The Relationship between the Perceiving-Aspect of Tathāgatagarbha and the Five Universal Mental Factors

The perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga) of the tathāgatagarbha is the functional operation of the tathāgatagarbha in perceiving dharmas. The tathāgatagarbha perceives all dharmas through the operation of the five universal mental factors—attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā)—and then takes in and manifests those dharmas. Only at that point can the manas (the seventh consciousness, the mind faculty) perceive the dharmas; before this, only the tathāgatagarbha alone perceives them. The manas, however, cannot perceive the perceiving-aspect function of the tathāgatagarbha. Only after attaining buddhahood, or for bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis, can the perceiving-aspect function of the tathāgatagarbha and the operation of its mental factors be seen. The manas of ordinary beings and pre-bhūmi bodhisattvas (pūrvabhūmika bodhisattvas) lacks such great wisdom and power of meditative concentration (samādhi); even bodhisattvas at certain bhūmis may not necessarily be able to perceive it clearly and completely.

The seeing of dharmas by all eight consciousnesses is accomplished through each one's own five universal mental factors. The tathāgatagarbha itself also has consciousness seeds; as these seeds run continuously without interruption, the operative characteristics (carita) of the tathāgatagarbha's functioning are revealed. Toward the various dharmas, the tathāgatagarbha operates the five universal mental factors—attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volition—and thereby discerns and processes those dharmas. Its functioning differs somewhat from the feeling, perception, and volition of the seven consciousnesses: the operation of the tathāgatagarbha's five universal mental factors is not mixed with any afflictions or ignorance; it belongs to a state of effortless, non-deliberate operation, also called acting spontaneously (anābhoga-caryā) and moving in accordance with dharmas. In this, its feeling does not enter into the objective realm; its perception involves no complex thought activity; and its volition is merely selection and formation, along with the maintenance and management of dharmas. By contrast, when the five universal mental factors of the seven consciousnesses operate, they are mixed with ignorance and afflictions and involve all sorts of complex mental activities; they are not in a state of effortless operation, and they are greatly influenced by objective conditions.

The seven consciousnesses each also have their own consciousness seeds, and their perceiving likewise operates by relying on the five universal mental factors. During the operation of these five universal mental factors, some afflictions and ignorance may be mixed in, and wholesome and unwholesome mental factors as well as neutral (avyākṛta) mental factors may also appear together. After the five universal mental factors have operated, the seven consciousnesses acquire the functions of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing. However, because afflictive mental factors arise in the seven consciousnesses, they have a certain obscuring effect on the seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing of the seven consciousnesses, causing them to perceive dharmas inaccurately and incorrectly, with many misinterpretations. Because of these misinterpretations, unwholesome karma is created, forming unwholesome causes, conditions, and karmic retribution.