The Mental Factor of Adhimokṣa in the Ālaya-vijñāna

The mental factor of conviction exists in the eighth consciousness among the five object-specific mental factors. After the eighth consciousness cognizes the karmic seeds, cognizes the five-aggregate body, cognizes the material world, and cognizes the mental activities of the mind faculty, it can accurately comprehend these dharmas, rationally recognize them, and the mind can accept and acquiesce to them. Only then can it engage in constructive activities. This process is called conviction. If it fails to correctly interpret these dharmas, it becomes impossible to properly and truthfully produce and alter all dharmas thereafter. For example, after the eighth consciousness cognizes the choices made by the mental activities of the mind faculty, it must correctly and accurately comprehend what those choices are and endorse the mind faculty's decisions. Only then can it transform dharmas in accordance with the mind faculty's intentions. If the eighth consciousness cannot attain conviction regarding the mind faculty's intentions, it will erroneously produce and alter dharmas, failing to cooperate normally with the mind faculty, and the world would fall into chaos.

For another example, when the eighth consciousness cognizes karmic seeds and attains conviction about what those karmic seeds are, it knows how to produce dharmas based on them. If it cannot attain conviction about what the karmic seeds are, it cannot properly produce dharmas, and the world would descend into great disorder. Suppose the karmic seeds indicate that a person should have a car accident, but the eighth consciousness fails to correctly cognize and attain conviction about this information. Consequently, not only does the accident not occur, but the person's illness is instead cured, or they receive promotions and wealth. In this way, cause and effect would not be truthfully realized: good deeds would bear no good retribution, and evil deeds would bear no evil retribution—the world would become abnormal.

For yet another example, after the eighth consciousness cognizes the six dusts (objects of sense), if it cannot attain conviction about their current state, it cannot properly output the four great elements' seeds to continue sustaining the six dusts. Then the six dusts cannot arise, cease, change, or transform truthfully, reasonably, and normally, and cause and effect would become disordered. For instance, when the eighth consciousness cognizes the food consumed by the five-aggregate body but cannot attain conviction about what nutrients it contains, it cannot conditionally transform, alter, and sustain the material body based on those nutrients. What should have made the material body stronger and healthier instead causes it to become emaciated and weak—such an outcome is also abnormal. Therefore, since the eighth consciousness can truthfully actualize the principles of cause and effect, it must possess the mental factor of conviction; only then is the world reasonable.