The Dharma of Manas is More Profound and Subtle than Consciousness

When asleep, feeling the quilt is heavy, one automatically turns over, but is unaware of it at the time. Is there body consciousness and mental consciousness at this moment? Turning over is also a function of consciousness. The sense faculties themselves are passive receivers and transmitters; without consciousness, the faculties would be like wood or stone. When the manas (mental faculty) intends to turn over, the six consciousnesses manifest and cause the body to move. At this time, there is faint body consciousness and mental consciousness. Why does the manas initiate turning over? Because it discerns that the quilt is heavy; the manas comes into contact with this mental object (dharma-dhātu), recognizes that it affects the body, and thus causes body consciousness and mental consciousness to manifest and discern. Body consciousness and mental consciousness perceive heaviness, so the manas decides to turn over, and consequently, body consciousness and mental consciousness together execute the turning over. If turning over occurs more frequently, sleep quality deteriorates, and one feels physically exhausted the next day, because the six consciousnesses frequently manifest, preventing the body from resting adequately. If turning over during sleep were not the function of the six consciousnesses, then when unconscious, if the manas intended to move the body, it should be able to do so. However, during unconsciousness, the body cannot move; although the manas constantly wishes to activate the body and regain consciousness, it is unable to do so.

When turning over in the middle of the night, due to physical fatigue and the weakness of the mental consciousness, one may not necessarily be able to introspectively observe one's own functioning. The strength of mental consciousness varies, and so does the power of introspection. Therefore, some people know their state and actions in the middle of the night, while others do not. When unaware, the sleep is deep and the quality is good, but there is still rapid yet faint discernment by consciousness. When mental consciousness is faint, one hardly senses its own existence and functioning, and the role of the manas becomes prominent. The content directly discerned by the manas is often unknown to the mental consciousness, and the manas itself lacks verbal expression, unable to articulate it.

The manas silently contains all dharmas, whereas mental consciousness does not. Thus, the content discerned by the manas must always exceed that of mental consciousness, being far more profound and subtle. Therefore, the dharmas pertaining to the manas are deeper, subtler, and more important than those of mental consciousness. Whether one attains Buddhahood depends entirely on the manas. The operation of the manas itself cannot be described as simple or complex, because the discerning wisdom of the manas is inferior. The manas cannot introspectively analyze its own operation of contacting mental objects and discerning them. The mental objects are too important; the manas cannot discern them clearly by itself, so it summons mental consciousness to manifest and discern them.