Proving by the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination That the Manas Is Not Indeterminate (Avyākṛta)

The twelve links of dependent origination: ignorance conditions volitional formations (avidyā-pratyayāḥ saṃskārāḥ), volitional formations condition consciousness, consciousness conditions name-and-form... The first link is ignorance, which is the driving force of creation; from this driving force, heaven, earth, and all things come into being, and the life-form of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) is set in motion. This is the origin of the birth-and-death saṃsāra of the five-aggregate body—it is the ignorance of the manas, the sovereign consciousness. The second link is volitional formations: due to ignorance, the manas gives rise to mental activity, wanting to act, just like the stirring that existed before heaven and earth were formed. Once the mental activity of ignorance stirs, subsequent actions follow in its wake. This mental activity encompasses all three natures—wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral/indeterminate (avyākṛta). Even wholesome actions contain the nature of ignorance; without ignorance, even worldly goodness would not be done, and the mind would be pure and without fabrication. The third link is the six consciousnesses: because the mental activity of the manas stirs and makes the choice to act, the six consciousnesses arise and, in coordination with the manas, carry out bodily, verbal, and mental actions. The fourth link is the karmic seeds left behind after the six consciousnesses carry out bodily, verbal, and mental actions; these karmic seeds determine the birth of name-and-form in future lives.

The bodily, verbal, and mental actions of sentient beings, encompassing the three natures of wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral, arise and are carried out according to conditions, and the karmic seeds are accordingly deposited into the ālayavijñāna at any time as conditions arise, so that birth-and-death saṃsāra flows on without cease. The bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the three natures come from the mental activity of the manas and are determined by it. How, then, could the mental activity of the manas possess only the neutral nature and lack wholesome and unwholesome mental activity? If that were so, the chain of birth-and-death in the twelve links of dependent origination would have no way to connect and continue perpetually; birth-and-death would necessarily be severed, and saṃsāra would necessarily cease. The mental activity of the manas is the driving force behind the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses. The wholesomeness or unwholesomeness of the six consciousnesses must come from the wholesome or unwholesome mental activity of the manas; it is decided and determined by the manas's wholesome or unwholesome mental activity and cannot be separated from it. Moreover, the wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral mental activities of the manas are all caused by the manas's ignorance. Wholesome is ignorance, unwholesome is ignorance, and the neutral is still ignorance. Without ignorance, the karmic actions of birth-and-death and the karmic seeds would necessarily perish, and birth-and-death saṃsāra would cease forever.

If the manas were not unwholesome, the six consciousnesses would have no way to carry out numerous wholesome actions such as generosity (dāna) and keeping precepts, and sentient beings would have no way to ascend to the heavens to enjoy blessings and pleasures. If the manas were not evil, the six consciousnesses would have no way to carry out various evil actions such as killing and arson, and sentient beings would have no way to fall into the three evil destinies to undergo evil retribution. Some might say this is determined by the wholesome and unwholesome mental activity of the mind consciousness, but how could the wholesome and unwholesome mental activity of the mind consciousness possibly have such great power to exercise sovereignty, usurping the manas's authority to decide? Moreover, if the manas had no mental activity, the mind consciousness would have no way to arise at all; whether the mind consciousness arises depends entirely on the manas's choice. If the manas does not choose, the mind consciousness has no opportunity to arise—how could it then carry out wholesome or unwholesome bodily, verbal, and mental actions and reverse the sequence in which the twelve links of dependent origination are initiated? If the sequence could be reversed, would that not mean the Buddha taught the Dharma incorrectly? When a wholesome mental activity arises in the manas, it necessarily wants to create wholesome karma, and the six consciousnesses will arise in accordance with the manas's choice and create wholesome karma, so as to fulfill the manas's wish. The six consciousnesses are subordinate to the manas and serve it; they cannot act independently. The same principle applies when the six consciousnesses create unwholesome karma. Therefore, it is said that the manas is not merely neutral in nature; it is fully endowed with wholesome and unwholesome natures as well. Only thus is there the saṃsāra of the six realms of rebirth, and only on this basis could the Buddha expound the Dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination.