The Perceiving-Aspect, Self-Cognition, and Self-Validating Cognition of the Sixth and Seventh Consciousnesses

The manas has self-cognition (svasaṃvitti): its ability to discern dharmas, with an image present in the mind, is self-cognition. The manas can know what it itself has known—this is self-validating cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga). There are times when the manas is full of confidence in itself, and this is self-validating cognition. When the manas stubbornly clings to its own views, this is self-validating cognition. A die-hard old fogey, utterly obstinate, unwilling to change his own viewpoints and opinions, convinced that he is right—within this there is self-validating cognition; otherwise he would not be stubborn, would not be obstinate. In the state of dreamless sleep, the manas still contacts dharmas and discerns them; it can know the six sense objects and can observe the six sense objects, yet the mind consciousness does not know what the manas is actually doing.

Self-validating cognition is the mind consciousness's introspection upon itself. In the meditative concentration (samādhi) of the second dhyāna, the mind consciousness is present, and the mind consciousness's perceiving-aspect, self-cognition, and self-validating cognition all exist, only they are very subtle; when wisdom is insufficient, one does not understand the situation of one's own perceiving-aspect, object-aspect, self-cognition, and self-validating cognition. Learn more about the knowledge of meditative concentration, then enter concentration and experience it, and you will be able to understand more.

The manas has a perceiving-aspect, an object-aspect, self-cognition, and self-validating cognition; before the sixth and seventh consciousnesses undergo the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, these contents cannot be distinguished and cannot be observed. For pre‑bhūmi bodhisattvas (pūrvabhūmika bodhisattva), the manas seems to lack self-validating cognition and cannot introspect upon itself, whereas post‑bhūmi bodhisattvas (bhūmi-pratiṣṭhita-bodhisattva) can observe that the manas has self-validating cognition. Regarding some profound dharmas, the Buddha did not even speak them to pre‑bhūmi bodhisattvas, fearing that the bodhisattvas would not understand and would give rise to misunderstandings.

In the state of dreamless sleep, investigation must be done while the mind consciousness is alert; the mind consciousness must have wisdom in order to investigate it out. During dreamless sleep, the manas has knowing—it knows the realms of the six sense objects, knows the physical body faculty, and knows itself. Relying on the tathāgatagarbha's function of seeing all dharmas, it has its own function of seeing all dharmas; when there is no wisdom, it takes the dharmas seen by the tathāgatagarbha as the dharmas seen by itself, and thus grasping and clinging arise, believing that all dharmas belong to itself; it also deliberates "me, me, me," constantly maintaining and protecting the self, and can even weigh various advantages and disadvantages, gains and losses. When various conditions arise in the body, it will weigh whether it needs to wake up to deal with them; it can make judgments, make decisions, and has its own viewpoints and opinions, mostly based on experience.

The "self" of the manas is all-inclusive: it takes the five sense consciousnesses as self, takes the mind consciousness as self, takes the eighth consciousness as self, takes its own functions as self, takes the five sense faculties as self, takes the realms of the six sense objects as belonging to itself, and even takes dharmas beyond the six sense objects as belonging to itself; thus its clinging and grasping are ceaseless, and its deliberation is ceaseless.

When the mind consciousness thinks about and investigates any dharma, it never operates alone; there is always the cooperative function of the manas. When the mind consciousness observes, thinks about, and investigates the manas, searching for the manas, the manas also searches for itself together with the mind consciousness; thus the manas can also investigate itself, and in the end can observe itself.

When the mind consciousness finally realizes the existence of the manas and observes the manas's functioning, the manas can also, together with the mind consciousness, realize its own existence, and can also, together with the mind consciousness, discern itself. Within the material universe (the vessel world), there is no mind consciousness, yet scientists can figure out some matters of the universe; matters of the earth from thousands or tens of thousands of years ago—scientists can also explore them out. In future lives there is no present mind consciousness, yet scientists can predict the future. Within the functioning of the tathāgatagarbha there is no mind consciousness, yet the mind consciousness can observe the deep and subtle functioning of the tathāgatagarbha. Then the functioning of the manas, of course, the mind consciousness can also observe and know. When the mind consciousness undergoes the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, it can accomplish anything. Otherwise, how could one become a Buddha?