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Mind and Consciousness

by Geshe Lobsang Tseten

Translated from the Tibetan by Robert W. Clark, PhD1

It is taught in the SÒtras that “gaining control of one’s own mind is vital, as control of the mind

is what brings us happiness.” By controlling one’s mind one gains access to all that is good. It

is also said that every happiness, both circumstantial happiness and the ultimate state of

happiness depends upon gaining control one’s mind. In brief, it is taught that all happiness as

well as all misery arises respectively from control and lack of control of one’s mind. As we all

desire happiness and dislike misery, it behooves us to learn exactly how to control our mind.

To do that, we must first understand clearly the nature of the mind and how exactly it

functions.

There are different ways of explaining the nature and functions of mind or

consciousness.2 For example, there are views of mind that are based on the teachings in the

Buddhist canon, and other views of mind that are based upon materialistic conceptions such

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as those of naïve realist philosophers and various proponents of modern science.

Part I The Nature of Consciousness

With regard to the Buddhist view of mind or consciousness, we can now consider six

questions:

1) What are the definitions of consciousness?

2) Does consciousness have a stable, unchanging nature?

3) Does consciousness have causes and conditions?

4) What are the divisions of consciousness?

5) Does consciousness have a beginning or an end?

6) What are the subtle and coarse types of consciousness?

1) A definition of consciousness is: “That which is clarity and awareness.” In this context,

“clarity” refers both to the nature of consciousness itself, as well as to the manner in which

consciousness apprehends its objects. That is, consciousness is clear in its own nature, and is

clear about its the objects it apprehends. “Awareness” refers to its function with respect to its

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objects. It is aware of them; it knows or cognizes them. In his Ornament of the Middle Way

(Madhyamakālaṅkārapañjikā; དbu་མའི་rgyན་gyི་དཀའ་འgrེལ་), Kamalaśīla says:

“Consciousness is completely free of any material substance or nature. .....The

essential point is that consciousness is self-knowing, unlike material things such

as vehicles and walls that are merely conventional and depend upon something

else to be known or cognized.”

In other words, vehicles, walls, and stones, etc., are completely dependent upon an

external consciousness in order to be known. However, consciousness knows things

without depending upon anything else and cognizes itself by itself. This is what the

Buddha and the sages taught. Therefore, the term “clarity” in the definition means that

the very nature of consciousness is clear, as opposed to material objects which all have

the nature of being tangible and obstructive. So consciousness is “clarity” in the dual

sense of being clear in its own nature, and clearly reflecting whatever appears to it.

Consciousness is analogous to a mirror that is clear in its nature and clearly reflects

whatever object appear before it.

Bhavaviveka, in his Blaze of Reasoning (Tarkajvala, rོtག་གེ་འབར་བ་) says: “The

definition of consciousness is that which cognizes the various objects such as forms.”

He also says, “The nature of the mind is clear light. Adventitious defilements cannot

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change its intrinsic nature, just as various pollutants can go into water, but they never

change the basic nature of the water. The nature of water always remains clear and

clean even as pollutants come and go. Likewise clouds never change the nature of the

sky as they come and go.”

Dharmakīrti, in his Pramānavārttika, says “The nature of mind is clear light. All

defilements are transitory and adventitious.” This will be explained below.

2) Second, with regard to the question of consciousness having a stable nature. There

are two refutations of the views that say consciousness does not remain stable over

time, without a beginning or an end:

—refuting the assertion that its nature is not stable

—refuting the assertion that one moment of consciousness does not arise in

conformity with the immediately preceding moment of consciousness.

With regard to the first of these, consciousness is indeed stable because its continuity

relies exclusively upon its own nature, which is clarity and awareness, and that never

changes. The second mistaken view is refuted because each successive moment of

consciousness is exclusively determined by the preceding moment of consciousness,

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and arises in conformity with it. Therefore, when the mind is stabilized on something, it

will become habituated to it, without need for beginning anew each moment. This is

because the continuum of consciousness naturally propagates itself with no limit or

ending. This is stated in the Pramānavārttika thus:

“A mind becomes habituated to whatever it takes up. If fully focused on a

mental state, such as loving kindness, it will remain in that state

continually until it takes up a different focus. Likewise, for example, a fire

continues burning from one tree to the next without need of being

rekindled, and gold or silver can be formed into one shape after another

without changing their nature or substance.”

3) The causes and conditions of consciousness

Consciousness is created by causes and conditions that can be specified. In general, all

composite phenomena are created by their own unique combination of substantial

cause (up›d›na k›ra˚a, རང་རང་གི་&་ཉེར་ལེན་) and necessary conditions (sahak›ri-pratyaya, +ན་

ཅིག་-ེད་/ེན་). Here the definition of a substantial cause is the principle substance or

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phenomenon responsible for the production or arising of a subsequent object or

phenomenon. For example, the first moment of the consciousness (of an object) is the

substantial cause of the second moment of the consciousness (of that object). That is

because the principle substance or essence responsible for of the second moment of

consciousness of an object is the first moment of consciousness of that object. The

necessary condition for the production of an object or phenomenon is an object or

phenomenon that, while necessary for its production, is not of the same nature or

substance as that object. For example, when we are perceiving the color blue, each

moment of that perception is caused by the former moment of its perception (i.e., its

substantial cause), but it also depends upon conditions such as a physical sense organ

(e.g., an eye) and as physical object of observation (e.g., a blue object). In general,

consciousness arises when these three factors come together: a previous moment of

consciousness; a sense power; and an observed object.

4) The divisions of consciousness

There are different ways to specify the various types of consciousness:

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—1 From the viewpoint of the consciousness and its modes of apprehending its

objects, there is the twofold division of the principle, underlying mind (citta, གཙ1་སེམས་) and

the states of mind (caitta, སེམས་4ང་).

—2 A consciousness is designated as either a sense consciousness (indriya jñ›na, དབང་

ཤེས་) or a mental consciousness (mano jñ›na, ཡིད་ཤེས་) according to whether the

consciousness depends, or does not depend upon a physical sense organ and whether it

merely experiences objects or has the ability to analyze the particular qualities of its

objects. A sense consciousness depends upon a physical sense organ to apprehend its

objects, and merely experiences the objects with evaluating or analyzing them. A mental

consciousness does not depend on a physical sense organ to apprehend its objects,

however it may evaluate, analyze, and conceptually distinguish them.

—3 A consciousness may either be a valid cognition (pram›na, ཚད་མ་) of its object, or

be an invalid cognition (apram›na, ཚད་མིན་) if it is deceived with respect to its object.

— 4 A consciousness may be either conceptual (kalpan›, 9ོག་པ་) or non-conceptual

(nirvikalpaka, 9ོག་མེད་). A conceptual consciousness has the function of identifying the

significance of objects and understanding the meaning of words and expressions, etc. A

non-conceptual consciousness has no such functions.

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—5 A consciousness may be either a mistaken consciousness (bhr›nti jñ›na, འ=ལ་ཤེས་)

or an unmistaken consciousness (abhr›nta jñ›na, མ་འ=ལ་བའི་ཤེས་པ་). A mistaken

consciousness is inaccurate with respect to the nature of the object it is perceiving. An

unmistaken consciousness is accurate with respect to the nature of the object it is

perceiving.

—6 There are further divisions of consciousness that are distinguished according to

the manner by which they engage their objects. These include the following seven:

i. subsequent cognition (བཅད་ཤེས་)

ii. wrong cognition (ལོག་ཤེས་)

iii. hesitant cognition (ཐེ་ཚ1མ་)

iv. assuming cognition (ཡིད་ད?ོད་)

v. indefinite cognition (@ང་ལ་མ་ངེས་པ་)

vi. direct cognition (མངོན་Aམ་)

vii. inferential cognition (Bེས་དཔག)

—7 From the perspective of motivation, there is a threefold division into virtuous,

non-virtuous, and neutral cognition.

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5) Does consciousness have a beginning or an end?

In general, not just consciousness, but all composed phenomena arise only as a result of

their own exclusive substantial cause and necessary conditions. As noted above,

consciousness arises only from a previous moment of consciousness, so there can be no

first moment consciousness. The continuum of consciousness naturally propagates

itself with no limit or ending as its continuity relies exclusively upon its own nature,

which is clarity and awareness, and that never changes. Furthermore, as all composed

phenomena arise only as a result of their own exclusive substantial cause and necessary

conditions, there are certain contradictory consequences that arise if we posit a first

cause. A first cause would need to arise without a cause. Otherwise it would need to

arise from a cause altogether different from itself in order to have any claim to being

called a “first cause.” In the former case, an existent thing would need to arise from a

non-existent thing (i.e., a non-existent cause). In that case, anything whatsoever can

arise at any time, as no causation is necessary. Then, for instance, it would be useless to

make effort or work hard to gain the goods and pleasures one desires. On the other

hand, if things arise from first cause that itself has no cause, that cause is altogether

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different from its effect. The cause of an impermanent phenomenon would then to be a

permanent phenomenon. Lacking a cause itself, a permanent phenomenon, a static,

unchanging entity, could not possibly proceed to be the cause of an impermanent

phenomenon. An effect can only arise from a cause that is inherently similar to it. The

seed of one species of plant does not produce the sprout of a different type of plant. It

produces only sprouts of its own kind. So it is with all causes and effects. Wherever we

find an effect, we can find its cause. This is true of all material phenomena it the world,

and is certainly true of the non-material phenomena of mind and consciousness.

Nowhere is there to be found an effect without a cause or a cause without an effect. This

logic, when understood clearly, destroys completely the error of positing a first cause

and thinking that consciousness has a beginning or an end.

6) What are the subtle and coarse types of consciousness?

Within consciousness there is a twofold division into subtle and coarse. This division is

presented somewhat differently in the systems of SÒtra and Tantra.

i. The SÒtra system posits the sense consciousnesses as coarse, and the

mental consciousnesses as subtle. The former are said to be coarse as they

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are what allows ordinary beings to recognize things without the need for

study and contemplation. Mental consciousnesses are said to be subtle

because their objects cannot be readily cognized without relying on study

and contemplation.

ii. The Tantra system posits three levels of consciousness: coarse, subtle, and

extremely subtle. The coarse level consists of the five sense consciousness:

visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile. The subtle level consists

of the six main afflictive states of mind,3 the twenty secondary afflictive

states of mind,4 the eighty natural types of thoughts,5 the concurrent

states of mind6, and the four states of mind with regard to emptiness.7 The

extremely subtle level consists of the four culminating states of

consciousness at the time of death: the white radiance of appearance, the

red radiance of increase, the black darkness of near attainment, and, when

those three all cease, the mind of clear light at the actual moment of death.

These levels are extremely subtle because they are the elements of the

most essential, foundational consciousness (གCག་མའི་སེམས་) that remains in

profound concealment over the course of regular life, and normally

become manifest only in the final stage of the dying process. This most

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essential, foundational consciousness is that which, from time without

beginning, has been reborn countless times. After the moment of death, at

the end of each life, it is carried by its extremely subtle wind (Dང་), and

goes forth to take birth in the next life in accordance to its karma.

Part II The Logic of Consciousness

1. The logic of previously existing consciousness

At the very moment of conception in the womb the incipient child has awareness

because of the awareness of the previous moment (before conception). This has been

established by the logic that awareness (i.e., consciousness) does not arise without a

cause, nor does it arise from a cause that is of a different nature or substance. It arises

from a substantial cause that immediately precedes it: the previous moment of

awareness. This is self-evident as we can see how one moment of awareness always

leads to the next moment of awareness in a perpetual, unbroken progression. As a living

being sheds its body at the end of one life, its continuum of awareness proceeds moment

by moment into the womb of the next life and on to birth in a new physical body.

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2. The logic of previously existing habituation

The consciousness that exists at the very moment of conception is preceded by a

consciousness that is already habituated by its experience. This is the nature of all

consciousness. That is, consciousness has content, and that content is determined by the

experiences to which it has become habituated. We can see this take place from day to

day as we live and learn. What we are now is conditioned by what we are accustomed

to it the past. What we will become is conditioned by what we habituate to now. We

know things now because we became familiar with it previously. For example, a baby

just after emerging from the womb already knows how to eat. Without any training, it

seeks the mothers breast and sucks on the nipple like an expert. Its skills in this function

are already fully developed.

3. The logic of of previously existing experience

The recollection of memories of former lives establishes the reality of former

experiences as it is an actual recollection. Actual, verifiable recollections of the past,

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including past lives, could not arise without the corresponding previously existing

experiences. If we have a clear recollection of seeing a particular vase yesterday, that is

because yesterday we actually experienced seeing that vase.

4. The logic that establishes former lives on the basis of exclusive karma

In this life we see that happiness, misery, abilities and disabilities, privileges, fortune

and misfortune are not equally distributed among living beings. That is because

everyone has a unique and exclusive set of karma from former lives that condition this

live and all of its qualities.

Part III Conclusion: The Ontological Status of Consciousness

In may be understood from the foregoing discussion that the mind exists, and that the

continuum of the mind is never broken in life, in death, or in rebirth. As has been

established, consciousness may be divided into states of mind that are in accord with

reality, and those that are not. When a state of mind is in accord with reality, that is, it

accurately and truthfully perceives reality, that means that the object it perceives

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actually exists in the manner that it is perceived by that mind. And of course, if the

object it perceives does not exist in the manner that it is perceived by that mind, then it

is a state of mind that is not in accord with reality, that is, a deluded state of mind.

Therefore, when a state of mind that is not in accord with reality arises, for instance the

mind that holds the “self” (›tman, བདག) to truly exist, one is in a deluded state where

the object (e.g., the conventional self) and the manner in which it is perceived (as a truly

existent entity) are contradictory. This state of confusion and delusion harms the ability

to function, and leads to all manner of trouble. There is a powerful antidote to this

deluded state. It is the wisdom that realizes the emptiness of the self, that the self is a

mere convention that does not truly exist. This wisdom complete destroys the delusion,

eliminating is very root. In the Pramānavārttika, Dharmakīrti, says:

The nature of the mind is clear light (prabh›svara, འོད་གསལ་བ་).

All its defilements are merely adventitious.

The fundamental reality of consciousness is like clear light. Its underlying clarity can

never be compromised or lost. All that obstructs, disturbs, or deludes the mind, such as

attachment, greed, anger, and so forth, can never harm or alter its true nature. All

defilements are merely adventitious, coming and going like smoke, dust, or clouds in

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the sky, but never changing the pure, clear nature of the sky itself. In the

Uttaratantraśāstra and elsewhere this clear light nature of the mind is referred to as the

buddha nature (sugatagarbha, བདེ་བར་གཤེགས་པའི་Eིང་པོ་ or tathāgatagarbha, དེ་གཤེགས་Eིང་པོ་). All

living beings (i.e., all sentient beings) possess this buddha nature, this potential to attain

buddhahood. The presence of buddha nature is determined by many logical arguments

and is illustrated by various examples and similes such as the following. The buddha

nature is like a suit of metal armor. If it is soiled by dirt and grease it can be cleansed by

fire that burns away the dirty things and leaves the metal suit clean and undamaged.

Likewise the consciousness (buddha nature) may have accretions of defilements such as

the afflictive mental states (kleŸa, ཉོན་མོངས་) attachment, anger, ignorance, etc. However

the flames of the fire of true wisdom burns away these defilements leaving the mind of

clear light (i.e., buddha nature) untouched and undefiled. The mind of clear light is also

said to be like butter in milk (before it is separated by churning), like a candle burning

in a pot. The mind of clear light or buddha nature is also referred to as the intrinsic

potential (svabh›vasth›nagotra, རང་བཞིན་གནས་རིགས་), that is the seed of buddhahood, the

potential to become a buddha. This intrinsic potential is the key factor in Buddhist

practice as the attainment of buddhahood consists of (1) the removal of all the

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adventitious defilements such as the afflictive mental states by applying all the requisite

antidotes, and (2) the full realization of this potential through the accumulation of all

the good qualities of a buddha such as limitless compassion and wisdom. The intrinsic

potential of the mind is that it is capable of being completely purified by the antidotes

and of acquiring all of the limitless qualities of a buddha through a path of practice and

meditative cultivation.

Perfecting oneself so as to become a buddha is always feasible. This is because of

two things. First, because of the presence of the buddha nature and the fact that all

defilements and obstacles are merely adventitious to it and not intrinsic. All obstacles to

buddhahood, and all misery have a cause. Whatever has a cause is not permanent. It

ceases upon the cessation of its cause. Second, perfection is always possible because all

the qualities of a buddha can be developed through a graduated path that consists of

making the requisite effort to constrain ones physical, verbal, and mental activities in

accordance with a regime of pure ethics; cultivating the power of concentration such

that the attention can be focused undistractedly, effortlessly, and indefinitely upon its

chosen object, and then using that perfect concentration (Ÿamatha, ཞི་གནས་) empower and

fully develop the powers of analytical insight (vipaŸan›, +ག་མཐོང་). Once perfect

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concentration and analytical insight are joined together in the meditative practice,

perfect wisdom is achieved and all delusions are eliminated. Through this process the

full potential of the mind is realized and buddhahood is attained. This is possible

because of the fundamental difference between the body and the mind. The body can be

developed so that it attains great strength and amazing skills. However it is always

limited. Physical strength and skills can only be developed to a limited degree before

they are overtaken by such factors as illness and aging. It is like heating water. It will

get hotter anf hotter and finally boil. But if it continues to be heated it will just

evaporate, leaving a dry pot. The mind has no such limitations. By making effort on a

path of ethics, concentration, and insight, one can attain gradually the transcendent

state of a buddha whereby ones limitless compassion and wisdom allow for the

ultimate welfare and happiness of oneself and all other beings. This sublime attainment

depends not on external factors, but only on one’s own good motivation and

enthusiastic efforts. This is the path taught by ⁄›kyamuni Buddha in the Sixth Century

B.C.E. and propagated by his great disciples for a hundred generations down to the

present. It was illuminated by the great teachers in India and systematized and taught

in the great universities such as Nālandā. From there it spread throughout the world

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and is now available to those interested in realizing the limitless potential of their mind

and consciousness.

1 Translated by Robert W. Clark, Coordinator of the Tibetan Language Program,

Stanford University. © 2016

2 The general term for “mind” is citta (in Sanskrit) and སེམས་ (in Tibetan). Other terms

that are often used as synonyms for mind include consciousness (jñ›na ཤེས་པ་ or vijñ›na

Hམ་པར་ཤེས་པ་), cognizance (buddhi Kོ་), and awareness (samvedana རིག་པ་)

3 The six main afflictive states (L་ཉོན་Mག) are desire/attachment; anger/hatred;

pride/arrogance; ignorance; doubt/hesitation; and wrong views.

4 The twenty secondary afflictive states of mind (ཉེ་ཉོན་ཉི་N་) are 1) rage (khro ba); 2)

enmity (khon du 'dzin pa); 3) malice ('tshig pa); 4) harmful attitude (rnam par 'tshe ba);

5) envy (phrag dog); 6) duplicity (g.yo); 7) deceit (sgyu); 8) lack of embarrassment

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(ngo tsha med pa); 9) lack of shame (khrel med pa); 10) deviousness ('chab pa); 11)

miserliness (ser sna); 12) self-infatuation (rgyags pa); 13) lack of faith (ma dad pa); 14)

indolence (le lo); 15) heedlessness (bag med pa); 16) forgetfulness (brjed ngas); 17) lack

of circumspection (shes bzhin min pa); 18) gloominess (rmugs pa); 19) agitation (rgod

pa); 20) distraction (rnam par g.yeng ba).

5 The eighty natural types of thoughts (Oན་9ོག་བPད་Q་) consist of thirty-three associated with

anger, forty associated with desire, and seven associated with delusion. The thirty-three

types of thought associated with anger are: little detachment, medium detachment, intense

detachment, inner mental coming and going, little depression, medium depression, deep

depression, quietude, conceptualization, little fear, medium fear, intense fear, little craving,

medium craving, intense craving, grasping, non-virtue, hunger, thirst, little sensation,

medium sensation, intense sensation, cognizing, cognizance, perception, discrimination,

conscience, compassion, little lustful love, medium lustful love, intense lustful love,

apprehensiveness, attraction, and jealousy. The forty types of thought associated with desire

are thoughts of: attachment, lack of clarity, thorough lust, little delight, medium delight,

intense delight, rejoicing, strong joy, amazement, laughter, satisfaction, embracing, thoughts

of kissing, clasping, supporting, exertion, pride, engagement, thoughts of helpfulness,

strength, joy, little joining in bliss, medium joining in bliss, intense joining in bliss,

gracefulness, strong flirtation, hostility, virtue, lucidity, truth, non-truth, ascertainment,

grasping, generosity, encouragement, bravery, shamelessness, perkiness, viciousness,

unruliness, and strong deceitfulness. The seven types of thought associated with delusion

are: medium desire, forgetfulness, confusion, speechlessness, weariness, laziness, and doubt.

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6 The concurrent states of mind (མRངས་Sན་Tི་སེམས་) are the states of awareness that

accompany other types of consciousness.

7 The four states of mind with regard to emptiness (Uོང་པ་བཞིའི་སེམས་) are the states of cognition of

emptiness. great emptiness, intense emptiness, and complete emptiness.