The Manas Can Make Fine Discriminations — Clarifying Misunderstandings about the Manas (II)

Without supernormal powers, the mind consciousness does not know about past-life matters, but the manas does. If something is especially important, the manas will display past-life matters in dreams or in meditative concentration to alert the mind consciousness and make it aware. What the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) knows in dreams and in meditative states all comes from the manas, and is then passed on to the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna) to be expressed through language, words, and sounds. Thus the subtle dharmas that the mind consciousness knows are all first known by the manas and then passed on to the mind consciousness.

Therefore, the one who necessarily knows all things first is the manas, not the mind consciousness—especially matters of past lives; the mind consciousness has not experienced them and thus does not know them. The details that the mind consciousness comes to know all originate from the manas, so the manas can discern the details of dharmas. After supernormal powers are cultivated, the mind consciousness can know matters of past and future lives, but this too is known from the manas; hence supernormal powers are the state in which the mind consciousness connects with the "spirit" of the manas. Because the mind consciousness is frequently interrupted and ceases, the dharmas it can cognize are limited; the dharmas it has not cognized must be transmitted from the manas before it can know them. Whatever is known without having been experienced is presented by the manas, or actively dug out from the manas. When the mind consciousness forgets things it has experienced and later recalls them, it seems to recall them by itself, but in fact it is the manas that prompts the mind consciousness, enabling it to recall. This includes recalling details, so the manas is capable of discerning details and making fine discriminations.

For example, upon meeting an old acquaintance, the manas remembers first, and then drives the solitary consciousness to recall related matters from the past, even reproducing details; the details reproduced have all been discerned by the manas before. Whether coarse outlines or details, the manas knows everything that has been experienced. When the mind consciousness forgets, the manas, upon encountering conditions, reminds and prompts, and the mind consciousness can suddenly remember. Therefore, the mind consciousness's recollection of past-life and present-life matters involves the prompting and hinting of the manas, and the details recalled were all previously discerned by the manas. The mind consciousness cannot recall on its own; it must rely on the prompting of the manas.

As for recollection, first the manas gives rise to thoughts and ideas in its mind, taking past matters as its object, prompting the tathāgatagarbha to give birth to the solitary consciousness, which also cognizes together with it; then the solitary consciousness, led and prompted by the manas, recalls the past. That is to say, wherever the manas points, the mind consciousness strikes; the mind consciousness cannot escape the manas's direction, otherwise it cannot arise. The mind consciousness necessarily arises upon the dharma designated by the manas; it cannot arise independently. This is the fundamental condition and cause for the mind consciousness's arising—it arises only to fulfill an instruction, being needed by the manas. It arises upon the dharma designated by the manas, makes contact with the mental sense-object (dharma-viṣaya), then discerns, discriminates, and judges, and finally draws conclusions for the manas's use.

From this it is proven that the mind consciousness lacks self-mastery (avaśatā), and its arising and ceasing is a constant occurrence. Only when the manas needs to process dharmas does the mind consciousness appear in order to complete the task—such is the whole process. Therefore, the functions and mental factors (caittas) of the manas are not as some people claim—possessing only a very weak wisdom (prajñā). If the manas's wisdom were weak, all sentient beings would have inferior wisdom and could not accomplish anything. The mind consciousness's fine discernment of dharmas is directed by the manas, which shows that the manas deliberates (manasikāra) and makes choices regarding subtle dharmas, causing the mind consciousness to recall details.

When the manas is attentive to detail, the mind consciousness is far from matching it. People with rich experience and strong intuition perceive others' psychology in minute detail with keen insight; what the mind consciousness does not understand, the manas can directly perceive, and then quietly process and respond, while the mind consciousness can only passively obey, unaware of the reasons behind it. For people of deep and subtle wisdom, the manas's perception and judgment of the environment, situations, and trends surpass the mind consciousness's thinking; the mind consciousness often has no experience of such things, yet the manas is richly experienced and meticulous. The differences in people's wisdom all lie in the manas: beings of the three evil destinies are far inferior to those of the three good destinies; those who occasionally attain human birth are far inferior to those who constantly abide in the human destiny; those with little experience are far inferior to those with much experience; novices are far inferior to seasoned practitioners, and even more inferior to veterans of past lives—those born with such endowments are heaven's favored ones. Therefore, do not say that the manas cannot discern in detail; the manas's attentiveness is so fine that it utterly baffles the mind consciousness.

In Buddhadharma, those who have accomplished contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) through investigation have done so as a result of the manas's deliberation day and night; the mind consciousness subsequently knows in accordance with the manas. True enlightenment has never been first investigated and first realized by the mind consciousness; the manas's mind in investigating and realizing is extremely subtle and meticulous. Since the manas of the general masses lacks this wisdom, they inevitably remain mediocre. The ancient Yogācāra masters, lacking the seed-wisdom (bīja-jñāna) of Yogācāra, could not directly observe the activities of the manas, the mind consciousness, and the five sense consciousnesses within the concrete operations of the five aggregates and dharmas; they misunderstood the several consciousnesses considerably, and one may say their conclusions about the manas were too crude and arbitrary. If the ancient Yogācāra masters and modern Yogācāra scholars could directly observe the operations of the several consciousnesses through sentient beings' bodily, verbal, and mental actions, observing the arising and ceasing of the six consciousnesses, they would know why the six consciousnesses arise and why they cease, would know what the conditions for the existence of the six consciousnesses are, and would know how comprehensive and meticulous the functions of the manas are; then they would not so seriously misunderstand the manas.

The theories of ancient Yogācāra are indeed rich and lofty, but their detachment from reality is also evident: they fail to touch upon sentient beings' psychological problems and afflictions, fail to touch upon the fundamental problems at every level of society, and are somewhat disconnected from sentient beings' present practice. The current study and practice of Buddhadharma and the circulating Yogācāra theories are highly theoretical but of little practical use; whether they are correct will not be judged for now, but the problem of disconnection is indeed evident. The foundation of Buddhist study and practice is cultivating body and mind. If Buddhist theory does not touch upon the cultivation and transformation of body and mind, then the theory is merely knowledge for people's amusement, self-satisfaction, and numbing—of no real use.