The Mental Factors (Caittas) of the Five Consciousnesses

The mental factors of the first five consciousnesses begin with the five universal mental factors; as soon as the five consciousnesses arise, the five universal mental factors operate along with them. The five consciousnesses also have the five object-specific mental factors. Among them, the mental factor of desire (chanda) is the longing, pursuit, and grasping toward the five sense objects; in most cases it is mobilized and directed by the manas, and it also manifests under the influence of the mind consciousness's mental factor of desire. In a few cases it continues because of being attracted by the five sense objects—for example, when the eye consciousness sees a soft light and wishes to contact it more and discern it further, this is the mental factor of desire. This desire is too simple, having no autonomy whatsoever; it is entirely approved and adjudicated by the manas. Not wanting to leave that light belongs to the mental factor of greed; being averse to and avoiding that light can barely be counted as the mental factor of aversion.

In fact, the five consciousnesses have no mental factor of aversion; any aversion is regulated into being by the manas. For example, glaring at someone with the eyes is aversion, and this is the doing of the body consciousness, manifesting the manas's aversion toward that person, perhaps along with the mind consciousness's aversion. If one knows in the mind that this person is hateful and feels aversion, that is the mind consciousness's aversion; disliking someone without any reason, without a clear justification, or being unable to be dissuaded, or the aversion arising upon encountering an object before there is time to think—that is the manas's aversion. In fact, greed is also barely present; it all manifests the greed of the mind consciousness and the manas.

The five consciousnesses' mental factor of determination (adhimokṣa) is clarity regarding objects—not being muddled, knowing exactly what one is discerning, without illusion. The mental factor of mindfulness (smṛti) is that after the five consciousnesses discern objects, there is a certain memory, but this memory is extremely brief. If the mind can be mindful of an object and wish to dwell on it, in most cases it is caused by the manas's mindfulness, or caused by the manas's desire; it is the result of the manas's direction, and sometimes it is also influenced by the mind consciousness. The five consciousnesses' own mindfulness is not clear and distinct, lacking an evident nature of mindfulness. The five consciousnesses' mental factor of meditative concentration (samādhi) is a relatively focused discernment of objects; this focused discernment is mainly directed and manipulated by the manas, brought about by the manas, and sometimes influenced by the mind consciousness; the five consciousnesses themselves have no proactive thoughts or actions. The five consciousnesses' mental factor of wisdom (prajñā) can accurately judge and discern the five sense objects, discerning without confusion.

Because the five consciousnesses can only face coarse sense objects and cannot discern mental objects (dharmas), their wisdom is very poor; they have little mentation and little capacity for thinking and discrimination, and therefore they do not have many wholesome or unwholesome mental factors. Wholesome and unwholesome mental factors mainly operate upon mental objects; thoughts and concepts belong to mental objects. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses correspond to mental objects, and thus have so many wholesome and unwholesome thoughts and concepts, possessing wholesome and unwholesome mental factors, whereas the five consciousnesses do not. The five consciousnesses slightly have the root afflictions of greed, aversion, delusion, and doubt. A minority of greed arises actively from the five consciousnesses themselves; the majority is directed by the manas. Aversion is almost entirely brought about by the manas; delusion is mostly directed by the manas, with a minority belonging to the five consciousnesses' own weak discernment.

If the five consciousnesses have doubt, they can only doubt the accuracy and authenticity of the five sense objects they themselves discern, and cannot doubt other dharmas. Doubting whether one has seen clearly is the doubt of the mind consciousness or of the manas. The five consciousnesses do not have the broad doubt of the mind consciousness and manas regarding all dharmas, because the five consciousnesses have weak mental power and little capacity for deliberation, and their wisdom is extremely inferior. Therefore, on their own they have no particular mentation, no particular afflictions, and no particular wholesome mind; in the vast majority of cases, they only have wholesome and unwholesome mental factors by relying on the manas and the mind consciousness. Only when driven by the manas and influenced by the mind consciousness can they have wholesome and unwholesome mental factors; on their own they are neutral most of the time.

Of the five consciousnesses' great derivative afflictions, those brought about by the manas include non-faith, laziness, non-diligence, loss of mindfulness, non-correct knowledge, distraction, and torpor; there is no restlessness, nor the intermediate afflictions of shamelessness and lack of conscience, nor the minor afflictions; and of course there are also no wholesome mental factors opposite to them. Because the five consciousnesses are relatively coarse and inferior, lacking even slightly refined deliberative power, the five consciousnesses themselves have no wholesome or unwholesome mental factors; what is manifested is entirely the wholesomeness or unwholesomeness of the manas. For non-Buddhist worldlings who possess the four dhyānas and eight absorptions, the five consciousnesses' great derivative afflictive mental factors should be lightened and reduced; the root afflictions can only be reduced, not eliminated, for these afflictions all exist only by depending on the mind consciousness and the manas, and do not exist independently. Each person's five consciousnesses need not have the same mental factors, because the differences among manas are great, and thus the mental factors induced in the five consciousnesses differ.

The five consciousnesses have the mental factor of sleep, which temporarily ceases during sleep; this sleep is determined and regulated by the manas. The five consciousnesses also have the mental factors of initial application (vitarka) and sustained examination (vicāra). Initial application is the five consciousnesses' coarse searching about; of course, the act of searching is regulated by the manas, and the direction of searching is also designated by the manas. Wherever the manas points, the five consciousnesses must turn toward it, having no autonomy whatsoever. The mind consciousness has a slight degree of agency, but the five consciousnesses have none at all; that is why it is said that the five consciousnesses' mental factors mostly exist by relying on the manas and turn in accordance with the manas. From the operation of the five consciousnesses, one can come to know the mental activities of the manas. The five consciousnesses' sustained examination is, after the five consciousnesses' initial application has found the general location of the five sense objects, calmly waiting for the five sense objects to appear, or carefully discerning their features. The five consciousnesses have no mental factor of remorse, because they have little deliberative power and cannot discern mental objects, and therefore cannot feel remorse.

The five consciousnesses' wholesome mental factors, generally speaking, can also only exist by relying on the manas, including faith, non-greed, non-aversion, non-delusion, diligence, non-diligence's opposite of heedfulness, equanimity of mental activity, and non-harmfulness. When the manas is unwholesome, the five consciousnesses cannot be wholesome; the five consciousnesses cannot have their own wholesome mental factors independently, because the object of wholesomeness is mental objects, and the five consciousnesses cannot contact mental objects and cannot have the deliberative power of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, and thus cannot have wholesome or unwholesome mental activities. Wholesome and unwholesome mental factors can only be possessed by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. As for the five consciousnesses after transforming consciousness into wisdom at the Buddha stage, they may then be fully endowed with wholesome mental factors, but this cannot yet be observed at present.

Before attaining buddhahood, the five consciousnesses' mental factors generally do not change much, except for those mental factors directed by the manas: when the manas is unwholesome, the five consciousnesses become unwholesome accordingly; when the manas is wholesome, the five consciousnesses become wholesome accordingly; in between, they are also influenced by the mind consciousness's mental activities. The mental factors that the five consciousnesses correspond to on their own are only the five universal and five object-specific factors, ten mental factors in total; adding the wholesome and unwholesome mental factors that can only manifest by relying on the manas, plus the indeterminate mental factors of sleep, initial application, and sustained examination, which are influenced and led by the manas, there are thirty-two in total. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses, at the time of attaining buddhahood, must undergo three transformations of consciousness into wisdom, with their mental factors transformed three times, whereas the five consciousnesses' transformation of consciousness into wisdom occurs only once, at the time of attaining buddhahood, with their mental factors transformed only at buddhahood. This shows that the five consciousnesses, on their own, do not have so many wholesome and unwholesome mental factors; all of these can only manifest by relying on the manas.