The Mind Faculty and Consciousness
Chapter 7: The Mutual Influence Between Manas and Consciousness (2)
21. The Function of Hypnosis
Sentient beings are obstructed by the five hindrances (sensual desire, ill-will, sloth-torpor, restlessness-worry, and doubt), which impede the arising of the first dhyāna. These are the fetters of manas that obstruct meditation. When the fetters of manas are untied, the obstructions are eliminated, and meditation arises. Among these, the hindrance of sleep, while not inherently a hindrance of manas itself (as manas does not experience sleep), is initiated by the volition of manas. Due to manas’s craving for comfort and laziness, it induces consciousness to crave sleep, thereby obscuring the clarity of consciousness and hindering the arising of meditation. Therefore, by subduing manas and enabling it to understand principles and practice diligently, the hindrance of sleep is removed.
Untying mental knots can be achieved through hypnosis. During hypnosis, without the obscuration of consciousness, manas can face itself, articulate its own knots, and then, guided by the hypnotist, untie these knots through methods such as repentance, leading to an immediate sense of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
In daily life, consciousness, concerned with saving face, refuses to confront itself, obscuring manas from revealing its inner fetters, thus preventing their resolution. Manas, however, is straightforward and unconcerned with face; it states things as they are. If one trusts the hypnotist, manas can be subdued, leading to self-transformation, the elimination of karmic seeds and conditions, and the resolution of problems. Some individuals have many mental knots and are overly concerned with face; they cannot get past the barrier of consciousness, which blocks others from probing the contents of manas. Only through hypnosis, by weakening the obscuration of consciousness, can their inner psychological issues be resolved. Therefore, superficial repentance is the repentance of consciousness; if manas does not repent, the karmic seeds do not vanish. Only when manas becomes aware and repents do the karmic seeds disappear.
By resolving the ignorance of manas one by one, the path to Buddhahood becomes swift. There would be no need to study so many Buddhist scriptures or laboriously memorize the Tripitaka and twelve divisions of scriptures. Sitting here, one can untie the knots in the mind, gradually dispel ignorance, develop spiritual powers, enhance the power of the Way, and swiftly attain Buddhahood.
22. The Perpetual Master is Always the Seventh Consciousness, Manas
If manas can submit to reason and the wisdom-endowed consciousness, and then make decisions, the result will be wholesome. Manas will then be influenced, transformed, and altered by wholesome and wise consciousness. If, even in dreams, manas can remain in control, refraining from unwholesome deeds and performing wholesome ones, it further indicates that manas has been influenced by the wholesome. This is because consciousness in dreams is less clear than daytime consciousness; its discernment of objects and grasp of self are uncertain, and its rationality is weaker. If manas can still independently refrain from unwholesome deeds and perform wholesome ones under such circumstances, it signifies considerable progress in practice. In the intermediate state (antarābhava), the rationality of consciousness is even weaker. Manas relies entirely on its inherent habits to make decisions about rebirth. If, at this time, bodily, verbal, and mental actions align with the wholesome, without afflictions or unwholesome habits arising, the practice is even more advanced.
The stronger the power of consciousness, the clearer its discernment and discrimination, and the more rational it is, the more easily manas submits and may not act according to its habitual tendencies. Conversely, if the power of consciousness is weak, its discernment unclear, and its rationality lacking, it cannot correctly and reasonably guide manas, and manas will act according to its own habits. If one can still act well under such circumstances, it indicates that manas possesses wholesome habits. If hypnosis is used to weaken consciousness so it cannot control manas, manas will express many inner secrets through consciousness. Smoking, drinking, and drug use also numb the conscious mind, preventing consciousness from regulating manas, allowing manas to reveal its true nature. For most people, the habits of manas are predominantly unwholesome, making it easy to commit misdeeds at such times.
For those whose manas has already been transformed, its consciousness having turned into wisdom—such as bodhisattvas on the bhūmi (grounds), or those beyond the eighth bhūmi—even if they drink or use drugs again, they will not create karma, because their manas is already pure. For bodhisattvas on the bhūmi, both the sixth and seventh consciousnesses have turned into wisdom and are pure. A pure consciousness is not influenced by unwholesome environments nor can it unwholesomely influence manas. The degree to which manas is transformed determines the degree to which habits manifest.
23. If one wishes to make dreams come true, it can only be driven by manas. Let manas make vows, let manas continuously grasp the dream, then consciousness will strive diligently to find ways, and the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) will realize the dream. The delusions of the conscious mind continuously influence manas. After being influenced, manas develops an aspiration. The eighth consciousness perceives the mental factor of volition (cetanā) in manas and, when conditions are sufficient, accords with manas to fulfill its aspiration. If manas is not influenced, no amount of delusional thinking by consciousness is useful. All dharmas are propelled by manas and realized by the eighth consciousness, because the eighth consciousness contains the seeds that give rise to all dharmas.
24. Suffering the karmic retribution of drug use, consciousness thinks, "This is bad, I must never use drugs again." After manas becomes aware of this thought in the mind, it decides never to use drugs again. Sometimes, due to the force of karma, the decision of consciousness is ineffective; manas still chooses to use drugs according to its habits until it truly cannot endure anymore, only then does manas decide to stop. Many people must suffer extreme retribution and blows before they can change themselves. This is because manas genuinely perceives the harm and is deeply affected—this is direct perception (pratyakṣa). Only when they reach the brink of the Yellow River do they finally give up hope.
Alcohol numbs the nerves, preventing sensory data (dharma objects) from being transmitted normally to the subtle sense faculties (indriya). Consciousness's discernment of sensory data becomes abnormal; its thinking and analytical functions weaken, wisdom diminishes, rationality is lost, and it cannot regulate manas normally. When events occur, manas directly makes decisions, which are often erroneous, and the six consciousnesses execute them as mistaken actions. On the other hand, due to neural numbness, the instructions of manas cannot be fully transmitted throughout the body, resulting in poor physical coordination, inadequate responses from the six consciousnesses, and abnormal bodily, verbal, and mental behavior.
25. Since beginningless time, manas has been selfish, utterly individualistic, constantly grasping at selfhood. We can often analyze for manas: what can one ultimately gain from selfishness? Besides the suffering of birth and death, what else is there? What has been grasped through years and nights of clinging? Nothing but birth and death—ultimately gaining nothing. What have we obtained throughout countless kalpas? Nothing but karmic obstacles and afflictions.
Before realizing selflessness (anātman), manas inevitably fears birth and death, as it has not realized that which is beyond birth and death. Therefore, the view of self (ātma-dṛṣṭi) still remains. Only when manas directly realizes that all dharmas in the three realms are truly illusory and devoid of self, and under the influence of profound meditation, can it relinquish its attachments and sever the view of self. Without realizing selflessness, without realizing the true self (ātman), it is merely the understanding of the conscious mind. Understanding only serves to suppress afflictions; it lacks the power to sever them. The suppression by the conscious mind is like pressing down grass with a stone—once the stone is removed, the grass grows wildly again. Only by presenting facts and reasoning can manas be convinced. It needs detailed explanations; doctrines that are too brief cannot be understood or accepted. To eradicate afflictions, one must practice within various circumstances after severing the view of self. When circumstances arise, afflictions can surface; at that moment, the sharp knife of wisdom is needed to decisively sever them, extinguishing the afflictions. If afflictions do not surface, remaining hidden within the mind, they cannot be uprooted and will grow again later.
When practice can grasp manas, progress becomes extremely rapid; this is a great shortcut. Those who still focus their efforts and maneuvers on the conscious mind are far from the Way. Frequently introspect. If concentration is insufficient, practice concentration more. If the foundation is weak, strengthen the foundation more. Do not seek quick success and instant benefits. If the foundation is weak, the future mansion will collapse. Practice is not about leaping; it fundamentally cannot be leaped over. Walk step by step, tread steadily and surely. Never seek quick success and instant benefits—that is a castle in the air. We would rather realize the truth a few years later than pluck an unripe melon; a melon ripened by force is inedible. Practice steadily and surely to subdue afflictions and subdue arrogance. Once enlightenment is attained, the subsequent path will be traversed swiftly, making it difficult to stumble or fall.
The fundamental goal of practice is to subdue the self. If practice is for making oneself superior to others, then it is counterproductive. Harboring thoughts like "I am stronger than others," "I surpass others"—such heavy arrogance will inevitably create unwholesome karma, forge unwholesome karmic connections, and result in future suffering and distress for oneself. Always wishing to be stronger than others, determined to be superior, determined to surpass others—that is the self. Without subduing this self, future practice will face great obstacles. Arrogance severely obstructs the Way, leading to long-term stagnation, causing much distress.
The arrogance of manas often manifests as: "Look how capable I am, how outstanding, how formidable, how remarkable I am! See how abundant my fame and gain are, how great my authority is, how numerous my followers are..." Arrogance is fully displayed, which severely obstructs the Way, preventing the attainment of the liberation fruit of selflessness. Only by seeing manas clearly, disciplining and guiding it more, does practice enter the right path.
26. When is Manas Most Easily Influenced?
In dreams, there cannot be only manas without consciousness; otherwise, one would not know there was a dream. The knowing that there is a dream is consciousness. That which can think and be known is the conscious mind. The deliberative nature of manas cannot generally be observed by ordinary consciousness. Realizing manas is relatively easier, but observing the functioning of manas is very difficult—harder than observing the tathāgatagarbha. Consciousness and manas are intertwined, extremely difficult to separate. Countless people can only observe consciousness, not manas. When teachings about manas are given, these people say it's about consciousness—their wisdom is severely lacking.
Why is manas easily discovered, easily influenced, easily resonated with, and easily observed when one is about to fall asleep or wake up? Because at this time, the discerning function of consciousness is weak and less active, offering no obscuration to manas.
In the middle of the night when asleep, playing recordings is also possible because manas does not sleep. The tathāgatagarbha continuously transmits sound objects to the subtle sense faculties through the ear faculty, and manas can perceive them all, though its discrimination is not very clear. If the sound is too loud, consciousness will wake up to discern the sound.
27. Why is it necessary to digest for a period after learning something or studying a teaching? What consciousness knows needs to gradually permeate manas, allowing manas to also learn, deliberate, understand, and comprehend. If manas has not yet understood, it is not true understanding; the matter has not been digested and absorbed.
For every matter and every teaching to be truly understood, digested, and absorbed, some time is needed for manas to consider and comprehend it. This is called buffering. The better the concentration and the more focused one is, the easier it is for manas to understand, and the faster the digestion and absorption. Therefore, when worldly events happen too suddenly or urgently, manas lacks psychological preparation and cannot digest them quickly, leading to inner shock. After repeated exposure over time, manas becomes psychologically prepared, accepts things calmly, and no longer feels shocked.
Due to a sudden accident, one may be frightened "out of one's wits," deeply shocking manas, not just consciousness. Because of the shock to manas, it loses all countermeasures and becomes disoriented. In milder cases, one is stunned and dazed; in more severe cases, one suffers mental derangement; the most severe reaction is being frightened "out of one's wits," leading to death, after which rebirth is also difficult to attain normally.
