The Attention of the Manas Is One of the Conditions for the Functioning of Mind Consciousness

In the process of discerning all dharmas and studying the Buddha-dharma, the mental factor of attention (manaskāra) arises in the seven consciousnesses, and in all cases the attention of the manas is primary; the attention of the manas triggers the attention of the six consciousnesses. The attention of the manas has prerequisite conditions and requires certain causes and conditions; when these causes and conditions differ, its attention also differs. Toward what it finds interesting, it will attend with craving and attachment; toward what it finds uninteresting or repugnant, it will attend with the intention to immediately distance itself; toward what it deems unimportant, after attending to it, it will no longer make contact.

The manas is attending at all times and in all places, and this attention varies in intensity and duration, which has a certain influence on the arising of the mind consciousness. The prerequisite conditions for the arising of the mind consciousness are: the eighth consciousness, the attention of the manas, karmic seeds, the seeds of the consciousness itself, and mental objects (dharmāyatana). When the manas makes contact with a mental object and the mental factor of volition (cetanā) arises wanting to specifically discern that mental object, only then does the eighth consciousness bring forth the mind consciousness to discern it. If the manas does not attend—that is, if it pays no attention to or attaches no importance to the mental object—then the mental factor of volition wanting to discern the mental object will not arise, and the eighth consciousness will not spontaneously bring forth the mind consciousness to discern the mental object.

The manas universally attends to all dharmas; it can reach and attend to every dharma. The mental factors of attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volition follow the manas moment by moment, but the manas can make choices: it does not attend to some mental objects, while it must attend to others. Important mental objects receive longer attention, repeated attention, and focused attention; then there is repeated contact, feeling, perception, and volition, focused deliberation (manasikāra), repeated deliberation, and long-term deliberation. In that case, the mind consciousness must repeatedly and continuously, over a long period of time, discern and attend, contact, feel, perceive, and volition.

The activities and mental actions of the mind consciousness must all revolve around the manas, submit to the manas, and be directed by the manas. What the manas considers important, the mind consciousness must discern with emphasis; what the manas finds interesting, the mind consciousness must discern continuously. What the manas pays little attention to, the mind consciousness discerns lightly; what the manas wishes to avoid, the mind consciousness inevitably avoids and does not discern, and the eighth consciousness does not bring forth the mind consciousness. However, because the inertial force of the manas is too strong, even for mental objects that the mind consciousness very much wishes to avoid and does not want to discern—objects the manas also wishes to avoid—because of this inertial force, they cannot be avoided, and the mental object will inevitably appear in the mind consciousness.

There are some realms of the six sense objects that the six consciousnesses do not want to discern at all, yet they still enter into the minds of the six consciousnesses. Because of the manas's tendency toward universal grasping, with habits so deeply entrenched, even wanting not to grasp and striving to avoid grasping cannot be achieved. Sometimes the more one tries to avoid something, the less one can avoid it, and the discernment is even intensified—this is because the inertial force of the manas is so powerful that it unconsciously makes contact with mental objects and attends to them. In many cases, it is not that one is interested in the six sense objects, but rather that one grasps and attends aimlessly. Habitual, aimless attention is the distraction of the manas, which leads to the distraction of the mind consciousness, making it impossible to gather in body and mind, and impossible to settle down and let the mind become tranquil. Such a manas needs the mind consciousness to continuously guide it, continuously admonish and instruct it, before the manas can gradually be tamed.