Week 5: Mental Engagement

(mental event 5:51, omnipresent mental event 5:5)
ENGLISH

mental engagement

SANSKRIT

manaskāra

TIBETAN

ཡིད་བྱེད་ (yid byed)

mental engagement: apprehending the particular object of focus o which the mind is directed again and again

Like impulse, mental engagement directs the mind. Impulse focuses and moves the mind towards its object in a general way, whereas mental engagement repeatedly directs the mind to its object.

Questions
  • Is impulse the mental event that causes distraction? (spoiler alert no. 1: “distraction” is the 46th mental event, one of the 20 secondary afflictions).
  • Are there antidotes to afflictive mental events? Is “mental engagement” the antidote for distraction? Is “mental engagement” the mental event that enables meditative concentration? (spoiler alert no.2: “meditative concentration” is the 9th mental event, the 4th of 5 Object-Determining Mental Events.