The Ephemeral Experience of Objects
There are eighty-nine types of citta in all and these can be classified by way of four jātis (jāti being nature of citta):
Kusala: 21 types of citta
Akusala: 12 types of citta
Vipāka: 36 types of citta
Kiriya: 20 types of citta
When we study the classification of citta by way of jāti, we should know which types of citta arise for the ordinary person (putthujana) and which types for the ariyan (a person who has attained enlightenment):
The ordinary person has cittas of four jātis: kusala, akusala, vipāka and kiriya.
The sotāpanna (stream-winner, who has attained the first stage of enlightenment) has cittas of the four jātis.
The sakadāgāmī (once-returner, who has attained the second stage of enlightenment) has cittas of the four jātis.
The anāgāmī (non-returner, who has attained the third stage of enlightenment) has cittas of the four jātis.
The arahat (the perfected one, who has attained the fourth stage of enlightenment) has cittas of two jātis: vipāka and kiriya.
We should not only know the jāti of a particular citta, we should also know the function of that citta. The rebirth-consciousness is vipākacitta, the result of kamma. The citta that performs the function of rebirth in a happy plane is kusala vipāka, the result of kusala kamma. The citta that performs the function of rebirth in an unhappy plane, such as a hell plane, is akusala vipāka, the result of akusala kamma. Not every kusala vipākacitta and akusala vipākacitta perform the function of rebirth. Only the kusala vipākacitta and the akusala vipākacitta that perform the function of rebirth are called rebirth-consciousness.
The kusala vipākacitta or akusala vipākacitta that performs the function of bhavanga (life-continuum) is called bhavanga-citta.
Seeing-consciousness is a vipākacitta that cannot perform the function of rebirth or the function of bhavanga. It can only perform the function of seeing. It is called seeing-consciousness, because it is the citta that clearly knows visible object, it sees the object appearing through the eyes. Thus, we can understand that cittas that clearly know an object through one of the different doorways are named after the function they perform.
Questioner: Why are there not five jātis of citta instead of four, namely, kusala, akusala, kusala vipāka, akusala vipāka and kiriya?
Sujin: You are wondering why there are not five jātis. There are two jātis of cittas that are cause: kusala and akusala, and therefore, you think that there should also be two jātis of cittas that are result: kusala vipāka and akusala vipāka. In that case, there would be five jātis. However, there are only four jātis, because vipāka is mere result, it cannot be called inferior, medium or superior, as is the case with kamma. Kusala citta and akusala citta, the cittas that are cause, have many varieties. They are of different shades and degrees, examples of which I shall give below.
Kusala citta and akusala citta are different because of the accompanying kusala dhammas or akusala dhammas when experiencing an object through the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the bodysense and the mind-door. They are diverse since they can motivate different types of kamma, good deeds and bad deeds. There is kamma of the level of dāna, generosity, sīla, morality and mental development, bhāvana, which includes the development of calm, samatha, through which defilements are subdued, and the development of paññā. The development of paññā has many degrees, such as listening to the Dhamma, explaining the Dhamma or the development of satipaṭṭhāna, which is the development of insight, vipassanā.
Kammas are different since they are performed through body, speech or mind. They are accompanied by different cetasikas and they have different predominant factors. Thus, we see that the realities that are cause, kusala and akusala, are of great diversity, that they have many shades and degrees, whereas vipākacittas do not have such variety. Vipāka is only result of kamma that has been performed already. When kamma has ripened and the right opportunity is there, which conditions it to produce its result, vipākacitta arises. Vipākacitta can perform the functions of rebirth, bhavanga or other functions: it can experience different objects through the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the bodysense or the mind-door.
Seeing at this moment is vipākacitta; it has arisen because it is conditioned by kamma performed in the past. But the vipākacitta that sees cannot be a cause producing again vipāka.
When hearing-consciousness experiences sound, there is vipākacitta, but hearing-consciousness cannot be a cause producing vipāka. Thus, vipākacitta is not cause; it does not produce result. It is incapable of performing deeds through body or speech. It cannot be accompanied by cetasikas that are the wholesome qualities of compassion, sympathetic joy or the three abstinences (virati cetasikas) of right speech, right action and right livelihood.
Vipākacitta itself is not a dhamma that is inferior, medium or superior, but kamma that is inferior, medium or superior produces its result accordingly and therefore, there are different degrees of vipāka. Since vipāka is not a cause, producing result, but only the result of a cause, of kusala kamma or of akusala kamma, there is only one jāti that is vipāka. As we have seen, vipāka does not have such diversity as the dhamma that is cause, namely, kusala and akusala, which are classified as two different jātis. This is the answer to your question.
All vipākacittas are result of kamma that has been performed in the past. There are four types of vipākacittas arising in the eye-door process:
Seeing-consciousness,
Receiving-consciousness,
Investigating-consciousness,
Registering-consciousness (retention, tadārammaṇa).
We should know when there is vipākacitta, kusala citta, akusala citta or kiriyacitta. When we see a pleasant visible object, seeing-consciousness is kusala vipāka. The receiving-consciousness, the investigating-consciousness and the registering-consciousness that follow are also kusala vipāka. After the visible object and the vīthi-cittas of the eye-door process have fallen away, bhavanga-cittas arise and fall away in succession, until vīthi-cittas arise again and know another object that presents itself. We should remember that when seeing-consciousness sees visible object through the eyes, that seeing-consciousness, as well as the other vipākacittas in that process, are the result of kamma that has been performed in the past.
When we hear a sound, which may be pleasant or unpleasant, it is only one moment of vipāka vīthi-citta that hears the sound and then falls away completely. However, there are conditions for a great number of akusala cittas that like or dislike the rūpas that are appearing through the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue or the bodysense. Like and dislike are never lacking in daily life, they arise time and again on account of what appears through the six doors.
Through theoretical understanding, acquired from listening to the Dhamma the Buddha taught, akusala cannot be eradicated. We may know that seeing is only vipāka, the result of kamma performed in the past, but just knowing this in theory is not sufficient. Through theoretical knowledge alone we cannot prevent the arising of attachment, lobha, as soon as we see something pleasant.
We should study realities so that right understanding can develop to the degree that it can see the true nature of realities, that it can see them as not a living being, not a person, not self. When we study the Dhamma and carefully consider it in all details, we shall more and more see the danger of akusala and we shall be inclined to develop all levels of kusala. We should know that if we do not develop kusala, we shall become ever more entangled by defilements.
We may believe that everything belongs to us, but such a belief occurs only at the moments when vīthi-cittas, cittas in processes, arise. When vīthi-cittas do not arise, we do not see, hear, smell, taste or experience tangible object; we do not experience any object through the six doors. At the moments when we are fast asleep, there is no attachment, no longing or yearning, no infatuation with anything; there is no clinging to the khandhas we are used to taking for self. The reason is that at such moments vīthi-cittas do not arise that know objects through the six doors. Thus, only at the moments of our life when we are fast asleep is there no attachment or involvement with the sense objects or with the matters we think about. Why then do we not develop paññā so that attachment and clinging to the objects that appear through the six doors will be eradicated and there will be less akusala?
Realities appear only at the moments vīthi-cittas, cittas in processes, arise. When a citta arises and then falls away, it has disappeared completely. When a rūpa arises and then falls away it has disappeared completely. The visible object that just a moment ago appeared through the eyes has completely fallen away, as have each of the cittas that arose just a few moments ago in the eye-door process. All cittas and all rūpas arise and then fall away and are gone forever.
However, so long as the arising and falling away of nāma and rūpa has not been realized through direct understanding, through insight, we cannot grasp what falling away means. We have not yet realized the falling away of any reality through the development of vipassanā. We may say that at this moment seeing-consciousness falls away, that receiving-consciousness, investigating-consciousness, determining-consciousness, javana-cittas and registering-consciousness fall away, but the falling away of dhammas has not yet been penetrated by insight. Paññā should be developed so that it can penetrate the arising and falling away of nāma and rūpa. Even if paññā has not reached that degree yet, it is most beneficial to listen to the Dhamma and to consider it, so that right understanding can develop and become keener, more refined. Right understanding can be accumulated and then it can be a condition for satipaṭṭhāna to arise and be mindful of the characteristics of the dhammas that arise and fall away. In that way, paññā can gradually develop and penetrate the characteristics of dhammas so that they will be realized as not a living being, not a person, not self.
The “Atthasālinī” (II, Book II, Part II, Discourse on the Chapter of the Summary, Ch I, The Triplets, 361) explains the meaning of past dhammas: “...past means having got beyond the three moments.”
These three moments are the moment of arising (uppāda khaṇa), the moment of presence (tiṭṭhi khaṇa) and the moment of falling away (bhanga khaṇa).
Citta has only an extremely short duration: it arises, it is present and then it falls away immediately. Its arising moment is not the moment of its presence nor of its falling away. The moment of its presence is not its arising moment nor the moment of its falling away. The moment of its falling away is not its arising moment nor the moment of its presence. When citta has arisen, it is present and the moment of its presence cannot be called past, but its arising moment belongs already to the past.
When we study rūpa, we learn that rūpa that is originated by kamma (kammaja rūpa) arises at each of the three moments of citta. Thus, it arises at the arising moment of citta, at the moment of presence of citta and at the moment of the falling away of citta. Rūpa produced by kamma arises at the three moments of citta throughout our life. However, it does not arise anymore during the sixteen moments of citta before the dying-consciousness; rūpa produced by kamma comes to an end when the dying-consciousness falls away. That is the end of the five khandhas that constitute the life of a particular person.
The rūpa that originates from citta (cittaja rūpa) arises at the arising moment of citta. The rebirth-consciousness, the five pairs of sense-cognitions, the four arūpāvacara vipākacittas and the dying-consciousness of the arahat do not produce any rūpa.
The rūpa that originates from temperature (utuja rūpa, the Element of Heat that is of the right temperature) arises at the moment of presence of the temperature that originates it.
The rūpa that originates from nutrition (ahāraja rūpa) arises at the moment of presence of nutritive essence, oja rūpa, present in food that was taken. When the nutritive essence that is in food has been absorbed, it can produce other rūpas.
Citta arises and falls away very rapidly, and thus all three moments of citta disappear immediately. As the “Atthasālinī” explains, any dhamma that is past has got beyond the three moments: the arising moment, the moment of presence and the moment of falling away; it has gone forever, there is nothing left of it.
The “Atthasālinī”, in the same section (361), explains synonyms of the word “past.” We read:
“Ceased, that is, has reached cessation.” Past dhamma has ceased completely, just as fire that has been extinguished.
“Dissolved, that is, gone to destruction, departed.” There is nothing left, just as someone who has died, who is no more. That is the characteristic of falling away.
“Changed, that is, transformed by abandoning the original nature.” Thus, so long as a dhamma has its original, usual nature, it exists, but when it abandons its original nature, it does not exist anymore.
“Terminated, this means gone to the term (end) called cessation.” It cannot exist any longer, that is the meaning of cessation.
“Exterminated...” This word is stronger then the preceding term “terminated” and the meaning is: it has disappeared completely, there is nothing left of it.
“Dissolved after having arisen, that is, departed after having come to be.” This does not mean that the dhamma did not exist. It was, because it had arisen, but after its arising it departed, it disappeared completely, and there is nothing left of it.
We then read: “Which are past dhammas? Rūpa, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness.” These are the five khandhas, which are conditioned dhammas, saṅkhata dhammas. The five khandhas comprise the following realities:
Rūpakkhandha: all rūpas that arise and fall away.
Vedanākkhandha: all feelings (vedanā cetasika), which arise and
fall away.
Saññākkhandha: remembrance or perception (saññā cetasika), which
arises and falls away.
Saṅkhārakkhandha: fifty cetasikas (formations) such as attachment,
aversion, jealousy, avarice, confidence, energy and wisdom; they
arise and then fall away.
Viññāṇakkhandha: each type of citta that arises and falls away.
Everything that arises is conditioned dhamma; it is one of the five khandhas and thus it falls away again. For which of the khandhas are we then still longing, to which of them do we still cling? Each khandha arises and then falls away; it dissolves, disappears completely, there is nothing left of it, there is nothing worth clinging to.
Through knowledge acquired from reading and listening defilements cannot be eradicated, they are still bound to be present in full force. When we consider dhammas and have right understanding of them, conditions are being accumulated for the arising of right awareness. Then sati can be directly aware and attend to the characteristics of the dhammas of which we formerly had theoretical understanding acquired through listening. In this way paññā can penetrate the characteristics of realities that appear and then fall away, and wrong view, which takes realities for a living being, a person or self, can be eliminated.
We are so used to being attached to what appears through the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the bodysense and the mind-door. We take it for self, for mine, for my property. In reality everything that appears does so only at the moment when citta in a process, vīthi-citta, arises. The dhammas that are vipāka are the results of kamma. We may have a house, many possessions, clothes and ornaments that are all very beautiful and attractive, but in reality there are only vipākacittas, results of past kammas, that arise and experience objects through the eyes, the ears and the other sense-doors. Citta arises and experiences an object just for one moment and then it falls away; it is gone forever, it cannot last at all. Nobody knows which kamma will produce which result in the future. The reason is that we all have performed both kusala kamma and akusala kamma in the past. When there are the right conditions for kamma to produce result, vipākacitta arises and experiences an object through one of the six doors.
When we learn about the truth of impermanence and ponder over it, we can be urged to persevere with awareness of the characteristics of dhammas that appear. If sati can be aware of the characteristics of dhammas and paññā investigates them, over and over again, they can be realized as they are: as not self, as only nāma and rūpa appearing one at a time through the six doors.
Through right understanding of the characteristics of dhammas there will be conditions for kusala javana vīthi-cittas. If we do not listen to the Dhamma and do not investigate realities, we shall not know when there is vipāka, the result of past kamma, and when there are kusala javana vīthi-cittas or akusala javana vīthi-cittas that arise in their own series. If we do not know this, we shall not see the danger and disadvantage of akusala and we shall not be inclined to develop kusala. Then the cycle of birth and death will go on endlessly. Are there more kusala cittas or more akusala cittas during the day? In the future the appropriate result of kamma will arise, be it kusala vipāka or akusala vipāka. It is beneficial to consider and to be aware of the realities that naturally appear in our daily life.
Specifications of Cittas and their Functions
There are fourteen different functions of citta in all:
The function of rebirth, paṭisandhi, which follows upon the function of dying, cuti, of the previous life. The cittas that perform the function of rebirth are nineteen types of vipākacittas:
kāmāvacara vipākacittas (results of the sense sphere) 10
cittas
rūpāvacara vipākacittas (results of rūpa jhāna)
5 cittas
arūpāvacara vipākacittas (results of arūpa jhāna)
4 cittas
The function of life-continuum, bhavanga, the preservation of continuity in a lifespan. The cittas that perform the function of bhavanga are also nineteen types of vipākacittas. Whatever type of citta performs the function of rebirth in a lifespan also performs the function of bhavanga, after the rebirth-consciousness has fallen away. The bhavanga-cittas that arise during one lifespan are all of the same type as the rebirth-consciousness. They arise and fall away in succession until vīthi-citta arises and experiences an object through one of the six doors, and when the vīthi-cittas of that process have fallen away, bhavanga-cittas of the same type as the rebirth-consciousness follow again. This happens all the time until the dying-consciousness arises at the end of our lifespan.
The function of adverting, āvajjana, the adverting to an object that impinges on one of the six doorways. Adverting-consciousness is the first vīthi-citta that arises in a process and experiences an object through one of the six doorways. There are two types of kiriyacitta that perform the function of adverting:
the five-sense-door adverting-consciousness,
pañca-dvārāvajjana-citta;
the mind-door adverting-consciousness, mano-dvārāvajjana-citta.
The function of seeing, dassana kicca. There are two types of vipākacitta that perform the function of seeing:
seeing-consciousness that is akusala vipākacitta;
seeing-consciousness that is kusala vipākacitta.
The function of hearing, savana kicca. There are two types of vipākacitta that perform the function of hearing:
hearing-consciousness that is akusala vipākacitta;
hearing-consciousness that is kusala vipākacitta.
The function of smelling, ghāyana kicca. There are twotypes of vipākacitta that perform the function of smelling:
smelling-consciousness that is akusala vipākacitta;
smelling-consciousness that is kusala vipākacitta.
The function of tasting, sāyana kicca. There are two types of vipākacitta that perform the function of tasting:
tasting-consciousness that is akusala vipākacitta;
tasting-consciousness that is kusala vipākacitta.
The function of experiencing tangible object through the bodysense, phusana kicca. There are two types of vipākacitta that perform this function:
body-consciousness that is akusala vipākacitta;
body-consciousness that is kusala vipākacitta.
The function of receiving, sampaṭicchana kicca, which is the receiving of the object after one of the sense-cognitions has fallen away. There are two types of citta that perform this function:
receiving-consciousness that is akusala vipākacitta;
receiving-consciousness that is kusala vipākacitta.
The function of investigation, santīraṇa kicca, which is the investigation of the object that appears through one of the five sense-doors. There are three types of citta that perform this function:
investigation-consciousness accompanied by indifferent feeling
(upekkhā) that is akusala vipākacitta;
investigation-consciousness accompanied by indifferent feeling
that is kusala vipākacitta;
investigation-consciousness accompanied by pleasant feeling
(somanassa) that is kusala vipākacitta.
The function of determination, votthapana kicca, which is the determination of the object so that such or such types of javana-cittas follow in one of the five sense-door processes. There is one type of kiriyacitta that performs this function: the mind-door adverting-consciousness, mano-dvārāvajjana-citta.
The function of javana, javana kicca, which is “running through the object” or partaking of the object. There are fifty-five types of citta that can perform the function of javana:
akusala cittas
12 cittas
ahetuka kiriyacitta (hasituppada citta of the
arahat) 1 citta
kāmāvacara kusala cittas (of the sense sphere)
8 cittas
kāmāvacara kiriyacittas (of the arahat)
8 cittas
rūpāvacara kusala cittas (of rūpa-jhāna)
5 cittas
rūpāvacara kiriyacittas (of the arahat)
5 cittas
arūpāvacara kusala cittas (of arūpa-jhāna)
4 cittas
arūpāvacara kiriyacittas (of the arahat)
4 cittas
lokuttara cittas (experiencing nibbāna)
8 cittas
The function of registering or retention, tadālambana kicca, which is the function of knowing the object after the javana-cittas have fallen away. There are eleven types of vipākacittas that can perform this function:
investigation-consciousness, santīraṇa-citta
3 cittas
kāmāvacara sahetuka kusala vipākacitta
(accompanied by roots)
8 cittas
The function of dying, cuti kicca, the function of departure from this lifespan. After the cuti-citta has arisen, performed this function and fallen away, it is the end of this lifespan and one is no longer this particular individual. There are nineteen types of vipākacittas that can perform the function of dying, and they are of the same types as those that perform the function of rebirth and the function of bhavanga. Whatever type performs the function of rebirth in a lifespan also performs the function of bhavanga and the function of dying, in the same lifespan.
It is because of conditions that the rebirth-consciousness arises in a particular lifespan with different accompanying cetasikas and together with rūpas of different quality, depending on the strength and the nature of that type of rebirth-consciousness.
There are ten types of kāmāvacara vipākacittas that can perform the function of rebirth in eleven planes of existence of the sense sphere (kāma bhūmi):
investigating-consciousness
accompanied by indifferent feeling that is akusala vipāka 1 citta
investigating-consciousness
accompanied by indifferent feeling that is kusala vipāka 1 citta
kāmāvacara sahetuka kusala vipākacittas (mahā-vipāka)
8 cittas
Investigating-consciousness accompanied by indifferent feeling, that is akusala vipāka, is the result of akusala kamma and it can perform the function of rebirth in four classes of unhappy planes of existence: the hell planes, the ghost-realm (of petas), the demon-world (asura-kāya) and the animal world.
Investigating-consciousness accompanied by indifferent feeling that is kusala vipāka, is the result of kusala kamma that is weak, and it can perform the function of rebirth in the human plane. In that case, akusala kamma has the opportunity to make that person suffer, and cause him to be handicapped from the time of his conception. He will be born mentally handicapped, mute, blind, cripple or with other kinds of weaknesses. It can also perform the function of rebirth in the lowest heavenly plane, the plane of the “Four Guardian Deities” (Cātummahārājika).
The eight types of mahā-vipākacittas can perform the function of rebirth in the human plane and in six classes of heavenly planes, and their different qualities depend on the strength and the degree of excellence of the kusala kammas that condition them.
The five types of rūpāvacara vipākacittas perform the function of rebirth in fifteen rūpa-brahma planes, and the different degrees of these kinds of rebirth depend on the rūpāvacara kusala citta that is the cause of them.
The four types of arūpāvacara vipākacittas perform the function of rebirth in four arūpa-brahma planes, and the different degrees of these kinds of rebirth depend on the arūpāvacara kusala citta that is the cause of them.
The eleven kinds of tadālambana-cittas, which perform the function of retention or registering and which follow upon the javana-cittas, do not arise in the rūpa-brahma planes and the arūpa-brahma planes.
There are two types of cittas performing five functions, which are the function of rebirth, bhavanga, santīraṇa, tadālambana and dying, namely: investigating-consciousness accompanied by indifferent feeling that is akusala vipāka and investigating-consciousness accompanied by indifferent feeling that is kusala vipāka.
The eight types of mahā-vipākacittas perform four functions, which are the function of rebirth, bhavanga, tadālambana and dying.
The five types of rūpāvacara vipākacittas perform three functions and the four types of arūpāvacara vipākacittas also perform three functions, which are the function of rebirth, of bhavanga and of dying.
There are two types of citta that can perform two functions, namely the mind-door adverting-consciousness and the investigating-consciousness accompanied by pleasant feeling.
All the other types of cittas perform only one function, their own proper function.
Questions
Of which jāti is registering-consciousness, tadārammaṇa-citta? By which kamma is it produced?
When does rūpa originating from kamma arise? And when does it not arise?
When does rūpa originating from citta arise? When does it not arise?
Which function is performed by akusala citta?
Of which jātis are the cittas performing the function of javana?
Can kusala citta and kiriyacitta perform the function of retention (tadārammaṇa)?
Which functions can be performed by investigating-consciousness accompanied by indifferent feeling?
Which functions can be performed by investigating-consciousness accompanied by pleasant feeling?
Of which jātis are the cittas of the arahat?
Of which jātis are the cittas of the non-arahat?
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