The Meaning of Afflictive Mental Factors

Fundamental afflictions: the six mental factors of greed, aversion, delusion, conceit, doubt, and wrong views. These six are called fundamental afflictions because from these six fundamental afflictions all afflictions can be derived. Once the fundamental afflictions are extinguished, the twenty subsequent afflictions or even more subsequent afflictions will gradually be extinguished along with them, just as when the root of a tree is severed, the branches, trunk, and leaves will subsequently perish and will not long survive.

The great universal afflictions include: non-faith, laziness, non-diligence, torpor, restlessness, forgetfulness, non-circumspection, and distraction. When the mental factor of non-faith is fully cultivated at the stage of faith, doubts about the Three Jewels, doubts about the tathāgatagarbha of one's own mind, doubts about one's own future attainment of buddhahood, and so forth are eradicated. However, it is not that non-faith toward all dharmas can be eradicated; only non-faith toward the basic dharmas and dharmas of a certain level is eradicated. The mental factor of laziness is extinguished when one cultivates to the seven factors of enlightenment and the factor of diligence of enlightenment arises; when one is not diligent, the phenomenon of laziness will still appear. Only when one cultivates to the third fruit, the fourth fruit, and the first bhūmi bodhisattva stage can the mental factor of laziness be thoroughly eradicated. The mental factor of non-diligence is the same: once the mind of renunciation arises, one is not very non-diligent anymore, but thoroughly eradicating non-diligence requires cultivation to the third fruit or above.

The mental factor of torpor disappears when one cultivates meditative concentration and subdues the five hindrances; after attaining the first dhyāna, the mental factor of torpor will be eradicated. The mental factor of restlessness is likewise: when preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) is complete, there is no more restlessness; after attaining the first dhyāna, the phenomenon of restlessness will be extinguished, but if the meditative concentration disappears, restlessness may still appear. Forgetfulness is the same, all related to meditative concentration: when the power of meditative concentration is sufficient, one will not forget the object of cultivation; when the power of concentration fades, this can no longer be guaranteed. Distraction is also related to the absence of meditative concentration; non-circumspection is related to the absence of wisdom—without having been cultivated in the dharmas of liberation, there is non-circumspection in the mind. The mind consciousness corresponds to all the great universal afflictions; the five consciousnesses alone do not have these afflictive mental factors—they can only have them together with the mind consciousness, assisting the seventh consciousness and the mind consciousness in manifesting these afflictions. The seventh consciousness, apart from not having the mental factor of torpor, has all the other afflictive mental factors. The eighth consciousness does not correspond to any afflictive mental factors at all.

Intermediate afflictions: shamelessness and non-embarrassment. These are the opposite of the mental factors of shame and embarrassment—when one does something wrong, one does not know to reflect on it; when one has wronged others, one does not feel shame or repent. The minds of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses correspond to shamelessness and non-embarrassment; the five consciousnesses can have them only by relying on the mind consciousness, assisting the sixth and seventh consciousnesses in manifesting these afflictions—they cannot have them alone. The eighth consciousness does not have these two afflictions.

Minor afflictions: wrath, enmity, concealment, deceit, flattery, arrogance, harmfulness, jealousy, spite, and miserliness. These are all afflictions dominated by the mind of aversion and hatred, and there is also the mind of miserly greed; generally speaking, they belong to afflictive habitual tendencies, lying dormant (anuśaya) in the mind of the seventh consciousness and being extremely difficult to eradicate. Even when the fundamental afflictions have been eradicated and one has become an arhat, these habitual tendencies are still difficult to extinguish. Only bodhisattvas on the bhūmis, through the long process of cultivating the path, can gradually eradicate and extinguish them completely. However, arhats and bhūmi bodhisattvas do not correspond to every one of the minor afflictions. The five consciousnesses can assist the sixth and seventh consciousnesses in manifesting these afflictive mental factors; the eighth consciousness does not have these afflictive mental activities.