The consciousness which give meaning to the world, is by nature momentary [ khanika ]. It arises and perishes in each and every moment. Consciousness can moment the same for any two consecutive moments. Each moment of consciousness is extremely of conscious act to the brain wave, detected by electro - encephalogram of medical technique used nowadays. According to the Buddhist, every moment of consciousness is subdivided to the three sub moment, namely, genesis [ uppada ], development [ thiti ] and dissolution [ bhanga ]. Each of these sub - moments occupies an infinitesimal division of time so that to every separate act of consciousness [ cittuppada ], There are three phrases, in which successively it arises, develops and disappears. These three sub - moments together form one conscious moment, the period occupied by any single act of consciousness.
Moment of consciousness, short lived as they are, succeed one another so rapidly that they appear to be the " stream of consciousness, " which perpetually flows like the current of a river. The current of a river maintains one constant form, one seeming identity, though not a single drop of water remains today of all the volume that composed that river yesterday. In like manner, the stream of consciousness appears to be selfsame, though not a single act of consciousness remains the same for any two consecutive moments.
According to the Buddhist, act of consciousness are causally related to one another according to the natural uniformity of consciousness. Each conscious act has causal relation with it predecessor. Twenty - four modes of causal relation are enumerated and explained in the Patthana of Abhidhamma - Pitaka. Of these twenty - four, four modes of conditionality are applied to the relation between two conscious acts as a commentator points out ;
" Consciousness and psychic factors that immediately cease, relate themselves to present consciousness and psychic factors by way of continuity, immediacy, absence and disappearance. "
By way of continuity and immediacy, one consciousness moment perishes immediately, giving birth to another. The succeeding conscious moment inherits all the potentialities of its immediate predecessor. The present conscious moment is also related to the preceding moment in the mode of absence and disappearance of the predecessor, the successor appears.
It is these four causal relations that make the unity and continuity of conscious act possible. Although the stream of consciousness remains the same, conscious acts which succeed one another in that stream are not identical. The present conscious act is not absolutely the same as its immediate predecessor because the former arises immediately after the appearance if the latter. Nor is the present conscious act entirely different from its immediate predecessor because the former inherits all potentialities of the latter. Thus in the same stream of consciousness, there is continuity [ santati ], but no identity [ ekata ]. Any two consecutive moment of consciousness are, in Nagasena's words " neither the same nor different. "
We have seen that consciousness in Buddhism is momentary. The moment of consciousness is causally related to one another. The unity and continuity of consciousness are effected, not by the permanent self [ atta], but by the causal relation of contiguity, immediacy, absence and disappearance. Moment of consciousness, thus related succeed one another with unconceivable rapidly and thereby constitute the stream of consciousness, the stream that flows on uninterruptedly like the current of a river until the moment of death.
By THE BUDDHA'S Core Teachings
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