The Function of Manas in Receiving and Processing Information

According to some materials: The brain receives a vast amount of information every second, yet it can only process a minuscule portion of it. If it were to process all this information, the brain would be overwhelmed. To function normally, the brain automatically filters information, disregarding data it deems unimportant or irrelevant, focusing only on information that is useful and significant to itself. Because individuals have different focuses, they perceive the same information differently, leading to different attitudes and methods of handling it. How can one remember key points and themes when encountering problems, enhance wisdom, and resolve issues? The key is to actively pose questions to the brain. These questions should target the core, the crucial aspects of the problem, and its solutions. This way, the brain will direct its thinking towards these areas, thereby solving the problem.

What is the brain? Ordinary people do not realize that the brain is a material form (rūpa dharma) and lacks the function of conscious awareness. What they generally refer to as the brain is usually the manas (mind root). It is the manas that receives vast amounts of information and selectively processes it, not the brain, nor the consciousness (mano-vijñāna). This is because consciousness has not yet arisen at this stage; all information falls upon the manas, which lacks the capacity and energy to face and process all the information. It can only screen for information that is useful and relatively important to itself. Only after this selection does consciousness arise to assist the manas in processing the information.

The nature of manas silently containing all dharmas and its sovereignty over all dharmas is evident here. All dharmas certainly include the objects of the five senses (rūpa, śabda, gandha, rasa, sparśa) and the six sense objects (including dharma objects). If manas only contacts dharma objects and not the objects of the five senses, where would the information from the five senses fall? Who would receive and screen it? Who would decide how to handle it? Only after manas preliminarily screens the objects of the five senses do the five consciousnesses arise to recognize and process them. Thus, manas has the authority to choose and handle the objects of the five senses and the five consciousnesses.

It is the manas that automatically filters information and automatically focuses on useful information relevant to itself. This is the preliminary screening stage for vast amounts of information. At this point, consciousness has not yet arisen; it is unaware of the activities of manas and all the information. Therefore, consciousness does not participate, make choices, or hold sovereignty; it can only passively accept the information given to it by manas, being directed and regulated by manas. If manas does not filter and screen information, it would be unable to cope with the massive influx and might even collapse. Even after screening, the remaining information is substantial and difficult to handle entirely. This causes manas to simultaneously engage with an immense number of dharmas, making it unable to concentrate on processing this information and thus appearing unwise.

How can wisdom be generated in manas? Naturally, it requires continuously filtering out and reducing useless information, focusing only on the information that should be processed at the present moment, disregarding all else. Only with this concentrated focus can one process the attended information wisely. However, achieving such concentration is extremely difficult. It requires constant training through the cultivation of meditation (dhyāna-bhāvanā), enabling manas to firmly settle on one dharma for contemplation.

It is also manas that remembers key information and themes, paying attention to and considering them. This is the functional role of the sovereign consciousness capable of receiving all information. When these functions of manas operate, consciousness remains unaware and cannot participate. Only after manas remembers the information can it consider how to handle it, deciding whether to discard it or to deepen its understanding. If it decides to deepen understanding, the six consciousnesses will arise and discern this information. After discernment, manas comprehends and will decide again how to face and handle it. From this, it can be seen that it is manas that makes decisions and acts as the master at every stage, while the six consciousnesses perform the specific discernment and analysis, being subordinate to manas.

Who poses questions to the brain? It is consciousness that poses questions to manas. It is consciousness that wants manas to consider, select, and process the vast amount of information, focusing on key and useful information. The act of asking questions is not something manas can do, because questioning involves silent language, text, and sound, which are not compatible with manas. Manas can only hint to consciousness, and consciousness is unconsciously directed by it. What worldly people describe as the brain that receives and processes information refers to manas. What temporarily stores information is the subtle sense faculties (indriya). Manas can contact, know, and process the dharmas within the subtle sense faculties. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra states that manas silently contains all dharmas and has extensive clinging tendencies. These characteristics of manas are fully revealed in this material.

Is manas busy? Does it passively receive vast amounts of information or actively receive it? There are both active and passive aspects. Actively receiving vast amounts of information is called extensive clinging (paryeṣṭi). Passive reception is unavoidable because when karmic seeds mature, the tathāgatagarbha must manifest and transmit them, such as information about illnesses or car accidents, which it cannot avoid. Active contemplation enhances wisdom more than passive acceptance. So who asks the questions, who contemplates, who solves the problems, and who enhances wisdom? Knowing what problem needs to be solved reveals who should solve it. The tasks of screening information and focusing on information are the responsibilities of manas.