The Suffering, Emptiness, Arising and Ceasing, and Impermanence of the Mental Faculty

The manas has existed since beginningless kalpas, yet it can be extinguished; it is not an unborn and undying dharma. The tathāgatagarbha gives rise to the seeds of consciousness for the manas moment after moment, forming the continuous operation of the manas. Therefore, it is said that the manas is also characterized by arising and cessation.

The mental formations of the manas undergo constant transformation, the seeds of consciousness ceaselessly arise and perish, ignorance constantly changes, and afflictions also ceaselessly arise and cease. Therefore, it is said that the manas is impermanent and suffering. The manas is produced by the tathāgatagarbha, is characterized by arising and cessation, and thus is empty and illusory. Arising, cessation, and transformation are suffering; the inability to remain eternally constant and unified is suffering.