After Transforming Consciousness into Wisdom, the Discriminative Nature of the Mind Consciousness and the Manas Becomes Increasingly Strong

The knowing that knows states/realms is the aggregate of perception (saṃjñā); the object of the aggregate of perception is the object-aspect. The object-aspect includes form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, and includes mental dharmas (citta-dharma). Mental dharmas include feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—that is, the operational characteristics of the mind, which are the mental factors (caitta). For example, when the mind consciousness discerns the eight consciousnesses and knows the eight consciousnesses, the mind consciousness at that time is the perceiving-aspect, and the operational characteristics of the eight consciousnesses are the object-aspect.

The mind consciousness can discern the operational characteristics of the eight consciousnesses and can discern the mental factors of the eight consciousnesses. The manas possesses self-validating cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga) and can introspect upon and discern itself. However, this capacity is not very strong; after the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, the manas's wisdom is enhanced, and the function of self-validating cognition becomes somewhat stronger. The manas, relying on the mind consciousness, can discern the operational characteristics of the eight consciousnesses, but its capacity is not strong enough; only after the transformation of consciousness into wisdom does its discerning nature grow ever stronger.

Before the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, the manas also has many discerning functions; it is just that when the mind consciousness has not yet undergone the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, these cannot be observed, and so some people say that the manas's discerning wisdom is inferior. Sentient beings all take the knowing of the mind consciousness as their knowing; whatever the mind consciousness does not know, they regard as nonexistent and as not existing.

Among the eighteen dhātus, the eye consciousness and eye faculty correspond to material sense-objects (rūpa); the ear consciousness and ear faculty correspond to sound sense-objects; the nose consciousness and nose faculty correspond to smell sense-objects; the tongue consciousness and tongue faculty correspond to taste sense-objects; the body consciousness and body faculty correspond to tactile sense-objects; the manas and mind consciousness correspond to mental sense-objects. The activities of the first five faculties and five consciousnesses are driven and regulated by the manas and cannot act autonomously.

The aggregate of form (rūpa) among the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) is precisely the eleven material forms: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, together with the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, and body faculty.