Study-guides

Abhidhamma: Reality, Consciousness, and the Path

BRIEFING DOCUMENT: ABHIDHAMMA IN DAILY LIFE (EXCERPTS)

Date: 26 October 2023 Source: Excerpts from “abh.pdf” Subject: Introduction to key concepts from the Abhidhamma, focusing on the nature of reality, consciousness (citta), mental factors (cetasika), actions (kamma), rebirth, and the path to enlightenment.

Key Themes:

The Nature of Reality (Dhamma): The fundamental assertion is that all phenomena are dhamma, realities that arise and fall away. This includes physical phenomena (rūpa) and mental phenomena (nāma). The text emphasizes that these realities are “non-self” (anattā). Seeing, colour, feeling, and defilements are all examples of dhammas.
Consciousness (Citta): Citta is the reality that experiences an object. It is ephemeral, arising and falling away instantly. There is only one citta at a time, and each citta experiences only one object at a time. Cittas are classified by their nature (jāti) and function (kicca).
Mental Factors (Cetasika): Cetasikas are mental factors that arise and fall away with citta, accompanying it and performing specific functions. Examples include wholesome (kusala) cetasikas like generosity (alobha) and wisdom (paññā), and unwholesome (akusala) cetasikas like attachment (lobha), aversion (dosa), and ignorance (moha). There are fifty-two different cetasikas.
Unwholesome Roots (Akusala Hetus): Lobha (attachment), dosa (aversion), and moha (ignorance) are the three unwholesome roots that accompany akusala cittas. Moha arises with every akusala citta, while lobha-rooted cittas have both lobha and moha as roots.
Wholesome Roots (Sobhana Hetus): Alobha (non-attachment/generosity), adosa (non-aversion/loving kindness), and amoha (wisdom/paññā) are the beautiful roots that accompany sobhana (wholesome/beautiful) cittas.
Classification and Functions of Cittas: Cittas are classified into different categories, including kusala (wholesome), akusala (unwholesome), vipāka (resultant), and kiriyacittas (inoperative, neither cause nor result). Cittas perform various functions (kicca), such as seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, experiencing tangible objects, receiving (sampaticchana), investigating (santīrana), adverting (āvajjana), determining (votthapana), running through the object (javana), registering (tadārammana), being reborn (patisandhi), continuing life (bhavanga), and dying (cuti).
The Five Aggregates of Grasping (Pañca Khandhas): The five aggregates (rūpa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, viññāṇa) are presented as dukkha (suffering) when accompanied by grasping. The text quotes the Buddha stating, “It is to be called the five khandhas of grasping… This, monks, is called dukkha.”
The Origin and Cessation of Suffering: Suffering arises from craving, which “leads downward to rebirth.” The ending of suffering is related to reaching “world’s end,” which the Buddha clarifies is not achieved by physical travel but is found “in this very fathom-long body, along with its perceptions and thoughts.” This aligns with the Four Noble Truths.
Kamma and its Results (Vipāka): Wholesome and unwholesome actions (kamma) performed through body, speech, or mind are causes that produce appropriate results (vipāka). Vipākacittas are the resultant cittas, such as seeing or hearing, which are the effects of past kamma.
Processes of Cittas: Cittas do not arise singly but in rapid succession as processes. A sense-door process (e.g., seeing) involves a sequence of cittas performing different functions (adverting, seeing, receiving, investigating, determining, javana, registering). A mind-door process follows, experiencing the same or a different object. The text details the order and function of cittas within these processes.
Rebirth (Patisandhi) and Life-Continuum (Bhavanga): Rebirth is the arising of the first citta (patisandhi-citta) in a new life, conditioned by past kamma. The bhavanga-citta is the life-continuum citta that arises when no other process of citta is occurring, such as during dreamless sleep or in between processes. The type of patisandhi-citta determines the type of bhavanga-citta and the potential for cultivating wisdom in that life.
Ahetuka Cittas: These are cittas arising without roots (hetus). Vipākacittas (results) and some kiriyacittas (inoperative) are ahetuka. Examples include the five pairs of sense-cognitions (seeing, hearing, etc.), receiving-consciousness, investigating-consciousness, and the adverting/determining consciousness.
Sense-Doors and Physical Bases (Dvāra and Vatthu): Sense-objects are experienced through six doors: the five sense-doors (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, bodysense) and the mind-door. Physical bases (vatthu) are the physical locations from which sense-cognitions arise (e.g., the eyesense is the base for seeing-consciousness).
Samatha and Vipassanā: Samatha is the development of calm meditation, leading to the temporary suppression of hindrances and potentially the attainment of jhāna. Vipassanā is the development of insight and right understanding of realities as they are (impermanent, suffering, non-self), leading to the eradication of defilements. The text highlights the difference between mindfulness in samatha and mindfulness in vipassanā.
Jhāna and Lokuttara Cittas: Jhāna is a state of absorption achieved through samatha. Jhānacittas are wholesome cittas of a higher plane of consciousness (rūpāvacara and arūpāvacara). Lokuttara cittas are supramundane cittas that experience Nibbāna and eradicate defilements, leading to the stages of enlightenment (stream-winner, once-returner, no-returner, arahat).

Most Important Ideas/Facts:

Anattā (Non-Self): This is a pervasive theme. All realities, including cittas and cetasikas, are not a self or ego. Understanding this is crucial for eradicating wrong view.
Citta’s Nature and Function: The fundamental characteristic of citta is experiencing an object. Its ephemeral nature and various functions within processes are detailed, highlighting that these occurrences are conditioned and not controlled by a self.
The Role of Cetasikas: Cetasikas, particularly the roots (hetus), determine the moral quality (wholesome or unwholesome) of a citta and thus the nature of one’s actions and experiences.
Processes of Cittas are Rapid and Orderly: The detailed description of sense-door and mind-door processes emphasizes the swift arising and falling away of cittas and the fixed order of functions, counteracting the illusion of continuous experience or a self controlling mental events.
Kamma and Vipāka as Cause and Effect: Actions (kamma) produce results (vipāka) in the form of vipākacittas (e.g., seeing, hearing). This explains why experiences are pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent and why beings are born in different planes.
Dukkha is the Five Aggregates of Grasping: The text directly quotes the Buddha identifying suffering with clinging to the impermanent aggregates.
Enlightenment Eradicates Defilements: The path to enlightenment involves the gradual eradication of latent tendencies of defilements through the arising of lokuttara cittas experiencing Nibbāna.
Wise vs. Unwise Attention: How one attends to an object (yoniso manasikāra vs. ayoniso manasikāra) determines whether wholesome or unwholesome cittas arise, highlighting the importance of cultivating right understanding.
The World is Within: The Buddha’s statement about the “fathom-long body” being the location of the world and the end of suffering emphasizes that the path is one of internal realization, not external seeking.

Key Quotes:

“In all three parts of the Tipitaka we are taught about dhamma, about everything which is real. Seeing is a dhamma, it is real. Colour is a dhamma, it is real. Feeling is a dhamma, it is real. Our defilements are dhammas, they are realities.”

“Whenever we remember something it is saññā, not self, which remembers.”

“Anything which is khandha does not last; as soon as it has arisen it falls away again.”

“It is to be called the five khandhas of grasping… This, monks, is called dukkha.”

“Each citta must experience an object, there cannot be any citta without an object.

“People may think that there is a self who can see and hear at the same time, but through which door can the self be experienced? The belief in a self is wrong view.”

“It depends on one’s accumulations of akusala and kusala whether the votthapana-citta will be succeeded by akusala cittas or by kusala cittas.”

“The javana-cittas are most of the time akusala cittas because we cling to all objects which are experienced through the sense-doors and through the mind-door.”

“Only lokuttara kusala cittas, magga-cittas, eradicate the latent tendencies of defilements.”

“Diṭṭhi, wrong view, has to be eradicated first; so long as we take realities for self there cannot be eradication of any defilement.”

“in this very fathom-long body, along with its perceptions and thoughts, I proclaim the world to be, likewise the origin of the world and the making of the world to end, likewise the practice going to the ending of the world.”

Conclusion:

The provided excerpts offer a detailed, technical introduction to core Abhidhamma concepts. They emphasize the analytical approach to understanding reality as a sequence of arising and falling dhammas, devoid of a permanent self. The text systematically breaks down the nature and functions of consciousness (citta) and mental factors (cetasika), explains the mechanics of kamma and vipāka, and describes the processes of cittas experiencing objects through various doors. The ultimate goal, the eradication of suffering and defilements, is presented as achievable through the development of understanding (vipassanā) and the progressive stages of enlightenment, which involve the arising of lokuttara cittas that experience Nibbāna. The document underscores the importance of recognizing the impermanent and non-self nature of all conditioned phenomena in daily life.