These subtle material phenomena can only be perceived through highly developed mental concentration, specifically:
- The light generated by fourth jhāna concentration
- Access concentration (upacāra-samādhi) developed through systematic contemplation of elements
I have personally coordinated scientific inquiries involving samples of sacred relics - including teeth, hair, ashes, and bones attributed to the Buddha and his prominent disciples. These studies involved collaborative research with prestigious institutions across multiple countries including England, the United States, India,Israel, and China and several universities, as part of joint research projects focusing on the Buddha and his monastic disciples. While these studies yielded valuable scientific data, they could not detect the subtle material phenomena that Buddhist meditation masters can directly perceive through their developed concentration.
This highlights a remarkable aspect of Buddhist wisdom - the ability to directly perceive subtle material phenomena that lie beyond the detection capabilities of even our most sophisticated modern scientific instruments. This suggests that the development of mental concentration through Buddhist practices offers unique insights into reality that complement, rather than conflict with, modern scientific understanding.
Let me explain further about the elevated nature of vipassanā wisdom as taught by the Buddha.
When a yogi establishes a certain jhāna as the foundation (pādaka-jhāna) for vipassanā and then systematically develops contemplation of elements (dhātu-kammaṭṭhāna), they initially perceive their body as a transparent mass, like a block of ice or glass, before breaking down the compact mass of materiality (rūpa) with wisdom and reaching ultimate reality (paramattha).
What is this transparent mass? The Visuddhimagga Commentary explains:
"Pasāda-rūpa is like a clear mirror surface that serves as the basis for grasping the five kinds of sense objects." (VM 306)
The Buddha taught about five types of transparent materiality (pasāda-rūpa):
1. Eye-sensitivity (cakkhu-pasāda)
2. Ear-sensitivity (sota-pasāda)
3. Nose-sensitivity (ghāna-pasāda)
4. Tongue-sensitivity (jivhā-pasāda)
5. Body-sensitivity (kāya-pasāda)
While the first four sensitivities are located in their respective sense organs, body-sensitivity is spread throughout the entire body wherever touch-sensitivity exists. It's present in all six sense doors (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and heart).
Before the yogi can break down the compactness (ghana) of materiality through wisdom, they see these transparent elements as solid masses, like blocks of ice or glass. This transparent mass primarily consists of body-sensitivity (kāya-pasāda) that pervades the entire body.
However, these transparent elements:
- Are produced by past kamma
- Can only exist within living beings' internal (ajjhatta) continuum
- Cannot be taken to a laboratory for analysis because they are impermanent phenomena that arise and pass away too quickly
The yogi only perceives these transparent masses before reaching the insight into ultimate reality (paramattha).
This shows how profound the wisdom gained through proper practice of samatha and vipassanā meditation, as taught by the Buddha to his disciples, truly is. The ability to perceive these transparent elements represents an extraordinary level of insight.
In the Mahārāhulovāda Sutta and others, the Buddha also instructed meditation on six elements, including space element (ākāsa-dhātu). Observing the space element is crucial because it helps practitioners more easily discern ultimate materiality (rūpa-paramattha).
The process works like this:
1. The yogi first observes space elements within the transparent mass
2. This leads to seeing the material clusters (rūpa-kalāpa)
3. Only then can one discern the ultimate material phenomena within each cluster
The space element serves as a boundary demarcating individual material clusters. Within these clusters:
- Some contain 8 inseparable material elements (pathavī, āpo, tejo, vāyo, vaṇṇa, gandha, rasa, ojā)
- Some contain 9 elements (adding life-force materiality/jīvita-rūpa)
- Some contain 10 elements (adding transparent element, sex-determining materiality, or heart-base)
A yogi can discern these ultimate material phenomena with:
- The aid of light generated by fourth jhāna or similar concentration
- Access concentration (upacāra-samādhi) developed through contemplation of elements
Consider how remarkable this wisdom is - to be able to directly perceive these subtle material phenomena that even modern science cannot detect.
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