Concepts III - Either paramattha dhammas or concepts


Concepts are the object of citta in daily life, at the moments that it does not have paramattha dhammas as object. We should find out ourselves how often we have concepts as object. There is seeing and then we think of a story about what appears through the eyes. There is hearing and then we think about what appears through the ears. It is the same with regard to the other sense-doors. The cittas (moments of consciousness) that arise in a mind-door process experience visible object, sound, odour, flavour and tangible object, and they think in many different ways about all these objects.
Can there be other kinds of objects in our daily lives? There can be either paramattha dhammas or concepts as objects in this life, in previous lives, or in future lives, in  whatever plane or world one is living. There cannot be other kinds of objects. There are only six classes of objects (the objects which are experienced through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind) and in these classes paramattha dhammas as well as concepts are included.
We may wonder whether the Buddha experienced objects that were concepts. Let us first speak about the daily life of ordinary people. When the cittas of an eye-door process have fallen away and there have been bhavanga-cittas in between, there is one series of mind-door process cittas that have as object the same paramattha dhamma as the eye- door process cittas that have just fallen away. After bhavanga-cittas in between, there can be mind-door process cittas that think of the shape and form of what appeared. What appears through the eyes is a kind of rupa (visible object), and this arises together with the four Great Elements of earth, water, fire and wind.
We cannot separate colour from these four Great Elements. Wherever the four Great Elements are, the rupas that are colour, odour, flavour and nutritive essence also have to be together with them. These eight rupas cannot be separated from each other. Thus, since we cannot take colour away from the four Great Elements, there can, after we have seen colour through the eyesense, be a concept on account of colour. We can have a concept of a whole, we can know that there is this or that thing, this or that person.  Seeing conditions thinking of concepts. If there were no colour impinging on the eye-sense and no seeing, could we then notice people, beings and different things?
The Buddha certainly had concepts as objects. When we listen to the Dhamma we should also consider which cause leads to which effect. There are paramattha dhammas as well as concepts that can be the object of citta. At the moment a paramattha dhamma is not the object, a concept must be the object. This has been repeated time and again so that there are conditions for sati to be aware of the characteristics of the realities that appear.
Thus, it can be understood correctly that what appears through the eyes are only different colours. Since colour arises together with the four Great Elements and cannot be  separated from them, different concepts are conceived on account of the colour that was seen. If satipatthana arises it can distinguish visible object, it can consider it and be aware of it, so that it can be correctly known that what appears are just different colours. Colour can be realised as only a kind of reality appearing through the eyes. It can be correctly understood that when one knows what different things are, there are, at the same time, mind-door process cittas that know concepts.

Topic 290