As I said earlier, sensation, perception and volition fall within the mental realm. Basically, there are three stages of any mental function. First, one's senses come into contact with the environment. This is called sensation. Second, one discerns the experience: is the sensation pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral? This is perception. Third, one is motivated to react to the experience. This is volition. For example: I hear a loud, irritating noise. The sensation is whatever is impressed upon me, in this case the sound impressed upon my ear. My perception might be, "What a harsh sound! I don't like it!" Volition is my decision to do something about it: I frown, or I put my hands over my ears. Whenever a person acts upon a perception that arises because of a sensation, karma is generated, and it is planted in the fifth skandha: consciousness. I hope you are now clear about the distinction between the consciousness of the five skandhas and the different levels of consciousness of the Yogacara school.

STUDENT:

Inanimate objects do not have consciousness, but they are reflections of our minds. That microphone you are speaking into is there because of our individual and collective karma. Is this what is meant by the Buddhist prayer: "To know all the Buddhas of the past, present and future, perceive that Dharmadhatu nature is all created by the mind"?

SHIH-FU: