What is the Solidity in any Cluster of Form?
The Blessed
Buddha
once explained:
What is the cluster of Forms (rūpa-khandha)?
It is the 4 primary elements
and all the forms derived from them...
Which are these 4 Primary Elements (mahā-bhūta)?
The 4 Primary Elements are:
1: The Element of
Solidity... (pathavī-dhātu)
2: The Element of
Fluidity... (āpo-dhātu)
3: The Element of
Heat... (tejo-dhātu)
4: The Element of
Motion... (vāyo-dhātu)
What, now, is The Element of
Solidity? The Element of Solidity may be
ones own & internal, or it may be external & not of ones own individuality.
And what is ones own Element of Solidity? Whatever there is inside ones
own body of kammically caused hardness, firmness, being in a solid state,
such as the hairs of head, hairs of body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews,
bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, stomach,
bowels, mesentery, & excrement: This is called own Element of Solidity.
Now, whether it be ones own Element of Solidity, or whether it be the
external Element of Solidity (e.g. mountains of stone, forests of wood),
they are both merely This Element of Solidity. One should understand,
according to the absolute reality and true Wisdom:
This does not belong to me! This I am not! This is not my self!
One may add:
This is not lasting, this is not a real substance, this is not safe...
This is not pleasure, this is not happiness, this is also suffering...
This induces releasing disillusion with even very attractive forms...
Whether internal or external, whether alive or dead, present or not...
Comment: The 4 Primary Elements are not 'real substances out there', but
more
realistically: Experienced qualities or properties appearing 'in here'...
They are manifestations of form, and not lasting 'substantial entities'...
Their 'material' appearances depend on the level of observation:
Macroscopic Solidity is a mere manifestation of microscopic extension!
