The Relationship between Mental Factors and the Mind (1)

The mind-king is the master, and the mental factors are its attendants, being the functions of the master; the mind-king operates at every instant in the form of mental factors, and cannot be separated from the mental factors. If the mental factors were separated from the mind-king, they likewise could not exist or operate. When the mind-king appears, it operates in the form of mental factors; without the operation of mental factors, there would certainly be no mind-king. Among them, the five universal mental factors cannot be separated from the eight consciousnesses even for an instant, while the other mental factors only accompany the mind-king's operation on particular occasions. The mental factors are like the staff of the mind-king: the mind-king is like an emperor, and the mental factors are like the yellow robe and the crown.

The operation of the conscious mind is precisely the operation of the mental factors; without the mental factors, consciousness cannot be seen, and seeing the operation of the mental factors is equivalent to seeing consciousness. Among them, the mental factors of attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā) are precisely the discriminating functions that the eight consciousnesses give rise to toward the object-condition. The mental factors are the tools of the eight consciousnesses; the mind-king has never been able to part from its tools, just as a person walking must necessarily use their legs and feet—without legs and feet, one cannot walk. The eight consciousnesses are comparable to the body, and the mental factors are like two legs: for the body to walk, it must use its legs; for the eight consciousnesses to operate and act, they must use the mental factors.

To make it easier to understand the relationship between the mind-king and the mental factors, we may liken the eight consciousnesses to the material body, and the mental factors to the eyes, ears, and nose; for the material body to be active, it must rely on the eyes, ears, nose, and so on; for the tathāgatagarbha to operate, it must rely on the mental factors. Alternatively, the mind-king may be compared to a robot, and the mental factors to the robot's four limbs: for the robot to function, it relies on its four limbs, and when the four limbs move, it shows that the robot has appeared and is working.

Among these, the five universal mental factors are most intimately and inseparably connected with the tathāgatagarbha—they cannot be separated even for a second or an instant; the five particular mental factors come next, manifesting individually and not appearing at all times; the eleven wholesome mental factors are sometimes present and sometimes absent, and the afflictive mental factors are likewise sometimes present and sometimes absent, and in the end all must cease. Thus, for the mind-king to operate, it uses the five universal mental factors at every instant, and at certain times it uses the five particular mental factors and the eleven wholesome mental factors. The afflictive mental factors are not necessarily present in every mind-king: the tathāgatagarbha naturally does not possess afflictive mental factors, while the afflictive mental factors of the seven consciousnesses, through cultivation, must ultimately be extinguished completely.