Cittabhumi

Last updated

The early Buddhist thinkers emphasised the unitary nature of the mind. The Sarvastivadins in order to explain the unity of the mind described the mind as a ground or base which they called Cittabhumi. They rejected the realm of unconsciousness, alaya-vijnana, postulated by the Yogacarins of Mahayana Buddhism who believed that from the realm of unconsciousness arose the conscious mind and the objects. But the Sarvastivadins recognised five types of Cittabhumi from which psychological phenomenon arose. [1]

Citta i.e. the mind, that alongside Manas, Buddhi and Ahamkara is an internal organ, whose function is recollection, constituted by three Gunas viz Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, reflects the self in accordance with any one of its modified states, vritti , which are Pramāṇa with its three kinds of cognition – perception, inference and verbal testimony, Vikalpa which is mere verbal idea caused by meaningless words, Viparyaya which is knowledge of things as they are not, Nidra or dreamless sleep and Smrti or memory. These reflections result in the self being afflicted by Klesas – Avidya (wrong or false knowledge), Asmita (false notion or perception), Raga (attachment), Dvea (aversion), and Abhnivesha (fear of death). Thus, the mind may remain in five different levels which mental levels or functions or stages, five in number, are known as Cittabhumi [2] [3] [4] These five stages of the mind, as defined by Vyasa, are:-

• Ksipta or distracted. The distracted mind being overpowered by Rajas is extremely unsteady unable to concentrate or decide, and is the source of pleasure or pain.
• Mudha or infatuated. The infatuated mind being overpowered by Tamas succumbs to commit unrighteous acts influenced by violent emotions.
• Viksipta or occasionally steady. The occasionally steady mind, unsteady for most part, influenced by Sattva is able to withdraw itself from painful objects and become fixed on pleasurable objects.
• Ekagra or one-pointed. The one-pointed mind influenced by pure Sattva is able to withdraw from all objects i.e. totally introverted, to remain focussed on one object.
• Niruddha or restrained. The restrained mind also influenced by pure Sattva arrests all mental functions i.e. there is complete suspension of all mental modes and sub-conscious dispositions.

The first three afore-mentioned stages of mind are unfit for concentration for they are attended by mental modes. Yoga is not possible in these conditions. Ordinary people live on the level of Ksipta or Mudha.

The last two mentioned stages are conducive to yoga and for Samadhi. Ekagra stage is also called Sampramata yoga in which the mind assumes the form of the object itself. Niruddha stage is known as Samprajnata yoga or Samadhi in which nothing is known or thought of by the mind. In the Yoga system Buddhi (intellect), Ahamkara (ego) and Indriyas (senses) are often called Citta.

Related Research Articles

Buddhi refers to the intellectual faculty and the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand".

<i>Samadhi</i> State of meditative consciousness


Samādhi, in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In many Indian religious traditions, the cultivation of Samādhi through various meditation methods is essential for the attainment of spiritual liberation.

<i>Yoga Sutras of Patanjali</i> Early Yoga text in Sanskrit from ancient India by Patanjali

The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras and 196 sutras. The Yoga Sutras was compiled in the early centuries CE, by the sage Patanjali in India who synthesized and organized knowledge about yoga from much older traditions.

Dhāraṇā is translated as "collection or concentration of the mind ", or "the act of holding, bearing, wearing, supporting, maintaining, retaining, keeping back, a good memory", or "firmness, steadfastness, certainty". This term is related to the verbal Sanskrit roots dha and ana, to hold, carry, maintain, resolve. Dharana is the noun.

Ahaṁkāra, 'I-making' is a Sanskrit term in Saṃkhyā philosophy that refers to the identification of Self or Being with 'Nature' or any impermanent 'thing'. It is referred to as ego and evolves from Mahat-tattva, It is one of the four Antaḥkaraṇa.

<i>Dhyana</i> in Hinduism Term for contemplation and meditation

Dhyāna in Hinduism means contemplation and meditation. Dhyana is taken up in Yoga practices, and is a means to samadhi and self-knowledge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tattva (Shaivism)</span>

The tattvas in Indian philosophy are elements or principles of reality. Tattvas are the basic concepts to understand the nature of absolute, the souls and the universe in Samkhya and Shaivite philosophies. Samkhya philosophy lists 25 tattvas while later Shaivite philosophies extend the number to 36.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dhyana in Buddhism</span> Training of the mind through meditation

In the oldest texts of Buddhism, dhyāna or jhāna is a component of the training of the mind (bhavana), commonly translated as meditation, to withdraw the mind from the automatic responses to sense-impressions, "burn up" the defilements, and leading to a "state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi)." Dhyāna may have been the core practice of pre-sectarian Buddhism, in combination with several related practices which together lead to perfected mindfulness and detachment.

Avyakta, meaning "not manifest", "devoid of form" etc., is the word ordinarily used to denote Prakrti on account of subtleness of its nature and is also used to denote Brahman, which is the subtlest of all and who by virtue of that subtlety is the ultimate support (asraya) of Prakrti. Avyakta as a category along with Mahat and Purusa plays an important role in the later Samkhya philosophy even though the Bhagavad Gita III.42 retaining the psychological categories altogether drops out the Mahat and the Avyakta (Unmanifest), the two objective categories.

According to Sarira Traya, the Doctrine of the Three bodies in Hinduism, the human being is composed of three shariras or "bodies" emanating from Brahman by avidya, "ignorance" or "nescience". They are often equated with the five koshas (sheaths), which cover the atman. The Three Bodies Doctrine is an essential doctrine in Indian philosophy and religion, especially Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, Tantra and Shaivism.

Dhī is a Sanskrit word meaning 'understanding', 'reflection', 'religious thought', 'mind', 'design', 'intelligence', 'opinion', 'meditation', 'imagination', 'notion', and 'intellect'. This word is directly connected with the word Vāc, meaning Speech, derived from Vac meaning, 'to speak'. Dhi is the voiced Vāc or 'Speech', it is the thought-mind or intellect. Dhi also means 'to hold' or 'to place', and indicates the activity of the intellect.

Tanmatras are rudimentary, undifferentiated, subtle elements from which gross elements are produced. There are five sense perceptions – hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell – and there are five tanmatras corresponding to those five sense perceptions and the five sense-organs. The tanmatras combine and re-combine in different ways to produce the gross elements – ether, air, fire, water, and earth – which make up the gross universe perceived by the senses. The senses come into contact with the objects and carry impressions of them to the manas (mind), which receives and arranges them into precepts.

A Sanskrit Dictionary gives more than eighty meanings of the Sanskrit word, Sthiti (स्थिति), but this word mainly refers to position, rank or dignity, staying, or permanence, permanent or continued existence in any place.

Ālambana (Sanskrit:आलम्बन), is a Sanskrit term which variously means – support, foundation, supporting, base, sustaining, cause, reason, basis, or the five attributes of things, or the silent repetition of a prayer, or the natural and necessary connection of a sensation with the cause which excites it, or the mental exercise practiced by the yogis in endeavouring to realize the gross form of the Eternal.

Vichāra, in Indian philosophy, means deliberation; It is the faculty of discrimination that discerns the Real, Brahman, from the unreal.

Adhyavasāya generally means – 'apprehension', 'clinging to', 'mental effort' and also 'perseverance', 'having decided'.

Yoga philosophy is one of the six major orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, though it is only at the end of the first millennium CE that Yoga is mentioned as a separate school of thought in Indian texts, distinct from Samkhya. Ancient, medieval and most modern literature often refers to Yoga-philosophy simply as Yoga. A systematic collection of ideas of Yoga is found in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a key text of Yoga which has influenced all other schools of Indian philosophy.

Dualism in Indian philosophy refers to the belief held by certain schools of Indian philosophy that reality is fundamentally composed of two parts. This mainly takes the form of either mind-matter dualism in Buddhist philosophy or awareness-'nature' dualism in the Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hindu philosophy. These can be contrasted with mind-body dualism in Western philosophy of mind, but also have similarities with it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga)</span> Patanjalis classification of classical yoga

Ashtanga yoga is Patanjali's classification of classical yoga, as set out in his Yoga Sutras. He defined the eight limbs as yamas (abstinences), niyama (observances), asana (posture), pranayama (breathing), pratyahara (withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (absorption).

Mahat-tattva or mahat is a concept in the Samkhya philosophy of Hinduism. It is the first evolute of Prakriti, the causeless cause of the world, that is generated after Prakriti begins to evolve when its equilibrium is disturbed, which causes expansion of material energy and matter. In the process of evolution, after mahat emanates, egoity (ahamkara), mind (manas), the five sense capacities, the five action capacities, the five subtle elements, and the five gross elements evolve. These are the 22 other elements that constitute the basic metaphysics of Samkhya.

References

  1. ↑ Akira Hirakawa (1993). The History of Early Buddhism. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 163. ISBN   9788120809550.
  2. ↑ Subodh Kapoor (2002). Companion Encyclopaedia of Hindu philosophy. Genesis Publishing (P) Ltd. p. 35. ISBN   9788177552034.
  3. ↑ The Systems of Indian Philosophy. Genesis Publishing (P) Ltd. December 2004. p. 593. ISBN   9788177558876.
  4. ↑ R.N.Vyas (1985). The Bhagavada Gita and Jivana Yoga. Abhinav Publications. p. 11. ISBN   9788170172031.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.