वीथिचित्त
Vīthicitta
Cognitive process / Mind-door process
路心
Grammar 語法
compound: vīthi (path/road — feminine noun) + citta (mind) — 'mind on the path [of cognition]'
Definition 釋義
The cognitive process — the sequence of consciousness moments that arise when a sense object is cognised. The Abhidhamma describes this as a series of distinct cittas: (1) bhavaṅga (life-continuum resting state), (2) bhavaṅga-calana (vibration), (3) bhavaṅga-upaccheda (arrest of bhavaṅga), (4) pañcadvārāvajjana (five-door adverting — for sense doors) or manodvārāvajjana (mind-door adverting), (5) pañca-viññāṇa (sense consciousness — for sense doors), (6) sampaṭicchana (receiving), (7) santīraṇa (investigating), (8) voṭṭhapana (determining), (9–15) javana × 7, (16–17) tadārammaṇa (registration). Understanding vīthicitta reveals why the mind seems continuous but is actually a rapid succession of discrete moments.
Canonical Example 典籍例句
Vīthicittāni atthāraseva — ekūnavīsati vā.
The cognitive-process cittas are eighteen — or nineteen.
Source: Abhidhammatthasaṅgaha (Anuruddha), Ch. 4
At a Glance
- Pali
- Vīthicitta
- IAST
- Vīthicitta
- Devanagari
- वीथिचित्त
- Chinese
- 路心
- Difficulty
- advanced
Related Words
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