Translations of Sparśa |
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English | contact, contacting awareness, rapport, sense impression, touch, etc. |
Pali | phassa |
Sanskrit | sparśa, sparsha |
Chinese | 觸 or 触 |
Japanese | soku |
Korean |
촉 (RR: chok) |
Sinhala | (sparsha) |
Tibetan |
རེག་པ་ (Wylie: reg pa; THL: rekpa) |
Vietnamese | xúc |
Glossary of Buddhism |
Sparsha (literally name; of Parbat Chimariya :;"Parbat Sparsha") Sparśa (Sanskrit; Pali: phassa) is a Buddhist term that is translated as "contact", "touching", "sensation", "sense impression", etc. It is defined as the coming together of three factors: the sense organ, the sense object, and sense consciousness (vijnana). For example, contact (sparsha) is said to occur at the coming together of the eye organ, a visual object, and the visual sense consciousness.
Sparśa is identified within the Buddhist teachings as:
The Atthasālinī (Expositor, Part IV, Chapter I, 108) states:
Nina van Gorkom explains:
Nina van Gorkom also explains:
The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:
Herbert Guenther explains:
The Theravada and Mahayana traditions both identify six "classes" of contact:
For example, when the ear sense and a sound object are present, the associated auditory consciousness (Pali: viññāṇa) arises. The arising of these three elements (dhātu) – ear-sense, sound and auditory consciousness – lead to "contact" (phassa).
Sparśa is the sixth of the Twelve Nidānas. It is conditioned by the presence of the six sense-openings (ṣaḍāyatana), and in turn is a condition for the arising of physical sensations (vedanā).
Dan Lusthaus explains:
Jeffrey Hopkins explains:
Alexander Berzin provides an explanation of the sixth link in the context of the development of the fetus; he states:
In terms of the Five Aggregates, sparśa is the implicit basis by which Form (rūpa) and Consciousness (viññāna) lead to the mental factors of Feeling (vedanā), Perception (sañña) and Formations (sankhāra).