhāra are conscious thoughts that can lead to speech; kāya saṅkhāra are conscious thoughts that move the physical body.
▪All three types of saṅkhāra arise due to mano sañcetanā. We cannot think, speak or do things without generating appropriate mano sañcetanā.
13. As we discussed before, the physical body is just a shell; it is controlled by the mental body (gandhabba).
▪Sense contacts come through the physical body. When we get attached to them, we generate mano sañcetanā and think, speak, and act accordingly, generating various types of viññāṇa.
▪Kabalinka āhāra or the food that we eat are experienced through one of the six sense contacts (tongue or jivha pasāda). If we eat food with greed, that also lead to mano sañcetanā and corresponding “greedy viññāṇa.” Therefore, kabaliṅkāra āhāra can also be a food for the mental body. More details can be found at “Āhāra (Food) in Udayavaya Ñāṇa.”
▪That is why all four types can be food for the mental body.
A deeper discussion on the four types of food (āhāra) is in the post, “Āhāra (Food) in Udayavaya Ñāṇa.”