How Does the Mental Factor of Attention Arise?

The attention (manaskāra) directed by the consciousness-mind toward a dharma is an extremely complex process, and it is very difficult to observe it clearly. Initially, the attention toward a dharma occurs at the seed stage—that is, when the consciousness seeds have not yet been transmitted and the consciousness-mind has not yet arisen—because when the consciousness seeds are about to arise, there must be a place of arising and a direction of attention. This direction and place is the object of attention, the location where the dharma resides.

For example, when playing basketball, to shoot the ball toward the hoop, the eyes must aim in the direction of the hoop; one cannot shoot in some other direction. This direction is analogous to the place of attention, namely the hoop. Here, the basketball is analogous to the consciousness seeds, the person's eyes are analogous to the consciousness-mind, and aiming is analogous to attention. When holding the ball, the target should be oriented toward the direction of the hoop; when shooting, the hand must align with the direction of the hoop, preparing to send the ball in that direction. Likewise, before the consciousness seeds arise within the tathāgatagarbha, there must also be a direction of arising; all consciousness seeds have attention directed toward something before they arise. Wherever the consciousness-mind arises, whatever dharma it arises upon, its attention is directed toward that dharma.

After the consciousness seeds arise, the consciousness-mind will continue its attention without interruption. This is because when the consciousness-mind continuously operates upon a certain dharma, it must keep directing attention toward that dharma; if the attention ceases, the transmission of the consciousness seeds will shift to another direction, and the other mental factors—contact, feeling, perception, and volition—will no longer appear. Therefore, only through the consciousness-mind's sustained attention can the discernment of a certain dharma continue; once attention ceases, there will be no subsequent contact, feeling, perception, or volition. The mental factor of attention is very important: without the mental factor of attention, the other mental factors will not appear either, and the consciousness-mind will have no function with respect to that dharma.