The Operation of the Mental Factors of Manas

Discrimination is the function of the mental factor of perception; its role is to discern characteristics, grasp appearances, and then assign names to those appearances. Once names are established, conceptual language arises, leading to the acceptance of both appearances and their names. Only after the manas (mind-root) has grasped an appearance can it deliberate and decide how to act. Naturally, the five universally functioning mental factors must operate repeatedly before a final, comprehensive decision can be made, after which action can be taken. Therefore, when observing someone who is hesitant, we know that consciousness and the manas are deliberating, continuously engaging in attention, contact, sensation, perception, and volition. The mental factors operate in succession, with the five object-specific mental factors also participating—a process of immense complexity. Hence, the human brain is countless times more complex than a computer; computers fundamentally cannot be compared to the human brain. What is referred to as the human brain primarily signifies the functional role of the manas, with the six consciousnesses being secondary.