Madutā (Pali) is a
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
term translated as "malleability", and it is the basis for the following pair of
mental factors within the Theravada Abhidharma teachings:
* ''Kāyamadutā'' - malleability of mental body (or pliancy of cetisakas)
* ''Cittamadutā'' - malleability of consciousness (or pliancy of citta)
These two mental factors have the characteristic of the subsiding of rigidity (''thambha'') in the mental body and consciousness, respectively.
Definition
Bhikkhu Bodhi states:
:The twofold malleability has the characteristic of the subsiding of rigidity (''thambha'') in the mental body and consciousness, respectively. Its function is to crush rigidity. It is manifested as non-resistance, and its proximate cause is the mental body and consciousness. It should be regarded as opposed to such defilements as wrong views and conceit, which create rigidity.
Nina van Gorkom explains:
:According to the ''Dhammasangani'' (par 44, 45) this pair of cetasikas consist in suavity, smoothness and absence of rigidity.
The ''
Atthasālinī
Atthasālinī (Pali) is a Buddhist text composed by Buddhaghosa in the Theravada Abhidharma tradition. The title has been translated as "The Expositor"van Gorkom (2009)Preface or "Providing the Meaning". In the ''Atthasālinī'', Buddhaghosa expla ...
'' (I, Book I, Part IV, Chapter I, 130) states:
: They have the characteristic of suppressing the rigidity of mental factors and of consciousness; the function of crushing the same in both; the manifestation or effect of setting up no resistance; and have mental factors and consciousness as proximate cause. They are the opponents of the corruptions, such as opinionatedness (''diṭṭhi'') and conceit which cause mental rigidity.
See also
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Mental factors (Buddhism)
Mental factors ( sa, चैतसिक, caitasika or ''chitta samskara'' ; pi, cetasika; Tibetan: སེམས་བྱུང ''sems byung''), in Buddhism, are identified within the teachings of the Abhidhamma (Buddhist psychology). They are d ...
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Samadhi (Buddhism)
''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...
References
Sources
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{{Buddhism topics
Buddhist meditation
Wholesome factors in Buddhism
Pali words and phrases