Contemplation of the Mind (cittānupassanā)
The Satipaṭṭhānasutta - Pāli Text, English Translation and Commentary by Pemasiri Thera - Tamara Ditrich
Tamara Ditrich [+]
University of Ljubljana
Tamara Ditrich has taught and researched at several universities in Australia and Europe, and is currently Professor of Indian Studies at the University of Ljubljana. Her areas of interest include Buddhist Studies, Sanskrit language, and Vedic philology, while her current research focuses mainly on Theravāda Buddhism.
Description
Chapter 4 is about the contemplation of the mind (citta) with a treatment of the concept of mind in Buddhism, the links to perception, thought and different mental states. The various Pāḷi words for the mind or consciousness are examined (i.e., citta, viññāṇa, mano) and their specific meanings discussed. What follows is the presentation of the sixteen different types of mind which, according to the sutta, the practitioner should contemplate on, focusing especially on those that arise with (or without) the three main roots of suffering, namely, desire, aversion and delusion.