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Primary Minds and Mental Factors

From the point of view of its function, the mind can be divided into primary minds and mental factors. Primary mind, mentality and consciousness are synonyms. The definition of primary mind is a cognizer that principally apprehends the mere entity of an object. The definition of mental factor is a cognizer that principally apprehends a particular attribute of an object. These definitions were given by Maitreya.

In the case of a pot for example, the pot itself is the mere entity of the pot, and the base, sides, shape, colour, size and so forth are particular attributes of the pot. Because a distinction exists within the object, there is a corresponding distinction on the part of the mind that cognizes that object. Thus, the function of a primary mind is to apprehend the mere entity of the object, while the function of mental factors is to apprehend particular attributes of the object. As each object has only one general entity but many particular attri­butes, any one object has only one primary mind but many mental factors observing it. Thus, when an eye awareness perceives a pot, for example, the primary mind principally apprehends the general entity of the pot – the pot itself – and the mental factors associated with that primary mind principally apprehend the particular attributes of the pot – its various parts.

There are six types of primary mind: eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness and mental consciousness. The Chittamatrins posit two more primary minds: a consciousness-basis-of-all and a deluded mentality. According to them the consciousness-basis-of-all is a stable consciousness that does not cease at death but maintains the continuity of the person from one life to the next. It is the repository of karmic potentials and the source of all other consciousnesses. The deluded mentality observes the consciousness-basis-of-all and mistakenly apprehends it as a self-supporting, substantially existent self. The Madhyamika-Prasangikas conclusively refute both the consciousness-basis-of-all and the deluded mentality. There are only six types of primary mind because there are only six types of object – forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile objects and phenomena. Here, ‘phenomena’ means phenomena that appear only to mental awareness.

The quality of a primary mind depends upon the mental factors that accompany it. If the mental factors are virtuous the primary mind is virtuous, but if the mental factors are non-virtuous or neutral the primary mind is non-virtuous or neutral. Non-virtuous mental factors cause suffering and virtuous mental factors cause peace and happiness. Thus, if we wish to experience lasting peace of mind we must make a determined effort to eliminate non-virtuous mental factors and cultivate virtuous ones.

Each primary mind is accompanied by at least five mental factors, without which it would be unable to function. These are feeling, discrimination, intention, contact and attention. They are known as the ‘five all-accompanying mental factors’. Just as a car cannot function if any of its wheels is missing, so a primary mind cannot function if any of these five mental factors is absent. For example, all physical objects are composed of eight substances – the four elements (earth, water, fire and wind) and the four transformed elements (forms, smells, tastes and tactile objects) – and just as even the simplest physical object must have all eight substances, so even the most basic primary mind must have all five all-accompanying mental factors. Even very subtle primary minds have these five mental factors.

We should not think of a primary mind and its mental factors as being separate entities, like a leader and his subjects, because each mental factor is a part of a primary mind. However, although a mental factor is a part of a primary mind, it is not a primary mind, just as a hand is a part of the body but not the body.

The Tibetan word for mental factor is ‘sem jung’, which literally means ‘arisen from mind’. Thus, a primary mind can be likened to a candle flame and its mental factors to the rays of that flame. Just as a candle flame has many rays of light, so one primary mind has many mental factors; just as the rays of light come from the flame and exist simultaneously with it, so mental factors come from the primary mind and exist simultaneously with it; and just as the flame illuminates objects by depending upon the rays of light that emanate from it, so a primary mind knows its object by depending upon its mental factors.

A primary mind and its mental factors are the same entity and possess five similarities:

1 Basis – they have the same dominant condition

2 Object – their observed object is the same

3 Aspect – their engaged object is the same

4 Time – they arise, abide and cease simultaneously

5 Substance – one primary mind has only one of each type of mental factor

The meaning of dominant condition, observed object and engaged object are explained in Part Two.

For example, when a tongue awareness tastes tea, both the primary mind and the mental factor feeling associated with it develop from the same uncommon dominant condition, the tongue sense power, and so their basis is the same. Their observed objects are the same because they both focus on the same object – the taste of the tea; their engaged objects are the same because they both apprehend the taste of the tea; and their time, or duration, is the same because they both arise, abide and cease simultaneously. They possess the fifth similarity, similarity of substance, because one primary mind can have only one mental factor feeling, one mental factor discrimination, one mental factor intention, and so forth. Similarly, one specific mental factor can be associated with only one primary mind. Sometimes we say that we have mixed feelings about something, and it may seem that in this case one primary mind has several feelings observing the same object, but this is impossible. Ordinary beings cannot have two different manifest minds observing one object at the same time. What actually happens is that we have several primary minds, each with only one feeling. For example, if we have ‘mixed feelings’ about a house it can either be that at one time we like the house and at another time we dislike it, or that we simultaneously have two different minds relating to the house, each focusing on a different aspect of the house.

There are fifty-one mental factors, which are divided into six groups:

1 The five all-accompanying mental factors

2 The five object-ascertaining mental factors

3 The eleven virtuous mental factors

4 The six root delusions

5 The twenty secondary delusions

6 The four changeable mental factors

Each mental factor will now be explained under three headings: definition, function and divisions. The first identifies the mental factor, the second shows the results of generating it, and the third deepens our understanding of it. Some of the fifty-one mental factors are quite similar, and so we need to study them carefully and discuss them with others until we have a clear understanding of each one. Although we develop these mental factors within our own mind, we still need to try to identify them precisely so that we know which ones to abandon and which ones to cultivate. Abandoning non-virtuous mental factors and cultivating virtuous ones is the essence of Dharma practice. Deluded mental factors are the cause of all negative actions and the source of all suffering and danger. By identifying them and eradicating them we solve all our problems. When I studied this subject in Tibet I was very young and, although I understood the subject intellectually, I did not fully appreciate how useful it is for training the mind. Now I understand this very clearly.