Buddha Abhidhamma - Ultimate Science - BuddhaNet

358
A Generalised Summary
All the 24 relations are reducible to these four: (1) àrammaõa, (2)
upanissaya, (3) kamma and (4) atthi.
Division of Nàma and Råpa
The corporeal group (råpakkhandha) consisting of 28 kinds of
råpa is called råpa (matter).
The four mental groups (nàmakkhandhas) consisting of all
cittas and all cetasikas, and Nibbàna are the five kinds of the
immaterial called nàma. It is significant that Nibbàna is classed
under nàma: this may imply that Nibbàna is a mental state or an
immaterial state observed by lokuttara-cittas.
Pa¤¤atti (Conception)
Apart from nàma and råpa, there is pa¤¤atti (conception). Pa¤¤atti
is twofold:
1 Attha-pa¤¤atti
It is the name of something that makes the form, shape, mass,
appearance, etc., of the thing be known in communication.
The thing we refer to may be a man, a dog, a house or a
mountain which are not ultimate realities. Also the form,
shape, mass, appearance, etc., of the thing are not real. They
are just ideas or concepts which appear in the mind.
Furthermore, the name is not a reality since various names
can be chosen to refer to a particular thing.
2 Sadda-pa¤¤atti
Since ‘sadda’ signifies “sound”, ‘sadda-pa¤¤atti’ refers to
spoken words in various languages. When we mention the
names of various things in communication, we make the
things known to others.