Five ever-present mental states
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The five ever-present mental states (Skt. sarvatraga; Tib. ཀུན་འགྲོ་ལྔ་, Wyl. kun ‘gro lnga) are a set of five mental states among the fifty-one mental states, so-called because they always accompany the main mind. Without them, the main mind could not perceive any objects. They are:
- Sensation (Skt. vedanā; Tib. ཚོར་བ་, Wyl. tshor ba)
- Perception (Skt. saṃjña; Tib. འདུ་ཤེས་, Wyl. ‘du shes)
- Intention (Skt. cetanā; Tib. སེམས་པ་, Wyl. sems pa)
- Contact (Skt. sparśa; Tib. རེག་པ་ or རེག་བྱ་, Wyl. reg pa, reg bya)
- Attention (Skt. manaskāra; Tib. ཡིད་བྱེད་, Wyl. yid byed)
Alternative Translations
- ever-functioning subsidiary awarenesses (Alexander Berzin)
- feeling; feeling a level of happiness (Berzin)
- discernment or recognition (Berzin)
- an urge (Berzin)
- contacting awareness (Berzin)
- mental engagement; paying attention or taking to mind (Berzin)