The Wisdom of the Mind Consciousness and the Wisdom of the Manas

Regarding the power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) of the manas: all the wisdom possessed by the mind consciousness must land upon the manas in order to be considered accomplished and to achieve its purpose; only then are seeds stored, and only then will they be useful in future lives. In the end, it is the manas's power of wisdom that performs all functions. For the manas to realize the fruits—from the first fruit to the fourth fruit—and if one wishes to see one's true mind, from initial awakening to the true mind all the way to buddhahood, it is all the wisdom of the manas that is at work. The result of the mind consciousness's wisdom is to enable the manas to transform consciousness into wisdom, to be endowed with great wisdom, and ultimately to attain buddhahood.

The difference between the wisdom of the mind consciousness and the wisdom of the manas lies in this: the mind consciousness has the functions of logical thinking, analysis, and inference, and can engage in rather abstract thought. The manas, however, cannot think abstractly; it must be concrete, with plots and imagery—the more directly perceived (presented to direct perception), the better; the more real, the better. The manas has very little capacity for analytical thinking and can hardly perform logical reasoning and judgment; in this respect it relies on the mind consciousness. As for things apprehended in direct perception, it can rely entirely on itself, though of course having the mind consciousness as an aid is best and fastest. Therefore, when there are pictures, images, and scenes with plots unfolding before one, the manas resonates with them, the mind consciousness's memory is firm, and understanding comes very easily—that is precisely the reason. When the six faculties interfunction, the manas takes the place of the mind consciousness and also takes the place of the five sense consciousnesses. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Mahākāśyapa's perfectly clear knowing illustrates exactly this principle.