The more thoroughly and clearly the mind consciousness is understood, the more readily the manas will accept and comply.

The consciousness has strong capacity for thinking and analysis, and its discernment of the realms of mental sense-objects is relatively deep and subtle, so wisdom easily arises. The wisdom of the mind consciousness emerges through contact with the environment, in-depth learning, and careful deliberation. With this wisdom, one can draw the manas out of the mire and guide it toward the bright great path, arriving at the home of ultimate bliss. Without the guidance of the mind consciousness, the manas would remain stuck in the mire for a long time, unable to extricate itself, and the five aggregates would remain forever in the cycle of birth and death. Therefore, the mind consciousness is extremely important.

To think clearly and thoroughly, one must have a certain degree of meditative concentration (samādhi); lacking such concentration, this cannot be achieved. When deliberating within concentration, the contemplation is deep and subtle; slowly and finely, one can penetrate down to the manas. The deeper, subtler, and slower the contemplation, the more easily the manas can understand it. Moreover, only when He participates in deep and subtle deliberation (manana) can He be touched by it; only with genuine, heartfelt cognition can He change His views, bringing about a significant transformation in the mind's conduct. The manas also possesses a relatively weak discerning wisdom. When the mind consciousness deliberates deeply and subtly, He can, relying on it, truly comprehend that the five aggregates are without self, and thereby come to know the true meaning of selflessness. The manas originally did not hold this view, because He did not know these principles; this requires the mind consciousness to perform deep and meticulous analysis on His behalf. For example, when educating a child, if you do not reason with the child but only resort to coercion and force, although he may outwardly have no choice but to obey, deep down he does not understand, and so he cannot genuinely accept it from the depths of his heart and thereby correct his behavior—he will make the same mistakes again next time. Therefore, persuasion and education through reasoning are absolutely necessary. The more thoroughly and clearly the principles are explained, the more readily he can accept and comply with them. It is the same with dealing with the manas.