Bhavanga

Bhavanga (Pali, "ground of becoming") is the most fundamental aspect of mind in Theravada Buddhism. It is an exclusively Theravada doctrine that differs from Sarvastivadin and Sautrantika theories of mind, and has been compared to the Mahayana concept of store-consciousness. [Waldron, pages 81, 131.] The term does not occur in the Nikayas, though the idea can be seen as a development or explication of one that does; the phenomenon described as "luminous mind." [Harvey, pages 97-98.] The Theravada tradition asserts that it is the bhavanga that motivates one to seek nibbana. [Wallace, page 100.]

The bhavanga concept does not directly address questions first raised in the Kathavatthu. The limits of Abhidharmic analysis were first raised there, then more specifically by the Sautrantikas, and then finally explicitly and systematically by the Yogacharins. [Waldron, pages 86-87.] In modern times, Theravadins such as Nyantiloka Thera have departed from traditional descriptions of the the bhavanga, broadening the scope of the concept. [Waldron, pages 82-87.]

Notes

References

* Peter Harvey, "Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha." In Karel Werner, ed., "The Yogi and the Mystic." Curzon Press, 1989.
* William S. Waldron, "The Buddhist Unconscious: The Alaya-Vijnyana in the context of Indian Buddhist Thought." RoutledgeCurzon 2003.
* B. Alan Wallace, "Contemplative Science." Columbia University Press, 2007.