The Attention of Manas and the Arising of the First Six Consciousnesses

Question: Are the five sense faculties and five sense objects always in contact, inherently so, regardless of whether manas (the mental faculty) attends to them or not? As long as contact occurs, does the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) unconditionally give rise to the five sense consciousnesses? Does manas attend only to mental objects (dharmas), or does it attend to all six sense objects?

Answer: The gross sense faculties (the physical organs) are constantly in contact with the five sense objects. The tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) constantly relies on the five sense faculties to transmit and manifest the five sense objects into the subtle sense faculties (the sensory processing centers), giving rise to the internal five sense objects and mental objects. Thus, the internal five sense objects and mental objects constantly appear in the subtle sense faculties at the back of the brain. The five sense objects and the five subtle sense faculties are also constantly in contact. However, the five sense consciousnesses do not constantly arise. In many instances, when the five sense consciousnesses do not cognize the internal five sense objects, we are unaware of the five sense objects' realms. This means the arising of the five sense consciousnesses is conditional. What are the conditions? The arising of eye consciousness requires nine conditions, ear consciousness requires eight, nose consciousness requires seven, tongue consciousness requires seven, and body consciousness requires seven. If the five sense consciousnesses arise, the five sense consciousnesses accompanying the five sense faculties (the five sense consciousnesses and mental consciousness together) must arise. The five sense consciousnesses and mental consciousness jointly cognize the five sense objects (including mental objects).

Therefore, the six consciousnesses sometimes arise and sometimes do not. The most crucial prerequisite for their arising is undoubtedly the attention (manaskāra) of manas. If manas does not attend, mental consciousness certainly cannot arise, and consequently, the five sense consciousnesses also cannot arise. Thus, the attention of manas is critical. Manas certainly must attend to mental objects for mental consciousness to arise. But does manas attend to the internal five sense objects? If manas does not attend to the internal five sense objects, the tathāgatagarbha will not comply and cooperate to give rise to the five sense consciousnesses, and thus mental consciousness will not arise either.

Some may ask: During seated meditation or in daily life, even when one fundamentally does not wish to cognize the five sense objects or six sense objects, why do the six consciousnesses still arise to cognize the six sense objects, making it impossible to avoid them? This is because the clinging tendency of manas is too strong, habits are hard to change, and mental consciousness's restraining power over it is insufficiently strong. At such times, mental consciousness is helpless. Only after manas is subdued does its clinging tendency weaken. Then the six consciousnesses can become stable, and the content one does not wish to cognize ceases to appear. One can then concentrate single-mindedly, achieve focused contemplation, or even extinguish perception and thought.

Based on this reasoning, for the six consciousnesses to arise and for them to cognize forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and mental objects, there must necessarily be the attention of manas and the functioning of the mental factor of volition (cetanā). Otherwise, it is impossible for the six consciousnesses and their cognitive activities to occur. All six consciousnesses obey the direction of manas, which determines what realm is to be cognized. If manas does not decide to cognize, if manas does not wish to know, there certainly will be no six consciousnesses to cognize it. There are no six consciousnesses that disobey the intention and decisions of manas; this is absolutely impossible. Therefore, to summarize: Contact between the five sense faculties and five sense objects does not require the attention of manas. However, the cognition of the five sense objects or six sense objects by the five sense consciousnesses or six consciousnesses necessarily requires the attention of manas.