Guide to the Cultivation and Realization of the Manas: Part One
Chapter 7: The Perceptual Discernment of the Manas
1. The Scope of the Manas's Discernment
The scope of the manas's discernment 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 minute, unchanging dharmas can be discerned. If there were dharmas that the manas does not discern, then the six consciousnesses could not arise to discern them in finer, more specific detail.
The manas discerns not only dharmas within the supreme faculties (indriya), but also dharmas outside the supreme faculties. Only because it can discern all the inner six sense-objects (ṣaḍāyatana) can the six consciousnesses arise to discern the six sense-objects. After the manas discerns material sense-objects (rūpa-viṣaya) and wishes to discern specifically what colors and what things they are, it gives rise to the eye consciousness and mind consciousness; after the manas discerns sound sense-objects and wishes to know what sounds they are, it must give rise to the ear consciousness and mind consciousness to discern them specifically. The same applies to the other objects—smell, taste, touch, and dharmas.
The manas can also discern coarse, heavy objects of the five senses. For example, if there is a profusion of colorful flowers before you, and the manas is interested in the purple flowers, it will give rise to the eye consciousness and mind consciousness to focus on discerning the purple flowers. 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 concentrate on viewing 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 vanish and no longer appreciate the violets. The same applies to the other sense-objects.
Why insist that the manas only discerns changing, moving mental sense-objects (dharma-viṣaya)? The manas can discern unchanging mental sense-objects and all six sense-objects; otherwise, it would lose its function of awareness and vigilance, and the six consciousnesses could not arise. When a large cluster of colors appears, if the manas selects purple, it will let the six consciousnesses concentrate on appreciating it continuously, and upon seeing pink flowers, it will never look at them a second time. Since the manas has such power of choice, it shows that the manas knows the differences among the various colors. Thus the manas can contact the entirety of the six sense-objects and also has a certain power of determination (adhimokṣa) regarding them; it can make the six consciousnesses focus and appreciate, which shows that the manas is also continuously contacting them. 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 vanish from the original sense-object realm.
Searching among a large bunch of flowers for the violets one really likes shows that the manas has desire, has the mental factor of desire (chanda). If the manas did not want to see the violets, it would not give rise to the six consciousnesses to search for them. Wherever the manas does not go, the six consciousnesses will not appear.
2. The Discernment of the Six Consciousnesses Is Directed by the Manas
Some people say the manas only conditions mental sense-objects. But who directs the five consciousnesses in discerning the five sense-objects, and for what reason does this arise? The arising of the six consciousnesses and their discerning activities upon the six sense-objects are all directed and controlled by the manas; they appear only because the manas wishes to engage in some activity upon the six sense-objects. The five consciousnesses' discernment of the five sense-objects is likewise decided by the manas. For example, when the eye consciousness constantly revolves around a certain color, who decides and directs this? It is because the manas is rather interested in a certain color that the eye consciousness revolves around that color; when the ear consciousness constantly chases a certain coarse sound, paying attention to rumbling noises, who decides and directs this? It is still manipulated by the manas. The manas finds the sound special and wants to discern it clearly, so it makes the ear consciousness continuously attend to and discern it.
Most people say that dharmas their own (mind consciousness) does not know do not exist. In fact, existing dharmas are not necessarily made known to your mind consciousness. Dharmas the mind consciousness does not know, the manas nevertheless knows; the manas can condition them and has a rough, general knowledge of them. Some dharmas cannot be made known to the mind consciousness and the six consciousnesses, for several reasons: one is that the mind consciousness lacks the wisdom to perceive them; one is that the manas lacks the wisdom to prompt the mind consciousness to know them; one is that the conditions are not complete, so the mind consciousness cannot know them. Some dharmas need not be made known to the six consciousnesses, because the manas does not want to discern and process them carefully. Countless people take the six consciousnesses as themselves, but in fact the true "false self" is still the manas, not the six consciousnesses.
"I think, therefore I am" refers to the manas—the deep-level deliberation (manasikāra), those thoughts and views deep within the mind, all belong to the manas. Ordinary people generally say "I know, therefore I am"; this knowing refers to the six consciousnesses. When the six consciousnesses do not know, the mind consciousness feels that it no longer exists. But whether or not the six consciousnesses know, the inner and outer six sense-objects all exist, and countless dharmas all exist. Even when the six consciousnesses can know, they cannot know many dharmas; the scope of their discernment is limited.
3. Whether Mental Sense-Objects Are Significant or Not, the Manas Can Discern Them
Those who cannot observe the manas's operation through direct perception (pratyakṣa) as it truly is will have many misunderstandings about the manas. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the Buddha said that the manas silently encompasses all dharmas. The scope of "all dharmas" here is extremely broad: whatever dharmas the tathāgatagarbha can manifest, it can simultaneously discern, and the manas, following the tathāgatagarbha, can condition those dharmas. This is the meaning of the Buddhist sutra.
Some people say the manas only conditions significant mental sense-objects, and even then only changing ones; insignificant, unchanging ones cannot be conditioned. Is this so? If the manas had dharmas it does not condition, the six consciousnesses would be even less able to condition them. Whatever dharmas the mind consciousness discerns are all contacted and discerned by the manas. In fact, in daily life, regardless of whether mental sense-objects are significant or not, moving or unmoving, the mind consciousness can discern them all—for example, the buzzing of mosquitoes, the sound of one's own heartbeat, tiny sounds in the ears, sounds in the belly. That the mind consciousness knows such subtle sounds means they were drawn out by the manas's conditioning.
Then the manas must have contacted and discerned them first; it is only that its discernment is not detailed, so the mind consciousness and six consciousnesses are given rise to in order to help discern. Therefore, whether mental sense-objects are significant or minute, the manas, following the tathāgatagarbha, can condition them all and discern them all. Only when the manas considers certain mental sense-objects relatively important and useful, or is habituated to discerning them, does it let the six consciousnesses arise to discern them. As for the parts where the six consciousnesses have not arisen to discern, the manas can still condition and discern them; it is just that the mind consciousness does not know.
Even if mental sense-objects do not change, the manas can discern them continuously. For example, the mind consciousness and eye consciousness can look at an unmoving scene for half a day or a whole day; then the manas contacts that scene for half a day or a whole day without moving. The manas does not only contact frequently changing mental sense-objects, nor does it only condition mental sense-objects and not condition the five sense-objects. For example, the manas first contacts a large cluster of colors and is interested only in certain individual colors, so it gives rise to the eye consciousness and mind consciousness upon the colors it is interested in, to discern them together, while not discerning the other colors.
Those who truly want to study Buddhism and achieve attainment must rely on truth and the facts of reality, not on people or authorities.
4. Why Do Sounds One Dislikes Linger and Refuse to Go Away?
Why do sounds the mind consciousness dislikes hearing linger and refuse to go away? Sometimes you want to quietly think about a problem, but your ears keep hearing faint noises, insect chirps, and so on, which feel a bit noisy and distract your attention. Why do sounds the mind consciousness dislikes hearing linger and refuse to go away? This is caused by the manas's habitual conditioning, its conditioning without any purpose. The manas's habits are so powerful that the mind consciousness has no way to control them. Only through long-term cultivation of meditative concentration, immersing the mind in things of great interest, can one screen out the dharmas the mind consciousness does not want to know.
When meditative concentration is very deep and the mind consciousness is very focused, if the dharmas the manas conditions are ones the mind consciousness dislikes and is unwilling to discern, then after the manas knows this, it will gradually stop conditioning them. Knowing that the mind consciousness pays no attention to Him, He settles down, and attention becomes concentrated. This is the principle of cultivating concentration: the mind consciousness no longer complies with the manas, so the manas has no choice but to restrain itself and revolve around the mind consciousness, and thus both become settled in concentration.
If one cultivates too hastily and the mind consciousness defies the manas too severely, the manas will become very agitated and very uncomfortable, sometimes losing its temper and feeling depressed. Then the mind consciousness should slow the pace, not force the manas too strongly, choose a dharma the manas is interested in to immerse itself in, change the manas's habits, and then return to the proper track of cultivating concentration.
5. The Manas Cannot Handle Sense Realms Without the Mind Consciousness
A mosquito suddenly lands on your face, and you unconsciously slap your face; only afterward do you realize a mosquito had landed on your face and that you were swatting it. Why can you do things you yourself do not know about? Who did them?
A mosquito landing on the face is extremely light, and the mind consciousness generally cannot detect it. But even without detecting it, you still swatted the mosquito consciously—of course this was entirely directed by the manas. This shows that no matter how minute a sense-object realm of the six objects may be, the manas can discern it first; for sense-object realms involving one's own safety, it immediately makes decisions and handles them, and then the six consciousnesses arise to handle matters endangering oneself. Thus, even without the mind consciousness's help in discerning and judging, the manas can still distinguish significant and minute sense-object realms, can distinguish what benefits and harms the five-aggregate body, and can take action quickly—its wisdom is not low. When the manas discerns sense realms, it can do so without the mind consciousness, but when handling sense realms, it absolutely cannot do without the mind consciousness; the manas cannot handle anything and must have the mind consciousness's assistance. Therefore, in many cases, the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the mind consciousness or the six consciousnesses precisely manifest the manas's thoughts and moral cultivation, manifest the manas's mental activity.
The mind consciousness and body consciousness handle mosquito bites sometimes by slapping, sometimes by scratching the itch, sometimes by rubbing, sometimes by picking—various actions differ. Why are different actions chosen? These are all directed and carried out under the manas's authority. The manas has judgment and decision-making power over contact-objects (sparśa-viṣaya); it can understand contact-objects in all kinds of situations, so as situations differ, choices differ, and the actions of the mind consciousness and body consciousness differ.
6. The Dharmas the Manas Discerns Far Exceed Those of the Mind Consciousness
Question: Sometimes when walking, though I cannot see anyone following behind, I can know someone is behind me. How do I know this? Are the people and things behind me the inner object-aspect (nimitta) within the brain? Can material form enter the supreme faculty of the brain without being transmitted through the eye faculty?
Answer: The people and things behind cannot be transmitted through the eye faculty into the supreme faculty of the brain, because the eye faculty does not face the back of the head. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the Buddha said that among the twelve hundred merits, the eye faculty has only eight hundred merits, meaning that the eye faculty can contact material sense-objects directly in front, can contact two-thirds on each side, and cannot contact the rest. Therefore, knowing someone is following behind—this knowing is the subjectively imagined realm (dharma-viṣaya) known by the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta); it cannot know the material sense-object itself. This subjectively imagined mental sense-object is contacted and known by the manas; the manas considers it important and alerts the mind consciousness to know it. The manas knows an enormous number of dharmas but cannot express them, and the mind consciousness has no way to know what the manas knows, so the mind consciousness does not know. Some people say "I don't know," but in fact the manas does know. There are extremely many dharmas the manas knows while the mind consciousness does not. Thus the manas knows all dharmas, while what the mind consciousness knows, lacking supernatural powers and great wisdom, is limited.
Sneezing is a sudden event for which the mind consciousness has no mental preparation—that is initiated by the manas. When a ghost arrives, the mind consciousness does not know, but the body shivers—this is triggered by the manas. When a major event is about to arrive, the mind consciousness does not know what it is, but one inexplicably feels happy or agitated—this is initiated and signaled by the manas.
7. The Meaning of Direct-Perception Discernment
Direct-perception (pratyakṣa) discernment refers, first, to the wisdom realm of the consciousness-mind's discernment, and second, to the manner of the consciousness-mind's discernment. The consciousness-mind's direct-perception discernment has a certain degree of wisdom; with different degrees of wisdom, direct-perception discernment differs. The more directly the consciousness-mind faces its object-aspect, the more real and factual it is, the easier direct-perception discernment becomes, the more accurate and truthful the cognition, and the less likely errors of discernment occur. When the consciousness-mind's direct-perception wisdom is deep, upon contacting a sense realm or dharma it knows immediately, right away, without analysis, without research, without pondering, without inquiring, without speculation—and it knows accurately without error. If it cannot know instantly, it shows the wisdom is insufficient and deficient; if through inference (anumāna) or non-valid cognition it still does not know after a long time, that is foolishness without wisdom; if what it knows is incorrect with errors, the wisdom is shallow.
The eighth consciousness can know all dharmas through direct perception, accurately and without error, including events after vast eons; as long as it discerns karmic seeds, it knows immediately, without comparison, research, analysis, speculation, inquiry, or pondering, because the eighth consciousness has no ignorance, and its wisdom is deep, broad, and boundless. All dharmas are personally manifested and personally conditioned by the eighth consciousness, so its discernment cannot err. If the eighth consciousness's discernment went wrong, cause and effect would be unimaginable, the five-aggregate body could not function normally, and life could not proceed in an orderly way. Such a phenomenon is impossible, so the eighth consciousness's discernment of all dharmas must be direct-perception discernment.
The object-aspect corresponding to the seventh consciousness, the manas, is a compounded-attachment realm (sad-āśraya), derived from the essential realm (dravya) born by the eighth consciousness; it perceives relying on the perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga) of the eighth consciousness and is close to reality, so what the manas discerns is a direct-perception realm, but the result of its discernment is non-valid cognition, with errors of varying degrees. The manas at the Buddha-ground, having completely and thoroughly transformed consciousness into wisdom, has discernment results that are all direct perception, with no non-valid cognition.
The object-aspect corresponding to the five consciousnesses is a real-form realm (bhāva), also relatively real and not turned by the mind, so the five consciousnesses discern through direct perception. But if the eye faculty has karmic obstructions, the five consciousnesses' discernment will be affected to some degree, and the results of discernment may become non-valid cognition.
The object-aspect corresponding to the mind consciousness is a quasi-compounded-attachment realm, a false compounded-attachment realm, which differs considerably from the essential realm, so the mind consciousness's discernment includes direct perception, inference, and non-valid cognition, requiring very deep and detailed wisdom. The results of the mind consciousness's discernment include both direct perception and non-valid cognition, which often influence the manas's cognition and choices and easily permeate and influence the manas.
Compared with the tathāgatagarbha, the seven consciousnesses all discern through non-valid cognition, and their conclusions all contain errors. The so-called direct perception of the seven consciousnesses operates within a certain range; it is relative direct perception, false direct perception, not absolute direct perception. Because the conventional truth is not truly the conventional truth—its substance is the ultimate truth—and the seven consciousnesses do not know this principle, even their direct-perception discernment of the conventional truth is non-valid cognition.
In fact, the only cognitions that accord with facts in every respect are those of the eighth consciousness, the mind, and the seven consciousnesses after buddhahood. Before attaining buddhahood, because there is still ignorance, the seven consciousness-minds have non-valid cognition to varying degrees. The closer one approaches the Buddha's wisdom, the less non-valid cognition and the more direct-perception realms; the more of an ordinary being one is, the more non-valid cognition, with no or little direct perception. Even seeing the mountains and rivers before one's eyes as mountains and rivers is not direct perception but still non-valid cognition, because one sees only the false appearance, not the substance of the appearance.
8. The Concepts of Direct Perception and Non-Valid Cognition
Direct perception (pratyakṣa): "direct" means present, before one's eyes, actual, real, matters and principles that accord with reason and the Dharma; "perception" means estimation, measurement, gauging. Direct perception is having estimation, measurement, and gauging of the conditioned dharmas that accord with facts and truth; when seeing a dharma, one sees and knows it at that very moment and can judge it, without the mind consciousness's imagination, fantasy, or comparison, without special processing.
Non-valid cognition is the opposite of direct perception: it is not one's own wisdom realm, cannot correctly cognize in accordance with reason and the Dharma, errs in discernment, and requires the mind consciousness's thinking, analysis, imagination, fantasy, recollection, and so on to know. Non-valid cognition has another meaning: erroneous estimation, consideration, weighing, and measurement, yielding conclusions that are wrong and do not accord with facts.
9. The Three Valid Cognitions of the Seven Consciousnesses
The seven consciousness-minds' discernment of the six sense-objects is divided into three valid cognitions: direct perception, inference, and non-valid cognition. "Valid cognition" means estimation, measurement, gauging. Correct, reasonable measurement is direct perception; comparative measurement is inference; measurement that cannot accord with reason, reality, and the Dharma is non-valid cognition—what wisdom cannot reach is non-valid cognition.
Direct-perception discernment is discerning what is currently present, existing, currently operating, existing, actual—real dharmas, true dharmas. Inferential discernment is discerning through comparing two or more dharmas with each other; determining matters and principles requires a reference point, otherwise one cannot distinguish—this shows inferential discernment lacks wisdom. Direct-perception discernment has no reference point; it relies entirely on existing wisdom to discern and judge in the present moment.
Non-valid cognition is discerning dharmas that are not presently existing, not real, imagined, fabricated, fantasized—false dharmas, pseudo-dharmas, not personally conditioned, not personally realized, illusorily existing dharmas. This kind of discernment has two extremes: one is the wisdom-type with rich imagination; the other is the boundless, purely delusive type, the latter of which manifests no direct-perception wisdom.
The five consciousnesses all discern through direct perception; what they discern are dharmas that are presently existing, real, not fabricated. The five consciousnesses cannot imagine, nor can they use inference; whatever the current dharma is like, they discern it as such, without fantasy. But the five consciousnesses also have times of erroneous discernment—misseeing the color on a material form, for example, seeing red as green. This is non-valid discernment, which happens only when the eye faculty and other five faculties malfunction. Because the five faculties are damaged, the inner five sense-objects that manifest are distorted; the five consciousnesses discerning distorted five sense-objects seem to have discerned wrongly, and the result is non-valid cognition.
The mind consciousness can discern through direct perception, inference, and non-valid cognition; its scope of discernment is broad, and it can discern false dharmas and pseudo-dharmas; it can imagine, fantasize, compare, and think, but the results include both direct perception and non-valid cognition. The manas's discernment is relatively deep, subtle, and hard to know; its wisdom in discerning the six sense-objects is indeed not detailed enough. He cannot discern two dharmas by comparing them with each other, so He has no inference; the manas also cannot imagine, cannot fantasize, cannot make baseless guesses—He cannot perform these non-valid discernments, so He can only discern through direct perception, but the results are often non-valid. The manas discerns using the method of direct-perception discernment, discerning only dharmas that currently exist and are real, but His cognition is always erroneous and does not accord with truth, taking all dharmas as self and belonging to self, when in fact none of them are self or belonging to self. So in the results of His discernment, He is non-valid cognition.
True direct-perception discernment belongs only to the eighth consciousness, without a trace of inference or non-valid cognition; what it discerns are the true aspects of all dharmas—not the six sense-object realms, not the aspects of the mundane world. Whatever the manas thinks is not truth, so through the cultivation of three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, He must gradually be made to recognize truth and realize truth, so that His delusions and false thoughts all become true direct-perception wisdom, removing His attachments to what is not Dharma, returning all dharmas to their true owner, not possessing any dharma—then the manas's transformation is complete. From then on, all burdens are eliminated, and one is completely liberated from the bondage of all dharmas, ascending to the Buddha's throne. At that point, the mind consciousness's mission ends; there is no need to study any more dharmas, no need to further permeate the manas.
Since the manas cannot perform non-valid discernment, how then does the mind consciousness's non-valid discernment arise and continue? After the manas decides on some matter, the mind consciousness executes it specifically, and in execution it adopts the form of non-valid cognition; the manas then takes the content of the mind consciousness's discernment as direct perception and deliberates and chooses upon it. For example, visualizing Buddha-light shining on one's own material body is non-valid cognition; after the visualization succeeds, the body truly becomes healthy. If one truly visualizes the Buddha-light into appearance, and the Buddha truly emits light shining on oneself, then visualizing the Buddha-light is direct perception, and the body's health is also direct perception. The visualization is chosen by the manas and executed by the mind consciousness. During visualization, it is the mind consciousness's subjective imagination; when the power of concentration is deep, wherever the mind consciousness visualizes, the manas discerns along with it. The manas takes the content of the mind consciousness's visualization as a presently-present realm and discerns it—this belongs to direct-perception discernment. The mind consciousness's visualization is non-valid thinking and imagination, but when its results manifest before one as reality, they are all direct-perception realms.
10. The Three Modes of Discernment of the Seven Consciousness-Minds
Does non-valid discernment mean that the result of the consciousness-mind's discernment is erroneous and does not accord with facts, or does it mean that the manner of the consciousness-mind's discernment can involve imagination, fantasy, guessing, and prediction? It means the manner of the consciousness-mind's discernment can involve imagination, fantasy, guessing, and prediction. Then only the mind consciousness can have the non-valid mode of discernment; the five consciousnesses must discern through direct perception, the manas must discern through direct perception, and the eighth consciousness always discerns through direct perception—what it discerns are all direct-perception realms, because all dharmas are manifested by the eighth consciousness in the present moment; for the eighth consciousness, they are all presently-existing dharmas, and therefore all direct-perception realms.
Dharmas that are not direct-perception realms cannot be conditioned or cognized by the seventh consciousness, the manas. So if you want the manas to accept and acknowledge some dharma, it must be a dharma of direct perception, with factual basis, extremely real, with clear reasoning and discernible logic. Therefore, the manas's eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) is far more difficult than the mind consciousness's eradication of the view of self; it cannot be accomplished by merely thinking it over and pondering. It requires deep, thorough contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of thinking, with the manas continuously weighing and choosing, until the reasons are sufficient, the principles clear, and it presents itself as fact—only then can the manas acknowledge it.
The five consciousnesses also discern the five sense-object realms through direct perception; five sense-objects not currently present cannot be discerned by the five consciousnesses through imagination, nor can they fantasize any five sense-object realms. And any dharma the mind consciousness imagines, fantasizes, recollects, or anticipates must be presented as images by the eighth consciousness—it can be said to be created from nothing, all conjured and sustained by the eighth consciousness. So what the eighth consciousness discerns are all direct-perception dharmas; it need not perform non-valid or inferential discernment of any dharma.
When the mind consciousness discerns, all three valid cognitions are present: direct perception, inference, and non-valid cognition. Direct-perception discernment is discerning dharmas presently existing in the current moment; dharmas not currently present are not known, without needing recollection, imagination, or comparison; the dharma is not processed—whatever it is in the present moment, that is what it is. But the results of the seven consciousnesses' discernment include both direct perception and non-valid cognition.
11. Is the Manas Actually Non-Valid Cognition?
From the perspective of the wisdom of discernment, wrong views, wrong understanding, and wrong attachment are non-valid cognition, so the manas has non-valid cognition, and at the same time the six consciousnesses all have non-valid cognition, because they all have wrong views and wrong understanding, and their wisdom is not perfect. From the perspective of the manner of discernment, the manas discerns through direct perception, not through non-valid cognition. If the manas had the non-valid discernment wisdom that the mind consciousness has, studying Buddhism and cultivating practice would be much easier, living in worldly dharmas would be much easier, encountering the Buddha-dharma would easily lead to correct understanding, and there would be no need to laboriously cultivate concentration, investigate Chan, investigate, and practice contemplation; attaining buddhahood would not require three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas. As for why it takes such a long time to cultivate to buddhahood, it is precisely because the manas's wisdom is insufficient and requires long-term permeation, presenting facts and reasoning.
The manas's wise cognition of all dharmas is indeed non-valid, because of ignorance—wrong views, wrong understanding, and consequently wrong attachment. So studying Buddhism and cultivating practice means eradicating the manas's ignorance and correcting all the manas's inverted views. When ignorance is completely severed and everything is right view, and all wrong attachments are also completely severed, one becomes a Buddha. Correcting the manas's wrong views depends on the mind consciousness's correct understanding. For the mind consciousness to understand correctly, it must study the Buddhist sutras, deeply and correctly comprehend them, then think correctly, permeating the manas, letting the manas follow the mind consciousness's correct understanding and deliberate correctly, thereby giving the manas right view, correcting its former wrong knowledge, understanding, and attachments. The manas's ignorance that must first be eradicated is the manas's view of self; only afterward can the manas's self-grasping be completely severed. The next manas-ignorance to be eradicated is not letting Him take the dharmas born by the eighth consciousness as self and belonging to self, recognizing the eighth consciousness as the master of the dharma-realm while oneself is not the master of all dharmas; only afterward can the manas's dharma-grasping be completely severed. When dharma-grasping is completely severed, sentient beings become Buddhas.
Therefore, studying Buddhism from beginning to end is all about cultivating the manas, with the aim of eradicating and completely severing the manas's ignorance, fully returning to self-nature, no longer being inverted. In this process, the guidance of the mind consciousness is needed, so the mind consciousness must first eradicate inverted views before it can guide the manas toward the correct path of liberation and ultimately complete, great liberation. In short, cultivating the manas is the correct cultivation; cultivating only the mind consciousness without knowing master and servant is an inverted view—such cultivation falls short and cannot attain liberation.
12. The Manas Discerns Dharmas Using the Direct-Perception Mode
Why must the manas discern through direct perception? Because the manas, moment by moment, relies on the eighth consciousness to discern; whatever dharma the eighth consciousness manifests, it discerns that dharma, and what the eighth consciousness manifests are all direct-perception dharmas—dharmas generated from seeds, all real dharmas, not imagined dharmas. Therefore, the manas's discernment is direct-perception discernment. When the manas discerns the dharmas transmitted from the five consciousnesses and the mind consciousness, it is also direct-perception discernment, because the dharmas transmitted from the five consciousnesses must be discerned by the manas through direct perception; it will not discern them through inference or non-valid cognition. The same applies to dharmas transmitted from the mind consciousness: for dharmas the mind consciousness has discerned through inference or non-valid cognition, once transmitted to the manas, the manas discerns them all as direct perception, and will not again discern them through inference or non-valid cognition. Therefore, it is said that the manas's discernment must be direct-perception discernment. Does the manas ever discern by comparison? It also discerns by comparison, but this kind of comparison still differs greatly from the mind consciousness's inferential discernment.
13. Can Contemplation Arising from Non-Valid Cognition Attain Direct Realization and Verification?
Contemplative practice of the Buddha-dharma generally starts contemplation from direct-perception realms, which is relatively easy to begin; starting from phenomenal realms that are easily observed, contemplative practice can succeed and realization is easy to attain. But it is not always so; contemplative practice can also start from non-valid imagination and thinking. When the power of meditative concentration strengthens and the power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) also strengthens, one will gradually transition from non-valid cognition to direct perception. Once the direct-perception realm manifests, the non-valid completely becomes one's own direct-perception realm; once the realm of meditative absorption (samādhi) appears, contemplative practice is accomplished, and one attains the Path. In this kind of realization, both the power of concentration and the power of wisdom are very deep, the samādhi realm is not easily lost, and the transformation of body and mind is very great, bringing great benefit.
For example, in the contemplation of the white skeleton, initially one certainly cannot observe the white skeleton; one can only imagine it, or step by step start contemplation from the observable skin and muscles, gradually turning to the white skeleton. At first it is the mind consciousness's non-valid contemplation of the white skeleton, striving to imagine it. After concentration and wisdom strengthen, the white skeleton will naturally manifest, without the mind consciousness deliberately thinking of it—deliberate thinking will not make it appear; rather, the mind consciousness truly can no longer "think" it, and it has penetrated deep into the manas's mind. Finally, the white skeleton is recalled by the manas and naturally manifests. The mind consciousness cannot think of it, and wanting to remove it, one cannot, because this is no longer the mind consciousness's realm, which the mind consciousness cannot control.
All the various other samādhi realms arise naturally from the manas due to deep cultivation power; they are not the mind consciousness's realm and cannot be controlled by the mind consciousness. For example, when the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi (buddhānusmṛti-samādhi) is accomplished, the sound of the Buddha's name continues whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down—cognizing yet no-thought. It is not the mind consciousness reciting but the manas reciting. The mind consciousness cannot extinguish the Buddha's name even if it wants to, cannot control the Buddha's name even if it wants to, and cannot even control the body's meditative state. From this perspective, all realizations of the fruits, seeing the mind, and the various samādhi realms of awakening have both concentration and wisdom; none are the mind consciousness's realm—all are initiated by the manas, and the mind consciousness can only comply, powerless to control. The mind consciousness may feel baffled, feel inconceivable, but in fact the manas knows what is going on, so the expression is calm, the mind opens and understanding dissolves, abiding in profound meditative bliss, a state of mind that cannot be described.
Take another example: the sixteen contemplations in the Contemplation Sūtra (Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra). From the second contemplation to the sixteenth, all are the non-valid portion, which the mind consciousness simply cannot observe, because the mind consciousness simply cannot see the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) and its land, water, trees, and so on, cannot see Amitābha Buddha or Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattvas—it can only imagine. These imaginations have sequence and method. The first contemplation is preparation: first, practicing concentration and focused attention; second, directing the mind toward the location of the land of bliss, resonating with it. After the samādhi realm of the first contemplation appears, the second contemplation is practiced entirely on the foundation of the first; although it is non-valid, it is like pushing a boat along with the current—the water becomes the jeweled ground of the land of bliss.
After this samādhi realm appears, concentration and wisdom further advance, and the subsequent non-valid realms will also naturally come to completion, becoming one's own direct-perception realms. All the way until the images of Amitābha Buddha, Avalokiteśvara, and Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattvas are all visualized, all the images being extremely delicate, refined, and incomparably beautiful.
These samādhi realms are actually not imagined by the consciousness-mind; the mind consciousness absolutely cannot imagine them—no matter what, it cannot imagine them. Only at the very beginning does it borrow the mind consciousness's imagination. Once profound meditative concentration and wisdom appear, the mind consciousness is no longer of much use; after permeating the manas, almost everything relies on the manas. Once the manas moves, the samādhi realm appears. The tathāgatagarbha absolutely gives the manas face and absolutely cooperates with the manas. So the commander-in-chief is, after all, the commander-in-chief, far stronger than the advisor-assistant.
Therefore, with many things, the mind consciousness feels it simply cannot imagine them, feels they are very difficult, feels there is no place to start. That does not matter. As long as you successfully permeate the manas and leave the rest to the manas, it is guaranteed to accomplish all the undertakings the mind consciousness cannot imagine, including becoming a Buddha—the greatest, greatest matter under heaven. In the end, the manas can accomplish it spontaneously and naturally.
14. Visualization Generally Proceeds from Non-Valid Cognition to Direct Perception
In visualization dharma-gates, because the objects visualized are not presently observable, do not exist before one's eyes, and are realms beyond one's current wisdom, they are not direct-perception realms. One must rely on the noble teachings to imagine and think, or fantasize, or form relatively similar realm-appearances, so as to reach what one can presently condition and see, thereby becoming one's own direct-perception wisdom realm.
So-called visualization is contemplating while thinking; thinking carries the meaning of imagination and fantasy. This adopts the non-valid method as the point of entry. After concentration and wisdom grow, the non-valid imagination gradually decreases, the direct-perception component gradually increases, until finally direct perception is completely achieved: the visualized object vividly presents itself in one's own mind, or we might say before one's eyes, becoming one's own supreme subjectively imagined realm; one's own mind abides in samādhi, awareness and brightness manifest, the mind-ground's radiance emerges, and there is the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā.
For example, in the white-skeleton contemplation, at the very beginning, contemplating oneself and others, one cannot see that the material body is just a pile of white bones; it is a living, animated body of flesh. The white skeleton, to oneself, is non-valid cognition. Therefore one can only rely on imagination: according to the Buddha's instructions, one strives in the mind to construct and imagine, comparing the reference image onto one's own body or onto another's body. Over time, concentration strengthens, and the mind consciousness gradually permeates and leads the manas; the manas gradually becomes familiar with the white skeleton, and without the mind consciousness's effortful processing, it also knows the skeleton's appearance, and the skeleton's form will gradually appear in the mind. At a certain moment, when first-dhyāna concentration is complete, the contemplative wisdom is also complete, and the conditions are complete, the white skeleton instantly manifests in the mind, crystal clear, vividly before the eyes, as if right in front of one, lingering and refusing to leave. This is a pure direct-perception wisdom realm: one attains purity of the dharma-eye, eradicates the view of the body and the view of self, and realizes the third fruit (anāgāmin) or fourth fruit (arhat).
Direct-perception realms require no visualization at all; seeing everything before one's eyes requires no imagination—whatever it is, that is what it is. For example, in a direct-perception realm, seeing a stone, it is a stone. If one wants to see gold on the stone, then visualization is needed, because the gold is not before one's eyes—it is a non-valid realm that must be converted into a direct-perception realm. So one visualizes; when the visualization succeeds, the stone turns to gold.
15. The Manas's Knowing Differs from the Mind Consciousness's Knowing
The deluded mind's capacity for knowing includes the knowing of the six consciousnesses and the knowing of the manas. Depending on the depth of meditative concentration, there are differences of focus and distraction at the time of knowing, and the content known differs in depth, subtlety, breadth, and narrowness.
The nature of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing is the combined function of consciousness seeds plus mental factors (caittas). These functions arise and cease, changing moment by moment, like flowing water. A stream formed of countless water droplets, under the force of wind and inertia, is now rapid, now slow, now strong, now weak, now interrupted, now continuous. The consciousness-mind formed by consciousness seeds, under the action of mental factors, has discernment that is now strong, now weak, now fast, now slow, now subtle, now coarse. When the faucet is turned off, water droplets stop flowing out and the stream disappears; when consciousness seeds stop flowing forth, the consciousness-mind disappears. Where is its switch?
When knowing all dharmas, introspectively observe this knowing of yours: is it the mind consciousness's knowing, or the manas's knowing? The mind consciousness may know, but it cannot change, cannot accomplish; the manas, once it knows, can immediately accomplish and can correct itself. When the Buddha-dharma's cultivation reaches only the mind consciousness, it is merely a hundred feet up the pole—one must go a step further and reach the manas. If all dharmas reach the manas, one will immediately become a Buddha, with no further cultivation needed.
16. For All Dharmas, the Manas Contacts and Discerns First
The manas is in the brain, regulating the entire brain nervous system and thereby the whole body. When the brain nerves move, the whole body moves, and the six consciousnesses move afterward. Wherever the consciousness-mind is, it is formless and without mark, without a specific location; what is said here about where the manas is refers to the range of the manas's function.
The movement of the six consciousnesses always appears after the manas moves. This proves that for all dharmas, the manas contacts and discerns first, and only afterward do the six consciousnesses appear. So there is no dharma that the six consciousnesses know while the manas does not; the difference lies only in whether the content known is real or not, clear or not, and how coarse or fine it is. For example, in business activities, when a competitor releases a new product, the general manager first learns of the matter but does not know the specific details, so he has the relevant department investigate. After the investigator has investigated clearly, he first reports to the department manager, who then reports to the general manager. In this way, the general manager, the department manager, and the specific investigator all know the matter; but before the investigator reports, the content known by the three people differs to a certain degree, and even after the report, the content known by the three still differs to a certain degree—it cannot be completely identical.
17. After the Manas Transforms Consciousness into Wisdom, Its Discerning Function Grows Ever Stronger
Among the eighteen realms, the eye consciousness and eye faculty correspond to material sense-objects, the ear consciousness and ear faculty to sound sense-objects, the nose consciousness and nose faculty to smell sense-objects, the tongue consciousness and tongue faculty to taste sense-objects, the body consciousness and body faculty to touch sense-objects, and the manas and mind consciousness to mental sense-objects. The activities of the first five faculties and five consciousnesses are driven and regulated by the manas and cannot act autonomously. The form aggregate among the five aggregates is the eleven material dharmas: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma, plus the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body faculties.
The knowing that knows the realms of the eighteen realms is the perception aggregate (saṃjñā); the object of the perception aggregate is the object-aspect. The object-aspect includes form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma, and includes mental dharmas. Mental dharmas include feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness—that is, the operational characteristics of the mind, namely the mental factors. For example, when the mind consciousness discerns the eight consciousnesses, knows the eight consciousnesses, the mind consciousness at that time is the perceiving-aspect, and the operational features of the eight consciousnesses are the object-aspect.
The mind consciousness can discern the operational characteristics of the eight consciousnesses and can discern the mental factors of the eight consciousnesses. The manas has self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana) and can introspectively observe itself and discern itself. But this ability is not strong enough; after transforming consciousness into wisdom, the manas's wisdom strengthens, and the function of self-validating cognition becomes somewhat stronger. The manas, relying on the mind consciousness, can discern the operational characteristics of the eight consciousnesses, but the ability is not strong enough; only after transforming consciousness into wisdom does its discernment grow ever stronger.
Before transforming consciousness into wisdom, the manas also has many discerning functions, but when the mind consciousness has not transformed consciousness into wisdom, they cannot be observed, so some people say the manas's discerning wisdom is inferior. Sentient beings take the mind consciousness's knowing as knowing; what the mind consciousness does not know, they consider nonexistent and non-existent.
18. The Manas Simultaneously Discerns Wholesome Integrated Dharmas
Integrated dharma is the combination of the five sense-objects and the mental sense-object; lacking either, it does not constitute a dharma. Since the manas is the consciousness that decides, determining the arising, ceasing, and changing of the six consciousnesses, the manas can discern the five sense-objects, not merely the mental sense-object; it can make a rough discernment of the combined realm composed of the five sense-objects and the mental sense-object. That is why the manas can prompt all six consciousnesses to arise and discern any kind of sense-object realm together. For the combined six sense-object realms, the manas's discernment may also have emphasis; for example, in discerning fresh flowers, it may focus on discerning colors rather than shapes and lengths. At that time, under the manas's direction, the eye consciousness will seek the colors the manas likes, and the mind consciousness follows along, seeking the mental sense-objects related to the colors.
What the manas first contacts and discerns is the complete sense-object realm, not the realm divided into five sense-objects and mental sense-objects. So do not say the manas only discerns the mental sense-object and not the five sense-objects. If so, upon what would the five consciousnesses rely to arise and discern the five sense-objects? Who would guide and direct them? What the manas discerns is the whole sense-object realm, including the five sense-objects and the mental sense-objects upon them, not discerning the five sense-objects alone or the mental sense-object alone. Therefore, when the six consciousnesses arise, the five consciousnesses and the mind consciousness must arise simultaneously to discern the sense-object realm together; they cannot be separated. The manas's discernment is coarse and cannot be detailed; the five consciousnesses can discern in detail, and the mind consciousness even more so.
Apart from being unable to discern the essential realm that first appears, the manas can discern all six sense-object realms inside and outside the supreme faculties. The six consciousnesses can only discern the six sense-object realms within the supreme faculties. People with supernatural powers have a broader realm discerned by the mind consciousness and can discern sense-object realms not within the supreme faculties.
19. The Manas Can Know the Different States of the Five-Aggregate Body
Sometimes the manas's discerning wisdom is not weak either. In various situations without the six consciousnesses, He understands the difference between sleeping and being unconscious, He understands the difference between sleeping and the body being unusable, and He also understands the difference between being unconscious and about to die. Because in sleeping, unconsciousness, approaching death, the concentration without perception (asaṃjñi-samāpatti), and the cessation attainment (nirodha-samāpatti), the manas's emotions and manifestations are all different, the manas still has discerning wisdom that is not weak—in fact quite great. His functions are complete and powerful, which is why He is qualified to be the deciding consciousness, leading all the activities of the entire five-aggregate body. It is not as some people say, that the manas is nothing at all, lacking and feeble in every function—it is not like that at all.
20. The Manas's Afflictions and Habitual Tendencies
Question: Every time before I go on a business trip, I inexplicably feel a sense of loss in my heart, with slight tightness in the chest; and sure enough, once I arrive, the conditions for eating, drinking, and sanitation are terrible. So before business trips, I now first check my inner state: if there is an inexplicable sense of loss, it basically means the place I'm going has poor food and lodging. Can this clumsy method also be used to observe the manas?
Answer: As long as you understand the manas's functional characteristics, you can also somewhat know the manas, knowing its general habitual tendencies, afflictions, and purity. The manas is too particular about enjoyment and likes comfort, so it is unwilling to contact relatively poor and harsh environments. Therefore, before changing environments, it always makes an attention (manaskāra) to let the mind consciousness know, with the aim of having the mind consciousness find a way to solve the problem.
When the manas is unhappy, the body shows abnormalities; when the manas is happy, the body also shows abnormalities, because the body is controlled by the manas, expressing the manas's thoughts and emotions.
21. When the Manas Has Thoughts About Others, Others' Manas Can Also Know
Question: Can the manas condition one's own body of past, present, and future throughout the ten directions and three times (or people and matters with which one has karmic connections)? For example, if the manas makes an attention, will other people receive the information?
Answer: Sentient beings take the mind consciousness's knowing as knowing; what the manas knows, if the mind consciousness does not know, is as good as unknown. The manas, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, can know all dharmas, but simply cannot make the mind consciousness know. Only by cultivating the four dhyānas and eight concentrations can the mind consciousness know what the manas knows, and only then is it called supernatural power (abhijñā). When one's own manas sends out information, the other person's manas can also know it, but if the other person's mind consciousness does not know, then it is as if unknown. Unless the manas uses special methods to make the mind consciousness know, that person cannot know.
After the mind consciousness transforms consciousness into wisdom, it can know some of what the manas knows and can presently observe the manas, thereby understanding some of the manas's mental activity and characteristics. Some people then say the manas's scope of knowing has grown and its content increased. In fact, the manas could always, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, know an enormous number of dharmas; the mind consciousness simply could not sense it. Among these, when the manas knows itself but the mind consciousness does not know, some people say the manas does not know itself and has no self-validating cognition—this distorts the facts.
22. The Manas's Discerning Wisdom
Now a premise must be established: saying the manas's discerning wisdom is inferior is said with respect to the six sense-object realms, and specifically as manifested when the manas alone faces the six sense-object realms. But the manas's scope of discernment is extremely broad, and its manner of discernment is very peculiar. The subtle aspects of the six sense-objects are discerned by the six consciousnesses, so the manas naturally does not need this function; but the manas can condition the six consciousnesses to discern the six sense-objects—that is, the results of the six consciousnesses' discernment must all return to the manas, to be processed by the manas. If there is even one dharma the manas does not know, that portion of the six consciousnesses' discerning function is useless, because the six consciousnesses cannot decide; their discernment of the six sense-objects is done for the manas's discernment, in service of the manas, and is also directed and approved by the manas. The six consciousnesses are merely the manas's tools for discerning the six sense-objects. Whatever the six consciousnesses discern, the manas can discern; the six consciousnesses' object-aspect is, in the final analysis, the manas's object-aspect—the difference being that one is direct and the other indirect.
23. The Influence of Sense-Object Realms on the Manas When There Are No Six Consciousnesses
The manas contacts the mental sense-object, and only afterward does the mind consciousness arise to discern it. The manas contacts and knows the mental sense-object first; the mind consciousness contacts and knows it afterward. It is only that what the manas knows is not as clear and detailed as the mind consciousness, and after knowing, it has no way to act; it must rely on the mind consciousness and the five consciousnesses to accomplish anything. So all sense-object realms are known by the manas first, without needing feedback from the six consciousnesses. But the six consciousnesses discern the six sense-objects in considerable detail, and the mind consciousness has strong logical thinking and observational abilities, able to give the manas many suggestions. Receiving feedback from the five consciousnesses and mind consciousness, the manas can understand the sense-object realm fully and in detail, and then make the final choice. Therefore, although the manas cannot fully discern the six sense-object realms, it can still be permeated through habituation, or understand the general outline; for habitual sense-object realms, its discernment can be somewhat clearer. In this way, there is an imperceptible influence on the manas, and it can be stored as seeds.
