The Five Universal Mental Factors of the Manas Include Perception and Mindfulness

Some people say that the manas has no perception (saṃjñā) and no mindfulness, yet all eight consciousnesses possess the mental factors of mental application (manasikāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā). Even the eighth consciousness has perception, let alone the manas, whose grasping nature is so strong—how could it lack perception? The five consciousnesses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body all have perception and all have grasping nature; how could the manas possibly lack perception? If the manas had no perception, no discerning and grasping nature, then the manas would be unable to make further decisions and choices based on perception, and how could subsequent dharmas arise? Therefore the manas must possess the mental factor of perception, so that all dharmas can appear in the mind and worldly existence can be sustained. Only in the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti) does the manas extinguish the mental factor of perception and thus enter concentration peacefully; and it is within this concentration that the manas extinguishes the mental factor of volition, the body of the five aggregates ceases, and one enters nirvāṇa without remainder (anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), liberated from the three realms.

As for mindfulness, the eighth consciousness also has it. The Sixth Patriarch said in the Platform Sutra that true suchness is without mindfulness yet nothing is unmindful. Although the eighth consciousness itself has no mindfulness, all dharmas are brought forth through the mindfulness of the eighth consciousness, even though the eighth consciousness has no mental activity like that of the seven consciousnesses. The Verses on the Structure of the Eight Consciousnesses say that the five consciousnesses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body also have mindfulness and can be mindful of the five sense objects. The manas is far more active and agile than the five consciousnesses, so it should all the more possess mindfulness—it cannot possibly be clumsier and more dull-witted than the five consciousnesses.

If the manas had no mindfulness and were mindful of no dharma at all, the eighth consciousness could not cooperate with the manas to bring forth the mind consciousness and the five sense consciousnesses, to act in accordance with the manas' intentions, or to bring forth any other dharmas. Only when the manas is mindful of dharmas does the eighth consciousness cooperate with the manas' mindfulness and choices to bring forth the mind consciousness to discern, or to recall, or to imagine, or to analyze, judge, reason, and deliberate. Without the manas' mindfulness, the mind consciousness can accomplish nothing—indeed, the mind consciousness might not even be able to arise.

As for the function of the manas' mindfulness: for example, if the manas is constantly mindful of getting rich, it drives the mind consciousness to rack its brains for channels to wealth, letting no opportunity slip by. If the manas did not have this mental intention, the mind consciousness would not act in this way. A true practitioner's manas does not have such mindfulness, and thus the mind is pure. But a practitioner's manas has the mindfulness of cultivating the path—every thought is about practice, and what the mind consciousness thinks about is all Buddha-dharma. Some people's manas is constantly mindful of leaving home to cultivate the path, so the mind consciousness must constantly prepare for leaving home. Some people's manas deeply longs for rebirth in the land of bliss (Sukhāvatī), with every thought being recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti); the mind consciousness is then filled with the Buddha's name whether aloud or silently, and one may even foreknow the time of death and sense Amitābha Buddha coming to touch one's crown in comfort and reassurance.

If the manas is mindful of and misses someone, with every thought being of that person, the image of that person will appear in the mind consciousness; one may even dream of them, and perhaps unexpectedly run into them in broad daylight. All of this is brought forth through the manas' mindfulness, and the tathāgatagarbha does not spare any effort in helping Him. If the manas is preoccupied with certain people or matters, one may be unable to sleep at night, or sleep only fitfully. When the manas has matters on its mind, the mind consciousness cannot completely cease and must keep arising to help the manas think things over; in the morning the manas will also prompt the mind consciousness to rise early, lest anything be delayed.

The definition and concept of mindfulness is not limited to being mindful of people and events of the past; it also includes being mindful of people and events that will appear in the future, people and events that do not yet exist. As the manas keeps being mindful, the person appears and the event occurs. This happens to everyone—it is what the common saying describes: "Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives." Be mindful of someone, and that person appears; be mindful of something, and that thing happens; hope for something in your heart, and that thing will appear. Why is this so? It is because the tathāgatagarbha understands the manas and is considerate of Him. Whenever it is possible, the tathāgatagarbha will not let the manas' mindfulness be in vain; even if one is mindful of evil things, evil things will likewise appear. That is why some elders tell their children: "Do not speak inauspicious words, do not think inauspicious thoughts in your mind, and always think of the good side of everything."

Malicious speech and malicious curses are the manas' curses upon people; if the mental power is strong, they can also come true. Longing for the future also falls within the scope of the mental factor of mindfulness. When the power of mindfulness is strong and merit is sufficient, the people and events one is mindful of will surely appear. "All wishes fulfilled, all thoughts realized"—these are all functions of the power of mindfulness. With the tathāgatagarbha behind the scenes helping to realize these intentions, the manas must be mindful of good things and wholesome things; then good things will appear and wholesome wishes will be realized.