Vitarka

वितर्कः Vitarka or Vitarkah (Sanskrit; Pali, vitakka, "positve: supposition, guess, imagination; neutral: discernment, logic, reasoning; negative: doubt, uncertainty"; Tibetan, rtog pa) in Buddhism, one of forty mind-associated saṃskārā. Vitarka or savitarka describes the nature of consciousness in the first stage of samprajnata-samadhi. In Sutra 1:17 Patanjali tells us that "samprajnata samadhi" comprises four stages: "Complete high consciousness (samprajnata samadhi) is that which is accompanied by "vitarka" (reasoning), vicara (reflection), sananda (ecstasy), and sasmita (a sense of 'I'-ness or pure beingness)."

In Buddhist psychology "vitarka" is the initial application of the mind to its object. It is defined as the mind laying hold of the object of thought and directing attention towards it. Closely associated with vitarka, and usually following it, is vicāra or ‘discursive thought’. The relationship between the two is said to be like taking hold of a bowl in one hand and scrubbing it with the other, to the striking of a bell and its resounding, or to the fixed point of a compass and the revolving point which moves around it. Both "vitarka" and "vicāra" are eliminated from the mind in the early stages of transic meditation (dhyāna).

According to Dr. John C. Lilly, vitarka represents, "the neutral biocomputer state, the state for the absorption and the transmission of new ideas; for the reception and transmission of new data and new programs; doing teaching and learning with maximum facilitation, neither in a positive of a negative state, neutral. On the earth."

ee also

*Sananda Samadhi
*Vicara

References

* John C. Lilly, MD, PhD., The Center of the Cyclone. ISBN 157951038
* http://www.universel.net/companion/Glossary.cfm?Selected=Glossary&SelectedID=58&CFID=894971&CFTOKEN=54843224
* http://www.answers.com/topic/vitarka