Chapter Four: Defiled Mental Factors and Wholesome Mental Factors

Section One: Two Types of Defiled Mental Factors of the Manas

I. Constantly Manifesting and Non-Constantly Manifesting Defiled Mental Factors

The defiled mental factors of the manas are divided into two types. One type constantly accompanies the manas and manifests continuously without interruption, such as the view of self (ātma-dṛṣṭi), self-conceit (ātma-māna), self-love (ātma-sneha), and ignorance (ātma-moha) mentioned in the *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra*. The other type consists of defiled mental factors that do not constantly accompany the manas in manifestation; these refer to mental factors other than the aforementioned four, such as hatred (dveṣa), joy, anger, and other major, medium, and minor derivative defilements. If these defilements were to manifest constantly, the physical and mental well-being of sentient beings would be severely harmed, their lives would become chaotic, and their lifespan would not be long. Only the view of self, self-love, self-attachment, and self-conceit are the defilements that constantly manifest in ordinary sentient beings.

When encountering profound Dharma, all people are unable to engage in direct observation and realization; they can only superficially understand a little, thus they can only memorize texts. The doctrine of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination reveals that the reason sentient beings undergo continuous birth and death within the six realms is due to the ignorance of the manas. If the manas were without ignorance, the Twelve Links would cease, the defilements of sentient beings would be exhausted, and they would be liberated from birth and death. Ignorance conditions volitional formations; volitional formations condition consciousness. Fully understanding these seven words clarifies whether the manas actually possesses hatred or not. If there is no hatred within the ignorance of the manas, it would not prompt the six consciousnesses to create karmic actions of hatred, thereby reducing karmic actions leading to birth and death by nearly half. Hatred in the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna) is inconsequential because the mental consciousness cannot determine the creation of karmic actions of hatred; thus, there would be no seeds of hatred karma and no karmic actions of hatred leading to birth and death.

Furthermore, where does hatred in the mental consciousness come from? How does it arise? Many people are neither able to directly observe whether the manas has hatred nor untangle the logical dialectical relationship between the manas and the mental consciousness. They also do not know the origin of the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses; they only memorize texts and believe their shallow understanding is correct. As stated in the *Śūraṅgama Sūtra*, at the very beginning of a sentient being's life, there is only the manas and the ālaya-vijñāna. Only after the manas gives rise to thoughts do the heavens, earth, all things, the five aggregates, and the six consciousnesses come into being. If the manas has no hatred, where does the hatred in the mental consciousness come from? How do karmic actions of hatred arise? Why do sentient beings fight and contend with each other? How does this arise?

The defilements of the mental consciousness are easy to subdue and eradicate. Merely understanding the theory intellectually leads to effective control over the defilements. However, because the manas has not severed its defilements, when encountering fundamental problems, the mental consciousness, if momentarily inattentive, allows the defilements to immediately manifest, and the person's true nature is revealed. For example, in dreams, or after becoming drunk, when the mental consciousness is weak and lacks reason, the defilements of the manas manifest completely. Are the hatred and hateful actions after drunkenness also those of the mental consciousness? Why is it easier to create unwholesome karma after drinking? Why does one's true nature appear after drinking? Why does one's character show after drinking?

Subduing defilements refers to temporarily severing the defilements of the mental consciousness, but this is not permanent. If the defilements of the manas are not severed, the defilements cut off by the mental consciousness will re-arise when conditions are sufficient, and they cannot be fundamentally controlled. Therefore, the defilement of hatred is only completely eradicated at the third fruit (anāgāmi-phala), indicating that the manas can only completely eradicate the hatred defilement at the third fruit. The hatred defilement of the mental consciousness can be eradicated during the stage when an ordinary person understands the principle, but it is not ultimate; under special conditions, the mental consciousness can still manifest hatred. For instance, some people have a gentle temperament and an exceptionally good disposition; they never give rise to hatred under normal circumstances—this is the state of the mental consciousness being without hatred. However, once encountering special situations that touch their bottom line, such a person might still kill; this is the hatred of the manas manifesting.

II. Does the Manas Have the Derivative Mental Factor of Hatred?

Question: If the emotion of hatred reaches the level of gnashing teeth, it is the deep hatred of the manas, a reaction of the manas. Does the manas have the minor derivative defilement of hatred?

Answer: The manas is the sovereign consciousness. Bodily, verbal, and mental actions are controlled, commanded, and directed by the manas. The physical activity of gnashing teeth is directed and commanded by the manas. No matter what thoughts, ideas, or emotions the mental consciousness has, it cannot command or direct the body to exhibit the phenomenon of gnashing teeth. If one regards the manas as a normal conscious mind, it becomes easy to understand all the mental activities of the manas, and there will be no misunderstandings.

The manas is the master of the body of the five aggregates, constantly governing all bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the five-aggregate body. Our spiritual practice is precisely about cultivating the manas, transforming the manas. After the manas undergoes the three transformations into wisdom, one becomes a Buddha. If the manas had no ignorance or defilements of a certain kind, then cultivation would only involve the mental consciousness, and there would be no need to address the manas. Cultivating the mental consciousness is very simple, very easy, and effortless; one only needs to learn the principles, and after the mental consciousness contemplates and understands, it becomes clear and wise, mental conduct can change, and transformation occurs. Yet, in reality, spiritual practice is very difficult; it is absolutely not this simple and quick. Changing oneself is hard; one must undergo long-term habituation, long-term introspection, and the subduing of oneself through encountering various conditions to make even a little progress. The ignorance and defilements of the manas are extremely numerous and deep-rooted, not easy to subdue and eradicate; that is why spiritual practice feels difficult.

The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination show that the ignorance of the manas leads to subsequent immeasurable suffering of birth and death cycles. This indicates that the manas possesses all ignorance and defilements. If the manas had no ignorance or defilements, and only the mental consciousness did, there would not be the suffering of beginningless kalpas of birth and death cycles, as the ignorance and defilements of the mental consciousness are easy to resolve. Then, should we further contemplate: where do the ignorance and defilements of the mental consciousness come from?

What we usually refer to as "I" means the manas; it primarily refers to the manas. When we say "I," it is the thought and concept of the manas emerging. The deeply rooted, habitual thought and concept of "I" with heavy ingrained habits is the manas. Therefore, to observe the manas, one only needs to observe one's own arising thoughts and ingrained habits. "I" is the manas; to observe the manas is to observe "I." Approaching the effort from this perspective makes it less difficult. The relatively profound, hard-to-discover, and hard-to-observe thoughts and concepts within the mind are all those of the manas. The deeply rooted, bone-deep habitual defilements and wisdom are all those of the manas, extremely hidden, difficult to know, and difficult to change. The thoughts and concepts of the mental consciousness float on the surface, easily influenced, easily discovered, easily subdued, and easily changed. If spiritual practice did not involve the manas, then learning Buddhism would be relaxed and joyful, and attaining Buddhahood would be very swift.

All the functional roles of the manas within the five aggregates can be observed. Only by knowing what the facts are, what the truth is, can one say what the manas has or does not have, or speak precisely, or speak affirmatively. Otherwise, one must follow what the Buddha said: "Do not believe your own mind." One's judgment will be severely limited by the wisdom of direct perception and observation. When wisdom is insufficient and observation is not possible, one must strive diligently in practice to achieve the ability to observe truthfully and directly as soon as possible, in order to attain true wisdom, wisdom of suchness, and wisdom of direct perception. Before this, doubt is still doubt; one cannot draw a conclusion of suchness, so one should not draw a conclusion. Learning Buddhism and practicing must adhere to this attitude to avoid the fault of erroneous evaluation and judgment.

Strive to integrate the Dharma, connect it coherently, and the meaning of the Dharma will become clear. No single Dharma exists in isolation; all have a main subject and are connected by a main thread. Grasping the essence of all Dharmas as a whole makes them easy to understand and master. Learning Buddhism and practicing is not about memorizing rules; it requires linking theory with practice, actually observing to see whether the theories encountered accord with principle and Dharma, and whether they are actual. Strive to engage in actual observation and practice, observing the operation of the five aggregates, observing body, speech, and mind. True knowledge arises from practice; practice is the sole criterion for testing truth—this applies to both the Buddha Dharma and worldly dharmas. Learning Buddhism is about seeking truth. Truth is fact, an unchangeable fact. Relying on facts as one's basis, relying on truth as one's basis—this is what the Buddha taught as "relying on the Dharma" (依法). Only then can one achieve accomplishment without error.

III. The Four Innately Arising Defilements Constantly Manifesting in the Manas

Original text from *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra*, Volume 51: Furthermore, as previously stated, the manas constantly operates together with the ālaya-vijñāna. Until it is severed, it should be known that it is always accompanied by and spontaneously manifests four defilements simultaneously corresponding [with it]. These are: the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), self-conceit (māna), self-love (ātma-sneha), and ignorance (avidyā). These four defilements, whether in a state of meditative concentration (samāhita) or non-concentration (asamāhita), should be known to be constantly operating. They do not contradict wholesome [mental factors] and are of an obscured non-definitive (avyākṛta) nature.

Explanation: As previously stated, the manas eternally operates together with the ālaya-vijñāna, having never been severed. Therefore, it should be known that the manas constantly corresponds simultaneously with four innately arising, spontaneously and constantly manifesting defilements. These four defilements are: the view of self (ātma-dṛṣṭi), self-conceit (ātma-māna), self-love (ātma-sneha), and ignorance (avidyā). Whether in a state with meditative concentration or without meditative concentration, these four defilements should be known to be always operating. They do not contradict the eleven wholesome mental factors; when wholesome mental factors are present, these four defilements are also present, and the presence of these four defilements does not hinder the presence of wholesome mental factors. The nature of the manas is obscured and non-definitive (avyākṛta).

Many people misunderstand this original text from the *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra*. They all think that the manas only has these four defilements: the view of self, self-love, self-conceit, and ignorance. Actually, the original text does not mean this. Even if it did mean this, the single defilement of ignorance would include all defilements, meaning the manas of an ordinary being possesses all defilements. The meaning here is that the manas operates constantly and incessantly together with these four innately arising defilements, not separated for even an instant. "Constantly operating" (恒行) means manifesting constantly without cessation. When the manas has not eradicated the view of self, during its operation, the view of self manifests; it constantly corresponds with the view of self, abiding in the state of an ordinary being. When the manas has not eradicated self-conceit, its mind constantly manifests self-conceit, which is very subtle and deep-rooted, abiding from the state before the third fruit up to the state of an ordinary being. When the manas has not eradicated self-love, it manifests a psychological state of craving and attachment towards all dharmas of the triple world, clinging to worldly dharmas and unable to transcend them, abiding from the state before the second fruit up to the state of an ordinary being. When the manas has not eradicated ignorance, the mind constantly corresponds with ignorance, inseparable from it, abiding in the state of an ordinary being.

The manas also has defiled mental factors that do not manifest constantly; they do not constantly operate together with the manas, nor do they manifest frequently. Rather, they manifest sometimes and not at other times; all defilements apart from the four mentioned above are non-constantly manifesting defilements. Therefore, the defiled mental factors of the manas are divided into two parts: one part constantly manifests and exists, while another part occasionally accompanies the manas in manifestation.

The manas has the defilement of ignorance, and ignorance includes all defilements. All defilements are produced by the ignorance of the manas; the defilements of the manas trigger the defilements of the mental consciousness, creating all karmic actions of defilement. Therefore, only by eradicating the defilements of the manas is the eradication of defilements ultimate. If the manas lacks a certain defilement, then there is no need to eradicate that defilement, and spiritual practice has less trouble and obstruction.

Whether the mental consciousness has defilements or not is inconsequential because the mental consciousness is a ceasing dharma (斷滅法); when the mental consciousness ceases, the defilements immediately disappear, leaving only the manas. As long as the defilements of the mental consciousness do not influence the manas, and the manas is without defilements, sentient beings will not have birth and death. If the manas has defilements, birth and death are inevitable. Why do countless people insist on making a big fuss only about the mental consciousness? It is precisely because these people can only understand a little about the mental consciousness; they fundamentally do not understand the manas, let alone observe the mental activities of the manas. Therefore, theories about the mental consciousness are everywhere, and sentient beings are pitifully misled.

These four defilements constantly manifest at all times in the state of an ordinary being, never severed. Other defilements manifest sometimes and not at other times. After eradicating the view of self, the defilement of the view of self is gone and no longer constantly accompanies the manas. The other three defilements continue to manifest constantly. After the fourth fruit (arhatship), all four defilements are completely eliminated; the mind is pure, and there are no longer any constantly manifesting defilements (excluding ignorance related to Mahayana Dharma), but habits (vāsanā) still remain, they just do not manifest constantly. The six root defilements are like the tree trunk; the twenty derivative defilements are like the branches and leaves. Once the trunk falls, the branches and leaves will soon wither and cease to exist.

The ignorance and defilements of the manas include all defilements. Among them, the defilement of hatred cannot manifest constantly; it comes and goes. If hatred manifested constantly, the consequences would be unimaginable; neither oneself nor others could endure it. The poison of hatred would soon destroy the physical body, life would not last long, and all surrounding people would suffer boundlessly without any happiness. Here, it is not specifically stated whether the manas has the defilement of hatred or other derivative defilements, but the manas absolutely has the defilement of hatred and derivative defilements. If it had no hatred, we would not need to practice to eradicate hatred. Hatred in the mental consciousness is inconsequential because the mental consciousness cannot govern the body, mind, and world; it constantly ceases, and once ceased, there are no defilements. It would be excellent if only the manas had no hatred, but the facts are not like that.

The language in the *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra* is very concise; penetrating its semantic meaning is extremely difficult, requiring both literary skill and realization from spiritual practice; the two must be combined. Truly relying on the Dharma means relying on facts. As long as it is a fact, it will eventually break through all statements inconsistent with the facts, highlighting the power of truth. Even the Dharma spoken by the Buddha must be personally observed and verified to see if it is indeed so. All dharmas spoken by the Buddha ultimately require us to fully realize them empirically to attain Buddhahood. Without realizing and proving them empirically, one cannot attain the corresponding wisdom; merely reciting the Buddha's words does not solve the problem. What the Buddha said cannot represent our own realization. At the end of spiritual practice, one must rely entirely on the complete truth of reality; one does not even rely on the Buddha. The dharmas spoken by the Buddha must all be personally realized; only after fully realizing them all can one be considered to have completely achieved spiritual practice.

The Dharma spoken by the Buddha in the Sahā world is only equivalent to the amount of soil under a fingernail; the Dharma not spoken is as vast as the soil of the great earth. We must study and realize all dharmas; we must know the truth of reality. And this truth of reality cannot be obtained by relying on others; it must be realized empirically.

This passage from the *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra* has another important meaning. The text states that the four defilements—the view of self, self-love, self-conceit, and ignorance—manifest constantly, whether in meditative concentration or not. Although they manifest constantly, they do not contradict the eleven wholesome mental factors. This means that the manas has both defiled mental factors and wholesome mental factors existing and operating simultaneously; the two do not conflict. Here, the *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra* says the manas corresponds with the eleven wholesome mental factors, while in some other Bodhisattva treatises, it is said that the manas does not correspond with wholesome mental factors. The two treatises conflict; naturally, we take the *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra* by Bodhisattva Maitreya as authoritative.