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Rūpa () means "form". As it relates to any kind of basic object, it has more specific meanings in the context of Indic religions.


Definition

According to the Monier-Williams Dictionary (2006), rūpa is defined as: :* ... any outward appearance or phenomenon or colour (often pl.), form, shape, figure RV. &c &c ... :* to assume a form ; often ifc. = " having the form or appearance or colour of ", " formed or composed of ", " consisting of ", " like to " ....


Hinduism

In Hinduism, many compound words are made using ''rūpa'' to describe subtle and spiritual realities such as the ''svarupa'', meaning the form of the self. It may be used to express matter or material phenomena, especially that linked to the power of vision in samkhya, In the Bhagavad Gita, the Vishvarupa form, an esoteric conception of the Absolute is described.


Buddhism

Overall, ''rūpa'' is the
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
concept A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs. Concepts play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied within such disciplines as linguistics, ...
of material form, including both the body and external matter. More specifically, in the
Pali Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...
, ''rūpa'' is contextualized in three significant frameworks: * ''rūpa-khandha'' – "material forms," one of the five aggregates ('' khandha'') by which all phenomena can be categorized (see Fig. 1). * ''rūpa-āyatana'' – "visible objects," the external sense objects of the eye, one of the six external sense bases (''
āyatana In Buddhism, ''āyatana'' (Pāli; Sanskrit: आयतन) is a "center of experience" or "mental home," which create one's experience. The term ' (Pāli; Skt. ') refers to six cognitive functions, namely sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, body ...
'') by which the world is known (see Fig. 2). * '' nāma-rūpa'' – "name and form" or "mind and body," which in the causal chain of dependent origination ('' paticca-samuppāda'') arises from consciousness and leads to the arising of the sense bases. In addition, more generally, ''rūpa'' is used to describe a statue, in which it is sometimes called
Buddharupa Much Buddhist art uses depictions of the historical Buddha, Gautama Buddha, which are known as () in Sanskrit and Pali. These may be statues or other images such as paintings. The main figure in an image may be someone else who has obtained ...
.


''Rūpa-khandha''

According to the Yogacara school, rūpa is not matter as in the metaphysical substance of
materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...
. Instead it means both materiality and sensibility—signifying, for example, a tactile object both insofar as that object is made of matter and that the object can be tactically sensed. In fact rūpa is more essentially defined by its amenability to being sensed than its being matter: just like everything else it is defined in terms of its function; what it does, not what it is. As matter, rūpa is traditionally analysed in two ways: as four primary elements (Pali, '' mahābhūta''); and, as ten or twenty-four secondary or derived elements.


Four primary elements

Existing ''rūpa'' consists in the four primary or underived (''no-upādā'') elements: * earth or solidity *
fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...
or heat *
water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
or cohesion * air or movement


Derived matter

In the Abhidhamma Pitaka and later Pali literature, ''rūpa'' is further analyzed in terms of ten or twenty-three or twenty-four types of secondary or derived (''upādā'') matter. In the list of ten types of secondary matter, the following are identified: * eye * ear * nose * tongue * body * form * sound * odour * taste * touch If twenty-four secondary types are enumerated, then the following fifteen are added to the first nine of the above ten: * femininity * masculinity or virility * life or vitality * heart or heart-basis * physical indications (movements that indicate intentions) * vocal indications * space element * physical lightness or buoyancy * physical yieldingness or plasticity * physical handiness or wieldiness * physical grouping or integration * physical extension or maintenance * physical aging or decay * physical impermanence * food A list of 23 derived types can be found, for instance, in the Abhidhamma Pitaka's Dhammasaṅgaṇī (e.g., Dhs. 596), which omits the list of 24 derived types' "heart-basis."Compare Dhs. 596 (Rhys Davids, 2000, p. 172) and Vsm. XIV, 36 (Buddhaghosa, 1999, p. 443).


The ''rupa jhānas''


See also

*
Abhidharma The Abhidharma are a collection of Buddhist texts dating from the 3rd century BCE onwards, which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. It also refers t ...
* Body **
Consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...
**
Perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...
s ** Sensations *
Buddharupa Much Buddhist art uses depictions of the historical Buddha, Gautama Buddha, which are known as () in Sanskrit and Pali. These may be statues or other images such as paintings. The main figure in an image may be someone else who has obtained ...
* Buddhism and the body ** Consciousness (Buddhism) * Namarupa (concept) * Skandhas ** Sankhata ** Sanna ** Vedana ** Vijnana *
Substantial form Substantial form is a central philosophical concept in Aristotelianism Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by Prior Analytics, deductive logic and an Posterior Analytics, an ...
*
Three marks of existence In Buddhism, the three marks of existence are three characteristics (Pali: ''tilakkhaṇa''; Sanskrit: त्रिलक्षण ''trilakṣaṇa'') of all existence and beings, namely '' anicca'' (impermanence), '' dukkha'' (commonly translated ...


Notes


References


Sources

* * * *
Buddhaghosa Buddhaghosa was a 5th-century Sinhalese Theravādin Buddhist commentator, translator, and philosopher. He worked in the great monastery (''mahāvihāra'') at Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka and saw himself as being part of the Vibhajyavāda schoo ...
, Bhadantācariya (trans. from Pāli by Bhikkhu Ñāamoli) (1999). ''The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga''. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. . * * * * Hamilton, Sue (2001). ''Identity and Experience: The Constitution of the Human Being according to Early Buddhism''. Oxford: Luzac Oriental. * * * * * Monier-Williams, Monier (1899, 1964). ''A Sanskrit-English Dictionary''. London: Oxford University Press. . Retrieved 2008-03-06 from "Cologne University" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/index.php?sfx=pdf * * Rhys Davids, Caroline A.F. ( 900 2003). ''Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics, of the Fourth Century B.C., Being a Translation, now made for the First Time, from the Original Pāli, of the First Book of the Abhidhamma-Piaka, entitled Dhamma- (Compendium of States or Phenomena)''. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. * * * * * * * *


External links

* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2003). ''Maha-hatthipadopama Sutta: The Great Elephant Footprint Simile'' ( MN 28). Retrieved 2008-03-06 from "Access to Insight" a

Hindu philosophical concepts Buddhist philosophical concepts Physical objects Sanskrit words and phrases {{DEFAULTSORT:Rūpa