The Relationship Between the Cetasikas of Consciousness and the Cetasikas of the Mind Base

Question: "After the consciousness seeds give rise to the formation of the seven consciousnesses, the mental factors accompany their operation, and only then does the conscious mind possess the three natures: wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral." These mental factors belong to the mental organ (manas), right? Because the mental organ contains innate and differentiated habits, and when the first six consciousnesses are born from consciousness seeds, they should all be pure. It is only after being influenced by the mental factors of the mental organ that they acquire the three natures. Is this understanding correct?

Answer: Whichever consciousness operates, the mental factors belonging to that consciousness accompany it. Since the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna) is regulated and directed by the mental organ, once the mental consciousness begins to operate, the arising of its own mental factors is inevitably influenced and regulated by the mental factors of the mental organ. If the mental organ intends to perform a wholesome act, once its wholesome mental factors arise, they will necessarily cause the wholesome mental factors of the mental consciousness to arise in order to fulfill the mental organ's directive. The arising of unwholesome mental factors and neutral mental factors follows the same pattern.

If the mental organ intends to give (dāna), it must direct the six consciousnesses to carry out the specific operations. Thus, the arising of the six consciousnesses is to cooperate with the mental organ, specifically to execute the wholesome act of giving. Therefore, the mental factors of the mental consciousness, upon arising, are necessarily wholesome and consistent with those of the mental organ. If the mental organ intends to give, it must direct the six consciousnesses to carry out the specific operations. Thus, the arising of the six consciousnesses is to cooperate with the mental organ, specifically to execute the wholesome act of giving. Therefore, the mental factors of the mental consciousness, upon arising, are necessarily wholesome and consistent with those of the mental organ. If the mental organ does not intend to give, then concerning the wholesome act of giving, the mental consciousness and its mental factors do not arise and operate. This means that whenever the mental factors of the conscious mind operate, the three natures manifest. Therefore, to purify the conscious mind, one only needs to purify the mental factors at the root, which are those of the mental organ, and the rest of the conscious mind will follow suit and become purified.

If the mental organ intends to kill or commit arson, it will cause the six consciousnesses to arise to accomplish this unwholesome deed, because the specific operations of killing and arson require the six consciousnesses to be carried out; the mental organ itself cannot perform them. Therefore, once the six consciousnesses arise, their mental factors are necessarily unwholesome and consistent with those of the mental organ. Thus, the mental organ must possess all wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral mental factors in order to enable the six consciousnesses to possess all mental factors necessary for operating bodily, verbal, and mental actions. It is not as some say that the mental organ possesses only a portion of mental factors. If the mental organ lacked a complete set of mental factors, it would be unable to take charge and create many actions. If the mental organ does not take charge, how could the six consciousnesses operate?

Initially, the mental factors of the mental consciousness are consistent with those of the mental organ. However, after contemplation, if the mental consciousness deems the action incorrect, it can change its mental factors and then persuade and perfumate (vāsanā) the mental organ. There are times when the mental consciousness acts contrary to the mental organ. For example, the mental organ may intend to do something bad, but the mental consciousness hesitates and does not carry it out. After changing its mind, it can also change the mental organ's intention. This is the perfuming function of the mental consciousness. Changing the mental organ is always achieved through the perfuming by the mental consciousness. When experiencing an event, the mental consciousness contemplates the advantages and disadvantages, enabling the mental organ to understand them. Consequently, in future actions, the mental organ will make choices. However, the speed of this perfuming by the mental consciousness varies, depending on the mental consciousness's wisdom and skillfulness.