Chitta

Chitta is the mind-field - the total field of consciousness including thoughts, emotions, memories, and unconscious impressions (samskaras). It is the instrument of perception and cognition, the screen on which all mental activity appears.

In yoga psychology, chitta has several aspects: manas (sensory processing mind), buddhi (discriminative intelligence), and ahamkara (ego function). Together these form the inner instrument (antahkarana) through which consciousness experiences the world.

The goal of yoga is to still the chitta so that pure awareness (purusha) can recognize itself. When chitta is agitated, we identify with its fluctuations. When chitta is still, we see that we are not the mind but the witness of the mind. This distinction is the core insight of yoga philosophy.