Five ever-present mental states

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:

1. Sensation (Skt. vedanā; Tib. ཚོར་བ་)
2. Perception (Skt. saṃjña; Tib. འདུ་ཤེས་)
3. Intention (Skt. cetanā; Tib. སེམས་པ་)
4. Contact (Skt. sparśa; Tib. རེག་པ་ or རེག་བྱ་)
5. Attention (Skt. manaskāra; Tib. ཡིད་བྱེད་)

Alternative Translations

• ever-functioning subsidiary awarenesses (Alexander Berzin)

1. feeling; feeling a level of happiness (Berzin)
2. discernment or recognition (Berzin)
3. an urge (Berzin)
4. contacting awareness (Berzin)
5. mental engagement; paying attention or taking to mind (Berzin)