The Fullness of Consciousness in the Dhammsaṅgaṇī

The Dhammasaṅgaṇī sets the stage for Theravāda Abhidhamma, in a fine-grained analysis of consciousness that zooms in on the most minutely identifiable or conceptualizable moments of mind. Any such consciousness or mental moment is characterized by a list of dhammas , commonly taken as "phenomena" or defined as cetasikas – accompanying mental factors, with a basic number of 56 elements enumerated. Often, these dhammas are understood as fundamental mental atoms. This article develops an interpretation of the text that takes dhammas as qualities or processes rather than as self-defined entities, thereby denying their reductionist and atomistic interpretation. The definitions for these qualities are examined to show that they function as approximations of realities, rather than as finite descriptions of fixed states. With this, the synthetic features of the text are underscored, where dhammas are densely packed movements of mind that combine in an efflorescence of conscious experience, to produce a rich understanding of conscious-life. The phenomenological value of this understanding is then assessed, connecting it to ideas from the Upaniṣads and with this to broader concerns of Indian philosophy.