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<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation: Key Dhamma Concepts > The Five Aggregates (Pañcakkhandha) > Rūpa (Material Form) |
Revised February 3, 2018
Please see, “What are Rūpa? Relation to Nibbāna” for an introduction.
Most people have many misconceptions about rūpa. So, we will systematically look at different kinds of rūpa. Rūpa are basically everything that the five physical senses sense: we see vaṇṇa rūpa (physical objects that bounce light off; also called “rūpa rūpa”), we hear sadda rūpa (sounds), we smell gandha rūpa (odors), we taste rasa rūpa (food), and we touch pottabba rūpa (physical objects). Our internal senses that sense those external rūpa are also fine rūpa that are controlled by the mind. Those that are sensed by the mind are dhamma (concepts), and mind is not a rūpa.
▪Here is a simple way to figure out the five types of rūpa: If we take a toasted slice of bread that is rūpa rūpa or a vaṇṇa rūpa; if it is freshly toasted, when we break it, it will make a sound, which is a sadda rūpa; the smell of that bread is a gandha rūpa; when we taste it, we taste the rasa rūpa in the bread; when we touch it, we touch the pottabba rūpa in the bread.
There are many ways that rūpa can be analyzed. The basic “building blocks” of all rūpa are the four great elements (mahā bhūta): pathavi (element of extension with the characteristic of hardness), āpo (The element of cohesion with the characteristics of cohesiveness and fluidity), tejo (the element of heat or heat energy with the characteristics of hotness and coldness), and vāyo (the element of motion or kinetic energy with the characteristics of pushing and supporting).
▪It must be noted that in many cases, the Buddha took existing terms and redefined them to be consistent with Buddha Dhamma. The terms pathavi (earth), āpo (water), tejo (fire), and vāyo (wind) were thought to be the basic building blocks for matter in the pre-Buddha era, including the Greeks.
▪But those names have deeper meanings too; for an in-depth discussion see, “The Origin of Matter – Suddhaṭṭhaka.”
There are 28 types of basic rūpa, and the other 24 are derivatives (upadaya rūpa) of the four mahā bhūta.
1. Rūpa can be put into two categories regarding whether they are internal (ajjhattika) and external (bāhira). The internal rūpa are the five pasāda rūpa associated with the physical body: eye (cakkhu), ear (sota), nose (ghāṇa), tongue (jivhā), and body (kāya). Internal rūpa also include our physical body (including the physical eyes, ears, etc). Here are a few things to note: [bāhira : [adj.] external; outer; foreign. (nt.), outside.]
▪These five internal or pasāda rūpa are essential for experiencing the outside world. Without them, people will not be different from inanimate logs. Those internal rūpa associated with the physical body become inert (and external) when the gandhabba leaves the body.
▪It must be emphasized that pasāda rūpa are NOT the physical organs that we see. These are fine rūpa (matter) that stop being regenerated at death. Thus cakkhu is NOT the physical eye.
▪From the moment of death of the physical body, cakkhu is not there anymore; it is gone with the gandhabba. However, the physical eye is there and can be even used in another person’s body within 24 hours or so.
▪Therefore, those physical senses are internal only as long as the gandhabba is associated with the physical body. As soon as gandhabba leaves at the death of the physical body, they become external rūpa.
2. Out of all the external (bāhira or bahiddhā) rūpa, seven are called gocara rūpa or objective rūpa because those are the ones that can be sensed by the five internal (pasāda) rūpa.
▪These are: visible (vaṇṇa) rūpa, sound (sadda) rūpa, smell (gandha) rūpa, taste (rasa) rūpa, and tangible rūpa (phoṭṭhabba). There are no separate rūpā called phoṭṭhabba rūpa; they are pathavi, tejo, and vāyo, three of the four great elements (mahā bhūta). Thus things we see with our eyes are the visible (vaṇṇa) rūpā; they are only part of the class of rūpa.
▪It is important to note that the gocara rūpa or objective rūpa are the only rūpa that we EXPERIENCE with our five physical senses. For example the remaining great essential, āpo, is not experienced by our senses.
▪The five pasāda rūpa and the seven gocara rūpa that are sensed by them are collectively called the olarika (gross or coarse) rūpas because they can touch (strike) each other. The other 16 rūpas are subtle or fine (sukhuma) rūpa.
3. There are several fine rūpā that are associated with our body.
▪Hadaya vatthu (heart base) – together with the five pasāda rūpa — are located close to the heart.
▪Jivitindriya rūpa (vital force of kammaja rūpa) is spread throughout the body.
▪There are two bhava rūpā that determine whether it is a male or a female: itthi bhava (femininity) and purisa bhava (masculinity). One kind is spread throughout a body.
▪Āhāra rūpa (oja) are nutritive essence that sustains the body. It is extracted from the food we eat.
4. So far we have discussed five pasāda rūpā, seven rūpā that constitute the external rūpa (vaṇṇa, sadda, rasa, gandha, pathavi, tejo, vāyo) that are sensed by the pasāda rūpa, and the five other rūpa (hadaya, jivitindriya, two bhava rūpa, and oja) in #3.
5. The remaining mahā bhūta or the great element is āpo. It is the rūpa that holds any structure together, but it is not sensed by the body (kaya) rūpa. With the āpo rūpa, up to this point we have discussed 18 types of rūpa. These 18 types of rūpa are called nippanna rūpa (concretely produced rūpa) because they are caused and conditioned by one or more of four things: kamma, citta, utu (tejo) and āhāra (food); thus they are suitable for contemplation by insight.
▪The five pasāda rūpa, two bhava rūpa, hadaya vatthu and jivitindriya rūpa (9 in all) are produced by kamma and kamma alone.
▪Sadda (sound) rūpa are produced by citta and utu (tejo). Vocal sounds such as speech, laughter, whistling, etc are produced by citta. Non-vocal sounds, such as thunder and music from instruments are produced by utu.
▪The different ways that kamma, citta, utu, and āhāra produce the 24 types of rūpa is summarized in the Tables and Summaries Section; see, “Rūpa – Generation Mechanisms.”
6. The remaining 10 rūpa are more abstract in nature. They are called anippana rūpa (non-concretely produced rūpa).
▪Akasa dhātu (space element) is not so much “space”, but more like the inter-atomic space or intra-atomic space. It occupies whatever is not occupied by any other rūpa. Thus it is everywhere, even in the deep inter-galactic space where there is no “detectable matter.” Scientists are beginning to suspect that there is much more energy in the vacuum (zero point energy) than the energy that we experience. It is like the deep ocean and what we see are only the ripples.
▪We communicate using two fine rūpā: vinnatti rūpa or material qualities of communication. We use both the mouth and and the body to communicate with each other. Kāya vinnatti (bodily intimation) is gestures by hand, head, physical eye, leg, etc, to indicate one’s intentions to another. Vacī vinnatti (vocal intimation) is the movement of the mouth to produce vocal speech.
▪There are three vikara (mutable) rūpa that helps with the movements of the body. The lahuta (lightness or buoyancy) rūpa suppresses the heaviness of a body. This make it possible for up jump, for example. Imagine trying to toss up an equivalent weight! Muduta (elasticity) removes the stiffness in the body. Kammannata (weildiness) gives strength to hold up body parts. All these make possible our body movements.
▪Finally, there are four lakkhana (material qualities) rūpa that are common characteristics of all rūpas: Upacaya and santati rūpa are associated with the arising of a rūpa, jarata rūpa is associated with the decay, and aniccata rūpa is the dissolving stage. See the lifetime discussed below.
7. The four great elements (mahā bhūta) are the primary rūpa. Each of the four has its own character: pathavi element of hardness; the āpo element of fluidity and cohesion; tejo of heat; vāyo of motion and pressure.
8. The mahā bhūta can never be detected separately. The eight rūpa of pathavi, āpo, tejo, vāyo, are always found together with vaṇṇa, gandha, rasa, oja in inseparable units called pure octads or suddhaṭṭhaka, which are the fundamental units of matter. These eight rūpā are inseparable and indivisible, and thus are known as avinibbhoga rūpa; for an in-depth discussion see, “The Origin of Matter – Suddhaṭṭhaka”
9. It is not necessary to memorize all these details about different rūpa. But it is good to have a reference base to look up if needed. Abhidhamma goes to much more detail and shows how the mental energy can form different kinds of rūpa.
If you have not read about saṅkhāra (the remaining one of the five aggregates):