Is the Function of the Five Skandhas Primarily Governed by Manas or Vijñāna?

The "aggregate" in the aggregate of consciousness means obscuration or covering. Not only do the six consciousnesses obscure the true functions and operations of the Eighth Consciousness, but the seventh consciousness also obscures the functions and operations of the Eighth Consciousness. The key point is what is obscured and who is prevented from recognizing the functions and operations of the master (the Eighth Consciousness). The functions and operations of the six consciousnesses obscure those of the Eighth Consciousness, causing the Manas (the seventh consciousness, the thinking mind, or the will) to perceive the functions and operations of the six consciousnesses as utterly real. Consequently, it fails to see that they are all actually the functions and operations of the Eighth Consciousness. This gives rise to an illusion in the Manas, leading it to grasp the aggregates of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness (the functions and operations of the six consciousnesses) as the self, and to regard them as real.

However, does the Manas also grasp its own characteristics – its nature of clinging, its sense of control, its tendency to grasp and cling – as the self, and regard them as real? The key point here is whether the Manas has the ability to introspect upon itself and observe its own functions and operations. The Buddha stated that all eight consciousnesses possess the self-verifying division (svasaṃvittibhāga), meaning they all have the capacity for introspection, albeit to varying degrees; it's just a matter of whether the sixth consciousness (the thinking consciousness) can analyze these introspective abilities. Why is it necessary for the sixth consciousness to discover this? Because the sixth consciousness is employed by the Manas for the affairs of the five aggregates (the psychophysical being). The sixth consciousness handles the matters of the five-aggregate body very well. The Manas remains hidden in the background, only directing and operating covertly, while the sixth consciousness operates and executes openly. If the sixth consciousness does not understand the situation, it cannot assist the Manas in handling affairs. Therefore, many people can only observe the functions of the sixth consciousness itself. They primarily identify with the functions of the sixth consciousness as their true functions and do not regard the functions of the Manas as the most primary and important. Consequently, regarding phenomena that the sixth consciousness does not understand or cannot observe, many people refuse to acknowledge their existence and adamantly deny them.

The Manas also possesses the introspective ability of the self-verifying division and can observe its own functions and operations, regardless of whether the sixth consciousness can observe this point or whether the sixth consciousness acknowledges it. Moreover, the Manas takes its own these functions and operations to be real and grasps them, unaware that they are all actually the functions and operations of the Eighth Consciousness. Only after genuinely realizing the Mind and attaining enlightenment (mingxin kaiwu) does the Manas suddenly realize, "Oh, it wasn't like that after all!" Therefore, severing the view of self (sakāya-dṛṣṭi), realizing the Mind and seeing the True Nature (mingxin jianxing), attaining any fruition (phala), or comprehending any truth – all of these are jointly realized and comprehended by the Manas and the sixth consciousness together. This is extremely important.