How to Subdue the Manas and Reduce Afflictions

Jing He's contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā): Recently I have also gained a small insight regarding the manas: I feel that the manas's "actions" occur in layers. Before the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna) arises, He is mainly characterized by doubt; only after the consciousness accompanied by the five senses arises does He display obvious characteristics such as greed and anger. In daily life, one generally can only reflect back after afflictive habits such as greed and anger have already arisen, whereas in sitting meditation one should try to reflect and introspect right at the moment when the consciousness accompanied by the five senses first arises. However, this process of reflecting and letting go generally requires the mind consciousness to do some guiding; one cannot immediately let go right after becoming aware (this is because the manas has not yet fully accepted the emptiness (śūnyatā) of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha)). This is what troubles me now. 

Assessment: The manas's initial doubt is uncertainty about the dharma, so He cannot yet make a decision. Once the mind becomes certain and free of doubt, a decision will be made, and after the decision, the six consciousnesses arise and act according to the manas's wishes. During the process of acting, the mind consciousness observes the dharma, and in the observation discovers that it has greed, anger, and delusion—this "self" refers to the manas. The manas's greed, anger, and delusion are reflected through the actions of the six consciousnesses. At this point, the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) possesses the power of observation or the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala). Generally speaking, when the solitary consciousness's awareness is not very strong, one only observes one's own habits of greed, anger, and delusion after the bodily, verbal, and mental actions have been completed, which is one step too late. If the solitary consciousness has strong awareness, then at the moment when one is about to decide to act, one discovers that one has greed, anger, and delusion, that what one is about to do are karmic actions of greed, anger, and delusion, and one decides not to act. This decision is fed back to the manas, and the manas then makes His own decision; the final outcome depends on the manas's awareness. 

If the manas's awareness is not strong and His habits are heavy, He will still persist in His own decision, unwilling to change the bodily, verbal, and mental actions, allowing the afflictions to continue manifesting. But even so, the solitary consciousness's introspection still has an effect: it plants a seed in the manas, letting the manas know that this kind of behavior is greed, anger, and delusion, is bad, and should not be done. The next time the manas wants to manifest afflictions, there will be hesitation and obstruction in the mind, and the force of the afflictions will be reduced. Through the mind consciousness's repeated obstruction and persuasion, the manas's mind will change and no longer continue the actions of affliction. Therefore, practice is not something accomplished in a single morning or evening. Every act of introspection by the mind consciousness plants a seed for eliminating afflictions, and these seeds will sooner or later take root, sprout, blossom, and bear fruit. The manas's afflictions accumulated over countless lifetimes are piled up like mountains and cannot be changed in a short time; patient, sustained cultivation is necessary, and one should constantly maintain awareness.