Within the knowing of the mind consciousness there is the knowing of the manas and the knowing of the eighth consciousness

Answer: The lucid, clear "I" that one perceives is precisely the various functions and operations of the mind consciousness, which is the easiest to observe and experience—such as this "I" experiencing, observing, analyzing, thinking, judging, feeling, perceiving, choosing, contemplating, reasoning, seeking, and so on. These are the functions and operations of the aggregate of feeling (vedanā), the aggregate of perception (saṃjñā), the aggregate of formations (saṃskāra), and the aggregate of consciousness (vijñāna). And the "knowing" that knows these various functions and operations of this "I" is the knowing of the mind consciousness's introspective function—the "self-validating cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga)" of the conscious mind.

Within the operation of all these dharmas, among the various knowings of the mind consciousness, there is also the knowing of the manas and the knowing of the eighth consciousness; the functions and operations of both the manas and the eighth consciousness are present. When the mind consciousness knows, there must be the "knowing" of the manas accompanying it, and there must also be the "knowing" of the eighth consciousness accompanying it. Without the knowing of the manas, the mind consciousness would necessarily perish and cease to exist, and could not arise. Without the knowing of the eighth consciousness, the knowing of the mind consciousness would likewise necessarily not exist, would necessarily not arise, and would necessarily perish and vanish.