The Connotations of the Mental Factors of Affliction

Fundamental afflictions: greed, aversion, delusion, conceit, doubt, and wrong views—these six mental factors. The reason these six are called fundamental afflictions is that from these six fundamental afflictions all other afflictions can be derived. Once the fundamental afflictions are extinguished, the twenty subsequent afflictions that follow, or even more subsequent afflictions, will gradually be extinguished in their wake—just as when the root of a tree is severed, the branches, trunk, and leaves will subsequently perish and will not long endure.

The great subsequent afflictions include: lack of faith, laziness, non-diligence, torpor, restlessness, forgetfulness, non-cognizance, and distraction. When the lack-of-faith affliction mental factor is cultivated to fulfillment at the stage of faith, doubts about the Three Jewels are eliminated, doubts about the tathāgatagarbha of one's own mind are eliminated, doubts about one's own future attainment of buddhahood are eliminated, and so on. But not all lack of faith in all dharmas can be eliminated; it is only lack of faith in the basic dharmas, in dharmas of a certain level, that is eliminated. The laziness mental factor, when cultivated to the seven factors of enlightenment, is extinguished when the factor of diligence-arousal appears. When one is not diligent, laziness may still appear; only when one has cultivated to the third fruit, the fourth fruit, and the first bhūmi bodhisattva stage can the laziness mental factor be thoroughly eliminated. The non-diligence mental factor is the same: once the mind of renunciation arises, one is no longer very non-diligent; to thoroughly eliminate non-diligence requires cultivation to the third fruit or beyond.

The torpor mental factor disappears when one cultivates meditative concentration and subdues the five hindrances; after attaining the first dhyāna, the torpor mental factor will be extinguished. The restlessness mental factor is likewise: when preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) is complete, there is no more restlessness; after attaining the first dhyāna, the phenomenon of restlessness will be extinguished, but if the meditative concentration disappears, restlessness may perhaps appear again. Forgetfulness is the same; all of these are related to meditative concentration. When the power of meditative concentration is sufficient, one will not forget the object of cultivation; when the power of meditative concentration recedes, this cannot be guaranteed. Distraction is also related to the absence of meditative concentration; non-cognizance is related to the absence of wisdom—if one has not been trained in the dharmas leading to liberation, there will be non-cognizance in the mind. The mind consciousness corresponds to all of the great subsequent afflictions; the five sense consciousnesses alone do not have these affliction mental factors—they can only have them together with the mind consciousness, assisting the seventh consciousness and the mind consciousness in manifesting these afflictions. The seventh consciousness, apart from not having the torpor mental factor, has all the other affliction mental factors. The eighth consciousness does not correspond to any of the affliction mental factors.

Middle subsequent afflictions: shamelessness and lack of remorse. These are the opposite of the shame and remorse mental factors—when one does something wrong, one does not know to reflect on oneself; when one has wronged others, one does not know shame or repentance. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses correspond to shamelessness and lack of remorse; the five sense consciousnesses can only have them by relying on the mind consciousness, assisting the sixth and seventh consciousnesses in manifesting these afflictions—they cannot have them alone. The eighth consciousness does not have these two afflictions.

Minor subsequent afflictions: rage, resentment, concealment, deceit, flattery, arrogance, harmfulness, jealousy, spite, and stinginess. These are all afflictions dominated by aversion and hatred, though there is also the mind of stinginess and greed. Generally speaking, they belong to afflictive habitual tendencies, lying dormant (anuśaya) in the seventh consciousness, and are extremely difficult to eliminate. Even when the fundamental afflictions have been eliminated and one has become an arhat, these habitual tendencies are still difficult to extinguish. Only bodhisattvas on the bhūmis, through the long process of cultivating the path, can gradually eliminate and extinguish them completely. But neither arhats nor bhūmi bodhisattvas correspond to every one of the minor subsequent afflictions. The five sense consciousnesses can assist the sixth and seventh consciousnesses in manifesting these affliction mental factors; the eighth consciousness does not have these afflictive mental activities.