The Relationship between the Mental Factors of the Mind Consciousness and the Mental Factors of the Manas

Answer: Whichever consciousness is operating, the mental factors of that consciousness operate alongside it. Because the mind consciousness is regulated and directed by the manas, once the mind consciousness begins to operate, the arising of its own mental factors is inevitably influenced by the mental factors of the manas and regulated by the manas. When the manas wishes to do good, once wholesome mental factors arise, they inevitably bring about the birth of the mind consciousness's wholesome mental factors, in order to carry out the manas's instructions. It is the same with the arising of unwholesome mental factors and neutral mental factors. 

When the manas wants to practice generosity (dāna), it must direct the six consciousnesses to carry out the specific operation; thus the birth of the six consciousnesses serves to cooperate with the manas, to execute this wholesome deed of generosity. Therefore, once the mind consciousness's mental factors arise, they are necessarily wholesome, consistent with the mental factors of the manas. When the manas wants to practice generosity, it must direct the six consciousnesses to carry out the specific operation; thus the birth of the six consciousnesses serves to cooperate with the manas, to execute this wholesome deed of generosity. Therefore, once the mind consciousness's mental factors arise, they are necessarily wholesome, consistent with the mental factors of the manas. If the manas does not want to practice generosity, then in regard to this wholesome deed of generosity, there is no birth or operation of the mind consciousness and its mental factors. That is to say, whenever the mental factors of the consciousness-mind operate, the three natures will appear. Therefore, to purify the consciousness-mind, one need only purify the mental factors of the manas at the root, and the other consciousness-minds will become pure accordingly. 

If the manas wants to kill and set fires, it will give birth to the six consciousnesses to complete this evil deed, because the specific operation of killing and arson can only be accomplished with the six consciousnesses; the manas cannot carry it out itself. Therefore, once the six consciousnesses are born, their mental factors are necessarily unwholesome, consistent with the mental factors of the manas. Thus the manas possesses all wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral mental factors, so that it can enable the six consciousnesses to possess all mental factors to carry out bodily, verbal, and mental actions. It is not as some people say, that the manas has only a portion of the mental factors. If the manas's mental factors were incomplete, there would be many things the manas could not decide upon and enact. As for matters the manas does not decide upon, how could the six consciousnesses carry them out?

The mind consciousness's mental factors are at first consistent with those of the manas, but after deliberation, if it feels something is not right, it can also change its mental factors and turn back to persuade and influence the manas. There are also times when the mind consciousness goes against the manas. For example, the manas may want to do something bad, but the mind consciousness hesitates and does not carry it out; after changing its thoughts, it can also change the manas's thoughts—this is the influencing effect of the mind consciousness. Changing the manas is always accomplished through the mind consciousness's influencing: having experienced something, the mind consciousness will deliberate on the pros and cons, and thus the manas will come to know the pros and cons, and in future actions will know what to accept and what to reject. It is only that the influencing by the mind consciousness can be fast or slow, depending on the wisdom and skillful means of the mind consciousness.