The Guidance and Perfuming of the Manas by the Mind Consciousness Are Not Necessarily All Motivated by Considerations of Benefit

Answer: The nature, functions, and roles of the manas are numerous and very important. It has the five universally present mental factors: attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā). Therefore, the manas also has its own unique capacity for deliberation (manana) and its own unique discernment, as well as its own unique analytical and judgmental ability. At times, its discernment and judgment are extremely agile, swift, and accurate, and should not be belittled or overlooked. The mind consciousness's guidance of the manas is not confined to the limited question of whether something is beneficial or harmful to itself; its scope is quite broad.

For example, in the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of eliminating self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), the mind consciousness must contemplate the falsity of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha), analyzing and deliberating on how the five aggregates are false, empty, and without self, and how they are suffering. The more clearly and thoroughly these principles are deliberated, and the more facts are presented, the more the manas is infused and influenced, and the more readily the manas will accept them. Likewise, in investigating Chan and in various kinds of contemplative practice, none of these involve what is beneficial or harmful to oneself, yet they can all infuse and influence the manas, transform the manas, and lead the manas to accept them, thereby giving rise to wisdom.