The Relationship Between Vijñāna and Manas in Cultivation

The relationship between cultivating consciousness and the manas can be likened to a person preparing for a stage speech. They may rehearse diligently offstage for ten days or even half a month, practicing and refining their delivery day after day, all for the sake of a smooth one-hour or half-hour presentation on stage. The goal is to deliver their meticulously prepared content exactly as intended, thereby influencing and moving the audience.

The preparation offstage corresponds to the cultivation of consciousness, while the actual speech on stage corresponds to the cultivation of the manas. Thus, cultivating the manas is far more crucial than cultivating consciousness. The cultivation of the manas determines success or failure and serves as a marker of whether one’s practice bears fruit. For even if the rehearsal offstage is flawless, a poor performance on stage will win no applause. The audience cares little about the effort invested offstage; they focus solely on the performance delivered on stage.

Similarly, no matter how diligently consciousness is cultivated, if it fails to penetrate the manas, no result will manifest. The intended goal remains unattained, the law of cause and effect remains unmoved, and nothing is ultimately transformed.