The Role of the Noble Path in a reflection on conventional truth, and ultimate reality (AI GENERATED)

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The Truth, the Reality and the Path

❖ Paññatti and Paramattha:

A reflection on conventional truth, ultimate reality, and the role of the Noble Path

1. Paññatti and the Appearance of Self

Conventional designations — such as satta (being), puggala (person), or citta (mind) — are known as paññatti.
They do not arise and fall in the way that real phenomena do.
They are mentally constructed and linguistically assigned, useful for communication and practice.

In ordinary perception, paññatti often appears as ‘self’.
But in the light of Dhamma, they are not real in the ultimate sense.
They are neither attā (self) nor anattā (not-self); they simply lack true existence altogether.

2. Paramattha and the Insight of Not-Self

Paramattha dhammas — namely, citta (consciousness), cetasika (mental factors), rūpa (matter), and nibbāna (the unconditioned) —
are the true basis for insight.
They arise, persist briefly, and cease according to conditions.

These realities are not ‘me’ or ‘mine’.
They are anicca, dukkha, and anattā — impermanent, unsatisfactory, and not-self.
Understanding this directly is the essence of the Noble Path.

3. Paññatti as Support, Not Final Object

The Dhamma is taught through paññatti.
Conceptual teachings — sīla, samādhi, paññā — are all expressed through language, ideas, and metaphor.
They are essential in guiding the path.

But at the moment of insight — especially in ariyamagga (the supramundane path) — the mind takes as object not a concept, but a paramattha dhamma, seen clearly with the mark of impermanence, suffering, or not-self.

Thus:
→ Paññatti supports the beginning.
→ Paramattha is the object of realization.

4. Magga and Phala: Not the Same Moment

According to Abhidhamma, the mind that realizes magga (path) and the mind that experiences phala (fruition) are distinct.
They arise in immediate succession, but not simultaneously.

The magga-citta cuts off defilements.
The phala-citta tastes the freedom.
To say that the fruit occurs “within the path moment” is imprecise.

→ The Path opens. The Fruit follows.

❖ Final Note

We begin with names and ideas.
We end with seeing clearly.
Paññatti is the raft.
Paramattha is the crossing.
And wisdom lies not in rejecting concepts — but in going beyond their limits.

 

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