English
Again, having realized the futility and the danger of indulging m sense desires, by mental culture and concentration one detaches oneself from sensuous pleasure and attenuates the craving for them, and after culti\'ating Jhanas he is born in Rupal5ka without the three bases of nose, tongue and body. This does not mean that they are devoid of the ordinar)^ nose, tongue and body. In the sphere of unconscious beings, there is not a single base present but only a physical body. In Arupalaka the aggregate of rupa (material qualities) is totally absent, but the mind and mental concomitants exist, not depending on the heart-base. CONTRO\TRSY RE HEART-BASE With regard to the heart-base, there is a conflict of opinion as to whether it is in the heart or the brain, or in both, or any- where else in the human system. Criticism is also levelled against the commentators that, when the Buddha never stated the organ in which it existed, they erroneously expounded that it was present in the heart. 189 Ihe Buddha states '* ^'an rtipan nissaya manodhatuca mano vifinana dh.ituca pavattantin rupan (:8o djCJ. tSooWDaO @^2>^3 0)3^5© ®<2O0S&e35k^ C)3^© C©G5C5C5X9o d^Co) that in dependence of a material quality the element of mind and the element of mind-consciousness exist and that material quality is referred to by him. Because the Buddha does not specify in which organ this material quality exists, whether in the heart, or brain, or both, or anywhere else in the human system, it is illogical and unreasonable to challenge the exposition of the commentators and accuse them by alleging that they state that It IS the heart. What the commentators do state is that this material quality of heart-base, which is derived from the four great essentials and originated from Kamma, is associated with the blood in the heart organ. As the blood is circulated ail over the body and is a product of the heart, the commentators are quite justifiable in designating this material quality as heart- base, and not as a brain-base, although there is an inter-relation betv\'een the heart and the brain in that the heart cannot perform Its functions without the necessary innervation from the brain, nor could the brain perform its functions without the necessary blood supply from the heart. That the heart is the more im- portant of the two could be deduced from the fact that death is more often caused by stoppage of heart's action than from other causes. That it is not located in the brain could be understood easily by the fact that consciousness may arise anywhere in the body under necessary circumstances, for blood which is pumped out by the heart supplies the whole body. The Scientists and western Philosophers, of course, would say that consciousness arises in the brain and not in the heart. With due deference to Scientists and Physiologists, it must be stated that, although their investigations and researches more or less definitely have located different centres in the brain as controlling certain phenomena, and though the functions of the brain, which constitute the cerebrum and cerebellum, medulla oblongata and spinal cord, sensory and motor nerves and so on have been understood, which are incontrovertible facts, they have not reached the climax nor would they ever, as their knowledge is not perfect and that knowledge too is with regard to only physical matter. Even in the event of Scientists and Physiologists arriving at the ultimate truth with regard to their findings, they could do so with matter only, but not with immaterial 190 <|ualities such as consciousness and their mcnral concomitants, which could be discerned only by an Omniscient. It would be impossible, for mstance, for one with worldly knowledge to contrive some appliance or method by which the time taken in a process of thought could be ascertained. The commentators who have gained supra-mundane knowledge and Enlightenment state that a thought process consists of seventeen thought moments, each of which consists of three phases, nascent, static and cessant, whenever a visual object is seen by the eye and before the meaning of the object is understood three other processes aris- ing through the mind-door take place. Hach thought moment is supposed "to be between one billionth and two billionth part of the time taken m snapping one's fingers or the winking of an eye. Now, phenomena of this nature, which take place from the moment of conception up to death, could only be expounded by the Enlightened Ones, and could never be explained by Chemists, Scientists Physiologists and Philosophers who possess only worldly knowledge. Buddhism does not deny by any means the truth of their findings; on the other hand, their findings are absolutely in conformity with the doctrine preached by the Buddha, but they have not been able to get at the ultimate and highest truth and to reveal things as they in reality are. Hence, they say that consciousness arises in the brain. Some allege that the commentators have not described the heart and its contents as they truly are viz. that the heart consists of two auricles and two ventricles and that \enous blood comes into the right side of the heart which is pumped out into the lungs and after aeration becomes arterial and so on. 1 he commentators are not concerned with the anatomy and physiology of the heart or any other organ. They say there is a cavity in the heart which contains blood with which is associated the heart-base. The blood is said to be assuming different colours according to the type of consciousness that arises, and this truth is also repudiated by certain critics who are acquainted with the fact that the venous blood is darker than the arterial. No one would deny that venous blood is dark and arterial blood is red. Those conditions are discerned by the naked eye, but the eye ot wisdom is necessary to believe in the truth of the fact that 191 different colours are assumed by the blood when influenced by certain classes of consciousness. The heart-base is neither the heart nor the brain. It is only a material quality derived from the four great essentials and origin- ated from Kamma, which is associated with the blood in the circulation, which is carried on by the heart receiving nerve supply from the brain. END OF VOLUME I < I COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES '■ ^*t due on the date indicated below, or at ' *-^ - ' "-p of borr'' I The LiBRARK of Philosophy Butler rseo D46 Vol. 1 JUIV 1 8 1938