English
Why here is tangibility spoken of only for the elements excluding the water element, since the water element too should be known by touching in terms of coldness? No, coldness too is said to be the heat element. For it is heat itself that will be designated as cold. Taking hardness and non-hardness as a basis, like sparse shade of trees, or taking that as a basis, dense shade and so on, otherwise what inherent nature would this coldness have? "Of the water element," you say. If so, there would be no fault in hot water and so on, because of the contradictory characteristics of water and heat co-arising, and it does not remain as coldness in the presence of heat. For by no co-existence do inherent natures abandon their inherent nature, because of the consequence of non-existence, nor does it have another nature apart from abandoning its cold nature, with which co-existence would be fitting. If it were so, "water is coldness," there would be two entities, because of the mutually distinct inherent nature of the entity, or even if not coldness, the inherent nature of the water element is the cold quality, and that disappears in the presence of heat, the qualified is form. If it exists, then the water element should be directly perceived, and not have a fixed touch. And that cold touch, which is a quality, is well-described by us as a specific form of the fire element. If this is the distinction, then surely coldness and heat are mutually opposed. How can they be the nature of the fire element? This is not a fault, because they cannot occur in the same group, but in different groups, like the nature of color objects such as blue, yellow, etc., in their occurrence, the nature of the fire element is not contradictory. If coldness is not the inherent nature of the water element, then what is its inherent nature? Liquidity. If so, since liquidity is also known by touching, it should be tangible? No, it is perceived by the mind after touching coldness, etc., just as color is seen. In the dark, those lying down, due to extreme coldness, touch leaves, etc., and suspect, "There is water here." Or, having touched water, they perceive snakes, etc. Therefore, the water element is only intangible; the other three elements are to be regarded as tangible. Can these three elements together be made an object and cause body consciousness to arise, or can they not? They cannot. Why? Because it arises by making one of them an object, either by prominence or by intensity. For example, for one who, taking a lump of rice in a pot, examines its firmness and softness, or immersing a hand in a pot of hot water, examines its hotness, or opening a window in hot weather and letting the wind strike the body, although the other three elements are present there, body consciousness arises depending on whichever earth, fire, or air element is prominent, respectively. Thus, it makes an object by prominence. But by intensity, for one who bites on sugar while eating, or steps on fire on the road, or is struck even on the earlobe by a strong wind, although the other three elements are present there, body consciousness arises depending on whichever earth, fire, or air element is intense. Concerning contact, in due order, body-consciousness arises. Even if the whole body of one immersed in fire is struck by fire with a single blow, wherever the body-sensitivity is prominent, or wherever the impact of the object is strong, there, in that very place, body-consciousness arises first, and afterwards in other places. But due to the brevity of a moment, because of arising by quickly turning around, it appears as if the entire body is being burned with a single blow. For many consciousnesses do not arise in one moment, nor do they pervade a single one. But in each inseparable body-decade, only one body-consciousness arises due to prominence, and thus, in other objects too, the arising of individual consciousnesses should be understood in inseparable regions. Thus, it is said to make the object prominent. But by what does the mind's transference to an object occur? By intention, or by the excessiveness of the object. For one wishing to see images of paintings in various places, having first seen one in one place, then an attentive thought arises to see forms in other places. Thus, transference occurs by intention. But even while seeing a large form-object, when the sound of all the instruments arises, or while hearing it, when pleasant or unpleasant, excessive smells, tastes, or touches strike the senses, the mind transfers from one to another, thus, transference occurs by the excessiveness of the object, this is the determination here in brief. But the determination in detail, by voidness, or by past and so on, and individually by endless variety, should be understood as appropriate, according to the method stated in the analysis of consciousness. Concerning origin, and here, concerning the order of existence in the wombs of becoming, miscellaneous talk should be understood – for arising material phenomena of four origins, in two realms, in four wombs, arise only in groups of decades and so on, as appropriate, in rebirth and existence. There, first, by the twenty wholesome and unwholesome states of the desire realm, in the desire realm, In egg-born and moisture-born beings, and beings arising spontaneously, six things: the two kinds of gender, and life, these eight forms appear as appropriate from the moment of rebirth. These are: the pure eightfold, and life, the life-ninefold, that same ninefold with the eye, the eye-tenfold, with the ear, the ear-tenfold, with the nose, the nose-tenfold, with the tongue, the tongue-tenfold, with the body, the body-tenfold, with the heart-base, the base-tenfold, with one of the genders, the gender-tenfold, thus nine groups arise. Among hermaphrodites, there is no gender-tenfold here, nor for those born blind, etc., the eye, ear, and nose-tenfolds. Thus also for egg-born and womb-born beings, but for them, only the body, base, and gender-tenfolds arise with the rebirth-consciousness, then in the course of life, the life-ninefold, eye-tenfold, etc., arise as appropriate. In the realm of form, however, the nose-tenfold, etc., the three, the two gender-tenfolds, and the digestive fire-ninefold are absent, the remaining five arise from the moment of rebirth due to the five wholesome form-sphere actions. But for the non-percipient beings, only the life-ninefold arises from the fifth jhāna wholesome action. Thus, these nine form-groups, produced by actions in the desire and form spheres, in the two realms, in the four modes of birth, as appropriate, from the moment of rebirth until the existence of seventeen thought-moments beyond the death-consciousness, arise continuously in the internal continuum in the three moments known as the arising, presence, and dissolution of consciousness, then, ceasing to arise, they cease with the death-consciousness. But the mind-produced ones, in the five-aggregate existence, produced at the moment of their own arising by the seventy-five consciousnesses excluding the dual five-sense consciousnesses and the formless resultants, from the first subconsciousness up to the final death-consciousness, in the internal continuum, the pure eightfold, that same with body-intimation, the body-intimation-ninefold, with speech-intimation and sound, the speech-intimation-tenfold, with lightness, etc., the lightness-elevenfold, with body-intimation, lightness, etc., the twelvefold, with speech-intimation, sound, lightness, etc., the Six groups, beginning with mind-produced, arise according to their suitability. Here, in the mind-produced consciousness, all consciousness-produced matter is generated by the sense-sphere javanas accompanied by joy, including posture-declaration and laughter; the remaining sense-sphere javanas, the supernormal knowledges, and the determining consciousness, except for laughter; and the appanā javanas, without posture-declaration, etc., but they support the posture as it arises, without ceasing. But the remaining nineteen, the form-sphere resultants, mind-element, and registering consciousness, do not do even that; they produce four groups: the pure octad, the sound-generating nonad, the lightness-generating eleven, and the sound-lightness-generating twelve; even there, all rebirth consciousnesses, the death consciousnesses of arahants, and those arisen in the formless realm, do not generate any matter; the formless-sphere resultant two- and five-sense consciousnesses do not arise at all. But the nutriment-produced ones, in the sense-sphere only, arising from nutriment, the essence called oja, established by ingested nutriment, in one's own being, arise as two groups: the pure octad and the lightness-generating eleven, lasting as long as life lasts, not in the form realm. The temperature-produced ones, arising in one's own being from temperature, the element of heat, established by internal and external temperature, arise as four groups: the pure octad, the sound-generating nonad, the lightness-generating eleven, the sound-lightness-generating eleven, and the sound-lightness-generating twelve, lasting as long as life lasts; but externally, in earth, mountains, deva and brahma mansions, etc., they arise as only two groups: the pure octad and the sound-generating nonad, such as the sound of the sea. Here, the characteristic of space, though present in all groups, is not counted in the classification of groups due to lack of usage. Here, at the moment of rebirth, there are no temperature- or nutriment-produced ones; decay and death do not occur at every moment of arising; thus, the process of arising of four-produced matter in the wombs of existence and in the course of life after rebirth should be understood. Moreover, the nature of that in terms of the forty-two parts...