In the suttas there is talk of sense restraint at the mind base, in relation to mind objects. We also hear talk of unpleasant mental contacts which the Arahants still experience. How are these explained in the commentaries and Abhidhamma?
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Do you have a reference?
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Yeah sure
As the wind cannot stir
a solid mass of rock,
so too sights, tastes, sounds,
smells, and touches—the lot—and ideas, whether liked or disliked,
don’t disturb the poised one.
Their mind is steady and unfettered
as they observe disappearance.Selo yathā ekagghano,
vātena na samīrati;
Evaṁ rūpā rasā saddā,
gandhā phassā ca kevalā.Iṭṭhā dhammā aniṭṭhā ca,
nappavedhenti tādino;
Ṭhitaṁ cittaṁ visaññuttaṁ,
vayañcassānupassatī”ti.
Thag 13.1: Soṇakoḷivisattheragāthā—Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka Buddhavasse 2500 (suttacentral.net)
“Mendicants, I will teach you who is restrained and who is unrestrained. Listen …
And how is someone unrestrained?
There are sights known by the eye that are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. If a mendicant approves, welcomes, and keeps clinging to them, they should understand: ‘My skillful qualities are declining. For this is what the Buddha calls decline.’
There are sounds … smells … tastes … touches … ideas known by the mind that are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. If a mendicant approves, welcomes, and keeps clinging to them, they should understand: ‘My skillful qualities are declining. For this is what the Buddha calls decline.’
This is how someone is unrestrained.
And how is someone restrained?
There are sights known by the eye that are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. If a mendicant doesn’t approve, welcome, and keep clinging to them, they should understand: ‘My skillful qualities are not declining. For this is what the Buddha calls non-decline.’
There are sounds … smells … tastes … touches … ideas known by the mind that are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. If a mendicant doesn’t approve, welcome, and keep clinging to them, they should understand: ‘My skillful qualities are not declining. For this is what the Buddha calls non-decline.’
This is how someone is restrained.”
There are sense-door processes and mind-door processes. And these are happening repeatedly in a day.
It is no different for an arahat.
However, the normal person is is overwhelmed by the different objects and so the javana moments in the both processes are usually akusala, and occasionally kusala.
After a sense door process there is the mind-door process which experiences the just fallen away sense door objects…Then there is bhavanga cittas and more mind-door processes which may have concepts as object.
The arahat has the same objects but the javana moments are kiriya citta.
These are experienced through the sense bases as vipaka citta and are either desirable (ittha) or undesirable (aniṭṭhā).
So what is meant here according to the Abhidhamma is mental “images”, for want of a better word, of past or current sense objects?
Taking the eye-consciousness (cakkhu-viññána) as an example:
Nina van Gorkom Nina Van Gorkom - Abhidhamma in daily life - 13
When visible object contacts the eye-sense the eye-door-adverting-consciousness (cakkhu-dvaravajjana-citta) adverts to visible object through the eye-door. When the cakkhu-dvaravajjana-citta has fallen away it is succeeded by seeing-consciousness (cakkhu-vinnana). The function of seeing (in Pali : dassana-kicca) is performed by seeing-consciousness (cakkhu-vinnana). Seeing is vipaka: it is the result of kusala kamma or akusala kamma. We are born in order to receive the results of our deeds and therefore the current of bhavanga-cittas is interrupted and vipakacittas arise after the panca-dvaravajjana-citta.
The citta which performs the function of seeing (dassana-kicca) only sees visible object. This citta does not like or dislike, it is an ahetuka vipakacitta. Neither does it think about the object
Your question about mental image: The cakkhu-vinnana has as object a rupa.
However, it is true that later mind-door processes are taking the nimitta of the visible object which is like an exact copy.
So there are 10 vipaka cittas that arise at the sensitive matter, pasada, of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body. 5 are unwholesome-resultants and 5 are wholesome-resultants.
It is all happening now and at every moment. It is taken for granted yet it is so amazing. There are various conditions needed for the visible object to arise. Many conditions needed for the pasada rupa inside the eye to arise. And other conditions needed for the vipaka citta . Yet they all meet at the eyebase just for an instant before falling away.