Reply To: Post On What Are Kilesa (Mental Impurities)? – Connection to Cetasika

#30877
Lal
Keymaster

Hello, firewns,

You wrote: “Asobhana cetasikas may also condition maha kusala cittas, maha vipaka cittas and maha kiriya cittas. Yet this point is not stressed in your writing, and due to the way it is worded, unwary people may think that asobhana cetasikas always condition akusala cittas, which is not true.”

I think you have got it wrong. Asobhana cetasika (bad mental factors) arise ONLY in akusala citta.

Next you wrote, “This is because asobhana cetasikas include all cetasikas that are not sobhana, including the annasamana cetasikas (7 sabbacitta-sadharana and 6 pakinnaka), as well as 14 akusala cetasikas such as lobha and dosa.”

I have highlighted the root problem in your statement. Asobhana cetasika arise ONLY in akusala citta.

Let me clarify the basics:

1. There are 7 cetasika that are in each and every citta. These are called universals (sabba citta sādhārana)

2. There are six cetasika that also CAN appear in both types of cittā: kusala and akusala. However, they are found in only particular types of cittā. They are called particulars or pakinnaka.

3. There are 14 asobhana cetasika (non-beautiful mental factors) that appear only in akusala citta.

4. There are 25 sobhana cetasika (beautiful mental factors.) They appear only in kusala citta.

5. As a rule, sobhana and asobhana cetasika CANNOT appear together in a given citta.

I just revised the following post on cetasika to make these very clear:
Cetasika (Mental Factors)” 

I also revised the post that you quoted to add some subsections to simplify:
What Are Kilesa (Mental Impurities)? – Connection to Cetasika

What I stated above is in any standard Abhidhamma text. See, for example, Bhikkhu Bodhi’s book, “Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma”. See Chapter 2, “Compendium of Mental Factors”