The Mental Factors (caittas) of the First Five Consciousnesses

The mental factors of the first five consciousnesses: first, there are the five universal mental factors, which begin operating together as soon as a sense consciousness arises. The five consciousnesses also have the five object-specific mental factors. Among them, the mental factor of desire is the longing, pursuit, and grasping toward the five sense-objects; in most cases it is mobilized and directed by the manas, and it also manifests under the influence of the mind consciousness's mental factor of desire. In a minority of cases it manifests due to being attracted by the five sense-object realms. For example, when the eye consciousness sees a soft light and wishes to contact and discern it more, this is the mental factor of desire.

Not wanting to leave this light belongs to the mental factor of greed; being averse to and avoiding this light can barely be counted as the mental factor of aversion—in fact, the five consciousnesses have no mental factor of aversion; it is regulated into being by the manas. For instance, glaring at someone with the eyes is aversion, and this is the act of the body consciousness, manifesting the manas's aversion toward that person, which may also include the mind consciousness's aversion. If one knows in the mind that this person is hateful and feels aversion, that is the mind consciousness's aversion. Disliking someone without cause, without clear reason, or being unable to be talked out of it, or aversion arising upon encountering a situation before there is time to think—that is the manas's aversion.

The five consciousnesses' mental factor of determination is clarity regarding sense-objects—not being muddled, knowing exactly what one is discerning, without illusion. The mental factor of mindfulness is that after the five consciousnesses discern a sense-object, they retain a certain memory of it. If the mind can hold the object in mind and wish to engage it, this is mostly caused by the manas's mindfulness, or arises from the manas's desire; it is the result of the manas's direction, and is sometimes also influenced by the mind consciousness. The five consciousnesses' own mindfulness is not clear and distinct, lacking an evident nature of mindfulness. The five consciousnesses' mental factor of meditative concentration is a relatively focused discernment of sense-objects. This focused discernment is mainly brought about by the manas, facilitated by the manas, and is sometimes influenced by the mind consciousness; the five consciousnesses themselves have no active thought or behavior of concentration. The five consciousnesses' mental factor of wisdom can accurately judge and discern the five sense-object realms, discerning without confusion.

Because the five consciousnesses can only face the coarse five sense-objects and cannot discern mental sense-objects, their wisdom is very weak; they have little mentation and little capacity for thought and discrimination, and therefore they do not have many wholesome or unwholesome mental factors. Wholesome and unwholesome mental factors operate mainly upon mental sense-objects. Thoughts and views belong to mental sense-objects; only the sixth and seventh consciousnesses correspond to mental sense-objects, and thus have so many wholesome and unwholesome thoughts and views, and have wholesome and unwholesome mental factors—the five consciousnesses do not. The five consciousnesses slightly have the root afflictions of greed, aversion, delusion, and doubt. A minority of greed arises actively from the five consciousnesses themselves; most is directed by the manas. Aversion is almost entirely brought about by the manas. Delusion is mostly directed by the manas, with a minority belonging to the five consciousnesses' own weak discernment.

The five consciousnesses' doubt can only doubt the accuracy and reality of the five sense-objects they themselves discern; they will not doubt other dharmas, lacking the broad doubt of the mind consciousness and manas toward all dharmas, because the five consciousnesses have weak mental power and no capacity for deliberation. The five consciousnesses' wisdom is extremely inferior and they have no capacity for deliberation; therefore, on their own they have little mentation, few afflictions, and little wholesomeness. The vast majority of the time, they have wholesome and unwholesome mental factors only by relying on the manas and mind consciousness; only when driven by the manas and influenced by the mind consciousness can they have wholesome and unwholesome mental factors, and they are mostly neutral in themselves.

Among the five consciousnesses' great derivative afflictions, those brought about by the manas include non-faith, laziness, non-diligence, forgetfulness, non-introspection, distraction, and torpor; there is no restlessness, nor the middle derivative afflictions of shamelessness and lack of remorse, nor any minor derivative afflictions—and of course, neither are there the wholesome mental factors opposite to them, because the five consciousnesses are rather coarse and lack even slightly finer capacity for deliberation. In ordinary non-Buddhists who possess the four dhyānas and eight concentrations, the five consciousnesses' great derivative affliction mental factors are lightened and reduced; root afflictions can only be lightened, not eliminated. Each person's mental factors of the five consciousnesses need not be the same, because the manas differs greatly among individuals, and thus the mental factors of the five consciousnesses that are induced also differ.

The five consciousnesses have the mental factor of sleep and are temporarily extinguished during sleep. The five consciousnesses also have the mental factors of initial application (vitarka) and sustained examination (vicāra). Initial application is the eye consciousness's coarse searching everywhere; of course, the searching behavior is regulated by the manas, and the direction of searching is also designated by the manas. Wherever the manas points, the five consciousnesses must turn toward it, without any autonomy whatsoever. The mind consciousness has a slight degree of autonomy, but the five consciousnesses have none at all. That is why it is said that the five consciousnesses' mental factors mostly exist by relying on the manas and turn in accordance with the manas; from the operation of the five consciousnesses, one can come to know the mental activities of the manas. The five consciousnesses' sustained examination is, after the initial application has found the general location of the five sense-objects, calmly waiting for the sense-objects to appear, or carefully discerning their features. The five consciousnesses have no mental factor of remorse, because they have little capacity for deliberation and cannot discern mental sense-objects, and therefore cannot feel remorse.

As for the five consciousnesses' wholesome mental factors, generally speaking, they can exist only by relying on the manas, including faith, non-greed, non-aversion, non-delusion, diligence, non-diligence's opposite of vigilance, equanimity of conduct, and non-harmfulness. When the manas is unwholesome, the five consciousnesses cannot be wholesome either; the five consciousnesses cannot have their own wholesome mental factors independently, because the object of wholesomeness is the mental sense-objects, and the five consciousnesses cannot contact mental sense-objects and cannot have the deliberative capacity of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, and thus cannot have wholesome or unwholesome mental activities. Wholesome and unwholesome minds can only be possessed by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. After the five consciousnesses undergo transformation of consciousness into wisdom at the Buddha stage, they may become fully endowed with wholesome mental factors, but this cannot yet be observed at present.

Before attaining buddhahood, the mental factors of the five consciousnesses are generally without much change, except for those directed by the manas: when the manas is unwholesome, the five consciousnesses become unwholesome accordingly; when the manas is wholesome, the five consciousnesses become wholesome accordingly, and in between they are also influenced by the mental activities of the mind consciousness. The mental factors that the five consciousnesses correspond to on their own are only the five universal factors, the five object-specific factors, and among the indeterminate factors, sleep, initial application, and sustained examination—thirteen mental factors in total. Adding the wholesome and unwholesome mental factors that can manifest only by relying on the manas, there are thirty-two in total. This still awaits further careful observation and is not a final conclusion. However, when the sixth and seventh consciousnesses attain buddhahood, they undergo three transformations of consciousness into wisdom, with their mental factors transformed three times, whereas the five consciousnesses' transformation of consciousness into wisdom occurs only once, at the time of attaining buddhahood, with their mental factors transformed only at buddhahood. This shows that the five consciousnesses, on their own, do not have so many wholesome and unwholesome mental factors—all of them can manifest only by relying on the manas.