How to Understand the Mind - Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

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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.

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      The five all-accompanying mental factors are so called because they accompany every primary mind. If just one of them were missing, the primary mind would not be able to cognize its object. The five all-accompanying mental factors are:

      1 Feeling

      2 Discrimination

      3 Intention

      4 Contact

      5 Attention

      Feeling experiences an object as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral; discrimination functions to distinguish an object from other objects and thereby to identify it; intention enables the mind to move towards its object and become involved with it; contact perceives an object as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral and thereby serves as the basis for the development of feelings; and attention functions to focus the mind on a particular attribute of an object.

      The need for all five of these mental factors to be present can be illustrated by considering a tongue consciousness tasting tea. Without the mental factor feeling, the tongue consciousness would not experience the taste of the tea as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Without discrimination, it would not be able to distinguish the taste of the tea from other objects and so would not be able to recognize it. Without intention, an internal tongue consciousness could not become involved with the taste of the tea, which is an external object. Without contact, it could not perceive the taste of the tea as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral and so there would be no basis for developing pleasant, unpleasant or neutral feelings. Without attention, it would not be able to focus on the taste of the tea.

      FEELING

      DEFINITION OF FEELING

      The definition of feeling is a mental factor that functions to experience pleasant, unpleasant or neutral objects.

      Because there are three types of object – pleasant, unpleasant and neutral – there are three types of feeling that experience these objects – pleasant feelings, unpleasant feelings and neutral feelings. It is impossible to cognize an object without experiencing it as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.

      Buddhas have only pleasant feelings; the gods of the form realm and the formless realm have pleasant and neutral feelings but do not have unpleasant feelings; and beings living in the desire realm experience all three types of feeling. During sleep most of our feelings are neutral feelings, but when we are dreaming we may also experience unpleasant and pleasant feelings.

      FUNCTION OF FEELING

      The general function of feeling is to experience the effects of previous actions, or karma. In the Sutras, Buddha says:

      The fully ripened effects of actions ripen not on soil or stones, but only on consciousness.

      This is because only consciousness has feelings, and only with feelings can we experience the ripened effects of actions. Virtuous actions result in pleasant feelings, non-virtuous actions in unpleasant feelings, and neutral actions in neutral feelings. We tend to think that pleasantness and unpleasantness are characteristics that exist from the side of the object, but in reality whether we experience an object as pleasant or unpleasant depends entirely upon our karma. Two people might eat the same food and one find it delicious while the other thinks it is revolting. If this happens it is because the first person has good karma ripening with respect to that food and the other has bad karma ripening.

      More specifically, the function of contaminated feelings is to act as the basis for the three poisons – attachment, hatred and ignorance. Contaminated pleasant feelings induce attachment, contaminated unpleasant feelings induce hatred, and contaminated neutral feelings induce ignorance. In Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life Shantideva says:

      Because of feeling, craving develops.

      When ordinary beings develop pleasant feelings they develop craving, or attachment. Similarly, their unpleasant feelings induce anger, and their neutral feelings induce ignorance. By closely watching our mind we can observe these automatic reactions occurring almost continuously. Contaminated feelings are like moisture germinating the seeds of delusion that we have carried from previous lives. Foe Destroyers have eradicated the seeds of delusion from their mental continuum and so even when they develop intensely pleasant feelings they do not develop desirous attachment. Being free from self-grasping, their feelings are uncontaminated and so they cannot be the cause of delusions.

      All contaminated feelings are objects to be abandoned. It is easy to generate a wish to abandon unpleasant feelings, but to generate a wish to abandon contaminated pleasant and neutral feelings we need a very good understanding of the nature of samsara. Both contaminated feelings and contaminated discriminations are key links in the chain that binds us to samsara. Contaminated discriminations identify objects as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral; and contaminated feelings experience them in these ways. Contaminated feelings then give rise to the three poisons, which in turn lead us to perform contaminated actions, the principal causes of rebirth in samsara.

      The function of a person – to perform actions and experience their results – is completely dependent upon feeling and discrimination. If a person lacked discriminations he or she would not be able to perform any actions, and without feelings he or she would not be able to experience the results of any actions. Feelings and discriminations are so important that when Buddha explained the five aggregates he selected them from among the fifty-one mental factors and designated them each as a separate aggregate.

      DIVISIONS

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