Mind Consciousness and Manas: Who Is the Commander?

A person wants to take a bus to place A. Walking to the bus stop, he finds Bus Route One and Bus Route Two. He looks at the stop names of the two buses, and his mind consciousness knows that he should take Bus Route Two, so he decides to take Bus Route Two. After boarding, he arrives at his destination.

Question: Does the manas know what the mind consciousness knows? Was the decision to take Bus Route Two made by the mind consciousness or by the manas? Boarding the bus—was it directed by the mind consciousness or by the manas?

Answer: The manas uses the six consciousnesses to discern the dharmas it wants to discern. The manas contacts sense objects and gives rise to the mind consciousness; the dharmas discerned by the mind consciousness are also continuously contacted by the manas through attention, feeling, perception, and volition. If the manas no longer contacts the dharma, the mind consciousness disappears with respect to that dharma. Therefore, the dharmas that the mind consciousness knows are simultaneously known by the manas as well; the difference lies in whether what the two consciousnesses know is consistent.

When the manas cannot discern subtle content, the mind consciousness discerns it on His behalf; when the manas cannot analyze, reason, and judge, the mind consciousness analyzes, reasons, and judges on His behalf. After the manas knows, He deliberates on His own; if He agrees with the mind consciousness's viewpoint, He consents to the mind consciousness's judgment and decision; if not, He lets the mind consciousness think it over again, and then the manas deliberates further. This constant, attentive deliberation (恒审思量) of the manas arises at all times; He must review every dharma before letting it pass, making His own final choice.

Question: When the mind consciousness knows that only Bus Route Two can reach the destination, must the manas also realize this principle? If the manas cannot deliberate and realize this principle, can the destination be reached?

Answer: For the manas to know the content discerned by the mind consciousness, He must deliberate on it personally; it is not simply whatever the mind consciousness says. The manas's constant, attentive deliberation serves precisely this function, so the manas has His own thoughts and wisdom—He is not a blockhead.

When the mind consciousness knows that only Bus Route Two can reach the destination, the manas does not necessarily know this principle; if the manas cannot deliberate and realize this principle, the destination cannot be reached. This involves the question of the manas's wisdom, the question of the mind consciousness's capacity for thinking and analysis, the question of whether there are afflictive obstructions, and here there is also the question of meditative concentration (samādhi).

Many dharmas that the mind consciousness understands and knows are not understood by the manas, so He delays making a decision and never takes action. For example, with generosity (dāna): the mind consciousness feels it should be done, but the manas does not understand it and is unwilling to do it. By the same reasoning, when the mind consciousness contemplates and analyzes that the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are suffering, empty, impermanent, and non-self, if the mind consciousness just skims the surface without carefully contemplating and practicing contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), the manas, due to His poor capacity for analysis and understanding, will not comprehend this principle. He may also fear that there really will be no self, not knowing what benefit there is in no-self, and so He does not let the mind consciousness continue contemplating this matter.

Therefore, although some people's mind consciousness understands to some extent that the five aggregates are non-self, the manas does not necessarily understand; what the mind consciousness realizes, the manas does not necessarily realize. If the manas cannot realize the non-self of the five aggregates, then the three fetters cannot be eradicated, all bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot be changed, and the problem of birth and death cannot be solved.

Even taking a bus is decided by the manas—could it be that the great matter of birth and death need not be decided by the manas, but by the mind consciousness instead? Taking the first bite of rice and the second bite of vegetables are all decided by the manas; the mind consciousness need only act as an advisor. As for what to eat or not eat, and how much to eat, it is still the manas, the master, who makes the final call.

In studying Buddhism to end birth and death, one cannot bury one's head in the sand like an ostrich and think everything is fine. One must face the problem and solve it, not avoid it. The great matter of birth and death cannot be avoided; one must face it and resolve it before one can be at peace.