The Mind Faculty and Consciousness

Chapter 3: The Differences Between the Manas and the Mind Consciousness in Discerning Sense Objects

1. All dharmas are first contacted by the manas

Objective sense objects (bhūma-lakṣaṇa) are the shadows of the six sense objects manifested by the tathāgatagarbha based on the real external objects of substance, appearing within the supreme faculties (indriya), composed of particles of the four great elements. The seven consciousnesses—the manas contacts and discerns them first, while the mind consciousness contacts and discerns them afterward. If the seventh consciousness contacts these images but does not decide to discern them in detail, the six consciousnesses cannot be brought forth to discern them, because when the manas does not need these tools of discernment—the six consciousnesses—the tathāgatagarbha will not fabricate the tools of the six consciousnesses. The seventh consciousness is constantly contacting the six sense objects at every moment. Relying on the tathāgatagarbha, like a tower by the water that first catches the moonlight, it can borrow the light to know the general outline of any dharma first. As for what exactly to do after knowing, it depends on the mental activities and cultivation of the manas.

2. Originally one went to the room to fetch a book, but upon entering the door, one forgot what one was going to fetch, and thus stood there stunned. What is the psychological state at this moment? When going to fetch the book, one actually forgot what to fetch; one knew one wanted to fetch something, but there was no object to fetch. This shows that besides the matter of fetching the book, the manas's mind was also grasping at and thinking about other matters, which also distracted the mind consciousness, so that the other matters suppressed the matter of fetching the book. The mind consciousness could not receive instructions from the manas and could only stand there stunned, waiting for instructions. At this time, the manas could not contact the object of the book, so the mind consciousness could not recall that it was fetching a book; it only knew that it was fetching something, and nothing else. At this time, the mind consciousness is in a psychological state of being at a loss, not knowing what to do, so it is left empty out of necessity, because the manas does not give it content, and it has no way to know.

Standing there stunned means the mind consciousness cannot recall what it is supposed to do and does not know what to do, while the manas is secretly searching for the target, looking for the content, and the mind consciousness stands there stunned waiting for the manas to provide content information. When the manas does not give the mind consciousness content, the mind consciousness can only be empty, dazed, and foolish, appearing very focused, but in fact it is helpless.

Everyone may have experienced this kind of stunned state many times, all because of absent-mindedness, lack of concentration, and scattered attention. The mind consciousness originally wanted to do something, but sometimes cannot recall what to do, no matter how it tries. At this time, the manas is searching the channels, searching for programs, but cannot find them for a moment. One possibility is that the information is too crowded and it cannot select which one; the deliberation mental factor (manasikāra) cannot make a decision, and the tathāgatagarbha cannot help, unable to retrieve the karmic seeds. Another possibility is that the conditions for the karmic seeds to manifest are momentarily not complete, and the tathāgatagarbha cannot manifest the mental sense objects that are needed. When the manas searches for information, there must certainly be keywords; otherwise, spanning from north to south, like fishing a needle from the sea, how could it find the target?

Some foolish people are just like this: their memory is poor, their wisdom is poor, and the thoughts they can truly articulate are relatively few. For them, cultivating meditative concentration is very easy, and they can quickly become thought-free, yet they remain just as foolish, because there is no content for contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) in their minds and wisdom cannot arise. Non-Buddhists are also like this. Therefore, having meditative concentration does not necessarily mean having wisdom, but without meditative concentration there is definitely no wisdom. Only through proper contemplative practice and reasoning within meditative concentration can wisdom arise. If, while cultivating meditative concentration, in order to enter concentration quickly, the mind consciousness tells the manas: "When I cultivate concentration, do not produce anything for me; I do not want to know anything; do not give me any information to discern; I do not care about those matters"—frequently admonishing the manas like this, over time it becomes quite effective.

3. The realm-images faced by each person's tathāgatagarbha are the same; the external realms are identical. Because each person's karmic obstructions, mental factors, and wisdom differ, the feelings when seeing the internal realm-images differ. This results from the differences in each person's consciousness wisdom, karmic obstructions, and so forth; one cannot say that the external realm-images each person faces are different.

By the same principle, the eighth consciousness manifests an internal aspect-object (nimitta). Because the wisdom of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses differs, their meditative power differs, their experience differs, the conditioning they have received differs, and their afflictive obstructions differ, the results of their discernment differ, their feelings differ, and their choices differ. Therefore, one cannot say that the internal aspect-objects manifested by the eighth consciousness for the sixth and seventh consciousnesses are different; to say so is unreasonable. Because all content discerned by the sixth consciousness is entirely what the manas has contacted and decided to discern in detail; if the manas does not contact a sense object, if the manas does not wish to discern a sense object in detail, the tathāgatagarbha will absolutely not bring forth the sixth consciousness. Therefore, the sense objects contacted and discerned by the sixth consciousness and the manas must be consistent; it is only that the dharmas contacted and discerned by the manas are far more numerous than those of the sixth consciousness. For dharmas the manas does not contact and discern, the sixth consciousness has no reason whatsoever to contact and discern them; the sixth consciousness itself cannot appear on such dharmas, let alone discern them.

Consciousness arises from the conditions of the manas and dharmas. The mind consciousness and the manas always contact the same objects; otherwise, how was the mind consciousness born? Does the birth of the mind consciousness not require the manas and the mental sense objects? Both are required; then only after the manas contacts the mental sense objects does the tathāgatagarbha give birth to the mind consciousness. The two must contact the same mental sense objects; it is impossible for each to contact its own mental sense objects, impossible for the mental sense objects they contact to be different. To say otherwise is a grave error.

The Yogācāra teachings expounded by bodhisattvas of the past all had points that did not fully cohere, which is why they argued endlessly with one another. We must not accept them wholesale while abandoning our own contemplation. If one's wisdom is insufficient and one truly cannot contemplate and practice, then set it aside for now; after meditative concentration and wisdom have both grown in the future, engaging in contemplative practice will allow some penetration.

If the premise of a doctrinal proposition is wrong, the subsequent conclusion must be wrong. That the results of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses' discernment of the six sense objects differ does not show that the realms they each discern are different. It can only be said that because their wisdom differs and their mental factors differ, the results of discernment differ. It is like a teacher giving a lecture to one hundred students, each with their own understanding; one cannot say that because the students' understandings differ, the teacher lectured on one hundred subjects—such a thing cannot happen. The dharmas contacted by the manas and the mind consciousness are always the same; it is only because the manas's discerning wisdom is not powerful enough, not detailed enough, and many dharmas are not discerned clearly, its capacity being insufficient, that it must seek help from the six consciousnesses to make detailed discernments, to compensate for its own shortcomings.

It is like a child facing a large boulder who feels he cannot move it and must seek help from others to move it away—the two are one principle. The adult and the child face the same boulder; one cannot say the two people face two boulders, that the child asks the adult to move this boulder while the adult goes to move another boulder—such a thing is unreasonable. Another example: a rich person sees a hundred-yuan bill and is unwilling to pick it up, while a poor person, upon seeing it, as if seeing a mountain of gold, immediately picks it up. One cannot say that the money the two people saw was different, causing their feelings and choices to differ; this results from the two people's different karma. The aspect-objects the two people saw were one hundred percent identical, without difference. By the same principle, that the manas wishes to discern one realm while the six consciousnesses discern other realms, not obeying the manas, is also unreasonable. If so, the manas would no longer be called the master consciousness; its command being ineffective, it would not be the true commander, and the mind consciousness would no longer be born with the manas and dharmas as conditions—who knows what condition it was born from—and this would contradict what the Buddha taught.

The differences in the results of each consciousness's discernment can only be traced to their respective discerning wisdom and mental factors; one cannot infer that it is because the objects contacted are different—such an inference is erroneous. Whether real dharmas or provisional dharmas, whether objective sense objects or images, whatever marks and whatever sense objects, all are personally manifested by the eighth consciousness. The seven consciousnesses can only display these images in the mind, or make decisions, whereupon the eighth consciousness complies and alters the realm-marks. Since all are manifested by the eighth consciousness, then no dharma truly exists; all are illusory—like dreams, like shadows, like echoes in an empty valley, like the moon's reflection in water, and so forth. These are the results of contemplative practice.

4. Regarding the knowing of some matters, when the manas cannot discern clearly, the mind consciousness discerns them and reports to the manas, and the manas then makes the decision. For some individual matters, the manas first discerns the general outline and then decides to let the mind consciousness resolve them. The manas can determine the behavioral orientation of the mind consciousness. For example, when some matter is about to happen and the mind consciousness does not know it, the manas knows first that something is going to happen and will alert and direct the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness then acts in a muddled, inexplicable manner.

Many matters require the manas to remind and alert the mind consciousness, because the manas contacts the mental sense objects first and discerns first, while the mind consciousness discerns afterward. For example, suddenly remembering some matter—that is the manas reminding the mind consciousness. For example, remembering that one should have done something just now but did not, and immediately going to do it—that is the manas reminding the mind consciousness. All the things recalled during meditation are prompted and produced by the manas. The random thoughts in the mind are all produced by the manas; the subjectively imagined realms are all produced by the manas. As for the specific discernment of the six sense objects, it is discerned by the mind consciousness and then transmitted to the manas to know, and the manas makes a decision based on this; but it is also a decision made after the manas contacted first, prompting the mind consciousness to arise and process the six sense objects, because the manas certainly cannot discern clearly the specifics of the six sense objects and must rely on the mind consciousness's discernment.

5. Between the mind consciousness and the manas, who actually contacts the sense objects?

Both the manas and the mind consciousness are consciousnesses and both must contact sense objects; if they do not contact sense objects, they cannot exist. Especially the mind consciousness—it has no reason to exist independently; only with mental sense objects can the mind consciousness appear. The manas first contacts the mental sense objects; faculty and object touch, the tathāgatagarbha gives birth to the mind consciousness, the three converge in contact, the mind consciousness contacts the mental sense objects, and then discriminates them. Therefore, both contact sense objects, and they must contact the same object; otherwise, the mind consciousness cannot arise.

The birth of the mind consciousness has prerequisites: there must be the manas, there must be seeds, there must be mental sense objects (those the manas is currently contacting), there must be the supreme faculties (indriya) (except in the formless realm), and there must be the tathāgatagarbha; moreover, faculty and object must touch—the faculty being the manas, the object being the mental sense objects. At the place where faculty and object touch, the tathāgatagarbha gives birth to the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness then contacts the mental sense objects and the manas. At this time the manas is still contacting the mental sense objects; if it no longer contacts them, the mind consciousness ceases. After the mind consciousness is born, it discerns the mental sense objects. Therefore, what the mind consciousness contacts must be what the manas contacts, determined and governed by the manas, provided by the tathāgatagarbha. As for the manas's existence, it can exist without sense objects; the manas can exist without contacting sense objects, while the sense objects are precisely the products pushed forth by the manas. As long as sense objects appear, the manas will certainly contact them, but it does not necessarily have to act upon them, and there do not necessarily have to be six consciousnesses to discern the sense objects.

6. Question: The seventh consciousness has the wisdom mental factor, which means it has the capacity for selecting dharmas (the nature of deliberation, or perhaps selectivity)? How great is this capacity for selecting dharmas? What matters can it accomplish on its own? Or can it only accomplish things in cooperation with the mind consciousness?

Answer: The seventh consciousness, the manas, has the wisdom mental factor and possesses a certain capacity for discernment, discrimination, judgment, and selection. The seventh consciousness, the manas, has the deliberation mental factor, and thus possesses a certain deliberative nature, discriminating nature, selective nature, choosing nature, and decisive nature. The deliberation, discernment, and choice of the seventh consciousness differ somewhat from those of the mind consciousness. It can make choices in cooperation with the mind consciousness, and it can also make choices independently without relying on the mind consciousness. When the seventh consciousness's deliberation and discernment proceed independently without relying on the mind consciousness, it is often based on the habitual tendencies it has carried through life after life, based on its experiences over countless kalpas—experiences and lessons the mind consciousness does not know and mostly does not understand.

The manas's discernment and choice of mental sense objects that are not among the six sense objects within the supreme faculties—the mind consciousness never knows of these. Only the eighth consciousness can discern the manas's mental activities. Some dharmas and some matters that the two of them produce together in harmonious operation are unknown to the mind consciousness, or the mind consciousness knows only a little and feels baffled and inconceivable. For example, the wholesome or unwholesome vows (咒愿) that the manas issued in past and present lives—when these vows come to fruition, the mind consciousness does not know it and feels baffled. Many things the manas does are unknown to the mind consciousness, which shows that there are many matters the manas accomplishes alone, without the mind consciousness's participation, of which the mind consciousness is almost entirely unaware.

The deliberation, discernment, and choice that the manas makes relying on the mind consciousness require the mind consciousness to first discern the six sense objects in detail, then deliberate and make a choice, transmitting the result to the manas. The manas, based on this, then discerns, discriminates, and deliberates, and finally makes the final choice—which may be consistent with the mind consciousness's choice or may not be. The mind consciousness's deliberation, analysis, and choice are only a reference; the manas does not necessarily fully obey. The heavier the manas's self-nature, the less easily it obeys the mind consciousness's thoughts, views, opinions, suggestions, and choices, and the less easily it is persuaded and influenced. But under ordinary circumstances, the manas must rely on the mind consciousness's specific and detailed discernment, because the manas itself cannot make specific discernments and must rely on the mind consciousness's discernment to make judgments and choices, into which its own habitual tendencies are also mixed.

7. Question: When a family member is about to have an accident, one feels depressed for a long time in advance, crying inexplicably, tense and anxious. What is the reason for this? Is premonition the alerting function of the tathāgatagarbha or the alerting function of the manas?

Answer: First, one's own tathāgatagarbha corresponds to the portion of karmic conditions that have already manifested from the family member's karmic seeds. Based on the karmic conditions manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, the manas discerns that an accident is about to occur, and thus prompts the physical body to inexplicably shed tears, weep, feel depressed, terrified, uneasy, and agitated. The mind consciousness then speculates and deliberates: What is going on? What is about to happen? Then the mind consciousness thinks (through the manas's hints) that perhaps something has happened to so-and-so; after verification, it finally knows what has happened, knowing that one's family member has had an accident, or that someone closely related to oneself has had an accident. This accords with the principle of the manas's control over body and mind, and accords with the principle of the manas directing body and mind. In all of this there is the tathāgatagarbha's cooperation, but whatever the tathāgatagarbha discerns, it remains suchness immovable (tathatā-acalita), without arising thoughts; it cannot direct the physical body to produce various emotional reactions, cannot make the five aggregates weep, shed tears, or be agitated and restless—all of these are the results of the manas regulating body and mind.

Relying on the tathāgatagarbha's discernment, the manas also discerns the karmic conditions manifested by the tathāgatagarbha and knows that something is going to happen, thus producing a series of physical and mental reactions. To the mind consciousness this is baffling, but the manas knows, yet cannot articulate it. One can speak, has language and words, has initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra), yet does not know what has happened or what is about to happen; the other knows what is about to happen and what has already happened, but has no language or words and cannot articulate it. When these two interact, they must cooperate with tacit understanding, comprehending each other's intentions, in order to understand the matter clearly.

Premonition is the manas discerning the karmic conditions manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, thereby causing changes in the body and the mind consciousness. The tathāgatagarbha will not actively alert the mind consciousness. First, the tathāgatagarbha does not know specific matters and does not discern the six sense objects; second, the tathāgatagarbha has no mind—it is unmoved and unshaken toward all dharmas. If the tathāgatagarbha alerted the mind consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha would have initiative, which would not accord with the tathāgatagarbha's suchness immovability toward all dharmas. If the tathāgatagarbha were to stir in matters of wholesome and unwholesome, true and false, it would not allow the five-aggregate body to encounter various adverse conditions and evil retributions, and would not let the five-aggregate body go to the three evil destinies to suffer. The tathāgatagarbha can discern not only one's own karmic seeds but also the karmic seeds of others, but the tathāgatagarbha will not actively discern a particular person's karmic seeds; it still requires the manas to drive it.

Then, whose karmic conditions does the manas actually grasp at? Mainly those with whom it has formed deep connections in past lives, toward whom the manas has deep habits of craving and attachment, being rather attached, and therefore its grasping nature is strong. Therefore, it is not the case that the manas can be alerted whenever any family member in this life is about to have an accident. The more the manas cares about a person, the more it prompts the tathāgatagarbha to discern the karmic seeds and karmic conditions; toward those it does not care about, even if the tathāgatagarbha incidentally discerns the karmic conditions, the manas has no reaction, and the mind consciousness is even more unaware.

When the manas does not care about itself, when its own body develops illness and pain or encounters adverse conditions, the mind consciousness also does not know; even when the illness is very serious, the mind consciousness may not know, and the manas will not alert the mind consciousness. When the manas does not care about itself, it has other pursuits and cares about other matters—for example, devoting itself to studying Buddhism and cultivation while neglecting the feelings of its own physical body, or scientists devoted to research. Those with meditative concentration also do not care about some things, such as food, clothing, and bedding, being indifferent to the six sense objects. Some people's manas has discerned certain matters, but their mind consciousness is muddled and insensitive; even when they are about to die, they do not know it, while others know first.

8. Can the manas only contact the object of reflection-with-basis (parāvṛtta-lakṣaṇa)?

The manas contacts the mental sense objects and gives rise to the mind consciousness; the mental sense objects contacted by the mind consciousness must be those contacted by the manas; what the mind consciousness and the manas contact must be consistent. If the manas only contacted the object of reflection-with-basis and did not contact objective sense objects and subjectively imagined realms, then what reason would the mind consciousness have to contact objective sense objects and objects of reflection-with-basis, and how would it contact them? The secrets within the manas are too many; from the manas one can unlock the great secret of Buddhist practice and realization. If meditative concentration and wisdom are insufficient, in contemplating the manas one cannot find even the door.

If the manas does not contact the inner six sense objects of objective sense objects, how does it act as master to make the six consciousnesses direct attention (manaskāra), contact, and deliberate upon the inner six sense objects of objective sense objects? How does it direct the six consciousnesses to act upon the inner six sense objects? If the manas does not contact subjectively imagined realms, the mind consciousness also could not actively grasp at subjectively imagined realms. All kinds of discriminating delusions, wild fantasies—these dharmas are all first grasped at and taken up by the manas. Because of the manas's grasping and taking up, the deliberation mental factor arises, wanting detailed discernment; the tathāgatagarbha then complies and cooperates, giving birth to the mind consciousness at the place where the manas and the grasped mental sense objects meet. The three converge in contact, the mind consciousness then contacts the manas and the mental sense objects, and then the mind consciousness has no choice but to discern and discriminate the mental sense objects grasped by the manas. The mind consciousness is always passively directed by the manas to discern all dharmas; only after the manas has discerned does it summon the mind consciousness to make subtle discernments. The manas is the master consciousness, possessing a powerful master function, able to direct the six consciousnesses to turn with the manas. What the six consciousnesses do never exceeds the six sense objects within the range of the manas's discernment and its directing attention, feeling, perception, and volition.

What the mind consciousness and the manas contact must be consistent. The mind consciousness is born at the place where the manas and the mental sense objects touch, then the three converge in contact, and the mind consciousness discerns those mental sense objects. This is foundational Buddhist dharma; Buddhist practitioners must fully penetrate it in order to know the true procedure of the arising and operation of the six sense objects, and to know how the six sense object realms appear in the mind and are discerned by the consciousnesses. The manas can, through the tathāgatagarbha's discernment, make its own discernment, and then alert the mind consciousness; the manas knows and perceives before the mind consciousness. The content discerned by the mind consciousness must come from what the manas grasps at and directs attention to; it cannot exceed the range of the manas's grasping and discernment.

The World-Honored One said in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra that the manas silently encompasses all dharmas. All these dharmas include all dharmas manifested by one's own tathāgatagarbha—not a single dharma can be omitted; otherwise, the manas would not be that which silently encompasses all dharmas. If the manas had dharmas it does not universally contact, then it could not silently encompass all dharmas; it should be said to silently encompass only a portion of dharmas, which would contradict the World-Honored One's noble teaching, or one would have to say the World-Honored One's teaching was mistaken. If the World-Honored One's teaching were mistaken, the World-Honored One could not be called the World-Honored One, the Teacher of Gods and Humans, and the One of Omniscience (sarvākārajñatā). Then, according to the World-Honored One's noble authoritative teaching (āgama), since the manas can silently encompass all dharmas, it can contact all dharmas; otherwise, it could not silently encompass all dharmas.

If the manas cannot contact all dharmas, then upon what basis would the tathāgatagarbha manifest all dharmas in the mind? The manas is the driving force for the manifestation of all dharmas and the apparent ruler of the worldly dharmas of the three realms—this is one point. Second, if the manas cannot contact the dharmas manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, the manas would not have the five universal mental factors actively operating on those dharmas; the manas would not direct attention to those dharmas, and without the choice of the deliberation mental factor, the tathāgatagarbha would not comply with the manas's deliberation mental factor and cooperate with the manas to continue fabricating those dharmas. Then there would be no birth of the five consciousnesses, no birth of the mind consciousness to discern those dharmas.

Because the birth and discernment of the six consciousnesses are all driven and directed by the manas, and chosen by the manas; without the active operation of the manas's deliberation mental factor, the tathāgatagarbha has no reason to actively give birth to the six consciousnesses to discern and act; without the manas's choice, the tathāgatagarbha will not actively give birth to the six consciousnesses to make the six consciousnesses perform bodily, verbal, and mental actions. The manas is the ruler of all dharmas moment by moment; the tathāgatagarbha does not act as master and does not actively govern the fabrication of all dharmas. This is basic common knowledge of Buddhism; although rather deep, one should try one's best to comprehend and penetrate it.

Furthermore, if the manas did not grasp at and take up all dharmas, the tathāgatagarbha would not automatically give birth to the mind consciousness to discern subjectively imagined realms. Subjectively imagined realms are the result of the manas's grasping and taking up. The mind consciousness, at any time and place, will not arise independently apart from the manas, independently manifesting the seeds in the tathāgatagarbha as mental sense objects of subjectively imagined realms and then grasping at and discerning them; the mind consciousness cannot bypass the manas, the most important condition upon which its own birth depends. Without the faculty, there is no birth of consciousness; the tathāgatagarbha also cannot give birth to the mind consciousness without cause. The birth of the mind consciousness is the result of the manas's driving and choosing; the tathāgatagarbha only cooperates with and complies with the manas's choice. It is without self-nature and does not act on its own initiative.

Whenever the mind consciousness discriminates any mental sense object, it is because the manas wishes to discern some mental sense object, and the tathāgatagarbha, complying with the manas, gives birth to the mind consciousness to discern the mental sense objects. The manas is the master and controller of the mind consciousness; the mind consciousness cannot exceed the manas's range of discernment. All realms are grasped forth by the manas; especially subjectively imagined realms, which are even more manifested by the manas's grasping and taking up. If the manas had no clinging nature, its grasping nature would rarely become active, the six consciousnesses would rarely discern the six sense objects, the mind would not be scattered, the mind consciousness would not have so many delusions, and subjectively imagined realms would not appear—subjectively imagined realms are precisely the delusional realms of non-valid cognition. Like an arhat of the fourth fruit: because self-grasping has been eradicated, the mind consciousness is no longer scattered, dreams rarely appear, mental factors are reduced, and meditative power is very strong. An arhat liberated in both ways enters the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti) very quickly, because the manas no longer grasps and is not attached to the dharmas of the three realms; the mind consciousness does not entertain delusions, mental sense objects rarely appear in the mind, subjectively imagined realms rarely appear, and cessation becomes easy.

Only after the manas has grasped at something can subjectively imagined realms appear. The manas's grasping and taking-up nature can directly manifest the seeds in the tathāgatagarbha; because it cannot discern them clearly itself, it summons the mind consciousness to discern, and the mind consciousness has no choice but to discern the subjectively imagined realms. Thus delusions fly wildly, scattered thoughts abound, and it is difficult to enter concentration in meditation—all because the manas has not been tamed. Therefore, sentient beings' minds are very scattered, and cultivating meditative concentration is very difficult; meditative absorption does not easily appear.

What engages in scattered thinking and random thoughts is the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta); the objects of its deliberation and thought are subjectively imagined realms, unrelated to the five sense objects. This is clearly something grasped forth by the manas. When the manas has not been subdued and there is no meditative concentration, it prompts the mind consciousness to think scattered thoughts and engage in boundless fantasies—all of which manifests the manas's imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva). These doctrinal principles can be clearly experienced and observed. To cultivate meditative concentration well, one must subdue the manas's grasping nature, subdue the manas's everywhere-grasping imputed nature. Although these principles are deep, they are also basic Buddhist concepts.

9. Some say the manas's discernment is non-valid cognition, so what it contacts are all objects of reflection-with-basis. Then, after the bodhisattvas on the bhūmis transform consciousness into wisdom, when they no longer generate wrong views about some dharmas, no longer take some dharmas manifested by the tathāgatagarbha as real, no longer take them as the results of the manas's own discernment, nor as belonging to the manas itself—does the erroneous discernment result of the object of reflection-with-basis still exist? Then it no longer exists, or the erroneous discernment is reduced, the non-valid discernment is reduced, and it is no longer entirely non-valid discernment. Up to the buddha stage, the Buddha's manas has completely and thoroughly transformed consciousness into wisdom, no longer having even the slightest non-valid discernment; then no erroneous objects of reflection-with-basis arise—all are directly perceived, true and correct mental sense object realms, which is the result of the ultimate accomplishment of great wisdom. Then, since in the Buddha's realm there are no false realms of reflection-with-basis, if the Buddha's manas did not contact objective sense objects and subjectively imagined realms, what dharmas would the Buddha's manas contact?

For the manas of bodhisattvas on the bhūmis, erroneous discernment is reduced and objects of reflection-with-basis are reduced. Is the realm discerned by the bodhisattva's manas then reduced compared to the realms discerned by the manas of bodhisattvas before the bhūmis and ordinary beings? If so, the discernment of the manas of bodhisattvas on the bhūmis would have non-universal aspects, and it would not be the manas that silently encompasses all dharmas. Even for an ordinary being's manas, if there were realms it does not contact, it likewise would not be the manas capable of silently encompassing all dharmas; the manas's discernment would have non-universal aspects. Then how would the tathāgatagarbha manifest the dharmas in those non-universal aspects, and upon what basis? How would they appear in the mind consciousness? From this it can be seen that whatever dharmas the mind consciousness can contact, the manas must contact; and the dharmas the manas can contact are not necessarily contactable by the mind consciousness.

Theory—we need not study a great deal of it, but the wisdom of proper contemplative practice must be possessed; this is the necessary capital and condition for accomplishment in studying Buddhism. Otherwise, Sudhana (善财童子) could never, after studying with all the great bodhisattvas within one lifetime, become an equal-enlightenment bodhisattva. That would be sheer fantasy, yet it actually happened. Why could Sudhana, within one lifetime, cultivate to become an equal-enlightenment bodhisattva, while others in a lifetime cannot even touch the door of the Buddha's dharma? To follow what one has learned, contemplate properly, and then quickly realize it, meditative concentration must be possessed; only thus can one guarantee that upon hearing the dharma one contemplates properly, realizes it, and achieves accomplishment. Therefore, meditative concentration and wisdom, śamatha and vipaśyanā, are the important and indispensable conditions for studying Buddhism. That is to say, discipline, concentration, and wisdom are the three uncontaminated studies (trīṇi aśaikṣa-karmāṇi) for accomplishment in studying Buddhism—the three main and important indispensable conditions. Studying Yogācāra, one realizes and eradicates the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) most thoroughly, sees the mind most ultimately, and afterward one's progress on the path is fastest.

10. All dharmas contacted by the mind consciousness cannot be manifested by itself; whether directly or indirectly, they are all manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. The mind consciousness only plays a role in the middle of displaying the sense objects and facilitating the tathāgatagarbha's manifestation. The dharmas contacted by the mind consciousness necessarily require the manas as an intermediary to function; without the manas, no dharma would appear. For dharmas the manas does not contact, there is no reason to give birth to the mind consciousness; the mind consciousness cannot arise to discern dharmas, to display and point out the dharmas. The sūtras say the Buddha taught that consciousness arises with the manas and dharmas as conditions.

There is a special case cited: the manas contacts a cup, giving birth to the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness, glancing at it without seeing clearly, mistakes the cup for a pen holder. Some say this pen holder is not contacted by the manas but is manifested by the mind consciousness and contacted by it alone. We can consider: does the dharma "pen holder" actually exist? No. The pen holder is like a turtle's hair or a rabbit's horns. A turtle fundamentally has no hair; what does not exist is empty—what consciousness would be needed to manifest it? If it were manifested by the seeds of the four great elements, it would be manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. If it were manifested by the tathāgatagarbha using the seeds of the four great elements, then the turtle's hair would be a really existent dharma, visible to everyone with the naked eye. Yet even the Buddha cannot see a turtle's hair or a rabbit's horns—only what is not a really existent dharma cannot be seen.

Since it is not manifested by the tathāgatagarbha and is not a really existent dharma, the mind consciousness even less can manifest it. It has no seeds at all and has no qualification to manifest any dharma. By the same principle, the manas and the five consciousnesses also have no qualification whatsoever to manifest any dharma. Taking a rope for a snake, mistaking a cup for a pen holder—these are merely misrecognition, an ailing eye seeing flowers in the sky. Who could manifest flowers that do not exist? The shadow of a snake in a wine cup reflected from a bow on the wall is the same: there is no snake, no snake exists; for a dharma that does not exist, there is no question of who gave birth to or manifested it—it is merely misrecognition. It is like mistaking Zhang San for Li Si: there is no person named Li Si to begin with—who would manifest Li Si? With what capacity would one manifest Li Si? If Li Si were manifested with seeds, Li Si would be really existent; if an extra Li Si appeared, how would the household registration be counted, and into whose family would he be registered? If the eyes returned to normal, would this Li Si die and disappear? If Li Si were not manifested with seeds, there would be no person named Li Si at all—just an ailing eye seeing flowers in the sky. What meaning would there be in then debating whether Li Si is real or fake, his age, or whether he is male or female?

Where there is no manas on a dharma, there is no mind consciousness and no wild fantasies of the mind consciousness; all are dharmas provided by the tathāgatagarbha under the manas's direction, and the manas must contact them. But once the mind consciousness is born, it necessarily plays its due role; otherwise, the so-called third transformative consciousness would be meaningless. The second transformative consciousness is responsible for directing the tathāgatagarbha's manifestation; the third transformative consciousness is responsible for displaying images and discerning, for deliberation, analysis, and processing. Transformative agency (parināma) is not direct transformation; in essence, it is all the tathāgatagarbha that transforms. It is only that the manas and the six consciousnesses can assist in the manifestation and display, can guide the tathāgatagarbha's manifestation. The mind consciousness's directing attention can influence the manas's directing attention; the manas's directing attention can guide the tathāgatagarbha's directing attention. Therefore, only when the three converge can dharmas be born. When the mind consciousness deliberates by inference, if the manas, upon knowing it, approves of the dharma inferred, it will decide to manifest it, and the tathāgatagarbha will cooperate. The tathāgatagarbha does not obey the mind consciousness's choices; it only obeys the manas's choices.

11. What people call the subconscious and the unconscious usually refers to the manas. The manas mainly functions throughout the entire brain region, mainly functioning at the supreme faculties in the hindbrain, while the mind consciousness only functions in the hindbrain, not active in the forehead and front scalp area. That hindbrain region is called the supreme faculty (indriya); all six sense objects concentrate and appear there. The tathāgatagarbha projects the shadows of the external six sense objects there. The manas can certainly contact the mirror images of the six sense objects manifested by the tathāgatagarbha; the manas must contact first. After contact, the five universal mental factors such as directing attention arise, the deliberative nature arises, deciding whether to discern in detail; only then can the tathāgatagarbha give birth to the six consciousnesses, and the six consciousnesses then contact the six sense objects, giving rise to detailed discriminating functions.

Because the manas contacts the six sense objects first, the manas can sometimes directly and rapidly make certain reactions without going through the six consciousnesses' recognition. This shows that the manas contacts the mental sense objects first; it can also discern the general situation of the mental sense objects, only it cannot make detailed and specific discernments. After the manas contacts the mental sense objects, the tathāgatagarbha gives birth to the mind consciousness, and only then can the mind consciousness make subtle discernments of the mental sense objects and transmit the discerned content to the manas, and the manas will make a decision. Therefore, reactions to all matters include not only the reactions of the six consciousnesses but also the reactions of the manas—both are present.

If at the very beginning of a matter, a reaction is made without time to deliberate, that is the manas directly making a rapid reaction, because at that time the mind consciousness has not yet arisen. Even after the mind consciousness arises, there is no time to discriminate, and it simply obeys the manas's command. The manas first contacts the six sense objects; it discerns a portion first, discerns the general outline. Although its discerning wisdom is rather inferior, it can know the matter is major and relatively significant, and makes a rapid reaction according to its own habitual tendencies. And in the next instant the mind consciousness will also discern, but the mind consciousness has no time to deliberate and analyze, and has no autonomy or decision-making power; it completely complies with the manas in making the reaction, cooperating with the manas. Only after the matter is over can the mind consciousness carefully deliberate and analyze, only then know whether what was just done was right or wrong, and only then possibly feel regret.

As soon as the manas contacts the six sense objects, if it knows the special circumstances of the six sense objects—especially circumstances regarding the body faculty—the manas can immediately react. It knows the matter is major, unusual, and dangerous, and will react habitually. This kind of reaction is usually called the subconscious and the unconscious. At that first instant, the mind consciousness has not yet arisen, so there will be no reaction made by the mind consciousness; at the second instant, after the mind consciousness is born, it will act completely following the manas's decision, with no opportunity to deliberate and analyze. Only after the subconscious and unconscious reaction has passed does it become the mind consciousness's turn to carefully deliberate the whole event. Then it transmits the content of its deliberation and analysis to the manas, and the manas makes a new choice. Based on the mind consciousness's deliberation, the manas can know whether the previous reaction was right or wrong, and then gives rise to deliberation, deciding whether to remedy it or not. The mind consciousness's judgment is sometimes not approved by the manas, but sometimes also acknowledged, so that next time it can pay slightly more attention.

12. Focus does not necessarily mean contacting only one dharma

Is the meaning of the mind consciousness being focused the same as the mind consciousness contacting only one dharma? Can the mind consciousness contact only one dharma? For example, when admiring the moon, when the mind consciousness is focused, is the moon the only thing in the mind, knowing nothing else? At this time, besides being able to discern the moon, the mind consciousness also knows in the mind that it is nighttime, that the sky is dark, that what is seen is the moon in the sky, and also knows whether one is in a room or in the wild, and so forth. For example, when the mind consciousness is focused on investigating the huatou (话头), is the huatou the only thing in the mind, knowing nothing else? It is not so; the mind consciousness still participates in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, and some work, and still knows day and night and everything in the surroundings. For example, when a scientist is immersed in a research project, is the research project the only thing in the mind, knowing nothing else? Certainly not.

The mind consciousness being focused is equivalent to shooting an arrow toward the direction where the target is; contacting only one dharma is equivalent to accurately aiming the arrow at the bullseye. When the mind consciousness and the eye consciousness are aimed at the bullseye, do they still know whether it is day or night? Do they know whether one is lying down or standing, whether one is indoors or in the wild? The mind consciousness knows all these dharmas and is not confused; therefore, the mind consciousness is not contacting only one dharma, knowing only one dharma. It is only that when focused, the vast majority of attention is on the currently focused object. The manas can also be like this.

When ten people are together and the mind consciousness focuses on sizing up one of them, does it know there are other people nearby? Does it know whether it is bright or dark before its eyes? Does it know the background behind the other person? If it knows, then the mind consciousness cannot be contacting only one dharma, knowing only one dharma. The manas is the same, so the manas can also be so focused.

13. Whenever we are pleasantly surprised, astonished, terrified, shocked, or racking our brains without noticing, the mind consciousness has no way to deliberate—it is helpless. Yet the manas's mind moves very quickly, its deliberative nature is very powerful, and in the end, without relying on the mind consciousness's analysis, deliberation, and observation, it also comes up with a way to cope, averting a calamity and escaping danger. We usually say this person is very quick-witted and reacts quickly. Observe whether it is the mind consciousness that is quick-witted and reacts fast, or the manas that is quick-witted and reacts fast, or both? This depends on the specific circumstances. Reacting immediately, without time to deliberate—that is the manas's quick wit; being able to deliberate a little—that is the mind consciousness's quick wit; when the mind consciousness is quick-witted, in most cases the manas is also quick-witted. When one is spacing out, the mind consciousness spaces out, but the manas absolutely does not space out; the manas never has a moment of being dazed without deliberating—space out more yourself and experience it, and you will know.