Selected Lectures on the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra

Original text:又有三种诸有情类。欲为根本作业方便。一为得胜欲。二为得胜自体。三为证胜解脱道。 

Explanation: There are again three kinds of sentient beings who take desire as the fundamental basis for their means of practice. The first kind of desire is that sentient beings practice in order to obtain the most supreme retribution, to realize the fruit of a Mahāyāna bodhisattva and to accomplish the Buddha Way; this is the most supremely excellent, without compare, and is called the unsurpassed dharma, whose retribution is the unsurpassed fruit.

The second kind of desire is that sentient beings practice in order to obtain more exquisite pleasures of the five desires and greater merit, and the result may be rebirth in the heavens to enjoy blessings—yet when the merit is exhausted, they fall again. As for the retribution of the physical body, they obtain a heavenly being's body and realm of existence, and the outcome is again bondage to birth and death. 

The third kind of desire is that sentient beings, through practice, ultimately wish to obtain the supreme liberating retribution of escaping the three realms; the result is that they can escape the three realms and attain temporary liberation, but cannot accomplish the Buddha's ultimate liberation.

Desire is the cause of birth and death, yet the pursuit of Mahāyāna Buddhadharma can lead one not to enter nirvāṇa without remainder, so that one may forever benefit sentient beings extensively within the three realms. The six consciousnesses have desires, and the manas has even more desires; it is chiefly because of the manas's desires that birth and death are unceasing and transmigration unending.

If only the six consciousnesses had desires and the manas had none, the desires of the six consciousnesses would also have no effect; they would cease as soon as they arose, and birth and death would surely be ended. If only the six consciousnesses severed desire while the manas did not, the manas would surely exercise its role as master with cravings, the six consciousnesses would surely create karma of greed and desire, birth and death could not be ended, and transmigration would not cease.

If the manas has cravings for the three realms, it certainly cannot eliminate its craving-attachment to the three realms, and certainly cannot escape them. Because arhats have eliminated the manas's self-grasping, they have eliminated craving-attachment to the three realms—that is, they have eliminated craving for the three realms—and only then can they escape the three realms and enter nirvāṇa without remainder. If an arhat turns his mind toward the Mahāyāna, because he has generated a mind of fondness for the Mahāyāna dharma and has cravings for it, the manas is bound by this craving; at the end of life he will certainly not enter nirvāṇa without remainder, and will certainly have a five-aggregate body of the desire realm and continue to study and practice the Mahāyāna dharma, seeking to see his true mind and his Buddha-nature and to become a Buddha. This is the wholesome desire for dharma of the bodhisattvas of the common vehicle (Tongjiao bodhisattvas).

If only the mind consciousness has this wholesome desire for dharma and the manas does not, then the manas is not bound by the wholesome desire for dharma, has no craving or seeking for the dharmas of the three realms, and at the end of life will certainly take nirvāṇa without remainder. 

If the manas has already severed the craving for food and drink, then even if the mind consciousness pays much attention to fine foods of the desire realm and looks at them a few extra times, the manas will not give rise to greed, will not want to greedily eat fine foods, but will simply accord with conditions. If the manas has already severed the desire between men and women, then even if the mind consciousness looks a few extra times at the opposite sex, there will be no subsequent mental activity, because the manas, acting as master, does not cling or crave, and the mind consciousness cannot have superfluous thoughts and cravings. If the manas has already severed greed, having no craving for food, clothing, shelter, or possessions, then even if the mind consciousness encounters a luxurious and extravagant living environment, it will not give rise to greed; yet its eating, clothing, dwelling, and use of things will still follow previous habitual tendencies. This is the manas's habituation; since the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of eating, clothing, dwelling, and using things are governed by the manas, they must conform to the manas's habits.

Wishing to become a Buddha is a supreme desire; wishing to see one's true mind and Buddha-nature is a supreme desire; wishing to eliminate self-view and realize the fruit of liberation is a supreme desire. If only the mind consciousness has this supreme desire and the manas does not, then the manas will not take charge of diligent practice, will not proactively cultivate the three unconditioned studies, will not proactively keep precepts, will not proactively cultivate meditative concentration, will not proactively read sutras and contemplate, still less will it set its mind on contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and investigating the meaning of the dharma, nor likewise will it persist from morning to night with every thought on practice. Only when the manas has a supreme desire can it proactively impel the six consciousnesses to practice, keeping the mind consciousness with every thought on studying and practicing Buddhism, enabling the mind consciousness to find ways to remove all interference and obstacles and practice diligently. 

After studying Buddhism, the mind consciousness has subdued its craving for meat, knowing that eating meat creates unwholesome karmic connections with sentient beings and carries karmic consequences; but the manas has not subdued its craving for meat. When encountering meat, the mind consciousness knows it should not be eaten, yet the manas somewhat wants to eat it, so the mind consciousness exhorts the manas, saying: one must not eat meat, one should eat vegetarian; and the manas temporarily endures. But a moment later, when the mind consciousness is not exhorting it and is off guard, the manas decides to take a bite to satisfy the craving, and so a bite of meat is eaten. The mind consciousness, having complied with the manas and relaxed its vigilance, finds the manas deciding to take another bite. If the mind consciousness does not condemn the manas, the manas will indulge itself and keep eating, until finally the mind consciousness can no longer control the manas and simply gives in: "I've already eaten anyway." Failure to quit smoking follows the same principle; failure to quit gambling or drugs is all the same principle—the mind consciousness truly cannot control the manas. The manas's habits far outweigh the mind consciousness's rationality, and so the mind consciousness has no choice but to follow the manas.

Therefore, if only the mind consciousness practices and the mind consciousness eliminates afflictions while the manas does not, that is not true elimination of afflictions. If the mind consciousness eliminates self-view while the manas does not, that is not true elimination of self-view. If the mind consciousness understands the principle while the manas does not, that is not true understanding. No one can walk on a single leg; the two legs of the mind consciousness and the manas must move in step, or one following the other, in order to walk the path well.

For people whose minds incline toward the wholesome, almost everyone has had the experience of the mind consciousness guiding and exhorting the manas, because the manas cannot deliberate and does not know good from bad; it requires the mind consciousness to do much work, to enlighten the manas much toward the wholesome, and only then can bodily, verbal, and mental actions be wholesome. From this single point—the manas's role as master and its power of decision—the mighty function of the manas is evident. Judging from all these examples, if the manas had no aspirations and no desires, nothing would be established, everything would vanish, and one would necessarily abide in nirvāṇa without remainder.