<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Abhidhamma > Other Relevant Posts > The Origin of Matter – Suddhaṭṭhaka

November 27, 2015; Revised December 17, 2017; May 17, 2019; August 21, 2019; February 24, 2020; December 24, 2020; re-written August 31, 2022; October 29, 2022 (#8 added); March 7, 2023 (#7 – #9 revised); September 3, 2023

Introduction

1. Suddhaṭṭhaka is not even mentioned in many Theravāda Texts. It is discussed in “WebLink: PDF-file: Bhikkhu Bodhi-Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma,” by Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000); see pp. 246, 253-254. However, it does not have the more profound explanation given in this post. Waharaka Thero explained that in his discourse mentioned in #10 below. That explanation cannot be found anywhere else in that form, even in the Tipiṭaka. Of course, it is fully consistent with the Tipiṭaka. It is possible to “make connections” and clarify such issues if it is consistent with the Tipiṭaka. I frequently use new information from modern science to clarify some concepts. That is discussed in “Interpretation of the Tipiṭaka – Gandhabba Example.”

▪Please don’t read it, unless you have thought about the basic concepts of “saŋ,” gati (pronounced “gathi” as in “theme”), āsava, Paticca Samuppāda, etc. It may not make much sense, and thus it could discourage people from proceeding any further, thinking, “This stuff does not make sense.”

▪On the other hand, for those who understand those concepts, this could help them gain more insight.

▪The picture will become increasingly apparent as I publish more posts on this issue. Buddha Dhamma’s value will also become apparent, which is the best way to cultivate saddhā (faith based on understanding)

▪This topic is discussed in detail in the “Nāma & Rūpa to Nāmarūpa” subsection of the “Living Dhamma” section.

Origin of Matter – Scientific Theory

2. If we accept that all matter has been created somehow, what is the origin of matter?

▪Scientists have no clear explanation for this (November 2015). They say they can calculate the universe’s evolution from a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, but physics cannot explain what happened before it.

▪Of course, the “Big Bang Theory” has not yet been fully confirmed, even though most scientists believe it.

▪Still, some scientists do not believe everything “popped up” suddenly in the Big Bang. See, for example, “Endless Universe – Beyond the Big Bang” by P. J. Steinhardt and N. Turok (2007).

▪By the way, English astronomer Fred Hoyle coined the term “Big Bang” to ridicule the concept. See “WebLink: en.wikipedia.org: Fred Hoyle – Rejection of the Big Bang.”

Buddha Dhamma – Universe Evolves

3. The Buddha discouraged people from investigating the universe in detail. However, he has taught that uncountable “planetary systems” like our Solar system exist in the universe. That model will have living beings in existence somewhere in the 31 realms. This has been discussed in detail in a few suttā, especially the Aggañña Sutta (DN 27). I have written an introductory post: “Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27)”.The following are some key points.

(i)The universe has no traceable beginning, just like life.

(ii)The universe has “clusters or groups” of stars. Our Solar system is one of 10,000 “star systems” (cakkavāla or planetary systems; chakrawāta in Sinhala). There is an infinite number of such cakkavāla in the universe.

(iii)When a star near our Sun blows up in a few billion years, that blast will destroy 10,000 other star systems in the neighborhood. In modern science, such a “star explosion” has a particular name, a supernova.

(iv)Such a cluster of 10,000 world-systems blows up from time to time in the universe. Again, scientists observe such supernovae every year.

(v)Science does not know yet that those destroyed star systems re-form over billions of years.

4. Whatever the model that science eventually clarifies WILL BE consistent with Buddha Dhamma.

▪Thus, the universe did not start with a “Big Bang,” as many scientists believe right now. Remember that only 100 or so years ago, scientists thought the universe was in a steady state. Scientific theories change to “fit the existing data.”

▪Just 400 years ago, “science” believed in the geocentric model of the universe. The Earth was in the middle of the universe, and the stars were embedded in a celestial sphere around it far above. See “WebLink: wikipedia.org: Geocentric model.”

▪But pure Buddha Dhamma has not changed since Buddha Gotama taught it 2500 years ago; see, “Historical Background.”

▪We will slowly go through the Aggañña sutta because that needs enough background material. I expect this topic will take us several years and many essays to complete.

Suddhaṭṭhaka – The Smallest Unit of Matter

5. Here, we will discuss only the origin of the smallest unit of matter, called a “suddhaṭṭhaka.” (sometimes written as suddhāshtaka).

▪This unit of matter is a billion times smaller than “an atom” in modern science. One time, not long ago, science believed that an atom was the smallest unit of matter. But they are composites of many “elementary particles.” Even many of those “elementary particles” are shown to have more structure! There is no end to how smaller a “basic unit of matter” can get, i.e., there is no clear distinction between matter and energy.

▪For example, a “Higgs boson” is just a packet of energy. The light was in the energy category; see “Photons Are Particles Not Waves.”

▪Matter and energy are essentially the same, related by the famous equation, E (energy) = m (mass) x c2, where c is the light speed. Thus any small unit of matter is indistinguishable from a “packet of energy.” For example, the light comes in “packets” called photons. Thus photon belongs to matter in this sense.

▪Thus, in science, the distinction between “matter” and “energy” is blurred at this fundamental level.

6. However, the Buddha made a clear “demarcation boundary” between matter (rūpa) and kammic energy that “bears things” (dhammā.) Dhammā (or kamma bīja/kamma bhava) arise via Paṭicca Samuppāda (“avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra” leading to “upādāna paccayā bhavo.) See “What are Rūpa? – Dhammā are Rūpa too!“

A suddhaṭṭhaka is a “packet of energy” and the basic unit of matter. It is much smaller in energy compared to a light photon. A single light photon would be made of a large number of suddhaṭṭhaka.

▪A suddhaṭṭhaka, being a saṅkhata, is created by the mind. The Buddha said, “Manopubbangamā Dhammā..”, i.e., “everything has a mind as the precursor…”.

▪However, almost all of the matter around us was created by this “mental process” long ago. That is the story in the Aggañña Sutta: “Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27).” At present, suddhaṭṭhaka are being created by us (via javana citta), but in very minute quantities.

▪Anyone with higher abhiññā powers can create significant matter, like a flower or larger entities. Matter (at the level of suddhaṭṭhaka) is created by javana citta. And someone with abhiññā powers can maintain a citta vīthi with javana citta flowing continuously to generate “significant amounts of matter.” See the end of the post, “Citta Vīthi – Processing of Sense Inputs.”

What is a Suddhaṭṭhaka? Roles of Avijjā and Taṇhā

7. Suddhaṭṭhaka (“suddha” for “pure” or fundamental” + “aṭṭha” or “eight”) means a unit of matter consisting of eight fundamental entities (usually translated as the “pure octad,” for example, in Bhikkhu Bodhi’s book per #1 above).

▪Four of these belong to the “bhūta” stage of pathavi, āpo, tejo, and vāyo arising due to avijjā. These are the fundamental units of matter, and they cannot be detected by themselves. It may be hard to believe for many at this stage, but those arise due to our “gati” that I have discussed in several posts; see the introductory post: “The Law of Attraction, Habits, Character (Gati), and Cravings (Āsavā).” By the way, the removal of “āsava” and “gati” leads to Nibbāna: “The Way to Nibbāna – Removal of Āsavā.” One needs to understand these concepts to grasp the material in this post.

▪The mind first creates the four bhūta with four basic “gati” of humans: “thada gatiya” or “තද ගතිය” (in Sinhala) means the “coarseness,” corresponding to pathavi; a defiled mind is “hard” and “coarse” and correspond to “pathavi” nature.

▪The word āpo comes from the tendency to “attach or get attracted to worldly things” (“bandena gatiya” or “බැඳෙන ගතිය” in Sinhala means the “bind together,” which leads to liquidity in science). Tejo comes from “fiery or energetic” (“théjas gati” or “තේජස් ගතිය” in Sinhala), and vāyo refers to “motion/vacillation” (“salena gatiya” or “සැලෙන ගතිය” in Sinhala). They are all created in javana citta that arise in mind in minute quantities that cannot be detected. However, yogis with abhiññā powers can generate large amounts of matter like a flower.

8. There is a deeper explanation: According to the above explanations, āpo, pathavi, and tejo can be attributed to lobha, dosa, and moha. Vacillation in vāyo represents uncertainty — representing mundane alobha, adosa, amoha. Mundane amoha is the ignorance of the Four Noble Truths. See “Six Root Causes – Loka Samudaya (Arising of Suffering) and Loka Nirodhaya (Nibbāna).”

▪Thus, we can say that vāyo is the “better element” compared to āpo, pathavi, and tejo. The latter three can be attributed to the “kāma loka,” and vāyo can be taken to represent transcending the kāma loka. Jhānā represent the mental states in Brahma realms that lie above kāma loka.

▪Thus, we can connect to anāriya yogis getting into anāriya jhāna with breath mediation (by temporarily overcoming lobha, dosa, and moha, i.e., without removing anusaya.)

9. The mind creates four types of gati (pathavi, āpo, tejo, and vāyo) due to avijjā or ignorance. We like to have possession of things made out of these units because we do not comprehend the “unfruitful nature” of such impermanent things.

▪The craving for material things leads to four more gati due to taṇhā. Due to our tendency to think highly (“varnanā karanava” in Sinhala), another gati of “vaṇṇa” is created as different manifestations of the four primary bhūta of pathavi, āpo, tejo, and vāyo. Similarly, three more units of gandha, rasa, and ojā are created due to taṇhā. Those correspond to our desire to be in touch with them and be “fooled” (gandha), keep them close (rassa), and re-generate them (ojā). [rasa : [m.] taste; juice; flavour; quick-silver. oja : [m.; nt.] nutritive essence; juice. || ojā [f.], nutritive essence; juice. rassa : [adj.] short; dwarfish; stunted.]

▪It will take too much space to explain these in detail, but I hope you get the basic idea. Further information at “Bhūta and Yathābhūta – What Do They Really Mean.” See #5 there, clarifying the transition from “gati” to “bhūta” to “mahā bhūta” stages.

Suddhaṭṭhaka – Eight Components Do Not Arise Individually

10. Therefore, four basic units of pathavi, āpo, tejo, and vāyo, arise due to avijjā, and the other four of vaṇṇa, gandha, rasa, and oja arise due to taṇhā.

▪These eight components never arise in isolation and thus are called “avinibbhoga rūpa.” They always rise together and all eight are there in any suddhaṭṭhaka. Each component’s relative “amounts” can vary; thus, some entities may be dominated by one of the eight. For example, paṭhavī is dominant in a stone and āpo is dominant in water. Even then, all eight are present to some extent. [avinibbhoga : [adj.] indistinct; that cannot be separated.]

▪This very fundamental level is called the “bhūta” stage. Bhūta is another name for “ghosts” because of their elusive nature. They can never be detected and only be “seen” by a Buddha. The Buddha explained this to Mahā Brahma, who thought he knew everything about the world: “WebLink: suttacentral: Brahmanimantanika Sutta (Majjhima Nikāya 49).” I have discussed that part of the sutta in #12 of “Anidassana Viññāṇa – What It Really Means.”

▪And a suddhaṭṭhaka can never be divided; thus they are called “avinibbhoga rūpa kalāpa.”

▪Those who understand the Sinhala language can listen to the following discourse by Waharaka Thero: “සුද්ධාෂ්ඨක-කර්ම ශක්තිය සහ භව ශක්තිය”

WebLink: Listen to the audio of CD063-16 වන සංයුක්ත තැටිය - සුද්ධාෂ්ඨක-කර්ම ශක්තිය සහ භව ශක්තිය

Critical Role of Gati

11. Thus, “gati” leads to “bhūta,” the first phase of rūpa that can be seen (only by Buddha). That is the suddhaṭṭhaka stage. That is where mental energy is converted to matter at the fundamental stage. Just keep that in mind as we proceed.

▪It may be hard to believe for many at this stage, but those arise due to our “gati” that I have discussed in many posts. See the introductory post: “The Law of Attraction, Habits, Character (Gati), and Cravings (Āsavas).” By the way, the removal of “āsava” and “gati” lead to Nibbāna: “The Way to Nibbāna – Removal of Āsavā.” One needs to understand these concepts to grasp the material in this post.

▪More details in “Gati (Habits/Character) Determine Births – Saṁsappanīya Sutta” and  “Gati, Bhava, and Jāti.”

Stages of Matter – Bhūta, Mahā Bhūta, Dhātu

12. When enormous numbers of suddhaṭṭhaka fuse, they get to a more condensed state of “mahā bhūta.” The subtle bodies of Brahmā and some gandhabbā are made of mahā bhūta. This level of “solidification” can be compared (in energy) to electromagnetic radiation at the long-wavelength range; thus, we cannot “see” those entities with our eyes.

▪Only when vast amounts of mahā bhūta fuse and become even more condensed can we see them. In this highly condensed state, the matter is called “dhātu.” Bodies of devas are made of finer dhātu. That is why we cannot see devas, but Brahmā can see them.

▪Thus our bodies are made of denser dhātu, which we can see. That is why solid objects are called “pathavi dhātu.” Suddhaṭṭhaka in such solid objects predominantly has pathavi. In liquids, things are bound together and flow together because they mostly have āpo dhātu. Not only fire but also those objects that have an “energetic appearance,” have more tejo. And not only the wind but also things prone to move have more vāyo.

▪For details: “Bhūta and Yathābhūta – What Do They Really Mean.”

Other Implications

13. Therefore, we can see that pathavi, āpo, tejo, and vāyo have much deeper meanings than the earth, water, fire, and wind. Why did the ancient Greeks also use the same terms? Hinduism also uses terms like karma (the Sanskrit word for kamma), Nirvana (the Sanskrit word for Nibbāna), etc. The teachings of the previous Buddha, Buddha Kassapa, got distorted with time to become Vedic teachings. I need to write about that but see #8 of “Arogyā Paramā Lābhā..“

▪There were three Buddhas in this mahā kappa (i.e., during the existence of our Solar system) before the Buddha Gotama; that is how those terms came into usage before Buddha Gotama. The previous Buddhas’ concepts were transmitted down through successive generations, but the true meanings got lost.

▪Human history is much longer than tens of thousands of years, as believed by many today. Whole continents can submerge, wiping out entire populations. That is not considered seriously yet, but there is some evidence: see WebLink: wiki: Submerged continent.

▪That is a topic to be discussed later when more evidence becomes available. It will be proven that one region that has not changed since the formation of the Earth is Asia encompassing Sri Lanka, India, and China. Archeologists should focus more on that region rather than on Africa. See “Ancient teeth found in China challenge modern human migration theory.”

Three Buddhas Before Buddha Gotama in the Present Eon

14. As I mentioned above, there were three Buddhas before Buddha’s Gotama. That is how key terms like pathavi, āpo, tejo, vāyo, kamma, and Nibbāna (nirvāna) have been used even before the Buddha Gotama. They had been transmitted through generations, but their true meanings had been lost.

▪Losing the true meanings in the Tipiṭaka happened at least a few times, even during this Buddha Sāsana, within the past 2500 years. The best example is the misinterpretation of saŋ, saṁsāra, anicca, and anatta during just the past hundreds of years; see, “What is “Saŋ”? Meaning of Sansāra (or Saṁsāra)” and “Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta – Wrong Interpretations.”

▪But the Buddha Gotama has said that his Buddha Sāsana will last for 5000 years. We are only halfway through. That is why it is making a comeback now. And this time, it will have staying power due to the presence of the internet. That is one reason we should all be forever grateful to modern science, much more than all other technological wonders it has brought.

15. Buddha Dhamma is profound, but once one gets some traction, it can be an exhilarating experience to “dig deeper.”

▪August 2019: Series of posts on “Origin of Life.”

▪July 31, 2020: New series “Buddha Dhamma – A Scientific Approach.”

▪February 16, 2023: New Series “Buddhism – In Charts.”