Acta Neurochir (Wien) (1990) 105:69-73 :Acta N urochirurgica �9 by Springer-Verlag 1990

The Abhidhamma View of Consciousness

R. Bhavilai*

The Buddhist life-and-world-view originated in the enlightenment which was an observational experience. The enlightenment of the Buddha was not the result of theoretical philosophizing. It was actually the su- preme observational experience of existence in totality, which includes life and the world.

The traditional Buddhist insight meditation, called "Vipassana" is a practical and experiential process leading to the direct knowledge of the truth of existence as different from the world of illusion which imprisons unenlightened beings.

In the Buddhist view, citta or consciousness is ac- cepted without question as a real entity knowable by direct experience. Its reality needs not be proven by logic or any circumstantial evidence. One needs only to develope one's proper mental faculties to be able to realize the existence of one's own consciousness or citta and to observe its properties. A special faculty to be trained is "sati" or mindfulness. The development of sati is described in a well known discourse of the Bud- dha called the Maha Satipatthana Sutta.

To understand the Buddhist view of consciousness, one has to take a totally different approach to the problem of life-and-world-view from the start. We may compare and differentiate three world-views:

1. The ordinary people's world-view. 2. The scientific world-view. 3. The Buddhist or Abhidhamma world-view. The first and second world-views accept the concept

of an 'T ' looking at the world. The 'T ' is assumed to be a real entity. The analysis of the scientist is based on this assumption.

The Buddhist does not accept the hypothesis of an "I" as being in real entity. Therefore he considers any

* Correspondence and Reprints: Rawi Bhavilai, Director, Dhamma Centre, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.

knowledge arising from the 'T ' looking at the world as false or illusive. However, he develops "his" mental faculties so that existence appears in a new perspective.

To achieve the Buddhist world-view one has to get rid of ones previous concepts about the world as ex- isting in the space-time frame. Then existence may ap- pear in a new light uncontaminated by the colour of "personal" viewpoints.

The life-experience of a person may be viewed as a procession of momentary events each having very short duration. Each event (which lasts about 1/1,000,000,000,000 second) resembles a stroboscopic flash or the flash of a firefly in the dark. When the frequency of the flashing is low, one can distinguish each flash from the others. When the frequency be- comes high enough, the light becomes continuous. The extremely high frequency of the flashing of the life- events hides their transiency. This brings about the illusion of the continuity and permanency of life and the world. A flash of the life-event may be called "cog- nitive-moment" or "thought-moment" or "life-mo- ment". It is the fundamental unit of the total experience called life or the world or existence. This fundamental unit of existence may be comprehended in the form of subject-object relationship. In the usual mental process dominated by universal ignorance, the integration of a thousand million life-moments occuring during a fraction of a second produces the concept of an 'T ' existing in a space-time frame. This leads to the or- dinary people's and the scientific world-view.

The detailed analysis of the process of consciousness is described in the Abhidhammapitaka of Buddhism.

"Existence appears fundamentally as a procession of cognitive events.

Each event occurs in a very brief duration. Existence is real only in the present moment.

70 R. Bhavilai: The Abhidhamma View of Consciousness

The past moments do not exist any more. The future moments do not exist yet. When a future moment arrives, it becomes the pres-

ent.

To know the present moment is to know existence. Insight meditation is the observation of the present. Citta (consciousness) is that which knows, It is the Subject. Arammana is that which is known, it is the Object. Existence is the event of Citta knowing Arammana, Living is Subject knowing Object. Both citta and arammana are transient. They are not permanent entities. They come and go according to the Law of Nature.

In the primary cognitive-moment, Citta and arammana are integrated. Space and time do not appear yet. Only the life-moments come and go.

The life-moment is superbly creative. It creates the universe in totality. It is the source of the Ultimates, which are: Citta (consciousness), cetasika (mental factors), Rupa (materiality), and Nibbana (Summum

Bonum). And from the Ultimates, concepts are derived. The ignorant minds create the illusive world of con-

cepts, And are imprisoned in that world.

The world is similar to a vast TV screen. A one-second "event" on TV consists of many

frames. Each frame consists of numerous colour points. One point only appears at one instant of time. The "event" is a time-integration by the mind. Of all the colour points during that second. Therefore the mind is the creator of the "event".

On the screen of real life, A colour point lasts about 1/1,000,000,000,000 sec-

ond. And there are 5 other kinds of points (moments). They are the sound-points, the smell-points, The taste-points, the tangible object-points, And the thought-points. They are the life-moments.

A cognitive-moment may be analysed into two com- ponents.

One component is citta (subject). The other component is arammana (object). The two components are interdependent.

Without arammana, there would be no citta, Because citta arises only to know arammana. Arammana is the necessary cause of citta, Among many other causes or conditions.

Without citta, arammana would not be known. Therefore for a life-moment to arise, There must be both citta and arammana. That is, both subject and object must arise. Every moment of living is unique, Therefore every citta is unique. Each living moment has several causes, Therefore each citta has several causes too.

Analytically, 24 conditioning types are described. A citta that arises is caused by some of them.

Citta is a compounded thing. It consists of cetasikas- the mental factors. There are 52 cetasikas. They are also the basis of the moral principles.

In the consciousness of all beings, There are the good and the bad mental factors. Moral principles are not social conventions, They are derived from the properties of the ceta-

sikas.

There are 25 good or wholesome cetasikas. They are subclassified into 4 groups of 19, 3, 2, 1. The 14 bad cetasikas fall into 5 groups. The number in the groups are 4, 3, 4, 2, 1. The 13 morally neutral cetasikas are divided. The number in the 2 groups are 7 and 6.

There are psychological laws, Governing the relationship between the mental fac-

tors. The laws are also moral laws. Some of the laws are:

(1) The good cetasikas and the bad cetasikas, Do not appear in the same citta. That is, a person cannot be good and bad, At the same moment.

(2) The neutral cetasikas can appear, With the good or with the bad. When they do so, They become as good or as bad. That is, a person becomes like his companion.

(3) Every citta must have at least 7 cetasikas, As its conascence conditions. They are contact, feeling, perception, volition, Concentration, vitality and attention. They belong to a group of the neutral cetasikas.

R. Bhavitai: The Abhidhamma View of Consciousness 71

The cittas which are composed of only these, Are the 5 sense-consciousness.

(4) All the good cetasikas can co-exist. Some bad cetasikas do not cooperate. The greed-group does not appear with the hatred

group,

The moment one is greedy, one is not angry.

(5) The delusion cetasika group is the cause, Of all the immoral consciousness. Avijja (delusion) is the root of all evil."

PAST PRESENT FUTURE

Life may be considered as a procession of momentary events each having very short duration of about 1/1.000,000,000,000 sec.

l

GONE GONE

\\\ _ _ _

LIFE or

WORLD or

EXISTENCE is

REAL only

fo r

ONE MOMENT of

10 'second

/// ', :~ i t ~J

i

NOT EXIST NOT EXIST

awake / | awake ~ _ ~ _ __~L~_

~ t ~ dream . . . . . . unconsc ious unc. unc unc.

day d!eam " ~ ] ~ unc. unc. unc.

awake in daytime of most pe rsons

d rows iness deep s leep

72 R. Bhavilai: The Abhidhamma View of Consciousness

Aid to the Study of Abhidhamma

FAITH (CONFIDENCE) MINDFULNESS MORAL SHAME MORAL DREAD NON-GREED NON-HATRED EQUANIMITY

TRANQUILLITY -] AGILITY MIND PLIANCY l ~ ADAPTABILITY PROFICIENCY BODY UPRIGHTNESS -

DELUSION LACK OF MORAL SHAME i LACK OF MORAL DREAD

RESTLESSNESS /

GREED / WRONG VIEW

CONCEIT "

EYE EAR

NOSE TONGUE

BODY' FEMININITY

MASCULINITY BASIS OF MIND

VITALITY

EARTH WATER

FIRE WIND

COLOUR SMELL TASTE

NUTRITION

KAMMA CAUSED / CORPOR E~L I~ . . .

RIGHT SPEECH RIGHT ACTION RIGHT LIVELIHOOD

ZEAL

NUTRITION CAUSED CORPOREALITY

CONTACT FEELING PERCEPTION VOLITION CONCENTRATION VITALITY /~FLF E~ITION

COMPASSION ~ - ~ SYMPATHETIC JOY 1 ~ WISDOM

0 APPLIED OSUSTAIN 0 F~E~.~

THOUGHT

~ -DOUBT

LOTH ORPOR

REMORSE CONSCIOUSNESS CAUSED CORPOREALITY

~ , ,br GESTURE

2 ..-----~--'-"~SPEECH

SOUND

GROWTH CONTINUITY DECAY IMPERMANENCE

AGILITY PLIANCY ADAPTABILITY

PHYSICAL CAUSED CORPOREALITY

Model of Citta (consciousness), Cetasika (mental factors), and Rupa (corporeality). Designed by Rawi Bhavilai as an aid for the study of Abhidhamma.

Reference: Bhavilai R (1985) Huachai Kong Sasna Budh. (The Heart of Buddhism) in Thai language. The Dhamma Study and Practice Group, Bangkok.

Diagrammatic model of consciousness with mental factors o/" all beings in existence

\

D , I o I ; @ , - ) ' \ - o / ' ", j / ,' J

1 2 3 4 b 6 7 8

Type of consciousness Numbcr Diagram in Table

Immoral consc.

Rootless consc.

eye, ear, nose, tongue, body consc.

five-sense-door adverting consc.

receiving r

investigating consc.

investigating with joy consc.

mind-door adverting consc.

smiling functional (aharat) consc.

Sense sphere beautiful consc.

Form sphere

Formless sphere

Supermundane

rooted in greed 8 E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8

rooted in hatted 2 B5 B6

rooted in delusion 2 B7 B8

10 C6 1 C7

2 C7

2 C7

I D6

1 C 8

I D 7

moral consc. 8 A1 A2 A3 A4

resultant consc. 8 A5 A6 A7 A8

(aharat) functional consc. 8 B1 B2 B3 B4

moral consc. 5 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5

resultant consc. 5 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5

(aharat) functional consc. 5 Cl C2 C3 C4 C5

moral consc. 4 C5

resultant consc. 4 C5

(aharat) functional consc. 4 C5

moral consc. 20 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 resultant consc. 20 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5

Explanation: The symbols inside the small circles in the middle rcprcscnt the types of feeling accompanying the consciousness; d delight, g grief, i indifferent, * pain, or pleasure, or neulral.