The Tree of Enlightenment
An Introduction to the Major Traditions of Buddhism
by Peter Della Santina
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Part Four
The Abidharma
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Chapter Thirty-Six
Analysis of Mental States
In the Abhidharma, mental states are defined as 'those factors which
are associated
with consciousness, which arise and perish
with consciousness, and
which have the same
object and bases as
consciousness.' This immediately indicates the very
close
relationship between consciousness (chitta) and mental states
(chetasika). One of the best
analogies to describe their relationship
is that of the framework of a
building and the
building materials, or
a skeleton and the flesh that covers it. Here
the types of
consciousness are the skeleton, while the mental states are the flesh
that goes to build up
a body of conscious experience.
With this in mind, it is helpful to consider the types of
consciousness
enumerated in the
Abhidharmic analysis of
consciousness in terms of the mental states
with which they are
likely to be associated. One's own analysis will not necessarily
correspond exactly to the
analysis in the texts. But insofar as
certain mental states naturally
appear to follow from
particular
types of consciousness, we will arrive at an understanding
of how
certain
mental states and types of consciousness go together. This
is far more
important than
memorizing the list of mental states.
There are three general categories of mental states:
wholesome,
unwholesome, and
unspecified. Unspecified mental
states are neither wholesome nor
unwholesome, but take
on the
nature of the other mental states with which they are
associated.
These unspecified
mental states play a central role in the
construction of conscious
experience, much like
the cement without
which the building of experience cannot hold
together.
There are
two groups of unspecified mental states: universal (or
primary), and
particular
(or secondary). The universal mental states are present inall types of
consciousness
without exception, whereas the
particular mental states only occur in
certain types of
consciousness.
There are seven universal unspecified mental states: (1)
contact, (2)
feeling, (3)
perception, (4) volition, (5)
one-pointedness, (6) attention, and (7)
vitality.Contact is the
conjunction of consciousness with an object. It is the
coexistence
of subject
and object which is the foundation of all conscious
experience.
Feeling is the emotional quality of an experience--pleasant,
unpleasant, or indifferent.
Perception implies recognition of the
sense-sphere of the faculty to
which a given sense
impression
pertains, that is, to the sphere of eye consciousness, ear
consciousness, and so
on.
Volition, in this context, does not mean free will but an
instinctive
volitional response.
One-pointedness occurs not in the
sense of a factor of absorption but
in the sense of the
limitation of
consciousness to a particular object. As mentioned in
Chapter 34,
one-
pointedness occurs even in ordinary, non-meditative types of
consciousness. One-
pointedness is a necessary mental state in all
types of consciousness
because it is one-
pointedness that isolates
a given object from the undifferentiated
stream of objects.
Attention can be seen in relation to one-pointedness.
One-pointedness
and attention are
the negative and positive
aspects of the same function. One-pointedness
limits one's
experience to a particular object whereas attention directs one's
awareness to a particular
object. One-pointedness and attention
function together to isolate and
make one
conscious of a particular
object.
Vitality refers to the force which binds together the other six
states
of consciousness.
There are six particular unspecified mental
states: (1) initial
application, (2) sustained
application, (3) decision,
(4) envy, (5) interest, and (6) desire. We
have already
encountered
some of these in the context of the factors of absorption.
The third
particular
mental state, usually translated as 'decision'
(adhimokkha), is a very
important one that
indicates a particular
decisive function of consciousness. The literal
meaning of the
original term is 'liberation,' in the sense here of 'liberation from
doubt.' The sixth
particular mental state, 'desire' (Chhanda), may
be so translated as
long as we remember
that desire for sensual
pleasure (kamachhanda) is negative and
destructive, whereas
desire
for liberation (dhammachhanda) is positive and constructive.
Desire,
therefore, has both a
wholesome and an unwholesome
function, depending both on the object of
desire and on
the other
mental states with which desire is associated.
Let us go on to look at the unwholesome mental states. There
are
fourteen of them, and
they are associated with the twelve
unwholesome types of consciousness
(see Chapter 33)
in five
ways, which differentiates them into five groups. The first
three
groups take their
character from the three unwholesome roots:
delusion (moha), greed
(lobha), and ill-will
(dosa). The fourth
group consists of sloth and torpor (thina and
middha); the fifth
consists
of doubt (vichikichchha).
Let us look at the group headed by delusion. This group is
universally
present in all types
of unwholesome consciousness and
it includes four factors: delusion,
shamelessness,
unscrupulousness,
or fearlessness, and restlessness. Both shamelessness
and
fearlessness
have moral and ethical connotations, which function
internally and
externally.
When we speak here of shamelessness,
what we mean is an internal
inability to restrain
oneself from
unwholesome actions due to the inability to apply one's
personal
standards
to one's actions. And when we speak of fearlessness, or
lack of dread,
what we mean is
the inability to recognize the
application of social standards of
morality to one's actions.
With
these two terms, we have an indication that standards of morality
are arrived at both
inwardly, in relation to oneself, and outwardly,
in relation to others.
Particularly in cases of deluded consciousness, we find a
peculiar
pattern of behavior.
When a person's consciousness is
dominated by delusion and he is unable
to apply
internal standards
of morality, he acts in an unwholesome way.
Similarly, when he is
unable to apply social standards of morality, he is careless about
his
actions. This
inability to apply internal and external standards of
morality to one's
actions creates
restlessness, the fourth factor in
this delusion-dominated group.
The second of the five groups of unwholesome mental states is
the
greed-dominated
group: here greed is accompanied by
mistaken belief and conceit. The
personal and
practical extension
of a greed-dominated consciousness is a tendency
toward self-
aggrandizement, the accumulation and exhibition of knowledge, and
the
occurrence of
pride, egoism, and conceit.
The third group of unwholesome mental states is that
dominated by
ill-will. This ill-will
is accompanied by envy, avarice,
and worry.
The fourth group includes sloth and torpor, which are
particularly
relevant in the context
of volitionally induced categories
of consciousness.
The fifth group consists of doubt, which applies
in all cases where
decision is not
present--namely, the decision (or
'liberation from doubt') that is one
of the six particular
unspecified
mental states.
There are nineteen mental states common to all wholesome
types of
consciousness. A
number of these are factors conducive
to enlightenment (bodhipakkhiya
dhamma), and
thus play an
important role in the cultivation and development of one's
spiritual
potential.
The list begins with faith and includes mindfulness, shame,
dread,
non-greed, non-hatred,
balance of mind, tranquillity,
lightness, elasticity, adaptability, and
proficiency and
rectitude of
psychic elements and of mind. Notice the presence of shame
and
dread, the
direct opposites of the unwholesome mental states of
shamelessness and
fearlessness.
The nineteen wholesome mental
states are occasionally accompanied by
six additional
ones: the
three abstinences (right speech, right action, and right
livelihood); the two
illimitables or immeasurables (compassion and appreciative joy); and
reason or wisdom.
When these six are included, there are twenty-five wholesome mental
states in all.
Wisdom occupies a position within the wholesome mental states similar
to the position of
desire within the unspecified ones. Just as desire can be unwholesome
or wholesome
depending on its object, so wisdom can be mundane or
supramundane
depending on
whether its object
is ordinary knowledge or ultimate reality.
To reinforce what I have said about the close relationship
between the
types of
consciousness and the mental states, I would
like briefly to refer to
the subjective
classification of consciousness
touched on in Chapter 33. There we
spoke of the types of
consciousness according to their karmic value--wholesome,
unwholesome,
resultant, and
functional. Particularly within the
sphere of sense desire, we spoke of
a further
classification of
consciousness in terms of feeling, knowledge,
and
volition.
Combining these, we have within the sphere of sense desire a fourfold
subjective
classification of consciousness according to its karmic, emotional,
intellectual, and
volitional value--in other words, (1) in terms of wholesome,
unwholesome, or
neutral;
(2) in terms of pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent; (3) in terms of
being associated with
knowledge, disassociated with knowledge, or associated with wrong
beliefs; and (4) in
terms of being prompted or unprompted.
With this fourfold scheme, we can see how the types of consciousness
are determined by
the presence of mental states. For example, within the karmic value
category, wholesome
types of consciousness are determined by wholesome mental states.
Within the
emotional
value category, the types of consciousness are determined by the
presence of states that
belong to the feeling group (mental pleasure, mental pain, physical
pleasure, physical
pain, and indifference). Within the intellectual value category, the
presence or absence of
delusion determines whether a particular type of consciousness is
associated with
knowledge, disassociated with knowledge, or associated with wrong
belief. And within
the volitional value category, the presence or absence of doubt and
decision determines
whether a particular type of consciousness is prompted or unprompted,
non-spontaneous
or spontaneous.
Thus the four subjective classifications of consciousness clarify just
how the various
types of consciousness are determined by the presence of appropriate
mental states--
wholesome, unwholesome, associated with knowledge, and so forth.
Finally, I would like to examine how the mental states operate in
counteracting each type
of consciousness. This is interesting because the Abhidharmic analysis
of consciousness
has sometimes been likened to the Periodic Table's analysis of elements
by their
respective atomic values. One cannot help but be struck by the almost
chemical properties
of the mental states: just as, in chemistry, a base neutralizes an
acid, and vice versa, so in
the analysis of consciousness, one mental state counteracts certain
other mental states,
and vice versa.
For example, within the factors of absorption (see Chapter 34), the
five mental states
counteract the five hindrances (initial application counteracts sloth
and torpor; sustained
application counteracts doubt; interest counteracts ill-will; happiness
counteracts
restlessness and worry; and one-pointedness counteracts sensual
desire). Where there
isn't a one-to-one relationship, groups of wholesome factors counteract
a single
unwholesome factor or group of unwholesome factors (faith counteracts
doubt and
delusion; mental balance and tranquillity counteract doubt and worry;
lightness,
elasticity, adaptability, and proficiency of the mind and the psychic
elements counteract
sloth and torpor; and so forth). Again, when decision is present, doubt
is not.
In this way, the various wholesome mental states counter and oppose
various
unwholesome ones. The presence of certain mental states eliminates
states opposed to
them and thus makes room for states in accord with them. Through
understanding the
relationship between consciousness and mental states, and through
cultivating the
wholesome mental states, we can gradually change and improve the
character of our
conscious experience.
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Contents
|
01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11
| 12 | 13
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41
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Layout: Nhi Tuong
Update : 11-05-2002
