Theoretical Realization and Practical Realization
Chapter 10: How to Bring the Manas's Function into Play to Gain Greater Wisdom
Some people doing scientific research say that our brain scans the external environment five times per second. What they are referring to is actually the manas, but the frequency is not that slow; the instruments' measurements are inaccurate. The manas, at every moment, instant after instant, is constantly clinging to and engaging with the objects of the six sense objects. This so-called clinging and engaging is what that research report called conditioned reflex—this scanning. Conditioned reflex belongs to karmic force, seeds, habitual reactions, nerves, and so on; it is a reaction made by the manas. All dharmas that the manas contacts are manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. Whatever the tathāgatagarbha manifests, the manas can engage with. The manas is extremely quick and agile, and its capacity for engagement is extremely broad. What the manas can engage with, the mind consciousness does not necessarily all know; there is much content that the mind consciousness does not know.
The scope of what the mind consciousness knows is not as broad as what the manas knows. The range of the manas's engagement is quite extensive. Look at karmic force—the tathāgatagarbha produces it for you; the nervous system, all aspects, matters of the body and physiology—the tathāgatagarbha manifests all of them for you. After they are manifested, the manas engages with them first, and after the manas engages with them, sometimes He will react directly. Why does He react directly? One reason is that the matter is too significant; another is that His habitual tendencies make it so. Especially when it involves the body or matters concerning oneself, His habitual force can manifest very rapidly, not allowing the mind consciousness any opportunity to initiate deliberation at all.
That research enables us to have a deeper understanding of the natures of the mind consciousness and the manas, and a deeper knowing of all the object-aspects manifested by the tathāgatagarbha; we will then know that these object-aspects are all what the manas engages with. The scope of the mind consciousness's discrimination is still somewhat smaller than that of the manas. When can it discriminate more? When the mind consciousness attains the wisdom of wondrous observation, after cultivating to the stage of a bodhisattva of the several bhūmis, the scope of its discrimination can come close to the scope of the manas's discrimination. After becoming a Buddha, the scope and content of both discriminations may be nearly the same. Then the dharmas that the manas can engage with, the sixth consciousness can also engage with. All the dharmas manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, the mind consciousness with the wisdom of wondrous observation can also know.
That research shows that when a person's mind settles down and becomes quiet, inspiration will appear. What does this mean? When the mind becomes quiet and settled, the mind consciousness becomes relatively deep and subtle. That is to say, the mind consciousness no longer gives rise to coarse, rough functions of thinking and analysis. But does the mind consciousness still exist? Here there is still the mind consciousness, only it is relatively deep and not easy to detect, and the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala) is somewhat weaker. Because the mind consciousness has already been clarified, there is no coarse discrimination, and the information transmitted to the manas is correspondingly reduced, and the content transmitted is relatively deep and subtle; at this time the manas will also settle into tranquility (praśama).
After the manas has settled into tranquility, it will then bring its proper function into play. The manas also has discriminating wisdom, also has the mental factor of volition (cetanā), and also deliberates (manasikāra). When the mind consciousness transmits the content of its discrimination to the manas, the manas will deliberate at a deep level. At this time the function performed by the manas is relatively greater, and the power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) can be stronger than usual. When the manas's function is great, it can deliberate matters clearly and thoroughly. The mind consciousness's thinking mainly operates on the surface level; if there is deep and subtle contemplation, the manas's deliberation must also be involved in it. Although the manas's discriminating wisdom is inferior, the manas can still discriminate and can still deliberate.
Therefore, when the mind has settled down, the manas's function of deliberation is brought into play to a greater extent. When the deep and subtle content discriminated by the mind consciousness is transmitted to the manas, the manas can deliberate it clearly. Then we have inspiration, and we will say: "Ah, so that's how it is." At this time the manas has understood; otherwise it is merely the mind consciousness's superficial thinking and cognition, which the manas may not understand or accept. Therefore, when we settle our minds to think about a problem, often the manas will also know this principle, and the manas will confirm the dharma being deliberated, as if we had inspiration.
Once the manas has deliberated and understood, then we have thoroughly clarified a matter. Without wasting energy or racking our brains to think and consider, the matter is resolved. So when we investigate Chan (canchan), we should work in exactly this way; when engaging in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and contemplating the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) and eighteen realms, we should practice contemplation in this way. Clarify the mind consciousness, let the manas bring its deliberative function into play more, let inspiration manifest, and the manas will realize the corresponding dharma—then we eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa). Investigating Chan is the same: settle the mind down, let the mind consciousness think at a deep level and transmit it to the manas; the manas, through its own repeated, deep and subtle deliberation, finally confirms. Once He confirms that this is the eighth consciousness, that is seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment. Otherwise, if the mind consciousness is merely thinking and analyzing on the surface level—"it's this way, it's that way"—the manas does not understand, does not comprehend, and He cannot realize the eighth consciousness.
This proves that the power of meditative concentration (dhyāna) is very great. Meditative concentration is also called "tranquil contemplation" (śamatha-vipaśyanā), and tranquil contemplation is also called quiet thinking; it can filter out those surface-level miscellaneous thoughts and scattered imaginings. By removing the surface-level miscellaneous thoughts, one can enter deep-level thinking. And deep-level thinking is precisely the manas's deliberation. When the manas's function is brought into play to a considerable extent, one can clarify the true reality of all dharmas, investigating the true meaning of a matter clearly and thoroughly—at this time it is realization and enlightenment. If it is merely the mind consciousness's surface-level analysis, that analysis is unreliable; often the element of guessing and imagining is great, and it cannot reach the essence and root of the matter.
If one can settle the mind down, and the mind consciousness does not perform simple surface-level analysis but can deeply and meticulously investigate and engage in contemplative practice, then the two consciousnesses cooperate with each other, communicating and exchanging, and can thoroughly clarify the matter, getting to the bottom of it completely. The manas brings into play its inherent power of the subconscious, the unconscious, and habitual force. When these two cooperate, wisdom arises, problems will be solved, and all matters can be thoroughly understood and comprehended.
Those who are emotionally agitated are all cognizing matters and principles on the surface level of the mind consciousness, unable to understand and investigate deeply and meticulously, and the manas cannot deliberate well either; then one cannot recognize the essence of matters, and the reactions made are often mistaken. Therefore, the more closely the mind consciousness and the manas cooperate, the more fully their functions can be brought into play; the deeper and more meticulous the investigation, the more clearly one can recognize the essence of things, and thereby realize the fundamental root of the Buddha-dharma.
Keep a problem constantly suspended in your mind, without deliberately analyzing and thinking about it, and one day you will be able to solve that problem. This is similar to investigating a huatou (critical phrase): suspend the huatou deeply in the mind, do not deliberately analyze, think about, or interpret it. Apart from sleep, the mind is on the huatou; both the mind consciousness and the manas are deliberating deeply. When a certain juncture of causes and conditions arrives, the truth is fully revealed and the problem is investigated and understood. Suspended deeply in the mind, although on the surface it appears that no thought is stirring and no thinking or analysis is occurring, the manas is nevertheless constantly corresponding with this huatou, and the mind consciousness has not set the huatou aside either; it is merely thinking deeply and slowly, moving very deeply and subtly.
When the huatou is suspended in the mind, the deeper it is suspended, the more the manas can bring its function into play, giving rise to deliberative nature at every moment. When the two consciousnesses join forces, one can realize the eighth consciousness—this is the method of investigating the huatou and investigating Chan. Once the investigation is understood, one possesses the wisdom of non-discrimination. The wisdom of non-discrimination is the wisdom obtained when one clearly understands the eighth consciousness and realizes the eighth consciousness. The eighth consciousness is the great wisdom mind that does not discriminate; having realized Him, one has the wisdom of non-discrimination.
