The Dharmas Contacted by the Manas That Are Unknown to the Mind Consciousness

The manas is bound together with the tathāgatagarbha. Whatever dharma the tathāgatagarbha manifests, the manas contacts that dharma and perceives that dharma. However, the manas's discernment also has priorities and levels. If a dharma that He pays attention to cannot be clearly discerned by Himself, He will direct attention toward it and make a decision, and the six consciousnesses will come forth to discern it. If the manas can clearly discern a dharma by Himself but is unable to deal with it, He will direct attention toward it and make a decision to let the six consciousnesses come forth to discern and handle it.

There are extremely many dharmas that the manas can clearly discern by Himself and that require no handling, of which the mind consciousness is unaware; there are also extremely many dharmas that the manas contacts which do not require discernment by the six consciousnesses, of which the mind consciousness is likewise unaware. The dharmas that the manas contacts and clearly discerns are also extremely many, and those He wants the mind consciousness to know and handle are also extremely many, yet because the mind consciousness lacks sufficient wisdom, it cannot know them—it remains muddled and confused, and may even feel baffled by the manas's hints and suggestions, so that in the end the matter is left unresolved.

The tathāgatagarbha manifests the realms of the six sense objects. When the six sense objects first appear, it is the manas that contacts them first and discerns them first. If the manas cannot clearly discern the six sense objects, the six consciousnesses come forth to discern them carefully. When the six consciousnesses have just begun to discern, they have nothing to compare the six sense objects against, so they also cannot discern them clearly, and the mind consciousness feels everything to be vague and blurry. After several kṣaṇas of discernment, there is something to compare—the earlier and later sense objects can be contrasted, and the object-realm becomes connected into a continuum—only then does the mind consciousness know what the six sense objects are. For example, when writing a character: after the first stroke is written, no one knows what character it is; after the second stroke, still no one knows; after the third stroke, one can vaguely guess what character it is; after the fourth stroke, one knows what character it is.