Consciousness in Buddhist Philosophy (original) (raw)

2019, Evotos Lonard University

Abstract : Existing in a way is consciousness. In the absence of consciousness no ‘being’ exists in the sentient world. Without consciousness, life ceases to exist. In the eastern religious philosophy consciousness is one of the most inevitable part of discussion which leads to total awareness of awakening or enlightenment. In the Pali Canonical Texts (Tipitaka) of Buddhism consciousness is referred as Vinnana, Manas and Citta which are translated as “life-force”, “mind” and “discernment”. In the first four Nikayas of the Sutta –Pitaka Vinnana is one of the three overlapping Pali terms used to refer to mind. The others are 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 process as a whole. Their primary uses are however distinct. Consciousness is one of the twelve links in the Theory of Causation or the formula of Dependant Origination (paticcasamuppada) is an application of the casual relativity to suffering and repeated existence in the cycle of births and deaths. Dependant on the rebirth-producing volitional formations (belonging to previous births) arises consciousness (re-linking or rebirth consciousness). In other words dependant on the kamma or good and evil actions of the past, is conditioned the conscious life in this present birth. Consciousness therefore is the first factor or first of the conditioning links belonging to the present existence. Ignorance and volitional formations belonging to the past together produce consciousness in this birth. Consciousness is re-linking, re-uniting, re-joining vital force of re-birth, reentry into the womb. Dependant on consciousness there arises mentality –materiality (nama-rupa) or full form of body and mind. Here consciousness plays as re-generating force of a new life. Mentality stands for mental states (cetasika) in other words the three mental groups, namely feeling (vedana) perception (sanna), volitional or mental formation or disposition (sankhara) and materiality here stands for our physical body. The so called “being” (satta) is nothing but the composed of five aggregates or group (pancakkhandha). If consciousness is taken as the mind then feeling, perception and volitional formations are the concomitants or factors of that mind. Hence consciousness is one of the inter-related chain of five-aggregates. Consciousness again classified when mental functions take place in accordance with the sense faculties. There are six kinds of consciousness by way of their relationship to sense-faculties: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness. Very many functions of the mind are recorded in the canon revealing its nature and function in different contexts. According to the foregoing definitions of the multi-faceted nature and function o f mind, it is quite clear that Buddhism recognizes three functions of it: 1. Affective 2.Conative 3.cogntive