The Deliberation of Manas

The manifestation aspect generated by the eighth consciousness includes two parts: the dust of form dharmas and the dust of mental dharmas. The mental faculty invariably engages in deliberation, encompassing deliberation upon the form dust of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas, as well as deliberation upon the mental dust of the six consciousnesses and mental factors. It can also deliberate upon itself. When deliberating upon itself, the self-verifying part of the mental faculty becomes actively present and functions. After realization, the mental faculty attains great wisdom and can also deliberate upon the eighth consciousness. Many manifestation aspects that the six consciousnesses cannot perceive or contact, the mental faculty can still deliberate upon, without needing the conscious mind to provide information or assistance. From this, it is evident that the scope of objects the mental faculty relates to is extremely broad, and the number of objects and contents it deliberates upon is vast. Consequently, attaining concentration (samādhi) for it presents considerable difficulty; subduing it is far more challenging than subduing the conscious mind.

The mental faculty's deliberation upon the form dust, such as deliberation upon the physical body: relying on the eighth consciousness, it can relate to the body faculty and thus discern its various states. It then deliberates on how to make the body faculty act and change, how to keep the body in the most comfortable and pleasing state, how to eliminate discomfort and pain in the body, how to help the body avoid dangers and accidents, how to allow the body to rest and recover from fatigue, how to reduce the body's burden, how to make breathing smooth, and so on. Also, during sleep, it deliberates on what posture to put the body in for stability and comfort. If uncomfortable, it will cause the body to turn over, scratch itches, defecate, urinate, and perform other actions. For bodily discomfort or accidents, after deliberation, it will cause the six consciousnesses to awaken, perceive, and handle the situation to prevent the body from being damaged or becoming abnormal.

The mental faculty deliberates upon sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas. After deliberation, it decides whether to let the six consciousnesses perceive and act upon them in detail, or to command the six consciousnesses to avoid them, making the body accept or evade. For some dharmas, after the mental faculty deliberates, the six consciousnesses lack the capacity to contact and handle them; only the eighth consciousness can cooperate in processing them. Therefore, after some events conclude, the six consciousnesses remain unaware and have no perception of them. Regarding the dharmas the mental faculty itself deliberates upon, if the deliberation is not completed, it will not make a decision. It will continuously deliberate, to the extent that they manifest in dreams at night, yet the conscious mind may still not know their significance.

This deliberative nature of the mental faculty operates simultaneously with the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses, without mutual obstruction. This is the seemingly unmindful action of bodily, verbal, and mental karmas, which people call absent-mindedness. However, this deliberation of the mental faculty is very deep, often persistent and tenacious, not easily detected. Some Chan practitioners' state of effort in investigating the huatou (critical phrase) is like this: walking, standing, sitting, lying down, thought after thought fixed upon it, persistently and tenaciously, deeply suspending a huatou within the mental stream, penetrating to the mental faculty—it is not the superficial thinking and analysis of the conscious mind.

Employing the deliberative nature of the mental faculty enables deep realization, thereby opening the treasury of wisdom. Once the mental faculty recognizes and attains realization, mental conduct will undergo a qualitative leap, with significant changes in body and mind, far more profound and clear than the knowledge easily acquired by the conscious mind. Because this is personally realized by the mental faculty, not hearsay obtained by the six consciousnesses from others, nor speculation by the six consciousnesses, therefore it is believed without doubt, the mind is shaken, and mental conduct changes. This kind of practice fundamentally resolves major problems.

The mental faculty's deliberation upon the mental dust involves deliberating on the six consciousnesses' perception of the six dusts, whether the perception is completed, whether the six consciousnesses are fatigued, whether they need rest, or should continue perceiving, and whether the six consciousnesses like or dislike the six dusts. After deliberation, it decides whether to make the six consciousnesses cease acting, stopping the current bodily, verbal, and mental karmas. Or it decides to switch the six consciousnesses to another realm of the six dusts, shifting them to different objects and contents.

The mental faculty also has a deliberative nature regarding itself; this is part of its self-verifying aspect. It deliberates on whether its previous decisions were correct and reasonable, whether they were completed, and whether they need supplementation or correction. After deliberation, it may change its decision, or it may firmly adhere to its decision, insisting on putting it into action and achieving the goal. Some people's mental faculty has great inertial force; such people are called stubborn. The mental faculty clearly knows its previous decision was wrong and should be changed, yet it persists to the end, regardless of the outcome, lacking the wisdom to deliberate upon and care for the results of the matter. Therefore, some people's mental faculty possesses wisdom, while others' mental faculty lacks wisdom; their deliberative nature differs, their decision-making power varies, and the outcomes are vastly different.

The mental faculty's deliberation upon the eighth consciousness relies on the thinking and guidance of the conscious mind to proceed; the mental faculty cannot automatically become aware of the eighth consciousness by itself. Because the mental faculty's ignorance is deeply ingrained, existing from time immemorial; since beginningless kalpas, it has been together with the eighth consciousness yet does not recognize it, even appropriating the functions of the eighth consciousness as its own. After the conscious mind studies the principles of the eighth consciousness, it continuously influences the mental faculty, enabling the mental faculty to also perceive the essence of the eighth consciousness. The mental faculty will then deliberate upon and understand the essence of the eighth consciousness. If it seeks to find and realize the eighth consciousness, it decides to engage in Chan meditation.

After realizing the eighth consciousness, through the conscious mind's observation and contemplation of the eighth consciousness, the mental faculty will deliberate upon the eighth consciousness's function of giving birth to all dharmas, deliberate upon the selflessness of the five aggregates, deliberate upon the selflessness of the six consciousnesses, and also deliberate upon the selflessness of the mental faculty itself. This can give rise to great wisdom, leading to increasing recognition that the five aggregates, six consciousnesses, and the mental faculty itself are not real. In this way, attachment to the self can be severed. It also gradually ceases to appropriate the functions and actions of the eighth consciousness as its own. The wisdom of the mental faculty will deepen increasingly, its selflessness will grow larger, its ignorance will become increasingly faint, and its mental conduct will become progressively purer and more equal. When the mental faculty transforms consciousness into wisdom, it can then deliberate upon the eighth consciousness alone. It will no longer be confused about many dharmas as being its own; its mental conduct will be selfless, and its quality of equality will grow stronger and stronger.