The Practice Which leads to Nibbana - A Buddhist Library

discern the four elements in the nose and you will easily find thenose transparent element. This nose transparent element must beseen in the appropriate rèpa kalŒpas in the nose. If you havesuccessfully discerned the four elements in the transparent kalŒpasand not transparent kalŒpas of the six sense bases (above) then youwill be able to easily discern the bright, luminous bhavaºga mindtransparent element (manodvŒra). It is found located in the heartdepending on the heart basis (hadayavatthu rèpas) which is madeup of not transparent kalŒpas called hadaya dasaka kalŒpas (heart asthe tenth factor kalŒpas). Having thus discerned the nose transparentelement and bhavaºga mind transparent element proceed to discernthe odour of a rèpa kalŒpa which you chose to contemplate.Odour is a dhamma which can be known by either the nose consciousnessor the mind consciousness. The nose consciousness arisesresting on the nose transparent element. The mind consciousnessarises attracted by the bhavaºga mind transparent element whichitself rests upon the heart basis rèpas. This is why when you wish todiscern odour in rèpa kalŒpas both the transparent elements concernedwith this process must be discerned together.Taste = rasa: Is present in every rèpa kalŒpa. While discerningboth the tongue transparent element and bhavaºga mind transparentelement discern the taste of a rèpa kalŒpa that you chose tocontemplate. You can begin by discerning the taste of saliva whichis on the tongue. In a similar way to odour above, the taste of anobject can be known by either the tongue consciousness or the mindconsciousness. These two elements must therefore both be discerned.The abhidhamma commentary (abhi.com.2.p.388) states:Sabbopi panessapabhedo manodvŒrika javaneyeva labhati. Thisshows that the colour, odour, and taste of an object can be knownby just the mind consciousness on its own. Before your meditationgets strong you are using the nose and tongue consciousness to assistw 117