The Mental Factors of the Five Consciousnesses

The mental factors associated with the first five consciousnesses first include the five universal mental factors. As soon as the five consciousnesses arise, these five universal mental factors operate along with them. The five consciousnesses also possess the five particular mental factors. Among them, the mental factor of desire refers to the longing, pursuit, and attachment to the five sense objects. In most cases, it is activated and directed by the mental faculty (manas) and is also influenced by the desire mental factor of the sixth consciousness (manovijñāna) to manifest. In a few instances, it persists due to the attraction of the five sense objects. For example, when the eye consciousness sees a soft light and wishes to perceive and discern it further, this is the mental factor of desire. This desire is too simple, lacking any autonomy, and is entirely subject to the approval and decision of the mental faculty. Not wanting to leave this light belongs to the mental factor of greed; disliking and avoiding this light is barely attributable to the mental factor of aversion.

In reality, the five consciousnesses do not possess the mental factor of aversion; it is regulated and manifested through the mental faculty. For instance, glaring at someone with the eyes is aversion, an action of the body consciousness, reflecting the mental faculty's aversion toward that person, possibly accompanied by aversion in the sixth consciousness. If one feels hatred toward a person upon knowing they are detestable, that is aversion in the sixth consciousness. To dislike someone without reason, without clear justification, or despite persuasion, or to have it arise immediately upon encountering a situation without time for thought, is aversion in the mental faculty. In fact, greed is also tenuous, as it primarily manifests the greed of the sixth consciousness and the mental faculty.

The mental factor of determination (adhimokṣa) in the five consciousnesses is the clarity regarding an object, without confusion, knowing exactly what is being discerned, with no misperception. The mental factor of mindfulness (smṛti) in the five consciousnesses involves a certain memory after discerning an object, but this memory is very fleeting. If the mind can hold onto an object and seek it, it is mostly due to mindfulness in the mental faculty or desire in the mental faculty, resulting from the mental faculty's dominance, sometimes also influenced by the sixth consciousness. The mindfulness of the five consciousnesses themselves is neither clear nor distinct, lacking a pronounced quality of recollection. The mental factor of concentration (samādhi) in the five consciousnesses is a focused discernment of an object. This focused discernment is primarily directed and controlled by the mental faculty, brought about by it, sometimes influenced by the sixth consciousness. The five consciousnesses themselves have no active intention or action. The mental factor of wisdom (prajñā) in the five consciousnesses enables accurate judgment and discernment of the five sense objects, without erroneous discrimination.

Because the five consciousnesses can only engage with coarse sense objects and cannot discern mental objects (dharmāyatana), their wisdom is inferior. They lack much mental capacity or ability for reflection and discrimination, and thus have few wholesome or unwholesome mental factors. Wholesome and unwholesome mental factors primarily operate on mental objects; thoughts and concepts belong to mental objects. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses (kliṣṭa-manas) correspond to mental objects, hence they possess numerous wholesome and unwholesome thoughts and concepts, along with their associated mental factors, which the five consciousnesses lack. The five consciousnesses have slight root afflictions such as greed, aversion, and ignorance. A few instances of greed arise actively from the five consciousnesses themselves, but most are dominated by the mental faculty. Aversion is almost entirely instigated by the mental faculty. Ignorance is mostly dominated by the mental faculty, with a small portion due to the five consciousnesses' own weak discriminative ability.

If the five consciousnesses have doubt (vicikitsā), it can only doubt the accuracy or reality of the five sense objects they themselves discern, not other phenomena. For example, doubting whether one has seen clearly is doubt in the sixth consciousness or the mental faculty. The five consciousnesses lack the broad doubt toward all phenomena that the sixth consciousness and mental faculty possess, because the five consciousnesses have weak mental power, little capacity for reasoning, and extremely inferior wisdom. Therefore, they have few independent thoughts, few afflictions, and few wholesome qualities. For the most part, they rely on the mental faculty and sixth consciousness to have wholesome or unwholesome mental factors; driven by the mental faculty and influenced by the sixth consciousness, they can manifest such factors. By themselves, they are often neutral.

Among the major secondary afflictions (upakleśa) of the five consciousnesses, those instigated by the mental faculty include faithlessness (āśraddhya), laziness (kausīdya), heedlessness (pramāda), forgetfulness (muṣitasmṛtitā), non-alertness (asaṃprajanya), distraction (vikṣepa), and torpor (styāna). They lack restlessness (auddhatya), as well as the intermediate secondary afflictions of shamelessness (hrī) and disregard (apatrāpya), and the minor secondary afflictions. Consequently, they also lack the corresponding wholesome mental factors. Because the five consciousnesses are coarse and lack slightly more refined reasoning power, they themselves have no wholesome or unwholesome mental factors; what appears are the wholesome or unwholesome qualities of the mental faculty. For ordinary people and externalists who attain the four dhyānas and four formless attainments, the major secondary afflictions of the five consciousnesses diminish and decrease; the root afflictions can only be reduced, not eradicated. These afflictions exist only in dependence on the sixth consciousness and mental faculty; they do not arise independently. The mental factors of the five consciousnesses need not be identical for each person, because the mental faculty varies greatly, leading to differences in the mental factors that give rise to the five consciousnesses.

The five consciousnesses include the mental factor of sleep (middha), which temporarily ceases during sleep. This sleep is determined and regulated by the mental faculty. The five consciousnesses also include the mental factors of initial inquiry (vitarka) and sustained investigation (vicāra). Initial inquiry is the five consciousnesses' coarse searching around; of course, the act of searching is regulated by the mental faculty, and the direction of search is also specified by the mental faculty. Wherever the mental faculty points, the five consciousnesses must proceed, lacking any autonomy. The sixth consciousness has a slight degree of agency, but the five consciousnesses have none at all. Hence, it is said that most mental factors of the five consciousnesses arise in dependence on the mental faculty and change along with it. From the functioning of the five consciousnesses, one can discern the mental activities of the mental faculty. Sustained investigation in the five consciousnesses occurs after they have located the general area of the five sense objects, waiting calmly for the sense objects to appear, or carefully discerning their features. The five consciousnesses lack the mental factor of regret (kaukṛtya), because they have little reasoning power and cannot discern mental objects, and thus cannot experience regret.

The wholesome mental factors of the five consciousnesses generally exist only in dependence on the mental faculty. These include faith (śraddhā), non-greed (alobha), non-aversion (adveṣa), non-ignorance (amoha), diligence (vīrya), carefulness (apramāda), equanimity (upekṣā), and non-harm (ahiṃsā). When the mental faculty is unwholesome, the five consciousnesses cannot be wholesome. The five consciousnesses cannot independently have their own wholesome mental factors, because the object of wholesomeness is mental objects; since the five consciousnesses cannot contact mental objects and lack the reasoning power of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, they cannot have wholesome or unwholesome mental activities. Wholesome and unwholesome minds can only exist in the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. After the five consciousnesses transform consciousness into wisdom (āśraya-parāvṛtti) at the stage of Buddhahood, they may fully possess wholesome mental factors, but this cannot yet be observed at present.

Before attaining Buddhahood, the mental factors of the five consciousnesses remain largely unchanged, except for those dominated by the mental faculty. When the mental faculty is unwholesome, the five consciousnesses follow it in being unwholesome; when the mental faculty is wholesome, the five consciousnesses follow it in being wholesome, also influenced by the mental activities of the sixth consciousness. The mental factors that the five consciousnesses themselves exclusively correspond to are only the five universal mental factors and the five particular mental factors, totaling ten mental factors. Adding the wholesome and unwholesome mental factors that arise only in dependence on the mental faculty, and the indeterminate mental factors of sleep, initial inquiry, and sustained investigation, which are influenced and driven by the mental faculty, the total comes to thirty-two. When the sixth and seventh consciousnesses attain Buddhahood, they undergo three transformations of consciousness into wisdom, with their mental factors changing three times. In contrast, the five consciousnesses transform consciousness into wisdom only once, at the moment of Buddhahood, with their mental factors changing only then. This indicates that the five consciousnesses do not independently possess so many wholesome and unwholesome mental factors; they arise only in dependence on the mental faculty.