Cultivation Is Sweeping the Ground of the Mind

The manifestation of the Image-Only Object occurs when the manas grasps at and directs its attention (manaskāra) toward mental sense-objects (dharmāyatana) and then gives rise to thought; the tathāgatagarbha then produces the solitary mental consciousness to carry out the manas's instruction. Whatever dharma the manas directs its attention to, the solitary mental consciousness arises upon that very dharma, and thereafter operates according to the manas's intent. Only after the mind consciousness gives rise to a thought does knowing occur—knowing what the dharma is. This dharma is a mental sense-object resembling information, having nothing to do with the five sense-objects; it may be an idea or concept, a memory, a longing for the future, or the deliberation, analysis, and judgment of a problem. When the manas wants to recall something, the mind consciousness recollects people and events of the past; when the manas wants to know the meaning of a certain sentence, the mind consciousness deliberates and analyzes that sentence; when the manas wants to consider the next day's itinerary, the mind consciousness deliberates the arrangements for the next day's schedule. 

The arising of thoughts in the solitary mental consciousness is drawn forth by the manas, arising, ceasing, and moving in accordance with the manas's thoughts and ideas. For example, when the manas thinks of a person, the eighth consciousness immediately manifests the dharmas related to that person; after the manas makes contact and deliberates, it makes a decision that it wants to think it over, and so the solitary mental consciousness appears, directing its attention to the dharmas of that person, engaging in contact, feeling, perception, and volition. Thus, after the manas knows, a decision will follow; then the solitary mental consciousness may continue to operate in depth, or it may cease on that dharma and appear instead on some other dharma that the manas is grasping at. 

The scattered thoughts of the solitary mental consciousness arise from the manas's various graspings. At the very moment a thought first arises, no object-situation has yet manifested; the first instant is knowing that a thought has arisen, and only then does the image of the object appear—there is a process between the arising of the thought and the manifestation of the object. The object-situation was there all along, but without the mind consciousness it cannot be known. When the mind consciousness appears, in the first and second instants its discernment is incomplete and unclear; only in the third and fourth instants does its discernment arrive at a conclusion, and an outline of the dharma emerges; only afterward comes deliberation and analysis, and only then is the dharma made clear. Most of the scattered thoughts in the mind are things experienced in the past—this is called a "familiar object" (previously experienced object). It can be seen that the manas often grasps at dharmas intentionally or unintentionally; its habitual force is strong, the mind is not empty, and it cannot let go of everything it has experienced—people, events, things, and principles—all kept circling in the mind, unwilling to be relinquished. The mind is piled full of garbage, filthy and defiled, never knowing to clean and sweep it out.

Cultivation is precisely to regularly clean and sweep the hygiene of the mind, to do a thorough housecleaning and deep cleansing, maintaining the purity of the mind-ground, so that the chamber of the mind can radiate great light. The cleaning is led and supervised by the mind consciousness, with the manas's consent; still, it is the mind consciousness that does the sweeping—both devising the plans and carrying out the work are the mind consciousness's job, while the manas need only nod, give orders, and make the final decision.