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Vijñāna also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

: विज्ञान) or viññāa (Pāli

Páli

- External links :* *...

; Devanagari

Devanagari

Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

: विञ्ञाण) is translated as "consciousness

Consciousness

Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...

," "life force," "mind," or "discernment."

In the Pali Canon

Pāli Canon

The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...

's Sutta Pitaka

Sutta Pitaka

The Sutta Pitaka is the second of the three divisions of the Tipitaka or Pali Canon, the Pali collection of Buddhist writings, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism...

's first four nikaya

Nikaya

Nikāya is a word of meaning "collection", "assemblage", "class" or "group" in both Pāḷi and Sanskrit. It is most commonly used in reference to the Buddhist texts of the Sutta Piṭaka, but can also refer to the monastic divisions of Theravāda Buddhism...

s, viññāa is one of three overlapping Pali terms used to refer to the mind, the others being manas
Manas (early Buddhism)
Manas is one of three overlapping terms used in the nikayas to refer to the mind, the others being citta and viññāṇa. Each is sometimes used in the generic and non-technical sense of "mind" in general, and the three are sometimes used in sequence to refer to one’s mental processes as a whole...

and citta
Citta
Citta was one of the chief lay disciples of the Buddha. He was a wealthy merchant from Savatthi. His life and character were so pure that near his death, had he wished to be a chakravartin, it would've been granted. However, he turned down this wish as it was temporal...

. 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. Their primary uses are, however, distinct.

Buddhism

This section considers the Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

concept primarily in terms of Early Buddhism

Early Buddhism

The term Early Buddhism can refer to:* Pre-sectarian Buddhism, which refers to the Teachings and monastic organization and structure, founded by Gautama Buddha....

's Pali literature

Pali literature

Pali literature is concerned mainly with Theravada Buddhism, of which Pali is the traditional language.- India :Main article: Pali CanonThe earliest and most important Pali literature constitutes the Pali Canon, the scriptures of Theravada...

as well as in the literature of other Buddhist schools

Schools of Buddhism

Buddhism is an ancient, polyvalent ideological system that originated in the Iron Age Indian subcontinent, referred to variously throughout history by one or more of a myriad of concepts – including, but not limited to any of the following: a Dharmic religion, a philosophy or quasi-philosophical...

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.
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

Pāli Canon

's "Discourse Basket" (Suttapitaka), viññāa (generally translated as "consciousness") is discussed in at least three related but different contexts:
as a derivative of the sense bases (āyatana), part of the experientially exhaustive "All" (sabba); as one of the five aggregates (khandha
Skandha
In Buddhist phenomenology and soteriology, the skandhas or khandhas are any of five types of phenomena that serve as objects of clinging and bases for a sense of self...

) of clinging (upadana
Upadana
Upādāna is a word used in both Buddhism and Hinduism.*In Buddhism, upādāna is a critical link in the arising of suffering.*In Hinduism, upādāna is the material manifestation of Brahman.-Buddhism:...

) at the root of suffering (dukkha
Dukkha
Dukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...

); and, as one of the twelve causes (nidana
Twelve Nidanas
The Twelve Nidānas are the best-known application of the Buddhist concept of pratītyasamutpāda , identifying the origins of dukkha to be in tanha and avijja...

) of "Dependent Origination" (paticcasamuppāda
Pratitya-samutpada
Dependent origination or dependent arising is a cardinal doctrine of Buddhism, and arguably the only thing that holds every Buddhist teaching together from Theravada to Dzogchen to the extinct schools. As a concept and a doctrine it has a general and a specific application, both being integral to...

) which provides a template for Buddhist notions of kamma

Karma in Buddhism

Karma means "action" or "doing"; whatever one does, says, or thinks is a karma. In Buddhism, the term karma is used specifically for those actions which spring from the intention of an unenlightened being.These bring about a fruit or result Karma (Sanskrit, also karman, Pāli: Kamma) means...

, rebirth

Rebirth (Buddhism)

Rebirth in Buddhism is the doctrine that the evolving consciousness or stream of consciousness upon death , becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new aggregation...

and release.
In the Pali Canon's Abhidhamma and in post-canonical Pali commentaries

Atthakatha

Atthakatha refers to Pali-language Theravadin Buddhist commentaries to the canonical Theravadin Tipitaka. These commentaries give the traditional interpretations of the scriptures. The major commentaries were based on earlier ones, now lost, in Old Sinhalese, which were written down at the same...

, consciousness (viññāa) is further analyzed into 89 different states which are categorized in accordance with their kammic

Karma

Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....

results.

Sense-base derivative

In Buddhism, the six sense bases

Sadayatana

' or ' means the six sense bases , that is, the sense organs and their objects. These are: is the fifth link in the Twelve Nidānas of Pratitya-Samutpada and thus likewise in the fifth position on the Bhavacakra...

(Pali: ; Skt.: ) refer to the five physical sense organs (cf. receptive field

Receptive field

The receptive field of a sensory neuron is a region of space in which the presence of a stimulus will alter the firing of that neuron. Receptive fields have been identified for neurons of the auditory system, the somatosensory system, and the visual system....

) (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.

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 or unpleasant or neutral "feeling

Vedana

Vedanā is a word in Sanskrit and Pāli traditionally translated as either "feeling" or "sensation." In general, vedanā refers to the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that occur when our internal sense organs come into contact with external sense objects and the associated...

" to arise. It is from such a feeling that "craving

Tanha

' or ' literally means "thirst," and is a synonym for "desire" or "craving," traditionally juxtaposed with upekkha .Synonyms:*愛 Cn: ài; Vi: ái...

" arises. (See Fig. 1.)

In a discourse entitled, "The All" (Sabba Sutta, SN

Samyutta Nikaya

The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...

35.23), the Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

states that there is no "all" outside of the six pairs of sense bases (that is, six internal and six external sense bases). 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). In the famed "Fire Sermon

Fire Sermon

The Ādittapariyāya Sutta or, more simply, Āditta Sutta is a discourse from the Pali Canon, popularly known as the Fire Sermon...

" (Ādittapariyāya Sutta, SN

Samyutta Nikaya

35.28) the Buddha declares that "the All is aflame" with passion, aversion, delusion and suffering (dukkha
Dukkha
Dukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...

); 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)
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

Skandha

In Buddhist phenomenology and soteriology, the skandhas or khandhas are any of five types of phenomena that serve as objects of clinging and bases for a sense of self...

" (Pali: khandha; Skt.: skandha). As illustrated (Fig. 2), the four other aggregates are material "form" (rupa
Rupa
In Hinduism and Buddhism, rūpa generally refers to material objects, particularly in regards to their appearance.-Definition:According to the Monier-Williams Dictionary , rūpa is defined as:...

), "feeling" or "sensation" (vedana
Vedana
Vedanā is a word in Sanskrit and Pāli traditionally translated as either "feeling" or "sensation." In general, vedanā refers to the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that occur when our internal sense organs come into contact with external sense objects and the associated...

), "perception" (sanna
Sanna
The Sanna is a tributary of the Vistula in Poland. Its source is in the village of Wierzchowiska II in Lublin Voivodeship, Galicia. It flows westward through a rural area. Then, it turns northward for a few kilometers until flowing into the Vistula near the city of Annopol. It is about 50 km...

), and "volitional formations" or "fabrications" (sankhara
Sankhara
' or ' is a term figuring prominently in the teaching of the Buddha. The word means "that which has been put together" and "that which puts together". In the first sense, refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental "dispositions"...

).

In SN

Samyutta Nikaya

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."

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."

Similarly, in the traditionally venerated 5^th c. CE commentary, the Visuddhimagga

Visuddhimagga

The Visuddhimagga , is the 'great treatise' on Theravada Buddhist doctrine written by Buddhaghosa approximately in 430 CE in Sri Lanka. A comprehensive manual condensing the theoretical and practical teaching of the Buddha, it is considered the most important Theravada text outside of the Tipitaka...

, there is an extended analogy about a child, an adult villager and an expert "money-changer" seeing a heap of coins; in this analogy, the child's experience is likened to perception, the villager's experience to consciousness, and the money-changer's experience to true understanding (paňňā
Prajña
Prajñā or paññā is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively experienced through meditation...

).
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); here, "consciousness" 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

Anatta

In Buddhism, anattā or anātman refers to the notion of "not-self." In the early texts, the Buddha commonly uses the word in the context of teaching that all things perceived by the senses are not really "I" or "mine," and for this reason one should not cling to them.In the same vein, the Pali...

; 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
Pratitya-samutpada
Dependent origination or dependent arising is a cardinal doctrine of Buddhism, and arguably the only thing that holds every Buddhist teaching together from Theravada to Dzogchen to the extinct schools. As a concept and a doctrine it has a general and a specific application, both being integral to...

) model, described more fully below.

Dependent origination

Consciousness (viññāa) is the third of the traditionally enumerated Twelve Causes

Twelve Nidanas

The Twelve Nidānas are the best-known application of the Buddhist concept of pratītyasamutpāda , identifying the origins of dukkha to be in tanha and avijja...

(nidāna) of Dependent Origination

Pratitya-samutpada

Dependent origination or dependent arising is a cardinal doctrine of Buddhism, and arguably the only thing that holds every Buddhist teaching together from Theravada to Dzogchen to the extinct schools. As a concept and a doctrine it has a general and a specific application, both being integral to...

(Pali: ; Skt.: pratītyasamutpāda). Within the context of Dependent Origination, different canonical discourses represent different aspects of consciousness. The following aspects are traditionally highlighted:

consciousness is conditioned by mental fabrications ();
consciousness and the mind-body (nāmarūpa
Namarupa
Nāmarūpa is a dvandva compound in Sanskrit and Pali meaning "name and form ".-Nāmarūpa in Hinduism:The term nāmarūpa is used in Hindu thought, nāma describing the spiritual or essential properties of an object or being, and rūpa the physical presence that it manifests...

) are interdependent; and,
consciousness acts as a "life force" by which there is a continuity across rebirths.

Mental-fabrication conditioning and kamma

Numerous discourses state:

"From fabrications [] as a requisite condition comes consciousness [viññāa]."

In three discourses in the Samyutta Nikaya

Samyutta Nikaya

, the Buddha highlights three particular manifestations of as particularly creating a "basis for the maintenance of consciousness" () that could lead to future existence, to the perpetuation of bodily and mental processes, and to craving and its resultant suffering. As stated in the common text below (in English and Pali), these three manifestation are intending, planning and enactments of latent tendencies ("obsessing")

... [W]hat one intends, and what one plans, and whatever one has a tendency towards:
this becomes a basis for the maintenance of consciousness.
When there is a basis there is a support for the establishing of consciousness.

Yañca ... ceteti, yañca pakappeti, yañca anuseti,

Thus, for instance, in the "Intention Discourse" (Cetanā Sutta, SN

Samyutta Nikaya

12.38), the Buddha more fully elaborates:

Bhikkhu

A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: ). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline...

s, what one intends, and what one plans, and whatever one has a tendency towards: this becomes a basis for the maintenance of consciousness. When there is a basis there is a support for the establishing of consciousness. When consciousness is established and has come to growth, there is the production of future renewed existence

Bhava

The term bhāva is often translated as feeling, emotion, mood, devotional state of mind. In Buddhist thought, bhāva denotes the continuity of life and death, including reincarnation, and the maturation arising therefrom...

. When there is the production of future renewed existence, future birth

Jati (Buddhism)

In Buddhism, Jāti refers to the arising of a new living entity in saṃsāra.-Truth of suffering:As with "Old Age & Death" , the Buddha includes "Birth" in the canonical description of "suffering" in the First Noble Truth:Elsewhere in the canon the Buddha further elaborates:The canon additionally...

, aging-and-death

Jaramarana

Jarāmaraa is Sanskrit and Pāli for "old age" and "death" . In Buddhism, jaramarana refers to the inevitable end-of-life suffering of all beings prior to their rebirth in the cycle of .Synonyms:...

, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair come to be. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering

Dukkha

Dukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...

The language of the post-canonical Samyutta Nikaya commentary

Atthakatha

and subcommentary

Subcommentaries, Theravada

The subcommentaries are commentaries on the commentaries on the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. They continue the commentaries' development of the traditional interpretation of the scriptures...

further affirm that this text is discussing the means by which "kammic consciousness" "yield[s] fruit in one's mental continuum." In other words, certain intentional or obsessive acts on one's part inherently establish in present consciousness a basis for future consciousness's existence; in this way, the future existence is conditioned by certain aspects of the initial intention, including its wholesome and unwholesome qualities.

Conversely, in the "Attached Discourse" (Upaya Sutta, SN

Samyutta Nikaya

22.53), it states that if passion for the five aggregates

Skandha

In Buddhist phenomenology and soteriology, the skandhas or khandhas are any of five types of phenomena that serve as objects of clinging and bases for a sense of self...

(forms and mental processes) are abandoned then:

"... owing to the abandonment of passion, the support is cut off, and there is no base for consciousness. Consciousness, thus unestablished, not proliferating, not performing any function, is released. Owing to its release, it is steady. Owing to its steadiness, it is contented. Owing to its contentment, it is not agitated. Not agitated, he (the monk) is totally unbound right within. He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'"

Mind-body interdependency

Numerous discourses state:

"From consciousness [viññāa] as a requisite condition comes name-&-form [nāmarūpa
Namarupa
Nāmarūpa is a dvandva compound in Sanskrit and Pali meaning "name and form ".-Nāmarūpa in Hinduism:The term nāmarūpa is used in Hindu thought, nāma describing the spiritual or essential properties of an object or being, and rūpa the physical presence that it manifests...

]."

In addition, a few discourses state that, simultaneously, the converse is true:

"Consciousness comes from name-and-form as its requisite condition."

In the "Sheaves of Reeds Discourse" (Nalakalapiyo Sutta, SN

Samyutta Nikaya

12.67), Ven. Sariputta uses this famous analogy to explain the interdependency of consciousness and name-&-form:

"It is as if two sheaves of reeds were to stand leaning against one another. In the same way, from name-&-form as a requisite condition comes consciousness, from consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form....

"If one were to pull away one of those sheaves of reeds, the other would fall; if one were to pull away the other, the first one would fall. In the same way, from the cessation of name-&-form comes the cessation of consciousness, from the cessation of consciousness comes the cessation of name-&-form...."

"Life force" aspect and rebirth

As described above in the discussion of mental fabrications' conditioning of consciousness, past intentional actions establish a kammic

Karma in Buddhism

seed within consciousness that expresses itself in the future. Through consciousness's "life force" aspect, these future expressions are not only within a single lifespan but propel kammic impulses (kammavega) across samsaric

Samsara

thumb|right|200px|Traditional Tibetan painting or [[Thanka]] showing the [[wheel of life]] and realms of saṃsāraSaṅsāra or Saṃsāra , , literally meaning "continuous flow", is the cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth or reincarnation within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, Sikhism, and other...

rebirth

Rebirth (Buddhism)

Rebirth in Buddhism is the doctrine that the evolving consciousness or stream of consciousness upon death , becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new aggregation...

s.

In the "Serene Faith Discourse" (Sampasadaniya Sutta, DN

Digha Nikaya

The Digha Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the first of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...

28), Ven. Sariputta references not a singular conscious entity but a "stream of consciousness" (viññāa-sota) that spans multiple lives:

"... [U]nsurpassed is the Blessed Lord's way of teaching Dhamma in regard to the attainment of vision.... Here, some ascetic or Brahmin, by means of ardour, endeavour, application, vigilence and due attention, reaches such a level of concentration that he ... comes to know the unbroken stream of human consciousness as established both in this world and in the next...."

The "Great Causes Discourse" (Mahanidana Sutta, DN

Digha Nikaya

15), in a dialogue between the Buddha and the Ven. Ananda

Ananda

Ānanda was one of the principal disciples and a devout attendant of the Buddha. Amongst the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda had the most retentive memory and most of the suttas in the Sutta Pitaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council...

, describes "consciousness" (viññāa) in a way that underlines its "life force" aspect:

"'From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-and-form.' Thus it has been said. And this is the way to understand how from consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-and-form. If consciousness were not to descend into the mother's womb, would name-and-form take shape in the womb?"

"No, lord."

"If, after descending into the womb, consciousness were to depart, would name-and-form be produced for this world?"

"No, lord."

"If the consciousness of the young boy or girl were to be cut off, would name-and-form ripen, grow, and reach maturity?"

"No, lord."

"Thus this is a cause, this is a reason, this is an origination, this is a requisite condition for name-and-form, i.e., consciousness."

Discourses such as this appear to describe a consciousness that is an animating phenomenon capable of spanning lives thus giving rise to rebirth.

An Anguttara Nikaya

Anguttara Nikaya

The Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...

discourse provides a memorable metaphor to describe the interplay of kamma, consciousness, craving and rebirth:

[Ananda:] "One speaks, Lord, of 'becoming, becoming'. How does becoming tak[e] place?"

[Buddha:] "... Ānanda, kamma is the field, consciousness the seed and craving the moisture for consciousness of beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving to become established in [one of the "three worlds"]. Thus, there is re-becoming in the future."

Abhidhammic analysis

The Patthana

Patthana

The Patthana is a Buddhist scripture, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism, where it is included in the Abhidhamma Pitaka.Translation: Conditional Relations, 1969- , in progress, 2 volumes so far tr U Narada, Pali Text Society, Bristol...

, part of the Theravadin

Theravada

Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...

Abhidharma

Abhidharma or Abhidhamma are ancient Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic and scientific reworkings of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist Sutras, according to schematic classifications...

, analyzes the different states of consciousness and their functions. The Theravāda school method is to study every state of consciousness. Using this method, some states of consciousness are identified as positive, some negative and some neutral. This analysis is based on the principle of karma

Karma

, the main point in understanding the different consciousness. All together according to the Abhidhamma, there are 89 kinds of consciousness, 54 are of the "sense sphere" (related to the five physical senses as well as craving for sensual pleasure), 15 of the "fine-material sphere" (related to the meditative absorptions based on material objects), 12 of the "immaterial sphere" (related to the immaterial meditative absorptions), and eight are supramundane (related to the realization of Nibbāna

Nirvana

Nirvāṇa ; ) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through moksha...

).

More specifically, a viññāa is a single moment of conceptual consciousness and normal mental activity is considered to consist of a continual succession of viññāas.

Viññāa has two components: the awareness itself, and the object of that awareness (which might be a perception, a feeling etc.). Thus, in this way, these viññāas are not considered as ultimate (underived) phenomena as they are based on mental factors (cetasika). For example, jhānic

Dhyāna in Buddhism

Dhyāna in Sanskrit or jhāna in Pāli can refer to either meditation or meditative states. Equivalent terms are "Chán" in modern Chinese, "Zen" in Japanese, "Seon" in Korean, "Thien" in Vietnamese, and "Samten" in Tibetan....

(meditative) states are described as based on the five ultimate mental factors of applied thought (vitakka
Vitakka
Vitakka or vitarka , both in Hinduist yoga and Buddhist meditation, means the action of taking care of any object...

), sustained thought (vicara
Vicara
Vicara means the way mind maintains attention toward any object. It first referred to pre-Hindu yoga, later in Buddhist meditation. It has been translated as "consideration," "deliberation," "examination," and "investigation."-In Buddhism:...

), rapture (piti
Piti
Pīti in Pali is a mental factor associated with the concentrative absorption of Buddhist meditation. Piti is a very specific joy associated with a state of deep tranquillity...

), serenity (sukha
Sukha
Sukha is a Sanskrit and Pāli word that is often translated as “happiness" or "ease" or "pleasure" or "bliss." In Buddhism's Pali literature, the term is used in the context of describing laic pursuits, meditative absorptions and intra-psychic phenomena....

) and one-pointedness (ekaggatā
Ekaggata
Ekaggatā is translated as either "one-pointedness" or "unification". This mental factor is one of the components in the jhānas.-See also:* Arupajhana* Buddhist meditation* Five Hindrances* Jhana* Samadhi...

).

Overlapping Pali terms for mind

According to Bhikkhu Bodhi

Bhikkhu Bodhi

Bhikkhu Bodhi , born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey area...

, the post-canonical Pali commentary

Atthakatha

uses the three terms viññāa, mano
Manas (early Buddhism)
Manas is one of three overlapping terms used in the nikayas to refer to the mind, the others being citta and viññāṇa. Each is sometimes used in the generic and non-technical sense of "mind" in general, and the three are sometimes used in sequence to refer to one’s mental processes as a whole...

and citta
Citta
Citta was one of the chief lay disciples of the Buddha. He was a wealthy merchant from Savatthi. His life and character were so pure that near his death, had he wished to be a chakravartin, it would've been granted. However, he turned down this wish as it was temporal...

as synonyms for the mind sense base (mana-ayatana); however, in the Sutta Pitaka

Sutta Pitaka

The Sutta Pitaka is the second of the three divisions of the Tipitaka or Pali Canon, the Pali collection of Buddhist writings, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism...

, these three terms are generally contextualized differently:

Viññāa refers to awareness through a specific internal sense base, that is, through the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind. Thus, there are six sense-specific types of Viññāa. It is also the basis for personal continuity within and across lives.
Manas
Manas (early Buddhism)
Manas is one of three overlapping terms used in the nikayas to refer to the mind, the others being citta and viññāṇa. Each is sometimes used in the generic and non-technical sense of "mind" in general, and the three are sometimes used in sequence to refer to one’s mental processes as a whole...

refers to mental "actions" (kamma), as opposed to those actions that are physical or verbal. It is also the sixth internal sense base (ayatana), that is, the "mind base," cognizing mental sensa (dhammā) as well as sensory information from the physical sense bases.
Citta
Citta
Citta was one of the chief lay disciples of the Buddha. He was a wealthy merchant from Savatthi. His life and character were so pure that near his death, had he wished to be a chakravartin, it would've been granted. However, he turned down this wish as it was temporal...

includes the formation of thought, emotion and volition; this is thus the subject of Buddhist mental development (bhava
Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation refers to the meditative practices associated with the religion and philosophy of Buddhism.Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation as part of...

), the mechanism for release.

The citta is called "luminous

Luminous mind

Luminous mind is a term attributed to the Buddha in the Nikayas...

" in A

Anguttara Nikaya

.I.8-10.

Across Buddhist schools

While most Buddhist schools identify six modes of consciousness, one for each sense base, some Buddhist schools have identified additional modes.

Six vijñānas

As described above, in reference to the "All" (sabba), the Sutta Pitaka

Sutta Pitaka

The Sutta Pitaka is the second of the three divisions of the Tipitaka or Pali Canon, the Pali collection of Buddhist writings, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism...

identifies six vijñānas related to the six sense bases:

Eye consciousness
Ear consciousness
Nose consciousness
Tongue consciousness
Body consciousness
Mind consciousness describe the consciousness of "ideas" - Buddhism describes not five but six perceptions.

Eight vijñānas

The Yogacara

Yogacara

Yogācāra is an influential school of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing phenomenology and ontology through the interior lens of meditative and yogic practices. It developed within Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism in about the 4th century CE...

/ Cittamatra school consider two more consciousness.

a consciousness called klistamanas, which gathers the hindrances, the poisons, the karmic formations.
the ālāyavijñāna is the consciousness "basis of everything" and has been translated as "store consciousness". Every consciousness is based on this one. It is the phenomenon which explains the rebirth
Rebirth (Buddhism)
Rebirth in Buddhism is the doctrine that the evolving consciousness or stream of consciousness upon death , becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new aggregation...

.

According to Walpola Rahula

Walpola Rahula

The venerable Prof Walpola Sri Rahula Maha Thera was a Buddhist monk, scholar and writer. He is considered to be one of the top Sri Lankan intellectuals of the 20th century. In 1964, he became the Professor of History and Religions at Northwestern University, thus becoming the first bhikkhu to...

, the "store consciousness" of Yogacara thought exists in the early texts as well, as the "citta."

Amalavijñāna

The amalavijñāna (阿摩羅識), is considered by some Yogācāra's schools as a ninth consciousness. It is the pure state associated with the nirvāna

Nirvana

. But some schools considers the amalavijñāna to be the pure aspect of the ālāyavijñāna.

Some buddhists also suggested hrdaya consciousnesses (一切一心識), or an eleven consciousnesses theory or an infinity consciousness (無量識).

Contemporary usages

Viññāna is used in Thai Buddhism to refer specifically to one's consciousness or life-force after it has left the body at the moment of death. Thais differentiate between winyaan and "jid-jai" (จิตใจ), which is the consciousness while it is still connected to a living body. Even though the jid-jai leaves the body while you dream at night and can also externalize during advanced meditation practice, it is still connected to the body.

Hinduism

Sri Ramakrishna

Ramakrishna

Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...

defines vijñāna as

"He alone who, after reaching the Nitya, the Absolute, can dwell in the Līlā, the :Relative, and again climb from the Līlā to the Nitya, has ripe knowledge and :devotion. Sages like Narada

Narada

Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Vaisnava tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana...

cherished love of God after attaining the Knowledge of :Brahman. This is called vijnāna." Also: "What is vijnana? It is to know God distinctly by realizing His existence through an intuitive experience and to speak to Him intimately."

Based on ancient texts, V.S.Apte (1890, rev. 1957-59) provides the following definition for vijñānam (विज्ञानम्):

Knowledge, wisdom, intelligence, understanding; यज्जीव्यते क्षणमपि प्रथितं मनुष्यैर्विज्ञानशौर्यविभवार्यगुणैः समेतम् । तन्नाम जीवितमिह ... Panchatantra
Panchatantra
The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian inter-related collection of animal fables in verse and prose, in a frame story format. The original Sanskrit work, which some scholars believe was composed in the 3rd century BCE, is attributed to Vishnu Sharma...

(Pt.) 1.24;5.3; विज्ञानमयः कोशः 'the sheath of intelligence' (the first of the five sheaths of the soul).
Discrimination, discernment.
Skill, proficiency; प्रयोगविज्ञानम् - Shringara Tilaka (Ś.) 1.2.
Worldly or profane knowledge, knowledge derived from worldly experience (opp. ज्ञान which is 'knowledge of Brahma or Supreme Spirit'); ज्ञानं ते$हं सविज्ञानमिदं वक्ष्याम्यशेषत - Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...

(Bg.) 7.2;3.41;6.8; (the whole of the 7th Adhyāya of Bg. explains ज्ञान and विज्ञान).
Business, employment.
Music.
Knowledge of the fourteen lores.
The organ of knowledge; पञ्चविज्ञानचेतने (शरीरे) - Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

(Mb.) 12.187. 12.
Knowledge beyond the cognisance of the senses (अतीन्द्रियविषय)

In addition, Monier Williams (1899; rev. 2008) provides the following definition:

to distinguish, discern, observe, investigate, recognize ascertain, know, understand - Rig Veda (RV.), etc., etc. (with na and inf.: 'to know not how to');
to have right knowledge - Katha Upanishad
Katha Upanishad
The Katha Upanishad , also titled "Death as Teacher", is one of the mukhya Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. It is associated with the school of the Black Yajurveda, and is grouped with the Sutra period of Vedic Sanskrit. It is a middle Upanishad...

(KaṭhUp.)
to become wise or learned - Mn. iv, 20;
to hear or learn from (gen.) - Chandogya Upanishad
Chandogya Upanishad
The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the "primary" Upanishads. Together with the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it ranks among the oldest Upanishads, dating to the Vedic Brahmana period....

(ChUp.); Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

(MBh.);
to recognize in (loc.) - Panchatantra
Panchatantra
The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian inter-related collection of animal fables in verse and prose, in a frame story format. The original Sanskrit work, which some scholars believe was composed in the 3rd century BCE, is attributed to Vishnu Sharma...

(Pañcat.);
to look upon or regard or consider as (two acc.), Mn.; MBh., etc.; Kāv., etc.;
to explain, declare - BhP.

Sources

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Bodhi, Bhikkhu
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Bhikkhu Bodhi , born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey area...

(ed.) (2000a). A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Ācariya Anuruddha. Seattle, WA: BPS
Buddhist Publication Society
The Buddhist Publication Society is a charity whose goal is to explain and spread the doctrine of the Buddha. It was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan Buddhist laymen, A.S. Karunaratna and Richard Abeyasekera, and a European-born Buddhist monk, Nyanaponika Thera...

Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-02-9.
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. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
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Buddhaghosa
Buddhaghosa
Bhadantācariya Buddhaghoṣa（Chinese: 覺音）was a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, a comprehensive summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddha's path to liberation...

, Bhadantācariya (trans. from Pāli by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli) (1999). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga
Visuddhimagga
The Visuddhimagga , is the 'great treatise' on Theravada Buddhist doctrine written by Buddhaghosa approximately in 430 CE in Sri Lanka. A comprehensive manual condensing the theoretical and practical teaching of the Buddha, it is considered the most important Theravada text outside of the Tipitaka...

. Seattle, WA: BPS
Buddhist Publication Society
The Buddhist Publication Society is a charity whose goal is to explain and spread the doctrine of the Buddha. It was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan Buddhist laymen, A.S. Karunaratna and Richard Abeyasekera, and a European-born Buddhist monk, Nyanaponika Thera...

Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.
La Trobe University
La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a multi-campus university in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1964 by an Act of Parliament to become the third oldest university in the state of Victoria. The main campus of La Trobe is located in the Melbourne suburb of Bundoora; two other major campuses are...

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Monier-Williams, Monier
Monier Monier-Williams
Sir Monier Monier-Williams, KCIE was the second Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, England...

(1899; rev. 2008). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press. A general on-line search engine for this dictionary is available from "U. Cologne" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/index.html.
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The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna translated by Swami Nikhilananda is an English translation of the Bengali religious text Sri Sri Rāmakrishna Kathāmrita...

(Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center)
Nyanaponika Thera
Nyanaponika Thera
Nyanaponika Thera or Nyaniponika Mahathera was a German-born Sri-Lanka-ordained Theravada monk, co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society, contemporary author of numerous seminal Theravada books, and teacher of contemporary Western Buddhist leaders such as Bhikkhu Bodhi.-Chronology:*1901: born...

& Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.) (1999). Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An anthology of Suttas from the Nikāya. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. ISBN 0-7425-0405-0.
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Pali Text Society
The Pali Text Society was founded in 1881 by T.W. Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pali texts".Pali is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism is preserved...

. A general on-line search engine for the PED is available at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, also known as Ajaan Geoff, is an American Buddhist monk of the Dhammayut Order , Thai forest kammatthana tradition. He is currently the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu is a notably skilled and prolific translator of the Pāli Canon...

(trans.) (1993). Adittapariyaya Sutta: The Fire Sermon (SN
Samyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...

35.28). Retrieved 2007-11-22 from "Access to Insight".
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Samyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...

12.38). Retrieved 2007-11-02 from "Access to Insight".
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Digha Nikaya
The Digha Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the first of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...

15). Retrieved 2007-11-02 from "Access to Insight".
Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997b). Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising (SN
Samyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...

12.2). Retrieved 2007-11-02 from "Access to Insight".
Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997c). Upaya Sutta: Attached (SN
Samyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...

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Majjhima Nikaya
The Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...

148). Retrieved 2007-06-17 from "Access to Insight".
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Samyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...

12.67). Retrieved 2007-11-02 from "Access to Insight".
Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2001a). Khajjaniya Sutta: Chewed Up (SN
Samyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...

22.79). Retrieved 2007-06-17 from "Access to Insight".
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Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2001c). Sabba Sutta: The All (SN
Samyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...

35.23). Retrieved 2007-06-17 from "Access to Insight".
Walshe, Maurice (trans.) (1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.

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