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{{Short description|Buddhist concept of continuity of mind}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}
{{Buddhism}}
'''Mindstream''' (Pali: ''citta-santāna'', Sanskrit: ''citta-saṃtāna;'' Ch: ''xin xiangxu'' 心相續) in [[Buddhist philosophy]] is the moment-to-moment continuum of sense impressions and mental phenomena ([[Chitta (Buddhism)|citta]]),{{sfn|Karunamuni|2015}} which is also described as continuing from one life to another. Often described as a "stream of mind" or "mental continuum," the mindstream is not a static entity but a dynamic flow of arising and passing mental phenomena, which refers as a string of passing moments that happen either in the same lifetime or in the transitional period between one life and another.{{sfn|Bodhi|1999|p={{pn|date=November 2021}}}}<ref>Buswell, Robert E; Lopez, Donald S. ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism,'' p. 196. Princeton University Press, Nov 24, 2013.</ref>

==Definition==
''{{IAST|Citta-saṃtāna}}'' (Sanskrit), literally "the stream of mind",{{sfn|Keown|2003|p=62}} is the continuum, succession, or flow of succeeding moments of [[mind]] or [[awareness]]. Similarly, the mindstream is the ongoing flow of conscious experience, even though each individual moment of consciousness ceases as the next arises. It provides a continuity of [[Thought|mentation]] in the absence of a permanently abiding "self" ([[Ātman (Hinduism)|ātman]]), which [[Buddhism]] denies. The mindstream provides a continuity from one life to another, akin to the flame of a candle which may be passed from one candle to another:{{sfn|Kyimo|2007|p=118}}{{sfn|Panjvani|2013|p=181}}{{efn|Compare the analogies in the [[Milinda Panha]].}} William Waldron writes that "Indian Buddhists see the 'evolution' of mind i[n] terms of the continuity of individual mind-streams from one lifetime to the next, with [[karma]] as the basic causal mechanism whereby transformations are transmitted from one life to the next."{{sfn|Waldron|n.d.}}

According to Waldron, "[T]he mind stream (''santāna'') increases gradually by the mental afflictions (''kleśa'') and by actions (''karma''), and goes again to the next world. In this way the circle of existence is without beginning."{{sfn|Waldron|2003|p=178}}

The [[vāsanā]]s "karmic imprints" provide the karmic continuity between lives and between moments.{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=473}}  According to Lusthaus, these vāsanās determine how one "actually sees and experiences the world in certain ways, and one actually becomes a certain type of person, embodying certain theories which immediately shape the manner in which we experience."{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=473}}

==Etymology==

===Sanskrit===
''Citta'' mean "that which is conscious".{{sfn|Anon|n.d.|loc=entry for ''citta''}} ''Citta'' has two aspects: "...Its two aspects are attending to and collecting of impressions or traces (Sanskrit: ''[[Vasanas|vāsanā]]'') cf. ''[[vijñāna]]''."{{sfn|Anon|n.d.|loc=entry for ''citta''}} ''{{IAST|Saṃtāna}}'' or ''santāna'' (Sanskrit) means "eternal", "continuum", "a series of momentary events" or "life-stream".{{sfn|Anon|n.d.|loc=entry for ''santāna''}}

===Tibetan===
''Citta'' is often rendered as ''sems'' in Tibetan and saṃtāna corresponds to ''rgyud''. {{IAST|Citta-saṃtāna}} is therefore rendered ''sems rgyud.'' ''Rgyud'' is the term that Tibetan translators (Tibetan: ''lotsawa'') employed to render the Sanskrit term "''[[tantra]]''".{{sfn|Berzin|n.d.}}

''Thugs-rgyud'' is a synonym for ''sems rgyud''.{{sfn|Tsadra Foundation Research Department|2021}}

===Chinese, Korean and Japanese===
The Chinese equivalent of Sanskrit ''citta-saṃtāna'' and Tibetan ''sems-kyi rgyud'' ("mindstream") is ''xin xiangxu'' ({{zh|s=心相续|t=心相續|p=''xīn xiāngxù''|w=''hsin hsiang-hsü''}}).  According to the ''[[Digital Dictionary of Buddhism]]'', ''xīn xiāngxù'' means "continuance of the mental stream" (from Sanskrit ''citta-saṃtāna'' or ''citta-saṃtati''), contrasted with ''wú xiàngxù'' 無相續 "no continuity of the mental stream" (from ''asaṃtāna'' or ''asaṃdhi'') and ''shì xiāngxù'' 識相續 "[[Stream of consciousness (psychology)|stream of consciousness]]" (from ''vijñāna-saṃtāna'').

This compound combines ''xin'' [[Wikt:心|心]] "heart; mind; thought; conscience; core" and ''xiangxu'' "succeed each other", with ''xiang'' [[Wikt:相|相]] "form, appearance, countenance, phenomenon" and ''xu'' [[Wikt:續|續]] or [[Wikt:续|续]] "continue; carry on; succeed". Thus it means "the continuum of mind and phenomena".

''Xin xiangxu'' is pronounced ''sim sangsok'' in [[Korean language|Korean]] and ''shin sōzoku'' in Japanese.

==Origins and development==

Buddhists in India regard the notion of ''citta-santāna'' developed in later Yogacara-thought, where ''citta-santāna'' replaced the notion of [[ālayavijñāna]],{{sfn|Lusthaus|2014|p=7}} the store-house consciousness in which the karmic seeds were stored. This means that karma and kleshas (states of mental torment) both act to pass our transformation to the following life not a "permanent, unchanging, transmigrating entity", like the atman, but a series of momentary consciousnesses.{{sfn|Davids|1903}}

Lusthaus describes the development and doctrinal relationships of [[ālaya-vijñāna|the store consciousness]] (''ālaya-vijñāna'') and [[tathāgatagarbha|Buddha nature]] (''tathāgatagarbha'') in [[Yogācāra]]. To avoid reification of the ''ālaya-vijñāna'',

{{quote|The logico-epistemological wing in part sidestepped the critique by using the term ''citta-santāna'', "mind-stream", instead of ''ālaya-vijñāna'', for what amounted to roughly the same idea. It was easier to deny that a "stream" represented a reified self.{{sfn|Lusthaus|n.d.}}
}}

[[Dharmakirti|Dharmakīrti]] (fl. 7th century) wrote a treatise on the nature of the mind stream in his ''Substantiation of Other mind streams'' (''Saṃtãnãntarasiddhi'').{{sfn|Sharma|1985}} According to Dharmakirti the mind stream was beginningless temporal sequence.{{sfn|Dunne|2004|p=1}}

The notion of mind stream was further developed in [[Vajrayana|Vajrayāna]] (tantric Buddhism), where "mind stream" (''sems-rgyud'') may be understood as a stream of succeeding moments,{{sfn|Wangyal|2002|p=82}} within a lifetime, but also in-between lifetimes. The 14th Dalai Lama holds it to be a continuum of consciousness, extending over succeeding lifetimes, though without a self or soul.{{sfn|Dalai Lama|1997|p={{pn|date=November 2021}}}}

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Astral body]]
* [[Astral projection]]
* [[Divine illumination]]
* [[Divine spark]]
* [[Dream yoga]]
* [[Energy being]]
* [[Etheric body]]
* [[Illusory body]]
* [[Inner space (science fiction)|Inner space]]
* [[Lucid dream]]
* [[Luminous mind]]
* [[Maya (religion)|Maya]]
* [[Mental body]]
* [[Mental world]]
* [[Metacognition]]
* [[Metempsychosis]]
* [[Mindfulness]]
* [[Mind-wandering]]
* [[Personal identity]]
* [[Rainbow body]]
* [[Reincarnation]]
* [[Saṃsāra]]
* [[Stream of consciousness (psychology)|Stream of consciousness]]
* [[Subtle body]]
* [[Svabhava]]
* [[Trikaya]]
* [[Yoga nidra]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Works cited===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web |author=Anon |date=n.d. |title=Glossary of Buddhist and Western Terms for the Practice of Buddhist Yoga |url=http://www.dharmafellowship.org/library/essays/buddhist-glossary.htm |website=DharmaFellowship.org |publisher=Dharma Fellowship |access-date=13 December 2007}}
* {{cite web |last=Berzin |first=Alexander |date=n.d. |title=Making Sense of Tantra |website=StudyBuddhism.com |url=https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/vajrayana/tantra-theory/making-sense-of-tantra/the-meaning-of-tantra |access-date=29 November 2021}}
* {{cite book |last=Bodhi |first=Bhikkhu |year=1999 |title=The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering|url=http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/noble8path6.pdf |edition=Access to Insight |publisher=Buddhist Publication Society}}
* {{cite book |author=Dalai Lama |year=1997 |title=Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective |translator=Geshe Thupten Jinpa |publisher=Snow Lion Publications}}
* {{cite journal |last=Davids |first=C.A.F. Rhys |year=1903 |title=The Soul-Theory in Buddhism |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |pages=587–588 |doi=10.1017/S0035869X00030902 |s2cid=162761652 |url=http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/rhy.htm |access-date=1 February 2009|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |last=Dunne |first=John D. |title=Foundations of Dharmakirti's Philosophy |year=2004 |publisher=Wisdom Publications |isbn=978-0-86171-184-0}}
* {{cite journal |last=Karunamuni |first=N.D. |title=The Five-Aggregate Model of the Mind |journal=SAGE Open |volume=5 |issue=2 |date=May 12, 2015|doi=10.1177/2158244015583860 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Keown |editor-first=Damien |year=2003 |title=A Dictionary of Buddhism |place=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-860560-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Kyimo |year=2007 |title=The Easy Buddha |publisher=Paragon Publishing}}
* {{cite book |last=Lusthaus |first=Dan |author-link=Dan Lusthaus |title=Buddhist Phenomenology: A Philosophical Investigation of Yogācāra Buddhism and the Chʼeng Wei-shih Lun |year=2002 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-7007-1186-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Lusthaus |first=Dan |year=2014 |title=Buddhist Phenomenology: A Philosophical Investigation of Yogacara Buddhism and the Ch'eng Wei-shih Lun |publisher=Routledge}}
* {{cite web |last=Lusthaus |first=Dan |date=n.d. |title=What is and isn't Yogācāra |url=http://www.acmuller.net/yogacara/articles/intro-uni.htm |access-date=2016-01-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331102337/http://www.acmuller.net/yogacara/articles/intro-uni.htm |archive-date=31 March 2010 }}
* {{cite book |last=Panjvani |first=Cyrus |year=2013 |title=Buddhism: A Philosophical Approach |publisher=Broadview Press}}
* {{cite journal |last=Sharma |first=Ramesh Kumar |title=Dharmakirta On The Existence of Other Minds |journal=Journal of Indian Philosophy |volume=13 |year=1985 |pages=55–71|doi=10.1007/BF00208527 |s2cid=170313612 }}
* {{cite dictionary |author=Tsadra Foundation Research Department |date=30 May 2021 |entry=thugs rgyud |title=Dharma Dictionary |url=https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/thugs_rgyud |access-date=29 November 2021 |publisher=Tsadra Foundation}}
* {{cite book |last=Waldron |first=William S. |year=2003 |chapter=Common Ground, Common Cause: Buddhism and Science on the Afflictions of Identity |editor-last=Wallace |editor-first=B. Alan |title=Buddhism & Science: Breaking New Ground |place=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=0-231-12335-3}}
* {{cite web |last=Waldron |first=William S. |year=n.d. |title=Buddhist Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Thinking about 'Thoughts without a Thinker' |website=PurifyMind.com |url=http://www.purifymind.com/EcologyMindSteps.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223064053/http://www.purifymind.com/EcologyMindSteps.htm |archive-date=23 December 2007 |access-date=1 November 2007 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Wangyal |first=Tenzin |author-link=Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche |year=2002 |title=Healing with Form, Energy, and Light |place=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Snow Lion Publications |isbn=1-55939-176-6}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web |last=Waldron |first=William S. |year=1995 |url=http://www.gampoabbey.org/documents/Waldron%20HIIA-revised-b.pdf |website=GampoAbbey.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814022827/http://www.gampoabbey.org/documents/Waldron%20HIIA-revised-b.pdf |archive-date=2012-08-14 |title=How Innovative is the Ālayavijñāna? The ālayavijñāna in the context of canonical and Abhidharma vijñāna theory}}
* {{cite web |last=Welwood |first=John |year=2000 |title=The Play of the Mind: Form, Emptiness, and Beyond |url=http://www.purifymind.com/PlayMind.htm |access-date=13 January 2007 |website=PurifyMind.com}}
*Mindstream article at Internet Archive by Beauford. A. Stenberg Source: https://archive.org/details/mindstream-1 (accessed: Thursday September 21, 2023)

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
*[https://thubtenchodron.org/1991/05/mind-rebirth-enlightenment/ Rebirth: what happens to the body and mind at death?], a talk by [[Thubten Chodron]]
*[https://www.dalailama.com/the-dalai-lama/biography-and-daily-life/reincarnation Reincarnation], a talk by [[14th Dalai Lama]]

{{TibetanBuddhism}}
{{Buddhism topics}}

[[Category:Buddhist philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Metaphors]]
[[Category:Theory of mind]]
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