The Caitasika Dharma of Manas from the Perspective of the Twelve Nidānas

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 experienced by sentient beings all arise due to the ignorance of the manas (mental faculty). Because of the ignorance of the manas, sentient beings create wholesome and unwholesome karma and undergo rebirth within the six realms. Thus, the ignorance of the manas encompasses all afflictions and possesses all afflictive mental factors. It is because sentient beings possess all afflictions that they experience birth and death in segments (within the three realms) and transformative birth and death (beyond the three realms). Once the ignorance of the manas is completely eradicated, sentient beings attain Buddhahood. At this stage, the manas becomes endowed with all wholesome mental factors, which then constantly accompany its functioning. Previously, this was not constant, especially during the stage of an ordinary person, where wholesome mental factors rarely accompanied the manas.

In summary, the manas is endowed with all mental factors, no less than the consciousness (vijñāna). If the manas were not endowed with 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 countless eons and have created all karmas leading to birth and death. This indicates that the manas is indeed endowed with all afflictive mental factors. If the manas were not endowed with all wholesome mental factors, the mind would not be completely and thoroughly purified, and one could not attain Buddhahood. However, all sentient beings will ultimately attain Buddhahood, therefore the manas is endowed with all wholesome mental factors. It is just that these wholesome and unwholesome mental factors do not constantly accompany the functioning of the manas. For ordinary sentient beings, the manas is only constantly and unceasingly accompanied by the four fundamental afflictions: the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), self-conceit (asmi-māna), self-attachment (ātma-grāha), and self-ignorance (ātma-moha). These never part from the manas even for an instant. 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.

Once the affliction of the view of self is eradicated, the other three fundamental afflictions will also gradually be eradicated. Once the four fundamental afflictions are eradicated, all other afflictions will be completely eradicated, and birth and death in segments (within the three realms) will cease. Therefore, after sentient beings eradicate the view of self, the affliction of the view of self can neither constantly nor intermittently accompany the functioning of the manas. Furthermore, after the afflictions of self-attachment and self-conceit are completely eradicated, they can neither constantly nor intermittently accompany the functioning of the manas; rather, they will never accompany the manas 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 the end of that life, one can transcend the three realms and enter Parinirvāṇa.

The wholesome mental factors of the manas in ordinary sentient beings are not fully endowed and do not constantly accompany its functioning; they are sometimes present and sometimes absent, sometimes manifesting and sometimes latent. Once the afflictive mental factors of the manas are eradicated, the wholesome mental factors will gradually become fully endowed and will constantly accompany the functioning of the manas. This is the mental activity of a sage, not that of an ordinary person. To summarize, the manas of ordinary sentient beings is only constantly accompanied by the four fundamental afflictions; other afflictions are sometimes present and sometimes absent, sometimes manifesting and sometimes latent. This is how the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra explains it. The wholesome mental factors of the manas in ordinary sentient beings are also sometimes present and sometimes absent, sometimes manifesting and sometimes latent. After eradicating afflictions and becoming a sage, the wholesome mental factors will frequently accompany the functioning of the manas, eventually becoming constant companions.

In recent decades, many people have profoundly misunderstood the mental factors of the manas. The reason for this lies in a severe deficiency in meditative concentration (śamatha) and wisdom (prajñā), making it impossible to directly observe the mental activities of the manas. Their understanding is also not strong enough, leading to misunderstandings of the expositions by Bodhisattvas, a misunderstanding that persists to this day. Because the levels of meditative concentration and wisdom among the great Bodhisattvas vary and are unequal, their expositions inevitably contain apparent contradictions. When such situations arise, one should primarily rely on the expositions of Bodhisattva Maitreya, who possesses the deepest wisdom. If there are sutras that can serve as corroborating evidence, then the sutras should take precedence. If there are no sutras to corroborate, then one should rely on genuine realization and actual facts as the standard, for facts ultimately speak louder than arguments.