The Mental Engagement of the Manas and the Arising of the First Six Consciousnesses

Question: Are the five sense faculties and five sense objects always in contact, naturally so, regardless of whether the manas directs its attention or not? Whenever there is contact, does the eighth consciousness unconditionally give rise to the five consciousnesses? Does the manas direct its attention only toward mental sense objects, or does it direct attention to all six sense objects?

Answer: The gross physical sense organs of the five faculties are constantly in contact with the five sense objects, and the tathāgatagarbha constantly relies on the five faculties to transmit and manifest the five sense objects into the supreme faculties, giving rise to the inner five sense objects and mental sense objects. Thus the inner five sense objects and mental sense objects constantly appear in the supreme faculties at the back of the brain, and the five sense objects and the five supreme faculties are also constantly in contact. However, the five consciousnesses do not arise at all times; in many instances, there is no five-consciousness discernment of the inner five sense objects, and we are not aware of the states of the five sense objects. That is to say, the arising of the five consciousnesses is conditional. What are the conditions? The arising of the eye consciousness requires nine conditions, the arising of the ear consciousness requires eight conditions, the arising of the nose consciousness requires seven conditions, the arising of the tongue consciousness requires seven conditions, and the arising of the body consciousness requires seven conditions. If the five consciousnesses arise, the mental consciousness accompanying the five sense consciousnesses must also arise; the five consciousnesses and the mind consciousness together discern the five sense objects (including mental sense objects).

Now, the six consciousnesses sometimes appear and sometimes do not. The most important prerequisite for their appearance is certainly the manas directing its attention. If the manas does not direct its attention, the mind consciousness certainly cannot appear, and of course the five consciousnesses cannot appear either. So the manas's direction of attention is crucial. The manas certainly directs attention toward mental sense objects, so that the mind consciousness can arise. But does the manas direct attention toward the inner five sense objects? If the manas does not direct attention toward the inner five sense objects, the tathāgatagarbha will not comply and cooperate to give rise to the five consciousnesses, and in that case the mind consciousness will not arise either.

Some may ask: When sitting in meditation cultivating samādhi, or in ordinary times, even when one has no wish at all to discern the five or six sense objects, why do the six consciousnesses still arise to discern the six sense objects, so that one cannot avoid them no matter how one tries? This is because the manas's propensity for grasping is too heavy; its habitual tendencies are hard to change, and the mind consciousness's restraining power over it is not strong enough. At such times, the mind consciousness is helpless. Only after the manas has been tamed and subdued will its grasping propensity weaken, and only then can the six consciousnesses become concentrated; the content one does not wish to discern will no longer appear, and one can devote oneself single-mindedly to focused contemplation, or eliminate initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra).

From this we can infer that for the six consciousnesses to arise and for the six consciousnesses to discern form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma, there must be the manas's direction of attention and the mental factor of deliberation (manana) in operation; only then can the six consciousnesses arise. Otherwise, it is impossible for the six consciousnesses and their discerning activities to exist. The six consciousnesses all obey the manas's command; it is the manas that decides which states are to be discerned. If the manas does not decide to discern, if the manas does not wish to know, there will certainly be no six consciousnesses to discern it. There has never been a case of the six consciousnesses disobeying the manas's intent and decision—this is absolutely impossible. Therefore, to summarize: for the five sense faculties to be in contact with the five sense objects, the manas's direction of attention is not required; but for the five and six consciousnesses to discern the five and six sense objects, the manas's direction of attention is definitely required.