宗鏡錄 59.5

59.5

答。古德釋云。心所義有三。一恒依心起。二與心相應。三。繫屬於心。心王緣總相。如畫師作模。心所通緣總別相。如弟子於總相模中。填眾多彩色。即心所於心王總青。如眼識心王。緣青色境時。是總相。更不作多般行解。心所緣別相者。如五心所中作意。以警心引心為別相等。上便領納想像。造作種種行相。是通緣總別相。

Answer: The masters of old explained: "Mental factors have three meanings: first, they always arise depending on citta; second, they are associated with citta; third, they are bound and subordinate to citta." The principal mind apprehends general characteristics, like a master painter drawing an outline. Mental factors comprehensively apprehend both general and specific characteristics, like an apprentice filling in various colors within the master's outline. That is, the mental factor [acts] upon the principal mind's general [apprehension of] blue: when the principal mind of eye-consciousness apprehends a blue object, that is the general characteristic, without producing multiple varied modes of cognitive understanding. As for mental factors apprehending specific characteristics, like attention (manaskāra) among the five [omnipresent] mental factors, which takes alerting and directing the mind as its specific characteristic, it subsequently takes in, conceptualizes, and generates various modes of activity. This is to comprehensively apprehend both general and specific characteristics.