Please may know what will happen to the mind (citta, consciousness) of an Arahant when he attains parinibbana?
Even if there was an arahant to explain, do you think you could get something out of it? It would be mostly imagination after all.
That being said, Ajahn Maha Boowa was not too shy describing what happened to his citta with enlightenment
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Then King Pasenadi of Kosala approached the bhikkhunī Khema, paid homage to her, sat down to one side, and said to her:
“How is it, revered lady, does the Tathagata exist after death?”
“Great king, the Blessed One has not declared this: ‘The Tathagata exists after death.’”
“Then, revered lady, does the Tathagata not exist after death?”
“Great king, the Blessed One has not declared this either: ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death.’”
“How is it then, revered lady, does the Tathagata both exist and not exist after death?”
“Great king, the Blessed One has not declared this: ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death.’”
“Then, revered lady, does the Tathagata neither exist nor not exist after death?”
“Great king, the Blessed One has not declared this either: ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.’”
“How is this, revered lady? When asked, ‘How is it, revered lady, does the Tathagata exist after death?’ … And when asked, ‘Then, revered lady, does the Tathagata neither exist nor not exist after death?’—in each case you say: ‘Great king, the Blessed One has not declared this.’ What now, revered lady, is the cause and reason why this has not been declared by the Blessed One?”
“Well then, great king, I will question you about this same matter. Answer as you see fit. What do you think, great king? Do you have an accountant or calculator or mathematician who can count the grains of sand in the river Ganges thus: ‘There are so many grains of sand,’ or ‘There are so many hundreds of grains of sand,’ or ‘There are so many thousands of grains of sand,’ or ‘There are so many hundreds of thousands of grains of sand’?”
“No, revered lady.”
“Then, great king, do you have an accountant or calculator or mathematician who can count the water in the great ocean thus: ‘There are so many gallons of water,’ or ‘There are so many hundreds of gallons of water,’ or ‘There are so many thousands of gallons of water,’ or ‘There are so many hundreds of thousands of gallons of water’?”
“No, revered lady. For what reason? Because the great ocean is deep, immeasurable, hard to fathom.”
“So too, great king, that form by which one describing the Tathagata might describe him has been abandoned by the Tathagata, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated so that it is no more subject to future arising. The Tathagata, great king, is liberated from reckoning in terms of form; he is deep, immeasurable, hard to fathom like the great ocean. ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ does not apply; ‘the Tathagata does not exist after death’ does not apply; ‘the Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ does not apply; ‘the Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’ does not apply.
“That feeling by which one describing the Tathagata might describe him … That perception by which one describing the Tathagata might describe him … Those volitional formations by which one describing the Tathagata might describe him … That consciousness by which one describing the Tathagata might describe him has been abandoned by the Tathagata, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated so that it is no more subject to future arising. The Tathagata, great king, is liberated from reckoning in terms of consciousness; he is deep, immeasurable, hard to fathom like the great ocean. ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ does not apply; ‘the Tathagata does not exist after death’ does not apply; ‘the Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ does not apply; ‘the Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’ does not apply.”
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SN 12.38, SN 12.39, SN 12.40 AND SN 22.53 will help understanding what happens to consciousness. Basically it does not get established on anything.
With Metta
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