Dhamma rightfully views consciousness as a manifestation of causes and conditions (therefore, various kinds of viññāṇa), but other religions portray it as something continuous like a “soul”.
For example, the following are necessary conditions for eye consciousness (chakkhu viññāṇa) to manifest:
object (arammana) + light + physical eye + Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) + Central Nervous System (Brain/mana indriya) + chakkhu pasada + hadaya vatthu
Steps listed:
- Light reflects off the object
- Photons are received by eye ball
- Neurons from PNS transfer electric signals to Brain
- Brain converts it into a form that chakkhu pasada can receive
- Mana indriya sends ray signal (kirana) to chakkhu pasada rupa
- Chakkhu pasada impinges the hadaya vatthu
- If the person is attentive, awareness manifests at this step
- So far it is a plain awareness (vipāka viññāṇa). But if it is an object of interest, the initial attachment is automatic.
- Then the person can choose to generate conscious thoughts about the object or try to avoid it by distracting themselves. This can strengthen the perception of ‘I’ or ‘me’. But if a single condition above is removed, awareness of the object can not occur.
Do you see anything unchanging/eternal above?