Vijñapti-mātratā Analysis of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a symptom manifested by the conflict between the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. The manas (mental faculty) strongly desires to perform a certain action, but the consciousness is highly rational, believing that it should not be done as it would lead to unfavorable outcomes. However, the consciousness does not understand why the manas insists on this course of action and thus cannot effectively persuade or guide it, resorting instead to a rigid refusal to carry out or act upon the impulse.

Why does the manas harbor such thoughts and wish to engage in such unreasonable actions? The most plausible explanation lies in karmic obstacles. The manas follows karmic forces, controlled and manipulated by them. The consciousness, being rational and understanding principles, recognizes that this impulse and decision are highly detrimental. It therefore seeks to control, restrain, and oppose the manas's decision, refusing to execute its commands. This results in intense conflict between the two, giving rise to obsessive-compulsive disorder. In a past life, a child may have harmed its mother. Due to karmic connections, they meet again in this life, and the mother may harbor a desire for revenge against the child. However, the consciousness, lacking such vengeful thoughts and not submitting to the karmic force, will obstruct the manas's retaliatory actions. The struggle between karmic force and rationality, the conflict between the emotion of loving the child and the emotion of hating the child, the interweaving of love and hatred, all lead to internal turmoil and extreme anguish. This suffering also stems from the compulsion of karmic connections from past lives.

Who ultimately prevails depends on which is stronger: the rationality of the consciousness or the karmic force driving the manas. To make the consciousness stronger and dominant, one must cultivate the wisdom of persuasion and guidance. By thoroughly understanding the principles, thinking clearly, reasoning logically and with evidence, exercising patience, employing skillful methods, and utilizing expedient means, one can gradually guide the manas to relinquish its original views and ideas. The consciousness must carefully and patiently seek to understand why the manas holds such mental tendencies and thoughts. It should persuade the manas to cultivate a broad and magnanimous mind, prioritize maintaining the mother-child relationship, consider the boundless benefits and joys the child will bring in the future, reflect more on the child's suffering, recognize that treating the child well is equivalent to treating oneself well, and contemplate the hardships and difficulties endured during pregnancy.

From the relationship between the consciousness and the manas, we observe that both possess distinct inclinations. Why can their thoughts and views be inconsistent? Would it be preferable if they were completely aligned? Coercion exists: the consciousness can coerce the manas, and the manas can coerce the consciousness. In obsessive-compulsive disorder, who typically coerces whom? It is generally the manas coercing the consciousness, while the consciousness resists. If both can work together to eradicate ignorance, continuing until ignorance is completely eliminated and severed, ultimately transforming consciousness into wisdom, then the sixth and seventh consciousnesses will become entirely unified, harmoniously aligned, perfectly coordinated, and endowed with powerful capacity for action. Action pertains to the bodily, verbal, and mental activities of the sixth consciousness. The capacity for action stems partly from the power of the consciousness and partly from the power of the manas. The power of the consciousness can be transmitted to the manas, and the power of the manas can empower the consciousness. When the two are harmonized and unified, the capacity for action reaches its maximum.