Is the Innate Self-Grasping of the Manas or of the Mind Consciousness?

Does the mind consciousness have innate self-grasping? "Innate" means present from birth. When the mind consciousness first appears, it cannot tell east from west or south from north; it knows nothing at all, and certainly does not know the so-called "self," nor does it know its parents or siblings—so it has no self-grasping. Everything manifested by an infant's mind consciousness is taught and permeated by the manas; therefore it is the manas that possesses innate self-grasping, and the manas need not be born anew. The environment and parents cannot yet permeate the infant for the time being; the mind consciousness must be gradually taught before it can come to understand all dharmas and every dharma—whether taught by its own manas, taught by others, or permeated by the environment. In any case, the mind consciousness must learn each and every dharma one by one; nothing is innate, including the cognition of the self itself.

The mind consciousness is at first always taught and permeated by the manas. From the moment it arises, it is shaped by the manas; He must be governed by the manas and has no principles or opinions of His own. All the manifestations of the mind consciousness in the womb entirely follow and comply with the manas, without the slightest self-assertion. After birth, the mind consciousness likewise completely follows the will and habits of the manas, without the slightest self-assertion. Only later, after being permeated by the environment and taught by others, does it acquire some cognition and some self-assertion.

The innocence of a child lies precisely in the fact that it is entirely the manifestation of the child's own inner mind (the manas)—without falseness, without pretense, without the mind consciousness's concealment. It is the manas's straightforward nature acting spontaneously. The mind consciousness does not control the manas and does not disguise the manas. From a child one can directly observe the characteristics of the manas: a child is born with greed—that is the manas's greed; born able to get angry—that is the manas's aversion; born foolish and deluded—that is the manas's delusion. If a child is born exceptionally intelligent, that is the manas's wisdom; if born with a certain special talent, that is the manas's ability. Whatever is innate, not specially learned after birth, belongs to the manas.

Some people have excellent power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) in certain areas without having to learn them after birth—being so from birth; that is the manas's wisdom, brought over from previous lives. Such are those prodigy children. The wisdom that the mind consciousness acquires through later learning takes longer and is not very rapid. If something is learned extremely quickly, it is still due to the manas's influence—having been encountered in previous lives—and is related to karmic seeds and the manas. Studying Buddhism is the same: some people advance a thousand li a day in learning the Buddha's teachings; this is called having wholesome roots and roots of wisdom, having a foundation from previous lives. The manas carries the permeation from previous lives into this life, and so studying Buddhism proceeds very rapidly.

When we truly cannot distinguish between the manas and the mind consciousness, we should consider: what is the situation when there is no mind consciousness? What is the situation when the mind consciousness's activity is faint and slight? What is the situation when the mind consciousness has just arisen or is about to cease? In all these situations, what manifests is entirely the characteristics of the manas.