3rd

Class Notes: Abhidharma 2 – Dharmas continued & Key Attributes

OUTLINE: Studying the dharmas

I. SKANDHAS, ĀYATANAS, DHĀTUS continued…and Development of Five Groups

II. KEY ATTRIBUTES

A. Conditioned/unconditioned, Pure/impure, and the Four Noble Truths

B. Pure/impure, Good/bad/neutral – the relationship of karma and liberation

I. SKANDHAS, ĀYATANAS, DHĀTUS continued

A. Significance of skandhas, āyatanas and dhātus

- As teaching formulations, skandhas, āyatanas and dhātus arose and came to be interpreted in specific teaching

contexts.

i. Skandhas – Analysis of the person / experience into 5 aggregates or heaps, specifically to un-do the way in which

the view of self arises from a tendency to gather together the psycho-physical organism and conceive that as being,

as possessing, or as being possessed by, a substantial self existing on its own.

ii. Āyatanas – Emphasizing an epistemological division of organ and object, and collectively referred to as “all”

(sarvam, everything). The 12 (or 6) āyatanas are the entrances or gates for the arising of consciousness and point to

an important emphasis in Buddhist analysis of mind: on HOW rather than WHAT (how we know and experience vs.

what we essentially and substantially are).

Note: the mind organ is distinct from the sense organs which are material form. The mind organ is immaterial

and defined as “the just deceased consciousness”. The “just deceased consciousness” is actually a condition for the

arising of any consciousness, called the “equal and immediately antecedent condition” (which we will discuss next

week). In the case of mind consciousness, this condition is also the organ. With the sense consciousnesses, the

organ separates and is positioned between the consciousness and the data. The mind essentially uses itself to look at

mind objects. Sometimes it is simply stated that the mind-organ is designated as such just to continue the analogy of

the other senses. From this perspective, an interceding mind-organ is unnecessary. Mental objects are immediately

available to the mind consciousness without the mediation of a mind organ, unlike the sense consciousnesses.

iii. Dhātus – While the 18 dhātus overlap with the 12 āyatanas, they also hold a different perspective. In name, the

12 āyatanas are identical to the first 12 dhātus, but in analysis, the 12th āyatana, mano-āyatana, also includes the 6

consciousnesses (dhātus 13.-18.). The basic triadic structure of the dhātus expresses the Buddhist analysis of the

arising of consciousness, but additionally, the dhātus are also referred to as “lineages” (gotra).

In the Abhidharma context of conceiving of the person as a series (santāna) which is a kind of continuity or

contiguity, the criticism of ātman (self or soul) is a criticism of interpreting this series as being, possessing, or being

possessed by, a substantially existing self. The analysis of the 18 dhātus emphasizes that instead of a unitary

continuity, experience is actually composed of 18 distinct lineages (gotra), the 18 dhātus. Moreover, none of these

lineages consists of, or includes, any unchanging element.

Another important point regarding the 18 dhātus is that in this analysis, consciousness is distinguished into 6

types, which in turn is pertinent to the exposition of consciousness in the higher realms of existence and meditation.

In the realm of subtle form (Rūpadhātu), there is no consciousness of smell or taste, and in the formless realm

(Ārūpyadhātu), there is only mind consciousness (5 senses are completely absent - more on this next week).

- The Abhidharmakośa (AKB) discusses the significance or meditative import of the skandhas, āyatanas and dhātus in

terms of three aspects of living beings: a. error/delusion, b. faculties/capacities, & c. joy/predilection:

Instruction by the category: a. Error/Delusion (moha)

finding a “self” (ātman) in: b. Faculties

(indriya) are…

c. Joy/Predilections (ruci) of one

predisposed to a teaching that is:

1 Skandha

(heap, aggregate)

Caitta (thought concomitants) [SKANDHA: 1 RŪPA/4 CITTA] Sharp Condensed (5 skandhas)

2 Āyatana

(gate of entry, access-door)

Rūpa (material Form) [ĀYATANA: 10 RŪPA/2 CITTA]

Medium Medium-length (12 āyatanas)

3 Dhātu

(lineage, species, source)

Rūpa-citta (form & thought) [DHĀTU: 10 RŪPA/8 CITTA] Dull Extensive (18 dhātus)

B. Interrelationships of skandhas, āyatanas and dhātus

- The chart on the last page of last week’s notes illustrates the relationships between the teachings of the 5 skandhas,

12 āyatanas & 18 dhātus (Sutra teachings) as well as between those and the 5 groups (pañca-vastuka) & 75 dharmas

(Abhidharma teachings). The chart thus connects the early taxonomies to the later, more developed analysis of the

dharmas. [Also note for reference, I uploaded a small study of the 75 dharmas & an Abhidharma glossary on Moodle.]

C. The development of the 5 groups (pañca-vastuka)

- As dharma theory developed, Abhidharma texts continued to employ the traditional schema of skandhas, āyatanas

and dhātus for classifying the dharmas. However, as new developments were incorporated and expressed through

dharma theory, the traditional pragmatic categories tended to obscure what were becoming extremely important

distinctions. A new classificatory scheme arises from, or as, dharma theory: the five groups (vastuka).

- Cox: “The previous taxonomic systems begin from specific circumstances of praxis, perception, and so forth, and

present detailed descriptions of the significant activities or events (dharma) that interact cooperatively in those

particular circumstances. The fivefold taxonomy, by contrast, takes the perspective of the dharmas themselves and sets

out a delimited number of abstract genera that are intended to encompass every experienced event or phenomenon, or

in other words every possible individual instance of a dharma.”

1. Rūpa (material form) [11 dharmas] – This group is identical to the 1st skandha, rūpa-skandha. In dharma theory,

rūpa is defined as that which is capable of being struck, or that which offers resistance. Note: there is some question

about whether nāma-rūpa (name and form, the 4 mental skandhas and the 1 material form skandha) should be

interpreted as a kind of mind-matter division. Guenther: “Our merest sense-experience is a process of Gestaltung or

formulation. The translation of rūpa by Gestalt, which I offer here, avoids the dualism of mind and matter, which does

not exist in experience, and experience is the keynote of Buddhism.”

2. Citta (mind) [1 dharma] – This group is identical to the 5th skandha, vijñāna-skandha (consciousness-aggregate).

The AKB states: “The names mind (citta), spirit (manas), and consciousness (vijñāna) designate the same thing. The

mind is termed citta because it accumulates (cinoti); it is termed manas because it knows (manute) and it is termed

vijñāna because it distinguishes its object (ālambanam vijñānati).” Cox notes the delineation of citta (mind) from the

caitta (mental states) “reflects an emphasis upon perception as the central sentient experience and a newly recognized

need to isolate thought as an identifiable hub that connects the various activities constituting one sentient being…” In

the Abhidharma context, there can only be one citta (mind) with one object in each moment (& one moral valence).

3. Caita-sika (mental factors, concomitants of mind) [46 dharmas] – This group, also referred to as citta-

saṃprayukta-saṃskārā (formations associated with mind), and the 4th group below sub-divide the 4

th skandha,

saṃskārā-skandha (formations-aggregate), into two groups. Citta is the basic awareness of an object, the caita

represent a set of specific functions which operate in the arising of that awareness or in relation to that awareness.

- The mind (citta) and the mental factors or mental states (caita-sika) are associated (samprayoga) in 5 ways:

i. Identity of support (āśraya) – that is, they arise with the same organ or sense/mind-faculty.

ii. Identity of object (ālambana) – they share the same object

iii. Identity of aspect (ākāra) – they share the same mode of understanding (prajñā) in relation to the object

iv. Identity of time (kāla) – they are simultaneous

v. Equality in number of substantial entities (dravya) – in any given moment, there can be only one mind produced,

associated with one sensation, etc…one mental state of each type. [only one mind, one object, in each moment]

Additionally, the mind and its mental factors also share the same moral valence: good, bad or neutral.

- This group of dharmas is subdivided into 6 groups in terms of moral valence reflecting the fact that it is the overall

pattern (cetanā, “intention”) of the mental states (caitta) that determine the karmic quality of a mind (and thus

represent evaluative distinctions within the primarily descriptive 5 groups as a whole):

i. Mahā-bhūmikas (Great Grounds, “Universals”) [10 dharmas]: Dharmas present in all states of mind. AKB: “How

do we know that these ten mental states, distinct in nature, coexist in one and the same mind? Subtle,

unquestionably, are the specific characteristics of the mind and its mental states. One discerns them, only with

difficulty even when one is content to consider each of the mental states as developing in a homogeneous series;

how much more so when one envisions them in the (psychological) moment (kṣana) in which they all exist. If the

differences of the taste of vegetables, tastes that we know through a material organ, are difficult to distinguish,

how much more so is this true with non-material dharmas that are perceived through the mental consciousness.”

ii. Kuśala-mahā-bhūmikas (Skillful Universals) [10 dharmas]: Dharmas only and always found in good minds.

iii. Kleśa-mahā-bhūmikas (Defiled Universals) [6 dharmas]: Dharmas found in all defiled minds. Note: “defiled”

minds in this context can be akuśala (bad or unskillful) or avyākrta (morally neutral or indeterminate).

iv. Akuśala-mahā-bhūmikas (Unskillful universals) [2 dharmas]: Dharmas found in all bad or unskillful minds.

Respect (or modesty) and fear of wrongdoing (or shame), the opposite of these 2 dharmas (disrespect and absence

of fear), are referred to in the early discourses as “the two guardians of the world”.

v. Parītta-kleśa-bhūmikas (Defilements of Restricted Scope) [10 dharmas]: Dharmas found in some defiled minds.

Note that three of these categories are dedicated to the analysis of the defilements, an expression of the central

role of the defilements in the process of suffering and liberation.

vi. Aniyata (Indeterminates) [8 dharmas]: Dharmas sometimes associated with good, bad or neutral minds. Some of

these dharmas are associated with all minds not in high-level concentration states.

4. Viprayukta-saṃskārā (disassociated formations) [14 dharmas] – These dharmas are not of the nature of rūpa

(material form), and thus resemble mind, but they are disjoined from mind in that these dharmas are not associated

with mind in the 5 ways outlined above – they do not share the same support, object, etc. This group or category

encompasses a miscellaneous collection of dharmas.

- These dharmas were for one reason or another necessary to hold the system together, giving a coherent account of

the diachronic soteriology of the accumulation of karma and the latent defilements, as well as states and forms of being

in which there is a complete absence of perception and conception, in terms of the synchronic dharma-theory. These

dharmas are associated with the series but not with the mind in a karmically determinate matter – they are undefiled

and karmically indeterminate (or neutral). In terms of the skandhas, these dharmas had been lumped in somewhat

uncomfortably under the saṃskārās.

5. Asaṃskṛta (unconditioned) [3 dharmas] – These dharmas are not conditioned or constructed. Although “The

unconditioned has neither cause nor result,” these dharmas do have functions which in turn are the basis for

determining the unique sva-lakṣaṇas (own-characteristics) and thus establishing the own-being (sva-bhāva) of these

dharmas. See below for more on conditioned vs. unconditioned.

- The unconditioned dharmas are not traditionally subsumed under the 5 skandhas, as they “do not correspond to the

concept” of the skandhas, or “heaps” (beyond space and time, they cannot be piled up). In terms of the āyatanas and

dhātus, the unconditioned dharmas are subsumed (as objects of mind) under dharma-āyatana and dharma-dhātu with

the scriptural support that the āyatanas and dhātus subsume everything, “the all” (sarvam). The importance of nirvāṇa,

embodied in the unconditioned dharma, pratisaṃkhyā-nirodha (extinction acquired through deliberation), was a

driving force in the development of a separate category or group of dharmas that are unconditioned (an importance

perhaps obscured in subsuming the unconditioned dharmas under objects of mind in terms of the āyatanas and

dhātus).

- Strictly speaking, using dharma-dhātu (mind-objects) to classify dharmas is weak in that the dharma-dhātu should

thus include all dharmas as they can all be objects of mind. Moreover, many dharmas thus subsumed (as objects of

mind) cannot be the object of mind in the moment they are active (e.g. mental factors) – thus, as a classification, it

tends to obscure, rather than embody, important functional differences between the groups of dharmas and the basic

reality-view (the co-existence of dharmas in a single moment) of dharma theory.

II. KEY ATTRIBUTES

- There are a number of key categorizations, typically dyads or triads, into which dharmas are analyzed, an approach in

terms of sāmānya-lakṣaṇa (common characteristics) that is both descriptive and evaluative.

- The analysis in terms of attributes also starts to demonstrate how the dharmas function and work together in terms of

the path of liberation in Abhidharma Buddhism.

A. Pure/impure, Conditioned/unconditioned, and the Four Noble Truths

1. The first categorization introduced in the Abhidharmakosa is the distinction between pure and impure:

Sāsrava – With-outflow, impure, stained, conducive to the growth of the defilements, influenced by ignorance. All

conditioned dharmas, with the exception of the Path, are impure. They are impure because the defilements adhere

to them. The defilements cannot “grow concordantly” in relation to the path and nirvāṇa. Impure dharmas,

whether they are agreeable, disagreeable or neutral, are “suffering” (duḥkha), by reason of 3 types of suffering:

i. Disagreeable dharmas are suffering by reason of the suffering which is suffering itself (duḥkha-duḥkhata)

ii. Agreeable dharmas are suffering by reason of the suffering which is change (parināma-duḥkhata)

iii. Neutral dharmas are suffering by reason of the suffering conditioned existence (saṃskārā-duḥkhata)

Anāsrava – Outflow-free, pure, unstained, tending toward appeasement of the defilements under the influence of

wisdom. Only the pure path and the three unconditioned dharmas are pure, or outflow-free.

2. The second categorization in the Abhidharmakosa is the distinction between conditioned & unconditioned:

Saṃskṛta – Conditioned, compounded, made, constructed. With the exception of the path, impure (sāsrava). MVS:

“A dharma is said to be conditioned if it has arising and ceasing, cause and effect, and acquires the characteristics

of the conditioned.” Conditioned dharmas are momentary. Explained etymologically as “that which has been

created (krta) by causes in union and combination.”

Asaṃskṛta – Unconditioned, uncompounded, unmade, unconstructed. Always pure (anāsrava). MVS: “A dharma is

said to be unconditioned if it has no arising and ceasing, no cause and effect, and acquires the characteristics of

the unconditioned.” Unconditioned dharmas have no activity, are beyond temporal process, but do have a

function. The most important unconditioned dharma is pratisaṃkhyā-nirodha (extinction acquired through

deliberation), which corresponds to the 3rd

Noble Truth of Extinction and nirvāṇa.

- The Abhidharmakosa unfolds these two categories (pure/impure and conditioned/unconditioned) in terms of the 4

Noble Truths as follows (and also in relation to the skandhas, āyatanas and dhātus):

All Dharmas (sarva-dharma)

Conditioned (saṃskṛta) Unconditioned (asaṃskṛta)

Temporal, arising depending on causes. 72 dharmas. Space & two types of cessation

Impure (sāsrava) [the defilements adhere to them] Pure (anāsrava) Pure (anāsrava)

1st and 2

nd Noble Truths

of Suffering (duḥkha-satya) &

Origination (samudaya-satya)

4th

Noble

Truth of the Path

(mārga-satya)

3rd

Noble

Truth of Cessation

(nirodha-satya)

Aggregates of Clinging (Upādāna-skandha)

Five Aggregates (pañca-skandha) = All conditioned dharmas

12 Āyatanas = 18 Dhātus = All dharmas (sarva-dharma)

- This basic mapping of the dharmas illustrates an important point: nirvāṇa as unconditioned actually poses some

problems for the Abhidharma tradition – if nirvāṇa is unconditioned and pure, how is it realized? How can any

assemblage of conditioned dharmas lead to the unconditioned and in what sense can the unconditioned by acquired?

The resolution posited here is that the pure path, though a pattern of conditioned dharmas, is pure. The path leads to

the unconditioned because it brings about definitive liberation from the defilements. At the elimination of a defilement

through a pure path, one acquires a prapti (acquisition) dharma by which one is endowed (samanvāgama) with a

(unconditioned) nirodha (extinction or cessation) of this particular defilement. Note: the “path” that is pure refers to

the high-level attainment of the Path of Seeing (darśana-mārga) and the subsequent pure Path of Cultivation

(bhāvana-mārga) [to be discussed in the 6th class].

B. Pure/impure, Good/bad/neutral – the relationship of karma and liberation

- Another key attribute is the distinction of good, bad, neutral, which pertains to karma:

Kuśala – Skillful, beneficial, good, wholesome. Has a desirable result - typically agreeable sensation.

Akuśala – Unskillful, detrimental, evil, bad, unwholesome. Has an undesirable result - typically disagreeable sensation.

Avyākrta – (Morally) non-defined, neutral, indeterminate, of indistinct nature. Has no karmic result. Two sub-types:

i. Nivṛta (veiled, hindered, obstructed) – Karmically indefinite but obstructive to liberation (e.g. belief in self

(satkāya-dṛṣṭi)).

ii. Anivṛta (Non-veiled, unhindered, unobstructed) – Karmically indefinite and not obstructive to liberation

(includes various dharmas and phenomena).

- This classification concerns the moral causal order in terms of karma (action) of body, speech and mind. In as much

as karma as defined as cetanā (intention) and cetanā is in turn the overall shape or pattern of mental factors, this

classification also applies to the mental factors present in a moment of consciousness:

a) A good or skillful (kuśala) mind in Kāmadhātu consists of 22 mental states: the 10 universals, the 10 good

universals, along with vitarka (reasoning) and vicāra (investigation). With the potential addition of regret

(kaukrtya), a good mind can also consist of 23 mental states.

b) There are two types of bad or unskillful (akuśala) minds:

i. “Independent” (āveṇika) – that is, associated only with ignorance – which consists of 20 mental states:

10 universals, 6 defiled universals, 2 bad universals, and vitarka (reasoning) and vicāra (investigation).

ii. “Associated” (saṃprayukta) – that is, associated with ignorance (the “root” of all the defilements) and one of

the other defilements – which consists of 21 mental states: The 20 above plus one defilement of limited scope

(parītta-kleśa-bhūmika) or indeterminate (aniyata) dharma.

c) There are also two types of neutral or undefined (avyākrta) minds:

i. Defiled (sāsrava) – which consists of 18 mental states: 10 universals, 6 defiled universals, vitarka and vicāra.

ii. Undefiled (anāsrava) – which consists of 12 mental states: 10 universals, vitarka and vicāra.

d) Further, apathy (middha) can be good, bad or neutral - it can be added to any of the above minds.

e) Meditation states can be good, defiled-neutral, or undefiled-neutral, but certain mental factors are progressively

absent in the higher states (regret, apathy and the unskillful universals are absent in all dhyāna states, vitarka and

vicāra are absent in the 2nd

dhyāna upwards, etc.)

- Kuśala/akuśala/avyākrta (skillful/unskillful/undefined) pertain to karma, whereas sāsrava/anāsrava (pure/impure)

pertain to the defilements – the cause and condition for saṃsāra (cyclic suffering). As good and neutral karma can be

defiled, sāsrava (impure) has a wider scope than akuśala (unskillful).

Sāsrava (impure – tending to defilement) Anāsrava (pure – abandons the defilements)

Akuśala (unskillful) Leads to bondage and lower birth N/A

Avyākrta (undefined) Leads to bondage, karmically indefinite Does not obstruct liberation

Kuśala (skillful) Leads to higher birth, conducive to liberation Leads to liberation

- Good or skillful but impure karma constitutes a kind of pivot point – on one hand, it is impure karma which

maintains the cycle of rebirth (saṃsāra), and on the other hand, it is conducive to practices which realize liberation

from saṃsāra (i.e., nirvāṇa).

- Skillful/unskillful and pure/impure tie-in to a set of inter-related underlying tensions running through Indian

Buddhism, expressed in competing values and approaches (as well as attempts at reconciliation and integration):

[worldly-convention-centered] [emotion-centered] [intellect-centered]

Basic Problem: Unskillful Action (karma) Grasping, attachment Ignorance, misapprehension

Basic Practice: Ethics (śīla)

Emphasizing

Skillful (good) Action

Meditation (samādhi)

Culminating in

Cessation of thought & feeling

Insight (prajñā)

Leading to

Seeing the Four Noble Truths

Basic Goal: Good rebirth (Saṃsāra) /

maintaining the social order

Nirvāṇa

(as ultimate quiescence)

Nirvāṇa

(as complete illumination)

- Abhidharma texts analyze a categorization of the dharmas such as the dhātus in terms of the attributes above and

many others as well:

1.

eye-

org

an

2.

ear-

org

an

3.

no

se-o

rgan

4.

tong

ue-

org

an

5.

tou

ch-o

rgan

6.

min

d-o

rgan

7.

sigh

t-o

bje

cts

8.

sou

nd

-ob

ject

s

9.

smel

l-ob

ject

s

10

. ta

ste-

ob

ject

s

11

. ta

ngib

le-o

bje

cts

12

. m

ind

-ob

ject

s

13

. ey

e-co

nsc

iou

snes

s

14

. ea

r-co

nsc

iou

snes

s

15

. n

ose

-con

scio

usn

ess

16

. to

ngu

e-co

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17

. to

uch

-con

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usn

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18

. m

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s

Sāsrava (impure) or anāsrava (pure) X X X

Sāsrava (impure) X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Saṃskṛta X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Asaṃskṛta X

Avyākrta (morally undefined) X X X X X X X X

Kuśala, akuśala or avyākrta X X X X X X X X X X

Rūpadhātu X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Arupyadhātu X X X

Abandoned through meditation X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Abandoned through seeing or

meditation or not abandoned

X X X

- Such analysis demonstrates for example that as it is the three mind dhātus (mind-organ, mind-objects and mind-

consciousness) where liberating transformation takes place – they are the only three dhātus that can be pure. While all

of the remaining dhātus are always impure, morally, the 5 sense-organs, and 3 of the sense-objects, are always morally

indeterminate. Sense-experience, and bodily existence in general, positive or negative, is not the fundamental problem.

The same three mind-dhātus which can be pure are also the locus of basic problem – ignorance and

grasping/attachment.