What
are the 8 Advantageous Kinds of Consciousness?
1: Unprompted consciousness joined both with joy and understanding.
Example:
Knowing good merit one spontaneously gives a gift with joy!
2: Prompted consciousness joined
both with joy and understanding.
Ex: Understanding merit one, now urged by others, gives a gift with
joy.
3: Unprompted consciousness joined with
joy, but not understanding.
Ex: Unaware of the good of merit one spontaneously gives
a gift with joy.
4: Prompted consciousness joined
with joy, but not understanding.
Ex: Not understanding merit one,
incited by others, gives a gift with joy.
5: Unprompted consciousness joined with
equanimity and understanding.
Ex: Knowing well good merit one spontaneously gives, yet in
indifference.
6: Prompted consciousness joined with equanimity and understanding.
Ex:
Understanding merit one, now urged by others, gives in
indifference.
7: Unprompted consciousness joined with
equanimity, but not understanding.
Example: Unaware of
any merit one spontaneously gives in
indifference.
8: Prompted consciousness joined with
equanimity, but not understanding.
Example: Unaware of merit, urged on
by others,
one gives in
indifference.
These are
the 8 kinds of Advantageous Consciousness of the
Sensuous Worlds (kāma-loka).
1 is the best, 8 the lowest.
The kammic return in form of happy pleasure is largest for the spontaneous
and unprompted actions, that is done by own
choice & initiative, and not after
request by others. This is so,
since then they are part of the cause and
thus also will the partake of the advantageous delayed effect.
The delayed
future effect of all these mental states is happiness, joy
and pleasure!
There are in total 89 kinds of Consciousness!
All of them are mapped here:
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/table1.htm
More on the Advantageous (Kusala):
What is Clever Action?,
What_is_Advantageous?
Source: The Path of
Purification XIV 81ff:
The Visuddhimagga by Ariya
Buddhaghosa
from the 5th century AC.
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/pdfs/PathofPurification2011.pdf
