Mental Factors of Manas from the Perspective of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination

The three links in the Twelve Nidānas—ignorance conditioning volitional formations, volitional formations conditioning consciousness, and consciousness conditioning name-and-form—clearly reveal that the suffering of birth, aging, illness, and death in sentient beings is all caused by the ignorance of the manas. Due to the ignorance of the manas, sentient beings have good and evil karma and the cycle of rebirth in the six realms. Thus, the ignorance of the manas encompasses all afflictions and possesses all afflictive mental factors. Because sentient beings have all afflictions, they experience segmented birth and death and transformative birth and death. However, once the ignorance of the manas is completely eradicated, sentient beings attain Buddhahood. At that point, the manas possesses all wholesome mental factors, which constantly accompany its functioning. Previously, this was not constant, especially during the stage of an ordinary person, when wholesome mental factors rarely accompanied the manas.

In summary, the manas possesses all mental factors, no fewer than the consciousness. If the manas did not possess all afflictive mental factors, the mind would not be heavily defiled, would create less karma leading to birth and death, and would experience less suffering. However, sentient beings have endured all the suffering of birth and death throughout immeasurable kalpas and have created all karmas leading to birth and death. This demonstrates that the manas possesses all afflictive mental factors. If the manas did not possess all wholesome mental factors, the mind would not be completely and thoroughly purified, and thus one could not attain Buddhahood. Yet all sentient beings will ultimately attain Buddhahood, so the manas possesses all wholesome mental factors. However, these wholesome and unwholesome mental factors do not constantly accompany the functioning of the manas. For ordinary sentient beings, only the four fundamental afflictions—the view of self, self-conceit, self-attachment, and self-ignorance—constantly and unceasingly accompany the functioning of the manas, never separated even for a moment. It is evident that these four fundamental afflictions are the root cause of karmas leading to birth and death and the suffering of birth and death. From these four fundamental afflictions, other afflictions arise and manifest intermittently.

If the affliction of the view of self is severed, the other three fundamental afflictions will gradually be eradicated as well. Once the four fundamental afflictions are severed, all other afflictions will be completely eradicated, and segmented birth and death ceases. Therefore, after sentient beings sever the view of self, the affliction of the view of self can neither constantly nor intermittently accompany the functioning of the manas. Moreover, after the afflictions of self-attachment and self-conceit are completely eradicated, they can neither constantly nor intermittently accompany the functioning of the manas but will never accompany it again. The same applies to the affliction of self-ignorance. Once it is completely eradicated, the manifest afflictions of the manas are exhausted, and upon death, one can transcend the three realms and enter nirvāṇa without remainder.

The wholesome mental factors of the manas in ordinary sentient beings are not fully possessed and do not constantly accompany its functioning; rather, they appear and disappear intermittently. Once the afflictive mental factors of the manas are eradicated, the wholesome mental factors will gradually become fully possessed and will constantly accompany the functioning of the manas. This is the mental activity of a sage, not that of an ordinary person. In summary, for ordinary sentient beings, only the four fundamental afflictions constantly accompany the functioning of the manas, while other afflictions appear and disappear intermittently. The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra discusses this precisely. The wholesome mental factors of the manas in ordinary sentient beings also appear and disappear intermittently. After eradicating afflictions and becoming a sage, the wholesome mental factors will frequently accompany the functioning of the manas, and ultimately, they will constantly accompany it.

In recent decades, many people have profoundly misunderstood the mental factors of the manas. The reason lies in severe deficiencies in concentration and wisdom, making it impossible to observe the mental activities of the manas directly. Their comprehension is also insufficient, leading to misunderstandings of the Bodhisattvas’ expositions, and this misunderstanding persists to this day. Because the levels of concentration and wisdom among the great Bodhisattvas vary considerably, contradictions inevitably appear in their expositions. When such contradictions arise, one should prioritize the expositions of Bodhisattva Maitreya, who possesses the deepest wisdom. If there are sūtras to corroborate, the sūtras should take precedence. If there are no sūtras for corroboration, one should rely on genuine realization as the standard and base conclusions on facts, for facts ultimately speak louder than eloquent arguments.