The Transformation of Mental Factors Associated with the Manas during the Process of Cultivation

The manas of ordinary beings almost fully possesses all the afflictive mental factors (caittas), and because of these afflictive mental factors, they transmigrate life after life through the six realms, with endless retributive suffering; it is only a matter of whether each sentient being's afflictive mental factors are all fully present, whether they can all manifest, and how heavy or light the afflictions are. Of course, the manas of ordinary beings also has wholesome mental factors; otherwise ordinary beings could not ascend to the heavens to enjoy blessings, and in the six realms of saṃsāra there would be only five realms with no heaven realm, no wholesome retribution in the human realm, and no wholesome retribution in the asura realm; even within the human realm one could not become a good person, and if one did no good deeds, there would be no wholesome fruits in the future. But the fact is that even sentient beings in the three evil realms have wholesome minds; otherwise they could not be reborn in the future as humans and devas—it is only that sentient beings' wholesome minds do not appear for the time being, or appear relatively infrequently.

Ordinary beings who possess the four dhyānas and eight samādhis have the mental factors of the seventh consciousness in accord with the meditative concentration (samādhi) mental factor; they can enter the four dhyānas and eight samādhis and can be reborn in the desire realm heavens, the form realm heavens, and the formless realm heavens; their secondary afflictions must be reduced, without mental factors such as laziness, non-diligence, forgetfulness, distraction, torpor, and restlessness. Among the five object-specific mental factors, the meditative concentration mental factor must be strengthened; a person without meditative concentration has no meditative concentration mental factor in the manas. Therefore, the mental factors of the seventh consciousness of ordinary beings are indeterminate, and each person's mental factors need not be the same.

However, for those who have cultivated meditative concentration and those who have realized the noble fruits, the common characteristic of the mental factors of the manas and the mind consciousness is that the afflictive mental factors must be lightened and reduced, while the wholesome mental factors must increase and strengthen. For bodhisattvas at the three stages of worthiness before passing the final barrier and for those of the first and second fruits, in the mental factors of the seventh consciousness, the view-of-self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) mental factor is eliminated, several of the great secondary afflictions are reduced, the lack-of-faith mental factor is eliminated, the faith mental factor increases and strengthens, the wrong-knowledge (asaṃprajanya) mental factor is eliminated, the torpor mental factor was never there to begin with, and laziness, non-diligence, restlessness, forgetfulness, and distraction are lightened or eliminated; the great secondary afflictions are lightened, and the intermediate secondary afflictions may be lightened or eliminated; at the same time, all eleven wholesome mental factors increase and strengthen; among the five object-specific mental factors, the determination (adhimokṣa), meditative concentration, and wisdom mental factors are strengthened. All of these depend on the individual; each person is not entirely the same.

For bodhisattvas who have passed the final barrier and post-bhūmi bodhisattvas (bhūmika bodhisattva), because the seventh consciousness has initially undergone transformation of consciousness into wisdom, the mental factors include the five universal factors and the five object-specific factors, and the eleven wholesome factors, but they are not fully complete and not yet at their strongest; only at the buddha stage can they be fully complete and strongest. The fundamental affliction mental factors are all extinguished, the great secondary afflictions are all eliminated, the intermediate secondary afflictions are lightened or eliminated, and the minor secondary afflictions are gradually extinguished during the stages of the fourth to seventh bhūmi bodhisattvas. The mental factors of the seventh consciousness of those of the third and fourth fruits have also changed: for those of the fourth fruit, all afflictive mental factors are extinguished; for those of the third fruit, there are still some afflictive mental factors, the wholesome mental factors increase, and the five object-specific mental factors are also strengthened, but not fully complete—broadly comparable to the mental factors of bodhisattvas who have passed the final barrier—but their minor secondary afflictions cannot be eradicated, and the habituated tendencies still remain. The mental factors of the Buddha's seventh consciousness are fully complete with the five universal factors, the five object-specific factors, and the eleven wholesome factors, with no other mental factors.