The Difference between the Wisdom of the Manas and the Wisdom of the Mind Consciousness

Answer: The above understanding is roughly correct. When the manas lacks wisdom, it must go through the mind consciousness's recollection, and then compare, contrast, and weigh things before it can make a decision that is either right or wrong. The shallower the wisdom, the longer the time spent comparing and weighing, the more indecisive it is, and the less confidence it has. That kind of swift, decisive resolution—cutting through the tangled mess without the mind consciousness's thinking, analysis, comparison, or contesting—is the manas's direct decision-making, which may or may not be wise. Resolving matters quietly and automatically, without any visible sign of effort, without having to rack one's brains, without turning things over and over in thought—all of this is the wisdom of the manas. People who are seasoned and skillful in handling affairs all have wisdom in their manas; with rich experience, they can handle matters smoothly and without obstruction, leaving no leverage for others to exploit.

Students whose manas lacks wisdom generally rely on the mind consciousness's rote memorization and cannot improvise freely; when they encounter problems that are not knowledge-based, they are at a loss. Students whose manas has wisdom never bother to memorize; they always improvise freely after understanding the problem. Therefore, in school examinations, those who score high are not necessarily students with genuine wisdom—it depends on whether the exam questions are knowledge-type content or open-ended content, whether the test examines knowledge or wisdom.

The Buddha-dharma is the same. A person who, once he starts speaking, produces a whole body of theory is not necessarily someone with wisdom of realized attainment. If he has read many books, is broadly learned and widely informed, has extensive knowledge and a strong memory, and can skillfully use the mind consciousness to organize, categorize, summarize, and analyze the dharmas he has studied, he can put together a theoretical system—but this does not mean he has the wisdom of realized attainment; it may merely be an accumulation of knowledge. The accumulation of knowledge cannot eliminate afflictions; it only shows that the mind consciousness is clever. Studying the dharma with someone whose mind consciousness is clever, one can acquire a great deal of theoretical knowledge, but realization is very difficult. Studying the dharma with someone who has realization makes realization easier; such a person's knowledge is not necessarily extensive, but after realization, as his wisdom grows, he can gradually expand the breadth of his knowledge and supplement the necessary theoretical knowledge.

When the manas has wisdom, its wisdom is deep, it is free of afflictions, its vision is broad, its mind is expansive, it has boldness and courage, its sights are set far, it can accurately judge matters of great right and wrong, and it will not do wrong things. The cleverness of the mind consciousness lacks deep, profound wisdom and its capacity of mind is not great enough; it is possible that cleverness backfires on the clever. A person's innate wisdom is all brought along by the manas—it is the wisdom of the manas. Wisdom acquired later is newly learned; it is the wisdom of the mind consciousness, though it may also include the wisdom of the manas.