Luminous mind
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Luminous mind (Skt: prabhāsvara-citta or ābhāsvara-citta, Pali: pabhassara citta; Tib: འོ་སལ་གྱི་སེམས་ ’od gsal gyi sems; Ch: 光明心 guangmingxin; Jpn: 光明心 kōmyōshin; Kor: kwangmyŏngsim) is a Buddhist term which appears in a sutta of the Pali Anguttara Nikaya as well as numerous Mahayana texts and Buddhist tantras.[1] It is variously translated as "brightly shining mind", or "mind of clear light" while the related term luminosity (Skt. prabhāsvaratā; Tib. འོ་སལ་བ་ ’od gsal ba; Ch. guāng míng; Jpn. kōmyō; Kor. kwangmyōng) is also translated as "clear light" in Tibetan Buddhist contexts or, "purity" in East Asian contexts.[2] The term is usually used to describe the mind or consciousness in different ways.
This term is given no direct doctrinal explanation in the Pali discourses, but later Buddhist schools explained it using various concepts developed by them.[3] The Theravada school identifies the "luminous mind" with the bhavanga, a concept first proposed in the Theravāda Abhidhamma.[4] The later schools of the Mahayana identify it with both the Mahayana concepts of bodhicitta and tathagatagarbha.[5] The notion is of central importance in the philosophy and practice of Dzogchen.[6]
In early Buddhist texts[edit]
In the Early Buddhist Texts there are various mentions of luminosity or radiance which refer to the development of the mind in meditation. In the Saṅgīti-sutta for example, it relates to the attainment of samadhi, where the perception of light (āloka sañña) leads to a mind endowed with luminescence (sappabhāsa).[7] According to Analayo, the Upakkilesa-sutta and its parallels mention that the presence of defilements "results in a loss of whatever inner light or luminescence (obhāsa) had been experienced during meditation".[7] The Pali Dhātuvibhaṅga-sutta uses the metaphor of refining gold to describe equanimity reached through meditation, which is said to be "pure, bright, soft, workable, and luminous".[7] The Chinese parallel to this text however does not describe equanimity as luminous.[7] Analayo sees this difference due to the propensity of the reciters of the Theravada canon to prefer fire and light imagery.[7]
The Pali Anguttara Nikaya (A.I.8-10) states:[8]
A parallel passage can be found in the Śāriputrābhidharma, an Abhidharma treatise possibly of the Dharmaguptaka tradition.[7]
Another mention of a similar term in the Pali discourses occurs in the Brahmanimantaṇika-sutta of the Majjhima-nikāya and in the Kevaḍḍha-sutta of the Dīgha-nikāya, the latter has a parallel in a Dharmaguptaka collection surviving in Chinese translation.[7] The Brahmanimantaṇika-sutta describes an “invisible consciousness” (viññāṇaṃ anidassanaṃ) that is "infinite” (anantaṃ), and “luminous in every way” (sabbato pabhaṃ). However, there is disagreement among the various editions of the Pāli Canon as to whom the statement is spoken by, and in some editions it seems as if it is spoken not by the Buddha but by the deva Baka Brahma in a debate with the Buddha.[7] The Chinese parallel to the Brahmanimantaṇika-sutta has the term used by Baka Brahma.[7]
The Kevaḍḍha-sutta and its parallel in the Dharmaguptaka Dīrgha-āgama meanwhile, does have a statement spoken by the Buddha which mentions luminous consciousness. The Dīrgha-āgama sutra states:
However, Analayo mentions that parallel recensions of this sutra in other languages such as Sanskrit and Tibetan do not mention luminosity (pabhaṃ) and even the various Pali editions do not agree that this verse mentions luminosity, sometimes using pahaṃ ("given up") instead of pabhaṃ.[7] Whatever the case, according to Analayo, the passage refers to "the cessation mode of dependent arising, according to which name-and-form cease with the cessation of consciousness".[7]
According to Bhikkhu Brahmāli, the references to luminosity in the Brahmanimantaṇika-sutta refers to states of samadhi known only to ariyas (noble ones), while the pabhassaracitta of Anguttara Nikaya (A.I.8-10) is a reference to the mind in jhana.[10] He cites a common passage which notes that the mind with the five hindrances is not considered radiant and thus it makes sense to say that a mind in jhana, which does not have the five hindrances, can be said to be radiant:
In Theravada[edit]
The Theravadin Anguttara Nikaya Atthakatha commentary identifies the luminous mind as the bhavanga, the "ground of becoming" or "latent dynamic continuum", which is the most fundamental level of mental functioning in the Theravada Abhidhammic scheme.[11] The Kathavatthu also explains the luminous mind sutra passage as the bhavanga, which is the mind in its nature state (pakaticitta) and which is described as luminous.[12] This interpretation is also used by Buddhaghosa, in his commentary on the Dhammasangani. Buddhaghosa also mentions that the mind is made luminous by the fourth jhana in his Visuddhimagga.[13]
Thanissaro Bhikkhu holds that the commentaries' identification of the luminous mind with the bhavanga is problematic,[14] but Peter Harvey finds it to be a plausible interpretation.[15]
Ajahn Mun, the leading figure behind the modern Thai Forest Tradition, comments on this verse:
Thanissaro Bhikkhu sees the luminous mind as "the mind that the meditator is trying to develop. To perceive its luminosity means understanding that defilements such as greed, aversion, or delusion are not intrinsic to its nature, are not a necessary part of awareness." He associates the term with the simile used to describe the fourth jhana which states:
In Mahayana Buddhism[edit]
In Sanskrit Mahayana texts and their translations, the term is a compound of the intensifying prefix pra-, the verbal root bhāsa (Tibetan: 'od) which means light, radiance or luminosity and the modifier vara (Tibetan: gsal ba) which means 'clear,' and also 'the best of, the highest type.'[17] Jeffrey Hopkins' Tibetan-Sanskrit dictionary glosses the term compound as:
Mahayana texts[edit]
Mahayana sutras generally affirm the pure and luminous nature of the mind, adding that this is its natural condition (prakrti-prabhsvara-citta).[13] In the Pañcavimsati Prajñaparamita sutra, the prabhsvara-citta is interpreted thus:
A similar teaching appears in some recensions of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā (8000 lines) Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra. Edward Conze considered the teaching on the "essential purity of the nature of mind" (prakrti cittasya prabhasvara; xinxiang benjing, 心相本淨) to be a central teaching of the Mahayana. However according to Shi Huifeng, this term is not present in the earliest textual witness of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā, the Daoxing Banruo Jing, attributed to Lokaksema (c. 179 CE).[19] Mahayana texts like the Ratnagotravibhanga, also associate prabhsvara with awakening (bodhi) and also another term, natural or original purity of mind (cittaprakrtivisuddhi).[20][21] In some Mahayana shastras, natural purity is another term for Emptiness, Suchness and Dharmadhatu.[22] Asanga's Mahayanasamgraha for example, states:
The Bhadrapala-sutra states that the element of consciousness (vijñanadhatu) is pure and penetrates all things while not being affected by them, like the rays of the sun, even though it may appear defiled.[13]
Alaya-vijñana[edit]
According to Walpola Rahula, all the elements of the Yogacara store-consciousness (alaya-vijnana) are already found in the Pali Canon.[24] He writes that the three layers of the mind (citta, called "luminous" in the passage discussed above, manas, and vijnana) as presented by Asanga are also used in the Pali Canon.[25]
According to Yogacara teachings, as in early Buddhist teachings regarding the citta, the store-consciousness is not pure, and with the attainment of nirvana comes a level of mental purity that is hitherto unattained.[26]
Svasaṃvedana[edit]
In Tibetan Buddhism, the luminous mind (Tibetan: gsal ba) is often equated with the Yogacara concept of svasaṃvedana (reflexive awareness). It is often compared to a lamp in a dark room, which in the act of illuminating objects in the room also illuminates itself.
Tathagatagarbha[edit]
In the canonical discourses, when the brightly shining citta is "unstained," it is supremely poised for arahantship, and so could be conceived as the "womb" of the arahant, for which a synonym is tathagata.[27] The discourses do not support seeing the "luminous mind" as "nirvana within" which exists prior to liberation.[28] While the Canon does not support the identification of the "luminous mind" in its raw state with nirvanic consciousness, passages could be taken to imply that it can be transformed into the latter.[29][30] Upon the destruction of the fetters, according to one scholar, "the shining nibbanic consciousness flashes out of the womb of arahantship, being without object or support, so transcending all limitations."[31]
Both the Shurangama Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra describe the tathagatagarbha ("arahant womb") as "by nature brightly shining and pure," and "originally pure," though "enveloped in the garments of the skandhas, dhatus and ayatanas and soiled with the dirt of attachment, hatred, delusion and false imagining." It is said to be "naturally pure," but it appears impure as it is stained by adventitious defilements.[32] Thus the Lankavatara Sutra identifies the luminous mind of the Canon with the tathagatagarbha.[33] Some Gelug philosophers, in contrast to teachings in the Lankavatara Sutra, maintain that the "purity" of the tathagatagarbha is not because it is originally or fundamentally pure, but because mental flaws can be removed — that is, like anything else, they are not part of an individual's fundamental essence. These thinkers thus refuse to turn epistemological insight about emptiness and Buddha-nature into an essentialist metaphysics.[34]
The Shurangama Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra also equate the tathagatagarbha (and alaya-vijnana) with nirvana, though this is concerned with the actual attainment of nirvana as opposed to nirvana as a timeless phenomenon.[35][36]
Bodhicitta[edit]
The Mahayana interprets the brightly shining citta as bodhicitta, the altruistic "spirit of awakening."[37] The Astasahasrika Perfection of Wisdom Sutra describes bodhicitta thus: "That citta is no citta since it is by nature brightly shining." This is in accord with Anguttara Nikaya I,10 which goes from a reference to brightly shining citta to saying that even the slightest development of loving-kindness is of great benefit. This implies that loving-kindness - and the related state of compassion - is inherent within the luminous mind as a basis for its further development.[38] The observation that the ground state of consciousness is of the nature of loving-kindness implies that empathy is innate to consciousness and exists prior to the emergence of all active mental processes.[39]
In Vajrayana Buddhism[edit]
Luminosity or clear light (Tibetan 'od gsal, Sanskrit prabhāsvara), is a central concept in Esoteric Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Bon. It is the innate condition of the mind, associated with buddha-nature, the realisation of which is the goal of meditative practice. It is said to be experienced when the coarse and subtle minds dissolve during deep sleep, during orgasm, and during the death process.[40][41][13] All systems of Tibetan Buddhism agree that the clear light nature of mind is non-conceptual and free from all mental afflictions, and that tantra is the superior method of working with this nature of the mind.[42]
The Indian tantric commentator Indrabhuti, in his Jñanasiddhi, states that
Luminosity is also a specific term for one of the Six Yogas of Naropa.[43] In his commentary, Pema Karpo says that the clear light is experienced briefly by all human beings at the very first moment of death, by advanced yogic practitioners in the highest states of meditation, and unceasingly by all Buddhas.[44]
Various Vajrayana practices involve the recognition of this aspect of mind in different situations, such as dream yoga. In this case, the practitioner trains to lucidly enter the deep sleep state.[45] If one has the ability to remain lucid during deep sleep, one will be able to recognize the luminosity of death and gain Buddhahood.[46] This is called the meeting of mother and child luminosities, resulting in the state of thukdam at death.[47]
In Dzogchen[edit]
In Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen literature, luminosity ('od gsal) is associated with an aspect of the Ground termed "spontaneous presence" (Lhun grub), meaning a presence that is uncreated and not based on anything causally extraneous to itself.[48] This term is often paired with 'original-purity' (ka dag), which is associated with emptiness (shunyata), and are both seen as inseparable aspects of the Ground. Other terms used to describe this aspect are dynamism or creative power (rtsal) and radiance (dwangs).[49]
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In other Buddhist schools[edit]
Mahāsāṃghika[edit]
The Mahāsāṃghikas also held that the mind’s nature (cittasvabhāva) is fundamentally pure (mulavisuddha), but it can be contaminated by adventitious defilements.[50] Vasumitra's Nikayabheda-dharmamati-chakra-sastra discusses this theory, and cites the sutra passage which the Mahāsāṃghikas drew on to defend it.[51] This passage is quoted by Vasumitra as:
The commentary to Vasumitra by K’ouei-ki adds the following: "It is because afflictions (kleśa) are produced which soil it that it is said to be defiled. But these defilements, not being of the original nature of the mind, are called adventitious."[52] The Kathāvatthu (III, 3) also cites this idea as a thesis of the Andhakas (i.e. Mahāsāṃghikas in Andhra Pradesh).[52]
Vaibhāṣika[edit]
In contrast, the Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika school held that the mind was not naturally luminous. According to Skorupski for Vaibhāṣika, the mind:
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 653.
- ^ Casey Alexandra Kemp, Luminosity, Oxford Bibliographies, LAST MODIFIED: 26 MAY 2016 DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780195393521-0219
- ^ Harvey, page 99.
- ^ Collins, page 238.
- ^ Harvey, page 99.
- ^ B. Alan Wallace (2007). Contemplative Science. Columbia University Press. pp. 94–96.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Anālayo, The Luminous Mind in Theravāda and Dharmaguptaka Discourses, Journal for the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies 2017 (13): 10-51.
- ^ Harvey, page 94. The reference is at A I, 8-10.
- ^ Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, [1].
- ^ a b Bhikkhu Brahmali, What the Nikāyas Say and Do not Say about Nibbāna, Buddhist Studies Review.
- ^ Harvey, page 98.
- ^ Brunnholzl, Karl (2021). In Praise of Dharmadhatu: Nagarjuna and Rangjung Dorje on Buddha Nature, "A brief history of luminous mind". Shambhala Publications.
- ^ a b c d e f g Skorupski, Tadeusz. "Consciousness and Luminosity in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism." In Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice: Academic Papers Presented at the 2nd IABU Conference,Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Main Campus Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, Thailand, 31 May–2 June 2012.
- ^ a b Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Pabhassara Sutta: Luminous Note #1.
- ^ Harvey, pages 98-99. See also pages 155-179 of Harvey2.
- ^ Ven. Ajahn Mun, ‘A Heart Released,’ p 23. Found in Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbāna, pages 212-213. Available online at [2] Archived 2010-05-23 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Tony Duff, The Illuminator Tibetan Dictionary
- ^ Jeffrey Hopkins, Tibetan-Sanskrit-English Dictionary Digital version: Digital Archives Section, Library and Information Center of Dharma Drum Buddhist College 法鼓佛教學院 圖書資訊館 數位典藏組
- ^ Huifeng Shi, An Annotated English Translation of Kumārajīva’s Xiaŏpĭn Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Asian Literature and Translation Vol. 4, No 1, 2017, 187-236.
- ^ Robert E. Busswell, 2004, Encyclopedia of Buddhism, page 52.
- ^ Williams, Paul, Altruism and Reality: Studies in the Philosophy of the Bodhicaryavatara, page 10
- ^ Brunnholz, Karl, When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sutra and Tantra, Shambhala, 2015, page 1023.
- ^ Lamotte, Étienne , MAHĀYĀNASAṂGRAHA (La Somme du Grand Véhicule d'Asaṅga), Volume II, page 165.
- ^ Padmasiri De Silva, Robert Henry Thouless, Buddhist and Freudian Psychology. Third revised edition published by NUS Press, 1992 page 66.
- ^ Walpola Rahula, quoted in Padmasiri De Silva, Robert Henry Thouless, Buddhist and Freudian Psychology.Third revised edition published by NUS Press, 1992 page 66, [3].
- ^ Dan Lusthaus, Buddhist Phenomenology. Routledge, 2002, note 7 on page 154.
- ^ Harvey, page 96.
- ^ Harvey, pages 94, 96.
- ^ Harvey, page 97. He finds the reference at S III, 54, taking into account statements at S II, 13, S II, 4, and S III, 59.
- ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu, [4].
- ^ Harvey, page 99.
- ^ Harvey, pages 96-97.
- ^ Harvey, page 97.
- ^ Liberman, page 263.
- ^ Harvey, page 97.
- ^ Henshall, page 36.
- ^ Harvey, page 97.
- ^ Harvey, page 97.
- ^ Wallace, page 113.
- ^ Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Jr., Donald S. (2013). The Princeton dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400848058. Entry on "prabhāsvara".
- ^ Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2006). Deity, Mantra, and Wisdom. Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion Publications. p. 192. ISBN 978-1-55939-300-3.
- ^ Alexander Berzin, Making Sense of Tantra, 2002
- ^ Tsongkhapa and Mullin, Six Yogas of Naropa, Snow Lion, 1996, pages 81-84.
- ^ "University of Virginia Library Online Exhibits | the Tibetan Book of the Dead: Literature on Prayer, Ritual, and Meditation from the Religious Traditions of Tibet, India, and Nepal".
- ^ Ponlop, Dzogchen (2008). Mind beyond death. Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion Publications. pp. 86–7. ISBN 978-1-55939-301-0.
- ^ Ponlop, Dzogchen (2008). Mind beyond death. Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion Publications. pp. 86–7. ISBN 978-1-55939-301-0.
- ^ Rinpoche, Dudjom (2001). Counsels from My Heart. Boston: Shambhala. pp. 59–76. ISBN 1-57062-844-0.
- ^ Van Schaik; Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Methods of Dzogchen Practice in the Longchen Nyingtig (Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism), 2004, 52
- ^ Van Schaik; Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Methods of Dzogchen Practice in the Longchen Nyingtig (Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism), 2004, 54.
- ^ Skorupski, Tadeusz. “Consciousness and Luminosity in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism.” In Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice: Academic Papers Presented at the 2nd IABU Conference Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Main Campus Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, Thailand, 31 May–2 June 2012.
- ^ Baruah, Bibhuti (2000). Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism, p. 90. Sarup & Sons.
- ^ a b c Bareau, André (1955) Buddhist Sects of the Small Vehicle (Les Sectes Bouddhiques du Petit Véhicule),Translated from the French by Gelongma Migme Chodron (2005), p. 56.
Sources[edit]
- Maha Boowa, Arahattamagga, Arahattaphala. Translated by Bhikkhu Silaratano. Available online here.
- Steven Collins, Selfless Persons; imagery and thought in Theravada Buddhism. Cambridge University Press, 1982.
- Peter Harvey, Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha. In Karel Werner, ed., The Yogi and the Mystic. Curzon Press, 1989.
- Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind. Curzon Press, 1995.
- Ron Henshall, The Unborn and the Emancipation from the Born. Thesis by a student of Peter Harvey, accessible online from here.
- Kenneth Liberman, Dialectical Practice in Tibetan Philosophical Culture: An Ethnomethodological Inquiry Into Formal Reasoning. Rowman & Littlefield, 2004.
- B. Alan Wallace, Contemplative Science. Columbia University Press, 2007.
External links[edit]
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