The Five Universally Operating Mental Factors Consistently Operate Together with the Eight Consciousnesses

The five universally functioning mental factors operate not only during the arising of thoughts but also continuously, moment by moment, alongside the eight consciousnesses. They accompany the eight consciousnesses without separation for even an instant. Whenever the eight consciousnesses manifest, the five universally functioning mental factors operate in accompaniment. As stated in the first volume of Maitreya Bodhisattva's Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, the five universally functioning mental factors are the companions of the mind-king. Whenever the mind-king operates, it must rely on the five universally functioning mental factors as companions. Without the five universally functioning mental factors, the mind-king cannot operate.

For example, before a seed-consciousness is born, there must be a location for its birth; its place of arising must be determined. For instance, it may arise upon the color of a flower seen by the eye. Once the mental faculty (manas) determines this location, the seed-consciousness proceeds to the location of the form-object (rūpa) of that flower within the subtle sense faculties (indriya) to arise. Alternatively, it may proceed to the location of a sound, arising at the place where the sound-object (śabda) manifests within the subtle sense faculties, or it may arise at another location determined by the mental faculty for cognition. Therefore, before the seed-consciousness arises, there is the mental factor of attention (manaskāra). Attention provides the direction and location for arising. Before the seed-consciousness is born, the mental factor of attention begins to operate. The manifestation of the mental factors and the mind-king perfectly merge; their manifestation should be entirely consistent. Superficially, the operating manifestation appears to be that of the mental factors, yet it also conceals the operating manifestation of the continuous outflow of the seed-consciousness of the mind-king. Although the two are consistent, each has its own distinct operating manifestation.

Furthermore, the last of the five universally functioning mental factors is the mental factor of volition (cetanā). The ultimate function of the volition mental factor is to construct or shape (karma formation). Once the volition mental factor completes its construction, it is equivalent to the mind-king completing its construction. The conscious mind then ceases or shifts location, and the mental factors also vanish. According to this principle, the operating manifestation of the mind-king and the mental factors is consistent. Their operation is intertwined; the manifestation is displayed in the operating manifestation of the mental factors, while concealing the operating manifestation of the continuous outflow of the seed-consciousness. They are inseparable.