Mindstream

Buddhist concept of continuity of mind Mindstream (Pali: citta-santāna, Sanskrit: citta-saṃtāna, Tibetan: sems-rgyud, Ch: xin xiangxu 心相續) in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment continuum of sense impressions and mental phenomena (citta), which is also described as continuing from one life to another. Often described as a "stream of mind" or "mental continuum," the mindstream is not a static entity but a dynamic flow of arising and passing mental phenomena, which refers as a string of passing moments that happen either in the same lifetime or in the transitional period between one life and another. Definition Citta-saṃtāna (Sanskrit), literally "the stream of mind", is the continuum, succession, or flow of succeeding moments of mind or awareness. Similarly, the mindstream is the ongoing flow of conscious experience, even though each individual moment of consciousness ceases as the next arises. It provides a continuity of mentation 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 Waldr