Mental Factors of the Mind base\: A Practical Compass (Second Edition) (with over 30,000 additional words, reorganized)

Section Three: The Mental Factor of Determination (adhimokṣa)

1. Only When the Manas Can Determine and Resolve Can It Make Decisions

The mind consciousness conveys its intention to diligently study Buddhism to the manas, and conveys its understanding of the Buddha-dharma to the manas. Only after the manas has fully understood and determined (adhimokṣa) can it agree with the mind consciousness's ideas and the content of its, and the two of you cannot communicate; communication is useless. In this way people cannot communicate and interact with each other, cannot live in the same space. Among the seven consciousnesses, whichever consciousness lacks determination cannot correctly interpret its corresponding dharmas, cannot make correct and appropriate decisions, and the result is like a blind person who cannot walk; the conscious mind cannot function normally.

The five consciousnesses also have determination. Can the five consciousnesses understand the Buddha-dharma? Even animals' conscious minds have determination—do animals study Buddhism? If animals' power of determination were entirely lower than humans', how could they accurately and promptly hunt prey? How could they survive? Actually, give your family's puppy a glance or an expression, and the puppy understands in a second, executing the command without a word; humans are even more so. All sentient beings' bodily, verbal, and mental actions are decided by the manas. Since correct decisions can be made, allowing the five-aggregate body to function normally, the manas must have the mental factor of determination. Not only do the six consciousnesses have determination, the manas has far more power of determination than the five consciousnesses, and is far more nimble than they are.

If the manas cannot determine and resolve, and the mind consciousness says "I should go east," if the manas does not understand, it will either go west or not move; in the end not only will the matter fail, but one will be extremely frustrated, which can lead to mental derangement. When a car speeds toward one from ahead, if the manas cannot determine and resolve upon the urgency of the situation, it cannot dodge immediately—what would the result be? When boiling water scalds the hand, if the manas cannot determine and resolve upon the body's condition, the scalding will continue; even when the body consciousness can no longer bear it, the manas still does not know what is happening—what would that result be?

The manas is like the president of a country: what he cannot do personally, he lets his assistants do; he need not do everything himself. But if the president were nothing at all, with very low wisdom, unable to determine and resolve, unable to have intention and mindfulness, and unable to have concentration, then think—could this country be well? Belittling the president is like belittling the entire nation. If a car's engine rusts and malfunctions, isn't that car equivalent to a pile of scrap iron?

Cultivation is not reciting texts from memory, but genuine wisdom-based contemplative practice; if contemplative practice cannot bring it forth, whatever one says is futile. To directly perceive (pratyakṣa) through contemplative practice the various minds and mental factors also requires quite good power of meditative concentration and contemplative wisdom—at the very least, both the mind consciousness and the manas must have already transformed consciousness into wisdom. Reciting others' material also requires wisdom; without the wisdom of direct-perception contemplative practice, one would not know if one recites it wrong, and even if one recites it right, it is mere coincidence.

5. The Manas's Self-Cognition and Self-Validating Cognition Prove That the Manas Has Determination

These Yogācāra dharmas are extremely profound and subtle; before enlightenment, it takes roughly an incalculable eon (asaṃkhyeya-kalpa) before one can directly perceive the dharma-seed wisdom of Yogācāra. So no matter how wise someone considers themselves, they cannot be too confident. Since all eight consciousnesses have self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana), which can validate the dharmas each cognizes, this shows the conscious mind has determination and a certain degree of wisdom. The sixth consciousness's self-validating cognition manifests more frequently and obviously, so it is easy to observe, and ordinary people generally acknowledge that the mind consciousness has wisdom and extremely strong power of determination. In foolish people, the mind consciousness has little power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala); self-validating cognition does not manifest, there is no power of determination, and they cannot make sense of either worldly or supramundane dharmas.

The eighth consciousness has self-validating cognition, showing that the eighth consciousness has wisdom and power of determination. Its power of determination is manifested in truthfully cognizing karmic seeds without misinterpreting them, and truthfully actualizing karmic seeds without error; it is also manifested in the eighth consciousness's ability to truthfully and properly cognize the manas's mental factors, closely cooperate with the manas, satisfy the manas's needs, and produce all dharmas; the eighth consciousness's power of determination is also manifested in truthfully knowing the faculties, body, and material environment (bhājana-loka), and then outputting seeds to maintain and change the faculties, body, and material environment.

The seventh consciousness also has self-validating cognition, able to validate the dharmas it cognizes, showing that the seventh consciousness has power of determination, can understand its own cognition and state, and accords with wisdom, so that in the future it can transform consciousness into wisdom. The seventh consciousness's power of determination is manifested in its ability to cognize the dharmas manifested by the eighth consciousness and make correct decisions, directing the six consciousnesses to operate; it is manifested in the seventh consciousness's ability to correctly cognize the dharmas observed by the six consciousnesses, understand the results of the mind consciousness's analysis, deliberation, and judgment, and accordingly make correct decisions, producing proper bodily, verbal, and mental actions without error.

When its power of determination develops to the utmost, it can transform consciousness into wisdom; when the power of determination is at its greatest, it can transform consciousness into wisdom for the third time, ultimately accomplishing the buddha-path. There is no case where the manas is still very foolish, without power of determination and without great wisdom, yet can become a buddha—if it could, it would be a foolish buddha; nor is there a case where the manas, without power of determination and without great wisdom, can transform consciousness into wisdom, become a bhūmi-attaining bodhisattva entering the Tathāgata's family and becoming a true buddha-son. If it could, it would also be a foolish bodhisattva.

The five consciousnesses also have weak power of introspection, have self-validating cognition, and have a very narrow range of power of determination, able to operate in coordination with the manas's directives. But the five consciousnesses' power of determination is far inferior to the manas's, even more inferior to the mind consciousness's, and also not equal to the eighth consciousness's power of determination, although the eighth consciousness cannot determine and resolve upon the six-dust realms or worldly dharmas. When the mind consciousness lacks wisdom and cannot observe the self-validating cognition of these consciousnesses, the self-validating cognition of the several consciousnesses still exists and operates, regardless of whether the mind consciousness can observe it.

6. All Seven Consciousnesses Have the Mental Factor of Determination

All seven consciousnesses have determination regarding dharmas, because each of the seven consciousnesses has its corresponding dharmas. If any consciousness cannot determine and resolve upon its corresponding dharmas, then that conscious mind cannot clearly recognize its corresponding dharmas, and subsequent operations will not occur, or subsequent operations will be entirely disordered; sentient beings could not live, work, and cultivate normally, and nothing could be discussed. This is so for the six consciousnesses, and even more so for the seventh consciousness: if the master-deciding consciousness cannot determine and resolve upon its corresponding dharmas, it is like the whole world falling into chaos—even being a foolish sentient being would be difficult. Even bacteria can determine and resolve upon the situations they face; as high-level sentient beings, humans and devas—if the governing seventh consciousness could not determine and resolve upon dust-objects and other dharmas, how could it regulate the operation of the five-aggregate body? It cannot be like a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse, directing things in a dazed stupor; such a five-aggregate body could not survive.

For example, take a person wanting to buy flowers: going to the flower market and seeing many fresh flowers requires selection. The eye consciousness must have determination regarding the flower colors seen, to know what the flowers' hues are; the mind consciousness must also have determination regarding the flowers, to know whether they are vivid and fresh, and whether they are what one wants to buy; the manas must have even more determination regarding the flowers, and should clearly know the varieties, hues, prices, and other details of the flowers seen and selected by the six consciousnesses, and only then can it finally decide whether to buy or not. If it is unclear, or it cannot make up its mind, it will continue letting the six consciousnesses select and compare, until it is completely clear and satisfied, and only then make the final decision; only then will the matter of buying flowers conclude. It is the same for all dharmas: the seventh consciousness, the manas, must be able to determine and resolve upon all the cognition of the six consciousnesses, in order to propel the operation of all dharmas without disorder, allowing the five-aggregate body to live and work normally.

7. The Relationship Between the Mental Factor of Determination and the Mental Factor of Wisdom

The treatise says: determination is the endorsement of an object—knowing the object is the object, believing the object is the object, without error or hesitation. For example, when the mind attends to a flower or the moon, it determines and resolves that it is a flower or the moon, without hesitation, able to trust its own understanding and not easily swayed—this is determination. The word "determination" (adhimokṣa) highlights the degree of understanding of the object, approaching the reality of the object. But it is not yet the final complete conviction, nor has the reality of the object been realized. Therefore there is subsequently the mental factor of wisdom (prajñā-caitta); only when the mental factor of wisdom manifests can the object be realized and the object be firmly believed—completely knowing the realm of the flower and the moon.

Determination is equivalent to knowing that something is so; wisdom is equivalent to knowing why it is so. One is understanding, the other is realization. Determination is shallow wisdom, the foundation of wisdom; wisdom is the ultimate, final cognition. In the cultivation and realization of the Buddha-dharma, the mental factor of determination corresponds to understanding-enlightenment, and the mental factor of wisdom corresponds to realization-enlightenment. For understanding-enlightenment to become realization-enlightenment, it must pass through two stages: the mental factor of mindfulness (smṛti-caitta) and the mental factor of concentration (samādhi-caitta)—firmly imprinting and holding the understood dharma in the mind, never forgetting it moment to moment, cultivating meditative concentration, fixing the mind steadily on this dharma and investigating without interruption; finally the mind opens with firm conviction, great wisdom manifests, and realization-enlightenment is attained.

Determining and resolving upon a flower and the moon is a worldly matter and seems not too difficult: as long as one possesses the concepts and knowledge of worldly dharmas, the six faculties are normal, and there are no obstructions, one will determine and resolve upon the flower and the moon, which also contains some relatively shallow wisdom of understanding. But reaching the level of determination in the Buddha-dharma is not so easy: one must possess the relevant knowledge and concepts of the Buddha-dharma, and also cultivate the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment (bodhipakṣika-dharmas), reducing the obstruction of karmic hindrances, in order to determine and resolve. But there is still a considerable distance to go before realization, and certain causal conditions must be perfected before one can smoothly realize it.