Before the Manas Can Attain Constancy, It Must Be Perfumed

If the practice of reciting Buddha's name and sutras fails to permeate the manas (the seventh consciousness), and if the manas does not generate the mental intent to recite, nor retain the memory of the Buddha and the sutras, then it would be impossible for the mano-vijñāna (the sixth consciousness) to awaken and discover itself still reciting, or to realize afterward—after completing other tasks—that it has been continuously reciting. The unconscious recitation by the mano-vijñāna is entirely directed and actively governed by the manas; it is the manas’s conscious mental activity. The manas delights in reciting the Buddha’s name and sutras, and the mano-vijñāna, being directed by the manas, never forgets to recite regardless of what else it is engaged in. Therefore, the manas must possess the mental factor of mindfulness (smṛti), must possess memory, and must also possess conviction (adhimokṣa); otherwise, it would not be susceptible to permeation (vāsana), nor would it persistently desire to recite the Buddha’s name and sutras. From another perspective, the manas must also correspond to persistence (samādhi), transforming into a habit. To steadfastly adhere to one practice is persistence; only then can the mano-vijñāna consistently perform a single task.