When Relying on a Dharma-Object, Is It the Mind Consciousness That Has the Final Say, or the Manas?

Taking refuge in a dharma-appearance is determined by the manas; only after the determination is made can it lead the five aggregates and the six consciousnesses to begin taking refuge. Why does the manas make this determination? Because He has seen this dharma-appearance, recognized this dharma-appearance, and knows that this dharma-appearance is firm and reliable, is a fit object of refuge, and that taking refuge in it will bring benefit—only then does He decide to take refuge.

Therefore, if the manas has not eliminated the self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) and has not seen one’s true mind and realized what is real, how could He know that the tathāgatagarbha is the true place of refuge? How could He, as the master, decide to take even the slightest refuge in the tathāgatagarbha and thereby create the bodily, verbal, and mental actions that form the five-aggregate body? Thus, if only the mind consciousness realizes the fruit and awakens to the true mind, one cannot subdue one’s body, mind, and world, and afflictions will grow ever stronger, because one feels one has gained something—an additional “self” has been added, and where there is a self, there must be afflictions. Only when the manas also simultaneously realizes the fruit and awakens to the true mind can body and mind abide in meditative concentration (samādhi), subduing afflictions so that they become ever lighter, until they are finally eliminated.