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Did the Buddha invent any words?
A person told me that the Buddha coined certain words as part of his teachings. I don't remember which words, but perhaps "samadhi" was one of them.
Is there any evidence the Buddha invented new words? If so, do we know which ones?

The Buddha invented his own terms and defined them, using everyday words that already existed in the local dialects.
First, discussion on the language he used, is found in "The Authenticity of the Early Buddhist Texts" by Bhikkhu Sujato and Bhikkhu Brahmali below. Pali is a constructed language that is closely related to the Buddha's original dialect (Magadhan Prakrit).

Early generations of Indologists accepted the traditional  Theravādin
claim that Pali was the language of the Buddha. More recent linguistic
studies,however, show that Pali is in part an artificial language,
created some time after the Buddha [3, 140]. However, the differences
in language between Pali and the historically datable language of the
Asokan pillars are no more than minor phonetic changes that rarely, if
ever, affect the meaning of the content. In all probability a
similarly close relationship obtains between Pali and the historical
Buddha’s own dialect [2, 194] [9, 11].
Moreover, the Buddha himself may have used varying dialects depending
on where he travelled [2, 190–191] [5, 99], and certainly his
disciples did: they were in fact encouraged to speak in their own
dialect. As Buddhism spread throughout Northern India, this diverging
use of language must eventually have led to a need for
standardisation, and this probably explains the introduction and
development of Pali. Alternatively, or perhaps complementarily, Pali
is related to a particular dialect in India from where the missions to
Sri Lanka originated. A number of scholars are of the opinion that the
West-Indian dialect associated with the Asokan rockedicts at Girnār
and Bombay-Sopārā are closely related to Pali [7, 73–74][9, 8–9]. The
precise age of Pali, therefore, does not have any bearing onthe age of
the contents of the EBTs.
Finally, there are no certain traces of Sinhalese influence on the
Pali EBTs [4, 246] [5, 102–103]. This suggests that the EBTs were in a
standardised form when they arrived in Sri Lanka around the time of
Asoka and that they are unlikely to have been changed after this. As
Wynne says: “If the language of the Pali canon is north Indian in
origin, and without substantial Sinhalese additions, it is likely that
the canon was composed somewhere in north India before its
introduction to Sri Lanka, and is therefore a source for the period of
Buddhism in Northern India before this” 2, that is,before Asoka. In
contrast, Pali texts actually composed in Sri Lanka do show influence
from both Sinhalese and Dravidian [6, 6]

According to Bhikkhu Bodhi (from here):

Scholars regard this language (Pali) as a hybrid showing features of
several Prakrit dialects used around the third century BCE, subjected
to a partial process of Sanskritization. While the language is not
identical to what Buddha himself would have spoken, it belongs to the
same broad language family as those he might have used and originates
from the same conceptual matrix. This language thus reflects the
thought-world that the Buddha inherited from the wider Indian culture
into which he was born, so that its words capture the subtle nuances
of that thought-world.

Secondly, the Buddha forbade his disciples from using Sanskrit, the language of the royal court and of the Brahman clergy. Instead he wanted his disciples to use the local dialects of the common people. This can be found here, in the Theravada Vinaya, in Cullavagga, fifth Khandaka, chapter 33:

And so sitting those Bhikkhus spake to the Blessed One thus:
'At the present time, Lord, Bhikkhus, differing in name, differing in
lineage, differing in birth, differing in family, have gone forth
(from the world). These corrupt the word of the Buddhas by (repeating
it in) their own dialect. Let us, Lord, put the word of the Buddhas
into (Sanskrit) verse.'
'How can you, O foolish ones, speak thus, saying, "Let us, Lord, put
the word of the Buddhas into verse?" This will not conduce, O foolish
ones, either to the conversion of the unconverted, or to the increase
of the converted; but rather to those who have not been converted
being not converted, and to the turning back of those who have been
converted.'
And when the Blessed One had rebuked those Bhikkhus, and had delivered
a religious discourse, he addressed the Bhikkhus, and said:
'You are not, O Bhikkhus, to put the word of the Buddhas into
(Sanskrit) verse. Whosoever does so, shall be guilty of a dukkata. I
allow you, O Bhikkhus, to learn the word of the Buddhas each in his
own dialect.'

Thirdly, the Buddha redefined words from ordinary language into technical terms with specific meaning, depending on context.
For e.g. "dhamma" could mean "phenomena" or "thing", "concept", "teachings" depending on context.
And "sankhara" also means different things depending on context, as seen in this question.
The five aggregates (rupa, vedana, sanna, sankhara, vinnana) are defined in SN 22.79.
The world or "loka" is discussed in this question.
The All or "sabba" is discussed in this question.
Heedfulness or "appamada" is discussed in this question.
Noble or "ariya" is discussed in this question.
Another one is "ahara" (nutriment) is defined in SN 12.11 and many more.
This is explained by Bhikkhu Sujato in his blog entry:

If we look closely at the terms in the jhana formula, then, we find
that they are words that have a more coarse physical or psychological
meaning in everyday language. They are common words that everyone can
understand, and can relate to their own experience. And in every
single case, they clearly have a more subtle, abstract, evolved
meaning in the context of jhana. We have moved from the ordinary mind
to the ‘higher mind’, and everything about the experience is
transformed.
So, for example, the first word in the formula is viveka. This
normally means physical seclusion; going away from others into the
forest or a solitary spot. In jhana, however, it refers to a mental
seclusion, where the mind turns away from the senses and withdraws
into itself. The Pali texts make this distinction clear, as elsewhere
they speak of three kinds of seclusion: physical, mental (i.e. the
jhanas), and seclusion from all attachments (Awakening).
The next word in the formula is kama. In ordinary language this means
the pleasures of life, especially sex, but also food, drink, luxuries,
and other pleasures of the senses. In jhana, however, it has a more
subtle nuance, referring to the mind that inclines to taking pleasure
in any experience through the five senses.
Then there is the word akusala. Normally this means ‘unskilful’, as,
for example, someone who is no good at a certain craft. One who is
kusala, on the other hand, is clever and adroit. In the jhana formula,
however, kusala includes any tendency of the mind that creates
suffering.
Similarly there is the word dhamma, which is what akusala qualifies.
Dhamma in ordinary language has a variety of meanings, such as ‘law’,
‘custom’, and so on. In jhana, however, it takes on a far more subtle
meaning, that is, any object, quality, or tendency of the mind. The
akusala-dhammas, or ‘unskilful qualities’, especially refer to the
five hindrances which must be abandoned before entering jhana.
And so on. I could go on through the entire jhana formula and show how
each word is related to, but abstracted from, its more concrete
everyday basis, its ‘metaphier’. But I think that’s enough examples.

I gave you a downvote in response to the portion of your answer that quotes Sujato's misinterpretation of vitakka.  No serious scholar of Early Buddhism interprets vitakka that way aside from he and B. Analayo.

Apart from or as well as reusing everyday words, I expect that the Pali canon used new "compound" words created using combinations of existing root words (like the English words "automobile" or "skyscraper)".

@frankk I have removed all direct references to vitakka in the answer.

@ChrisW Do you have examples of new compound words?

Well ariyasacca for example -- "Noble Truth" -- I think that a lot of Pali words are compound words. I don't know if they were all new, but they might be (and I expect so).

Curious about the choice for (the invention) of Pali instead of Magadhan Prakrit and how this came about

According to Bhante Vimalaramsi, "samadhi" was coined by the Buddha.

Now, the last factor--I've got a lot to say about that one--"Right
Concentration." One of the observations that Rhys Davies made about
the word "concentration" (or "samadhi" in Pali) was that that word was
never used in the time of the Buddha. The Buddha made this word up to
describe a particular kind of mental development. But Rhys Davies,
because of his ignorance, called it "concentration," and it's been
called "concentration" ever since. And any time anybody thinks about
"concentration," they think about one-pointedness of mind. Because
there were a lot of practices that were being practiced during the
time of the Buddha, a lot of different kinds of meditation, and they
were all one-pointed concentration. The Buddha could have picked up
one of those other Pali words that meant one-pointed concentration,
but he didn't. He made up a word to describe something different. So
my definition of "samadhi" is "collectedness." Collectedness has
stillness, calm, and composure.

This is at the beginning of VIII. Harmonious Collectedness

At large, the Sublime Buddha used existing perceptions, words, and gave them deeper meaning, meaning, perceptions which lead to longer happines and beyond. "Put things upright, which had been overthrow.." Sure, there might be conjunctions before not used that way. But as english is rather void of using conjunctions and usually inflexible used, it's difficult to draw a simile here. Now the answer requires to trust that one understands the meaning of perception/remembering.
Another point in the teachings of the Buddha is a remarkable, often misunderstood: sequences of words with similar meaning, to simply match others perception clear. Many think that certain list carry different, seeking for seperate different, but actually it has simple such purpose, as well as using different words for same, same. Perceptions are different for each person. How one perceives (remembers), so does one think. Way to the understanding of Dhamma means to train oneself in useful perceptions, remember right, turn attention toward what is worth of attention.
Yet, what if not getting this point here 'baken' would have made any use of a question whether the Buddha was a word-inventor or not?


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Help finding “Breath Energy” as described by Thanissaro Bhikku
I plan on calling the Metta forest monastery with this question shortly but have not had the opportunity yet to do so.
In “With Each and every breath” and in many of Thanissaro’s guided meditations he talks about playing with the “breath energies” of the body in meditation. While I believe I have on occasion felt these sensations in my hands, I have struggled to feel them elsewhere in the body, particularly their movement from the base of the skull down the spine as he often stresses is the most important place to feel these energies.
If anybody as any experience with this particular form of meditation and tips on sensitizing myself to the breath energy of the body I would be keen to hear. Thank you!

Be patient with yourself, the energy is essentially how you feel the body from within. Initially when your body feels stiff, i.e also energy but blocked. Slowly, the energies you feel would be subtle. Try listening to the talks titled Breath, on dhammatalks.org, he explains it quite deeply there.

I've practiced breath meditation in a way similar to how Ven. Thanissaro teaches for decades.
What he and his teacher Ajahn Lee call breath energy, in the Buddha's sutta terminology, corresponds mostly with wind property (see MN 62 for breath meditation and 4 elements)
https://lucid24.org/mn/mn062/index.html
but also breath energy would overlap with the other elemental properties (fire, water, earth), just that it's the physical tactile sensations of the breath that you filter your experience through.
For example, in the beginning breath tactile sensations may feel most prominent as wind element in nostril area, force of chest and belly expanding.
The more you meditate, the more sensitive you become, and the more that your internal energies of your jhana battery are charged up and the forces become stronger, then you'll feel portions of currents and loops of energy running all over the entire body, felt as watery hydraulic movement, or heat, or electricity. At different stages, parts of your body may feel light (weight) or heavy, maybe like a buzzing beehive, or soft gooey magnetic force everywhere for example.
The sensations of your fingers for example may be felt as tingly electrical sensations. It may not feel like "breath" at first, but the more your jhana battery gets charged up, the more all of these elemental tactile sensations pervade everywhere in the body and connect together.
The important point is not that all of these kinds of tactile sensations have to feel like a gross (airy) breath, but that you simply use the "breath energy" as a way to anchor your perceptions, gross to subtle of how each cell of the body is perceived.

What does the term jhana battery refer to precisely? Do you mean the prelude to jhana, where certain qualities subside and certain qualities arise for the subsequent entrance into to jhana? Is that what you mean?

what i mean by jhana battery, is analogous to if you don't sleep enough, your mind will be forgetful and dull. If you don't eat enough, your body will be tired, mind will be tired. Most people have a depleted jhana battery, (they would need to spend weeks, months charging it up for the forces to get strong enough for interesting sensations to be felt in the body.

first u use for example the tactile sensation of the breath passing on the upper lip as the object of single-pointed fixation.  with good instructions and surrounding circumstances it will take about 6months to reach perfect concentration.  based on this all sensory appearances collapse and u remain in perfect single-pointed concentration on just the mind ie. spacious nonconceptual luminosity.  ur sense organs only completely shutdown in 2nd jhana until then they are just dormant or suppressed in the sense of contributing nothing to impinge on ur perfect attention and one can remain without moving off ur object for two hours at a time easily.  then the question comes,  so can i return to my previous familiar breath meditation object or no or what.  yes and no.  no that coarse appearance conditioned by the sense organ and called the breath no longer is used,  and yet yes a much subtler version of the movement of the breath is ascertained by the mental consciousness and used instead.  this is the breath energy of the body closely associated with the mind called prana in vajrayana.  this is the coarsest and most obvious ascertainment of it all thats required is perfect concentration beyond the desire realm the first instance of this being access concentration/shamata which is where the journey to 1st dhyana begins

That is not what Thanissaro teaches at all. You're describing a breath meditation and jhana that does not match a straightforward reading of what the pali suttas teach.

you'd have to clarify what you mean by "body shutdown", but the suttas and. Ven. T. teach four jhanas that are sensitive to the entire physical body. If you're in a samadhi where the body is not perceivable, you're not in the four jhanas anymore.

If the sense organs shut down in second jhana, one would be absent of perception and feeling. This would give rise to the third noble truth, and a rather interesting spectacle would follow. How does this fare with you?

@NeuroMax nope, the mental sense power is still perfectly functioning so ur samsara is not even slightly interrupted. are u assuming the 6th sense power resides in sense organs?

@frankk oh i see thanissaro is one of these ppl who thinks objects can still impinge on perfect concentration.  hopefully he is excising a type of skilful means cos as i said although raw physical sensation is easily overcome a subtle variant is known by the perfectly concentrated mind. that the physical senses no longer appear to perfect concentration is non debatable.  that the sense organ shut down in full is a technical thing relevant to ppl who can sit without moving off their object for consecutive days at a time, outshining 1st jhana where 12h is effortless

I'm not familiar with the six-sense power. Amongst the manifold range of spiritual-type experiences, I guess it can be quite tricky diagnosing a jhana - that's what I have come to understand from the resources I've studied and the sangha members I've spoken to. But as things clear up, that understanding clears up.

that the physical senses no longer appear to perfect concentration is non debatable,< The four jhanas one can perceive the body made of rupa kaya, according to the earliest suttas. That is not debatable. If you're in a formless samadhi where the physical senses don't appear, it's an arupa samadhi, not the four jhanas. You want to use tantric Buddhism model of things, fine, but understand they're not defining jhanas the same way.

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I have a question, but feel it's far to sensitive to share here
I have a question about my current practice, but feel it's far too sensitive to share here. I do not personally know any person, teacher or guru who I could ask this question. What could I do in this instance?

StackExchange allows you to post questions anonymously when you sign out, if that helps.

What's a sensitive question, why it's a question ashamed to ask? And might asking it oneself honest lead fast to a very insightfull answer? Didn't, does't it, as, in cases of reading selfchosen texts or approach those one current feels secure, would in most cases be just food for ones defilements to hide themself up, good householder. Would he ask it now, this sensitive question?

in summary, a sotappana has no doubts therefore the question can't be about if you are a sotapanna, once returner, non-returner or arahant.

Remarkably, for every single question I would have asked the Buddha or the Sangha, I've always found an answer in the suttas. There are a lot of suttas, so searching them can be overwhelming.  The internet provides many ways to search the suttas. For example, for Early Buddhist Texts, Suttacentral.net has a prolific search engine that returns a massive number of results. For a more targeted search of a subset of the EBTs, Voice.suttacentral.net presents up to 50 directly relevant sutta results for arbitrary search strings. But these are only two examples--there are many other ways to find and search the Teachings.
However, for personal practice questions, it's also very helpful to talk with others as you've indicated. Personal practice question should really be directed towards a specific Sangha familiar with the nature of your own practice.
Buddhism StackExchange is not really designed for private chat exchanges. Although it does have chat rooms, these rooms are more for extended discussions about a specific topic of public interest. Nor is Buddhism SE intended for opinions and recommendations. Questions about personal practice should really be answered directly by the relevant Sangha for that practice. For example, Zen practice questions should be directed towards appropriate teachers or communities (e.g., Soto vs. Rinzai).
Instead of Buddhism StackExchange, which has a strict Q&A format, consider posting your question to more conversational Buddhist forums such as SuttaCentral Discuss and Discover. Such forums will support extended public conversations as well as private conversations held in confidence. Folks on such forums will often be quite happy to help direct you to Sanghas that may be able to assist you.

Thanks. The suttas are nearly always my port of call, but I haven't find anything in there. I'll look into your other suggestions.

Ah, yes. I found it thanks to your suggestion. ;-)

Would you mind if closed this question?

Second thoughts, it may be quite helpful to others, so I'll just leave it.

Most Monastics/Temples/Meditation Centers have a Youtube channel these days - especially in the West. They often have a weekly "Monk Chat" where people can ask questions in the chat and the monastics answer them live.
If you go to Buddhist Insights’ Youtube channel they have a weekly Monk Chat every Friday. You could try and ask your question there. A little tip is to be there at the beginning so you can type in your question as one of the first.

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Good source of Buddha stories and what they mean
Try again.
I have an idea for a comic book I would like to attempt.  It is based in a contemporary setting and sort of outlines the principles of buddhism without actually comingout and saying so.
What I am after is a good source of Buddha stories and what they mean.  You know the sort of thing, Buddha said this or did that and what he was getting at.
I had a book by Suzuki once that was full of them but I am sure there is a website whith some somewhere.

It's not clear to me what you mean. What exactly is your question about Buddhism? A comic? Contemporary?

Are you trying to draw comics depicting stories from the Buddha's life or past lives? How would that be contemporary?

It wouldn't be about Buddha but it would touch on some Buddhist principles.  Think contemporary re-interpretation of Shakespeare.

I went for "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" in the end.

Please see Buddhanet's Buddhist Studies eBook Library.
It contains ebooks on the Buddha's life story, Jataka tales, stories of his disciples, stories from the Dhammapada commentary and other suttas.

That's a great resource. Thanks a lot.

If you're not afraid to dive into the deep end, then you could start with the Jataka Tales. I haven't got the time to compile my own description, so I've pulled this wiki.

The Jataka tales are a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. The future Buddha may appear as a king, an outcast, a god, an elephant—but, in whatever form, he exhibits some virtue that the tale thereby inculcates.

Yes, that sort of thing.

@ThirdPrize - The link I provided will take you to some of those stories. Best wishes.


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Was Sariputta alive during the time of Buddha's death?
I have found two Suttas and I am a bit confused about Sariputta's death.
In DN 16, there is a part about Sariputta being alive at the time of Buddha's death. (look at 4. Sāriputta’s Lion’s Roar in DN 16)
In this sutta SN 47.14, Buddha talks about the death of Sariputta and Maha Moggallana. "This assembly, O bhikkhus, appears indeed empty to me, now that Sariputta and Maha Moggallana have passed away."
What is the correct timeline? Why was Sariputta alive during Buddha's parinibbana in DN 16?

Time in DN 16, MahaParinibbanaSutta, is already clear for the Sutta Pali memorizer, but it's hard for the reader because it's too long for skipping reading. Memorizing with the memorized & enlightened monk is the way to study tipitaka faster&easier really really.
In DN 16...

Ven.Sariputta's Lion's Roar (no. 16) comes first story,
then the Buddha spends the last rainy season (Vassa)  in the village
of Beluva, Vesali (no. 27) (Ven.Sariputta died 15 days after that season),
then the buddha announced his dead date 3 months after that last
rainy season (no. 46).

As we knew whether Sariputta died 6 months, fullmoon day on 12th month, before the Buddha died, full moon day on 6th month. The Buddha announced his dead date 3 months before the death, so Ven. Sariputta died before the Buddha 6 months.


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To hell with metta - how to understand AN4.125?
Quote from Aṅguttara Nikāya 4.125 Paṭhamamettāsutta:

Firstly, a person meditates spreading a heart full of love
[...]
If they abide in that, are committed to it, and meditate on it often without losing it, when they die they’re reborn in the company of the gods of Brahmā’s Host.
The lifespan of the gods of Brahma’s Host is one eon. An ordinary person stays there until the lifespan of those gods is spent, then they go to hell or the animal realm or the ghost realm. But a disciple of the Buddha stays there until the lifespan of those gods is spent, then they’re extinguished in that very life. This is the difference between an educated noble disciple and an uneducated ordinary person, that is, when there is a place of rebirth.

Why would an ordinary person, a worlding (puthujjano), go to hell after a lot of metta? I cannot believe this. My first guess was that this is probably meant to be a possibility, meaning lots of metta will not 100% prevent descending to lower realms forever. However, as I cannot read Pali, I compared other translations to modern languages, but none of them suggests the possibility. Instead they all seem to agree (at least by their grammar) on this direct chain of results:
(a lot of) Metta -> gods realm -> one of the lower realms
for a householder, at least. Disciples are better off. Grammatically, I fail to see any room left for interpretation as a possibility.
I must be misunderstanding something with this sutta. What is it? Wording, context, translatation, missing background?

Thanks for the answers so far. I understand your interpretation and I sympathize with it. But it seems I missed some explanation. Please let me try to clarify my question:
A puthujjano is one who has not overcome the ten fetters. If, with a lot of metta, such a person is reborn as deva in Brahma realm, then - according to my understanding of the words of this sutte - this person will be reborn to the lower realms. The text doesn't say the worldling "can go", or "could go", or "will go, if something else". The sutta, literally, states:  "metta .. worldling ... brahma realm ... then hell".
This is against my intuition, which is that a worldling, after lots of metta, can be reborn as deva but still end up in a lower realm later for some reasons, e.g. if only concentration is highly developed, or for other karmic reasons. But the sutta does not suggest this result as possibility, only, but as direct result.
I would assume that the next rebirth could be elsewhere, too, if karma it favorable, if mindfulness, equanimity, whatever needed, have been developed. But the sutta does not mention any other factor, except: worldling (will go to hell) or disciple (will go to cessation).
My question is about the words of this sutta. Why do they go against this intuition. Blind guesses: Is it a translation error? Is Pali lacking forms like subjunctive, so pure possibility can't be expressed? Is this sutta a later addition to the canon? Did I miss context?

they dont practice in the upper realms.  therefore all that remains is to go down after they finally die after what feels like an eternity.  these ppls metta was incapable of preventing them from using their merit just for rebirth into pleasure.  more sophisticated metta allows one to be reborn as a human or rarely in upper realms with connection to dharma.  the truly hardcore direct their metta only to birth in places of complete degeneration to develop power then finally to help vast numbers when they finish.. these are called pratyekabuddhas and vastly outpace sravakas

If u are struggling understanding language of scripture, this link might help you: http://dhammatalks.net/Books5/Bhikkhu_Buddhadasa_Two_Kinds_of_Language.htm kind regards

Thank you all so much again for answers. However, I'm sorry, but I feel that no answer addresses my main concern. The sutta may suffer from context, it may be due to inaccurate oral tradition, it may have been directed to simple men - but to me, this seems like guesses.
Can it be clearly explained why the Sutta's words seems to say something so different from our intuitive understanding/interpretation of the issue? Is that even answerable? Should I maybe edit the question to make it clearer?

@AleGra - If we are to be sincere and scrupulous, one would need to reassess their intuition, and I mean fearlessly reassess. There might just be something very interesting on the other side of that blockade! Additionally, some suttas just don't ring well with us. I've read many suttas like this. I kick them by the wayside and move on.

the birth in brahma realm is the result of the metta meditation.  being there exhausts their positive force and since very typically they are not inclined to practice while there.  then their circumstances are ripe for them to easily be swept up by their remaining unskilful tendencies and to which they have become deeply unaccustomed to ie. theyre easy prey due to unfamiliarity with them.
most of us have made no actual lasting progress on selflessness and so merit leaves us with an impression of being enduring much like how young humans are fearless and barely have concepts of being fragile or vulnerable, those in the upper realms often dont even have thoughts that its possible that they can die

excellent when saying "most of us [but not all of us] have made no actual lasting progress on selflessness". well spoken –

Uncountable karma in even a minute, unstoppable and waiting forever for effecting as the resultant. Even they vanished immediately when arising. Their effects still possible to effect in the future proper situation.
In the dependent origination, there are uncountable past lives' intentions, Sangkhara, which still waiting to give their resultants.
There are more than trillion intentions per sec arising&vanishing now. There are 2 kinds of intentions, sleeping intentions and awaking intentions.
There are 10-17 times, or uncountable for the absorbing person,  of awaking intentions arising and vanishing rapidly, then sleep a bit then  awaking intentions arise again, looping entire life.
These 10-17 times of awaking intentions included 4-7 karma-intentions, PunnaAbihsangkhara, ApunnaBhisankha, AnanjaAbhisankhara.
In that 7 karma-intentions, 1st time will give resultant this life, 7th  will give resultant next life. The 2nd to 6th time will give resultants beginning from the 3rd life after next life or waiting until they gave resultants already, or the  death of Arahanta. (The arising karma already vanished, but the vanished karma are able to give the resultants even 10000000000th life later).
Uncountable karma in even a minute, unstoppable and waiting forever for effecting as the resultant.
So, even one enlightened as Arahanta, but the bad karma-intentions still able to give the bad resultant to that one.
However, the Arahanta doesn't care of the suffering feeling. And the most important point  "Arahanta is going not to born by any karma-intentions anymore.
That's why the ordinary people who achieved the absorption in metta, still able to born in hell after the heaven life.
And that's why even the very good people should practice follow the Buddha. The only way to breakout of suffering is the professional enlightenment about 4 noble truth only.

There are more than trillion intentions per sec arising & vanishing now. - where can I find this, please.

Page 154 https://www.bodhinanda.org/assets/bodhipedia/20210215/the%20essence%20of%20buddha%20abhidhamma.pdf

Thanks. Appreciated, but how can I cross-reference that with a sutta, so that it remains within the context of a teaching, and not removed from a teaching? Abhidhamma seems so dry and dessicated in that respect.

It is able to do but don't try to reference because even I can do but the reader can't understand it without Sutta Pali skill and the very hard meditation skill to see the realities like Abhidhamma explaining Sutta. And then the practitioner can memorize Sutta and see the truth himself then nothing to describe. And if the reader can think science, which leading greedy, is advantage, that reader will think Abhidhamma, which leading meditation in more detail, is more advantage too.

Practicing metta correctly leads to rebirth in brahma realm, not to hell.
What propels that brahma realm being to hell and animal realm after death, is not the practice of metta, but their previous karma.
The sutta is not describing an absolute rule, it's just citing one possibility.
For example, other suttas show beings who perform enormous meritorious karma have successive rebirths in many devas realms consecutively.
The point of this sutta, is to show that for a skilled disciple of a buddha who is reborn in the Brahma realm, they are very likely to follow up that life with final  nirvana at death, whereas a non Buddhist would be propelled to a future rebirth based on their accumulated past karmas, which is most likely to be a step down in rank (human, animals, hell, etc.)  after their wholesome karma that led to that Brahma realm rebirth has been exhausted and not replenished with new wholesome karma.
The important general issue you're addressing, namely whether the pali source is actually this vague or imprecise in explanation of Dharma, is unfortunately fairly common. That is, the suttas being memorized teachings in an oral traditions, tend to be terse and not explicit and clear in all its implications when read in isolation. The full meaning has to be drawn out from reading many suttas in the entire collection and connecting the dots.

The key sentence in the section you shared is...

This is the difference between an educated noble disciple and an uneducated ordinary person, that is, when there is a place of rebirth.

The teaching gives a wider context surrounding puthujjana and aryas and what can be expected from the practice of metta regarding those two types of individuals.
The contention you seem to have is regarding the puthujjana's destination, having diligently practised metta throughout their entire life.
Quite simply, regardless of what a puthujjana practices or how diligently they practice, they are subject to the fortitude of samsara, subject to births in all their modalities, and therefore, subject to the experience of further pleasures and further suffering. One might say they arc up and down and hither and yon, through the hardened density of the apayas, and perhaps through other, more pleasurable abodes in accordance with their karma. This is because they have not realized a fruition.
In Theravada, the first fruition is stream-entry. Having realized the drawbacks that occur from identifying with the body, the mind then inclines towards practice. One can intuit the teachings with ease and relay those teachings to others (bodhicitta). More importantly, you leave the state of puthujjana and become an arya. So stream-entry is a big deal.
An arya has then become informed, educated, instructed, clued-up, smart. Like Venerable Kondanna, he becomes the one who knows. This leads the arya to births that were previously beyond his reach. Favourable births that lead him to liberation.
I don't know the background to this sutta, but it looks like the teaching was given to rouse the energy of simple-minded puthujjana's who could not fully grasp teachings that required deeper levels of discernment.

good answer. thank u

A person has five spiritual faculties

Judgement/discernment/wisdom
Energy/persistence/striving/effort
Concentration
Faith/conviction
Mindfulness

All beings have these faculties and they are in a constant flux as to their level of development.
When a person develops thoughts of good-will & fully penetrates that theme with discernment, his wisdom faculty will in that be brought to consummation and the mind will be inclined to extinguishment.
A person might develop the faculties to a high level and be born again a Deva but if the development isn't upheld & concluded there then always remains a potential to fall away due a lack of development and an exhaustion of merit that supported the favorable birth.
The human state is attained by good conduct and people fall away from that state due to lack a of it. The Brahma state is attained by good conduct and Brahma fall away from that state due to a lack of it.
Wrong view is that which leads to a bad rebirth. One can do a lot of good for wrong reasons and if these reasons are far enough from the truth then one's birth will be far away and in a bad destination when the immediate merit of past actions is exhausted.


text:
The rootless, mirth-producing, mind-consciousness element
What is hasituppāda, the so-called rootless, mirth-producing, mind-consciousness element of an Arahant? What is its basis? What is its purpose, if any? Could someone provide me the details of the same with references from the Pāli Canon?

I think it is helpful @Jade Empire. Thanks.

From the dictionary entry on "hasituppāda-citta":

hasituppāda-citta：This term is used in Abh．S．for the citta
，Tab．I，72．This type of consciousness （the Buddha's smile） is often
implied in the suttas.
hasituppāda-citta：lit．'consciousness producing mirth' （smile），is found
in the Abhidhammatthasaṅgaha as a name for the joyful
mind-consciousness element （manoviññāṇa-dhātu，Tab．I．72） arising as
functional consciousness independent of kamma （kiriya-citta），only in
the Arahat．- （App.）.

From the dictionary entry on "hasita":

Hasita Hasita [pp. of hasati, representing both Sk. hasita & hṛṣita]
laughing, merry; (nt.) laughter, mirth A i.261; Pv iii.35 (=hasitavant
hasita-mukhin C.); Miln 297; Bu i.28; J i.62 (? read hesita); iii.223;
Vism 20.
-uppāda "genesis of mirth," aesthetic faculty Tikp 276; see Cpd. 20 sq.

From the dictionary entry on "uppāda":

Uppāda Uppāda2 [Sk. utpāda, ud + pad] coming into existence,
appearance, birth Vin i.185; D i.185; S iii.39 (+ vaya); iv.14; v.30;
A i.152 (+ vaya), 286, 296; ii.248 (taṇh˚); iii.123 (citt˚ state of
consciousness); iv.65 (id.); Dh 182, 194; J i.59, 107 (sat˚); Vbh 303
(citt˚), 375 (taṇh˚); PvA 10; ThA 282. — anuppāda either "not coming
into existence" D iii.270, M i.60; A i.286, 296; ii.214, 249: iii.84
sq.; Ps i.59, 66; Dhs 1367; or "not ripe" D i.12.

So "hasituppāda-citta" refers to the mental state of an arahant that generates a smile. This term had apparently originated in the Abhidhamma.
Please see the questions "Are there examples of the Buddha showing humour in the Pali Canon?" and "The Buddha and the act of smiling". Sutta or commentary examples of "hasituppāda-citta" can be found in the answers to these questions.
The explanation on hasituppāda-citta comes in this answer by Ven. Yuttadhammo:

You could say the Buddha and arahants had a peculiar form of
humour.... The hasituppādacitta (smiling-producing mind) is a citta
unique to enlightened beings. While they can also smile due to
beautiful-functional cittas, the hasituppādacitta is rootless,
containing none of the wholesome or unwholesome roots.
This means they would smile at things ordinary folk wouldn't, like
brahmas being born as pigs (Dhp-A 338), or ghosts
being tortured for past misdeeds (Dhp-A 71).

A detailed explanation of the etymology of the word and its semantics. Thanks @ruben2020. So the enigmatic smile of the Buddha is this very hasituppādacitta. I think it stays enigmatic because why he smiles remains unknown, beyond the comprehension of puthujjana like us, rootless as it is.

i marked this answer down because it appeared to copy & paste blogs rather than was references from the Pāli Canon, as asked in the question. It appears Dhammapada & Abhidhamma commentaries are not part of the Pali Canon. Also, this answer appears to only include one sutta reference about  hasita from A i.261 (which i had to link), which is unrelated to Arahants but is about fools.

I am not familiar with this pali term but i think the english expression there can be substantiated.
Skillful states are skillful because they are without greed, anger & delusion.

"Monks, there are these three roots of what is unskillful. Which three? Greed is a root of what is unskillful, aversion is a root of what is unskillful, delusion is a root of what is unskillful.
"Now, there are these three roots of what is skillful. Which three? Lack of greed is a root of what is skillful, lack of aversion is a root of what is skillful, lack of delusion is a root of what is skillful. https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.069.than.html

The mind of an Arahant is without root in as far as it is without greed, anger & delusion. It is mirth producing in as far as the consciousness aggregate is conjoined with fabrication aggregate and it fabricates the conditioned.

Three aggregates are conjoined with consciousness. The aggregate of form is not conjoined with consciousness. The aggregate of consciousness should not be said to be, conjoined with consciousness or not conjoined with consciousness. Three aggregates are generated by consciousness. The aggregate of consciousness is not generated by consciousness. The aggregate of form sometimes is generated by consciousness; sometimes is not generated by consciousness. Three aggregates are co-existent with consciousness. The aggregate of consciousness is not co-existent with consciousness. The aggregate of form sometimes is co-existent with consciousness; sometimes is not co-existent with consciousness. Three aggregates accompany consciousness. The aggregate of consciousness does not accompany consciousness. The aggregate of form sometimes accompanies consciousness; sometimes does not accompany consciousness. Three aggregates are conjoined with, generated by consciousness. Two aggregates are not conjoined with, not generated by consciousness. Three aggregates are conjoined with, generated by, co-existent with consciousness. Two aggregates are not conjoined with, not generated by, not co-existent with consciousness. Three aggregates are conjoined with, generated by, accompany consciousness. Two aggregates are not conjoined with, not generated by, do not accompany consciousness. (10)

Therein what is the aggregate of form? The aggregate of form by way of
singlefold division: All form is not root. Is not accompanied by root.
Is not associated with root. Is with cause. Is conditioned.

The Aggregate of Consciousness
Therein what is the aggregate of
consciousness? The aggregate of consciousness by way of singlefold
division: Is associated with contact. The aggregate of consciousness
by way of twofold division: Is accompanied by root; is not accompanied
by root.
The aggregate of consciousness by way of threefold division: Is
skilful; is unskilful; is neither-skilful-nor-unskilful. https://suttacentral.net/vb1/en/thittila

It might be noteworthy that for an Arahant neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant-feelings are always associated with wisdom and are on that account pleasant.

It appears the term 'hasituppāda' or 'hasituppādacitta' is not found in the Pāli Canon. The Pali Canon, according to Wikipedia, is as follows:

Vinaya Piṭaka ("Discipline Basket"), dealing with rules or discipline of the Sangha

Sutta Piṭaka , discourses and sermons of Buddha, some religious poetry and is the largest basket

Abhidhamma Piṭaka, treatises that elaborate Buddhist doctrines, particularly about mind, also called the "systematic philosophy" basket.

It appears the The Abhidhammattha-Saṅgaha and Dhammapada Commentaries are not part of the Pali Canon.
The Suttas only refer to 'hasita' as occurring to the minds of fools.


text:
Is kasina meditation based on the suttas or was it invented in the Visuddhimagga?
Is kasina meditation and other such meditation techniques not found in the suttas (i.e. not taught by the Buddha) and only invented in the Visuddhimagga?
Or does it have basis in the Pali suttas?

I'm asking for one who can modify the text in to a scholar form and put it in to wikipedia. I don't think the request words is bad enough to edit out. I don't know why we shouldn't put the historical reference text in to wikipedia? Why should  we accept the opinion inside wikipedia more than the historical evident?

@Bonn If you read this guide, you can add information into Wikipedia but it also says "We find 'accepted knowledge' in high quality, published sources. By 'high quality' we mean books by reputable publishers, respected newspapers, peer reviewed scientific and academic journals, literature reviews and other sources with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy. This means generally not using random personal websites, blogs, forum posts, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter content, self-published sources"

@Bonn I'm not sure if Wikipedia moderators will allow you to write your own opinion  into its pages, but you can try. It's better if you can cite references from peer-reviewed academic journals or writings of respected famous monks or academic scholars. Alternatively, I suggest that you can write a short comment in Wikipedia and try to cite your own Buddhism SE answer. I'm not sure if they will allow that though.

Actually, I usually refer to Pali directly. I think I prove myself enough that I often quote Pali more than  others you have ever seen. And for me, I will quote only Pali if others can understand it. What I can't is... generating my own opinion to write into wikipedia. And it is what I call "Scholar form" which most of them are imaginative opinion, less of historical text. And that is what we call "Encyclopedia"... cutting the origin off, putting own opinion in. Now, they call the origin as opinion, and they put the opinions as the truth.

I don't recall a sutta where the Buddha taught those kinds of practices.

Yes the ten kasina mediations are in The Middle-length Suttas (Book 2, Chapter 3, Sutta 7 “Great Sakuludayi Sutta”), and I have heard they are other places, but havent come across those.

“Again, Udāyin, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to develop
the ten kasiṇa bases. One contemplates the earthkasiṇa above, below,
and across, undivided and immeasurable. Another contemplates the
water-kasiṇa…Another contemplates the fire-kasiṇa…Another contemplates
the air-kasiṇa…Another contemplates the blue-kasiṇa…Another
contemplates the yellow-kasiṇa…Another contemplates the
red-kasiṇa…Another contemplates the white-kasiṇa…Another contemplates
the space-kasiṇa…Another contemplates the consciousness-kasiṇa above,
below, and across, undivided and immeasurable. And thereby many
disciples of mine abide having reached the perfection and consummation
of direct knowledge.
MN 77

There is no evidence the Buddha ever spoke MN 77. Its just words in a book, similar to the Bible. All we can say about MN 77 is the word kasina is found in MN 77. We cannot say the Buddha actually spoke it.

Hundreds of results of "kasiṇa" words found in Sutta. Kasiṇa is not described in detail in Sutta because it is easy and the outsider practitioners already found this method before the Buddha appeared, no need teaching. The 3 jatila also meditate Tejo Kasina and they are the great teachers in Kasina before the Buddha appear. No detail doesn't mean "Kasiṇa is not widely found in the earlier suttas", it means "Kasiṇa is usually used before the Sutta, so nothing to describe".

And According to OvadaPatimokha, all wholesome should be meditated. Kasina can let the practitioner get wholesome Jhana, so we should meditate Kasina as same as other wholesome meditation as well. Don't bias to avoid wholesome meditation just because it is what you don't like.

@dhammadhatu Ok I will edit my answer. Thanks

"There is no evidence the Buddha ever spoke MN77...". Translation: I don't like what it says. There is no evidence the Buddha spoke ANY sutta, so comments like this are pure sectarianism.

I'm a thai and my english is very basic.
I found this in wikipedia, and it looks like a slander because they put the less reference, and miss the point. Many bias point the reader out of the reference. Everyone can show up their opinions, and we should listen to them respectfully, but it doesn't mean "proper" when they show up their opinions by cutting many evident of the analysis like this. I don't want to fight, I don't want to blame or slander. I really love and support, as proper, every kind of Buddhist people, even they are not in Theravata, however I still  have to do my job, describe the truth from the original text. I just want to let people see the other angles they never see by the reference from the original text from the history, not only the opinion. I do not just write but I will let you see how much reference that the below text didn't mention to.
Note, some original pali text were quoted and referenced in the referenced articles for the easier to read and many time reference.

Spiritual practice and progress
The most influential presentation of the Theravāda Abhidhamma path to liberation is found in the Visuddhimagga ('Path of Purification') of Buddhaghoṣa.[122]

No direct rule in Vinaya force the monk to recite & memorize Visuddhimagga. The rule start from 'Bikkhu have to recite & memorize Vinaya and Sutta from the previous Tipitaka Memorizer who enlightened or at lease the previous Tipitaka Memorizer who shy and fear (aware) of unwholesome' (1st ref, 2nd ref).

The Visuddhimagga's doctrine includes several interpretations not found in the earliest discourses (suttas).

The core of entire Visuddhimagga based on KN Patisambhidamagga.
KN Patisambhidamagga is from Sariputta's school.
Sariputta is the one who Buddha announced in AN "the only one
who can run , teach, the dhamma wheel like the buddha".
Sariputta often was taken the chances for teaching instead of the
Buddha in some situation.
Sariputta is the one who Ananda and every leader in 1st buddhist
council often go to study Dhamma with him.
Sariputta's students are the leader of 1st buddhist council who the
1st council member ordered them to keep recite and memorize the
whole MN.
All 1st council members can recite and memorize at least 1 Nikaya
because the rule in the earliest discourses, Vinaya and Sutta, is
reciting and memorizing Sutta and Vinaya after enlightenment (1st ref, 2nd ref).

The text uses meditation on kasina (colored disks) as the key practice from which it models the entrance into jhana. Kasina a kind of focusing meditation which is not widely found in the earlier suttas.

Hundreds of results (the link is lesser than the real reference) of "kasiṇa" words found in Sutta.
Kasiṇa is not described in detail in Sutta, appeared only words, because it is easy and the outsider practitioners already found this method before the Buddha appeared, no need teaching. The 3 jatila also meditate Tejo Kasina and they are the great teachers in Kasina before the Buddha appear. Anapanassati is easier but it is not found before the Buddha teach it (1st ref, 2nd ref). That's why even many words of Kasiṇa found in Sutta, but we can't found the explanation like we found many Anapanassati's detail in Sutta.
No detail doesn't mean "Kasiṇa is not widely found in the earlier suttas", it means "Kasiṇa is usually used before the Sutta, so nothing to describe".
According to OvadaPatimokha, all wholesome should be meditated. Kasina can let the practitioner get wholesome Jhana, so we should meditate Kasina as same as other wholesome meditation as well.
Meditate all Kammatthana as much as you can, to auto select the proper Kammatthana in the proper situation every time you should. Who never practice Asubha is who can't recall of Asubha when seeing the beautiful man/woman.

**The text uses meditation on kasina (colored disks) as the key practice from which it models the entrance into jhana. **Kasina a kind of focusing meditation which is not widely found in the earlier suttas.

Visuddhimagga doesn't use meditation on only kasina  as the key practice from which it models the entrance into jhana.
Visuddhimagga firstly declared 30 methods  as the key practice from which it models the entrance into jhana before describe them in detail as each big chapter.

The Visuddhimagga also describes the four jhanas and the four immaterial states in detail. It also describes forty meditation subjects (kammaṭṭhāna) and advises that one should ask a knowledgeable person to figure out which meditation suits one's temperament.[125]

Kasina is just the first chapter of Kammathana in Visuddhimagga, not the key. However, the oral tradition is the rule, vinaya, of the core study in theravada. And the oral study is using too much time to keep it, so the way to study faster is briefing same content into the first reciting chapter one and refer every same content into it. And that's why Kasina chapter is too big. Every kammathana's chapter after that often request many part of Kasina chapter to complete the content. And Anapanassati is the bigger chapter than Kasina after included the refering content of Kasina chapter in to it.
I think it is waste the time to explain how the tipitaka pali memorizers memorize the whole pali canon to the one who never try to do the same because it's too much advance for them. I just want to help them know whether what they never try maybe their big mistake of their lives. At least I will remember whether I try to protect them from a hardcore karma "blaming the noble one" (Ariyupavada).

The Visuddhimagga analyzes the practice of the Buddhist path as divided into three main aspects: Sīla (ethics or discipline); 2) Samādhi (concentration achieved through meditation); 3) Pañña (spiritual understanding, wisdom).

It is from SamyuttaNikaya and DighaNikaya, kelp by Ananda, not from Visuddhimagga. The buddha and his followers often teach their sutta as 3 part, 3 sikkha, in DN SilakhandhaVagga.

It also gives a more extended overview of the path to liberation, which is divided into seven major stages which are called the "Seven Stages of Purification" (satta-visuddhi).[126] These stages are based on the Rathavinita Sutta ("Relay Chariots Discourse," MN 24).[127]

It is based on DN and KN Patisambhidamagga. It is not pure BuddhaGhosa's opinion.

The section on wisdom also provides an indepth overview of the process of vipassanā ("insight", "clear-seeing") meditation, and its progressive stages or "progress of insight" (visuddhiñana-katha). This progress is explained through a total of sixteen stages of insight or knowledge, called the vipassanā-ñāṇas.[128]

It is based on DN and KN Patisambhidamagga. It is not pure BuddhaGhosa's opinion.
Or who can help me insert these evident into Wikipedia please.

In view of the actual real path based in 'letting go' ('vossagga'; per SN 56.11; SN 48.10; MN 118), etc, it is obviously not possible to attain jhana using kasina.
Obviously, a Buddha never taught about kasina.
Just because kasina is found in two places in the suttas (MN 77 and AN 10.29) does not mean a Buddha taught it.
Obviously, so-called 'elders' who created & filled the scriptures with their own idiosyncratic alien doctrines, such as Jataka and Abhidhamma, had the power to add whatever they wanted to the Suttas.
If we don't believe or agree with what I posted above, simply read the Vibhanga of the Abhidhamma (example here & here), which explicitly says its own interpretation of Dhamma is different to the Suttas.
In summary, kasina cannot reach supramundane jhana. To reach jhana, the mind must be flexible & abandoned enough to allow purification to occur (which means facilitating stored accumulations of defilements to rise up & dissolve). I have never heared about any lofty monk using kasina to attain the Path.

Whatever one contemplates much becomes the inclination of the mind.
Kasina in the Sutta refers to an object of visions associated with bodily senses & qualities discerned by an intellect divorced from the five bodily sense faculties as perceptions of infinite space & consciousness for formless release.
Kasina are varied in form object as shapes & colors and are unvaried as when taken as formless release object.
I associate the Vsm method of development with a contemplation & visualization of the Kasina for a development of an inclination to a particular attainment.
If you are wondering about looking at candles or earth in particular. This i haven't tried but i know people look at dead bodies and i assume it would work analogically.
I think that in jhana whatever is seen as color & shape will be associated with light & color kasina whereas fire, water, wind & earth are invisible and are only felt only.
Also it is my impression that Vsm puts a lot of emphasis on defining elements and i think it is an important part of the training.
As to the general validity of Vsm, i think it is useful but has big mistakes in it. If choosing between reading it and not reading, i think the juice is worth the squeeze because there is some excellent commentary but it also teaches some wrong things explicitly.
People actually say that the manuscript was stolen from Buddhaghosa by Sakka, as if Sakka is a thief and in the same breath Vsm claims that Sotapannas can't break the five precepts. Perhaps that is why Sakka stole it three times...
Leave it for dessert imo.


text:
The Nature of Viññāṇa as a Nidāna in the Cycle of Paṭiccasamuppāda
In the cycle of paṭiccasamuppāda, if we start from avijjā, the next nidāna is that of saṅkhāra which in turn conditions the origin of viññāṇa, loosely termed as consciousness. This viññāṇa in turn conditions the appearance of nāmarūpa, followed by saḷāyatana, the six sense bases. This as all of us know is followed by phassa and then the rest of the twelve nidānas.
Now my question is: what is the nature of this viññāṇa, this consciousness, that appears anterior to nāmarūpa, name and form, and, saḷāyatana, the six sense bases? As I understand this, the body and the mind as well as the six sense bases have not appeared as yet at this step of the cycle, and therefore, this viññāṇa cannot be said to be one of the six sense consciousnesses; then what is the content of this ‘primordial’ consciousness? Is it the saṅkhāra-generated bhavaṅga citta, or is it something else?

The nidanas are described in SN 12.2. Here vinnana is 6-fold sense-consciousness, which is the stock description in the suttas.
https://suttacentral.net/sn12.2/en/bodhi

Thanks @WillyWonka. SN 12.2 clarifies the issue quite well.

Please don't assume this to be a linear progression.

“Now we understand the Venerable Sāriputta’s statement thus:
‘Name-and-form, friend Koṭṭhita, is not created by oneself … but
rather, with consciousness as condition, name-and-form comes to be.’
Now we also understand the Venerable Sāriputta’s other statement thus:
‘Consciousness, friend Koṭṭhita, is not created by oneself … but
rather, with name-and-form as condition, consciousness comes to be.’
But how, friend Sāriputta, should the meaning of this statement be
seen?”
“Well then, friend, I will make up a simile for you, for some
intelligent people here understand the meaning of a statement by means
of a simile. Just as two sheaves of reeds might stand leaning against
each other, so too, with name-and-form as condition, consciousness
comes to be; with consciousness as condition, name-and-form comes to
be. With name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases come to be;
with the six sense bases as condition, contact…. Such is the origin of
this whole mass of suffering.
“If, friend, one were to remove one of those sheaves of reeds, the
other would fall, and if one were to remove the other sheaf, the first
would fall. So too, with the cessation of name-and-form comes
cessation of consciousness; with the cessation of consciousness comes
cessation of name-and-form. With the cessation of name-and-form comes
cessation of the six sense bases; with the cessation of the six sense
bases, cessation of contact…. Such is the cessation of this whole mass
of suffering.”
The mutual interrelation between consciousness and name-and-form is
like that of two bundles of reeds, mutually supporting each other.
Having given this simile, Venerable Sāriputta goes on to mention the
other links of the pañicca samuppāda formula, as in the case of the
bodhisatta Vipassī’s insight. It runs: "Dependent on name-and-form,
the six sense-bases; dependent on the six sense-bases, contact;
dependent on contact, feelings" (and so on). And then the cessation
aspect of these links is also given. By way of illustration, let us
suppose that the consciousness bundle of reeds is standing on the left
side, and the name-and-form bundle is on the right. Then we have a
number of other bundles, such as the six sense-bases, contact and
feeling, all leaning on to the name-and-form bundle of reeds. These
are all dependent on the name-andform bundle. Now, as soon as the
consciousness bundle is drawn out, all the others on the right side
fall down immediately.
Nalakalapiyo Sutta

Consciousness here refers to the six senses consciousnesses. Your confusion occurs because your mind wants to view paticcasamuppada within a linear trajectory. It is more accurately described as a mass, hence the various relevant suttas closing with...

"Such is the arising/origination of this entire mass of suffering.”

avijja is a mental element, has to do with that which is called mind, consciousness or intellect.
that which is called mind, consciousness or intellect arises as one thing and ceases as another and is implicated in contact.
when on has contact come into play, it isn't something that is thought to persist as the consciousness that is in the meeting of the three changes as it arises.
When we talk about a certain-consciousness being implicated in an instance of contact, that is consciousness 1 doing the meeting, as this changes as it arises it is associated with consequent consciousness 2 for a future and the preceding consciousness 0 for a past state.
Therefore Nama doesn't include vinnana but only that which is contact and born of contact on one end and the form implicated in contact on the other end, consciousness is in the middle and is associated with both as to that meeting of the three which is included in name as 'contact'.
It is said that the past is one end, future the other end and present in the middle.
It is also said that form is one end, name the other end and consciousness is in the middle.
If the two statements are superimposed then one would say that the past has form on one end, name on the other end and consciousness in the middle. That the present has form on one end... consciousness in the middle. That the future has form on one end... consciousness in the middle.
That is because contact has no temporal persistence as elements change as they arise.
It is also said “Contact, reverends, is one end. The origin of contact is the second end. The cessation of contact is the middle.
If one was to superimpose this on the first statement it would be: The past has contact on one end, the origin of contact on the other end and cessation of contact in the middle. The present... The future... cessation of contact in the middle.

“Monks, there are these three topics for discussion. Which three?
“One may talk about the past, saying, ‘Thus it was in the past.’ One may talk about the future, saying, ‘Thus it will be in the future.’ Or one may talk about now in the present, saying, ‘Thus it is now in the present.’ https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN3_68.html

“Bhikkhus, there are these three pathways of language, pathways of
designation, pathways of description, that are unmixed, that were
never mixed, that are not being mixed, that will not be mixed, that
are not rejected by wise ascetics and brahmins. What three?
“Whatever form, bhikkhus, has passed, ceased, changed: the term,
label, and description ‘was’ applies to it, not the term ‘is’ or the
term ‘will be.’
“Whatever feeling … Whatever perception … Whatever volitional
formations … Whatever consciousness has passed, ceased, changed: the
term, label, and description ‘was’ applies to it, not the term ‘is’ or
the term ‘will be.’
“Whatever form, bhikkhus, has not been born, has not become manifest:
the term, label, and description ‘will be’ applies to it, not the term
‘is’ or the term ‘was.’
“Whatever feeling … Whatever perception … Whatever volitional
formations … Whatever consciousness has not been born, has not become
manifest: the term, label, and description ‘will be’ applies to it,
not the term ‘is’ or the term ‘was.’
“Whatever form, bhikkhus, has been born, has become manifest: the
term, label, and description ‘is’ applies to it, not the term ‘was’ or
the term ‘will be.’
“Whatever feeling … Whatever perception … Whatever volitional
formations … Whatever consciousness has been born, has become
manifest: the term, label, and description ‘is’ applies to it, not the
term ‘was’ or the term ‘will be.’
“These, bhikkhus, are the three pathways of language, pathways of
designation, pathways of description, that are unmixed, that were
never mixed, that are not being mixed, that will not be mixed, that
are not rejected by wise ascetics and brahmins. http://buddhadust.net/dhamma-vinaya/wp/sn/03_kv/sn03.22.062.bodh.wp.htm

“The past, reverends, is one end. The future is the second end. The
present is the middle. And craving is the seamstress …
“Contact, reverends, is one end. The origin of contact is the second
end. The cessation of contact is the middle. And craving is the
seamstress... https://suttacentral.net/an6.61/en/sujato

what's called 'mind,' 'intellect,' or 'consciousness' by day and by
night arises as one thing and ceases as another. Just as a monkey,
swinging through a forest wilderness, grabs a branch. Letting go of
it, it grabs another branch. Letting go of that, it grabs another one.
Letting go of that, it grabs another one. In the same way, what's
called 'mind,' 'intellect,' or 'consciousness' by day and by night
arises as one thing and ceases as another. https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.061.than.html

Consciousness is conjoined with perception & conception [genesis] because what one cognizes that one perceives and what one perceives that one conceives of.
Therefore Consciousness is conjoined with Sankhara.

Three aggregates are conjoined with consciousness. The aggregate of form is not conjoined with consciousness. The aggregate of consciousness should not be said to be, conjoined with consciousness or not conjoined with consciousness. Three aggregates are generated by consciousness. The aggregate of consciousness is not generated by consciousness. The aggregate of form sometimes is generated by consciousness; sometimes is not generated by consciousness. Three aggregates are co-existent with consciousness. The aggregate of consciousness is not co-existent with consciousness. The aggregate of form sometimes is co-existent with consciousness; sometimes is not co-existent with consciousness. https://suttacentral.net/vb1/en/thittila

One can say that the terms sankhara and consciousness are describing the same reality in different ways and can therefore not be separated beyond a delineation of difference.
The difference between Consciousness and Consciousness Aggregate is that Aggregated consciousness refers to classes of past, present & future consciousness and not one among them taken as a cause for another. In this sense the Aggregate Consciousness means plural consciousnesses whereas a particular consciousness is something one would think about as changing as it arises and thus associated with three ends.

In the formula of dependent origination, every nidana that comes after, depends on the one that comes before, as the condition for arising. When the nidana before ceases, the nidana after ceases too.
The standard formula is given in SN 12.1. The definition of every nidana is given in SN 12.2. The six types of of consciousness are related to the six sense media.
Name-and-form represents a mind-body system that operates together, like software-and-hardware.
However, name-and-form (mind-body) has a mutually dependent relationship with the six types of consciousness according to SN 12.67, like two sheaves of reed leaning on each other.
SN 35.93 tells us that dependent on eyes and form, eye-consciousness arises. Then, the meeting of the three (eye, forms, eye-consciousness) gives rise to eye-contact. Eye-contact gives rise to feeling (sensation) born of eye-contact. The same applies to the other sense media and their objects of sensation.
Feeling and contact- are part of the mind (name). The senses are part of the body (form). Consciousness is also part of the mind but it's not defined as part of name.
So, the way I see it, consciousness is the mind-body connection, which is why consciousness depends on name-and-form and name-and-form depends on consciousness, like two sheaves of reed leaning on each other.
Consciousness as the mind-body connection is supported by:

Name, reverends, is one end. Form is the second end.
Consciousness is the middle. And craving is
the seamstress, for craving weaves one to
being reborn in one state of existence or another.
AN 6.61

Or to put it another way, the mind-body system (name-and-form) depends on the mind-body connection (consciousness) and the mind-body connection (consciousness) depends on the mind-body system (name-and-form).
The nidana of sankhara that comes before consciousness, is defined as bodily formations, verbal formations and mental formations. These represent the basic functioning or basic operations of the body and the mind, as separated or independent operations. Then when body and mind connects, we get consciousness which gives rise to the mind-body system and the mind-body system in turn sustains consciousness.
Also, I see the six sense bases as the six types of consciousness scanning the input of the six physical sense media through the mind-body system. Then when they meet the six types of sense objects, we get the six types of contacts.

“Now we understand the Venerable Sāriputta’s statement thus:
‘Name-and-form, friend Koṭṭhita, is not created by oneself … but
rather, with consciousness as condition, name-and-form comes to be.’
Now we also understand the Venerable Sāriputta’s other statement thus:
‘Consciousness, friend Koṭṭhita, is not created by oneself … but
rather, with name-and-form as condition, consciousness comes to be.’
But how, friend Sāriputta, should the meaning of this statement be
seen?”
“Well then, friend, I will make up a simile for you, for some
intelligent people here understand the meaning of a statement by means
of a simile. Just as two sheaves of reeds might stand leaning against
each other, so too, with name-and-form as condition, consciousness
comes to be; with consciousness as condition, name-and-form comes to
be. With name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases come to be;
with the six sense bases as condition, contact…. Such is the origin of
this whole mass of suffering.
“If, friend, one were to remove one of those sheaves of reeds, the
other would fall, and if one were to remove the other sheaf, the first
would fall. So too, with the cessation of name-and-form comes
cessation of consciousness; with the cessation of consciousness comes
cessation of name-and-form. With the cessation of name-and-form comes
cessation of the six sense bases; ....
SN 12.67

“Bhikkhus, consciousness comes to be in dependence on a dyad. And how,
bhikkhus, does consciousness come to be in dependence on a dyad? In
dependence on the eye and forms there arises eye-consciousness. The
eye is impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise; forms are
impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise. Thus this dyad is moving
and tottering, impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise.
“The meeting, the encounter, the concurrence of these three things is
called eye-contact. Eye-contact too is impermanent, changing, becoming
otherwise. The cause and condition for the arising of eye-contact is
also impermanent, changing, becoming otherwise.
“Contacted, bhikkhus, one feels, contacted one intends, contacted one perceives.
SN 35.93

Very well explained @ruben2020. But what so very persistently bugs me is the apparent anteriority of this consciousness that leaves some room for different opinions. Some time back, I heard Bhante Suddhaso talk about this nidāna of viññāṇa in a somewhat similar manner. He did not elaborate though.In a different context, Viññāṇa also seems to be used in a way I find curious for Theravada. For example, Ajahn Sumedho consistently speaks of 'awareness of awareness'/objectless consciousness as THE unconditioned Dhamma, that sounds so close to Nibbāna, if not the same.

Consciousness cannot arise without an object (MN 38; SN 22.53).
In the twelve-condition formula (SN 12.2; MN 9), the object causing consciousness to arise is sankhara. This said, sankhara can only cause two types of consciousness to directly arise, namely, body consciousness (which knows the breathing/kayasankharo) and mind consciousness (which knows non-volitional thoughts, perception & feeling, namely, vacisankharo & cittasankharo).
In short, because two types of consciousness arise before nama-rupa, consciousness is included before nama-rupa.
If the Buddha was to teach accurately, he would have taught: avicca > sankhara > mano-vinnana + at times kaya-vinnana > nama-rupa > salayatana > consciousness x 6 > contact > feelings > craving > etc. But this is too messy.
In conclusion, the twelve-condition formula (per SN 12.2) includes the six-fold sense consciousness, even though only two types of sense consciousness can arise after sankhara/prior to nama-rupa & six sense bases.

Notes:

Shorter paṭiccasamuppāda formulas, as found in SN 12.67, DN 15, MN 148, MN 18, end of MN 38, end of MN 28, etc, are not relevant to this question. Particularly concerning SN 12.67, nama-rupa is only included as a condition for consciousness when sankhara is absent.

In terms of psycho-physiology or neurology, the cause (hetu) of consciousness is nama-rupa (body-mind) per SN 22.56 and SN 22.82.

However, in respect to how suffering arises (samudaya), the condition (paccaya) for the arising (samudaya) of consciousness is ignorance & sankhara. The word 'arising' ('samudaya') means when one of the five aggregates is stimulated & polluted by defilement (SN 22.5).

Paṭiccasamuppāda is not about the creation of aggregates such as consciousness.

Paṭiccasamuppāda is about how ignorance pollutes & controls the body & mind (as pictured below) resulting in suffering & suffering creating behaviour.

The vinnana nidana is clearly described as 6-fold consciousness, not 2-fold consciousness.  It seems you are ignoring the sutta definition in order to justify your personal interpretation of DO.

samskaras reside in the bhavanga
after someones death that momentary continuum once again gives rise to a freshly ripened samskara and so a new coarse mind emerges in a corresponding configuration eg. a human mind


text:
Are there stories in the suttas of people experiencing the fruits of their karma in their lifetimes?
In my reading of the suttas in the Pali canon, I've only found one story that's an example of someone experiencing the results of deeds committed in the life they are currently living, in that same lifetime. The example I've found is in MN 86, and in one of the poems of elder monks: Aṅgulimāla's story, in which after he's become an arahant he is still treated roughly by people who know his past murderous actions.
Are there any other examples like that? The Buddha talks many times in generalities about how if you behave in such-and-such a way, you'll end up with corresponding results in the future, but I'm wondering about specific all-this-life examples.

Do you want only cases of negative consequences in the same lifetime like that experienced by Angulimala, or do you also accept positive outcomes in the same lifetime? Do you restrict to only arahants, or it can be anyone?

Thanks for asking, ruben (sorry I've been away, got sent to the ER!)
Both positive and negative, any level whether arahant or non, even follower of the Buddha or not.

There is a story of Anathapindika having died & come again as Deva going to see The Buddha.Is that relevant?

Ud 8.7 tells the story of a junior monk accompanying the Buddha who disobeyed the Buddha, was disrespectful to him (please see this footnote for details), dropped the Buddha's possessions and abandoned  him. He was shortly attacked by thieves.

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was journeying along
a road in the Kosalan country with Ven. Nāgasamāla as his junior
companion. Ven. Nāgasamāla, while going along the road, saw a fork in
the path. On seeing it, he said to the Blessed One, "That, lord
Blessed One, is the route. We go that way." When this was said, the
Blessed One said, "This, Nāgasamāla, is the route. We go this way."
A second time... A third time, Ven. Nāgasamāla said to the Blessed
One, "That, lord Blessed One, is the route. We go that way." And for a
third time, the Blessed One said, "This, Nāgasamāla, is the route. We
go this way."
Then Ven. Nāgasamāla, placing the Blessed One's bowl & robes right
there on the ground, left, saying, "This, lord Blessed One, is the
bowl & robes."
Then as Ven. Nāgasamāla was going along that route, thieves — jumping
out in the middle of the road — pummeled him with their fists & feet,
broke his bowl, and ripped his outer robe to shreds.
So Ven. Nāgasamāla — with his bowl broken, his outer robe ripped to
shreds — went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, bowed down to him
and sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed
One, "Just now, lord, as I was going along that route, thieves jumped
out in the middle of the road, pummeled me with their fists & feet,
broke my bowl, and ripped my outer robe to shreds."
Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that
occasion exclaimed:

When traveling together,
mixed together
with a person who doesn't know,
an attainer-of-wisdom,
on realizing that the person is evil,
abandons him
as a milk-feeding heron,
a bog.

Ud 8.7

Thanks, ruben2020. I hadn't seen that one. I do wish I understood the Buddha's poem better. Even with the help of the footnote, it's rough going.

@LindaBlanchard I guess the poem means that the Buddha, on realizing the evil intentions of the unenlightened person who is traveling with him, would not bother to teach or help or admonish him in anyway. In other words, the Buddha would "kill" him, as explained in the Kesi Sutta and in this footnote.

The whole practice, paths and fruits, are fruits of kamma, and as it is known, those can be realized in this very existance, good householder. So stories are all full of such samples, even Arahat-ship by just "listen" some words.
If missing a formulation in regard that kamma may rip quick, later or in other lifetimes, maybe Deed-gained body helps for release, details on mass found in Abhidhamma, such as Upanissaya-discourse.
"hopefully" this answer reaches good householder quick, and not lifetimes later, but who knows.
(Maybe this 'strange' question comes for addopting a Jain-theory of 'accumulation' of kamma, something like storehouse, but actually each cause has it's effect and it's not the case that there a such as summary-times, period bills)

Welcome! The OP is quite specific about what they are looking for, and even gives an example. In this respect, your answer seems too vague and generic.

Try to nail down as you like or seek for release, understandingthat's what all is about, good householder. Just one thing, people who like to trace back kamma are subject for getting crazy, or say neurotic... worthy to think about. Not to speak that reading linked sutta would had helped his fixations fade.

Thank you. Since there are no tags relating to personal practice, it may be the case that the OP is asking the question for academic purposes. In any case, I still don't see how you have answered the OP's question.

Yes, NeuroMax is right, I'm asking more for an academic reason than it being about personal practice. Thanks to both NeuroMax andn user21487 for consideration.


text:
What does random Images flashing during mediation mean ,if anything at all?
I started meditation with Headspace app and have experienced a lot during meditation such as irrational fear of someone breaking in to the house and killing me while I was meditating , fear of snakes etc.
I am off headspace for about six months now and my Vipassana practice has improved a lot. The chattering in my head has subsided but now I see lot of random images flashing while I meditate. These images don't have to mean anything but these images are nothing I have seen or imagined in my life so far. Should I wonder about their meaning or should I continue to the adage of letting it all go and focus on the moment?

Everyone’s answers on here are speculative at best (though @Codosaur does offer some useful information that is scientifically grounded).  The truth is, it probably doesn’t mean anything at all.  That said, the mind is a potent machine, and you would do well to be wary of any experience that is overly unpleasant and/or dramatically pleasurable or “spiritual”.  If it becomes something that interferes with your practice, I would advise consultation with someone at a more intimate level, e.g a doctor, teacher, etc.
Assuming it’s not something to be concerned about (it probably isn’t), your best bet is to let it be and treat it like any other mental mischief.  Something to be noticed, accepted, and then forgotten.  It is almost certainly not something that has any cause or meaning that will be useful for your practice.

the neural correlates for concentration have been sufficiently mapped in the past 2 decades to establish that a normal person will manage 2-4seconds at a rarefied max. this is compared to what is scientifically measurable in legit meditators who are confirmed to maintain it for 2-3 hours effortlessly.   you need to get a clue and stop your physicalism which for most of you turns you automatically into worshippers of scientism.

@bwtho I’m sorry.  I don’t follow.

Images arising are just subtler distractions than outright thoughts.  You should try to increase your skill, so you are not pulled off your chosen object of fixation
Later, when you no longer deviate off or away from your object for even a moment over the course of 30 minutes, you will need to learn to keep your sustained attention - not just uninterrupted but then also blazingly fresh and alert for each moment of attention. Normally, the freshness of our attention is lacking greatly, despite having gained the capacity to not lose our  meditation object.  This is called the 9 stages of shamata.

It is normal to have some "hallucinations" and is akin to a movie scene or a song coming to mind due to past giving of attention. As one is relaxed one's concentration is stronger than usual and it then upholds these unordinary states of percipience.
If one is successful in relaxing & stilling then one will eventually perceive subtle feelings, colors & visions before moving on to more refined states of perception.
The visions can be fleeting akin to a fleeting dream or vague visualization, without much sense to it or it can be stable & as vivid as can be.
Either way one should avoid making more of it than it is and one should be taking note of the general theme and it's arising, persisting & cessation.
If it is distracting one can try to relax it's mental fabrication by  redirecting of attention to a different theme.

Scientific research has linked this to occipital brain wave activity during meditation. At these frequencies, the occipital lobe is stimulated in a way similar to the REM phase of sleep (which is when we dream). It is completely natural and normal for this to occur.
Just like images arising during dreams, they have no special significance.

See here for extensive research results and neurological explanation
Studies are currently underway that could indicate a possible link between this phenomenon and the brain state during lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is a state of awareness that one is dreaming, and is often associated with "taking control" of the dream, i.e. being able to evoke specific visualizations.

As you can see on the images, this points to the same regions of the brain as the first study.

imagine still dealing with measuring lucid dream correlates and not having a clue at how to infer lucid awareness of dreamless sleep which is not conditioned by neural activity or any other physical interactions.  its a gift to be shown how inept one is,  don't you agree.

I'm not sure where you're going with this. Dreamless sleep is conditioned by neural activity. Any mental or physical activity, conscious or unconscious, requires neural activity.

full lucidity in deep dreamless sleep is standard practice wherein there is essentially no brain activity ie. no regular function,  which your article also partially mentioned.  you should stick to the confines of your engineering scans and inferring their relation to mental reports.

"full lucidity in deep dreamless sleep is standard practice wherein there is essentially no brain activity" - care to back up that assertion with some research? As long as you are alive, there is always brain activity.

It's faster mind because of the simple meditation.
Normally, people live their lives switching with sleeping mind rapidly, more than trillion times per sec. The sleeping minds will arise lesser after the collective meditation power is better because the stronger minds are creating the very better physical body if no stronger past unwholesome karma to effect on the practitioner's  physical body.
However, the newbie practitioner still can't control their speeder minds, so the uncontrollable minds will randomly recall the past or future memory which collected by perceptions more than before the meditation.
The Buddha give the next step to hold mind in control by 40 meditations in 4 main postures and 7 body movement and posture, such absorbing anapanassati jhana in 4 postures, then absorbing kayagatasati jhana in 4 postures, etc. It's called Vasi, 5 Mastery to absorb Jhana quickly under mind's control.
After above step, the practitioner can recall the memories sequentially, no random, no doubt. And it will more powerful if the practitioner practice 14 methods of mastery in 5 Abhinna.
The powerful insight meditation is after above all steps.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5xyx4c3NBk

Is there a pali term for the one unit of mind that arises a trillion times per second? If so, what is the English translation of that unit? Thanks.

Please, ask as new question for easier making reference, I think it is very long answer.

Such images are generally caused by sloth & torpor or 'sinking mind' occurring due to wrong concentration.
Wrong concentration means one concentrates on a single object, such as breathing, with too much effort. This causes the breathing, body & mind to become tranquil but also sleepy. Thus the mind 'sinks' into head nodding, fuzziness, etc, and these images, such as green dragons, claws, etc, flash, like in dreams.


text:
Why cannot a mindstream be separated into two, or two mindstreams merge?
As far as I understand, Buddhism (Tibetan Gelug is what I am most familiar with) holds that a mindstream is always individual.
Is there any reason against the notion that one mindstream can separate into two (or that mindstreams can merge) ?
Just like a river can separate into two, or many streams can merge into an ocean.

Related: Can a being be reborn into more that one body in Tibetan Buddhism?

The question is now tagged [tag:tibetan-buddhism]. Did you want answers from specifically/only the perspective of Tibetan Buddhism, and not for example whatever the Pali suttas might say? Also when you ask a question you can use the [tag:reference-request] tag to specify that answers must some include some reference[s] or citation.

@ChrisW I don't mind answers from other lineages as well. Thanks for the information on the reference tag.

For mind-streams to merge the two must exist in a shared space or a world, like two cars in a garage.
However external minds that can be grasped with wrong view to be personal for another is something conceived of internally by mind which is internal and can be grasped wrong view to be personal for one to whom it is internal & self-referable.
There is no space or world outside of the world conceived & perceived by this or that mind.
In the pali discourses, that in the world through which one conceives & perceives the world is called a world. There is no world to speak of outside of a subjective frame of reference and therefore two frames of reference can not merge.
For another person's frame of reference to merge with the frame of reference which can know it with intellect, that frame of reference of another, of which one thinks about internally as 'percipience which is external', would have to exit the world wherein it is an object of perception and be a world disconnected from the world where it was a truth altogether, before imposing itself as to make perception of the world as we know it absolete.
Two observers do not perceive the same simultaneity of events. A person moving towards light will perceive visible form before one moving away from it, visible light here & there isn't seen simultaneously as those aren't even the same particles.
Check this video on Special Relativity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wteiuxyqtoM&ab_channel=MyEarbot
Therefore if two mind-streams merged that resultant mindstream would contradict itself on account of simultaneity. It would have two pasts and be disconnected from both, eg one past where things were seen to occur consequently and another past where the same events are perceived to occur in a different succession which makes them essentially different events.

"There is no space or world outside of the world conceived & perceived by this or that mind... There is no world to speak of outside of a subjective frame of reference"                 What you are saying is that if I see a cup, my perception of the cup exists, but the cup itself does not.

In Buddhism, the preoccupation with views of "self" is considered unskillful. Instead of "mindstreams", the Buddha gently points at skillful and unskillful behaviors, showing the path and outcome of each. Unskillful behaviors lead to suffering. However, skillful behaviors lead to the end of suffering. And in this regard of streams of behavior, one hears this about skillful behavior:

AN10.61:4.1: It’s like when the rain pours down on a mountain top, and the water flows downhill to fill the hollows, crevices, and creeks. As they become full, they fill up the pools. The pools fill up the lakes, the lakes fill up the streams, and the streams fill up the rivers. And as the rivers become full, they fill up the ocean.

Reality works in the way of moments of experience. One moment arises and passes away whereafter another moment arises and passes away. That process repeats itself until one is fully liberated from Samsara.
The above process can be seen for oneself through insight meditation practice.

things like oceans and waves are just water function given different names and concepts.  this is different to actually differently functioning objects that function that way regardless of what you call them.  furthermore each different thing consists of unique collections of parts and if these are removed the functioning object is destroyed
so in your example of the mindstream assuming you could remove a portion of it to attempt to create another it would be destroyed having lost its parts and the capacity to function
you should look into the other indian tibetan buddhist lineages you will appreciate what they have to say...berzin had an awesome article on it. essentially they accept only atoms as real ie. functioning any notion of collections is purely conceptual.  further yet the sakyas accept atoms and subtle collections of them as functioning,  wholes being entirely conceptual.  it is only with tsongkhapa that we finally assert also wholes as being functional and not merely conceptual,  since he was the first to explicitly explain emptiness conceptually and emptiness has no problem establishing actual wholes as functioning things while still maintaining that they are mere imputation.  it doesn't really matter which system you use even sautrantika level of imputation if you break through and realize its meaning it propels you toward nothing lacking the absence of an essential nature.