The Relationship Between the Manas, the Five Consciousnesses, and the Inner and Outer Five Sense Objects

First of all, the arising and operation of the five sense consciousnesses comes from the manas. If the manas does not engage in attention (manaskāra) and decision-making, the five sense consciousnesses do not appear. After the manas engages in attention and decision-making, the five sense consciousnesses and the mind consciousness appear simultaneously, discerning the six sense objects at the place where the manas directs attention and makes contact. Therefore, the appearance of the five sense consciousnesses is not determined by the mind consciousness, but by the manas. The mind consciousness is merely one of the necessary conditions for the birth of the five sense consciousnesses; only when the two come together can they jointly discern the complete object-realm. Their order of appearance is almost indistinguishable as to which comes first, and the birth and operation of the five sense consciousnesses are not determined by the mind consciousness.

Since the manas can determine the birth of the five sense consciousnesses, why is the manas able to govern them? We know that the birth of the five sense consciousnesses necessarily comes about through the contact of the five sense faculties with the five sense objects, and this contact of the five faculties with the five objects is the result brought about by the manas. Both the five sense faculties and the five sense objects are material form (rūpa), not consciousness; they cannot actively contact one another and then decide to give rise to the five sense consciousnesses. It is the manas that causes the five faculties to contact the five objects and gives rise to the five sense consciousnesses.

Why can the manas cause the five faculties to contact the five sense objects? Because the manas grasps at the six sense objects and wishes to discern them in detail. The manas does not merely grasp at the mental sense objects and contact only them; rather, it grasps at the entire object-realm—the complete object-realm that includes the five sense objects. If it only grasped at the mental sense objects and not the five sense objects, the information about the object-realm would be incomplete, and it would be unable to make decisions and choices, and the six consciousnesses would not arise. For example, if there are colorful fresh flowers in front of you, the mental sense objects and the five sense objects combine to form the complete appearance of the flowers. If the manas did not grasp the five sense objects, it would not know the colors of the flowers—so how could He decide to contact red flowers, or blue flowers, or purple flowers? How could He choose the flowers? The reason the six consciousnesses discern the object-realm with selectivity is precisely the manas's decision-making regarding the object-realm, which necessarily involves the five sense objects. The five sense objects occupy a considerable and important proportion of the six sense objects, and moreover they manifest first and are easy to recognize. Therefore, the manas does not grasp the six sense objects separately and then make decisions.

For example, when the manas grasps at the appearance of a person, it will not grasp only the mental-object appearance of the person while excluding the person's skin color and the colors of their clothing. On the contrary, it is the colors that are most prominent and most attention-grabbing at the very beginning, and only afterward come the subtle mental-object features. The same applies to other object-realms. Therefore, the manas does grasp the five sense objects. As for the five-object realm before the six sense objects enter the supreme faculty (rūpa-prasāda), the manas can certainly also grasp it and make decisions regarding it. For example, before a car accident occurs, the manas grasps at the oncoming car and knows that a collision is imminent, and thus urgently decides to dodge. If the manas only grasped the mental-object aspect of the car and not the five-object realm of the car, how could it know that there is a car ahead about to collide? How could it decide to avoid the oncoming car? After a huge explosion occurs, if the manas did not grasp the five-object realm of the explosion's sound, how could it decide to flee immediately?

After the manas makes any decision, the five sense consciousnesses immediately arise together with the mind consciousness to carry out the manas's instructions. This shows that the birth of the five sense consciousnesses is determined by the manas, and that together with the mind consciousness they take orders from the manas. In which object-realm the five sense consciousnesses and the mind consciousness discern, how long they discern, and which contents they focus on discerning—all are directed and dominated by the manas. In summary, the manas is the master consciousness, which can exercise mastery and make decisions over the five faculties, the five sense objects, and the five sense consciousnesses. Their relationship is one of the active and the passive, of the dominant and the obedient.