The Determinative Role of Manas in the Twelve Nidānas

All sentient beings experience birth, aging, sickness, and death—a great mass of suffering—entirely due to the presence of ignorance. This ignorance is the ignorance of the mental faculty (manas). It is because the mental faculty possesses ignorance that mental formations (cetana) arise. With the presence of mental formations, there arises the choice to create karma. Only after this do the six consciousnesses appear. The first two links of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination belong to the mental faculty. The third link, the six consciousnesses, also arises because of the mental faculty. Therefore, the mental faculty holds absolute dominance over birth and death and exerts a driving force on all other dharmas.

Even the karmic actions of the six consciousnesses in the third link arise in accordance with the mental faculty. The seeds deposited also exist because of the mental faculty. Hence, the name-and-form (nama-rupa) of future existences arises because of the mental faculty. If the mental faculty is defiled, the six consciousnesses become defiled, the seeds become defiled, and name-and-form experiences more suffering, especially the suffering of the three evil destinies.

After name-and-form develops, the six sense bases (ayatana) are born. The contact between the six sense bases and the six sense objects is governed by the mental faculty. The more the mental faculty grasps, the more contact there is, and the more karmic actions leading to birth and death arise. The less the mental faculty grasps, the less contact there is, and the fewer karmic actions leading to birth and death arise. Following contact, there is feeling, craving, and grasping. Although there are feeling, craving, and grasping associated with the six consciousnesses, what actually plays the decisive role and leads to the arising of the next link is the feeling, craving, and grasping of the mental faculty. If the mental faculty lacks feeling, craving, and grasping, the next link will not appear. The final three links—becoming, birth, and aging-and-death—arise entirely due to the grasping of the mental faculty. Therefore, the mental faculty plays the decisive role in the arising of the cycle of birth and death.

The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination elucidate that the mental faculty is the root of birth and death. Liberation or sinking into suffering both depend on the mental faculty. To end birth and death, one must resolve the problem of the mental faculty and eradicate its ignorance. The mental faculty is also the root of the Four Noble Truths: Suffering, its Origin, its Cessation, and the Path. Suffering arises because the ignorance and mental formations of the mental faculty prompt the six consciousnesses to create karma. The Origin (of suffering) arises from the seeds deposited by the karma created by the six consciousnesses under the impetus of the mental faculty. The Cessation is the eradication of the ignorance and mental formations of the mental faculty. The Path is attained through the mental faculty's realization of the Dharma.

Since the mental faculty plays such an immense and decisive role within the cycle of birth and death, it must possess all mental factors (caitta). It possesses all wholesome mental factors, all afflictive mental factors, and all neutral mental factors. The mental factors of the mental faculty determine the mental factors of the five sense consciousnesses and determine the mental factors of the mental consciousness. When the mental factors of the mental faculty change, the mental factors of the six consciousnesses change, and all dharmas change accordingly. If the mental factors of the mental faculty are not changed, even if the mental factors of the six consciousnesses change, they will revert. If the afflictions of the mental faculty are not severed, even if the mental consciousness severs afflictions, they will regrow. If the mental faculty lacks meditative concentration (dhyana), even if the six consciousnesses attain meditative concentration, it will not last long and will inevitably become scattered again.