The Arising of the Six Consciousnesses and Mental Factors

The six faculties contact the six objects, giving rise to the six consciousnesses. The combination of the six faculties and the six objects constitutes the twelve entrances. The six faculties refer specifically to the supreme meaning faculties, located at the back of the head; these five supreme meaning faculties plus the mental faculty (manas) constitute the six faculties, also known as the internal six entrances. The six objects are the internal five objects plus the form included in the dharmāyatana, constituting the internal six objects, also known as the external six entrances. The combination of the internal six entrances and the external six entrances is called the twelve entrances. Among these, faculties and objects are certainly together. The internal five objects are born within the supreme meaning faculties at the back of the head. The eighth consciousness, based on the five objects, further manifests the form included in the dharmāyatana, which contacts the mental faculty. Only when faculties and objects are together can they contact each other; after contact occurs, the eighth consciousness can produce the six consciousnesses.

"Faculties and objects contact each other" means that faculties and objects are certainly together. Where does this occur? The five supreme meaning faculties are located at the back of the head, so the five objects must manifest and be born at the location of the supreme meaning faculties in the back of the head. The internal five objects are certainly produced at that place in the back of the head where the supreme meaning faculties reside. Thus, faculties and objects are together, and being together, they contact each other. After this contact occurs, the eighth consciousness produces the five sense consciousnesses. Simultaneously, the dharmāyatana object contacts the mental faculty at the location of the supreme meaning faculties in the back of the head, producing the five sense consciousnesses. The mental consciousness certainly also arises, simultaneously discerning the six objects alongside the five sense consciousnesses. This is called the five-concomitant mental consciousness.

The six faculties contact the six objects, thus the six consciousnesses are born. After the six consciousnesses are born, these three (faculties, objects, consciousnesses) again combine and contact, meaning the six consciousnesses again contact the six objects, thereby discerning the six objects. These faculties and objects are constantly in contact. If the faculties and objects do not contact each other, the six consciousnesses must cease. Then, the six consciousnesses again contact the six objects. After contacting the six objects, they acquire the nature of reception, receiving and accepting the six objects. After accepting the six objects, the six consciousnesses discern the six objects and grasp them; this is when the mental factor of perception (saṃjñā) arises.

After discerning the six objects, the six consciousnesses begin to deliberate. If the deliberation is unclear, they reapply attention (manasikāra), generating attention towards the six objects again. After applying attention, they again discern and again feel. At this point, the feeling (vedanā) manifests sensations of suffering, pleasure, sorrow, joy, and equanimity. The initial feeling is reception and acceptance; after acceptance, it is equivalent to taking the six objects over, and only then does one know what the six objects are. This acceptance represents taking them over. Subsequent feelings then carry emotional color, and sensations of suffering, pleasure, sorrow, joy, and equanimity arise.

After feelings arise, if the feelings are unclear, they again grasp the characteristics and discern; the mental factor of perception will again arise. After the mental factor of perception arises, discerning the characteristics, deliberation begins. If deliberation remains unclear, they re-contact, make contact again. After contact, they again discern, or again engage in perception, or again continue feeling. After this discerning and feeling, they deliberate again, until finally, having deliberated clearly on the matter and discerned it fully, the six consciousnesses give rise to a decisive perception and begin to initiate action.

The content discerned by the six consciousnesses must also be transmitted to the mental faculty. Simultaneously, the mental faculty will also initiate the operation of the five universal mental factors (pañcaviṣayikāḥ cittacaittāḥ) regarding the objective realm of the six objects discerned by the six consciousnesses, giving rise to a series of mental activities. Finally, when the mental faculty gives rise to a decisive mind, deciding how to act, the eighth consciousness discerns this and, based on the mental faculty’s decisive deliberation and its attention, operates in coordination. Because the eighth consciousness must know what the mental faculty is attending to, which aspect of the dharmāyatana object it is focusing on, only after knowing this can the eighth consciousness manifest the six consciousnesses upon that dharmāyatana object. Once the six consciousnesses manifest, they begin to initiate bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and bodily, verbal, and mental actions arise.

If the mental faculty still cannot deliberate clearly, then the mental faculty will continue contacting, continue applying attention, continue feeling, continue discerning, and finally deliberate again before making a decision. Before a decision is made, these five universal mental factors are constantly operating back and forth. Their sequence may not follow the order of attention (manasikāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā); it may be inverted. It is possible for contact to come first, followed by discernment, or contact first, feeling first, with discernment following feeling. Perhaps after discernment comes feeling, and if feeling and discernment remain unclear, then deliberation follows again. If deliberation is still unclear, then further contact follows, then further feeling, then further discernment.

Which mental factor comes first is not fixed; the sequence here becomes disordered. Initially, it is attention. Attention certainly exists in the seed state. While in the seed state, corresponding to that dharmāyatana object, attention arises. Then the consciousness seed is born precisely at the location of that dharmāyatana object, and the mental faculty contacts the dharmāyatana object. Whichever dharmāyatana object is attended to, the seed is born onto that dharmāyatana object, forming the conscious mind. Contact with that dharmāyatana object occurs by first applying attention, then the seed is born. Only after the seed emerges and there is a conscious mind can it contact the dharmāyatana object.

After contact comes reception; after reception comes grasping the characteristic and discerning; after discernment comes deliberation. If deliberation is unclear, further contact follows; after contact comes receptive feeling, or at this point, attention may be applied again, followed by discernment. Then there may be further contact, further discernment. Here, the sequence of subsequent mental factors becomes disordered. The initial sequence follows the order of attention, contact, feeling, perception, volition; this is how the mental factors operate.