Identity and Experience_Hamilton_1996

The Viiiiia'nakkhandha 107
the Sutta Pitaka. Finally, cetanii is an action noun formed from the root cit. In
Pali this term means more than just 'thinking'. Emphasising its active form,
it has the technical meaning of volition, and actively separates deliberate
willing from the general activity of thinking. Where the verb cinteti is not
used, we shall see that one thinks 'with the mind': manosamkhiira/kamrna or
cittmamkhiira/kamma, rnanasii or cetasi. Willing, however, is more specifically
indicated by cetank it is the term the Buddha uses to define karma.130
With regard to the term manas, this has already been discussed when it
has the specific meaning of a sense, which I have called the manodha'tu, and
another specific use is discussed below in the chapter on manomaya. I will
discuss here the way it is used as 'thoughts' (or thinking), and occasionally
as 'volitions'. That the term manas is used in the sense of 'thoughts' is
unsurprising since it comes from the same verbal root as maEEati, to think,
and is etymologically connected to the English words 'mind' and 'mental'.
We have seen above the problems this presents for understanding the
meaning of manas as a sense. There its role could be associated with mental
processes through its function as the collator of incoming data which it then
presents, as it were, to the saiiiiiikhandha for further processing: The manodhitu
itself, however, does not function as a mental faculty. The use of the term
manas in the sense of thinking appears to be an extension of its use in a
generic and non-technical sense as 'mind' in general. In a non-technical
sense one might simply define thinking as mental activity and so state that
one thinks 'with the mind', manmi. And the fact that in some passages the
emphasis is more overtly on what appears to be volitional activity might
also be because volitions are in effect deliberate thoughts: the distinction
between thinking and willing becomes blurred. Technically, however, we
are reminded in some contexts that in defining karma as volition the
Buddha separates the will from thinking. And one can see how this can be
so: one can, for example, make a conscious act of will not to think negative
thoughts.
Manas appears as the general thinking faculty in numerous contexts. For
example, in the Sutta JV$iita we read: "thinking over views with the
mind" , 131 which implies that manas is that which thinks. And elsewhere in
the same text we read: "If he is a buddha, one who sees without obstructions,
he will verbally answer the questions asked in [your] mind".132 This
is a reference to the ability of one who has gained insight to 'read' other
people's minds. But it also implies that manas is the faculty which thinks, or
'asks questions'. A similar passage is found in the DQha Nikga: 'Ask me
whatever question you wish that is in your mind".lS3 Elsewhere we read
that manas as a thinking faculty has to be purified: "Our mental activity (i.e.
thoughts) will be completely purified".134 In this, the Buddha states, the
bhikkhus are to train them~e1ves.l~~ Finally, manas is often used together with
the verbal root kar in the sense of 'paying attention'. The term manaxihra is
often used to express this,'36 and we also frequently find the following