The Interplay Between Consciousness and Manas

Ru Chun: When the manas creates a dream, but the consciousness struggles for a long time to grasp its meaning, is this primarily due to the consciousness's inadequate capacity to receive, or is it due to the manas's poor ability to provide feedback?

Reply: The main reasons for the lack of smooth communication between the manas and the consciousness are twofold. First, the manas itself lacks sufficient wisdom. In dreams, meditative states, and other situations, the realms it manifests are not very apt, appropriate, or clear; their meanings are ambiguous and lack clarity. Second, the consciousness lacks sufficient wisdom and cannot fully comprehend the meaning and direction of the realms manifested by the manas; it fails to penetrate the manas's intent. At least one of the two lacks sufficient wisdom. Sometimes, and for some individuals, both the manas and the consciousness have very weak wisdom, often due to insufficient merit.

Ru Chun: After reading a fellow practitioner's article titled "Learning to Experience the Use of the Manas," I believe that the wisdom arising in many aspects of the Dharma is the result of the combined cooperation of the consciousness and the manas. Reason One: When the manas alone contemplates and generates wisdom, if the manas wants the consciousness to know something, as soon as it forms an intention in the mind, the consciousness immediately knows it without the need for words. For example, when the manas delivers the answer to a problem to the consciousness, it doesn't use words or text; it's as if—snap—the consciousness just knows. The feeling is like someone describing the scene of a painting to you—you can only get a rough idea after imagining for a long time—but if they directly unfold the painting for you to see, you understand everything all at once. How exactly it is transmitted, the consciousness doesn't know; it simply feels like its own sudden flash of insight. However, for the received content to be fully apprehended and understood, the consciousness needs wisdom and strong analytical power.

Commentary: The process where the manas transmits the Dharma it has contemplated to the consciousness, enabling the consciousness to understand, is the manas making contact with the mental object (dharma-dhātu). Through the function of attention (manasikāra), the consciousness arises upon that mental object. In an instant, the five universally interactive mental factors (pañca-sarvatraga) operate, and the consciousness comprehends the Dharma delivered by the manas. The five universally interactive mental factors appear to be five stages in the operation of the mind-consciousness, but in reality, they are extremely rapid, making it imperceptible that there is a process. However, no matter how fast, it is still called a process. When the consciousness lacks sufficient wisdom and has poor comprehension, there can be a momentary hesitation. With even less wisdom, the hesitation time extends, leading to prolonged pondering and deliberation. With still less wisdom, even after pondering for a long time, it remains incomprehensible, resulting in a state of wanting to speak but hesitating, stammering and unable to articulate clearly.

Ru Chun: The manas's contemplation and mode of expression are often simple, direct, authentic, authoritative, rich, grand in perspective, unconstrained, and unrestricted (thus capable of innovation). They can only be intuitively grasped, not conveyed in words—just as the Master previously said, "a thousand words are left unsaid." The consciousness's thousand words cannot match the unspoken artistic conception, dream state, or situational context (e.g., turning white-haired overnight, embracing and weeping) conveyed by the manas. However, if the manas deems it necessary to use language and words for expression in a particular setting or time, it will cause the six consciousnesses to speak a thousand words.

Commentary: The manas can only be intuitively grasped; it cannot be conveyed in words. Although the manas cannot speak, the Dharma contained within its intention, within its mind, is immense—the volume of information is too vast, the significance too profound. Yet, the manas can instantaneously transmit such an enormous volume of Dharma information clearly and comprehensibly to the consciousness. The outcome then depends on the consciousness's capacity to apprehend and express. Sometimes, even if the consciousness's apprehension is excellent, expressing it might require a thousand words, becoming very troublesome, and it still may not be articulated clearly. This is because it is not Dharma the consciousness has contemplated itself; speaking about another's matter is inherently somewhat unclear. And the thousand words the consciousness wants to say are all within the heart of the speechless manas. Therefore, the manas's heart holds highly condensed, extremely concise intention—simple, direct, and straightforward.

Ru Chun's statement is well put: "The consciousness's thousand words cannot match the unspoken artistic conception, situational context, and dream state of the manas." These realms are designed to enable the consciousness to understand. A single realm might require the consciousness to use a thousand words to describe and express, and even then, it may not necessarily be expressed clearly and fully.

Ru Chun: Reason Two: The manas's functions are powerful, but many of its thoughts and wisdoms require the consciousness to possess matching wisdom in order to correctly understand their meaning and intent. Only then can they be manifested through specific Dharma, achieving perfect harmony between principle and phenomenon. This is what we often say: "Aim high in aspiration, but keep your feet firmly on the ground." If only the manas has high wisdom while the wisdom of the six consciousnesses is low, the manas might feel stifled. Therefore, both the manas and the consciousness need to have wisdom, to intercommunicate and mutually understand, with a high degree of compatibility, so that "hearts are connected, thoughts understood with a single hint." I wonder if this understanding is correct.

Commentary: The wisdom displayed in this text is quite good, but the linguistic expression is not fully rounded, and the word choice lacks precision. We sentient beings all take the knowing of the consciousness as knowing. Only after the consciousness knows can it work together with the five sense consciousnesses to process and act. Therefore, when the manas has an idea or thought, it needs the consciousness to know and implement it. Naturally, the more wisdom the consciousness has, the better it can correctly understand and comprehend the manas's thoughts and ideas, enabling it to correctly and properly implement them through actions of body, speech, and mind. Hence, the wisdom of these two consciousnesses—manas and consciousness—needs to match each other. Otherwise, communication between them will be poor, matters will not be handled well, and one or both parties will feel depressed and helpless.