What do you think of those who say there's nothing after the end of namarupa?

From Abhidhamma: SuttaCentral

Definition of Pain
Herein, what is ‘pain?’

That which is bodily pain, bodily disagreeableness, pain arising from contact with the body, disagreeable feeling, pain and painful feeling that is born in the body.

This is said to be ‘pain’.

Pain is the translation for dukkha here. The word dukkha has many meanings from all suffering including mental and physical suffering to just only physical suffering. Mental suffering ends at attainment of arahanthood while alive.

There’s 2 kinds of nibbāna, with remainder and without remainder.

Your claim for this means arahants has no more mind consciousness is untenable. The Abhidhamma analysis specifically has the just functional citta for arahants. If arahants do not have mind consciousness, there would be no need for abhidhamma to assign this functional thing to arahants. The other 3 possibilities for consciousness are: wholesome, unwholesome and resultant.

Five aggregates which is clung to is 5 clinging aggregates. When clinging ceases, gone, no more, eradicated, destroyed by the arahant, their 5 aggregate are still there, functional for them, but unclung to. The rest of your unquoted paragraph here is a gross misunderstanding which I have no idea how you can even get to.

No. Dependent origination is many lives. That’s why after ignorance ends for the arahants, their consciousness until feelings are still there. The final cessation of consciousness is only at death, parinibbāna of an arahant. If it’s one life model, then it makes more sense to say from cessation of ignorance, consciousness ceases as well in this life. But consciousness for many life model refers to rebirth relinking consciousness. That’s why only future rebirth relinking consciousness is totally ceased while arahant is still alive and not all consciousness.

If you still think in terms of self, you woulf naturally think of cessation of 5 aggregates, 6 sense bases with nothing leftover as annihilation, but when there’s no self, there’s only suffering which arises and ceases, nothing worth clung onto. Annihilation doesn’t apply to cessation. Although to an atheist it looks like the same thing.

3 Likes