A Guide to the Cultivation and Realization of the Mind: Part Two
Chapter Eight: Mental Factors Associated with Manas
I. The Operation of the Five Universal Mental Factors
The statement that the five universal mental factors are universally concomitant means that they accompany all consciousnesses and all dharmas. Wherever consciousness operates, the five universal mental factors are necessarily operating. Without the five universal mental factors, consciousness cannot operate, exist, or engage in discerning activities. Moreover, since the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) and the seventh consciousness (manas) are necessarily operating in all dharmas, the five universal mental factors inevitably accompany the operation of these two consciousnesses.
The mutual co-arising of the five universal mental factors means that these mental factors arise and operate together as a cluster. For example, when the eighth consciousness gives rise to a dharma, all five universal mental factors must accompany the eighth consciousness throughout its operation without exception. However, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses are different. After the sixth and seventh consciousnesses apply attention (manaskāra), if they are not interested, contact (sparśa) does not occur, especially for the seventh consciousness, manas. After contact occurs, sensation (vedanā) is not necessarily present, especially for manas. After sensation, perception (saṃjñā) is not necessarily present, especially for manas. After perception, volition (cetanā) is not necessarily present, especially for manas. If the mental factors of manas do not proceed further, the six consciousnesses cannot arise, or if they arise, they will cease and vanish. Especially if the volition mental factor of manas does not arise, none of the six consciousnesses can arise. This reveals the sovereign, ruling position of manas and the extent of its authority.
The Buddha Dharma is profound. If contemplation is even slightly inadequate, deviations will arise. Yet the contemplation of the vast majority of people is deviant, and they are unable to discover this themselves. Precisely because their own contemplation is inadequate, they have no choice but to accept the words of famous figures one hundred percent, relying on a ready-made answer, considering it ultimate and reliable, unaware even when it is wrong. This is an extremely common phenomenon in the Buddhist community today.
II. Sensation (Vedanā) of Manas
Manas does not only have neutral sensation (upekṣā-vedanā); it also has pleasant (sukha-vedanā) and unpleasant (duḥkha-vedanā) sensations. Because manas has ignorance (avidyā) and afflictions (kleśa), and possesses wholesome and unwholesome mental factors, it necessarily experiences pleasant and unpleasant sensations. Due to these pleasant and unpleasant sensations, greed (rāga) and hatred (dveṣa) afflictions arise. If manas only had neutral sensation, it would be unmoved by being beaten, scolded, or humiliated. Although the sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna) might feel upset, it would pass quickly without any retaliatory actions. This is the excellent cultivation and virtue of great practitioners, which ordinary people simply do not possess. If manas only had neutral sensation, it would be unmoved by praise that elevates it to the heavens, remaining indifferent in the face of power, sex, fame, and profit, without chasing after them, indifferent to glory, wealth, and honor. Although the sixth consciousness might like these things, it would merely be a slight liking without taking action or putting it into practice. This is the moral conduct and cultivation of great practitioners, which ordinary people do not exhibit.
Because manas’s reception of the six sense objects (ṣaḍ-viṣaya) often requires the assistance of the six consciousnesses, which have a clear discerning function regarding objects, its sensation is also obvious and direct. In contrast, manas’s sensation appears more indirect and subtle, not easily detected by the sixth consciousness, hence it is said that manas has no sensation. Regarding sensations in the physical body, they are directly received by the sixth consciousness and the body consciousness (kāya-vijñāna). Physical pain and comfort are directly felt by the body consciousness and the sixth consciousness. When the six consciousnesses are absent, such as during unconsciousness or deep sleep, the body consciousness and sixth consciousness have no sensation of physical pain or pleasure. But does manas have sensation then? Manas certainly has sensation, which is why it summons the six consciousnesses during unconsciousness or sleep to discern and find ways to address physical problems. Even if it does not summon the six consciousnesses to wakefulness, the facial expressions and body postures during unconsciousness or sleep indicate that manas has sensation.
Sentient beings take the sensations of the six consciousnesses as the only sensations and thus cannot perceive the sensations of manas. When the wisdom of the sixth consciousness is insufficient and lacks the wisdom of the path (mārga-jñāna), it cannot observe that manas has sensation. Therefore, it is not surprising that many people say manas has no sensation, but this is not correct reasoning. The five universal mental factors are attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), sensation (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā). Manas also possesses these five universal mental factors, so manas necessarily has sensation.
III. The Neutral Sensation (Upekṣā-vedanā) of Manas
Neutral sensation is a sensation that does not feel pleasant or unpleasant. There is some truth to saying manas has neutral sensation. Manas has neutral sensation regarding bodily contact; it does not directly experience the objects of the six senses (ṣaḍ-viṣaya). No matter how severe the physical pain, manas does not feel the pain; it is the body consciousness and sixth consciousness that feel the pain. When the body consciousness and sixth consciousness are absent, the physical body does not feel pain. For example, during surgery, if the body consciousness and sixth consciousness are present, the person is conscious and will experience intense pain. To eliminate pain perception, anesthesia is administered to first extinguish the body consciousness, then the sixth consciousness, so that cutting the body does not cause pain.
When experiencing a toothache, after falling asleep and the six consciousnesses cease, the pain is no longer felt, but the inflammation remains, and pain resumes upon waking. Sometimes, the pain can even wake one up at night. Why can pain wake one up at night? During unconsciousness, although the body is in poor condition, pain is not felt, but upon regaining consciousness, the pain becomes unbearable. When undergoing retribution in hell, one faints from the pain to avoid feeling it, but karmic forces (karma) do not allow the sinner to remain unconscious. A karmic wind blows, and the sinner regains consciousness to continue suffering retribution. In meditative absorption (dhyāna), pain perception also diminishes or disappears because the six consciousnesses either vanish or become very faint.
Therefore, pain is a sensation jointly experienced by the body consciousness and the sixth consciousness. Manas does not have such sensation; even if it did, the sixth consciousness would not know and could not observe it. Sentient beings take the sensations of the six consciousnesses as the only sensations. When the six consciousnesses cease or become faint, regardless of what sensations or mental activities manas has, the sixth consciousness is unaware. Not knowing, it assumes manas has no sensations or mental activities, or that manas is very simple and shallow in wisdom.
When the function of manas becomes strong enough to replace the six consciousnesses, all sensations belong to manas. At this stage, manas’s cultivation of meditative concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (prajñā) is already extremely sublime, almost entirely neutral sensation, with no emotional fluctuations. The manas of ordinary sentient beings still experiences pleasant and unpleasant sensations, not just neutral sensation. It has psychological sensations similar to those of the sixth consciousness—grievance, depression, frustration, resentment, joy, happiness, excitement—with significant emotional fluctuations, leading to expressions like towering rage, dancing with joy, and visible delight.
IV. The Mental Factors Implied in "Tui-qiao" (Deliberation)
The term "tui-qiao" (推敲, literally "push-knock") originates from an anecdote about the Tang Dynasty poet Jia Dao composing poetry, describing his mode of thinking and state of effort when selecting words and phrases. To find the appropriate words, the poet continuously searched mentally to express the intended mood of the poem, accompanied by physical gestures of pushing and knocking. Initially, the sixth consciousness deliberates and investigates (vitarka-vicāra), gradually transitioning to the deliberation and investigation of manas. The deliberation and investigation of manas are extremely subtle and concealed, to the point where the sixth consciousness seems inactive, without thought, similar to meditative inquiry (参禅).
What mental factors arise when Jia Dao pondered and deliberated over words and phrases? There were the five universal mental factors, the five object-specific mental factors (pañca-viṣayāḥ), and perhaps wholesome mental factors (kuśala-caittāḥ) and afflictive mental factors (kleśa-caittāḥ) as well. During deliberation, the mental factor of attention (manaskāra) first arises, directing the mind to the object of deliberation. The mental factor of contact (sparśa) arises, bringing the mind into contact with the object of deliberation. The mental factor of sensation (vedanā) arises, receiving and accepting the object of deliberation. The mental factor of perception (saṃjñā) arises, recognizing and apprehending the object of deliberation. The mental factor of volition (cetanā) arises, continuously considering the object until it is finally understood and determined, followed by subsequent actions. When gesturing with the hands to "push" and "knock," the five universal mental factors of the five consciousnesses and the five-sense-door consciousness also arise.
During attention, the mind is relatively concentrated, with the sixth consciousness and manas focused on the corresponding object. The arising of the sensation mental factor may be less frequent than at other times, as the mind is preoccupied with pondering the issue. If the deliberation process touches upon a scene particularly sensitive to manas, the sensation mental factor may arise. This sensation is an internal stirring and feeling, not caused by changes in the external six sense objects. The sensation mental factor initially means acceptance, reception, and taking in, because if the issue is not received and accepted, one cannot proceed to think about it, cannot engage in volition, cannot arrive at a final volitional result, cannot make decisions or engage in subsequent actions, and wisdom cannot arise.
Throughout the processes of perception and volition, the mental factor of concentration (samādhi) is always present. There is also the mental factor of conviction (adhimokṣa). Conviction should mean correctly understanding the general meaning of the object, i.e., grasping the gist, arriving at a relatively reasonable answer, view, concept, or conclusion regarding the object of contemplation. During deliberation, the mental factors of desire (chanda), mindfulness (smṛti), and concentration (samādhi) also arise. The desire mental factor is the desire to deliberate, driving the sixth and seventh consciousnesses to deliberate, to select words and construct sentences. After conviction, mindfulness of the meaning of the words forms the mental factor of mindfulness. Focusing on deliberation is the function of the concentration mental factor.
V. The Mental Factor of Conviction (Adhimokṣa)
Regarding conviction towards dharmas, all seven consciousnesses possess it because each consciousness has its corresponding dharmas. If any consciousness lacks conviction regarding its corresponding dharmas, that consciousness cannot clearly recognize those dharmas, and subsequent operations will not occur, or all subsequent operations will be completely disordered. Sentient beings would be unable to live, work, or practice normally; nothing could be discussed. This is true for the six consciousnesses, and even more so for the seventh consciousness. If the sovereign consciousness (manas) lacks conviction regarding the dharmas it corresponds to, it would be like the world falling into chaos. It would be difficult even to be an ignorant sentient being; even bacteria can have conviction regarding the situations they face. How could human and heavenly beings, as higher sentient beings, have a sovereign seventh consciousness lacking conviction regarding sense objects and other dharmas? How then could it regulate the operation of the five aggregates (skandhas)? It cannot be like a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse, muddledly giving commands; such a five-aggregate body could not survive.
For example, consider someone wanting to buy flowers. Upon arriving at the flower market and seeing numerous flowers to choose from, the eye consciousness must have conviction regarding the colors of the flowers seen to know their hues. The sixth consciousness must also have conviction regarding the flowers to know if they are vibrant and fresh, and if they are what one wants to buy. Manas must have even greater conviction regarding the flowers, being even clearer about the varieties, colors, prices, etc., that the six consciousnesses see and select. Only then can a decision to buy or not buy be made. If unclear or indecisive, manas will continue to have the six consciousnesses select and compare until completely clear and satisfied, then make the final decision, concluding the act of buying flowers. It is like this for all dharmas. The discerning situation of the six consciousnesses must be fully comprehended by the seventh consciousness, manas, to propel the operation of all dharmas, preventing disorder and enabling the five-aggregate body to live and work normally.
VI. The Wisdom (Prajñā) of Manas is Most Crucial
All eight consciousnesses possess the wisdom mental factor (prajñā). Setting aside the wisdom of the eighth consciousness for now, among the wisdom mental factors of the first seven consciousnesses, the wisdom mental factor of the seventh consciousness, manas, is the most important and crucial in cultivation and realization. It represents the fundamental level of wisdom of a sentient being. Because manas determines the arising and operation of the six consciousnesses, determines all bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses, and to some extent determines the wisdom of the six consciousnesses. The first six consciousnesses are subordinate to manas; thus, the wisdom of manas plays a decisive role, concerning the life and death of sentient beings, and whether they are liberated or bound by birth and death.
If manas lacks wisdom, even if the six consciousnesses possess wisdom, it is useless. The karmic actions created by the six consciousnesses are governed by manas. What kind of karmic seeds (bīja) are planted is determined by the mental activities of manas. What kind of karmic results and retribution will manifest in future lives is determined by the mental activities of manas. Whether future lives involve birth-and-death saṃsāra or liberation and Buddhahood is determined by the mental activities of manas. Therefore, the wisdom that severs the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and the wisdom of realization (悟), along with all samādhi wisdom, are attained by manas. Without the wisdom of manas, cultivation cannot bear fruit, including the fruit of stream-entry (srotāpanna) and the path of stream-entry (srotāpatti-phala-pratipannaka), and all transformations during the stage of an ordinary person (pṛthagjana).
VII. Two Types of Afflictive Mental Factors of Manas
The afflictive mental factors of manas are divided into two types. One type constantly accompanies manas in operation, unceasing even for a moment, such as the afflictive mental factors mentioned in the *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra*: self-view (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), self-conceit (asmimāna), self-love (ātma-sneha), and ignorance (ātma-moha). The other type does not constantly accompany manas in operation; this refers to mental factors other than the above four afflictions, such as the greater, middling, and lesser derivative afflictions (upakleśa) like hatred, anger, etc. If these afflictions were constantly active, the bodies and minds of sentient beings would be severely harmed, life would be chaotic, and existence would not be long. Only self-view, self-love, self-clinging, and self-conceit afflictions are constantly active afflictions for ordinary sentient beings.
When all people encounter profound Dharma, they cannot engage in direct observation (pratyakṣa-bhāvanā) and can only superficially understand a little, so they can only memorize texts. The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination (dvādaśāṅga-pratītyasamutpāda) reveal that sentient beings cycle incessantly in the six realms due to the ignorance of manas. If manas were without ignorance, the twelve links would cease, the afflictions of sentient beings would cease, and they would be liberated from birth and death. "Ignorance conditions volitional formations; volitional formations condition consciousness." Fully understanding these seven characters makes one realize whether manas truly has hatred or not. If there is no hatred within the ignorance of manas, it would not prompt the six consciousnesses to create karmas of hatred, reducing karmas leading to birth and death by nearly half. Hatred in the sixth consciousness is inconsequential because the sixth consciousness cannot determine the creation of hatred karmas; thus, there would be no seeds of hatred karmas and no karmas of hatred leading to birth and death.
Furthermore, where does hatred in the sixth consciousness originate? How does it arise? Many people can neither directly observe whether manas has hatred nor clarify the logical dialectical relationship between manas and the sixth consciousness, nor understand the origin of the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses. They only memorize texts and consider their shallow understanding correct. As stated in the *Śūraṅgama Sūtra*, in the very beginning of a sentient being's life, there is only manas and the ālaya-vijñāna. After manas gives rise to thoughts, heaven, earth, the myriad things, and the five aggregates and six consciousnesses come into being. If manas has no hatred, where does the hatred in the sixth consciousness come from? How do hatred karmas arise? Why do sentient beings fight and contend with each other? How does this arise?
Afflictions of the sixth consciousness are easily subdued and eradicated. Merely understanding the theory can effectively control afflictions. However, because manas does not eradicate afflictions, when encountering fundamental problems, if the sixth consciousness is negligent, afflictions immediately appear, and the person's true nature is revealed. For example, in dreams, or after drunkenness, when the sixth consciousness is weak and lacks reason, the afflictions of manas are fully manifested. Are the hatred and hateful actions after drunkenness also those of the sixth consciousness? Why is it easier to create unwholesome karmas after drinking? Why does one's true nature show after drinking? Why does one's character show after drinking?
Subduing afflictions refers to temporarily eradicating the afflictions of the sixth consciousness, but this is not permanent. If the afflictions of manas are not eradicated, the afflictions eradicated by the sixth consciousness can resurface when conditions are sufficient, fundamentally uncontrollable. Therefore, hatred is only completely eradicated at the third fruit (anāgāmin). This indicates that manas only eradicates hatred at the third fruit. Hatred in the sixth consciousness can be eradicated during the stage of an ordinary person who understands the principles, but this is not ultimate. Under special conditions, hatred can still appear in the sixth consciousness. For example, some people have gentle personalities, exceptionally good tempers, never getting angry under normal circumstances—this is a state of no hatred in the sixth consciousness. But once encountering special circumstances, touching their bottom line, such a person might still kill someone. This is the hatred of manas manifesting.
VIII. Afflictive Mental Factors of Manas
Question: If the emotion of hatred reaches the level of gnashing one's teeth, is this deep hatred of manas, a reaction of manas? Does manas have the lesser derivative affliction of hatred?
Answer: Manas is the sovereign consciousness; bodily, verbal, and mental actions are governed, commanded, and directed by manas. The physical activity of gnashing teeth is directed and commanded by manas. Regardless of what thoughts, ideas, or emotions the sixth consciousness has, it cannot command or direct the body to gnash its teeth. If one regards manas as a normal consciousness, it becomes easy to understand all mental activities of manas, and there will be no misunderstanding.
Manas is the master of the five-aggregate body, constantly governing all its bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Our cultivation is precisely about cultivating manas, transforming manas. After manas undergoes the three transformations into wisdom (tri-vijñāna-parāvṛtti), Buddhahood is attained. If manas lacked certain afflictions of ignorance, then cultivation would only involve the sixth consciousness, and manas could be ignored. Cultivating the sixth consciousness is very simple, very easy, and effortless. Merely studying the principles and contemplating with the sixth consciousness leads to understanding, clarity, and wisdom; mental activities can change, transforming oneself. Yet, in reality, cultivation is extremely difficult, absolutely not this simple and quick. Changing oneself is very hard; it requires long-term familiarization, long-term introspection, and subduing oneself in various circumstances to achieve even a little progress. The ignorance and afflictions of manas are extremely numerous and profound, not easily subdued or eradicated; thus, cultivation feels difficult.
The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination show that the ignorance of manas leads to subsequent immeasurable suffering of birth-and-death saṃsāra. This demonstrates that manas possesses all afflictions of ignorance. If manas had no ignorance, only the sixth consciousness did, there would not be beginningless kalpas of birth-and-death suffering, as the ignorance of the sixth consciousness is easily resolved. Then one must further contemplate: where does the ignorance of the sixth consciousness come from?
What we commonly call "I" refers to manas, primarily manas. When saying "I," it is the thoughts and views of manas emerging. The deep-rooted, habit-ridden thoughts and views of "I" are manas. Therefore, to observe manas, one need only observe one's own arising thoughts and habitual tendencies. "I" is manas; observing manas is observing "I." Approaching the effort from this perspective is not difficult. The relatively profound thoughts and views within the mind, difficult to discover and observe, belong to manas. Deep-rooted, bone-deep habitual afflictions and wisdom are manas's, extremely hidden, difficult to know, difficult to change. The thoughts and views of the sixth consciousness float on the surface, easily influenced, easily discovered, easily subdued, easily changed. If cultivation did not involve manas, learning Buddhism would be relaxed and pleasant, and attaining Buddhahood would be very rapid.
All functional roles of manas within the five aggregates can be observed. Only by knowing what the facts are, what the truth is, can one say what manas has and does not have, or speak definitively, or affirm. Otherwise, one must follow the Buddha's teaching: "Do not trust your own mind." One's judgment is severely limited by the wisdom of direct perception (pratyakṣa). When wisdom is insufficient for observation, one must diligently cultivate, striving to be able to observe truthfully and directly as soon as possible, to attain true wisdom, wisdom of reality (yathābhūta-jñāna), and wisdom of direct perception. Before this, doubt remains doubt; one cannot draw a conclusion of reality, so do not draw a conclusion. Learning Buddhism and cultivating must adhere to this attitude to avoid the fault of erroneous evaluation and judgment.
Strive to penetrate the Dharma, connect it coherently, and the meaning of the Dharma will become clear. No dharma exists in isolation; all have a subject and are connected by a main thread. Grasping the essence of all dharmas as a whole makes them easy to understand and master. Learning Buddhism and cultivating is not about memorizing rules but about integrating theory with practice, actually observing whether the theories encountered accord with principle and reality. Strive to engage in direct observation in practice, observing the operation of the five aggregates, observing body, speech, and mind. True knowledge comes from practice; practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. This applies to both the Buddha Dharma and worldly dharmas. Learning Buddhism is about seeking truth; truth is fact, reality that no one can change. Taking fact as one's reliance, taking truth as one's reliance, is what the Buddha taught as "relying on the Dharma" (依法). Only then can one achieve results without error.
IX. Observing the Mental Factors of Manas from the Perspective of the Twelve Links
The three links in the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination—"ignorance conditions volitional formations; volitional formations condition consciousness; consciousness conditions name-and-form"—clearly reveal that the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death for sentient beings is all caused by the ignorance of manas. Because of the ignorance of manas, sentient beings have wholesome and unwholesome karmas and the six realms of rebirth. Therefore, the ignorance of manas includes all afflictions, possessing all afflictive mental factors. Because sentient beings possess all afflictions, they have the suffering of segmental birth-and-death (分斷生死) and changeable birth-and-death (變易生死). Once the ignorance of manas is completely eradicated, sentient beings attain Buddhahood. At this point, manas possesses all wholesome mental factors, which constantly accompany its operation, whereas previously they did not constantly accompany it, especially during the stage of an ordinary person, when they rarely accompanied manas.
In summary, manas possesses all mental factors, no fewer than the sixth consciousness. If manas did not possess all afflictive mental factors, the mind would not be so defiled, would create fewer karmas leading to birth and death, and suffering would be less. Yet sentient beings, throughout immeasurable kalpas, have experienced all sufferings of birth and death and created all karmas leading to birth and death. This indicates that manas possesses all afflictive mental factors. If manas did not possess all wholesome mental factors, the mind would not be completely and thoroughly pure, and one could not attain Buddhahood. Yet all sentient beings will ultimately attain Buddhahood, so manas possesses all wholesome mental factors. However, these wholesome and unwholesome mental factors do not constantly accompany manas in operation. For ordinary sentient beings, only the four fundamental afflictions—self-view, self-conceit, self-clinging, and self-ignorance—constantly and unceasingly accompany manas, not parting for an instant. Thus, these four fundamental afflictions are the root cause of karmas leading to birth and death and the suffering of birth and death. From these four fundamental afflictions, other afflictions manifest intermittently.
If the affliction of self-view is severed, the other three fundamental afflictions will gradually be eradicated as well. Once the four fundamental afflictions are severed, all other afflictions will be completely eradicated, and segmental birth-and-death ends. Therefore, after sentient beings sever self-view, the affliction of self-view can neither constantly nor intermittently accompany manas in operation. Even after self-clinging and self-conceit afflictions are completely eradicated, they can neither constantly nor intermittently accompany manas but will never accompany manas again. The same applies to self-ignorance. Once completely eradicated, the manifest afflictions of manas are exhausted, and upon death, one can transcend the three realms and enter the remainderless nirvana (nirupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa).
Ordinary sentient beings' manas lacks wholesome mental factors; they do not constantly accompany manas but are sometimes present, sometimes absent, sometimes hidden, sometimes manifest. Once manas eradicates afflictive mental factors, wholesome mental factors will gradually become complete and constantly accompany manas in operation. This is the mental activity of a noble one (ārya), not an ordinary person. In summary, the manas of ordinary sentient beings only has the four fundamental afflictions constantly accompanying it. Other afflictions are sometimes present, sometimes absent, sometimes hidden, sometimes manifest. As stated in the *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra*, the wholesome mental factors of ordinary sentient beings' manas are also sometimes present, sometimes absent, sometimes hidden, sometimes manifest. After eradicating afflictions and becoming a noble one, wholesome mental factors will frequently accompany manas, eventually becoming constant companions.
In recent decades, many people have profoundly misunderstood the mental factors of manas. The reason lies in severe deficiencies in concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (prajñā), making it impossible to directly observe the mental activities of manas. Their comprehension is also weak, leading to misunderstandings of the Bodhisattvas' expositions, a misunderstanding persisting to this day. Because the levels of concentration and wisdom among the great Bodhisattvas vary, contradictions inevitably appear in their expositions. If such situations arise, one should prioritize the expositions of Bodhisattva Maitreya, who possesses the deepest wisdom. If supported by sūtras, one should prioritize the sūtras. If not supported by sūtras, one should take genuine realization as the standard, take facts as the standard, for facts ultimately speak louder than words.
