The Difference Between Applied Thought and Sustained Thought

The Difference Between Vitarka and Vicāra

Vitarka refers to the coarse operations of the mind, involving seeking, searching, inference, deduction, analytical thinking...

Vicāra refers to the subtle operations of the mind, involving waiting, investigating, observing closely, pondering meticulously, scrutinizing in detail...

Vitarka is generally the mental activity of the conscious mind. The manas (mental faculty) also engages in vitarka-like operations, but these are extremely difficult to observe. When the conscious mind forgets certain people or events, the manas enters a state of vitarka, while the conscious mind may be in either a vitarka or vicāra state. When the manas is in a vicāra state, the conscious mind has long ceased vitarka and may not even be engaged in vicāra, leaving the operation entirely to the manas alone.

The vicāra of the manas is more observable than its vitarka, though their manifestations are too subtle. Consequently, countless people deny the existence of most mental factors (caittas) associated with the manas, simply because they cannot observe them. Ignorance leads to outright denial—this mentality is truly undesirable, as it neither cultivates wisdom nor embodies honesty. Honesty itself is a mental factor, belonging to the category of wholesome mental factors, though it is not explicitly listed among the fifty-one mental factors. All mental operations, states, manifestations, and qualities belong to mental factors, which can be either wholesome or unwholesome.