When Does the Mental Factor of Attention Arise in the Six Consciousnesses?

After the manas grasps the dharmas manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, it conceives (manasikāra) those dharmas it deems important. Once conceived, the three mental factors of contact (sparśa), sensation (vedanā), and perception (saṃjñā) arise, followed by the mental factor of volition (cetanā). The ālaya-vijñāna, having discerned the volition and conception of the manas, actively cooperates with it. Whatever dharma the manas conceives, whatever dharma it deliberates upon, whatever dharma it determines to discern—the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) gives rise to the six consciousnesses upon that very dharma. The six consciousnesses that arise must pertain to the dharmas conceived and deliberated upon by the manas. If the manas does not conceive of a dharma, the six consciousnesses cannot arise. Therefore, the discernment of the six consciousnesses is entirely induced by the conception and volition of the manas. After the manas deliberates, the eighth consciousness cooperates with it to produce the six consciousnesses.

For example, when the manas conceives upon a flower, after contacting, sensing, and perceiving that flower, it gives rise to the volition mental factor. The ālaya-vijñāna simultaneously discerns this volition of the manas and gives rise to the eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness upon the internal form-dust (rūpa) of the flower located at the supermundane faculties (adhiṣṭhāna) in the hindbrain. Before the eye-consciousness arises, while in the seed state (bījāvasthā), it is oriented towards and conceives upon the internal form-dust of the flower. The seed state refers to the stage of the consciousness seed (vijñāna-bīja). Before a consciousness seed can manifest, it must have a direction and location for manifestation, and it must proceed towards that location for manifestation. Because the six dusts at the supermundane faculties in the hindbrain are extremely numerous, exactly upon which dust the eye-consciousness or the six consciousnesses arise depends on which dharma the manas conceives upon. If the manas conceives upon the flower, the eye-consciousness seed is projected onto the location of the flower. Thus, before the consciousness seed manifests, it prepares to manifest upon the internal form-dust of the flower at the supermundane faculties in the hindbrain. This preparation is conception (manasikāra).

When the eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness, in their seed state, prepare to manifest at the location of that flower—specifically the location of the flower's visible color (varṇa-rūpa)—the eye-consciousness seed within the seed state prepares to manifest upon the flower's visible color. This is equivalent to conceiving upon the flower's visible color. After this conception, the eye-consciousness seed is projected onto the flower's visible color, and the eye-consciousness then immediately arises. After the eye-consciousness arises, the four mental factors of contact, sensation, perception, and volition of the eye-consciousness operate. Simultaneously, at the supermundane faculties in the hindbrain, there also exist the flower's form-color (saṃsthāna-rūpa), gesture-color (vijñapti-rūpa), and non-manifest color (avijñapti-rūpa), which are dharma-dusts (dharma-viṣaya). The mind-consciousness seed prepares to be projected at the location of the flower's form-color, gesture-color, and non-manifest color. The mind-consciousness seed is thus projected at the location of the dharma-dusts of the flower, and the mind-consciousness rushes towards the dharma-dusts of the flower's form-color and gesture-color to manifest. Thereupon, the mind-consciousness is formed, and subsequently, the four mental factors of contact, sensation, perception, and volition of the mind-consciousness operate upon the flower.

After the eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness arise, the two consciousnesses contact the flower. Conception had already occurred during the seed state. After the two consciousnesses arise, the operation of the contact mental factor begins. The initial conception must occur during the seed state. After contacting the flower, the sensation, perception, and volition mental factors arise. After operating in this manner, conception occurs again. This subsequent conception is no longer the conception of the seed state, but rather the conception occurring during the operation of the eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness themselves. Through repeated contact, sensation, perception, and volition, a final decision is made after discernment, and the act of seeing the flower with the eye is concluded. This is the sequence of the arising and operation of the eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness.