How Is the Mental Factor of Manaskāra Aroused by Manas

Question: The mental attention (manasikāra) of the mental faculty (manas) is the crucial point in spiritual practice. Understanding its function greatly aids cultivation. Especially in concentration meditation (dhyāna), the effort lies with the mental faculty; without knowing the mental faculty, how can one speak of cultivating concentration? Without understanding the profound meaning of the mental faculty's attention, how can one touch upon the secret? The attention of the mental faculty is invariably associated with greed and hatred—nothing surpasses it. Of course, this refers to the mental faculty of ordinary beings. But how does the pure mental faculty of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas engage in attention? Without the motivating force of greed, hatred, or desire, how does the mental faculty attend? Can the mental faculty engage in attention while in a state of equanimity (upekṣā)? Can it attend while in an ethically indeterminate (avyākṛta) state?

Answer: The mental attention of the mental faculty is not only triggered by defilements (kleśa) such as greed and hatred but also arises from the mental factor (caitta) of desire (chanda). Desire can be wholesome (kuśala), unwholesome (akuśala), or ethically indeterminate. Wholesome desire is great vow-power (praṇidhāna-bala), while unwholesome desire is greed, hatred, and delusion. Additionally, part of the mental faculty's attention is habitual, arising from the inertia of the mental faculty itself.

Original text from the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra: How does the arising of correct attention occur? It arises due to four causes: 1) the power of desire (chanda-bala), 2) the power of mindfulness (smṛti-bala), 3) the power of the object (viṣaya-bala), and 4) the power of repeated practice (abhīkṣṇa-bala). How is it due to the power of desire? When the mind has attachment towards something, it frequently generates attention towards it. How is it due to the power of mindfulness? When one has thoroughly apprehended the characteristics of that [object] and formed a clear mental image, the mind frequently generates attention towards it. How is it due to the power of the object? When an object that is either extremely vast or extremely pleasing is directly present, the mind frequently generates attention towards it. How is it due to the power of repeated practice? When one has intensely habituated and become thoroughly familiar with an object, the mind frequently generates attention towards it. If it were otherwise, a single act of attention towards one object should arise at all times.

This explains the conditions for the arising of the mental factor of attention: desire, mindfulness, the object, and habit. First, the power of desire refers to the mind consciousness (vijñāna) clinging to and being attached to an object, enabling it to continuously attend to that object. This allows continuous arising of thought and volition, compelling the ālaya-vijñāna (storehouse consciousness) to continuously produce new objects and mental activities.

Second, the power of mindfulness means the mind consciousness continuously grasps the characteristics of the object and continuously cognizes it, enabling it to continuously generate the mental factor of attention towards the object. This ultimately leads to the continuous arising of thought and volition, compelling the ālaya-vijñāna to continuously produce subsequent mental activities and objects. This means that without desire and mindfulness, the mind consciousness cannot attend; particularly, without the desire and mindfulness of the mental faculty, once the mental faculty attends, it gives rise to the six consciousnesses, which can then engage in attention.

Third, the continuous attention of the mind consciousness is also due to the object's power being too strong, compelling the mind consciousness to attend to it, thus prompting the ālaya-vijñāna to produce subsequent mental activities and objects.

Fourth, towards frequently encountered and very familiar objects, the mind consciousness will engage in much attention, compelling the thought mental factor to continuously arise, and the ālaya-vijñāna to continuously produce subsequent mental activities and objects. Among these, the power of habitual tendency (vāsanā-bala) in the mental faculty is extremely strong. Having been habituated to the same dharmas over countless lifetimes or since beginningless time, in future lives, upon encountering these dharmas and objects, it will continuously engage in attention and clinging. Its power is formidable; if the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna) is not strong, it cannot be controlled—examples include habitual greed, gluttony, sleepiness, avarice, and so forth.

If none of these four conditions are present, the mind consciousness can attend to only one object with a single act of attention, and this can be maintained at all times. Therefore, the tendency to grasp (prapañca) also refers to the habitual attention of the mental faculty. To cultivate concentration, one must control and transform the habitual attention of the mental faculty, subduing its grasping tendency.

Whether karmic seeds (bīja) ripen or not is not necessarily related to the attention of the mental faculty. The ālaya-vijñāna spontaneously knows whether karmic seeds have ripened or not, and then begins to produce corresponding conditions, manifesting corresponding dharmas according to the operation of the karmic seeds.