The Source of the Mind Consciousness's Afflictions

The manas is the dominant condition (adhipati-pratyaya) for the arising of the mind consciousness, and it is also that upon which the mind consciousness relies for its defilement and purity. The mind consciousness comes into being only after the manas contacts the mental sense-objects (dharmas) and the manas makes a choice and acts. Where do the afflictions of the mind consciousness come from? One source is regulation and perfuming by the manas; another source is perfuming by the defiled environment all around.  

How does the manas regulate and perfume the mind consciousness? When the manas contacts the realms of the six sense-objects, it can roughly judge whether the sense-objects are agreeable or not. The manas first gives rise to afflictions in its own mind and wants to deal with the sense-objects; then the mind consciousness arises. Following the manas's instructions, the mind consciousness discerns the present mental sense-objects, and when it takes bodily and verbal action, it carries afflictions with it—the bodily and verbal actions are thereby defiled. This is the result of the mind consciousness being regulated by the manas. Perfuming means that each time the manas's afflictions appear, they perfume the mind consciousness; the mind consciousness is gradually perfumed and comes to have the same afflictions as the manas. For example, when a baby is first born, the mind consciousness has no afflictions, but over time the manas's innate afflictions come to dominate the mental activities of the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness becomes more and more consistent with the manas's afflictions—that is, it has been perfumed by the manas.

Only when the mind consciousness has awakened can it reduce some of its afflictions and, in turn, control the afflictions of the manas. The second source of the mind consciousness's afflictions is the perfuming by sense-objects: constantly dwelling among the various afflictions of similar people, through accumulated perfuming day after day, afflictions appear in the mind. The mind consciousness's afflictions then in turn perfume the manas, so that the manas also comes to have the same afflictions. After afflictions have been eliminated, the manas is no longer easily perfumed; even if afflictions occasionally arise, they are only the mind consciousness's temporary afflictions, which will be eliminated afterward and will not persist for long.