How to Subdue the Perfumed Manas and Reduce Afflictions

Jing He's contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā): Recently I have gained a small insight regarding the manas: I feel that the manas's "actions" occur in layers. Before the mental consciousness accompanying the five sense consciousnesses (pañcavijñāna-sahagata-manovijñāna) arises, He is mainly characterized by doubt; only after the five-associated mind consciousness arises does He display obvious tendencies such as greed and aversion. In daily life, one generally only comes to reflect after afflictive habits such as greed and aversion have already arisen; in sitting meditation, one should try to reflect and introspect right at the moment when the five-associated mind consciousness first arises. However, this process of reflecting and letting go generally requires the mind consciousness to provide some guidance; it is not possible to let go immediately upon reflection (this is because the manas has not yet fully accepted the emptiness (śūnyatā) of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha)). 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 action, the mind consciousness observes the dharma, and in the observation discovers that oneself has greed, aversion, and delusion—this "oneself" refers to the manas. The manas's greed, aversion, and delusion are reflected through the actions of the six consciousnesses. At this point, the solitary mental consciousness has the power of observation or the power of introspection. Generally speaking, when the solitary mental consciousness's awareness is not very strong, one only observes one's own habits of greed, aversion, and delusion after the bodily, verbal, and mental actions have been completed, which is a step too late. If the solitary mental consciousness has strong awareness, then at the moment when one is about to decide to act, one discovers that one has greed, aversion, and delusion, that the action to be performed is a karmic deed of greed, aversion, and delusion, and one decides not to act. This decision is fed back to the manas, and the manas then makes His own decision; what the final outcome will be depends on the manas's awareness.

If the manas's awareness is not strong and the habits are heavy, He will still insist on His own decision, unwilling to change the bodily, verbal, and mental actions, letting the afflictions continue to manifest. But even so, the introspection of the solitary mental consciousness still has an effect: it plants a seed in the manas, perfuming the manas, letting the manas know that this kind of behavior is greed, aversion, and delusion, that it is unwholesome 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 weakened. Through the mind consciousness's repeated prevention and persuasion, the manas's intention will change, and He will no longer continue the actions of affliction. Therefore, cultivation is not something achieved overnight. Every act of introspection by the mind consciousness is a perfuming of the manas, planting seeds for the elimination of afflictions, and these seeds will sooner or later take root, sprout, flower, 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.