Prepared by
Evelin Halls, DipFLC
Pennie White, BA, DipEd
Abhidhamma Class No. 54, 1 July 2003
Review of citta - part 1
Students of Abhidhamma have by now increased their vocabulary to understand Buddha Abhidhamma. It is necessary to learn the Pali words.
Students are learning to identify the citta and cetasika combinations of their own mind. These combinations can be found in the charts of the text The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma by Dr. Mehm Tin Mon.
In this class we review citta so we may expand the range of citta and cetasika combinations we can recognise, and increase our ability to locate these in the charts.
In Buddha Abhidhamma citta is the first of the four paramatthas. The four paramatthas are citta, cetasika, rupa and nibbana and can be remembered as ji jee roo ni. Citta means consciousness of the senses or awareness of an object. Citta only occur one at a time.
We refer to Appendix A: Chart No. 1, The Complete Chart on Cittas.
The left-hand column lists the all the classes of citta.
Each of these classes of citta have been classified under the heading akusala, kusala, vipaka or kiriya (at the top from left to right in the chart).
The classes of citta in the table (from top to bottom) are:
lobha-mula (8) consciousness rooted in greed or attachment
dosa-mula (2) consciousness rooted in hatred or illwill
moha-mula (2) consciousness rooted in delusion or ignorance
These three lobha-mula (8), dosa-mula (2) and moha-mula (2) class form the class of 12 akusala citta as shown in the total cittas column. The total cittas column is on the right-hand side of the chart. Akusala (unwholesome) cittas are explained in the Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma by Dr. Mehm Tin Mon, pages 22 to 30.
The next three classes of citta are:
akusala vipaka (7) unwholesome resultant cittas that arise as the inevitable results of akusala cittas
ahetuka kusala vipaka (8) wholesome and rootless resultant cittas that arise as the inevitable results of kusala cittas
ahetuka kiriya (3) rootless functional consciousness
These three classes form the class of the 18 ahetuka citta explained in The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma, pages 30 to 35.
The 12 akusala Citta and the 18 ahetuka citta form the 30 asobhana class.
The next three classes of citta listed in the left-hand column of Chart 1 are:
maha-kusala (8) great moral consciousness
maha-vipaka (8) great resultant consciousness
maha-kiriya (8) great functional consciousness
Maha-kusala cittas arise when ordinary worldlings and ariyas with the exception of arahats perform meritorious deeds such as dana (alms-giving), sila (morality) and bhavana (meditation).
Maha-vipaka cittas are the kamma-results of maha-kusala cittas of past lives. They function as patisandhi-citta (rebirth consciousness), bhavānga-citta (subconsciousness or life-continuing consciousness) and cuti-citta (death consciousness) in human beings and devas in their present lives.
These three above form the 24 kama-sobhana class of citta. See The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma pages 35-40.
As mentioned previously the 12 akusala citta and the 18 ahetuka citta form the 30 asobhana class.
The 30 asobhana and the 24 kama-sobhana class form the 54 kamavacara cittas.
Although all the 54 types of kamāvacara cittas can arise in persons in the human abode, hasituppadacitta and the eight maha-kiriya cittas can occur only in arahats. So only 45 types of kamāvacara cittas arise in ordinary persons who are not arahats.
A person may further acquire 5 rupāvacara-kusala cittas (rupa jhanas) and 4 arupāvacara-kusala cittas (arupa-jhanas) if he is able to by undertaking samatha-bhavana (tranquility meditation).
The next three in the left-hand column are:
rupavacara-kusala (5) rupa-jhana moral conciousness
rupāvacara-vipaka (5) rupa-jhana resultant consciousness
rupāvacara-kiriya (5) rupa-jhana functional consciousness
These three above form the 15 rupāvacara class of citta.
The next three are:
arupavacara-kusala (4) arupa-jhana moral consciousness
arupāvacara-vipaka (4) arupa-jhana resultant consciousness
arupāvacara-kiriya (4) arupa-jhana functional consciousness
These three above form the 12 arupāvacara class of citta.
The 15 rupāvacara class of citta and 12 arupavacara class of citta form the 27 mahaggata jhana class. See The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma, pages 41-51.
The next two classes in the left-hand column of the chart are:
lokuttara-kusala (4) four supramundane path citta
lokuttara-vipaka (4) four supramundane fruit consciousness
These two classes above form the 8 lokutara class.
The 54 kamavacara citta class, and the 27 mahaggata jhana class form the 81 lokiya citta class.
Lokiya means mundane or associated with the three spheres of existence, namely the kama-sphere, the rupa-sphere and the a rupa-sphere (the sense-sphere, the fine-material sphere and the immaterial sphere).
The 81 lokiya citta together with the 8 lokuttara citta make up 89 cittas in all in the vipassana-yanika way. In the table this is represented as the Total Citta in brief 89 on the right-hand side.
The next four citta classes in the left-hand side of the chart are:
sotapatti-magga (5) consciousness belonging to the path of stream-entry
sakadagami-magga (5) consciousness belonging to the path of once-returning
anagami-magga (5) consciousness belonging to the path of never-returning
arahatta-magga (5) consciousness belonging to the path of arahatship
Since each of the four basic path-consciousness can associate with five rupavacara jhanas in turn, there are 20 jhana path consciousness which are realised in samatha-yanika route.
These four form the 20 jhana-magga class. See The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma, pages 53 to 55.
The last four citta listed in the left-hand column of the chart are:
sotapatti-phala (5) consciousness belonging to the fruition of stream-entry
sakadagami-phala (5) consciousness belonging to the fruition of once-returning
anagami-phala (5) consciousness belonging to the fruition of never-returning
arahatta-phala (5) consciousness belonging to the fruition of arahatship
Again each of these four basic fruit-consciousness can associate with five rupavacara jhanas in turn, giving rise to 20 fruit-consciousness in all. These are realised in samatha-yanika route.
These last four classes of citta form the 20 jhana-phala class.
The 20 jhana-magga class and the 20 jhana-phala class form the 40 lokuttara jhana class.
All the classes of citta listed in the left-hand column of the Chart form the 121 total citta at length.
References
Davids and Stede (1979) The Pali Text Societys Pali-English Dictionary, Pali Text Society, London.
Mon, Dr. Mehm Tin (1995), The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma, Mehm Tay Zar Mon, Yangon.
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