Ethically Variable Cetasikas

The thir­teen cetasikas below are com­mon to both beau­ti­ful and non-beau­ti­ful cit­tas. They assume the eth­i­cal qual­i­ty giv­en to the cit­ta by the oth­er cetasikas, espe­cial­ly the asso­ci­at­ed roots. With kam­mi­cal­ly whole­some cit­tas they become whole­some, with kam­mi­cal­ly unwhole­some cit­tas they become unwhole­some, and with kam­mi­cal­ly inde­ter­mi­nate cit­tas they become kam­mi­cal­ly indeterminate.

The sev­en uni­ver­sals are the cetasikas com­mon to all cit­tas. These fac­tors per­form the most basic cog­ni­tive func­tions, with­out which cog­ni­tion of an object would be impossible.

Con­tact here is the cetasi­ka with which the con­scious­ness men­tal­ly ​“touch­es” the object that has appeared, there­by ini­ti­at­ing the entire cog­ni­tive process.

Feel­ing here is the affec­tive state in which the object is expe­ri­enced. Feel­ing does not mean feel­ing as such, but is the mere affec­tive qual­i­ty of an expe­ri­ence. Oth­er cetasikas only expe­ri­ence the object sec­ond­hand, while feel­ing expe­ri­ences it directly.

Per­cep­tion is the per­cep­tion of the objec­t’s qual­i­ties. Its func­tion is to cog­nize what has pre­vi­ous­ly been per­ceived. It man­i­fests as the inter­pre­ta­tion of the object using the per­ceived properties.

Voli­tion is the cetasi­ka con­cerned with the actu­al­iza­tion of a goal. Con­sti­tutes the will-aspect of cog­ni­tion. Its char­ac­ter­is­tic is the state of will, and its func­tion is to accu­mu­late kam­ma. Voli­tion deter­mines the eth­i­cal qual­i­ty of the action, and is there­fore the most impor­tant piece in the for­ma­tion of kamma

One-point­ed­ness here means focus­ing the mind on its object. It man­i­fests as peace.

Men­tal life fac­ul­ty vital­izes the asso­ci­at­ed men­tal states. It is char­ac­ter­ized by the fact that it sus­tains them and its func­tion is to cause them to arise.

Atten­tion is respon­si­ble for mak­ing the mind aware of the object. Its func­tion is to con­nect the rel­e­vant states of mind and the object.

The six cetasikas in this group dif­fer from the uni­ver­sals in that they exist only with cer­tain types of consciousness.

Ini­tial appli­ca­tion is the ini­tial appli­ca­tion of the mind to the object. Its char­ac­ter­is­tic is to direct the mind on the object.

Sus­tained appli­ca­tion is con­tin­ued inves­ti­ga­tion of the object. Its func­tion is the per­sis­tent appli­ca­tion of the asso­ci­at­ed men­tal phe­nom­e­na to the object. It man­i­fests itself as the anchor­ing of these phe­nom­e­na onto the object.

Deci­sion has the nature of con­vic­tion. It man­i­fests as determination.

Ener­gy is the state of being ener­getic. Its char­ac­ter­is­tics are sup­port, effort and mobi­liza­tion. Its func­tion is to sup­port the asso­ci­at­ed modes.

Zest has the func­tion of refresh­ing the mind and body. It man­i­fests itself as excitement.

Desire here means desire to per­form an action or achieve some result. This kind of desire must be dis­tin­guished from desire in the unwhole­some sense, that is, from greed and lust.