Chapter Five: The Habitual Tendencies of Manas

1. The link between life and death for sentient beings in each lifetime is the tathāgatagarbha and manas. At the time of death, the six consciousnesses cease and do not proceed to the next life. Manas, however, does not cease but continues to the next life, persisting until Buddhahood is attained, after which it still does not cease. The tathāgatagarbha is the fundamental consciousness that continues from past lives to future lives, for without the tathāgatagarbha, sentient beings would not have the five aggregates (skandhas) body across successive lives. In the five aggregates of the next life, manas remains the same as before, and the tathāgatagarbha is the original one, while the other consciousnesses are newly generated. Therefore, the afflictive habits and tendencies of manas constitute the fundamental nature of each sentient being.

Because the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna) can cognize the people, events, and phenomena of the present life and possesses memory, when it is replaced by a new mental consciousness, it only knows the present life and not past lives. Manas, being unchanged and identical to that of the previous life, carries over the habits and tendencies from the past life into the present one. Consequently, the character, temperament, disposition, and attachments remain the same as in the previous life. Hence, it is called innate ego-grasping (sahaja-ātma-grāha). Manas is inherently like this from birth, requiring no later conditioning; moreover, it conditions the first six consciousnesses born later, causing bodily, verbal, and mental actions to operate according to the habits of past lives. After these actions are completed, the karmic seeds are stored, further reinforcing the habits and attachments of manas.

Therefore, whatever sentient beings liked in a past life, regardless of which realm they are reborn into in the next life, if conditions permit, they will still like it. For example, someone who liked music will still like it even if reborn as a ghost or animal. Thus, sometimes when seeing a dog being very deferential to its companions, one knows it was like this when it was a human, and when it becomes human again in the future, it will still be the same. The tastes one enjoyed as a human are still enjoyed when reborn as a ghost. A ghostly being who studies the Mahayana Dharma, when reborn as a human, will delight in practicing and studying the Mahayana path and will attain realization quickly.

Those conditioned seeds are all stored by the tathāgatagarbha. When conditions are ripe, they are brought forth, causing the seeds to manifest. Therefore, when encountering profound Dharma teachings, one need not avoid them. Merely glancing over them with the eyes causes the tathāgatagarbha to store them, which will be of great use in the future. The eight consciousnesses contain countless mysteries. The more one realizes, the less afflictive ignorance there is. When all are fully realized and afflictive ignorance is completely eradicated, one attains Buddhahood. After enlightenment, upon cultivating to a certain stage and passing the three barriers (san-guan) of Chan, the principles of Chan become entirely unnecessary, and one fully cultivates the Dharma of Vijñapti-mātra (Consciousness-Only). Only by studying the Dharma of the eight consciousnesses can one progressively advance through the stages (bhūmis) and attain perfect, complete wisdom.

2. The Cognitive Habits of Manas

The cognitive scope of manas is quite extensive and powerful, relying on the seeing and awareness of the tathāgatagarbha to know all dharmas. Manas knows all dharmas first, and the mental consciousness knows them afterward. Moreover, manas knows many dharmas that the mental consciousness still does not know and lacks the capacity to know. Even after being alerted and prompted by manas, the mental consciousness remains unclear until after the event occurs, when it suddenly realizes, becoming wise only in hindsight. How powerful is the deliberative nature of manas? Regarding matters unknown to the mental consciousness, which cannot advise or strategize for manas, manas relies entirely on its own deliberation and weighing to respond, reacting extremely swiftly. In situations involving one's own safety and danger, the decisions made are almost always correct, indicating that the deliberation of manas is both rapid and accurate, truly beyond reproach. Only when it comes to matters of personal interest, due to the habit since beginningless time of protecting self-interest without considering others' benefit, the decisions made are highly self-centered.

3. Manas has a profound relationship with the conditioning from the five aggregates of past lives. The five aggregates have past lives, but manas does not have past lives. The events experienced by the five aggregates are the events experienced by manas. Strictly speaking, it is manas that brings the experiences to the five aggregates; manas encounters them first, the five aggregates encounter them later. The five aggregates cease, but manas does not cease. Manas is the master, the five aggregates are the subordinate. Manas brings the events and experiences it has undergone to the five aggregates of the present life, influencing the actions and creations of the present life's five aggregates, yet manas itself has no concept of past, present, or future lives.

How does manas bring past experiences and knowledge to the five aggregates of the present life? Because manas has never ceased, whatever temperament and habits it has been conditioned into, it will manifest that temperament and those habits when conditions arise. Even while the five aggregates are in the womb, even just after the five aggregates are born, manas remains as it was before, until new events occur that alter its temperament and habits.

Why does manas correspond with karmic seeds? So-called karmic seeds are nothing but the events experienced by manas and the five aggregates stored as seeds in the tathāgatagarbha via manas. Because manas does not cease and has never ceased, the events experienced by manas condition it, and when conditions arise, manas manifests the conditioned habits, corresponding with the karmic seeds, and does not easily change itself.

For example, a person with a malicious heart in human life has manas corresponding with the habit of malice. The karmic seeds of toxicity exist in the tathāgatagarbha. When conditions ripen, they are brought forth. After the death of the five aggregates, one is born into the animal realm among poisonous creatures, such as venomous snakes, centipedes, scorpions, etc. These poisonous beings, consciously or unconsciously, continue to harm sentient beings using their venom. The malicious bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the past life are stored as seeds in the tathāgatagarbha. In future lives, manas corresponds with these karmic seeds, carrying the toxic habit, and the venomous anger frequently arises, harming other sentient beings. How then does manas bring the toxicity from past lives? How does it inherit the habits of past lives? By what means does it perpetuate the various habits of past lives? How do these various inertial forces operate? This has been explained above; the principle is the same.

In these inertial forces of toxicity, the mental consciousness does not play a significant role because it does not know past lives, has not experienced them, and thus has no memory. It cannot, through thinking, guide and control manas to poison other sentient beings. In most cases, it relies on the toxic inertial force manas itself has been conditioned into. If these beings, while human, receive a lesson, and the mental consciousness becomes slightly clearer and understands the principle, it must, through analysis and thought, supervise manas to reduce or eliminate the toxicity, cleanse the heart, reform, and turn towards righteousness. However, this is extremely difficult.

4. Sentient beings frequently exhibit subconscious and instinctive functions, including those in the three lower realms. For example, a person whose mind is very dull, not good at thinking, constantly does wrong things. But once it involves matters of personal interest, they become very clever, react very quickly, almost without much thought, and the reactions made are all beneficial to themselves. This is the manifestation of the selfishness and self-grasping nature of sentient beings' manas over immeasurable kalpas, knowing what benefits them and what does not or harms them, thus naturally avoiding harm and seeking advantage. Therefore, even the least wise sentient beings are selfish, always protecting their own interests, including some children. This is the habit and inertia of sentient beings' manas; their ego-grasping is extremely heavy.

Each person's tastes differ. Some are innate and irreversible unless conditions do not permit; others are influenced by the postnatal environment. Innate, inherent habits are brought by manas and correspond with manas. For example, some are naturally fond of eating spicy food, some naturally fond of gambling, some naturally fond of cleanliness, some naturally fond of quiet solitude, some naturally fond of reading, some naturally possess strong logical thinking ability, some naturally fond of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting; while some naturally dislike reading, some naturally dislike thinking, some are naturally lazy, some naturally fond of liveliness, etc., too numerous to list. These innate, inherent habits brought from birth are brought by manas and belong to the habits of manas.

Those formed later, acquired postnatally, are formed by the mental consciousness being influenced by the environment and correspond with the mental consciousness. The innate habits of manas influence the mental consciousness, causing it to like eating spicy food, like reading, like music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, like gambling, like cleanliness, like diligence and frugality, like quiet solitude, like logical thinking, like independence, like laziness, like liveliness, like...

Here, within the mental consciousness's likes and dislikes, it is crucial to distinguish whether they are influenced by manas or by the postnatal environment. This is very important because from here one can find manas, understand the nature of manas, and give rise to wisdom, avoiding confusion between manas and the mental consciousness. The foolish cannot distinguish between the root (manas) and the consciousness. Those who can distinguish between the root and the consciousness are no longer ordinary Buddhist practitioners nor ordinary enlightened ones. Therefore, being able to distinguish between the root and the consciousness is extremely, extremely difficult, requiring cultivation for at least one immeasurable kalpa.

5. No matter what manas is clinging to, when encountering danger, it must first protect the body, feeling that the body is itself and is very important. It also knows which parts of the body are most critical. When an accident suddenly occurs, it instinctively decides which part to protect first. This is the function of innate inertia and instinct.

Some people are always excessively self-caring, demanding highly nutritious and delicious food, comfortable, soft, and high-end living quarters, overly particular about their lifestyle. This indicates that their manas is very greedy for and attached to themselves. Actually, manas is very ignorant. It does not know that only severing the view of self can resolve the great matter of birth and death, which is most beneficial to oneself. Due to ignorance, it greedily clings to worldly dharmas, the five desires and six dusts, and its own five aggregates body. However, the more it clings, the heavier the karma of birth and death becomes, the more suffering there is, and the deeper it sinks into the cycle of birth and death. Manas absolutely does not understand this principle. For the sake of the five aggregates, manas constantly weighs various gains and losses. Sometimes it can decide to make a small sacrifice to gain greater benefit, which is of course a decision made based on the analysis and instruction of the mental consciousness. Manas can sometimes temporarily forget the body and self, but that is for the sake of more important matters that are more beneficial to the self, also a decision made based on the instruction of the mental consciousness.

The shrewdness of the mental consciousness in worldly matters is precisely a manifestation of its ignorance. Those deemed shrewd in the secular world are often truly ignorant and very foolish people. Those in the Buddhist community whom the secular world calls fools are often people who have achieved results in their practice. Their manas may not greedily cling to worldly things, do not calculate worldly gains, and are the opposite of worldly people. This point causes worldly people to be utterly perplexed, hence they are called fools by worldly people.

Cultivation means mastering the psychology of the seven consciousnesses, changing the psychology of the seven consciousnesses, perfecting the psychology of the seven consciousnesses, so that the mental factors (caittas) of the seven consciousnesses all comprise twenty-one: the five universal factors, the five object-determining factors, and the eleven wholesome factors. Finally, manas also has twenty-one mental factors. The entire psychology of sentient beings is then completely overturned. Only then is it perfect and flawless, supremely excellent, and the perfect mind-wisdom of a Buddha.

6. A practitioner should not always harbor thoughts of surpassing others, being stronger than others, or being superior to others in their heart. A strong sense of self cannot tolerate the slightest bit of others; the self thus becomes severely confined and shackled, unable to unfold. If a person has heavy afflictions yet is arrogant and conceited, unaware of their many afflictive habits, and lacks self-awareness, their progress on the path cannot advance. Cultivation means removing the defilements of the consciousness-mind, transforming consciousness into wisdom, enabling the consciousness-mind to perfectly and clearly know all dharmas, possessing vast wisdom, virtuous capabilities, and functions, so that all worldly dharmas can be perfected.

7. Some people contemplate to sever the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) but contemplate for a lifetime with no result; contemplate for ten lives and ten lifetimes, still without any sign. This is because manas has encountered such matters too infrequently and for too short a time; the conditioning of manas is insufficient to influence it, so manas still does not understand, know, or know how.

Addiction to all things is the inertial function of manas; long habituation becomes addiction. If there is no addiction, it means manas has no habit, has not been conditioned, and thus is easy to change. The mental consciousness is relatively easy to deal with; the difficulty lies with manas. When addicted to learning the Buddha Dharma, it is called diligence (vīrya), a wholesome mental factor. When not yet addicted to learning the Buddha Dharma, one cannot be diligent and will be lazy, which are afflictive mental factors. If one gives up other addictions and develops an addiction to learning the Buddha Dharma, there is great hope for liberation from birth and death.

8. Is Human Nature Fundamentally Good or Evil?

The fundamental nature of humans refers to the innate nature of the mind, one being the nature of manas, the other being the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. The nature acquired through postnatal conditioning is the nature of the mental consciousness. Regarding the five aggregates, the fundamental nature of humanity should be viewed from manas; as a whole, it should be viewed from the tathāgatagarbha. To observe the manifestation of a person's nature, look at manas. Manas is the root; the mental consciousness is the branches and leaves. Although the luxuriance of the mental consciousness branches and leaves can obscure the root of manas, the branches and leaves of the mental consciousness will eventually wither and fall, at which time the root of manas will be completely exposed without concealment.

Regarding the five aggregates, observe the nature of manas; regarding the essence, observe the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. But generally, it is the nature of the five aggregates that is observed. Whatever nature manas has had since beginningless time, that is the nature of humanity; whatever mental nature manas has, that is the mental nature of humanity; even to the extent of what the nature of animals is, what the nature of ghosts and spirits is, what the nature of asuras is, what the nature of devas is; even what the nature of arhats is, what the nature of pratyekabuddhas is, what the nature of bodhisattvas is, what the nature of Buddhas is. More fundamental than manas is the nature of the true mind, the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, the original nature of humans is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha.

9. Does Human Nature Possess the Ten Dharma Realms?

The tathāgatagarbha possesses the nature of the ten Dharma realms; manas cannot possess the nature of the ten Dharma realms. If manas had Buddha-nature, then in one thought-moment it would be Buddha. If so, expanding this one thought to ten, a hundred, a thousand thoughts, could one be Buddha for half a day or a day? The manas of a Buddha, the manas of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas cannot possess the evil nature of beings in the three lower realms, nor the nature of the six realms' ordinary beings.

Fundamental nature refers to the mental factors. Observing the mental factors of manas reveals the fundamental nature of humans. Observing the mental factors of the tathāgatagarbha reveals even more the future destination of sentient beings – undoubtedly they will become Buddhas.

The manas of ordinary beings differs greatly from the manas of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas, and from the manas of a Buddha. Moreover, the mental factors of manas and the mental factors of the tathāgatagarbha also have differences. Only the manas of a Buddha and the mental factors of the Buddha's immaculate consciousness (amala-vijñāna) have no difference. If sentient beings are Buddhas, truly Buddhas in the ultimate sense, then the mental factors of their manas should be identical to the mental factors of the tathāgatagarbha: devoid of afflictive mental factors, fully endowed with the five universal mental factors, the five object-determining mental factors, and the eleven wholesome mental factors.