The Reason Why Beings in the Form Realm Lack the First Five Consciousnesses

The devas of the form realm possess the meditative concentrations (samādhi) from the first dhyāna to the fourth dhyāna. Although the devas of the first dhyāna have a nose and a tongue, they have no nose consciousness or tongue consciousness. Although the devas of the second dhyāna and above have the five faculties, they do not have the first five consciousnesses. The devas of the non-perceptual realm (asaṃjñika) have not only none of the first five consciousnesses but also no mind consciousness. Since both the five faculties and the five sense objects—the material form of faculties and objects—all exist, why do the mental phenomena of the five consciousnesses and the mind consciousness not arise? Because the six consciousnesses serve the manas; if the manas does not need to discern the six sense objects, then the six consciousnesses are not needed, and the six consciousnesses will naturally not be born.

It is the manas that determines whether the six consciousnesses arise. If the manas, in meditative concentration, does not need to experience and make use of sense objects, the six consciousnesses have no reason to arise. Therefore, the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of sentient beings are governed by the manas, and the wholesome or unwholesome nature of bodily, verbal, and mental actions is determined by the mental factors (caittas) of the manas. Thus the manas possesses all the afflictive mental factors and all the wholesome mental factors, and according to the degree of one's cultivation, all mental factors will change at any time, either increasing or decreasing. Some consciousnesses arise only after the manas has received and accepted them; the receiving mental factor determines the arising of the six consciousnesses and their wholesome or unwholesome nature. Therefore, the manas not only can possess all mental factors, but can also have the three kinds of feeling; it will not have only neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā).