The Close Relationship Between the Mind Consciousness and the Manas

Since the mind consciousness is a dharma arising from causes and conditions, it has no autonomy: it cannot decide on its own to remain in a state of not giving rise to a single thought, nor can it decide on its own to give rise to thoughts and mental activity. All of its activities are directed and governed by the manas. The mind consciousness arises from the conjunction of the manas and mental sense-objects (dharmas) as causes and conditions; it arises from the contact between the faculty and the sense-object. However, even when the manas contacts the mental sense-objects, if the manas makes no choice or decision whatsoever, the mind consciousness still will not arise, let alone engage in any activity. Therefore, to talk about how the mind consciousness operates in this way or that way while setting aside the consciousness that makes decisions—the root of the mind consciousness—is all idle talk, unreliable and not ultimate; moreover, many errors may arise without one even being aware of them. The key reason these problems arise is insufficient meditative concentration (samādhi): without contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) based on direct perception/valid direct cognition, one cannot observe deeply and thoroughly the relationship between the manas and the mind consciousness, nor can one profoundly observe the hidden secret and primary cause behind the operation of the mind consciousness. One forgets the lack of autonomy of the mind consciousness and overlooks the sovereign agent behind it. Therefore, no one who transmits or discusses the Dharma should be overly confident; blind self-confidence is nothing but arrogance.