Wine Conduct and Human Character Are the Quality of Manas

The state after drinking reflects the habitual tendencies of the manas (mind-root), revealing its original nature. Alcohol anesthetizes the brain's nerves, weakening the functioning of the five sense faculties. Consequently, the discernment power of the six consciousnesses born from them becomes feeble. Thus, these six scouts cannot accurately perceive the objects of the six sense fields. The manas then partially or completely severs the source of information, rendering the advisory and assisting role of the mental consciousness largely ineffective. With the weakened thinking power of the mental consciousness, its capacity for supervising, guiding, and regulating the manas diminishes. As a result, the manas acts according to its own inherent nature. At this point, relying solely on its own wisdom, the manas's true character and quality are fully revealed. The saying "truth comes out in wine" means that the words spoken after drinking are entirely the voice of this person's manas, expressing their genuine thoughts, stripped of the mental consciousness's concealment and pretense. What people often refer to as "drinking character" and "personal character" actually point to the quality of the manas—this is a person's original true self.