The Deliberation of the Manas

The object-aspects manifested by the eighth consciousness include both material sense-objects (rūpa-dharma) and mental sense-objects (citta-dharma), and the manas deliberates upon all of them, including deliberation on the material sense-objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, and deliberation on the mental sense-objects of the six consciousnesses and the mental factors (caittas). It can also deliberate upon the manas itself; when it deliberates upon itself, that is the manas's self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana) manifesting and operating. After enlightenment, the manas, having attained great wisdom, can even deliberate upon the eighth consciousness. Many object-aspects that the six consciousnesses cannot discern or contact can also be deliberated upon by the manas, without needing information or assistance from the mind consciousness. From this it can be seen that the range of what the manas attends to is extremely broad, and the objects and contents of its deliberation are extremely numerous; therefore, attaining meditative concentration (samādhi) in it involves considerable difficulty, and subduing it is far more difficult than subduing the mind consciousness.

The manas's deliberation on material sense-objects, for example, its deliberation on the physical body: relying on the eighth consciousness, it can attend to the body faculty and thereby discern the various states of the body faculty. Then it 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 from the body, how to keep the body away from dangers and accidents, how to let the body rest and recover from fatigue, how to lighten the body's burden, how to make the breathing smooth, and so on. There is also deliberation during sleep on what posture the body should be in to be stable and comfortable; if it is uncomfortable, the manas will make the body turn over, scratch an itch, urinate or defecate, and other such actions. Regarding bodily discomfort or accidents, after deliberating, the manas will awaken the six consciousnesses to discern and handle them, so as to prevent the body from being damaged or becoming abnormal.

The manas deliberates on form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, and after deliberating, decides whether to let the six consciousnesses discern and act upon them in detail, or directs the six consciousnesses to avoid them, letting the body accept or evade them. Some mental sense-objects, after the manas deliberates on them, cannot be contacted and handled by the six consciousnesses and can only be handled with the cooperation of the eighth consciousness; therefore, after some matters are completed, the six consciousnesses do not know about them and have no awareness of them. As for the mental sense-objects the manas deliberates on, if the deliberation is not completed, it will not make a decision; it must keep deliberating, to the point that it manifests in dreams at night, though the mind consciousness does not necessarily know what significance there is to it.

This deliberative nature of the manas operates simultaneously with the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses, without mutual obstruction; this is the seemingly mindless performance of bodily, verbal, and mental actions, which people call "being absent-minded." Yet this deliberation of the manas is very deep, often with a persistent, unrelenting drive, and is not easily detected. The cultivation state of some Chan practitioners who investigate the huatou is exactly like this: whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, every thought is fixed on it, unrelentingly, hanging a huatou deep within the mind's thoughts, penetrating into the manas—not the shallow thinking and analysis of the mind consciousness.

When the deliberative nature of the manas is engaged, deep realization becomes possible, thereby opening the treasure trove of wisdom. When the manas accepts and realizes something, the mental activities undergo a qualitative leap, and the body and mind change greatly—far more profound and clear than the views easily acquired by the mind consciousness. Because this is personally realized by the manas, not obtained by the six consciousnesses through hearsay, not gained by the six consciousnesses from others or through speculation, one will therefore believe it deeply without doubt; the mind is shaken, the mental activities will change, and this kind of cultivation fundamentally resolves the great problem.

The manas's deliberation on mental sense-objects is deliberating on the six consciousnesses' discernment of the six sense-objects—whether the discernment has been completed, whether the six consciousnesses are fatigued, whether they need rest or should continue discerning, and whether the six consciousnesses like or are weary of the six sense-objects. After deliberating, it will decide whether to let the six consciousnesses cease their actions and stop their current bodily, verbal, and mental activities, or decide to switch the six consciousnesses to another realm of the six sense-objects, transferring to other objects and contents.

The manas also has a deliberative nature toward itself; this is part of its self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana). It will deliberate on whether its own decision just made was correct and in accord with reason, whether it has been completed, and whether it needs supplementing or revision. After deliberating, it may change its decision, or it may firm up its decision, determined to put it into action and to achieve the goal. Some people's manas has great inertial force; those called very stubborn are like this: the manas clearly knows that its decision just made was wrong and should be changed, yet it persists to the end, regardless of the outcome, and it lacks the wisdom to deliberate on and take care of the consequences of matters. Therefore, some people's manas has wisdom and some people's manas lacks wisdom; their deliberative natures differ, their powers of decision differ, and the results are vastly different.

The manas's deliberation on the eighth consciousness can only proceed by relying on the thinking and guidance of the mind consciousness; the manas cannot spontaneously awaken to the eighth consciousness by itself. Because the manas's ignorance is deeply rooted, having existed since beginningless kalpas; since beginningless kalpas it has been together with the eighth consciousness, yet does not recognize it, and even appropriates the eighth consciousness's functions as its own. After the mind consciousness studies the principles of the eighth consciousness, it constantly perfumes the manas, enabling the manas also to discern the nature of the eighth consciousness. The manas will then deliberate on and know the nature of the eighth consciousness, and if it wants to seek and realize the eighth consciousness, it will decide to investigate Chan (canchan).

After realizing the eighth consciousness, through the mind consciousness's observation and contemplation of the eighth consciousness, the manas will deliberate on the eighth consciousness's function of giving rise to all dharmas, deliberate on the selflessness of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), deliberate on the selflessness of the six consciousnesses, and also deliberate on the selflessness of the manas itself; it can then give rise to great wisdom, increasingly accepting that the five aggregates, the six consciousnesses, and the manas itself are all not real, and thereby can eradicate the attachment to self. It also gradually ceases to regard the functions and operations of the eighth consciousness as its own. The manas's wisdom will become deeper and deeper, its selflessness greater and greater, its ignorance fainter and fainter, and its mental activities purer and more equanimous. After the manas achieves the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, it can deliberate on the eighth consciousness independently, no longer being deluded about many dharmas as belonging to itself; its mental activities are selfless, and its equanimity grows ever stronger.