The Mental Factors of Feeling, Perception, Volitional Formations, and Consciousness of the Six Consciousnesses

The five aggregates, also called the five skandhas: the four aggregates of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are all of the nature of the six consciousnesses. The aggregate of feeling is the nature and function of the six consciousnesses feeling; the aggregate of perception is the function of the six consciousnesses perceiving; the aggregate of formations is the function of the six consciousnesses acting; and the aggregate of consciousness is the discriminating function of the six consciousnesses. The four aggregates respectively correspond to the four mental factors of the six consciousnesses—feeling, perception, volition, and consciousness. After the six consciousnesses contact the six sense objects, there arises the mental factor of feeling, the mental factor of perception, and the mental factor of volition. The mental factor of volition has the meaning of moving the body and producing speech, the meaning of deliberating and fabricating, and the meaning of being able to manifest bodily, verbal, and mental actions.