What does the manas rely on to give rise to attention toward dharmas?

The manas's attention (manaskāra) operates in several ways: first, it relies on its habitual tendencies, tending to attend to and easily direct attention toward certain dharmas that appear frequently and are familiar; second, the manas may direct attention aimlessly, which is caused by its habitual tendencies of distraction and grasping (攀缘); third, the manas easily gives rise to attention toward dharmas it finds interesting; fourth, the manas easily gives rise to attention toward major and important dharmas; fifth, the manas gives rise to attention because of craving and attachment to certain dharmas; sixth, the manas gives rise to attention due to afflictions such as anger and resentment; seventh, the manas gives rise to attention toward dharmas it needs; eighth, the manas easily directs attention toward dharmas that appear suddenly. And so on—the examples are too numerous to list.

After the manas directs its attention, perhaps the mental factors of contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā) do not come forth and operate; perhaps there is no volition mental factor, and the manas does not decide what to do; perhaps the perception mental factor does not come forth and operate, and the manas does not grasp at the dharmas it takes as object; perhaps the feeling mental factor does not come forth and operate, and the manas does not wish to feel, having no interest in the object dharma. At the very beginning, when one mental factor does not appear, there is no need for the subsequent mental factors to appear either.

From which characteristic of the manas is it relatively easy to locate the manas?

Question: In daily life, the manas can be found and experienced. For example, when the skin itches, when one is hungry, thirsty, or hot, or when one very much wants to do something, one knows that making the final decision is the manas's job. At this time, the mind consciousness deliberately refrains from carrying it out and forcibly delays it. During this period, observe what the manas is doing and what it is thinking. After all, the manas still has the volition of deciding whether or not to carry it out. This is searching for traces of the manas—its source, or where it comes from. If this is done over a long period of time, can one thereby locate the manas and realize it?

Answer: When the manas makes a decision in an instant, it is exercising mastery. The manas decides to scratch the itch, decides to eat, decides to drink water, decides to go out for some fresh air, decides to go do something. As long as something gets done, it is because the manas decided and directed it—here the manas can be found. If the mind consciousness deliberately does not execute the manas's instructions, and one observes the manas's reaction, one can know the manas's mental activities and habitual tendencies. When the mind consciousness does not execute the manas's instructions, there is simultaneously the manas's instruction to temporarily not do that thing, because the mind consciousness can never be the master in any case—whether to do something or not to do it is all decided by the manas. Even the mind consciousness's unwillingness to obey the manas is likewise decided by the manas.

From this we can also see that the manas sometimes does comply with the mind consciousness's decisions; it is not completely stubbornly self-willed, not entirely a one-man dictatorship or militaristic rule. The manas must act as master and make decisions in every single event, moment after moment. From this characteristic, one can find the traces of the manas and thereby realize it.