22.8 Of Momentary Duration (KV22.8)

Controverted Point: That all things are momentary conscious units.

Theravādin: Do you imply that a mountain, the ocean, Sineru chief of mountains, the cohesive, fiery, and mobile elements, grass, twigs, trees, all last only so long in consciousness? You deny … .

Or do you imply that the organ of sight coincides for the same moment of time with the visual cognition? If you assent, I would remind you of what the venerable Sāriputta said:

“If, brother, the eye within be intact, but the object without does not come into focus, and there is no co-ordinated application of mind resulting therefrom, then a corresponding state of cognition is not manifested. And if the organ of sight within be intact, and the object without come into focus, but no co-ordinated abdication of mind result therefrom, a corresponding state of cognition is not manifested. But if all these conditions be satisfied, then a corresponding state of cognition is manifested”?

Where now is your assertion about coincidence in time?

The same Suttanta reference may be cited to refute you with respect to time-coincidence in the other four senses.

Pubbaseliya, Aparaseliya: But are all things permanent, enduring, perduring, immutable?

Theravādin: Nay that cannot truly be said … .

The Points of Controversy, an English translation of the Pali Abhidhamma Kathāvatthu. Translated by Shwe Zan Aung and C.A.F. Rhys Davids. First published by Pali Text Society, 1915.

This SuttaCentral edition was prepared by Manfred Wierich and Ven. Vimala and proofread by Josephine Tobin. Some changes were introduced:

Abbreviations, i.e., those of cited works and the participants in the controversies, were expanded.

Cross-references were linked.

Some typographic changes were introduced, among others, i.e.: the phonetic symbol “ŋ” was changed to the Pāli diacritical letter “ṃ”, “ô” to “o”, single quotes to double quotes, and “:—” to “:”.

Letter-spacing with fixed spaces was replaced with bold font.

The corrigenda were merged into the text. Some could not be resolved, though.

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