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“Vacuum States of Consciousness:
A Tibetan Buddhist View”
B. Alan Wallace
Abstract
In the early Therav›da Buddhist view, the bhavaºga, literally, the “ground of
becoming,” may be characterized as a relative vacuum state of consciousness,
voided of all manner of mental activity known as javana. This appears to be
identical to the substrate consciousness (›layavijñ›na) asserted in the later Great
Perfection (Dzogchen) school of Tibetan Buddhism. This state of consciousness is
presented not simply as a philosophical speculation but as an experienced
mental phenomenon that can be accessed through the achievement of meditative
quiescence (Ÿamatha). According to the Great Perfection school, primordial
consciousness (jñ›na) may be regarded as an ultimate ground state of
consciousness, and it can allegedly be ascertained non-dually through the
cultivation of contemplative insight (vipaŸyan›).
...
The bhavaºga may be characterized as a “vacuum” state of
consciousness, voided of all manner of javana. Generally speaking, it is
indiscernible while the mind is active, for it normally manifests only in
dreamless sleep and during the very last moment of a person’s life.
http://www.alanwallace.org/Vacuum%20States%20Essay.pdf