alfa wrote: ↑Fri Feb 08, 2019 6:53 amAren't they the same, more or less? A depends on B for its existence. A 'feeds' on B for its existence.
Thanks Alfa. My impression is the word "ahara" ("nutriment") is generally used in a special way. For example, in
AN 10.61, "nutriment" appears substituted in a non-special way in the place of "cause" however I think this only occurs because it is not proper to say the "
five hindrances are the cause of ignorance". Thus it appears nutriment has been used for every causal relationship in
AN 10.61 because it
must be used in a special way for the relationship of the hindrances & ignorance. It is wrong to say the five hindrances cause ignorance because the five hindrances only "feed" ignorance.
Srilankaputra wrote: ↑Fri Feb 08, 2019 6:57 am..four nutriments for the maintenance of beings who have come into being...
Doesn't this imply food, contact, intellectual intention & consciousness are nutriments for consciousness ?
Very good question. This depends on how "a being" is defined. If the definition of "
a being" found in SN 5.10 & SN 23.2 is adhered to then "consciousness" is not "
a being"; thus consciousness is not a nutriment for itself.
Thanks SarathW but this question is not intended for discussion or debate. Its just an academic question. The above sutta does not answer the question. The sutta does not say craving is the "nutriment" ("ahara") of consciousness. Regards
Bhikkhus, these four kinds of
nutriment have what as their
source, what as their
origin, from what are they
born and
produced? These four kinds of nutriment have craving as their source, craving as their origin; they are born and produced from craving.
What is the
source,
origin,
birthplace and
root of these four
fuels [
nutriments]?
Ime ca, bhikkhave, cattāro
āhārā kiṃ
nidānā kiṃ
samudayā kiṃ
jātikā kiṃ
pabhavā?
Craving.
Ime cattāro āhārā taṇhānidānā taṇhāsamudayā taṇhājātikā taṇhāpabhavā.
https://suttacentral.net/sn12.11/en/sujato