Buddha Abhidhamma - Ultimate Science - BuddhaNet

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Nàma is similar to a man with good eye-sight but no legs
whereas råpa is like a blind man with good legs. A man without
legs and a blind man meet outside a village and they hear the
announcement on loudspeaker that food is being distributed
inside the village. They want to get food from the place. How
can they go? Well, if the man with good eye-sight sits on the
shoulders of the blind man, and the latter walks along the road
as directed by the former, they will soon arrive at the desired
place and enjoy food.
Nàma and råpa work hand in hand like the two men above.
The Purpose of the Ultimate Analysis
To see things as they really are is the cherished goal of all lovers
of truth including philosophers and scientists. When one cannot
see the true picture of things, one sees the distorted picture and
maintains the wrong view about them.
One basic wrong view which has plagued men for aeons is
sakkàyadiññhi. It is ‘personality-belief’, interpreting the aggregates
of råpa and nàma as an ‘individual’ or ‘I’ or ‘atta’.
Because of this sakkàyadiññhi, everyone wants to be a very important
person (VIP), wants to pile up possessions for the benefit
of ‘I’ and behaves in a selfish way. In fact all sorts of troubles
and miseries spring up from this wrong view.
Seeing other as a person, a man, a women, an individual, etc.,
is also sakkàyadiññhi. Sakkàyadiññhi gives rise to other wrong views
which are uncountable in the world today.
The dreadful thing about sakkayadiññhi is that it can couple
with bad kamma to throw one down to the lower abodes (apàyas)
once and again. According to the Buddha’s teachings, to get rid
of sakkàya-diññhi is most important and most urgent. It is as urgent