The Right Understanding of Manas
Chapter 11: The Relationship Between the Manas and Supernatural Powers
1. What Are True Supernatural Powers
Supernatural powers are the spirit of the manas causing the mind consciousness to penetrate. Because the tathāgatagarbha can manifest all dharmas, contact all dharmas, and know all dharmas, the manas, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, can contact all dharmas, discern all dharmas, and know all dharmas. The manas has no barrier with any dharma—this is the supernatural power of the manas. The mind consciousness, however, has extremely many obstructions; it cannot contact all dharmas, cannot know all dharmas, and cannot reach the place of all dharmas.
The most wondrous and marvelous is the tathāgatagarbha. The manas is also a function of the tathāgatagarbha; the mind consciousness is also a function of the tathāgatagarbha; the five consciousnesses are also functions of the tathāgatagarbha; the five aggregates and eighteen realms are all functions of the tathāgatagarbha. Speaking of all dharmas, in their essence they are all functions of the tathāgatagarbha; there is not a single dharma that is not a function of the tathāgatagarbha itself. The three-realm world is the tathāgatagarbha itself, relying on conditions, playing with and turning all dharmas, and even the conditions are functions of the tathāgatagarbha. Even the buddha-lands of the worlds in the ten directions, and the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions, are also functions of the tathāgatagarbha. The whole is a single true dharma-realm of the tathāgatagarbha, without duality and without other; one cannot find even a trace of reality or autonomy in any dharma apart from the tathāgatagarbha. A world of gold is entirely made of gold; there is not the slightest dharma that is not gold. The Buddha-dharma is just like this—utterly marvelous.
Every one of our mental thoughts, whether wholesome, unwholesome, or neither wholesome nor unwholesome, is a function of the tathāgatagarbha. All the mental factors of our seven consciousnesses—attention, contact, feeling, perception, and deliberation (manasikāra)—are all functions of the tathāgatagarbha; our bodily, verbal, and mental actions are all functions of the tathāgatagarbha. Even our study and practice of the Buddha-dharma and our efforts to extinguish greed, anger, and delusion are functions of the tathāgatagarbha; even the ignorance we generate and all the afflictions and defilements we produce are likewise functions of the tathāgatagarbha. There is not the slightest dharma that is not a function of the tathāgatagarbha, and not the slightest dharma comes from outside the tathāgatagarbha; outside the mind there are no dharmas—everywhere one looks is the tathāgatagarbha.
If the manas can directly realize this dharma through direct perception, the afflictions of greed, anger, and delusion will gradually all fall away, and ignorance will gradually be completely eradicated. These dharmas can only be realized through contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) in meditative concentration; only when the mind is in meditative concentration can it correspond with the tathāgatagarbha, and only then can it deeply perceive that all dharmas arising in the mind are functions of the tathāgatagarbha. Thereby the mind dwells within the dharma, breaks through afflictions, eradicates ignorance completely, has great benefit and use, is more than sufficient to attain buddhahood, and attains great ease and freedom.
2. The Principle of the Five Supernatural Powers
Take the divine eye, for example: whether in the heavens or on earth, no matter how great the distance, no matter how subtle the material form, nothing can obstruct what the eye consciousness and mind consciousness see. Why is this so? Because all material form is material form within the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha is formless and without marks; it has no distance, no far and near, no large and small. The manas, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, can see all material form within the tathāgatagarbha, with no distinctions of high or low, far or near, large or small, broad or fine. The manas need not move in order to see the material form within the tathāgatagarbha; there is no such thing as time or distance. Thus, under certain conditions, the eye consciousness and mind consciousness, relying on the manas, can instantly see all material form within the tathāgatagarbha, without distinctions of time, distance, high or low, up or down, far or near.
Take the divine ear, for example: one can hear all sounds, far and near, in an instant; there is no such thing as time or distance, no distinction of coarse or subtle sounds; all sounds can be heard immediately. Why is this so? Because all sounds are sounds within the tathāgatagarbha, conjured up by the tathāgatagarbha. The manas, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, can know all sounds, whether far or near, high or low, past, future, or present; and under certain conditions, the ear consciousness and mind consciousness, relying on the manas, can also discern all sounds.
Take recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti), for example: whether one's own or others' past, future, and present—all the people, events, and things one has experienced or will experience—the mind consciousness can know them all. Why is this so? Because all these matters are matters within the tathāgatagarbha, conjured up by the tathāgatagarbha, archives within the tathāgatagarbha. The manas, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, can know all people, events, and principles; and under certain conditions, the mind consciousness, relying on the manas, can also know all these dharmas, as if they were right before one's eyes, without obstruction.
Take the ability to know others' minds, for example: the mental thoughts of all sentient beings can be fully known by the mind consciousness. Why is this so? Because the mental thoughts of sentient beings are all dharmas within the tathāgatagarbha, all conjured up by the tathāgatagarbha. The manas, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, can know all these dharmas without obstruction; and under certain conditions, the mind consciousness, relying on the manas, can also know all the mental thoughts of sentient beings, whether from long past eons, or from the future and the present, without obstruction.
Take the power of psychic travel, for example: the body consciousness and mind consciousness can carry the physical body to distant worlds elsewhere, and can enter the physical body of a being right nearby, without obstruction. Why is this so? Because all locations are entirely within the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha is formless and without marks, with no distinctions of far or near, broad or narrow; the manas, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, can instantly reach any location within the tathāgatagarbha; and under certain conditions, the body consciousness and mind consciousness, relying on the manas, can also reach any location within the tathāgatagarbha—there is no such thing as time, distance, far or near, broad or narrow; one arrives in a single instant.
Because of ignorance, sentient beings do not know this principle; they do not know the vastness of the tathāgatagarbha, nor how capable they themselves are, and they stubbornly insist on chasing useless worldly dharmas, creating karmic actions of greed, anger, and delusion, obstructing their own supernatural powers and spiritual abilities—truly the loss outweighs the gain. In pursuing the Buddha-dharma, whatever you seek you can have; nothing is lacking within the tathāgatagarbha. As long as one fulfills the accumulations of merit, even becoming a Buddha is a trivial matter—what difficulty is there?
But why must sentient beings cultivate for three great immeasurable kalpas before they can become Buddhas? The blame lies only in this: the manas's greed, anger, and delusion are too blazing, its attachments too severe. Of the useless worldly dharmas, there is not one it does not attach to, while the useful Buddha-dharma it does not attach to. Removing the manas's attachments requires two great immeasurable kalpas, and then removing the manas's subtle ignorance requires yet another immeasurable kalpa. That is where the difficulty lies!
From the tathāgatagarbha's pouch of ten thousand treasures, deluded sentient beings only know how to take those useless burdens that bind them and deprive them of freedom, never knowing to take the treasures that would enrich them and bring them liberation. One is light and the other heavy, yet they do not know which is light and which is heavy. This is ignorance! Think about it: what worldly dharmas does each person pursue that bind them to birth-and-death and deprive them of freedom? Do they feel heavy? Do you want to untie the ropes? Do you want freedom? Do you want to possess the great thousand worlds and discard the foam of sand?
3. Meditative concentration and supernatural powers are manifestations of changes in body and mind. The physical body and the conscious mind are controlled by the manas. Supernatural powers come from the manas's relaxation of and non-attachment to the physical body. The less attachment, the smaller the obstruction to the body's functions, the better the meditative concentration, and the greater the supernatural powers. The five aggregates and physical body are originally false and unreal; because of the manas's attachment and control, the physical body appears very real, and its functions are limited and obstructed—it cannot ascend to heaven or enter the earth, cannot transform at will, and does not know past and future lives.
When, through cultivating meditative concentration, the mind consciousness is subdued so that it can no longer feed the manas false information about the existence of the physical body, and the manas is not misled by errors, it can forget the physical body and empty it away. With no concept or perception of the physical body in the mind, having completely forgotten the body and no longer attaching to it, the physical body can no longer become an obstruction; wherever the mind wants to go, the physical body can go. Because the physical body is illusory and unreal, composed of the four great elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—it is in fact just particles of the four great elements, and these particles pose no obstruction to any dharma. Therefore the physical body is unobstructed, and it can manifest limitless transformations according to the mind's intent—ascending to heaven, entering the earth, boring through mountains and crossing waters—unhindered by any material form.
If the mind believes the physical body is real, and every thought perceives the body's existence, then the body becomes an obstruction, having material impediment, and is incompatible with all material form. When the mind consciousness does not know the physical body and does not falsely instruct the manas, the manas can refrain from attaching to the body, not grasping it; the body becomes empty in the mind, as if nonexistent, and then the states of meditative concentration and supernatural powers manifest. For the manas to relax and relinquish its control over the physical body is extremely difficult. Countless people cannot see through or let go of even the coarsest aspects of the body—eating, drinking, excreting—insisting on craving flavors, craving enjoyment, craving comfort, craving ease. This is the most severe attachment to the physical body, and even the coarsest preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) of the desire realm cannot appear. How much more difficult to see through and let go of the deeper-rooted sensual craving and emotional attachment—then the form-realm concentration is even less likely to appear; the physical body becomes a material impediment in the mind, and no tranquility (praśama), lightness, or supernatural transformations can appear.
Where there is loss there is gain; if you can let go of nothing, you will gain nothing. Countless people attend to their physical bodies meticulously every day, every thought being of the body's sensations, severely attached to the body. Those whose practice has not entered the mind are attached to the body in this way and cannot enjoy any sublime experiences of body and mind. For those whose attachment to self has lessened, whatever they eat is fine, whatever they wear is fine, wherever they live is fine, whatever they use is fine—anything goes, it makes no difference. The physical body is a prison; if the mind holds the body, one is locked in the prison, unable to escape it, unable to be free, and will be constrained by the body everywhere. With human sensual craving, supernatural powers are impossible; the attainment of supernatural powers requires strict observance of precepts and a mind of purity (viśuddha).
In the past there was a person with supernatural powers who could fly freely through the sky. Because he happened to have a slight romantic thought toward a woman, his supernatural powers vanished immediately while he sat there. When he realized this, he pretended to tell others: "This time I'll walk back instead of flying through the air, so that all the assembly can behold me." This was the result of violating the precept against sexual misconduct—only a mental violation, not yet involving bodily transgression. There was also Devadatta, who demanded that other bhikṣus teach him meditative concentration and supernatural powers, and thus was able to fly up to the desire-realm heavens. On his last ascent to heaven, because he liked the heavenly flowers, he asked the devas for some; they did not give them to him, and he thought: "These flowers have no owner and no self—what harm in picking one?" The moment the thought arose, he fell from heaven. This was a violation of the precept against stealing—only a mental violation, not yet involving bodily action. People today are so deficient in precept, mind, and conduct that even preparatory concentration of the desire realm is hard to perfect, the first dhyāna is even harder to manifest, let alone the fourth dhyāna, let alone supernatural powers. Sentient beings greedily cling everywhere without letting go; even to lessen their attachment to food, clothing, housing, and daily use by even a little is very difficult. The physical body is so firmly constrained that meditative concentration cannot appear, much less supernatural powers.
4. The Principle of Recollection of Past Lives
Recollection of past lives refers to the mind consciousness's discernment of people, events, and things of past and future lives; people, events, and things already experienced manifest in the mind consciousness, and people, events, and things not yet experienced and not yet appeared also manifest in the mind consciousness. The "experience" spoken of here is of course not the experience of the mind consciousness itself, but the experience of the manas, which has never ceased, because the mind consciousness constantly ceases and is not continuous; the mind consciousness of this life is not the mind consciousness of past lives, nor of future lives. Therefore the mind consciousness of this life has not experienced past lives and cannot go to future lives to experience them; all experience refers to the experience of the manas.
The manas has always been connected with past lives. He has no past, present, or future lives, nor successive lives; His lifetime can be as long as the tathāgatagarbha's. Therefore He can remember all the major events, people, and things He experienced before, and thus He has the property of memory. Because of this memory, there are habitual tendencies and inertial effects: He always habitually directs body and mind to perform bodily, verbal, and mental actions conforming to His own habits, almost without thinking, without deliberating, able to make a choice immediately, corresponding with His own mental conduct.
How does the mind consciousness's recollection of past lives arise? One must look at the conditions for the mind consciousness's arising. The conditions for the mind consciousness's arising are, first, the manas contacting mental sense-objects (dharmāyatana), and then the manas deciding to discern the subtle aspects of the mental sense-objects; only then can the mind consciousness arise. Because the manas can only discern the coarse aspects of mental sense-objects, it does not need the mind consciousness's assistance; only when the manas needs to know the subtle aspects does the mental factor of deliberation (manasikāra) decide to let the mind consciousness arise to discern them, and then it makes a second discernment itself.
One's own and other sentient beings' past and future lives—the manas, relying on its own tathāgatagarbha, can contact and discern them; these belong to the subjectively imagined realm, unrelated to the external five sense-objects, not shared with them. If the manas wants to discern the subtle aspects, the mental factor of deliberation arises, the tathāgatagarbha cooperates to give rise to the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness alone discerns this subjectively imagined realm of mental sense-objects, and can then know one's own and others' past and future lives.
However, the arising of the mind consciousness's recollection of past lives requires certain conditions; otherwise one could have it at any time, and anyone could have it. Its arising requires the condition of meditative concentration, and deep concentration at that; before the fourth dhyāna, supernatural powers are very difficult to develop. Generally speaking, only concentration at the fourth dhyāna or above can give rise to supernatural powers, including recollection of past lives. In concentration at the second dhyāna and above, the five consciousnesses cease and do not arise; the mind consciousness is deep and subtle, not active, without coarse discerning activity; the five consciousnesses do not interfere with the manas's activity, and the mind consciousness interferes little; but there are still physiological activities on the body faculty that distract the manas. The fourth dhyāna is called "the purity of equanimity and mindfulness"—even the mind consciousness's subtle thoughts are relinquished; the mind consciousness is extremely pure and hardly interferes with the manas's activity at all.
In the fourth dhyāna, breathing, pulse, and heartbeat on the body faculty also stop, as does cellular metabolism; the body faculty's activities decrease, the manas's distraction decreases, it rarely concerns itself with the body faculty, nor with the six sense-objects; then the manas's functions can manifest to a great degree. The manas can then give rise to psychic travel, knowing others' minds, the divine eye, the divine ear, and recollection of past lives. Before the arhat of the fourth fruit—and for ordinary beings and non-Buddhists—only these five supernatural powers can arise, not the power of the exhaustion of outflows, because they have not eradicated all afflictions; their minds still have outflows, so they lack the power of the exhaustion of outflows. Due to afflictions and differing levels of wisdom, the magnitude of each person's supernatural powers also differs greatly.
5. The Relationship Between the Manas and Recollection of Past Lives and Memory
Recollection of past lives develops part or all of the mind consciousness's capacities, enabling the mind consciousness to penetrate past and future lives. A person with recollection of past lives can know all experiences within eighty thousand great kalpas before and after, and can even know things beyond eighty thousand great kalpas; a Buddha can know the entire experiences of His own and all sentient beings' life-bodies. Recollection of past lives does not primarily develop the manas's functions, because the manas extends back through immeasurable kalpas, even to the very beginning of life, and can also know part of future lives based on karmic seeds and karmic conditions. But in developing the mind consciousness's functions, the manas's assistance and cooperation are indispensable; otherwise the mind consciousness absolutely could not have recollection of past lives. All dharmas known by the mind consciousness through recollection of past lives are searched out by the manas from the tathāgatagarbha's storehouse and then handed to the mind consciousness to discern; the mind consciousness then knows them. The manas originally already knows, but cannot speak, cannot express it; only occasionally at critical moments can it hint at part of the content.
How does the mind consciousness know things that have already happened and things that have not yet happened? Things that have already happened are stored as karmic seeds; some of these seeds have already received retribution and disappeared, some have not received retribution, their conditions not yet mature, and the seeds have not manifested. How does the mind consciousness know them? Can the mind consciousness directly discern karmic seeds? How could it discern seeds that have disappeared? For future events that have not yet happened, the karmic conditions for the seeds' manifestation have not matured—how can the mind consciousness discern them?
We know that the manas corresponds with karmic seeds. Sentient beings' bodily, verbal, and mental actions settle into the manas; after the manas discerns them, they are stored into the tathāgatagarbha. In later lives, the manas's mental conduct corresponds with the karmic seeds, corresponding with the seeds of successive lives. When the manas needs to understand some matter, it prompts the tathāgatagarbha to manifest those karmic seeds; after the manas's attention, contact, feeling, perception, and deliberation, it hands them to the mind consciousness to discern—this is the mind consciousness's recollection. Why can the manas not recollect? Because recollection is a relatively subtle discerning activity; the manas cannot discern subtly, only the general content. That is one reason. Second, the manas has never been extinguished since beginningless kalpas; it has personally experienced all events of every life. He knows without exception all dharmas prior to the present moment; therefore, as long as there is meditative concentration, the mind consciousness can know all the dharmas the manas knows.
The manas can make a general discernment of all dharmas; the content and information He knows is extremely broad—He knows almost everything—only He cannot know details, only the general outline. These general knowings constitute the manas's extremely, extremely rich experience and memory. Therefore, in many situations, without the mind consciousness's cooperative discernment, the manas can make extremely rapid choices, all based on all His experiences since beginningless kalpas, based on His vast experience since beginningless kalpas—this is why the manas is so seasoned in handling affairs. So the manas absolutely has the function and property of memory, yet cannot recollect, but can help the mind consciousness recollect. If the manas had no memory, it could not enable the mind consciousness to recollect; the two are interconnected and inseparable. The mind consciousness cannot have any single independent function; all are bound together with the manas, all are the result of the manas's assistance and impetus.
In recollection of past lives, the protagonist is still the manas; in the operation of all dharmas, the protagonist is the manas. Of course the tathāgatagarbha is even more the protagonist, more principal than the manas, but let us not discuss that for now, lest some people gain mere intellectual understanding. Speaking only of the manas and mind consciousness, there is already much to explore. In fact, the mind consciousness and the five consciousnesses are all tools of the manas, all supporting actors, merely used by the manas. The manas is seasoned and can do many things, but needs the mind consciousness's help to a certain extent. The six consciousnesses are the manas's tools; without the six consciousnesses, in the worldly realm, the manas can accomplish little. If the body fails and the six consciousnesses truly cannot work, He must change bodies, getting new six consciousnesses as His tools. How exactly the manas uses the six consciousnesses is, for ordinary people, also a great secret; uncovering the manas's secrets yields wisdom of no small consequence.
Some researchers in psychology and physiology have already revealed part of this, in more fine-grained detail than Yogācāra studies, and quite practical; we can use it as reference. The relationship between the manas and karmic seeds is also a great secret. The manas must be able to discern the information in karmic seeds—otherwise how could recollection of past lives appear? The tathāgatagarbha discerns karmic seeds but cannot express them; only the manas and mind consciousness discerning can display them. The mind consciousness cannot directly discern karmic seeds either; everything the mind consciousness discerns must go through the manas—it cannot bypass the manas. The manas first contacts the mental sense-objects, then discerns, and finally the mental factor of deliberation manifests; after the decision, the mind consciousness arises, contacts the mental sense-objects, discerns them, the mental factor of deliberation manifests and makes the decision—the manas knows this entire process. The entire course of the mind consciousness's mental factors' operation falls, moment by moment, into the manas as information; the manas relies on it, deliberating and choosing, and deliberates and chooses together with past-life experience. After the choice, the manas directs the mind consciousness to execute, and the mind consciousness must obediently comply.
All dharmas the mind consciousness contacts are thrown to it by the manas; if the manas does not give them, the mind consciousness must go hungry, remain empty, unable to arise and operate. Before the manas, the mind consciousness cannot be the boss; it is not more advanced than the manas, its range of discernment not broader than the manas's—only somewhat more detailed. People of insufficient wisdom can only see the surface operation of the mind consciousness and cannot observe the deep, subtle operation of the manas.
Researchers in psychology and physiology have already found traces of the manas and can observe part of its operation—can it be that we who study Yogācāra and practice Buddhism still cannot find the manas and realize it? The tathāgatagarbha's discernment of the manas is the discernment of the operation of the manas's mental factors; its discernment of the five-aggregate body both discerns the five-aggregate body's condition and also discerns karmic seeds. The manas's discernment of the six consciousnesses is the discernment of the six consciousnesses' condition of operation, that is, the operation of the mental factors.
6. The Relationship Between the Manas and Supernatural Powers and Latent Potential
Briefly review what you have learned before sleep; this step helps you effectively remember the content that needs memorizing. If you review what you learned during the day before sleeping, your subconscious will continue processing it during sleep, ensuring you remember it more firmly. The manas is still working during sleep; the mind consciousness cannot understand or observe what work the manas is doing. How does the manas process the day's information for its own use? Why is meditative concentration required for supernatural powers, for knowing past and future?
Concentration means the body and mind move little or not at all; it can not only suppress the body's movement but also restrain and control the mind consciousness from arising much. At this time the manas reduces its grasping at the six sense-objects and can fully exert its proper functions. What functions can the manas exert? In hypnosis, it is the suppression of the mind consciousness to reduce analytical thinking activity, not letting the mind consciousness continue to guide and direct the manas; the manas's instincts can then fully manifest, revealing the person's original mental state, without concealment or disguise. Then another person replaces the mind consciousness in guiding the manas; without disguise or control, the manas can reveal the things it experienced in past lives, revealing its inner thoughts and chronic ailments—of course expressed through its own feeble mind consciousness. Supernatural powers are similar to this. When the other person's state is relatively stable, one can guide deeply and dig out the manas's deep-rooted habitual tendencies; if the manas can comply, the tendencies can be changed somewhat.
Many dharmic principles can show that the manas can hold and change all dharmas, with the tathāgatagarbha cooperating behind it, though in reality it is all the result of the tathāgatagarbha's holding and manifesting.
Sentient beings have nothing they can truly forget—the manas knows it all. When the mind consciousness is hypnotized, or in meditative concentration, the manas can dig out that forgotten segment of the past. It is precisely the mind consciousness that blocks the manas from facing that past; the mind consciousness cares about face, has self-esteem, has a sense of honor and disgrace, knows good and evil, and so of course blocks the manas from revealing the truth, while the manas lacks these mental conducts of the consciousness. If the mind consciousness does not influence or obscure the manas, the manas can face all good and evil, honor and disgrace, with a relatively candid heart.
The six consciousnesses are merely a tool, merely used by the manas. By controlling the brain, the manas controls the whole body and mobilizes the whole body. When the mind consciousness arises less, forgets the physical body, no longer hints to the manas about the body's various conditions, and does not let the manas know of the body's existence and obstruction, the manas can direct the body to perform extraordinary actions, similar to supernatural powers. In fact, it is that the manas has forgotten the existence of the five aggregates, no longer considering what the five-aggregate body can or cannot do, considering only the goal it wants to achieve, and the five-aggregate body complies with the manas's demands and achieves the goal.
If the manas remembers the existence of the five-aggregate body, it must consider what the body can and cannot do; what cannot be done, the manas will not direct to be done, and then the five-aggregate body becomes an obstruction; the manas cannot fully exert its functions, no marvelous things happen—that is, so-called supernatural powers cannot manifest. If the manas can be unaffected by the five aggregates, exert its potential, and output powerful functions, it can control everything and change everything, including making the manas manifest buddha-lands and countless physical bodies. The supernatural powers of non-Buddhists are all the fruit of exerting the manas's functions.
At critical moments, when the mind consciousness forgets its own and the five-aggregate body's existence, has no thoughts at all, and does not interfere with the manas, the manas can perform beyond the ordinary, and unexpected things can happen. Supernatural powers the mind consciousness cannot imagine arise just this way: in concentration, the mind consciousness is suppressed, the manas exerts its power, and supernatural powers appear. Cultivating concentration is precisely to control the mind consciousness so the manas exerts great function—both realizing the dharma and changing all dharmas that should be changed.
7. The Manas Under Unconventional Meditative Concentration
When a person is in extreme fear or extreme tension, there is also meditative concentration; the heart can be very calm. Though nervous and afraid, the mind consciousness can only be mindful of the frightening matter at hand and cannot consider other things; the scattered mind is gone, and the manas likewise reduces its grasping at other dharmas; within, everything is about this frightening, terrifying matter—concentration appears. Then inspiration can be sparked, thinking through the ins and outs of the matter clearly, thereby handling it well, or making a choice beyond ordinary imagination. At this time, the brain is a blank; it is when the mind consciousness cannot think superficially, and the manas shows its prowess. This is the power of meditative concentration—most people should have had such experiences.
When you are full of fighting spirit, when you make a major choice, when you make up your mind, when you prepare to soar into the sky, your heart has no words and language, no superficial thinking and weighing by the mind consciousness—it is all supported by that wordless, languageless power of the manas. At such times, the mind consciousness's resolve and decision are not needed at all, no declaration from the mind consciousness is needed; the manas can fully decide on its own—He wants to strive, He wants to be resolute, He wants to fight, He wants to exert effort; He has secretly made up His mind, prepared to succeed. The surface resolve that others can clearly perceive is the mind consciousness's resolve, with much verbal conduct and declaration, but without power.
So in learning Buddhism we should exert the manas's functions and power to achieve the goals we need to accomplish. We should make great vows, set a long-term great goal, and then find ways to achieve it. The power of making vows should be great; when the manas truly makes a vow from the heart, its power is infinite, and it will be realized sooner or later. Because this is the manas truly making a vow from deep within the heart, not a vow remaining as a slogan of the mind consciousness, the manas can bring about its realization.
The power of intention is great—but whose power is this? It is the manas directing the tathāgatagarbha's functions and effects. The manas has power because He is the master consciousness, able to govern the six consciousnesses' bodily, verbal, and mental actions, able to lead the arising and cessation of all dharmas, able to hold the tathāgatagarbha, the Son of Heaven, to command the feudal lords. The mind consciousness, however, has no power—it cannot move even a single strand of hair; it can only hold the manas, this Son of Heaven, to command the feudal lords, realizing its wishes and dreams through the manas. And the manas realizes its wishes and dreams through the tathāgatagarbha, so the ultimate sovereign is still the tathāgatagarbha, the true Son of Heaven.
"When the intention moves, everything moves"—this refers to the manas's movement. When the manas's five universal mental factors are activated, all dharmas can manifest. When the mind consciousness moves, it only stirs thoughts, without power of action, unable to accomplish things. But the mind consciousness can draw the manas's movement and guide the manas's movement; the mind consciousness is a good helper of the manas, and its merit should not go unrecognized.
8. The Manas's Ability to Control All Dharmas
Hypnosis guides the other person's manas into a docile, compliant state; through deep guidance, it digs out the deep-rooted habitual tendencies or hidden ailments buried in the other's manas. If the person is obedient and can follow the guidance, the manas's tendencies can be changed, and hidden ailments and chronic ills eliminated. Everyone changes themselves through various methods; these phenomena all show that it is the manas controlling all dharmas, with the tathāgatagarbha behind it cooperating to change and hold all dharmas. By controlling the brain, the manas controls the whole body and mobilizes the whole body; its executors are the tathāgatagarbha and the six consciousnesses. The six consciousnesses are merely a tool, merely used by the manas.
When the mind consciousness arises less, temporarily forgets the physical body, does not remind the manas about the body, and does not let the manas attend to the body's existence and obstruction, then whatever the manas wants to do, the body can follow and do; it can make the body perform extraordinary actions, similar to supernatural powers. The manas can use the tathāgatagarbha to exert its potential for mobilizing the body and controlling all dharmas, having the tathāgatagarbha output seeds to control everything and change everything, including manifesting buddha-lands and countless physical bodies. The supernatural powers of non-Buddhists are likewise the fruit of exerting the manas's functions.
9. By working on the manas, supernatural powers can be developed. So-called supernatural powers simply mean: the tathāgatagarbha penetrates all dharmas, the manas penetrates the tathāgatagarbha, and the six consciousnesses need only penetrate the manas. Cultivating the four dhyānas and eight absorptions, the six consciousnesses can penetrate the manas, request information from the manas, and dig out all the information the manas knows.
If the manas does not attach to the body, does not take the five-aggregate body as truly existing, then whatever the manas wants to do, it can do, without considering whether the five-aggregate body is capable; if the manas says it can be done, it can be done. When not attaching to the five-aggregate body, the body cannot obstruct the manas; whatever the manas wants to do can be accomplished in an instant. If the mind constantly holds the concept of the body, the body is a burden, and no great thing can be accomplished. When deep in the heart there is truly no concept of the body—forgetting or not attaching to the body—supernatural powers naturally appear.
10. A person with supernatural powers can know things of future lives, and the karmic seeds of future events certainly have not yet matured. The tathāgatagarbha certainly can discern karmic seeds that have not yet matured; the key is whether the manas can likewise discern the seeds that have not matured. If the manas could not discern mature and immature karmic seeds, then how would the mind consciousness know things of future lives and things that happened many kalpas ago? How would the mind consciousness's recollection of past lives arise? All dharmas known by the mind consciousness are first contacted, first known, first perceived by the manas, which then gives rise to attention for the mind consciousness to discern subtly; only then can the mind consciousness know the dharmas the manas has contacted and known. The mind consciousness's recollection of past lives, as well as the mind consciousness's knowing in dreams of things that will happen afterward, all come from the manas, known through being drawn by the manas. Therefore it is said that the manas can contact and know things that have not yet happened and things of future lives—this relies on the manas's discernment of karmic seeds to make its own discernment.
There are many examples of the mind consciousness knowing events in advance. For instance, before an earthquake, some animals know in advance and, knowing, display restlessness and agitation. The earthquake has not occurred, the karmic seeds have not matured and manifested—how do the animals know a disaster is about to happen and panic? If the manas did not follow the tathāgatagarbha to be mindful of karmic seeds, how could the mind consciousness be mindful of them? Before a person is about to die, or just before an accident, there are premonitions. The event has not happened, the karmic seeds have not manifested—why can they be forefelt? If the manas were not mindful of karmic seeds, why would the mind consciousness have feelings? In dreams, one dreams of events that will happen days or months later, and upon waking feels something special is about to happen. If the manas were not mindful of karmic seeds, how could there be precognitive dreams? These future events are all first perceived by the manas—how does it alert the mind consciousness to perceive them, so as to adopt countermeasures?
11. The Relationship Between Supernatural Powers, the Power of Meditative Concentration, and the Manas
The meaning of so-called supernatural powers is that the manas can, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, discern all dharmas. But the dharmas discerned by the manas are unknown to the mind consciousness—this is the situation without supernatural powers. If the mind consciousness is in very strong meditative concentration, the conscious mind is extremely focused, its discerning power strengthened, and it can also discern many of the dharmas the manas knows. As for how many dharmas the mind consciousness can know, it depends on the magnitude of the power of meditative concentration and the height of the level of wisdom—that is, on the strength of the power of meditative absorption (samādhi).
Why are supernatural powers related to meditative concentration and the manas? The physical body's influence and control over the six consciousnesses is very great. When meditative concentration arises, the body's influence and control over the six consciousnesses lessen; the mind consciousness escapes the body's control, is no longer limited by the body, and can discern many of the dharmas the manas discerns, as well as all dharmas. Therefore the first step in the appearance of supernatural powers is subduing the physical body; by passing through the region of the aggregate of form, the conscious mind can be free from the body's control—only when the mind leaves its form can supernatural powers appear. The aggregate of form is a kind of obstructing function of the physical body. The five aggregates are an obstructing function. Break through them, and there is no more obstruction; supernatural powers manifest. "My having a body is a great calamity!"
The aggregate of form also has an obstructing effect on the manas. If the manas takes the physical body as real and firmly attaches to it, there will be no meditative concentration and no supernatural powers. Only when the manas escapes its bonds can the mind consciousness escape its bonds, and only then are there supernatural powers. When the power of meditative concentration is extremely strong and the manas's wisdom is also extremely strong, the manas can completely substitute for the six consciousnesses.
