Mental factors (Sanskrit: चैतसिक, romanized: caitasika or chitta samskara चित्त संस्कार;[1] Pali: cetasika; Tibetan: སེམས་བྱུང sems byung), in Buddhism, are identified within the teachings of the Abhidhamma (Buddhist psychology).
Geshe Tashi Tsering explains: The relationship between the main mind (Sanskrit: citta) and the mental factors can be described by the following metaphors: Traleg Rinpoche states that the main distinction between the mind and mental factors is that the mind apprehends an object as a whole, whereas mental factors apprehend an object in its particulars.
Some of the main commentaries on the Abhidharma systems that are studied today include:[7] The number of mental factors varies in different Sarvastivada works.
Bhikkhu Bodhi states: "These factors perform the most rudimentary and essential cognitive functions, without which consciousness of an object would be utterly impossible.
This list identifies fifty-two important factors that help to understand how the mind functions.