The Three Kinds of Afflictive Tendencies of the Manas

Original text of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra: 又有三种。诸烦恼趣。令诸有情。流转生死。谓于胜欲。发意悕求。名初烦恼趣。于色无色界。胜自体中。发意悕求。名第二烦恼趣。于邪解脱。发意悕求。名第三烦恼趣。

Explanation: There are also three kinds of paths leading toward afflictions that cause sentient beings to transmigrate through birth and death. The first is when beings, because of their aspiration toward wholesome dharmas, are bound by superior desires; this causes them to be unable to escape the three realms, and they must pursue the Buddha-dharma life after life within the three realms until they attain buddhahood—this is the wholesome aspiration of bodhisattvas who have made the great resolve. Because they do not leave the three realms, there are the afflictions within the three realms, with some subtle feelings of suffering; this is the first path of affliction. This superior desire refers to the wholesome aspiration of the manas, which wishes to continually pursue the Buddha-dharma, benefiting both self and others; therefore it undergoes birth and death repeatedly within the world of the three realms.

The second kind is when beings give rise to a mind of longing for the superior karmic rewards of the form realm and the formless realm, and thus become bound in birth and death, unable to attain liberation. Beings in the form realm and the formless realm are superior in their own existence to beings in the desire realm, possessing superior karmic rewards. But because beings long for the superior karmic rewards of the form and formless realms, long for the meditative concentration of the form and formless realms, and long for the enjoyment of merit in the form and formless realms, they are bound by the karmic rewards of those realms, cannot escape the three realms, and thus there is the suffering of birth and death within the three realms. This is the second path of affliction that beings pursue. The longing of intent here refers to the manas's raising of intent and its longing, and only at the end is the wish fulfilled.

The third kind is when beings give rise to a mind that seeks false liberation; due to erroneous views and cultivation methods that are not in accord with the Dharma, not only do they fail to attain liberation, they sink ever deeper into the abyss of birth and death. They have the desire for liberation, but they do not encounter the true dharma of liberation; they encounter non-Buddhist paths, cultivate the methods of non-Buddhist paths, and wish to attain liberation through non-Buddhist methods that are not in accord with the Dharma. As a result, they are bound by the wrong views of the non-Buddhist paths and cannot attain liberation. This is the third path of affliction. This too is the manas's raising of intent and longing for false liberation, not merely the mind consciousness's raising of intent and longing.

Whether it is the longing for the true Dharma or the longing for false dharmas, the final longing is initiated by the manas; initially it is initiated by the mind consciousness through contact with these two kinds of dharmas, and as it gradually influences the manas, one then begins to diligently cultivate and study either the true Dharma or false dharmas, and only then can one ultimately attain liberation—or else fall into an even deeper bondage of birth and death.