Cognitive Process Models Depicted in the Dhammasaṅgaṇī

Abstract

The Dhammasaṅgaṇī, the first book of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, offers a foundational analysis of mental and physical phenomena (dhammas), categorizing them into ultimate realities (paramattha dhammas). It analyzes and classifies mental phenomena as consciousness (citta) and associated mental factors (cetasikas) and provides a catalog of those components that form part of the cognitive process (citta-vīthi). The Dhammasaṅgaṇī categorizes the consciousness into ethical (kusala), unethical (akusala), and neutral (avyākata) groups, and each consciousness is shown to be associated with particular mental factors. Presentation of mental factors like contact (phassa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saññā), and volition (cetanā), as well as specific wholesome or unwholesome factors, elaborates how each moment of consciousness is unique and arises with its associated factors. The Dhammasaṅgaṇī also hints at the interdependence of these mental and physical phenomena and emphasizes that consciousness arises dependent on sense bases (āyatana), objects, and other conditions. Thus, the Dhammasaṅgaṇī implies the temporal sequence of the cognitive process (citta-vīthi) as the fleeting nature of mental events, which is a precursor to the detailed analysis of citta-vīthi in later texts. In the Dhammasaṅgaṇī, the theory of cognitive process (citta-vīthi) is found implicit in the Dhammasaṅgaṇī’s account of pañcaviññāṇadhātu (kusala-akusala vipāka), manodhātu (kusala-akusala vipāka and kiriya), and manoviññāṇadhātu (kusala-akusala vipāka and kiriya).