Conditions for consciousness (Buddhism)

In Hinayana Buddhism, the Path of Purification describes 24 conditions in which states are the cause of or assist in another state arising.

1. [Root-cause condition]

: A state which causes another to arise by not rejecting it, or by assisting in its presence or arising, is a root-cause condition.

2. [Object condition]

: A state which is the object of another state is its object condition.

3. [Dominant influence (predominance) condition]

: The state which is the dominant influence in causing another state to arise is its dominant influence. This may be as object or as co-nascent.

4. [Proximity or immediacy condition]

: The state which assists the arising of another state by being its proximate cause (arising immediately before it) is intended here (for example, mind-consciousness element follows mind element, which itself follows eye consciousness).

5. [Contiguity or direct immediacy condition]

: This is the same as the previous condition, although some differentiate proximity as referring to aim and contiguity as referring to time.

6. [Co-nascence or coexistence condition]

: Here the state assists another to arise by its arising itself (for example, the 4 immaterial aggregates).

7. [Mutuality or reciprocity condition]

: Here there is mutuality between two or more states, so that the one consolidates and supports the other(s) (for example, again, the 4 immaterial aggregates).

8. [Support or dependence condition]

: Here one state assists the arising of another by being its support, as the eye base is for eye consciousness and so on.

9. [Decisive-support or sufficing condition]

: As the previous condition, but here there is cogent reason for the arise of the state so that the one depends on the other. There are: object decisive support, where the object is what is given importance (object-predominance); proximate decisive support, where the proximity condition causes a consciousness proximate to itself to arise as cogent reason; and natural decisive support, where those which are natural or habitual as causing a state to arise are the cogent reason.

10. [Pre-nascence or pre-existence condition]

: Here the state which arises first and by its proceeding causes another state to arise is the pre-nascence condition. This condition is 11-fold, both as physical and as object basis for all of the "five-doors", and as heart-basis. Thus the eye-base is the pre-existence condition for eye-consciousness element, the visible-data base a pre-existence condition for mind-element consciousness.

11. [Post-nascence or post-existence condition]

: Here a state is consolidated by a post-nascent immaterial state which arises after it has commenced but while it is still present.

12. [Repetition condition]

: Here a state has the function of increasing the efficiency and strength of a following state. Preceding profitable or moral states may act as repetition condition for following profitable states, preceding unprofitable for following unprofitable, preceding functional for following functional - the condition is therefore three-fold.

13. [Karma condition]

: Here a state assists another by means of action. It is of two kinds, arising from a profitable or unprofitable volition from a previous time, or all co-nascent volition.

14. [Karma-result condition]

: Here, effortless calm or quiet in one state assists such quiet in other states. It is a condition for states originating from it during existence, and for associated states; and at rebirth-linking for the kinds of materiality which arise due to previously performed karma and for associated states.

15. [Nutriment or sustenance condition]

: These are four kinds of nutriment giving support to material or immaterial states - physical nutriment for the physical body, immaterial nutriment for associated states, etc.

16. [Faculty or controlling influence condition]

: There are 22 faculties or controlling influences - the faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, feminine, masculine, life, bodily bliss or pleasure, bodily pain or ill, joy, grief, indifference or equanimity, faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, understanding, "I shall come to know the unknown", perfected or final knowledge, final knower - "one who has come to know". All of these, except masculinity and femininity, when assisting the arising of a state by being the dominant influence, are faculty conditions. Eye, ear, nose, tongue and body faculties assist only immaterial states (eye faculty for eye-consciousness element and so on), the rest for material and non-material.

17. [Jhana condition]

: The jhana factors are conditions for their associated states, except for pleasant and painful feeling in the case of the two sets of five. Jhana conditions do not apply to the two sets of five nor to consciousnesses without root-cause.

18. [Path condition]

: There are 12 path factors, profitable, unprofitable and indeterminate. These factors are path conditions for the states associated with them. Path conditions do not apply to the two sets of five nor to consciousnesses without root-cause.

19. [Association condition]

: Where immaterial states arise from the same physical basis, have the same object, origin and cessation, then they are conditional upon each other by way of the association condition.

20. [Dissociation condition]

: This may be pre-nascent, co-nascent or post-nascent and refers to material states assisting immaterial or immaterial assisting material through not having the same physical basis, the same object, origin and cessation.

21. [Presence condition]

: Here presence implies present time. For example, the four immaterial aggregates are in this way a condition for each other, as are the four great primaries, descent into the womb mentality for materiality, the eye base for the eye-consciousness element.

22. [Absence or non-presence condition]

: Here an immaterial state, by ceasing in contiguity, assists a second immaterial state to arise next.

23. [Disappearance or absence condition]

: The states described in the previous condition, because they assist by their disappearance, are a disappearance condition.

24. [Non-disappearance or non-absence condition]

: Just as they assist by their presence as presence-condition, states which have not disappeared assist by their non-disappearance condition.