The Imputed Nature of the Manas

Mahākāśyapa practiced ascetic austerities (dhūta-guṇa), sitting beneath trees, and never meditated under the same tree for more than three days—on the third day he would always change to another tree, for fear of developing attachment to the tree, which would result in the bondage of birth and death. The great arhat liberated in both ways (ubhayato-bhāga-vimukta) has a mind that is already liberated and can enter Nirvāṇa without remainder anytime, anywhere—so why did he still guard his mind so carefully?

The mind that guards is the mind consciousness, which has strong awareness and strong rationality. The mind being guarded is the manas, whose awareness and rationality are poor; it possesses the imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva) and easily develops attachment to all dharmas. The manas of ordinary beings can be said to attach to whatever dharma it encounters. Why does the manas attach so easily?

Since beginningless kalpas, the manas has been deeply steeped in ignorance, not knowing the principles of the Dharma, not seeing the substance and essence of dharmas, knowing only their superficial appearances, and taking false appearances as ultimate. Moreover, because of ignorance and folly, it does not know its own folly, and it clings to its own views, refusing to let go. Therefore, the manas is very difficult to transform, and it is not easy to turn around its cognition and habitual tendencies.

Speaking of the manas's habitual tendencies and habits: whenever the manas comes into contact with things that accord with its own mind, if this happens more than three times, a habit easily forms. What is called a habit is the inertial force of the manas; it is willing to and prefers to follow what it previously thought, did, and conceived, and will not flexibly adapt. Some of the manas's habits are not even ones it likes; through repeated contact, mechanized thinking and mental activities form.

Why does the manas have mechanized inertia? Because the manas is foolish and unskilled in deliberation; for dharmas it has been in contact with for a long time until mature, it will automatically accept them, then grasp them and act accordingly, thus forming habits and naturalness. As for the mind consciousness and the six consciousnesses, one unconsciously says, does, or thinks things, unable to control them. Because the manas is obstinate, how could it be easily controlled? Moreover, the mind consciousness is also unaware, not even having the thought or intention to control it.

There are originally no paths in the world; when many people walk, a path forms. The manas originally has no habits; through much contact and frequent repetition, habits form. Once the manas has developed a habit, it will not easily be removed or corrected. Even if it is a meaningless matter, once the manas has become habituated, it will continue to do so without fail. He will not deliberate on whether the matter is meaningful, whether it is worth doing, or whether it is worth paying any price—He pays no heed to any of this. From this point, it can be seen that the manas is foolish and of low wisdom.

Judging from the manas's foolishness and its tendency to form habits, the manas possesses the imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva). If it were endowed with wisdom, it would not have the imputed nature; with wisdom there is no attachment, let alone pervasive imputation and attachment. Because of the manas's foolishness, it is actually not easy for it to form habits with wholesome dharmas, nor is it easy to develop attachment to them. Of course, attachment to wholesome dharmas is also a bondage of birth and death and cannot bring liberation, but cultivation proceeds in stages: using the wholesome to counteract the unwholesome is the initial step of cultivation. Once unwholesome dharmas are removed, wholesome dharmas are not retained either; the mind is empty and accords with the Path, and the power of the Path is complete.

Before beginningless kalpas, the environment in which the manas existed had many unwholesome dharmas and few wholesome dharmas, or no wholesome dharmas at all. Therefore, the manas accords with unwholesome dharmas and does not accord with wholesome dharmas; it is habituated to unwholesome dharmas and not habituated to wholesome ones, so it is rather difficult to steep it in wholesome dharmas. But if one wishes to escape the ocean of saṃsāra and karma, however difficult it may be, one must persist in steeping it in wholesome dharmas—as long as one persists, there is victory.