Mental Factors of the Mind base\: A Practical Compass (Second Edition) (with over 30,000 additional words, reorganized)
Chapter Two: The Five Universal Mental Factors
Section One: General Overview of the Five Universal Mental Factors
I. Mental Factors Are the Manifest Activities of the Mind-King
The five universal mental factors (pañca-sarvatraga) operate not only when thoughts arise and move, but also differentiate and operate together with the eight consciousnesses every split second, accompanying them without separation for even an instant. Wherever the eight consciousnesses appear, the five universal mental factors accompany and operate with them. As stated in the first volume of the *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra*, the five universal mental factors are the companions of the mind-king (citta). Whenever the mind-king operates, it does so with the five universal mental factors as its companions. Without the five universal mental factors, the mind-king cannot operate.
The operation of the mental factor of attention (manasikāra), for example, requires that before a consciousness seed (vijñāna-bīja) is to arise, there must be a direction for its arising, determining where it will arise. For instance, arising upon the color and form of a flower before the eyes, the mental faculty (manas) needs to discern the color and form. After determining the location (āyatana) of this dharmā, the consciousness seed rushes to the location of the form object (rūpa) of that flower in the subtle sense faculty (adhiṣṭhānendriya) and arises there; or it rushes to the location of a certain sound, arising at the location where the sound object (śabda) appears in the subtle sense faculty; or it arises at the location of the six sense objects (ṣaḍ viṣaya) that the mental faculty wishes to discern. Therefore, before a consciousness seed arises, there is attention (manasikāra). Attention means having a direction and location for arising. The mental factor of attention begins to operate before the consciousness seed arises and continues to operate constantly after it arises. The operation of the mental factors and the mind-king are perfectly fused together. The mental factors *are* the manifest activities of the mind-king. What appears superficially are the manifest activities of the mental factors, within which, however, lies hidden the manifest activity of the flowing and pouring forth of the mind-king's consciousness seeds. Although the two are consistent, each has its own manifest activity.
The last of the five universal mental factors is the mental factor of volition or formation (cetanā). The final function and effect of the mental factor of volition is to construct or create (saṃskāra). Once the mental factor of volition completes its construction, it is equivalent to the mind-king completing its construction. The conscious mind then ceases or moves to another location, and the mental factors operating at that dharmā location also disappear. Based on this principle, the manifest activities of the mind-king and the mental factors are consistent. Their operations are intertwined. The manifest activity is embodied in the manifest activity of the mental factors' operation, within which lies hidden the manifest activity of the flowing and pouring forth of the consciousness seeds. They are inseparable.
II. Mental Factors Are the Mental Activities of the Mind-King
When consciousness seeds flow out, they form the substance of the mind-king. The substance of the mind-king is pure because the consciousness seeds are pure. Consciousness seeds are neither defiled nor characterized by good or evil. However, when combined with mental factors and operating in the form of mental factors, mental activities characterized by good, evil, or neither good nor evil appear. Therefore, the mental activities of the eight consciousnesses as the mind-king and the mental factors are actually one and the same. The mental factors *are* the mental activities of the mind-king. The eight consciousnesses as the mind-king operate in the form of mental factors, especially in the form of the five universal mental factors.
III. Recognizing Mental Factors Means Recognizing the Conscious Mind
The five universal mental factors can universally accompany the conscious mind (vijñāna) in its operation, pervading all aggregates (skandha), all bases (āyatana), all realms (dhātu), and all planes (bhūmi) where the conscious mind exists (the three realms and nine grounds, including the nirvāṇa of the eighth consciousness), pervading all times when the conscious mind exists, and pervading all dharmas in which the conscious mind operates.
The mental factor of contact (sparśa) enables the conscious mind to contact and connect with the corresponding dharmas. The mental factor of attention (manasikāra) enables the conscious mind to focus on the object of cognition (ālambana). The mental factor of sensation/feeling (vedanā) enables the conscious mind to experience the object of cognition and generate feelings. The mental factor of perception/conception (saṃjñā) enables the conscious mind to discern the characteristics of the object of cognition and generate grasping. The mental factor of volition/formation (cetanā) enables the conscious mind to generate decisions and behavioral formations.
All eight consciousnesses possess these five functions. The functions of the conscious mind necessarily manifest in these five forms, and of course also manifest in the forms of other mental factors. The conscious mind itself is formless, invisible, and imperceptible. However, these five functions and the functions of other mental factors can be observed and recognized by the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna). By recognizing these functions, the mental consciousness recognizes the conscious mind and realizes (prajñā) the conscious mind.
IV. The Operational Process of the Five Universal Mental Factors (Part 1)
The six sense faculties (ṣaḍ indriya) contact the six sense objects (ṣaḍ viṣaya), giving rise to the six consciousnesses (ṣaḍ vijñāna). The six sense faculties and six sense objects together constitute the twelve bases (āyatana). The six sense faculties refer to the subtle sense faculties (adhiṣṭhānendriya) – the five subtle sense faculties in the hindbrain, plus the mental faculty (manas) – constituting the six faculties, also called the internal six bases (adhyātma-ṣaḍāyatana). The six sense objects are the internal five objects (adhyātma-pañcaviṣaya), plus the form included in the mental base (mano-dhātu-rūpa), constituting the internal six objects, also called the external six bases (bāhya-ṣaḍāyatana). The internal six bases and the external six bases together are called the twelve bases (dvādaśa āyatana). Among them, the faculties and objects are always together in contact. The internal five objects arise within the five subtle sense faculties in the hindbrain and contact the six faculties. The faculties and objects must be together to make contact. After contact, the mental faculty makes an attentive decision, and only then can the eighth consciousness produce the six consciousnesses.
Where do the faculties and objects contact? At the location of the five subtle sense faculties in the hindbrain. The five objects, along with the mental object (dharmaviṣaya), are about to manifest at the location of the subtle sense faculties in the hindbrain. The internal five objects are produced at the location of the subtle sense faculties in the hindbrain, so the faculties and objects have contacted. After the faculties and objects contact, the mental faculty attentively decides to discern. The eighth consciousness then produces the five sense consciousnesses. Simultaneously, the mental object dependent on the five objects is also in the hindbrain subtle sense faculty, contacting the mental faculty. The eighth consciousness simultaneously produces the mental consciousness, which differentiates the six objects along with the five sense consciousnesses. This is called the mental consciousness concomitant with the five sense consciousnesses (pañca-vijñāna-sahaja-mano-vijñāna).
After the six faculties contact the six objects and the six consciousnesses are produced, the three (faculties, objects, consciousnesses) again combine and contact. The six consciousnesses, relying on the six faculties, again contact the six objects and are then able to discern the six objects. While the six consciousnesses are discerning, the faculties and objects must remain in contact. If the faculties and objects separate, the six consciousnesses cease. After the six consciousnesses contact the six objects, they have the capacity for reception (saṃvedana), receiving and accepting the six objects. The mental factor of sensation (vedanā) then appears. After accepting the six objects, the six consciousnesses discern the six objects and grasp them. The mental factor of perception (saṃjñā) then emerges.
After discerning the six objects, the six consciousnesses begin to deliberate (vitarka). If the deliberation is unclear, they re-initiate attention (manasikāra), generating attention towards the six objects again. After attention, there is again discernment and then sensation. At this point, the sensation gives rise to feelings of pain, pleasure, sorrow, joy, and equanimity (duḥkha, sukha, daurmanasya, saumanasya, upekṣā). The initial sensation is reception and acceptance. After acceptance, it is equivalent to taking hold of the six objects, and only then does one know what the six objects are. This acceptance represents taking hold. Subsequent sensations then carry emotional coloring, and feelings of pain, pleasure, sorrow, joy, and equanimity will arise.
After feelings arise, if the sensation is unclear, one again grasps the characteristics and discerns. The mental factor of perception (saṃjñā) will again arise. After perception arises and discernment occurs, deliberation begins again. If deliberation is unclear, one re-contacts, contacts again, and then discerns again, or thinks again, or continues to feel. After discerning and feeling, deliberation continues until finally, when the matter is deliberated clearly and discerned thoroughly, the six consciousnesses generate a decisive mind (niścaya-citta). The mental faculty cognizes the decisive mind of the six consciousnesses and then generates its own final decisive mind, preparing to initiate formation. This is the mental factor of volition (cetanā).
The content discerned by the six consciousnesses must also be transmitted to the mental faculty. Simultaneously, the mental faculty, regarding the content discerned by the six consciousnesses and their mental activities, employs the five universal mental factors, giving rise to a series of mental activities. Finally, when the mental faculty generates a decisive mind, deciding how to form and act, the eighth consciousness cognizes this and, according to the mental faculty's deliberation and decision, and the dharmā it is attentive to, coordinates its operation. This is because the eighth consciousness needs to know what the mental faculty is attentive to, which aspect of the object realm (viṣaya), and only after knowing this can the eighth consciousness manifest the six consciousnesses upon that object realm. Once the six consciousnesses manifest, they begin to form bodily, verbal, and mental actions (kāya-vāk-manaḥ-karma).
If the mental faculty still deliberates unclearly, it will then re-contact, re-attend, re-experience sensation, re-discern, and finally re-deliberate and make a decision again. Before a decision is made, the five universal mental factors continuously operate back and forth. Their sequence may not follow the order of attention, contact, sensation, perception, volition; it may be reversed. Contact might come first, discernment later; or contact first, sensation later, discernment after sensation. Perhaps discernment occurs first, then sensation; if sensation and discernment are unclear, deliberation continues. If deliberation is unclear, contact continues, then sensation, then discernment.
Thus, which mental factor comes first is not fixed; the sequence here becomes disrupted. Initially, it is attention. Attention is definitely at the seed stage (bīja-avasthā). At the seed stage, corresponding to that mental object (dharmaviṣaya), attention arises. Then the consciousness seed arises precisely at the location of that mental object. The mental faculty contacts the mental object, attends to that mental object, and the seed arises onto that mental object, forming the conscious mind. Contact with that mental object occurs after attention; the seed arises first, and after the seed emerges and forms the conscious mind, it can then contact the mental object.
After contact comes reception (vedanā), after reception comes grasping characteristics and discernment (saṃjñā), after discernment comes deliberation (vitarka). If deliberation is unclear, contact continues; after contact comes reception and feeling, or perhaps attention is applied again, then discernment occurs. Then there is contact again, then discernment again. Here, the sequence of the later mental factors becomes disrupted. The initial sequence follows the order of attention, contact, sensation, perception, volition. The operation of the five universal mental factors is like this.
V. The Operational Process of the Five Universal Mental Factors (Part 2)
The five universal mental factors initially operate in the order of attention, contact, sensation, perception, but later this is not necessarily the case; the order of operation may be reversed. The mental factor of volition (cetanā) does not necessarily appear at a specific time. The mental faculty does not necessarily make decisions at a specific time; perhaps many small decisions occur in the middle, partial decisions regarding certain aspects, and only at the end is there a final overall decision. The intermediate decisions are not ultimate, but they play a corresponding role in the final decision. For example, after eating one bite of food, deciding whether to eat the next bite, what to eat and how much, requires a decision by the volition mental factor. After the entire meal is finished, the volition mental factor must make a final decision that eating is finished and no more will be eaten. Then the five-aggregate body (pañcaskandha) will put down the bowl and chopsticks. Sometimes, when one does not wish to eat more but someone nearby persuades them to eat more, the volition mental factor may be indecisive. The volition mental factor then weighs the pros and cons, quickly applies attention, contact, sensation, and perception to the food eaten and the feeling in the stomach, and finally decides that no more can be eaten, concluding the meal.
Attention (manasikāra) is the beginning of conscious mental activity, the starting point for the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of all dharmas. Without attention, there is no contact with dharmas; without contact, there is no acceptance and sensation; without acceptance, there is no knowing; without knowing, there is no deliberation and decision; without decision, there is no formation of bodily, verbal, or mental actions. Therefore, attention is important, but volition (cetanā) is even more important; its function is the greatest, and its process may be the longest. However, during sensation, perception, and volition, there must be contact; without contact, there is no sensation, perception, or volition, so contact is also very important. Sensation and perception are the prerequisites and foundation for volition. Without sensation and perception, there is no subsequent formation of bodily, verbal, or mental actions, and the conscious mind becomes tranquil and pure. Therefore, great practitioners (mahāyogin) only have slight and brief attention towards dharmas. After contact, they do not generate feelings, do not wish to know, and thus there is no next step of behavioral formation; there is neither mind nor activity.
While operating on a single dharma, attention persists constantly. When one thinks carefully, the six objects transform into a distinct mental object. The shift in the focus of the dharma indicates the emergence of another new attention. In the initial process from attention to perception, the operation of attention, contact, sensation, perception, volition may be extremely brief and rapid, reaching volition in an instant. Because the knowing is unclear, deliberation is unclear, necessitating re-attention, contact, sensation, perception. This process repeats continuously. Observing this process in detail is difficult; even rough observation is quite challenging. However, one can observe part of it by observing one's own and others' bodily actions, verbal actions, thoughts, and views.
VI. The Operational Process of the Mental Faculty's Five Universal Mental Factors (Part 3)
What determines which dharma the mental faculty attends to? This issue is discussed in the *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra*. It is determined by the mental faculty's memory (smṛti), desire (chanda), habits (vāsanā), customs, thoughts, interests, preferences, plans, wishes, demands, etc., which trigger the attention of the mental faculty's own consciousness seeds. The attention of the six consciousnesses is all initiated and determined by the mental faculty. Wherever the mental faculty wishes to function and form actions, the seeds of the six consciousnesses in the storehouse consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) have a direction for arising – the intention to arise at that dharma location. This is attention. Afterwards, the consciousness seeds will definitely arise upon that dharma.
After the mental faculty attends, whichever consciousness it is must contact the corresponding dharma, because the consciousness seed arises upon which dharma, it will contact that dharma. After contact, it will receive and accept it. For example, after the hand contacts a ball, it accepts the ball, receives the ball, and only then can there be feeling, i.e., sensation (vedanā), followed by knowing (jñāna). For instance, the eye faculty contacts a form object; first, it accepts the form object, then knows the form object, then grasps this form object, giving rise to thoughts, plans, schemes, calculations, etc. After grasping the form object, feeling arises, so sensation arises after perception. After feeling arises, deliberation continues, followed by subtle discernment, decision-making, and control over how to handle it.
Before handling it, the mental faculty must complete the grasping of this dharma. Before grasping, it must discern clearly; it must first have sensation towards this dharma. After sensation, a decision arises. This decision is the function of the volition mental factor (cetanā). This decision may not be the final one; perhaps it is an immature, temporary decision. Later, after subtle discernment, feeling confident that everything is clearly discerned, the final decision is made, and the operation of the seven consciousnesses upon this dharma concludes.
Before the operation on this dharma is completely finished, the mental faculty's volition mental factor will operate continuously until this dharma is fully discerned and concluded. Then the five universal mental factors finish operating and will enter the operation of the next dharma, operating on new content. If this dharma is not concluded, contact, attention, sensation, perception, volition will still operate continuously, providing feedback back and forth, constantly revising. It's like when we look at an object; just looking at it, we first accept it. After acceptance, wanting to see it clearly, we go to discern it. Initially, it might still be unclear, so we continuously contact, continuously feel, continuously know. After knowing, the three feelings of pain, pleasure, and neutral arise. Then we grasp this appearance, make a decision, and the six consciousnesses will form karmic actions.
VII. The Process of the Five Universal Mental Factors Operating is Like Copying a Painting
When copying a painting, the eyes repeatedly and continuously observe and discern the scene. The mental consciousness, while observing, continuously memorizes. While copying, one paints while continuously recalling, then repeats this process again and again until the copying is finished and the work is complete. One looks at the scene, paints a bit, ponders a while, paints a bit more, ponders again, back and forth until the painting is finished. Then the painting is set aside; no more pondering, no more painting, no more attention; one moves to the next activity.
The operational process of the five universal mental factors is similar to copying. The process of painting is analogous to the operational principle of the conscious mind. When the conscious mind operates on a certain dharma, it must operate until completion before letting go of that dharma. When the operation is incomplete, it repeatedly attends, repeatedly contacts, accepts, receives, discerns, knows, feels, deliberates, constantly analyzes and decides, repeatedly operates and executes; the process is very complex. The sequence of mental factors operating is not necessarily sensation first, perception later; it varies during operation, depending on the cognitive wisdom and level of the conscious mind. Only after operation is complete are deeper feelings possible; after feeling comes discernment, after discernment comes feeling, until the mental faculty feels it has discerned clearly, then it stops attending. If later the mental faculty feels it needs to understand something more, it will again apply attention, contact, sensation, perception, volition to the dharma. After understanding clearly and thinking it through, it stops the operation of the mental factors on this dharma, and this dharma again disappears from the conscious mind.
After deliberation, sometimes a decision is made, sometimes not. This is because the mental faculty feels the discernment was not clear or thorough enough. As long as the mental faculty does not make the final decision, the operation of the five universal mental factors does not conclude. Only when the mental faculty feels satisfied, the goal is reached, does it cease deliberation and immediately make a decision on how to proceed.
VIII. The Mental Factors Implied in "Deliberation" (Tuīqiāo)
The term "deliberation" (tuīqiāo) originates from an anecdote about the Tang Dynasty poet Jia Dao composing poetry, originally describing his way of thinking and state of effort when selecting words and phrases. To find the appropriate words, the poet continuously searches his mind for vocabulary to express the intended meaning of the poem, simultaneously gesturing with his body to "push" (tuī) or "knock" (qiāo). Initially, it is the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna) that deliberates, investigates, and reflects (vitarka-vicāra). Gradually, it transitions to the deliberation, investigation, and reflection of the mental faculty (manas). The mental faculty's deliberation, investigation, and reflection are very subtle and concealed, so much so that the mental consciousness seems inactive, without thought, as if in meditation (dhyāna).
What mental factors appear when Jia Dao ponders and deliberates over words and phrases? There are the five universal mental factors, the five object-specific mental factors (pañca viṣaya-pratisaṃyukta), perhaps also wholesome mental factors (kuśala-caitasika) and afflictive mental factors (kleśa-caitasika). When deliberating, one must first generate the mental factor of attention (manasikāra) towards the dharma being deliberated, directing the mind to the dharma to be deliberated. The mental factor of contact (sparśa) appears; the mind contacts the dharma to be deliberated. The mental factor of sensation (vedanā) appears; it receives and accepts the dharma being deliberated. The mental factor of perception (saṃjñā) arises; it recognizes and grasps the dharma being deliberated. The mental factor of volition (cetanā) appears; it continuously deliberates on this dharma until finally understanding and confirming it, followed by subsequent actions. When gesturing the actions of "pushing" and "knocking" with the hands, the five universal mental factors of the five sense consciousnesses and the concomitant mental consciousness also appear.
During attention, the mind is relatively concentrated; mental consciousness and mental faculty are focused on the corresponding dharma. The appearance of the sensation mental factor (vedanā) might be less than at other times; the mind is pondering the question being considered. During the deliberation process, if it touches upon a scene particularly sensitive to the mental faculty, the sensation mental factor might arise. This sensation is an inner stirring and feeling, not caused by changes in the external six objects. The mental factor of sensation initially means to receive, accept, and experience. If one does not receive and accept the problem, one cannot proceed to think about it, cannot have volition, cannot have the final result of deliberation, cannot have decision and subsequent formation, and even less can wisdom arise.
During perception and volition, the mental factor of concentration (samādhi) is always present. There is also the mental factor of conviction (adhimokṣa). Conviction should be the correct understanding of the general meaning of the dharma, i.e., roughly understanding it, being able to derive a relatively reasonable answer, view, concept, or conclusion regarding the dharma being contemplated. During deliberation, the mental factors of desire (chanda), memory (smṛti), and concentration (samādhi) also appear. The mental factor of desire is the wish to deliberate, driving the sixth and seventh consciousnesses to deliberate, to select words and form sentences. After conviction, memory of the word's meaning forms the mental factor of memory (smṛti). Focusing on deliberation is the function of the concentration mental factor (samādhi).
IX. How Karmic Actions Arise
The process of the five universal mental factors operating is the process of forming karmic actions (karma). If wholesome mental factors (kuśala-caitasika) join in, the formation is wholesome karma. If unwholesome mental factors (akuśala-caitasika) join in, the formation is unwholesome karma. Attention (manasikāra) and contact (sparśa) themselves are neither unwholesome nor wholesome. If joined by wholesome or unwholesome mental factors, their attention and contact become wholesome-intentioned or unwholesome-intentioned. Sensation (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā) themselves are also neither unwholesome nor wholesome. If joined by wholesome or unwholesome mental factors, their sensation, perception, and volition acquire wholesome or unwholesome characteristics. If the mental factor of wisdom (prajñā) participates in the operation of the five universal mental factors, the karmic action is wise; conversely, it is ignorant karmic action. If the mental factor of conviction (adhimokṣa) participates, the person is intelligent, understanding, and has strong comprehension. When the mental factor of concentration (samādhi) arises, sensation and perception are slight. The operation of the five universal mental factors is slow and slight. Attention and contact arise passively. Sensation, perception, and volition mental factors manifest and operate according to conditions, functioning spontaneously.
The mental faculty plays a propelling role in the operational process of all dharmas; it is the master of karmic actions. This can be observed in ordinary bodily, verbal, and mental actions. For example, raising the hand, then picking up a pen, then pressing the hand onto paper. If one observes this process carefully, one can clearly feel a kind of mental force propelling it. Sometimes the propulsion is obvious, sometimes not obvious; sometimes it's very casual, seeming like no propulsion, but it is actually habitual action. However, even if the mental faculty's operation is casual and inattentive, it is still difficult for the mental consciousness to observe without wisdom.
For another example, when we ride a bicycle very skillfully, it seems like we are not using our mind to ride; the mental consciousness does not think or consider how to ride. However, the mental faculty is commanding and operating every instant; it is using the mind, it's just that the mental consciousness is unaware. When skilled at riding a bicycle, even if one wants to fall, it's not easy to fall. When unable to ride, even if one doesn't want to fall, one still falls. This is because when skilled, the mental consciousness does not need to think and control; the mental faculty has mastered it and can command and control freely. When unskilled, the mental faculty has not learned; the mental consciousness must repeatedly think and influence the mental faculty until the mental faculty fully masters it and can control freely. Then the mental consciousness doesn't need to think much.
Some people always say they did something unintentionally. However unintentional your mental consciousness may be, the mental faculty is intentional. It is the mental faculty propelling the doing of that thing, which is why that thing was accomplished; it's just that one is unaware. In familiar operational situations, unconscious and subconscious actions are all the mental faculty operating, commanding, and controlling, not the mental consciousness. The mental consciousness merely passively cooperates with the mental faculty, without particular thoughts, opinions, or views. Furthermore, when the mental consciousness is unintentional, it does not mean the mental faculty is unintentional. Only when the mental faculty is unintentional is the mind truly non-active (anābhoga, effortless).
X. The Propelling Function of the Mental Faculty's Five Universal Mental Factors
Feeling a vague force compelling oneself to have thoughts, then false thoughts arise. What mystery lies here? The feeling is the feeling of the mental consciousness. The vague force is from the mental faculty. It is attending to and clinging to a mental object (dharmaviṣaya), generating the volition mental factor (cetanā). The eighth consciousness, complying with the mental faculty's volition mental factor, produces the mental consciousness. After the mental consciousness manifests and discerns the mental object, thoughts appear.
The thoughts of the mental consciousness arise from contacting an object and knowing the object; they are the result of differentiating the object. The mental faculty also cognizes this object; otherwise, the mental consciousness cannot arise. At this time, the mental faculty and the mental consciousness cognize the same object. The mental faculty cannot differentiate specifically; it can only be done by the mental consciousness. Therefore, the mental faculty, regarding this object, must apply attention, contact, sensation, perception, volition, and have subtle discernment wisdom (prajñā). Among these, attention is easy to understand, contact is easy to understand, sensation is receiving/accepting, also easy to understand, perception is grasping/taking the sign, also easy to understand. The last one, volition (cetanā), has the meaning of decision, determination, formation, and also deliberation and weighing. What specific mental activity is inside it is harder to understand; the mental faculty's volition is the most mysterious.
XI. The Mental Faculty's Discernment Involves the Participation of the Five Universal and Five Object-Specific Mental Factors
The mental faculty's object-specific wisdom (viṣaya-pratisaṃyukta-prajñā) does not manifest constantly (except for Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of certain stages). It manifests only on specific occasions, hence it is called object-specific (viṣaya-pratisaṃyukta). However, the five universal mental factors must manifest constantly; they are the companions of the mental faculty, accompanying its operation every instant. The operation of the mental faculty is the operation of the mental factors. There is no time when the mental faculty exists but the five universal mental factors are not operating.
Grasping is the function of the perception mental factor (saṃjñā). Its function is to discern characteristics (lakṣaṇa), grasp characteristics, then assign names to the characteristics. Once names exist, language (nāman) appears, and the characteristics and names are accepted. Only after the mental faculty grasps the characteristics can it deliberate and decide how to form actions. Of course, the five universal mental factors must operate repeatedly before a final overall decision can be made, after which action can be taken. Therefore, when seeing a person hesitate, one knows the mental consciousness and mental faculty are deliberating, continuously applying attention, contact, sensation, perception, volition. The mental factors operate in turn; the five object-specific mental factors also participate in the operation; it is extremely complex. Therefore, the human brain is countless times more complex than a computer; computers are fundamentally incomparable to the human brain. The so-called brain primarily refers to the functions of the mental faculty, with the six consciousnesses being secondary.
