The Scope of Discernment of the Manas

The scope of discernment of the manas is extremely broad; it can discern all dharmas. Regardless of whether these dharmas change or not, some dharmas remain unchanged for a long time, and the manas can still discern them; even subtle, unchanging dharmas can be discerned. If there were a dharma that the manas could not discern, then the six consciousnesses could not arise to discern it in a detailed and specific way. Why insist that the manas only discerns changing and significant mental sense-objects? As for unchanging mental sense-objects, the manas can discern all six sense-objects; otherwise it would lose its function of awareness, and the six consciousnesses could not arise. The manas can also discern a subtle sound such as that of a mosquito; otherwise the ear consciousness and the mind consciousness would not be able to hear the mosquito's sound.

The manas discerns not only dharmas within the supreme faculties but also dharmas outside the supreme faculties. It can discern all the realms of the six sense-objects; otherwise the six consciousnesses could not arise. After discerning the form sense-object, if it wants to discern specifically what color it is and what the thing is, the eye consciousness and mind consciousness will arise; after discerning the sound sense-object, if it wants to know what the sound is, the ear consciousness and mind consciousness must arise to discern it specifically. The same applies to the other sense-objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas.

The manas can also discern coarse sense-objects of the five dusts. For example, if there are colorful flowers in front of one, and the manas is interested in the purple flowers, it will cause the eye consciousness and mind consciousness to arise upon the purple flowers to discern them with focused attention. The more interested the manas is, the longer the discernment lasts and the more focused it is. That the eye consciousness and mind consciousness can focus on admiring violets for an hour or two shows that the manas is very interested in the violets, continuously contacting the violets and continuously discerning them; otherwise the eye consciousness and mind consciousness would disappear and no longer admire the violets. The same applies to the other sense-objects.

When a large cluster of colors appears, the manas selects the purple flowers and lets the six consciousnesses focus on admiring them continuously, while upon seeing the pink flowers, it will not give them a second glance. Since the manas has such a capacity for choice, this shows that the manas knows the differences among the various colors. Thus the manas can contact the entirety of the six sense-objects and the five sense-objects, and it also has a certain power of determination (adhimokṣa) regarding the six sense-objects. That it can make the six consciousnesses focus on admiring them shows that the manas is also continuously contacting them, and therefore the manas also has meditative concentration (samādhi). If the manas lacked concentration and ran off to other sense-object realms, the six consciousnesses would immediately disappear from the original sense-object realm.

Searching among a large bunch of flowers for the violets one greatly likes shows that the manas has desire, that it has the mental factor of desire. If the manas did not want to see the violets, it would not cause the six consciousnesses to arise to search for the violets. Wherever the manas does not go, the six consciousnesses will not appear.