Consciousness and the Three Karmas: Transformation in Accordance with Manas

Question: The manas has not yet been transformed and thus constantly corresponds with tainted dharmas. Since the manas is also a perpetually functioning consciousness, the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) is implicated by the manas, forever corresponding only with tainted seeds. Once the mental consciousness manifests, it too corresponds with tainted seeds. Therefore, so long as the manas has not transformed into the untainted, the mental consciousness cannot possibly transform into the untainted, right?

Answer: This demonstrates that the manas is the master consciousness. The six consciousnesses manifest based on the manas, and the manas contains all afflictions, not just a portion of them. If the manas does not sever the afflictions, the mental consciousness cannot sever the afflictions. If the manas does not eradicate ignorance, the mental consciousness cannot eradicate ignorance; it can only subdue and suppress them. Therefore, cultivation focused solely on the mental consciousness is not ultimate; it remains susceptible to destruction and will still follow the lead of the manas, especially in future lifetimes.

Although the manas corresponds with tainted dharmas, it also possesses wholesome mental factors (kuśala-caittas). It also controls the six consciousnesses to create wholesome karma and stores wholesome karmic seeds. Consequently, the eighth consciousness also contains wholesome karmic seeds, not just unwholesome and tainted karmic seeds. Thus, after the mental consciousness and the five sense consciousnesses manifest, they will also, guided by the manas, engage in wholesome actions, corresponding with wholesome karmic seeds, not merely corresponding with unwholesome karmic seeds and tainted seeds. Both the manas and the mental consciousness correspond with the three types of karma: sometimes wholesome, sometimes unwholesome, and sometimes neither wholesome nor unwholesome.