Only the Realization of the Manas Can Give Rise to Wisdom

Regarding the issue of the power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) of the manas: all the wisdom possessed by the mind consciousness must land upon the manas in order to be considered successful, in order for seeds to be stored, in order to be useful in future lives, and ultimately it is the wisdom-power of the manas that performs all functions. For the manas to realize the fruits, from the first fruit to the fourth fruit, and if one wishes to see the mind, from first seeing the mind to attaining buddhahood, it is all the wisdom of the manas that takes effect. The result of the mind consciousness's wisdom is to make the manas wise, to enable the manas to transform consciousness into wisdom, to be endowed with great wisdom, and ultimately to attain buddhahood.

The difference between the wisdom of the mind consciousness and the wisdom of the manas is that the mind consciousness has the function of logical thinking, analysis, and inference, and can engage in rather abstract thinking. The manas, however, cannot think abstractly; it requires concreteness, with plots and imagery—the more direct perception, the better; the more realistic, the better. The manas has great difficulty with analytical thinking ability and can hardly carry out logical reasoning and judgment; in this respect it relies on the mind consciousness, whereas other measurements of direct perception it can accomplish entirely on its own, though of course having the mind consciousness as an aid is best and fastest. Therefore, when there are pictures, images, and scenes with plots unfolding before one, the manas resonates more readily, the mind consciousness's memory is more firm, and it is also very easy to understand—this is the reason. When the six faculties interpenetrate and function through one another, the manas replaces the mind consciousness and also replaces the five consciousnesses. What the Śūraṅgama Sūtra says about Mahākāśyapa's perfectly luminous knowing, not relying upon mental thought, illustrates precisely this principle.