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Sparśa (Sanskrit: स्पर्श; Pali: ''phassa'') is a Sanskrit term that is translated as "contact", "touching", "sensation", "sense impression", etc. It is defined as the coming together of three factors: the
sense organ A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditio ...
, the sense object, and sense consciousness (vijnana).Guenther (1975), Kindle Locations 401-405.Kunsang (2004), p. 23. For example, contact (''sparsha'') is said to occur at the coming together of the eye organ, a visual object, and the visual sense consciousness. Sparśa is identified within the Buddhist teachings as: * One of the ''seven universal mental factors'' in the Theravada Abhidharma. * One of the ''five universal mental factors'' in the Mahayana Abhidharma * The sixth link in the twelve links of dependent origination


Explanation


Theravada

The
Atthasālinī Atthasālinī (Pali), also known as Dhammasaṅgaṇī-aṭṭhakathā, is a Buddhist text composed by Buddhaghosa in the Theravada Abhidharma tradition. The title has been translated as "The Expositor"van Gorkom (2009)Preface or "Providing the Me ...
(Expositor, Part IV, Chapter I, 108) states: : Contact means “it touches”. It has touching as its salient characteristic, impact as its function, “coinciding” (of the physical base, object and consciousness) as its manifestation, and the object which has entered the avenue (of awareness) as proximate cause.Gorkom (2010)
Definition of Contact
/ref> Nina van Gorkom explains: :Phassa is manifested by coinciding or concurrence, namely, by the coinciding of three factors: physical base (vatthu), object and consciousness. :When there is seeing, there is the coinciding of eye (the eyebase), visible object and seeing-consciousness; through this concurrence phassa, which is in this case eye-contact, is manifested. Nina van Gorkom also explains: :Phassa is different from what we mean in conventional language by physical contact or touch. When we use the word contact in conventional language we may think of the impingement of something external on one of the senses, for example the impingement of hardness on the bodysense. We may use words such as touching or impingement in order to describe phassa, but we should not forget that phassa is nāma, a cetasika which arises together with the citta and assists the citta so that it can experience the object which presents itself through the appropriate doorway. When hardness presents itself through the bodysense there is phassa, contact, arising together with the citta which experiences the hardness. Phassa is not the mere collision of hardness with the bodysense, it is not touch in the physical sense. Impact is the function of phassa in the sense that it assists the citta so that it can cognize the object.


Mahayana

The
Abhidharma-samuccaya The Abhidharma-samuccaya (Sanskrit; ; English: "Compendium of Abhidharma") is a Buddhist text composed by Asaṅga. The ''Abhidharma-samuccaya'' is a systematic account of Abhidharma. According to J. W. de Jong it is also "one of the most impor ...
states: :What is sparsha (contact)? It is it determination, a transformation in the controlling power, which is in accordance with the three factors coming together. Its function is to provide it basis for feeling. Herbert Guenther explains: : It is an awareness in which a pleasant r unpleasant or neutralfeeling is felt when the object, sensory capacity, and cognitive process have come together and which is restricted to the appropriate object. Transformation in the controlling power means that when the visual sense meets a pleasant object or exampleand the feeling becomes the cause of adhering to this pleasure, rapport
parsha The term ''parashah'', ''parasha'' or ''parashat'' ( ''Pārāšâ'', "portion", Tiberian , Sephardi , plural: ''parashot'' or ''parashiyot'', also called ''parsha'') formally means a section of a biblical book in the Masoretic Text of the Tan ...
restricts the pleasant color-form and the feeling becomes the cause of pleasure.


Six classes

The Theravada and Mahayana traditions both identify six "classes" of contact: * eye-contact * ear-contact * nose-contact * tongue-contact * body-contact * mind-contact For example, when the ''ear sense'' and a ''sound object'' are present, the associated ''auditory consciousness'' (Pali: viññāṇa) arises. The arising of these three elements (dhātu) – ear-sense, sound and auditory consciousness – lead to "contact" (phassa).


Within the twelve nidanas

Sparśa is the sixth of the
Twelve Nidānas Twelve or 12 may refer to: * 12 (number) * December, the twelfth and final month of the year * Dozen, a group of twelve. Years * 12 BC * AD 12 * 1912 * 2012 Film * ''Twelve'' (2010 film), based on the 2002 novel * ''12'' (2007 film), by Russi ...
. It is conditioned by the presence of the ''six sense-openings'' ( '), and in turn is a condition for the arising of pleasant, unpleasant or neutral 'sensations' or 'feelings' ( ''vedanā''). Dan Lusthaus explains: :''sparśa'' (P. ''phassa'') - Literally 'touch' or 'sensory contact'. This term accrued varied usages in later Indian thought, but here it simply means that the sense organs are 'in contact with' sensory objects. The circuit of intentionality, or to borrow Merleau-Ponty's term ''intentional arc'', is operational. This term could be translated as 'sensation' as long as this is qualified as a constitutional, active process that is invariably contextualized within its psycho-cognitive dimensions. For Buddhists, sensation can neither be passive nor purely a physical or neurological matter. When the proper sensorial conditions aggregate, i.e., come into contact with each other, sensation occurs. These proper conditions include a properly functioning sense organ and a cognitive-sensory object, which already presuppose a linguistically-complex conscious body (''nāma-rūpa''). Jeffrey Hopkins explains: :Roughly speaking, parsha refers tothe coming together of an object, a sense organ, and a moment of consciousness. Hence contact, in the twelve links, refers to contact with a sense-object and the subsequent discrimination of the object as attractive, unattractive, or neutral. Sense objects are always present, and thus when a sense organ—the subtle matter that allows you to see, hear, and so forth—develops, an eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, or body consciousness will be produced. Alexander Berzin provides an explanation of the sixth link in the context of the development of the fetus; he states: :The sixth of the twelve links of dependent arising. The subsidiary awareness (mental factor) of contacting awareness
parsha The term ''parashah'', ''parasha'' or ''parashat'' ( ''Pārāšâ'', "portion", Tiberian , Sephardi , plural: ''parashot'' or ''parashiyot'', also called ''parsha'') formally means a section of a biblical book in the Masoretic Text of the Tan ...
during the period of time in the development of a fetus when the distinguishing aggregate and such other affecting variables as contacting awareness are functioning, but the feeling aggregate is not yet functioning. During this period, one experiences contacting awareness of objects as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, but does not feel happy, unhappy, or neutral in response to this.Definitions of Sparsha (Tibetan: reg-pa), Alexander Berzin
/ref>


Within the five aggregates

In terms of the Five Aggregates, sparśa is the ''implicit'' basis by which Form (''
rūpa 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 appearanc ...
'') and Consciousness ('' viññāna'') lead to the mental factors of Feeling (''
vedanā ''Vedanā'' (Pāli and Sanskrit: वेदना) is an ancient term traditionally translated as either "feeling" or "sensation." In general, ''vedanā'' refers to the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that occur when our internal sen ...
''), Perception ('' sañña'') and Formations ('' sankhāra'').


Alternate translations

* Contact (Erik Pema Kusang, Jeffrey Hopkins, Nina van Gorkom) * Contacting awareness (Alexander Berzin) * Rapport (Herbert Guenther) * Sensation (Dan Lusthaus) * Sense impression * Touch (Jeffrey Hopkins) * Touching (Jeffrey Hopkins)


See also

* Ayatana (sense bases) *
Mental factors (Buddhism) Mental factors ( or ''chitta samskara'' ; ; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: སེམས་བྱུང ''sems byung''), in Buddhism, are identified within the teachings of the Abhidhamma (Buddhist psychology). They are defined as aspects of the mind ...
*
Skandha ' (Sanskrit) or (Pāḷi) means "heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings, clusters". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates of clinging (), the five material and mental factors that take part in the perpetual process of craving, cli ...
(aggregates) * Asparsa yoga


References


Sources

* Bhikkhu Bodhi (2003), ''A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma'', Pariyatti Publishing *
Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣 识一切 瓦齐尔达喇 达赖 喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...
(1992). ''The Meaning of Life'', translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, Boston: Wisdom. * Dan Lusthaus
''Buddhist Phenomenology''
* Guenther, Herbert V. & Leslie S. Kawamura (1975), ''Mind in Buddhist Psychology: A Translation of Ye-shes rgyal-mtshan's "The Necklace of Clear Understanding"'' Dharma Publishing. Kindle Edition. * Kunsang, Erik Pema (translator) (2004). ''Gateway to Knowledge, Vol. 1''. North Atlantic Books. * Nina van Gorkom (2010)
''Cetasikas''
Zolag


External links

* Berzin, Alexander (2006)
''Primary Minds and the 51 Mental Factors''
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997)
''Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising''
Access to Insight * U Kyaw Min (n.d.)

{{Buddhism topics Twelve nidānas Mental factors in Buddhism Sanskrit words and phrases