Afflictive Mental Factors

Root afflictions: The six mental factors of greed, aversion, delusion, conceit, doubt, and wrong views are called root afflictions because these six root afflictions can give rise to all afflictions. Once the roots are extinguished, the twenty subsequent afflictions or more will gradually be extinguished along with them, just as when the root of a tree is severed, the branches, trunk, and leaves will perish afterward and will not long survive.

Great subsequent afflictions: lack of faith, laziness, non-diligence, torpor, restlessness, forgetfulness, non-discernment, and distraction. When the mental factor of lack of faith is cultivated to fulfillment at the stage of faith, doubts about the Three Jewels, doubts about the tathāgatagarbha of one's own mind, doubts about one's future attainment of buddhahood, and so forth are severed. However, not all lack of faith in all dharmas can be severed; only lack of faith in basic dharmas and dharmas of a certain level is severed. 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, 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 completely eradicated. The mental factor of non-diligence is the same; once the mind of renunciation arises, one is not very non-diligent, but complete severance requires cultivation to the third fruit or above.

After attaining meditative concentration (samādhi), the mental factor of torpor will be extinguished. The mental factor of restlessness is also like this; when preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) is complete, there is no restlessness, and after attaining the first dhyāna, the phenomenon of restlessness will be extinguished; when meditative concentration disappears, restlessness may appear again. Forgetfulness is also like this; all are related to meditative concentration. When the power of concentration is sufficient, one will not forget the dharma being cultivated; when the power of concentration fades, this cannot be guaranteed. Distraction is also related to meditative concentration, and non-discernment is related to wisdom; if one has not been trained in the dharma of liberation, there will be non-discernment in the mind. The mind consciousness corresponds to all the great subsequent 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 lacking 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.

Middle subsequent afflictions: shamelessness and lack of shame. They are the opposite of the mental factors of shame and remorse; when one does something wrong, one does not know to reflect on it, and when one has wronged others, one does not feel shame or repent. The minds of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses correspond to shamelessness and lack of shame; the five consciousnesses can only have them 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 there is also stingy greed; generally speaking, they belong to afflictive habitual tendencies, lying dormant in the mind of the seventh consciousness, and are extremely difficult to sever. Even when the root afflictions are severed and one becomes 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 sever and completely extinguish them. However, arhats and bhūmi bodhisattvas do not correspond to every minor subsequent affliction. The five consciousnesses assist the sixth and seventh consciousnesses in manifesting these afflictive mental factors; the eighth consciousness does not have these afflictive mental activities.