Chitta (Mind-Field)
Citta
चित्त
Citta is the "mind-field" — the total field of consciousness in which all mental activity arises.
Citta is the "mind-field" — the total field of consciousness in which all mental activity arises. It embraces manas (the sensory-processing mind), ahaṃkāra (the I-sense), and buddhi (intellect, discernment): the whole inner instrument in which impressions gather, move, and settle.
In Patañjali's very definition of Yoga — Yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ — it is the Citta whose fluctuations (Vṛtti) are to be stilled. When the movements of the mind-field come to rest, the seer abides in its own nature. Understanding Citta is thus understanding the very ground that Yoga works upon. — Patañjali, Yoga Sūtra 1.2.
Meditation is described as observing and gradually stilling the movements of the Citta. Instructors point to the mind-field as something that can be witnessed, rather than a self one is trapped inside. Practices of concentration gather the scattered Citta toward one point.
Distinguish Citta (the whole field) from a passing thought (a single Vṛtti): one is the sky, the other a moving cloud. Emphasize that the aim is not to destroy the mind but to still and clarify it, so it reflects reality without distortion.