Afflicted Mental Factors (kleśa-caitta dharmas)

Fundamental afflictions: greed, aversion, delusion, conceit, doubt, and wrong views—these six mental factors (caittas). The reason these six are called fundamental afflictions is that from these six fundamental afflictions all other afflictions can be derived. Once the root is extinguished, the twenty subsequent afflictions (upakleśa) that follow—or even more of them—will gradually be extinguished as well, just as when the root of a tree is severed, the branches, trunk, and leaves will perish in due course and will not long survive.

Great subsequent afflictions: non-faith, laziness, non-diligence, torpor, restlessness, forgetfulness, non-circumspection, and distraction. When the stage of faith is cultivated to completion, the affliction of non-faith is severed—doubt in the Three Jewels, doubt in the tathāgatagarbha of one's own mind, doubt in one's own future attainment of buddhahood, and so forth. However, not all non-faith in all dharmas can be eliminated; it is only severed regarding the basic dharmas and dharmas of a certain level. The mental factor of laziness is extinguished when one cultivates to the seven factors of enlightenment and the factor of diligence-of-enlightenment appears; when one is not diligent, laziness may still arise. Only when one cultivates to the third fruit, the fourth fruit, or the stage of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva can the mental factor of laziness be thoroughly eliminated. The mental factor of non-diligence is similar: once the mind of renunciation arises, one is no longer very lax, but its complete severance requires cultivation to the third fruit or beyond.

After attaining meditative concentration (samādhi), the mental factor of torpor will be eliminated. 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 fades away, restlessness may appear again. Forgetfulness is similar—all of these are related to meditative concentration. When the power of concentration is sufficient, one will not forget the object of one's cultivation; when the power of concentration wanes, this can no longer be guaranteed. Distraction is also related to meditative concentration, while non-circumspection is related to wisdom: if one has not been trained in the dharmas of liberation, there will be non-circumspection in the mind. The mind consciousness corresponds to all of the great subsequent afflictions; the five sense consciousnesses alone do not have these afflictive mental factors—they can only have them together with the mind consciousness, assisting the seventh consciousness (manas) and the mind consciousness in manifesting these afflictions. The seventh consciousness has all the afflictive mental factors except torpor. The eighth consciousness does not correspond to any afflictive mental factors at all.

Middle subsequent afflictions: shamelessness and lack of remorse. These are the opposite of the mental factors of shame and remorse—when one does something wrong, one does not know to reflect on oneself; when one has wronged others, one feels no shame and does not repent. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses correspond to shamelessness and lack of remorse; the five sense 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 subsequent afflictions: anger, resentment, concealment, deceit, flattery, arrogance, harm, jealousy, spite, and stinginess. These are all afflictions dominated by aversion and hatred, and also include stinginess and greed. Generally speaking, they belong to afflictive habitual tendencies, lying dormant (anuśaya) in the mind of the seventh consciousness and being extremely difficult to sever. Even when the fundamental afflictions have been eliminated and one has become an arhat, these habitual tendencies are still hard to extinguish. Only bodhisattvas on the bhūmis, through the long process of cultivating the path, can gradually sever and completely eliminate them. However, arhats and bhūmi bodhisattvas do not correspond to every one of the minor subsequent afflictions. The five sense consciousnesses assist the sixth and seventh consciousnesses in manifesting these afflictive mental factors, while the eighth consciousness has none of these afflictive mental activities.