The Power of the Mind Base

As one progresses deeper in practice, when concentration and wisdom become increasingly complete, the mind faculty (manas) will gradually grow stronger. The sign of the mind faculty's strength is the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, and the change of mental factors (caittas). The strength of the mind faculty represents the strength of mental factors; when mental factors are strong, the mind faculty becomes strong, indestructible, and fully endowed with the five universal mental factors, the five particular mental factors, and the eleven wholesome mental factors. The defiled mental factors have long been completely eradicated, though perhaps some very subtle habitual tendencies of afflictions and some subtle attachment to phenomena (dharma-graha) remain. When the mind faculty reaches a certain level of strength, it will replace the six consciousnesses, and without needing the auxiliary conditions of the six consciousnesses, it can alone perceive the realms of the six objects, whether coarse or subtle, posing no problem. At this time, great supernormal powers will manifest.

Answer: The functional role of the mind faculty is the same for all beings; only the mental factors differ, the degree of ignorance differs, and the degree of clarity differs. When it functions, it can produce good or bad effects. For example, all knives have the function of cutting, but due to differences in sharpness, the results of cutting differ. A sharp knife produces perfect, neat, and valuable cuts, while a dull knife produces uneven, unusable cuts, and may even damage things, yielding no good result. The wisdom of the mind faculty differs, leading to different achievements; the afflictions differ, leading to different karmic actions; and the retributions differ. A mind faculty with slight ignorance can be used skillfully, while one with deep ignorance is used unskillfully, resulting in great differences in outcomes. Because the degree of ignorance and clarity of the mind faculty varies, beings in the world are classified into three, six, or nine grades, divided into ordinary beings and sages, and the time it takes for beings to attain Buddhahood differs.

The differences among individuals arise precisely from the differences in the mental factors of the mind faculty. Whether one acknowledges it or not, this is the fact. Does the fact care whether anyone acknowledges it? The fact remains unchanged regardless of who acknowledges it. The truth, even if no one in the Saha world acknowledges it, is forever the truth; it does not cease to be truth because others deny it. The true Dharma, no matter who slanders it, remains the Dharma; the truth remains the truth.