Are Bodily, Verbal, and Mental Actions Created by the Mind Consciousness or by the Manas?

Bodily, verbal, and mental actions are all fabricated by the mind consciousness, driven and compelled by the ignorance of the manas. If the manas had no ignorance, it would not prompt the mind consciousness to fabricate karma defiled by ignorance. This is what is taught in the twelve links of dependent origination: the ignorance of the manas prompts the arising of the deliberation (manasikāra) mental factor of the manas, giving rise to the decision to fabricate bodily, verbal, and mental actions; after the manas makes its decision, the mind consciousness and the five sense consciousnesses arise and fabricate bodily, verbal, and mental actions that accord with the mental activity and decisions of the manas. Among these, the manas is the dominant one; the mind consciousness merely obeys the regulation and control of the manas. For example, when a five-year-old child goes out to buy soy sauce, it is at the direction of the adults; the adults at home are in charge of managing the daily necessities, and when supplies run short, they send the child out to buy them. For example, an employee's work is arranged and assigned by the leader, and the employee must obey the leader's management. For example, the development of all trades and professions in society is deployed by the top leadership core of the state, and the subordinate units must carry out their work according to the deployment of the higher leadership departments and must not defy orders.

On the surface, the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of sentient beings are all produced by the mind consciousness and the five sense consciousnesses, but in essence they manifest the intentions and positions of the manas, manifesting the habits and tendencies of the manas. Only when the master and the servant operate in harmony can the five-aggregate body function in a coordinated way; if they cannot operate in harmony, it may lead to the manas splitting and breaking down, resulting in mental illness. Of course, sometimes when the manas does not understand certain dharmas, it has no ideas or positions of its own and will follow the opinions and views of the mind consciousness, sometimes even following them blindly, without really understanding what the mind consciousness is advocating. At such times, the mind consciousness appears powerful; but if the manas has wisdom, the mind consciousness cannot be more powerful than the manas—it is always the manas itself that makes the decisions and takes charge.