The Transformation of the Mental Factors of the Manas in the Course of Cultivation

The manas of ordinary beings is almost fully endowed with all afflictive mental factors (caittas), and because of these afflictive mental factors they transmigrate through the six realms life after life, with suffering retribution that is inexhaustible; the only difference lies in whether each sentient being's afflictive mental factors are all fully present, whether they can all manifest, and how heavy or light the afflictions are. Of course, the manas of ordinary beings also has wholesome mental factors; otherwise ordinary beings could not ascend to the heavens to enjoy blessings, and in the six realms of transmigration there would be only five realms, without the heaven realm, there would be no wholesome retribution in the human realm, and no wholesome retribution in the asura realm either; even within the human realm one could not become a good person, and without doing wholesome deeds there would be no wholesome fruits in the future. But the fact is that even sentient beings in the three evil realms have wholesome minds; otherwise they could not be reborn in the future as humans and devas. It is only that sentient beings' wholesome minds do not appear for the time being, or appear only infrequently.

Ordinary beings who possess the four dhyānas and eight samādhis have the mental factors of the seventh consciousness in accord with the samādhi mental factor; they can enter the four dhyānas and eight samādhis and can be reborn in the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. Their derivative afflictions must be reduced, without mental factors such as laziness, non-diligence, loss of mindfulness, distraction, torpor, and restlessness. Among the five object-specific mental factors, the samādhi mental factor must be strengthened; the manas of a person without meditative concentration has no samādhi mental factor. Therefore, the mental factors of the seventh consciousness of ordinary beings are indeterminate, and each person's mental factors need not be the same.

However, for those who have cultivated meditative concentration and those who have realized the noble fruits, the common characteristic of the mental factors of the manas and the mind consciousness is that afflictive mental factors must be lightened and reduced, while wholesome mental factors must increase and strengthen. For bodhisattvas at the three virtuous stages before passing the final barrier, and for first-fruit and second-fruit persons, the mental factors of the seventh consciousness are as follows: the self-view mental factor is eliminated, several major derivative afflictions are reduced, the lack-of-faith mental factor is eliminated, the faith mental factor increases and strengthens, the mis-knowledge mental factor is eliminated, the torpor mental factor was never present to begin with, and laziness, non-diligence, restlessness, loss of mindfulness, and distraction are lightened or eliminated; the major derivative afflictions are lightened, and the intermediate derivative afflictions may be lightened or eliminated. At the same time, all eleven wholesome mental factors increase and strengthen; among the five object-specific mental factors, the determination (adhimokṣa), samādhi, and wisdom mental factors are strengthened. All of these depend on the individual, and each person is not entirely the same.

For bodhisattvas who have passed the final barrier and post-bhūmi bodhisattvas, because the seventh consciousness has initially undergone the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, their mental factors comprise the five universal mental factors and the five object-specific mental factors, and the eleven wholesome mental factors, but not fully endowed and not yet at their strongest; only at the buddha stage can they be completely and most strongly endowed. The fundamental afflictive mental factors are all extinguished, the major derivative afflictions are all eliminated, the intermediate derivative afflictions are lightened or eliminated, and the minor derivative afflictions are gradually extinguished during the stages from the fourth to the seventh bhūmi. The mental factors of the seventh consciousness of third-fruit and fourth-fruit persons have also changed: for fourth-fruit persons, all afflictive mental factors are extinguished; for third-fruit persons, there remain some afflictive mental factors, the wholesome mental factors increase, and the five object-specific mental factors are also strengthened, but not fully endowed—roughly equivalent to the mental factors of bodhisattvas who have passed the final barrier. However, they cannot eliminate the minor derivative afflictions; the habitual tendencies still exist. The mental factors of the Buddha's seventh consciousness are fully endowed with the five universal mental factors, the five object-specific mental factors, and the eleven wholesome mental factors, with no other mental factors.