Drinking Conduct and Moral Character Are the Quality of the Manas

The state after drinking reflects the habitual tendencies of the manas; it is the manas's original appearance. After drinking, the brain nerves are anesthetized, the functioning power of the five faculties becomes weak, and the discriminating power of the six consciousnesses that arise becomes weak. In this way, these six scouts cannot investigate the realms of the six sense objects as they truly are, and the manas cuts off, or half cuts off, the sources of information. The mind consciousness's role as advisor and assistant also becomes of little use; its power of deliberation is weak, and its supervision, guidance, and oversight of the manas are feeble, so the manas acts according to its own nature. At this time, everything depends on the manas's own wisdom, and the manas's nature and character are fully revealed. "In wine there is truth"—the words spoken after drinking are entirely the voice of that person's manas, the person's true thoughts, without the mind consciousness's cover-up and pretense. What people often call "one's conduct when drunk and one's character" refers precisely to the quality of the manas; this is a person's original countenance.