The Transformation of the Mental Factors of the Mind Consciousness

The mind consciousness at the stage of an ordinary being has fifty-one mental factors, with the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion all complete; at the stage of the third fruit of the śrāvaka, the mental factors of the mind consciousness are reduced, with the mental factor of greed and the mental factor of hatred no longer present; after entering the bhūmis, at the stage of the transformation of the basis, the afflictive mental factors of the mind consciousness are further reduced, gradually transforming into wholesome ones; at the stage of buddhahood, the mind consciousness has the five universal mental factors, the five object-specific mental factors, and eleven wholesome mental factors. Therefore, cultivation is precisely the process of gradually changing the mental activities of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses; the mental activities and natures of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses are not fixed and unchanging. So when speaking of mind, one must clarify whether this is the mental activity of an ordinary being, the mental activity of a person who has attained meditative concentration (samādhi), the mental activity of a sage, the mental activity of a noble one, or the mental activity of a Buddha.