The early Buddhist thinkers emphasised the unitary nature of the mind. TheSarvastivadins in order to explain the unity of the mind described the mind as a ground or base which they calledCittabhumi. They rejected the realm of unconsciousness,alaya-vijnana, postulated by theYogacarins ofMahayanaBuddhism who believed that from the realm of unconsciousness arose the conscious mind and the objects. But theSarvastivadins recognised five types ofCittabhumi from which psychological phenomenon arose.[1]
Citta i.e. the mind, that alongsideManas,Buddhi andAhamkara is an internal organ, whose function is recollection, constituted by threeGunas vizSattva,Rajas andTamas, reflects the self in accordance with any one of its modified states,vritti, which arePramāṇa with its three kinds of cognition – perception, inference and verbal testimony,Vikalpa which is mere verbal idea caused by meaningless words,Viparyaya which is knowledge of things as they are not,Nidra or dreamless sleep andSmrti or memory. These reflections result in the self being afflicted byKlesas –Avidya (wrong or false knowledge),Asmita (false notion or perception),Raga (attachment),Dvea (aversion), andAbhnivesha (fear of death). Thus, the mind may remain in five different levels which mental levels or functions or stages, five in number, are known as Cittabhumi[2][3][4] These five stages of the mind, as defined by Vyasa, are:-
The first three afore-mentioned stages of mind are unfit for concentration for they are attended by mental modes.Yoga is not possible in these conditions. Ordinary people live on the level ofKsipta orMudha.
The last two mentioned stages are conducive to yoga and forSamadhi.Ekagra stage is also calledSampramata yoga in which the mind assumes the form of the object itself.Niruddha stage is known asSamprajnata yoga orSamadhi in which nothing is known or thought of by the mind. In the Yoga systemBuddhi (intellect),Ahamkara (ego) andIndriyas (senses) are often calledCitta.