“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)
Buddhist Psychology
Definitions
Mind
སེམས་ (sems)
- 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)
- 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)
Abhidharma Pandits at Nalanda
Vasubandhu (ca. 316-396)
དབྱིག་གཉེན་ (Dbyig gnyen)
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
- 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 (Vasubandhu)
ཆོས་མངོན་པའི་མཛོད་ (chos mngon pa’i mdzod)
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 (Asanga)
མངོན་པ་ཀུན་བཏུས་ (mngon pa kun btus)
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
- Thubten Chodron. 2014. “Buddhist Psychology: Mind and Mental factors.” thubtenchodron.org
- Thubten Chodron. 2019. “The Seven Types of Awareness.” Part 1: thubtenchodron.org Part 3: thubtenchodron.org
- Yönten, Lozang. 2022. Conception and Perception and Main Mind. Land of Medicine Buddha. YouTube.com
