Verified
Grammatical Analysis
Anantarapaccaya: [m.] Proximity condition; contiguity condition. Formed by an (without) + antara (gap, interval) + paccaya (condition). Literally, the condition of having “no gap.”
Orthodox Definition
Anantara-paccaya is the fourth of the 24 Conditions. It governs the unbroken sequence of the mind-stream (citta-santāna).
Because two mind-moments cannot exist at the exact same time, cognition happens in a rapid, sequential line. Anantara-paccaya is the causal force where a preceding consciousness (citta) ceases, and by the very act of its ceasing, it makes room for and directly conditions the immediate arising of the next consciousness, with absolutely no spatial or temporal gap between them.
The classic simile is a Universal Monarch passing away. His death (the preceding citta) is the direct contiguity condition that allows his eldest son (the succeeding citta) to immediately ascend the throne. Without the preceding moment dying, the next moment cannot arise.
To explain the subtle mechanics of how this cessation generates the subsequent moment, Ven. Ledi Sayadaw clarifies that the mind possesses an inherent cogitative momentum that must spend itself:
Dhammantarassa uppādanaṭṭhenāti purimasmiṃ citte niruddhepi tassa cintanakiriyāvego na vūpasammati, pacchimaṃ cittaṃ uppādetvā eva vūpasammati, evaṃ pacchimassa dhammantarassa uppādanaṭṭhena.
In the sense of causing another phenomenon to arise” means that even when a preceding consciousness has ceased, its momentum of cogitation does not subside; it only subsides after causing a succeeding consciousness to arise; thus, in the sense of causing a succeeding phenomenon to arise.
— Paṭṭhānuddesa-dīpanīpāṭha
Textual References
- Abhidhamma: Paṭṭhāna – “Preceding consciousness and mental factors are related to succeeding consciousness and mental factors by proximity condition.”
- Commentary: Paṭṭhāna-aṭṭhakathā – The royal succession simile, demonstrating how the cognitive series (citta-vīthi) flows without interruption from birth to death, and from death to rebirth.
- Exposition: Paṭṭhānuddesa-dīpanī – Defining the operational physics of the proximity relation through the concept of cintanakiriyāvego (the momentum of cogitation).