The Life Of Thailand's Mae Chee Kaew

[camerata]

Weird. My copy, the mobi file for Kindle, was perfect.

[camerata]

Traditionally, land inheritance is matrilineal in NE Thailand, so it wouldn't be unusual for a 13-year-old girl to own land. Most Thais don't seem to bother with a will, which means assets get distributed among relatives according to a default formula. People get around this by transferring land to children well before they expect to die.

The "innocent" part of the girl's life doesn't last long. Pretty soon she is stuck in a loveless marriage.

[Several]

Weird. My copy, the mobi file for Kindle, was perfect.

Ah, I downloaded the PDF. Still readable though.

[rockyysdt]

Weird. My copy, the mobi file for Kindle, was perfect.

My download does show some difficulty between "t"'s & "r"'s.

When enlarged there is a slight difference, but at a glance you have to read with care.

Beware of bundle.

I've heard of complete books dissapearing from ones Kindle List due to legal issues encountered by the vendor.

[camerata]

I assume in this case the temple simply made their own mobi file with no DRM since they created the content. It still seems strange that there would be a problem with the pdf file, though.

[seedy]

This confirms some of my personal experience, that we are all different and need to find our own balance of practices (eating, exercising, practicing, chanting, sleep) to advance our spiritual journey.

This is my feeling as well.

Edited October 31, 2012 by seedy

[sabaijai]

According to the Pali dictionary, citta is a synonym for vinnana, or consciousness, specifically (since consciousness is granular) a stream of consciousness. Vinnana is just one of the 5 aggregates, or "groups of existence."

"What is called individual existence is in reality nothing but a mere process of those mental and physical phenomena, a process that since time immemorial has been going on, and that also after death will still continue for unthinkably long periods of time. These 5 groups, however, neither singly nor collectively constitute any self-dependent real ego-entity, or personality atta nor is there to be found any such entity apart from them. Hence the belief in such an ego-entity or personality, as real in the ultimate sense, proves a mere illusion."

However, in the book, "consciousness" seems to be used more in the modern Western sense of self-awareness.

I think citta is a synonym for vinnana only in a very generalist, loose way. As you mention, vinnana is one of the five aggregates. Citta is not one of the five aggregates. A more precise definition of the term would be 'mind' or even 'mind moment' since cittas arise and fall in rapid succession. Cittas continue arising and falling during rebirth, after vinnana has fallen away (but will arise again as a result of continuing cittas). Since they arise and fall they cannot be said to be 'soul' since a 'soul' as generally understood is a single entity.

Citta have an affective quality that vinnana does not, ie there are kusala (wholesome/skilful) citta and akusala (unwholesome/unskilful) citta. Certain citta (mind/mind-moments) give rise to vinnana (sense consciousness)

Put another way, citta precede and succeed vinnana.

In the simplest terms, I would be more comfortable calling citta 'mind' and vinnana 'sense consciousness'. That's in buddhdhamma terms. In everyday Thai language and Thai folk belief, vinnana can hang around after death as ghosts etc.

With reference to the difference, and including mano in the discussion, Bhikkhu Bodhi has written:

In the Nikayas they [citta, mano, viññana] are generally used in distinct contexts.

As a rough generalization, viññana signifies the particularizing awareness through which a sense faculty (as in the standard sixfold division of viññana into eye-consciousness, etc.) as well as the underlying stream of consciousness, which sustains personal continuity through a single life and thread together suscessive lives (emphasized at SN 12.38-40).

Mano serves as the third door of action (along with body and speech) and as the sixth internal sense base (along with the five physical sense bases); as the mind base it coordiantes the data of the other five senses and also cognizes mental phenonema (dhamma), its own special class of objects.

Citta signifies mind as the centre of personal experience, as the subject of thought, voliton and emotion.

It is the citta that needs to be understood, trained and liberated.

Commentaries to SN 12.61