Only When Manas Agrees Is There True Willingness.

After a patient receives an organ transplant, rejection reactions occur. Apart from genes and various other factors, one of the reasons is that the manas of the organ donor rejects it. Most organ donations are not voluntary on the part of the donor; during their lifetime they never stated that they were willing to donate their organs after death—rather, family members made the decision to donate the deceased's organs. If the deceased was unwilling, then after the organ is placed into the patient's body, the deceased's manas interferes and rejects it, and a rejection reaction occurs. Or, although the deceased agreed during life to donate organs, the surgery to remove the organs was performed before death was complete, while the person was not yet fully dead; the deceased suffers great pain, gives rise to anger and regret, and so when the organ enters the patient's body, the deceased's manas may harbor resistance, and the patient will exhibit a rejection reaction. The function of the manas is so powerful, far surpassing that of the mind consciousness, and this holds true whether or not consciousness is present. Therefore, to see a person's true thoughts, attitudes, and intentions, do not look at how well he speaks with his conscious mouth; look at the true thoughts and motives in his manas, his inner heart. Some people speak in the most flowery terms, yet their actual thoughts are exactly the opposite—such a person is extremely hypocritical. In our daily dealings with people, we should be skilled at observing them and understanding what their real thoughts are. Do not believe only what is displayed on the surface of their consciousness; observe their inner manas. The manas is the decision-making consciousness; it represents a person's character and moral quality, and also represents a person's true cultivation.

If a person wants to give you something, observe whether he truly wants to give it to you, or whether it is a false gift with other ideas and other purposes. Likewise, if we want something from someone else, observe whether he is truly willing to give it—whether his manas agrees, or whether it is a reluctant situation where his consciousness is willing but his manas is not. If his manas is unwilling to give, yet in behavior his consciousness has no choice but to give generously, the consequences may be very bad—he will find a way to take it back.

If a person knows that the other party is inwardly unwilling to give, but also knows that the other party, out of concern for face and so forth, will more or less be able to give, and so opens his mouth to ask for it, and as a result the other party does indeed reluctantly give it while feeling very unhappy inside—this situation is almost outright robbery. What is the relationship between open robbery and stealing? Both are seizing without the consent of the other party's manas. Open robbery is seizing openly; stealing is seizing covertly. Is a robber equivalent to a petty thief or a big thief? With this, one can basically distinguish clearly whether a person is a gentleman or a petty person. A gentleman does not take what others cherish, does not impose on others what he himself does not want; he is open, upright, and magnanimous, and does not secretly play tricks or scheme. A petty person, on the other hand, is often anxious and gloomy, scheming and plotting, with nothing but ghosts in his heart—sly tricks and crooked schemes, full of dark sides.

In transactions with people, haggling fiercely, even reaching or exceeding the bottom line of what the other party can bear—this is also equivalent to robbery and stealing. Therefore, when buying things, do not bargain excessively; leave the other party in a tolerable position, and be considerate of their feelings and capacity to bear it. This too is part of being a cultivated and refined person. That is why the Buddha taught the five precepts and ten wholesome deeds—to teach us how to be human. Observing the current Dharma-ending age, there really are many people who do not know how to be human. Since they cannot even manage to be human, it is impossible for them to attain the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and become noble ones.