Only by Realizing the Manas Can One Transcend False Appearances

To discover the truth, it is not enough for the mind consciousness alone to discover it; the manas must also simultaneously discover the true reality of the Dharma realm. Only when the manas has realized it can one depart from false appearances. Only the manas can direct the six consciousnesses to not accept false appearances and to depart from them; the mind consciousness does not have this authority and cannot be the master. When the manas realizes the false appearances, it can at the same time, as the master, depart from them. If only the mind consciousness has realized it, it is still of no use—the manas is together with false appearances at every moment, every second, every instant, so the mind consciousness cannot leave the false appearances, and one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot change.

The manas is like a hitching post for a horse: even if the mind consciousness is allowed to run here and there, it must still run around the post of the manas and is not permitted to run far. If the manas hitching post were to move and shift about everywhere, could the wild horses of the six consciousnesses remain fixed in one place without being turned and moved along with the manas? Absolutely not. Therefore, only when the effort of studying and practicing the Buddhadharma reaches the manas is it genuine effort; only then can one transform one's own body and mind.