In Hinduism and Buddhism, rūpa (Sanskrit; Pāli; Devanagari: रूप; Thai: รูป) generally refers to material objects, particularly in regards to their appearance. [edit] Hinduism According to the Monier-Williams Dictionary (2006), rūpa is defined as: -
- ... any outward appearance or phenomenon or colour (often pl.) , form , shape , figure RV. &c &c ...
- to assume a form ; often ifc. = " having the form or appearance or colour of " , " formed or composed of " , " consisting of " , " like to " ....[1]
[edit] Buddhism | | | Figure 2: The Pali Canon's Six Sextets: | | | | | sense bases |
→ | | f
e
e
l
i
n
g | |
→ | | c
r
a
v
i
n
g | | | | | "internal"
sense
organs | <–> | "external"
sense
objects | | | | | ↓ | ↓ | | ↓ | contact | | ↓ | ↑ | | |
consciousness
| | | | | - The six internal sense bases are the eye, ear,
nose, tongue, body & mind. - The six external sense bases are visible forms,
sound, odor, flavors, touch & mental objects. - Sense-specific consciousness arises dependent
on an internal & an external sense base. - Contact is the meeting of an internal sense
base, external sense base & consciousness. - Feeling is dependent on contact.
- Craving is dependent on feeling.
| | Source: MN 148 (Thanissaro, 1998) | diagram details | | In general, rūpa is the Buddhist concept of material form, including both the body and external matter. More specifically, in the Pali Canon, rūpa is contextualized in three significant frameworks:[2] - rūpa-khandha – "material forms," one of the five aggregates (khandha) by which all phenomena can be categorized (see Fig. 1).
- rūpa-āyatana – "visible objects," the external sense objects of the eye, one of the six external sense bases (āyatana) by which the world is known (see Fig. 2).
- nāma-rūpa – "name and form" or "mind and body," which in the causal chain of dependent origination (paticca-samuppāda) arises from consciousness and leads to the arising of the sense bases.
In addition, more generally, rūpa is used to describe a statue, in which it is sometimes called Buddharupa. [edit] Rūpa-khandha Rūpa means both materiality and sensibility — it signifies, for example, a tactile object both insofar as that object is tactile and that it can be sensed. Rūpa is never a materiality which can be separated or isolated from cognizance; such a non-empirical category is incongruous in the context of early Buddhism. Rūpa is not a substratum or substance which has sensibility as a property; it functions in early Buddhist thought as perceivable physicality. Matter, or rūpa, is defined in terms of its function; what it does, not what it is.[3] As matter, rūpa is traditionally analysed in two ways: as four primary elements (Pali, mahābhūta); and, as ten or twenty-four secondary or derived elements. [edit] Four primary elements Existing rūpa consists in the four primary or underived (no-upādā) elements: [edit] Derived matter In the Abhidhamma Pitaka and later Pali literature,[4] rūpa is further analyzed in terms of ten or twenty-three or twenty-four types of secondary or derived (upādā) matter. In the list of ten types of secondary matter, the following are identified: - eye
- ear
- nose
- tongue
- body[5]
- form
- sound
- odour
- taste
- touch[6]
If twenty-four secondary types are enumerated, then the following fifteen are added to the first nine of the above ten: - femininity
- masculinity or virility
- life or vitality
- heart or heart-basis[7]
- physical indications (movements that indicate intentions)
- vocal indications
- space element
- physical lightness or buoyancy
- physical yieldingness or plasticity
- physical handiness or wieldiness
- physical grouping or integration
- physical extension or maintenance
- physical aging or decay
- physical impermanence
- food[8]
A list of 23 derived types can be found, for instance, in the Abhidhamma Pitaka's Dhammasangani (e.g., Dhs. 596), which omits the list of 24 derived types' "heart-basis."[9] [edit] See also - ^ Monier-Williams Dictionary, pp. 885-6, entry for "Rūpa," retrieved 2008-03-06 from "Cologne University" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/ (using "rUpa" as keyword) and http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0886-rUpakartR.jpg.
- ^ E.g., see Hamilton (2001), p. 3 and passim.
- ^ Dan Lusthaus, Buddhist Phenomenology: A Philosophical Investigation of Yogācāra Buddhism and the Chʼeng Wei-shih Lun. Routledge, 2002, page 183.
- ^ Hamilton (2001), p. 6.
- ^ Here, "body" (kāya) refers to that which senses "touch" (phoṭṭhabba). In the Upanishads, "skin" is used instead of "body" (Rhys Davids, 1900, p. 172 n. 3).
- ^ The first ten secondary elements are the same as the first five (physical) sense bases and their sense objects (e.g., see Hamilton, 2001, pp. 6-7).
- ^ According to Vsm. XIV, 60 (Buddhaghosa, 1999, p. 447), the heart-basis provides material support for the mind (mano) and mind consciousness. In the Sutta Pitaka, a material basis for the mind sphere (āyatana) is never identified.
- ^ The list of 24 can be found, for instance, in the Visuddhimagga (Vsm. XIV, 36 ff.) (Buddhaghosa, 1999, pp. 443 ff.; and, Hamilton, 2001, p. 7).
- ^ Compare Dhs. 596 (Rhys Davids, 2000, p. 172) and Vsm. XIV, 36 (Buddhaghosa, 1999, p. 443).
[edit] Sources - Buddhaghosa, Bhadantācariya (trans. from Pāli by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli) (1999). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.
- Hamilton, Sue (2001). Identity and Experience: The Constitution of the Human Being according to Early Buddhism. Oxford: Luzac Oriental. ISBN 1-898942-23-4.
- Rhys Davids, Caroline A.F. ([1900], 2003). Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics, of the Fourth Century B.C., Being a Translation, now made for the First Time, from the Original Pāli, of the First Book of the Abhidhamma-Piṭaka, entitled Dhamma-Saṅgaṇi (Compendium of States or Phenomena). Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0-7661-4702-9.
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