The Nimble Nature of the Manas

When you are asleep at midnight, the six consciousnesses have ceased. If a fire breaks out in the room and the manas wants to run away, what can be done? This thought of the manas, without the cooperation of the physical body and without the cooperation of the six consciousnesses, cannot be realized no matter what. So it is not that the manas has very low wisdom and can do nothing at all; rather, whatever He wants to do, He must have tools to use. If there are no tools, there is no way—He can only be like someone incapacitated.

When the manas encounters such an urgent, critical matter, He will certainly be eager to wake up, so that the mind consciousness can discern the fire, and then flee together with the five sense consciousnesses. As soon as the manas becomes anxious, the solitary mental consciousness appears first. When the solitary mental consciousness cannot discern clearly, it transforms into the mental consciousness accompanying the five sense consciousnesses (pañcavijñāna-sahagata-manovijñāna); the five sense consciousnesses then appear in succession, and thus one wakes up. As soon as the mind consciousness discerns that the situation is urgent, it decides to run. After the manas agrees, He, acting as the sovereign, makes the five-aggregate body run, and the physical body runs out the door.

At the moment of waking up, the mind consciousness arises together with the nose consciousness; because the smell of smoke is strong, the nose consciousness arises before the other consciousnesses. Then the eye consciousness, body consciousness, ear consciousness, and tongue consciousness appear. The five sense consciousnesses appear in a sequential order: whichever sense-object is most intense, the corresponding consciousness arises first. If the firelight is bright, the eye consciousness arises first; if the room is too hot, the body consciousness arises first; if the sound of the fire and the shouting are loud, the ear consciousness arises first.

In a moment of crisis, the body's movements are extremely fast; the mind consciousness has no time to think anything, and one quickly escapes the danger. If, in a critical moment, one had to wait for the mind consciousness to discern and deliberate, a person would probably come to harm. At such times, the function of the mind consciousness is to act swiftly together with the five sense consciousnesses in accordance with the manas's arrangement. In moments of crisis, the manas is extremely quick-witted.