Mental Factors Associated with the Eight Consciousnesses

Mental factors (caittas) are dharmas possessed by the conscious mind; they are the traces of mental activities in the course of the mind-consciousness's operation, assisting the operation of the eight consciousnesses. The mental factors of the eight consciousnesses were summarized and classified by Bodhisattva Vasubandhu into at most fifty-one, but there are also more subtle mental factors that were not classified, such as emotional mental factors like shock, fear, joy, happiness, and so on. These mental factors do not belong to wholesome or unwholesome, and in essence do not affect cultivation and realization. Each consciousness has its own mental factors, which are not all the same; each sentient being also has different mental factors at different stages of cultivation, determined by the mind and changing with the mind. Therefore, it is difficult to say exactly how many mental factors each consciousness has in a fixed manner, and it is also difficult to say exactly which mental factors each sentient being has; all of these must be analyzed and treated according to specific circumstances, and cannot be generalized.

Overall, the eight consciousnesses have the following mental factors:

The five universal mental factors: contact (sparśa), attention (manaskāra), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), volition (cetanā);

The five object-specific mental factors: desire (chanda), determination (adhimokṣa), mindfulness (smṛti), meditative concentration (samādhi), wisdom (prajñā);

The eleven wholesome mental factors: faith (śraddhā), shame (hrī), remorse (apatrāpya), non-greed (alobha), non-hatred (adveṣa), non-delusion (amoha), diligence (vīrya), tranquility (praśrabdhi), non-negligence (apramāda), equanimity of action (upekṣā), non-harm (ahiṃsā);

The six root afflictions: greed (rāga), hatred (dveṣa), delusion (moha), arrogance (māna), doubt (vicikitsā), wrong view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi);

The eight universal afflictions: non-faith (āśraddhya), laziness (kausīdya), negligence (pramāda), torpor (styāna), restlessness (auddhatya), forgetfulness (muṣitasmṛtitā), non-discernment (asaṃprajanya), distraction (vikṣepa); indeterminate mental factors: regret (kaukṛtya), sleep (middha), initial application (vitarka), sustained examination (vicāra);

The two intermediate afflictions: shamelessness (ahrī), lack of remorse (anapatrāpya);

The ten minor afflictions: anger (krodha), resentment (upanāha), spite (pradāśa), concealment (mrakṣa), deceit (māyā), flattery (śāṭhya), arrogance (mada), harm (vihiṃsā), jealousy (īrṣyā), stinginess (mātsarya).

Among these, the eleven wholesome mental factors stand in opposition to the afflictive mental factors: where one exists, the other does not; where the latter exists, the former does not. When the conscious mind has wholesome mental factors, it has no corresponding afflictive mental factors; when it has afflictive mental factors, it has no corresponding eleven wholesome mental factors. A single consciousness cannot simultaneously possess both wholesome and unwholesome mental factors—it is either wholesome, or unwholesome, or neither wholesome nor unwholesome; they cannot appear simultaneously.

For example, when facing a sense object or a dharma, if the conscious mind has the mental factor of faith, it cannot have the mental factor of non-faith, nor can it be half-believing and half-doubting; conversely, it is the same—it cannot have both. If it has the mental factors of shame and remorse, it cannot have the mental factors of shamelessness and lack of remorse; if it has the mental factor of non-greed, it cannot have the mental factor of greed; if it has the mental factor of non-hatred, it cannot have the mental factor of hatred; if it has the mental factor of non-delusion, it cannot have the mental factor of delusion; if it has the mental factor of diligence, it cannot have the mental factor of laziness; if it has the mental factor of tranquility, it cannot have the mental factor of torpor; if it has the mental factor of non-negligence, it cannot have the mental factor of negligence; if it has the mental factor of equanimity of action, it cannot have the mental factors of anger, resentment, and spite; if it has the mental factor of non-harm, it cannot have the mental factor of harm. Of two opposing factors, only one can exist; both cannot be present together.

Then, does the eighth consciousness have the twenty-six afflictive mental factors? Certainly not. The eighth consciousness has no ignorance and no afflictions whatsoever; moreover, it has wholesome mental factors as well as mental factors that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome; if it had no wholesome mental factors, it would have unwholesome mental factors. The wholesome mental factors of the eighth consciousness are: faith, non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion, diligence, tranquility, non-negligence, equanimity of action, and non-harm. It has no mental factors of shame and remorse, because the eighth consciousness never creates mental activities that wrong itself or others, and therefore there is no need for shame or remorse, or the absence thereof. The three mental factors of non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion are easy to understand: the eighth consciousness has no ignorance, so of course it has no afflictions of greed, hatred, or delusion; its mind is liberated from all afflictions.

The eighth consciousness has the mental factor of non-negligence; He never indulges Himself in pursuing ease and pleasure, because He has no mind toward any dharma, never feels fatigued, does not crave sense objects, does not like sense objects, and does not weary of sense objects; therefore He neither indulges Himself nor seeks comfort—thus He has the mental factor of non-negligence.

The eighth consciousness has the mental factor of equanimity of action; equanimity of action means that the mental activities are in a state of equanimity, impartial, equanimous toward all dharmas, not recalling the past, not grasping at the future, with a peaceful state of mind, neither sluggish nor hurried, abiding in the Middle Way, with a neutral mental nature—the eighth consciousness is precisely such a mind.

The eighth consciousness has the mental factor of non-harm; toward all people, affairs, things, and principles, He has no mind of harm or opposition. If people, affairs, things, or principles have aspects that are not in accord with the Dharma, the eighth consciousness never pursues the matter at all, absolutely does not care about anything, and therefore does not give rise to harmful mental activities, letting all wholesome and unwholesome phenomena manifest as they will. The eighth consciousness never has the mind to discriminate or to treat things differentially, never gives rise to thoughts; wholesome and unwholesome alike cannot affect the mind of the eighth consciousness.