How Is the Mental Factor of Attention (Manasikāra) of the Manas Aroused?

Question: The manas of ordinary beings always engages in attention (manaskāra) accompanied by greed and aversion, without exception. How does the pure manas of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas engage in attention? Without the driving force of greed, aversion, or desire, how can the manas engage in attention? Could the manas possibly engage in attention while in a state of neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā) or in a neutral/indeterminate (avyākṛta) state?

Answer: The attention of the manas is not only triggered by afflictive mental factors such as greed and aversion, but also by the mental factor of desire (chanda). Desire includes wholesome desire and unwholesome desire, as well as desire that is neither wholesome nor unwholesome. Wholesome desire is the power of great vows; unwholesome desire is the afflictions of greed, aversion, and delusion. Part of the manas's attention is also habitual attention, resulting from the inertial tendency of the manas.

Original text of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra:云何能生。作意正起。由四因故。一由欲力。二由念力。三由境界力。四由数习力。云何由欲力。谓若于是处。心有爱著。心则于彼。多作意生。云何由念力。谓若于彼。已善取其相。已极作想。心则于彼。多作意生。云何由境界力。谓若彼境界。或极广大。或极可意。正现在前。心则于彼。多作意生。云何由数习力。谓若于彼境界。已极串习。已极谙悉。心即于彼。多作意生。若异此者。应于一所缘境。唯一作意。一切时生。

This describes the conditions for the arising of the mental factor of attention: desire, mindfulness, sense objects, and habituation. The reason the manas has grasping and clinging is actually because of desire and mindfulness. Maitreya Bodhisattva has already explained this very clearly: without desire and mindfulness, attention cannot occur. Especially the desire and mindfulness of the manas—only after the manas engages in attention can the six consciousnesses arise, and only then can the six consciousnesses engage in attention. On what basis does the manas grasp at objects? It is precisely because of the power of desire and the power of mindfulness. If there were no power of desire and no power of mindfulness, He would have no mental activity, would not wish to grasp at any sense object, would not generate attention toward dharmas, and subsequent dharmas would not appear. If the manas lacked the mental factor of desire, on what basis would the six consciousnesses give rise to the mental factor of desire? If the manas had no desire, how could all dharmas appear? Even the Buddha's manas possesses the mental factor of desire, let alone ordinary beings. The five consciousnesses all possess determination (adhimokṣa); the manas possesses it even more so. Without determination, how could the manas comprehend the information discerned by the six consciousnesses, comprehend all the sense objects and all the dharmas it has experienced, and how could it make responses and take appropriate action?

The arising of the five universal mental factors takes the power of desire and the power of mindfulness as their forerunner and foundation. The manas's power of desire and power of mindfulness are the fundamental driving force behind the manifestation of all dharmas. There is also the habitual inertial tendency of the manas: when He has no desire or mindfulness, He will habitually grasp and engage in attention, and we will unconsciously see forms, hear sounds, smell scents, and feel tangibles, even though at times the mind consciousness does not wish to know these dharmas. The specific explanation is as follows:

First, the power of desire: this is the manas's craving and attachment toward sense objects. Only thus can the consciousnesses continuously engage in attention upon those sense objects, continuously give rise to deliberation (manasikāra) and decision-making, and the tathāgatagarbha must then continuously give rise to new sense objects and mental activities.

Second, the power of mindfulness: this refers to the manas continuously grasping (upādāna) the marks of sense objects and continuously knowing them. Only thus can the consciousnesses continuously give rise to the mental factor of attention toward the sense objects, and ultimately continuously engage in deliberation and decision-making; the tathāgatagarbha must then continuously cooperate in giving rise to subsequent mental activities and sense objects. This means that without desire and mindfulness, the consciousnesses cannot engage in attention—especially the desire and mindfulness of the manas. Only after the manas engages in attention can the six consciousnesses arise, and only then can the six consciousnesses engage in attention.

Third, the manas's continuous attention is also due to the power of the sense objects being too strong, drawing the consciousnesses to engage in attention toward them involuntarily; thus the tathāgatagarbha cooperates in giving rise to subsequent mental activities and sense objects.

Fourth, toward sense objects that are frequently encountered and very familiar, the manas will engage in abundant attention toward those objects; the mental factor of deliberation will continuously arise, and the tathāgatagarbha must continuously give rise to subsequent mental activities and sense objects. The power of the manas's habituation is extremely great: life after life, or for beginningless kalpas, it has been immersed in the same dharmas. In later lives, upon encountering these dharmas and sense objects, it will continuously engage in attention and grasping, and its power is formidable. If the mind consciousness is not strong enough, it cannot control this—for example, habits of craving such as lust, gluttony, love of sleep, greed for wealth, and so on, are exactly like this.

If it is not one of the above four situations, the manas will grasp at fewer sense objects, engage in attention toward fewer dharmas, deliberate upon and discern a single dharma, and it can be like this at all times. Therefore, the grasping nature also refers to the manas's habitual attention. If one wishes to cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi), one must control and change the manas's habitual attention and subdue its grasping nature.

Whether karmic seeds have matured has no necessary relationship with the manas's attention. Whether karmic seeds have matured is naturally known by the tathāgatagarbha, and then the tathāgatagarbha begins to give rise to the corresponding conditions, producing the corresponding dharmas in accordance with the operation of the karmic seeds.