Mental Factors of the Mind base\: A Practical Compass (Second Edition) (with over 30,000 additional words, reorganized)
Section Three: The Mental Factors Corresponding to Each Consciousness
I. The Mental Factors Corresponding to the Eight Consciousnesses
Mental factors are the dharmas possessed by the conscious mind; they are the traces of mental activity during the mind's operation, assisting the functioning of the eight consciousnesses. The mental factors corresponding to the eight consciousnesses were summarized by the Bodhisattva Vasubandhu into a maximum of fifty-one. However, there are more subtle mental factors that were not included, such as those related to emotions like panic, fear, joy, happiness, etc. These mental factors are neither wholesome nor unwholesome in nature and do not affect realization in essence. Each consciousness has its own mental factors, which are not identical. Different beings at different stages of practice also have different mental factors, determined by and changing with the mind. Therefore, it is difficult to say precisely how many mental factors each consciousness has, nor is it possible to definitively state what mental factors each being possesses. Each case must be analyzed according to specific circumstances; generalizations cannot be made.
Generally speaking, the mental factors of the eight consciousnesses include: The Five Universals: contact, attention, feeling, perception, and volitional formation; The Five Particulars: aspiration, resolve, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom; The Eleven Wholesome Factors: faith, shame (regarding faults), propriety (regarding others), non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion, diligence, tranquility, heedfulness, equanimity, and non-harming; The Six Fundamental Afflictions: greed, hatred, delusion, conceit, doubt, and wrong views; The Eight Major Secondary Afflictions: lack of faith, laziness, heedlessness, torpor, restlessness, forgetfulness, lack of awareness, and distraction; The Indeterminate Mental Factors: regret, sleep, coarse examination, subtle examination; The Two Medium Secondary Afflictions: shamelessness and lack of propriety; The Ten Minor Secondary Afflictions: anger, enmity, resentment, concealment, deceit, flattery, arrogance, harmfulness, jealousy, and stinginess.
Among these, the Eleven Wholesome Mental Factors are opposed to the afflictive mental factors. Where one exists, the other does not. If the conscious mind possesses wholesome mental factors, it lacks the corresponding afflictive mental factors; if it possesses afflictive mental factors, it lacks the corresponding Eleven Wholesome Mental Factors. A single conscious mind cannot simultaneously possess both wholesome and unwholesome mental factors; it is either wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral, but never both at the same time.
For example, when encountering a specific state or dharma, if the conscious mind has the mental factor of faith, it cannot have the mental factor of lack of faith, nor can it be half-believing and half-doubting. Conversely, the same applies; they cannot coexist. If it has the mental factors of shame and propriety, it cannot have shamelessness and lack of propriety. If it has non-greed, it cannot have greed. If it has non-hatred, it cannot have hatred. If it has non-delusion, it cannot have delusion. If it has diligence, it cannot have laziness. If it has tranquility, it cannot have torpor. If it has heedfulness, it cannot have heedlessness. If it has equanimity, it cannot have anger, enmity, or resentment. If it has non-harming, it cannot have harming. Of the two opposing factors, only one can be present; they cannot coexist.
So, does the eighth consciousness possess the twenty-six afflictive mental factors? Certainly not. The eighth consciousness has no ignorance, no afflictions whatsoever. It possesses wholesome mental factors and also neutral mental factors. If it lacked wholesome mental factors, it would have unwholesome ones. The wholesome mental factors of the eighth consciousness are: faith, non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion, diligence, tranquility, heedfulness, equanimity, and non-harming. It lacks the mental factors of shame and propriety because the eighth consciousness never creates mental actions that wrong oneself or others; thus, there is no need for shame or its absence. The three mental factors of non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion are easily understood: the eighth consciousness has no ignorance, so naturally it has no afflictions of greed, hatred, or delusion; its mind is liberated from all afflictions.
The eighth consciousness has the mental factor of heedfulness. It never indulges itself in seeking ease and pleasure because it is unattached to all dharmas. It never feels weary, does not crave states, does not like states, and does not detest states. Therefore, it neither indulges itself nor pursues comfort; it possesses the mental factor of heedfulness.
The eighth consciousness has the mental factor of equanimity. Equanimity is the state of mental activity being impartial, balanced towards all dharmas, not dwelling on the past, not clinging to the future, with a peaceful mind, neither slow nor hurried, abiding in the middle way, with a neutral nature. The eighth consciousness is precisely such a mind.
The eighth consciousness has the mental factor of non-harming. It has no mind of opposition or harm towards any person, thing, or principle. If any person, thing, or principle is improper, the eighth consciousness does not pursue it at all, absolutely indifferent to anything. Therefore, it does not give rise to harmful mental actions. Although it manifests all phenomena, wholesome and unwholesome, the eighth consciousness has never discriminated or treated them with mind; it never gives rise to thoughts, and neither good nor evil can affect the mind of the eighth consciousness.
II. The Mental Factors of the Eighth Consciousness
The mental factors of the eighth consciousness of sentient beings include the Five Universals: attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volitional formation; the Five Particulars: resolve, mindfulness, concentration (whether it has aspiration requires further observation); and the wholesome mental factors: faith, non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion, diligence, tranquility, equanimity, non-harming. It lacks the twenty-six afflictive mental factors and the four indeterminate mental factors. The mental factors of the Buddha's eighth consciousness include the Five Universals, Five Particulars, and the Eleven Wholesome Factors, without afflictive or indeterminate mental factors (its specific operation is currently unobservable).
The Five Universal Mental Factors of the eighth consciousness accompany its operation moment by moment, never separating for an instant, because the eighth consciousness is constantly operating upon all dharmas. It discerns karmic seeds, the five-aggregate body, the material world, and the mental actions of the seventh consciousness (manas). For any dharma manifested by the eighth consciousness, the eighth consciousness can discern it, and thus the Five Universal Mental Factors accompany its operation.
The mental factor of attention: the eighth consciousness focuses on all dharmas it discerns, directing the mind towards the dharmas to be discerned. Next, it contacts the dharmas to be discerned. Then it receives the dharmas being contacted. Afterwards, it discerns the received dharmas, and the appearance of the dharmas arises in the mind. This differs significantly from the appearances arising in the minds of the seven consciousnesses. The eighth consciousness does not have the appearances of worldly dharmas; it does not manifest specific appearances of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas. However, it necessarily discerns the distribution and operational state of the six fundamental elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space, consciousness) of the dharmas. Subsequently, the mental factor of volitional formation arises in the eighth consciousness, deciding how to produce or change the corresponding dharmas. By regulating the output of the six fundamental elements, it causes dharmas to appear, cease, and change.
The eighth consciousness’s discernment of the seventh consciousness (manas) primarily discerns the mental factors of manas and the dispersion and concentration of consciousness seeds. Thus, it knows what dharmas manas is focused on and how it intends to act. Within the limits permitted by the karmic seeds, the eighth consciousness satisfies the desires and thoughts of manas.
Among the Five Particular Mental Factors, the eighth consciousness has the mental factor of resolve. After the eighth consciousness discerns karmic seeds, the five-aggregate body, the material world, and the mental actions of manas, it can accurately know and reasonably cognize these dharmas, and the mind can accept and acquiesce to them. Only then can it engage in creation. This process is resolve. If it cannot correctly interpret these dharmas, it cannot subsequently produce and change all dharmas reasonably and truthfully.
For example, after the eighth consciousness discerns the decision of manas’s volitional formation, it can correctly and accurately know what manas’s decision is and recognize and believe in manas’s decision. Only then can it follow manas’s intention and transform dharmas. If the eighth consciousness cannot resolve manas’s intention, it would chaotically produce and change dharmas, failing to cooperate normally with manas, and the world would be in chaos.
Another example: the eighth consciousness discerns karmic seeds and can resolve what they are, thus knowing how to produce dharmas based on them. If it cannot resolve what the karmic seeds are, it cannot produce dharmas normally, and the world would be in great disorder. For instance, if the karmic seeds indicate that a person should have a car accident, but the eighth consciousness fails to correctly discern and resolve this information, not only does the accident not occur, but the body’s illness is eliminated instead, or the person gets promoted and becomes wealthy. In this way, cause and effect cannot be realized truthfully; good deeds bring no good retribution, evil deeds bring no evil retribution, and the world becomes abnormal. Therefore, the eighth consciousness must have the mental factor of resolve.
"Acquiesce" (忍可) means to accept, to comply without opposition. The patience of non-arising (无生忍) and the patience of the non-arising of dharmas (无生法忍) also mean this: non-opposition, acknowledgment. This is completely different from the "patience" (忍) of ordinary people, which is like a knife in the heart. The latter involves a mind and concept of endurance. The patience of non-arising and the patience of the non-arising of dharmas are not like that, and the acquiescence of the eighth consciousness is even more different. Without realizing the eighth consciousness, one cannot truly understand the difference between it and the minds of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, nor experience its mental activities.
The eighth consciousness also has the mental factor of mindfulness. For example, while in the womb, the eighth consciousness discerns karmic seeds while simultaneously outputting the four great elements (earth, water, fire, wind) to transform and produce the physical body of the fetus. After discerning the karmic seeds, it remembers them in mind and outputs the corresponding four great elements onto the body. When the eighth consciousness transforms and produces organs like the ear, it remembers how much it has transformed, what it has transformed, and considers how to transform next, when to transform what, how much of the four great elements to use, and what the proportional structure is. It keeps track of all this mentally, and this mental accounting is the mental factor of mindfulness. It just cannot express it outwardly; it is not as articulate as the sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna). For dharmas that the eighth consciousness is currently maintaining and transforming but has not finished transforming, it remembers when to continue transforming them, what to transform when, and where to transform them. The eighth consciousness thinks about these things; it keeps track mentally. It has these thoughts. All dharmas are "remembered" (念) into existence by the eighth consciousness, just as the Sixth Patriarch said: "True suchness neither thinks nor does not think."
The eighth consciousness also has the mental factor of concentration. Statements like "The Naga is ever in samadhi, never out of samadhi," "The Śūraṅgama samādhi," "The vajra-like samādhi," etc., refer to the concentration of the eighth consciousness. It is extremely firm; it neither enters nor exits. No dharma can destroy the concentration of the eighth consciousness; no dharma can cause the eighth consciousness to exit concentration or make its consciousness scattered, dull, or restless. No worldly concentration is even one ten-thousandth of the eighth consciousness's concentration. When the eighth consciousness intends to realize wholesome or unwholesome karmic seeds, to realize causes, conditions, and results, nothing can stop it. It is unmoved by coercion or temptation, "unshaken by the eight winds, seated firmly on the purple golden lotus." Towards all dharmas, worldly and transcendental, the eighth consciousness does not cling or pursue; it is attached to no benefit, not even desiring Buddhahood. Desireless and seeking nothing, its concentration is like vajra.
The eighth consciousness also has the mental factor of wisdom. The wisdom of the eighth consciousness is called Prajñāpāramitā, the great wisdom that can reach the other shore of life and death, the great wisdom that does not immerse in life and death but is liberated from all dharmas, the great wisdom that can discern all dharmas and create all dharmas. The eighth consciousness's wisdom of discerning karmic seeds as they are, and its wisdom of delivering the six fundamental elements to transform all dharmas little by little or rapidly, cannot be matched by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses even after they become Buddhas.
The eighth consciousness's great wisdom of knowing the state of all dharmas as they are cannot be matched by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses no matter what. The wisdom of a Buddha's sixth and seventh consciousnesses might ponder the ultimate, yet still cannot compare to the wisdom of the eighth consciousness. The eighth consciousness's incomparable Śūraṅgama samādhi, that supreme great wisdom, can simultaneously encompass all dharmas and simultaneously process all dharmas, regardless of distance or time (past and present), without the obstruction of time and space, bestowing blessings and handling everything. Therefore, the eighth consciousness has concentration and wisdom, absolutely incomparable to the concentration and wisdom of the seventh consciousness, and beyond the imagination of Bodhisattvas below the first bhūmi.
III. The Mental Factors of the Seventh Consciousness
The mental factors of the seventh consciousness are very complex because all the wholesome and unwholesome karmic retributions of sentient beings since beginningless time are accomplished due to the wholesome and unwholesome mental factors of the seventh consciousness, manas. Whether ordinary beings experience retribution in the three wholesome realms or the three unwholesome realms, or whether it is the superior retribution of the four holy ones—Arhats, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas—all are accomplished due to the wholesome and unwholesome mental factors of manas. The difference in retribution from hell to Buddhahood is so vast, all caused by differences in the mental factors of manas. Although the wholesome and unwholesome mental factors of the sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna) also greatly influence retribution, the wholesome/unwholesome nature of the sixth consciousness is, on one hand, defiled by manas, and on the other hand, the wholesome/unwholesome nature defiled by the environment can only truly influence and affect the final retribution if it defiles manas. If it does not defile manas, it means the essential nature of the person has not changed, and the retribution cannot change.
Since the mental factors of manas determine the wholesome and unwholesome retributions of sentient beings in future lives, and sentient beings indeed have different wholesome and unwholesome retributions, then manas must have wholesome and unwholesome mental factors. Moreover, the degree of intensity of the wholesome and unwholesome mental factors in the manas of each sentient being differs. Beings in the three unwholesome realms possess afflictive mental factors in full; Buddhas possess wholesome mental factors in full; other beings possess neither in full. Since the mental factors of manas differ so greatly among different beings, the various mental factors of their manas must be described separately according to the category of being; generalizations cannot be made.
Since beginningless time, the seventh consciousness of sentient beings has always had ignorance and afflictions. After studying Buddhism and practicing, due to the constraints of precepts and the growth of concentration and wisdom, ignorance and afflictions are continuously subdued and eradicated, afflictive mental factors continuously lessen and decrease, the Eleven Wholesome Mental Factors continuously increase and strengthen, and the functions of the Five Particular Mental Factors also continuously increase and strengthen. Therefore, the mental factors of the seventh consciousness must be described separately according to the stage and degree of practice.
(A) The mental factors of the seventh consciousness in ordinary beings include the Five Universals, the Five Particulars, the afflictive mental factors greed, hatred, delusion, conceit, doubt, wrong view, lack of faith, laziness, heedlessness, forgetfulness, lack of awareness, distraction, restlessness, shamelessness, lack of propriety, anger, enmity, resentment, concealment, deceit, flattery, arrogance, harmfulness, jealousy, stinginess, and also the Eleven Wholesome Mental Factors, etc. It lacks the mental factor of torpor. Among the indeterminate mental factors, it has regret, coarse examination, and subtle examination, but lacks the mental factor of sleep.
Coarse examination (寻) and subtle examination (伺) differ. Coarse examination is the heavy, rough activity of the mind: seeking, searching, inferring, deducing, thinking, analyzing... Subtle examination is the subtle, detailed activity of the mind: waiting, investigating, scrutinizing, pondering finely, researching finely... Coarse examination is generally the mental activity of the sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna). Manas also has the activity of coarse examination, but it is extremely difficult to observe. When the sixth consciousness forgets certain people or events, manas enters a state of coarse examination. The sixth consciousness might be in a state of coarse examination or subtle examination. When manas is in a state of subtle examination, the sixth consciousness has long ceased coarse examination and might not even be engaged in subtle examination, leaving manas operating alone. Considering coarse and subtle examination: when the sixth consciousness is without a single thought, manas is definitely not without thought; manas is still deliberating. Whatever it deliberates, even deliberating about "not deliberating," is manas engaged in coarse or subtle examination.
The subtle examination of manas is even harder to observe than coarse examination because its mode of operation is too subtle. Therefore, countless people deny the existence of most of manas's mental factors, considering them non-existent, when in fact they are unobservable. Not knowing or understanding and simply denying them—this mentality is truly unwholesome, the mind is dishonest, and wisdom cannot grow. Honesty is also a mental factor, belonging to the wholesome ones, but it was not included in the fifty-one mental factors.
All mental activities, mental states, mental modes of operation, and mental natures belong to mental factors, which can be wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral. Coarse examination is aimless searching, like shining a flashlight everywhere, moving obviously and quickly. Subtle examination is after searching everywhere and finding a general target, then focusing attention on observing the target, moving lightly and slowly. During Chan (Zen) practice, after finding a general direction and focus for investigation, one begins to lock onto a target for observation and inquiry, the mind becoming more subtle and difficult to detect.
The mental factor of regret involves remorse, repentance, self-reproach, or aversion towards one's past actions. Sometimes it belongs to wholesome mental factors, sometimes to unwholesome ones. Ordinary beings and those below the first bhūmi (the Three Worthy Stages) have regret in manas, sometimes wholesome, sometimes unwholesome. Saints who have severed afflictions and purified their minds also have regret in manas, but it is always wholesome. If someone regrets doing a wholesome deed, that is an unwholesome dharma. Bodhisattvas of the eighth bhūmi and above, whose afflictive habits are exhausted, have no regret in manas because they no longer do wrong things. The manas of a Buddha certainly has no mental factor of regret due to great wisdom. If beings in hell regret their unwholesome karma, the unwholesome karma is immediately destroyed, and they immediately emerge from hell; this is wholesome. The sixth consciousness of beings in hell is preoccupied with suffering and has no mind for regret. Even if the sixth consciousness can regret, it cannot eliminate unwholesome karma and get out of hell because the sixth consciousness is not the master.
The manas of ordinary beings almost possesses all afflictive mental factors. Due to these afflictive mental factors, they transmigrate in the six paths life after life, suffering without end. However, it varies whether each sentient being possesses all afflictive mental factors, whether they can all manifest, and the degree of their afflictions. Of course, ordinary beings' manas also has wholesome mental factors; otherwise, they could not ascend to the heavens to enjoy blessings. The six paths of rebirth would have only five paths, lacking the heavenly path; the human path would have no wholesome retribution, and the asura path would have no wholesome retribution either. Even within the human path, one could not become a wholesome person, do wholesome deeds, and thus have no wholesome fruits in the future. The fact is, even beings in the three unwholesome paths have wholesome minds; otherwise, they could not be reborn as humans or devas in the future. It's just that the wholesome minds of beings may not manifest temporarily or manifest less frequently.
(B) Ordinary beings with the four dhyānas and eight samāpattis have manas corresponding to the mental factor of concentration; they can enter the four dhyānas and eight samāpattis and be born in the desire realm heavens, form realm heavens, and formless realm heavens. Secondary afflictions decrease; mental factors like laziness, heedlessness, forgetfulness, distraction, torpor, restlessness, etc., are absent. The mental factor of concentration among the Five Particulars strengthens. Those without meditative absorption (dhyāna) have no mental factor of concentration in manas. Therefore, the mental factors of the seventh consciousness in ordinary beings are not fixed; they need not be the same for each person.
However, for those who have attained meditative absorption and those who have realized the holy fruits, the common characteristic of the mental factors of manas and the sixth consciousness is that afflictive mental factors lessen and decrease, while wholesome mental factors increase and strengthen.
(C) The mental factors of the seventh consciousness in Bodhisattvas before passing the "firm barrier" (牢关) in the Three Worthy Stages and in Stream-enterers (Srotāpanna) and Once-returners (Sakṛdāgāmin): The mental factor of self-view is eliminated. Several major secondary afflictions decrease. The mental factor of lack of faith is eliminated; the mental factor of faith increases and strengthens. The mental factor of lack of awareness is eliminated. The mental factor of torpor was originally absent. Laziness, heedlessness, restlessness, forgetfulness, and distraction lessen or are eliminated. Major secondary afflictions lessen. Medium secondary afflictions may lessen or be eliminated. Simultaneously, all Eleven Wholesome Mental Factors increase and strengthen. Among the Five Particular Mental Factors, resolve, concentration, and wisdom strengthen. These vary depending on the person; they are not identical for everyone.
(D) Bodhisattvas after passing the "firm barrier" and Bodhisattvas above the first bhūmi (地后菩萨) have, due to the initial transformation of consciousness into wisdom in the seventh consciousness, mental factors including the Five Universals and Five Particulars, and the Eleven Wholesome Factors, but not in full possession nor at their most powerful; only at Buddhahood are they fully possessed and most powerful. The fundamental afflictive mental factors are all eliminated. All major secondary afflictions are eliminated. Medium secondary afflictions lessen or are eliminated. Minor secondary afflictions are gradually exhausted in Bodhisattvas from the fourth to the seventh bhūmi. The mental factors of the seventh consciousness in Non-returners (Anāgāmin) and Arhats also change. Arhats have all afflictive mental factors eliminated. Non-returners still have some afflictive mental factors. Wholesome mental factors increase. The Five Particular Mental Factors also strengthen but are not fully possessed, roughly equivalent to those of Bodhisattvas after passing the "firm barrier." However, they cannot eradicate minor secondary afflictions; their habits still exist. The mental factors of a Buddha's seventh consciousness fully possess the Five Universals, Five Particulars, and Eleven Wholesome Factors, with no other mental factors.
IV. The Mental Factors of the Sixth Consciousness
The mental factors of the sixth consciousness are, on one hand, defiled by the mental factors of manas, and on the other hand, transformed by the defilement of the environment. At birth, the mental factors of the sixth consciousness are completely influenced and directed by manas, having no autonomy whatsoever. As one gradually grows up, they are increasingly influenced by the surrounding environment—parents, relatives, playmates, school education, television, the internet, etc. Thus, a child born inherently good may gradually develop bad habits, or a child born with bad habits may gradually become well-behaved. This is the effect of environmental defilement. If a child's inherent wholesome or unwholesome habits are very strong, they are less susceptible to environmental defilement. A good child remains good and does not learn bad; a bad child remains bad and does not learn good. In such cases, the influence of manas appears quite significant. Furthermore, the mental factors of the sixth consciousness can influence and habituate manas. After habituating manas, the karmic seeds change, karmic force is reversed, and retribution changes.
The sixth consciousness of ordinary beings corresponds to the fifty-one mental factors, but not everyone's sixth consciousness fully possesses all fifty-one. Some mental factors do not manifest; some manifest when conditions are ripe. Some people manifest many afflictive mental factors; then wholesome mental factors manifest less. Those whose afflictive mental factors manifest fully have extremely heavy afflictions and quite poor character.
The mental factors of the sixth consciousness of sentient beings are at most fifty-one. They can be fewer than fifty-one, down to twenty-one for Bodhisattvas of the eighth bhūmi and above. When fully possessing twenty-one mental factors, it completely transforms consciousness into wisdom and becomes a Buddha. Therefore, the mental factors of sentient beings differ, with different emphases. Especially the sixth consciousness mental factors of non-Buddhist ordinary beings with the four dhyānas and eight samāpattis are clearly fewer than fifty-one. The mental factors of Bodhisattvas in the Three Worthy Stages before passing the "firm barrier" and Stream-enterers and Once-returners must decrease, mainly because the fundamental afflictive mental factor of self-view is absent, and major secondary afflictions also decrease and lessen. The mental factors of Arhats: fundamental afflictive mental factors are all eliminated; major and medium secondary afflictions are eliminated; minor secondary afflictions still exist but are lessened. Non-returners still have the fundamental afflictions of conceit and delusion uneliminated but significantly lessened; major and medium secondary afflictions are eliminated; minor secondary afflictions remain, with heavier habits than Arhats.
The mental factors of Bodhisattvas after passing the "firm barrier" and those above the first bhūmi are roughly the same as those of Śrāvaka Non-returners and Arhats. However, for Bodhisattvas above the first bhūmi, minor secondary afflictions gradually lessen and decrease from the first bhūmi and are eliminated before entering the eighth bhūmi. If manas has no afflictions or habits, the sixth consciousness certainly has none even less. The mental factors of the sixth consciousness of Bodhisattvas above the eighth bhūmi initially correspond to the twenty-one mental factors: the Five Universals, Five Particulars, and Eleven Wholesome Factors, but not fully possessed; only at Buddhahood are they fully possessed.
V. The Mental Factors of the Five Consciousnesses
The mental factors of the first five consciousnesses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body) first include the Five Universal Mental Factors. As soon as the five consciousnesses arise, the Five Universal Mental Factors accompany their operation. The five consciousnesses also have the Five Particular Mental Factors. Among them, the mental factor of aspiration is the desire, pursuit, and clinging towards the five sense objects (forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches). Most of the time, this is mobilized and directed by manas, and it also manifests influenced by the aspiration mental factor of the sixth consciousness. Occasionally, it arises due to the attraction of the five sense objects and continues, e.g., the eye consciousness sees a soft light and wants to contact and discern it more. This is the mental factor of aspiration. This aspiration is very simple, without any autonomy; it is entirely approved and decided by manas. Not wanting to leave this light belongs to the mental factor of greed; aversion to and avoidance of this light roughly belongs to the mental factor of hatred.
Actually, the five consciousnesses do not have the mental factor of hatred; it is regulated by manas. For example, glaring at someone with the eyes is hatred; this is done by the body consciousness, reflecting manas's hatred towards the person, and perhaps also the sixth consciousness's hatred. If the mind knows the person is hateful and hates them, that is the sixth consciousness's hatred. Hating someone without reason, or without clear justification, or uncontrollably even when advised, or arising upon encountering a situation without time for thought—this is manas's hatred. Actually, even greed is somewhat forced; it mostly reflects the greed of the sixth consciousness and manas.
The mental factor of resolve in the five consciousnesses is the clarity towards the object, not being confused, knowing exactly what one is discerning, without illusion. The mental factor of mindfulness is that after the five consciousnesses discern an object, they have a certain memory of it. This memory is very brief. If the mind can remember the object and want to cling to it, it is mostly caused by manas's mindfulness or manas's desire; it is the result of manas's direction, sometimes influenced by the sixth consciousness. The mindfulness of the five consciousnesses themselves is not clear and distinct; it lacks an obvious mindful nature. The mental factor of concentration in the five consciousnesses is the relatively focused discernment of the object. This focused discernment is mainly directed and controlled by manas; it is facilitated by manas, sometimes influenced by the sixth consciousness. The five consciousnesses themselves have no active thoughts or actions. The mental factor of wisdom in the five consciousnesses allows accurate judgment and discernment of the five sense objects without erroneous discernment.
Because the five consciousnesses can only face coarse five sense objects and cannot discern mental objects (dharmas), their wisdom is inferior. They have little mental activity, little capacity for thought or discrimination, and thus have few wholesome or unwholesome mental factors. Wholesome and unwholesome mental factors mainly operate upon mental objects. Thoughts and concepts belong to mental objects. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses correspond to mental objects, hence they have so many wholesome and unwholesome thoughts and concepts, and wholesome/unwholesome mental factors; the five consciousnesses do not. The five consciousnesses have slight fundamental afflictions: greed, hatred, delusion, and doubt. A small amount of greed is actively generated by the five consciousnesses themselves; most is directed by manas. Hatred is almost entirely caused by manas. Delusion is mostly directed by manas; a small part belongs to their own weak discriminative power.
If the five consciousnesses have doubt, they can only doubt the accuracy and truthfulness of the five sense objects they themselves discern; they do not doubt other dharmas. Doubting whether one saw clearly is the doubt of the sixth consciousness or manas. The five consciousnesses do not have the broad doubt about all dharmas like the sixth consciousness and manas because their mental power is weak; they have little thinking power, and their wisdom is extremely inferior. Therefore, alone, they have little mental activity, few afflictions, and little wholesomeness. Most of the time, they only have wholesome/unwholesome mental factors by relying on manas and the sixth consciousness; they manifest wholesome/unwholesome mental factors only when driven by manas or influenced by the sixth consciousness. Mostly, they are neutral.
The major secondary afflictions of the five consciousnesses, caused by manas, include lack of faith, laziness, heedlessness, forgetfulness, lack of awareness, distraction, and torpor. They lack restlessness, the medium secondary afflictions shamelessness and lack of propriety, and the minor secondary afflictions. Therefore, they also lack the opposing wholesome mental factors. Because the five consciousnesses are relatively coarse and lack slightly finer thinking power, they themselves have few wholesome/unwholesome mental factors; what they manifest is all the wholesome/unwholesome nature of manas. Non-Buddhist ordinary beings with the four dhyānas and eight samāpattis have major secondary afflictive mental factors in the five consciousnesses lessened and decreased. Fundamental afflictions can only be lessened, not eliminated. These afflictions exist only depending on the sixth consciousness and manas; alone, they do not have these afflictions. The mental factors of the five consciousnesses need not be the same for each person because manas differs greatly, leading to differences in the mental factors generated in the five consciousnesses.
The five consciousnesses have the mental factor of sleep; they temporarily cease during sleep. This sleep is decided and regulated by manas. The five consciousnesses also have the mental factors of coarse and subtle examination. Coarse examination is the five consciousnesses roughly searching everywhere; of course, the act of searching is regulated by manas, and the direction of search is also specified by manas. Wherever manas points, the five consciousnesses must turn, having no autonomy whatsoever. The sixth consciousness has slight autonomy; the five consciousnesses have none at all. Therefore, it is said that most of the mental factors of the five consciousnesses exist depending on manas and change according to manas. From the operation of the five consciousnesses, one can know the mental activities of manas. The subtle examination of the five consciousnesses occurs after they have roughly located the five sense objects; they wait calmly for the appearance of the objects or carefully discern their appearance. The five consciousnesses do not have the mental factor of regret because they lack sufficient thinking power; they cannot discern mental objects and thus cannot regret.
The wholesome mental factors of the five consciousnesses are generally also dependent on manas to exist, including faith, non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion, diligence, heedfulness, equanimity, non-harming. When manas is unwholesome, the five consciousnesses cannot be wholesome. The five consciousnesses cannot independently have their own wholesome mental factors because the objects of wholesomeness are mental objects; the five consciousnesses cannot contact mental objects, cannot have the thinking power like the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, and thus cannot have wholesome or unwholesome mental actions. Wholesome and unwholesome minds only the sixth and seventh consciousnesses have. After the five consciousnesses transform into wisdom at Buddhahood, they may fully possess wholesome mental factors, but this cannot be observed now.
The mental factors of the five consciousnesses before Buddhahood generally do not change much, except for those directed by manas. When manas is unwholesome, the five consciousnesses follow and become unwholesome; when manas is wholesome, the five consciousnesses follow and become wholesome. In between, they are also influenced by the mental activities of the sixth consciousness. The mental factors that the five consciousnesses themselves independently correspond to are only the Five Universals and Five Particulars, totaling ten mental factors. Adding the wholesome/unwholesome mental factors that manifest only depending on manas, and the indeterminate mental factors sleep, coarse examination, and subtle examination influenced and driven by manas, there are thirty-two in total. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses undergo three transformations into wisdom when becoming Buddhas; their mental factors transform three times. The five consciousnesses transform into wisdom only once, at Buddhahood; their mental factors transform only then. This indicates that the five consciousnesses alone do not have so many wholesome/unwholesome mental factors; they manifest only depending on manas.
Section Four: The Importance and Particularity of the Mental Factors of Manas
I. Viewing the Mental Factors of Manas from the Perspective of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination
The first three links of the Twelve Nidānas—ignorance conditions volitional formations, volitional formations condition consciousness, and consciousness conditions name-and-form—clearly reveal that the birth, aging, sickness, and death suffering of sentient beings are all caused by the ignorance of manas. Because of the ignorance of manas, sentient beings have wholesome and unwholesome karma and the six paths of rebirth. Thus, the ignorance of manas encompasses all afflictions and possesses all afflictive mental factors. Sentient beings have segmental birth-and-death and changeable birth-and-death because they have all afflictions. Once the ignorance of manas is completely exhausted, sentient beings become Buddhas. At this time, manas possesses all wholesome mental factors, which constantly accompany its operation. Previously, they were not constant, especially during the ordinary being stage, rarely accompanying 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 less birth-and-death karma, and suffering would be less. However, sentient beings have experienced all birth-and-death suffering throughout countless kalpas and have created all birth-and-death karma. This shows 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 become a Buddha. Yet all sentient beings will ultimately become Buddhas, so manas possesses all wholesome mental factors. It's just that these wholesome/unwholesome mental factors do not constantly accompany manas. In ordinary beings, only the four fundamental afflictions—self-view, self-conceit, self-attachment, and self-delusion—constantly and uninterruptedly accompany manas, never separating for an instant. Thus, these four fundamental afflictions are the root cause of birth-and-death karma and suffering. From these four fundamental afflictions, other afflictions manifest intermittently.
Once the affliction of self-view is severed, the other three fundamental afflictions will gradually be severed as well. Once the four fundamental afflictions are severed, all other afflictions will be completely severed, 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. Even after the afflictions of self-attachment and self-conceit are completely severed, they can neither constantly nor intermittently accompany manas but will never accompany it again. The same applies to the affliction of self-delusion; once completely severed, the manifest afflictions of manas are exhausted, and upon death, one can transcend the three realms and enter the remainderless nirvāṇa.
The wholesome mental factors of manas in ordinary beings are not fully possessed and do not constantly accompany its operation; they come and go, appear and disappear. Once manas severs the afflictive mental factors, wholesome mental factors will gradually become fully possessed and constantly accompany manas. This is the mental activity of saints, not ordinary beings. In summary, for ordinary beings, only the four fundamental afflictions constantly accompany manas; other afflictions come and go, appear and disappear. The Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra discusses it this way. The wholesome mental factors of manas in ordinary beings also come and go, appear and disappear. After severing afflictions and becoming a saint, wholesome mental factors will frequently accompany manas, eventually becoming constant.
In recent decades, many people have greatly misunderstood the mental factors of manas. The reason lies in severely insufficient concentration and wisdom, making it impossible to observe the mental activities of manas directly. Their understanding is also not strong, leading to misunderstandings of the Bodhisattvas' expositions, and this misunderstanding persists to this day. Because the levels of concentration and wisdom among the great Bodhisattvas vary, high and low, contradictions inevitably appear in their expositions. If this happens, one should primarily rely on the expositions of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, who has the deepest wisdom. If there is scriptural evidence from the Buddha, one should rely primarily on the sutras. If there is no scriptural evidence, one must rely on genuine realization as the standard, on facts, because facts ultimately prevail over arguments.
II. The Decisive Role of Manas in the Twelve Links
Sentient beings have birth, aging, sickness, death, and the great mass of suffering entirely because there is ignorance, and this ignorance is the ignorance of manas. Because manas has ignorance, there is the volitional formation mental factor, and with volitional formation, there is the decision to create karma, after which the six consciousnesses appear. The first two links of the Twelve Nidānas belong to manas; the third link, the six consciousnesses, also appears because of manas. Therefore, manas has an absolutely dominant role regarding birth-and-death and a driving force regarding other dharmas. Even the karmic actions of the third link, the six consciousnesses, exist following manas. The seeds deposited are also because of manas. Therefore, the name-and-form of future lives exists because of manas. If manas is defiled, the six consciousnesses are defiled, the seeds are defiled, and name-and-form has much suffering, especially the suffering of the three unwholesome paths.
After name-and-form grows, the six sense bases are born. The contact between the six sense bases and the six sense objects is governed by manas. If manas clings much, contact is much, birth-and-death karma is much; if manas clings little, contact is little, birth-and-death karma is little. The feeling, craving, and grasping after contact, although involving the feeling, craving, and grasping of the six consciousnesses, what actually plays the decisive role and can lead to the next link arising is the feeling, craving, and grasping of manas. If manas has no feeling, craving, or grasping, the next link does not appear. The final three links—becoming, birth, and aging-death—appear entirely because of the grasping of manas. Therefore, the appearance of birth-and-death transmigration is decisively determined by manas.
The Twelve Nidānas clarify that manas is the root of birth-and-death. Liberation and sinking depend on manas. To liberate from birth-and-death, one must resolve the problem of manas and eradicate the ignorance of manas. Manas is also the root of the Four Noble Truths: suffering, origin, cessation, and path. Suffering arises because the ignorant mental activity of manas prompts the six consciousnesses to create karma. The origin is the seeds deposited because manas prompts the six consciousnesses to create karma. Cessation is the cessation of the ignorant mental activity of manas. The path is obtained because manas realizes the dharma.
Since manas plays such a huge decisive role in birth-and-death transmigration, it must possess all mental factors: all wholesome, afflictive, and neutral mental factors. The mental factors of manas determine the mental factors of the five consciousnesses and the sixth consciousness. When the mental factors of manas change, the mental factors of the six consciousnesses change, and all dharmas change accordingly. If the mental factors of manas do not change, even if the mental factors of the six consciousnesses change, they will change back. If manas's afflictions are not severed, even if the sixth consciousness severs afflictions, they will regenerate. If manas lacks concentration, even if the sixth consciousness has concentration, it cannot last long and will inevitably become scattered again.
III. Why Are the Mental Factors of Manas Not Fewer Than Those of the Sixth Consciousness?
In the practice and realization of Yogācāra, manas is the core because the ālaya-vijñāna (storehouse consciousness) requires no instruction or change from anyone. Practice can only focus on manas. Changing manas changes the person, from an ordinary being to a Buddha. Only by changing manas can all dharmas be changed. All ignorance resides in manas; eradicating the ignorance of manas leads to Buddhahood. Changing manas changes the seeds; changing the seeds leads to Buddhahood. The ignorance of the sixth consciousness all comes from manas; the sixth consciousness and its ignorance depend on manas. The sixth consciousness and its ignorance are easy to sever; it is not difficult at all. The difficulty lies entirely with manas. Therefore, the mental factors of manas cannot be fewer than those of the sixth consciousness; they should be similar. With severely insufficient concentration power and observation power, one cannot realize manas, let alone observe the operation of its mental factors. Without knowing or realizing the state of manas's operation in any dharma, one dares rashly deny its various mental activities, insisting they belong to the sixth consciousness.
If manas does not realize the dharma, it cannot eradicate ignorance. Eradicating the ignorance of the sixth consciousness is useless; it changes nothing. It is now clear that no effort on the level of the sixth consciousness is useful. All dharma practice and realization must reach manas to solve the fundamental problem. Once this approach is clarified and understood, there should be nothing more to say about the practice and realization of the Buddha Dharma.
IV. The Relationship Between the Mental Factors of the Sixth Consciousness and Manas
Question: "After consciousness seeds give rise to and form the seven consciousnesses, mental factors accompany their operation, and thus the conscious mind has the three natures: wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral." Are these mental factors the mental factors of manas? Because manas has innate and acquired habits, and when the first six consciousnesses are born and formed from consciousness seeds, they should all be pure. They acquire the three natures only after being influenced by the mental factors of manas. Is this understanding correct?
Answer: Whichever consciousness operates, its corresponding mental factors accompany it. Because the sixth consciousness is regulated and directed by manas, once the sixth consciousness operates, the arising of its own mental factors is inevitably regulated by manas and influenced by the mental factors of manas. If manas wants to act wholesomely, after wholesome mental factors arise, they inevitably cause the wholesome mental factors of the sixth consciousness to arise to fulfill manas's command. The same applies to unwholesome and neutral mental factors.
If manas wants to give alms, it must direct the six consciousnesses to perform the specific actions. Thus, the arising of the six consciousnesses is to cooperate with manas, to execute the wholesome act of giving. Therefore, the mental factors of the sixth consciousness, upon arising, are necessarily wholesome, consistent with manas's mental factors. If manas does not want to give, then regarding the wholesome act of giving, the sixth consciousness and its mental factors do not arise and operate. That is to say, whenever the mental factors of a consciousness operate, the three natures appear. Therefore, to purify the conscious mind, one only needs to purify the mental factors of the root, manas; the other consciousnesses will follow and become pure.
If manas wants to kill or set fires, it will give rise to the six consciousnesses to accomplish this unwholesome act, because the specific actions of killing and setting fires require the six consciousnesses to complete; manas cannot operate them. Therefore, when the six consciousnesses arise, their mental factors are necessarily unwholesome, consistent with manas's mental factors. Thus, manas possesses all wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral mental factors, enabling the six consciousnesses to possess all mental factors to operate bodily, verbal, and mental actions. It is not as some say, that manas has only some mental factors. If manas lacked some mental factors, it could not preside over and create many actions. If manas does not preside, how can the six consciousnesses act?
The mental factors of the sixth consciousness initially align with manas. However, after contemplation, if it deems the matter wrong, it can change its mental factors and try to persuade and habituate manas. The sixth consciousness can also disobey manas. For example, manas wants to do something bad, but the sixth consciousness hesitates and does not act. After changing its mind, it can also change manas's mind. This is the habituating function of the sixth consciousness. Changing manas is always through the habituation of the sixth consciousness. Experiencing an event, the sixth consciousness contemplates the pros and cons; thus, manas learns the pros and cons and will make choices in future actions. However, the habituation by the sixth consciousness can be fast or slow, depending on its wisdom and skillfulness.
V. What Is Practice About?
Ultimately, is practice about "killing" the sixth consciousness or "killing" manas? "Killing" the sixth consciousness is the cause; "killing" manas is the result. Although "killing" manas is the ultimate goal, the starting point must still be the sixth consciousness. The sixth consciousness "dies" every night; the sixth consciousness of a vegetative person is almost always "dead," yet they still cannot avoid the three unwholesome paths in future lives, let alone the six paths of rebirth. What does this illustrate? It illustrates that the authority over birth-and-death is held by manas. Therefore, practice must be implemented at the level of manas: understand manas, subdue manas, eradicate the ignorance of manas. How exactly does one operate to eradicate the ignorance of manas? Ignorance extends into all afflictive mental factors. Then, whose mental factors are the afflictive mental factors primarily? Since the ignorance of manas causes birth, aging, sickness, and death suffering, which afflictive mental factor does manas not possess? If manas did not possess all afflictive mental factors, wouldn't practice be very easy and pleasant?
Some insist that manas is neutral. If so, do we still need to practice? Practice means cultivating away ignorant unwholesome dharmas and cultivating wholesome dharmas. If manas has only neutral dharmas, sentient beings need not practice. The ālaya-vijñāna is neutral; therefore, it never practices and fundamentally does not need to practice. What is there to cultivate? What is there for it to correct? It has no ignorance, no unwholesomeness, no wrongness. If the ālaya-vijñāna were to practice, it would probably practice deviantly, crookedly. Both wholesomeness and unwholesomeness are ignorance; having ignorance necessarily involves wholesomeness and unwholesomeness. The ālaya-vijñāna has no ignorance, so it creates neither wholesome nor unwholesome karma; it responds according to conditions, without applying mind. With ignorance, there is hatred, and one gives rise to the mind to create killing karma; with ignorance, there is delusion, and one creates killing karma.
VI. The Correspondence Between the Five Aggregates and the Eighteen Realms Shows the Importance of Manas's Mental Factors
What are the conceptual scope, function, and role of the aggregate of form? The aggregate of feeling? The aggregate of perception? The aggregate of mental formations? The aggregate of consciousness? And the six sense bases (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind base)? The six sense objects? The six consciousnesses? What is their correspondence? Which aggregate do the eighteen realms specifically correspond to?
The five physical sense bases, the five sense objects, and mental objects correspond to the aggregate of form. The six consciousnesses and manas correspond to the aggregates of consciousness, feeling, perception, and mental formations. Feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are closely related to the seven consciousnesses. Form is also related to consciousness; without consciousness, there is no aggregate of form for the five sense bases. But ordinary people cannot observe the aggregates of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness in manas. Even the functions of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness in the five consciousnesses are unclear to most. Therefore, the Śrāvaka teachings generally do not mention the functions of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness in manas.
The aggregate of form is accumulated by the seeds of the four great elements. The aggregates of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are accumulated by consciousness seeds. Consciousness seeds alone cannot perform any function; they must operate with mental factors. Therefore, the aggregates of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are the functional roles of mental factors. The mental factors of the six consciousnesses cannot operate without the mental factors of manas. If the mental factors of manas do not operate, there are no six consciousnesses or their mental factors. Therefore, the five aggregates and the eighteen realms should have a one-to-one correspondence: the first five sense bases and five sense objects correspond to the aggregate of form; manas, the sixth consciousness, and the five consciousnesses correspond to the aggregates of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. The commander-in-chief making all these dharmas operate is manas; the supreme commander is the ālaya-vijñāna.
VII. The Particular Mental Factors of Manas
Hatred can be the false hatred of the sixth consciousness or the true hatred of manas. The degree of hatred indicates whether it is true or false. Differentiating the mental factors of manas and the sixth consciousness is not difficult, but nowadays some people study Buddhism like reciting texts, treating everything they memorize as 100% correct without contemplation or thought. If manas had no resolve, how could it make so many correct decisions? Especially decisions like severing self-view or realizing the nature of mind (明心见性)—without resolve, how could manas investigate together with the sixth consciousness and finally break through? The sixth consciousness provides so much information; manas must resolve it to correctly discern and make decisions. Otherwise, decisions would be wrong; how could sentient beings survive normally?
Even when the sixth consciousness is not thinking, when a major event occurs, manas can immediately understand its seriousness and decide instantly. Without resolve, there is no wisdom; resolve is the prerequisite for wisdom. No one can precisely say what the connotation of manas's volitional formation is or how it operates; one can only say that volition means decision. The specific connotation of deliberation, how volition operates—this is even more unknown.
The mindfulness of manas is also like this. Sometimes at night, thinking about something, later when wanting to sleep, that matter keeps coming to mind; the sixth consciousness keeps reminding: "Sleep early, stop thinking, you might not get up tomorrow morning." But this can only control it for a while; unknowingly, it starts thinking about that matter again, and finally, insomnia occurs. The characteristics of manas—clinging, habits, attachments—must ultimately be reflected in its mental factors.
VIII. Relying on Persons, Not Dharma, Leads to Disputes
To directly and truly observe the operation of manas requires the wisdom of Yogācāra discriminating awareness (唯识种智), the observational wisdom of at least a first-bhūmi Bodhisattva. Because they cannot observe manas, cannot truly know manas, disputes arise. There are no disputes about shallow dharmas because everyone can easily observe them. It is about the unobservable that people dispute; otherwise, what is there to dispute? White is white; black is black. Only when one cannot distinguish black from white does one dispute. What mental factors does manas actually have? Who can practically observe and verify it? The sixth and seventh consciousnesses are both defiled and afflicted, with such heavy obscurations—what ability do they have to actually observe? If there were someone who could verify it, simply describing the verification process would end the disputes.
Relying on Dharma means relying on the true reality of manas's operation. If one cannot observe manas, how can one define manas based on its true reality? How can one truly rely on the actual reality-dharma? If one cannot rely on the reality-dharma, then one is relying on persons. Relying on persons does not accord with the purpose of Buddhist practice and realization; it has errors and omissions, does not accord with the Buddha's intention, and cannot lead to realization.
IX. The Unique Functional Role of Manas's Mental Factors
Entering meditative absorption (dhyāna) through contemplation, on the surface, seems to have no thoughts, no thinking, no pondering. Actually, although the sixth consciousness has no thoughts or pondering, manas is still applying mind and deliberating; its pondering has never stopped, thoughts have never ceased. Therefore, manas is called the mental consciousness that constantly deliberates; it's just that the wisdom of the sixth consciousness is insufficient to observe it. So, what the sixth consciousness does not know, what dharmas it cannot observe, does not mean they do not exist.
Manas has its unique role in the operation of all dharmas. The sixth consciousness cannot observe it, but that does not mean manas has no function or operation. During Chan investigation, in meditative absorption, during sleep, during coma—all the functions manas performs, the operation of its mental factors—although the sixth consciousness cannot observe them temporarily, one must never deny all the functional roles of manas. In the future, when one possesses Yogācāra discriminating awareness, one will be able to directly observe the operation and mental activities of manas.
From this, it can be seen that the wisdom of ordinary beings differs vastly from the wisdom of Yogācāra discriminating awareness. Some of us have severely insufficient concentration and wisdom. Regarding the mental factors of manas that we cannot yet understand or observe, we should not state whether they exist or not, should not say yes or no. Remaining silent and harboring doubt in the mind is wise. For dharmas one currently lacks the ability to observe and discern, not drawing conclusions lightly avoids lightly creating the karma of slander and avoids creating obstacles for one's own path. This is the choice of a wise person. The Buddha often admonishes Bodhisattvas to hear profound teachings without fear, hear profound teachings without slander, and to abide patiently in the profound meaning of the Dharma.
The miraculous functions and roles of manas are numerous, beyond our current thinking and imagination. Only if we do not cling to shallow personal views, are not confined by limited existing theories, might we be able to observe more functions and roles of manas in the future. Actually, the ultimate goal of studying Buddhism and practicing is to fully develop and observe all the functions and roles of manas and the eighth consciousness. Only after fully realizing them can one become a Buddha. Once the dharmas of manas and the eighth consciousness are all explored and realized, there is nothing left to cultivate, and one reaches the state of non-learning in the Mahāyāna.
