Prerequisites for the Attention of the Manas

The seventh consciousness, in the process of cognizing all dharmas and in studying and practicing the Buddhadharma, gives rise to the mental factor of attention (manaskāra); in both cases, the attention of the manas is primary, and the attention of the manas triggers the attention of the six consciousnesses. The attention of the manas has prerequisite conditions and requires certain causes and conditions; when these causal conditions differ, its attention also differs. Toward what it is interested in, it will attend with craving and attachment; toward what it is uninterested in or averse to, it will attend with an immediate intent to distance itself; toward what it considers unimportant, after attending to it, it will no longer make contact.