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

The knowing that knows states is the aggregate of perception. The object of the aggregate of perception is the object-aspect (nimitta). The object-aspect includes form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, and includes mental dharmas. Mental dharmas include feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness—that is, the operational characteristics of the mind, which are the mental factors (caittas). For example, when the mind consciousness discerns the eight consciousnesses, knowing the eight consciousnesses, the mind consciousness at that time is the perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga), and the operational features of the eight consciousnesses are the object-aspect (nimitta).

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 (svasaṃvedana) and can introspect upon itself, discerning itself. However, this capacity is not very strong; after the transformation of the consciousnesses 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 the consciousnesses into wisdom does its power of discernment gradually increase.

Before the transformation of the consciousnesses into wisdom, the manas also has many discerning functions; it is just that when the mind consciousness has not yet undergone the transformation into wisdom, these cannot be observed, 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 consider to be nonexistent and not to exist.

Among the eighteen realms, the eye consciousness and eye faculty correspond to material sense-objects; 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 touch sense-objects; and 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 among the five aggregates consists of the eleven material dharmas: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, as well as the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, and body faculty.