The Prajna of Manas Is the Most Crucial

All eight consciousnesses possess the wisdom mental factor. Setting aside the wisdom mental factor of the eighth consciousness for now, among the wisdom mental factors of the first seven consciousnesses, the wisdom mental factor of the seventh consciousness, manas (the mental faculty), is the most crucial and pivotal in cultivation and realization. It represents the fundamental level of wisdom of a sentient being. Because manas determines the arising and functioning of the six consciousnesses, governs all bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses, and to some extent determines the wisdom of the six consciousnesses, the first six consciousnesses are subordinate to manas. Therefore, the wisdom of manas plays a decisive role, concerning the very life and death of sentient beings, as well as whether they attain liberation or remain bound in the cycle of birth and death.

If manas lacks wisdom, no amount of wisdom in the six consciousnesses is of any avail. The karmic actions created by the six consciousnesses are governed by manas; the nature of the karmic seeds is determined by the mental activities of manas; the karmic results and retributions in future lives are determined by the mental activities of manas; whether future lives involve the cycle of birth and death or liberation and Buddhahood is determined by the mental activities of manas. Therefore, the wisdom to sever the view of self, the wisdom of realization, and all samadhi wisdom are all attained through manas. Without the wisdom of manas, cultivation cannot bear fruit, including the stage of Stream-enterer (Sotāpanna) and the stage approaching Stream-entry, as well as all the transformations during the ordinary person's stage.