Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Fully Self-Enlightened One

Canon of the Higher Teaching

Commentary on the Pairs (Second Part)

6.

Pairs on Activities

1. Commentary on the Section on Designation

1. Now, having collected a portion according to what is obtainable of the very same wholesome and other mental states taught in the Mūla-yamaka, there is the commentary on the Saṅkhāra-yamaka taught immediately after the Sacca-yamaka. Therein too, the three major sections beginning with the section on description, and the sub-sections beginning with the intermediate section and the remaining classifications should be understood in the very same manner as stated above. Here, however, this is the distinction - In the section on description, first, just as above, having recited the phenomena beginning with the aggregates, "matter is the aggregate of material body; eye is the eye sense base; eye is the eye-element; suffering is the truth of suffering" - thus the term-purification section was commenced. Without commencing in that way, "in-breath and out-breath is bodily activity" - first, the three activities too were shown having been analysed.

Therein, the activity of the body is bodily activity. Because of the statement "in-breath and out-breath are bodily, these phenomena are connected to the body," the activity that is the result of the material body which is the cause - thus it is bodily activity. Another method - "It is conditioned" - thus it is an activity. By what is it conditioned? By the body. For this is conditioned by the material body, just as wind by a bellows. Thus too, the activity of the body - thus it is bodily activity. The meaning is the wind of in-breath and out-breath produced by the body. But from the statement "First indeed, friend Visākha, having applied thought and having sustained thought, afterwards one breaks into speech, therefore applied and sustained thought is verbal activity," "it constructs" - thus it is an activity. What does it construct? Speech. The activity of speech - thus it is verbal activity. This is the name for the pair of applied and sustained thought that produces verbal expression. But from the very statement "perception and feeling are mental, these phenomena are connected to consciousness," in the third term too, "it is conditioned" - thus it is an activity. By what is it conditioned? By consciousness. Using the genitive case in the instrumental sense, the activity of consciousness - thus it is mental activity. This is a designation for all consciousness-originated mental factors. But because applied and sustained thought have been taken separately as being verbal activity, "except for applied and sustained thought" is said.

2-7. Now, "is body bodily activity" - thus the term-purification section was commenced. Of that, three in the conformity method and three in the reverse method - thus six pairs. In the term-purification-root-wheel section, making two each rooted in each activity, six in the conformity method and six in the reverse method - thus twelve pairs. In the pure-activity section, however, just as in the pure-aggregate section and so on, "matter is an aggregate, aggregates are matter; eye is a sense base, sense bases are the eye" - by this method and so on, pairs were stated. Thus, without saying "body is activity, activities are body," by the method beginning with "bodily activity is verbal activity, verbal activity is bodily activity," two rooted in bodily activity, one rooted in verbal activity - three in the forward order, three in the reverse order - thus in the pure section too, six pairs in all were stated. Why? Because of the absence of meaning by way of each pure individual term. For just as in the Aggregate Pairs and so on, because aggregates distinguished by matter and so on, and sense bases and so on distinguished by eye and so on, are intended, "matter is an aggregate, aggregates are matter, eye is a sense base, sense bases are the eye" - by way of each pure individual term there is a meaning. In the same way, here "body is activity, activities are body" - there is not. But "bodily activity" - by both terms only one meaning is obtained. "In-breath or out-breath" - because of the absence of meaning by way of each pure individual term, "body is activity, activities are body" was not stated. But "body is bodily activity" and so on might be said. That too is not fitting because the activities intended here are not grasped by the terms body, speech, and mind. For this is the pure-activity section. But in the term-purification, an expression is fitting even without meaning - thus therein that method was indeed taken up. Here, however, because of the difference of bodily activity from verbal activity and so on, of verbal activity from mental activity and so on, and of mental activity from bodily activity and so on, "bodily activity is verbal activity, verbal activity is bodily activity" - making two each rooted in each activity, six pairs are fitting. Among those, by the taking up of what was not taken up, only three are obtained. Therefore, to show just those, three in the conformity method and three in the reverse method - thus six pairs were stated. But here the pure-activity-root-wheel section was not taken up. Thus the synopsis section of the section on description should be understood.

8-18. In the exposition section, however, in the forward order first, since body and so on are not themselves the name for bodily activity and so on, therefore the negation "no" was made. In the reverse order, "is what is not body not bodily activity" asks whether that which is not body is also not bodily activity. "Bodily activity is not body, but is bodily activity" - the meaning is that bodily activity is not body, but it is only bodily activity. "The remaining" means not only the remaining pair of activities. But the remaining phenomenon of every kind, free from bodily activity, comprising the divisions of conditioned, unconditioned, and concept, is neither body nor bodily activity - by this method, the meaning in all the answers should be understood.

Commentary on the Section on Designation.

2. Commentary on the Occurrence Section

19. But here in the occurrence section, in the present time, in the conformity method of the person section, "for whom bodily activity arises, does verbal activity arise for that one" - two rooted in bodily activity, one rooted in verbal activity - only three pairs are obtained. Those are already included. The same method applies in its reverse method and in the location section and so on too. Thus here, in all sections, the counting of pairs should be understood by way of three pairs each.

But here in the determination of meaning, this is the characteristic - For in this Activity Pairs, from the statement beginning with "at the moment of arising of in-breath and out-breath, at the moment of arising of applied and sustained thought," the distinction of present time and so on should be taken by way of occurrence too, not only by way of death and rebirth-linking. From the statement beginning with "in the second meditative absorption and the third meditative absorption, there bodily activity arises," it should be understood that meditative absorption too is taken by way of location. Thus here, whatever is obtained, the determination of meaning should be understood by way of that.

Herein this is the opening of the method - "Without applied and sustained thought" is said by way of the second and third meditative absorptions. "For them" means for those who are endowed with the second and third meditative absorptions. "In the sensual-sphere of existence" means of beings arisen in the sensual-sphere of existence. But for the gods of the fine-material-sphere of existence, there is no in-breath and out-breath. For those of the immaterial-sphere of existence, there is no matter at all. "Without in-breath and out-breath" is said with reference to the arising of applied and sustained thought for beings reborn in fine-material and immaterial existences.

21. "In the first meditative absorption, in the sensual-sphere of existence" means in the first meditative absorption arisen in the sensual-sphere plane of existence. And here the first meditative absorption should be taken only by way of factors, not by way of absorption alone. For even without the attainment of absorption, this dyad of activities arises indeed in consciousness with applied and sustained thought.

24. "At the dissolution moment of consciousness" - this is said because bodily activity is exclusively consciousness-originated. For consciousness originates matter or non-matter only while arising, not while dissolving.

37. "When the second consciousness is occurring for those in the Pure Abodes" means at the second life-continuum consciousness after conception. Although indeed even when the consciousness of conception is occurring, for them there it had certainly not arisen. But this was said for the purpose of showing that as long as uninterrupted resultant consciousness occurs, so long it had certainly not arisen. Or, whatever meditative absorption's resultant consciousness they were born by, that, even arising a hundred or a thousand times, is still the first consciousness only. But the adverting consciousness of attachment to existence, being dissimilar to the resultant consciousness, is called the second consciousness. It should be understood that this was said with reference to that.

44. "Possessors of final consciousness" means of those who have eliminated the mental corruptions, who are endowed with the very last consciousness that is incapable of rebirth. "Final consciousness without applied and sustained thought" - this is said by way of the death consciousness of the second meditative absorption and so on for fine-material-sphere beings, and by way of the fourth meditative absorption death consciousness for immaterial-sphere beings. "For them" means for those possessors of final consciousness and so on.

79. Here, regarding "For whom bodily activity ceases, does mental activity cease for that one?" - because bodily activity ceases at the same moment as mental activity by fixed procedure, the reply "Yes" was given. Not so for mental activity together with bodily activity. Why? Because mental activity arises and ceases even without bodily activity. Bodily activity, however, is the in-breath and out-breath wind, which is consciousness-originated. And consciousness-originated matter, having arisen at the arising moment of a consciousness, persists as long as another sixteen consciousnesses arise. It ceases together with the very last of those sixteen; thus, starting from the consciousness together with which it arises, it ceases together with the seventeenth. It does not cease at the arising moment or the presence moment of any consciousness, nor does it arise at the presence moment or the dissolution moment. This is the natural law of consciousness-originated matter; because it ceases at the same moment as mental activity by fixed procedure, "Yes" was stated. But that which was stated in the Sinhalese commentary of the Vibhaṅga treatise, "consciousness-originated matter ceases at the arising moment of the seventeenth consciousness," that contradicts this Pāḷi. And since the Pāḷi is indeed more powerful than the commentary, what is stated in the Pāḷi alone is the measure.

128. "For whom bodily activity arises, does verbal activity cease for that one?" - here, because bodily activity arises at the arising moment of consciousness, and applied and sustained thought do not cease at that moment, therefore the negation "no" was made. By this opening of the method, the determination of meaning should be understood everywhere. The section on full understanding is just straightforward.

Commentary on the Occurrence Section.

The Commentary on the Pairs on Activities is concluded.