Examining the Mental Factors (caittas) of the Manas from the Perspective of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination

The three links taught in the twelve links of dependent origination—ignorance conditions volitional formations (avidyā-pratyayāḥ saṃskārāḥ), volitional formations condition consciousness, and consciousness conditions name-and-form—clearly reveal that the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death of sentient beings all arises from the ignorance of the manas. Because of the ignorance of the manas, sentient beings have wholesome and unwholesome karma and the transmigration through the six realms; thus the ignorance of the manas encompasses all afflictions and possesses all the afflictive mental factors. Because sentient beings have all afflictions, they have segmented birth-and-death and transformational birth-and-death; and once the ignorance of the manas is completely eliminated, sentient beings attain buddhahood. At that time the manas will possess all wholesome mental factors, which will constantly accompany the manas in its operation, whereas previously they did not constantly accompany it—especially at the stage of ordinary beings, when they rarely accompanied the manas.

To summarize: the manas possesses all mental factors, no fewer than the mind consciousness. If the manas did not possess all afflictive mental factors, the mind would not be so heavily defiled, would create less karma of birth-and-death, and would experience less suffering; yet for immeasurable kalpas, sentient beings have possessed all the sufferings of birth-and-death and have created all karma of birth-and-death, which shows that the manas possesses all afflictive mental factors. If the manas did not possess all wholesome mental factors, the mind could not be completely and thoroughly purified, and one could not attain buddhahood; yet all sentient beings will ultimately attain buddhahood, so the manas possesses all wholesome mental factors. It is just that these wholesome and unwholesome mental factors do not constantly accompany the manas in its operation. In the manas of ordinary sentient beings, only the four great root afflictions—self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), self-conceit, self-grasping, and self-delusion—constantly and ceaselessly accompany the manas in its operation, never departing from it for even a moment. It is evident that these four great root afflictions are the bane of the karma and suffering of birth-and-death; through these four great root afflictions, other afflictions are triggered to manifest at times and lie hidden at other times.

Once the affliction of self-view is eliminated, the other three root afflictions will gradually be eliminated along with it; once the four great root afflictions are eliminated, all other afflictions will be completely eliminated along with them, and segmented birth-and-death will thereby be ended. Therefore, after sentient beings eliminate self-view, the affliction of self-view can neither constantly accompany the manas in its operation nor intermittently accompany it; and even further, after the afflictions of self-grasping and self-conceit are completely eliminated, they can neither constantly accompany the manas in its operation nor intermittently accompany it, but will never again accompany the manas in its operation. And so it is likewise with the affliction of self-delusion: once it is completely eliminated, the manifest afflictions of the manas are exhausted, and at the end of one's life one can leave the three realms and enter nirvāṇa without remainder (anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa).

The wholesome mental factors of the manas of ordinary sentient beings are not complete and cannot constantly accompany the manas in its operation; rather, they appear at times and are absent at other times, manifesting and hiding intermittently. Once the manas eliminates its afflictive mental factors, the wholesome mental factors will gradually become complete and will constantly accompany the manas in its operation. This is then the mental activity of a noble one, no longer the mental activity of an ordinary being. To summarize: in the manas of ordinary sentient beings, only the four great root afflictions constantly accompany the manas in its operation, while other afflictions appear at times and are absent at other times, manifesting and hiding intermittently—this is exactly how the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra discusses it. The wholesome mental factors of the manas of ordinary sentient beings likewise appear at times and are absent at other times, manifesting and hiding intermittently; after afflictions are eliminated and one becomes a noble one, the wholesome mental factors will frequently accompany the manas in its operation, and ultimately will constantly accompany it.

In recent decades, many people have grossly misunderstood the mental factors of the manas. The reason lies in a severe deficiency of meditative concentration (samādhi) and wisdom, rendering them unable to directly observe the mental activity of the manas; their comprehension is also not strong, and they have misunderstood the expositions of the bodhisattvas—a misunderstanding that has persisted to this day. Since the levels of meditative concentration and wisdom of the various great bodhisattvas vary, being high and low, there are inevitably contradictions among the bodhisattvas' expositions. When such a situation arises, one should give primacy to the exposition of Bodhisattva Maitreya, whose wisdom is the deepest; if there are Buddhist sūtras to corroborate, one should give primacy to the Buddhist sūtras. If there are no Buddhist sūtras to corroborate, then one should take genuine realization as the standard and facts as the standard, for facts, after all, speak louder than eloquence.