Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness (Skt. apramāda; Tib. བག་ཡོད་པ་, bak yöpa, Wyl. bag yod pa) — one of the fifty-one mental states defined in Abhidharma literature. According to the Compendium of Abhidharma, it belongs to the subgroup of the eleven virtuous states.

Definitions

In the Khenjuk, Mipham Rinpoche says:

• Tib. བག་ཡོད་པ་ནི་བླང་དོར་གྱི་གནས་ལ་གཟོབ་པ་ལྷུར་ལེན་པ་སྲིད་ཞིའི་ལེགས་པ་སྒྲུབ་པའི་ལས་ཅན་ནོ།
• Conscientiousness is the earnest application of care concerning what should be adopted and what should be abandoned. Its function is to accomplish the excellence of existence and peace [samsara and nirvana]. (Rigpa Translations, Erik Pema Kunsang)

Conscientiousness is a meticulous concern for what is to be engaged in and what is to be avoided. This is an essential component of maintaining discipline. It is described at length in chapter four of the Bodhicharyavatara.

Alternative Translations

• Carefulness (David Karma Choepel)
• Vigilance (Gyurme Dorje)
• Heedfulness (Tony Duff)

Resources

• Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Mangala Shri Bhuti - Staying in Step with the Lineage podcast, 'Pagyu and Shezhin' episode, December 22, 2008 - Guna Shedra, Bir, India.