Is the Manas in Accord with Meditative Concentration?

Wisdom refers not only to the wisdom of the mind consciousness but also to the wisdom of the manas; the wisdom of the mind consciousness gives rise to the wisdom of the manas, and finally it is implemented in the manas and stored as seeds. In later lives, when conditions are encountered and the seeds sprout, great wisdom can again be born. Without meditative concentration (samādhi), only the mind consciousness alone has wisdom, and the manas cannot have wisdom, because the manas clings to many objects and cannot concentrate its energy on deliberation (manasikāra) and investigation; therefore it cannot realize the Dharma, does not know the selflessness of the Great and Small Vehicles, and cannot give birth to wisdom.

If the manas has no wisdom, it cannot eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), the view of doubt, and the view of moral precepts and observances, and the knots and bonds of birth-and-death thereafter cannot be severed, nor can it correctly and reasonably guide the six consciousnesses in cultivation. No matter how much wisdom the mind consciousness has, it is of little use. The mind consciousness may believe that the tathāgatagarbha is real, that all dharmas are illusory transformations, and that the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are without self, but if the manas does not understand this, ignorance cannot be broken. As long as beginningless ignorance still exists, it will continue to draw the six consciousnesses into creating karma of ignorance; afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion cannot be weakened, let alone subdued and eradicated; liberation of mind and liberation of wisdom cannot be attained; and one thought ignorance and the ignorance of dust and sand cannot be severed completely. Then one can neither escape the three realms nor ultimately attain buddhahood.

Liberation is mainly the liberation of the manas from the bondage of birth-and-death with respect to the dharmas of the three realms, as well as from grasping (upādāna) and bondage with respect to all dharmas. When the wisdom of the mind consciousness and the manas is fulfilled in the Small Vehicle, that is the arhat of the fourth fruit with liberation of wisdom; when the wisdom of the mind consciousness and the manas in the Great Vehicle gradually becomes complete and perfect, one can transform consciousness into wisdom and ultimately attain buddhahood. Therefore this wisdom must, in the end, be implemented in the manas.

Since great wisdom is manifested not only in the mind consciousness but also in the manas, and since the transformation of consciousness into wisdom involves not only the mind consciousness's transformation of consciousness into wisdom but even more the manas's transformation of consciousness into wisdom, then whose consciousness does meditative concentration concentrate, and with which consciousness does it correspond? Both the mind consciousness and the manas have meditative concentration, and both correspond to it. First, the manas hands the dharma over to the mind consciousness for deliberation. The mind consciousness is at first scattered, then gradually gains concentration; its deliberation and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) draw the manas's attention, and its attention gradually focuses on what the mind consciousness is deliberating—thus there is preliminary concentration. The mind consciousness can then gradually focus on deliberation and contemplative practice; as the manas's attention strengthens, meditative concentration becomes deeper and deeper, the mind consciousness becomes more and more focused, and the deliberation becomes more and more subtle. Relying on this, the manas deliberates deeply and subtly, can comprehend the principles, and thereby realizes the Dharma. This is the method of using contemplative practice to induce meditative concentration and then strengthening the power of contemplative practice.

On the other hand, when the mind consciousness cultivates concentration, it prompts the manas to reduce its clinging and to concentrate its mental attention. Afterwards, when the manas decides to deliberate on the meaning of the Dharma, the mind consciousness focuses its attention on deliberating and contemplating one dharma meaning. The content of the mind consciousness's contemplation is transmitted to the manas moment by moment; the manas may or may not have determination (adhimokṣa) regarding the information transmitted, and thus may or may not give birth to wisdom. Whether wisdom can be born also depends on many factors, such as whether the thirty-seven aids to the path are complete, how the cultivation of precepts, concentration, and wisdom is going, whether afflictions have been subdued, whether the mental disposition has been softened, and so on.

If one can deliberate single-pointedly and contemplate deeply and subtly, it shows that both the mind consciousness and the manas can concentrate their attention, and both have a certain power of concentration. When the six consciousnesses manifest meditative concentration, the manas must have concentration; if the manas has no concentration, the meditative concentration of the six consciousnesses cannot appear, because whether the six consciousnesses have thought or no thought is determined by the manas. If the manas clings everywhere, wanting to discern all realms of the six sense objects, not wanting to discern only one realm, it is impossible for the six consciousnesses to be without thought or to focus on one realm.

When the six consciousnesses are habituated to the Buddha's Dharma, if this habituation can reach the manas and influence and carry along the manas, then the manas also has concentration. The concentration of the manas first means that the manas can settle upon the Dharma—settling on the dharma of the five aggregates being without self to diligently study and cultivate, settling on the thirty-seven aids to the path, or settling on the bodhisattva's six perfections. Only when the manas becomes diligent can the six consciousnesses be diligent; if the manas is slack, the six consciousnesses cannot be diligent. If the manas is complete in the thirty-seven aids to the path, the six consciousnesses are necessarily complete. The manas is the commander who supervises and controls the six consciousnesses, and the six consciousnesses are necessarily directed and dispatched by the manas; therefore the key to cultivating the Path lies entirely in the manas.

After the manas, through its attention (manaskāra), settles upon the Dharma, the six consciousnesses can settle upon the Dharma without scattering, and only then can the six consciousnesses apply attention to contemplate the Dharma. Wherever the manas settles, the six consciousnesses settle. Because the six consciousnesses turn along with the manas, the manas's baton must direct the six consciousnesses at every moment, instant by instant. If the manas is not settled, it waves its baton around directing everywhere—can the six consciousnesses settle? They absolutely cannot. The manas must diligently cultivate the Buddha's Dharma before the six consciousnesses can be diligent. Therefore concentration refers first of all to the concentration of the manas, the concentration corresponding to the manas.

When the manas settles upon the Buddha's Dharma in cultivation, constantly mindful of contemplating the falsity of the five aggregates, then the six consciousnesses can contemplate. If the manas wants to investigate Chan, considering the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha important and wanting to realize it, the manas will supervise the six consciousnesses to investigate Chan, and only then can the six consciousnesses settle upon the dharma of investigating Chan and diligently cultivate the Mahāyāna Dharma. Therefore if the manas is not settled, the six consciousnesses have no concentration. In the four dhyānas and eight concentrations cultivated specifically through sitting meditation, whose concentration does it mainly refer to? Of course it also refers to the manas's. If the manas has not been subdued, if the manas does not settle upon sitting meditation but still clings to dharmas everywhere, clinging to and worrying about other dharmas, with miscellaneous and disordered thoughts, then for the six consciousnesses to sit in meditation and cultivate concentration, extinguishing mental thoughts, is impossible.

Therefore, whether it is the concentration of the four dhyānas and eight concentrations, or the concentration settled upon the Dharma, the focus upon the Dharma—it mainly refers to the manas, and only then can the six consciousnesses settle, rest the mind, extinguish initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra), and even extinguish the conscious mind. Only when the manas moves can the six consciousnesses move; wherever the manas points, the six consciousnesses will surely strike. To subdue the six consciousnesses, one must subdue the manas; to subdue the five aggregates, one must first subdue the manas.

Attaining buddhahood is also mainly about successfully habituating the manas, letting the manas realize all dharmas and know all dharmas, extinguishing completely beginningless ignorance and the delusions of the ignorance of dust and sand. When the manas is complete and perfect in precepts, concentration, and wisdom, the sentient being will necessarily attain buddhahood. Who does this sentient being refer to? It refers to the manas. Therefore the Vimalakīrti Sūtra spoke of the mental activities of sentient beings; the tathāgatagarbha knows the mental activities of sentient beings, mainly knowing the mental activities of the manas. The sentient being is the manas, and the manas is the sentient being. Since the manas takes the five aggregates as self, the view of self of the manas must be eradicated.