The Right Understanding of Manas
Chapter 6: How to Realize the Manas
1. Search for the manas according to its characteristics and nature. For example, the manas has moment-by-moment mastery and moment-by-moment decision-making; all bodily, verbal, and mental actions are created through the manas's moment-by-moment mastery and moment-by-moment direction. Every bodily action and deed is directed by the manas—from this one can realize the manas; every verbal action is directed and created by the manas—from this one can realize the manas; every mental action is directed and created by the manas—from this one can realize the manas.
Especially in sudden events, when the mind consciousness has no time to think at all yet a decision is made—that which makes the decision is the manas. When the manas directs the body to suddenly dodge, when a certain movement suddenly appears, that directing and deciding agent is the manas. In fact, even ordinary, non-sudden bodily and verbal actions are carried out under the manas's mastery and direction; the manas is the function of intuition. If one's mind is more subtle and one's meditative concentration (samādhi) is better, even without sudden events occurring, one can find the manas in its constant moment-by-moment mastery. Every bodily action and deed, every verbal action and deed, is directed and decided by the manas.
When asleep without dreams, the mind consciousness has ceased, and there is no consciousness to perceive the existence of the manas. Even if the manas can perceive its own existence, it cannot tell the mind consciousness, because at that time there is no consciousness; what the manas knows cannot be clearly expressed in language and words, so the mind consciousness cannot know it clearly.
The manas is also a consciousness, possessing the discriminating and differentiating nature of consciousness. It can discriminate apart from the mind consciousness, and can discriminate prior to the mind consciousness. However, the manas's discriminations are rather coarse and cannot be fine; it discriminates details unclearly, and sometimes makes erroneous discriminations. In discriminating the six sense objects, the manas is far inferior to the mind consciousness in clarity, fineness, and depth. The mind consciousness is the tool for contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and reflection upon the six sense objects; behind it, the unnoticed manas and the tathāgatagarbha support it, continuously supplying energy, continuously exercising mastery, and continuously directing—only then can the mind consciousness operate continuously.
2. When we are in the mode of "I... I... I," when the mind thinks "I... I... I," look for the manas right there. The so-called "I" includes the "I" of the mind consciousness and the "I" of the manas. If you separate the natures of the two, you can find the "I" of the manas—the one that is relatively deeply hidden, very stubborn, capable of decisive judgment, and not very receptive to persuasion—that is the "I" of the manas. This is seeking the manas at the place where it functions, thereby realizing the manas. When you think "I... I... I," you can reflect right there, reflecting on which one is the manas's "I" that likes to direct and act as the master.
However, this is somewhat more difficult; it is not as good as seeking the manas, which exercises mastery at every moment, in its quality of mastery. "What am I going to do? How am I going to do such-and-such?"—that mind which acts as master and makes decisions is the manas. Searching this way is relatively faster and easier. For example, when one feels hungry, the manas habitually wants to eat; the moment it decides to eat, the mind consciousness begins to think about what to eat, and so the mind consciousness starts searching for food; after finding it, the manas decides to eat immediately. In this process, the manas's major acts of mastery and decision occur many times, while its subtle acts of mastery are countless, beyond counting. Find that "I" which acts as master—that is the manas.
3. When all dharmas are operating, exclude the analytical and reflective function of the mind consciousness, and discover that there is an habitual function that brooks no deliberation, which can act as master and decide with great swiftness and agility—that is the manas; that which directly directs the body to react is the manas; that which directly causes changes to appear in the body is the manas. For example, upon seeing a venomous scorpion crawling onto one's body, one instantly feels the heart pound and flesh jump—this is a reaction triggered by the manas; upon hearing terrible news, one's face instantly changes color, the head buzzes, one stands stunned and dazed, with no, the easier it is to find the manas that directs the response. Because the mind consciousness simply has no time to react or to think, it is entirely the manas that makes decisions and choices based on its own habits and inertia accumulated over beginningless kalpas, and then lets the six consciousnesses produce bodily, verbal, and mental actions—extremely quickly.
For example, when something suddenly flies in from outside and is about to hit you, you nimbly dodge in an instant, without allowing time for thought; the mind that decides to dodge is the manas. Since beginningless kalpas, He has clung to the body as self, and has constantly been mindful of the physical body as self; He knows the condition of the physical body and all conditions related to it. When a sudden event occurs, it is He who makes the body dodge immediately so as not to suffer any harm whatsoever—that which decides to dodge hastily is the manas.
Or, when boiling water at home, the water boils, and suddenly a bit of the boiling water scalds your body or hand; you instantly fling your hand away—the one that makes this decision is the manas. Because the mind consciousness has no time to think about how to respond—when this sudden hot tactile sense object contacts the body, the mind consciousness has no time to consider whether it is dangerous or how to handle it, nor time to analyze what is happening—the manas decides to fling the hand away immediately to avoid the scalding tactile object, making the body react and respond rapidly; this is the manas's decision. Only after flinging the hand away does one feel a bit of lingering fear, a bit of pain and distress; the reaction at this point is that of the mind consciousness.
Separate the two natures of the manas and the mind consciousness; once separated, it becomes easy to find the manas. As for the eight consciousnesses, when the five aggregates are operating, separate each consciousness, disassembling them into individual consciousnesses, and observe the operation of each one; then you can know the functional nature of each consciousness. Separate the seven consciousnesses, and after finding them all, the one remaining is the manas. Contemplating the eight consciousnesses in this way, one can realize them quickly and very directly. Observing and reflecting on the falsity of the five aggregates is the same: separate the activities of the five aggregates, contemplating them aggregate by aggregate; then the functional nature of each aggregate is understood, and one can observe the arising-ceasing and mutable nature of a particular aggregate, and know that they are all impermanent, false, and without self.
4. Question: In daily life one can find and experience the manas. For example, when the skin itches, when one is hungry, thirsty, or hot, or when one very much wants to do something—knowing that the final decision is the manas's affair, the mind consciousness deliberately refrains from carrying it out and stubbornly delays. During this period, observe what the manas is doing and what it is thinking. After all, the manas still has the volition of deciding whether or not to carry it out. This is tracing the clues of the manas—its source, its origin. If this is done over a long time, can one thereby find and realize the manas?
Answer: This is also a good method for realizing the manas. The manas makes decisions moment by moment—that is, it acts as master. The manas decides to scratch the itch, decides to eat, decides to drink water, decides to go out for some fresh air, decides to go do something. As long as something is done, it is decided and directed by the manas—here one can find the manas. If the mind consciousness deliberately does not execute the manas's指令, observe the manas's reaction, and you can know the manas's mental activities and habitual tendencies; if you feel anxious and impatient, that is the manas.
When the mind consciousness does not execute the manas's指令, there is simultaneously the manas's指令 to temporarily not do something, because the mind consciousness can never act as master; whether to do something or not is decided by the manas, and even the mind consciousness's unwillingness to obey the manas is also consented to and decided by the manas. From this it can also be seen that the manas sometimes does comply with the mind consciousness's decisions; it is not completely willful and headstrong, not entirely a one-man dictatorship or militaristic rule of thought. The manas must act as master and make decisions moment by moment in every event; from this characteristic one can find the clues of the manas and thereby realize the manas.
5. Question: Consciousness arises where faculty and sense object make contact; the mind consciousness will not arise anywhere other than at the supreme faculty (indriya). Can one then conclude that the manas is located at the supreme faculty?
Answer: The manas is also not entirely located at the supreme faculty; the entire brain is held and sustained by the manas. The manas is not apart from the supreme faculty, but neither is it located solely at the supreme faculty. Beyond the supreme faculty, there are also mental sense objects (dharma-viṣaya), which must be discriminated by the manas. As long as the eighth consciousness manifests dharmas, the manas will necessarily rely on the eighth consciousness to be mindful of them and discriminate them.
