Now we have seen that consciousness in Theravada Buddhism is defined as that which is consciousness of an object, which means that is hung upon consciousness. Without an object, consciousness can not arise. Hence object is one of the necessary conditions for arising of consciousness as the Buddha say ;
Eye - consciousness arises due to eye, visible object, light and attention. Ear consciousness arises due to ear, sound, aperture and attention. Mind consciousness arises due to subsconciousness, mental object and attention.
Therefor, it is said that consciousness can not exist without an object. This is to say that Theravada philosophy is realistic. The Buddhist think that the existence of the material object does not depend on its being perceived the material object, however exists in the state of perpetual flux or becoming. It is impermanence. Rupa or matter in Buddhism is not defined as the extended thing [ res extensa ] but as the changeable thing. The material object as we shall see, arises and perishes every moment. It is momentary [ khanika ]. The object, however, appears as relatively permanent due to the meaning - giving activity of consciousness. Consciousness is called name [ nama ] because it has tendency to name the object.
According to Buddhism, the object of our sensory impression are momentary and non - substantial but their true nature is distorted when they are conceptualized by our consciousness - influenced by lust, hatred, and delusion. And due to conceptualization of consciousness, the phenomenal world is constituted. The Buddha says that, this manifoldness of the world is caused by this diversification [ papanca ], there are craving, conceit and speculation.
" Mankind delights in the manifoldness of the world, the Perfect Ones are free from such diversification [ nippapanca ] of manifoldness ".
The Arahant's consciousness limits itself to what is given. It does not impose meaning on the thing perceived - in the seen, there will be just the seen, in the heard, just the heard, in the sensed just the sensed, in the cognized, just the cognized, because the world is empty. Opposite to the Arahant's consciousness, the ordinary person [ puthujjana ] constitutes the phenomenal world and clings to it. He has distortions [ vipallasa ] of perception, thought and view.
We should make it clear that when we say that consciousness constitutes the world, we do not mean that consciousness idealistically creates the material world. What we want to say is that consciousness constitutes the meaning of phenomenal world. The meaning thus institute is regarded as conventional truth [ sammuti sacca ], whereas the true nature of things prior to constitution represent the ultimate truth [ paramutha sacca ]. Accordingly, the Buddha makes two kinds of statement, viz. conventional and absolute. A convention and an absolute statement is true because of convention and an absolute statement is true as the true characteristics of thing. This is the characteristics of Buddhist's style of teaching in both mundane and supra mundane level.
By THE BUDDHA'S Core Teachings
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