Function of Bhavanga
There are moments when there are no sense-impressions, when one does not
think, when there are no akusala cittas or kusala cittas. Is there at those
moments still citta? Even when there are no sense-impressions and no
thinking, there must be citta; otherwise there would be no life. The type of
citta which arises and falls away at those moments is called bhavanga-
citta. Bhavanga literally means 'factor of life'; bhavanga is usually translated
into English as 'life-continuum'. The bhavanga-citta sees to it that there is
continuity in a life-span, so that what we call a 'being' keeps alive.
Topic 185
11 Oct 2012