Introduction to Abhidhamma
Abhidhamma is colossal and any attempt at simplifying it is difficult, simply because of the fact that Abhidhamma in Buddhist terminology is an attempt to finely describe the working of the Mind.
It is a conceptual framework of “phenomena of existence” of physical and mental formations; i.e; analysis of mental phenomena and their conditioning.
This analysis is the basis for expounding the very nature of existence of the being (Bhava) conditioned by Anitta (impermanence), Dukka (unsatisfactoriness based on impermanence) and hence Anatma (selflessness).
The expression of this at fine mental formation is Upppada (beginning), Thithi (rising to a peak) and Bhanga (dissolution) of one thought moment to another with similar beginning, crescendo and dissolution; i.e; in other words “a state of flux” of mental formation and dissolution.
This formation does not end at physical death but extends into the next round of existence in Bhava.
The mental process is described as a stream (Bhavanga Sota) which invariably accompany the being.
One experiences only one thought moment at any particular time.
No two thought moments coexist.
Because of the randomness and the speed of onset and dissolution one cannot hold onto a thought moment, unless in "Deep Meditation"
Each thought moment hangs onto some kind of object.
No consciousness arises without an object either physical or mental.
When a person is fast asleep and is in a dreamless state he experiences a kind of consciousness which is more passive than active (note no mention about subconsciousness in Abhidhamma akin to Freudian analysis).
The consciousness at the time of conception and at the final moment of death are described in Abhidhamma.
The type of consciousness in Abhidhamma term is Bhavanga thought moment.
Like any other consciousness it consists of genesis (Uppada) steady state or static (Thiti) and cessation (Bhanga).
Arising and perishing it flows on like a stream not remaining the same for two consecutive thought moments.
According to Abhidhamma, two types of consciousness does not exist(conscious and subconscious).
Bhavanga is not a sub-plane but a continuous stream of existence.
In Abhidhamma the word that aptly describe the state of the mind is Javana (running, no exact English rendering).
This Javana thought moment lasts seven thought moments in life or at the time of death five thought moments.
Javana state is arrested by Thadarammana when an object (physical or mental) of attention is registered by the thought process and consists of two thought moments.
The death occurs immediately after the Cuti consciousness.
Cuti and Patisandhi are continuous, within the same thought moment and there is no room for Untharbhava in Abhidhamma!
It lapses into Bhavanga Sota of enormity (Samsara Stream) which each one (self) owns of his own, with neither beginning nor end.
A super being cannot pardon actions (Kusala or Akusala) of a being or arrest this process.
Though, with death, the physical body disintegrates and the flow of consciousness temporarily ceases yet the stream is not annihilated as the Kammic force that propels it remains.
Death is only a prelude to Rebirth.
As Patisandhi (relinking) is the initial thought moment of life so Cuti the final thought moment.
They are the entrance and exist of a particular life.
Cuti occurs between Javana and Patisandhi, Thadarammana and Patisandhi and Bhananga and Patisandhi.
So the Samsara is the conditional existence (sort of cause and effect process) of beings, all inclusive (not only human but Deva and Preta included) and the goal of Buddhist Practice is to strive for Unconditional Existence of the Mental Culture (not a zero sum game or state) of Bliss without attachment (Tanha).
Way to achieve this is by one’s own Effort of Meditation (not just meditation) with clear understanding of the above premises of Anitta, Dukka and Anatma.
Physiological aspects
Mind’s response to sense organ’s perception of an impulse as part of an object (Kaya/Rupa) of attention sets in a chain reaction.
1. Impulse has to be above the threshold value.
2. That causes to arise sensation from the sense object.
3. Perception of that sensation as agreeable, disagreeable or neutral.
4.Volitional (Cetana) attachment (Tanha) to that Citta (i.e; awakening of the life stream (Bhavanga sota) of continuity).
5. Momentary focus of attention to that state of Mind.
6. Brings to life the mental phenomenon associated with that state of mind (within the Mind or arise from sense organ).
7. Attention to the same until the next (Citta) thought process begins.
Upppda, Thiti and Bhanga process recurs in an undulating form in each thought moment of the present.
In terms of the life process, Patisandhi, Bhavanga and Cuti operate, in the ever recurring Samsara Cycle.
Javana is the most important of all where the free will operates and the action (good or bad) falls into either Kusala or Akusala Kamma.
One owns or inherits the merits or demerits of his or her action or deed.
Thought process has 17 thought moments and Javana has 7 thought moments and Tadarammana has two thought moments and the rest of the eight thought moments are given separate names starting from Atita Bhavanga to Votthappana ending in Javana and Tadarammana.
This in essence embodies the basic tenets of Abhidhamma but does not include all the finer classifications.
Summary;
1. Bhavanga sota
2. Bhavanga uppaccheda
3. Bhavanga calana
4. Avarjana (focus of attention)
5. Tadarammana (focus of attachment)
6. Javana (there is no proper English rendering of this word)
7. Kusala and Akusala (or Kriya of the Arhaths)
Uppada, Thiti and Banga of the thought moment or process ensues with extreme rapidity.
8. Bhavanga sota.
Mind is Mind Boggling Stuff
Mind (Citta) in fact, is a factory of formation of mental factors of diverse ideas, opinions, contradictions and conflicts.
It is a never ending process.
It is a tool for attention and distraction.
It has the flux of rising, peaking and falling formations of momentary phenomena.
It is an agent of attachment.
It has no self or ego but boundless cosmological presence.
It is in motion always pursuing its own continuity without a real or virtual purpose.
Ciita, Cetasikas and Sankhars are its domains.
It can exist both bound to and outside the matter principle.
It is never free but bound by its own compulsions and inconsistencies.
That is why I call it a mystery.
Try to free it from dogmas, opinions and conventions and try to elevate it to a higher level and blend it with kindness, joy and pleasantness.
When one considers the above features, it invariably follow the Uncertainty Principle.
Stream of Consciousness
This piece is a Hypothesis not a Concept to arouse investigation of the mind and its underlying force.
Some of the things proposed are outrageous but one should not throw away the basic tenet of the hypothesis due to inconsistencies.
I do not want to use the word consciousness and specially the word subconscious (meaning hidden) thereby, restricting it to only two layers.
I prefer the eminent philosopher James William’s Theme, the stream of consciousness as a near enough hypothesis.
The word “Awareness” of itself and its surroundings, irrespective of its proximity (far or near) in space dimension is my invention.
The most outlandish statement to begin with is that the stream of mind does not necessarily need a brain or matter for its existence.
It can exist without the matter principle.
Even though, in Indian and Buddhist Cosmology there are many domains of existence of beings, I would like to narrow it to three levels for the purpose of simplification but I would dare say, the potential and the sphere of the stream of mind is so limited.
In actual fact, it is very difficult to comprehend.
The three levels for discussion are;
1. Mind without matter principle, essentially an energy form with unlimited extensibility.
2. Mind with matter principle invariably bound to the matter in the form of neural system extending to many levels of “brain forms”. Human brain is not supposed to be the ultimate and the highest.
3. The third is the transitional or subtle form, there is neither matter nor no matter but interaction of the stream of mind in many forms.
Why this subdivision?
It is all, to explain, the behaviour of the mind of gifted individuals, mediums, those cultivated by meditation, those who posses ability to remember past lives, telepathy, hypnotic transgression and such experiences like tunnel vision as in near death syndrome.
The way, we look at the mind and its awareness in modern science, many of the above cannot be explained or disputed by mere conjecture or a preposition or a hypothesis.
I won’t go into many details but start with a few examples.
Take the case of amoeba.
It is the simplest of living forms but it has an enormous amount of DNA material for its simple survival. The genetic pool is enormous for its simplicity. It does not have a brain or brain material to think and to do purposeful workout.
But seemingly handicapped, as it may sound, it does all what is necessary for living, reproduction and survival. There is a purpose for survival and “this purposeful activity is not too different from a higher order animal with a primitive brain”.
The will for existence and purposeful collection of genetic material for future evolution perhaps into a higher form of being, yet without a brain.
I call this form of existence, “the brainy mechanism of sustenance” what a single cell accomplishes on its own.
The single cell is the brain for its own existence.
When we take multiples of these cells when organised purposely as brains in different species including aliens that may exist in other worlds, the potential of the brain systems and stream of mind is limitless and enormous.
So one should not get surprised for somebody having telepathic ability or to communicate with the dead or subsequent lives or departed dear ones, with seemingly paranormal ability, assuming rebirth as distinct possibility.
Simple disputing of paranormal ability is not the way about it.
There were many in our history and often disputed, deliberately by vested interests.
Madam Helena Blavatsky is a case in point.
We have not developed sufficiently sensitive instruments to detect these “energy forms” and EEG is not the “be all and end all instrument of detection”.
My personal view is we need a finely tuned “another higher brain” to monitor these activities.
Not all of us have these abilities inbuilt.
It is the duty of the psychologists and psychiatrists to invest in these areas with controlled but supervised training, instead of denial and disputation.
One way of developing this power is through meditation but only a few of us can sustain it to such a higher levels. One should be cautious when one attains meditative states that are transient in nature but with profound spiritual nature that could either alarm the meditating guy or girl or get the individual into morbid attachment to these transient states.
Ayahuasca inhalation and its effects on mental faculties is a case in point. Ayahuasca is a plant based psychedelic. Psychedelics affect all the senses, altering a person's thinking, sense of time and emotions. They can cause a person to hallucinate, seeing or hearing things that do not exist and are distorted by their own design.
My own conviction is that the practice of meditation has many other benefits apart from achieving goals mentioned above and one should use it for one’s own higher transition rather than using it as a diagnostic tool.
But I won’t condone anyone who is pursuing scientific and diagnostic pathways.
Now let me dish out some outlandish views.
The mind on its own without a material base.
Can it exist on its own?
Where does its energy come from without a biological base?
If the cell can survive without a brain (amoeba) why not a mind without a brain?
In the material world there are so many energy forms including cosmic radiation. In that spectrum not having an energy form called stream of mind is unrealistic and unacceptable.
If the medical world (I do not divide the mind into two states) could formulate something called subconscious mind for centuries, the above hypothesis is in fact, an antithesis.
In the Eastern Cosmology, beings with subtle bodies with spiritually developed minds are tenable.
It is often said people who had attained different level of absorptions through meditation are born in these worlds and live there a very long life.
It is also said, these beings can travel vast distances from their mother planets and visit alternative universes.
In literal terms they are called the Devas or Gods.
The better term is celestial beings.
Extension of that theory is what I am proposing not any alteration of the Eastern Cosmology.
If that scenario is possible, then the mind stream would penetrate atomic, subatomic and quantum levels of uncertainty and comprehend everything the modern science want to delve in to.
So what?
The mind should theoretically (mind’s behaviour is attachment to entities or ideas) be able to merge with subtle material and change (shape change described in alien films) its form at will or with wish.
I think my hypothesis is going well beyond this world of three dimensions, to other possible dimensions.
Is it 7, 10 or 13, as in string theory of possibilities in mathematics?
The possibility of the stream of mind is limitless and vast.
Binding it to a dogma, idea, religion, culture, politics, race or science is very narrow.
One should try to discover one’s own mind potential but one should remain within the limits, lest one gets virtually mad.
Come to think about it, this world is full of mad guys/girls especially in the political field.
