Dear all,
Different people have given us useful observations on sa~n~naa. As Rob K
wrote: it is subtle and hard to see. Citta is the leader in cognizing an
object and sannaa and the other conascent mental factors (phassa, vedanaa,
etc.) assist the citta. We are lost without sa~n~naa. It marks and remembers
the object that is cognized by citta. Each moment. Without it we would not
know what a table is, we could not read one word, let alone a sentence and
draw conclusion (more info: Ven. Nyanaponika, Abh. Studies). Sa~n~naa
connects past, present and future.
It is difficult to translate it, because in different contexts diverse
aspects are stressed. Attaasa~n~naa: wrong perception of self. Combined with
wrong view sa~n~naa is a strong condition for clinging to self, my person.
It is one of the four perversions, vipallaasaa (A IV, 49, Patisambidha
Magga, Treatise VIII, and Co.). It is a separate khandha, just as vedanaa,
whereas all the other mental factors are sa'nkhaarakkhanda( formations,
activities, fabrications). We cling so much to sa~n~naa. What we feel we
remember, we reason about it, we are obsessed by it (M. I, no 18, Discourse
of the Honeyball). We do not forget something that caused us strong
feelings.
Rahula had attaasa~n~naa. He had to learn and develop vipassanaa pa~n~naa as
the commentary stated. Thus he could develop aniccaa sa~n~naa (See A VII,
46) and anattaa san~n~aa.

op 07-02-2003 22:11 schreef rjkjp1 <rjkjp1@...> op rjkjp1@...:

> --- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Frank Kuan <fcckuan@...> wrote:

> The ancient commentaries give many helpful points about the
> differences. The aggregate of consciousness (vinnana khandha, citta)
> is the leader in knowing and experiencing. (snipped)
> Very hard to really understand directly because these realities all
> arise together. No matter how much effort is applied if it is done
> with sakkya-ditthi it cannot be known: In the quote from the
> Visuddhimagga we see that
> citta(without panna) can know the characteristic of dhammas, it can
> perceive subtle feelings colours, sounds, hardness, heat - but if
> panna(understanding, wisdom) is not present one may be still
> developing the wrong path.
>
> Vis. Xiv6 " [the] difference is consequently subtle and hard to see.
> Hence the venerable nagasena said: "A difficult thing O king has been
> done by the Blessed one….the defining of the immaterial states of
> consciousness and its concomitants, which occur with a single object,
> and which he declared thus: this is contact, this is feeling , this
> is perception, this is volition, this is consciousness "(milinda
> panha 87)