bhavaṅga
Life-continuum
[ buh-VUNG-ga ]
literally: factor of becoming
Seeing it in life
Bhavaṅga is the resting state of mind that flows between cognitive processes, preserving continuity of an individual life. It shares object and quality with the rebirth-linking citta of that life.
In short
The subliminal stream of consciousness between active processes.
The analysis
Bhavaṅga is the resting stream of consciousness that flows between active cognitive processes — not absence of mind, but mind not currently engaged with a sense object. It shares its object and quality with the paṭisandhi-citta that began the current life, and with the cuti-citta that will end it. Deep, dreamless sleep is largely bhavaṅga running uninterrupted.
Where it sits
Every vīthi begins by 'arresting' bhavaṅga — an object strikes strongly enough to interrupt the resting stream, and the sequence unfolds from there, before settling back once the process completes. It is, structurally, the background against which every foreground cognitive process is figure.
The gap between one thought ending and the next beginning, when nothing in particular is happening and nothing needs to — that's not nothing. In Abhidhamma terms, it has content: bhavaṅga, quietly continuing.
Commonly mistaken for
Unconsciousness. Bhavaṅga is a form of citta, actively cognizing an object — just not a new sense-door object.
The 'true self' beneath ordinary experience. It's as conditioned and momentary as any other citta, not a stable ground beneath the flux.
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha III, V; Nyanatiloka, Guide Through the Abhidhamma Piṭaka.
Related terms