Mahathera Ledi Sayadaw - Abhidhamma.com

27. Decay
28. Impermanence or death.
These last ten species are called Ajatarupani or non-genetic material qualities, as they do not
possess the power of production.
FIFTY-FOUR KINDS OF MENTAL PHENOMENA
There are 54 kinds of mental phenomena.
Citta: mind or consciousness;
Cetasika: mental properties or concomitants, fifty-two in number and
Nibbana: Getting out of the circle of existences;
(Nibbana is here reckoned as a mental phenomenon, not from the subjective, but from the
objective point of view.) Citta means the the faculty of investigating an object (aramana) or the
faculty of taking possession of an object, or the faculty of knowing an object, or the faculty of
being conscious of an object.
Cetasikas are characters of consciousness, or mental properties born of mind, or concomitants of
mind.
Nibbana means freedom from every kind of infelicity.
o (I) CONSCIOUSNESS is divided into six classes:
1. Consciousness of sight
2. Consciousness of sound
3. Consciousness of smell
4. Consciousness of taste
5. Consciousness of touch
6. Consciousness of mind.
7. The Consciousness arising at the eye-basis is called the consciousness of sight, and has the
function of seeing.
8. The Consciousness arising at the ear-basis is called the consciousness of sound,
and has the function of hearing.
9. The Consciousness arising at the nose-basis is called the consciousness of smell,
and has the function of smelling.
10. The Consciousness arising at the tongue-basis is called the consciousness of taste,
and has the function of tasting.
11. The Consciousness arising at the body-basis is called the consciousness of touch,
and has the function of touching.
12. The Consciousness arising at the heart-basis is called consciousness of mind. In the
Arupa-loka, however, mind-consciousness arises without any basis. The mindconsciousness
is again subdivided into four kinds.
a) Kama-consciousness
b) Rupa-consciousness
c) Arupa-consciousness
d) Lokuttara-consciousness
a) Of these, Kama-consciousness is that which lies within the jurisdiction of desire
prevailing in Kama-loka (Kama-tanha) and is fourfold, thus: Moral (kusala),
Immoral (akusala), Resultant (vipaka), and Ineffective (kriya).
b) Rupa-consciousness is the jhanic or estatic mind which has become free from
Kama-desire but still remains within the jurisdiction of the desire prevailing in
Rupa loka (Rupa-tanha) and it is threefold, thus: