The Mental Factors of the Six Consciousnesses

After the six consciousnesses arise, the sequence of the mental factor of attention and the mental factor of contact is not fixed. In the initial stage, when the six consciousnesses are in the seed state, attention must come first, guiding the conscious mind toward the object to be encountered. Once this guidance is complete, the conscious mind arises, bringing with it the contact with the object, enabling the six consciousnesses to make contact with the object. Only after contact is made can the object be discerned. Thus, in the beginning, attention precedes contact. After contact occurs, there arise feeling, perception, and volition. Following volition, the conscious mind may again make contact; after contact, attention may arise again, leading to renewed experiencing, discerning, and volition, followed by further feeling. At this point, the sequence of mental factors may become reversed; it is possible for contact to occur first, and after contacting the object, attention is drawn to it.

The manifestation of the five universally functioning mental factors sometimes begins with attention first, until all five are operating; other times, contact comes first, followed by attention. After the six consciousnesses contact an object and generate feeling, they can experience and receive the object, then grasp it, giving rise to names and concepts—this is perception. Once names and concepts arise, the mental factor of volition begins to construct, leading to thinking, deliberation, and consideration. After deliberation, one of the three feelings—pleasure, pain, or neutral feeling—may arise, prompting a preliminary decision, and physical, verbal, and mental actions begin to manifest.

After physical, verbal, and mental actions manifest, there may be renewed contact. If the object cannot be fully determined, one must re-contact, re-experience, re-discern, and re-consider, repeating the process until complete understanding and clarity are achieved, culminating in a final decision. The procedure here is quite complex, and the finer details are beyond the reach of observation. The five mental factors do not necessarily operate in a fixed sequence, nor must all five stages be cycled through every time. It may be that upon reaching feeling, one must return to contact again; upon reaching perception, one may return to contact; or after volition, if a decision cannot yet be made, one must return to contact, then to attention; or attention may precede contact. The sequence is not fixed, and the frequency and duration of the manifestation of each of the five mental factors vary.