Omnipresent Mental Factors

• There are 5 omnipresent mental factors: feeling, discrimination, intention, contact, attention
• These 5 mental factors accompany all minds

Feeling

It has the characteristic of experience; through the entity of experience, it experiences individually the fruitional results of virtuous and non-virtuous actions.

Types:

1. Pleasant feelings
   • Pleasant feeling is that which, when it ceases, you wish to meet with again.
2. Suffering feelings
   • Suffering is that which, when it arises, you wish to be separated from.
3. Neutral feelings
   • That which is neither pleasant nor suffering is that which, when it arises, neither of the two wishes occurs.

All feelings are a fruitional result of karma

Suffering feelings cannot arise from virtuous karma, and vice versa.

Discrimination

A knower that, upon the aggregation of the three – object, sense power, and primary consciousness – apprehends the uncommon sign of an object.

It has the entity of apprehending the sign and apprehending the mark, through which one designates an expression to objects of perceptions, hearing, differentiation and knowledge

Types:

1. Apprehension of a sign (uncommon sign of an object which appears to non-conceptual consciousness)
2. Apprehension of a mark (uncommon sign of an object which appears to conceptual thought)

Importance of Accurate Discrimination

• Discrimination must be checked for accuracy to ensure it reflects the true nature of objects, as mistaken discrimination can lead to incorrect perceptions.
• Each primary consciousness (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body) is accompanied by discrimination, requiring scrutiny to determine if perceptions align with reality.
• Unchecked or mistaken discrimination can lead to afflictive emotions such as attachment, anger, jealousy, and pride.

The Four Reliances for Validating Teachings

• Rely on the Teaching, Not the Person: Focus on the validity of what is said rather than the speaker’s reputation or qualities.
• Rely on the Meaning, Not the Words: Prioritize the intended meaning over the aesthetic or pleasantness of the words used.
• Rely on Definitive Meaning, Not Provisional: Distinguish between provisional meanings (e.g., teaching the self exists for certain audiences) and definitive meanings (e.g., the self does not exist inherently, as per the Middle Way School).
• Rely on Unmistaken Exalted Wisdom, Not Mistaken Consciousness: Validate teachings using three types of valid cognition (direct perception, inference by the power of fact, inference of belief/conviction) rather than guessing.

Valid Cognition and Investigation

• Direct Perception: Validates by direct sensory experience (e.g., observing a crow has no teeth contradicts claims otherwise).
• Inference by the Power of Fact: Uses logical reasoning to establish truths, such as sound being impermanent because it arises from causes and conditions.
• Inference of Belief/Conviction: For obscure phenomena (e.g., hell realms), relies on establishing the teacher (e.g., Buddha) as a valid source through reasoning, leading to a reasoned belief in their teachings.
• Extremely hidden phenomena, like rebirth or hell realms, cannot be fully validated by reasoning alone but can be supported by logical consequences and scriptural authority from a valid source.

Intention

A mental factor which rouses and moves the mind that is concomitant with it to an object.

It has the function of engaging the mind in virtue, non-virtue, or the unspecified.

• engages objects due to the power of this mental factor
• this mental factor of intention is mental action

Types of action:

• actions that are intentions
• intended actions
  • physical intended actions
  • verbal intended actions

Another division of actions:

• virtuous
• non-virtuous
• unspecified

Another division of actions:

• meritorious
• non-meritorious
• immovable

Contact

A knower that, upon aggregation of the three – object, sense power and primary consciousness – distinguishes an object in accordance with whatever subsequent feeling, pleasant and so on, that is to be experienced.

It has the function of acting as a support for feeling.

"Aggregation of the three":

• object
• sense power
• primary consciousness

Attention

A knower that focuses the mind which is concomitant with it on a particular object of observation.

It has the function of holding the mind to the object of observation.

Intention vs Attention:

• intention moves the mind to objects generally
• attention directs the mind to a particular object

Summary

Therefore, in order for the utilization of an object to be complete, all five omnipresent mental factors must be present without exception.

• If any are missing the mind cannot utilise its object

If absent:	Consequence of being absent:
Feeling	No experience of the object
Discrimination	No apprehension of the uncommon signs of the object
Contact	No support for feeling
Intention	Mind is not directed to an object
Attention	Mind is not focused on a particular object of observation