The Wisdom of Manas Truly Embodies One’s Wisdom

Question: Does the realization of fruition require the confirmation of the manas after the consciousness has realized it? Just as a unit's year-end summary requires the official seal affixed by the unit to be acknowledged? Additionally, wisdom is affiliated with consciousness. Can wisdom (habitual tendencies and seeds) that has been recognized by both consciousness and manas also be stored as seeds in the ālaya-vijñāna? Is the wisdom of manas itself the habitual tendencies and seeds?

Answer: Consciousness alone attaining clarity does not constitute realization; realization occurs only when the manas simultaneously attains clarity. This is because the so-called "self" is the manas. Consciousness is subordinate to the manas, functioning as a subordinate, while the manas functions as the leader, playing the dominant role. Severing the view of self necessarily means severing the manas' view of self; merely severing the subordinate consciousness's view of self is insufficient, as consciousness is a function that obeys the manas-self.

Wisdom includes the wisdom of consciousness and the wisdom of manas. It is the wisdom of manas that truly represents a person's wisdom. This is because the wisdom of consciousness is transient, unstable, and non-autonomous. Only when wisdom arises in the manas can one possess wisdom consistently, making this person truly wise. The wisdom of manas is what can genuinely store seeds, enabling their continued functioning in future lives. The manas fully corresponds with the seeds, while consciousness represents the part influenced by acquired environmental conditioning. The manas possesses habitual tendencies, both wholesome and unwholesome, and the wisdom of manas belongs to wholesome habitual tendencies.