How the Five Universal Mental Factors of the Six Consciousnesses Operate (Part Two)

When the mental factor of perception (saṃjñā) has not clearly discerned, the process of discerning and deliberation continues; when the mental factor of volition (cetanā) still cannot make a decision, the six consciousnesses must repeatedly and continuously deliberate and perceive, then repeatedly come to know. After knowing, there is feeling; after feeling, knowing again; after knowing, deliberation again; and if deliberation is not clear, then attention (manaskāra) is directed again. After attention, contact follows, or direct perception follows, or after contact comes perception, after perception comes feeling, after feeling comes deliberation, and after deliberation comes feeling again—the sequence is not fixed.

After all five mental factors have operated, if attention is directed again, the attention of the six consciousnesses is concentrated onto the object to be discerned, and then the three—sense faculty, sense object, and consciousness—come together in contact. After this combined contact, first there is receiving and apprehending, and then knowing; once knowing is clear, feeling arises. If the feeling is not clear, then knowing continues, and it may require repeated cycles of attention, contact, and knowing. Once the six consciousnesses have known and grasped, and feeling has arisen, only then can the corresponding action to be taken next be decided. This requires first deliberation, consideration, and judgment, and afterward making a choice, determining which bodily, verbal, and mental actions to undertake. This involves many steps, progressing layer by layer, deepening layer by layer, until bodily and verbal actions are carried out. If the deliberation is not clear, then contact must continue, followed by attention, then perception, then knowing, until the object is finally discerned clearly.