The Five Aggregates and the Six Consciousnesses Are All Tools of the Manas

Answer: The mind consciousness, the five sense consciousnesses, and the five aggregates are all tools that the manas must use. Without these tools, the manas is powerless on its own; it needs the six consciousnesses and the five aggregates to serve it, using them to grasp all dharmas in the world. Without the six consciousnesses and the five aggregates, the manas would be helpless. So although the manas can know many dharmas, it must rely on the mind consciousness to process them. For example, suppose a ghost or spirit appears nearby. The manas feels it is quite frightening and fears being threatened, but it cannot deal with the ghost or spirit itself, nor can it evade it alone. So, while the hairs stand on end, it alerts the mind consciousness to this matter. The mind consciousness then wonders: What exactly is going on? Why do I feel afraid? Why does the surroundings feel eerie, as if something is about to happen? When the mind consciousness is sharp, it thinks it over and comes to know, as best it can, that there is a ghost or spirit nearby, and so it finds a way to avoid it. In this way the manas achieves its aim.

Therefore, although the manas has the capacity of knowing, matters still need to be handled by the mind consciousness and the five aggregates. After the manas realizes the dharma, the pure bodily, verbal, and mental actions must be carried out by the mind consciousness and the five aggregates; thus the pure bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses manifest the purity of the manas. However, after one cultivates to a considerably high level, having developed the four dhyānas and eight samādhis and possessed immeasurable superknowledges and powers of the Path, the manas can substitute for the six consciousnesses. At that point, the six consciousnesses need not arise at all; all matters are handled by the manas itself—extremely convenient and effortless. So the function and status of the mind consciousness can in no way compare with those of the manas; theirs is forever a master-servant relationship. The master needs the servant to take care of trivial affairs, but when the master's capability is great—everything running on fully modernized procedures—the servant is no longer needed, and the master can handle everything well and skillfully on His own.