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The Paṭṭhāna: Conditions That Work in the Same Moment and in Adjacent Moments
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The Paṭṭhāna: Conditions That Work in the Same Moment and in Adjacent Moments

Paccayavibhaṅgavāro

Eight conditions about time and mutual support: proximity, contiguity, conascence, mutuality, support, prenascence, postnascence and repetition, with everyday illustrations.

8 points

In the Paṭṭhāna of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, the text opens by listing the twenty-four conditions and then gives the Paccayavibhaṅgavāra, which defines each one in a short standard formula used throughout the book. This page takes the eight conditions that deal specifically with time and mutual support.

Those eight fall into two groups. The first works within a single moment: conascence, mutuality and support. The second works across adjacent moments: proximity, contiguity, repetition, and the pair of prenascence and postnascence.

Where the text gives worked examples, as in the Pañhāvāra of the triad on applied thought in volume 41, these conditions are applied to concrete sequences of mind: adverting is a condition for the five kinds of sense consciousness by way of proximity, and conformity is a condition for change-of-lineage, which is a condition for the path.

This point is for overall understanding. The modern examples here are only illustrations and are not from the text.

  1. 1

    Conascence: arising together and supporting each other Sahajātapaccayo

    The definition says the four mental aggregates are a condition for one another, the four great elements are a condition for one another, at the moment of rebirth-linking mind and matter are a condition for each other, mind and mental factors are a condition for matter originated by mind, and the great elements are a condition for derived matter.

    Applying it in daily life

    Notice that a state of mind never comes alone — anxiety usually arrives with short breath and tight muscles. Working on the body helps the mind too.

  2. 2

    Mutuality: each supporting the other Aññamaññapaccayo

    The definition is very short: the four mental aggregates are a condition for one another, the four great elements are a condition for one another, and at the moment of rebirth-linking mind and matter are a condition for each other. The emphasis is on the condition running both ways, not one way.

    Applying it in daily life

    In a team or a family, many problems are two-way loops rather than one side acting on the other. Looking for who is at fault rarely unwinds the loop.

  3. 3

    Support: what something rests on to stand Nissayapaccayo

    Besides the clauses it shares with conascence, the text adds that the eye base is a condition for eye consciousness and the states associated with it, and so on through all five doors; and the matter on which the mind element and mind-consciousness element depend is a condition for those two elements as well.

    Applying it in daily life

    Set up your surroundings before starting work. Desk, light and tools are the base that lets your intention actually stay standing.

  4. 4

    Proximity: the earlier moment hands on to the later Anantarapaccayo

    The text illustrates with the sequence of mind: eye consciousness is a condition for the mind element, the mind element for mind-consciousness. It then sums up: earlier wholesome states are a condition for later wholesome states, earlier unwholesome for later unwholesome, and earlier indeterminate states may be a condition for later wholesome or unwholesome states.

    Applying it in daily life

    Notice how one mood invites the next. Pausing for a single breath in that join is where you can genuinely intervene.

  5. 5

    Contiguity: with nothing in between Samanantarapaccayo

    The wording for contiguity repeats that of proximity almost sentence for sentence, and the text always presents the two together. The difference lies in the aspect of nothing intervening between the two moments, which is why the counting and the examples usually treat them as a pair.

    Applying it in daily life

    Do not underestimate the brief gap between two activities — reaching for the phone the instant you put work down. What happens in that join sets what follows.

  6. 6

    Repetition: what recurs gains strength Āsevanapaccayo

    The definition says earlier wholesome states are a condition for later wholesome states by way of repetition, and likewise for unwholesome states and for indeterminate functional states. In the Pañhāvāra the text gives the sequence of conformity, change-of-lineage, cleansing and path as an example of powerful handing-on.

    Applying it in daily life

    Choose deliberately what you repeat, because whatever is repeated grows stronger, on the good side and the bad alike.

  7. 7

    Prenascence: what arose earlier is already in place Purejātapaccayo

    The text gives the internal and external bases as examples: the eye base and the form base are a condition for eye consciousness by way of prenascence — something that arose earlier and is standing there, serving as the ground for what follows.

    Applying it in daily life

    What you prepare in advance — laying things out the night before, writing your points before a meeting — is the condition that carries the next day's decisions.

  8. 8

    Postnascence: what arises later supports what is already there Pacchājātā cittacetasikā dhammā

    The definition is a single sentence: mind and mental factors arising later are a condition, by way of postnascence, for this body which arose earlier. Its direction is the reverse of prenascence.

    Applying it in daily life

    Today's state of mind reaches back and supports the body you already have — cheerfulness makes eating and sleeping easier. Caring for the mind is not separate from physical health.

Try it in daily life

What this set of conditions offers daily life is a two-axis view of causes. One axis is what is happening at the same time and holding things up; the other is what came before and passed something on. Most of our problems have both axes at once.

An easy example is a bad mood in the evening. Part of it comes from what is present at the same time — tiredness and hunger — and part from what came earlier and carried over, such as a conversation that morning. Fixing only one axis is usually not enough.

Repetition condition is the most directly usable. It says that when the same thing occurs again, what follows gains strength. That is why a short practice done daily works better than one long effort now and then.

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