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་, Wyl. tshor ba)
2. Perception (Skt. saṃjña; Tib. འདུ་ཤེས་, Wyl. ‘du shes)
3. Intention (Skt. cetanā; Tib. སེམས་པ་, Wyl. sems pa)
4. Contact (Skt. sparśa; Tib. རེག་པ་ or རེག་བྱ་, Wyl. reg pa, reg bya)
5. Attention (Skt. manaskāra; Tib. ཡིད་བྱེད་, Wyl. yid byed)

Alternative Translations

• ever-functioning subsidiary awarenesses (Alexander Berzin)

1. feeling
2. discernment
3. .
4. .
5. mental engagement