How the Five Universal Mental Factors of the Six Consciousnesses Operate (Part Two)

When the mental factor of perception (saṃjñā) has not clearly discerned, the process continues with discernment and deliberation; when the mental factor of volition (cetanā) still cannot make a decision, the six consciousnesses must repeatedly and continuously deliberate and perceive, then repeatedly discern; after discerning, there is feeling; after feeling, there is discernment again; after discerning, deliberation occurs again; if the deliberation is not clear, attention (manaskāra) is applied again. After attention is applied, contact follows, or perception follows directly, or after contact comes perception, after perception comes feeling, after feeling comes deliberation, after deliberation comes feeling again—the sequence is not fixed.

After all five mental factors have operated, if attention is applied again, the attention of the six consciousnesses is concentrated onto the object to be discerned, and then the three—faculty, object, and consciousness—converge in contact. After converging in contact, first comes receiving and experiencing, and then discernment; once discernment is clear, feeling arises. If the feeling is not clear, discernment continues, and it may require repeated application of attention, contact, and discernment. Once the six consciousnesses have discerned and grasped, and feeling has arisen, only then can a decision be made about the appropriate action to take next. This requires first deliberation (manasikāra), consideration, and judgment, and afterward making a choice, deciding which bodily, verbal, and mental actions to undertake. This involves many steps, progressing layer by layer, deepening layer by layer, until bodily and verbal actions are carried out. If the deliberation is not clear, then contact must continue, then attention, then perception, then discernment, until the object is finally discerned clearly.