The Thought and Cognition of the Mental Faculty

Both the mind faculty (manas) and the mental consciousness are types of consciousness. Both possess the mental factor of volition (cetanā) and are capable of deliberation, contemplation, and consideration. Since the vast majority of people cannot observe the volitional activity of the mind faculty, they assume there is a difference between the volition of the mind faculty and that of the mental consciousness. They call the mental consciousness's activity "deliberation" and the mind faculty's activity "contemplation," believing that deliberation is not contemplation and contemplation is not deliberation. If someone says the mind faculty deliberates or contemplates, they consider it incorrect, insisting it is the mental consciousness that deliberates and contemplates. If someone speaks of the mental activities of the mind faculty, many will say it's wrong, claiming those are the mental activities of the mental consciousness. Therefore, attempting to study Consciousness-Only (Yogācāra) without being able to observe the mental activities of the mind faculty, while remaining stubbornly attached internally, becomes very problematic.

Why do many say the volition of the mind faculty is very profound, subtle, and difficult to observe? The reason lies in the fact that sentient beings take the knowing of the mental consciousness as their knowing. Whatever the mental consciousness knows, sentient beings know; whatever the mental consciousness does not know, they do not know. If the mental consciousness lacks sufficient wisdom and cannot know the mental activities of the mind faculty or what the mind faculty knows, then sentient beings remain unaware of the mind faculty's mental activities and its knowledge, making them perceive the mind faculty's activities as profound, subtle, and mysterious. In truth, the blame should fall on the ignorance of the mental consciousness. When the mental consciousness possesses wisdom and its wisdom is unobstructed, it can directly observe the mental activities of the mind faculty present before it. Then, the mind faculty no longer seems profound or difficult to understand, nor subtle and hard to know, and misunderstandings about the mental factors of the mind faculty cease.

What would happen if all sentient beings took the knowing of the mind faculty as their knowing? If sentient beings took the knowing of the mind faculty as their knowing, then whatever the mind faculty does not know, they would not know. If the mind faculty does not know what the mental consciousness knows, then regardless of what the mental consciousness knows or how many dharmas it comprehends, the mind faculty remains ignorant, and thus sentient beings remain ignorant. Consequently, the theories learned by the mental consciousness would be of little use. Furthermore, the mind faculty knows even less about the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), making enlightenment much more difficult to attain. Under such circumstances, sentient beings would say: the mental activities of the mental consciousness are deep, subtle, and difficult to know, very hidden, hard to fathom, and the eighth consciousness is even more profoundly subtle, hidden, and difficult to know, its functioning extremely fine. In reality, whether dharmas are hidden or manifest, obscure or clear, depends on the wisdom of the consciousness, not on the dharmas themselves. When there is wisdom, any dharma is clear, easy to know, and easy to understand. Without wisdom, even the most manifest dharma seems profound and hidden. Therefore, after the sixth and seventh consciousnesses (mental consciousness and mind faculty) are transformed into wisdom, the mental consciousness can directly observe the mental formations (cittasaṃskāra) of the mind faculty and those of the eighth consciousness, finding it not particularly difficult. The Buddha observes all dharmas with ease, even knowing all dharmas without needing to observe, holding complete understanding of all dharmas within his grasp.

If sentient beings took the knowing of the mind faculty as their knowing, they would possess psychic powers (ṛddhi). There might be no secrets between them, and past and future lives would be clearly known. This would enable knowing causes and recognizing effects. Perhaps to suffer less retribution for evil deeds, they would create less unwholesome karma. Nevertheless, many still have heavy self-attachment (ātma-grāha). Even knowing full well that they suffer greatly due to creating unwholesome karma, they still continuously create evil karma. People who repeatedly end up in prison are like this, incorrigible even unto death. However, because the mind faculty lacks the clear guiding function of the mental consciousness, it remains simple and naive. Emotional attachment (rāga) would become heavier, self-nature (ātmabhāva) would intensify, the mental consciousness would find it hard to restrain it, the likelihood of creating unwholesome karma would increase, and eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) would become even more difficult.

What would it be like if all sentient beings took the knowing of the eighth consciousness as their knowing? The eighth consciousness does not know or perceive worldly dharmas; it does not know self, others, him, her; it does not see forms or hear sounds; it does not know the objects of the six sense fields (ṣaḍ-viṣaya). In this case, sentient beings would be unable to survive. The six sense faculties would shut down, and they would abide in a state of Nirvāṇa. Would this be good? Some might say that then Bodhisattvas could not liberate sentient beings. But at that point, which sentient being would not already be in the state of Nirvāṇa, requiring Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to liberate them? If sentient beings all took the knowing of the eighth consciousness as their knowing, then there would be no need to study the Buddha or the Dharma, and there would be no distinction between Buddhas and sentient beings.

If all sentient beings took the knowing of the five sense consciousnesses as their knowing, they would be unable to survive, and the world of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) could not function. This is because the five sense consciousnesses only cognize coarse sense objects (sthūla-viṣaya); they do not cognize subtle sense objects, nor do they understand mental dharmas. They do not know the mental consciousness, the mind faculty, or the eighth consciousness. Apart from coarse sense objects, they know nothing. If they don't even know the mental consciousness, how could they still know the coarse objects of the sense fields? The five sense consciousnesses must cooperate with the mental consciousness to cognize the coarse aspects of the sense objects. But knowing only the coarse aspects of the sense objects, not their subtle aspects, not knowing mental objects (dharmaviṣaya), not knowing mental dharmas (cittadharma) – it would be absolutely impossible to live. In short, to know all dharmas, whichever consciousness's knowing is taken as primary, that consciousness must possess great wisdom. Consciousness must be transformed into wisdom (jñāna); only by using wisdom-consciousness can all dharmas be known.

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