The Foundations of Buddhism

2!6 The Abhidharma

as determined by our previous actions. Whenever I see, hear,

smell, taste, or touch something that is intrinsically 'desirable'

(ittha). or pleasing, I experience a result of previous wholesome

consciousness; whenever I see, hear, smell, taste or touch some-

thing that is intrinsically 'undesirable' (anittha) or unpleasing

I experience a result of previous unwholesome consciousness.

The basic experiences that I have are thus the result of my pre-

vious karma and beyond my immediate control; they come to

me whether I wish for them or not. But in each consciousness

process the mind has a choice in how it will react to the experi-

enced object. It is only the final stage when the mind has chosen

to enjoy and savour its object in some way that actively unwhole-

some or wholesome consciousness plays its part and sows the seeds

that will bear future results. In this way the Abhidharma in effect

provides an exact small-scale analysis of the process of depend-

ent arising.

The theory of bhavaliga consciousness requires some further

commentY Bhavaliga is the state of mind a being is born with

and it is the state of mind to which a being returns in deep, dream-

less sleep and in between every consciousness process. More
strictly it is the state of mind that arises at the moment of con-
ception in the womb, forming the link (patisandhi) between one
life and the next. The particular characteristics of a bhavaliga
consciousness are unique to an individual being; a particular
bhavaliga thus reproduces itself and recurs throughout a being's

life, defining that being as an individual. For human beings the

function of bhavaliga is performed by one of eight general classes
of wholesome resultant consciousness. Like the consciousnesses
that perceive, receive, and investigate an object, these kinds of

consciousness are the results of previous karma. But unlike the

former they are not rootless; rather they have the roots of non-
attachment, friendliness, and sometimes also wisdom. They are

therefore much richer and complex kinds of consciousness ..

The basis of a rebirth as a human being is then one of these
eight types of consciousness that are the result of previous
wholesome karma. This wholesome karma may have been per-
formed many lifetimes ago; more often it is wholesome karma