Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra), Part Nine

The Eighteen Scrutinies of the Mind

Original text: 云何十八意所伺察。谓眼见色已。若生适悦。若生忧恼。若住于舍。如是六根。各各缘彼。适悦等三。是名十八意所伺察。

Explanation: Scrutiny means observing, discerning, knowing, and experiencing. For example, after the eye faculty contacts material sense-objects, the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness discern the material sense-object; if a joyful or a distressed state of mind arises, or if it abides in a neutral state of feeling that is neither joyful nor distressed, then three kinds of feeling appear—this is one faculty paired with the three realms. The other five faculties—ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—are the same as the eye faculty: the faculty contacts the sense-object, consciousness arises, and the conscious mind then experiences feelings, producing three types of mental states: either joy, or distress, or neither joy nor aversion (equanimity). These are respectively five pairs making fifteen realms; combined together, they are six pairs making eighteen realms. After each faculty contacts its sense-object, there are the three realms of faculty, sense-object, and consciousness; the six faculties contacting the six sense-objects together constitute the eighteen realms, which respectively give rise to the three kinds of feeling—suffering, happiness, and equanimity. These are the eighteen scrutinies of the mind.