buddhist psychology. by c. a. f. as davms, m.a lecturer on

BOUGHT WITH THE INCOMEFROM THE

SAG E EN DOW MEN T FU NDTHE G IFT 0

'

F ~

ill enrg1891

The Quest Se'

ries

Edited by G . Mead

Cornel l Umversnty l rary1475 P7025 1914

into the

3 1924

BU DDHIST P SYCHO LOGY

THE QU EST SERIES

Edited by G . R. s . MEAD,

s orrox or“rm ; qunsr .

Crown 81m. 2 s . 6d. m l each.

FIRST LIST OF VOLUMES.

PSYCHICAL RESEARCH AND SURVIVAL. By

JAMESH. HYSLOP , Ph .D LL.D. , Secretary of the

Psychical Research Society of America.

THE QUEST OF THE HOLY GRAIL. By JnssmL . WESTON , Author of The Legend of Sir

Perceval .’

JEWISH MYSTICISM. By J. ABELSON, M .AD.Lit. , Principal of Aria Col lege, Portsmouth .

THE MYSTICS OF ISLAM. By REYNOLD A.

NICHOLSON, M .A Litt.D. , LL.D. ,Lecturer on

Persian, Cambridge University.

BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY. By C. A. F. a s

DAvm s, M.A Lec turer on Indian Philosophy,Manchester University .

RUYSBROECK. By EVELYN UNDERHILL, Author ofMysticism,

’ The Mystic Way,’etc .

THE S IDEREALRELIG ION OF THE ANCIENTS .

By ROBERT Ersw n, Ph .D . , Author of Welten

mantel und Himmel szel t. ’ [InMe Press .

LONDON : G . BELL AND SONS LTD.

P S Y C HO L O G Y

THEORY OF MIND IN PALI LITERATURE

L O N D O N

B E L L AN D S O N S

EDITOR’

S NOTE

ONE of the most m arked signs of the t im esis the close att ent ion th at is being paid to

p sychologica l research , the resu lt s of wh ichare being followed with the great est int erestby an int elligent public, and th e cont inuedadvance of wh ich prom ises to be one of the

most hopefu l act ivit ies of m odern science .

The observat ion, ana lysis, and classificat ionof m enta l ph enom ena are being pursuedwith unt iring energy, and th e problem s of

mind a ttacked on a l l sides with refresh ingvigour . In brief, the new science of psy

chology seem s t o prom ise at no distant dat eto becom e one of the most fru itfu l, if not themost fru it fu l, field of human t illage . But

turn wh ere we will to our manuals or

specia l studies, we find no reference to the

pat ient work of many centuries aecom

plished by the int rospect ive genius of the

vi EDITOR’S NOTE

East . In th is field none have labouredwith great er industry and acum en than th e

Buddh ist th inkers, whose whole ph ilosophyand th erewith a lso th eir religion rest s on

a p sychologica l basis . Not only so; but

som e of th eir main cont ent ions are verysim ilar to the lat er views advanced by thedom inant schools of modern research . The

work of these profound analyst s of the

nature Of m ind sh ou ld, th erefore, by no

m eans be neglected by modern psychologist sand those wh o are interest ed in th eir ihstruct ive labours—and who th at desires toknow h im self c an fa il to be so int erest edIt must , h owever, be adm itt ed th at th ereis som e excu se for previous neglect owingto the lack of books designed t o sm ooth th e

way for t hose unacqua int ed with Orient a lstudies . It is with the h ope of m aking a

start in th is direct ion that the presentva luable int roduct ion has been secured fromthe pen of one who is acknowledged to bethe most compet ent student of the subjectin th e West .

PREFACE

MY book is an att empt , in the words of th eQuest Series programm e, to envisage fa ithfu lly som eth ing t rue in th e h istory of a veryint erest ing current in hum an idea s . Th issom eth ing t rue is th e analysis and th eory

of m ind in th e m ovem ent and cu lture weunderstand by Early Buddh ism , a s well asin th at of it s direct descendant st ill th rivingin Bu rm a , Ceylon and Siam , called Th eravada , or the Doctrine of th e Elders . Th isa lso is called Buddh ism— som e ca ll it HinaYana , som e South ern Buddh ism .

As to th e book’s qu est s and goals, two of

t he m ore proxim ate m ay su ffice . Wh ilescholars are beginning to get at and deciph erth e long-buried t rea su re of Buddh ist writ ingsbrough t from Mid-Asia , the genera l readeris being told that the group of oth er descendant s from Early Buddh ism called

Vii

viii PREFACE

Maha-Yanism ,is not only evolved from

the earlier doctrine, but is it s comp let ionand apoth eosis . The reader cannot judgein th is m att er, unless h e has an a l l -roundknowledge of what the developed syst emstart ed from . Such a knowledge is not

a lways present in those who are fluentabout the complet e descendant . Hence heis placed in th e posit ion of one wh o learnsof NeO-P latonism and not of P lato, of

Aqu ina s and not of Aristot le . My book’s

quest is t o present summ arily som e of th e

th ough t conta ined in th e m oth er-doct rineand h er first -born ch ild, much of wh ich isst ill inaccessible to him .

Th e second obj ect is to bring nearer theday wh en th e h istorica l t reatm ent of psy

chology will find it impossible to pret endt hat the observat ion and analysis of m indbegan with the Pre-Socrat ics . P sych ologist sare, som e of th em , curiou sly unh istorical,even with regard to th e European field withit s h igh fence of ignorance and prejudice .

Th eories are som et im es put forward as new

that have been ant icipat ed in both Europeand Asia . I say curiously

,

’becau se the

PREFACE ix

h istory of ideas about the m ind is bothfascinat ing and suggest ive . Wou ld P rofessorBergson say of his broth er th inkers , too,especially of the m ore const ruct ive among

th em (I dare to include h im self), that th e

pa st of p sychological thought a lso est Id,

continuel lement, but that so int ent is th eirforward gaze that th ey cannot and mu stnot look back Yet h ow much m oreimpressive m igh t th ey not make the presentfor us if th ey wou ld, if th ey felt compelled tolook back a litt le m ore ! Let us hope thatmonograph s in p sychological h istory m ay

eventua lly succeed in m aking it unnecessaryfor drowning, or oth er cata stroph es, to

bring flooding in upon th em the ignored

pa st of idea s in Indian ph ilosophy .

‘

!With so large an object in so sm all a book,

it!‘

has been impossible to compare the lineof descent I have chosen with oth er lines,even with that of the Madhyam ika school,in wh ich P rofessor de la Va llée Pou ssin ha srevea led much int erest ing p sychologica lm at t er . I have a lso to apologize for bringing in several t erm s in the origina l . Th iswas as inevitable, for clearness and un

x PREFACE

ambiguity, as wou ld be the use of corresponding Greek words in writ ing on Greek

p sychology . But we are m ore u sed to

Greek words . Finally, if I have repeat edstat em ent s m ade in previou s writ ings, itwas to avoid irritat ing the reader by too

m any references, a s if suggesting that he

m igh t as well be reading not one book, but

th ree or four .

C. A . F . RHYS DAVIDS .

February 1914 .

PREFACECHAP

I HABITS OF THOUGHT

I I THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE N IKAYAS

M IND IN TERM AND CONCEPT

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NIKKYAS11. CONSCIOU SNESS AND THE E! TERNAL WORLD

PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NIKKYAS

I II . FEELING

PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NIKAYASIDEATION

PSYCHOLOGY OF THEv. IDEATION—Com’mued

VII. PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS INDHAMMA-P ITAKA

VI II . PSYCHOLOGY IN THE MILINDA

SOME MEDIE VAL DEVELOPMENTS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDE!

SHWEA TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE

A UNG

BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY

CHA P T E R I

HAB ITS OF THOUGHT

THERE are som e to-day who say that enoughis known of Buddh ism ,

’by th e port ions

of it s lit eratu re t ranslat ed into English andGerm an, to enable any one to form correctjudgm ent s concerning the data and c on

c lu sions grouped under that t erm , with outfu rth er acqua intance with that lit eratu rea t second hand, l et a lone at first hand .

Th is is a fa irly t enable view if by Buddh ismbe m eant just a certa in eth ica l reform m ovem ent , a gospel set on foot to save sou ls androll ba ck the murk Of sin and superst it ion,

a new creed with a revived mora l code .

But wh en we ga in a wider perspect ive of

Buddh ism ,

“

and look m ore deep ly into wh atis involved by th e t erm , we may feel lessconfident . Buddh ism really covers the

though t and cu lture of a great part of Indiafor som e centuries, a s well as that of Furth er

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

HAB ITS OF THOUGHT 3

knowledge, t ill in anoth er decade of th iscentu ry som e writer, bet ter equ ipp ed in

every way , is able adequat ely to dea l with it .

For even in the origina l cult and schoolof Buddh ism , known a sHina-Yana , or bett eras Th eravada— the Doct rine of th e Eldersma inta ined down to th e present in Furth erIndia , it is t rue of it s p sychology, even m orep erh ap s than of any oth er branch of learning,th at we h ave h ere no body of knowledgeevolved in a nigh t to be cloth ed forthwithin a nut sh ell . It reveals a growth a s does th ep sychology of Europ e, wh ich evolved fromth e De Anima of Aristot le to the Médz

'

ta

tions , and the rest , of Cartesianism . Com

paredWith th e lat t er evolu t ion, thepsychologyof th e Th eravada is a s a qu iet river, flowingoft en unseen, compared to a st ream torn bycat a ract s . Th ere are in it no ruptures of

an eccl esia st icism rep la cing paganism ,

’

and

so forth . It is probable—and it certa inlyp lea ses our pride to th ink so—that no qu ietconsist ent interna l growth can produ ce su chnotable resu lt s a s h ave come from our own

m ore cataclysm ic st ruggles out of barbarismand sup erst it ion into relat ively free and

developed analysis of m ind. However thatm ay be, the h istorian of Buddh ist p sychologyhas a growth to discern and describe, fromit s ea rliest recorded expressions in the

Suttanta , or books of Suttas , aga in in th e

analyt ica l works known as Abhidhamm a

4 BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY

P itaka , and oth er early surviving books ,down t o th e discursive comm entaries of th epresent era , the work of em inent schola st ics .We sha ll hardly expect to find, in any of

th ese cla ssic works, that detach ed and

specialized study of m enta l life a s su ch ,wh ich under it s m odern nam e of p sychologyis a m at t er of yest erday am ong ou rselves .

From Aristot le t o Ham ilt on and J . S . Mill,scient ific ana lysis of m ind h a s been discu ssedeith er incidenta lly in ph ilosoph ic subj ectm at t er, or as th e leading subj ect , but withincursions into th e field of m etaphysic and

eth ics . Th ese are a lso th e m ethods we findin Buddh ist inquiries into th e nature and

p rocesses of m ind. If we t ake up th e

m ediaeva l classic com pendium of ph ilosophyand psychology, recent ly m ade accessible toEnglish readers Anuruddha

’

s Abhidhammattha sangdha

1 we find, h ere a notableanalysis of cognit ion sandwich ed betweenm et aphysica l stat em ent s, and th ere an exam inat ion of stat es of consciou sness com

p licat ed by eth ical considerat ions .

Hence it will be necessa ry t o dig out andexcise our m at erials from th eir context .

And in not ing th e resu lt s, th e reader cannotbe too carefu l t o m ark wh eth er th ey are

yielded by th e older lit erary st rat a , or byearlier or lat er sch ola st ic work discu ssing

1 Transl a ted as A Compendium of t l osophy (seeB ibl iography ) .

HABITS OF THOUGHT 5

those older canonica l scriptu res . Th e

m at erials are not yet ready for dealingproperly with th e sch ola st ic p sychology a s

a rounded off body of doct rine . I am rath erpresent ing th e subj ect in approxim at elyBuddh ist fa sh ion ; th e Older m at t er a s

ju st ifying, and illu st rat ed by , th e lat erexposit ions . And I am not seldom poach ingin ph ilosoph ica l preserves .

Since, however , t h e Com p endium , or digestju st referred to, is th e only t ex t yet publish edgiving a purview Of Buddh ist ph ilosophyof life and m ind, a glance at it s point of

departu re m ay at tune our own understandingt o a difference in scale of cont ent s and of

va lu es from t h at wh ich is h abitua l to us .

In t ru e t hough t are no h abit s of th ough t ,’

writ es Mr . F ielding-Ha ll, in his enth ra llingbook The P assing of Emp ire. That is so

idea lly,but a ct ua lly a l l th inking is only rela

tively t rue ; for a l l th inking h as been and isdone by way of h abit s, th at is , t radit ions,of though t . Vast is the fleet ing sh ow of th e

world, and brief th e cu rrent of each span of

life . We mu st econom ize in m eth ods Ofth ough t , and th is c an only be done by following t h e beat en t ra cks of our own t radit ionalm eth ods , wh en we a ssim ilat e new percept ionsto establish genera lizat ions .

But th ere are beaten t racks oth er thanours , habit s of th ough t not European, a longwh ich ph ilosoph iz ing wa s flowing before


we began, and st ill flows . And our

difficu lt ies in understanding th ose ph ilosoph ies lie less in learning th e result s, th anin gett ing ou t of our own beat en grooveinto th e h abit of though t a long wh ichthose resu lt s were com e a t .

Th e Compendium start s with a ssum ingfour cat egories of u lt im at e not ions not the

One and th e Many, not th e Rea l and th e

Idea l , but (1) chitta;l consciou sness (m ind,h eart , ’ int elligence ) ; (2 ) chetdsikd (lit era lly,m enta l th ings, m enta l s ) (3 ) rap a (lit era lly,sh ap e, visible form , m at eria l qua lity ) ;(4 ) nibbana (nirvana , or summum bonum ) .Rough ly speaking, we m ay approxim at et h ese to our own u lt im at es (1 and 2 ) m indor consciou sness ; (3 ) m at t er ; (4 ) h app iness, or th e ideal . But it is , I repeat , a

rough , an approxim at e fit only ; our logickicks aga inst finding a c o-ordinat ion, as

u lt im at es , Of (1) consciou sness , and (2 ) ph asesor factors of consciou sness . Nor are we

cont ent to subst itut e for a purely sp iritua l,negat ively expressed concept our own m orecom preh ensive and m ore posit ively c on

c eived t erm s for t h e summum bonum . We

sh a ll probably conclude th at we h ere see a

sect ion of hum anity beat ing out it s way t o

t ruth a long lines th at are para llel t o, or

1More s tric t ly transl itera ted oz’

tta ; bu t so spel tth rough out to ensure c orrec t pronuncia tion ,

as In our

word ehzt. Both the t’

s shoul d be pronounced chzt-ta.

HABITS OF THOUGHT 7

even convergent with our own, but differentdifferent in it s point of departure,

different in it s int ervening experiences,different in it s h abit s of thought .

’

But th e fact t hat th ese cat egories start ,not with abst ra ct genera lizat ions su ch as

unity, p lu ra lity, reality, substance, but withconsciou sness and, so t o sp eak, coefficient sof consciou sness, shou ld cert a inl y bring us

to th is conclu sion, if t o none oth er, nam ely,that su ch a view argues a very c lose attentionbestowed on the nature and work of mind.

The output of t h at at t ent ion it is my bu sinesspresent ly to summ arize . Two point s , beforewe leave the Com p endium t o dig in the olderbooks , may serve t o bring out that differenceof standpoint in th is ol d Ea st ern, if ma inlyAryan, view of th ings .

The next step in the m anual brings us

up aga inst a va stness in ext ension a ssignedto chitta undream t of by ou rselves wh en weset out to analyze consciou sness . Chitta,we read, is fourfold, a ccording a s it isexperienced in one of the th ree loka ’s, or

p lanes of life, or, fou rth ly, by one who, for

the t im e being, is beyond-a -loka (1619’

utta'

ra’

) as to h is th ough t Th ese th reeloka

’ s include th e wh ole universe of being,from creatures infra-hum an up t o both th e

inferior celest ial worlds and th e superiora pu rview great ly exceeding, if parallel tothat of Aquinas, wh o confines h im self to


discussion on th e consciou sness of th e

angels only . He includes an analysis of

th e angelic nature to complet e his‘

sch em e

of formoe sep arates . Buddh ism h a s a lwaysh eld th at , by dint of sedu lou s pract ice inprescribed form s of cont emp lat ive exercise,mundane consciou sness m igh t be t emporarilyt ransform ed into th e consciou sness exp eri

enc ed in eith er th e less m at erial, or th e qu it eimm at eria l worlds . It h a s th erefore bothAqu ina s

’s rea son and th is t oo for it s fou rfoldsch em e of chitta .

Mr. Aung, a s an‘int erpret er of

m ediaeva l Buddh ism present ed th roughm odern Burm ese gla sses,

’ 1 figures ckitta and

chetas‘z’

ka’

s a s th e sh ell and th e cont ent s Ofa sph ere, 2 and shows , both h ereby and byth e cont ext , th at th is tradit ion is cont ent toenvisage t he two concept s a s respect ively a

whole and it s fact ors, or else a s respect ivelya unity and som eth ing m ore, ’ concom itantwith th at unity . And t hu s som e am ong u s

will st ill be left ch afing at th e logic of fou rcat egories wh ich sh ou ld be th ree .

Th e rest of u s will su sp end our judgm entand get on, bearing two th ings in m ind as

we do so . First ly, th at our t radit iona llogic of whole and part s, genu s and species,is a convenient Greek fict ion, by wh ich wea rt ificially parcel off th e flow or continuumof experience a s if we were sorting seeds or

1 Compendzum , p . 284 . Ibid, p , 13 ,

HABITS OF THOUGHT 9

th e like . It is a m enta l inst rum ent wh ichp lays a relat ively m inor part in Indianthough t . Wh en th e Aristot elian and h ish eirs divide the knowable into bundles, andsub bundles, ranging th e individua l everywh ere under the m ore general , th e Buddh istth inker, especially in the ph ilosophy of

m ind, saw everywh ere confluences , c on

junctiires of condit ions and t endencies, fromwh ich a t a given locus (thdna , okasa ) som eth ing individua l cam e to pa ss . He stoodfor th e em ergence of the P articu lar ; the

Greek, for th e revelat ion of the Universa l .But l et th is not be st ra ined. Buddh ist

th ough t is very largely an inqu iry int o m indand it s act ivit ies . Now in that field, a s an

em inent psychologist h a s observed,1

a difference in aspect s is a difference in th ings .

”

For th e th ings or subj ect -m at t er of

psychology are the a spect s under wh ichth ings p resent th em selves to m ind. Hencewe c an find it natura l enough for p sychologica l ph ilosoph ers t o see , a s p sychologically,if not a s logica lly , dist inguishabl e cat egories(1) th e aspect of a sensit ive, react ing,discrim inat ing consciou sness happ ening in

living individua ls and (2 ) the a spect of

an ever-varying conflu ence of c o-efficient

m enta l comp lexes, evoked a long with th e

ever-recu rring, bare h app ening of th at

con sciou sness .1 James Ward, Eney . Brit , art . Psychology .

’

HABITS OF THOUGHT 11

Buddh ist , writ ing on p sychology, wou ld judget hat su ch considerat ions involved t respa ssout side h is legit im at e range .

With th ese rem arks on som e of the differenc es in th e point of View between the

Buddh ist ou t look and t hat Of our own

t radit ion, we pa ss on to survey som e of the

older judgm ent s concerning m ind and c on

sciou sness . We sh a ll not fail t o find m anyof th ese judgm ent s on a l l fours with our

own stock of concept ions . But t h e differentavenu es a long wh ich th e Indian m ind h as

t ravelled are a lways m ore or less pat ent .

Hence th e difficu lty found by both readersand writ ers in looking at the th ings of lifeand m ind with Buddh ist eyes, and h enceth e m any m ist akes we comm it .

CH A P TE R I I

THE P S YCHOLOG Y OF THE NIKAYAS

I . M IN D IN TERM AND CON CEP T

P S YCHOLOG ICAL m at eria l is never far to

seek in Buddh ist books , unless th eir subj ectm at t er m a inly precludes such a cont ent .

Th is is th e case with th e first of th e canonica lP itakas, th e Vinaya , th e subj ect Of wh ichis , for th e m ost part , th e organizat ion and

ru les of th e Sangh a , or frat ernity of m en

and wom en ‘in orders .

’In th e following

fou r collect ions of Su tt a s , or discou rses ,ent it led th e Nikaya s , wh ich correspond in

authority and sanct ity to t he Gosp els and

Ep ist les of th e Ch rist ian Scriptures, th ere ism ore or less m at t er of p sychologica l int erestin each of th e fou r t h e th ird Nikaya , calledSamyut t a , cont a ins on t h e whole th e m ost .

F ive of it s part s are ost ensibly concernedwith th e m enta l and physica l const ituent s ofth e individua l, with sense (organ and obj ectof sense) , with feeling, and with purpose .

In th e fifth Nikaya—a m iscellaneou s groupof

,books— th e p sychologica l m att er is a lm ost

always incidental Generally, the h igh

MIND IN TERM AND CONCEPT 13

eth ical or sp iritual importance of gra sp ingaright th e natu re of m ind, or m ental process,is affirm ed . And in a Sut ta of th e secondNikaya , th e founder of Buddh ism is represent ed a s bet raying h im self to an adh erent ,who had never before seen him , by a dis

course largely on th e nat ure of m ind.

1

What were th e rea sons for th is emphasisChiefly two : th e one th eoret ical, the oth ereth ica l .“(1) Apparent ly becau se consciousness or

m ind was judged to be th e m ost striking,them ost typ ica l , th e m ost conclu sive instanceof that perpetua l m ovem ent , ch ange, happening

-and-ceasing in t h e nature of everyth ingwh ich wa s summ ed u p ch iefly in th e wordim perm anent .

’ 3 To body, wh en not re

garded molecu la rly , a relat ive perm anencem ight be a ssigned, wh eth er it were a hum an

body or an eleph ant’s, a t ree or a m ount ain .

But m ind was conceived from the out set as

a series of t ransient , if connect ed, happenings .

And each m om ent ary h app ening comprisedth ree pha ses : a genet ic, a stat ic and an

evanish ing pha se . So that , as the type of

the imp erm anent , m ind wa s different evenat each fract ion of it s m om enta ry durat ion

Better were it, bhihkhus, that the un

educated many-folk shou l d conceive this four

Cp . my Buddhism , pp . 67 f . 2 See below , p . 36 .

8Anieea (pron. a -m toha ) .


element-made body, rather than ch it ta , to”

be

sou l . And why The body is seen to p ersist

for a year, for two, three, four, five, ten or

twenty years , for a generation even for a

hundred years , or even for longer, while thatwhich is ca l led consciousness , that is , mind,that is , intel ligence, arises as one thing, ceases

as another, both by night and by day.

” 1

Th is view is not th at of substant ia listph ilosophy— th at is t o say , it does not

envisage chitta as an ent ity, persist ing a s th e

sam e during life, and modified constant ly byext erna l st imu li and inh erent ch ange . It isthat of a series of ph enom ena , fla sh -

point s,we m igh t ca ll th em , of int elligence, cinem a

film s, th aum at rope-figures , welded into an

apparent unity , such a s is brough t about byth ese invent ions . And th ey are welded onlythus far into a ph enom enal genu ine unity,

in th at each m om ent of consciou sness i scau sa lly connect ed, so long as each seriesla st s, with it s predecessor .

Th ere are no passages in the Nikaya s

expounding chitta in t erm s of m om ent arychittdni, or consciou snesses . Bu t it wa s in

evit able th at lat er exegesis wou ld so developth e th em e . And so it h as been develop ed,and so developed, it is taugh t even at th e

present day , as we sh a ll see lat er . But t h eSutt as elsewh ere confirm the citat ion given

1 S arnyutta-N ihaya , vol . 11. p . 94.


above by anoth er discou rse, in wh ich c on

sciou sness or m ind is declared to be an

int erm it t ent m anifestat ion, h app ening onlyin rea ct ion to a su it able st imu lu s, and cea singwh en th e st imu lu s wa s exhau st ed . As wem igh t ph rase it , m ind in the individua lorganism was , in th e absence of th e requ isit econdit ions for evoking it , only pot ent ial .A bhikkhu , Sat i F ish er-son,

1

gives out as

th e Buddha’s own t ea ch ing that

“it is m ind(vinndna ) wh ich p ersist s and is reborn a ft erdeath unchanged He is summ oned t o

rep eat th is before th e Ma st er. Is it t ru e,Sat i , th at you sa id th is Yea , lord, so

do I understand you to t each .

” Wh at ,Sat i , is th is m ind

‘3 Th at speaker, that

feeler,lord, wh o experiences the resu lt of

good and evil deeds done h ere or th ere .

”

Now th en,foolish m an, wh ence got you

su ch a doct rine a s being t each ing of m ineHave I not taugh t you by m any m ethodsthat m ind arises from a cau se ; and exceptfrom a cau se, m ind cannot com e to be i?The bhikkhus bear h im out in th is . He

goes on

And consciousness is designated only in

accordance with the condition causing it

vis ua l consciousness from the seeing eye and

the seen obj ect auditory consciousness fromthe hearing ear and the sound thought

1Mafihima-N . i. 2 56 fi .


from mind and menta l obj ect. J ust a s a fireis difierent according to the kind of fuel .Do ye see, bhikkhus , that this is [somethingthat has] become Do ye see that the becomingis according to the stimu lus [l it . food] Do ye

see that if the stimu lus ceases , then that which

has become ceases

Th ese two pa ssages cont a in th ewh ole of th eBuddh ist th eory of m ind or consciou snessin th e germ z— int erm it t ent series of p sych icth robs a ssociat ed wit h a living organismbeat ing ou t th eir com ing-to-know th roughone brief span of life . Th e

‘fact of th oseconsciou s pu lsat ions, th e cat egory of th eseph enom ena , convent iona lly expressed a s a

unity, as chitta , is accept ed, both early and

lat e, a s an u lt im at e of experience, a s an

irredu cible datum , not to be defined in t erm sof anyt h ing else .

Th ere does not seem t o h ave exist ed anyinqu iry into t h e fact and process of elect ricity,in early Indian though t , eith er for pra ct icalor for academ ic purposes, th rough wh ich , asin our own ph ilosoph ic evolut ion, th e c on

c ept s of th e u lt im at es in natu re , in m ind,m igh t h ave been m odified and develop ed .

Yet th e Buddh ist concept ion of consciou sness is , I venture to th ink, bet t er underst ooda s a m ental electrificat ion of the organism ,

than in t erm s of any oth er natu ral forceor oth er phenom enon . The ph ilosoph ic in


quirer, if Eu rop ean, is m ore likely to drawa com parison with Aristot le ’ s princip le of

form or actualizing essence, wh ich In the ca seof a living body

‘inform s ’

or‘entelechiz es

’

m at t er, and with out wh ich that body h as

m erely

a‘pot ent ial

’being. Consciou s

ness , ‘p syche’or chitta ,

is th e ent elechy of

the body, a p sych ica lly innervat ing force .

Danger of fa llaciou s confu sion m ay , h owever,arise in any para llel drawn between even th em odified noum enon of Arist ot elian ‘form ’

with th e ph enom ena l Buddh ist chitta or

viriiidna . P ot ent ia l ’

app lies rath er to

futu re chittas th an to th e m at eria l basis ofth e body . And in it s h igh est m anifestat iona s p sych

'

e'

, Arist ot le’ s ”form becom es nous ,

th e nous poietikos wh ich is h eld t o be both

p erdu ring and imm orta l and ‘from without , ’

a lone divine .

’None of th ese t erm s is ever

applied to th e Buddh ist concep t of m ind.

Let us th erefore absta in from such c om

parisons , and consider furth er the varyingcont ext in wh ich the t erm s for that conceptoccur .

In the form er citat ion from the Nikayas ,

(pp . 13f the th ree t erm s ‘consciousness , thatis , mind, that is , intel ligence,

’

are stat ed as

mutua lly equ iva lent :

N AI

cittam iti p i mano iti p i vinnanam .

In comm ent ing, centuries lat er, on th ispa ssage, Buddhaghosa ,

the great est of the


and consciousness not as substances, bu trath er a s elem ental irredu cible data , as ph enom ena l, yet not unrea l, as forces of m om entarydurat ion but infinit ely recurring, and com

bining to form apparent ly persist ing, ap

parent ly stat ic th ings .

’

Thus earth standsfor ext ended elem ent , known by h ardness (weshould p erhap s say solidit wat er standsfor coh esive elem ent , Inding everyth ing,fire st and? for h eat , air, for m obile elem ent ,wh ile viiiridna iS

'

Th e aware, or 1ntel ligent ,elem ent .

Again,to mano as prefixed to dhdtu (and

also t o th e dua l com pound, mano-vinndnadhdtu ) is assigned a sp ecia l funct ion in c on

sc iousness, with wh ich we can bett er dea llat er . Without t h ese a ffixes mano m ayform the generic t erm for th ose funct ions ;and it is a lso so u sed wh en it s work is c onsidered under the a sp ect of p roduct , or

karm a , nam ely, in th e ph ra se equ iva lentt o our

‘thought, word and deed .

’The

Comm entat ors connect mano with minati

(rnd) , to m easure . And it is m ore u sua l ,wh en th e int ellectua l funct ioning of c on

sciou sness is referred t o, to emp loy mano ;

viiir'

ia‘

na represent ing th e field of sense, and

s ense-react ion, and chitta standing pre

em inent ly for the subj ect ive, inward-lookinga spect of consciou sness, conveyed by our

lap sed word inwy t .

’

Wh en, however, th e doctrine bears upon


th e p sychology ,or eschatology, of rebirth ,

with a l l th e near-lurking not ions of anim ist ict ransm igrat ion, t h en th e t erm for consciou sness is u sually vinnana , never mano. Chitta

appears only in th e post -Nikayan ph ra sesrebirt h -chitta and decea se-chitta . It mu st berem embered t h at Buddh ist s did not inventth eir t erm s for m ind, et c . , nor divert th eircurrent u sage a s to form and cont ext .

Th ey only sough t to infu se th ese t erm s thatth ey found, with divert ed m eaning, like ol d

bot t les filled with new wine . And we maysafely conclude , from su ch discourses as

t hat on sat i ’s error, and from oth ers involving legendary dict ion, t h at vinndna wasth e current and standard expression for

that factor of the organism , wh ich was

comm only supposed a lone to survive bodilydissolut ion, and to t ransm igrat e, as the

veh icle of t he sou l . An analogou s case wou ldbe th at of an English divine or journa listdiscussing th is factor in t erm s of

‘m ind, ’

or consciou sness , ’ so long a s the act ivit iesof th is life were h is subj ect , but subst itut ingsou l wh en advert ing to death and to con

sciou sness a ft er death . Wh ile for ignorantfolk, from early Buddh ist days down to

t h e Burm ese pea sant of t o-day , vinndna

(or it s Burm ese equ ivalent ) is conceiveda s th e m anifest at ion of sou l (a ttd) , tha t is ,of a ghost ly sem i-m at eria l m annikin .

Among the Mara or Satanic folklore,


wh ich got wrough t up into the m ore adultdiscu ssions of th e Sut ta s , is th e legend of

Mara , the sp irit of sensuou s seduct ion , ofth e craving th at involves dyings and re

birth s, lurking around a death -bed, in the

visible shap e of mu rky sm okiness , ’ lookingfor th e escap ing vinndna of th e dying p erson .

Th e legend is t old twIc e in connect ion withth e death of sa int ly bhikkhu s, in wh omvinndna wa s cea sing u t t erly to arise, becau seth ey h ad at t a ined th e end of life, earth lyor celest ia l . 1 It belongs to th e edifyinglit erature of th e Su t ta -P itaka , and wou ld bea s out of p lace in a Buddh ist ph ilosoph icaldiscu ssion as it wou ld be to writ e , in an

exam inat ion paper on elect rica l physics , of

a thunderbolt fa lling upon anybody . It wa s

the popu lar way th ere and elsewh ere, th enand m ore or less a lways , t o speak of a

som eth ing flit t ing at death , p ercept ible perh ap s only t o vision not of m en, at lea st of

ordinary m en . And th e current t erm for

th e flit t er, or flitt ing th ing h appening, inKosa l a and Magadha , to be vinnana , Bud

dhist t each ing, wh ile seeking to correct th ecurrent not ion,

ret a ined th is word, wh en itm igh t equa lly well h ave u sed chitta or

mano.

Aga in,the genesis of int elligence in th e

hum an embryo is expressed by th e u se of

vinnana1 S arnyutta

-N . i. 12 2 iii. 124 .


Were v1nnana , Ananda ,not to descend

into the mother’

s womb, wou l d body and mind

become constituted therein .

It is doubt less anoth er ca se of folklorespeech accept ed by th e Sut t anta t each ingt hat th e u sua l verb for h appening or com ingto be— viz . upp aj j ati, upp atti, a rising or

at ta ining— is h ere rep laced by avahkanti,descent , a figu re of speech m ore ra re, thoughit is found in su ch ph rases a s

‘descent of

pa in,

’

or‘Of h app iness .

’ 2

For Buddh ist s th e dissolut ion of th e factorsof a living individua l at death wa s com pletebody broke up and m ind or th e incorporealcea sed . But if, in th e fina l flickerings of

m ind or vinnana , th ere wa s a coefficient of

t he desire to enj oy, involving a clinging to,or gra sp ing a ft er life wh erewith to enjoy,

th en th ose dying pu lsat ions, a s cau se or

condit ion, p rodu ced their effect, not in th e

corp se, but in som e embryo wakening elsewh ere a t th at m om ent to life, it m ight bein th e next h ou se, it m ight be in som e h eaven,

or purgatory .

To him , bhikkhus , who l ives intent on

enj oyment in things that tend to enfetter us ,

there wil l be descent of v1nnana and

where v1nnana gains a footing, there is descent

1 Dtgha-N . (D ia l ogues of the B uddha

,Ii. 60

‘c onsc iousness

’

h ad been a bet ter rendet ing for vz'

mzdna3 S amyutta

-N . 111. 69.


of menta l and bodily life for this nutriment, vmnana , is the cause of our taking birth ,and coming again to be.

” 1

In th e t erm t ranslat ed above m enta l andbodily life —ndmarup a , lit erally , nam e and

visible or m at eria l obj ect , or form— we h aveyet anoth er word annexed by Buddh ism fromcurrent and t radit iona l u sage . It appearsin th e B rahm ana s , in wh at are presum ablyt he pre

-Buddh ist ic U panish ads , and in th e

Ath arva -Veda , a s a dua l designat ion for

th e perishable and t h e im perish able fa ct orsof the individua l . Th e Buddh ist sch olast icsderive ndma exeget ically from a root m eaning‘t o bend,

’

t o em ph a size t h e du c tability of

m ind . But th e ancient labelling of m ind or

sou l by nam e ’

derives from a widespreadfeatu re of p rim it ive cu lture, wh ich sees, inth e nam e, a statu s and a raison d

’

etre for

th e individua l over aga inst the myst ery and

m enace of a m a inly h ost ile universe .

In th e works just nam ed, ndma and rilp a

are t h e two great m anifestat ions—Wordand Mind— of creat ive being or B rahm an,

a s wh ich ‘It descends into sky and

earth .

2 And a s S at, B eing, it p erm eat esseed, egg, foetu s , and Spreads a sunderm ort a l nama

’s and rap a’

s in space .

3 In

1 S amyutta-N . 1i. 13, 91, 101.

3 Satapatha-B rahmana ,x l . 2

, 3 (SEE xh y . pp . 2 7 L}.3 Chdndogya

-Upanishad, vi. 3 ; 2 , 3 ; V111. 14, 1.


one passage it is th ey th at are rea l, or

a ctual, covering th e imm orta l breath with inth em ; in anoth er, ndma appears as the

imm ortal, leaving rup a at death for infinit eworlds .

1

Buddh ist th ough t—and h erein it is, a s

ancient though t , so im p ressive—repudiatedthe Vedic and Vedant ist cosm ology, alth oughit suffered th e borrowed word . It had no

use for th e fa ith and fanta sy , wh ich foundsat isfact ion in p erpetuat ing and elaborat ingprim it ive saga s abou t a world, for wh icha beginning and a creat ive agent were postu lated. But th ere were th e corporea l andincorporea l a spect s of life to be account edfor, if not in th eir beginning, at lea st inth eir procedu re and t endency . And th ist radit ional t erm of ndmarup a fitted th emthu s far, th at it indicat ed th e m ental andbodily com pound in the individua l— a de

sideratum , th is, in our own nom enclature .

In welding t ogeth er a num ber of t erm sand cat egories drawn in part , doubt less,from current u se, th e com p ilers of th e earlyBuddh ist records h ave no m ore reducedth eir form u las to a flawless consist encyt h an had th e com p ilers of the U panishads ,to nam e no oth er scrip tures . Thu s ndma isnot only (wh en joined with rup a ) not m adesynonym ou s with chitta , vinnana or mano ;it is defined eith er as feeling, p erceiving,

1B'rihadaranyaka Upanishad, i. 4 , 7 6

, 3 iil . 2,12 .


vinnana , and a l l com p lexes of though t ,word and deed, 1 or, aga in, a s th e first two,and a s volit ion, cont act and a t t ent ion .

2

The inconsist ency is, h owever, m ore form a lth an rea l, since am ong t hose comp lexes(wh ereof m ore present ly) , volit ion and

contact are ranked forem ost , at t ent iononly com ing into sim ilar statu s in lat erp sychology .

3 In the form u la of Cau sa lGenesis , or l aw of cau sat ion app lied to life,ndmarup a is not defined in t erm s of viriiidna ,

becau se th e form er t erm serves to denot eth e newly reborn or reconceived hum an

I ~ ~

unit , wh ile munana figu res a s th e condit ionl ~ ~

ing process, one vinnana being cau sa l inthe dying unit , anoth er vinndna beingcau sed in th e embryonic unit . Th ere wa sth erefore a dist inct ion in t im e, h ence a

dist inct ion is m ade in definit ion .

Vinndna does not p rodu ce ndmarup a , but

becau se th ere is a funct ioning of t he form era s one span of life ends , a resu ltant funct ioning of fresh vinndna a ssociat ed with a new

rup a , start s a fresh ndmarup a . So m igh t a

m an, murdered a s h e called for h elp on th e

t elephone, h ave set going elsewh ere , by hislast words , a whole series of a ct ions . We

m ay call th is t ransm it t ing a m essage, bu twe know not the nature of th e elect ric

1 Vibhanga ,136 ff Dhamm a -sangani , § 1309.

3 M ajyhima-N . 1. 53 S am yutta-N . 11. 3 f .Compendium , 94 f .


remembering what have been its characteristicsand habits how then shou l d I remember

former ewistences

Th e word includes the ent ire living hum an

compound in any one span of life . And it suse was judged to be, if necessary, not a lwaysharm less . The body and the m enta l c onstituent s are h ere,” runs Buddhagh osa

’

s

exegesis on anoth er cont ext , term ed atta

bhava , a ft er the usage of average folk whosay : Th is is my self . ’ 3 Even with outt he affix, the word is u sed, though rarely,in the sense of persona l appearance . Thu sin the Questions of King Milinda : But

given m irror, ligh t and face opposit e, th erewou ld be [one

’s] self 3 U sua lly, how

ever, in the older books perhaps invariably,it is only in the obliqu e cases that a tta isem p loyed in a para llel sense to our reflexivepronoun . It is onl y in the nom inat ive ca se,speaking approxim at ely, that it a cqu iresp sychologica l em pha sis a s the represent at iveand re-representat ive concept of a subj ect ofm enta l obj ect s, of consciou s presentat ions andrepresentat ions- a concep t h arm less enoughas a necessary econom ica l fict ion of though t

and sp eech , but deem ed a very jungle of

error for the man in the st reet .

M a7'

7hima-N . 11. 32 .

’ A tthasal ini, 308 ; see B uddhist Psychol ogica l E th ics ,175, n . 1.

3 0p . eit. (SBE xxxv .) i. 86 .


Legit imat ely u sed in th is form , it m ayfunct ion (a ) like our t erm ‘conscience,

’i.e.

moral consciou sness

Does the self rep roach thee not as to

virtue 1

The self , 0 man, knows thee as truthfu lor as fa lse.

” 2

The self wel l tamed is man’

s true sacrificia l

fi

(th is m eaning is a lso found in oblique cases 4)—or (b) in th e work of int rospect iongenerally :

In so far as a bhikkhu knows the self (orhimself , at tanam) to this effect : thus far am

I in faith , mora ls , learning, self-surrender,insight, ready sp eech ,

’-he is ca l led knower

of self5

Th e com p lem ent to th is on th e side of

act ion is

a bhikhhu who without deceit orguilemani

fests the self (himself ) as he rea l ly is .

” 6

An int erest ing feature in som e of th eseat t empt s at self-expression, for wh ich a l l

languages seem t o prove very inadequate1

.5

;amyutta-N . ii1. 12 0 ; iv . 47 , Anguttara

-N . i1i. 2 55 ;2 67

2 Angu ttara-N . 1. 149.

3 S amyu l ta-N . i. 169.

4 Anguttara-N . 1. 53.

ls Ibid. iv . 114 .“Ibid. 111. 65.

MIND IN TERM AND CONCEPT

instrum ent s , is th e bifu rcat ed or du a l self .We see h ere, a s in oth er lit eratu res

, th e not ionof one ’ s self and anoth er self dram at izing,so t o speak, am ongst th e flow of individua lsubj ect ive experience, and resolving th eone self into p lu rality

These are the p ena lties of wrong-doingthe self up braids self

Any virtuous layman established in the

fourfold p eace [of religious faith] can, if hewil l , confess him self to himself as assured ofhapp y rebirth , and as having enlightenment

as his fina l goa l .” 2

To whom is the self not dear ? To evil

doers , for though they may say Dear

to us is the self ,’

yet that which a m an dis liked

wou ld do to one dis l iked, that do they by the

self to the self .

” 3

By self inc rte the sel examine selfBy sel self -guarded thus, watchf u l of mind

And happy sha l t than live. For self of selfIs warder, unto self ha th self recourse.

Therefore tram wel l thysel as’

tn) ere a steed

Wel l bred by tra iner for the mar ket reared.

” 4

Th is dua l m ent al proj ect ion is at t im esexpressed by chitta and th e closely a lliedt erm cheto, a s if we shou ld speak of m inda ffect ing will, or h eart influ encing h ead

1 Angu ttara-N . 1. 57 .

2 Ibid. il i. 2 113 S amyutta-N . 1. 72 .

4 Dhammapada , verses 379f .


Ye shou ld restrain,curb, subdue ch it ta

by ch eto .

But t h is is a very rare variant , u suallyreserved for th e cheto of one person discerning,reading,

’

a s we say , the though t (cheto,chitta ) of anoth er wh ereof m ore present ly .

That t h is m ent a l fict ion of self present edt o self, a s of a lower to a h igh er self,

’

as

we say ,— th is qua si-personificat ion of alter

nat ing ph a ses in th e m ent al continua, one

set of judgm ent s and values jost ling on

anoth er , —wa s considered by the sch olast icsa s m ere ph raseologica l m ethod, is shown byth e passing over of su ch expressions , in th eirpa instaking exegeses , withou t comm ent .

The an-atta posit ion in th e Nikayas cannotbe properly judged by those wh o are ao

quainted only with th e European c onc ept ion of sou ls . ’ Th ese path et ic creat ionsthe lit t le flut t ering sprit es on Greek va ses ,th e m elanch oly shades in Vergil

’s,lat er, in

Dant e ’s, oth er-world, or -worlds, the errant ,fa llible, doubled self wh ich we m eet with inm ediaeva l lit erature, the

Animula vagu la blandulaP a l l idula rigida nada la

of Hadrian— the Buddha m igh t conceivablyhave cla ssed a s a sixt h group in t he organism But wh ereas such not ions are not

1M afihima-N . i. 120,242 .


absent from th e early lit eratu re of India , th e

ant i-atta' argum ent of Buddh ism is m a inly andconsist ent ly direct ed aga inst the not ion of a

sou l,wh ich was not only a persist ent , unchang1ng,bl l ssfu l , transm igrating, superph enom ena l

being, but was a lso a being wh erein th e

suprem e Atm an or world sou l wa s imm anent ,one with it in essence, and, a s a bodily or

m enta l factor , issu ing it s fiat .

’Th is th eory, so

prom inent in t h e U panishads, is evident lya lluded t o in th e second discou rse a scribedto th e Buddha

The body [and so on for m enta lfact ors] is not the Self . If it were theS elf , the body wou ld not be subj ect to disease,and we shou ld be able to say : Let my body

(or mind) be such and such a one, let my bodynot be su ch and such a one ! But since the

body is not the S elf , therefore it is subj ect todisease, and we are not able to say .

‘Let, etc .

’

N ow of that which is p erishable, liable to

suffering, subj ect to change, is it p ossible so to

regard it as to say : This is of Me this

am I , this is the S elf (sou l ) of me2

I venture to th ink that th is argum entwou ld never h ave suggest ed it self to a

1 For m ore disc uss1on ,but again very l im ited m

scop e ,see m y B uddhism ,

1912 , c h ap . 111.

2 Vinaya Texts 1. pp . roo f . th e l ast p art of th e

argument oc curs frequent ly 111 the second,th ird and

fourth l ayas .


European pluralist or ph enom enalist . Hewou ld not associat e omnipot ence or bliss,as well as imm orta l cont inu ity, with sou l orego. But however the ent itywa s conceived,the ma in ground of it s reject ion in Buddh ismwas it s supposed exem pt ion from th euniversallaws of cau sat ion , ill and im perm anence .

Wh eth er that ent ity was called satta

(being), atta, j iva (liv ing princip le) or puggala(person) did not m at t er

For these are merely names , expressions,turns of sp eech , designations in common use

in the worl d. Of these he who has won truthmakes use indeed, but is not led astray bythem .

” 1

And Buddh ist doctrine never h esitates, aswe have seen, to m ake u se of cu stomaryph rases as a m edium of exposit ion. The

Sutta s represent , for th e most part , theeffort of m ature, cu ltured m inds reach ingout to gu ide imm ature, less cu ltured m inds .The phrases and standpoint s, u seful for thatpurpose, cease to be u sed wh en the moreacadem ic m ethod of set and genera l formulascalled Abhidhamm a is observed. Whent each ing is by way of th at m ethod, we nolonger h ear of a Self A discerning, judging,controll ing self B , self C and so forth . Al l

is th en in t erm s of process , genesis, causat ion,series, and m enta l data , stat es or pheno

1Dz‘

gha-N . i. 2 63 .


m ena (dhamma) . Now the atta, as popu larlyand as th eologically conceived, was an ent itydist inct from ph enom ena , a self-exist entsom eth ing that perdu red wh ile th ey aroseand cea sed, a unity t em porarily a ssociat edwith plura lity, a m icro-deity with in dis

torting m an’s t ru e persp ect ive, in Buddh ist

doctrine of al l illu sions the most dangerou s .

In poet ical dict ion, on th e oth er h and,th e poet not infrequent ly apostroph izes hispast subject ive experience as a seria l unityor cont inuum , chitta being in th is case thet erm evident ly current for such a device,t o th e exclu sion of mano and viriiidna .

Sim ilarly our own poet s select h eart or

sou l ’for th eir m onologues, never m ind

or oth er t erm s ; witness Goeth e

Hers , mein Hers ! was sol l das geben9

Ich erkenne dich nicht mehr

0 heart gone gadding after things that p leaseI ca l l thee, heart , the breaker of my luck !I ca l l thee, heart, despoiler of my lot

” 1

I wil l restrain thee, heart , as elep hant

Is by the towngate’

s sa l lyp ort2

Tis thou, 0 heart, dost make us what we are

1 Theragathd, verses 2 13, 2 14 (0p . Bsa l ms of theBrethren ,

P 155)1 Ibid. verse 355.

0

1 Ibid. verse 112 7 verses 1106—45 are a c ontinuous

monol ogue to th e chitta .

l


sim ile, 1 a lbeit the emph a sis th ere is on th e

t ransient com ing and passing of m ent a lpu lsat ions

J ust as an ap e in the forest, roamingthrough the woodland, c lutches a bough , lets

go and c lutches another, so is what is ca l led

ch it t a , that is , mind ever changing as it

arises and ceases .

”

Unsteady is the heart as j igging ap e !”2

is anoth er instance of a figure that becam eth e typ e-symbol of chitta or vinndna in

Buddh ist p ictorial art .

3 So is the Sutt a

N ipata line4

They grasp , they c lutch, then loose their hold again,As monkey gripping bough, then letting go,

wh ere chitta is involved in concret e a ct ion ;a s it i s aga in in t h e S amyutta version ofwhat we know as th e negro

’s Brer Ra bbitand th e Tar-Baby

In the Himalaya , king of the mountains ,are p leasant glades where both monkeys and

men m ay roam . There trapp ers lay p itch

snares in the monkey-tra cks . And if a

m onkey is foolish and greedy, he takes up the

pitch in his p aw and it sticks there. S eekingto free his p aw with the other, it sticks to that.

1 S arnyutta-N . 11. 95.

8 P sa lms of the Brethren ,verse 1111

1 Ibid . p . 112 , n . 2 .


S eeking to free his p aws with one foot

with the other foot, it sticks to both: S eeking

to free both feet with his snout, it sticks to

that.” 1

Th em ora l point s to self-cont rol and governance of sense-impressions and sense-desires .Elsewh ere we find m ind not a s t ruant , butas guide and governor, under the P latonicsim ile of ch ariot eer

The body is a chariot l ight, mind is the cha rioteer,

[wh ere mano is th e select ed word, chitta

p laying a subordinat e pa rt , m ore in th e

sense of h eart , a s th e loose, unat t ach eddrapings]

With steeds of equa l training, mind pursues the mastered

road

Smiting with wisdom’

s whip the team that makes f orthings of sense.

Herein, 0 king, thyself a lone must be the charioteer.

(2) The belief in the ductabil ity of m indby proper and persistent training, or tam ing,

’

1 S am yu tta-N . v . 148 a Sim il ar c ase of sel f-c ap ture

oc c urs in th e Jatakas or B irth -s ton es of th e Sut ta

P 1taka ,and m B ra z1h an fol kl ore ( cp . A . L ang,

The Brown

F airy B ook, pp . 3362 j ataka v 1. p . 2 52 . Th e rendering th e sou l 15 th e

ch anoteer is onl y j u stifiab l e 1f th e v erse was borrowedby Buddh15m Th e Comm ent ary exp l am s as above . Cp .

th e figure of th e Sel f in th e ch anot,intel l ec t (buddhi)

dnvm g, W1th th e rem s (mano) , th e h orses of sense al ong th eroads (objec ts of sense) , in K atha Upanishad, 1. 3, 3 f.

MIND IN TERM AND CONCEPT 37‘

t o . )

a s it wa s t erm ed, wa s th e oth er rea son forthe importance a ssigned to m enta l ana lysisin Buddh ism . Th e proxim at e obj ect of

th e high er or religiou s life is described a s

vinaya , discip line, saiiydma , rest ra int , atta

nam dumeti, sameti, t am ing, harm onizingone ’s self , and guarding the gat es of sense .

Once hard to tame,by taming now is tamed

Vira

i s one of m any such em phat ic verses .

1

Th e conqu est by m an’ s wit and m inor

physiqu e over not only th e horse, with his

swiftness and natural weapons , but alsoover th e m a ss and m ight and m ind of th e

eleph ant , lift ed th e process of t am ing t o a

m ore im pressive statu s . Th e lat t er bea st ,t ra ined and oth erwise, p lays a frequ entpart in eth ical sim iles, and th e great Teach eris often t erm ed

Tamer and driver of the hearts of men.

Oth er p eacefu l conquest s by m an are brough tinto service

The conduit-makers lead the stream

F letchers coerce the arrow shaftThe j oiners mou ld the wooden p lank

The self :’

tis that the p ious tame !” 3

1 P sa lm s of theB rethren,verses 8ft. a l so S isters , xxxn .

1 Psa lm s of the S isters , v erses 2 16 , 135 B rethren ,v erse

1111.

9 Ibid. verse 19 Dhammapada ,80, 145.


The doctrine of self-m ast ery, with a varying c o-efficient of ascet icism , is comm on to

a l l religions and pract ica l ph ilosoph ies worthyof being so nam ed. Buddh ism , as an in

t el lectua l or ph ilosoph ica l religion, combat sthe unru ly facu lt ies m ore with the m entalanalysis of th e Know thyself ’

gnomon,

than with th e avert ed gaze of a faithappealing ch iefly to em ot ion and will . It s

m iddle Way between self-indu lgence and

ascet icism is, in one Sutta , exp licit ly declaredto be, not su ch an aversion of att ent ion,

bu t a syst em calling for th e h abit of breaking up th e web of consciou s experience, of

classifying it s factors, va lu ing them andm ast ering the issues in conduct .

1

1M aj j hz'

ma-N . iii. 298 m y Buddhism ,67.

CHA P TE R I I I

THE P SYCHOLOGY or THE NIKAYAs

continued

II . CON SCIOU SNESS AND THE E! TERNALWORLD

SELF -GOVERNAN CE , as one of the two rea sonsform enta l analysis inBuddh ist cu lture, bringsus up aga inst th e nature of th at cu lture ’sinquiry into sense, and m enta l act ivity on

occa sion of sense . If we m ay judge by th espace and the carefu l t reatm ent a llot t ed toit , t h e im portance of th e subj ect finds no

para llel in th e h istory of hum an idea s unt ilwe com e t o m odern Europe . We find, it ist ru e, no ph ilosoph ica l ba sis for it com parable to our

’

th eories of Sensat iona lism , Ex

perienta lism , or Rat iona lism . But we c an

see m an conceived a s a com pound of instru

m ent s recept ive and react ing conceived,too, as standing J anu s-faced with th e powerof looking into one of two hou ses— the hou seof sense-impressions, or mundane experience,and the house of sp iritua l impressions, in

cluding What m ay be ca lled supernorm alexp erience .

1 B etween th ese two Vista s h e1 Manhtma

-N . i. 279.

39


had to shape a course of condu ct a s sane,and att ended by a sp irat ions as worthy , a s

those inst rum ent s, m ou lded by past karm a ,

were able t o form .

Those ‘inst rum ent s m ay be enum erat edBuddh ist -wise thu s

She taught to me the Norm,wherein I learnt

The f ac tors, organs , bases of this selfImp ermanent compound.

” 1

What are th ese ‘fact ors , organs , bases’

according to‘the Norm ,

’or orthodox

doctrine

The Five Aggregates

Factors h ere st and for khandhd (Sansk .

skandhdh ), lit era lly h eap , body , or aggregate .

Th ese are the ndm ariip a , dealt with in the la stchapt er, bu t th e division is now fivefold : fourimm at eria l or incorporeal (a-rapino) aggre

gat es or group s, and one m at eria l aggregat e .

Under th is cat egory we see a fu ller effortm ade to t ake account , not so m uch of a

dual, as of a st ill m ore composit e naturein th e so-called individua l . We see alsoth e refu sa l to recognize th erein any unityexcept th at wh ich is conferred, for pract icalconvenience, by th e bond and label of th enam e— person, individua l , creature, self andth e like . Th e fivem ay be t ranslat ed :m at erialqualit ies, feeling, sense-p ercept ion,

com p lexes1 P sa lms of the S isters , verses 69, 43 Brethren

,12 55.

CONSCIOUSNESS 41

of consciou sness or c o-efficient s , and, fifth ly ,

consciou sness it self, th e vinnana of foregoingrem arks . Th ere is h ere no order in funct ionor evolut ion . Buddh agh osa , in one dissert ation on th em ,

1takes t h e la st aft er the

first , m u ch a s we sh ou ld do ,in order that

th e m iddle ones sh a ll be bet t er understood .

’But in th e Canon no rea son for th e

order, wh ich a s stat ed is invariable, is evergiven .

Th e division is a s ol d a s the incept ion of

th e Buddh ist m ovem ent it self . It form spart (t ogeth er with th e doct rines of the

eth ica l m ean, or Middle P ath , th e Eigh t foldP ath of suprem e or righ t pract ice, theFour Truth s , and the vision and goa l of

sa int sh ip ) of th e first serm on or Sut ta ,

a scribed to th e Founder . And it is a cardina ldoct rine of th e Th eravada a l l th e way .

Th ere is no evidence th at any su ch fivefoldcat egory wa s current at t h e t im e, a lthougheach t erm wa s in u se . That wh ich is apparent ly pecu liar to Buddh ism i s th e group ingof th em a s a division exh au st ive , not onlyof body and m ind,

but a lso of su ch t erm s.

a s

m igh t serve t o stand erroneouslyfor t he not ionof a perduring hyper-ph enom ena l sou l or self .

Oth er cla ssificat ions of th e factors of individua l being occu r th roughout th e Canon ,

2

som e twofold, som e th ree, som e fourfold,1 Visuddhi-mugga ,

ch . xiv .

3 Op . m y Buddhism , p . 72 .

CONSCIOUSNESS 43

Why, bhikkhus , do ye say rupa ? Because one is afl

'

ected by (m odified by ,feels

,

ruppati) z— afiected by cold and hea t, byhunger and thirst, by touch of gnat andmosquito, by wind, and sun and rep tiles .

” 1

Rup a , in it s m ore specia l sense, is a

visible sh ap e, a colou red su rface, th e obj ectof vision . More generally, it m eans th osem at eria l qua lit ies, both of, and ext erna l to ,

th e individua l, th rough m ovem ent s and

ch anges in wh ich h e becom es aware, receivesimpressions of sense . Ruppa

'

ti,’ wh ich I

h ave rendered a ffect ed by ,

’ is,in Buddha

ghosa’

s comm ent on th is passage, paraphrasedby disturbed (or excit ed) , st ru ck (or im

pressed), hurt , broken (or disint egrat ed),2

th e verba l form being deponent . We h aveno t erm th at qu it e fit s . Mat t er suggest sstu ff, m at eria ls, irres ec tive of sent ienceprodu cing quality . Body suggest s fram ework, solidity, obj ect of touch . Form ,

’

oft en u sed for ritp a , is of m uch ph ilosoph icalambiguity, for so far from suggest ing the

mutability of rup a ,it stands, in Aristot elian

ism , for the constant elem ent a s cont ra st edwith the sh ift ing sh ap es of m at t er .

” 3 Henceno one t erm will suffice for constant duty .

For rup a , as an aggregat e or factor of a

1 S amyutta-N . iii. 86 (K handha-S amyutta ,1 Sdra tthappakasinz

’

.

Compendium , S . Z . Aung on Rupa ,

’

pp . 27 1 f.


living organism , m at eria l , or corporea l aggregat e , or sim p ly

‘body ’

m ay p rove near enough .

And in any case , th e t ext and comm entaryclearly at t ach no substantia l significance toth e lit era l m eaning of hhandha . Aggre

gat e refers only t o a m anifold, an accumulation, an indefinit ely repeat ed cla ss of phenom ena , im plied wh en any part of them isdiscu ssed. Instead of any stat ic thing or

th ings, th ere is h ere defined a type of

process, an incessant ly changing and m odifi

able fiux , expressed in t erm s of sent ience, orof what m odern t ext -books m ight treat of

under m et a som at ism or m et abolism .

With regard, next , to the second khandha

Why, bhikkhus, do ye say, vedanaBecausevedanaarefelt (vediyanti) . Andwhatare fel t ? Both p leasant and p ainfu l and a lsoneutra l vedana. Each is felt, therefore ye sayfeel ings .

”

Vedana has oft en been t ranslat ed bysensat ion, part ly perhap s becau se the stem ,

from x/vid, suggest s the senses as sources ofknowledge, part ly owing to th e posit ion of

vedana in the series of t erm s const itut ingth e form ula of cau sat ion becau se of thesixfold sph ere of sense, contact ; becau seof cont act , vedana ; becau se of vedana,craving But the h edonist ic cont entof th e t erm requ ires the word ‘feeling,

’a

t erm with wh ich , for that m att er, ourworried

CONSCIOUSNESS 45

psychologist s know that a dea l of sense1m port is m ixed up . By Buddh ist s theth ird and the fifth aggregat es are m oreclosely a ssociat ed with sensat ions th an isvedana. Cont act , ’ ‘

touch ,

’

produces bothsensat ions and vedana

J ust as , bhikkhus , from the j uxtap ositionandfriction of two sticks , warm th is generated,heat is born and from the a ltering, therelinquishing of j ust those sticks , that corre

sp onding warmth is a l layed and ceases , even

so does p leasant vedana arise because ofconta ct cap able of p rodu cing it and cease

when the contact ceases .

” 1

(The sam e app lies to pa infu l vedana. )But cont act , ’ a s a ph ilosoph ical t erm , has

th e very genera l im plicat ion of proxim at econdit ion, eith er physical, or, in the ca se of

vedana, psych ica l .2

Now feeling in th is, it s st rict ly h edonist icsense, cannot be expressed in m ore int im at et erm s . It m eans m ore essent ially stat e of

t h e subj ect , or subj ect ive stat e, for our

p sych ology, than any oth er phase of con

sciou sness . Th e Buddh ist s discerned th istoo , not only in th e rep ly describing vedana,bu t a lso in the warning added in Buddhaghosa

’

s comm ent , nam ely, that“th ere is

no dist inct ent ity or subj ect who feelsit is only feeling that feels or enjoys,

”and

1 M anhzma -N 111. 2 42 .

1’A tthasalinz‘

,109.


that because of som e object wh ich is incau sal relat ion to p lea sant or oth er feeling.

” 1

So consist ent ly insistent is Buddh ist ph ilosophy in giv ing prom inence to object oversubj ect—to see in obj ect the relat ing th ing,and in the compound, labelled subject , ’

the th ing relat ed.

2 In ph ilosophy,” says

our neo-Realism , th e m ind mu st elim inateit self .” 3

A point of int erest to p sychologist s is therecognit ion of neut ra l feeling, with it s doublynegat ive nam e not -painful-not -plea sant(adukkha-m-asukha ) feeling as a dist inctphase . A posit ive cont ent indicat ed by a

negat ive t erm need app ear no anomaly tou s , for whom ‘imm orta lity,

’ ‘independenceare accept ed instances . Our p sychology onlydoubt s wh eth er bare feeling can be said toa rise in subject ive exp erience, unless it befelt a s p leasant or unp leasant . B etweenth ese two we are disposed to allow no morethan a zero-point .

In one Sutta , a laym an m ainta ins theEuropean preference for two phases only of

feeling as the m ore authoritat ive doct rine .

“The Founder is referred to and replies, th atfeeling m ay be cla ssed under two, th ree or

m ore h eads according to the special a spectof feeling discu ssed by the t each er . For

1 S dra tthappakdsinz‘

. Com endium, p . 2 .

a S . Al exander, Things and Know edge.

S amyutta-N . iv . 2 2 3 f .

CONSCIOUSNESS 47

bare em ot ional sent ience, the th ree phasesare invariably given . The typ ica l descript ion of th em , in th e arch aic analysis of th eNikaya s , runs a s follows . Th e t each er isth e em inent wom an-t each er, Dhamm adinna,whose answers on th is occasion are confirm edby the Buddh a as being what h e h im selfwou ld have said. Aft er stating th e th reeph a ses, and qualifying each as being eith erbodily or m ental, she is th en a sked 1

What has p leasantfeeling that is p leasant,what that is p ainfu l ? Wha t has p ainfu l feeling that is p ainfu l , what that is p leasant ?What has neutra l feeling that is p leasant,what that is unp leasant ? P leasant feelinghas stationariness as p leasant, change as un

p leasant ; p ainfu l feeling has stationariness

as p ainfu l , change as pleasant. N eutra lfeelinghas knowledge as p leasant, not-knowing as

painfu l .’ 2

Aft er replying to an eth ica l qu est ion, she

is asked

What is comp arable to p leasant, to p ain

fu l , to neutra l feeling‘P leasant andp ainfu l

feelings are mutua l ly comp arable. Neutra l

feel ing is comparable with ignorance, as this

is with knowledge.

’

1 M an'

hima -N . i. 303.

Or as Buddh agh osa’s l ess awkward p rose paraph rases

m neu tra l feel mg a s tate of know mg 1s p l easant , a

s ta te of not know mg is painfu l .


It is not easy for u s , with our logic of

definit ion and div ision, based on GreekSubst ant ialism , to acqu it Buddh ist s h ere of

confu sing bare feeling,’ ‘feeling proper,

’

with int ellectua l concom itant s . P ersonally,h owever, th e longer I study th eir thought ,th e m ore relu ctant I becom e to vot e themillogical, even from our own logica l standpoint s . I am inclined inst ead to judgethat th ey envisaged pleasurable feeling lesscom preh ensively th an we do, and that theym ay h ave seen in what Ba in, for instance,ca lled em ot ions of relat ivity, em ot ions witha preponderant int ellectua l coefficient , an

irredu cible ba se of sim p le or bare feelingnot describable as p lea sant .

’

Such feelingwe m ight describe negat ively as neutral,posit ively a s int ellectual excit em ent : theresidu al consciou sness in the comp lex stateca lled p iti, int erest or zest .

l

Fu ller acquaintance with Buddhaghosa

m ay revea l m ore ligh t h ereon . For a l l pur

poses of religiou s and m oral edification, th isth ird ph a se wa s of lit t le u se, as com paredwith th e oth er two . In th e Suttas it isch iefly of concret e consciou sness predominant ly h appy

’

and unh appy that we

read . Bu t th e cu lt ivat ion of neut ra l feelingwa s of considerable im portance in t he exer

cises for th e at ta inm ent of that oth er worldconsciou sness , a lluded to in th e first chapt er .

1 See below , pp . 94 , 97, 176 , 187.

CONSCIOUSNESS 49

In th is second aggregat e too we can seet hat th ere is no quest ion of stat ic substanceor stat e qu ickened or oth erwise modified in,

or by feeling, but onl y a p lurality of m oods .The h eap s im p ly records th e fact of a

quant ity of pa st experiences of sim ilaremot iona l gush es .We com e to th e th ird khandha

Why do ye say sanha Because one

p erceives (safijanati) . And what does one

p erceive One p erceives blue-ar-green,1and

yel low and red and white.

”

Th is scant inform at ion With respect to

such an everyday word doubt less sufficedfor the h earers, but it s sim p licity is misleading for alien readers . S annd is not

lim ited to sense-p ercept ion, but includesperceiving of a l l kinds . Our own t ermpercept ion is sim ilarly elast ic . In edit ingthe second book of th e Abhidh amma-P itaka , ’I found a cla ssificat ion dist inguish ingbetweensannd as cognit ive a ssim ilat ion on occasionof sense, and saniid a s cognit ive a ssim ilat ionof ideas by way of nam ing. Th e form er isca lled percept ion of resistance, or opposit ion

1Nita ; the word does du ty for both ,for the col our of

sky ,c loud, hil ls , trees , etc .

,B ud . P sy. E thics , 0 . 6 2

,n. 1

cp. Edridge Green ,Col our-B l indness and Colbur-P ercep

tion Th e tetra-chroma: regard bl ue as a greenish violet .”

India is th e h ome of bl ue-green indigo .

1 Vibhanga , 1904 , p . 6 .

CONSCIOUSNESS 51

qua l ity (rupam ) as comp ound to make (l it .

in order to 1

) ri'

1pa they comp ose feelingas compound to make feeling p ercep ts , tom ake percep t comp lexes to m ake com

p lexes consciousness to make consciousness .

’

J u st a s one cooks rice-gruel to m akerice-gruel,

” continues th e Comm entator, or

a cake t o make a cake, so is th is beingbrough t togeth er by ant ecedent condit ionsand wrough t up int o a [m enta l] com poundt erm ed ri'ipa . By com posing is m eantst riving a long, kneading togeth er, effect ing.

’

Togeth er with th e m enta l product ion of

ri'

ip a are com pounded th e feeling and oth erstat es a ssociat ed with it . Th e essent ia lm ark of a sankhdra is being work of m ind .

’ 2

Th e fourth khandha ,th en, is the com p le

m ent ary fact or t o th e m ore passive, recept iveph a se of consciou sness . In th e som ewh atlat er elaborat ions of doct rine in th e Abh idhamm a -P itaka , th is constru ct ive a spect isreserved for th e first -nam ed of th e 52 elem ent s of consciou sness com prised undersankhdra

’

s, nam ely, chetc‘

i’

nd.

3 In th at t erm1 Th e Sinh a l ese prin ted ed1t1on of th e Commentary

reads rupa tthdya ,and so for th e oth er term s .

1 Chetayita ,h tera l l y ,

being m ind-cd .

’

3 In 1ts m ore p assw e sense of c om ponent thm gs , rath er

th an com poundm g func tion ,sanhhdra h as a m u ch w1der

imp l ic a t ion,ev en th at of th l ngs l n genera l ,

’th l S

tran51ent worl d ,

’and th e l ike . I m ay refer readers to

S . Z . Aung’s ana l ys1s of th e term in our Compendium of


Buddh ist s discern what we m ean by volit ion .

The oth er 51 factors are rath er coefficient sin any consciou s stat e , th an pre

-em inent lyact ive or const ruct ive functionings . To th ismanifold of factors we shall have occasionto return.

Last ly

Why, bhikkhus , do ye say vinnana It

is conscious (Vijanati), therefore it is ca l led

vififiana , consciousness . Of what is it con

scious Of tastes : sour, bitter, acrid, sweet,a lka line, non-a lka line, sa line, non-sa line.

”

Here it will be sa id if th is and the th ird,or percept ion-khandha , are m erely awarenessof difference in sensat ions , what is th ere tochoose between th em If we turn to one

of the p sycho-eth ical discu ssions of the

Maj jhima—Nikdya to h elp u s out , we shallfind apparent ly th e sam e conclu sion arrivedat . The quest ioner is Kotth

‘ita , called the

Great , and Sariputta , ch ief of the disciples,and a lthough no cla ss of student s att endingeith er is m ent ioned, the dia logue must h avebeen com p iled, or actually delivered for thebenefit of breth ren less proficient than the

P hil osophy , pp . 2 73 f . , and to R. O . Franke’s Ap endix

m ms sel ec ted trans l ations from th e Digh a-N1kaya £

7

19:I m uc h regret th a t th e Compendium was not in Dr.

Franke’s h ands wh en h e wrote this Appendix . I t c ould

h ave h ad no jus ter or m ore apprecia tive critic . H1s own

aendering of th 1s diffi cul t term IS Hervorbringungen,

’

prouc ts .

’

CONSCIOUSNESS 53

em inent Maha Th e qu est ionsturn on the nature of vir

’

ir‘

idna and oth eraggregat es . Th e first is h ere sa id to beconsciou sness of what is p leasant , pa infu l,and neith er . A litt le lat er, feeling is declaredto be concerned with the sam e, and per

c eption, with sensat ions su ch as colour .

Kot th‘ita th en goes on

And that, brother, which is feeling, tha twhich is p ercep tion, and that which is vififiana ,

are these menta l sta tes conj oined, or disconnected Are you able to disentangle themand p oint out different modes of action forthem .

9 The three, brother, are conj oined, notdisconnected, nor are we able to disentanglethem and p oint out for them different modesof a ction . F or what one feels , brother, one

perceives what one perceives , of that one is

conscious .

’

Th e essent ia l hom ogeneou sness of chitta

or chitta’

s wou ld seem to be h ere uph eld, a sa correct ive aga inst attach ing too m uchweigh t to ana lyt ic dist inct ions . Viiiiidna .

we are assured on good Buddh ist auth ority,is of m ore general im port than any one

pha se of consciou sness . It th ere includes andinvolves th e oth er th ree m enta l aggregat esju st a s our own p sychologies a llow only a

logica l dist inct ion for pu rposes of analysisbetween two or m ore m am phases of c on

1Manhima-N . ,i. 292 f .


sciou sness . To see furth er separat enesswou ld be, wrot e Buddhgahosa ,

1as if one

drew wat er at the delta wh ere t he five

rivers ent er th e sea saying Th is is Gangeswat er ; th is is J umna wat er .

’Al l th ese

m ent a l stat es are one with respect to theirobj ect . Sensat ions of sigh t ,

”h e adds,

illu strat e percept ion h ere, becau se form and

appearance sh ow it s act ion m ost clearly ;sensat ions of t ast e are cit ed for consciousness a s best showing it s awareness of specificdist inct ion [inVinndna , in fact , being, it wou ld seem , a

t erm of such genera l im port , m ay stand forany awareness of m ind, no m at t er howgenera l or h ow abstract th e cont ent .

It m u st st ill rem ain for u s a logicalanom a ly to see th e m ore enera l as ect

m msecon ir an ourth being re u ce to

msha ll witness a Th era of Ceylon or Burm a ,

m ast er of both h is own and our tradit ions,doing ju st ice to the subj ect . Meanwh ile~

wem ay do well to "

h ang up o ur; judgment on

1 Commentary on M aj yhima -N .,Su t ta 43.

CONSCIOUSNESS 55

chitta or mano. Safety wa s felt to lie onlyin classifying m ind as not one, subdivided,but as several . Ndmari

'

ip a was far m oreconvenient a s a sta rting-point , but it wa sa dangerou s old bott le for new wine, for itdat ed, a s we h ave seen, from anim ist ic or

atm anistic comp ilat ions . Why ,

” wrot eBuddhagh osa , did th e Exa lt ed One sayth ere were five aggregat es , no less and no

m ore 2? B ecau se th ese not only sum up a l l

classes of condit ioned th ings, bu t th ey a ffordno footh old for sou l and the anim ist ic,m oreover th ey include al l oth er c lassifica

t ions .” 1 No wrong V iew finds, in th e

Nikayas , correct ion so em phat ic, so uncom

prom ising a s th is : t hat vinndna is an

ident ica l som eth ing, cont inuou s, persist ing.

” 2

fiW y rea son for th e kh andhadivision wa s ract l caI— t he reader m a ca llit rel i l ou s

, h l losophica l eth ica l as h e

p lea ses— and not scient ific . Herein it re

se'm‘ b'led P lato ’s th reefold pysch e—sent ient ,pa ssionat e, rat ional—pu t forward to inculcat eth e governance of the first and second by thet h ird. Aristot le ’s th reefold sch em e was m orescient ific , giving u s an evolut ionary conceptof increa sing connotat ion .

” 3 But Ar istot lewas elaborat ing a t radit ion wh ich start ed

1 Visuddhi-M agga , ch . xiv . cp . Warren’

s Buddhism in

Trans l a tions , p . 156 .

1 M aj j hima-N . i. 2 56 quite l 1teral l y ,runs on

,flows

on,not-oth er.

’

1 G . Croom Robertson, E l ements of P hil osophy , p . 2 2 1.


from unity, and h eld it most unreasonableto consider the p sych e a s a p lurality .

‘ The

founders of Buddh ism , a scribing to that

unity in self, ’ to wh ich consciou snessu sua lly, and language (wh en not m etaphoric a l ) a lways t est ifies, only the validityof popu lar, convent iona l u sage, started fromp lura lity . Th ey saw in the person a p luralityh eld togeth er by a nam e, and by an economyof m enta l procedu re . Th eir hiloso h 1s

synth et ic, start ing from m any . WEen itana ysesz 1t reveals, not fract ions

,but a

num ber of co-ordinat ed u lt im at es . For it ,u lt lm at e t ruth hes ln 1nvert ing convent ionalt ruth , or a s we m igh t say , comm on sense .

The latt er sees truth in a consist ent u se of

nam es for th ings-as-p erceived, h olding thatth ese are th ings—as-th ey-rea lly -are (yathdbhi

'

itam ) . But the ta sk of ph ilosophy layin penet rat ing th rough th ese fict ions ofth e

‘world’s beliefs and th ese myth s of

language . It mu st not take surface-u sageas in the least t ru stworthy . Th e att itudeis of course comm on to a l l ph ilosoph izingworthy of th e nam e . Bu t in Buddh ism itwas app l ied in a m ore thoroughgoing degreethan a lm ost anywh ere else in ancient thought .

By him wh o sees, ’ th e one,’to wh ich c on

sciousness seem ed to t est ify, is considered as

a myt h carried over from th e nam e, and valid

only in popu lar though t .

1De Anima ,ch . iv .

CONSCIOUSNESS 57

Theory of Sense

Th e next word in our verse is organsa'

ydta'

nd. Th is word, m eaning simply p laceor sph ere for m eet ing, or of origin, or groundof h appening,

1 is u sed to cover both organof sense and sense-obj ect . Th e m eet ingis that effect ed, on occa sion of sensat ion,

between organ and obj ect . Wh at th is m eeting of m an

’ s cognit ive apparatu s with the

ext erna l world consist ed in, wa s , a s weknow, variou sly conceived. But no seriou seffort to inqu ire into, and formu lat e, th enatu ra l procedu re in th at m eet ing appearsin any Indian lit erature judged t o be pre

Buddh ist ic, or cont em porary with the

Nikayas .

2 Vedant ic inqu iries in th is dircot ion are lat e, probably incit ed by Buddh istp ioneering effort .

Noth ing, h owever, were furth er from t ruththan t o affirm that t h e lat e Vedism , or th e

early Vedant ism of th e oldest U panish adstook no account of sense in th eir ph ilosophy .

Wh en our h istorians of p sych ology have rea l ,ized th at to lim it th eir origins to Hellenist icthough t is t o present inexcu sably m ut ilat edwork,

we sh a ll find our fact s m ore a ccessible .

1 Th reefol d m eaning assigned by B uddh aghosa , Com

mentary on Digha-N ikdya , 2 , 124.

1 It is erh ap s signific ant th a t the words S inn ( sense)and Emp ndung (sensa tion) do not ev en oc c ur inDeu ssen

’

s

index to his work on th e Up am sh ads,or to t hose of

vol s . i. and 1i. of 1118History of (Indian) P hil osophy .

CONSCIOUSNESS 59

(2 ) With a view concent rat ed m ore on

th eoret ic synth esis th an on th e fact s of experience, th ey now included, now excluded,

th e th ree relat ively anim a l senses of sm ell,

ta st e and tou ch . Som et im es only one isexcluded ; e.g. t h e indwelling Atm an orBrahm an pu lls,

’

or ru les eye, ear, tongu e (nott a st ing, bu t speaking), and skin, but not

th e nose .

1 So , too, th ese fou r only are

ca lled gra spers ,’

and th e respect ive obj ect s ,overgraspers ,

’

for eye is seized by Visibleobj ect s , ear by sound ,

”et c .

—a not ionequa lly app licable to th e senses of sm ell andt a st e .

(3 ) One resu lt of th is aesth et ic eclect icismis t h at t h e significance of t ou ch in our

knowledge of th e ext ernal world is not

discerned . Thu s it is of th e eye, and no t

of tou ch , that we read The essence (sap )of th e m at eria l, t h e m ortal, th e solid[Deu ssen z S tehendes , sthitan] , th e definit e[Deu ssen z S eiende, sat] is th e eye, for it ist he essence of sat 2 In one U pani

sh ad a ct ion and h ands rep la ce t ou ch and

sensit ive surfaces .

3

(4 ) But t h e t endency to cent ra lizat ion int h e person went a long with a th eory of th e

c o-ordinat ion of sensat ions into the unity of

p ercept s, by th e act ion of a sensus communis

or sense -m ind (p raj nd) . Th l l S ‘ Som e say ,

1 B rih . in . 7 , 17 f . 2 I bid. 11 3, 43 Th e K aushitaki .


that th e vital forces (prana’ s) go into one be

com ing, since no one cou ld at the sam e t im emake known a nam e, see h ear think

with manas wh erea s the vita l forces,by going into one becom ing, bring al l th eseone a ft er anoth er into consciou sness,and th en a l l funct ion t ogeth er with eachone, sight , h earing,

”et c .

1 And it is in theh eart that th ese vital forces, wh ich includeth e senses 2 becom e one. The h eart is thu sthe sensorium commune.

(5 ) We do not find th e Buddh ist comm on

nam e for th e periph era l organs of sense ,a s door orgat e, but only openings (susayah)into th e h eart , viz . eye and ear, speech ,

m ind and air.

1

(6 ) In the h eart too reside a l l rap a’ s, for

we know colours by th e h eart ,” wh ile th esun, or the sun-

god, abides in th e eye.

1

Here we seem to get a fleet ing glimp se—no

m ore—oi a para llel t o the Comm on and

Sp ecia l Sensibles of Aristot le’s th eory of

sense, developed in m odern p sychology byLocke a s prim ary and secondary qualit ies .Deu ssen t ranslates rap a

’ s by form s , but thecont ext , l et a lone the Buddh ist tradition,

requ ires us to see in the object of sigh tst rict ly colours, a s Max Miil ler renders it .

1 K aush . iii. 2 .

1 Chdnd. iii. 12 , 3 f . and n . 1 viii. 3 , 3.

1 Ibid. iii. 13, 1 f. Th e word door,

’ dvdra,is very

near,however see ibid. iii. 13, 6 .

1 Brih . iii. 9, 20.

CONSCIOU SNESS 61

We sha ll now be th e bet t er able to judgewh erein Buddh ist p sych ology may be con

sidered to have m ade any advance on th esest riking, and oft en myth ica lly, or at lea stfigurat ively, conceived th eories of the natureof sense . Confining ourselves, a s in th e

foregoing chapt er , to th e earliest docum ent s,and taking counsel on th em from th e

Comm entaries, we will take the six matt ersnum bered above in order .

(1) We have a lready seen, we know, that

to what ext ent th e obsession of the Subject ,omnip resent yet indwelling,m ay have ch eckedinqu iry into contact with Obj ect , Buddh ismh ad sh aken off th e cau se of such a ch eck .

So thoroughgoing was the doctrine, in re

fu sing to empha size, or even recognize, anyself-agency that m igh t be m isconceived,wh en the l aw of cau sat ion was being dis

cu ssed, that queries in t erm s of a p ersona lagent were deem ed unfitting.

There are four foods , bhikkhus , for main

taining creatures that have come to be, or forconducing to their coming to be. What are

the four Materia l food, gross or subtle

secondly, contact ; thirdly , menta l provision

fourthly, vififiana . These are thefour.

”

The Comm entator exp la ins that in cases 2and 3 the int erlocut or m ight easily understand som et h ing ancilla ry to the food it self,as wh en (2) birds feed th eir young, causing


contact , and as wh en (3 ) a turt le lays hereggs not in the wat er but on the sand aboveit s reach . But th e new vinndna that becom espot ent ia l in the new embryo, as the resu lt

of a la st condit ioning, viiiiidna in a dyingperson, was not so ea sy to bring under thenot ion of food— food for a complet e new

ndmari'

ip a .

Thereup on the venerableMbliya P haggi‘ina

said to the Exa lted One Who is it, lord,that feeds on the food v innana

’Tis no

fit question,

’said the Exa lted One. I do

not use the term“feeds .

”If I did, your

question were a fit one. But since I do not,if one were to ask F or what is vififiana a

food this were a fit question and this

the fit rep ly : Vififiana -food is the condition

for bringing about rebirth in the future.

1

When that is come to birth there is the sp here

of sense and of the condition of sensations ,namely , contact.

”

Bu t who is it, lord, that comes intocontact ?

’

Tis no fit question,

’

said the Exa l tedOne. I do not say he comes into contact.

.

If one were to ask :“Because of what

condition is there contact ? this were a fitquestion, and this the fit rep ly Conditioned bythe sp here of sense [arises] contact ; conditionedby contact [arises] feeling.

’

1 Cp . p . 2 0.

CONSCIOU SNESS 63

But who is it, lord, thatfeels’

Tis nofit question1

[and so on,

for yet two m ore unfit qu eries wh o desireswh o gra sp s

(2 ) Wh et h er the concent rat ion on Obj ect ,and not on Subj ect , wa s the cau se or not ,Buddh ist ana lyses consist ent ly dea l with th efive senses , and with each of th em . Th e

p riority invariably yielded to Sigh t and

Hearing m ay be a legacy from older doctrines .

But wh at ever is stat ed about th e nature andfunct ions of sense , is shown a s va lid for

each of the senses . So fa ith fu lly is th is uncom prom ising consist ency carried ou t , th at

th e app licat ion of st at em ent s t o each sense,taken severa lly , is effect ed at a considerablecost of lit erary effect and of readers ’

pat ience .

2

Th e m ost genera l (a s well a s th e earliest )formu la of sense-consciou sness, given h alfa dozen t im es in th e M aj j hima and S amyutta

N ikayas , is a s follows

Because of sight [lit . eye] and visible

matter (rupa ) arises visua l consciousness

(c hakkhu -vififiana ) ; the col lision of the twois contact . (Conditioned by contact [arises]feeling what one feel s , one p erceives what

1 S amyu tta-N ii. 13 .

1 An 1d10m a t1c ph rase of popu l ar usage th ings seen

h eard ,1m agined ,

appreh ended ,

’

or‘th ings seen

,h eard ,

tou c h ed ,1m agined ,

’

oc curs,bu t no t where sense-cognition

IS discussed . It survives m p art see Compendium , p . 37 .


one perceives, one thinks abou t ; what one

thinks about, one is obsessed witha l hence

obsessions concerning p ast, future and p resentobj ects cognized through sight beset and infesta man . ) Because of hearing of smel l ,&c .

” 1

Th e formula cea ses at th e first bracket .The cont ext is given to illu st rat e th e applicat ion. Here is anoth er app lication, takenfrom th e 207 short Suttas on the sph ere ofsense : 1

Vififiana comes to pass , bhikkhus , because

of a dua l [thing] . What is that dua l [thing]Because of sight and because of visible obj ectarises visua l consciousness . S ight is transient,changing its state is becoming

-other-ness .

’

Visible obj ects are j ust the same. S o this dua l

thing is both mobile and p assing away .

Visua l consciousness , sp rungfrom a condition,

from a relation which is transient, changing,having becoming

-other-ness ,’

is itself no lessso. Now this kind of consciousness, happening because of a transient condition, whence

sha l l it become p erduring Visua l contactas the col lision, coincidence, encounter ofthese three p henomena is ca l led—is tran

sient, changing, having becoming-other-ness .

’

Arisen because of a transient condition, whencesha l l it become p erduring Come into contact

1M aj j hima -N . i. 111 f .1 Samyutta-N . iv . 67 f.

CONSCIOU SNESS 65

onefeels , is aware, p erceives , hence these statesa lso are mobile and p assing away, transient,changing, having

‘becoming

-other-ness .

Th is prot ract ed formu la is repeat ed foreach sense .

As to the p sycho-physica l nature of th iscontact , no at t empt is m ade th roughoutthe canonica l books t o ana lyse it . Nearlyor qu it e a decade of centuries was neededfor so a cadem ical, so scient ifically disinterested an advance a s th is But we can

im agine th at , for a count ry, whose archaicanalyses cou ld locat e colours (or visibleobject s m ore concret ely conceived)

‘in the

h eart , ’ the seat of m ind, it was no difiicu l t

mat t er so t o t ranscend th e bare touch

not ion in cont act as t o feel no need for eith era m at eria l m edium , or for the out leap ingeidola-em ana t ions of old Greek though t .

1

Wh at everwa s actua lly h eld to t ake place lna l l contact , we find no underlying hypoth esisof an il lusory world , or of a crea ting int elligencewith in . The a ssociat ion of mayd, the cosm ic‘illu sion of oth er and lat er Indian though t ,is absent from the wh ole of Th eravadaBuddh ism . It s u lt im at e dat a were ph enom ena l, and yet th ey were very rea l . Theywere not dependent upon a construct ingp ercip ient m ind. Th e m anifestat ion of

1 Even Aristot l e onl y m akes som e sort of medium for

sigh t a necessary condition (DeAnima,11.

CONSCIOU SNESS 67

‘like being known only by like was c on

sidered to be im p licit in th ese, the m oth erdoct rines . Th e elem ent s were eith er (a )belonging to th e self or int ernal, or (b) ext erna l .1 Lat er it is referred to a s an ancientdoct rine .

2 But specu lat ion concerningnatureor m ind is not a Buddh ist charact erist ic .

We find th e m ore posit ive stat em ent s th atvariety in cont act is du e to difference inorgan or in obj ect . And from difference incontact , difference arises in feeling, percept ion,

volit ion, et c .

8

Th e p ictu resqu e m et aph or of gra sperand over-gra sper for sense organ and

obj ect I do not find l n th e Nikayas . Th ereare oth er m etaphors, m ost of wh ich are for

eth ica l, or for what we m igh t call evangelica lexh ortat ion. Bu t in two or th ree th ere arep oint s of ph ilosoph ica l int erest . In the

Su t t a called ‘Th e Snake ’

of th e Sense-sph ereSamyut ta ,

‘a m an (

‘Everym an is repre

sent ed as fleeing for his life from four greatsnakes (th e four elem ent s ), five a ssa ssins(th e five aggregat es or khandhas ), with Loveoi-p lea sure In th eir m idst with drawn sword .

He ha st ens into a village , wh ich h e findsem pty and about to be dest royed bybandit s . Ru sh ing away h e com es to th e

1M ajihima-N . i. 42 1i.1 A tthasdl ini, 13; Bud. P sy . Eth . 1x .

1 S amyu tta 14o i.

4 Bud. P sy . Ethics , p . 4 .1 iv . 172 f.

l


perils of the sea , to cross wh ich he has tomake a raft , and scu ll h im self over withhands and feet . Here the empty village isident ified with th e six organs of sense,wh erein no h eadm an,

’no I, ’ nor Mine

is found.

1 In th is connexion it is well torem ember th at th e very ancient superst it ionsconcerning th e m an th a t is seen in the

eye becam e, in th e older Upanishads, a

symbol of th e indwelling agent , wh etherconceived as divine or hum an

“that is

th e Atm an th e imm ort al Brahm an.

” 1 Aga in th e village-sacking bandit sare the six kinds of ext ernal ’

obj ect s of

sense, for each organ of sense is h it (haiii‘

iati,sm itten, hurt , sla in ) by object s that are

att ract ive or th e reverse .

(3 ) It was only natural that the uncom prom ising, unflinch ing way in wh ich Buddh ism ,

from the out set , faced the whole quest ionof sense-cognit ion, and it s m ora l effect on

m an shou ld eventua lly lead to int erest ing developm ent s , such as th e nature of touch andth ings tangible (photthabba ), and the relat ionof t ouch to sigh t . But th is is developed inpost -Nikayan lit eratu re (pp . 143 ,

(4) The th eory of a c o-ordinat ing factor insense, or sensus communis , is adopt ed inbothearly and schola st ic Buddh ism . Th e fivepecial senses h admutua llydist inct provinces1 Atthasalini

‘

, 309; and S ardtthdppakasini‘

on th is Sutta.

1 Chand. iv . 15, 1 V111. Brih . iii 7 , 18.

CONSCIOU SNESS 69

These five senses, brother, have differentfields , different ranges they do not shareeach other

’s field and range. Of them thus

mutua l ly indep endent, m ano is their resort,and mano p artakes of , enj oys , the fiel d andrange of them a l l .

” 1

Buddh aghosa’s comm ent s on th is th eory of

m ind as an organ of reference are ma inlyfigurat ive, but of int erest . As to the wordrendered by resort th is he

illu st rates elsewh ere on th is wise z—Discip lessom et im es invit e the Ma st er ’s t each ing bysaying : Th ings (or ph enom ena ) have theExa lt ed One as th eir root , th eir gu ide, th eirresort . Well for us if h e revea l the m eaningof th is that he ha s ju st declared.

Hereon th eComm ent ary ’ s pa rable : Th ingsof a l l four planes [of being], com ing into thefocu s of his omniscience, are sa id to resortto th e Exalt ed One, th ey m ake him th eirresort , th ey go down, th ey go down togeth er.

Thu s contact com es to his discernm enta sking :

‘What is my nam e ? ’Thou

art contact in th e sense of search ing.

’

The four m enta l aggregat es ask in turn,

ea ch receiving a nam e according to it s

nature .

’

In comm ent ing on the Maj j hima pa ssage,wh ere ‘

m ind ’ is the ‘resort ,’he first dis

1Maj j hima-N . i. , 295 S amyutta-N . v . 2 18.

1Anguttara-N . i. 199, and el sewh ere. Pati-sardna is

litera l ly‘re-going.

’


tinguishes between th e work of mano as

five-door cognit ion (i.e. on occa sion of

sensat ions ) and a s m ind-door (or repre

sentative) cognit ion . Th en h e proceedsVisua l consciou sness is m ere seeing visible

obj ect ; and so for th e oth er senses . Th ereis h ere no Scop e for t he three radicalstat es of appet it e, ill-will and bewilderm ent .

Th ese a ffect cognit ion proper (mane, or

He th en illu st rat es by a kingenjoying a large revenu e accumu lat ingfrom numberless lit t le taxes levied froma village of five fam ilies . F inally, in c om

m enting on t h e dry , non-et h ica l formu la s of

th e Abhidh amm a -P itaka concerning mano,1

h e stat es th at wh erea s th e door-obj ect ssigh t , sound, et c . , impressions— are variablesth at p ass by , mano, h aving it s ba se in the

h eart , is a constant wh ich ha s the sole funct ion of receiving t h em . The m ark of mano

is the cognizing, th e becom ing aware of senseobj ect s imm ediat ely after th e visua l, or othersense-consciou sness .

”Thu s , th rough mano,

we get a sim u lat ed unity and sim u ltaneityof im pressions , wh ich are rea lly single andsuc

pessive, if ex c eedingly andm ost delicat ely

swi t .

Th is locat ion of int ellectua l funct ioningin the h eart a s it s ba sis or sit e (vatthu )has been carried over by Buddhagh osa andhis contemporaries from pre-Buddhistie

‘tradi

1 B ad. P ey . Ethics,l xxv1i1. 129n. 1 A tthasdl ini, 263 f .

CONSCIOU SNESS 71

tion . Neverth eless th e p sych o-physica l a ssoc iation is not m ade in th e canonica l books .

And m odern Buddh ist s, j ea lou s for th e om niscience of th eir great Founder, m aint a in thatth is silence is not accidenta l ; in oth erwords , th e Buddh a judged th at t o a ssignanoth er, e.g. a cerebral, ba sis for m indwou ld not go down with his age. Beth at a s it m ay , th e eva sion of the wordh eart is qu it e m arked. Aft er enum erat ingth e bases of the five senses, th e P atthana

goes on That m at eria l th ing on th eba sis of wh ich appreh ension and compreh ension t ake p la ce .

1 Heart , ’ in theCanon, com es int o pu rely poet ica l idiom ,

as am ong ourselves to-day , e.g. peace ofh eart , ’ t ribu lat ion of h eart , ’ 1 appealingt o t h e h eart , ’ 3 and h eart of th e Norm ,

’ 1

or doct rine .

(5 ) S im ilarly, th e expression doors (dvdra ),or gat es of sense, wh ich becam e a t echnica lt erm in th e sch olast ic p sychology of cognit ion,

is in th e older books bu t a p icturesqu e sim ile .

Th e only formu la in wh ich it th ere occurs isin th at of sense-cont rol ca lled guardednessa s to th e doors of sense .

’But th at the figure

was ready ,even in th e earlier days, to fa ll

into rank a s a scient ific t erm , and m ay eventh en have been oft en so u sed, appears from

1 P ointed ou t by S . Z . Aung Compendium , pp . 277 f .1 S arnyu tta

-N . 1. 126 , 2 12 Angu ttara-N . v . 46 .

1 D i'

gha-N . 111 173.

1 Vibhanga , 401.


a parable in th e Nikaya s of a six-

gat edfort ified city th rough th e gat es wh ereofcom e m essengers , bringing a t ru e m essage .

The m ora l is th at th ere are m ore waysth an one of appreh ending th e gospel . And

th e six gat es are exp la ined to be th e six

organs of sense, m indfu lness being the

doorkeeper .

1

(6 ) The propert ies of th ings, wh etherprim ary or secondary or oth erwise, weremu ch discu ssed in m ediaeva l Buddh ist ph ilosophy . Th e English reader c an discern th isin th e num erou s quotat ions given by S . Z .

Aung in his not es to th e Comp endium . But

th e Nikaya s had an eth ical ph ilosophy,t h eoret ica l and pract ical , t o put forward.

And no inqu iry was wrough t up into the

Sut t as save such a s wa s judged necessaryor auxiliary to th e att ainm ent of rightviews in such a ph ilosophy, and to the

app licat ion of th em to pract ice .

Th e h onesty and candour of the Suttas,in dea ling with th e fact of knowledge a s gotby way of five p eriph era l doors and one

inward door of sense, and with conductas im pressed and incit ed and swayed bysense, are due t o a convict ion of th e imm enseimportance of underst anding th is fact of

life, and al l th at the fact involved for them ind and condu ct . Cognj tion_ _

through sensewa s a process of natura l cau sat ion . Th rough

"

1 S amyutta-N iv . 194 .

CONSCIOU SNESS 73

sense arose feeling ; th rough feeling, a ct ion .

Hence th e im portance—oitreating the subj ect

w1th out eclect icism , without aesthet icism ,” a h -sq

from t he"

standpom"

b f'

iiatural raw;‘

for'

ar

w “r 1

pra ctical~

purpose . T his ul tim at et ei'i

'

fi s, the el im l natidfi‘

b f the il l s th at arosethrough sense-cognit ion, and t hrough the

actions _t o which m ankind wa s th ereby

im pelled .

FEELING 75

extinction of grasping and the extinction of thiswhole ma ss of il l .

” 1

That by which one becomes cognizant ofthe world, and has conceits abou t the world,that is ca l led, in the Ariyan discip line, theworld namely, by cognizance throughsight, hearing, smel l , taste, touch , m ane .

” 2

I say, that the end of the world is not tobe learnt, to be seen, to be got to, by going tothe end of the worl d, nor by not getting thereis an end to be m ade of il l

3 ’

Tis even

in this fathom -long carcase, p ercip ient, intel ligent, that I dec lare to be the genesis of theworl d, the ceasing of the world and the way

going to the cessation of the world.

” ‘1

We sh ou ld err 11 we read any Idea lisminto t h e la st quot a t ion ; it is ant icipat edby a c ont ext coinciding m a inly with th e

foregoing quotat ion, wh ich is aga in closelyconnect ed wit h those before it . Th e elem ent s of u lt im at e rea lity, I do not sayexist ed, but were constant ly becom ing and

pa ssing away, in th e m acrocosm a s in the

subj ect ive m icrocosm . Bu t th at m icrocosmapp reh ended th em by way of it s sense-doors .

Th ey present ed th e world t o th e individua lby represent ing it .

Where there is eye and visible obj ects ,1 S arnyu tta-N . iv . 87 cp . 52 .

1 Ibid. 95.

1 Ibid 931 Ibid. 1 6 2 Angu ttara

-N . 11 48


visua l consciousness and the things that maybe learnt through visua l consciousness , there

is the worl d, or the notion of world. Wherethere is car,

”et c .

1

Those sense-doors were present ing it to

him nigh t and day from birth t ill death ,

and, by th e a l l -powerfu l lever of feeling,were pu sh ing him th is way and th at , as

m ighty Gangawas ever bearing down bubblesof foam and driftwood .

2 And noth ing thatsense-cognit ion cou ld sh ow wa s able t o end

Sorrow and P a in fina lly and a ltogeth er .

So we h ear m ore oft en about how sense“v- r u fi.

a ec t ed th an“

about”

what"

if 16113 I h ave

at t ribut ed th l s em pha SIS t o the aesth et icvivacity of th e ancient North ern Hindu s, asbet rayed by th eir lit eratu re .

4 Tfl e is alsoth is ne ative condition, under wh ich Bd Hh is

—t

doc trl ne wa s put forward and or 3 11mabsence of any advance in natura l science .

o ern p syc o ogy as m a e it s m ostm arked forward strides during periods of

scient ific advance and excit em ent . And the

st rides were u sua llym ade by m en of scient ific,especia lly m edic a l ,training. Ha rt ley, e.g. , was

a physician ; Tet ens , a physicist and m ath em atician ; P riest ley was a ch em ist ; Cabaniswa s a professor of m edicine ; Locke was a

1 S arnyu tta-N . iv . 39.

3 Ibid. iii. 140 iv . 179.

3 Buddhism, The Norm ,

’

p . 6 5Ency . Rel igion and Ethics

, Asceticism

FEELING 77

student of natura l science and a physician ;Weber, Fechner, Sp encer are oth er not ableinstances . Such th inkers were m ore int erest ed in

”

th e m ech anism of sense as so

m any—”

avenues n

ot knowlgd“

é ; and a s a

department of the scienceghf

‘

fh‘

éw

living(m . Th eir int erest wm nt a l éc tual .Th e

- T

r

dy h am ic s of consciou sness were re

l atively unint erest ing unt il th e influence ofSchop enh au er h ad leavened though t .

To revert to older days, it is clear fromAristot le ’s works th at a considerable act ivityin biologica l inqu iry wa s being carried on at

t h e t im e, and th at not only by Ar istotl eh im self, ‘

m a st er of th ose th at know .

’ He

too evinces a relat ively m ild int erest in th e

dynam ics of feeling and will . He deliveredlectures on Eth ics, but it is not a lit t le instru ct ive to com pare his som ewhat pwdagogict reatm ent of P lea sure with th e imm enseground-wave im portance at tach ed to pa inand p lea sure , sorrow and h app iness, in Buddhist p sychologica l eth ics . He writ es six and

a h a lf sect ions, ou t of a total of t en, in th e

N icom ach ean Eth ics , before resum ing thu sTh e considerat ion of p lea sure and pa in

is one of th e subj ect s we are bound to discu ss,for we sa id th at m ora l virtu e and vice have todo with p lea sures and pa ins, and m ost peop lesay that h app iness im p lies p leasure .

”In th e

De Anima and the De S ensu ,his ch ief int erest

is in biologica l and int ellectua l conclu sions .


But in th e Buddh ist canonica l books,am id a l l th e a llu sions to contemporaryact ivit ies, th ere is no indicat ion of anyact ivity in scient ific research going on, withthe except ion of a st rology and m edicine,1and of m edicine rath er pract ised as an art

than as being advanced by syst emat ic investigation and experim ent .

The art of th e physician and the surgeonfigures frequ ent ly both in narrat ive, in sanitary regulat ion (e.g. in th eVinaya books), andin parable . Th eFounder h im self is called theGreat Healer, th e World’s Physician.

2 Them ost cent ra l of a l l Buddh ist eth ica l doctrines—the Four Ariyan Truth s— is formu lated on

the p lan of a m edica l diagnosis : nam ely, thenature of a m alady, it s cause, it s cessation, it scurative régime. And we m ay.

not bewror_1_g_if wew

'

u'

dge that , hgweverw we {egagdlilfim gzéfif i unl vel

‘sar 1 the

1-w —w

m ind of theT Ekyamuni,3 it was due to

an_ assemble

cau se was cou ld stop ,

the

1 Possibl y al so of m ath ema tic s bu t there ‘is no

positive evidence .

3 Cp . P sa lms of the B rethren , v erses 72 2 , 756 , 830,I I I I .

3 See th is more fu l l y trea ted in c h . IV . of my B uddhism.

H o~ ~

FEELING 79

working of the cou ld stopemissarbitrarily ,

bil

l ‘superna turaa l ly . Now , for th e doctor ,and for th e pat ient and th e pat ient

’s own

folk, th e‘anyth ing,

’

th e One Th ing, isDukkha , Ill (th e word m eans everyt h ingth at is th e cont rary of Suhha— h app iness ,p leasure ) . And a l l or any dukkha c an be m adeto cea se, if (1) it be right ly diagnosed, (2 ) it scau se or t h e condit ions of it s genesis and

persist ence be a scert a ined, (3 ) th e natu reof th e st at e cont rary t o it be rea lized,(4 ) th e cure consist ent ly carried ou t .

Th e m edica l inspirat ion, or at lea st,stand

point , wa s point ed ou t severa l years ago byDr . K ern 1 It is not difficu lt to see t hatt h ese fou r Satya s are noth ing else but thefou r cardina l art icles of Indian m edica lscience, app lied to t h e sp iritua l h ea ling of

m ankind, exact ly a s in th e Yoga doctrine .

E .g. in Yogasutra ii . 15 , Comm ent ary : J u stas th e doct or ’s code is fourfold : illness

,

cau se of illness, h ea lth , m edicine, so too isth is code fou rfold, t o wit : samsara ,

2 it s

cau se, em ancipat ion (moksha ), th e wayth eret o .

’Th e learned writ er, however, in

th is va luable ap ergu , specializes unnecessarily ,

and m oreover leaves us to draw a m istakeninference . I h ave h eard a physician point ingout the ana logy between th e Four Truth s

1 Indian B uddh ism,S trassburg, 1896 , pp . 46 f . S a tya

tru th .

2 Sam sdra =endless l iv mg and dymg.


and his own Brit ish m edica l code, fromsimp ly h earing th em st at ed as Buddh istreligiou s doct rine, with out a llu sion beingm ade t o his own profession. Ta lking of

physicians t empt s m e to quot e from the

let t er of a not able Brit ish Buddh ist as

bearing on th is point Th e Operat ion and

hosp ita l-experience wa s indeed a very form idabl e a ffa ir— so t erribly im pressive in it sinsist ence on th e Dukkh a -Truth s, that Im arvel aft er th at experience, that therea lizat ion of th e truth of th em is not m orecomm on, at lea st am ong th ose who havet o do with h osp ita ls . P erh ap s indeed th ism ost im pressive obj ect -lesson is responsiblefor th e large proport ion of m edical m en

am ong th ose Occidentals wh o are deeplyint erest ed in Buddh ism .

”

Moreover, to quot e the late Comm entaryon the Yoga

-sutras a s an auth ority for thest at em ent t h at Indianm edica l procedure hadsuggest ed a fundam enta l doct rine of Bud

dhism , is m uch a s if one were t o say th at J . S .

Mill ’s inclu sion of th e syllogism in his FormalLogic proves it t o h ave been in exist encewh en Aristot le wa s t each ing. Th ere werecardinal art icles of m edica l clinic, not

only in India , but in a l l count ries beforeeith er the Yoga

-sutras (l et a lone the Comm entary) or oth er records , more certa inlypre

-Buddh ist ic, were com p iled.

Here, however, I am concerned only to

FEELING 81

t,

th at an advance in th e syst em aticof m l fid l iable to ‘

be

m at t er of m ent a l science is , a s we know, not

accessible t o st rict ly collect ive observat ion ;int rospect ion is of t he individua l, and in th eindividua l no two instances of a ph enom enon c an be shown a s absolut ely coincident .

Hence it is largely, I do not say only, wh ensom e onwa rd st ride in physica l science drawsth e rest of hum an knowledge in it s wake,that th e laws of m ind are fresh ly invest igat ed,a s som eth ing th at mu st a lso be brought intoth e line of m arch .

Wh ere th ere is no su ch advance in p sych icalinvest igat ion,

som e syst em of dogm at icm et aphysic is probably h olding th e cu lturedim aginat ion of th e age capt ive, th rough thesp ell of som e m yth of th e Word . Wh enth e m ind breaks free and looks deeper,th ere will natu ra lly be a recourse , for it sfresh concept s, to m ore posit ive idea s as

gu ides and support s .

Now in th e h ea ling lore and craft of the

day— th e only one, I rep eat , that com es

prominently to th e front in ep isode and m

deta ils of ru les in th e Vinaya— th e revoltof th ough t embodied in the Buddh ist m ove

6

FEELING 83

expansion and conceit of t h is M_e__and Mine .

‘

And a s it believedI

th—e

fi

p—h-

y—sician to

"

keepin view a l l possible sources of any disea se,neglect ing none, so was Buddh ism search ingand exh au st ive in it s t reatm ent of th e avenu esof sense, ignoring none of the five that

conveyed, nor th e sixth th at co-ordinat edand revived what the form er brough t .

int erm ediar

p lea sant (sukha ) , t h e sym ptom s of disease(dukkha ) were absent . For the sukha bornof sense wa s th e m ost effi cient handm a idenof dukkha , if dukkha be broadly understooda s both physica l and m oral ill, and a l l th at

th is does , or m ay involve of m enta l su ffering and m ora l det eriorat ion .

As Ledi Sadaw, th e em inent Th era (Seniorin th e Order) writ es

1 We mu st dist ingu ishbetween dukkha of th e cat egory (or, in Buddhist idiom , of th e essent ia l m ark) of som eth ing unp leasant experienced (by way of

sense), physica l or p sych ica l, and th e dukkhawe u se in the t riad : im perm anence (aniocha ) ,ill

, and non-sou l (an-atta ) . By th is dukkha

1 Yamaha,11. Appendix , p . 248 (London ,

P al i Tex t

Society ,


we m ean a stat e of p eril and danger, withoutpeace, security or blessing.

Th is , in oth er words, is the dist inct ion a

physician, or at least a pat ient , m ight drawbetween sensat ions of pa in and disea se .

The presence, the growt h , the decline of

the pa in is not a lways accom panied byt he presence or increa se or cessat ion of

th e disea se . And th is dist inct ion we haveto draw th roughout th e whole of Buddh istlit erature dea ling with sense, with feeling,and the effect s of feeling. Else we find

ourselves landed in m uch inconsist ency of

expression, a s I sh all sh ow .

That feeling is the inevitable response toawareness of new st imu lu s is affirm ed up and

down the Nikaya s , notably in S amyutta-N .

on the sph ere of sense (vol . iv. 1 e.g

Where there are hands , there taking and

setting down app ears ; where there are feet,there coming and going app ears where there

are l imbs , therefolding and stretching app earswhere there is stomach, there hunger and

thirst app ears . J ust so, bhikkhus , where

there is sight (or eye) , or hearing there

arise subj ective p leasure and p ain, conditioned

by sense-stimu lus ( lit. contact,1

The cont rary is th en stat ed, both of the

ana logies and the ana logues Whereth ere is not sight , et c . , neith er pleasure

S amyutta-N . iv . 171.

FEELING 85

nor pa in, condit ioned by sense-st imu lu s,arises .

”

Th is quotat ion is conclu sive enough to

represent a l l oth er pa ssages stat ing the con

com itance of sensat ions and feeling, understood as our p sych ology of sense underst andsp lea sure and pain, or at least p leasure and

unp lea su re .

1 Th at th e senses conveyp lea su re a s well as it s opposit e, is not onlya llowed and a ffirm ed by doct rina l t each ing,but th e p lea su re is a lso recognized a s verygenuine and good by th e m ost em inent of

t h e t each ers Th e Founder a ffirm ed at

tim es that none lived m ore at ea se (sukhamseti) th an h im self, however m u ch he had

forsworn m ost of the so-called good th ingsof life .

2 His ch ief apost les forgath er withhim one fine evening in th e Gosinga Wood,deligh t ing in t h e divine p erfum es of th e

dewy m oonlit scene, wh ere the t a ll Sal -t reesst and clad in golden bloom ? Tem perancewa s prescribed for m a inta ining th e physica lcom fort (phdsuvihdra ) of h ea lth .

‘1

Bu t wh en th e discip le is hidden t o lookupon sukha as , or qud dukkha , th en weknow t h at th e wider concept is to be

underst ood a ft er th e qud. And th is is no

1 I owe th is term ,borrowed from Germ an scienc e, to

m y university col l eague ,Mr. T. H . P ear.

2 Angu ttara-N . i. 136 f . S amyu tta-N . iv . 127 .

3 M aj j hima -N . i. 2 12 f . S amyutta-N . w . 104 , and

passim .

4 End. P sy . Ethics, p . 353.

CHA P T E R V

THE P SYCHOLOGY OF THE NIKAYAS

continued

IV . IDEATION

THE systematic ana lysis of m ind in the

Nikaya s is pu rsued no furth er th an th e

recip ient and c o-ordinat ing work of mano

a s sensus communis . Sequences in c on

sciou sness are occa sionally pursu ed furt h er,bu t with out overmu ch t erm inological con

sist ency , and irregularly . Here are a fewinst ances

Because of some tendency there arises

p ercep tion, opinion, thinking, volition, wish ,

aspiration . And according as the tendency is

low, mediocre or lofty, so wil l a l l these be.

” 1

Th e process of conversion in religion isdescribed a s one of h earing, att ending,rem embering, com paring, discerning, desire,zeal , pondering, endeavou r .

” 2

Th inking resu lt s in desire, th rough desireobject s are divided into wh at we like and

1 S amyutta-N . ii. 153 see Comm entary .

Maj j hima-N . 1 48p ;11. 173.

7


what we dislike, h ence envy and selfishness,h ence quarrelling and figh t ing.

” 1

Conditioned by contact arises feelingwhat one feels , one p erceives what one

p erceives , one thinks about ; what one thinks

about, one is obsessed witha l .” 2

E‘

hese‘

sam ples revea l th e persist ent effort ,in th e Sutt a s, to th e m ethod,

notableexam p le of it is th e import ant formu la of

natura l cau sat ion , a s exem p lified in the

process Of life being bound up with dukkha .

In th e m enta l p rocess, the resolut ion of

a fferent or recept ive consciou sness into etierent or disch arging consciousness is clearlyaffirm ed . £ l feeling stirred by sensea—o - N °_ ” M I-

f

are convert ed into m otbr a s

B ut"

Wem eet Wit no closer analySl S of int ellectua l process, of what h a s, in our

own p sych ology, been ca lled representat iveand re-representat ive cognit ion, or ideat ion.

In th e last sam p le, we only h ear th at what weperceive,

’

t .e. not ice (the san'

r’

td-khandha ) , weth ink about (vitakketi) .1 Digha

-N . u . 278f. (condensed) . 3 M aj j hima -N 111.3 Not of course solely Buddhis t . B u t it is in teres ting to

compare, with the above,cognate passages in th e older

U panish ads—Chdndogya , Vii. 2 - 26 : Taittirz

'

ya ,1i. 3

-

5 ;K atha , i. 3, 10,

etc .

IDEATION 89

The lat t er t erm , with it s substant ivevitakka (from th e root tark) is th e m ostu sua l expression in th e Sut ta s for the looser,popu lar m eaning of th inking and though ttu rning the m ind on to a subj ect , m entat ion,

adapt ing th e at t ent ion . With out th e prefix(vi) , it is a t erm for argum ent or dia lect ic(takka ) .

1 It is u sed rath er for rest less anddiscursive int ellect ion, and not for th e vol

p lané of intu it ive sweep of m ind .

Anoth er t erm , vichdra , u sed only in a ssociat ion with vitakka , is a com p lem entary expression to th is , indicat ing persist ence indiscu rsive th inking, th e onset Of wh ich isindicat ed by vitakka .

A st ill m ore genera l t erm for int ellect ion,

without exp licit reference to sense, is chinteti,chintd, bu t it is seldom m et with in th e

older books .

2

Anoth er word, mu ch u sed for th e adapt eda t t ent ion, is manasikdra , lit era lly m indm aking, work-in-m ind .

Next , th ere are two words connot ingrep resentat ive cognit ion,

in form much likeour re-flect , re-consider —p acchavekkhdti,patisanchikkhdti. Both h ave th e p refix of re

version and rep et it ion, and both st em s belongt o th e vocabu lary of vision . Th e form er, a swith us , is a lso u sed for opt ica l reflect ion .

1 Dia l ogues , i. 29, 34 f .2 S amyu tta -N . v . 447 oc c urs not seldom in th e

j a'

taka ta les .

IDEATION 91

a l l th at , sa'

ti and m em ory are closely a llied.

1

S amp aj an'

iia is more or less coincident withsa

'

ti, and is u sua lly em ployed in th e Nikayasas a twin word. It means lit eral ly su stained

ac‘

cognizing,’delibferat eness ,

’sEl f-awareness .

’

How is the bhikkhu mindfu l and selfaware He effects self-awareness in hisgoing and his coming and a l l his avocations ,in his sp eech and in his silence.

” 2

Th e latt er t erm is often rendered by selfpossessed th is expresses well the h avingone ’s self well in hand of th e Buddh istidea l . But our word is rath er th e condit ion,

th e requ isit e m enta l at t itude in order toth at m oral victory . Th is is expressed in

anoth er of th ose m ent al cau sa l sequences,from wh ich I h ave quot ed above

What is the nutriment (condition)of self-control Sat i-sampajafifia .

What is the nutriment (condition) ofsat i-sam pa jafifia ? Thoroughgoing attention,

”

etc . etc .

3

And self-possessed does not make exp l icit the int ellectua l empha sis of samp a

j ana , as is done by Neum ann’s rendering of

th e twin ph ra se :‘klaren Sinnes undeins't chtig,

1 Th e reader of Pa l i m ay com pare s a ti, in Digha-N .

‘

i. 180 and M aj j hima-N . iii . 89, Wi th anu ssa ti,anussaratz

in Anguttara-N . iii . 284 and v . 329.

2 Digha-N . i. 70 .

3 Anguttara-N . v . 115.


of lucid m ind and discerning.

’ We m ightuse self-consciou s, ’ were th is t erm and it s

substant ive not som ewh at debased in our

moral and socia l currency . Moreover th ereis, in the Buddh ist word, no explicit re

ference to self . ’ Wh en in the Abhidhammabooks of incip ient schola st icism samp ajaiir

'

ia

cam e to be defined, it wa s ranked as a

synonym am ong th at ga laxy of int ellectualnom enclature, oft en repeat ed, in wh ich con

sciousness , wh en engaged at it s h ighestint ellectua l funct ioning, is described. Butin so far as t h e word conveys an intel lectual empha sis specifica lly it s own, it is thatof conscious or deliberat e int ellect ion. Thussamp aj dna musa is consciously speakingunt ruth .

’ 1

In anoth er brace of int ellect ive terms ,each of wh ich is , in Abhidhamma , defineda s equ ivalent t o samp aj anna :— vichdyd

3and

vimamsaa—the em ph a sis is rath er on the

volit ional coefficient , involved in discursive,inqu iring effort of thought . Chintd also, andit s verb, m ay take th is m ore sp ecific sense .

There are four unthinkables , that may notbe thought about [i.e . sp ecu lated about], iavolving for the thinker insanity and trouble.

1 M afihima-N . i. 4 14 so sampaia'

na-samapatti, del iberate abandonment of c onsciousness ( in trance) , Digha-N .

i. 184 .

3 Ibid. iii. 106 c p . A tthasal ini,147 , with M il inda , 298.

Digha-N . ii. 2 2 2 Vibhanga ,2 2 2 .

IDEATION 98

These are sp ecu la tions concerning the rangeof Buddhaship , sp ecu lations concerning therange of him [i.e . of his intuitive p owers]who is in meditative ecstasy, sp ecu lation con

cerning the working of [the law of] karma , and

sp ecu lations about the world.

”

The la st kind of specu lat ion ( lokachinta) is by t h e Comm entator defined to beon wh o m ade t h e world, or living beings ,or t h e p lant world, et c . Th e m ore u sualword for specu lat ion, conceived a s a p rodu ctrath er th an a process of th inking, is ditthi,from drs, t o see, and m ore a llied et ymologi

ca lly th erefore t o our specu lat ion.

’

Com ing to t erm s for cognit ion m erginginto preponderat ingvolit ion, we h ave chetdnd,saitchetand and sankapp a . Th e first two ,

wh ile connect ed etym ologica lly with chintd,chitta , h ave com e to m ean purposive or

volit iona l consciou sness .

I say that c h etana is action thinking,one acts by deed, word, or thought .

” 1

It s m eaning, wrot e Buddhaghosa ,

c O-ordinat ing it s essent ial property iseffort , endeavour .

”And it is put in apposi

t ion with t erm s of wish ing and a sp irat ion .

2

Sankapp a (like vitakka above ) empha sizesthe m ind being set on to som e obj ect . Minda s a p lanning, devising, designing, concoct ing,

1Angu ttara-N . iii . 4 15 .

2 S amyntta-N l l . 99.

IDEATION 95

induce consciou sness of a h igh er or differentpower .

Here, h owever, th e specia l end served bythe analysis of sense is no longer present ,and consequ ent ly th ere is no syst em at iccla ssificat ion . We m ay say th e sam e forth e com p lex stat es of em ot ion and desireor pa ssion . In th e lat t er field we find onlytwo m utua lly opposed group s of th ree : thet h ree radica l inst inct s of app etite (with it sdevelopm ent s greed, lu st , pa ssion) ; aversion(with it s developm ent s : anger, h at e, m a

levol enc e, and delusion or du lness

(equ iva lent to ignorance, confused consciou sness ) . Th ree opposit e inst inct s are reckoneda s equa lly radica l to t h ese, but as th eydet erm ine th e condu ct of th e m inority onlyOf m ankind, we h ear m u ch less of th em , and

th ey are, significant ly enough , given in a

negat ive form a -lobka , a -do'

sa , a -moha .

1

In th is second group , h oweunder it s posit ive nam e

itas ,And wit h it are prescribed, for

syst em at ic m editat ion, th e oth er a ltru ist icem ot ions of p ity, or sympathy with su ffering,and mitditd, or sym pathy with h app iness .

2

I know of no oth er group s to rank besideth e syst em at ic and ea sily syst emat ized

1 Dism terestedness , amity ,intel l igence . Anguttara

-N .

i. 134 f . Amoha is synonym ous With amid .

3 Ibid. 1 3.


schem e of sense-consciou sness , dea lt with inapreviou s chapt er . Th e reader will, I trust ,not cha fe at m eet ing th ese Buddh ist con

cept s in t h eir origina l dress . It seem ed theleast ambiguous way of showing wh at theyreally sough t to convey .

In th e succeeding centuries, however,wh en for a t im e the m enta l cu lture of Indiabecam e largely Buddh ist , th e analysis and

classificat ion of stat es and processes of

consciou sness becam e extended and moreexplicit , a s we sh a ll see . In the venerablerecords under considerat ion, we mu st gleanand infer h ere and th ere, to ascerta in wherein th e m ore comp lex, evolved, or

‘h igher

’

work of consciou sness was h eld to consist .

The following charact erist ics of mentalact ivity, so reckoned, may carry us someway towards a correct synth esis .1 The comp lexity of any given ch itta

and its resolution.-Th is is m arkedly re

cognized in th e Opening book 1of that

som ewhat lat er collect ion in the Canon

known as th e Abhidhamm a -P itaka , in wh ichthe N ikaya s are frequent ly quot ed as

authorit at ive sources . But th ere is an

int erest ing ant icipat ion of th e analyt ic proc edure, followed in th e first half of that

work, in the Maj j hima-Nikdya .

2 The Sutta1 Transl ated in my B ud. P sy . Ethics . Cp . below,

ch . vii.Vol . iii. p . 2 5. This was onl y publ ish ed when my

transl ation was prac tical l y finish ed henc e I h ave notreferred to it th ere.

IDEATION 97

i s t erm ed Anilpa'

dd-Sutta or Series-Discourse, and conta ins an appreciat ion oft h e gift s and ch aract er of Sariput t a by th eMa st er . Am ong th ese , his power of introsp ect ive ana lysis is referred t o a s

“insigh tinto the sequ ence of m ent a l presentat ionsand it is thu s illu st rat ed

For instance, bhikkhus , S driputta , a looffrom sensuous desires a loof from bad ideas ,enters into and abides in First J hdna , wherein

attention is app lied and sustained, which is

born of solitude and fil led with zest and

p leasurable feeling. And the p resentations

in that First J hdna , to wit, thinking ap p lied

and sustained (vitakka , vichara ) , and zest

and p leasurable feeling (pit i , sukha ) and

singleness of obj ect and

contact, feeling, p ercep tion, volition, conscious

ness (ch it ta ) , desire (chanda ) , choice, effort,mindfu lness , indifference, adap tation of atten

tion (m anasikara ) —these are for him seria l lydetermined these, as they arise, are forhim things understood, and as they are p resent

and as they dep art, are for him things under

stood. He discerns Verily these p resenta

tions that were not, have become havingbecome, they again dep art .

’

And he with

regard to them abides neither drawn to, nor

averse from them ,indep endent, not cap ti

vated, but free, detached, his mind p lacingno barriers .

”

IDEATION 99

Now .dnanda saw Sdriputta coming afaroff, and he said to him :

‘S erene and

pure and radiant is your look, brother S ari

p utta .’ In what mood has Sariputta been

to-day ? I have been a lone, in J hana ,

brother, and to me came never the thoughtI am attaining it ! I have got it I haveemerged from it 1

For, in th e Ma ster ’s words

I t is by holdingup the idea of no-selfwith regard to a l l things without l imit, that

ye can say, I sha l l wel l discern cause and the

arising of things through conditions .

’ 1

To revert any chitta or group of chitta’s

th e Dhamma-S angani u ses only the singu lar—was h eld to involve a number of factors,a com p lex cont ent , divisible into th e oth erth ree m enta l khandha ’

s or aggregat es . And

th e t ra ined int ellect , if naturally acut e, wasable to divide and describe it s imm ediat elypa st comp lex as if it were a present , ext erna lcollect ion of m at eria l obj ect s . I say t ra inedint ellect , ’ not only wit h reference t o the

power of su sta ining th is ana lyt ic process inth e detach ed, disint erested fram e of m indpra ised in Sariput ta , not only to the absenceof self-reference, but a lso to the fac t thatthe process of int erna l p ercept ion im plies a

1 S amyutta-N . iii . 2 35 f .1Anguttara

-N . iii 444 .


stock of classified concept s concerning statesof consciou sness, to wh ich th e int rospector,in analysing, refers each phase or factor.Hence under th is first feature in h igherint ellect ion mu st be reckoned : (1) an existing sch em e of m enta l ana lysis reinstateableat will ; and (2 ) the work of int erna l perception it self, consciou sness referring con

sciousness not to a subj ect , but to partlyor symbolica lly reinstat ed concept s, re

instat ed, th at is, by way of the common

nam e only : th is is desire, th is is choice,”et c . In a pa ssage of the P otthap ddaSuttanta we find int ernal percept ion dis

tinguish ed by th e nam e of ndua . To

Potthapada’s inqu iry th is rep ly is given

First arises the conscious state (sanha),after that fiana (that is, insight concerningit ) . The sp ringing up of the latter is dep endenton the springing up of the former. Thus heintuits It is from this cause that fiana hasarisen in me.

’ 1

2 . Intel lect as a relating p articulars to

genera l concep ts .— Th is is what we have

seen comm ended in Sariput ta . But I havenow in m ind cert a in la rge generalizat ionsor abst ract idea s, certa in very general attribut es wh ich the t ra ined m ind, in Buddh ism ,

h ad to discern in p a rt icul ar s . P rom inentam ong th ese were t h e th ree universals

1 D igha-N . i. 185.

IDEATION 101

im perm anence, ill, absence of self or sou l(a -niecha , dukkha , an-atta ) . Under th ese,everyth ing const itut ing t h e ext ernal worldand th e const itu ent s of p ersona l being wereto be subsum ed, or, in Buddh ist idiomeveryth ing was to be cont emp lat ed qua

th ese th ree : aniocha -to, et c . To be capableof th is th reefold insight a s a habitua l at t itudeofm indwas th e suprem e int ellectua l crit erion,

the ha ll-m ark of sound judgm ent .

To see a l l t h ings a s stam ped with the

m ark ( lakkhdna ) this is t ransient , ’ et c . ,

wa s not to be understood in th e som ewhatflabby and non-comm it t ing sense in wh ichaverage folk will a l low : Tout lasse, tout

p asse, tout casse,’

or m an is born t o sorrow,

’

and t h en ‘pa ss by on t h e oth er side .

’

Nor

wa s th e th ird judgm ent noth ing h as anysou l or subst rat e (wh ich is a developm entof t h e first )— t o be m ade from a h a lf-waystage . By t h is I m ean, m ade from th e

p lat form of a knowledge wh ich h a s m erelyoutgrown the concept s both of p rim it iveanim ism , and of m ediaeva l int erpretat ions ofP latonic rea lism and Arist ot elian qu iddity .

’

Th is th reefold insigh t am ount ed to th e th reeuniversa l proposit ions : (1) that noth ing inlife and th e world a s known is rea lly per

sist ent save the fact of change ; (2 ) th ateveryth ing in life is , for th e living sent ientbeing, a stat e of p eril and danger , withoutla st ing p eace, security or blessing (3 ) that

IDEATION 103

stands that body and mind are imp ermanent

are liable to sufiering, are without sou l .” 1

Anoth er such standpoint of the t ra inedm ind wa s

c learly to see by right reason even as itrea l ly is this law of causation and thesematters

of life arising as [m utually] conditioned.

” 2

(More of th is in our next ch apt er . )An int erest ing ph ase of th is h igh er work

of int ellect is seen in th e cont em p lat iveexercises called Brahmavihdra

’s,3or a s we

m igh t say , Sublim e Occupat ions . A rath erlat er t erm wa s th e four App amannd

’

s4

Infinit es .

”Th is is wh ere th e int ellect with

a st rong coefficient of em ot ion is turnedfrom a part icu lar to an ever-wider degreeof genera lity . The coefficient em ot ions prescribed were, a s stat ed above, love (caritas ),pity, sym path et ic j oy , la st ly indifference or

equanim ity ,.

wh ich wa s t o rep lace th is th reefold succession, presum ably as a bracing c or

rec tive to any excess of sent im ent . Th e

Nikayan form u la runs a s follows

Come ye, bhikkhus , expel ling the fiveHindrances [sensuous desire, il l -wil l , stolidityand-torp or, excitement-and-worry, p erp lexity,nescience] and a ttenuating the heart

’s defi le

1 S amyutta-N . iii. 57 .

1 Ibut ii. 2 6 .

1 M anhzma N . 1. 369f. See above, p . 95.

1 Vzbhanga ,2 72 f .

104 BUDDIIIST PSYCHOLOGY

ments by insight, abide ye in the sufi'

using ofone region of earth with a consciousness

a ccomp anied by love thence the second

region, thence the third, the fourth . And thus

a loft, below, across , the entire world and a l l

that are therein do ye continue to suffuse witha loving consciousness abounding, lofty, infinite, without anger or il l -wil l .

” 1

Th is is repeat ed for each of the otherth ree coefficient s . Th e exercises , accordingt o th e t est im ony of the Nikayas,

2 werenot origina lly, or at least not exclusively,Buddh ist . Th ey were judged indispensableto the t ra ining of religiou s a sp irant s, and

were known t o p iou s laym en and h eld to becondu cive t o rebirth in the Brahm a h eaven.

By earnest Buddh ist s th ey were pract ised as

h elp s t o th at em ancipat ion of h eart and

m ind from a l l‘h indrances and fetters

adverse t o sp iritua l p erfect ion .

3 . Intel lect as a work of eliminating, pre

s cinding, selecting.— Th is inverse work of

adju st ed at t ent ion wa s considered no lessim portant a branch of Buddh ist m entalcu ltu re . It is expl icit ly recognized in the

Nikaya s , and was syst em at ica lly pract isedin what wa s collect ively known as samadhi,or concent rat ive m editat ion, or a lso as

adhichitta , or h igh er consciou sness .

4 Here1 5 amyutta1 P atzsambhidd-wagga , vol . 11. pp . 130 f . M etta-ka thd.

4 Angu ttara-N . 1. 2 36 f .

IDEATION 105

aga in em ancipat ion, th e freedom of selfm a st ery, wa s th e p lat form to be won,

obj ect , p ith and goal,’

a s it was , of th e

h igh er life .

1 S amddhi is som et im es m ade to

include th e exercises ju st described .

2 And it

is clear that to develop a concept in genera lity,in abst ractness , th e elim ination of th e c on

cret e , of th e part icu la r, mu st proceed paripassu .

But the em ph a sis in samddhi is that of c oncentrat ion, of an int ensive att ent ion, wh ichc an only be got by throwing overboa rd , intot h e sea of th ings disregarded and negligible ,everyt h ing th at is irrelevant and dist ra ct ingt o th e single ap ex of though t (chitt

’

eh -aggatd) ,wh ich is th e equ iva lent t erm t o samddhi. 3

Not only were obj ect s of though t , present at ions , p ercept s, et c . , t o be ej ect ed, but theatt itude, m ood, m ovem ent of consciou snesswere to be regu lat ed and m odified delibera t ely . A dia logu e between th e Buddh a and

one of h is leading discip les, Anuruddh a ,

em inent for celest ial vision,

’

a sort of

second sigh t ,’ revea ls th is in som e deta il

Have you three, Anuruddha , leading this

life, zea lous , ardent and strenuous , experienced

sup ernorma l sta tes , extraordinary Ariyan

knowledge and insight, happ iness .9

1M anhima -N . i. 197 op . Angu ttara-N . ii. 2 6 .

1 S amyutta-N . iv . 350 if .

1 Ibid. v . 2 1,198, 2 2 5, 2 68 cp . Dhamma-sangani

(Bud. P sy . Ethics) , 11,15.

IDEATION 107

a ttention in either way . And I concentratedwith rap ture, and without it, with delight,and with indifference. And then in me,with concentration so practised, lo therearose the knowledge and the insight thatmy emancipation was sure, that this wasmy last life, that now there was no more

rebecoming.

’ 1

The m ore u sua l process of syst emat icelim inat ion of factors in consciousness wasth at known a s the Four J hanas . J hana

(Sanskrit , Dhyana ), or ecstat ic mu sing, wasa pra ct ice of unknown ant iqu ity, akin to

what is genera lly t erm ed Yoga . It is no

wh ere cla im ed in th e Nikaya s as devisedby , or p ecu liar to the founders of Buddh ism .

But no branch of m enta l cu lture appearsoft ener in th e Sutta s than th is, or is morefrequ ent ly prescribed for a l l seriou s study .

I wrot e severa l years ago,2that th e p sycho

logy of J hana wou ld one day com e t o evokeconsiderable int erest . I believe th at the

day is m u ch nearer now, and furth er ,that to what ext ent J hana is st ill p ract isedin Buddh ist m onast icism , and to whatext ent proficient s in it becom e accessibleto inqu iry, the m edica l p sychology of to day

1M aij hima-N . iii. 157 f . I have considerably con

densed th e tex t .1Prac tised is l iteral l y made-to-become

,

’

developed. Cp . Compendium , 65 f.1B ad. P sy . E thics

,lxxxviii.


will find int erest ing m at eria l .1 But I havenoth ing to add to the litt le out line theregiven of the process by wh ich the J hana

stat e was apparent ly brough t about . That

process was of th e kind known , I believe,to hypnot ism a s auto-suggest ion. Therewas no quest ion of a subj ect placing a con

sciousness rendered a s pa ssive as possibleat the disposa l of anoth er strongly volit ionalconsciou sness, a s in wh at u sed to be calledm esm erism . Th e j hayin did not includea catalept ic condit ion in his programmesave a s an u lt im at e stage, not belongingto the so-ca lled Four J hanas , but to a fouror fivefold sequel of Arupa-J l ianas,

’only

att empt ed by expert s, and as a final testor st ep to comp let e self-m a stery and sanct ification — to ca ll in a Ch rist ian term ) .

2 On

t he cont rary, h e wa s int ensely conscious,but in prescribed, art ificia lly induced ways .

Th ese, taken collect ively, consist ed in art ificia l ly int ensifying th at natural m entalprocess , wh ereby the m ind concentrates itself wholly, at the exp ense of genera l, m anysided alertness and awareness .

1

Th ere was first int ense at t ent ion by wayof an exclu sive sensat ion —I believe itwa s Condilla c who so defined att ent ion.

1 I h ave unfortuna tely not seen a broch ure on th esubjec t by Surgeon-Ma jor E . Ros t (Rangoon) .

1M aj j hima-N . iii. 28 Angu ttara-N . iv . 456 .

1 011 th e‘absenc e of m ind a tt ained in Jhana, see

Dia l ogues , ii. 141 f .

IDEATION 109

Th is was to be ent ered on a ft er securingphysical condit ions as far a s possible freefrom discom fort and disturbance, and withelim inat ion of every kind of a ct ivity ofbody and of m ind, save t hat of react ingto the bare sensat ion. Aft er a t im e th atreact ion wou ld pract ically cea se, t h e weariedsense giving out . Ch ange, indispensable toconsciou sness , h as been elim inat ed, for the

self-hypnot izer m u st not vary his source of

sensat ions . Meanwh ile the sensuou s source,m ark , or symbol is rep laced by a repre

sent ation of it , th e percept by a corresponding im age . So m uch is reckoned a s pre

lim inary or preparat ory process . The im ageth en becom es concep tua lized or de-individua liz ed and it is th en, apparent ly, that a

subj ect ive sensat ion of lum inance or aurais a lleged t o becom e felt , 1 and th e subj ectexp eriences t he supernorm a l consciou snessof J hana prop er, with or with out it s fla sh esof ecsta sy .

2

Th e Nikaya s nowh ere describe t h e pre

lim inary p rocess in det a il, and th e veryt erm s for th e st ages of it (such a s pari

kamma , upachdra , belong to lat erbooks . But the list of m at eria l devicesor kasina

’

s— artific es I have called th em— for inducing J hana by prolonged gazing,occur in th ese older books . Th ey are

1 C Yogdvacara’s M anua l , ed . Rh y s Davids , p . x1.

1Cgmpendmm , 55.

IDEATION 111

ness nor unhapp iness— this is the training of

the higher consciousness .

” 1

Here we have a gradua l composure andcollect edness of consciousness gradua llybrough t about by the del iberat e elim inat ion of : (1) the rest less , discursive work ofint ellect , seeking likenesses and differences ,establish ing relat ions, form ing conclu sions ;(2) the expansive su ffu sion of z est , keenint erest , creat ive joy ; (3) a l l h edoni st icconsciou sness .Th e residua l cont ent of consciou sness is,

in th e formu la , adm it t ed to be (a ) a sort ofsublim at ed or clarified sati, an int ensifiedinward vision or intu it ion, such as a god

or sp irit m ight conceivably be capable of ;

(b) indifference or equanim ity, also godlike .

Th is wou ld be that neut ra l point of feeling,discu ssed in a form er chapter, incliningfrom it s equ ilibrium to pain at ignorance,and to p lea sure at knowledge . And though

p lea su re is elim inat ed, the Jhana-pract ice isspoken of collect ively as belonging to happ iness .

2 Attainm ent in J hana,” writ es Mr.

S . Z . Aung,“is a very im portant p sycho

logica l m om ent , m arking an epoch in his

m ent a l experience for th e p erson who suc

1Angu ttara-N . i. 2 35, cf . 53 ; Digha

-N . iii. 2 2 2,and

passim in the Nikayas . The las t c lause is pec u l iar to

th e firs t reference .

1Digha-N . iii. 78 Anguttara

-N . n. 36 , 87, passim .


c eeds in comm anding it . He h a s for the firstt im e in h is life t a st ed som eth ing unlikeanyth ing h e h a s ever experienced before .

Th e feeling is sim p ly indescribable . Hefeels an ent irely changed person, purgedfrom th e Hindrances . He is living a new,

h igh er life , the life of a god of th e h eavenscalled Ri'ipa [or Vision],

1 experiencing the

consciou sness believed to be habitual there .

” 2

I p lace on record th ese t est imonies , ancientand m odern,

m u ch as anoth er m igh t write oft h e a lleged raptu re enjoyed through the

best Europ ean m u sic, who h im self was

incapable of experiencing it . Th e contentsof th is sublim at ed J hana - consciousness ,t hough severely p runed, do not appear toh ave been ent irely , if at a l l , unearth ly . It

wa s u sual for a discip le to ask his m asterfor a th em e, perhap s only a pregnant wordor two , on wh ich h e m igh t pract ise solitarym edita t ion . And in th e Vibhanga ,

th e secondbook of Abhidhamm a , th e J hana -formulaappears aga in and aga in with som e suchword insert ed aft er ea ch st age of J hana

e.g. love, or em p t iness (viz . of sou l) ; or

aga in it m igh t be one of t h e exercises inwill, included in what cam e to be ca lled the37 factors of enligh t enm ent .

2 Such a co

1 It is conceived th a t in th e h eavens l eas t remote fromour sph ere of being, sense is l imited to vision and sound.

1 Compendium , p . 57 .

1 Ibid. 179f . ,Dia logues of the B uddha , 11. 129.

IDEATION 113

efficient in th e abnorm al clearness of

m ind l—a clarity to wh ich myst ics ancientand modern have testified—was not neces

sarily a m att er for discursive or toilingint ellect ion . J hana -consciou sness

,a ft er th e

first stage, wa s beyond a l l th at . It

wou ld cont inue to h old th e not ion in

a Species of p enet rat ive cont em p lat ion, or

intu it ive beh olding and com preh ension .

Th erea ft er, wh en norm a l consciou snessrecurred, it wou ld be m ore st rongly per

m eat ed than before with th at not ion,

from the effect of th is inject ion at h ighp ressu re .

A featu re in the J hana -

pract ice of the

Nikaya s— I am not com p et ent to a ssert a s

mu ch eith er for m odern Buddh ism or

Vedant ist Yoga— is th e frequent and syst em atic recou rse to it . It wa s for the

breth ren and sist ers of th e Order, wh at t oa l l religiou s Ch rist ians, especia lly to t hoseengaged in a religiou s ca lling, is the sacram ent of th e Euch arist— a funct ion th e

p sych ology of wh ich is curiou sly ignored inJ am es ’s Varieties .

2 I have seen let t ers re

vea ling som e slight resemblance t o J hanaconsciou sness at a first , or oth er communion.

1 Tennyson’

s testimony ,supplied by Tyndal l : By God

Alm igh ty ! Th ere is no delus1on m the m a t ter ! It is no

nebu lous ecs tasy , bu t a s ta te of transcendent wonder,associa ted W1th absolu te c learness of m ind.

”C th e poem ,

Two Vo1ces’

; W . Jam es’

s Varieties 0 Rel igious

Experience, pp . 384 ff .2 See a t.

8

IDEATION 115

t ia l noetic qua l ity too st rongly t o p erm it of

pa ssivity a s a constant . Intellect and volit ion, for Buddh ist though t , are h ardly dist inguishabl e,

1and th e j hdyin seem s to be

a lways m a st er of h im self and self-possessed,

even in ecsta sy, even t o th e deliberat efa lling into and em erging (a s by a sp iritua la larum clock) from t rance . Th ere is a

synergy about h is J hana , combined withan absence of any reference wh at ever to a

m erging or m elt ing into som eth ing great er,th at for m any m ay revea l defect , bu t wh ichis cert a inly a m ost int erest ing and significantdifference .

Of J am es ’ s oth er two qua lit ies of m yst icconsciou sness — t ransiency and ineffability— th e form er is m arkedly t rue concerningth e m om entary ecsta sy of at ta inm ent or

app azid, a s a lso concerning th e realizat ion of great sp iritua l elevat ion genera lly .

Tou ch ing the Fru it of each Path of

sp iritua l p rogress app ears to have been a

m om entary (khanika ) fla sh of insigh t . As

t o t he lat t er, ineffability, it is a lso t ru e thatwe find no at t em pt s by breth ren who wereexp ert at J hama , e.g. Anuruddha , B evat ath e Doubt er, or Subhutiof th e love-jhana ,

’ 2

to ent er in det a il into th eir abnorm a l experienc es Th e first -nam ed Th era com esnea rest

1 See abov e chitta,cheto

,chinta

",ehetand

3 P sa l ms of the B rethren,c c l v1.

,11i.

,1.


Infivef old concentrated ecstasy (samadhi)My heart goes up in p eac e and unity .

Serene comp osure have I made my orva

My vision as a god’

s is c larified.

I know the destinies of other lives

Whenc e beings come and whither they do go ;Life here below, or other-where of lgfeS teadf ast and rapt, in fivefold J hana sunk.

1

But a lthough th is celest ial perspect ive isa stap le art icle in saint ly experience as

recorded by the Nikaya s , and ha s a formulaof it s own, no seer ever gives it local habitat ion or actuality for mundane percept ion.

Language is everywh ere too much the

creature and produ ct of our fivefold worldof sense, with a varying coefficient of

m otor consciou sness, t o be of much use

in describing consciou sness that has ap

parent ly got beyond th e range of sense andlocal m ovem ent . Even in non-spat ial perc eption of m elody, we h ave to borrow fromour sense of gravit at ional resistance overcom e, and t o speak of rising and falling .

P ossibly, m oreover, th e symbols of com

m unication, of descript ion , becom e st illh arder to find for m inds , wh ose art iculatem edium is not m ade rich and wieldy throughfam iliarity with writt en words . Supernorma l vision it self, on th e oth er hand, m ightconceivably be stronger, freer, m ore accessible, in th e absence of a bookish m em ory.

But th is point , though it may be relevant ,1 P salms of the Brethren, verses 916 f .

IDEATION 117

I do not press . Many sph eres of being,va rying in rem ot eness, oth erness, inaccessibility t o his own earth ly span of life, werevery p resent t o th e Buddh ist im aginat ion .

And denizens of th e rem ot er ,qua si-imm at eria lB rahm a -sph eres are represent ed a s h avingto m at eria lize in order to becom e percept iblet o celest ia ls less rem ot e, let a lone to hum an

beings (Dia logues , ii .Th ese rem ot er sph eres were collect ively

ca lled A-rfip a loka , or Arupdvacha'

ra’

, worldor sph ere of th e invisible or form less . Hereth ere wa s life with out inst rum ent s of senseor corporea lity . And t o at ta in, wh ile yeton earth , t o any concept ion (percept ion wa s

im possible ) am ount ing t o experience of a

sph ere, wh ich wa s not spat ia l in a lit eralsense , th ere were four stages of Arap a

j hana ,sh owing a lso an int erest ing, if very

vagu e p sychology . Elim inat ion was now , not

of factors of consciou sness,— the clarity.

and

th e equanim ity rem a in,—but of a l l consciou s

ness of det a il or of lim itat ions , thu s :(1) A bh ikkhu , by pa ssing beyond th e

consciou sness of form , by put t ing an end

to th e sense of resist ance , by paying no

h eed t o th e idea of dist inct ions , at th e

t h ough t :‘Space is infinit e ! ’ at ta ins t o

and abides in the conceptua l sph ere of

spa ce a s infinit e . For h im his previou sconsciou sness of th ings visible pa sses away ,

and th ere arises in him th en the blissfu l

IDEATION 119

from J hana , or proceeded to fall into t rance,percept ion and feel ing cea sing.

On th e fourth ph a se of qua si-unconsciou sness, Buddhaghosa rem arks : [One m igh tsay] neith er consciou sness , nor et c . etc . , a s

well a s neith er p ercip ience , so subt leand delicat ely fa int is th e consciou sness .

” 1

We seem , in fact , to h ave com e upon anoth erlim it ing or zero-

point , a s was th e case inneut ra l feeling.

’

Th ese curiou s and vague fet ch es of im aginat ion m ay appea l in no way t o m odernreaders, neverth eless th ey are serially, and

in su ccession to the oth er four J hana s ,

pronounced by th e Buddh a to be each a yet

m ore exqu isit e h app iness th an it s predecessor .

Th is att ribut ion is even m ade with regardt o th e final t rance, th e Teach er rem arking,in reply to scept ics , t h at if no happ inesscou ld be a ffirm ed of su ch a stat e, h is stat em ent wa s not m ade with respect to m erelyp lea sant feeling, bu t with respect to anyocca sion wh ence h app iness m ay be obta ined.

2

Happ iness is h ere evident ly t aken in th e

larger mora l or spiritua l sense, comp lem entary to that wider sense in wh ich , a s wesaw , dukkha m igh t be u sed. If h app inesswa s involved as a resu lt of pract ising selfhypnot ism and t rance, h app iness was , so

far, a ssociat ed with , and predicable of, th at

pra ct ice .

1 Samangal a Vilasz'

ni, ii. S amyutta-N . iv . 2 27 f.

CH A P T E R V I

TnE P SYCHOLOGY or THE Nnrxvascontinued

1v . IDEATION— continued

4 . Growth of intel lect a vision of obj ectsunder the causa l relation — Th ere is a wealthof t erm s in Pali and Sanskrit for knowledgeunder the a spect s both of process and of

product , for wh ich it is hard to find a corresponding abundance of, at least , Englishequ ivalent s . We too h ave words from the

m etaphors of sigh t , access , grasp and piercing,and indeed have bet t er exp loit ed

‘light .’

But Buddh ist ph ilosophy has not only com

mandeered the a ct s of waking (budh ) andturning-towards (a-vaj , advert ing), but hasnearly a dozen words bu ilt on the proper‘know -st em s a lone (j an, vid) . And the

quest ion for th e student of Buddh ist psychology arises : h ow far does the greaterrichness of Buddh ist int ellectual nomenc lature correspond to a great er manifold inmodes of knowing or of knowledgeThere are even, in that p sychology, t erm s

for cognit ive stat es wh ich h ave a t ime cc

IDEATION 121

efficient , implicat ive of eith er confidentexpectat ion or a ssured at ta inm ent . Theseare, resp ect ively consciousness that Ishall-know-the-unknown (ananndta-n-nassamitindriya ) and consciou sness of gnosis

(Th e affix indriya ,

’h ere

rendered by consciou sness, ’ is litera llypower or facu lty or ability, u sed in that

general way in wh ich we em p loy th e wordsense, ’ but with a m ore dynam ic im port . )Th ey are t echnica l t erm s of sp iritua l experience . Th e form er describes t he m ind of the

convert , or, to revert to t echnica l t erm s, of

one who ha s reach ed th e st ream (so’

t-ép anna ) .The lat t er t erm describes th is m ind a s, goingfrom strengt h to st rength ,

’h e atta ins each

successive degree in th e way to saint sh ip .

F ina l fruit ion involves a th ird t echnicalt erm : anndtavindriya , the consciou sness of

h im who has gnosis, wh o h as com e to know .

More u sua lly th e consciou sness of deep ening power of int ellect ion and, t o Speak in

spat ial t erm s, of a widening p erspect ive,is expressed by the h elp of one of two

adverbs : yoniso and yathdbhi'

ttarn. Th eseh ave, both of t h em , th e secondary m eaningof thorough ly and genu inely .

’But in

th eir lit era l sense th ey m ean respect ively‘from the source, or ma t rix, ’ and as [itha s] becom e .

’ We approxim at e to th isl Digha

-N . iii. 2 19 ; S amyu tta-N . v . 204 ; Bud. P sy .

Ethics, pp . 86 , 97.

IDEATION 128

direct ion of int ellectual consciou sness th eyare emphat ically Buddh ist . And since for

wa s not

yoniso l ed to muddled result s .

l Coupledwith the voice of anoth er it becam e th ejoint agent in arou sing greed, h at e and

error .

2 But yoniso-manasikara wa s essent ial

t o th e prevent ion or suppression of th e

h indrances ’

of sensua l desire, m a levolence,sloth , dist ract ion and doubt ,

2and to the

indu cing of th e loft ier sp iritua l qua lit ies .‘

It wa s th e hall-m ark of religiou s dist inot ion,

’ 5and, wh en coup led with endeavour

wh ich was a lso yoniso, result ed in th e winningof emancipat ion .

’ 2 From gonisa mana

sihara , a s th e root , springs joy , th ence zest ,th ence com posure, th ence h app iness, t h enceconcent rat ion concent rat ed, we see and

know th ings as th ey have becom e (yathabhutam ) ; thu s seeing and knowing, distast eaiises , th ence pa ssionlessness, th ence freedom .

’ Yathabhutam is constant ly u sed to

‘S amyu tta- .N i. 2 03.

2 Anguttara-N . i. 87 .

3 S amyntta N . v . 85, 102 ,Anguttara

-N . i 5, 13 .

4 Ibid. i. 14 .

“Digha -N . iii. 2 73 .

S amyutta-N . i. 105.

7 Digha-N . iii. 288.


qualify verbs of cognit ion corresponding tothe nouns given on the preceding page ; and

th ere is no doct rine or View of importancewh ich is not declared to be thoroughlyunderstood wh en it is known and seen, ’discerned, com preh ended, and so forth , a s

it really h a s becom e, by righ t insight .

’ 1

And that th ere was from the out set a

conscious a ssociat ion between th is phrase,a s m erely conveying emphasis, and the

belief in Universa l Becom ing—a belief wh ichfinds formu lat ion under the doct rines of

Im perm anence, Non-sou l and Cau sal Genesis— appears clearly in the im portant GreatSut ta of th eDestru ct ion of Craving.

’ 2 Hereth e Buddha is represent ed as reh earsing, inan em phat ic and deta iled cat ech ism , the

doct rine th at m ind (vinnana ) has becom e(bhi

'

itarn) th rough assignable condit ions (inoth er words, that consciousness arises at

any m om ent from a cau se ), and h aving cometo be i s liable t o cea se . And

'

he who byright insight discerns this as it has become,

’

or really,’

c an ent ert a in no doubt s as to

wh eth er m ind is or is not p erduring, imm orta l, and so forth .

That Buddh ism wa s so

1

1C}. the references in S amyu tta -N . vi. 81

, 82 (Index ) .afihima-N . i . 2 60 ; Cp . S amyutta-N . ii. 48.

IDEATION 125

oint , but to its fl p ragm atic earnestness .w w

t s cent ra l them e wa s rel ease from—“

F

il l or

dukkha th rough a righ t underst anding ofdukkha . It diagnosed in order to cure .

How does one discern as-it-has-rea l lycome-to-be both the genesis and the p assingaway of a l l dukkh a -

p henomena

It m ay be judged th at in th is sect ion we

h ave st rayed from p sychologica l t erritoryin discu ssing, not wh at B uddh ist s though tabout knowing,

’

bu t wh at th ey th ough tabout knowing well .

’ Right ly or wrongly,h owever, th e inclu sion h a s been done del iberat el y

— samp aj dna .

5 . Intuition, insight, sup ernorma l con

sciousness .—Th e ch ief int ellectua l resu lt in

t h e concent rat ive exercises discu ssed abovewa s a sup erlat ive clarity of m ind, unt roubledby eith er discursive int ellect ion or h edonist ica ffect ion . Apa rt from any cont ext , th ism igh t be read a s a prescript ion for a rest -curefor overwrough t m inds, or as th e pu rsu it of

th e ends known to ph ilosophy a s Qu iet ism ,

Apath eia , Ataraxia . But th e J hana -

p rocess,a s m et with in the longer Su tt a s, is u sua llyfound to lead up t o no sta t ic poise of in

t el l ectua l vacu ity, but to a number of

st at es , eith er serial , or alt ernat ive, of whatm ay be ca lled abnorm a l synergy —a t erm Ifollow Henry Maudsley in borrowing from

3 S amyutta-N . iv . 188 Anguttara-N . i . 173 f .

IDEATION 127

com ing h om e, shou ld know wh ere h e h adbeen and wh at h e h ad done .

”

(5 ) Supernorm a l vision, or discernm ent of

th e dest inies of beings deceasing and beingreborn,

“fa ring according t o th eir deedsju st a s a m an from a balcony m igh t

wat ch p ersons ent ering or leaving t h e h ou se,wa lking a long th e st reet s, seat ed at t h e

c ross-roads and wou ld know wh ith er ea chwa s bound .

(6 ) Discernm ent and consciou s ext irpat ion of t h e influence of sense-desires, desirefor rebirth , and of the m ent a l obfuscat ionof ignorance . (Th ese are likened to in

toxic ating drugs, or asava’s , and a fourth ,

Sp ecu lat ive Op inion, cam e t o be addedgenera lly . ) AS if from th e bank of a

m ount a in t a rn of wat er, clear, t ranslucent ,serene , one were t o look down and discernth e Sh ells, th e fish es and th e pebbly bot tom .

”

(7 ) Evoking or creat ing a phantom body(lit era lly, m ade of m ind the double of

one ’ s own body .

(8) Sup ernorm a l locom ot ion, or m ovem ent s in wh ich gravitat ion and opacitycea sed to obst ru ct .

Th e last two are th e u sua l ph enom ena of

wh at , in Buddh ist lit eratu re, is t erm ediddhi, a word m eaning to st ir, set in m ovem ent , and secondarily, to do so su ccessfu lly,to h ave wrough t . Th e second m ode cam eto be called iddhi by fixat ion of resolve


(adhitthdna-iddhi) . No furth er record is herepract icable of wha t th ese older text s sayconcerning th em . It is only to be addedt hat th ere wa s no belief in a sou l ’ leavingth e body t em porarily, as the j hdyin sat

rapt in t rance, or nearly so . We nowhereread of a com atose body, whose m entalfactors were argu ing with angels, or elsewh ere act ive . But it seem ed to be claimedfor th e sa int of old, that he had tra inedh im self to such efferent power of synergy,that he cou ld convert the m om entary successions ca lled chitta into body, or vice versa .

Not even Buddhaghosa’s account of iddhi

and it s induct ion is adequat e to give us

out siders much insight into it s working, or

it s p sychology . Supernorm a l consciousnessin geniu s or any oth er m ode c an only bet est ified to by the person so gifted, and

m u st a lways elude self-ana lysis . Self-consciou sness is necessarily at zero . The ent irevita lity, m ental and bodily, is engaged inthe making, the p oiesis , wh eth er it be thesynth esis of a new induct ion, th e sym pathyof aesth et ic creat ion, or th e synergy of supernormally adju st ed act ion . Th e

‘what of

experience is recollect ed, but not the how.

’

Th is holds for a l l the oth er six in the series .With regard to rem iniscence cases of

wh ich , it ha s been claim ed, occur, withoutj hdna , now and th en in the East of to-day,among ch ildren, such an ach ievem ent may

IDEATION 129

be as consist ent ly uph eldby a p iou s Buddh ist ,a s by any one wh o com bined acceptance ofit with belief in an imm orta l ego or sou l .Th is may be m ade clearer in my concludingchapt er . But with regard to the ach ievem ent of it by the adu lt consciou sness of th eArahant or one nearly so, and only in J hana ,

P rof. Bergson’s discu ssions on m em ory are

strikingly suggest ive .

1 G iven our wholepa st ever about u s in t h e unknown spacelessworking of m ind in t im e , on wh ich we cannotlook back a s we m igh t , becau se life forcesthe forward V iew in u s ; given too th e

racia l at tent ion to life grown weak, th e

desires and prosp ect s in it int erest ing u s

no m ore, wh eth er by im pending death , or

from the deliberate renunciation of a l l they offernew and hereafter, a s l ife— can we not seet h at , in the light of t h is flooding in of the

pa st for one wh o is ending life, and who ia lso convinced that his pa st includes infinit elym any lives , his rem embrance of that pa stbecom es a length ened vista Such was th eArahant

’s (abnorm al) lack of persona l forward

view on life ; and who can say that his

ret rosp ect wa s not a lso abnormalOf th ese eight at t a inm ent s in insight and

will, numbers 2- 6 and 8 cam e to be known

a s the six super-knowledges (abhi-rifia) . And

on the whole body of th em , the nam e of

1 Cp . e.g. his recent address : Proceedings , PsychicalResearch Society ,

1913.

9

IDEATION 131

neutra l feeling.

’Are the two mutua l ly

involved or sep arate And is it p ossible,considering them apart, to dec lare tha t theyare different That is not p ossible theyare mutua l ly involved. What one discerns , ofthat one is aware of what one is aware, it isthis that one discerns .

’ What distinguishesthem then .

9 P afifia is to be develop edv1nnana is to be understood.

’

Feeling and percept ion are a lso stated tobe bound up with , and not different from ,

vinnana or consciou sness . Th en :

What is cognizable by rep resentative con

sciousness (m anovififiana ) when it is deta chedfrom the five senses and attains entire c larity(i.e. in th e fourth stage of J hana )

‘l

The answer gives th ree of th e four ult eriorJ hanas enum erat ed above, pp . 117 f.

And by what does one discern (pajanati)cognizable idea By the eye of pafifia. Bu t

what is [here] the meaning of panna P anna

means higher knowledge (abh ififia), comp lete

knowledge (pari-nna ), el imination1

Al l are m odes of knowing, comm ent sBuddhaghosa , only th e prefix differs . He

th en, by a sim ile wh ich he much fancied, 2

1M aiyhima-N . i 292 f . : dia logue, a lready quoted between Maha-kot th ita and Saripu t ta . See above

, p . 52 .

1 U sed in three of h is works .


compares sauna, vinnana , p anna to thedifferent react ion p rovoked, at sight of the

precious m et als, in a child, a cit izen, and a

m etallurgical expert . The first sees in themcoloured object s ; th e second sees also inth em tokens represent ing ut ilit ies to be

got ; the th ird is a lso able to judge as

to th eir origin and th eir fa sh ioner. Thusvinnana includes the work of percept ionand also general not ions . But panna

"in

eludes both th ese, and also by an upliftof energy attains to a revelat ion of theWay .

”

A Comm entator was bound to be exeget ical.But the concluding clause is a deeply interesting comm ent on the statem ent abovep anna is to be developed.

’The verb

bhdvetabbd—is lit erally mu st m ade be to

becom e .

’It is constant ly used in connexion

with the m editat ive self-t ra ining of the

Buddh ist student . With it m ay be comparedsim ilar t erm s —anubruheti, vaddheti, develop,m ake to grow— used in connexion withm ental cu lture .

For it is through conditions, through a

cause, that ideas arise and pass away. Andby training certain ideas arise, others p assaway.

” 1

Such is th e refra in in anoth er dialoguealready quot ed.

1Dia l ogues , i . 247 f .

IDEATION 133

In th eir arising is involved creat ive, c on

stru ct ive effort . And th is is intu it ion or

insight , th at effort of int ellectual sympathyby wh ich the m ind c an p lace it self with int he m obile reality of th ings .

1 P anna wasnot snap exerciseof genera

Vision wh ich h ad not been before .

We mu st now abandon t h is incomplet esurvey of th e ext ent t o wh ich th e books,reckoned oldest in t h e Buddh ist cu lture,analyse the natu re of m ental procedure .

If we have found som eth ing, th ere is mu chwe have not found —for instance, th e im ageand t h e condit ions of it s reinstat em ent , an

analysis of th e em ot ions, inst inct as c om

pared with volit ion . iVe h ave now to seewhat lat er t ext s h ave done to m ake good anv

of th ese arch a ic silences .

1 Bergson ,Introduction to M etaphysics . Th e rel a tiv ely

Specml iz ed func tion assigned by Buddhaghosa to Vififiana ,

as corn ared W ith Sarina,and as compared W ith the very

genera concep tion of it in m odern Buddh is t theory ( cp pp .

8,18

,form s the subjec t of an inquiry among Burm ese

teachers now being prosecuted ,in response to my questions ,

by Mr. S . Z . Aung.

IN THE ABHIDHAMMA-PITAKA 135

have sprung developm ent of th eory . Andt hat day had witnessed such a breakingaway from current th eory— from ditthi,wh ich was so largely coincident with atta

ditthi, or attavdda , or sahkdya-ditthi,

1a l l

nam es for t h e sam e sort of m et aphysicth at we cannot wonder if const ru ct ive im a

gination wa s h eld t igh t ly down t o workingout th e legacy, wh ereof th e Abhidh amm ikat each ers were th e first h eirs .

The one except ion to th is st erility in de

velopm ent of t h eory is the syst em of

relat ions, ’ th e analysis, th at is to say , of

a l l th e types of relat ions observable betweenph enom ena . The imm ensely detailed ana

lysis of t h ese twenty-four relat ions, or

doct rine Of event s a s condit ioned, occup iesth e la st ‘

great book called P atthana , andlies out side our subj ect .

2 But even that

exposit ion lacks concise th eoret ic discu ssion .

In th e develop ed p sych ologica l deta il, thefollowing featu res are of int erest1. Development of introspective ana lysis .

In th e first book of th e Abhidhamm a

P itaka we com e imm ediat ely upon a greatdevelopm ent in stat em ent , of t h e type of

m ent al ana lysis in th e Anup dda Sutta not icedabove .

3 Hum an consciou sness h a s beensch em at ized a s experiencing now one, now

1t .e. th eory of sel f or sou l , doc trine or school of dit to ,

theory of indiv idual ity .

1 Bu t see pp . 194 f . 1 See pp . 96 f .


another, of a certain number of types of

content s .

1 Th ese are divided under th reeh eads, viz eigh t types or cla sses of good

consciou sness (chitta ) , and twelve of bad

consciousness characterizing hum an beings,and supposed also t o ch aract erize, m ore or

less , beings infra -hum an, and a l l devas, or

angels, exclu sive of (a ) th e rem ot er, m oreeth ereal Brahm a or Rupa -world, and (b) theent irely imm at erial A-ri

‘

ipa world. Th irdly ,

types of m ora lly indet erm inat e consciou sness . Here consciou sness is ana lysed, not

a s cau sing-resu lt , but a s it self causedresult , nam ely , of bygone a ct s in th is, or

previou s lives . AS in m ost of th ese sevenbooks, th em ethod of exposit ion is cat ech et icalth roughout . And th e absence, for a l l th e

qu est ioning, of any att empt to set forth m oreth an formu la s and definit ions, seem s t o bet rayh ow largely such a work m ust h ave beenm erely a m nem onic gu ide, and a book of reference for t erm and set ph rase, in the h ands ofthe exponent giving his ora l lessons . Th e

component dhamma’s, or m ental ph enom ena ,

into wh ich any one of these p sychoses or

concret e m om entary chitta ’

s is resolved, haveincrea sed m ore th an fivefold above thosenam ed in th e above-quot ed Sut ta . The

probable rea son is that in any given personeach typ e of consciou s unit m ay , at a

given m om ent , Show som e only of the c om1 Bud. P sy . Ethics (a transl ation of th is book) , pp . 1 fl .


ponents . Th e door is left open, for th atm at t er, for yet oth er component s to bedist inguish ed and added to th e typical list ,as part icu lar and not typ ical features .

Now these, or whatever other incorp orea l ,causa l ly induced dhamm a

’s there are on tha t

occasion— these aregood (or bad) dhamm a s .

And the Comm entator, elaborat ing yet

m ore, specifies nine su ch com plem entarycomponent s, e.g. of the first good thought .

’

One of th ese, thu s relegat ed t o a relat ivelycont ingent p lace, is manasikdra , work of

m ind,

’ rendered above adapt ed attent ion.

’

Th i s ‘work-of—m ind,

’ writ es Buddhagh osa ,

i s synonym ou s eith er with th e adverting of each sense, or with the advert ing of

t h e ensu ing mano, or it i s t o be conceived,with respect t o object , a s the confront ingand linking m ind With obj ect , a s a driver h arnessing horse and chariot (Atthasdlini,Lat er developm ent s brough t this factor tothe front .

1 The dist inct ion between a

m om ent of consciou sness, wh ere attent ionis or is not previou sly prepared or adju st ed

,

is , in th ese types, oth erwise taken intoa ccount . Every alt ernat e typ e or cla ss,nam ely, is declared to be m ot ivat ed. Th isdoes not im p ly that the types lacking th isfeature are spontaneous, due to ch ance .

Al l consciou sness wa s condit ioned. It onl y1 See below , p . 176 , and B ad. P sy. Ethics , 34, n. I .


P ract ica lly, in th ese curiou s O l d analyses,good is u sed only in th e sense of felicific

,

’

or cau sing welfare .

1 Th e cau sed welfare, orresu lt ing p lea sant consciou sness , wh ereverand wh enever experienced is reckoned a s

undet erm ined or neut ra l it is not it selfreckoned a s being good, or fel icific in it s

turn, but is called undet erm ined, indeter

m inat e, unm anifest ed,a-vydkdta.

2 Of suchstat es neith er good nor bad, writ es th e

Comm ent ator, is declared. Th is developedth eory of consciou sness

,judged to be neut ra l

with respect t o resu lt , and dist ingu ish edonly as effect of pa st consciou sness, I h avenot found in the Nikayas .

2 . Development of p sychologica l definition .

—Th is feature is th e m ost va luable c ontribut ion m ade by the Abhidhamm ika s to the

p sych ology of Buddh ism . Of th eir th reecom p ilat ions dealing largely, or even wholly,with definit ions, a great part of the c on

t ent s consist s of inqu iries into the nature ofa number of m ental comp lexes . The de

finitions m ay not be sat isfying to our own

logica l tradit ion . Th ey consist very largelyof enum erat ions of synonym ou s or part lysynonym ou s t erm s of, a s it were, overlapp ingcircles . But th ey revea l to u s mu ch u sefu linform at ion concerning the t erm described,

1 Cp . Bud. P sy . E thics , l xxxii . f .1 So in Cey lon tradition . Burma and Siam write

abydkata .


t he term s describing, and the term s wh ichwe m ay have expect ed t o find, but find not .

And they Show th e Sokratic earnestnesswith wh ich th ese early Schoolm en st roveto clarify th eir concept s, so a s to guardth eir doctrines from the h eret ical innovat ions

,t o wh ich ambiguity in t erm s wou ld

yield cheap foothold .

AS instances of th e light thrown for u s byth is m a ss of conscient iou s cataloguing,wem aynot e a few purely psychologica l definit ions

(i. ) Which are the p henomena that are

(a ) of the self , (b) externa l .9

Ans . (a ) Thesp heres (fields) of thefivesensesand of m ano (sensu s communis, (b) thesp heres of the five kinds of sense-obj ects and

of menta l obj ects1

In what respect is this or that khandha

(a ) of the self, (b) externa l ?Ans . (a ) That khandha which, for these

or those beings, is of the self, is self-referable,one

’s own, referable to the p erson.

(b) That khandha which for these or those otherbeings , other p ersons, is of the self , is selfreferable, their own, referable to the person .

” 2

We have h ere the field of obj ect includingnot only a l l that is direct ly present ed t o

1 End . P sy . Ethics, 5 1207 f.

1 Ibid. 5 1044 i. Vibhanga , pp . 2 f. Th e former

work h as dhammd forkhandha . On khandha , i.c . personalfac tormental orbodily, see above

, pp . 40 f.


6 9my exp erience considered as the subj ect ,bu t a lso a l l th at is subj ect ive for oth ers .

It wou ld have been convenient to render(a ) and (b) in t h e quest ions by subj ect iveand obj ect ive . The pa irs of t erm s, h owever,are not exact ly para llel . Bdhira , bahiddhd,m ean ju st ‘ext ernal . ’ But t h e oth er t erm (a )is am p ler than subj ect ive, ’ including a l l th e

elem ent s, abstract ly conceived— ext ended,coh esive, et c .

1— that enter into th e c om

posit ion of the individual . Subj ect iveoften fit s well , esp ecially in th e m ore aca

dem ic developm ent s of Abhidhamm a , but

for the Buddh ist , a s with u s , self is a

fa irly flu id t erm . Th ere wa s, for th isph ilosophy, no academ ic dua lism to ac c entu

a te and rat ionalize the popul ar ant ith esis,u sed in the Suttas, of body and m ind .

Th ere was only on the one hand th e fleet ingm obile compounds th at m ade up what itwa s convenient to ca ll m e,

’

myself, ’ th isindividua l,

’

and, on th e oth er h and, a l l

com pounds that were oth er, ’ ext ernal toth at self . Th is was the only subj ect iveobject ive dist inct ion that was, and, Ibelieve, has ever been, recognized.

( ii . ) What on that occasion is the p ower

(or facu l ty) of mindfu lness (sati’

ndriya )

1 B ud . P sy . Ethics , 597 f . cp . M a7'

7hima-N . i. 185 i.

,

4 2 1 i.

1 Cp . W . James , P rin. P sy . i . 292 f .


(iii . ) It is more in th e Abhidh amm a el aboration of sense-analysis that dist inct ionsof t im e are brought forward. Th is analysisrevea ls an increase in precision of stat em entrath er than in th eory , or added matt er of

observat ion. But it rem a ins the fu l lestexp erient ial stat em ent of sense-consciou sness wh ich ancient lit erature h as given u s .

It occurs in the first book, and is includedunder the inqu iry int o m at erial qualit iesin general or rup a .

1 Th e four elem enta lm at eria l qualit ies are underived, ’ no up ddd,or irreducible ; the sense-organs, and a l l

sense-object s , excep t those of touch, are de

rived, that is, from th e underived elem ent als .

Hence the ancient Hellenic th eory th at‘like is known by like m ay be considereda s lat ent in th is arrangem ent ,

2alth ough it

is only in Buddhagh osa that I h ave foundit m ade explicit : Wh ere th ere is difference of kind th ere is no st imulu s . Th e

Ancient s say that sensory st imul u s is of

sim ila r kinds, not of different kinds .

” 2

Each of th e five specia l senses, and th enth e mano, c o-ordinator of sense, is set out

in a fourfold formu la , carefully worded and

voluble as compared with the j ejune stat em ent of organ, obj ect p lus contact , of th e

1 Transl a ted in B ad. P sy . E thics ,pp

. 172 fi .

Empedokl es , Pl ato , P lotinus , w 0 ac cep ted it , were

a l l influenced , through Pythagorism or el sewise,by

Eas tern though t .1 A tthasdl ini, 313, cp . above, p . 67.


Nikayas . Summ arized, th e formula t akesaccount of (a ) th e sense, invisible (the fleshyorgan is not included) and react ing, (b) theobj ect invisible also (a s presentat ion) and

imp inging, and (c) th e contact . Furt h er,(1) the fact of possible sensat ion(2 ) th e actual im pact of obj ect(3 ) the actua l impact of sense ;(4 ) th e resu ltant actual impression and

possible resu lt s in the four in

corporeal aggregat es .The severance of (2 ) and (3 ) is expla ined

by the Comm ent ary as indicat ing (2 ) involuntary sensat ion, e.g. an unexpect ed seeing of

ligh tning, and (3 ) voluntary seeing,‘looking,

’

for examp le, or‘list ening —adju st ed move

m ent of at t ent ion of one who by his own

wish , seeking to look at som e obj ect , c oncentrates his vision.

”

And in a l l four stat em ent s, th ere is th edeta iled t im e-reference h a s seen, sees, willor m ay see,

’ ‘h a s imp inged, im p inges, will

or m ay imp inge .

’Sense is em phat ica lly

st at ed— a s an experience in t im e no lessth an in space . With sense purged,

’ everyth ing becom es in a way present to con

sciousness, bending over th e presentm om ent .

’

(iv. ) Wha t is tha tmateria l qua lity which isnot derived (a ) The sp here of the tangible (b )the cohesive element. What is (a ) i

’? The ex


tended, ca lorific andmobile elements the hard,the soft, the smooth , the rough , p leasant conta ct,

p ainfu l contac t, the heavy, the l ight. Wha tis (b) The watery or c linging element [apo] ,the binding qua lity in [things] ma teria l .

” 1

I h ave alluded already (pp . 18f . ) to t h i sph ilosoph ic abst ract ion of coh esiveness, et c . ,

a s sup erseding in Buddh i st cu ltu re th e m oreprimit ive cat egory of t h e four (or m ore)elem ent s . Th e salient feature in th e c o

hesive elem ent i s flu idity, adds the Comm ent ary . It is exem pt ed from the tangible,ina smu ch a s that wh ich i s felt , in a concret eliqu id, i s the oth er th ree elem ent s, not th ecoh esion of th em . We feel it s resi stance,it s h eat or cold, it s m ovem ent . And th eset h ree we appreh end th rough them ost fundam ent a l of our senses, nam ely, t ouch . Th e

oth er sense-organs and obj ect s are, relat ivelysp eaking, a s cot ton ba lls striking oth ercot ton balls on the elem enta l anv ils . But

t ou ch is a s a hamm er sm it ing through it scott on t o the anvils

(v . ) New on that occasion (i.e . at the

genesis of the first typ e of good consciousness)there are the four (menta l ) aggregates .

’

What on that occasion is the sankhara-kkhan

dha (group of comp lexes ) ? Contact, volition,

1 B ud. P sy . Ethics , the renderings are sl igh t lyal tered from those judged best fourteen years ago . Cp .

Compendium, 2 32 .

1o


Nikayas . And it is intended t o express,not what is present in consciou sness at everyflicker of t h e typ e evoked, but t he field of

choice, the range and pot ent iality,in the

consciou s act ivity ranked under t h e giventype . Th ese typ ica l good and bad typesof consciousness t h at are being analysed,are each and a l l sa id to be cau sed on occa sionof a m ental obj ect , eith er a sense-impression,

or a revived im pression . And the cont ent s ofth e m ent a l com plexes of an Ariya-savakaa sa int ly student — wou ld difier great lyfrom th at of the average laym an whomh e t augh t , wh en som e ext erna l obj ectevoked in each th e sam e type of c on

sciou sness .

Viewed in th is way , the analyses are not

so overdone a s at first sigh t t h ey seem to

be . Th ey are a l l in keep ing with one of

t he ch ief ta sks of th e Abhidh amma com

p ilers t h e j ealou s guarding of the doctrinesof th e Sut ta s , in th eir ora l preservat ion and

t ransm ission, from errors arising th roughvagueness and am bigu ity of language . And

thus it is t hat th ey h ave left u s a m a ssof exponent ial deta il with no exposit ion of

th eory . The doct rine (Dhamma ) h ad beendeclared, learnt and h anded on in set verba lform s . In Abhi-dhamm a th e t each er, c on

versant with the Dhamma , and t each ingit in his turn. possessed, in the definit ionsof th ese seven supplem entary books , a


thesaurus of reference h elp ing to clarifyhis knowledge and h is exposit ions .

A curiou s feature in th ese seven Abh idhamma-books is th e beginning of th e dist inct ion : chitta and chetasiha

’

s , wh ich wasfinally to sup ersede in p sychological analysisthe more cumbrous khandha-division.

Which are the menta l p henomena that

are (a ) of mind (ch it ta ) ? (b) that are

menta l p rop erties (chetasika)1

Th e first are st at ed t o be the five kindsof sense-awareness (vinnana ), the mana

elem ent , and representat ive cognit ion. The

latter comprise the aggregates of feeling,percept ion and sankhdra

’

s . Chetasikd and

chitta have swallowed the five aggregatesbetween th em . In probably th e lat est Abh idhamma -book, Kathd-vatthu, we find a listof m ental ph enom ena , great ly abbreviatedby an

‘etc .

’in the m iddle, but evidently

covering the th ree above-nam ed aggregat es,and c alled chetasika

’

s . Th ese were to be

regarded as the coex ist ent accompanim ent s-wh ether a l l or som e of th em is not yetstated—oi chitta .

3 . Genera lizing in matter and in form .

To a great ext ent , th e doct rines as we havethem in the oldest books were very largelyenunciated ad hominem, a s replies to particu

1Bud. P sy. Ethics , p . 318 Dhatukathd, pp . 381. On

the term in the Nikayas, see Compendium,2 39, n. 1.

IN THE ABHIDHAMMA—PITAKA 149

ar inquirers , bringing part icular needs t oac satisfied, and special defect s t o be putrigh t . Many also, it is t rue, were spokenia p arisam , i.e. to the parisa, or companyof disciples . Th is was a variable quant ity,is the many years and t ours of the Founder ’slong life of m ission work went on, and wasso far different from the litt le nucleu s namedin the Ch rist ian gospels that it m igh t , on

any occasion, consist of a very m ixed groupof intelligences, from th e novice, or the

untam ed or untam able bhikkhu , up to

men of int ellect and extraordinary gift slike Sariput ta , and like Mogga l lana and

Ka ssapa , both t erm ed Maha or Great . Suchchosen followers were oft en touring, eachwith his own band of learners .

Th e Abhidhamm ika s set th em selves t o

elim inat e from th e doctrines, thu s adapt edto individuals and sm all groups , a l l that

wa s cont ingent in narrat ive ; the ep isodeelicit ing th e pronouncem ent , the comparat ivem ethod of conveying it s m eaning, th e parableand the sim ile, that appealed to th is or thathearer . Th e bare judgm ent , or predicat ion,

wa s thu s regi st ered, and it s t erm s defined.

The resu lt is not at tract ive reading, but thepurpose was doubt less served. Taken a ltogeth er we h ave, in Abhidhamm a , not a

well-const ru ct ed ph ilosoph ical system , but

al l the mat erials for one. The Dhamma ,”

wrote the learned Ledi Sadaw in his essay on


norm al hum ans were, a s religiou s beings,habitually a sp iring.

We find th e inquiry into norm al hum an

consciou sness exact ing enough , and consignth e study of th e abnorm a l and pathologica lm ind t o qua si-physiologica l t reat ises, and

th at of superhum an consciou sness to th eologians . We are adding th e study of theinfra -hum an anim a l m ind to th e by -

product sof our p sych ology , but only since yest erday .

[ f we profess to include in th at p sychologyan inqu iry into a l l m anifestat ions of c on

sciou sness , we have becom e , in th is la stresp ect , m ore cath olic in ou t look than the

Buddh ist s . Th eir satta is pract ica lly c o

ext ensive with our crea ture ’or being.

’

And

for t h em th ere is even less of any logicaldividing-line between creatures, hum an,

sub and super-hum an, th an our own

tradit ion and prejudice revea l . Yet th ey,

with a creed of p ity and t enderness for a l l

beings, h ave not extended th eir int ellectualcuriosity to the m enta l processes of thosethat were, a s th ey h eld, t empora rily undergoing an unh appy pha se of life ’s unendingpu lsat ions . Th e wea lth of sympath et ic insigh t into anim a l life sh own in t h e J ataka

ta les, th e belief that rebirth a s anim a l was afat e very likely awa it ing the foolish personyou were addressing, if not yourself

Those who leave this world and are reborn

BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY

as human beings are few, but those whoare reborn in purgatory, among beasts, amongthe shades, are many

1

m ake th is om ission som ewhat st range . We

only read that rebirth as an anima l wasconsidered a s the result of a m ore or lessimmoral previou s life wh ile a hum an being,and a s a life only less fu ll of ill than the

doom of purgatory . So great ly, no doubt ,was th e apparent joyou sness of much anim allife 2

overshadowed, for th e sensit ive and

int ellectual Indian, by the m ercilessness of

nature and of m an on the one h and, and byth e incapacity of th e anim a l for at ta iningsp iritual developm ent , on the oth er .

There are these five rea lms of l ife (lit .

goings ), S drip utta p urgatory, the anima l

kingdom (lit . matrix), the shade p lane, man

kind, thedevas . And I understand (pajanami)p urgatory, and the way that leads thereto, and

the career through which , if p ractised, one is

reborn after death to the dread doom of the

Waste, the Downfa l l of the constant round.

And I understand the anima l kingdom , and

the way that leads thereto, and the career,

because of which one is reborn after death

therein .

” 3

1Anguttara-N . i. 37 .

3 Awareness of 111115 in bird l ife IS a p l easant detail inth e Th eras

’

poem s ; cp . P sa lms of the Brethren , pp . 27 ,

Manhima-N . 1. 73.

IN TH EABHIDHAMMA-PITAKA 153

The th ree rem a ining rea lm s of life are

declared to be understood by the Buddhano less, and so, h e adds, is N ibbana . Butth e Nikayas conta in no deta iled revelat ionof tha t understanding so far as the firstth ree realm s are concerned . Concerning,however, th e realm of deva s— and th is in

eludes everyth ing that we conceive as god,angel or guardian sp irit , but not disembodiedsou l—th e Abhidh amm ikas so generalize th eirpsych ologica l predicat ions a s to take the

deva -consciou sness som et im es into account .

I‘bey considered th at a l l m en, except the

arahant s, were asp iring, well or badly, tobe reborn as deva s of som e kind, to a larger,longer, serener life . Th ere wa s no differenceof kind, no presence or absence of sou l,mu ch less sp ecific variety of sou l, 1 t o dis

tinguish deva from eith er m an or anim a l .Al l were creatures, condit ioned, compoundpersons , adap t ed to this m ode of life or

that .

Now it seem ed to t he comp ilers of the

Abh idhamm a books, eith er a legit im at eexercise of curiosity, or a u sefu l exercisein deduct ion— perhap s both— to stat e howmuch of the five-aggregat e com posit ionmight go to make up rebirth in th is or th atdeva -realm . For instance

1 Th e B uddhis t deva s are l1ke p1ous , inte111gent1um an bel ngs , now c onsu l ting or worsh1ppmg a super

nan,now admonishmg a h um an fool .


beholding by the celest ial eye,

’th e pageant

of the rebirth and decease of th e su ccessivelives of an indefinit e number of being. Likelhedroi at th e Olym p ic Gam es no m eresp ect at ors, but , in t h e fuller sense of th at

term , sacred deput ies— th ey were accept edas repres entat ives to oth er m en of godlikepowers, believed t o be not superh um an, but

sup ernorm a l only .

NOTE TO p . 152 , n. 2 ,

—Ment1on migh t h ere have been

made of a Buddha-dl scourse (Manh .-N 1i1. inwhich

he Speaks of the miser1es of rebirth as an animal : “AndI might ta lk on in many ways , so hard is it adequa tely to

sta te the il l s of the anima l world !

CHA P TE R V I I I

P SYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE

MILINDA

The Questions of King Milinda , in it s

p sych ological discu ssions, affords u s ih

t eresting glimp ses of developm ent l n th eorym idway between th e Nikayas and the Com

m entaries of th e fifth century . No one as

yet h a s sift ed th e cont ent s of the onlyoth er Th eravada works, reckoned a s authori

t ative,wh ich h ave survived from the centurieswh en Buddh ism wa s cont ending with , and

becom ing infect ed by , h eret ics in India , and

was becom ing thorough ly es tablish ed in

Ceylon— I refer t o th e Netti,‘Leading

’or

Gu idance, ’ 2 and P etakop adesa . In th e

Milinda we have th e advantage of a fa irlya stut e l ay m ind, bringing it s problem s and

dilemm a s to the orthodoxly tra ined m ind of

a genia l and accom p lish ed senior bhikkhu .

The latt er is apt , when pressed, to declareexcept ions to a ru le or l aw a s pract icallyproving, not testing it . But for th e m ost

1 See B1b110graph y .

2 Edited by E . Hardy ,P.T.S . 1902 .

156

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MILINDA 157

part his rep lies are very illum inat ing, andreveal h ere and th ere developm ent s in th eoryand exposit ion, t o wh ich t he lat er sch olast icsshow t h eir indebt edness . B riefly summ ingup t hose that bear on our subj ect , we m aynot ice t h e followingThe dia logue branch es into a great variety

of subj ect s , religiou s, eth ical, m onast ic,ph ilosoph ica l, bu t it is occup ied for som efifty pages (in the t ranslat ion ) with pu relypsych ologica l m att er, and for som e fiftymore with p sycho-ph ilosoph ica l m at t er a s

to sou l . ’

One stat em ent , not without int erest h ere,is th e m ea suring what we sh ould call growthin holiness, graduat ion in sa int sh ip , in t erm sof increa sing ability in int ellect ion, or p layof int ellect .

l Th e problem is h ow to reconcile th e orth odox belief in th e omniscienceof th e Buddha with th e necessity of h is

having t o consider (or reflect , a-vaj j dna, l it .

ad-vert ) before cognizing anyt h ing h e wish ed .

In rep ly, seven types of chitta’

s are described,form ing a sca le in m enta l cu lture (bhdvitattamrh ittassa ) from th e lea st t ra ined up t o the

suprem ely t ra ined or Buddh a m ind, i.e. of th e

suprem e type of B uddha s, known from t h istim e onward a s sabb

’

aririu , omni-scient , whogave t h em selves t o enligh t en and h elp m an

kind. In each grade, th e m ind is describedas being brough t qu ickly and easily into

1 Questions of K ing M i l inda,1. 154 f .


aggregat es . For t here exist s no perm anentent ity.

” 1

It is of h istorica l int erest th at h e h ere u sesthe opening ph ra se of the book just referredto and it s t erm for ent ity or soul : not atta,but pugga la . In fact , t hrough out h is dissertations , t erm s oth er th an attd are u sedpugga la , j iva (life, vita l sp irit ),

2vediigu ,

sent ient agent .

s J iva , in the Sankhya school,is th e emp irical soul , th e int erm ediary, so

to sp eak, between th e organism and th e

absolut e or noum enal sou l . And it wou ldalm ost appear a s if atta h ad, at lea st for a

tim e, com e to signify m erely the persona lappearance or visible self .

“lThe m ental processes discussed are ch iefly

those to wh ich att ent ion was given in c on

nec tion with the Nikaya s . But th ere are

point s of added int erest .

Th e sage has replied that if he die withnatu ra l desires st ill at work in him , h e willbe reborn, but if not , no .

” Milinda a sksif th rough rea soned th inking one

“is notreborn .

”Nagasena :

“Both by reasoned

th inking, Sire, by insigh t and by oth er goodqualit ies .

”But are not reasoned th inking

and insight just th e sam e ? ” “No, Sire,hey are different . Sh eep and goat s, oxen,

1 K a thamatthu ,i. 2 ed . ) Questions , 1. 40 .

Ibid. 48, 86 , 132 .

0

Ibid. 86 .

See above, p . 27; in th e transla

’d ou atta 1s trans l a ted

ny‘image .

’


bu ffaloes, cam els, asses are capable of rea soned th inking, bu t not of insigh t .

” 1 Rea sonedth inking and insigh t are th en described bythe respect ive essent ial features of m entalgra sp and elim inat ion or severance, ju st a s

a reaper grasp s with one h and and prescindswith th e sickle .

Reasoned th inking’and

‘insight’are yoni

so-manasika‘

ra and p anna, discu ssed above(pp . 123 , We shou ld h ave possiblynam ed dogs, elephant s, m onkeys, for th e

beast s nam ed above . But clearly, not the

m ost int elligent anim a ls are m eant ; m erelyanim als in general . Now, in the Nikayas ,th e ability and h abit of yoniso

-manasikdra

is t he ba sis of a l l h igh er Sp iritual t ra ining.

Th e English for it is not easy t o find . Mr.

Gooneratne h as Wise cont emplat ion,

’ 2 wh ichin th e Milinda cont ext were a m isfit . The

t erm m ay possibly have depreciated a litt leduring th e centuries . If not , the credit ingof anim als with it lends point t o th e anom aly,

pointed out above, with regard to inqu iryinto the m ind of anima ls .

3 The associat ionof p anna with elim inat ion dat es from the

Nikayas , a s we saw . It is , at the sam et im e, exeget ical , and not exh au st ive of the

im port of theword . Illum inat ion,

” says thesage, a litt le lat er, is also it s m ark .

1 Questions , 1. 502 Trans l at l on OLAnguttara

-N . parts i. Ga l le ,1913.

P. 151.


It cau ses the sp lendour of wisdom t o sh ine,it revea ls th e Ariyan t ruth s as a lam pbrough t into a dark h ou se . Aga in,

liketh e wind, it ha s no abiding p lace .

2

Concerning the eigh t at ta inm ent s ca lled(p . 129f . p anna-kkhandha , orbody of app liedinsigh t , t h e Questions refer to th ose knownas super-knowledges and frequentallu sion is m ade t o supernorm a l

a

will (adhitthana-iddhi) , bot h a s m ere m agic,

3and aga in,

as a power wielded by the sa int ,‘and only

lim it ed shou ld the st ill m ight ier resul t of pa stkarm a int erfere wit h it .

5 In one pa ssagethe power is likened t o th at of the synergyof an ath let ic act ion :

3

Yes , sire, th ere are p ersons wh o can go

with th is four-elem ent -m ade body t o U t taraku ru or to B rahm a -world ; or t o any ot h erpa rt of t h is world .

”But how c an th ey

Do you adm it , sire, having ever jum p edth ree or six feet of ground

“Yes , Sir,

I do I c an jump twelve feet .

“But

how I cau se th is idea (chitta ) to arise’

th ere will I aligh t !’ With th e genesis of

th e idea m y body becom es buoyant to

me . Ju st so, sire, does a bhikkhu , wh o

ha s iddhi and m a st ery over chitta , lift in1p the body l n consciou sness , t ravel throughe air by way of chitta

”

1 Questions , 1. 6 1.

t Ibid. 1. 120. bid. ii. 94 .

Ibid. 2 34 , 2 59.

5 Ibid. 1. 2 6 1 f .0 Ibid. 1. 130 .

I I


parable, to wh ich I h ave referred . P anna (Sk .

praj rl d) , be it not ed, was ident ified, by theolder U panish ads, as none oth er, u lt im at elyconsidered, th an th e Atm an it self : ba seand gu iding princip le of a l l th at is .

’ Modihed a s j iva , th e atta was shorn of it s pan

th eist ic import , and wa s m ore akin t o th e

indiv idual sou l fam iliar to our own t radit ion .

But , t o pursu e th is p sycho-

ph ilosoph ica lqu est ion a litt le farth er, t he sou l, as j iva , orvedagu (knower ), was st ill conceived as a willent ity oragent ,who,wereh e imm anent ,wou ld,

in order to know, not need to a c t th rough th eint erm ediacy of th e different ch annels of

com ing-t o-know, to wit , th e fiv e senses andth e sensus communis or co-ordinat ing, int erna lm ano.

Wh at is th is, sire, the sou l ’ (vedaga )Th e life -

princip le] (j iva ) with in, wh ichsees th rough th e eye, h ears t h rough th e

and cognizes ph enom ena t h roughm ind,

ju st a s we, sit t ing h ere in th e palace,can look out of any window we wish , east ,west , north or sou th .

” “If th is J ivaact s as you say , ch oosing it s window a s it

likes , c an it not th en see th rough any one

Of th e five senses, or so h ear, so t a st e,et c .

1

And lat erBut if, Sir, th ere be no such th ing a s a

sou l , what is it th en wh ich sees obj ect s with1 Ques tions

,1. 86 .


the eye, h ears sounds with the ear,

perceives Obj ect s with the m ind 9The Elder said If th e soul does a l l

th is, th en [it wou ld not need the Specia lizedapparatu s of each sense] it wou ld see, h ear,et c . , m ore clearly if th e sense -organ wererem oved but it is not th e case th at we see

,

h ear, et c . , bet t er if the eye-aperture, etc . ,

ha s th e organ rem oved ; h ence th ere is noagent in sensat ion independent of the specificfunct ioning of each sense .

” 1

Th is argum ent , with it s analogy of choiceof window in cont emp lat ing the externalworld, is much on a l l -fours with that , in theNikayas,

2of th e attd exercising arbitrary

will a s one or oth er of th e aggregat es, so as

to m odify th e personal present fat e and“remould it nearer to th e heart

’

s desire.

The form of anim ist ic ph ilosophy, againstwh ich it is a prot est , m ay well have been thej iva th eory of the Sankhya -Sutras . Th is wasbut a convenient fict ion or schema , bywh ich the else inconceivable act ion of the

noum ena l sou l , called purusha (an equ ivalentof p ugga la ), atman, or kevala

'

(absolute),upon body, sense and mano m ight be

expressed in words . Thu s th e p urusha wasindifferent , im pa ssive, separat e ; the sensesact ed m echanically . But sensat ion becameconsciou s life wh en j iva glowed in it , like

Questions, 1. 133 . See above, p . 31 .


fire in hot iron , or a s a red blossom in

a crysta l, th e p urusha losing noth ingth ereby .

1

Th e really im port ant point th at arisesout of th i s, at first sight , som ewh at fu t ileargum ent Of Nagasena , is his imm ediat elyfollowing enunciat ion of natura l l aw in

m ental procedure, Wh erein l ay th e m a insupport of his ca se . He first em ph asizesthe fact (briefly stat ed in th e Nikaya s ) of th eorderliness in sense —we cannot ta st e withth e st om ach , or the ext erna l Skin ; eachchannel of sense ha s it s own procedure .

Th e king is t h en m ade t o ask wh eth er a

sense-im pression a lways ha s mano-consciou sness (co-ordinat ion of sense) a s it s c on

com it ant . Yes .

” Wh ich h appens firstF irst t he sensat ion,

th en mano funct ions .

Th e king a sks wh eth er sensat ion inducesth is p erceiving by an injunct ion,

wh eth er p ercept ion bids sense to sup ervene . Th e rep ly is, th ere is no such int ercourse ; th e sequence h appens th rough (1)‘inclinat ion or natura l t endency, (2) existing st ru cture, (3 ) h abitua l process, (4 )pract ice . Th ese condit ions are severa llyillu st rat ed by sim iles : (1) by ra in-wat errunning away according t o natura l s lop e

1 Op . R G arbe, S ankhya-phil osophie, pp . S ankhya

Sutra s , Nos . 99, 356 . In Jam doc trme,1t IS the sou l (yiva)

h at is”col oured (H. Jacob1, Trans . Hi st. Rel igions Cong

Ox ford,ii.


sigh t and h earing.

‘Feeling

’ is well described a s

‘th e being experienced and th e

being enjoyed . The ch ara ct er of perzept ion

’ is cognizing— becom ing awa re, e. .gJ f visible obj ect s, that 1S , of colours (Buddh istosych ology st ill a ssigning only colour to

bare visua l im pression) . Thu s a king’ s

st ewa rd, visit ing his t rea sure hou se, per

3eiveS t h e variou sly coloured t rea sures .

‘Recognizing’is a possible rendering, but

in t h e t erm (sanna ) th e corresponding prefixis lacking.

Volit ion receives a definit ion of som eint erest . In th e Abhidhamm a -P itaka it isdescribed by m ere derivat ives, th rowing forus no ligh t on it s connotat ion . Th is is notfar am iss if th e t erm m ean bare volit ion,

or conat ion, Since we have h ere an, or

sh a ll I say th e, irreducible elem ent of m ind .

Now the funct ion or m ark of volit ion, in

th ese Questions , 1 is declared to be twofold :

(1) deponent , and (2 ) causat ive ; to wit ,

(I ) th ink ing (or being cau sed to t h ink ), and(2 ) concoct ing or devising (to give effect t o theth oug .h t )

“As a m an m igh t prepa re, concoct

a poison and drinking it , give it also to oth ersto drink .

”Th is dua l idea wa s m a inta ined up

toBuddhagh osa’s t im e . By him it is likenedt o

th eworking and m aking t o work of a pea santfarm er, and of a m a st er-cra ft sm an . And h e

app lies th e orthodox fourfold definit ion of1Questions , p . 94 .


his t im e to the t erm (chetand), showing it toimp ly beingm ade t o th ink,

’ effort , ’ fixing,

’

‘arranging.

’ 1 It would th erefore seem t o

be the m otor elem ent in consciou sness withthe further implicat ion of direct ion or pur

pose, and mav thu s be bett er rendered byvolit ion than by conat ion . Th e latt er, as

bare reach ing out , or act ivity put forth , isreferred to an indriya

—i.e. a power or facultyanalogou s to the sense-powers , and calledviriya . It is thu s described in the

Abidhamma -P itaka

The menta l incep tion of energy the

striving and onward effort, exertion and

endeavour, zea l and ardour, vigour and fortitude, state of unfa l tering effort, of sustained

desire, of unflinching endurance, the solid

grip of the burden .

” 2

Al l th is, on the oth er hand, suggest s ratheran aspect of the whole consciousness and

charact er (habitua l pot ent ial consciousness )a t any given m om ent . In such t erm s as

chetana, the effort is being m ade to

dissever, in a p sych osis, a l l the nuancesthat go to m ake up th e complex of

consciou sness .

The twin t erm s init ial and sust ainedm ent al applicat ion recur .

” In the Ques1 Visuddhi-Magga ,

ch . x .

1 Bud. P sy . E thics,

13.3 Above

, p . 89.


tions , t h ey are likened to (a ) a carpent erfixing a sh ap ed p lank into a joint , and

(b) t h e reverberat ions of the (a ) blows dea ltin shap ing a m etal pot : (a ) is t h e app liedat t ent ion, (b) rep eat ed pu lsat ions of at t ent ionthu s direct ed .

Th is ana lysis of consciou sness ends witha reflect ion on th e difficu lty of fixing a l l

th ose m enta l ph enom ena involved in a

single im p ression , on occa sion of sense,telling that such is cont act , su ch feeling,

a s if a m an in the Bay of B enga l wereto ta st e th e wat er and say in wh ich riverthe drop s h ad originally com e down 1

-a

m etaphor quot ed, a s we saw , by Buddh a

gh osn. Th e fact ors were dist ingu ishable,bu t not experienced a s isolat ed, no m oreth an t h e m any flavours enjoyed in the sauceblended by Milinda

’s ch ef . 11Th e t erm sati, or m indfu lness , is twice

discu ssed ; th e second occa sion suggest s a

lat er developm ent , a lm ost identify l ng th e

word with m indfu lness of th e pa st , or m em

ory , and Offering th e earliest approach t o a

th eory of a ssocia t ion of ideas exist ing in

Indian lit erature . Stat ing that sati arisesboth t h rough inward p ercept ion and ext erna lsigns , th e sage is a sked In h ow m any waysQues tions

,1. 133 .

1 Ibid. 1. 97 . It becam e neverthel ess orthodox doc trm e

to hol d,tha t no two chitta

’s of sense-reac t1on cou l d arise a t

th e sam e m oment . Th ere was SW1ft suc cessmn and ap

parent s1m u l tane1ty . Led1 Sadaw , j P TS , 1914 , 149.

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MILINDA

zerna l suggest ions of a visible or audibleiature are a lso enum erat ed . Th e subj ects t h en dropped .

Not less p sychologica lly int erest ing is t h exposition of a th eory of dream s .

1 The

physica l condit ions of dream ing are stat ed50 be : first ly, the const ant condit ion of'

m onkey Sleep ,

’

that is, of a stat e betweenwaking and deep sleep secondly, thevariableant ecedent s of m orbid h ealth , biliou snessfor instance . Th e oth er kind of ant ecedent ,th rough wh ich a lone the dream ha s anyrelat ion to im p ending occurrences, is devainfluenc e or deva—indu ct ion . Th e m eaningor obj ect of th is ‘celest ial ’

(dibba ) int ervention is accep t ed a s current lore withoutcrit icism . As t elepath ic procedure, wh ereth e agency wa s of a physically m ore eth erea l ,or m enta lly less cana lized com posit ion t h an

th e recip ient’s m ind, th e occurrence wou ld

not seem sup ernatura l to an Indian . It isadded that th e dream er wou ld not read th esign h e wou ld relat e, and an expert wou ldint erpret—a wrong m eans of livelihoodand l ow art ,

’

according t o th e ancientteach ing of t h e Founder .

2

In deep Sleep the consciou sness (chitta ) isst at ed to h ave gone int o ,

’

th at is , becom eone with th e bhavanga , or flow of organiclife, and does not go on,

’does not recognize

or discern wh at is plea sant or unp lea sant .

1 Questions , 11. 157 .

1 Dia l ogues , 1. 17 .


For consciousness, in th is m erely pot ent ia lstate, not being a cont inuum ,

1or persist ing

being, is pract ically non-exist ent . To what ,if any , ext ent th e life-flow m om ent s includem om ent s of wh at we now t erm subconsciou sm enta l life, I h ave yet t o learn .

1 See Questions , 11. 159, n . 2 . Th rough Mr. S . Z .

Aung’s work on th e Compendium of P hil osophy , we are

now in a bet ter position to transl a te this p assage .

CHA P T E R I !

SOME MEDIE VAL DEVELOPMENTS

SCAN TY Space rem a ins to discu ss, even i1ou t line, the addit ions and modificat ionm ade in m ediaeva l and m odern Th eravad:

p sych ology . Nor is th e t im e for such dis

c u ssion yet fu lly a rrived . Of th e two ch iefields awa it ing furth er research— th e workof Buddhaghosa and th ose of Anuruddh z

and h is comm entators— only a sm a ll frac tioris yet edit ed in Rom an lett er, and only onc

work , th e digest ca lled A Comp endium 0

P hilosop hy, dat ing from probably th e twel ft lcentu ry, is yet t ranslat ed. The dat e 0

Buddhaghosa is eigh t centuries earlier . Th es¢two group s of lit eratu re, the one supp lem ent ingth e oth er, represent th e dom inant l nfluenc e ln Th eravada ph ilosoph ical (inc ludincp sych ological) though t up to th e present dayS . Z . Aung writ es that the m odern Burm es ¢

V iew,except ing cert a in indep endent crit ique:

m ade by Ledi Sadaw, is one with th (

t ea ch ing of Buddh agh osa and Sum anga l a

(auth orof th em ost au thoritat ive comm entaryon th e Comp endium ) .

1 Compendium ,284 .

I 73

SOME MEDIIEVAL DEVELOPMENTS 175

prose comm entary Chitta , t hat is , beingaware of what is with in one ’ s rangem inding everyth ing inclu sively ; one ’s ownlife cont inuum .

”And lat er Chetasika

’s,

th at is , conjoined with chitta , or becom ingsin-chitta (citte bhava) . Th ese a lso, like chitta ,form th e subj ect t o obj ect , as su ch form inga S ingle cla ss . As resu ltant s or non-re

su l tant s in consciou sness, t h ey are divisibleint o two cla sses . As produ ct ive of good or

bad resu lt or neith er (lit erally : as good,bad or indet erm inat e) th ey form th reecla sses . AS belonging t o consciou sness c oncerned with mundane exp erience, with re

birt h in worlds of sublim at ed m at t er, withrebirth in imm at eria l worlds, and with sub

j ec t s wh ence a l l rebirth - concerns are re

jec ted, th ey form four cla sses .

”

He th en enum erat es a l l th e m enta l propert ies t o be dist ingu ish ed in ana lysing th at firsttyp e of a good and h appy th ough t or chitta on

occa sion of sense, deta iled in th e Abh idh amm a -P itaka , and discu ssed in an earlierch ap t er (pp . 136 , He a lso int roducest h e im port ant dist inct ion, not brough t ou t inthe old origina l ana lysis, of som e m ent a lp ropert ies being constant s (niydta

’

) and som econt ingent or occa siona l . Th ese five p ity,

sym pathy-wit h -joy , aversion from evil in ac t ,

speech and life, are inconstant ; t h ey arl se

som et im es [in su ch a typ e ofTh is dist inct ion is clearly worked out in the


Comp endium . We cannot yet com pare Buddh adatta and Buddhagh osa . But th e lat erComp endium Shows clearly th at , at a l l event sfor p sychologica l ana lysis, th e five-

groupssyst em h as fallen into th e background, and

consciou sness is resolved into chitta and

it s coefficient s of chetasika’

s, som e of wh ichare constant coefficient s, and som e of wh ichare, in any given m om ent of consciou sness ,p resent , som e not .

Th is, in th e Comp endium of P hilosophy,is mu ch bett er worked out than in th e Olderwrit er . We th ere see th at , in su ch a givenm om ent , m ent al analysis decl ares to be

dist inguish able factors, or nuances , sevenconstant coefficient s, the Pali for constantbeing ‘

a l l -consciou sness—comm on-to.

’Th ese

are contact , feeling, perceiving, volit ionalint ellect ion, individualizat ion, [th e aecompanying awareness of] p sych ic life, at

t ent ion . Without th ese th ere c an be no

upral im ina l consciou sness . Besides th eseth ere m ay or m ay not be dist ingu ishableSix occa sional coefficient s, th e Pa li for occasiona l being, in Buddhadat ta , not -fixed, not

certa in (a in th e Comp endium ,

scat t ered (p akinnaka ) , distribut ed. Th eseare init ial and su sta ined app licat ion,

1 deciding, effort , zest , desire-to-do, or int ent ion .

These th irteen, th e lat er work adds , are

a l l neut ra l, m orally sp eaking ; th ey combine1 See above

, p . 89.

SOME MEDIE VAL DEVELOPMENTS 177

with oth er factors of consciousness wh ichare dist inguish ably good or bad

‘imp licat esof chitta .

Such th en is t he evolut ion of th is dua lcat egory . First , chitta only ; with th e st raym ent ion of chetasika , Singular in number, inone Nikaya . Th en a group word onlychitta-chetasika dha mma

’s , in the books of t he(lat er ) th ird P itaka . Th en the second t erm ,

now p lural, app ears a s a list in th e lat estbook of that P itaka . Th en th e two t erm sdescribed a s separat e ph ilosoph ical cat egories in the fifth century, with fuller t reatm ent , fina lly, of the lat ter cat egory, in the

twelfth -centu ry m anual . And in that manualth e five aggregat es are enum erat ed but once,in a ph ilosoph ica l, not a p sychological sect ion,

ju st to paraph ra se the ancient t erm udma

rup a (mind-and-body) ,1before th ey are aga in

and finally l et go .

Th at a posit ive, if a very Slow, evolut ionin p sychologica l Specia lizat ion is h ere to beseen, seem s fa irly clear . It m ay not be

adm it t ed in cent res of Abhidh amm a learning.

I am not sure that the habit of regardingm at t ers h istorica lly, so new a s yet in our

own world of science, is cu lt ivat ed th ere .

Th e th eory of chitta and it s propert ies or

coefficient chetasika’

s , in th is or that groupof consciou s synth eses, is pursu ed in the

Comp endium with a good deal of very and1 Compendium , p . 198, cp . 2 13 cp . above

, p . 23.

12


becom ing) , th e lap sing of th e la st subc onsciou s chitta is ca lled decea se (chuti, falling) .

But from decea se [com es] aga in c on

c eption, and from concep t ion aga in bhavanga— such is the procedu re in th e unarrest edconsciou sness - cont inuum of beings faringon th rough et ernity . But wh oso at ta insArahant ship , t o him wh en consciousnessh as ended, renewed birth and death h avea lso cea sed.

” 1

Th e eleven m odes of t he cognit ive process are briefly described previou s to t h ispa ssage . But th ey have not th e appearanceof being st at ed for t he first t im e . No

exp lanat ion of th em as p rocess is judgednecessary . And since Buddh adatta , in th e

fou rt h ch apt er of t h e work referred t o,

2

a lso nam es th ese fourt een m odes of chitta ,

it is p robably righ t to conclude th at th eyboth were bu t handing on an ana lyt ica lformu la ,

wh ich had evolved between th eirown t im e and th at of the fina l closing of

t h e Abhidh amm a -P itaka .

But th e exposit ion of the cognit ive processis m ore clearly and concisely stat ed in the

lat er Comp endium . However swift ly an ac t

of sense-p ercept ion m ay be perform ed, itwa s h eld th at , in every su ch act , sevent eenm om ent s or fla sh es (the m etaphor is m ine )of consciou sness t ook p lace, each m om entbeing considered to involve the th ree t im e

1 Visuddhi-M ugga , c h . x1v .1 Above, p 174 .


phases of a l l becom ing,’

nam ely a na scent ,stat ic and dissolving pha se .

“Hence,” weread, “th e process [of sense-cognit ion] isthu s : Wh en,

say , a Visible Obj ect , a ft erone chitta-m om ent (1) h as passed, ent ers theavenu e [or focu s] of Sigh t , th e life-cont inuum(bhavanga ) Vibrat ing twice (2 ) it s st reamis int errupt ed, t h en th e advert ing m om entrises and ceases Imm ediat ely aft erth ere arise and cease, in order, th e Visualim p ression (viriridna ) , aware of ju st th at

Visible obj ect recip ient consciousnessinvest igat ing consciou sness (7 det erm iningor a ssigning consciou sness th en sevenfla sh es of fu ll percept ion,

”or appercept ion

(j dvana ) (9 fina lly, if the percept issu fficient ly vivid, two mom ent s of ret ent ionor registering consciou sness (16 , Th ispha se etym ologica lly is very different lynam ed tad-drammana , or that-obj ect— th atand not anoth er . Aft er that com es sub~

sidenc e int o t he life-cont inuum .

” 1

Th e lat er comm entaries illu strat e th ism u lt ip le, if m om entary, p sych osis by the

following sim ile A m an in deep sleep withcovered h ead beneath a m ango t ree (streamof unconsciou s life or bhavanga ) . A windst irs th e branch es (p receding chitta 1 and

Vibrat ing bhavanga , 2 , Th is cau ses a

m ango to fall by him (arrest or disrupt ionof unconsciou s life) . The m an is waked by the

1 Compendium , 126 .


fa lling fru it (advert ing, He uncovers hish ead (sense-im pression of fru it , p icks upth e fru it (receiving, inspect s it (invest igaing, det erm ines wh at it is (det erm ining,eat s it (fu ll p ercept ion, 9 swa llows th ela st m orsels (regist ering, 16 , re-coversh is h ead and sleep s aga in (subsidence int obhavanga ) . Aft er-tast e h ad p erhap s beenm ore apt for 16 ,Such is th e typ e of p rocedure where the

im pression is Vivid . With fa int er im pressions , incept ion m ay t ake longer, or th erem ay be no process of regist ering, wh encecom es ret ent ion and reproduct ion . Th erem ay even be no m om ent s of fu ll cognit ion, or,

in th e fa int est st imu li conceivable,no sense

im pression, bu t m ere mom entary bhavangacha ldna , i.e. organic

‘vibrat ion .

’

Th is is certa inly, in it s m et icu lou s ana lysis,it s so to sp eak m icroscop ica l introsp ect ion, a

considerable elaborat ion of th e simp le Su t tast at em ent , quot ed in a form er chapt er, of

mano a s th e resort of, and t h e indu lger in,

a l l th e im pressions of the sp ecia l senses .

1

Nevert h eless, th e va lidity of th at stat em entis p iou sly uph eld by Buddhaghosa , wh en h eis discoursing on mano. Th is is in his

Comm entary on th e first Abhidh amm a

P itaka book, a work cont a ining bet t erp sych ologica l m at t er than th e m ore norm a

t ive t reatm ent Of t h e Visuddhi-Magga .

P . 69.


Lat er on, th e mano-elem ent elem enta s being empty of subst ance or ent ityis described a s fol lowing the sense-impression, a s h aving the essent ia l m ark of cognizingsigh t s , sounds , et c .

, th e property of receivingt h e sam e , t h e resu lt ing ph enom enon of

t ruth (lit erally : thu sness ) , and a s it s proxi

m at e ant ecedent , th e vanish ing oi th e senseim pression .

1 It s physica l ba sis is th eh eart , and a lth ough th e door-obj ect s, wh ichare not sim ilarly bound, pa ss on, th is is t h elocus , th is h a s th e funct ion of receiving th em .

Th e invest igat ing m om ent and t he restcom e under th at developed act ivity of mano

t erm ed elem ent of m ano-consciou sness, ’ andcorresp ond m ore or less t o wh at our t extbooks ca ll rep resentat ive cognit ion,

m u ch of

wh ich is a lways im plicit , if perh ap s lat ent ,in an ac t of sense-percept ion . And wh erethe work of m ind is not largely autom at ic,and swift ly det erm ined and apperceived, as

on m ost occa sions of sense, but is dea lingwith unfam iliar and problem at ica l a ssim ilat ion,

we m ay presum e that Buddh aghosa

wou ld adm it th at chitta m om ent s , pre

dom inant ly of invest igat ing, det erm ining,et c . , m igh t be indefinit ely m u lt ip lied. Un

fortunat ely h e h as left u s no work devot edent irely and syst em at ically to m ent a lana lysis . And if th ere be any such

1 A tthasal inz‘

,2 63 . No te the orthodox schol astic mode of

defin1t1on ,


lat er work by anoth er hand, it is not yetaccessible .

A com p let e exposit ion of th is Comm entary,

however, wou ld revea l m uch m ore incidentalpsychologica l m att er of int erest . For instance,it does not pau se to point t o anyth ingproblemat ica l l n th e ph enom enon of contacton occa sion of sense, eith er in the physica lnecessity, except in touch , of a m edium , or

in th e apparent anom aly of rup a in contactwith tha t wh ich is a-rup a (m at t er with m ind) .And it m akes no dogm at ic stat em ent concerning th is . Neverth eless rem arks are l et dropguarding th e p sychological posit ion . Thu s :Eye 1m pinges on visible obj ect (rup a ) only

m eans eye receiving th e m enta l obj ect(d

1 Aga in, wh en he alludes toth e M ilinda sim iles for cont act— the ram sbut t ing and cymbals clash ing— Buddha

ghosa ju stifies the u se of‘impact

’a s between

consciou sness and m ental obj ect only in

th e sense of at ta ining, ach ieving (samp attiy’

And, genera lly speaking, th e cau se of feelinglies in th e nature of consciousness it self,ju st a s th e h eat of m elt ing l ac is in it s own

t issue though ascribed to burning coalwith out .

Th ere is a great deal m ore sagaciou sp sychologica l comm ent scat t ered th ickly upand down th is Comm entary, and t o som eext ent the following Comm entary on th e

1 Atthasdlm i, 309.

2 Ibad. 108 f .

SOME MEDIZEVAL DEVELOPMENTS 185

Vibhanga , or second book of th e Abh idh amm a -Pitaka .

Jl Som e day , in a separat emonograph , th e p sychology of Buddhaghosawill take it s lawfu l p lace in th e h istory of

psych ology . It is a s yet prem ature to

at t em pt a digest of th e cont ribut ion m adeby h im . A good deal of t h is cumbers th epages of th e older work t ranslat ed in m yso-called Buddhist P sychologica l Ethics , butim p erfect ly and incomp let ely present ed. Iwill only quot e two m ore rem arks giventh ere, to sh ow, by th ese alone, h ow unwort hyof a t ru ly catholic persp ect ive it will be, t otake account of Aristot le ’s p sychology andnot of Buddh aghosa

’s wh en m ade accessible .

Th e work t ranslat ed ju st m ent ioned[Dhamma -sangdzii) h as rep lied t o it s qu eryWh at is included under visible obj ect ?

by st at ing, first , colou rs , th en form s of m agnitude . On th ese th e Comm ent ary rem arksHere, ina sm u ch as we are able to t elllong,

’ ‘short , ’ et c . , by t ouch , wh ile weannot so discern blu e, ’ et c . , th ereforelong, sh ort , and so on are not to be t akenas visua l obj ect s with ou t explanat ion . It isanl y by cu stom ary u sage th at we c an speakJf anyth ing as visible obj ect wh ich appearsas long or short , great or sm a l l ,

.

et c . et c . ,

wh en so p laced a s to compare w1th som e

1 Printed as yet onl y 111 B urm ese ch arac ters , th 1s

work is now being prep ared for publ l c a t ion in Rom an

et ter by th e Fab Tex t Soc1ety .


gbosa is h is recording what wa s probablyth e cu rrent developm ent of th e m eaning ofthe t erm I h ave rendered as zest (p iti) .Th is word in t h e canonica l books is u suallyassociat ed with eith er siikha , p lea sant , h appyfeeling, or p amo

'

j ja , joy , gladness, and itwas very genera lly rendered by

‘joy .

’ Mr.

Aung h a s st rongly m a inta ined th a t it is not somuch an em ot iona l as an int ellectua l qua lity,and, at least at it s lowest power, st ands for‘int erest .

’

Thu s t h e ‘int erest of pursu itas com pared with th e sukha of realizat ionis , by Buddhaghosa , likened to th e th irstyheat ed t raveller ’s qu est com pared with hisreach ing wat er, shade and rest .

Bu t if p iti be not em ot iona l, it is unm istakabl y em ot ion . Em ot iona l ’ is

, ha s t o

be, u sed a s t he adj ect ive of feeling. And

piti is cla ssed, not with feeling (oedemahkhandha ), bu t am ong th e coefficient s of

consciou sness ca lled sankhdm’

s or chetasika’

s .

[t is not sim p ly p lea surable feeling (sukha ) .But neit h er is em ot ion to be so defined .

Em ot ion is feeling a ccom panying an idea ,

the being‘m oved ’ with a coeffi cient of

represent at ive consciou sness . Th e canonicaldescrip t ion of p itiallies it with t erm s of gladness , m irth and enthu sia sm .

‘ Buddhaghosa

gives , as it s essent ial featu res, th e beingplea sed,

expansion, and elat ion .

2 He a lsogives u s th e five grades of p iti th e th rill

1 B ud. P sy . E thics, 9.

2 A ttha sdl ini, 115.


of eagerness, the mom entary fla sh , th e floodof enthusiasm , a s waves breaking over u s ,

ecsta sy or transport , and rapture . And a l l

the instances given refer to an idea orgroup of

idea s as the proximat e cau se . Hence wh erea sno one word need suffice, ‘joy a s th e m oreexu ltant , up lift ed form of int erest or zestis by no m eans a lways a m istranslat ion .

And as the Comm ent ary on th e P sa lms ofthe Sisters and Brethren renders by p iti

sukha th eir em ot ion on reviewing th eir own

st ruggles to th e goal , so do I judge t h atBuddh aghosa ,

and even my excellent collaborator

,wou ld use piti in t ranslat ing P rof .

Bergson’

s fine passage on th e int ellectualjoy of creat ive effort and at t a inm ent . Oncewe get at th e p sychologically com posit ebackbone of p iti

“int ellectual excit em entover an obj ect felt a s desirable,” 1 we m ayrender the word by wh ich ever of the abovenam ed t erm s—none of wh ich , not even

‘joy ,

’

is bare feeling— the part icular cont ext seem sto dem and .

Th is m ood of int ellectua l commot ion,

ranging from int erest , eagerness, or zest upto rapture, is t oo important in a l l religiouspsychology for u s t o dism iss the Buddh istdiscu ssion of it for yet a few mom ent s longer .

The em ot ion,writ es th e Comm entator, reach esm aturity and clim ax in com posure and

serenity of m ind. But the prior working of it1 Disc ussed in my B uddhism p . 2 31.


is a sort of m enta l intoxicat ion . We m ay pa ssover h is m etaph ors of the first th ree and th ela st : th e goose-flesh th rill, th e ligh tningfla sh , the boiling surge on th e shore, th eexpansion of a blown bladder .

1 It is on

piti a s elat ion, or t ransport or ecsta sy,

th at h e enlarges . And h ere h e qu it s our

West ern and Greek-t ra ined sobriety, andtakes t h e elat ion 2

and t ransport physicallyas well a s m enta lly , represent ing th osepossessed of th is raptu re caugh t up to

th e th ird h eaven,

”a s St . P au l m igh t say ,

wh eth er in th e body or ou t of the body Icannot t ell— God knoweth ,

”or a s h e h im self

says, m aking th e body elat ed, so a s to

accom p lish a m ea sure of leap ing into the

air .

” He th en t ells two anecdot es from h is

abundant store h ow an Elder M . dwellingat N . cont emp lat ing the fu ll m oon at a

sh rine, and th inking h ow at th e GreatSh rine a l l th e fa ith fu l mu st ju st th en be

reverencing the Buddha , dwelt on the ideaof Him , and in a t h robbing (ubbega ) ecsta sy,like t h e chords of a lyre, rose in the air and

st ood aga in in the courtyard of the GreatSh rine . Thu s too th e daugh t er of well-to-dofolk at Y . , nea r the m inst er Z . , left at hom eWh ile th ey went to church , stands at her

l oor looking in th e brigh t m oonligh t up'

owards t he h ill-sh rine sh ining like a h eap1 Visuddhi-M egga ,

c h . iv .

7’ Udagya=ud-ag-ya ( up

-top-ness) .


qr body into m ind, a s if th e repudiat edAtm an it self were imm anent in eith er .

Th e work of Buddh agh osa cannot , l et itbe once m ore sa id, be ju st ly appra ised inth ese fragm ent ary rem arks, typ ica l of th e

very unfinish ed st at e of our excavat ions .

’

His int ellect , clogged a s it is by a l l th atusua lly h andicap s th e schola st ic m ind,dom inat es th e developm ent of his own

tradit ion : unsound ph ilology , unsoundnessas to h istorica l evidence, th e losing, in

deta iled work, a l l consp ectu s of the whole,wh eth er th at whole be th e m ovem ent of

th ough t in h is day , or th e m ovem ent,from

it s incep t ion ,of th e t radit ion h e represent ed.

His dict ion, m oreover, becom es a t t im esinvolved and ambiguou s . He was no longerwrit ing for a cu lture with no lit erature . But

th ere is a world of difference between h is

com m ent at oria l ph ra seology and th e lim p idperiods of Milinda

’s deligh t fu l m onitor .

We know, however, enough to be doubt fulas t o th e probability of com ing upon anyat t em p t to th eorize on the problem of repre

sent at iv e cognit ion, or of th e a ssociat ionof idea s . Apparent ly he resembled in th isresp ect Europ ea n ph ilosoph ers p rior toHum eand Ha rt ley for Sp inoza

’ s stat em ent s 1

any u s no fu rth er than Buddhaghosa’

s

as i c hologic a l th eory ,t hough th ey are

sett er summ aries . Unt il, in fact , the

1 E thics , 11. xvii,x v111.


neurologica l inquiries of Cartesianism wereset on foot , no strong impetu s arose to

m ake the apparent para llelism between th e

physically a ssociat ed and the m enta lly a ssoc iated a m att er for ph ilosophy t o th eorizeabout . But th e problem of th e funct ions ofthe p ineal gland and th e deduct ions t herefromset th e savant s th inking anew . I wonder,”wrot e Sp inoza , that one who had so oft entaken to t a sk th e Scholast ics for wish ing toexp la in obscurit ies th rough occu lt qualit ies,cou ld m a inta in a hypoth esis, beside wh ichoccu lt qualit ies are commonp lace ! Whatdoes h e underst and, I ask , by th e union of th e

m ind and th e body 1

Now B uddh ist p sychology postu lat ed a

seat , lit erally, sit e (vatthu ) , for each of the

ways in wh ich th e organism was , as P rof .B ergson m igh t say , canalized for access toext erna l im pressions, or rath er for th e

access of those ext erna l condit ions , in c on

sequence of wh ich chitta or consciou snesswas called up . Th ese were th e fiv e specia lsense-periph eries, and, in t he older books,that m at erial th ing on th e ba sis of wh ich ap

preh ension and com preh ension t ake p lace,” 2

a th ing wh ich , in a l l th e (much lat er) comm ent aries, is expla ined to be th e h eart(hadaya-vatthu ) . Th e bra in Is not even m en

tioned unt il the Mil inda} and though the

1 Ethics, v . P refac e He is referring to Descartes .

Compendium ,278. Questions , 1. 42 .


etym ologica l para llel of nerves (nahdru ) isa lways included, in th e enum erat ion of th eth irty-two m a in const ituent s of th ebody, it isapparent ly in th e sense of sinews .

’

Th erewa s th erefore no physiological indu ct ionconcerning th e cana lizat ion of sensorydisturbance . Hence any correspondingth eory of

‘lat ent m ental m odificat ions , ’ba sed on a th eory of neu ra l t racks and so

fort h , is no m ore to be exp ect ed in Buddh istt h an in Europ ean m edimv a l p sychology .

And so far a s I have seen, Buddh aghosa iscont ent to pu sh no furth er t h e adumbrat ionsof th eory we m et with in th e Mil inda , butsimp ly t o give th e fact s, the resu lt s of

rep resent at ive cognit ion, without feelingca lled up on to fram e any new th eory to

su it t h e non-ent ity-non-sou l axiom of his

t radit ion wh ich h e loses no opportunity of

uph olding.

1

To judge, h owever, by S . Z . Aung’

s ablep resentm ent , in h is int roductory essay t o

the Comp endium of P hilosop hy, th e lat erm ediaeva l and m odern p sychological lit eratureof Bu rm a and Ceylon has not only evolveda det a iled th eory of reproduct ive m enta lp rocedure, but cla im s to h ave evolved it

from the so-ca lled Method of Relat ions,form ulat ed with int erm inable deta il in th e

la st book of the Abhidhamm a-P itaka calledP a tthana . We h ave as yet no access to the

1 Bud . P sy . Ethics, xxxvi f.


to-go. (Th is is th e m ediaeval buriedcity etym ology comm on to Eu rop e andAsia . ) Tha t is t o say , it is concernedwith wh at is not-opp osed.

”

(More buriedFor th e ph enom enon (A ) wh ich

stands or h appens in non-opposit ion t o

anoth er ph enom enon (B ) is sa id to be the

p acchaya of the lat t er We now becom em ore posit ive aga in : P acchaya h a s th e

essent ia l m ark of rendering service (lit erallyworking-up -to, up akaraka ) . A is B

’s pacchaya

in so far a s it renders service t o B ’

s exist ingor becom ing. P acchaya , condit ion,

rea sonwhy, source, com ing-t o-be, originet c . , are one in m eaning, different in verba lform J udging by th is pa ssage, th erefore,the twenty-four kinds of p acchaya dist inguished in t h e Book of Relat ions are twentyfour ways in wh ich the h app ening of A

affects t h e happening of B or conversely,in wh ich th e h app ening of B is a s it is becau seof t he h app ening of A .

Wh en t h is definit ion is app lied t o t he

correlat ion of one m ent a l mom ent (chitta )wit h anoth er, we get a much less emptyabst ra ct concept ion t h an t h at of two t erm sju st ‘standing in relat ion one t o the oth er .

’

We com e to rea lize that in a cont inuum of

m om entary chitta ’

s we h ave not just a numberof isolat ed, mutua lly independent unit s ,simu lat ing by th eir sp eed a unity of sub

stance, ju st a s a red-hot point Wh irled round


in the dark simu lat es an unbroken circle .

l

We have a number of unit s simulat ing unity,but they are such that each one is what itis becau se of the service-rendering of thosethat have preceded it . Thu s according to theBook of Relat ions, and the echo of it in the

Comp endium ,

2 B chitta , relat ed to A chitta a s

(1) imm ediat ely succeeding, (2 ) present wh ileA is absent , (3 ) present with A in abeyance,that is, t elling upon it , is, in consequence,so and not otherwise . Or again wh en A

and B are in the p acchaya of a ssociat ion(samp ayutta ), A has rendered such servicet o B th at it is wrough t up into B , and h encein B our past appears a s present . (In the

lat t er ca se reference is not m ade to m utuallycont iguou s chitta

’s ) .

Th is influence, or service-rendering, or

condit ioning of one mom entary ph enom enon(wh ether m ent a l or oth erwise) cam e to bet erm ed satti (Sansk . sakti) , that is ability,vis , influence, force, ch iefly, it would seem ,

th rough the t each ing of Ariyavamsa , a

not able and noble-natured Burm ese t each erof the fift eenth century 3 And I m ent ionthe th eory as showing that th e Buddh istth eory of non-sou l, or of no abiding ent itywh ich -has-chitta ’

s, h a s not cau sed the sub

1 Cp . Compendium , p . 33, n. 1.1 Page 193, §9.

Cp . Mrs . Bode'

s Pa li Literature of Burma , 4 1. I owethe information to S . Z . Aung

's kind rep ly to my ques

tion as to the earl iest mention of paeehaya-satti.


stitu tion, in p lace of such a doct rine , ofdisconnect ed m om entary m onads, each one

being a tabu la rasa of anyth ing that had gonebefore .

Al l th is is insufficient to exp la in th e‘re

instat em ent of any given sect ion of the

pa st at any given m om ent , in oth er words,why chitta

’

s A B ca l l up certa in form erchitta

’

s ! Y wh eth er we add, withLocke, why C is th e consciou sness that

we did have ! Y once, or wh eth erwe do not . But that is a m at t er that th ehypoth esis of a perduring ent ity does not

exp la in eith er . Th eories of a ssociat ion m aystat e that , for instance, a m an, passing som eobj ect one day and m aking a rem ark, m ayrecollect , wh en pa ssing a year later, what h esa id, and cont inu e th e conversat ion, and ca ll ita ssocia t ion by cont iguity and sim ilarity . But

th eform of p ersist ence, the actual m echanismof reinstat em ent , th at has gone on

‘in th e

m enta l cont inuum , the th eory c an no m oredescribe than th e elect rician c an say how wireor eth er is molecu larly a ffect ed during t ransm ission oi elect ric force . We cannot describem enta l experience, wh ich is mu ch m ore vastthan cerebra l life, ’ 1 in term s of space, norcan we broaden into deta il in t erm s of

t im e .

Hence th e sublim at ed amm l sm of a

1 Prof. B ergson ,

‘P residential Address ,

’trans

l a ted by Dr. Wildon Carr.


to the very front rank only in m ediaeva lworks . Each now com p rises a khandha or

group of exercises . Calm inc ludes a l l that Buddh aghosa classed undersamadhi (concent rat ion) and the older bookspa rt ly under t ra ining (sikkhd) of chitta ,

pa rt ly under p anna. Under ‘calm ’ is nowincluded supernorm al int ellect ion, ’ or a

bhiririd.

1 Of it s six m odes the last— the

sp iritual destruct ion of th e asava’s or

viciou s inst inct s — is supp ressed, and theoth er five are very briefly dism issed. In

sigh t comprises t he int ellectua l realizat ionof certa in t ruth s .In sp it e of the am p le stat em ent given t o

one of t h em , to iddhi, in Mr. Aung’

s int erest ing int roduct ion, I see in th ese alteredproport ions an evolut ion of thought . Six

t een hundred years, perhaps , had elap seds ince th e wonderfu l age that producedt h e Founder and h is Arahant s, and over a

th ou sand, since the earliest records werecomm itt ed to writ ing. Even Buddhaghosa

coul d onl y refer to th e m arvels ach ievedby sa int s of ol d, wh ile it wou ld seem th at

for Anuruddha’s st ill lat er age, the sight and

sound of th ings ineffable, and the godlikewill that could say of Brahma-h eaven Be

thou near t o m e2 were becom e as th ings

that were very far away .

1 Compendium , p . 2 09, and ahove, pp . 126- 130.

1 Visuddhi-Magge . Iddhwzdhd.

’


Let me bring to a close th ese fragm entaryinqu iries into the age

-long career of Th eravada though t by linking those into th e

chitta and th e p anes of the oldest bookswith the lat est utt erances from Burm a . In

th e Th era Ledi Sadaw of Manda lay are

combined, fortunat ely for us , a desire to

give of his best to those in Europe who

have ears to hear, and a cu lture th at isqu ite untou ched by anyth ing th at Europem ight have t o give him of it s own

t hough t . His dict ion, so far as I know it ,seem s to m e ageless ; h is sim iles m igh t a l l

be in th e Nikayas , or in Buddh aghosa ; his

idea s belong to a m ach ine-less world. Sucha product mu st , even in B urm esem onast eries,be soon a th ing of th e pa st . Fortunatelyhis works, writ ten in P ali , are num erou s ,and are in print . In th em (I do not say in

th em only ) we m ay learn som eth ing ofm odernTh eravada , undistort ed by filtrat ion th roughm inds born and tra ined in European t radit ion. Such distort ion m ay eventua llybring about an evolut ion in Th eravadagreat er than any it h a s experienced

w an

evolut ion that will eventually react m igh t ilyon our own ph ilosoph ic standpoint s—and

be ult im at ely acknowledged by Buddh ist sth em selves a s th e cause of a great rena scence .

For the present we need to record th is uncontam inat ed, unleavened h eritage, derivingWithout break, from th e Burmo-Singhalese


Council of A .D . 1165 , not to m ent ion thecu lt of the preceding centuries .

Chitta (consciou sness) , mano (m ind)mdnasa (int elligence) , vinnana (awareness ) ,writ es Ledi Sadaw, a l l are really one inm eaning th ey are variou s m odes of com ingt o know .

1 We know,wh eth er our

knowing be of blue a s such or not a s such ,

or Wh eth er it be of th e rea l, as rea l or as

oth erwise, or wh eth er it be wh at we desireor do not desire . Now knowing is threefold : th ere is knowing as being aware of

,

knowing a s p erceiving, knowing a s understanding. P erceiving is a clearer knowingthan awa reness, and is a lso knowing withoutforget t ing over a lap se of t im e . Understanding (p aj dnana ) is knowing adequat elyby way of cla ss and species . It is knowingcom p let ely a l l about any [given] knowableth ing. For even in any one such th ingth ere is m uch to be known, viz . a s to it s

nature, condit ions , correlat ions, effect s, th eevil

, the good of it , it s imperm anence, theill connect ed with it . Andp aj dnana, p anna,is to have an exhau st ive knowledge of a l l

th is, as it is sa id : Th e lim it of knowledgeis the knowable, th e knowable is th e lim itof knowledge .

’

P anna in it s fu llest senseis om niscience . Yet even for th e learner,wh enever th rough com ing t o know h e con

qu ers natura l fa ilings, his knowinghasbecom e1 So B uddhaghosa .


th ey discard the concept s p erson,ent ity ,

’

self or sou l, ’ ‘living th ing (J iva ), andknow th ings a s of purely ph enom ena l nature,under th e concept of elem ent (dhdtu ) . Nowm ind, m ent a l coefficient s, m att er, Nibbana ,1are just su ch abst ru se, subt le, deep m at t ers,to be t ru ly understood only as inferent ia lknowing becom es , th rough persist ent t raining, t ransform ed into intu it ive knowing.

”

Here we see intu it ion considered a s one

a spect of tha t p anna , wh ich is thoroughknowing.

It m ay be not iced th at Dr. Ledi m akesno reference to Buddhaghosa

’

s frequent lyrep eat ed sim ile of th e ch ild, the cit izen, and

t h e gold-expert (above , pp . 131 wh endist ingu ish ing between th e th ree m odes of

com ing-to-know. Mr. Aung t ells m e th at it

is given in Sum anga l a’

s st ill m ore popu larcomm entary He h im self disapproves of

consciou sness (vinnana ) being graded withp ercep t ion and p anna, wh ich belong t o th e

ph ilosoph ica lly different cat egory of m entalcoefficient sHere th e reader of the Nikaya s and

Buddhagh osa will not e th at the ancientfiv e-group dist inct ion is passed over . Led1

Sadaw, h owever, in comm ent ing on that

cla ssificat ion, has illu strat ed, by a new and

ingeniou s parable, th e funct ions of th e five1Th e fourfol d ca tegory of Buddh adatta and the Com

pendium . See above, pp . 174, 176 .

204 BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY‘

,group s i’n vindicat ion of the adequacy of

th is ancient cat egory to t ake into accounta l l hum an act ivit ies in such Sph eres as are

governed by natural desire (tanha-visayesuthdnesu )

1

It m ay be asked : Why did the ExaltedBuddha , wh en classifying condit ioned experienc e under the concept of aggregat es(khandha), m ake the number five ? We

rep ly : By th ese five group s of ph enom enaour act s, regarded a s fel icific , on occasionswhere natura l desires have p lay, find ao

c om p l ishm ent . Th is th e following parablemay illu st rat e : A wea lthy m an, seekingwea lth , bu ilds a sh ip , and equ ip s it with a

crew of fifty-two sa ilors . By t ransport of

passengers h e am a sses m oney . Of th e crewone is expert in a l l works relat ing to the

sh ip , and has th ese carried out ; and one

is acqua inted with t he port s to be visitedand the rout es th ith er, and h e from a

comm anding posit ion 2 direct s th e st eering.

The owner, m ainta ining boat and crew,

receives and enjoys th e ensu ing wealth .

Now by th e sea we m ay understand th eway of life ever renewed (samsara ) ; bythe sh ip owner, a person pursu ing naturaland worldly desires . By the sh ip we m ayunderstand the m at erial aggregat e (rd/p a

I h ave very s l igh tly condensed the fol lowing.

1 I f

lel t that

‘the bridge

’

was too modern for this ‘agel ess’

prose


kkhandha ) ; by the wealt h it brings in, theaggregat e of feeling ; by th e form er offi cer

,

t he aggregat e of percept ion ; by the crewcarrying out his orders, the m ental propert ieslabelled as sankhdra -aggregat e ; and by th elat t er officer, wh o direct s th e sh ip

’

s course,t he vinnana-aggregat e .

Feelmg covers a l l our enjoying, partaking of.

‘P ercept ion

’ includes our con

versanc e with , our int elligence of, our c om

pet enc e respect ing a l l experience in th e rangeof th ings hum an, divine, or infra -hum an .

Th at wh ich we call sankhara ’

s covers a l l th atwe do by th ough t , word, or deed a ccording towh at we h ave perceived. And vinnana , orthe aggregat eof consciou snesses or cognit ions,is a l l those sense-impressions , sense-c ognit ions , wh ich ac t a s h eralds and gu ideswh erever we h appen to be, point ing out , a s

it were, in our da ily a ct ivit ies, and saying‘th is is h ere, that is th ere i Thu s it isthat the five aggregates cover al l th at iswrough t with in th e range of natural and

worldly desires .

”

Hence , in th is our lit t le inqu iry over som etwenty-th ree centuries or m ore, we are st ill,in th ese words of last year, well with in S lgh t

of our start ing-point . In th em we see that ,with a considerable evolut ion in int rospect iveand ana lyt ica l and crit ica l power, th ere hasbeen and st ill is an unbroken current of

consist ent ly uph eld Th eravada tradl t l on,

BIBLIO G RAPHY

AUTHORITIES

TheFourNika’

yas (or Bodies of Doctrine) : Digha ,Maj j hima, Samyutta, Anguttara.

Miscel laneous books .

These five form the Sutta-Pitaka . The

quotat ions are from volume and page of thePal iText Society editions .

Abhidhamma-P itaka .

Seven miscellaneous books .

The above, together with the VinayaPitaka , form the Canon of Theravada scriptures. The Four Nikayas (to mention no

more) are al l pre-Asokan (Asoka

’s probable

date is 272 The only portion of

such as are quoted which are translated into

English are

( l ) Digha-Nihaya , 1 11.—Dialogues of theBuddha, in Sacred Books of

the Buddhists .

’

The remaining volume

is in reparation ; to be continued byMaj j ima-Nihaya . See also Buddhis t

Suttas , Sacred Books of the East ,’

vol . xi.

(2 ) Anguttara ~ Nihaya, Parts 1.—111. By

E . R. J . GOONERATNE . Galle, Ceylon,

1918.

208 BIBLIOGRAPHY

(3) Dhammapada and Sutta-Nip ata, SacredBooks of the East ,

’xi, and other trans

l ations.

Iti-vuttaka (S ayings of Buddha ) . By J .

MOORE , 1908.

P sa lms of the Brethren and Sisters .

By Mrs RHYs DAvm s , 1909, 1918.

Pal iText Society.

The J ataka . Cambridge, 1895—1907.

These are from the Fifth Nihaya .

(4 ) Dhamma—sangani (Buddhist P sychoEthics) . ByMrs.RBYsDAvm s . RoyalAsiatic Society , 1900.

This is in the Abhidhamma-Pitaka .

Buddhism in Translations . By H.

WARREN ,1896 , gives excerpt s of

different dates .

TRANSLATIONS OF LATER WORKS

The Questions of King Milinda . By T. W. RHYSDAVIDS . Sacred Books of the East , ’ 2 vol s.

The Comp endium of P hilosop hy. By S. Z . AUNG ,B .A .

,and M15 RHYs DAVID S . Pali Text

Society, 1910.

Thoughts on Buddhist Doctrine. By LEDI SADAW,

transl ated by Mrs . Ra Dav ms . J ourna]of the Pal iText Soc iety , ’ 1918—14.

Al so H.WARREN , op . cit

The mediaeval text s referred to, but not translated, are given in the footnotes.

INDE!

abhzdhamma , obj ect of , 134 1

I 47, 149abhmfid superknowl edge

129, 131, 16 1, 170, 199Abstra ct ion in Jhama , 117 i

Advert ing, 12 0 , 157, 178

Al exander, S 46

Al l ,’

given in sense, 74 fAnal ysis of consol ousness , 38f6 5. 96 . 135 f . 143. 147.169

Anim a l s , psychology of , 151,

160 .

Anim ism , 55 ,

Anuruddha , dismple, 105, 115Anuruddha of Cey lon, 4 ,

173 ,

I99Appetite, 95App l ication of m ind , 39, 93.

Aquinas , 7Arah ant , 2 1, 129, 150 , 179Aristot le, on m edium , 6 5 n

2 0 ,101,30 ,

on sc ienc e, 77 on feel ing,

77 ; on‘form ,

’

17 ; on

rmnd , 55Ariyav am sa ,

196

Assomat ion of ideas ,I97

Atta (soul , self ) , 2 6 t 41, 157,

159, 163 ; leav mg body ,

128; sou l and sense, 163 ;

anatta, doc trine of , 30 fa ttabhfioa ,

2 7 ; and devas ,

153 .

At tention,89, 97, 176 ; adap

tation of, 137, 144.

Aung, S Z 72 , 111, 173.193 , 196 n 52 03 .

Aura , 106 , 109Autom atic ac ts , 165 f .Auto-suggestion, 108.

1

Awareness , 54Ayatana , organ and obj ect of

sense, 57, 74.

Base, seat (oatthu ) , 192 .

Becoming, 12 2 f 180 m ade

to-become,

’

107 n 1,133, 158,

198.

Bergson, P rof . H on becommg, 12 2 on rem iniscenc e ,

129; on cana l izat ion, 192

on brain , 197Bhaoanga , organic continuum ,

171, 178 f.Bode , Mrs M H 196 11

B ody , 43 f 186

Brain , 192 .

Buddh a , th e, 31, 71, 153, 157,199, 2 06 as Physmian, 78.

Buddh adat ta ,i 74 i 179.

Buddhadatta , Rev A P 174 .

B uddhagh osa ,h is work ,

c h .

ix on m ind , 17 f. ; on

sense, 54 ,143, 185 on

mano, 69,182 on cogm tion,

131, 178 on iddhi , 128,

190 on pm ,187 on

attention,137 on touch ,

145 ; on volition, 167

Causat ion, 32 , 61, 72 , 78, 103,

120.

INDE!Insigh t , 94 (Mimi) , 100

, 12 5,133 ; (pafifid) , 130 f 159,198 ; (mpa ssand) , 198

Instinc t , 133 .

Intel lec t , 100 , 104 , 120 157nom enc l ature of , 120 f.and causal relat ion, 12 0 f .

Intell ec tion See Cognition.

Intel ligence, 17, 130, 2 01.

Introspection, 98Intuit ion , 89, 94 ,

I 33, I SS. 17°

Jacobi, Dr H 165 11.

James, W 113j avam , c ognitive mom ent ,

perc eption , 70 ,180

j hdna (ec stat ic contem p l ation) , 94 , 97 f , 107 f , 110 ;and m ystic ism , 114 iarapa , 117 f .

j iva (l iVing pnnCip le,

entity ) , 159, 16 2 f

Kern, Dr. E . , 79.

K handha’

s (aggregates of sub

]ective exp erience) , 40 f177 pa sszm contra sou l

doctrine, 42 , 55 ; il lustrated ,

204 .

Knowledge, 94 , 12 0 f 2 02

super 129 See Abhzfifi

113, 125,

Led1 Sadaw , of Manda lay , on

sorrow , il l,83 on Abhi

dhamm a , 149; on rel a tions ,194 on khandhas , 200 1.

Like afiecting l ike, 67, 143Lo cke, 60 , 197.

Love, 95, 103, 112 , 115 .

M ano (m ind) , 17, 19, 36

sensus communis , 59 68f

Materia lity ,relative, 117.

Medicm e, and psychology ,76 f

inspiring Buddhism , 78f .

Memorizing, 150.

211

Memory , 90, 169,197 (see

al so San) supernorm al ,12 6 , 128, 170 .

Mind , at tention to, 7, 12 fhow conceived, 13 f notas psyche, 17, 55 as tamable, 36 f as trained, 99112 6 , 157 one-mindedness ,

’

mdivxdualizmg, 105,176 ; work of, 89, 12 3 ;evolut ion in c l assrficationconc erning, 177.

Mindfu lness See San.

Mystic consc iousness , 113- 16

Nagasena , 156 , 158f.N dmampa , 2 3 f 55, 177Name, 2 3, 49f .

Nerves , 193Neumann, Dr K . E , 91.

s bdna (nirvana) , 6 , 82 , 2 03

Objec t of sense See Z yatana ;in ph ilosoph y , 6 1, 63

Order, natura l , in sense, 72 ,165 ; in ideation, 87 i in

mind f . , 12 3 .

Pain, 76 SeeDukkha , Feeling.

P afifid (intel l igence, understanding, m srgh t ) , 94, 158,162 , 170 , 2 01 col lective

term , 12 6 , 130 , 161 ; as

V ision, 130 ; as il lumination , 160 ; compared with

mfifidna , 130 f as el im ina

t ion , 160

P enetra tion, 94 , 2 02 n

P ercep tion, 49f 53, 167, 201.

P h il osophy , task of , 56 , 202

P in (zest , rapture) , 94, 110 1,

187 i

P l ato on mind, 55P leasure See Feeling.

P lotmus , 114, 143P rocess , 178

Fagga la (used later for and) ,159.

212

Realism , 46, 65, 75 Platonic ,101.

Reason , 94.

Reasoned thinking, 160 .

Reason s.94. 159fRecogm tion, 50, 167.

Recol lection,133,

Memory .

Reflection, 89f.Relations, categories of, 135,193 f. See Condition.

Retention, 180 .

Robertson, Croom , 146 .

Raf a , as ul tima te, 6 as

body , 2 3, 43 as v isibl e

objec t , 43 ; as m aterial

quah ty. 51. 66 .'

143 f

Sagu ddhz (concentrative trainme). 94. 104 f .

Sankha‘

m'

s coefficients , com

p l exes , 50 f 145 f.Sankhya theory , 42 , 164.

Sadda. See Perception.

Sati, mmdfnlness,’

141 f 169f.lucidity of mind,

memory , 142 , 169.

Sam’

(force) , 196 .

Sel f, use and misuse of the

concep t of , 2 6 f. dramaticdual self , 29f . ; resul tant ,138.

Self-awareness , 91.

Self-cons ciousness , 92 , 98.

Sensations , 44 .

sense! 39, 57 f"143 f ' ; as a

conj unc ture, 66 ; in Upanishads , 58 f . ; in heaven,

112 n 1.

Sm son’

um commune, 60.

Sensus commum s . See Mano.

Sleep. See Dreams .

182 . See

90 fc l arity ,

110 f.

INDE!

Soul . See Amt .

Speculation, 67, 93.

Spinoza, 191 f.Subj ec t , 27, 45.

Subj ec tive, no

141 of the se]140.

Supernormal12 5 155.

Sympathy. 95. 103. 128. 133Synergy , 115, 125, 128, 161.

Synthesis , 128.

aral l el for,

(aiiham’

ka )

consciousness ,

Telepathy, 2 6 , 12 6 , 171.

Time, 142 , 144Touch , in Upanish ads , 59in Buddhism , 65, 68, 143,

Trance,119, 128.

Understanding, 94, 2 01.

Unp leasure, 85Upam shads, psychology24, 58f . , 88n . 3 .

in,

Vedagu (later, for soul ) , 163 .

a fizza (con301011511888, mind) ,17 f . , 162 transmigrating,

20 f. fifth khandha , 52awareness , 53 f. ante

cedent and consequent in

rebirth , 2 2 , 62 .

Vipassand, discernment ,sigh t , 198.

Volition. See Chetami, Cognition, Synergy .

Wil l , 77: See Chetami, Iddhz ,Synergy .

Yoga , 107, 113 Siitm s, 79f.

Zest . See P iu’

.

in

Printed by Monmson G l ee LIMVP PD. Ediuéwgh

buddhist psychology. by c. a. f. as davms, m.a lecturer on

Documents