The Wisdom of Mind Consciousness and Manas: One Waxes as the Other Wanes

During the student learning stage, since it is a stage of absorbing knowledge and theory, the mind consciousness is used the most. After studies are completed, one enters the stage of practice, where theory is applied to actual operations and everything depends on the individual exercising genuine talent and real skill; at this stage, the manas is used the most. If the manas is not used well, one will be mocked as a bookworm and pedant—having learning but no ability, no genuine substance, with nothing learned put to any use.

When students work on geometry problems, it is clearly the mind consciousness doing the calculation, because there is a result and an answer—one only needs to reason toward the answer. A few students with good meditative concentration can employ a bit of the manas's deliberation (manasikāra), but not much. When a problem has no answer given, the deliberation of the manas may be used somewhat more, and arriving at the correct conclusion may reveal a student's genuine wisdom to a certain degree, though it cannot be ruled out that the component of mind-consciousness reasoning is greater. In the process of calculating and reasoning through geometry problems, there are certain principles and rules to follow; the more one relies on them, the greater the mind consciousness's role and the smaller the manas's role, and the shallower the wisdom.

By the same token, in the process of contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and investigation, the more hints given by others, the more the mind consciousness is used, the less the manas is used, and the shallower the wisdom. If one relies entirely on hints from others—in through the ears from spoken words—it is all the function of the mind consciousness; if the manas exerts no effort at all, then the manas has no wisdom whatsoever, and one will not attain the beneficial fruition of liberation in this or future lives. Whereas when one investigates entirely on one's own without any hints, what is brought forth is the best, and the wisdom is the deepest. Conversely, the greater the help others give, the smaller one's own capacity; if one solves the problem without any help, all the wisdom is one's own. A pratyekabuddha investigates the twelve links of dependent origination alone in the mountains, and the wisdom before and after realizing the Dharma is something an arhat cannot compare with—let alone an ordinary person. Arhats have the Buddha and the Buddha's teachings to rely on, so the wisdom they develop is limited, not as deep and subtle as the wisdom of a pratyekabuddha.

The more one relies on external conditions, the less the manas is used, and the poorer one's capacity and wisdom. Some people, in learning the Dharma, always pray for all kinds of help, not knowing that the greater the help received, the less wisdom is developed and the smaller the benefit. When encountering problems, only by being able to apply effort oneself and engage one's mind does one gain the greatest wisdom. People who always love to ask about the Dharma have relatively shallow wisdom, insufficient self-reliance, and no ability to solve problems independently. Some people always want to seek others' help to attain enlightenment—but for enlightenment attained through help, whose enlightenment does it ultimately belong to? Whose wisdom is it? In both the Buddha's Dharma and worldly affairs, wisdom belongs to whoever achieves it through their own effort; relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself.