DESCRIPTION
The third foundation of mindfulness is ‘mind’ (citta). In particular mental ‘habits’ (citta saṃskāra), which are defined as aspects of the mind that apprehend the qualities of objects, and that have the ability to color the mind.
In the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (“Foundations of Mindfulness”) MN #10, the Buddha gives thirteen different states of mind to consider:
- Desirous
- Hateful
- Delusion
- Contracted
- Distracted
- Expansive (mahaggata)
- Unexpansive
- Surpassed
- Unsurpassed (anuttarā)
- Concentrated (samāhṛta)
- Unconcentrated
- Liberated (vimukti)
- Unliberated
The total number of mental factors varies in different Sarvastivada Buddhist works. The Abhidharmakośa lists 42 mental factors which include:
🔟 Ten factors arising with every mind (mahābhūmika)
- Vedanā – feeling
- Saṃjñā – perception
- Cetanā – volition
- Sparśa – contact
- Chanda – desire (to act)
- Prajñā – wisdom
- Smṛti – mindfulness
- Manasikāra – attention
- Adhimokṣa – decision
- Samādhi – mental concentration. it also called Ekaggata, one-pointedness
🔟 Ten factors arising with every good mind (kuśalamahābhūmikā)
- Śraddhā – faith
- Vīrya – energy
- Hrī – shame at doing evil
- Apatrāpya – decorum, regard for consequence
- Alobha – non-attachment
- Adveṣa – non-aggression
- Praśrabdhi – calmness
- Upekṣā – equanimity
- Appamāda – conscientiousness
- Ahiṃsā – non-injuriousness
6️⃣ Six factors arising with every defiled mind (kleśamahābhūmika)
- Moha – delusion
- Pramāda – heedlessness, carelessness, unconcern
- Kauśīdya – laziness, slothfulness
- Āśraddhya – lack of faith, lack of trust
- Styāna – lethargy, gloominess
- Auddhatya – excitement, ebullience
2️⃣ Two factors arising with every bad mind (akusalamahābhūmika)
- Āhrīkya - shamelessness
- Anapatrapya - disregard
🔟 Ten factors arising with defiled mind to a limited extent (parittaklesabhūmika)
- Krodha - anger
- Mrakśa - hypocrisy
- Mātsarya - selfishness
- Īrṣyā - envy
- Pradāśa - spite
- Vihiṃsā - violence
- Upanāha - vengefulness
- Śāṭhya - craftiness
- Māyā - deceit
- Mada - pride
4️⃣ Four indeterminate factors (aniyatabhūmika)
These factors can be associated with good, bad or neutral mind.
- kaukritya - regret
- Middha - sleepiness
- Vitarka - initial thought
- Vicāra - sustained thought