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Mindstream (''citta-santāna'') in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment continuum (Sanskrit: ''saṃtāna'') of sense impressions and mental phenomena, which is also described as continuing from one life to another.


Definition

' (Sanskrit), literally "the stream of mind", is the stream of succeeding moments of mind or awareness. It provides a continuity of the personality in the absence of a permanently abiding "self" ( ātman), which Buddhism denies. The mindstream provides a continuity from one life to another, akin to the flame of a candle which may be passed from one candle to another: William Waldron writes that "Indian Buddhists see the 'evolution' of mind i terms of the continuity of individual mind-streams from one lifetime to the next, with
karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...
as the basic causal mechanism whereby transformations are transmitted from one life to the next." According to Waldron, " e mind stream (''santāna'') increases gradually by the mental afflictions (''kleśa'') and by actions (''karma''), and goes again to the next world. In this way the circle of existence is without beginning." The
vāsanā Vāsanā (Sanskrit; Devanagari: वासना) is a behavioural tendency or karmic imprint which influences the present behaviour of a person. It is a technical term in Indian philosophy, particularly Yoga, as well as Buddhist philosophy and Advai ...
s "karmic imprints" provide the karmic continuity between lives and between moments. According to Lusthaus, these vāsanās determine how one "actually sees and experiences the world in certain ways, and one actually becomes a certain type of person, embodying certain theories which immediately shape the manner in which we experience."


Etymology


Sanskrit

''Citta'' mean "that which is conscious". ''Citta'' has two aspects: "...Its two aspects are attending to and collecting of impressions or traces (Sanskrit: ''
vāsanā Vāsanā (Sanskrit; Devanagari: वासना) is a behavioural tendency or karmic imprint which influences the present behaviour of a person. It is a technical term in Indian philosophy, particularly Yoga, as well as Buddhist philosophy and Advai ...
'') cf. '' vijñāna''." ' or ''santāna'' (Sanskrit) means "eternal", "continuum", "a series of momentary events" or "life-stream".


Tibetan

''Citta'' is often rendered as ''sems'' in Tibetan and saṃtāna corresponds to ''rgyud''. is therefore rendered ''sems rgyud.'' ''Rgyud'' is the term that Tibetan translators (Tibetan: ''lotsawa'') employed to render the Sanskrit term "'' tantra''". ''Thugs-rgyud'' is a synonym for ''sems rgyud''.


Chinese, Korean and Japanese

The Chinese equivalent of Sanskrit ''citta-saṃtāna'' and Tibetan ''sems-kyi rgyud'' ("mindstream") is ''xin xiangxu'' (). According to the ''
Digital Dictionary of Buddhism The project of the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (usually referred to by the acronym DDB) was initiated by Charles Muller, a specialist in East Asian Buddhism, during his first year of graduate school when he realized the dearth of lexicographi ...
'', ''xīn xiāngxù'' means "continuance of the mental stream" (from Sanskrit ''citta-saṃtāna'' or ''citta-saṃtati''), contrasted with ''wú xiàngxù'' 無相續 "no continuity of the mental stream" (from ''asaṃtāna'' or ''asaṃdhi'') and ''shì xiāngxù'' 識相續 " stream of consciousness" (from ''vijñāna-saṃtāna''). This compound combines ''xin'' "heart; mind; thought; conscience; core" and ''xiangxu'' "succeed each other", with ''xiang'' "form, appearance, countenance, phenomenon" and ''xu'' or "continue; carry on; succeed". Thus it means "the continuum of mind and phenomena". ''Xin xiangxu'' is pronounced ''sim sangsok'' in Korean and ''shin sōzoku'' in Japanese.


Origins and development

The notion of ''citta-santāna'' developed in later Yogacara-thought, where ''citta-santāna'' replaced the notion of
ālayavijñāna The Eight Consciousnesses (Skt. ''aṣṭa vijñānakāyāḥ'') is a classification developed in the tradition of the Yogācāra school of Mahayana Buddhism. They enumerate the five sense consciousnesses, supplemented by the mental consciousne ...
, the store-house consciousness in which the karmic seeds were stored. It is not a "permanent, unchanging, transmigrating entity", like the atman, but a series of momentary consciousnesses. Lusthaus describes the development and doctrinal relationships of the store consciousness (''ālaya-vijñāna'') and
Buddha nature Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gone ...
(''tathāgatagarbha'') in Yogācāra. To avoid reification of the ''ālaya-vijñāna'', Dharmakīrti (fl. 7th century) wrote a treatise on the nature of the mind stream in his ''Substantiation of Other mind streams'' (''Saṃtãnãntarasiddhi''). According to Dharmakirti the mind stream was beginningless temporal sequence. The notion of mind stream was further developed in
Vajrayāna Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
(tantric Buddhism), where "mind stream" (''sems-rgyud'') may be understood as a stream of succeeding moments, within a lifetime, but also in-between lifetimes. The 14th Dalai Lama holds it to be a continuum of consciousness, extending over succeeding lifetimes, though without a self or soul.


See also

*
Luminous mind Luminous mind ( Skt: or , Pali: ; Tib: ; Ch: ; Jpn: ; Kor: ) is a Buddhist term which appears only rarely in the Pali Canon, but is common in the Mahayana sūtras and central to the Buddhist tantras. It is variously translated as "bright ...
* Metempsychosis *
Personal identity Personal identity is the unique numerical identity of a person over time. Discussions regarding personal identity typically aim to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions under which a person at one time and a person at another time ca ...
*
Reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...
* Saṃsāra *
Subtle body A subtle body is a "quasi material" aspect of the human body, being neither solely physical nor solely spiritual, according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. This contrasts with the mind–body dualism that has dominated We ...
*
Svabhava Svabhava ( sa, स्वभाव, svabhāva; pi, सभाव, sabhāva; ; ) literally means "own-being" or "own-becoming". It is the intrinsic nature, essential nature or essence of beings. The concept and term ''svabhāva'' are frequently enco ...
*
Trikaya The Trikāya doctrine ( sa, त्रिकाय, lit. "three bodies"; , ) is a Mahayana Buddhist teaching on both the nature of reality and the nature of Buddhahood. The doctrine says that Buddha has three ''kāyas'' or ''bodies'', the ''Dharm ...


Notes


References


Citations


Works cited

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Further reading

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External links


Rebirth: what happens to the body and mind at death?
a talk by
Thubten Chodron Thubten Chodron ( — De Lin), born Cheryl Greene, is an American Tibetan Buddhist nun, author, teacher, and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, the only Tibetan Buddhist training monastery for Western nuns and monks in the United States. C ...

Reincarnation
a talk by
14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...
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