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Here is a passage from Ñanavira's Notes on Dhamma.

Images here refer to mental content (imaginations). Five-base refers to the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch)

There is no doubt that images are frequently made up of elements of past real [five-base] experience; and in simple cases, where the images are coherent and familiar, we speak of memories. But there are also images that are telepathic, clairvoyant, retrocognitive, and precognitive; and these do not conform to such a convenient scheme. The presence of an image, of an absent reality, is in no way dependent upon its ever previously [or even subsequently] being present as a present reality [though considerations of probability cannot be ignored].

So why is 'images are frequently made up of elements of past real [five-base] experience' a convenient scheme since it does not seem to fit with the dictionary definition of scheme? How is it a plan and what is it a plan for? Also why is it convenient, convenient for achieving what exactly?

Why does he say that 'considerations of probability cannot be ignored'?

PDT
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I take this to mean the following.

The convenient.scheme is what empiricism recognizes as memories of past experiences which can be recollected.

So experiences comprise of sensual data. So images which are recollections of past experiences fit the empiricist scheme of explanation.

But the passage presumes also other types of images which are not recollections, eg precognition. So precognition cannot fit the empiricist scheme of recollection of previous sensual data, since it hasn't happened yet.

Passage also accepts simply made up images which have no connection to past, present or (foreseeable) future reality (what we can call imaginary) which however cannot probabilistically be totally excluded from becoming reality at some point.

Nikos M.
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  • But what is it a 'scheme' it doesn't seem to fit the definition of a scheme? Also why is it convenient? This is what I meant to have asked sorry for not being clear about it. – PDT Jun 01 '22 at 09:32
  • I take it as a figure of speech, not necessarily as related to some formal system. – Nikos M. Jun 01 '22 at 13:22
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    I guess he means a useful idea for explaining in general what thoughts are. – PDT Jun 01 '22 at 14:07