What Are Formations?

"Cetra" (行) means moving, operating, changing, and flowing onward—it is not static and unchanging. All eight consciousnesses have "cetra," the mark of movement, and can continuously operate all dharmas, with themselves flowing onward thought after thought, mind after mind never abiding. Only when the seeds of consciousness arise and cease in continuity can all dharmas manifest and continue to operate without interruption, making the world of the five aggregates rich and colorful. The arising, ceasing, and changing of all things are the result of the operation of the eight consciousnesses, and the arising, ceasing, and mutation of the body of the five aggregates are even more so the result of the "cetra" of the eight consciousnesses. Once the first seven consciousnesses cease to operate, life terminates and one enters Nirvāṇa without remainder. However, the eighth consciousness itself never perishes; its own consciousness seeds will continue to sustain the operation of the eighth consciousness, and the five universally associated mental factors (pañca-sarvatraga-caitasika) will continue to operate without cease.

Who controls and governs the "cetra" of the seven consciousnesses? The "cetra" of the six consciousnesses is determined and dominated by the seventh consciousness, the manas; the "cetra" of the manas is dominated by ignorance and the power of vows. The "cetra" of the manas depends on several factors: one is the karmic seeds within the tathāgatagarbha, one is the habitual force of the manas's own afflictions, and one is the influence of environmental conditioning. But all these factors arise from the ignorance of the manas. If the manas had no ignorance, it would not be subject to conditioning, would have no afflictions or habitual tendencies, and would not leave behind seeds of afflicted karma.