ABHIDHAMMA IN DAILY LIFE - Abhidhamma.com

• Unpleasant
• Neutral
Sense objects that are desirable and that appeal to people are pleasant sensations. Beautiful
appearance, sweet sound, enticing smell, relishing taste, sensual touch, good names, and
excellent buildings are all pleasant.
What most people regard as bad, ugly, distasteful or unattractive feelings or sensations are ugly
appearance, horrid sound, oppressive smell, insipid taste, unwelcome touch, bad names and
squalid buildings.
There are neutral external objects, which are neither good nor bad appearance which is neither
beautiful nor ugly. .
There are five kinds of feeling.
a) Pleasure – Sukha
b) Suffering - Dukkha
c) Mental well-being - Somanassa
d) Mental suffering - Domanassa
e) Equanimity - Upekkha
Pleasant feeling - When one enjoys the agreeable sensations, one feels pleasant feeling. This
feeling causes gladness of mind.. This feeling becomes prominent while enjoying sensual
pleasures. It may also become prominent on seeing objects of devotional reverence such as the
Buddha and the Dhamma, etc.
Painful feeling - Coming across wretched objects causes physical suffering or mental pain. The
various characteristics of painful feeling could cause anger, sorrow, anguish, suffering, mental
pain and anxiety. Pleasure and suffering of mind can also be associated with eye, ear, nose,
tongue.
Subtle neutral feelings - This type of feeling is difficult to discern yet it is very prevalent and
common in daily life. We came across such feeling even while standing, sitting, walking, seeing
or hearing. Even then one does not know the subtle neutral feeling, which is either good or bad
arising. It is very subtle indeed.
All feeling sensations given above can be associated with either wholesome objects or
unwholesome objects. The enjoyment of sensual pleasure and the bliss arising from appreciation
of the Dhamma are all feeling sensation.
4.3. Memorizing, Recognition - Sañña
Memorizing, recognizing, or noting – (Sanna). Every one could memorize some names and
ideas. When children are told, "This is your father, this is your mother", they store in their
memory, "Papa" and "Mama"; when children see an aircraft they note in memory that is an
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