How Does the Mental Factor of Manasikāra Arise?

The mental attention of consciousness-mind toward dharmas is an exceedingly complex process, and it is extremely difficult to observe it clearly. The initial mental attention toward dharmas occurs at the seed stage, meaning when the consciousness-seeds have not yet been delivered and the consciousness-mind has not yet arisen. This is because when a consciousness-seed is about to arise, it requires a locus for its arising and an orientation for its attention. This direction and locus constitute the object of attention, which is the location of the dharma.

For example, when playing basketball and aiming to throw the ball into the basket, the eyes must aim toward the direction of the basket to throw; one cannot throw toward another direction. This direction is analogous to the locus of attention, namely the basket. Here, the basketball corresponds to the consciousness-seed, the human eye corresponds to the consciousness-mind, and aiming corresponds to mental attention. When holding the ball, the target should be oriented toward the basket's direction; when throwing, the hand must align with the basket's direction, requiring preparation along this orientation to make the throw. Similarly, before a consciousness-seed arises within the tathāgatagarbha, it too requires an orientation for its arising. All consciousness-seeds possess mental attention prior to their arising. When consciousness-mind arises at a certain locus, or upon a certain dharma, it must direct its attention toward that locus of the dharma.

After a consciousness-seed arises, the consciousness-mind continues its mental attention unceasingly. This is because while consciousness-mind operates continuously upon a certain dharma, it must sustain its attention toward that dharma. If it ceases to attend, the delivery of consciousness-seeds would shift orientation, and other mental factors such as contact, feeling, perception, and volition would no longer arise. Therefore, for consciousness-mind to persist in the discernment of a certain dharma, it must sustain its mental attention. Once mental attention ceases, the subsequent processes of contact, feeling, perception, and volition will not occur. The mental factor of attention is crucial; without the mental factor of attention, other mental factors will not arise, and there would be no function of consciousness-mind toward that dharma.