การกำหนดคือการระบุเจาะจงหมายไว้ กำหนดตรงไหนใจจะถูกใส่ไว้ตรงนั้น ทำให้ดวงรู้คือดวงสติตั้งขึ้นและเหนี่ยวนำพลังงานบริสุทธิ์เข้ามาพร้อมกัน สติเป็นเจตสิกของฝ่ายกุศลเท่านั้น ต่างจากวิญญาณซึ่งเป็นของกลางที่ทั้งกุศล อกุศล และอัพยากตะสามารถใช้นำจิตไปเกิดผ่านอายตนะได้เหมือนกันSetting an intention means specifically marking a point -- wherever we focus, the mind settles there. This causes the sphere of knowing, mindfulness, to arise and simultaneously draws in pure energy. Mindfulness is a mental factor belonging only to wholesomeness, unlike consciousness, which is a neutral function that wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral forces can all use equally to carry the mind into experience through the senses.
Someone asked whether being mindfully aware has two directions -- receiving in, to be aware of a chosen point, and sending out, to make something happen as intended, such as through resolution or visualizing the Buddha image.
What Does It Mean to Set an Intention?
Setting an intention means specifically marking a point -- wherever we specify, the mind settles there. This is called "paying attention." We set an intention in order to know. Once set, the sphere of knowing, , arises -- because mindfulness is a that can only arise in the mind, nowhere else.
If we are aware in the present, we access the true state of things. But if we are aware only of stored information from the past, we're pulled toward the past. If we learn and understand that information, then bring it into the present, we become aware of the true state that appears in each present moment -- and this true state can only appear in the present. A vision of the future, meanwhile, can only arise once we truly know and understand.
What Happens Once We Set an Intention?
Once we specifically set an intention to know something, the sphere of knowing, mindfulness, arises. Mindfulness is a mental factor that arises only together with a wholesome mind. When mind is established, the bright, round sphere of mindfulness arises with it, and at that very same moment, pure energy is drawn in. The driving of the wholesome system and the cleansing of defilement happen simultaneously.
Without setting an intention, the mind doesn't know where it stands -- it scatters everywhere, unable to find a resting point. Drawing in merit requires first having a resting point for the mind; only then can merit flow in to cleanse the obscuring layers at that very point.
The Difference Between Mindfulness and Consciousness
A point of common confusion is mindfulness versus consciousness. Consciousness is the part of the mind that carries the mind outward through the senses -- eye, ear, nose, tongue, body -- to perceive the external world, or inward to perceive internal states like pleasure and displeasure. Consciousness is "neutral ground" that wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral forces can all equally use to carry the mind into experience.
Mindfulness, on the other hand, is the sphere of knowing that recollects and is aware, aware of the body and mind -- a mental factor belonging only to a wholesome mind. Once an intention is set, the mind (in its aspect as consciousness) appears at that point. If the mind that has taken hold is wholesome, mindfulness arises along with it; but if it is unwholesome, there is no mindfulness -- only and the mental formation of wrong view arise instead. If it is neutral, the mind simply scatters with no resting point.
Why Research and Technology Can Arise at All
When we set an intention to know something -- such as research into bacteria or elements invisible to the eye -- merit is drawn in to cleanse the obscuring layers around that subject, allowing the inner knower to guide us toward understanding. All forms of and technology arise only from the wholesome side, because the neutral force doesn't get involved, while side conceals the truth entirely -- since if we knew the truth, unwholesomeness could no longer mislead us. So instead, unwholesomeness chooses to keep us from knowing anything real at all.
Mind, Mental Factors, and Consciousness -- A Clear Summary
Mind is the thought that appears as an inner voice; mental factors are the emotions and feelings that accompany that thought. All phenomena -- greed, aversion, delusion, mindfulness, wisdom, or -- are all results of mental factors. If the mind is wholesome, the mental factors are wholesome; if the mind is unwholesome, the mental factors are unwholesome too. Consciousness's only role is to carry mind and mental factors out to perceive through the senses -- it is the neutral ground that all three natural forces can equally make use of.