# Citta, vinanna, mano

**URL:** <https://classicaltheravada.org/t/citta-vinanna-mano/26>\
**Category:** Pali studies\
**Created:** [October 31, 2020, 7:31am UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/citta-vinanna-mano/26 "2020-10-31T07:31:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/user_avatar/classicaltheravada.org/robertk/32/1498_2.png) [@RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/RobertK)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:31am UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/citta-vinanna-mano/26/1 "2020-10-31T07:31:32Z")

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Kindred Sayings II, Nidaana-sa.myutta, Ch VII,  
61:

or “But that which is called Citta and Mano and Vinnana arises as one thing  
and ceases as another by day and night.”  
Samyutta 12:61 (Bhikkhu Bodhi transl).

Here is a link to the sutta with sujato`s translation and pali  
[https://suttacentral.net/sn12.61/en/sujato?lang](https://suttacentral.net/sn12.61/en/sujato?lang)

> But when it comes to that which is called ‘mind’ or ‘sentience’ or ‘consciousness’, an unlearned ordinary person is unable to become disillusioned, dispassionate, or freed.  
> Yañca kho etaṁ, bhikkhave, vuccati cittaṁ itipi, mano itipi, viññāṇaṁ itipi, tatrāssutavā puthujjano nālaṁ nibbindituṁ nālaṁ virajjituṁ nālaṁ vimuccituṁ.  
> Why is that?  
> Taṁ kissa hetu?  
> Because for a long time they’ve been attached to it, thought of it as their own, and mistaken it:  
> Dīgharattañhetaṁ, bhikkhave, assutavato puthujjanassa ajjhositaṁ mamāyitaṁ parāmaṭṭhaṁ:  
> ‘This is mine, I am this, this is my self.’  
> ‘etaṁ mama, esohamasmi, eso me attā’ti

> Vism X1V, 82  
> ” ‘Whatever has the characteristic of cognizing should be understood, all  
> taken together, as the consciousness aggregate’ was said above. And what  
> has the characteristic of cognizing (vijaanana)? Consciousness  
> (vi~n~naa.na); according as it is said, ‘It cognizes, friend, that is why  
> ‘consciousness’ is said (M i 292). **The words vi~n~naa.na (consciousness),**  
> **\> citta (mind, consciousness), and mano (mind) are one in meaning.”**

Here is another sutta quote  
[https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.01.0.bodh.html](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.01.0.bodh.html)

> "Herein, bhikkhus, recluse or a certain brahmin is a rationalist, an investigator. He declares his view — hammered out by reason, deduced from his investigations, following his own flight of thought — thus: ‘That which is called “the eye,” “the ear,” “the nose,” “the tongue,” and “the body” — that self is impermanent, unstable, non-eternal, subject to change. But that which is called “mind” (citta) or “mentality” (mano) or “consciousness” (viññāṇa) — that self is permanent, stable, eternal, not subject to change, and it will remain the same just like eternity itself.’

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**Author:** ![RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/user_avatar/classicaltheravada.org/robertk/32/1498_2.png) [@RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/RobertK)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/citta-vinanna-mano/26/2 "2024-08-24T21:24:56Z")

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_I had a discussion on dhammawheel where some members (mistakenly) thought that vinnana and citta were different realities. So the following posts are to explain more._

> Vism. Xiv 82 The words vi~n~naa.na (consciousness),  
> citta (mind, consciousness), and mano (mind) are one in meaning.

There is no conditioned reality outside the khandhas thus we see that whether it is referred to as citta or viññana it is same: that reality that is chief in experiencing the object.

in the beginning of the Abhidhammatthasangaha it says

> Tattha vutt’abhidhammattha  
> Catudha paramatthato  
> Citta cetasika rupa  
> Nibbanam iti sabbath±.  
> The things contained in the Abhidhamma, spoken of therein, are  
> altogether fourfold from the standpoint of ultimate reality: conscious-  
> ness, mental factors, matter, and Nibbana.

Thus viññana and mano must fit one of those right?

It is true that depending on context sometimes citta is used, sometimes viññana and sometimes mano.

eg. section 8 of Abhidhammatthasangaha  
**Unwholeome rootless consciousness**  
Aksualavipaka **citta** ni

> (1) Upekkhasahagatam cakkhuviññana; tatha (2) sotaviññanam,  
> (3) ghanaviññam, ([…]; (7)  
> upekkhasahagatam santirana **citta** ñam ca ti. Imani satta pi akusala-  
> vipakacittani nama.  
> (1) Eye-consciousness accompanied by equanimity; as are (2) ear-  
> consciousness, (3) nose-consciousness, (4) tongue-consciousness; (5)  
> body-consciousness accompanied by pain; (6) receiving conscious-  
> ness accompanied by equanimity; (7) investigating consciousness  
> accompanied by equanimity. These seven are the unwholesome-  
> resultant types of consciousness.

Note that cakkhu viññana and the other sense door consciousness are all classified as citta.

---

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**Author:** ![RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/user_avatar/classicaltheravada.org/robertk/32/1498_2.png) [@RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/RobertK)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 9:41pm UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/citta-vinanna-mano/26/3 "2024-08-24T21:41:05Z")

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Why do these classifications matter?  
The purport of the Abhidhamma and indeed the Buddha’s teaching is to analyse, and thus condition wisdom to arise that can breakdown and see what has been taken as a whole as only insignificant, conditioned elements.

At every moment, citta is arising, performing its function of experiencing an object and immediately falling away. Yet because of avijja its nature is obscured and there is deep seated belief that “I” see, hear, taste, touch and think.

Each citta is different yet each one has the same function of experiencing.  
Whether we think of it as citta or viññana or consciousness is actually not so important. But what must be gathered is that no one is behind it, no manager. There is simply a chain of arising and passing away that the uninstructed worldling has no awareness of.  
The normal person believes that it is the same consciousness lasting all day - and thus feels that they see, hear and think.

See this section from the Dispeller of Delusion, Commentary to the Vibhanga.

> 1. Consciousness also is like an illusion in the sense of being  
> unsubstantial; likewise in the sense of being ungraspable. And just  
> as an illusion is changeable and appears swiftly, so also [is] consciousness. For that is more changeable and appears more swiftly  
> (lightly). For it seems as though a man came and stood and sat  
> down with the same consciousness (citta); but there is one consciousness at the time of coming and another at the time of going  
> and so on. Thus is consciousness like an illusion. And an illusion  
> deceives the many and makes them grasp anything at all as gold,  
> silver or pearl; consciousness |35| too deceives the many and makes  
> them take it as though there were coming and going and standing  
> and sitting with the same consciousness. But there is one consciousness at the time of coming and another at the time of going  
> and so on. Thus also is consciousness like an illusion.

this quote is taken from the section on khandhas and the commentator sometimes uses viññāṇa and sometimes citta.

---

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**Author:** ![RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/user_avatar/classicaltheravada.org/robertk/32/1498_2.png) [@RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/RobertK)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/citta-vinanna-mano/26/4 "2024-08-24T21:42:44Z")

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Venerable Bodhi gives some helpful comments interspersed with his translation, The Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma.

Bodhi p.26 Abhidhammatthasangaha

> Altogether fourfold: In the Suttas the Buddha usually analyzes a  
> being or individual into five types of ultimate realities, the five  
> aggregates (pañcakkhandh±): matter, feeling, perception, mental  
> formations, and consciousness. In the Abhidhamma teaching the  
> ultimates are grouped into the four categories enumerated in the text.  
> The first three—consciousness, mental factors, and matter—comprise  
> all conditioned realities. **The five aggregates of the Suttanta teaching  
> fit within these three categories. The aggregate of consciousness  
> (viññanakkhandha) is here comprised by consciousness (citta), the word  
> citta generally being employed to refer to different classes of  
> consciousness distinguished by their concomitants**.  
> P.27
> 
> Consciousness: The first chapter of the Abhidhammattha Sangaha  
> is devoted to an examination of citta, consciousness or mind, the first  
> of the four ultimate realities. Consciousness is taken up for study first  
> because the focus of the Buddhist analysis of reality is experience, and  
> consciousness is the principal element in experience, that which consti-  
> tutes the knowing or awareness of an object.  
> The Pali word citta is derived from the verbal root citi, to cognize,  
> to know. The commentators define citta in three ways: as agent, as in-  
> strument, and as activity. As the agent, citta is that which cognizes an  
> object (arammaºa½ cintet² ti cittam). As the instrument, citta is that by  
> means of which the accompanying mental factors cognize the object  
> (etena cintent² ti cittam). As an activity, citta is itself nothing other than  
> the process of cognizing the object (cintanamatta½ citta½).  
> The third definition, in terms of sheer activity, is regarded as the most  
> adequate of the three: that is, citta is fundamentally an activity or proc-  
> ess of cognizing or knowing an object. It is not an agent or instrument  
> possessing actual being in itself apart from the activity of cognizing. The  
> definitions in terms of agent and instrument are proposed to refute the  
> wrong view of those who hold that a permanent self or ego is the agent  
> and instrument of cognition. The Buddhist thinkers point out, by means  
> of these definitions, that it is not a self that performs the act of cogni-  
> tion, but citta or consciousness  
> .

---

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**Author:** ![RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/user_avatar/classicaltheravada.org/robertk/32/1498_2.png) [@RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/RobertK)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/citta-vinanna-mano/26/5 "2024-08-24T21:49:03Z")

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I have supplied a few quotes showing that as for the orthodox theravada mano , citta and vinanna are referring to the same reality- to wit one of the 89 classes of consciousness. Of course in various contexts and for various reasons sometimes citta is used, sometimes mano and sometimes  
viññána.

I start with the citation I used earlier from the visuddhimagga and add the pali where helpful

> XIV  
> 82. “Whatever has the characteristic of cognizing should be understood, all  
> taken together, as the consciousness aggregate” was said above. And what has  
> the characteristic of cognizing (vijánana)? Consciousness (viññána); according  
> as it is said, “It cognizes, friend, that is why ‘consciousness’ is said” (M I 292).  
> The words viññána(consciousness), citta (mind, consciousness), and mano (mind)  
> are one in meaning.(Viññāṇaṃ cittaṃ manoti atthato ekaṃ)  
> [THE 89 KINDS OF CONSCIOUSNESS]  
> That same [consciousness], though one in its individual essence with the  
> characteristic of cognizing, is threefold according to kind, namely, (I) profitable,  
> (II) unprofitable, and (III) indeterminate.  
> Tadetaṃ vijānanalakkhaṇena sabhāvato ekavidhampi jātivasena tividhaṃ kusalaṃ, akusalaṃ, abyākatañca.

> 84 When a man is happy on encountering an excellent gift to be given, or recipient, etc., or some such cause for joy, and by placing right view foremost that occurs in the way beginning “There is [merit in] giving” (M I 288), he unhesitatingly and unurged by others performs such merit as giving, etc., then his consciousness is accompanied by joy, associated with knowledge, and unprompted.  
> 84.(1)  
> Yadā hi deyyadhammapaṭiggāhakādisampattiṃ aññaṃ vā somanassahetuṃ āgamma haṭṭhapahaṭṭho "atthi dinna"ntiādinayappavattaṃ (ma. ni. 1.441) sammādiṭṭhiṃ purakkhatvā asaṃsīdanto anussāhito parehi dānādīni puññāni karoti, tadāssa somanassasahagataṃ ñāṇasampayuttaṃ **cittaṃ** asaṅkhāraṃ hoti  
> .

it then explains different types of consciousness - referring to it as citta. But **note that this is all under the section about viññánakhandha . No issue as they are referring to the same reality.**

later in the same section we have

> for (14) the first is associated with the jhāna of the base consisting of boundless space in the way aforesaid, while (15)–(17) the second, third, and fourth, are [respectively] associated with those of the base consisting of boundless consciousness, and so on.  
> Vuttappakārena hi ākāsānañcāyatanajjhānena sampayuttaṃ paṭhamaṃ, **viññāṇa** ñcāyatanādīhi dutiyatatiyacatutthāni.  
> Notice here that viññána is used rather than citta.  
> the section ends with this sentence+  
> So firstly, profitable consciousness itself is of twenty-one kinds. [454]  
> tāva kusala **viññāṇa** meva ekavīsatividhaṃ hoti.  
> again the word used is viññána rather than citta.

so even in this short section the Commentator uses at times citta and at times viññána

---

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**Author:** ![RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/user_avatar/classicaltheravada.org/robertk/32/1498_2.png) [@RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/RobertK)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/citta-vinanna-mano/26/6 "2024-08-24T21:50:00Z")

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lets look at some of the infomation on viññāṇadhātu and manoviññāṇadhātū

From **Vis. XV**

> 517.Tadanantarā pana dhātuyoti aṭṭhārasa dhātuyo – cakkhudhātu, rūpadhātu, cakkhuviññāṇadhātu, sotadhātu, saddadhātu, sotaviññāṇadhātu, ghānadhātu, gandhadhātu, ghānaviññāṇadhātu, jivhādhātu, rasadhātu, jivhāviññāṇadhātu, kāyadhātu, phoṭṭhabbadhātu, kāyaviññāṇadhātu, manodhātu, dhammadhātu, **manoviññāṇadhātūti.**  
> 17.The “elements” next to that (XIV.32) are the eighteen elements, that is to say, eye element, visible-data element, eye-consciousness element; ear element, sound element, ear-consciousness element; nose element, odour element, nose- consciousness element; tongue element, flavour element, tongue-consciousness element; body element, tangible-data element, body-consciousness element; mind element, mental-data element, **mind-consciousness element**.

> Tasmā yathāvuttena atthena cakkhu ca taṃ dhātu ca cakkhudhātu - pe **- manoviññāṇañca taṃ dhātu ca manoviññāṇadhātūti.**  
> 22. it is an eye and that is an element, thus it is the eye-element … **It is mind- consciousness and that is an element, thus it is mind-consciousness element**.

so why did the Buddha (and sariputta ) give such profound teachings?

> 521Santi hi sattā vijānanasabhāve viññāṇe jīvasaññino, tesaṃ cakkhusotaghānajivhākāyamanodhātumanoviññāṇadhātubhedena tassa anekataṃ cakkhurūpādipaccayāyattavuttitāya aniccatañca pakāsetvā dīgharattānusayitaṃ jīvasaññaṃ samūhanitukāmena bhagavatā aṭṭhārasa dhātuyo pakāsitā.  
> for there are beings who perceive a soul in consciousness, the individual essence of which is cognizing.  
> And so the Blessed One, who was desirous of eliminating the long-inherent perception of a soul, has expounded the eighteen elements thus making evident to them not only consciousness’s multiplicity when classed as eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue- and body-consciousness elements, and mind, and mind-consciousness elements, but also its impermanence, which is due to its existing in dependence on eye- cum-visible-data, etc., as conditions  
> .

here the Vis defines the terms +

> 522 Manodhātu pana pañcadvārāvajjanakusalākusalavipākasampaṭicchanavasena tayo dhammāti saṅkhaṃ gacchati. The mind element is reckoned as three things, namely, five-door adverting (70), and profitable (39) and unprofitable (55) resultant receiving.
> 
> Dhammadhātu tiṇṇaṃ arūpakkhandhānaṃ soḷasannaṃ sukhumarūpānaṃ asaṅkhatāya ca dhātuyā vasena vīsati dhammāti saṅkhaṃ gacchati.  
> XV 34The mental-data element as twenty things, namely, three immaterial aggregates, sixteen kinds of subtle matter, and the unformed element (see Vibh 88).15 : 15. In XIV.35–70, the material instances listed total 28, that is, 4 primary elements, 9 sense faculties (excluding the tangible-data facult…
> 
> **Manoviññāṇadhātu** sesakusalākusalābyākataviññāṇavasena chasattati dhammāti saṅkhaṃ gacchati.  
> **Mind-consciousness elemen** t is reckoned as seventy-six things, namely, the remaining profitable, unprofitable, and indeterminate consciousnesses.
> 
> añcannaṃ pana nesaṃ āvajjanamanodhātu anantarasamanantaranatthivigatānantarūpanissayavasena pañcahi paccayehi paccayo hoti, tā ca pañcapi **sampaṭicchanamanodhātuyā.**  
> 36. The adverting mind element (70) is a condition, as the five conditions, namely: proximity, contiguity, absence, disappearance, and proximity-decisive- support, for these five [beginning with the eye-consciousness element]. And these five are so too for the **receiving mind element** ((39), (55)).
> 
> Tathā sampaṭicchanamanodhātu **santīraṇamanoviññāṇadhātuyā** , sā ca voṭṭhabbana **manoviññāṇadhātuyā,** voṭṭhabbanam **anoviññāṇadhātu** ca javana **manoviññāṇadhātuyā**. And so is the receiving mind element for the investigating mind-consciousness element ((40), (41), (56)). And so is that too for the determining mind-consciousness element (71). And so is the determining mind-consciousness element for impulsion mind- consciousness element.
> 
> Javanamanoviññāṇadhātu pana anantarāya javanamanoviññāṇadhātuyā tehi ceva pañcahi āsevanapaccayena cāti chahi paccayehi paccayo hoti.  
> But the impulsion mind-consciousness element is a condition, as the six conditions, namely, as the five already stated and as repetition condition, for the immediately following impulsion mind-consciousness element.
> 
> Esa tāva pañcadvāre nayo.  
> This, firstly, is the way in the case of the five doors.
> 
> Manodvāre pana **bhavaṅgamanoviññāṇadhātu** āvajjanamanoviññāṇadhātuyā.  
> 37. I**n the case of the mind door, however, the life-continuum mind- consciousness element is a condition, for the adverting mind-consciousness element (71)**
> 
> Āvajjanamanoviññāṇadhātu ca javanamanoviññāṇadhātuyā purimehi pañcahi paccayehi paccayo hoti.  
> as the previously-stated five conditions. And the adverting mind- consciousness element is so for the impulsion mind-consciousness element.
> 
> Dhammadhātu pana sattannampi viññāṇadhātūnaṃ sahajātaaññamaññanissayasampayuttaatthiavigatādīhi bahudhā paccayo hoti.  
> 38. The mental-data element is a condition in many ways, as conascence, mutuality, support, association, presence, non-disappearance, etc.,16 for the seven consciousness elements.
> 
> Cakkhudhātuādayo pana ekaccā ca dhammadhātu ekaccāya manoviññāṇadhātuyā ārammaṇapaccayādīhipi paccayā honti.  
> The eye element, etc., and some of the mental-data element,17 are conditions, as object condition, etc., for some of the mind- consciousness element.  
> For me it is a sign of the omniscience of the Buddha that he could define these elements. It is so useful to learn to see this as: imagine for how many lives we have, from birth to death, taken for granted that _I_ see, it is _my_ mind that is seeing , hearing, thinking. All the while completely ignorant of that it is only momentary elements performing their function.

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**Author:** ![RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/user_avatar/classicaltheravada.org/robertk/32/1498_2.png) [@RobertK](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/RobertK)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/citta-vinanna-mano/26/7 "2024-08-24T21:50:35Z")

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here is a nice summary from Nina Van Gorkom

> [Re: how do we know namas.](https://groups.io/g/dsg/message/64001)  
> When cittas are classified as elements, dhaatus, they can be  
> discerned as:  
> pancavinananadhaatu: the five pairs such as seeing, hearing, etc.
> 
> Mano dhaatu : the pañca-dvåråvajjana-citta, five-door-adverting-  
> consciousness, and the two types of sampa.ticchana-citta, receiving-  
> consciousness, which are kusala vipåka and akusala vipåka. Thus,  
> three kinds of citta are mano-dhåtu.
> 
> Mind-consciousness-element, the mano-viññå.na-dhåtu, including all  
> cittas except the dvi-pañca-viññånas and the three kinds of cittas  
> classified as mind-element, mano-dhåtu.
> 
> For example, santírana-citta (the investigating-consciousness), mano-  
> dvåråvajjana-citta (the mind-door-advertingconsciousness), and cittas  
> performing the function of javana such as lobha-múla-citta and also  
> bhavanga-citta are included in mind-consciousness-element.
> 
> Mind-element includes cittas which can experience an object through  
> one of the five sense-doors, whereas mind-consciousness-element  
> includes cittas which can experience an object through six doors as  
> well as cittas which are not dependent on any doorway.