Evidence that the Manas Has Three Types of Feeling (III)

If the manas, like the tathāgatagarbha, had only neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā), it should also, like the tathāgatagarbha, remain suchness is immovable (tathatā-acalita) toward all states—no matter what states manifest, unmoved by the eight winds, sitting serenely upon the purple-gold lotus—not grasping at good states, not rejecting bad states, not discriminating in the mind whether states are wholesome or unwholesome, beautiful or ugly; then it would not prompt the six consciousnesses to engage in greedy, hateful, and deluded actions of liking and disliking, much less act impulsively. When encountering matters, it would neither fly into a rage with fists and kicks, nor show joy on its face and dance with delight; everything should be plain and indifferent, appearing to not care about anything.

If the manas were indifferent no matter what circumstances it was in, always in neutral feeling, then there would be no afflictions, and there would be no need to subdue the afflictions of one's own mind through contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā); He would forever be pure, and would never lead the six consciousnesses to create karmic actions of greed and hatred, giving rise to thoughts and emotions of joy, delight, craving, and so on, or thoughts and emotions of anger, jealousy, resentment, and so on. Then the manas would possess equality; the mind should be equanimous toward all states, without deviation, treating enemies and loved ones with perfect equality, with no distinction between foes and kin, fair and just. The mind would neither yearn for the pure land of bliss (sukhāvatī) nor loathe the defiled land of Sahā; it would neither delight in becoming a Buddha or a patriarch, nor weary of the three realms so as to enter nirvāṇa.

If the manas were in neutral feeling, He Himself should be liberated just like the tathāgatagarbha; neither wholesome nor unwholesome states could bind Him, and He would not receive any states at all—that would be a liberated mind. But the actual situation is not like this: the manas has extremely heavy afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion; its greedy mind cannot extricate itself, its hateful mind cannot save itself, and it is bound tightly by the dharmas of the three realms, especially the three evil paths, unable to escape. Therefore it is said that the manas does not have only neutral feeling; it has all three kinds of feeling, with neutral feeling being rare. To cultivate to the point of abandoning the feelings of suffering and happiness is extremely difficult and extremely rare.

Very often there are inexplicable emotional episodes—whether happy or unhappy, the mind consciousness does not know why, where the happiness or unhappiness came from. Sometimes the mind consciousness tries to figure out the reason, and sometimes no matter how it deliberates, it cannot understand, because the manas is truly hard to fathom. When one is so happy that joy shows on the face, the mind consciousness says, "I should not let others see that I am happy," yet one still cannot help being thrilled with excitement. Who is so happy and joyful that the mind consciousness cannot restrain it? It is the manas's feeling of pleasure, which the mind consciousness sometimes cannot easily control; the manas even less can control its own emotions. When one is so happy that joy shows on the face, the mind consciousness says, "I should not let others see that I am happy."

For example, with certain matters, the mind consciousness very much wants to endure, but in the end one cannot hold back and emotions erupt, uncontrollable—this is the result of the manas's feeling of suffering from feeling melancholy, distressed, and angry. Sometimes one is terrified out of one's wits over certain matters, and the mind consciousness counsels itself: "There is no need to be afraid; it is no big deal, nothing will happen." Yet one remains terrified nonetheless. Whose terror is this that cannot be controlled? The manas's terror is not easy to control; at such times the manas is in the feeling of suffering.