The Mental Factors Associated with the Eight Consciousnesses

The meaning of mental factors (caittas) is the dharmas that the conscious mind possesses; they are the traces of the mind's activity during the operation of the conscious mind, assisting the operation of the eight consciousnesses. The Bodhisattva Vasubandhu summarized and categorized the mental factors of the eight consciousnesses as at most fifty-one in total, but there are still subtler mental factors that have not been categorized, such as emotional mental factors like fright, fear, joy, and happiness. These mental factors do not belong to the wholesome or the unwholesome, and in essence do not affect cultivation and realization. Each consciousness has its own mental factors, which are not all the same, and each sentient being also has different mental factors at different stages of cultivation; they are determined by the mind and change according to the mind. Therefore, it is difficult to say exactly how many mental factors each consciousness has in a fixed manner, and it is also difficult to say exactly which mental factors each sentient being has; each case must be analyzed and treated according to its specific circumstances, and one cannot generalize.

Overall, the mental factors of the eight consciousnesses include: the five universal factors—contact (sparśa), attention (manaskāra), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā); the five object-specific factors—desire (chanda), determination (adhimokṣa), mindfulness (smṛti), meditative concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (prajñā); the eleven wholesome factors—faith (śraddhā), shame (hrī), embarrassment (apatrāpya), non-greed (alobha), non-hatred (adveṣa), non-delusion (amoha), diligence (vīrya), tranquility (praśrabdhi), non-negligence (apramāda), equanimity (upekṣā), and non-harm (ahiṃsā); the six root afflictions—greed (rāga), hatred (dveṣa), delusion (moha), pride (māna), doubt (vicikitsā), and wrong view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi); the ten minor derivative afflictions—anger (krodha), resentment (upanāha), vexation (pradāśa), concealment (mrakṣa), deceit (māyā), flattery (śāṭhya), arrogance (mada), harmfulness (vihiṃsā), envy (īrṣyā), and stinginess (mātsarya); the two mid-level derivative afflictions—shamelessness (āhrīkya) and lack of embarrassment (anapatrāpya); the eight major derivative afflictions—lack of faith (āśraddhya), laziness (kausīdya), negligence (pramāda), torpor (styāna), restlessness (auddhatya), forgetfulness (muṣitasmṛtitā), non-cognizance (asaṃprajanya), and distraction (vikṣepa); and the indeterminate mental factors—remorse (kaukṛtya), sleep (middha), initial application (vitarka), and sustained examination (vicāra).

Among these, the eleven wholesome mental factors stand in opposition to six of the derivative afflictions: when the conscious mind has wholesome mental factors, it does not have the major derivative affliction mental factors; when it has the major derivative affliction mental factors, it does not have the eleven wholesome mental factors. A single consciousness cannot simultaneously possess both wholesome and unwholesome mental factors—it is either wholesome or unwholesome, not both at the same time. For example, if a consciousness has the mental factor of faith, it cannot have the mental factor of lack of faith; if it has the mental factors of shame and embarrassment, it cannot have the mental factors of shamelessness and lack of embarrassment; if it has the mental factor of non-greed, it cannot have the mental factor of greed; if it has the mental factor of non-hatred, it cannot have the mental factor of hatred; if it has the mental factor of non-delusion, it cannot have the mental factor of delusion; if it has the mental factor of diligence, it cannot have the mental factor of laziness; if it has the mental factor of tranquility, it cannot have the mental factor of torpor; if it has the mental factor of non-negligence, it cannot have the mental factor of negligence; if it has the mental factor of equanimity, it cannot have the mental factors of anger, resentment, and vexation; and if it has the mental factor of non-harm, it cannot have the mental factor of harmfulness.