Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Feeling is not in food or pleasant speech but in the mind experiencing them, Khensur Rinpoche argues at the start of this 50-minute session, before mapping it across six perceivers and three tones to produce eighteen varieties that each drive desire, aversion, or confusion — and therefore saṃsāra. This launches his survey of the five omnipresent mental factors, those present in every moment of awareness. Discrimination follows in two forms: recognising an object and distinguishing it from others. The centrepiece is intention, the most powerful of all mental factors — a ruler whose orders all bodily and mental activity must follow — and the factor Rinpoche identifies as mental karma itself. Mental engagement and contact complete the five. A closing Q&A addresses whether one strong intention can set off a whole chain of events without renewing itself each moment, and whether intention can be positive, negative, or unspecified.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 21 AK 1988-11-24.mp3
UUID: ca298c89-daee-4717-8e0b-4e27dabc5af1
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Awareness and Knowledge 1988-1989 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1988-11-24
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 50.6 minutes
Words: ~2,608
When we’re hearing pleasurable speech, someone’s talking very nicely about it. At that moment, we’re experiencing the feeling of pleasure, and we, it’s, it wants us to hear more. We want to hear more. At the times when it’s, we’re, we’re listening to harsh speech, there’s the, there, at that moment, there’s the feeling of displeasure, and this, and due to this, there’s a tendency to want to shut our ears. We put our hands over our ears to cease the sound that we’re hearing.
And then there’s times when we’re hearing sounds, talk when it doesn’t make any difference to us. It’s just neutral talk. And we feel have a feeling of indifference. So this this assisting factor of feeling accompanies, you know, the eye consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue, body, mind. So this factor of feeling is not found outside of ourselves.
It’s only found where there are minds. So the pleasure and displeasure are found not in, for example, food, but it’s found in the mind which is experiencing the food. So the pleasurable feelings are the result of positive karma. Displeasurable feelings are the result of negative karma or actions. So we can list eighteen different types of feelings on the basis of the fact that each of the six perceivers, such as the I perceiver, the ear perceiver, has an accompanying feeling which experiences three types of feelings.
So the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mental perceivers each has an accompanying feeling. And each of these feelings can be of three types, either pleasurable, unpleasurable, or indifferent feeling. So we can have a total of eighteen possibilities. So there’s definitely necessary to have this accompanying mental factor of feeling without the factor of feeling that the mind cannot experience any of these pleasure, displeasure, or indifference. The mind itself cannot experience without this assisting mental factor of feeling.
Yes. Yes. Then the the second assistant in this office is discrimination. So the definition of of discrimination is the apprehender of the sign. The apprehender of signs.
Apprehender of signs. Or we could say characteristics. Apprehended characteristics. This is, so when the eye consciousness sees a flower, it knows this is a flower. When it sees people, knows that this is a person.
When it sees houses, dogs, cars, cats, it knows that this is a dog, car, or cat. And the reason is because accompanying the eye perceiver is this assisting mental factor of discrimination. This is the factor which knows the difference in types between objects. It discriminates the characteristic or it knows the sign, the mark of each of the objects. This is the factor of discrimination.
So So we’ll go back for a moment to feeling and talk about its function. It functions to it is the factor which forces us to keep circling within cyclic existence because due to the experience of, for example, pleasure, when we experience pleasure we develop desire. Through developing desire, we engage in actions. That is, we create karma. And karma is the driving force of cyclic existence.
Likewise, when we have displeasurable feelings, in dependence upon that, develop anger, aversion, and due to that we engage in actions, karma, and again, we’re reinforcing cyclic existence. When we experience a feeling of neither pleasure nor displeasure, indifference, or a neutral feeling. We experience, we develop confusion, or sometimes called obscuration, confusion. We don’t know how to act toward that object, we engage in confused activities, actions. This, again, is the driving force of cyclic existence.
The fact feeling performs the function of forcing us to keep circling in cyclic existence. So there are two types of discriminations. There’s the type which simply knows the object such as this is a cat, this is a dog, this is a woman, this is a man. And then there’s the, so that’s called the discrimination of the base, discrimination of the base. And then there’s discrimination of the convention.
This is the discrimination which knows the difference between things. This is a man and this is a woman. This is not a man and For example, the discrimination in conventions where this is a pin, it’s not a hand. So it knows the difference between things. It’s a pin and not a hand.
That’s the discrimination of conventions. Whereas discrimination in basis simply knows that this is a pin or this is a hand. So, and then we could also list the six types of discriminations according to the perceivers which they accompany the eye, the discrimination which accompanies the eye perceiver the ear, nose, tongue, body and mental perceiver. So, you know, it’s necessary that the perceivers be accompanied by discrimination If, for example, the eye consciousness did not possess the factor of discrimination, then whatever it saw, it could not differentiate between the various objects. It wouldn’t know that it wouldn’t be able to see the difference between objects.
And that which sees the difference between the objects is the mental factor of discrimination. And the third mental factor is intention. Intention. And the definition of intention is the consciousness which moves itself accompanying The consciousness which moves itself and its accompanying mind towards the object, towards an object, towards an object. The consciousness which moves itself and its accompanying mind towards an object.
So the work or the function of intention is to direct the mind towards objects. You know, first it is which it is the factor which takes us toward, for example, the eye seeing the flower. And then the eye, and it would be the factor which moves the eye away from the flower and takes it toward another object, for the example, the book. And so it’s like the director causing the eye to move towards different objects. It’s like if there was a ruler, you know, if there was a dictator of a country and then he’d say, Now I want you to go here and then I want you to go there and I want you to go to here.
And you would just follow his orders. And likewise, the mind follows the orders of intention. It’s what’s directing the mind to move from various So, you know, this factor of intention, it causes the eye perceiver to, the eye consciousness to look up, to look down, to look over there, to look over here. It’s always directing us the eye consciousness to where to look. So therefore, amongst all the mental factors, it is the most powerful.
Even is able to direct the ruler. It’s even able to direct the the head of the office. So in the same way that an officer gives orders to the soldiers, and they have to follow his orders. Likewise, our body and mind engages in various activities. And this is the, we engage in activities due to being directed by our mind.
And our mind is in turn directed by intention, the mental factor of intention. Therefore, this this intention is the is the most powerful of the mental factors. It, in fact, is what it is mental karma or mental action is when we when we talk about the intention, is the actual mental karma. So, you know, we may wake up in the morning and remember, ah, today I’ve got to do this. And that which is going to that which is directing us is this intention, this mental karma.
And dependent upon that, we actually get up and we think about how to do it and we get our body gets out of bed. And so it’s directing our mental activities And finally, it’s directing our physical activities. So all the various actions of body and mind have as a source intention or mental karma. If we were to get up in the morning and say, Well, I’ve got to go to work today. And this is what that factor which is directing us is the factor of intention.
If it’s powerful enough, we’ll actually think about how to get to work. We’ll actually get out of bed, and it’s going to direct our actions through the rest of the day. It’s going to be the precursor. It’s going to direct the All our actions of body and speech are initiated by this mental factor of intention. Likewise, put on the other hand, if we got up in the morning and I think I’ll go for a picnic today.
And if that mind were strong enough, again, all our mental activities and our physical activities would follow upon that initial intention. Therefore, it is this factor of intention which is the root, which is the initiator of cyclic existence. So it’s it’s extremely powerful mental factor since it it is that which causes this to collect negative and positive karma. So this mental factor of intention is, its power is analogous to a ruler who listens well to his wise advisors. He does whatever they tell him to do knowing he’s directed by them.
And the wise advisers are like this intention. So, it’s the factor which is directing our mind. For example, our mind is looking at the flower. It causes the mind to shift from that and look toward another object. So it’s it’s causing the it’s directing the mind toward various objects.
So then the fourth is mental engagement. This is mental engagement is the consciousness. Consciousness which apprehends the particular object of observation. The particular object of observation. Consciousness which apprehends or engages.
A consciousness which apprehends or engages the particular object of observation. Then the fifth is contact. The fifth mental factor is contact. And this is the consciousness which upon the aggregation of the object, faculty, and perceiver. The consciousness which upon the aggregation of the object, sense faculty and perceiver, senses the object, senses the object, sees the object.
The consciousness which upon the aggregation of the object, sense faculty and perceiver, maybe apprehends the object. Apprehends the object. For example, in order for contact with the flower to arise, there first is the aggregation of the, there has to be the object, that is the flower. There has to be the eye sense faculty. And then there has to be the eye perceiver.
If there’s no object, eye, then the contact with the flower cannot arise. If there’s something wrong with the eye sense faculty, then eye contact cannot arise. If there’s no eye perceiver, then eye contact cannot arise. It takes these three factors coming together and depends upon this contact with the flower arises. That is there’s an experience, a sensing, an apprehension of the flower.
And this coming in contact, this sensing is what we mean when we say contact. And just as when someone goes to meet a high official, and this high official, he meets many different individuals. And he might have, with some of them, might have a good meeting. With some, he might have a bad meeting. And with others, he has an indifferent kind of meeting, a neutral meeting.
Likewise, when contact arises, the contact may be either good, bad, or neutral. Can have good contact, bad contact, or neutral contact. So, any type of whenever there is a perceiver, these five mental factors must be present. Without these complete five present, then the realization of the object cannot come about. There can’t be an understanding of the object, a knowing of the object.
So whether it’s the eye or ear perceiver, any of these six perceivers, there must always be these five mental factors accompanying it. It’s that all perceivers must have these five factors present, that these five factors are termed the five omnipresent factors. So do you have any questions? So time is finished, we’ll have we’ll make time for some questions. Yeah.
Question: if the mind is controlled by the the officer of intention, then is that intention dictating to the mind all the time at every moment? Or is one intent does one intention of the mental factor sort of govern what the mind does for a whole period of time, like like setting the mind onto a is that clear? Does does the does the the that mental factor of intention in in the in the sort of central office of the mind itself, how how does that sort of how does that work at every moment? Is is that intention functioning at every moment? I see.
Or or does that sort of office direct the mind and the mind obediently goes off and does what it’s told for and does the work of the intention for a long time. Okay. There’s always the fact of intention at all times. But it doesn’t the intention may be different as time goes by. For example, when a person wakes up in the morning and he says, Today I’ve got to go to the office.
Due to the power of that intention, then the mind is affected, and we think about going to the office. And so there’s a train of events that’s set off by this single intention, due to the power of this intention. So it’s not necessary for this same intention to become arising continually all the way till you get to the office. It’s already set up this train of events. But there will be other intentions along the way to the office.
But the initial one was such that it set off this whole process of going to the office. So we don’t have to keep thinking and intending to go to the office every moment that we’re actually going driving the car to get there. We don’t have it doesn’t have to be coming. Why could it so there’s these various intentions about occurring. There’s always intentions occurring, but there’s this one intention which set off this process of actions to get us to the office.
And in the process of getting to the office, other intentions are arising. And one of these intentions could be such that, Oh, today I don’t want to that you intend not to go to the office. And you forget about your the power of your previous intention decreases. And this intention is so strong that we end up not going to the office. You changed.
Then we say we think about it we change our mind. So, you know, this a later intention could overpower an early intention. So is is the intention can the intention factor or official be either benign or corrupt? I mean, you know, having having kind of malevolent I mean, a a positive intention in the case of, you know, benign advice to to the ruler, to the mind. Yeah.
And and conversely, can can it, you know, be degenerate and and sort of told the the king to do the wrong thing or, you know, to do what will bring bring the problem. This simpler simpler. So, yeah. So the intention can be either positive, negative, or unspecified. You know, when you wake up in the morning, say, Well, today I’m really gonna practice.
I’m really gonna practice Dharma. So this is a positive intention. Today, you wake up in the morning and develop the intention, Today I’m going to steal something down. I’m gonna trick somebody. That’s a negative intention.
Or you wake up and you don’t have any particular idea what you’re going to do that day. You have no particular intention, unspecified. This would be mean, you wake up in a neutral state, and this would be an unspecified intention. So these three would apply.