The Five Names of Manas: Part II

Original: The fourth is the consciousness of wisdom. It refers to distinguishing defiled and pure phenomena, and all differentiated dharmas.

Explanation: The fourth name of manas is the consciousness of wisdom, capable of discriminating all phenomena as either defiled or pure, including good and evil, right and wrong, etc., and able to discern the differentiating characteristics of all dharmas. The Awakening of Faith states that manas as the consciousness of wisdom is absolutely correct. As the sovereign consciousness, it represents the fundamental essence of sentient beings and determines all aspects of their existence. If the sovereign consciousness of the five aggregates lacked such wisdom, then the five aggregates would be devoid of wisdom, and there would be no wise individuals in the world. To say that manas has inferior wisdom is not entirely accurate. When discriminating exceedingly subtle and specific objects of the mind, manas indeed falls short compared to the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna), which is why the mental consciousness is utilized. However, once manas gains the capacity to discriminate subtle objects of the mind, the mental consciousness and the five sense consciousnesses become unnecessary. Manas itself directly assumes the functions of the six consciousnesses. By discarding the consciousnesses and using the root (manas), there would be far fewer complications and obstructions, and great spiritual powers would manifest.

Original: The fifth is the continuity-consciousness. It means constantly engaging in mental activity, corresponding continuously, upholding past karmas of good, evil, etc., preventing their loss or decay, ripening present and future karmic retributions of suffering, happiness, etc., ensuring no violation, suddenly recollecting events that have been experienced, and falsely discriminating events that have never been experienced.

Explanation: The fifth name of manas is the continuity-consciousness. Manas is called the continuity-consciousness because its five universal mental factors (pañca-sarvatraga) operate continuously and uninterruptedly. Consequently, the ālaya-vijñāna continuously produces and operates all dharmas according to manas, causing the five-aggregate world to appear in an unbroken succession. When one life ends, the next arises, continuing birth after birth without cease. Thus, all good, evil, defiled, and pure dharmas continuously manifest according to manas. Good and evil karmas never cease, and their karmic retributions do not decay or vanish. Moreover, manas ripens the karmic retributions of suffering, happiness, etc., in the present and future, without violating the principles of cause and effect. Events experienced by manas throughout countless lifetimes since beginningless time can suddenly be recollected when conditions arise, and events not yet experienced can also be falsely discriminated.

Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa stated that manas upholds good and evil karmas, preventing the loss or decay of karmic seeds, and ripens karmic fruits and retributions. This meaning is extremely profound and significant. The bodily, verbal, and mental actions created by the six consciousnesses serve two purposes: first, they are stored as seeds in the ālaya-vijñāna, which holds and contains them; second, they are upheld by manas and carried into future lives. What does 'uphold' (任持) mean? It means to shoulder, bear, or take responsibility for the karmic actions.

Why must karmic actions be shouldered and taken responsibility for by manas? Because manas is the sovereign consciousness, the master of the five-aggregate body, the ruler and instigator of all karmic actions. The six consciousnesses merely serve as assistants, cooperating and not acting as the sovereign. The ālaya-vijñāna is certainly not the sovereign of karmic actions; it does not instigate the creation of karma. Therefore, after karma is created, all karmic actions are the responsibility of manas, which bears the karmic fruits. The six consciousnesses cannot bear the karmic actions—firstly, because they are not sovereign, and secondly, because they perish at death and cannot carry karmic seeds to future lives. Since all dharmas are created under the sovereignty of manas, the good or evil nature of karmic actions reflects the good or evil nature of manas itself. Manas possesses all wholesome and unwholesome mental factors, which correspond to the karmic actions and seeds, and these mental factors are carried into future lives. Therefore, spiritual practice means cultivating manas, influencing it, and transforming it.

Manas also ripens the karmic retributions of good and evil, suffering and happiness, in accordance with cause and effect. One might ask: Aren't karmic retributions ripened by the ālaya-vijñāna? The ālaya-vijñāna only manifests the ripened karmic seeds, actualizing the karmic retribution, but it does not ripen the karmic retribution or the seeds themselves. Only when the karmic conditions are complete and the karmic seeds have ripened can the ālaya-vijñāna manifest the ripened seeds, causing the karmic retribution to appear. Ripening karmic seeds and retributions is not the function of the ālaya-vijñāna but of manas. Manas carries karma with it; when external conditions arise, the karmic retribution will manifest.

The Awakening of Faith states here that manas has the function of recollection. This statement is profoundly correct because manas is also a mind, and moreover, an extremely important mind that plays a crucial role. Manas has experienced all dharmas. Since it has experienced them, it naturally can recollect them and prompt the mental consciousness to recall the past based on this recollection. Therefore, it is said that manas possesses the mental factor of recollection (smṛti), capable of remembering and recalling all dharmas. Only the master (manas) remembers and recollects all dharmas. When action is needed, it summons the assistant (the six consciousnesses) to handle the specifics. The assistant does not appear constantly; it manifests only when the master requires it and remains absent when not needed.

The meanings contained within the five names of manas are profound and encompass vast information. They overturn the long-held, unreasonable understanding of manas held by many people and also challenge the understanding of Yogācāra masters throughout history and today. After all, the meaning of manas belongs to the category of Yogācāra Buddha-wisdom (唯识种智). Those without realization in Yogācāra cannot directly perceive manas, so misunderstandings are inevitable. Historically, the first Bodhisattva authenticated by the World-Honored One and recorded in texts as having attained the First Ground (初地) was Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva, followed by Asaṅga Bodhisattva, and then Aśvaghoṣa Bodhisattva. It is said that Ānanda also entered the First Ground, though he did not transmit Yogācāra teachings. Within the Chan school, there may have been other Patriarchs who attained the First Ground but did not transmit Yogācāra teachings, possibly because upon first entering the Ground, their Yogācāra Buddha-wisdom was not yet deep enough, and their power of observation regarding Yogācāra was not yet strong, so they were unable to transmit Yogācāra Dharma.

Apart from these individuals, there is no documented evidence proving that others who transmitted Yogācāra teachings possessed the realization of the First Ground. Therefore, the Yogācāra treatises they authored contain flaws and inaccuracies; their doctrinal meanings are not entirely correct and can only serve as references, not to be accepted entirely. Among Yogācāra treatises, the Mahāyāna Śraddhotpāda Śāstra (Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana) authored by Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa possesses a very high level of realization. It accurately observes the mental factors of manas. Its translator, Śikṣānanda Bodhisattva, also possessed high realization, and his translation is precise, reasonable, and true to the original. This is a Yogācāra treatise worthy of trust.