How the objective process creates the world
Environmental activities stimulate the five sense organs in the following manner:
We start with the assumption: organism (A) is in the environment (B). Yet the organism and environment are products of the process of perception, which needs A & B to start with. The organism contains the body, the five senses, and the brain.
•EAR: is stimulated by sound waves coming in the form of movements in the air
•NOSE: is stimulated by odorant molecules touching the olfactory bulb inside the nose
•TONGUE: is stimulated by flavour molecules touching gustatory receptors in the taste buds
•BODY: is stimulated by Touch: as pressure, temperature, and vibration of tactile objects
If we consider the sense of sight, what is perceived by the eye is only a visual image (rūpa). The image is produced when the body reacts to the stimulus and so experiences a feeling (vedanā) and a sensation (saññā). Sensation (saññā) refers to the “colour,” and feeling (vedanā) refers to the pleasantness or unpleasantness of the colour.
In the case of hearing, sensation (saññā) refers to the nature of the sound, and feeling (vedanā) refers to the pleasantness or unpleasantness felt in the ear.
Sensation (saññā) is always accompanied by feeling (vedanā) and so they are inseparable. Sensation and the feeling are reactions of the organism to stimulation by the environment.
Sensation and feeling become the raw material used for the construction of mental images by the thinking part of the brain.
This construction process (sankhāra) is a mental activity. The result of this activity of construction is the formation of the mental images, which are perceived (viññāṇa). From moment to moment, every mental image (rūpa) that arises fades away to be replaced by another mental image that arises. This happens in a continuous manner, making us feel the continuity to be seen as a static existence.
Since a multiplicity of objects are present in a complex mental image, a differentiation between one object and another becomes necessary in the process of perception (viññāṇa).
All sense organs continuously feed mental images to the brain and the brain makes use of these images and forms concepts about the environment. In the formation of concepts, the brain uses past experiences. In doing so it puts images into categories (papañceti), and that is how we recognize and identify objects. We react emotionally according to the way we identify objects.
It is this reaction that bifurcates the experience perceived into a subjective and objective. The subjective is personalized and the objective is alienated, creating a self and an other.
This is how we create the world that we are aware of and the self that lives in the world. Then an emotional relationship develops between the self and the world. This relationship begins the suffering due to meeting and parting.
When we examine the formula laid down by the Buddha as the Concurrence of Antecedents, we find that it begins with unconsciousness. This means the mental process of creation of objects begins from a state of unconsciousness as experienced by the Buddha. The Building process begins with feeling and sensation (vedanā and saññā). As one goes through the cognitive ecstasies backwards, one comes to the fourth affective ecstasy and from there to (the third affective ecstasy where breathing begins. It is only at the first ecstasy that conceptual thinking (vitakka vicāra) begins. The Buddha pointed out that construction is of three kinds:
(1) Mental Construction (Citta Saṅkhāra): feeling and sensation (vedanā-saññā)
(2) Verbal Construction (Vacī Saṅkhāra): inquiry and inference (vitakka-vicāra)
(3) Physical Construction (Kāya Saṅkhāra): breathing in and out (assāsa-passāsa).
Objects are constructed by these three processes. The feelings and sensations are like the bricks that build a wall. The object is built using questions and answers such as: What is this? This is a tree, or this is a dog, or this is a man. The physical energy for this activity of construction is obtained from the breathing. The construction ends up in perception (viññāṇa).
What is perceived is the object in the form of an image (rūpa), and the name (nāma) that identifies the object. In this same way the five senses go into action individually and collectively to form images with identities. Whatever information is obtained through sensory perception is transferred to the brain where thinking occurs to give meaning to what is perceived. Thus the sensory world (saḷāyatana) is created. With the creation of the sensory world, the process of cognition (phassa) is completed.