Before we discuss Buddha’s answer to “What Exists?”, we recall how the original question is framed as a reference to Buddha’s answer.
As discussed in Post 1, the question, “What Exists?“, is asked on Closer to Truth with the remarks, “Lots of things exist. But what’s truly fundamental? The challenge is to discern the minimum number of basic categories that explain the entirety of existence.”
Therefore, the challenge to an answer that can satisfy the way the question is asked is that it not only must be fundamental, but also must “discern the minimum number of basic categories that explain the entirety of existence.”
We start with Mohe Zhiguan (Chinese:摩訶止觀), a “voluminous” and “comprehensive Buddhist doctrinal summa which discusses meditation and various key Buddhist doctrines. ….. It is particularly important in the development of Buddhist meditation….,” and “a major focus of the Móhē zhǐguān is the practice of Samatha (Chinese:止), meaning “calming or stabilizing meditation” and Vipassana (Chinese:觀), meaning “clear seeing or insight.” Most importantly, Mohe Zhiguan “is founded firmly on scripture; every key assertion of the text is supported by sūtral quotations.”
With “every key assertion of the text supported by sūtral quotations,” Mohe Zhiguan is a comprehensive, highly credible, and authoritative Buddhist text.
In Mohe Zhiguan, Buddha teaches that, at the highest and most profound level of meditative state, one can have direct insight into the inconceivable realm, where there is
- “nothing outside of rupa and citta (Chinese: 不出色，心),
- “citta gives rise to rupa (Chinese: 色從心造),” and that
- “all are essentially citta (Chinese: 全體是心).”
Let’s define the terms mentioned first.
Inconceivable (Romanized Sanskrit: acintya; Chinese: 不可思議), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, a term used to describe the ultimate reality that is beyond conceptualization.”
“Beyond conceptualization” refers to a phenomenon that cannot be perceived, i.e., it cannot be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched. To put it another way, mentality is a reality that does not manifest itself and cannot be sensed through human senses.
Natural gas is another example of a reality that is “beyond conceptualization.” While it is a known phenomenon, natural gas is not something that humans can see, hear, smell (without adding an odorant), taste, or touch.
In other words, the world that one can have direct insight into at the highest level of meditation cannot be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched. Furthermore, in that world, only two phenomena exist: citta and rupa.
Citta (Chinese: 心), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “mind,” “mentality,” or “thought.” Furthermore, “Citta is contrasted with the physical body and materiality.”
Rupa (Chinese: 色), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit and Pali, ‘body,’ ‘form,’ or ‘materiality,’ viz., that which has shape and is composed of matter. More generally, rupa refers to the materiality, which serves as the object of the five sensory consciousness (vijnana): visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile.”
By defining rupa as “body,” “form,” or “materiality,” and that it can serve as the object of the visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile senses, the Buddha makes it clear that rupa refers to the universe humans can experience through their senses.
However, while there are two phenomena, Zhiguan concludes by saying that “All are essentially citta.”
In other words, while citta and rupa appear as two phenomena, they are both mentality. Indeed, these four words from the Mohe Zhiguan, “all are essentially citta,” are the foundation of the doctrine that there is “Nothing but Mentality (Chinese: 心外無法).”
The question, “What Exists?” requires an answer that is fundamental and that “discerns the minimum number of basic categories that explain the entirety of existence.” Buddha’s answer satisfies both requirements. Not only is mentality fundamental, but it consists of only two categories that can explain the entirety of existence: citta and rupa.
By teaching that mentality is the only fundamental reality in the cosmos, the Buddha recognized Thales’ insight that everything in the universe could be composed of a single element, as discussed in Post 1. However, Thales might not have anticipated that the component would be non-physical.
As discussed in Post 2, humanity has struggled since pre-Socratic Greece to understand the mystery of “What Exist?” without success. The fact is that even though Buddha provided the answer more than 2600 years ago, humanity has never recognized it. The question is, why?
The reason is that while Buddhism is well known, few understand it. Buddhism is variously considered a religion, a philosophy, a way of life, or compatible with science. However, Buddhism is none of these teachings because, at its core, Buddhism is unique from all of them. The uniqueness of Buddhism comes from its unique epistemology, i.e., how a Buddha understands reality.
To lay the foundation for understanding Buddhism, we will next discuss its three fundamental concepts: Buddha, Bodhi, and Buddhism.
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