Upon What Does the Manas Rely to Direct Its Attention Toward Dharmas?

The manas' mental engagement (manaskāra) arises in several ways: first, relying on its habitual tendencies, it habitually attends to certain dharmas that appear frequently and are familiar, and mental engagement arises easily; second, the manas may engage in mental engagement aimlessly, which is caused by its habitual tendencies of distraction and攀缘 (cognitive grasping); third, the manas easily gives rise to mental engagement toward dharmas it finds interesting; fourth, the manas easily gives rise to mental engagement toward major and important dharmas; fifth, the manas gives rise to mental engagement out of craving for certain dharmas; sixth, the manas gives rise to mental engagement due to afflictions such as resentment; seventh, the manas gives rise to mental engagement toward dharmas it needs; eighth, the manas easily engages mentally toward dharmas that appear suddenly. And so on—the list is not exhaustive.

After the manas engages mentally, perhaps the mental factors of contact, feeling, perception, and volition do not come forth and operate; perhaps there is no volition mental factor and the manas has not decided what to do; perhaps the perception mental factor does not come forth and operate, and the manas does not grasp at the object dharma; perhaps the feeling mental factor does not come forth and operate, and the manas does not wish to feel and is not interested in the object dharma. At the very beginning, when the preceding mental factor does not appear, there is no need for the subsequent mental factor to appear either.

From which characteristic of the manas is it relatively easy to locate the manas?

Question: In daily life one can find and experience the manas. For example, when the skin itches, when one is hungry, thirsty, or hot, or when one very much wants to do something, one knows that the final decision is the manas' business. At this time, the mind consciousness deliberately refrains from carrying it out and forcibly delays it. During this period, observe what the manas is doing and what it is thinking. After all, the manas still has the volition to decide whether or not to carry it out. This is tracing the manas' clues, or its source, or its origin. If this goes on for a long time, can one thereby locate the manas and realize it?

Answer: When the manas makes a decision in an instant, it is exercising mastery. The manas decides to scratch the itch, decides to eat, decides to drink water, decides to go out for some fresh air, decides to go do something. As long as something gets done, it is the manas that decided and directed it, and here the manas can be found. If the mind consciousness deliberately refuses to execute the manas'指令 (instructions), observe the manas' reaction, and one can know the manas' mental activities and habitual tendencies. When the mind consciousness does not execute the manas' instructions, at the same time there is also the manas' instruction to temporarily not do something, because the mind consciousness can never be the master in any case; whether to do something or not is all decided by the manas, and the mind consciousness' unwillingness to obey the manas is likewise likewise decided by the manas.

From this it can also be seen that the manas sometimes still complies with the mind consciousness' decisions; it is not completely willful and arbitrary, not completely a one-man dictatorship or a militaristic rule of thought. The manas must act as master and make decisions in every single event, moment after moment. From this characteristic one can trace the manas' clues and thereby realize the manas.