SESSION 9.
Six Main Minds and
Fifty One Secondary Minds.
SIX MAIN MINDS AND FIFTY ONE SECONDARY MINDS.
Hello and ‘tashi delek’. Today’s topic is on ‘main minds’ and ‘mental factors’. So this probably is something that you might not have heard before. This is an interesting one, because this way we can be a bit more precise on how our mind works, at the same time, this can be helpful, because by understanding those minds in the way that mind objects the phenomena in a detail, it can also help us, for example, especially those negative emotions like anger; by understanding the mental factors and the difference between the mind and mental factor can be really the very huge vital changing factor. Even understanding those emotions, this can be totally new, I think in our group, I’ve seen a diagram or a sort of a picture of these 51 mental factors before, so maybe if you have that picture, it would be a bit easier for you to follow up later on. But for now, I’ll try to just mention or try to go through roughly these 51 mental factors, then the next class we can go a bit more detail.
Especially in the text composed by Vasubandhu, a Great Nalanda Scholar of around 3rd century, if I’m not mistaken, he composed a text called ‘Treasure’, this text classified the mental factors into 51, so I’m gonna go based on his classification in general […], because it’s kind of hard to know the exact number and also because it can be countless mental factors and also the mental factors are very subtle, it’s something that only highly realized, maybe let’s say Buddha can clearly know it, it is out of the object of our mind when we go through it.
So basically the mind and mental factors are another way of classification, this is another way to classify the mind. Some minds are main mind, some minds are mental factors. You can think that’s another way to divide, let’s say, minds. ‘Main minds’ and the ‘mental factors’ are a way or a division of the consciousness or mind. So basically another way to classify mind is by classifying into ‘main minds’ and ‘mental factors’, that’s what I would say.
The main minds.
So the main mind is basically, let’s say without giving an example, I would say it’s is a ‘main knower’ that apprehends the entity of the object, the whole entity of the object. So main mind is been known or is been posed by the way it apprehends the entity, the whole entity of the object, so that is pretty much the main mind.
The secondary minds.
The secondary mind, similarly the logic goes there, secondary mind again is a knower that apprehend a specific feature of the object, not the whole entity of the object, but a specific feature of the object. And the secondary mind is something that companies with one of the main mind or it is similar to its own main mind that it is been companied with. And it should be like the similarity in five ways, so there’s pretty much the secondary minds. So in simple word, I would say the mind, which is being posited by apprehending the entity of the object is a main mind, and the features of the object is the secondary mind.
Let’s go in a bit detail, so that it may make a bit of sense. For example, those minds like compassion, love, anger, doubt, a dream like a feeling, ignorance, basically these emotions that we know, so these emotions
are just mental factors, these are mental factors. So with all these mental factors, there is a mind which objects the entity of the object, for example, when our eye consciousness look at the car, let’s say when you think of a car, I mean you saw a car this afternoon or maybe yesterday, and now you are thinking of the car, when you’re thinking of the car, the main mind objects the car, it just objects the entity of the car, just the car. So there is the feeling that activate that is been produced at the same time when you think of a car.
If you like the car, then there is a nice feeling that you have, even if when you remember the car there is a nice feeling, a pleasant feeling just by thinking of the car. So there is a feeling, there is a mental factor, there is been accompanied by the main mind. So when the main mind thinks of a car, the mental factor, for example, the mental factor, which is a feeling feels a pleasure. Now you’re kind of feel something nice. If the car belongs to you, then it’s not just the pleasure feeling, but there is also an attachment, that is again a ‘mental factor’. Your ‘main mind’ is just apprehending the car, if the car doesn’t belong to you, and if you really like the car, if you wish to have that car, then maybe there is an attachment that those are like mental factors. Then if you’re not sure about the car, what the car is, this and that, then there might be a doubt or maybe confusion based something based on the car, then again, there is a doubt.
The main mind is objecting the car, mental factors are more like assisting, so the main mind is like a boss, the mental factors are sort of an assistant that always accompanies the main mind. Actually the main mind and the mental factor are one entity you cannot just separate, but because of the different functions, it is been separated. It’s like a similar in five different aspects, so the main mind is not a mental factor, mental factor is not a main mind, but still the main mind and the mental factors are similar in five ways, five aspects.
If you really like a car then when the eye consciousness look at the car, it’s a mental factor that contacts the car. There is again a part of eye consciousness, there is a sort of existing part which is the eye consciousness that contacts, there is the existing eye consciousness which has an intention. There is an assisting factor in the eye consciousness which has ability to discriminate whether this is car, this is that or not. There is again a mental factor which feels something nice or something unpleasant, if you like a car, maybe a nice feeling, if you don’t like a car, it may not be a nice feeling.
All these things comes at the same time you look at a car, so those mental factors, it is the same eye consciousness. But along with the main eye consciousness which objects the entity of the subject, let’s say, of the car, there are many aspects of the eye consciousness which we called mental factors, so those mental factors roughly it is classified into 6 or it is being classified into 51.
So the main minds you can classify into six main minds and 51 mental factors. This way I think it’s easier, the six main minds are easy, main mind which is eye consciousness, main mind which is ear consciousness, nose, tongue and physical consciousness. So for the five senses, there are five main minds which are the five senses, and beside that, the main mind which is mental consciousness. So there is 6 types of main minds.
The division of the secondary minds or mental factors
So the mental factors, there are 51 mental factors. The 51 mental factors are:
- ‘five omnipresents factors’, and then
- ‘five determining factors’,
- ‘eleven virtue factors’ or you can say eleven virtues,
- ‘six main afflictive factors’, these are afflictive emotions like afflictive, you can call it factors or some books just say that’s six main afflictions, and then comes
- ‘twenty secondary afflictions’, then
- ‘four changeable factors’.
There are 51. So if you remember from sort of an outline that is remember:
The five omnipresent factors
The ‘five omnipresent’, the reason why these are called ‘omnipresent’, because these five present with all the main minds. So as long as there is a main mind, these five should be there, accompanying the main mind. This is why these are called omnipresent like it’s is always present with all the main minds. OK, the five is easy.
The five determing factors
The second five is the one which realizes the object is more like determining. It’s more like this second five, ‘the five determining factors’ are the those five factors which realizes object. Two,
The eleven virtue factors and six main afflictions
The third one is ‘eleven virtue factors’ and six main afflictions, so it’s like six consciousness pretty much same six. There are lots of ‘six things’, ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’, you have 6 syllables, six types of beings, six types of Paramita, so too many six, number six in Buddhism, also emotions are six, let’s say, main afflictions are of six again, the six are the main ones.
The twenty secondary afflictions
There is a secondary one, 20 secondary afflictions and those are also emotions, I will go through that in the next class.
The four changeable factors
The last four are the changeable. Changeable means it changes, like regret is one of that, dream is one of that, Now dream everybody might be interested in. Dream it is called changeable factors because it changes, what its changes into positive, sometimes it is negative, sometimes is neutral. The regret the same, the regret is very easy, suppose you did something positive in the morning, then later in the evening you get regret, so the regret is a mental factor. But regret is a changeable because if you regret of doing something positive, then that regret is negative, if you regret of doing something negative, you did something wrong this morning, then now you have this regret, so that regret is positive. Regretting of positive becomes negative, regretting of negative becomes positive.
You did something wrong and then later you regret, so that regret is positive. Then you did something very neutral, you remove the cotton this morning and then now you regret for some reason that is totally neutral, it’s not positive, nor is negative, because what you did earlier, the reason why you regret is a neutral, so there’s a regret that’s changeable. This is why there are four changeable factors.
The similarity between the main minds and the secondary minds.
Now if you remember: 5 omnipresent factors, 5 determining factors, 11 Virtues, 6 root afflictions, 20 secondary afflictions and four changeable factors. So first before going to the ‘five omnipresent factors’, when I mention that the main minds and the mental factors are similar and in five aspects, if I may share what are those five similar factors, then the main minds and the mental factors are:
- similar with the basis, similar in terms of basis,
- similar in terms of object of observation,
- similar in terms of aspect,
- similar in terms of time and
- similar with the substance.
Similarity in terms of basis
The first one is a similar with the basis, it means that if the main mind relies on the eye power, then the secondary mind or the mental factor also should be relying on the eye power. It is not possible that the main mind is eye consciousness, but the secondary mind is ear consciousness, it is not possible. So if the main mind is eye consciousness, secondary mind also should be eye consciousness. If the main mind is a tongue consciousness, secondary mind should be the tongue consciousness. So these two should go along together, there is no way that the one is eye consciousness and then the other one is the ear consciousness, it should be the same, because these should be relying on the same basis.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, the eye consciousness, one of the four conditions of the eye consciousness is the eye power. The reason why eye consciousness is eye consciousness because it is being produced by its uncommon condition which is the eye power, because the eye power induces, so that’s why we call it eye consciousness. The ear power induces or produces ear consciousness. So exactly the same way, all the sense consciousness which is being produced by the eye power are called eye consciousness. So the condition of the eye consciousness is the eye power, so some of the eye consciousness are the main minds, some of the eye consciousness are the mental factors, as long as it is eye consciousness, it should have the same basis which is the eye power.
Now again something to remember. The eye power, first the object appears to the eye power, let’s say, if the car appears to the eye power then eye consciousness should see the car. It’s not like elephant appears to the eye power and then you are seeing the cow, that doesn’t happen. Whatever your eye consciousness see should appear to the eye power first, because when it appears to the eye power, it helps the eye consciousness to see it.
So in short, not all the eye consciousness are main minds, not all the eye consciousness are the secondary minds. Some of the eye consciousness are the main minds, some of the eye consciousness are secondary minds, but all these eye consciousness rely on the same basis. So the eye consciousness which is the main mind and the eye consciousness which is a mental factor should rely on the same basis. So similarity in the basis which is the first one,
Similarity in terms of object of observation.
Now the second one is similarity in the object of observation. The object of the observation is, let’s say, if you’re looking at the car, if you’re looking at the color of the car and you think that is a black, your eyes see the color of the car as a black, so the color of the car is the object of observation. The color of the car is object of observation and the car is the aspect. If the main mind have the object of observation as a black, as the color of the car, then the secondary mind or mental factor also should have the same thing. The secondary mind always comes with the main mind, so the main mind and secondary mind should perceive the same thing, should have the same object of observation, should have the same expect.
Similarity in terms of aspect.
If the main mind which is the eye consciousness is looking at the color of the car, the secondary mind should also look at the color of the car. If the main mind thinks that “Oh, this is a black”, then the secondary mind also should think that this is a black. If the main mind sees that the color of the car is a black, then the secondary mind also should see the color of the car as a black. So the color of the car is the object of observation and the black is that aspect.
The object of observation and the aspect, let us know from another example which would be much easier, for example, if a person thinks that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is Buddha, let’s say. If a person thinks that Dalai Lama is Buddha, the Dalai Lama is the object of observation, Buddha is aspect. If you think that the Corona is dangerous, then the Corona is the object of observation, the dangerous is the aspect of it. If you think that the diamond is precious, then diamond becomes object of observation, precious becomes aspect. So the main mind and the secondary mind should be similar in object of observation, both has the similar object of observation, both are of the same aspect, both share the same aspect and would share the same object observation.
So this is the third one, the first similarity is in the basis, with the basis same, because both rely on the same power where there is an eye power or an ear power, or a nose power, tongue, physical, or a mental power. Same object of observation because whatever the main mind is looking at, the secondary mind is also looking towards the object of observation. Same aspect, if the main mind thinks that there’s a black, then secondary mind also thinks that there’s a black.
Similarity in terms of time.
The fourth one is time, so the similarity in the time. So if the main mind comes to exist, the moment the main mind comes to exist, the moment the main mind has been produced, the secondary mind also should be produced at the same time, so it’s not like the main mind activates now and the secondary mind actives after few minutes, it isn’t happens, it should activate at the same time.
Similarity with the substance.
So the fifth one is substantially is similarity in terms of substance. If something is one entity with the main mind, that also should be one entity with that secondary mind. So both of the main mind and the secondary mind are produced, qualified by one type of substantial entity. Or in simple word, it says like the main mind and the secondary mind are actually the same entity unseparable. These two are the same entity, but because of the different feature, it’s been known differently.
Suppose if you are a friend, you are a son or a daughter, you are perhaps a mother, you are perhaps a colleague, but this is just one person, the same person can be a friend, the same person is a friend of someone, a daughter of someone, a mother of someone, a colleague of someone, it is the same thing but different aspect. If we give an example of one person, let’s say His Holiness Dalai Lama is a son, His Holiness is also a teacher, His Holiness is a friend as well, His Holiness is a brother as well, His Holiness also is an uncle. The object is the same, the same object which is His Holiness, has a different aspect, there is a uncle aspect, a friends aspect, a teachers aspect, a student aspect. So basically it is one entity, only one singular inseparable. One aspect, one object, but it has a different function, based on a different function, it had a different aspect. So similarly main mind and the secondary mind are actually of one entity. One substantial entity, but because of the different feature, this has been given different labels based on the different features. So the 5th similarity is a similarity in terms of substantial which means that it is of the same substance, same substance entity. Whichever is the same substance with the main mind, should be the same substance with the secondary mind, whichever is the same substance with the secondary mind, should be the same substance with the main mind.
The reason why I’m explaining in this manner is because if you understand in this manner, then even if you go through some books related to this, you will understand. In simple word, I can say that these two are the same thing, but these two are known from different angles because of the different functions, it could have been said in this way, which is much more easier to understand. But then the reason why I have to explain that manner because when you look at some books, Lorig books, including the one PDF that we have sent earlier, then you wana think that “Oh Master Kunphel explains it totally different now this is so very complicated”. And then if you go through some advanced Buddhist books related to psychology or the mind, you’re gonna be totally lost. So it’s better to lost in some small things right now so that you will be able to understand those books a bit easier.
In a simple manner, in a simple word, I would say the main mind and the secondary mind are actually similar in five aspects, those are the basis, object of observation, aspect time, and substantially. It’s similarity with the basis because it relies on the same power, the eye power, both rely on the same eye power or the ear power, both rely on the same ear power. So that’s why similarity in the basis. Similarity in the object of observation, if the main mind thinks that mountain is white, that mountain is a snow mountain, so that mountain becomes the object of observation, snow mountain becomes the object of aspect. So the object of aspect and the object of observation both are the same, so these two are the second and the third similarity. And the fourth one is a time, they produced, they were produced at the same time. The fifth is substantial, it’s like one entity unseparable, yes, different function. So that is pretty much relation between the main mind and the secondary mind or the main mind and the mental factors.
THE FIVE OMNIPRESENT MENTAL FACTORS.
In some books you’re going to find like main mind and the secondary mind, I think the main mind and the mental factors are more known and I think that’s more suitable if you know in this manner. So if I just mention the five, [I try to remember the English so I couldn’t remember, so I just write down the names] the five omnipresent minds, there are very small differences sometimes between the mental factors, so it’s kind of hard to explain anyways. So the five omnipresent factors are first, the first one is easy, feeling, the second one is just discrimination – So here we are talking about some mental factors, the name of the mental factors, the name of the ‘five omnipresent mental factors’ which goes along with all the mind, as long as it is the main mind, these ‘five omnipresent factors’ should go along with it. So,
- the first one is the ‘feeling’,
- the second one is the ‘discrimination’,
- the third one is ‘intention’, and
- the fourth one is ‘mental engagement’ and
- the fifth one is ‘contact’.
Again, ‘the five omnipresent mental factors’ are feelings, discrimination, intention, mental engagement and the contact.
- Without the ‘feeling’, you won’t be able to experience where there is something nice or not nice.
- Without discrimination, you won’t be able to have the designation of the verbal, conventions, without discrimination, you won’t be able to, like say this is that and this is this.
- Without intention, the engagement of the object doesn’t happen, engagement towards the object doesn’t happens.
- Without the mental engagement, directing the mind towards the object doesn’t happen, the function of the mental engagement is that it directs the mind towards the object.
- Without contact, ‘feeling’ doesn’t happen, ‘feeling’ doesn’t come to exist, to generate a ‘feeling’ one, there should be a ‘contact’.
So these five are called ‘five omnipresent factors’ which goes along with all the main minds.
SUMMARY
Now I can imagine if you have to go through a quiz now, this is going to be a challenging, but this is the first day on the 51 mental factors. I totally understand if you don’t understand it clearly, so the next class we will go a bit more on this one and the most important for you to remember today is the difference between the main minds and the mental factors.
Main mind is the mind which apprehends the entity of the object without going to specific things, just entity of the object, the whole entity, you just think for the car. The mental factors are those mind which doesn’t just overview the identity of the object but it objects some features, so those two are the difference between the main mind and the mental factors. The main mind are of that six types, five sense consciousness and one mental consciousness, total is six. Mental factors are 51 mental factors, if you’re good with the numbers, it’s like 5, 5, 11, 6, 20 and 4, I mean, for me it’s easier if I remember that way, but then we will share the numbers so it is easier, I try to find the diagram that Dr Trinh creates so that it would be easier for you to look at them and then you will be able to remember it much easier.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
- Lama, doubt mental factor is also doubt consciousness? Or which is relation between them?
Yes, doubt consciousness is known other than doubt mental factor. We all have the doubt so that doubt is the mental factor, we all know about anger, anger is actually not a main mind, it is a mental factor. I mean it’s just a label that you don’t know, but when it comes to the object, you know. You already know your neighborhood, but it is just that you don’t know his name is Obama. It’s just the name that we are knowing, but the actual thing you already know. Or which is relation between them? Yes these two are the same thing.
And then the feelings, we all know happiness feelings and suffering, the feelings are the mental factors, in the mental factors, feeling is one of the five omnipresent factors, all the mind have a feeling with it. So that is what makes us different from living things, that is what makes us different from the trees and the rocks.
As you can see over there, in the [chat] box, 5 omnipresent factors, 5 object determining mental factors, 11 virtues mental factors, 6 route afflictions, 20 secondary afflictions, 4 changeable mental factors, right. So these are the 51 , right.
- Since mental factor holds the features of the object while main mind holds the entity of the object, so the object to the main mind is ‘appearing object’ and to the mental factor is ‘apprehending one’?
Hold is more like perceive, the main mind perceives the entity of the object, so the object to the main mind is ‘appearing object’ into the ‘apprehending one’, so it stays the same, for example, if eye consciousness looks at the car, the car is ‘appearing object’, at the same time ‘apprehending object’. When you look at the car, you apprehend the car, your eye consciousness apprehends the car at the same time the car appears to your consciousness, both.
So in terms of eye consciousness, looks at a car, the car is ‘apprehending object’ as well as appearing object. It is ‘appearing object’ because it appears to your eye consciousness. It is ‘apprehending object’ because the car is what the eye consciousness which look at the car apprehends. So these are the same in this case when it comes to the eye consciousness and a car.
- Lama, could we say that the secondary mind feeds the main mind? So they both together build up our experience of reality?
Instead of feed, assist sounds much better, accompany or assist. There are lot of things that the main mind doesn’t do by itself, it is those features, it is more like we are walking, when we pinpoint which part of our body is helping us to walk, there is our mind and our feet. And which part of our body helps to eats, our hands assist and need mouth and tongue and all these things, we call “a person chew the gum”, but it is actually the teeth and the jaws which I think assist a human to do that […]. So basically, that’s what we can say when it comes to the differences of the main mind and the mental factors […]
So the word ‘feed,’ instead of feed, I think it’s better if we use the ‘assisting’ sounds better because the secondary mind actually helps the main mind to object. Without a secondary mind there is no main mind which object the phenomena, so these two should go along, it’s more like the assisting. Without a hand is really difficult to pick up a food by a spoon, without legs, let’s say, you can’t walk, without a throat you cannot solo things, so similarly, these are just assisting and also the mental factor is nothing but one entity, the one thing with the main mind, and it’s more like assisting. Instead of feeding, let’s say assisting sounds better, one thing.
Yes, together the main mind and the secondary mind help us to experience the object, so together the main minds and secondary minds together help us to object things or to object phenomena or to perceive phenomena.
CONCLUSION
So we will conclude over here. The next class we will go through the rest of the emotions or rest of the mental factors. Maybe we may not be able to go through in very details, to be honest it is really difficult to explain each and every mental factors in a limited time, but it’s gonna take this but from one angle, these are quite easy and sometimes some words are easier to look in English than to look in a Tibetan or Sanskrit or in Hindi.
Anyways, we will go through the rest of the mental factors, the next class, and then we perhaps have one class for a question and answers so you can look back towards the previous classes and then if there is anything that you don’t understand, I would really be happy if you come up with the questions. Or maybe one of the class we don’t have any specific topic for that, maybe on that specific day we can go through the quiz. We have lot of quiz right now and we can go through those on that day. I suppose to share the quiz on this thing, but then I’ve been a bit busy or couldn’t check so then I will check and talk with our team and then I’ll share to all of you and perhaps we can even go through those quiz in one of the class, I think it would be the 11th because that would be a very good to remind with the quiz. We can remind all the things that we have been through last classes. Yeah alright, we have, I think we should have like 6, 7, 8 or around that quiz. So we will be able to go in one hour, not a problem.
DEDICATION
I would like to conclude today’s class, with a prayer, dedication:
“We are not learning things just for ourselves, we are learning to be able to bring out love and compassion, to be able to bring out understanding, care, and to be able to enhance the altruistic mind, and bodhicitta towards all the others. We should have those qualities, if you don’t have, how can you share to others.
For the sake of sharing to others or for the sake of generating love and compassion towards others, we are trying to learn those mental qualities so that we can generate within ourselves and then we can share to others. So the purpose of what we have learning is to help others so may we be able to help others with such knowledge and may we be able to help others by expressing love and compassion in all these mental qualities.”
May this world have more and more great teachers like Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh, he’s a Buddhist great master who spread the teachings of love and compassion and the teachings of mindfulness to the whole world. It’s really a huge loss to the whole world, this is how the impermanence is. And the reason why it is important to contemplate on such things from one angle, this is how the things are, so they will also be going through the same circle of life. So we should make the best use of our time and as in gratitude towards all the great things that the master did.
We can practice mindfulness, we can try to enhance our love and compassion towards others and then we can always pray that our generation we have wonderful teachers and may all future generations, may they also have wonderful teachers. May this world always and continuously have such wonderful teachers like him and His Holiness.
This is the prayer I think it’s most suitable and appropriate. With this I would like to conclude the class. Thank you very much and see you soon.
Source.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iL4lYG2Pj9vtHs1xsPQ-xDcHOTUALCuF