The Five Aggregates Are Used and Governed by the Manas

There was a patient with a brain injury who, due to brainstem hemorrhage, fell into a deep coma, unresponsive, with the body completely unable to move and no consciousness. After treatment stopped the bleeding, the nerves began to pulse, yet the person did not wake up and remained in a coma; later, the body regained the sense of touch, and when fed liquid food, the tongue could swallow, yet the person still had not awakened—there was faint consciousness, but no ability to think or analyze. So in the early and later stages of the coma, without the assistance of consciousness, what functions did the manas perform to sustain the faint functions of the physical body?

Many people say that the manas is like a fool, nothing at all; yet in fact, it is precisely this fool that sustains the existence of the living body with its own unique functions. When there is no consciousness, the living being composed of the physical body, the manas, and the eighth consciousness is still the self of a sentient being. So this "self"—does it mainly refer to the manas or the mind consciousness? Which is more important? No one can say: "When the six consciousnesses are gone and only the manas remains, there is no self anymore—the manas is not the self." So after the six consciousnesses and the mind consciousness cease, can what remains be dismissed as negligible? Not counted as a person?

During a coma, the mind consciousness does not think, "I should move my eyeballs, twitch the corners of my mouth, make my nerves quiver." At this time, even if there is consciousness, it is extremely faint, with hardly any thinking function, and it cannot discern sense objects. It is all the powerful functioning of the manas, wanting the physical body to have some awareness, attempting some activity, swallowing saliva and liquid food. Thus, it is not difficult to discern what mental factors (caittas) the manas possesses. Do not say again that the manas is nothing at all, has no functions at all, has no thoughts at all, has no notions or ideas at all. If the manas had no ideas of its own, could a comatose person ever wake up again? Could they struggle to make the physical body move?

That a person has tenacious vitality, can adapt to all living environments, and can enjoy the world of the five aggregates—this requires not only gratitude to the tathāgatagarbha, but also gratitude to the manas for its unyielding persistence, or rather its perseverance. Since all of this is mainly enjoyed by the mind consciousness, it should be the mind consciousness that thanks the tathāgatagarbha and the manas for giving it the nature of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing, enabling it to enjoy the world of the five aggregates.

Conversely, the manas should also thank the mind consciousness, for having such an assistant to do things on its behalf, to discern the six sense objects for it, and thereby the manas itself possesses all dharmas of the world. That is why, during a coma, the manas becomes anxious and does everything possible to make the mind consciousness wake up, so that there is an intact five aggregates in activity. This proves that all dharmas are employed by the manas, and that the manas regards all dharmas as "self" and belonging to self. Some also say that the manas can accomplish nothing apart from the mind consciousness; but when there is no mind consciousness, what did the manas do? Who could observe it?