The Constant and Examining Deliberation of the Manas

The character "shen" (examination) in the manas's constant deliberation (manasikāra) and scrutiny reveals the psychological activity of the manas, and also reveals the function that the manas performs. This shows that the manas is not a useless object or mere decoration; it has a very important decisive role—it is a living, active conscious mind.

Whenever the manas contacts any dharma, it must examine it. Whatever dharmas the six consciousnesses discern, the manas must examine them. Once it has examined them, it must make a decision and must process them. So what role does the manas play in investigating Chan (can-chan)? What role does it play in eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa)? What role does it play in seeing the mind and seeing one's nature? What role does it play in realizing all dharmas? In all of these, it plays the decisive role.

All dharmas must pass through the manas's gatekeeping; if the manas has not passed the review, no processing can be done. When the manas examines, it has its own mental activity of consciousness; it must have its own deliberation—it does not simply obey the six consciousnesses, immediately approving whatever they discern. Therefore, everything perceived by the six consciousnesses must be clearly and distinctly understood by the manas. If the manas does not understand it, the examination fails to pass muster, it cannot get through the gate, and the manas cannot make its decision. Both eradicating the view of self and seeing the mind and seeing one's nature must go through the manas's examination and review. If the manas does not agree, the view of self cannot be eradicated, and one cannot see the mind and see one's nature. If the mind consciousness alone eradicates the view of self and sees the mind, that is merely the mind consciousness's own understanding and belief; if the leader—the master—does not approve, it does not count. For the mind consciousness to act on its own authority, without the leader's consent, and claim to have eradicated the view of self and seen the mind—how preposterous!

How can one let the manas arrive at the result and answer by itself? The mind consciousness should analyze and deliberate less, and let the manas deliberate and ponder more by itself—this is the most effective way. Once the mind consciousness knows the answer, it no longer wants to investigate, and the manas then has no opportunity to investigate, and thus can never attain realization. Therefore, if the answer to seeing the mind is casually inquired about or casually told to someone, once the mind consciousness knows it, the manas can no longer apply effort, and realization becomes impossible. The same applies to the content of eradicating the view of self: one cannot demand that the master explain it in too much detail. If the mind consciousness already knows everything, the manas can no longer ponder it, and eradicating the view of self becomes very difficult.