Foundation
The kinds of consciousness
“How can consciousness be counted?”
The first chapter of the compendium orders consciousness by three questions: in which sphere of existence does it occur? Of what kind is it — wholesome, unwholesome, or neither? And out of which root does it arise? These three grids together yield eighty-nine kinds.
For reading
Editorial explanation — quotations are marked as Canonical text and linked.
In one sentence
Consciousness is counted not by quantity but by kind: three ordering questions together yield eighty-nine distinguishable cases.
In today's language
“Consciousness” here means nothing that endures. What is meant is a single moment of cognising: something is grasped as something — then that moment is over and a next one arises. The canon itself says that nothing changes so fast (SN 12.61). So what can be counted is not how much consciousness someone has, but only which kinds of moments there are.
For this the compendium lays three grids over one another.
The first asks: in which sphere is this moment at home? Ordinary everyday life with its five senses and their wishes is the sense sphere. In one who is still in concentration, consciousness works for a while in a finer sphere in which sense impressions no longer carry. Further out again lie the formless attainments (AN 9.36). And crosswise to all three stands the supramundane case: the moment in which Nibbāna itself is the object.
The second grid asks: what does this moment do? Four answers are possible. It can be wholesome and thereby set something good going. It can be unwholesome and set something bad going. It can itself already be a consequence — the fruit of earlier action now coming up. Or it can merely perform a task without setting anything new in motion. The Abhidhamma gathers the last two cases together as kammically indeterminate. This is an important point: not every moment writes on the future. Bare hearing does not write on it; what one makes of it does (AN 6.63).
The third grid asks: out of what does this moment arise? The teaching knows six roots — greed, hatred, delusion and their three counterparts (MN 9). Some moments have such a root, others none at all: bare seeing, for instance, is as yet neither greedy nor generous, it is only seeing. Rootless moments are the least conspicuous part of the scheme and at the same time the greater part of an ordinary day.
From these three questions the number follows. It is no secret but a calculation: fifty-four kinds in the sense sphere, fifteen in the fine-material, twelve in the formless, eight supramundane.
Why this matters
The classification separates two things that blur together in everyday life: what happens to me and what I make of it. What happens is fruit and already decided. The making-of-it is the only place where practice takes hold.
Canonical basis
MN 9 names the wholesome and the unwholesome together with their roots and is thus the model for the second and third grids. SN 12.61 gives the reason why consciousness can sensibly be spoken of only in the plural of its moments. AN 9.36 describes the states that make up the fine-material and the formless sphere.
Components
- Consciousness (citta) — a single moment of cognising
- Sphere of existence (avacara) — sense sphere, fine-material, formless sphere
- Supramundane (lokuttara) — consciousness with Nibbāna as its object
- Wholesome / unwholesome (kusala / akusala) — what forms kamma
- Kammically indeterminate (avyākata) — resultant (vipāka) and mere functioning (kiriya)
- Root (hetu) — the six; and the rootless moments besides
Connection with other teachings
The grid “wholesome / unwholesome together with roots” is unchanged that of the discourses. New are only the two indeterminate cases: they make visible that a large part of experience is neither earned nor incurred.
Significance for practice
The most usable question of this stage is not “which number was that?”, but: does this moment set something going, or is it itself already a consequence? That is exactly the distinction at which equanimity takes hold.
Common misinterpretations
- “Kammically indeterminate means indifferent.” — It means only: forms no new kamma. An awakened person acts continuously; their acting merely sets nothing new in motion.
- “You have to know the 89 kinds by heart.” — The number is a result of calculation. Whoever understands the three questions can derive it at any time.
- “Supramundane consciousness is a higher state of consciousness.” — What is meant is exclusively the moment in which Nibbāna is the object — not an intensification of concentration.
What you now have in hand
- distinguish the four kinds by mode of operation: wholesome, unwholesome, resultant, mere functioning
- explain why resultant and functioning are together called “kammically indeterminate”
- name the three spheres of existence of consciousness, and the supramundane case besides
- list the six roots and say what “rootless” means
- say where the number 89 comes from — and why some presentations count 121
Key terms of this stage
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Consciousness (moment) citta
Consciousness; a single moment of consciousness.
Note for myself
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Sphere of consciousness avacara
The sphere a moment of consciousness is at home in: the sense sphere, the fine-material sphere, the immaterial sphere.
Note for myself
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Root hetu
The six roots that give a moment of consciousness its direction: greed, hate and delusion — and their absence as non-greed, non-hate and non-delusion.
Note for myself
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Kammically neutral avyākata
In the Abhidhamma: neither wholesome nor unwholesome — resultant consciousness (vipāka) and mere functioning (kiriya). A different sense of the word from avyākata as “the undeclared”.
Note for myself
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Wholesome and unwholesome kusala / akusala
The basic distinction in action: what leads to well-being and clarity is wholesome (kusala); what increases harm and delusion is unwholesome (akusala). The measure is intention and consequence, not command and prohibition.
Note for myself
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Mundane / supramundane lokiya / lokuttara
Mundane / supramundane.
Note for myself
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Further reading optional
Three wholesome roots kusalamūla Three unwholesome roots akusalamūla Intention and action kamma Absorption jhāna Formless absorption arūpa-jhāna
Source texts Canonical text
- MN 9 — Sāriputta on the wholesome and the unwholesome together with their roots: greed, hatred, delusion — and non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion
- SN 12.61 — “Mind”, “thought”, “consciousness” as words for the same thing — and how quickly it changes by day and by night
- AN 9.36 — The absorptions and the formless attainments in order — the states that make up the fine-material and the formless sphere
Looking up the wording
search for “kamavacara” in the Abhidhamma Piṭaka — returns passages from the Dhammasaṅgaṇī (ds2.3.2) and the Vibhaṅga (vb18).
The Pāli wording of the seven books lies in the Dhamma search; there is no translation of it here, in any language. Checked on 2026-08-08.
On this in German, in the Führer durch den Abhidhamma-Piṭaka (Nyanatiloka) — the chapter titles below are German as well:
For reflection
Eighty-nine kinds of consciousness — have I ever noticed one of them?
Not as a number. The number arises by calculation: three grids are laid over one another, and every permissible combination gets its place. What can be noticed is only what the grids describe — that a moment was greedy or friendly, whether it set something going or was merely a consequence.
What does “kammically indeterminate” mean here?
Neither wholesome nor unwholesome. Two cases fall under it: consciousness that is itself the consequence of earlier action (vipāka), and consciousness that performs a task without setting anything new going (kiriya). Neither forms kamma.
Why do some presentations count 121 instead of 89?
The eight supramundane kinds can be spread out fivefold once more, according to the depth of concentration in which they arise. The 8 then become 40, and the 89 become 121. It is the same scheme, only cut more finely.