Why Does the Manas Not Correspond to Written Words, Language, and Sounds

Language, written words, and sounds correspond to the mind consciousness; they are functions of the mind consciousness, accomplished jointly with the five sense consciousnesses. Therefore this mind consciousness is the mental consciousness accompanying the five sense consciousnesses (pañcavijñāna-sahagata-manovijñāna); it cannot be separated from the five sense consciousnesses, and thus cannot be separated from the body faculty. The appearance of language and sound begins with the manas generating an intention, wanting to express its own views and thoughts. When the manas stirs a thought, brain waves fluctuate, and the intent is conveyed through the central nervous system to the corresponding system—or one might say the corresponding part—of the body faculty. Then wind, or a stream of air, arises at the dantian; this stream of air surges upward, traveling all the way to the tongue faculty, where the flow of sound emerges and forms speech and language. So speaking requires physical energy; when energy is insufficient, the voice is faint, or no sound can be produced at all. Language and sound are produced through the joint, harmonious operation of the mind consciousness and the body consciousness, requiring the cooperation of the body faculty; at this time the tongue is part of the body faculty and does not perform the function of contacting taste objects. As for written words, writing and typing are produced through the harmonious operation of the mind consciousness and the body consciousness, requiring the cooperation of the body faculty. The solitary mental consciousness can have sounds in the mind, and images of written words can also appear in the mind; when the solitary mental consciousness introspects, it can know its own inner voice and mental images of written words. 

The above pertains to the verbal and mental actions of the six consciousnesses; there is also bodily action. Bodily action can only be accomplished through the joint, harmonious operation of the mind consciousness and the five sense consciousnesses, requiring the cooperation of the five sense faculties; apart from the five faculties, bodily action cannot be carried out. The bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses are brought about by the manas; they are the effect of the manas's intention. The manas is like a commander-in-chief, and the six consciousnesses are the executors of the commands. When the commander stirs an intention, the brain waves move, the command is issued, and the body's entire nervous system begins to operate. The intention of the manas is like a signal or a code; the mind consciousness can understand part of it, or most of it, but without wisdom it cannot understand all of it. When the six consciousnesses execute the command and carry out the specific operations, language, written words, and sounds appear—this is the function of the operating system. The command system operates only in the form of codes, without needing the cooperation of the five faculties, and in this way the manas's mental action is completed. Without the cooperation of the five faculties, of course, written words, language, and sounds cannot appear. 

When the solitary mental consciousness leaves the physical body, without the cooperation of the five faculties, likewise there are no written words, language, or sounds; it cannot speak or write. Mental thoughts are also something like codes, but the mind consciousness understands them completely on its own. Once understood, with the cooperation of the five faculties, they can be expressed as written words, language, and sounds. If the mind consciousness understands the manas's mental thoughts, it can likewise express them through written words, language, and sounds. Therefore written words, language, and sounds are tools for expressing mental thoughts; the manas cannot express itself in this way and can only express itself through the mind consciousness and the five sense consciousnesses.

As for the codes of the eighth consciousness, they can only be understood after the sixth and seventh consciousnesses have transformed consciousness into wisdom and attained a considerable degree of the wisdom of the varieties of paths. Before that, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses cannot decipher them, yet they can still enjoy the benefits and entitlements bestowed by the eighth consciousness—and even while enjoying them, they do not know it, instead believing these benefits were earned through their own efforts and are what they naturally deserve. Codes require wisdom to decipher; without wisdom, one only makes a mess of things. Codes and passwords are all metaphors, used to illustrate the form of mental thoughts; there are, in fact, no such codes or passwords. 

Suppose one is asleep in the middle of the night, the six consciousnesses have ceased, and a fire breaks out in the room—the manas wants to run. What then? This thought of the manas, without the cooperation of the body faculty and without the cooperation of the six consciousnesses, cannot be realized no matter what. So it is not that the manas's wisdom is very lowly and it can do nothing; rather, whatever it wants to do requires tools to use. Without tools, there is no way, and it can only be as helpless as someone of severely limited ability.