The Deliberative and Wisdom Natures of Manas

The severance of the view of self is the mental faculty (manas) negating the reality of the five aggregates; the enlightenment of realizing the mind is the mental faculty affirming the reality of the Tathagatagarbha. Ultimately, both types of realization are functions of the mental faculty. So, in the severance of the view of self and the enlightenment of realizing the mind, is it the wisdom (prajna) of the mental faculty that is functioning, or is it its deliberative function (mano-vikalpa) that is functioning?

In the process of severing the view of self and realizing the mind to perceive true nature, both the deliberative function and the mental factor of wisdom (prajna) of the mental faculty are functioning. Because the mental faculty possesses the nature of discernment, recognition, cognition, decision-making, volition, attachment/clinging, and grasping, the mental factor of wisdom is thereby activated. Without wisdom, these functional capabilities would not exist. It's just that the functional nature of this wisdom is relatively special: it is broad-ranging, general, unable to be focused or deeply penetrating; its discernment cannot be overly specific or detailed. Therefore, regarding phenomena (dharmas) in the realm of the six dusts (objects of the senses), the six consciousnesses are needed to cooperate in discernment. The mental faculty then performs further discernment, judgment, and decision-making. This also involves the functioning of the mental factor of wisdom. Without the discerning wisdom of the mental factor of wisdom, the mental faculty would lack cognitive nature (vijnana-svabhava) and possess only the nature of a faculty (indriya-svabhava). However, the mental faculty possesses both.

The deliberative function of the mental faculty universally accompanies its operation. As long as the mental faculty exists, its deliberative function also exists and operates moment after moment. Because the mental faculty deliberates moment by moment, decides moment by moment, and exercises volition moment by moment, all dharmas can manifest moment after moment without cessation. Otherwise, all dharmas would have moments of discontinuity and cessation. Whenever the mental faculty has an object of focus, whenever there is attention (manasikara) and contact with any dharma, the deliberative function of the mental faculty must manifest upon that dharma for it to operate and exist. The mental faculty is universally present in all dharmas; thus, the five universal mental factors (pancha-sarvatraga) associated with the mental faculty must be universally present in the operation of all dharmas. The same applies to the five universal mental factors associated with the other consciousnesses.

Therefore, during the process of severing the view of self and realizing the mind through enlightenment, the deliberative function of the mental faculty is continuously operating. The process of deliberation also manifests the wisdom nature of the mental faculty. Depending on the degree of wisdom, the faults, content, and results of the deliberation differ, the conclusions reached differ, the decisions made differ, and consequently, the actions (karma) and the resulting merits and experiences of the six consciousnesses differ. It is because the mental faculty, while deliberating upon the five aggregates, possesses the wisdom of the emptiness (shunyata) of the Hinayana, that it can recognize the five aggregates as empty and devoid of self, thereby enabling the severance of the view of self. Furthermore, it is because the mental faculty, while deliberating upon the eighth consciousness (Alayavijnana), possesses the wisdom of the Mahayana Dharma, that it can recognize the reality of the eighth consciousness, enabling the birth of wisdom realizing the true reality (tathata). The deliberative function and the discerning wisdom of the mental faculty mutually assist and coordinate in their operation. If either is absent, the normal functioning of all dharmas cannot occur.