user-1: Nama, as in namarupa, the designation
of 'feeling, perception, attention, intention & contact', why do they call these 'Nama'?
Some clues or points to keep in mind;

intention (cetana) is kamma

six classes of intention are sankhara

sankhara fabricates the conditioned

contact has 6 sense media as cause

feeling, perception and sankhara are 'aggregates', are conjoined & are conjoined with 'consciousness' aggregate

4 aggregates have objects

3 aggregates always accompany consciousness

consciousness arises as one thing and ceases as another

same consciousness doesn't go from one life to another

consciousness is said to be inbetween two ends, 'form' on one end and 'name' on the other end

both 'the eye' and 'the form visible by the eye' are included under 'form [rupa]'

consciousness meeting rupa is a meeting of the three, is 'contact'

feeling is born of contact

feeling is requisite for craving

everything comes into being through attention

with consciousness as condition, name-and-form comes to be

with name-and-form as condition, consciousness comes to be

from sankhara as a requisite condition comes consciousness

sankhara has ignorance for cause

rupa isn't always generated as in arupajhana, formless perception attainment



user471: Name refers to mind and form refers to body. Together, name-and-form refers to the mind-body system, according to SN 12.2.
The body is called form because it is a form and also because it is the form-sensor.
The mind is called name because it is the name-assigner or namer. It assigns name to the sensed form and then forms intentions on it.
So name(-assigner) and form(-sensor) describe mind and body by their functions.
Of course, this is my deduction and I don't have sutta references to support this.

-1: <p>Nama, as in namarupa, the designation
of 'feeling, perception, attention, intention &amp; contact', why do they call these 'Nama'?</p>
<p>Some clues or points to keep in mind;</p>
<ul>
<li><p>intention (cetana) is kamma</p>
</li>
<li><p>six classes of intention are sankhara</p>
</li>
<li><p>sankhara fabricates the conditioned</p>
</li>
<li><p>contact has 6 sense media as cause</p>
</li>
<li><p>feeling, perception and sankhara are 'aggregates', are conjoined &amp; are conjoined with 'consciousness' aggregate</p>
</li>
<li><p>4 aggregates have objects</p>
</li>
<li><p>3 aggregates always accompany consciousness</p>
</li>
<li><p>consciousness arises as one thing and ceases as another</p>
</li>
<li><p>same consciousness doesn't go from one life to another</p>
</li>
<li><p>consciousness is said to be inbetween two ends, 'form' on one end and 'name' on the other end</p>
</li>
<li><p>both 'the eye' and 'the form visible by the eye' are included under 'form [rupa]'</p>
</li>
<li><p>consciousness meeting rupa is a meeting of the three, is 'contact'</p>
</li>
<li><p>feeling is born of contact</p>
</li>
<li><p>feeling is requisite for craving</p>
</li>
<li><p>everything comes into being through attention</p>
</li>
<li><p>with consciousness as condition, name-and-form comes to be</p>
</li>
<li><p>with name-and-form as condition, consciousness comes to be</p>
</li>
<li><p>from sankhara as a requisite condition comes consciousness</p>
</li>
<li><p>sankhara has ignorance for cause</p>
</li>
<li><p>rupa isn't always generated as in arupajhana, formless perception attainment</p>
</li>
</ul>
 471: <p>Name refers to mind and form refers to body. Together, name-and-form refers to the mind-body system, according to <a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn12.2/en/bodhi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 12.2</a>.</p>
<p>The body is called form because it is a form and also because it is the form-sensor.</p>
<p>The mind is called name because it is the name-assigner or namer. It assigns name to the sensed form and then forms intentions on it.</p>
<p>So name(-assigner) and form(-sensor) describe mind and body by their functions.</p>
<p>Of course, this is my deduction and I don't have sutta references to support this.</p>
