Evidence That the Manas Is Not of Neutral Feeling (Upekṣā-Vedanā) (2)

If the manas had neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā) like the tathāgatagarbha, it should also, like the tathāgatagarbha, remain immovably such (suchness is immovable) toward all states of experience. No matter what states arise, it would be unmoved by the eight winds, sitting upright on the purple-gold lotus—not grasping at wholesome states, not rejecting unwholesome ones, making no discrimination in the mind as to whether states are wholesome or unwholesome, beautiful or ugly. It would then not prompt the six consciousnesses to engage in greedy, hateful, and deluded actions of liking and disliking, still less act impulsively. When encountering matters, it would neither fly into a rage with hair standing on end, punching and kicking, nor show joy on its face, dancing with delight. Everything should be plain and bland, indifferent to everything.

If the manas were indifferent in whatever situation it found itself, always in neutral feeling, then it would have no afflictions, and there would be no need to subdue the mind's afflictions through contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). He would be forever pure, never leading the six consciousnesses to create karmic actions of greed and hatred, never giving rise to thoughts and emotions of joy, delight, craving, and so forth, nor to thoughts and emotions of anger, jealousy, resentment, and so on. The manas would then possess the nature of equality; its mind toward all states should be equanimous, without deviation, treating enemies and loved ones with perfect equality, with no distinction between foe and friend—fair and just. In the mind there would be neither longing for the Pure Land of Bliss (Sukhāvatī) nor aversion to the defiled land of Sahā; neither a desire to become a Buddha or a patriarch, nor weariness of the three realms leading into nirvāṇa.

If the manas were in neutral feeling, He Himself should be liberated just like the tathāgatagarbha; neither wholesome nor unwholesome states could bind Him, and He would not receive any state at all—that would be a liberated mind. But the actual situation is not like this. The manas has extremely heavy afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion; its greedy mind cannot extricate itself, its hateful mind cannot save itself, and it is bound tightly by the dharmas of the three realms, especially the three evil destinies, unable to escape. Therefore it is said that the manas does not merely have neutral feeling; it has all three kinds of feeling, with neutral feeling being the least frequent.

Very often there are inexplicable emotional reactions—whether happy or unhappy, the mind consciousness does not know why. Where did the happiness or unhappiness come from? The mind consciousness sometimes tries to figure out the reason, and sometimes no matter how it deliberates (manana), it cannot understand, because the manas is truly hard to fathom. When one is so happy that joy shows on the face, the mind consciousness says, "I should not let people see that I am happy," yet one still cannot help being thrilled. Who is so happy and joyful that the mind consciousness cannot stop it? It is the pleasant feeling of the manas. The mind consciousness is sometimes not easy to control, and the manas is even less able to control its own emotions.

For example, with certain matters, the mind consciousness very much wants to endure, but in the end one cannot help erupting emotionally, unable to hold back—this is the result of the manas feeling the suffering of melancholy and depression. Sometimes one is terrified by certain things, and the mind consciousness persuades itself: "There is no need to be afraid; it is nothing serious; nothing will happen." Yet one remains terrified nonetheless. Who is terrified, uncontrollably? The manas's terror is not easy to control; at that time the manas is in suffering feeling. When one is so happy that joy shows on the face, the mind consciousness says, "I should not let people see that I am happy," yet one still cannot help being thrilled. Who is so happy and joyful? Of course it is the pleasant feeling of the manas, which the mind consciousness cannot easily control.