What Are Volitional Formations?

The scope of volitional formations (saṃskāra) is extremely broad, encompassing the activities of all eight consciousnesses. In a broad sense, "formation" refers to movement, operation, action, change, flux, and so on—in short, all phenomena that never cease fall within the scope of formations. Seen this way, in both the mundane and supramundane realms, there simply exist no matters or principles that are without activity or movement. Even the eighth consciousness is constantly active and moving, never at rest.

Why say this? First, because the eighth consciousness possesses the five universally present mental factors (pañca-sarvatraga-caitasika), and these five mental factors have never stopped for even a single instant; they have always been operating. Even in Nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), the five universally present mental factors of the eighth consciousness continue to operate without interruption. Second, the eighth consciousness itself also has its own mind-consciousness seeds constantly arising and ceasing moment by moment, and only in this way can the eighth consciousness continue to exist without interruption, continuing to operate without ever pausing for a single instant, thus becoming a consciousness that is neither arising nor ceasing.

The five universally present mental factors of the eighth consciousness—attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā)—operate as long as they exist; this is formation. Moreover, the mental factor of volition itself also carries the meaning of choice and decision, as well as the meaning of operation and activity. It is precisely the activity of the eighth consciousness that drives all dharmas to continue operating without cease, arising and ceasing. Therefore, in a broad sense, the eighth consciousness can also be included within the aggregate of volitional formations (saṃskāra-skandha), except that this aggregate neither arises nor ceases. The eighth consciousness has the function of aggregating all dharmas, so in a broad sense, the eighth consciousness can also be called the aggregate of consciousness (vijñāna-skandha), and moreover it is the most fundamental aggregate of consciousness, the aggregate of consciousness that neither arises nor ceases. It is precisely because of the functional nature of the eighth consciousness as the aggregate of consciousness that all dharmas can be aggregated together, allowing all dharmas to arise, cease, and change, allowing sentient beings to transmigrate without end and suffer without end.

How exactly does the eighth consciousness operate and act? First, it outputs seeds and withdraws seeds, creating all the dharmas of the five-aggregate world, allowing all dharmas to constantly arise, cease, and change without rest; it also stores karmic seeds and releases karmic seeds. Second, with regard to karmic seeds and all the dharmas of the five-aggregate world, it constantly performs contact, attention, feeling, perception, and volition, allowing all dharmas to operate ceaselessly in accordance with conditions. Even though the eighth consciousness is thus constantly active and never at rest, this in no way affects the tranquil, unconditioned mind-nature of the eighth consciousness itself, does not affect its mind-nature of neither seeing nor hearing, without desire and without seeking, with regard to all dharmas, and does not affect its mind-nature of being unmoved and unshaken by all dharmas.

The activity of the seventh consciousness includes the formations of ignorance (avidyā) within the twelve links of dependent origination, and also includes the formations without ignorance of all the noble ones. The formations of ignorance are the formations of birth-and-death and saṃsāra; the formations without ignorance are the formations of liberation from birth-and-death. The activity of the seventh consciousness plays a decisive and crucial role in both birth-and-death and liberation. It is precisely the activity of the seventh consciousness that drives the eighth consciousness to aggregate the karmic seeds of the birth-and-death of the five aggregates, thereby aggregating the five-aggregate world. Therefore, again in a broad sense, the seventh consciousness also belongs to the categories of the aggregate of volitional formations and the aggregate of consciousness.

The activity of the six consciousnesses is easier to observe and understand. The six consciousnesses are of the nature of dependence on others (paratantra), being passively manifested formations. Whether in the broad or narrow sense, the six consciousnesses are all subsumed under the aggregate of consciousness. This is because the bodily, verbal, and mental actions created by the six consciousnesses are precisely the cause of the accumulation of karmic seeds, the cause of the manifestation of the five-aggregate world, and the cause of the aggregation of name-and-form (nāma-rūpa). Although this aggregation is passive, it still accounts for a large portion of the aggregating function.