The Mental Factors of the Six Consciousnesses: Feeling, Perception, Volition, and Consciousness

The five aggregates, also called the five skandhas, are such that the four aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are all of the nature of the six consciousnesses. The aggregate of feeling is the nature and function of the six consciousnesses feeling; the aggregate of perception is the functional operation of the six consciousnesses perceiving; the aggregate of volitional formations is the functional operation of the six consciousnesses acting; and the aggregate of consciousness is the functional operation of the six consciousnesses discerning. The four aggregates respectively correspond to the four mental factors of feeling, perception, volition, and consciousness of the six consciousnesses. After the six consciousnesses contact the six sense objects, there arises the mental factor of feeling, the mental factor of perception, and the mental factor of volition. The mental factor of volition carries the meaning of moving the body and producing speech, the meaning of deliberating and fabricating, and the meaning of being able to manifest bodily, verbal, and mental actions.