The Manas Universally Contacts All Dharmas

The manas is bound together with the tathāgatagarbha. Whatever dharma the tathāgatagarbha manifests, the manas contacts that dharma and perceives that dharma. However, the manas's discernment also has priorities and levels. If the dharma He pays attention to is not clearly discerned by Himself, He will direct His attention and make a decision, and the six consciousnesses will emerge to discern it. If the manas can discern a dharma clearly by Himself but cannot handle it, He will direct His attention and make a decision to let the six consciousnesses emerge to discern and handle it.

There are an enormous number of dharmas that the manas can discern clearly by Himself and that require no handling, of which the mind consciousness knows nothing; likewise, there are an enormous number of dharmas contacted by the manas that do not require discernment by the six consciousnesses, of which the mind consciousness also knows nothing. The dharmas that the manas contacts and discerns clearly are also extremely numerous, and those He wants the mind consciousness to know and handle are also extremely numerous; yet because the mind consciousness lacks sufficient wisdom, it cannot know them, remaining muddled and confused—sometimes even feeling baffled by the manas's hints and suggestions, and in the end the matter is left unresolved.

The tathāgatagarbha manifests the realms of the six sense objects. When the six sense objects first appear, it is the manas that contacts and discerns them first. If the manas's discernment of the six sense objects is unclear, the six consciousnesses emerge to discern them in detail. When the six consciousnesses first begin to discern, they have nothing to compare the six sense objects against, so their discernment is also unclear, and the mind consciousness feels everything is vague and hazy. After several instants of discernment, the sense objects before and after can be compared with one another, and the object-realms become connected; only then does the mind consciousness know what the six sense objects are. For example, in writing a character: when the first stroke is written, no one knows what the character is; when the second stroke is written, it is still unknown; when the third stroke is written, one can vaguely guess what the character is; and when the fourth stroke is written, one knows what the character is.