The Manas-Cetasika Dharmas Are Both the Guiding Principle and the Operating System of Spiritual Practice

The mental factors of the mind (manas) are both the guiding principle and the operating system for practical cultivation. "Guiding" refers to the mental factors directing one towards the goal of practice; "principle" signifies the return to the transformation of mental activities through the mental factors and the alteration of karmic seeds, resulting in the purification of mental conduct. As the "operating system," practical cultivation involves continuously transforming the mental factors by following them; it is the process of operating the mental factors or being operated by them.

The fundamental cause for the change in mental factors is the Tathagatagarbha. However, the Tathagatagarbha is not the sovereign consciousness; it lacks subjective initiative, does not act as the master, and is passively utilized by the manas. Although all phenomena arise from the Tathagatagarbha, the driving force is the mental factors of the manas. If the manas does not will any action, the Tathagatagarbha remains inactive, and no phenomena whatsoever arise.

The manas possesses subjective initiative. It is the transformation of the manas's mental state that prompts the change in karmic seeds. The transformation of the mental factors of the manas is the cause, and the alteration of karmic seeds is the effect. Karmic seeds are formed when the Tathagatagarbha, in response to the manas's volition to act, cooperates to produce the six consciousnesses which then engage in actions. Otherwise, no karmic seeds would exist. Of course, each step in genuine practice causes changes in the mental factors of the manas; the change in mental factors is the effect. The cause is still the mental factors of the manas prompting their own transformation, with the prerequisite that the mental factors of the conscious mind (mano-vijñāna) impel the mental factors of the manas.

However, the emergence of many phenomena is not driven by the conscious mind but entirely by the manas alone. For instance, before the five aggregates (skandhas) arise, there is no conscious mind. It is the manas that causes the Tathagatagarbha to produce the universe, the vessel world (environment for existence), and then the five-aggregate body, after which consciousness arises. Only then do the activities of the five-aggregate body occur, and karmic seeds appear. Before waking from sleep, there is no consciousness; it is the manas intending to wake up, after which one awakens. During unconsciousness, there is no consciousness; it is the manas, based on the body's condition, intending to regain consciousness, after which one revives. In the womb, initially, there is no consciousness; the manas manifests rebirth when it wills, remains in the womb when it wills, and initiates birth when it wills.