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

Question: "After the seeds of consciousness give birth to and form the seven consciousnesses, the mental factors operate alongside them, and only then does the conscious mind have the three natures of wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral." These mental factors should belong to the manas, right? Because the manas contains innate and imputed habitual tendencies, while the first six consciousnesses, when born and formed from the seeds of consciousness, should all be pure; only after being influenced by the manas's mental factors do they acquire the three natures. Is this understanding correct?

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 a wholesome deed, once wholesome mental factors arise, they inevitably lead to the birth of the mind consciousness's wholesome mental factors, in order to carry out the manas's instruction. It is the same when unwholesome mental factors and neutral mental factors arise.

When the manas wants to practice generosity (dāna), it must direct the six consciousnesses to carry out the concrete operation; thus the birth of the six consciousnesses serves to cooperate with the manas, to execute this wholesome act of generosity. Therefore, once the mind consciousness's mental factors are born, they are inevitably 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 concrete operation; thus the birth of the six consciousnesses serves to cooperate with the manas, to execute this wholesome act of generosity. Therefore, once the mind consciousness's mental factors are born, they are inevitably wholesome, consistent with the mental factors of the manas. If the manas does not want to practice generosity, then in the matter of this wholesome act 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 conscious mind operate, the three natures will appear. Therefore, to purify the conscious mind, one need only purify the mental factors of the manas at the root, and the other conscious minds will become pure accordingly.

When the manas wants to kill and commit arson, it will give birth to the six consciousnesses to complete this evil deed, because the concrete 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 inevitably 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 claim, 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 take charge of and bring about. For matters in which the manas does not take charge, 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 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 thinking, it can also change the manas's thinking—this is the mind consciousness's power of influence. Changing the manas always happens through the mind consciousness's influence. Having experienced something, the mind consciousness will ponder its benefits and drawbacks, and thus the manas will come to know the benefits and drawbacks, and in future actions it will make choices accordingly. It is just that the mind consciousness's influence can be fast or slow, depending on the wisdom and skillful means of the mind consciousness.