The Innate Self-Grasping of Persons and Phenomena in Manas

The so-called "innate" refers to what is inherently brought along with the Five Aggregates, arising together with them, carried over from past lives—not newly learned or newly arisen, nor acquired through later conditioning. Innate attachment to the self refers to the attachment to the self that arises together with the Five Aggregates, brought from the habitual tendencies of attachment in past lives to the present life. Innate attachment to dharmas refers to the attachment to dharmas that arises together with the Five Aggregates, brought from the habitual tendencies of attachment in past lives to the present life.

The seventh consciousness is the continuous consciousness, which has never been interrupted since beginningless kalpas. When each new set of Five Aggregates is born, the seventh consciousness does not need to be newly born; it remains the same one continued from the previous life. Therefore, its habitual tendencies, inertia, and inherent nature remain identical to those of the previous life, unchanged. All its cognitions are the same as those of the previous life, without alteration. What does the seventh consciousness cognize? The seventh consciousness cognizes the Five Aggregates, knowing them as the self; it cognizes the Eighteen Realms, knowing them as the self and what belongs to the self; the seventh consciousness relies on the eighth consciousness to cognize all dharmas, knowing that all dharmas are the self and belong to the self. Because the seventh consciousness has such cognitions and does not realize that these dharmas are not the self but are merely illusory dharmas manifested by the eighth consciousness, it develops attachment to the dharmas of the Five Aggregates and the Eighteen Realms, and attachment to all dharmas arising from the eighth consciousness.

In past lives, the seventh consciousness (manas) was attached to the Five Aggregates and the Eighteen Realms as the self. At the very moment of birth in the present life, even while in the mother's womb, it still attaches to the Five Aggregates and the Eighteen Realms as the self. In past lives, manas was attached to all dharmas as the self, and at the moment of birth in the present life, it remains attached in the same way. Therefore, it is said that manas's attachment to the self and attachment to dharmas are innate with the birth of the Five Aggregates. They do not require current learning or conditioning, nor do they rely on any dharmas other than the eighth consciousness to exist—meaning they can manifest independently without relying on the six consciousnesses or the living environment, and they can manifest instantly at every moment.