208: Life Continuum (Bhavanga)

This episode explores the Buddhist concept of bhavaṅga, or the “life continuum” — the stream of consciousness that connects one moment to the next, and even one life to another. It explains how our unique personalities at birth may arise from past lives, carried through this subtle flow of awareness.

We also look at how consciousness operates between wakefulness and deep sleep, and how every perception — seeing, hearing, thinking — unfolds through a rapid series of thought moments. Using the vivid “falling mango” analogy, we uncover how these moments shape our experiences and generate karma. Tune in to understand how the mind’s hidden processes influence who we are and the path our lives take.

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Transcript

Sayar Myat: 0:02

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa,Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa, Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Theravada Buddhism series, Dhamma talk thirty one. Life continuum. Bawingat Bawingat B H A V A N G A Bavangat It's a compound word combining Bawa which means life and ang which mean part. So together a part of life. It doesn't represent the whole life, but it constitute as a part of life. It is a resultant consciousness and is identical to the relinking consciousness. Relinking consciousness is the first consciousness of a life. As long as it occurs and passes away one after another. Maybe it can be called life controlling faculty because they are vital. Not the whole life that you are forming, but the personality that comes in with the person at birth is different. You will see some children are happy, some are miserable, some are very short-tempered, and some have been serious. Since childhood, they are not conditioned by the environment. Since they were born, some scream and yell nonstop, some smiling, some serious. These are the personalities that comes from the past life. Maybe it is a reflection of Bhavanga. Bhavanga of each life is different from others. But they are related to each other through causal relationship. To make that a little clearer, we all know computer. And operating system window eight. They are two different products, but they are related through causal relationship. It is built upon the seven, modify the seven and become eight. That act may be better or it may be corrupted and become worse. You don't know. Totally unconscious. When you are in a deep sleep, you are not aware of anything, not even a dream. Totally unconscious. That is how Bawenka is light. And in fact, while you are sleeping, Bawenka is playing. However, you are aware of things, events, and actions. When you wake up, in waking moments, we perceive that consciousness, mental factors, and sense objects are continuously working together, non-stop. When we are awake, we think we are aware of every moment, everything around. That's how we perceive. However, one thought process arises, disappear. One thought process arises, disappear, and is buffered, and is buffered by three moments of bhavinga before the following thought process. What it means is one thought process arises, and before the next thought process comes in, there's a little gap filled with three moments of Boeing Gap, life continuum or life constituent. But we are not aware of that buffer zone or buffer boeing got because the speed of consciousness is faster than many billionths of a second, even one second, it is very hard for us to really pinpoint billionth of a second. That's why we are not aware of the operation of owing God from one thought to the other, one thought process to the other. In sequence. He sees, he knows, he taught us, so we understand, at least intellectually, how the consciousness or thought process operates. The connection between the unconscious mind and conscious mind is actually quite fascinating. Person is constantly engaging with sense object at awaking moments. So when a sense object comes in contact with the sense organ, meaning a form comes in contact with the eyes, sound comes in contact with the ears, and so on. Come in contact with the sense organ. That contact strike the boing got. And the second one and third one, let's call it vibrate. In other words, second one arises and passes away, and then the third arises and passed away. Or you can say seized, the third one ceased. So when it when the sense objects strike, it takes about three bawinga to actually stop because so fast the momentum is about three moments. So the third one totally ceased, and then the flow of the life continuum ceased. The flow ceased. So whenever an sense object strike the boingat, it takes three moments of boenga to cease, and totally and completely the flow of the life continuing or boenga ceased. Or stop. Let's call it stop. The flow stop. When it stops, it will restart. Then a different type of consciousness arise. When God doesn't rise anymore because it stops, the flow stop, a different kind of consciousness arises. That different kind of consciousness turns. What does it do? It turns or adverts towards the physical sense door where the object strives. Let's say it's a sound. The mind turns towards the ear door, the form. The mind turns towards the eye door. Because that's what the object is. It's a mental object now, even though it is a physical object from outside, striking the internal or physical sense door. Now it's become a mental figure. Image. So that consciousness turned towards the physical sense door where the objects try. And that consciousness is called sense door adverting consciousness. Sense door adverting consciousness. In the last Dhamma talk, we talk about this particular consciousness. Now you know how it comes to be. And then this consciousness, it does its job. And when it is doing the job, it does its job without any roots. You know what six roots are already. It does its job without any roots. Therefore, this consciousness is a rootless, no root, functional kariya consciousness, jaita. It is a sense door adverting consciousness is a rootless rootless functional consciousness. In your ear you might sound like rootless R-U-T-H, but it is rootless R O T. Just my accent. After that, sense consciousness arises. After that adverting consciousness, sense consciousness arises. Basically, it is the awareness of the object. That is the sense consciousness. And if it is eye, we say eye consciousness or seeing consciousness. If it is sound, we say hearing consciousness or ear consciousness. So that one arises after the adverting. You turn and then you see or you hear. Each consciousness has their own job or function. They simply do their job. So these three sense consciousness, receiving consciousness, and investigating consciousness. These trees are rootless. Rootless resultant consciousness vibaka chaita. Ahituka vibaka jeta. Those three. And then the next one. The next one is determining consciousness. It determines after investigating. What does it investigate it? Very simple, not complex. Whether it is good or bad, whether it is pleasant or unpleasant. That's it. Good or bad, or pleasant or unpleasant. So its function is to discriminate the sense object, whether it's in a good category or bad category or a pleasant category or unpleasant category. And that's called determining consciousness. But at that point, the person is reflecting at the mind door about that object. It is not the first encounter, it is the recall in the mind, reflecting, thinking about that object to determine whether it is good or bad. It is determining at the mind door. That's why it is also known as mind door adverting consciousness. You heard it in the last dhamata. Mind door adverting consciousness. Both names, whether you call it determining consciousness or mind door adverting consciousness, they are one and the same. So this one is not weapaka, not resultant. This one is first of all it is rootless. Rootless mean it has no six roots. Functional griya consciousness jitat. Ahituga griya jeta. Rootless functional consciousness. Now we are caught calling it by its quality. When we say it is determining or investigating, we are calling that consciousness by its function. What does it really do at that moment? And what kind of qualities it has? Two different approaches for the same consciousness. Up to this point, these consciousness are all non comic producing passive consciousness. Okay? Sense consciousness receiving investigating, they are resultant. This determining is kriya functional. All of them cannot produce any new karma. In other words, resultant consciousness cannot produce new karma, functional consciousness cannot produce new karma. So up to this point, altogether eight now, up to this point, they are non-comic producing consciousness, or you can call passive consciousness. After that, next, a wholesome or unwholesome action is executed based on a person's attitude, on the objects, good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant nature. The objects are as they are. Good object is good, bad object is bad. Pleasant object is pleasant, unpleasant object is unpleasant. They are as they are, they are as it is as it is. But it is the attitude of the person that is engaging that object. Based on the attitude of the person, wholesome actions will be executed or unwholesome actions will be executed. So at this stage, that is what's happening after the determining consciousness. What are you going to do with it, basically? And some will do it in a wholesome way, some will do in an unwholesome way. And that type of consciousness is in Pali called javana chitdat. J A V and A Javanat Chita. In English it's called swift consciousness or impulsion. That is what it is translated in the book, so I just repeat it. Swift consciousness or impulsion. What it really is this consciousness experienced the object. This consciousness experienced the object and it produced karma. Because it is action now, actually executing kusala action. Wholesome. When you are executing when you are doing by engaging with the object, you are producing or forming karma. So this is the active zone of consciousness. The other is the passive zone, which means no karmic actions. Active zone, karmic actions are produced. So two zones. Actually, these javanachita, swift consciousness, are seven of them. One after the other, the same calm arises. Of course, intensity different. They go one after the other, they swiftly appear and disappear. That's why it's called swift consciousness. Quick consciousness. Karma producing consciousness, active consciousness. These javana jaita, where karma is formed. Also Buddha and Arahantas, the same consciousness. But for Buddha and Arahant, this particular consciousness is neither wholesome or unwholesome, but functional. Because Buddha and Arahant has totally abandoned craving and ignorance. Once you have abandoned completely craving and ignorance, once they have uprooted the kilisa, they do not produce any more kusala, wholesome, and akusala, unwholesome nature anymore. Because of that, even though they are doing the same function of wholesome and unwholesome consciousness, they do not produce karma. That is why it is called griat jaita for Buddha and Arahant. After a series of seven swift consciousness ceased after it ceased, two thought moments of registering consciousness arose. It registered. This consciousness register. Or let's say store in the memory bank. Memory bank of the experience. It's stored it. Whether right or wrong doesn't matter. It's simply store. That is the last two consciousness called registering consciousness. Register the experience. Thus, it completes a seventeen thought moments, which is called a thought process. We teach. So I'll just give a very short run on a simile in the scripture, how these seven thought moments are explained. A person is sleeping under a mango tree. At that moment, that means three bowinga is in operation. So in other words, it wokes you up. Boop, something falls down. So automatically the attention turned towards that sound. Where is it? You hear with the I, ear. That is the sense door adverting consciousness. Attention simply turning to that sound. Woke up. Which is the ear door. That's the third, the fourth consciousness. And then open the eyes. And see what it is. So when you open the eyes and look at what it is, it's see the falling object, which is a mango. That is the seeing consciousness. See the mango, seeing consciousness. And then the person stretches the hand and pick it up. That's a receiving consciousness. Accepting the mango, receiving the mango. And after that it squeeze and poke and check the mango. Whether they are bugs or rotten and so on. That is the investigating consciousness. And after investigation, you decide that oh, this is great, perfect, good. No bugs, not rotten, and it is just ripe to eat. It is ripe. That is determining consciousness. Then after he determined it, goes into action. He eats. He ate the whole mango. Eats and eats and eats. The mango. Till it's completely gone. That is experiencing the flavor of the mango. Eating is actually experiencing the flavor of the mango. That is seven swift consciousness. Seven javana jaita. Now the mango's gone. He licks the fingers of both hands because they are so delicious. He licked both hands and then swallowed it. That is the two registering consciousness. Altogether, seventeen thought moments. After that, he went back to sleep, meaning Bawenga comes back, three Bawenga. That is the simile explained in the scripture. For us to understand this thought process, we teach, which constitutes seventeen thought movements. Billions of thought processes, not just consciousness, one process after the other, seventeen in full. Billions of thought processes take place at the snap of a finger. That fast, that kind of speed and momentum it has. And it is essential for us to know a particular type of consciousness in full so that we understand the upcoming Dharma talks related to consciousness and its classification. So may all of you be able to understand thought process we teach clearly how it operates and know the significance of these seven swift consciousness that produce wholesome gusalakama or unwholesome akusalakama, which will determine the future roadmap of your life and the life after. And may you be able to have a proper and right attitude to guide yourself on the journey.