The Realization of Manas Gives Birth to Wisdom

On the issue of the wisdom power of the manas, all wisdom of consciousness must settle upon the manas to be considered successful, to store seeds, to be useful in future lives, and ultimately, the wisdom power of the manas plays the decisive role in everything. For the manas to realize the fruitions, from the first fruition to the fourth fruition, or to attain clarity of mind, from the initial clarity of mind to Buddhahood, it is all the function of the manas's wisdom. The result of the consciousness's wisdom is precisely to endow the manas with wisdom, to enable the manas to transform consciousness into wisdom, to perfect great wisdom, and ultimately attain Buddhahood.

The distinction between the wisdom of consciousness and the wisdom of the manas lies in the fact that consciousness possesses the function of logical thinking, analysis, and reasoning, capable of relatively abstract thought. The manas, however, cannot engage in abstract thought; it must be concrete, with plot, with images—the more direct the perception, the better; the more realistic, the better. The manas has very little capacity for analytical thinking; it struggles with logical reasoning and judgment. In this aspect, it relies on consciousness. Other measures of direct perception can be entirely self-sufficient, though assistance from consciousness is naturally the fastest and best. Therefore, when there are images, graphics, or present circumstances and scenarios, the manas resonates more easily, the memory in consciousness becomes more solid, and understanding is also very easy—this is precisely the reason. When the six sense faculties interpenetrate and function together, the manas replaces consciousness and also replaces the five sense consciousnesses. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra describes Mahākāśyapa's perfect, clear knowing, not dependent on mental thought, precisely illustrating this principle.