All Mental Activities Beyond the Control of Consciousness Belong to Manas

For example, a mental state like being beside oneself with rage is entirely directed by the manas. The actions of body, speech, and mind all obey the commands of the manas. Only when the manas is frantic with anger can destructive events occur. Take the behavior of flying into a rage out of humiliation as another example: after the manas feels humiliated, the six consciousnesses manifest the emotion of anger.

Any mental state or action that is uncontrollable and involuntary belongs to the manas. The consciousness that seeks control is the intellect (mano-vijñāna), which possesses rationality and understands principles. When the rationality of the manas is relatively weak, it relies on the intellect for regulation. Once the intellect fails to regulate the manas, the situation becomes uncontrollable, like a flood breaching a dike and running rampant. Sometimes, during an outburst of unbridled fury, the intellect simply has no time to react; it only realizes what just happened after the rage has subsided. Some people, in a fit of anger, act without thinking—killing someone on impulse. Only after the deed is done does the intellect feel a sense of dread, realizing the grave severity of the act. Before committing the act, they did not think at all; the manas acted willfully and directly. The manas acts without any explanation, asserting itself with overwhelming force. At such moments, karma manifests.