The Operating Process of the Five Universal Mental Factors of the Manas (Part Three)

What determines which dharma the manas directs its attention (manaskāra) toward is a question discussed in the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra: it is determined by the manas's mindfulness and desire, habitual tendencies, habits, ideas, interests, hobbies, intentions, wishes, demands, and so forth, which give rise to the mental engagement of the consciousness seeds of the manas itself. The mental engagement of all six consciousnesses is initiated and determined by the manas. Whichever dharma the manas intends to act upon and engage with, the seeds of the six consciousnesses within the tathāgatagarbha have a direction of birth — there is an intention to be born into that dharma realm — and this is mental engagement. Afterwards, the consciousness seeds will certainly arise upon that dharma.

After the manas has directed its mental engagement, whichever consciousness it may be must make contact with the corresponding dharma, because whichever dharma the consciousness seeds are born upon, that is the dharma they will contact; and after contact, they will receive and accept it. For example, after the hand contacts a ball, it accepts the ball, takes in the ball, and only then can there be sensation — that is, feeling — and after that, knowing. For instance, when the eye faculty contacts material sense-objects, the material sense-object must first be accepted before it is known, and then it is grasped, giving rise to ideas, intentions, plans, schemes, and so forth. Only after grasping the material sense-object does feeling arise; thus feeling arises after perception. After feeling arises, deliberation (manana) continues, followed by subtle discernment, making decisions and exerting dominion, wanting to decide how to handle it.

Before handling it, the manas must complete its grasping of this dharma; before grasping, it must discern it clearly; and it must first have feeling toward this dharma. After feeling, a decision will arise. This decision is the function of the volition (cetanā) mental factor. This decision is not necessarily the final one — it may be an immature, temporary decision. After further subtle discernment later, when one feels confident that everything has been discerned clearly, the final decision will be made, and then the operation of the seventh consciousness upon this dharma comes to an end.

Before the operation upon this dharma is thoroughly completed, the manas's volition mental factor will continue to operate without interruption, until the discernment of this dharma is entirely finished. Then all the volition mental factors and the five universal mental factors come to an end, and the mind enters the operation of the next dharma, with the five universal mental factors continuing to run their new content. If this dharma has not ended, then contact, mental engagement, feeling, perception, and volition will continue to operate in succession, feeding back and forth, constantly being revised. It is like when we look at something: at first we take it in, and after accepting it, wanting to see it clearly, we proceed to discern it. At the very beginning we may not see it clearly, so there is continual contact, continual feeling, continual knowing. After knowing, the three kinds of feeling — suffering, happiness, and neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā) — arise; then one grasps at the mark, makes a decision, and the six consciousnesses proceed to create karmic actions.