“Luminous, bhikkhus, is this mind, but it is defiled by visiting defilements.” (AN 1:49)“Luminous, bhikkhus, is this mind, and it is freed from visiting defilements.” (AN 1:50)
These
two
related suttas and
their terse and almost
cryptic
description of the mind have
fascinated, intrigued, and
confounded many
teachers and students of
Buddha-Dhamma for a long
time. The
Commentary identified
this luminous mind with the bhavaṅga-citta, the
life-continuum consciousness.
But, probably because of the suttas' laconic, cryptic,
riddle-like, and almost poetic
description of the mind,
many have simply refused to accept the Commentary’s assertion that
this luminous mind is
something as simple,
unimaginative, and
uninspiring as the
unassuming bhavaṅga-citta.
After all, bhavaṅga-citta
is often associated with the
state of mind when one is asleep.
So how can it be described as luminous?
And so many
have worked to come up with
what they think or feel
would be a more satisfying
and inspiring explanation
as to
what this luminous mind is.
To
begin with, some take the expression āgantukehi
upakkilesehi
(which we rendered “visiting defilements”) literally to mean that
these defilements are adventitious to the mind, something coming from
the outside, an
alien, a stranger
that
are not intrinsic to the nature of the mind and
are therefore not an
integral
part
of the
mind.
They
are something
which
the mind can do without, and which can be put away by means of the
practice of Dhamma, leaving
the mind in an
unadulterated luminous form. While we agree that the practice of the Dhamma can help to restrain the defilements and purify the mind from them, but to say that these defilements, when they arise in the mind, are not intrinsic to the nature of the mind and do not form an integral part of the mind, ignores
the fact that the mind or consciousness (citta) always
arise with their associated mental-factors (cetasikas) as an integral
and
inseparable part
of every
moment
of conscious
experience. And
the defilements are some of these mental-factors that may
arise
in conjunction with consciousness.
For any particular moment of conscious experience, the consciousness present and mental-factors that arise in association with it are determined by the particular conditions surrounding that moment of experience. So if the conditions present (both external conditions, e.g. the object, the people present, the environment, etc., and internal conditions, e.g. perception of the object, presence or absence of mindfulness, one’s general mood, etc.) are conducive to bringing about wholesome response to the object arising in that moment, then wholesome consciousness associated with beautiful (sobhaṇa) mental-factors arise. On the other hand if they are conducive to arousing unwholesome response, then unwholesome consciousness associated with unwholesome mental-factors – the defilements – arise. Regardless of the response, the consciousness and mental-factors, beautiful or unwholesome, that arise as a result of those conditions, are all integral to that experience in that moment. For they each plays a part in contributing to the overall experience of the object in that moment. It also cannot be said that for dhammas (natural phenomena or realities, including consciousness and their associated mental-factors) involved in one moment of experience of an object, dhammas that are brought about by the same set of conditions, some are integral to that experience while others are not-integral. If one is integral the others must also necessarily be integral. If one is not integral then the others must also necessarily be not integral. Otherwise it would be like saying that for children born of the same parent, some of these children are integral to the family while others are not. Therefore both consciousness and its associated mental-factors, being brought about by the same set of conditions in one moment of experience, must necessarily be integral to the experience in that moment.
In truth defilements do not come into the mind from outside. Nor are they a stranger or alien to the mind – they are something very familiar to the mind of a puthujjana (an ordinary worldling). Rather the defilements are latent (anusaya) in the stream of mental continuity (i.e. the stream of consciousness with their associated mental-factors, arising and passing away together in moment after moment of sense-experience in a continuous flow), existing as a tendency or potential which, when suitable conditions are present, will seize upon that opportunity and cause the defilements to appear concretely in the mind.
For any particular moment of conscious experience, the consciousness present and mental-factors that arise in association with it are determined by the particular conditions surrounding that moment of experience. So if the conditions present (both external conditions, e.g. the object, the people present, the environment, etc., and internal conditions, e.g. perception of the object, presence or absence of mindfulness, one’s general mood, etc.) are conducive to bringing about wholesome response to the object arising in that moment, then wholesome consciousness associated with beautiful (sobhaṇa) mental-factors arise. On the other hand if they are conducive to arousing unwholesome response, then unwholesome consciousness associated with unwholesome mental-factors – the defilements – arise. Regardless of the response, the consciousness and mental-factors, beautiful or unwholesome, that arise as a result of those conditions, are all integral to that experience in that moment. For they each plays a part in contributing to the overall experience of the object in that moment. It also cannot be said that for dhammas (natural phenomena or realities, including consciousness and their associated mental-factors) involved in one moment of experience of an object, dhammas that are brought about by the same set of conditions, some are integral to that experience while others are not-integral. If one is integral the others must also necessarily be integral. If one is not integral then the others must also necessarily be not integral. Otherwise it would be like saying that for children born of the same parent, some of these children are integral to the family while others are not. Therefore both consciousness and its associated mental-factors, being brought about by the same set of conditions in one moment of experience, must necessarily be integral to the experience in that moment.
In truth defilements do not come into the mind from outside. Nor are they a stranger or alien to the mind – they are something very familiar to the mind of a puthujjana (an ordinary worldling). Rather the defilements are latent (anusaya) in the stream of mental continuity (i.e. the stream of consciousness with their associated mental-factors, arising and passing away together in moment after moment of sense-experience in a continuous flow), existing as a tendency or potential which, when suitable conditions are present, will seize upon that opportunity and cause the defilements to appear concretely in the mind.
