All dharmas are the results of the manas's pervasive cognition.

The Buddha said that the manas silently encompasses all dharmas; "silently encompasses" is equivalent to universally cognizing them. Most importantly, the eighth consciousness cannot manifest dharmas on its own, nor can it hold and sustain dharmas on its own—it must have the manas; otherwise, the eighth consciousness in nirvāṇa without remainder would also be able to manifest dharmas and hold and sustain dharmas, and then it would not be tranquil. The manas is the fundamental driving force behind the arising of the dharmas of the three realms; the arising of any dharma is propelled by the manas, and the eighth consciousness cannot operate alone. This shows that on all dharmas there is not only the operation of the eighth consciousness but also the operation of the manas; therefore, the manas can cognize all dharmas, and no dharma is without the manas.

Even the karmic retribution that the manas is unwilling to undergo, and the karmic seeds that it is unwilling to engage with, only become manifest through the eighth consciousness because of the manas's condition. If it were not so, then since arhats still have karmic seeds, in nirvāṇa without remainder the eighth consciousness should manifest those karmic seeds; if they could become manifest, it would not be the state of nirvāṇa without remainder, and the eighth consciousness would be creating conditioned karma.

The mind consciousness cannot have any single function or role of its own; it is always bound together with the manas, and everything is the result of the manas's assistance. The mind consciousness cannot operate independently apart from the manas. Therefore, the function of the manas is extremely prominent and important.

The process by which a person's mind consciousness is activated is as follows: the manas first gives rise to a thought; after attention (manaskāra), the mental factor of volition (cetanā) appears, and then the mind consciousness produces thoughts and ideas. When a thought arises, it is always the manas that first gives rise to it, and then the mind consciousness's thought emerges. Without the manas's thought, there is no thought of the mind consciousness. In investigating the huatou, in the end it is still a matter of tethering the manas to the huatou, never forgetting it for a moment, from morning to night; only then can one break through the huatou—and this too is the result of the manas giving rise to thoughts. The manas giving rise to a thought is precisely attention (manaskāra). Giving rise to a thought is attention; the words are merely different.

In fact, the six consciousnesses and the eighth consciousness have always been performing a two-person act together; thus one can discover the traces of the eighth consciousness in the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses. Likewise, the manas and the eighth consciousness are also performing a two-person act together; thus one can also find the traces of the eighth consciousness in the operations of the manas—in the manas's attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volition, and in all of the manas's functions of making decisions and acting as the master. Therefore, attaining enlightenment through the manas is deeper, more direct, more thorough, and more ultimate, and the wisdom generated in this way is the deepest.