The Wisdom of the Mind Consciousness and the Wisdom of Manas

Regarding the issue of the power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) of the manas: all the wisdom possessed by the mind consciousness must land upon the manas in order to be considered successful and to achieve its purpose; only then are seeds stored, only then are they useful in future lives, and ultimately it is the manas's power of wisdom that performs all functions. For the manas to realize the fruits—from the first fruit to the fourth fruit—and if one wishes to see the mind, from the initial seeing of the mind to becoming a Buddha, in all cases it is the manas's wisdom that is at work. The result of the mind consciousness's wisdom is to enable the manas to transform consciousness into wisdom, to be endowed with great wisdom, and ultimately to become a Buddha.

The difference between the wisdom of the mind consciousness and the wisdom of the manas is that the mind consciousness has the function of logical thinking, analysis, and reasoning, and can engage in relatively abstract thought. The manas, however, cannot think abstractly; it must be concrete, with plots and imagery—the more direct perception, the better; the more realistic, the better. The manas has very little capacity for analytical thinking and can hardly perform logical reasoning and judgment; in this respect it relies on the mind consciousness, whereas other things of direct perception it can handle entirely on its own—though of course, with the assistance of the mind consciousness, it is best and fastest. Therefore, when there are pictures, images, and scenes with plots unfolding before one, the manas corresponds to them, the mind consciousness's memory is firm, and understanding comes very easily—that is precisely the reason. When the six faculties interpenetrate and function through one another, the manas takes the place of the mind consciousness and also takes the place of the five consciousnesses. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Mahākāśyapa's perfect clarity and knowing illustrates precisely this principle.