Manasikara

Manasikara (Sanskrit and Pali, also Manasikāra; Tibetan Wylie: yid la byed pa or yid byed) is a Buddhist term that is translated as "attention" or "ego-centric demanding". It is defined as the process of the mind fixating upon an object. Manasikara is identified within the Buddhist Abhidharma teachings as follows:

• One of the seven universal mental factors in the Theravada Abhidharma.
• One of the five universal mental factors in the Mahayana Abhidharma

Definitions

Theravada

The Atthasālinī (I, Part IV, Chapter 1, 133) and the Visuddhimagga (XIV, 152) define Manasikāra as follows:

...It has the characteristic of driving associated states towards the object, the function of joining (yoking) associated states to the object, the manifestation of facing the object. It is included in the saṅkhārakkhandha, and should be regarded as the charioteer of associated states because it regulates the object.

Mahayana

The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:

What is manasikara? It is a continuity having the function of holding the mind to what has become its reference.

Herbert Guenther states:

It is a cognition that keeps the complex of mind in its specific objective reference.

The difference between cetanā and manasikara is that cetanā brings the mind towards the object in a general move, while manasikara makes the mind fixate upon this particular objective reference.

Source

Wikipedia:Manasikara