The Mental Factor of Perception (Saṃjñā) of the Eight Consciousnesses

The perception (saṃjñā) mental factor is present among the five universal mental factors of all eight consciousnesses. This perception refers to the discerning, deliberating, and grasping functions of the conscious mind; it also represents desire and aspiration, representing hope. It occupies almost half of sentient beings' mental activity and serves as the basis and driving force for the conscious mind's choices and decisions.

The perception of the six consciousnesses is classified as the aggregate of perception (saṃjñā) among the five aggregates; it has the function of aggregating the seeds of all dharmas, arising and ceasing, changing and mutating, without any autonomy. Among these, the perception of the five sense consciousnesses is relatively simple and direct, performing the discernment and discrimination of the five sense objects; its grasping nature is not strong and not obvious, and it all proceeds under the impetus and regulation of the manas. Without the manas's impetus, there would be no perception in the five sense consciousnesses. The perception of the mind consciousness is rich in content and relatively evident; its deliberation is rather complex. Part of it can operate autonomously, apart from the manas, but a large part is passive, being dragged along and controlled by the manas. Even its autonomous portion cannot deviate too far from the manas's intentions, will, and views; otherwise, the manas will obstruct it and not allow the mind consciousness to continue thinking, because this can easily cause the manas's emotions to become unstable, giving rise to psychological problems. This is exactly what happens with people who have heavy self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) and karmic obstructions when they engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the non-self of the five aggregates: at a certain point in contemplation, they become agitated and distraught. This shows that the manas cannot accept the dharmas contemplated by the mind consciousness and will not allow the mind consciousness to continue the contemplation.

The perception of the manas not only has the nature of discernment and discrimination but, more importantly, also has the function of grasping. It is because of the manas's grasping of all dharmas that dharmas continuously arise and cease, with unceasing arising, ceasing, change, and mutation. The manas's grasping nature is classified as "grasping (upādāna)" among the twelve links of dependent origination. Because of the manas's grasping, there is the becoming of future lives and birth-and-death. Therefore, the manas's perception plays a crucial role in both the arising and the cessation of all dharmas. Broadly speaking, the manas also has the function of aggregating dharmas, and it plays the primary role, so it too should be classified within the aggregate of perception among the five aggregates.

The perception of the tathāgatagarbha is relatively simple: it only performs the function of discernment and discrimination, and it is extremely fast. It never broods or agonizes over things; whatever dharma it encounters, it knows that dharma, without any mental activities such as deliberation (manana), pondering, or inference. This is utterly different from the seven consciousnesses, because the tathāgatagarbha has no ignorance (avidyā) and its wisdom is especially powerful—its discernment is almost like an automated program, with no stagnation or pause in between, and it takes none of the dharmas to heart. Because of the tathāgatagarbha's perception, there is the tathāgatagarbha's selection regarding all dharmas and seeds, and thus the dharmas continue to operate without interruption—this arising as that ceases, that arising as this ceases—operating in an orderly manner without the slightest error or confusion. Sentient beings always feel that the world is extremely chaotic, but that is determined by karma and is necessarily so. However chaotic the world of the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates may be, the tathāgatagarbha's operation is never chaotic. Therefore, the tathāgatagarbha's perception has a decisive aggregating effect on the world of the five aggregates, and broadly speaking, it also belongs to the category of the aggregate of perception.