The Difference Between the Wisdom of the Manas and the Mind Consciousness

Question: So-called memory is, with the participation of the manas, storing away the content experienced by the first six consciousnesses, and later, when needed, the mind consciousness leads the process of recollection; whereas understanding is, under the guidance of the mind consciousness's wisdom, prompting the manas to deliberate, so that the manas comprehends the internal connections and principles of things. Therefore, when encountering related problems, there is no need for recollection—the manas directly provides answers and handles them. Thus, when the manas has wisdom, it handles problems concisely and quickly; when the manas lacks wisdom, it must search through memory, resulting in lengthy and inefficient problem handling. Is this understanding correct?

Answer: The above understanding is roughly correct. Recollection is carried out by the mind consciousness, but it is the manas that directs and decides it. Understanding is comprehension led primarily by the mind consciousness, and it will also involve the manas's comprehension to a greater or lesser degree. When the manas lacks wisdom, it must go through the mind consciousness's recollection, then compare, contrast, and weigh things before making a decision that may be right or wrong. The shallower the wisdom, the longer the time spent comparing and weighing, the more indecisive one is, and the less confidence one has. That kind of decisive choice—cutting through the tangle with a swift blade, without the mind consciousness's deliberation, analysis, comparison, or contesting—is the manas's direct decision, whether wise or unwise. Handling matters quietly, without having to rack one's brains, without thinking things over repeatedly, silently and automatically resolving matters—all of this is the wisdom of the manas. People who are seasoned and adept at handling affairs all have wisdom in their manas; with rich experience, they can handle matters in a perfectly harmonious and unobstructed way, leaving no handle for others to seize.

Students whose manas lacks wisdom generally rely on the mind consciousness's rote memorization; they cannot improvise freely, and when encountering problems that are not knowledge-based, they are at a loss. Students whose manas has wisdom never bother to memorize; they always understand the problem first and then improvise at will. Therefore, in school examinations, those who score high are not necessarily students with genuine wisdom—it depends on whether the exam questions are knowledge-type content or open-ended content, whether they test knowledge or test wisdom. The Buddha-dharma is the same: a person who, at the mere mention of it, produces a whole body of theory is not necessarily someone with wisdom of realized realization. If he has read many books, is broadly learned and widely informed, has extensive knowledge and strong memory, and can skillfully use the mind consciousness to organize, categorize, summarize, and analyze the dharmas he has studied, he can put together a theoretical system—but this does not mean it is wisdom of realization; it may also be an accumulation of knowledge.

The accumulation of knowledge cannot sever afflictions; it only shows that the mind consciousness is clever. Studying the Dharma with someone whose mind consciousness is clever, one can gain a great deal of theoretical knowledge, but realization is very difficult. Studying the Dharma with someone who has realization makes realization easier, though their knowledge is not necessarily extensive; but after realization, wisdom grows, and one can gradually expand the breadth of one's knowledge and supplement necessary theoretical knowledge.

When the manas has wisdom, the wisdom is deep, free of afflictions, with a broad perspective, a wide and open mind, boldness and courage, far-sighted vision, and an accurate grasp of major matters of right and wrong, so it will not do wrong things. The cleverness of the mind consciousness lacks profound great wisdom, its capacity of mind is not large enough, and it is possible that cleverness is undone by cleverness itself. A person's innate wisdom is all brought along by the manas—it is the wisdom of the manas. Wisdom acquired later is newly learned—it is the wisdom of the mind consciousness, though it may also include the wisdom of the manas.