The Abhidharma 213
consciousness involves forty-five of these classes of conscious-
ness. Of the other forty-four, eighteen concern the mind that has
attained ordinary jhana (either in meditation or as a result of rebirth
in one of the Brahma worlds), eight concern the mind that has
attained transcendent jhana (at the moment ot" attaining one
of the paths and fruits of stream-attainment, once-return, non-
return or arhatship ), and eighteen are restricted to the con-
sciousness of one who is awakened.
The forty-five classes of normal consciousness fall into four
broad groups: seventeen rootless (ahetuka), twelve unwholesome
(akusala) consciousnesses, eight wholesome (kusala) classes of
consciousness, and eight consciousnesses that are the karmic
results ( vipiika) of wholesome consciousness. The seventeen
rootless classes of consciousness are so called because they are
motivated neither by greed, aversion or delusion, nor by non-
attachment, friendliness, or wisdom; they are considered to
operate in a largely mechanical way in the processes of simply
seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting; or touching something. Of the
remaining kinds of consciousness, the unwholesome and whole-
some are bound up with the way we react to what we experience
through the senses, while the eight resultants principally oper-
ate as bhavmiga, our basic state of mind when no active mental
process is occurring (for example, in deep, dreamless sleep).
Thus if we crave or cling to what we see, hear, smell, taste, or
touch then we experience one of the eight types of conscious-
ness rooted in greed; if we feel annoyed or irritated by it we
experience one of the two types of consciousness rooted in aver-
sion; if we simply feel dull or confused then we experience one
of the two types of consciousness rooted in delusion. On the other
hand, instead of feeling attached, irritated, or dull, we may feel
generous, friendly, and awake.
One aspect of the Buddhist conception of a wholesome or
'healthy' mind is made particularly clear in the Abhidharma. That
is that we should not confuse enjoyment with greed or desire.
According to the Buddhist analysis feeling is of five basic types:
painful physical sensation, enjoyable physical sensation, men-