How the Five Universal Mental Factors (caittas) of the Six Consciousnesses Operate (Part 4)

The actual operation of the five universally present mental factors can be illustrated with an analogy. Suppose there is a painter painting a picture; the five universally present mental factors can be likened to the painter, and the six sense objects discerned by the mental factors are like the landscape painting the painter creates. When the painter is about to paint by copying from a scene, he first looks at the scenery before him that he intends to copy. When he raises his head to look at the scenery before him, that is directing his attention (manaskāra) toward the scenery; he shifts his eye consciousness onto the scenery, which is equivalent to drawing his attention to the landscape in front of him, and this then brings about the next step of the mental activities of contact and grasping the image. The painter looking at the scenery is the directing of attention; after directing attention, he contacts the scenery, and after contacting the scenery, there is feeling. The feeling at this point is generally of the sense of receiving—it is receiving the six sense objects and accepting the objects.

At this time there is not yet any emotional coloring; it does not contain feelings of suffering, happiness, sorrow, joy, or neutral feeling, nor does he think the landscape before him is beautiful or magnificent, nor does he feel inwardly moved by finding the scenery desolate. This is because discernment and grasping the image have not yet begun; he has merely accepted the objects as they are. After accepting them, he then discerns them; discernment is perception (saṃjñā), and he comes to know what this is—thus he has grasped the image, grasped the object. After grasping the image of the object, he withdraws his gaze and holds it in mind as a mental image, firmly keeping the landscape in his heart, and then decides how to copy it—this corresponds to the operation of the mental factor of volition (cetanā). After the landscape is kept in mind, he begins to sketch it on the painting board; these actions of sketching correspond to the activity of the volition mental factor, and bodily, verbal, and mental actions have already arisen.

After the painter has copied for a while, he no longer knows how to proceed, because the image in his mind has become blurred, so he must raise his head again to look at the scenery before him. This is directing attention again, contacting the scenery again; after contact, he again receives and feels it, and at this point there are emotional feelings—he feels that the landscape before him is so very lovely and magnificent, and poetic and picturesque sentiments arise within. Such feelings may already have been present at the very beginning of sketching. After receiving the objects, he must discern them again, and after discerning, he reflects again on how to sketch. After reflecting, he begins to sketch again. This whole series of activities and processes corresponds to the repeated operation of the five mental factors: directing attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volition.

After directing attention, he contacts the objects; after contact comes feeling, and after feeling comes discernment; if the discernment is unclear, he contacts again. He may not direct attention again, because he has been looking at the scenery before him all along and his attention has not shifted elsewhere, so he simply continues to contact; at this point he may not even need to make a new contact, because he has been in contact with the objects all along and has never left the objects before him. After contacting the objects, he receives them again; at this point he may not need to receive the objects anew either, because he has been receiving them all along, and the perception mental factor directly arises, repeatedly discerning and deliberating. This series of activities continues to operate without interruption until the landscape painting is completely copied—this corresponds to the six consciousnesses having fully known and made the final decision, at which point the matter is concluded. The operation of the five universally present mental factors upon this object is then complete; the creation of bodily, verbal, and mental actions is finished, and the copying of the painting is done.

The five universally present mental factors can be likened to the painter: he is always in contact with the landscape objects that need to be copied, directing attention to those objects, discerning those objects, reflecting on those objects, and then beginning to copy according to the objects as discerned. The five universally present mental factors of the six consciousnesses also operate in a similar manner.