All Dharmas Are First Contacted and First Discerned by the Manas

The manas resides in the brain, regulating the entire brain and nervous system to control the whole body. When the cranial nerves move, the whole body moves, and the six consciousnesses then move accordingly; the movement of the six consciousnesses always appears after the manas has moved. This proves that for all dharmas, the manas makes contact and discerns first, and only afterward do the six consciousnesses arise. Therefore, there is no dharma that the six consciousnesses know while the manas does not; the difference lies only in whether the content known is true or false, clear or unclear, and how coarse or subtle it is. Wherever the conscious mind may be, it is also formless and without appearance, having no specific location. What is spoken of here as being in some place refers only to its range of function.