The Unique Mode of Deliberation of the Manas (I)

The mind of spiritual awareness apart from thoughts refers not only to the state in which the mind consciousness discriminates the six sense objects without thoughts; there is also a mind that has no language or apparent thought-analysis function, yet can know the realms of the six sense objects and dharmas beyond them. It is more agile, more hidden, more profound, and has a stronger deliberative nature. Its power of deliberation is greater, and its ability to solve problems is stronger—that is the manas.

The manas cannot analyze and deliberate on the realms of the six sense objects like the mind consciousness does, but He has His own unique way of deliberation, and His deliberative nature is extremely strong. Sentient beings primarily rely on the deliberative nature of the manas to make decisions and take charge. If the wisdom of the mind consciousness is insufficient, it cannot observe and know the unique and hidden deliberative nature of the manas. His way and rhythm of deliberation are unknown to others and also unknown to His own mind consciousness. Therefore, many people misunderstand Him and are perplexed by Him.

The manas also deliberates alone on many occasions. For example, at night one falls asleep with a problem unresolved, and as soon as one opens one's eyes the next morning, the mind consciousness knows what is going on—the problem has been solved. There are many problems that the mind consciousness cannot think through and leaves unresolved, setting them aside to do other things. Then, at some unknown time, suddenly a flash of inspiration strikes, and one slaps one's forehead: "Right! That's how it is!" Having mulled it over and understood, one knows the solution. This is the function of the deliberative nature of the manas. He deliberates quietly and silently, and the mind consciousness may not necessarily know.

Although the mind consciousness temporarily gives up on problems it cannot solve and no longer engages in thought-analysis, the manas does not give up. He continues to keep them in mind, to be concerned, to deliberate, and to ponder. The mental factors of the manas are constantly operating. He does not have the obvious thought-analysis function of the mind consciousness, and there are some differences from the mind consciousness's thought-analysis function. But what exactly the differences are, even bodhisattvas who have attained patient endurance of non-arising may not know much, because this content is extremely profound.

Whether the manas's deliberation is apparent or not is relative to the wisdom of the mind consciousness. The manas simply operates in that way and does not deliberately hide anything; it all depends on whether the mind consciousness has the wisdom to observe and discover it. The mental activities and functioning of the eighth consciousness are also very apparent, as apparent as the functioning of the five consciousnesses and the mind consciousness. He does not deliberately hide Himself; it just depends on whether the mind consciousness has strong observational wisdom. If the power of wisdom of the mind consciousness is not strong, it cannot even observe its own mental activities, let alone those of the manas and the eighth consciousness.

In fact, the dharmas that the manas needs to deliberate are extremely numerous, and His scope is extremely vast. What the mind consciousness knows is only a very small portion. When the mind consciousness lacks wisdom, it has no understanding at all of the deliberative nature of the manas. But regardless of whether the mind consciousness understands it or not, He still has His own deliberative functions and His own way of deliberating. For example, when He resolves issues concerning the remains of a previous life, the mind consciousness cannot know such matters no matter what. He can independently deliberate on how to resolve them. Another example: when He enters another person's dream, or teaches the Dharma to someone, or seeks something from someone, these are all operations of the manas alone, all involving the deliberative nature of the manas, and the mind consciousness does not know.

The dharmas that the manas deliberates upon among the six sense objects can be made known to the mind consciousness or not. This is not a matter of allowing or not allowing; it simply depends on whether the mind consciousness has wisdom. In many cases, even a person with wisdom cannot know what the manas is deliberating. As for the results of the manas's deliberation, sometimes the mind consciousness can know them, and sometimes it cannot. In fact, most of the time the mind consciousness does not know, due to insufficient wisdom.

When the manas has deliberated and reached a conclusion—"This matter is very important!"—important issues must be executed and resolved by the six consciousnesses, so at this time He must find a way to let the six consciousnesses know. If the matter is not important, the manas can resolve it on His own, and He will not deliberately try to alert the mind consciousness. When the mind consciousness is relatively dull and has little awareness, the dharmas and conclusions deliberated by the manas are unknown to the mind consciousness. Even if the mind consciousness does not know, the manas still directs the six consciousnesses to carry them out.

When not a single thought arises, the mind consciousness does not produce thoughts, but the manas is not like that—the thoughts of the manas generally never cease. When not a single thought arises, if the mind consciousness suddenly thinks of a matter and immediately gets up and goes out to handle it, this is the result of the manas's thoughts turning while the mind consciousness is not producing thoughts.