Contact is the next mental factor that I will be describing, from the classic list of 51 mental factors from the Abhidharma. There are, of course, a few different versions of the listing of mental factors in Buddhism; I am following the version of Indian Buddhist master Asanga.

Contact, literally touch, describes the coming together [...]

Another important mental factor or function that has been highlighted by the Buddha in his teachings is that of perception (in Tibetan transliteration, ‘du shes). It is also translated as discrimination or discernment. Among these three alternative translations, I prefer “perception,” even though this same word is sometimes used differently in Tibetan Buddhist context to [...]