Nama-Rupa(Name & Form)
Here Nama-Rupa is taken to be:
- Nama(Name) → meaning or information
- Rupa(Form) → form(structure) or matter
So I take information-matter as nama-rupa. Matter cannot be separated from information.
ex: an electron → information about it’s charge/spin/mass/position/velocity etc.
Information also can not be separated from matter. As information needs a medium to carry itself, otherwise we can not separate information from non-information and information would be without meaning(or real).
Science is about finding the truth of various material phenomena, and science has studied a great deal about matter. So it’s no surprise that quantum mechanics can be used to describe information-matter(nama-rupa). But I do think Lord Buddha has delved deeper about information-matter than modern scientists.
Uncertainty Principle
Wikipedia
This principle means information about any particle(or anything) is incomplete. That you cannot measure completely accurate information.
Quantum Entanglement
interact in way such that the quantum state of each particle of the group cannot be described independently of the state of the others
Suppose A & B are 2 information-matter particles and their states are either 0 or 1, and their information is incomplete. Thus we don’t know if the states of A is 0 or not. Due to interaction between A & B, an entanglement occurs. This entanglement itself is new information about both A&B. From this we can conclude that new information arises from incomplete(uncertain) information due to interactions of information-matter.
Nama-rupa arises from nama-rupa due to craving(entanglement) and ignorance(uncertain-incomplete information)
Dependent Origination
Contact
I will start from Contact(Phassa) as it seems more clear. When light hits the eye, a neural impulse(a signal) is generated and send to the brain.
Here light is information-matter and eye is also a collection of information-matter and the signal generated is also information-matter. I think that is evident for modern people.
light ← photons ← information-matter
signal ← electrons ← information-matter
signals(information-matter) will interact with each other(brain) and create new information about the event(Contact).
Feelings(Vedana)
information-matter generated from contact will interact and create new information as sukha(good),dukkha(bad),neutral.
Craving(Tanha)
information-matter of feelings will interact with other information-matter and create new information as bhava(Be), vibhava(Not Be), kama(Other).
Upadana(Clinging)
Similarly information-matter from craving will interact and generate new information such as views.(ex: This is red).
Bhava (Existence)
From clinging, information-matter keeps it’s existence. For example: stored in memory(brain).
Conciousness(Vinnana)
Due to information-matter interaction generates information identifying other information. This is called consciousness.
Salayatana(6 senses)
As a embryo grows, cells starts differentiating and proliferating, a human body is made. This body is made with 6 senses. It’s also evident how the information-matter from embryo, creates new information-matter(cells) and give rise to 6 senses(also information-matter).
This is the links of dependent-origination explained as nama-rupa(information-matter). Everything(Samsara) is information-matter. Consciousness, Feelings, Tanha etc are information-matter and interactions of information-matter. Everything outside the body is also information-matter.
Why everything is nama-rupa? is Nama-rupa special?
No, Nama-rupa is not special. You can also define the 12 links(DO) using any other link such as craving/contact/consciousness etc.
For example:
conciousness is catalog/identifying process.
feelings → identifying of contact
tanha → identifying of feelings
upadana → identifying of tanha
etc.
The reason I use nama-rupa(information-matter) is to reconcile the current materialistic world view.
Four Noble truths using Nama-Rupa
https://suttacentral.net/mn9/en/sujato
Saying, “Good, friend,” the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta’s words. Then they asked him a further question: “But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view…and has arrived at this true Dhamma?”—“There might be, friends.
“When, friends, a noble disciple understands mentality-materiality, the origin of mentality-materiality, the cessation of mentality-materiality, and the way leading to the cessation of mentality-materiality, in that way he is one of right view…and has arrived at this true Dhamma.
“And what is mentality-materiality, what is the origin of mentality-materiality, what is the cessation of mentality-materiality, what is the way leading to the cessation of mentality-materiality? Feeling, perception, volition, contact, and attention—these are called mentality. The four great elements and the material form derived from the four great elements—these are called materiality. So this mentality and this materiality are what is called mentality-materiality. With the arising of consciousness there is the arising of mentality-materiality. With the cessation of consciousness there is the cessation of mentality-materiality. The way leading to the cessation of mentality-materiality is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view…right concentration.
“When a noble disciple has thus understood mentality-materiality, the origin of mentality-materiality, the cessation of mentality-materiality, and the way leading to the cessation of mentality-materiality…he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view…and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”
Origin of Nama-Rupa
As I stated above, information-matter arises due to misinformation(incomplete-information) and entanglement. Since entanglement is also due to misinformation, I will take misinformation(ignorance) as the origin of information-matter.
Suffering of Nama-Rupa
If everything is the interactions of information-matter, then what’s the point of stopping it? Why do you want to end it?
Since information-matters arise due to misinformation, information-matters propagate misinformation and proliferate misinformation. These misinformation gives rise to misinformation such as ‘this is dukha’, ‘this is painful’, ‘this is pleasure’. These are just interactions of information-matter and are ultimately pointless and made of misinformation. Thus stopping this convoluted mess is the skillful/enlightened thing to do.
Nirodha(Cessation) of information-matter
According to Buddha,
Phenomena(Dhamma) that arises due to conditions, ceases when the conditions are removed.
Thus information-matter ceases with the cessation of misinformation. What is the cessation of misinformation? Perfect-information.
Perfect-information
If you look at an apple, you will notice it’s shape,color etc. Through the 6 senses we will notice only a part of the information about apple. Such as where did the apple come from? Where is the apple born? How did the apple is here? When will apple rot? What happens after it is rotten? What happens when you eat? Where is the apple tree it is from? Where does that apple tree come from? What is the molecular structure of apple? is this apple better than the other apple? … etc.
We don’t know the answer to these myriad of questions. That’s because we don’t have the perfect-information.
Perfect-information is any and every information related.
ex: Any and all information related to a apple
In Sutta’s perfect-information is stated as abinana - higher knowledge or clear knowing.
Doesn’t perfect-information interact/give rise to other information-matter?
No, perfect-information doesn’t give rise to other information-matter. Why? Since everything related or connected is included in perfect-information, it also includes the information about interactions with other information-matter. Thus there is no uncertainty or misinformation and doesn’t create entanglements.
Notice that uncertainty of B and the entanglement collapses due to the information ‘A is 0’. Because with information ‘A is 0’ you can not give rise to the information that ‘A is 0 or 1’.
How to create/give rise to perfect-information?
That’s the noble 8 fold path. And more specifically, you can increase the completeness of information. And give rise to a more-complete information and finally create a perfect-information.
How to do that?
First attain Samadhi(one pointedness) of the mind. Then use complete information such as ‘Principle of Dependent origination’ or ‘Anicca-Dukha-Anatta’ or other dhamma to generate complete information. At some point complete-information will give rise to perfect-information.
Why doesn’t just thinking about ‘DO/Anicca etc’ generate perfect-information?
Because perfect-information arises only if there is only complete-information. When you think about ‘impermanence’, there is ‘I’,‘Thinking’,‘Real’,‘Anicca’,‘Need’ and many other information that give birth to the specific information. Of these only ‘Anicca’ is complete, while ‘I’,‘Thinking’, etc are misinformation. Thus the resultant information is incomplete.
Rebirth
Since everything(samsara) is information-matter we can indeed explain rebirth through information-matter. In this context, human body is a cluster of information-matter that identifies and process/generate information. As the human body dies, only this processing is ceased. information-matter about the ‘being/self’ still exists. When a light reflects from your body, that light carries information about you. That light spreads and sound waves,matter and anything that interact with body, carries information about ‘self’ and spreads it out through cosmos. These information and the already existing information still exists after ceasing of bodily processes. These information only lacks a process to orderly process information.
Here entanglement(craving) comes to play. When dying, information-matter interacts with other information-matter of a new biological process(embryo) and creates an entanglement.
How does the dying ‘self’ information-matter know of the newborn?
It doesn’t know actually. Information-matter due to craving & ignorance(mis information) leaves itself open for entanglement. This entanglement could be a specific craving/entanglement(human/animal etc) or it could be a open to any entanglement. The newborn information-matter entangles with the concept ‘I’ of the previous ‘self’ and thus you are reborn.
Rupa lokha - Brahma
It was interesting to note that human body is a mass of information-matter used for processing information but information-matter related to ‘self’ is spread through out the cosmos. But we only process the information brought to the senses.
On the other hand, Brahma’s seems to process their information using the entire information-matter and there doesn’t seem to be a central unit(brain) for handling it. It is diffused throughout and Brahma also takes information from the whole of information-matters.
Aruupa lockha - Brahma
On the other hand Aruupa Brahma seems to cease all the material processes need for processing information. Thus they are unable to accept information and only exist as information. But periodically a information-matter structure that is able to process information forms, and then Brahma process the information. This is due to the fact that Brahma himself sets of a chain of events to recur after a period of time or universe itself creates a suitable structure due to random fluctuations after a long time(eons - 10^130).