You may know that Buddhism is divided into three baskets (Piṭakas): Suttas, Abhidhamma, and Vinaya. Of these, the Abhidhamma Piṭaka fully describes Buddhist psychology. This article is not intended to be a deep study of Abhidhamma, but rather to study a few points related to the psychological nature of Buddhism.

Buddhism is a religion that gives priority to the mind. Understanding the relationship between the Buddhist path of liberation and the mind will make it clearer. The ultimate result that Buddhists hope for, Nibbāna, can be achieved not through the intervention of another god or Brahman, but by the individual removing the defilements operating in his own mind and developing the mind. Nibbāna is the ultimate purity of the mind. Buddhahood or Arahantship arises and exists in the human mind. Therefore, it is not surprising to say that Buddhism, which shows the way to develop the human mind to the maximum state, is a complete psychology. Let us first try to understand what the mind is like as described in Buddhism, which gives priority to mental purity.

In Buddhist literature, the words mano, viññāna, and chitta are often used interchangeably for the same dhamma. First, let us examine the meanings of these three words. Buddhism speaks of six senses: cakkhu, sotha, ghana, jivhā, kāya, and mano (the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind). Here, the mind is introduced as a sense organ like the eye or ear. However, since the mind is not such a physical organ, it seems that the process of contemplating and thinking with the mind itself is considered as a sense organ.

Consciousness generally means the recognition of objects through the senses. It is very similar to the meaning given by the words cognition and perception in psychology. However, in the Paṭicca Samuppāda, consciousness is shown as the mind that causes the creation of the complete existence (Viññāṇa Paccayā Nāma Rūpaṃ). "That which thinks or knows objects in form is called Chitta." This is one way of defining the mind. Another explanation is that the mind is called chitta because it has a vivid nature. The world is vivid with various objects, and the mind that is capable of thinking about those various objects is also vivid.

Of the three concepts that are linked together - mind, consciousness, and chitta - the one most closely associated with the Buddhist path to liberation is chitta, or mind. Therefore, let us explore chitta, or mind, further. The entire Abhidhamma Piṭaka is devoted to an analysis of the mind. In the Abhidhamma, four ultimate dhammas are mentioned, namely chitta, cetasika, rūpa, and nibbāna. In this, chitta means mind. Cetasika means the mental factors of the mind. Rūpa means the material form of the mind.

Nibbāna is the cessation of the mind. Mind is an action. An event. Moment by moment, minds arise and disappear. When one mind ceases, another mind emerges, absorbing its essence. A thought is such a chain of minds. A generation of thoughts is a continuum of minds. Saṃsāra is a generation of thoughts that continues from one existence to another. The mind also has the characteristics of generations. Every thought we have today is the legacy of previous thoughts. Similarly, just as something is nourished or corrupted from one generation to the next, thoughts also grow or become corrupted and continue to arise. A nourished mind is considered 'kusala' and a corrupted mind is considered 'akusala'. It is difficult to find the root of a generation of minds. Buddhas appear in the world not to find the beginning of these generations of minds, but to end those generations of minds and guide them to Nibbāna. The mind can be stilled by eliminating the cause that sustains the mind. The Four Noble Truths discovered by the Buddha are also four fundamental principles of the mind.

It is clear that these four noble truths of suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path to the cessation of suffering correspond to the four factors of mind, the cause of mind, the permanent cessation of mind, and the path to the permanent cessation of mind. The permanent cessation of mind occurs only after the passing away of the noble ones who have realized Nibbāna. The Buddha became omniscient by knowing everything there is to know about the mind. Let us look at another way of analyzing the mind. According to Buddhism, the person is the sum of the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. Sometimes the person is also divided into two parts, namely, name (nāma) and form (Rūpa). All four of the above-mentioned categories of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are included in name. In very simple terms, form means the body with its senses.

Next Part - The physical basis of the mind

Sources - Insights drawn from classical Buddhist texts along with various Buddhist books and articles.