How to Truly Understand the Functions and Roles of the Manas

Why do some people always think that the seventh consciousness, the manas, is incapable of anything? Because the vast majority of people can only see the surface-level functions and roles of the mind consciousness, and cannot see the functions and roles of the manas. Therefore, they take all the functions and roles of the five aggregates to be those of the mind consciousness, ignoring and erasing the functional role of the manas as the sovereign consciousness. They do not know that the manas is the forerunner of all dharmas. The reason all dharmas arise, and the reason the mind consciousness can make contact, discern, and process them, is entirely the result of the manas's choice and decision. The manas is the head of the household of the five-aggregate body.

If a good-for-nothing incapable of anything were to be the master of a household, one can imagine what that household would look like. Yet in the world there are extremely many people of great merit and great wisdom, whose five-aggregate bodies have performed a great deal of wholesome karma and wise karma—all of this is the result of the manas's leadership. Even in animals, the functions and roles of the manas are very extraordinary, incomparable to the six consciousnesses. Think about it: in an organization, large or small, why do subordinate members obey the arrangements and directives of the leader? Apart from power, is there nothing else? If the leader is incompetent and good at nothing, yet the members obey his every command, are these members not even weaker and more incompetent?

A nation's president or head of state cannot possibly, like the subordinates, be proficient in every specific matter and every specific skill, nor can he take on all the work of his subordinates. He stands at the commanding height, overseeing the whole situation; he cannot possibly do the specific work himself. You cannot say that just because the head of state does not come out to deal with the masses directly, does not do specific work, and is not versed in technology, he has no work to do. He is the leader; he needs to take charge of the overall situation and make overall arrangements. The division of labor with his subordinates is different—each bears his own responsibility and they operate in harmony—only then can the entire nation be governed well.

It is the same with a five-aggregate body. The manas stands at the commanding height, commanding the whole situation. He cannot possibly, like the mind consciousness, deeply and minutely discern specific sense objects, pondering, reasoning, organizing, summarizing, tallying, analyzing, and deliberating—finely and ever more finely, with everything in place. His energy does not permit him to do so. Only when meditative concentration (samādhi) reaches a certain level, setting aside many unimportant matters, can his energy become concentrated and flourish; only with greater energy can he work in place of the six consciousnesses and dispense with them. An ordinary being's manas can only use the six consciousnesses to handle specific affairs and deal with specific sense objects; otherwise, there would be no need for the six consciousnesses to exist at all.

The manas is the consciousness of continual scrutiny and deliberation, working diligently and ceaselessly without interruption. Why, then, do some people still say that the manas is nothing at all, that the manas has no function? Those who consider the mind consciousness important and the manas unimportant have failed to recognize who the leader is, who plays the decisive role, and whose work is more arduous. Because the leader is hidden too deeply and he has never seen him, he thinks the leader does not exist, or thinks that the employee is the leader. The leader does not understand technology; when a technician submits a technical project for review, although the leader does not understand it, he still examines and audits it, and finally approves it for experimentation. The process and results of the experiment are still beyond the leader's understanding. The manas is the leader, the one who makes decisions; the mind consciousness is the technician, providing technical services for the leader. Therefore, with the mind consciousness providing its services, the manas need not personally attend to every matter.