The Manas Has the Power of Introspection and Realizes Self-Validating Cognition

Some people say that the manas has no self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana) and no power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala), that He never knows His own past, and that only through the observation of the mind consciousness can one's own past be known. This statement is far off the mark, because only the manas and the tathāgatagarbha continue unbroken and unceasing life after life. The manas has cognition and can know all the dharmas transformed and manifested by the tathāgatagarbha; He also corresponds with karmic seeds. From countless past lives down to this present life, He has never forgotten any of the dharmas He has experienced. What He knows far exceeds what the mind consciousness knows. The information known by the mind consciousness of a single lifetime is far too little and cannot be compared with the manas. Moreover, the mind consciousness of this life has not experienced the experiences of past lives—how could it possibly serve as the manas's support? On the contrary, much information can only be known by the mind consciousness through reliance on the manas. Especially information from past lives: the mind consciousness must entirely rely on the manas to know it. Those without supernatural powers are like this, and those with supernatural powers are likewise so—without exception.

For example, when a person meets another person in a certain setting, he feels that this person is very cordial and familiar, like a long-parted family member; in an instant his heart surges with emotion and he cannot control himself, even becoming so moved that his eyes brim with hot tears. In fact, these two people were family members in a past life with deep karmic affinity, so upon meeting in this life they feel especially close. This is absolutely not something felt after the mind consciousness has discerned it—the mind consciousness knows nothing and can only know through reliance on the manas; it is the one who knows only after the fact. Moreover, it can only know this when the mind consciousness has wisdom. When the mind consciousness lacks wisdom, even if one's eyes brim with hot tears, one does not know why—one is muddled and confused. The mind consciousness does not know why it would suddenly brim with hot tears; of course it is that the manas could not control Himself and the tears welled up. If the manas were not moved, then even if the mind consciousness were moved, there would be no hot tears—except for actors.

Take another example: a person feels uncomfortable in his heart the moment he sees another person, and the mind consciousness does not know the reason, but the manas knows it—only He cannot express it so that the mind consciousness understands clearly: it turns out this person often speaks ill of him behind his back. The mind consciousness has not witnessed these matters, so it certainly does not know them; the feeling of discomfort is of course the result of the manas alerting the mind consciousness.

As for whether the manas has the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala) and self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana)—of course He does; this is beyond any doubt. A person of cultivation: his manas will constantly introspect and examine whether he has done anything wrong, whether he has harmed others, whether his words and conduct are appropriate and proper, and so on. A person without cultivation: when encountering major, urgent matters and extremely important people, his manas will also introspect and examine whether what he says and does is appropriate, whether there might be any bad consequences, and so on. Only in extremely foolish people might the manas lack the power of introspection and examination, often being oblivious and unaware, not even knowing when a great disaster has been incurred.

The manas's introspection is the manas's introspection; the mind consciousness's introspection is the mind consciousness's introspection. The two cannot substitute for each other, because each has its own mental factors (caittas) and they do not function interchangeably—there is only mutual influence between them. The manas cannot take the mind consciousness's introspection as His own introspection and confirm it, thereby ceasing to examine and introspect Himself. Even if such a situation occurs, it is only under special circumstances when the manas's wisdom is insufficient; later, once the manas is able to introspect Himself again, He will mostly regret the choices He made before. Take another example: a person does something and, having done it, forgets about it and no longer thinks about it. But not long after, upon encountering a condition, he recalls the matter and slaps his thigh, saying: "I did that thing wrong." Is this regret the mind consciousness's regret or the manas's regret? Was it the mind consciousness's introspection that discovered the mistake, or the manas's introspection that discovered it?

Here there is no time or opportunity for the mind consciousness to analyze, yet the manas very quickly decides to slap the thigh, expressing regret. The more quickly the thigh is slapped, the more it shows that the manas discovered the error after introspecting, although the slapping of the thigh is an action jointly created by the mind consciousness and the body consciousness; the harder the thigh is slapped, the more the manas regrets. It is like instantly flinging away one's hand when scalded by hot water—there is no time for the mind consciousness to analyze; if one waited for the mind consciousness to analyze before flinging the hand away, the hand would long since have been scalded beyond recognition, and flinging or not flinging would make no difference. If everything required the use of the mind consciousness, many matters would be as cold as a cucumber left out too long, beyond remedy. When one has done something wrong, deep reflection and repentance, sincere repentance, earnest repentance, heartfelt repentance—these are all the manas's repentance, reflection, and introspection. The mind consciousness's repentance is not at all sincere; saying but not doing refers precisely to the mind consciousness's failure to keep its word, this lack of capacity to be the master.