Kabalinkārāhāra: lit. 'food formed into
balls', i.e. food formed into mouthfuls for eating according to Indian custom;
it denotes 'material food' and belongs, together with the three mental nutriments,
to the group of four nutriments see: āhāra
Kalāpa: 'group', 'unit': 1. 'material unit' see:
rūpa-kalāpa 2. It has the meaning
of 'group of existence' khandha in
kalāpasammasana see: i.e. 'comprehension by groups', which is the application
of 'methodical or inductive insight' naya-vipassanā
to the comprehension of the 5 aggregates or clusters
khandha as impermanent, painful and no-self.
It is a process of methodical summarization, or generalization, from one's
own meditative experience that is applied to each of the 5 aggregates or clusters,
viewed as past, present, future, as internal and external, etc. In
Vis.M XX, where the 'comprehension by
groups' is treated in detail, it is said to constitute 'the beginning of insight'
as it leads to the 'knowledge of rise and fall', being the first of the 8 insightknowledges
see: visuddhi VI. It is necessary
for accomplishing the 5th purification see:
visuddhi V;
Vis.M XX, 2, 6ff..
Kalpa: Skr = kappa.
Kalyāna-mitta: 'noble or good friend', is
called a senior Bhikkhu who is the mentor and friend of his pupil, wishing
for his welfare and concerned with his progress, guiding his meditation; in
particular, the meditation teacher kammatthānācariya is so called. For
details see Vis.M III, 28,57ff. The Buddha
said that noble friendship is the entire Noble life
S. III, 18; XLV, 2, and he himself is the
good friend par excellence: Ananda, it is owing to my being a good friend to
them that living beings subject to birth are freed from birth
S. III, 18.
Kāma: may denote: 1. subjective sensuality, 'sense-desire';
2. objective sensuality, the five sense-objects.
1. Subjective sensuality, or sense-desire, is directed to all five sense-objects,
and is synonymous with kāma-cchanda
'sense-desire', one of the 5 hindrances nīvarana,
kāma-rāga sense-lust', one of the
ten mental chains, kāma-tanhā 'sense-craving',
one of the 3 cravings tanhā,
kāma-vitakka 'sense-thought', one
of the 3 wrong thoughts micchā-sankappa
see: vitakka - Sense-desire is also one of the fermentations
āsava and clingings
upādāna.
2. Objective sensuality is, in the canonical texts, mostly called
kāma-guna 'cords or strands of sensuality'.
There are 5 cords of sensuality: the visible objects, cognizable by visual-consciousness,
that are desirable, cherished, pleasant, lovely, sense-and alluring; the sounds...
smells... tastes... bodily contacts cognizable by body-consciousness, that
are desirable. D. 33;
M. 13, 26, 59, 66.
These two kinds of kāma are called
1. kilesa-kāma i.e.
kāma as a mental defilement, 2.
vatthu-kāma i.e.
kāma as the object-base of sensuality; first
in MNid.. I, p. 1, and frequently in
the commentaries.
Sense-desire is finally eliminated at the stage of the Non-Returner
anāgāmi see:
ariya-puggala,
The peril and misery of sense-desire is
often described in the texts, e.g. in stirring similes at
M. 22, 54, and in the 'gradual instruction'
see: ānupubbī-kathā See
further M. 13, 45, 75;
Sn. v. 766ff.;
Dhp. 186, 215.
The texts often stress the fact that what mental chains man to the world
of the senses are not the sense-organs nor the sense-objects but lustful desire
chandarāga On this see A. VI, 63;
S. XXXV, 122, 191. -
App..
Kāma-bhava: 'sense-existence'; s.
bhava
Kāma-cchanda: 'sense-desire', s.
nīvarana
chanda
Kāma-guna: see:
kāma
Kāma-loka: 'sense-world', see:
loka
Kāma-rāga: 'sense-lust', is one of the 10 mental
chains q.v..
Kāmāsava: s: Āsava
Kāma-sukh'allikānuyoga: 'being
addicted to sensual pleasures', is one of the 2 extremes to be avoided by the
monk; see: majjhima-patipadā
Kāma-tanhā: 'sense-craving'; s.
tanhā
Kāmāvacara: 'sense-sphere'; s.
avacara
Kāmesu-micchācāra: lit. 'wrong or evil
conduct with regard to sensual things'; 'unlawful sexual intercourse' refers
to adultery, and to intercourse with minors or other persons under guardianship.
The abstaining from this unlawful act is one of the 5 moral rules see: binding
upon all Buddhists. Through any other sexual act one does not become guilty
of the above transgression, which is considered a great crime. The monk, however,
has to observe perfect chastity.
In many Suttas e.g. A.X., 176 we find the
following explanation: He avoids unlawful sexual intercourse, abstains from
it. He has no intercourse with girls who are still under the protection of
father or mother, brother, sister or relatives, nor with married women, nor
female convicts, nor, lastly, with betrothed girls.
Kamma: advantageous or disadvantageous action; Sanskrit
karma, Pāli: kamma: 'action', correctly speaking denotes the advantageous
and disadvantageous intentions kusala
and akusala-cetanā
and their concomitant mental properties, causing rebirth and shaping the destiny
of beings. These kammical intentions kammacetanā become manifest as
advantageous or disadvantageous actions by body
kāya-kamma speech
vacī-kamma and mind
mano-kamma Thus the Buddhist term
'kamma' by no means signifies the result of actions, and quite certainly not
the fate of man, or perhaps even of whole nations the so-called wholesale or
mass-kamma, misconceptions which, through the influence of theosophy, have
become widely spread in the West.
intention cetanā o Bhikkhus, is what
I call action cetanāham bhikkhave kammam vadāmi
for through intention one performs the action by body, speech or mind.. There
is kamma action, o Bhikkhus, that ripens in hell. Kamma that ripens in the
animal world.. Kamma that ripens in the world of men. Kamma that ripens in
the divine world. Threefold, however, is the fruit of kamma: ripening during
the life-time dittha-dhamma-vedanīya-kamma
ripening in the next birth
upapajja-vedanīya-kamma ripening in later births aparāpariya-vedanīya
kamma...
A.VI, 63.
The 3 conditions or roots mūla of disadvantageous
kamma actions are greed, hatred, confusion lobha
dosa moha
those of advantageous kamma are: unselfishness
alobha hatelessness adosa = mettā good-will, unconfusedness
amoha = paññā knowledge.
Greed, o Bhikkhus, is a condition for the arising of kamma; hatred is a
condition for the arising of kamma; confusion is a condition for the arising
of kamma. A. III, 109.
The disadvantageous actions are of 3 kinds, conditioned by greed, or hate,
or confusion.
Killing... stealing... unlawful sexual intercourse... lying... slandering...
rude speech... foolish babble, if practised, carried on, and frequently cultivated,
leads to rebirth in hell, or amongst the animals, or amongst the ghosts
A. III, 40. He who kills and is cruel goes
either to hell or, if reborn as man, will be short-lived. He who torments others
will be afflicted with disease. The angry one will look ugly, the envious one
will be without influence, the stingy one will be poor, the stubborn one will
be of low descent, the indolent one will be without knowledge. In the contrary
case, man will be reborn in heaven or reborn as man, he will be long-lived,
possessed of beauty, influence, noble descent and knowledge cf.
M. 135.
For the above 10-fold advantageous and disadvantageous course of action,
see kamma-patha For the 5 heinous
crimes with immediate result, see:
ānantarika-kamma
Owners of their kamma are the beings, heirs of their kamma, their kamma
is their womb from which they are born, their kamma is their friend, their
refuge. Whatever kamma they perform, good or bad, thereof they will be the
heirs M. 135.
With regard to the time of the taking place of the kamma-result
vipāka one distinguishes, as mentioned
above, 3 kinds of kamma:
1. kamma ripening during the life-time dittha-dhamma-vedanīya kamma
2. kamma ripening in the next birth
upapajja-vedanīya-kamma
3. kamma ripening in later births
aparāpariya-vedanīya-kamma
The first two kinds of kamma may be without kamma-result
vipāka if the circumstances required
for the taking place of the kamma-result are missing, or if, through the preponderance
of counteractive kamma and their being too weak, they are unable to produce
any result. In this case they are called
ahosi-kamma lit. 'kamma that has been', in other words, ineffectual
kamma.
The third type of kamma, however, which bears fruit in later lives, will,
whenever and wherever there is an opportunity, be productive of kamma-result.
Before its result has ripened, it will never become ineffective as long as
the life-process is kept going by craving and ignorance.
According to the Com., e.g.
Vis.M XIX, the 1st of the 7 kammical impulse-moments
kamma
javana s. javana is considered
as 'kamma ripening during the life-time', the 7th moment as 'kamma ripening
in the next birth', the remaining 5 moments as 'kamma ripening in later births'.
With regard to their functions one distinguishes:
1. regenerative or productive kamma
janaka-kamma,
2. supportive or consolidating kamma
upatthambhaka-kamma,
3. counteractive suppressive or frustrating kamma
upapīlaka-kamma,
4. destructive or supplanting kamma upaghātaka or
upacchedaka-kamma
1 produces the 5 groups of existence materiality, feeling, perception,
mental constructions, consciousness at rebirth as well as during life-continuity.
2 does not produce kamma-results but is only able to maintain the already
produced kamma-results.
3 counteracts or suppresses the kamma-results.
4 destroys the influence of a weaker kamma and effects only its own result.
With regard to the priority of their result one distinguishes:
1. weighty kamma garuka-kamma,
2. habitual kamma ācinnaka or
bahula-kamma,
3. death-proximate kamma maranāsanna-kamma,
4. stored-up kamma katattā-kamma
1, 2: The weighty garuka and the habitual bahula advantageous
or disadvantageous kamma are ripening earlier than the light and rarely performed
kamma. 3: The death-proximate maranāsanna kamma - i.e. the advantageous
or disadvantageous intention present immediately before death, which often
may be the reflex of some previously performed good or evil action
kamma or of a sign of it
kamma-nimitta
or of a sign of the future existence gati-nimitta
- produces rebirth. 4: In the absence of any of these three actions at the
moment before death, the stored-up katattā kamma will produce rebirth.
A real, and in the ultimate sense true, understanding of Buddhist kamma
doctrine is possible only through a deep insight into the
impersonality see:
anattā and conditionality see:
paticcasamuppāda
paccaya of all phenomena of existence.
Everywhere, in all the forms of existence... such a one is beholding merely
mental and physical phenomena kept going by their being bound up through causes
and effects.
No doer does he see behind the deeds, no recipient apart from the kamma-fruit.
And with full insight he clearly understands that the wise ones are using merely
conventional terms when, with regard to the taking place of any action, they
speak of a doer, or when they speak of a receiver of the kamma-results at their
arising. Therefore the ancient masters have said:
'No doer of the deeds is found,
No one who ever reaps their fruits;
Empty phenomena roll on:
This view alone is right and true.
'And whilst the deeds and their results
Roll on, based on conditions all,
There no beginning can be seen,
Just as it is with seed and tree.' Vis.M
XIX
Kamma kamma-paccaya is one
of the 24 conditions paccaya
App.: Kamma.
Literature: Kamma and Rebirth, by Nyanatiloka
WHEEL
9; Survival and Kamma in Buddhist Perspective, by K.N. Jayatilleke
WHEEL
141/143; Kamma and its Fruit
WHEEL
221/224.
Kamma-accumulation:
āyūhana.
Kammic-constructions: i.e. advantageous
or disadvantageous intentions cetanā
manifested as actions of body, speech or mind, form the 2nd link of the formula
of dependent origination paticca-samuppāda.
Kamma-making: see:
bhava,
paticcasamuppāda
Kamma-produced materiality:
s.
Kamma-result:
vipāka
Kamma-round:
kamma vatta see:
vatta
Kammically acquired materiality:
upādinnarūpa
Kammically advantageous:
kusala cf. Tab. I.
kammically disadvantageous:
akusala cf. Tab.
I.
Kammically neutral:
avyākata cf.
Tab. I.
Kamma-bhava: see:
bhava,
paticcasamuppāda
Kammaja-rūpa: 'kamma-produced materiality';
s.
Kammaññatā: 'adaptability', i.e. of materiality
rūpassa see: khandha
Summary I, mental properties kāya and of consciousness
citta cf. Tab. II.
Kammanta: sammā : 'right action'; s.
magga
Kamma-paccaya: 'kamma as condition'; see:
paccaya 13.
Kamma-patha: 'course of action', is a
name for the group of 10 kinds of either disadvantageous or advantageous actions,
viz.
I. The tenfold disadvantageous courses of action
akusala-kamma-patha
3 bodily actions: 1: killing, 2: stealing, 3: unlawful sexual intercourse;
4 verbal actions: 4: lying, 5: slandering, 6: rude speech, 7: gossip;
3 mental actions: 8: covetousness, 9: ill-will, 10: wrong views.
Unadvantageous mental courses of action comprise only extreme forms of
defiled thought: the greedy wish to appropriate others' property, the hateful
thought of harming others, and pernicious views. Milder forms of mental defilement
are also disadvantageous, but do not constitute 'courses of action'.
II. The tenfold advantageous course of action
kusala-kamma-patha
3 bodily actions: 1: avoidance of killing, 2: not stealing, 3: no
adultery
4 verbal actions: 4: avoidance of lying, 5: slandering, 6: rude speech, 7:
gossip;
3 mental actions: 8: unselfishness, 9: good-will, 10: right views.
Both lists occur repeatedly, e.g. in A.
X, 28, 176; M. 9; they are explained in
detail in M. 114, and in
Com. to
M. 9
R. Und., p. 14,
Atthasālini Tr. I, 126ff.
Kamma-samutthāna-rūpa: 'materiality
produced through kamma'; see:
Kammatthāna: lit. 'working-ground' i.e. for
meditation, is the term in the Com. for
'subjects of meditation'; see: bhāvanā
Kamma-vatta: 'kamma-round'; see: vatta.
Kammāyūhana: see:
āyūhana
Kāmupādāna: 'sense-clinging', is one of the
4 kinds of clinging upādāna.
Kankhā: 'doubt', may be either an intellectual,
critical doubt or an ethically and psychologically detrimental doubt. The latter
may either be a persistent negative skepticism or wavering indecision. Only
the detrimental doubt identical with vicikicchā
is to be rejected as kammically disadvantageous, as it paralyses thinking and
hinders the inner development of man. Reasoned, critical doubt in dubious matters
is thereby not discouraged.
The 16 doubts enumerated in the Suttas e.g.
M. 2 are the following: Have I been in the past? Or, have I not been
in the past? What have I been in the past? How have I been in the past? From
what state into what state did I change in the past? - Shall I be in the future?
Or, shall I not be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall
I be in the future? From what state into what state shall I change in the future?
- Am I? Or, am I not? What am I? How am I? Whence has this being come? Whither
will it go?
Kankhā-vitarana-visuddhi:
'purification by overcoming doubt', is the 4th of the 7 stages of purification
visuddhi.
Kappa: Sanskrit kalpa
'world-period', an inconceivably long space of time, an aeon. This again is
subdivided into 4 sections: world-dissolution dissolving world, continuation
of the chaos samvatta-tthāyī world-construction
vivatta-kappa continuation of the
formed world vivatta-tthāyī
How long a world-dissolution will continue, how long the chaos, how long
the construction, how long the continuation of the formed world, of these things;
o Bhikkhus, one hardly can say that it will be so many years, or so many centuries,
or so many millennia, or so many hundred thousands of years
A. IV, 156
A detailed description of the 4 world-periods is given in that stirring
discourse on the all-embracing impermanence
in A. VII, 62.
The beautiful simile in S. XV, 5 may
be mentioned here: Suppose, o Bhikkhus, there was a huge rock of one solid
mass, one mile long, one mile wide, one mile high, without split or flaw. And
at the end of every hundred years a man should come and rub against it once
with a silken cloth. Then that huge rock would wear off and disappear quicker
than a world-period. But of such world-periods, o Bhikkhus, many have passed
away, many hundreds, many thousands, many hundred thousands. And how is this
possible? Inconceivable, o Bhikkhus, is this samsāra, not to be discovered
is any first beginning of beings, who obstructed by ignorance and ensnared
by craving, are hurrying and hastening through this round of rebirths.
Compare here Grimm's German fairy-tale of the little shepherdboy: 'In Farther
Pommerania there is the diamond-mountain, one hour high, one hour wide, one
hour deep. There every hundred years a little bird comes and whets its little
beak on it. And when the whole mountain is ground off, then the first second
of eternity has passed.
Karunā: 'Pity', is one of the 4 sublime abodes
brahma-vihāra.
Kasina: perhaps related to Sanskrit krtsna
'all, complete, whole', is the name for a purely external device to produce
and develop concentration of mind and attain the 4 absorptions
jhāna. It consists in concentrating one's
full and undivided attention on one visible object as preparatory image
parikamma-nimitta e.g. a colored
spot or disc, or a piece of earth, or a pond at some distance, etc., until
at last one perceives, even with the eyes closed, a mental reflex, the acquired
image uggaha-nimitta Now, while
continuing to direct one's attention to this image, there may arise the spotless
and immovable counter-image patibhāga-nimitta
and together with it the neighbourhood-concentration
upacāra-samādhi will have been
reached. While still persevering in the concentration on the object, one finally
will reach a state of mind where all sense-activity is suspended, where there
is no more seeing and hearing, no more perception of bodily contact and
feeling, i.e. the state of the 1st mental absorption
jhāna.
The 10 kasinas mentioned in the Suttas are:
earth-kasina, water, fire, wind, blue, yellow, red, white, space, and consciousness.
There are 10 kasina-spheres: someone sees the earth kasina, above, below, on
all sides, undivided, unbounded. someone see the water-kasina, above, below,
etc. M. 77;
D. 33 Cf. abhibhāyatan
bhāvanā further s.
Fund. IV.
For space and consciousness-kasina we find in
Vis.M V the names limited space-kasina
paricchinnākāsa-kasina..
see: App. and light-kasina
āloka-kasina
For full description see Vis.M IV-V;
also Atthasālini Tr. I, 248.
Katattā-kamma: 'stored-up kamma'; see: kamma.
Kāya: lit: accumulation: 'group', 'body', may either
refer to the physical body rūpa-kāya
or to the mental body nāma-kāya In
the latter case it is either a collective name for the mental groups feeling,
perception, mental constructions, consciousness; s.
khandha or merely for feeling, perception
and a few of the mental constructions see: nāma e.g. in
kāya-lahutā etc. cf.
Tab. II.. kāya
has this same meaning in the standard description of the 3rd absorption
jhāna and he feels joy in his mind or his
mental constitution kāya and e.g.
Pug. 1-8 of the attainment of the 8 deliverances
vimokkha, having attained the
8 deliverances in his mind, or his person kāya
- kāya is also the 5th sense-organ, the
body-organ; s. āyatana
dhātu, indriya
Kāya-gatā-sati: 'awareness or mindfulness
with regard to the body', refers sometimes e.g.
Vis.M VIII, 2 only to the contemplation
on the 32 parts of the body, sometimes e.g. M.
119 to all the various meditations comprised under the 'contemplation of the
body' kāyānupassanā the 1st
of the 4 'foundations of awareness or mindfulness', consisting partly in concentration
exercises, partly in insight vipassanā
exercises. On the other hand, the cemetery meditations sīvathika mentioned
in the Satipatthāna M. 10 are nearly the same
as the 10 contemplations of loathsomeness asubha-bhāvanā.
of Vis.M VI, whereas elsewhere the contemplation
on the 32 parts of the body is called the 'reflection on impurity' patikkūla-saññā
In such texts as: 'One thing, o Bhikkhus, developed and repeatedly practised,
leads to the attainment of understanding. It is the contemplation on the body'
A.I, the reference is to all exercises mentioned
in the 1st Satipatthāna.
Vis.M VIII, 2 gives a detailed description
and explanation of the method of developing the contemplation on the 32 parts
of the body. This exercise can produce the 1st absorption only
jhāna The stereotype text given in the Satipatthāna
Sutta and elsewhere - but leaving out the brain - runs as follows:
And further, o Bhikkhus, the Bhikkhu contemplates this body from the soles
of the feet upward, and from the tops of the hairs downward, with skin stretched
over it, and filled with many impurities: 'This body has hairs of the head,
hairs of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys,
heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, bowels, stomach, excrement,
bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin grease, spittle, nasal mucus,
oil of the joints, and urine.
Vis.M VIII, 2 says By repeating the
words of this exercise one will become well acquainted with the wording, the
mind will not rush here and there, the different parts will become distinct
and appear like a row of fingers, or a row of hedge-poles. Now, just as one
repeats the exercise in words, one should do it also in mind. The repeating
in mind forms the condition for the penetration of the characteristic marks.
He who thus has examined the parts of the body as to colour, shape, region,
locality and limits, and considers them one by one, and not too hurriedly,
as something loathsome, to such a one, while contemplating the body, all these
things at the same time are appearing distinctly clear. But also when keeping
one's attention fixed outwardly i.e. to the bodies of other beings, and when
all the parts appear distinctly, then all men and animals moving about lose
the appearance of living beings and appear like heaps of many different things.
And it looks as if those foods and drinks, being swallowed by them, were being
inserted into this heap of things. Now, while again and again one is conceiving
the idea 'Disgusting! Disgusting!' - omitting in due course several parts -
gradually the attainment - concentration
appanā-samādhi i.e. the concentration
of the jhāna will be reached. In this
connection, the appearing of forms... is called the acquired image
uggaha-nimitta the arising of loathsomeness,
however, the counter-image patibhāganimitta
Kāya-kamma: 'bodily action'; see: kamma,
kamma-patha
Kāya-kammaññatā: kāya-Lahutā,
kāya-mudutā, kāya-pāguññatā
kāya-passaddhi, kāya-ujukatā
s. Tab. II. For
passaddhi see: further bojjhanga
Kāya-lahutā: agility or lightness of
mental properties see: lahutā
Kāyānupassanā: 'contemplation of the body',
is one of the 4 foundations of awareness or mindfulness; s.
Kāya-passaddhi: tranquillity of
mental properties, s. bojjhanga
Kāya-sakkhi: 'body-witness', is one of the
7 Noble Disciples see: ariya-puggala
B.. He is one who in his own person lit. body has attained the 8 deliverances
vimokkha, and after wisely understanding
the phenomena, the fermentations have partly come to ceasing
Pug. 32. In
A. IX, 44 it is said: A monk, o brother, attains
the 1st absorption jhāna, and as far
as this domain reaches,- so far he has realized it in his own person. Thus
the Blessed One calls such a person a body-witness in certain respects. The
same is then repeated with regard to the 7 higher absorptions. Further again,
o brother, the Bhikkhu attains the ceasing of perception and feeling see:
nirodha-samāpatti and after
wisely understanding the phenomena, all the fermentations come to ceasing.
Thus, o brother, the Blessed One calls such a person a body-witness in all
respects.
Kāya-viññatti: s. viññatti
Khalu-pacchā-bhattik'anga: see:
dhutānga
Khana: 'moment'; see:
citta-kkhana
Khandha: the 5 'groups of existence' or 'groups
of clinging' upādānakhandha
alternative renderings: aggregates or clusters, categories of clinging's objects.
These are the 5 aspects in which the Buddha has summed up all the physical
and mental phenomena of existence, and which appear to the ignorant man as
his ego, or personality, to wit:
1 the materiality group
khandha
rūpa-khandha,
2 the feeling group vedanā-khandha,
3 the perception group saññā-khandha,
4 the mental-construction group sankhāra-khandha,
5 the consciousness-group viññāna-khandha
Whatever there exists of material things, whether past, present or future,
one's own or external, gross or subtle, lofty or low, far or near, all that
belongs to the materiality group. Whatever there exists of feeling... of perception...
of mental constructions... of consciousness... all that belongs to the consciousness-group
S. XXII, 48. - Another division is that
into the 2 groups: mind 2-5 and materiality 1
nāma-rūpa, whilst in Dhamma Sanganī,
the first book of the Abhidhamma, all the phenomena are treated by way of 3
groups: consciousness 5, mental properties 2-4, materiality 1, in Pāli
citta cetasika,
rūpa Cf.
Guide I.
What is called individual existence is in reality nothing but a mere process
of those mental and physical phenomena, a process that since time immemorial
has been going on, and that also after death will still continue for unthinkably
long periods of time. These 5 groups, however, neither singly nor collectively
constitute any self-dependent real ego-entity, or personality
attā nor is there to be found any such entity
apart from them. Hence the belief in such an ego-entity or personality, as
real in the ultimate sense, proves a mere illusion.
When all constituent parts are there,
The designation 'cart' is used;
Just so, where the five groups exist,
Of 'living being' do we speak. S. V.
10.
The fact ought to be emphasized here that these 5 groups, correctly speaking,
merely form an abstract classification by the Buddha, but that they as such,
i.e. as just these 5 complete groups, have no real existence, since only single
representatives of these groups, mostly variable, can arise with any state
of consciousness. For example, with one and the same unit of consciousness
only one single kind of feeling, say joy or sorrow, can be associated and never
more than one. Similarly, two different perceptions cannot arise at the same
moment. Also, of the various kinds of sense-cognition or consciousness, only
one can be present at a time, for example, seeing, hearing or inner consciousness,
etc. Of the 50 mental constructions, however, a smaller or larger number are
always associated with every state of consciousness, as we shall see later
on.
Some writers on Buddhism who have not understood that the five
khandha are just classificatory groupings,
have conceived them as compact entities 'heaps', 'bundles', while actually,
as stated above, the groups never exist as such, i.e. they never occur in a
simultaneous totality of all their constituents. Also those single constituents
of a group which are present in any given body-and-mind process, are of an
evanescent nature, and so also their varying combinations. Feeling, perception
and mental constructions are only different aspects and functions of a single
unit of consciousness. They are to consciousness what redness, softness, sweetness,
etc. are to an apple and have as little separate existence as those qualities.
In S. XXII, 56, there is the following
short definition of these 5 groups:
What, o Bhikkhus, is the materiality-group? The 4 primary elements
mahā-bhūta or
dhātu and materiality depending thereon,
this is called the materiality-group.
What, o Bhikkhus, is the feeling-group? There are 6 classes of feeling:
due to visual contact, to sound contact, to odour contact, to taste
contact, to bodily contact, and to mind contact.
What, o Bhikkhus, is the perception-group? There are 6 classes of perception:
perception of visual objects, of sounds, of odours, of tastes, of bodily contacts,
and of mental contacts.
What, o Bhikkhus, is the group of mental constructions? There are 6 classes
of intentional states cetanā with regard
to visual objects, to sounds, to odours, to tastes, to bodily contacts and
to mind objects.
What, o Bhikkhus, is the consciousness-group? There are 6 classes of consciousness:
visual-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness,
body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness.
About the inseparability of the groups it is said:
''Whatever, o brother, there exists of feeling, of perception and of mental
constructions, these things are associated, not dissociated, and it is impossible
to separate one from the other and show their difference. For whatever one
feels, one perceives; and whatever one perceives, of this one is conscious
M. 43.
Further: Impossible is it for anyone to explain the passing out of one existence
and the entering into a new existence, or the growth, increase and development
of consciousness independent of materiality, feeling, perception and mental
constructions S. XII, 53
For the inseparability and mutual conditionality of the 4 mental groups
see: paccaya 6, 7.
Regarding the impersonality
anattā and emptiness
suññatā of the 5 groups, it is said in
S. XXII, 49:
Whatever there is of materiality, feeling, perception, mental constructions
and consciousness, whether past, present or future, one's own or external,
gross or subtle, lofty or low, far or near, this one should understand according
to reality and true understanding: 'This does not belong to me, this am I not, this
is not my Ego.'
Further in S. XXII, 95: Suppose
that a man who is not blind were to behold the many bubbles on the Ganges as
they are driving along; and he should watch them and carefully examine them.
After carefully examining them, however, they will appear to him empty, unreal
and unsubstantial. In exactly the same way does the Bhikkhu behold all the
material phenomena... feelings... perceptions... mental constructions... states
of consciousness, whether they be of the past, present or future... far or
near. And he watches them and examines them carefully; and after carefully
examining them, they appear to him empty, unreal and unsubstantial.
The 5 groups are compared, respectively, to a lump of froth, a bubble, a
mirage, a coreless plantain stem, and a conjuring trick
S. XXII, 95.
See the Khandha Samyutta S. XXII;
Vis.M XIV.
SUMMARY OF THE 5 GROUPS
I. Materiality Group
khandha
rūpa-khandha
A. Underived no-upādā 4
elements
the solid, or earth-element
pathavī-dhātu
the liquid, or water-element āpo-dhātu
heat, or fire-element tejo-dhātu
motion, or wind-element vāyo-dhātu
B. Derived upādā 24 secondary phenomena
Physical sense-organs of: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, body
Physical sense-objects: form, sound, odour, taste, bodily impacts
'Bodily impacts' photthabba are generally omitted
in this list, because these physical objects of body-sensitivity are identical
with the afore-mentioned solid element, heat and motion element. Hence their
inclusion under 'derived materiality' would be a duplication.
femininity itthindriya
virility purisindriya
physical base of mind hadaya-vatthu
bodily expression kāya-viññatti
s. viññatti
verbal expression vacī-viññatti
physical life rūpa
jīvita s.
jīvita
space element ākāsa-dhātu
physical agility rūpassa lahutā
physical elasticity rūpassa mudutā
physical adaptability rūpassa
kammaññatā
physical growth rūpassa upacaya
physical continuity rūpassa santati s.
decay jarā
impermanence aniccatā
nutriment āhāra
II. Feeling Group
vedanā-khandha
All feelings may, according to their nature, be classified as 5 kinds:
bodily pleasant feeling sukha
= kāyikā sukhā vedanā
bodily painful feeling dukkha = kāyikā, dukkhā
mentally pleasant feeling somanassa
= cetasikā sukhā vedanā
mentally painful feeling domanassa
= cetasikā dukkhā vedanā
indifferent feeling upekkhā =
adukkha-m-asukhā vedanā
III. Perception Group
saññā-khandha
All perceptions are divided into 6 classes: perception of form, sound,
odour, taste, bodily contact, and mental contact.
IV. Group of Mental Constructions
sankhāra-khandha
This group comprises 50 mental phenomena, of which 11 are general psychological
elements, 25 lofty qualities, 14 kammically disadvantageous qualities. Cf.
Tab. 11.
V. Consciousness Group
viññāna-khandha
The Suttas divide consciousness, according to the senses, into 6 classes:
eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body-, mind-consciousness.
The Abhidhamma and commentaries, however, distinguish, from the kammical
or moral viewpoint, 89 classes of consciousness. Cf. viññāna and
Tab. 1.
The moral quality of feeling, perception and consciousness is determined
by the mental constructions.
Khandha-parinibbāna: see:
nibbāna
Khandha-santāna: see:
Khanti: 'patience', forbearance', is one of the
10 perfections pāramī.
Khayānupassanā: 'contemplation of dissolution',
is one of the 18 chief kinds of insight see:
vipassanā
Khidda-padosikā devā: 'the celestial
beings corruptible by pleasures', are a class of devas of the sense-sphere.
They waste their time in merriment, play and enjoyment, and thereby become
thoughtless, and in their thoughtlessness they fall from that world
D. 1; 24.
Khīnāsava: 'the one in whom all fermentations
are destroyed' is a name for the Arahat, or Noble One; s.
āsava
Kicca: 'function'. Regarding the 14 functions of
consciousness, see: viññāna-kicca
Kilesa: 'defilements', are mind-defiling, disadvantageous
qualities. Vis.M XXII, 49, 65: There
are 10 defilements, thus called because they are themselves defiled, and because
they defile the mental properties associated with them. They are: 1 greed
lobha 2 hate
dosa 3 confusion
moha 4 conceit
māna 5 speculative views
ditthi 6 skeptical doubt
vicikicchā 7 mental Laziness thīna
8 restlessness uddhacca 9 shamelessness
ahirika 10 lack of Fear of Wrongdoing or unconscientiousness
anottappa For 1-3, see:
mūla 4, s.
māna 5, see:
ditthi 6-8, s.
nīvarana 9 and 10, see:
ahirika-anottappa
The ten are explained in Dhs. 1229f
and enumerated in Vibh. XII. No
classification of the k. is found in the Suttas, though the term occurs
quite often in them. For the related term,
upakkilesa, 'impurities' different
lists are given - App..
Kilesa-kāma: 'sensuality considered as defilement'
see: kilesa might well be called 'subjective
sensuality', in contradistinction to 'objective sensuality'
vatthu-kāma i.e. the sense-objects
kāma-guna Cf.
kāma
Kilesa-parinibbāna: see:
nibbāna 1.
Killing: see: kamma, kamma-patha,
Kiñcana: 'something', i.e. something evil that
sticks or adheres to character. 'Evil appendant', is a name for the 3 disadvantageous
roots mūla. There are 3 appendants:
greed lobha is an appendant, hate
dosa is an appendant, confusion
moha is an appendant
D. 33. 'Freed from appendants' akiñcana
is a term for the perfectly Noble One Arahat
Kiriya: or Kriya-citta:
'functional consciousness' or 'kammically inoperative consciousness', is
a name for such states of consciousness as are neither kammically advantageous
kusala nor disadvantageous
akusala nor kamma-results
vipāka that is, they function independently
of kamma. Thus are also called all those worldly mental states in the Arahat
which are accompanied by 2 or 3 noble roots greedlessness, hatelessness, unconfusedness,
being in the Arahat kammically neutral and corresponding to the kammically
advantageous states of a non-Arahat see: Tab.
1-8 and 73-89, as well as the rootless mirth-producing hasituppāda mind-consciousness-element
of the Arahat Tab. 72; further, that
mind-element mano-dhātu which
performs the function of directing āvajjana
to the sense object Tab. 70, and that
mind-consciousness-element manoviññāna-dhātu
which performs the functions of deciding votthapana and directing to
the mental object Tab. 71. The last-named
2 elements, of course, occur in all beings.
Together with kamma-resultant consciousness
vipāka it belongs to the group of 'kammically
neutral consciousness' avyākata See
Tab. I last column. -
App..
Knowledge: cf. paññā, ñāna, vijjā, vipassanā,
abhiññā
Kolankola: 'passing from one noble family to
another', is the name for one of the 3 kinds of
sotāpanna.
Kriya-citta: =
kiriya
Kukkucca: lit. 'wrongly-performed-ness' ku+krta+ya
i.e. regrets, remorse, uneasiness of conscience, worry, is one of the kammically
disadvantageous akusala mental abilities
Tab. II. which, whenever it arises, is associated
with hateful discontented consciousness Tab. I and
III, 30, 31. It is the 'repentance over wrong things done, and right things
neglected' Com. to
A. I. Restlessness and regrets
uddhacca-kukkucca
combined, are counted as one of the 5 mental hindrances
nīvarana.
Kuppa-dhamma: 'liable to perturbation', is
one who has not yet attained full mastery over the absorptions. In
Pug. 3 it is said: What person is liable
to perturbation? Such a person gains the attainments of the fine-material and
immaterial sphere see: avacara
But he does not gain them at his wish, nor without toil and exertion; and not
at his wish as regards place, object and duration, does he enter them or arise
from them. Thus it is well possible that in case of such a person, through
negligence, the attainments will become perturbed. This person is liable to
perturbation.
Kusala: 'kammically advantageous' or 'profitable',
salutary, morally good, skillful Connotations of the term, according to
Com.
Atthasālini, are: of good health,
blameless, productive of favourable kamma-result, skillful. It should be noted
that Com. excludes the meaning 'skillful',
when the term is applied to states of consciousness.
It is defined in M. 9 as the 10
advantageous courses of action see: kamma-patha In psychological terms,
'kammically advantageous' are all those kammical intentions
kamma-cetanā
and the consciousness and mental properties associated therewith, which are accompanied
by 2 or 3 advantageous roots see: mūla
i.e. by greedlessness alobha and hatelessness
adosa and in some cases also by non-confusion
amoha understanding, understanding. Such states
of consciousness are regarded as 'kammically advantageous' as they are causes
of favourable kamma results and contain the seeds of a happy destiny or rebirth.
From this explanation, two facts should be noted: 1 it is intention that makes
a state of consciousness, or an act, 'good' or 'bad'; 2 the moral criterion
in Buddhism is the presence or absence of the 3 advantageous or moral roots
see: mūla
The above explanations refer to mundane lokiya
advantageous consciousness. supra-mundane advantageous
lokuttara-kusala
states, i.e. the four paths of sanctity see:
ariya-puggala have as results
only the corresponding four fruitions; they do not constitute kamma, nor do
they lead to rebirth, and this applies also to the good actions of an Arahat
Tab. I, 73-80 and his meditative states
Tab. 1,
81-89, which are all kammically inoperative functional; s.
kiriya
kusala belongs to a threefold division
of all consciousness, as found in the Abhidhamma
Dhs., into advantageous
kusala disadvantageous
akusala and kammically neutral
avyākata which is the first of the triads
tika in the Abhidhamma schedule mātikā see:
Guide, pp. 4ff., 12ff;
Vis.M XIV, 83ff.
kusala-kamma-patha: 'advantageous course of action'; s.
kamma-patha
Kusala-mūla: the 'advantageous roots' or 'roots
of advantageous action', are greedlessness alobha
hatelessness adosa and non-confusion
amoha s.
mūla They are identical with
kusala-hetu
s. paccaya 1.
Kusala-vipāka: the mental 'kamma-result
of advantageous kamma' see: kamma.