“Mind is the forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind, created by mind.
If one speaks or acts with a serene mind,
happiness follows,
As surely as one’s shadow.”     — Buddha, Dhammapada (Introduction, verse 2)

Subject Guide Sections

JABL Subject Headings

Abhidharma Pandits at Nalanda

  • Definitions
  • Mind in Tibetan Buddhism
  • Abhidharma Pandits at Nalanda
  • Indian Sources
  • Other Resources

Vasubandhu (ca. 316-396)
དབྱིག་གཉེན་ (dbyig gnyen) 

Asanga
ཐོགས་མེད་ (thogs med)

Definitions

Mind
སེམས་
sems 
citta

Mind; primary consciousness (Tsepak Rigdzin)
verb: think [in the sense of have an opinion]; contemplate; noun: mind; consciousness; thought; continuum (Hopkins)

Mental factor
སེམས་བྱུང་
sems byung
caitta

mental event; mental factor / function, thought pattern, mental outflows, mental contents, all the reactions that follow initial perception. mental state / event, ‘resulting from a cognitive act’. secondary mind. (Rangjung Yeshe)

Lorig
བློ་རིག་
blo rig

Awareness and Knowledge (Hopkins); Awareness, cognition, and knowledge (Rangjung Yeshe); Ways of knowing (Berzin)

Abhidharma
ཆོས་མངོན་པ་
chos mngon pa

Manifest Knowledge; Higher Knowledge; knowledge; higher doctrine; phenomenology (Hopkins)
The knowledge. The set of teachings and treatises concerning the training of higher wisdom and the study of metaphysics and cosmology. (Tsepak Rigdzin)

Mind in Tibetan Buddhism

  • Bstan-ʼdzin-Rgya-Mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV, and Thubten Chodron. 2018. The Foundation of Buddhist Practice. Wisdom Publications. JABL
  • Chim Jampalyang, and Ian James Coghlan. Ornament of Abhidharma a Commentary on Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakosa. Wisdom Publications. 
  • Lati Rinbochay and Elizabeth Napper, trans. 1986. Mind in Tibetan Buddhism. Snow Lion. JABL 
  • Rabten and Stephen Batchelor, trans. 1992. The Mind and Its Functions. Tharpa Choeling. JABL
  • Tashi Tsering.2006. Buddhist Psychology. Wisdom Publications. JABL 
  • Thupten Jinpa, ed., and Dechen Rochard, John Dunne, trans. 2020. Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics. Vol. 2 The Mind. Simon and Schuster. JABL
  • Tshe-mchog-gling Ye-shes-rgyal-mtshan and Herbert Guenther, Leslie Kawarure, trans. 1975. Mind in Buddhist Psychology. Dharma Publishing. JABL
  • Ye-she Gyel-ten and Toh Sze Gee, trans. 2006. A Necklace for Those of Clear Awareness Clearly Revealing the Modes of Minds and Mental Factors. FPMT. FPMTABC 

Indian Sources – Pali Tradition

 Abhidhamma Piṭaka
Theravāda Abhidhamma
wikipedia.org

Anuruddha and Bhikkhu Bodhi.  1993. A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Ācariya Anuruddha. Buddhist Publication Society. JABL

Indian Sources – Sanskrit Tradition

Abhidharmakośakārikā
Sheath of Abhidharma
ཆོས་མངོན་པའི་མཛོད་་
chos mngon pa’i mdzod
Vasubandhu
Sanskrit   Tibetan

Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam 
Commentary on the Sheath of Abhidharma
Sanskrit Tibetan

Vasubandhu, Louis de La Vallée Poussin, and Leo M. Pruden, trans. 1988. Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam. Asian Humanities Press. JABL

Abhidharma-Samuccayya
Compendium of Abhidharma
མངོན་པ་ཀུན་བཏུས་
mngon pa kun btus
Asanga

Sanskrit   Tibetan

Asanga, Walpola Rahula, and Sara Boin-Webb, trans. 2015. Abhidharmasamuccaya: The Compendium of the Higher Teaching (Philosophy). Asian Humanities Press. archive.org   WorldCat

Other Resources

  • Hacket, Paul. 2003. “Basic Buddhist Terms and Concepts: A Student’s Guide for the Study of Tibetan Buddhism.” wiki.learntibetanlanguage.org
  • Jhado Rinpoche. 2022. “Mind & Mental Factors in  Sutra and Tantra.” Maitripa College January 2022. YouTube.com
  • Khadro, Sangye. 2021. Know Your Mind, Part 2: Mindas and Mental Factors. Sravasti Abbey, August 21-22.  sravastiabbey.org