The Relationship Between Manas and the Five Aggregates

The manas is neither independent of the five aggregates nor dependent upon them; it both coalesces with the five aggregates and does not coalesce with them; it can both detach from the five aggregates and not detach from them. Why is this so? The manas is not independent of the five aggregates because all its thoughts, ideas, and volitions must be realized and accomplished through the five aggregates; thus, the manas regards the five aggregates as the self. Conversely, the functioning of the five aggregates enhances and stimulates the thoughts of the manas, causing the five aggregates to revolve around the manas, and the manas to revolve around the five aggregates, becoming mutually entangled and inseparable.

The manas can be completely independent of the five aggregates because: (1) Before the initial establishment of the world, there were no five aggregates; only the eighth consciousness and the manas existed; (2) At the moment of death, the five aggregates cease, leaving only the eighth consciousness and the manas; (3) At the conception stage, before the five aggregates arise, only the eighth consciousness and the manas exist; (4) In the state of cessation (nirodha-samāpatti), only a subtle form aggregate exists among the five aggregates, while the feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness aggregates of the six consciousnesses do not exist; the eighth consciousness and the manas remain; (5) During unconsciousness and at other times, only subtle form and consciousness aggregates exist among the five aggregates, while the eighth consciousness and the manas remain unaffected; (6) When an Arhat first emerges from nirvana without remainder, only the eighth consciousness and the manas exist, as the five aggregates have not yet reappeared. Therefore, the manas can be completely independent of the five aggregates but cannot be independent of the eighth consciousness. (7) Even when the five aggregates exist, the manas can still have its own independent mental activities, which do not arise because of the five aggregates.

During the continuous functioning of the five aggregates, the manas also possesses an independent dimension relative to them. The manas regards the five aggregates as itself, or as its own possessions, as tools for realizing its thoughts and volitions; this implies independence from the five aggregates. The five aggregates possess the attributes of the eighth consciousness because they are transformed by the seven great seeds of the eighth consciousness, everywhere revealing the information of the eighth consciousness; indeed, the five aggregates in their entirety are the eighth consciousness. However, if it is said that the five aggregates possess the attributes of the manas, it is because the five aggregates accord with the habits of the manas, being the result of the manas' ignorance.