Why Allow Mind Consciousness to Permeate the Manas?

Only when the manas knows something is good does He act on it; if He knows it is not good, He does not do it. The mind consciousness knows what is good and what is bad, but the manas is not in sync with it. No matter what the mind consciousness thinks, the manas acts according to His own views. The manas is simply domineering: what He deems good is good, and He acts on it; what He deems bad is bad, and no matter how good it is, He will not do it. This is the operation of the manas's habitual tendencies.

How can the mind consciousness edify the manas and turn the manas around? Sometimes the mind consciousness is strong and has relatively great control over the manas, and is then able to manipulate the manas, so the manas has no choice but to follow the mind consciousness's ideas and act accordingly. But there will always come a day when He breaks free of this constraint; He cannot always comply with the mind consciousness. Therefore, the mind consciousness must convince the manas to comply through reason, and cannot always rely on coercion. The process of persuading the manas through reason is called edification and cultivation, and is also called education and reform.

When the manas is hesitant and indecisive, His power is weak, and He must heed the mind consciousness's thinking and analysis and follow the mind consciousness's opinions—this is called rational behavior. Knowing full well something is wrong yet insisting on doing it is the manas's irrational behavior. Heeding the mind consciousness's advice means the mind consciousness's rationality prevails; knowingly committing a wrongdoing means the manas's ignorance and habitual tendencies prevail.