notself wrote:I have recently run across this term on another forum.
viññana [vi~n~naa.na]: Consciousness; cognizance; the act of taking note of sense data and ideas as they occur. There is also a type of consciousness that lies outside of the khandhas — called consciousness without feature (viññanam anidassanam) — which is not related to the six senses at all. from Access to Insight Glossary
I would be interested in any comments regarding this phrase and these definitions.
Sorry for the delay on getting back to you on this. Time constraints have been the problem.
This term
viññanam anidassanam has been variously translated as "where consciousness is signless" (M. Walshe); "non-manifestive consciousness" (Bhk. Nanananda in his book
Concept and Reality); and "consciousness non-manifesting" (Bhk. Bodhi). As you can see, the latter two translations are just variations on each other and therefore their respective translators might be seen as agreeing on the key point being brought out. If one can then equate "signless" with "non-manifesting" then all three can be seen to agree on the meaning of the term.
It is then possible to see that this "signless consciousness" is compatible with the definition given in the Access to Insight glossary, that it is "consciousness without feature" which "lies outside of the khandhas" and is "not related to the six senses at all." It is therefore a "non-manifestive" state of consciousness "that has no sign perceptible to the senses and it is immeasurable, purest and a state wherein all the connection with elements cease, leaving no trace", as in the second definition cited by Ven. Kaba-Aye Sayadaw U Pannadipa. This is a state of consciousness reached during meditation.
Where this phrase is mentioned is in the Digha Nikaya is in the Kevaddha Sutta (DN 11.85; i 223). It may be helpful to see two different translations of this section of the sutta in order to compare the ideas being presented. The first translation given is by Bhikkhu Nanananda and states:
"Consciousness which is non-manifestive, endless, lustrous on all sides. Here it is that earth and water, fire and wind, no footing find. Here again are long and short, subtle and gross, pleasant and unpleasant, name and form, all cut off without exceptions. When consciousness comes to cease, these are held in check therein."
The second translation is given by Maurice Walshe, and states:
"Where consciousness is signless, boundless, all-luminous, that is where earth, water, fire and air find no footing. There
both long and short, small and great, fair and foul -- there name and form are wholly destroyed. With the cessation of consciousness this is all destroyed."
It is helpful to acknowledge the context in which these ideas were uttered by the Buddha in order to better understand what he meant. In the Kevaddha Sutta (What Brahma Didn't Know), the Buddha was asked a question by the householder Kevaddha. "Lord, where do the four great elements -- the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element -- cease without remainder?" The Buddha responded by comparing Kevaddha's question to seafaring merchants who took with them a land-sighting bird to help them find land. If it saw land anywhere, it flew there. But if it saw no land, it returned to the ship. "In the same way, bhikkhu, you have been as far as the Brahma world searching for an answer to your question and not finding it, and now you come back to me. But, bhikkhu, you should not ask your question in this way: 'Where do the four great elements ... cease without remainder?' Instead, this is how the question should have been put: 'Where do earth, water, fire and air no footing find? Where are long and short, small and great, fair and foul -- Where are "name and form" [
namarupa] wholly destroyed?'" To this, then, the Buddha responded with the above [M. Walshe translation] statement: "Where consciousness is signless, boundless, all-luminous. . ."
Bhk. Nanananda (in his book) explains the significance of the statement thus: "The last line of the verse stresses the fact that the four great elements do not find a footing -- and that 'Name -and-Form' (comprehending them) can be cut-off completely -- in that '
anidassana-viññana' (the 'non-manifesting consciousness') of the Arahant, by the cessation of his normal consciousness which rests on the data of sense-experience.
This is a corrective to that monk's notion that the four elements can cease altogether somewhere -- a notion which has its roots in the popular conception of self-existing material elements. The Buddha's reformulation of the original question and this concluding line are meant to combat this wrong notion."
Nanananda further explains that: "According to the Buddha's reply, earth, water, fire and air do not find a footing, and long, short, subtle, gross, pleasant, unpleasant and name and form are completely cut off in a consciousness
which makes nothing manifest[
1] and which is infinite and lustrous all round.[
2]"
[1] For this particular sense of the term
anidassana, see Kakacupama Sutta (MN 21.11-14; i 127):
"Ayam hi bhante akaso arupi anidassano, tattha na sukaram rupan likhitum rupa-patubhavam katum."
"This sky, Lord, is immaterial and non illustrative, it is not easy to paint a picture there or to make manifest pictures there."
[It is interesting to note that Bhk. Nanamoli, in his translation of this same line, uses the word "invisible" rather than "non illustrative" as Bhk. Nanananda does. Nanamoli: "Because empty space is formless and invisible; he cannot possibly draw pictures there or make pictures appear there." To my sense of the idea, "invisible" is one thing (meaning "not seen") and "non illustrative" or "non-manifesting" is another (not becoming manifested in the sense of what is seen; meaning, "not even
there to be seen"). Both are similar ideas, yet the former lacks the nuance of "not being there" in one sense of its reading.]
Nidassana in its popular sense of 'illustration' means something that makes clear what is not already clear. Also see AN V.61:
ummapuppham nilam nilavannam nilanidassanam nilanibhasam. "The flax flower, blue, blue coloured, manifesting blue, shining blue."
[2] The radiance of wisdom in its all-encompassing and penetrative aspects, which make it a vision and not a view.
A reference to a 'lustrous mind' is also found at AN I.10: "This mind, monks, is luminous, but it is defiled by taints that come from without. But this the uninstructed worldlings understand not as it really is, wherefore for the uninstructed worldlings there is no cultivation of the mind, I declare. This mind, monks, is luminous, and it is cleansed of taints that come from without. Wherefore, for the uninstructed noble disciple there is cultivation of the mind, I declare."
Nanananda continues: "It is very likely that the reference again is to
anna-phala samadhi (the "Fruit of Knowledge' concentration) of the Arahant. Though less obvious, the string of negations is in general agreement with those that occur elsewhere in like contexts. Terms like long and short, subtle and gross, pleasant and unpleasant as well as name-and-form could easily be comprehended by the standard phrase 'whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought after and traversed by the mind.' . . . This consciousness of the Arahant is one that manifests nothing of our worldly concepts. It does not '
il-lustrate' (Lat.
lustro, 'bright') anything
through (or
because) it is itself '
all-lustrous,' for darkness can never be illustrated or made manifest by light. With his penetrative insight the Arahant sees
through the concepts. Now, an object of perception (
arammana) for the worldling is essentially something that is brought into focus -- something he is looking
at. For the Arahant, however, all concepts have become transparent to such a degree in that all-encompassing vision, that their boundaries together with their umbra and penumbra have yielded to the radiance of wisdom. This, then, is the significance of the word '
anantam' (endless, infinite). Thus the paradoxically detached gaze of the contemplative sage as he looks through concepts is one which has no object (
arammana) as the point of focus for the worldling to identify it with. It is a gaze that is neither conscious nor non-conscious[
4], neither attentive nor non-attentive[
5], neither fixed nor not fixed[
6] -- a gaze that knows no horizon[
7]."
[4.] na sanni assa, sanni ca pana assa.
[5.] na manasikareyya, manasi ca pana kareyya.
[6.] na jhayati, jhayati ca pana.
[7.] (I) "By what track can you lead that Awakened One who is trackless and whose range is endless and to whom there is not that entangling net of craving to lead anywhere." -- Dhp. 180
(II) "Hard to see is the endless -- not easy 'tis to see the truth. Pierced through is craving -- and naught for him who knows and sees." -- Udana 80
