The Difference Between Manas and Mental Activities

Shi Ruyuan: Generally, right when I wake up, before the conscious mind intends to engage in discrimination, at the very moment the Buddha-recitation sound arises in my mind, I hear the recitation clearly. At that time, the first five consciousnesses have not yet arisen to engage in discrimination. Because I recite the Buddha's name in meditative concentration, the manas (the seventh consciousness) has a state of stability, enabling it to restrain the other consciousnesses from wandering or fabricating. Even in sleep, it is the manas that engages in wandering; the manas-consciousness (the isolated sixth consciousness) only vaguely perceives the dream, with a hazy feeling. When this deluded mind thinks of something good, good scenes appear; when the thought shifts to wondering if this might be bad, bad things immediately manifest. Is this the phenomenon of the manas-consciousness transforming the environment through its thoughts? When the manas-consciousness has not yet awakened from the dream, it follows the manas in wandering to perceive the dream, meaning the first five consciousnesses are absent. Is that correct?

Commentary: Discrimination (vikalpa) and perception (vijñapti) are distinct concepts and should not be used interchangeably. Perception (vijñapti) is the initial passive correspondence of the conscious mind to sense objects upon arising; 'perceiving' (vijñapti) means understanding, roughly knowing. Discrimination (vikalpa) occurs after perception, involving the active discernment of sense objects; it is more subtle, involves wisdom, and operates at a deeper level. Just upon waking, the consciousness hazily corresponds to dharma objects (mental objects). At this stage, it should be called perception (vijñapti); it is not yet capable of discrimination (vikalpa) or intention. If there is any intention, it belongs to the manas. As soon as the first five consciousnesses arise, the manas-consciousness transforms into sense-field consciousness, joining the five consciousnesses to perceive the six sense objects.

Just upon waking, the manas-consciousness hears the Buddha-recitation sound. This is the manas reciting the Buddha's name. It is possible that the manas was reciting the Buddha's name throughout the night, but without the sixth consciousness present, the consciousness did not know. Only upon waking does it become aware, mistakenly thinking the recitation sound just arose, when in fact it did not. The manas reciting the Buddha's name is silent; it is a mental inclination to recite, the mind filled with Buddha. After the consciousness perceives it, it transforms the manas's silent recitation into audible recitation. In other words, the consciousness interprets the manas's recitation; what the consciousness actually 'hears' is silent recitation, but upon perceiving and interpreting it, the recitation becomes an audible dharma object corresponding to the consciousness.

In dreams, the one who can transform the dream must be the manas. The thoughts of the manas-consciousness passively follow the manas, controlled by it, unable to transform the environment. Therefore, in a dream, if the manas has good thoughts, the environment becomes good; if the manas has bad thoughts, the environment becomes bad. If the manas-consciousness has thoughts, they are also thoughts arising passively in accordance with the manas; they cannot transform the dream. It typically serves the function of perceiving the dream environment.