Dhamma and Science > Origin of Life > Views on Life > Worldview of the Buddha > Contact Between Āyatana Leads to Vipāka Viññāṇa

September 2, 2019; revised November 14, 2019; January 15, 2021 (#8); October 9, 2022

Introduction

1. Vipāka viññāṇa arise due to kamma vipāka. In the previous post, we introduced the concept that our sensory experiences occur due to six internal rūpā and six external rūpā.

▪Those six types of internal types of rūpā are “internal āyatana.” In mundane terms, those are our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

▪With those, we experience sights, sounds, smells, tastes, body touches, and dhammā (memories, concepts, and hopes). Those rūpā are external to us and “external āyatana.”

▪You may wish to review the previous post, “Buddhist Worldview – Introduction.”

Awareness of Living Things and Living Beings

2. When we look at a tree, for example, that is contact between our internal āyatana (eyes or, more correctly cakkhu pasāda rūpa) and external āyatana (tree in this case). That leads to a mental phenomenon called consciousness (in this case, cakkhu viññāṇa). It just means we are “aware of that tree.”

▪Humans and animals generate such “awareness” or consciousness when seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting external rūpā.

▪However, we know that plants and trees also seem aware of the external world and can even respond in some cases. For example, a plant or a tree can “turn” towards sunlight. Their roots grow towards water sources, away from dry soil, etc.

3. There are a couple of “mental factors” (or cetasika) that are not exclusively “mental.” They can arise even without a mind. Those two are vedanā and saññā.

▪Vedanā comes from (“ve” + “danā”) which means “වීම දැනවීම”(vīma dænavīma meaning “being aware”) in Sinhala. That means to “become aware of something.” When we make contact with an “external āyatana” via our six senses, we become aware of that external rūpā; that is vedanā. See, “Vedanā (Feelings).”

▪At the fundamental level, Saññā means “recognition” of an object, person, or concept, for example. Generally, it is the recognition of an “external āyatana” or “external rūpā.” See “Saññā – What It Really Means.”

▪Therefore, plants and trees have a basic form of vedanā and saññā. A plant can “feel” when sunlight falls on it (vedanā) and recognize that as sunlight (saññā).

4. However, a plant CANNOT generate saṅkhārā (thoughts) about those vedanā and saññā. One may ask: “Then how does a plant turn towards sunlight?.”

▪Plants are like robots. A moving robot may have sensors that can detect obstacles in the way. That involves vedanā and saññā in the elementary sense.

▪For example, that robot may also have a computer that can instruct how to go around an obstacle.

▪The working of a plant is very similar. A plant seed has necessary “programs” installed in its cells to deal with the external environment. I briefly discussed this in my posts on “living cells.” See the old posts in “Origin of Life.”

▪Therefore, some “live things” like plants can generate vedanā and saññā, but they CANNOT create saṅkhārā and viññāṇa. We remember that saṅkhārā and viññāṇa arise via, “avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā” and “saṅkhārā paccayā viññāṇa.”

Two Types of Viññāṇa of a Living Being

5. A living thing like a tree may have vedanā and saññā. But only a living being like a human or an animal has a full set of mental phenomena: vedanā, saññā, saṅkhārā, and viññāṇa.

▪In other words, only living beings have minds with which they can generate saṅkhārā (loosely called thoughts), which in turn leads to viññāṇa.

▪Now we will focus on two types of viññāṇa that arise in a living being upon a sensory contact between one of its “internal āyatana” and the corresponding “external āyatana.”

▪For simplicity, let us consider the contact between cakkhu and vaṇṇa rūpā (or rūpā rūpā or simply rūpā). In mundane terms, this means “contact” between eyes and a form or an object (such as a tree).

▪However, It is essential to keep in mind that it is the cakkhu pasāda rūpā in the mental body (gandhabba) that “sees” the vaṇṇa rūpā or the image captured by the eyes. See #11 through #14 in the post, “Buddhist Worldview – Introduction.”

Vipāka Viññāṇa – No Strong Kamma Done

All our INITIAL sensory experiences are due to the results of our past kamma, i.e., they are kamma vipāka.

6. When eyes (or, more correctly, cakkhu pasāda rūpa) and vaṇṇa rūpā come into contact, cakkhu viññāṇa arises. Cakkhu viññāṇa is “seeing.”

▪Cakkhu viññāṇa arises due to kamma vipāka. In the same way, sota, ghāṇa, jivhā, and kāya viññāṇa are ALL “vipāka viññāṇa.”

▪Some mano viññāṇa are vipāka viññāṇa. For example, when we recall a past event, that is a mano viññāṇa that cannot generate strong kamma.

▪There is no strong kamma done by vipāka viññāṇa. By “strong kamma,” I mean kamma, which can lead to future rebirths. Only mano saṅkhārā are involved in kamma viññāṇa Kamma leading future rebirths done via “avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā” and “saṅkhārā paccayā viññāṇa.” Those involve vacī and kāya saṅkhārā. See “Abhisaṅkhāra Lead to Kamma Viññāṇa.”

▪What is essential at this point is to remember that only mano viññāṇa can be either vipāka viññāṇa or kamma viññāṇa (we discuss below the second category). The other five types of viññāṇa (cakkhu, sota, ghāṇa, jivhā, and kāya viññāṇa) are only vipāka viññāṇa.

7. “WebLink: suttacentral: Chachakka Sutta (MN 148)” describes the arising of such vipāka viññāṇa: “Cakkhuñca paṭicca rūpe ca uppajjati cakkhuviññāṇaṁ, sotañca paṭicca sadde ca uppajjati sotaviññāṇaṁ, ghānañca paṭicca gandhe ca uppajjati ghānaviññāṇaṁ, jivhāñca paṭicca rase ca uppajjati jivhāviññāṇaṁ, kāyañca paṭicca phoṭṭhabbe ca uppajjati kāyaviññāṇaṁ, manañca paṭicca dhamme ca uppajjati manoviññāṇaṁ.”

▪For example, cakkhu viññāṇa arises when a rūpa makes contact (paṭicca) with cakkhu pasāda rūpā. As we discussed in #12 of the previous post “Buddhist Worldview – Introduction,” cakkhu here DOES NOT mean “eyes”; it means “cakkhu pasāda rūpa.”

▪When the eyes capture an image of a tree, that image is processed by the brain and then passed along to the cakkhu pasāda rūpa, which is in the mental body or manomaya kāya. In the case of a human or an animal, manomaya kāya is the same as gandhabba.

▪Vipāka viññāṇa do not generate strong kamma. For example, cakkhu viññāṇa means just “seeing,” sota viññāṇa means only “hearing,” etc. Just because one sees or hears, one does not do any strong kamma.

Vipāka Viññāṇa Could be “Consciousness”?

8. Therefore, vipāka viññāṇa DO NOT arise directly with Paṭicca Samuppāda. They occur when our sense faculties come to contact with external rūpā, as described in #7 above. Those rūpā can be six types: vaṇṇa rūpā, sadda, gandha, rasa, phoṭṭhabba, and dhammā.

▪Note: However, immediately following the arising of a vipāka viññāṇa, a Paṭicca Samuppāda process takes place in the very next citta. This is a deeper aspect that would be of interest to those who are deep into Abhidhamma: “Avyākata Paṭicca Samuppāda for Vipāka Viññāṇa.”

▪The contact of an internal āyatana with an external āyatana leads to the “awareness” of that external rūpā.

▪Therefore, vipāka viññāṇa could be the closest to the English word, “consciousness.” Even then, there are some mano saṅkhārā that arise with a vipāka viññāṇa. Therefore, it is better not to refer to even vipāka viññāṇa as just consciousness.

▪That is why the Buddha described viññāṇa as a magician. But this “magic show nature” is easier to see with the kamma viññāṇa that we discuss below. The mind on its own creates kamma viññāṇa via saṅkhārā (“saṅkhārā paccayā viññāṇa”).

9. When we become conscious of an external āyatana (or an external rūpā), we may get interested in it. (We need to remember that external rūpā include visible objects, sounds, smells, tastes, bodily touches, or memories),

▪That is when we start generating NEW KAMMA. That will happen IF we get attached to that sensory experience via greed or anger, for example.

▪Those CONSCIOUS thoughts (called saṅkhārā) lead to a new type of mano viññāṇa. Those viññāṇa arise via “avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā” followed by “saṅkhārā paccayā viññāṇa.” Such viññāṇa are kamma viññāṇa.

▪Such kamma viññāṇa MAY arise as the next step following the generation of any of the six types of vipāka viññāṇa. That happens ONLY IF we get attached to the initial vipāka viññāṇa.

Kamma Viññāṇa – How We Create New Kamma

10. We do kamma when we start generating conscious thoughts (vacī and kāya saṅkhārā) with INTENTION. The Buddha said, “Cetanāhaṁ, bhikkhave, kammaṁ vadāmi” or, “bhikkhus, I say that kamma is one’s intention.” (WebLink: suttacentral: Nibbedhika Sutta – AN 6.63.) When we think, speak, and act with specific INTENTION (good or bad) that leads to the generation of kamma (good or bad).

▪However, those initial mano saṅkhārā (associated with vipāka viññāṇa) arise AUTOMATICALLY. Since the intention is involved indirectly, those mano saṅkhārā cannot bring about rebirth.

▪To generate strong kamma, we must CONSCIOUSLY and DELIBERATELY create saṅkhārā.

▪Such “strong saṅkhārā” are vacī and kāya saṅkhārā. As we have discussed before, vacī saṅkhāra involves “talking to oneself” and speech. Kāya saṅkhāra leads to bodily actions.

▪In other words, we do vacī kamma and kāya kamma with those vacī saṅkhārā and kāya saṅkhārā. Of course, vacī kammā are lying, gossiping, etc., and kāya kammā are stealing, killing, etc.

▪Stated yet another way, we generate speech and actions that can lead to future rebirths only via vacī and kāya saṅkhārā.

11. For those familiar with Abhidhamma (others can skip this and move on to #12): A sensory event discussed in #7 starts a pañcadvāra citta vīthi with 17 cittā. The vipāka viññāṇa occurs at the beginning of the citta vīthi. For example, a “seeing event” is a cakkhu viññāṇa.

▪Then, the mind accepts that sensory input with sampaṭicchana and santīraṇa citta. It is in the next citta of votthapana that our minds MAKE decisions on how to respond to that sense input BASED ON our gati (character qualities).

▪Then based on that determination, seven javana cittā run consecutively. With javana cittā, we respond (think, speak, and act).

▪That is a very brief summary. More details at “Citta Vīthi – Processing of Sense Inputs.”

Kamma Viññāṇa Arise Due to “Saṅkhāra Paccayā Viññāṇa”

12. Suppose one sees an appealing object and gets attached to it. One may start thinking, speaking, and even taking action to enjoy that sight again and again. That leads to the generation of kamma via mano viññāṇa (generated via vacī and kāya saṅkhārā.)

▪The same happens if we get annoyed or angry about something we see. Then we would be generating angry thoughts, speech, and action. Those are also mano viññāṇa. Such mano viññāṇa are “kamma viññāṇa.”

▪Of course, both those cases arise due to avijjā. We get attached (or get stuck) to a given sensory input because we like it or dislike it (both are done with taṇhā; see below). Both happen due to avijjā, not knowing the “true nature.” One comprehends the true nature when one attains “yathābhūta ñāṇa.” We will discuss this in future posts.

13. We can sort out the difference by seeing that all kamma viññāṇa have saṅkhārā as precursors. They arise when we think, speak, and act based on greed, anger, and ignorance. I will explain just the case of attachment (taṇhā) via greed.

▪For example, when we first see something attractive, we AUTOMATICALLY get the perception of “liking it.” Those INITIAL and AUTOMATIC thoughts are mano saṅkhārā. These arise due to our gati.

▪If we start pursuing such thoughts CONSCIOUSLY AND WILLFULLY, we are generating vitakka and vicāra (which means consciously thinking about it). Those are vacī saṅkhārā. We may also speak out with vitakka/vicāra, and vacī saṅkhārā are also responsible for speech.

▪If our mind gets firmly attached, we may take action using the body. Those bodily actions are due to kāya saṅkhārā generated in the mind.

14. Now, we can see the difference between vipāka viññāṇa and kamma viññāṇa. Vipāka viññāṇa do not have saṅkhārā involved.

▪On the other hand, kamma viññāṇa ALWAYS arise due to saṅkhārā generated via avijjā. Those are the viññāṇa that can lead to future vipāka (and even rebirth) via Akusala-Mūla Paṭicca Samuppāda.

▪In other words, kamma viññāṇa are the viññāṇa arising via “avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā” followed by “saṅkhārā paccayā viññāṇa.”

▪That process continues with “viññāṇa paccayā nāmarūpa,” etc., and ends up in “bhava paccayā jāti, “jāti paccayā jarā, maraṇa,” and “the whole mass of suffering.”

▪That is why those created with saṅkhārā are kamma viññāṇa.

Summary

15. To summarize what we discussed in this post:

▪Cakkhu, sota, ghāṇa, jivhā, and kāya viññāṇa are ONLY vipāka viññāṇa. They cannot lead to new rebirths.

▪Kamma viññāṇa are those viññāṇa that COULD lead to future rebirths.

▪Mano viññāṇa can be “vipāka viññāṇa” or “kamma viññāṇa.”

16. We will discuss more details in the next post. I am proceeding slowly to emphasize these fundamental ideas. It is crucial to understand what is MEANT by a given critical key Pāli word. Then we can use that Pāli word, without explaining its meaning again.

▪I hope you can now understand why it is incorrect to translate viññāṇa as just “consciousness’.

▪In the same way, taṇhā is NOT just greed. Taṇhā includes getting attached via anger too; see “Taṇhā – How We Attach Via Greed, Hate, and Ignorance.” Also, see #12 above.

▪There are several keywords like that, including anicca and anatta.

▪Understanding the meanings of such vital Pāli words is critical since there are no equivalent English words.

All posts on this general topic are at “Origin of Life.” Please direct any questions on the above post to the discussion forum at “Questions on Posts in the “Origin of Life” Subsection.” If not registered at the forum, send questions to my email address, lal@puredhamma.net.