The Practice Which leads to Nibbana - A Buddhist Library

w 9He will notice that the particles are of two main kinds those thatare clear or transparent and those that are not clear or transparent.The transparent particles are those which are sensitive to the fivesense objects of light, sound, odours, tastes, and touch. There aretherefore five types of transparent particles. Of these the body sensitiveelement is found dispersed throughout the body, while theother sensitive elements are found only in their respective place whichis the eye, ear, nose, and tongue.So the meditator is then trained to discern the four elements inindividual particles and also becomes proficient in the analysis ofdifferent kinds of particles. As he trains progressively and systematicallyhe will eventually be able to recognise and identify all of the28 different types of matter that occur in the body and outside of thebody as well. He is also trained to discern which of these rèpas areproduced by kamma, consciousness, temperature, and nutriment(kamma, citta, utu, and ŒhŒra)The 28 kinds of matter are briefly:4 Primary Elements1. earth, 2. water, 3. fire, 4. air,24 Kinds of derived matter1. eye sensitivity, 2. ear sensitivity, 3. nose sensitivity, 4. tonguesensitivity, 5. body sensitivity, 6. light, 7. sound, 8. odour, 9. taste,(note that touch is made of the primary elements of earth, fire, andair) 10. matter that causes one to be male, 11. matter that causesone to be female, 12. heart base matter, 13. life force, 14. nutriment,15. space, 16. bodily intimation, 17. verbal intimation, 18.lightness, 19. softness, 20. wieldiness, 21. growth of matter, 22.continuity of matter, 23. ageing of matter, 24. dissolution of matter.When a meditator is able to analyse matter and discern all these28 kinds of matter then he discerns them as a group and knows themas "matter".