The Function of Manas and Prajñā Cetasika

The breaking of the view of self is the mental faculty negating the reality of the five aggregates; enlightenment through realizing the mind is the mental faculty affirming the reality of the Tathagatagarbha. Both types of realization ultimately involve the functioning of the mental faculty. So, during the breaking of the view of self and the enlightenment of realizing the mind, is it the wisdom of the mental faculty that functions, or is it its deliberative nature?

During the process of breaking the view of self and realizing the mind to perceive the true nature, both the deliberative nature and the mental factor of wisdom (prajna) of the mental faculty are functioning. This is because the mental faculty possesses the nature of discernment, recognition, cognition, decision-making, autonomy, attachment, and clinging. Therefore, the mental factor of wisdom is activated; without wisdom, these functions would not exist. However, the functionality of this wisdom is quite unique—it is broad, general, unable to be focused or deep, and its discernment cannot be overly specific or detailed. Consequently, for phenomena within the realm of the six dusts (objects of the senses), the six consciousnesses are required to cooperate in discernment. The mental faculty then performs its unique discernment, judgment, and decision-making. This also involves the functioning of the mental factor of wisdom. Without the discerning wisdom of this mental factor, the mental faculty would lack its cognitive nature and possess only its fundamental nature, whereas the mental faculty inherently possesses both.

The deliberative nature of the mental faculty universally accompanies its operation. As long as the mental faculty exists, its deliberative nature also operates moment by moment without cease. It is because the mental faculty deliberates moment by moment, decides moment by moment, and exercises autonomy moment by moment that all phenomena can arise and persist without cessation moment by moment. Otherwise, all phenomena would experience discontinuity and cessation. Whenever the mental faculty has an object of focus, whenever there is attention and contact with any phenomenon, the deliberative nature of the mental faculty must manifest and operate upon that phenomenon for it to function and exist. Only through the continuous operation of the mental faculty’s deliberative nature can the mental factor of wisdom within the mental faculty operate. The mental faculty is universally present in all phenomena; thus, its five universal mental factors must be universally present in the operation of all phenomena. This is the prerequisite for the arising of wisdom within the mental faculty. The same applies to the five universal mental factors of the other consciousnesses.

Therefore, during the process of breaking the view of self and realizing the mind to perceive the true nature, the deliberative nature of the mental faculty is continuously operating. The process of deliberation also manifests the wisdom nature of the mental faculty. The degree of wisdom differs, so the process, content, and results of deliberation differ, leading to different conclusions, different decisions, and consequently different actions and karmic experiences generated by the six consciousnesses. It is only because the mental faculty, while deliberating upon the five aggregates, possesses the wisdom of emptiness according to the Hinayana, that it can recognize the emptiness and selflessness of the five aggregates and thereby break the view of self. Similarly, it is only because the mental faculty, while deliberating upon the eighth consciousness (Alaya-vijnana), possesses the wisdom of the Mahayana, that it can recognize the reality of the eighth consciousness and give birth to the wisdom of true reality. The deliberative nature and the discerning wisdom of the mental faculty assist and coordinate with each other in their operation; the absence of either would disrupt the normal functioning of all phenomena.