Vijñāna

Vijñāna () or viññāa ()As is standard in WP articles, the Pali term viññāa will be used when discussing the Pali literature, and the Sanskrit word vijñāna will be used when referring to either texts chronologically subsequent to the Pali canon or when discussing the topic broadly, in terms of both Pali and non-Pali texts. is translated as "consciousness", "life force", "mind",See, for instance, Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 618, entry for "Viññāa", retrieved on 2007-06-17 from the University of Chicago's "Digital Dictionaries of South Asia". or "discernment".See, for instance, Apte (1957-59) , p. 1434, entry for "vijñānam," retrieved from "U. Chicago" at ; and, Monier-Williams (rev. 2008) , p. 961,

The term vijñāna is mentioned in many early Upanishads, where it has been translated by terms such as understanding, knowledge, and intelligence.In The Principal Upanisads, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan has translated vijñāna by English words such as wisdom (p. 24), intellectual consciousness (p. 56), intelligence (p. 188-189 for Brihadaranyaka 2:1:16-17), knowledge (p. 200 for Brihadaranyaka 2:4:12-13), and understanding (pp. 475-476 for Chandogya 7:7:1-2).

In the Pāli Canon's Sutta Pitaka's first four nikāyas, viññāa is one of three overlapping Pali terms used to refer to the mind, the others being manas and citta. Each is used in the generic and non-technical sense of "mind" in general, but the three are sometimes used in sequence to refer to one's mental processes as a whole.Sue Hamilton, Identity and Experience. LUZAC Oriental, 1996, pages 105-106. Their primary uses are, however, distinct.Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000b). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. (Part IV is "The Book of the Six Sense Bases (Salayatanavagga)".) Boston: Wisdom Publications. ., pp. 769-70, n. 154. For more information, see the section, "Overlapping Pali terms for mind", below.

Buddhism This section considers the Buddhist concept primarily in terms of Early Buddhism's Pali literature as well as in the literature of other Buddhist schools.

Pali literature Throughout Pali literature, viññāa can be found as one of a handful of synonyms for the mental force that animates the otherwise inert material body.Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), entry for "Viññāa," states: "In what may be a very old Sutta S ii.95 [viññāa] is given as a synonym of citta (q. v.) and mano (q. v.), in opposition to kāya used to mean body. This simpler unecclesiastical, unscholastic popular meaning is met with in other suttas. E. g. the body (kāya) is when animated called sa-viññāaka [with consciousness]...." Bodhi (2000b), pp. 769-70, n. 154, also mentions this generalized use of viññāa in the Abhidhamma Pitaka and commentaries (cf. "Overlapping Pali terms for mind" section below). In a number of Pali texts though, the term has a more nuanced and context-specific (or "technical") meaning. In particular, in the Pali Canon's "Discourse Basket" (Suttapitaka), viññāa (generally translated as "consciousness") is discussed in at least three related but different contexts: (1) as a derivative of the sense bases (āyatana), part of the experientially exhaustive "All" (sabba); (2) as one of the five aggregates (khandha) of clinging (upadana) at the root of suffering (dukkha); and, (3) as one of the twelve causes (nidana) of "Dependent Origination" (paticcasamuppāda) which provides a template for Buddhist notions of kamma, rebirth and release. In the Pali Canon's Abhidhamma and in post-canonical Pali commentaries, consciousness (viññāa) is further analyzed into 89 different states which are categorized in accordance with their karmic results.

Sense-base derivative In Buddhism, the six sense bases (Pali: ; Skt.: ) refer to the five physical sense organs (cf. receptive field) (belonging to the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body), the mind (referred to as the sixth sense base) and their associated objects (visual forms, sounds, odors, flavors, touch and mental objects). Based on the six sense bases, a number of mental factors arise including six "types" or "classes" of consciousness (viññāa-kāyā). More specifically, according to this analysis, the six types of consciousness are eye-consciousness (that is, consciousness based on the eye), ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness and mind-consciousness.See, for instance, MN 148 (Thanissaro, 1998). In this framework, the Pali word translated as "consciousness" is viññāa and the word translated as "mind" is mano. Thus, the faculty of awareness of the mind (the base of, e.g., abstractions sythesized from physical sensory experience) is referred to as mano-viññāa ("mind-consciousness").

In this context, for instance, when an ear's receptive field (the proximal stimulus, more commonly known by Buddhists as a sense base, or sense organ) and sound (the distal stimulus, or sense object) are present, the associated (ear-related) consciousness arises. The arising of these three elements (dhātu) – e.g. ear, sound and ear-consciousness – lead to the percept, known as "contact" and in turn causes a pleasant, unpleasant or neutral "feeling" to arise. It is from such feeling that "craving" arises. (See Fig. 1.)

In a discourse entitled, "The All" (Sabba Sutta, SN 35.23), the Buddha states that there is no "all" outside of the six pairs of sense bases (that is, six internal and six external sense bases).Bodhi (2000b), p. 1140; and, Thanissaro (2001c). According to Bodhi (2000b), p. 1399, n. 7, the Pali commentary regarding the Sabba Sutta states: "...[I]f one passes over the twelve sense bases, one cannot point out any real phenomenon." Also see where is defined as "the (whole) world of sense-experience." References to the "All" (sabba) can be found in a number of subsequent discourses including SN 35.24, 35.25, 35.26, 35.27 and 35.29. The "To Be Abandoned Discourse" (Pahanaya Sutta, SN 35.24) further expands the All to include first five aforementioned sextets (internal sense bases, external sense bases, consciousness, contact and feeling).Bodhi (2000b), p. 1140; and, Thanissaro (2001b). These five sextets are implicitly referenced as the bases for clinging (upādāna) and fetters in other discourses such as "Advice to Anāthapiika Discourse" (Anāthapiikavāda Sutta MN 143; Ñāamoli & Bodhi, 2001, pp. 1109-13) and the "Great Discourse on the Sixfold Base" (Mahāsaāyatanika Sutta MN 149; Ñāamoli & Bodhi, 2001, pp. 1137-39).In the "Six Sextets" discourse (Chachakka Sutta, MN 148), a further expansion can be seen where the "six sextets" (cha-chakka) include the five aforementioned sextets plus feeling-dependent craving (tahā). (For MN 148, see Ñāamoli & Bodhi (2001), pp. 1129-36; and, Thanissaro (1998). ) In the famed "Fire Sermon" (Ādittapariyāya Sutta, SN 35.28) the Buddha declares that "the All is aflame" with passion, aversion, delusion and suffering (dukkha); to obtain release from this suffering, one should become disenchanted with the All.

Hence, in this context, viññāa includes the following characteristics: viññāa arises as a result of the material sense bases (āyatana)This, for instance, can be juxtaposed with an Idealist epistemology where the material world arises from consciousness (Bodhi, 2006). there are six types of consciousness, each unique to one of the internal sense organs consciousness (viññāa) is separate (and arises) from mind (mano) here, consciousness cognizes or is aware of its specific sense base (including the mind and mind objects) viññāa is a prerequisite for the arising of craving (tahā) hence, for the vanquishing of suffering (dukkha), one should neither identify with nor attach to viññāa

The aggregates In Buddhism, consciousness (viññāa) is one of the five classically defined experiential "aggregates" (Pali: khandha; Skt.: skandha). As illustrated (Fig. 2), the four other aggregates are material "form" (rupa), "feeling" or "sensation" (vedana), "perception" (sanna), and "volitional formations" or "fabrications" (sankhara).

In SN 22.79, the Buddha distinguishes consciousness in the following manner: "And why do you call it 'consciousness'? Because it cognizes, thus it is called consciousness. What does it cognize? It cognizes what is sour, bitter, pungent, sweet, alkaline, non-alkaline, salty, & unsalty. Because it cognizes, it is called consciousness."Khajjaniya Sutta ("Chewed Up", SN 22.29) (Thanissaro, 2001a). This type of awareness appears to be more refined and introspective than that associated with the aggregate of perception (saññā) which the Buddha describes in the same discourse as follows: "And why do you call it 'perception'? Because it perceives, thus it is called 'perception.' What does it perceive? It perceives blue, it perceives yellow, it perceives red, it perceives white. Because it perceives, it is called perception."Khajjaniya Sutta ("Chewed Up," SN 22.29) (Thanissaro, 2001a). Regarding SN 22.79's typifying perception (saññā) through visual colors and consciousness (viññāa) through assorted tastes, Bodhi (2000b, p. 1072, n. 114) mentions that the Samyutta Nikaya's subcommentary states that perception grasps appearances and shapes while consciousness "can grasp particular distinctions in an object even when there is no appearance and shape." Similarly, in a 5th-century CE commentary, the Visuddhimagga, there is an extended analogy about a child, an adult villager and an expert "money-changer" seeing a heap of coins; the child's experience is likened to perception, the villager's experience to consciousness, and the money-changer's experience to true understanding (paňňā).Buddhaghosa (1999), pp. 435-6) Thus, in this context, "consciousness" denotes more than the irreducible subjective experience of sense data suggested in the discourses of "the All" (see prior section); it additionally entails a depth of awareness reflecting a degree of memory and recognition.

All of the aggregates are to be seen as empty of self-nature; that is, they arise dependent on causes (hetu) and conditions (paticca). In this scheme, the cause for the arising of consciousness (viññāa) is the arising of one of the other aggregates (physical or mental); and the arising of consciousness in turn gives rise to one or more of the mental (nāma) aggregates. In this way, the chain of causation identified in the aggregate (khandha) model overlaps the chain of conditioning in the Dependent Origination (paticcasamuppāda) model.This overlap is particularly pronounced in the Mahanidana Sutta (DN 15) where consciousness (viññāa) is a condition of name-and-body (nāmarūpa) and vice versa (see, e.g., Thanissaro, 1997a).

Dependent origination Consciousness (viññāa) is the third of the traditionally enumerated Twelve Causes (nidāna) of Dependent Origination (Pali: ; Skt.: pratītyasamutpāda).Not all canonical texts identify twelve causes in Dependent Origination's causal chain. For instance, the Mahanidana Sutta (DN 15) (Thanissaro, 1997a) identifies only nine causes (omitting the six sense bases, formations and ignorance) and the initial text of the Nalakalapiyo Sutta (SN 12.67) (Thanissaro, 2000) twice identifies ten causes (omitting formations and ignorance) although its final enumeration includes the twelve traditional factors. Within the context of Dependent Origination, different canonical discourses represent different aspects of consciousness.For instance, similar to the sensory-specific description of consciousness found in discussing "the All" (above), the "Analysis of Dependent Origination Discourse" (Paticcasamuppada-vibhanga Sutta, SN 12.2) describes viññāa ("consciousness") in the following manner: "And what is consciousness? These six are classes of consciousness: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, intellect-consciousness. This is called consciousness." (Thanissaro, 1997b) The following aspects are traditionally highlighted: