THE CONCEPTS OF MIND AND CONSCIOUSNESS IN ABHIDHARMA BUDDHISM (Podstawy abhidharmicznej koncepcji umyslu. Pojecie swiadomosci)

According to Abhidharma thinkers mind is a set of many mental elements (dharmas). All these elements were regarded as impermanent. The basic dimension of the diachronically considered mind was believed to be a continuous succession of consciousness (citta) elements. They were believed to lie at the foundation of any psychical activity. They were to be accompanied by other mental elements (called caitasika) to determine the nature of cognitive, emotional and volitional activity of the mind at any given moment. Among them they recognised dharmas unavoidably accompanying citta elements (feelings, elements of attention, conceptual identifications, volitions etc.). The mind was apparently treated as an integral whole which is signified by the conviction that every mental dharma is adjusted to the character of the other simultaneous mental elements. Such a combination of mental dharmas was believed to determine the content of the mind in the succeeding moment (i.e. to bring about the new set of mental elements before it ceases), which is effected with such participating factors as karmic compensation and the influence of the environment.