How the Five Universal Mental Factors Operate in the Six Consciousnesses (1)

The five universal mental factors of the six consciousnesses begin with attention (manasikāra). Attention directs the mind towards an object. Whatever dharmas the seventh consciousness (manas) intends to discriminate, the six consciousnesses attend to those dharmas. Therefore, the attention of the six consciousnesses is determined and governed by the mental faculty (manas). After the six consciousnesses attend, the seeds of consciousness arise, and the six consciousnesses manifest. Thereupon, the three—the sense faculty, the object, and the consciousness—come into contact. Following contact, the first function is reception (vedanā). What is meant by reception? Reception does not refer to the sensation of pain or pleasure; initially, there is no emotional feeling. It is first the reception of the object; the six consciousnesses receive the objects of the six dusts (guṇa), meaning they first accept them. After acceptance, the mental formation (saṃjñā) begins to discriminate; it is first contact, then discrimination.

For example, when someone gives you an object, you first direct your attention towards that object, then make contact with it using your hand, after which you accept the object. Once you hold it in your hand, you then carefully examine and discriminate it. After examination, you grasp its characteristics (nimitta), form a decisive mind about the object, and then sensations arise. As for the subsequent mental factors of sensation (vedanā) and mental formation (saṃjñā), it is hard to say which comes first; they alternate with each other, disrupting the sequence of the five mental factors. When many people simultaneously discriminate the same object, the sequence of their mental factors differs. This relates to each individual's wisdom power, concentration power, karmic power, and habitual afflictions.

Generally, after receiving an object, mental formation (saṃjñā) occurs. Only after possessing the functional nature of discrimination and grasping characteristics can sensations arise. If the sensation is unclear, contact and mental formation resume, followed again by cognition. After cognition, a decisive mind arises, and various sensations emerge. The longer contact, mental formation, and volition (cetanā) take, the more internal sensations arise, and the greater the changes in mental state. This indicates continuous mental formation and continuous sensation; continuous sensation leads again to continuous mental formation. The mind's emotions fluctuate, and the mind continuously grasps the characteristics of objects. The five universal mental factors operate repeatedly in cycles, and their sequence is often disrupted. For instance, regarding the operation of the volition mental factor (cetanā), when mental formation discriminates an object unclearly, volition cannot understand, and the decisiveness of volition fails to arise, lacking the power of discernment. At this point, one must return to let the contact and mental formation mental factors operate again. Only after clear discrimination does volition gain the power of discernment and make the final decision. Then, the operation of the five universal mental factors regarding this object concludes.