The Master-Servant Relationship Between Manas and Mind Consciousness

All dharmas are what the manas, the master, needs; the six consciousnesses exist to serve the master, the manas, and must obey the master's commands—though of course, the master sometimes also listens to the servants' opinions and suggestions. For example, if the manas wants to drink water, after the tathāgatagarbha discerns this, it will give rise to the six consciousnesses to carry out the act of drinking water. The mind consciousness is responsible for considering how to drink the water and what the whole procedure and steps are; then, together with the body consciousness and eye consciousness, it takes the cup and pours the water. Whatever kind of water the manas wants to drink, the mind consciousness must prepare that kind of water; whenever the manas wants to drink, the mind consciousness arranges to drink at that time; finally, the six consciousnesses together drink the water, completing the work of drinking water—or rather, it should be said that the seven consciousnesses and the eighth consciousness together completed the work of drinking water.

If the manas does not want to drink water, the six consciousnesses will not arise to carry out the act of drinking water. The mind consciousness is never as important as the manas; the mind consciousness is a dharma that is generated anytime and anywhere according to the manas's needs, decided by the manas. It occupies a subordinate position and serves the manas; the mind consciousness must serve the manas well. If the mind consciousness cannot serve the manas well, the manas will become displeased and feel uncomfortable inside, and may even throw a tantrum—either becoming depressed and gloomy, or becoming mentally abnormal. If the mind consciousness seriously defies the manas over a relatively long period of time, the manas's mind may develop problems—either mental derangement or schizophrenia, or going mad.

If the manas wants to hear sounds, the six consciousnesses must be generated to discriminate sounds; wherever the manas points, the six consciousnesses must go there to do the work. But in the course of doing the work, the mind consciousness can opportunistically offer suggestions to the manas, and can also make requests; if the manas approves, they can be carried out accordingly. The six consciousnesses must all obey the manas's instructions. If the manas has ideas about the six sense objects, the six consciousnesses must appear to realize the manas's ideas; if the manas has no ideas and does not want to create anything, the six consciousnesses will not appear. The manas, this master, has great power; much of the time the six consciousnesses are unknowingly sent running here and there by the manas, blindly doing many things without knowing what is going on. However the manas wants the six consciousnesses to act, that is how the six consciousnesses must act.

If, in our cultivation and realization of the Buddha-dharma, we do not exert effort on the manas but only on the mind consciousness, then once the effort is spent, the mind consciousness ceases, and there is no result. If we want to realize the fruits, and we realize them only on the mind consciousness, then once the realization is done, it ceases, and there is no result either; in future lives we will still continue to transmigrate through birth and death, still driven by ignorance. Breaking ignorance only on the mind consciousness is useless; the manas's ignorance is the fundamental ignorance, because the problem of birth and death lies in the manas's ignorance, and the root of the twelve links of dependent origination is the manas's ignorance. Therefore, our initial exertion of effort on the mind consciousness is for the purpose of influencing and permeating the manas. The mind consciousness is like a megaphone, a tool for relaying messages, and it can also help the manas analyze and deliberate, ultimately letting the manas confirm, thereby transforming the manas—this is the most fundamental and ultimate purpose of learning Buddhism and cultivating practice.

Once the manas has been transformed, the mind consciousness's role of permeating and influencing also comes to an end; thereafter the manas can lead the mind consciousness to completely create wholesome karma. The mind consciousness occupies a subordinate position, serving as an advisor and a messenger; most of the time the manas can use it, and in rare cases it may not use it—when it is not used, the mind consciousness is nothing at all. For example, if we want to ask a leader for help with something, first we must have the secretary clarify and understand the matter clearly—the secretary is analogous to the mind consciousness; the secretary then reports it clearly to the leader, and only after the leader understands what it is about can he decide to help us, and then the matter is accomplished.

The mind consciousness is like a gatekeeper: if we want to go in and see the leader, we must pass through this gatekeeper. But if we remain at the gatekeeper's post and cannot get past the gatekeeper's checkpoint, we will never see the leader. From ancient times to the present, how many Buddhist practitioners have revolved only on the mind consciousness, never finding the entrance. We always want to attain enlightenment, yet we keep guarding the mind consciousness and revolving outside, not entering the manas to let the manas cultivate and realize—thus we cannot attain enlightenment. If the gatekeeper allows us to see the leader, but the leader says no, then we cannot see the leader to resolve the problem; no matter what the gatekeeper says, it is useless—only with the leader's permission can we go in and get the matter resolved. Therefore, no matter how excellent the Buddha-dharma is, it must be cultivated, realized, and confirmed by the manas; we must let the manas realize that the five aggregates are without self and realize the tathāgatagarbha. Once the manas realizes this, it will forever lead the six consciousnesses along the right path, performing wholesome karma and obtaining wholesome retribution.