The 89 (121) Types of Citta

puredhamma.net/tables-and-summaries/89-or-121-citta/

Revised: October 29, 2015; August 31, 2017; June 3, 2018; July 31, 2018

Citta for Kamaloka (in the 11 sense realms)- 54 in all

There are three main types of citta here: The differentiation is based on whether they have
immoral roots (lobha, dosa, moha), kammically moral roots (alobha, adosa, amoha), or are
kammically neutral, i.e., no roots.

12 immoral citta: 8 with lobha roots; 2 with dosa roots; 2 with moha roots. All ten
immoral acts (dasa akusala) are done with these 12 types of cittas. Because of these
12 types of immoral cittas, 7 rootless (ahetuka) vipaka cittas can arise in the future.
Thus altogether there are 19 cittas in this category.
8 moral cittas: 4 with all three moral roots and 4 with two moral roots (lacking in
wisdom). They can give rise to two types of vipaka citta: 8 vipaka cittas with no roots,
and 8 vipaka citta with moral roots (4 of them have all three moral roots and other 4
are lacking in wisdom). Thus 24 types of citta are mentioned here, from which 16
have moral roots and 8 are rootless (ahetuka).
When these same 8 moral citta arise in Arahants, they are called kriya citta or
functional citta. They just have the same moral roots as the 8 moral citta mentioned
above, but do not have any kammic potential or kammic consequences.
All those citta with moral roots (8 kriya cittas for Arahants and 16 for others) are
called sobhana (beautiful) citta.
Finally, there are 3 types of kiriya citta that arise in citta vithi which are neither
kamma nor kamma vipaka. These are the 3 kriya citta without any roots, and thus are
rootless (ahetuka) kiriya citta. Two of these perform functions of (i) five-sense-door
adverting consciousness (pancadvaravajjana citta) and the vottapana citta, and (ii)
mind-door-adverting consciousness (manodvaravajjana citta). (iii)The third one arises
in only Arahants (when they smile about sense-sphere phenomena).
Note that none of the 7 akusala vipaka citta has roots. Also, 8 kusala vipaka citta
associated with pavutti vipaka (i.e, not giving rise to rebirth) also do not have any
roots. Those 15 citta together with the three ahetuka kiriya citta are involved in the
vipaka phase of a given citta vithi. They do not have any sobhana or asobhana
cetasika other than the 7 universal cetasika and the 6 pakinnaka (particualrs)
cetasika; see, “Cetasika – Connection to Gathi” for various types of cetasika. These
18 citta are listed on p. 112 of Ref.1 under the second group below the group of
akusala citta.

Those 54 kamaloka citta can be categorized in different ways.

Asobhana (Unbeautiful) Sobhana (Beautiful)

Immoral- 12 Rootless – 18 Moral -24

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 Lobha (8) Immoral Vipaka (7) Moral (8)

Dosa (2) Moral Vipaka (8) Moral Vipaka (8)

Moha (2) Kriya (3) Kriya (8)

Citta for Rupaloka (in the 16 Rupa realms)- 15 in all

1. There are only 15 citta that are predominantly present in the Rupaloka. Five are jhānic
moral citta and five are vipaka cittas due to those.

2. The five jhānic moral citta can be experienced by humans when they develop samadhi
and attain these (first through fifth) jhānas. However, they can experience the
corresponding five vipaka citta only when they are born in Rupalokas.

3. The five jhānic states are characterized by five jhāna factors or mental concomitants:
vitakka (initial application), vicara (sustained application), piti (zest), sukha (happiness), and
ekaggata (one-pointedness). All five factors are present in the first jhāna, and as one
moves to higher jhānas, these factors are lost one by one, and in the fifth jhāna only
ekaggata is left.

Piti (zest) is the happiness in the mind and sukha (happiness) is the tranquility of the body.

4. There are five more jhānic kriya citta experienced by Arahants when they attain these
jhānas.

Thus there are 15 citta in all that predominantly belong to the Rupaloka.

Citta for Arupaloka (in the 4 Arupa realms)- 12 in all

1. There are only 12 citta that are predominantly present in the Arupaloka. Four are jhānic
moral citta and four are vipaka citta due to those.

2. The four jhānic moral citta can be experienced by humans when they develop samadhi
and attain these (fifth through eighth) jhānas. However, they can experience the
corresponding four vipaka citta only when they are born in Arupaloka.

3. The first of the four Arupaloka jhānas is the attainment of the base of infinite space
(Akasanancayatana). A human needs to master the fourth jhāna (Rupaloka) in order to be
able to attain this jhāna.

The second is the base of infinite consciousness (vinnanacayatana). The third is the base
of nothingness (akincannayatana), and the fourth is the base of neither-perception-nor-non-
perception (n’ evasanna n’asannayatana ). In this last type of consciousness, the factor of
perception (sanna) is so subtle that it can no longer perform the function of perception, i.e.,
one is unaware of the “world”. Yet perception is not altogether absent. This is another
reason why the ancient yogis erroneously assumed this eighth jhāna to be Nibbana.

4. There are four more Arupaloka jhānic kriya citta experienced by Arahants when they
attain these jhānas.

Thus there are 12 citta in all that predominantly belong to the Arupaloka.
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Lokottara (Supermundane) Citta – 8 in all
1. These pertain to the four stages of Nibbanic attainment: Sotapanna, Sakadagami,
Anagami, and Arahant.

2. Each stage involves two types of citta: one is path consciousness ( magga citta), and the
other is fruition consciousness (phala citta).The magga citta has the function of eradicating
or permanently attenuating defilements. The phala citta has the function of experiencing
the degree of liberation made possible by the magga citta.

3. Each magga citta arises only once, and endures for one thought-moment. It is never
repeated. The corresponding phala citta (which corresponds to a vipaka citta, but is not
called a vipaka citta) arises immediately after the magga citta. This is in contrast to
mundane vipaka cittas where they can occur even many lifetimes after the corresponding
kusala or akusala citta.

4. The phala citta can be repeated any time after one attains it. With practice, it can be
sustained for long times, up to 7 days for an Arahant.

Thus, there are 54 + 15 + 12 + 8 = 89 citta in all.

How 121 Types of Citta are Possible

1. It is possible to further analyze the types of citta by refining the above method by taking
into the fact that each magga phala can be reached from the vicinity of each jhānic state.

One can attain Nibbanic states via the vicinity of each of the five rupaloka jhānic
states (here the Abhidhamma method of 5 jhānas is used, instead of four mentioned
in the suttas, where the first two jhāna in Abhidhamma categorization are taken to be
one jhāna; in the Abhidhamma analysis vitakka and vicara are removed in two steps,
whereas in the sutta analysis it is assumed that they are removed in one step).
Therefore, each of the five jhānic states can lead to the four magga cittas and four
phala cittas.
Thus here there are 40 ways to attain lokottara cittas. Therefore, the total number of
citta in this case would be 121 (= 54 + 15 + 12 +40) instead of 89.

2. Therefore, magga phala (including the Arahant stage) can be reached via going through
any of the jhānic states or without going through any jhānic state.

Of course, the 8 lokottara citta (i.e., the four stages of Nibbāna) arrived are the same,
regardless of whether arrived via jhāna or not.

Important Conclusion Regarding Jhāna and Magga Phala

From the above it is clear that magga phala can be attained without jhāna (89
citta analysis applicable). Magga phala can also be attained via each of the five jhānic
states (in the Abhidhamma method), which correspond to the 4 jhānas discussed in
the suttas; here the 89 citta analysis is applicable.

Furthermore, these jhānic states can be reached via either anariya jhāna or Ariya
jhāna. The experience seems to be the same.
The only difference is that while kāma rāga is suppressed (vikkhambhana pahāna) in
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 anariya jhāna, it is REMOVED (samucceda pahāna) in Ariya jhāna.
For details, see, “Samādhi, Jhāna (Dhyāna), Magga Phala “.

REFERENCE

1. “A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma”, by Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000).

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