The Discernment of the Six Consciousnesses is Governed by Manas

Some say that the manas only apprehends dharma-objects, but who is it that governs the function of the five consciousnesses in discerning the five sense-objects, and what causes them to arise? The arising of the six consciousnesses and their discerning activities upon the six sense-objects are all governed by the manas; they emerge because the manas desires to engage in activities upon the six sense-objects. The discernment of the five sense-objects by the five consciousnesses is likewise determined and directed by the manas. For example, why does the eye consciousness always operate following certain colors? Who decides and directs this? It is because the manas is interested in a particular color that the eye consciousness follows that color. Why does the ear consciousness always pursue certain coarse sound-objects, focusing on rumbling noises? Who decides and directs this? Again, it is controlled by the manas. When the manas finds a sound peculiar and wishes to discern it clearly, it causes the ear consciousness to continuously focus on and discern it.

Most people claim that whatever their (conscious) mind does not know does not exist, yet in reality, existing dharmas are not necessarily known by your conscious mind. There are dharmas unknown to the conscious mind that the manas nevertheless knows; the manas can apprehend them and possess a rough, general understanding. Some dharmas cannot be known by the conscious mind or the six consciousnesses for several reasons: one is that the conscious mind lacks the wisdom to perceive them; another is that the manas lacks the wisdom to prompt the conscious mind to know them; and another is that the conditions are insufficient for the conscious mind to know them. Some dharmas need not be known by the six consciousnesses because the manas does not wish to discern or process them in detail. Countless people take the six consciousnesses to be themselves, yet in truth, the actual false self is still the manas, not the six consciousnesses.

"I think, therefore I am" refers to the manas—the deep-seated thinking, the inner thoughts and concepts, all belong to the manas. Ordinary people often say "I know, therefore I am," where this "knowing" refers to the six consciousnesses. When the six consciousnesses do not know, the conscious mind feels itself non-existent. Yet regardless of whether the six consciousnesses know or not, the internal and external six sense-objects all exist; countless dharmas exist. Even when the six consciousnesses are capable of knowing, they can know only a limited number of dharmas, as the scope of their discernment is finite.