Overview
This Dyad categorizes all reality based on a single physical property: the ability to interact with the eye-sensitivity and be seen. It drastically reduces the scope of what we normally consider “the visible world.”
The List
- Sanidassanā dhammā - Visible states: That which can be seen by the eye. In the Abhidhamma, this applies only to the Visible Form Object (rūpārammaṇa / color-appearance).
- Anidassanā dhammā - Invisible states: Everything else in the universe. This includes sound, smell, taste, physical tangibility (hardness/heat), all consciousness, all mental factors, and Nibbāna. Even the physical eye-organ itself is technically “invisible”; we only see the color reflecting off it, not the biological sensitivity itself.
Textual References
- Abhidhamma: Dhammasaṅgaṇī (Duka) – A strict phenomenological classification proving how limited human sight actually is.