The Source of Afflictions in Consciousness

The manas is the co-existent basis (sahāya-āśraya) for the arising of the mind consciousness, and it is also the basis upon which the mind consciousness becomes defiled or purified in its mental ground. The mind consciousness comes into existence only after the manas contacts the mental sense-objects (dharmas) and the manas makes choices and acts. Where do the afflictions of the mind consciousness come from? One source is the regulation and perfuming by the manas; another source is the perfuming by the defiled environment all around.

How does the manas regulate and perfume the mind consciousness? When the manas contacts the realms of the six sense-objects, it can roughly judge that the object-realm is unsatisfactory; afflictions first arise in the manas's mind, and it wants to deal with the object-realm. Then the mind consciousness arises, and in accordance with the manas's instructions, it discerns the currently present mental sense-objects. When it takes bodily and verbal action, it carries afflictions, so the body and speech are defiled—this is the result of the mind consciousness being regulated by the manas. Perfuming means that each time the afflictions of the manas appear, they perfume the mind consciousness; the mind consciousness is gradually perfumed and thus comes to have the same afflictions as the manas. For example, when a baby is newly born, the mind consciousness has no afflictions; as time passes, the innate afflictions of the manas come to dominate the mental activities of the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness becomes more and more consistent with the afflictions of the manas—this is being perfumed by the manas. Only when the mind consciousness has some awakening can it reduce some afflictions and, in turn, control the afflictions of the manas.

The second source of the mind consciousness's afflictions is the perfuming by the object-realms. Constantly dwelling amid the various afflictions of similar people, through cumulative perfuming day after day, afflictions appear in the mind. The afflictions of the mind consciousness then in turn perfume the manas, causing the manas also to have the same afflictions. After afflictions have been eradicated, the manas is not easily perfumed anymore; even if afflictions occasionally arise, they are only temporary afflictions of the mind consciousness and will be eliminated afterward, not persisting for long.