The Five Meanings of the Names of Manas (Part 2)

The fourth name is the consciousness of wisdom. It means to differentiate between the defiled and the pure, and all dharmas of various distinctions.

Explanation: The fourth name of the manas is called the consciousness of wisdom. It is able to differentiate all dharmas such as good and evil, right and wrong, defiled and pure, and to distinguish the characteristics of all dharmas. The Awakening of Faith states that manas is the consciousness of wisdom, which is absolutely correct. As the master consciousness, it represents the fundamental essence of sentient beings and determines everything about them. If the master consciousness of the five-aggregate body lacked such wisdom, then the five aggregates would lack wisdom, and there would be no wise people in the world. To say that manas has inferior wisdom is not entirely accurate. When differentiating extremely subtle and specific dharma-objects, manas is indeed inferior to the mental consciousness, which is why the mental consciousness is employed. However, once manas gains the ability to differentiate subtle dharma-objects, the mental consciousness and the five sensory consciousnesses become unnecessary. Manas itself directly takes over the functions of the six consciousnesses. By abandoning the consciousnesses and utilizing the root, there would be far less trouble and obstruction, and great spiritual powers would manifest.

The fifth name is the continuous consciousness. It means to constantly engage in mental activity, corresponding without interruption. It upholds past good and evil karmas, ensuring they are not lost or destroyed. It brings present and future suffering and happiness to fruition, ensuring no violation of karmic laws. Events experienced in the past are suddenly recollected; events not yet experienced are falsely discriminated.

Explanation: The fifth name of manas is called the continuous consciousness. Manas is called the continuous consciousness because its five universal mental factors operate continuously without interruption. The ālaya consciousness then continuously produces all dharmas in accordance with manas, functioning all dharmas, causing the five-aggregate world to appear continuously. When this life ends, the next life arises, continuing birth after birth without cease. Thus, all good and evil, defiled and pure dharmas continuously manifest according to manas. Good and evil karmas remain unbroken, and their retributions are not lost or destroyed. Moreover, manas is able to bring present and future suffering and happiness to fruition, without violating the principles of cause and effect. Events experienced by manas throughout countless lifetimes since beginningless time are suddenly recollected when conditions arise. Events not yet experienced are also falsely discriminated.

Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa stated that manas upholds good and evil karmas, preventing the karmic seeds from being lost or destroyed, and brings karmic retributions to fruition. This meaning is extremely profound and significant. The bodily, verbal, and mental actions created by the six consciousnesses are stored in two ways: first, as seeds deposited in the ālaya consciousness, which is upheld and contained by the ālaya consciousness; second, they are upheld by manas and carried into future lives. What does "uphold" mean? To uphold means to shoulder, to bear, to take responsibility for the karmic actions.

Why must karmic actions be shouldered and taken responsibility for by manas? Because manas is the master consciousness, the sovereign of the five-aggregate body, the master and instigator of all karmic actions. The six consciousnesses merely serve as assistants, cooperating in the process; they are not the master. The ālaya consciousness is even less the master of karmic actions; it does not instigate karmic creation. Therefore, after karma is created, all karmic actions are the responsibility of manas, which bears the karmic results. The six consciousnesses cannot bear the karmic actions—first, because they are not the master, and second, because they perish at death and cannot carry karmic seeds to future lives. Since all dharmas are created under the direction of manas, the good or evil nature of karmic actions reflects the good or evil nature of manas. Manas fully possesses all wholesome and unwholesome mental factors, which correspond to the karmic actions and seeds, and these mental factors are carried into future lives. Therefore, spiritual practice means cultivating manas, influencing manas, and transforming manas.

Manas also brings good and evil karmic retributions of suffering and happiness to fruition, in accordance with cause and effect. Some may ask: Is it not the ālaya consciousness that brings karmic retributions to fruition? The ālaya consciousness merely manifests the ripened karmic seeds, actualizing the karmic retribution, but it does not ripen the karma or the seeds. Only when karmic conditions are complete and the karmic seeds have ripened can the ālaya consciousness manifest the ripened karmic seeds, and the karmic retribution appears. Ripening karmic seeds and retributions is not the function of the ālaya consciousness but of manas. Manas carries karma with it; when external conditions arise, the karmic retribution will manifest.

The Awakening of Faith states here that manas has the function of recollection. This statement is extremely correct because manas is also a mind, and moreover, an extremely important mind that plays a crucial role. Manas has experienced all dharmas. Since it has experienced them, it naturally can recollect them and prompt the mental consciousness to recall the past based on this recollection. Therefore, it is said that manas possesses the mental factor of recollection; it recollects and remembers all dharmas. Only the master will remember and recollect all dharmas. When it is time to handle them, the master summons assistants to deal with the specifics. The assistants do not appear constantly; they only appear when needed by the master and remain absent when not needed.

The meanings behind the five names of manas are profound and contain vast information, overturning many people's outdated and unreasonable understandings of manas, as well as the understandings of ancient and modern scholars of Consciousness-Only. After all, the meaning of manas belongs to the scope of the wisdom of Consciousness-Only. Those without realization in Consciousness-Only cannot observe manas directly; misunderstandings are inevitable. Historically, the first Bodhisattva certified by the World-Honored One and recorded in texts as having attained the First Ground was Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva, followed by Asaṅga Bodhisattva, and then Aśvaghoṣa Bodhisattva. It is said that Ānanda also attained the First Ground, though he did not transmit the Dharma of Consciousness-Only. Within the Chan school, there may have been other patriarchs who attained the First Ground but did not transmit the Dharma of Consciousness-Only. However, upon first attaining the Ground, their wisdom of Consciousness-Only was not deep, and their power of observation regarding Consciousness-Only was not strong, so they were unable to transmit the Dharma of Consciousness-Only.

Apart from these, there is no evidence in the records to certify that others who transmitted the Dharma of Consciousness-Only possessed the realization of the First Ground. Therefore, their written works on Consciousness-Only contain flaws and errors; the doctrinal meanings are not entirely correct and should only be used for reference, not accepted in full. Among the works on Consciousness-Only, the Awakening of Faith by Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa possesses a very high level of realization. It accurately observes the mental factors of manas. Its translator, Bodhisattva Śikṣānanda, also possessed high realization, and the translation is precise, true to principle, and faithful to reality. This is a trustworthy treatise on Consciousness-Only.