Identity and Experience_Hamilton_1996

96 Identi0 and Experience
existence even in states of total unconsciousness. With respect to the
continuity of consciousness while in deep (i.e. dreamless) sleep, the
Abhidhamma and commentarial tradition developed the theory of bha~ariga.~~
This theory is not present in the Sutta Pitaka, but it is interesting that the
term bhauariga appears in the Ariguttara Nibya as follows: "There are, monks,
four constituents (arigini). What four? Riipa, vedani, saiin" and bha~a".~~ Here
the close association between samhira and uin"n"ipz is indicated by the fact
that they are both represented by the term bhava, becoming. It is the operation
of consciousness, propelled by volitions, that quintessentially constitutes
continued samriiic existence.
But the continuity I am referring to here is that which we associate
specifically with being conscious. Because we are conscious of all our
experiences, ui,n"fia~ as the process of being conscious in this way provides
us with a sense of ~ontinuity.~' It is a sense of continuity of a subjective
nature: we are each conscious of our own experiences. This does not imply
a spacial limitation to what we are conscious of. We shall see below under
point (5) that in Buddhist meditation the individual's awareness (vififiina)
of experiences is said to be 'unlimited'. But it is the individual meditator
who is conscious of his or her own experiences, whatever they may be. We
discussed above a passage in the Siman"n"aPha1a Sutta which stated that the
relationship between vin"n"ina and the body was analogous to a gem on a
thread.69 I suggested there that this analogy not only confirms the impermanence
of uin"n"ina because it is dependent on a body, but also that it
further suggests that occurrences of consciousness are held together, as it
were, by their common physical locus, a particular body. Similarly just as
the paticcasamuppida formula can explain the arising of a particular individual,
so this synthetical formula also suggests that each individual's uinn"ipz is
subjective to themselves: it functions conditioned by the individual's
ignorance and samhzri.
The subjective sense of continuity is not merely historical. It also gives us
an expectation of continuity in the future. It is perhaps because of this that
vin"n"ina is classified as one of the four 'foods' (ihirii) which contribute to
continued existence." In the Ahiravagga in the Nidina Samyutta, uin"n"ipa is
singled out. To the question "Of what is consciousness the food?", the reply
is: "The food which is consciousness is the cause of renewed becoming, of
rebirth in the future".71 From this, it seems that the sense of continuity
provided by being aware of our existence becomes in itself a factor which
contributes to our continued becoming. One might infer from this that it is
consciousness that acquires some sort of 'momentum'. But it is more likely
that the expectation of continuity of awareness functions as some sort of
volition.'* In one passage on the four foods, we read that they themselves
are dependent on volitions such as passion, delight and craving, and
without such volitions uin"fiiga will not be '~tationed'.~~ As samsaric existence
continues, however, so one subjectively continues to associate it with