What Is the Constant Deliberation of the Manas?

The manas possesses the nature of constant, attentive deliberation (manasikāra). "Constant" refers to permanence and perpetuity—the nature of examining and deliberating always accompanies the manas. As long as the manas exists, it will examine and deliberate upon all dharmas. Since beginningless kalpas, the manas of sentient beings has never ceased to exist; only when one cultivates to the stage of the arhat of the fourth fruit in the Small Vehicle or the fruit of the pratyekabuddha does one gain the ability to extinguish it. Apart from this, for other sentient beings, the manas will not cease, from future lives all the way to the buddha-stage, and even after the buddha-stage. Thus the manas will exist permanently and forever, and will continually impel the eighth consciousness to manifest the myriad dharmas of the world. This non-ceasing nature of the manas is called "constancy," and its deliberative nature also accompanies the manas' current functioning moment after moment, never stopping—this is the constancy of the manas.

"Attentive" (审) means careful consideration, examination, scrutiny, and evaluation; it also represents the nature of doubt, wanting to investigate a certain situation or to clarify a certain principle. Because one cannot know for certain and there is doubt in the mind, one needs to examine and deliberate, to judge what a certain dharma is really like, whether it is truly correct and in accordance with reality, whether it is a certain situation—this mental activity is called "attentiveness." The annual inspection, examination, scrutiny, interrogation, and questioning in worldly affairs all carry this meaning of "审" (examination). The manas has this nature of attentiveness. Without it, He would be unable to make choices and decisions. He is always examining, considering, and scrutinizing, and only after the mind has become clear can He finally make a choice.

"Deliberation" (思量) means that the manas performs a certain degree of weighing, taking and rejecting, choosing, considering, investigating, measuring, planning, and discerning with respect to all dharmas—weighing what the content and meaning of a certain dharma is, what it is really like, whether it is beneficial to oneself, what is the right way to act, how to fulfill one's wishes and achieve one's aims—only after which can it take or reject and make choices. Therefore the manas possesses a deliberative nature. Only after deliberating can the manas, based on the results of its deliberation, make a decision—to take or to reject—and only then can it direct the six consciousnesses to undertake the corresponding bodily, verbal, and mental actions in order to achieve its aims. The eighth consciousness, in turn, has no choice but to revolve around the manas' deliberations and choices, compliantly and cooperatively giving rise to the myriad dharmas.