Evidence That the Manas Is Not Neutral Feeling (Part One)

All seven consciousnesses have feeling with respect to their corresponding objects. The first five consciousnesses also have feeling toward the objects of the five sense-objects; this feeling is often non-emotional, a rather simple sensation, purely receiving the objects of form, sound, smell, taste, and touch. The feeling of the mind consciousness begins as simple receiving and acceptance, but after knowing, there arises feeling tinged with emotion—joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness will all manifest, and the mental activities become very numerous and complex.

The manas also has feeling. Whatever the six consciousnesses discriminate and know must be transmitted to the manas; the manas receives the detailed information conveyed by the six consciousnesses and thus has its own feelings. The manas also relies on the eighth consciousness and can perceive the images of all dharmas that the eighth consciousness takes as object; He can discern all dharmas, and therefore there are various feelings that are not known to the mind consciousness. For example, if, relying on the eighth consciousness, He discerns that oneself or a family member is about to have an accident, He will feel anxious, fearful, worried, agitated, terrified, and uneasy in His mind, and various feelings of suffering will arise. Consequently, He will impel the six consciousnesses to do certain inexplicable things that violate common sense, and the mind consciousness will likewise display emotions such as panic and unease, without knowing why. If the manas discerns that a happy event will soon occur, there will be pleasant feelings such as inner delight and joy, and the mind consciousness will experience inexplicable happiness—pleasant feelings will arise.

The manas also has feelings arising from what the six consciousnesses have discerned. For example, having experienced something during the day, in the evening when there is free time, the mind consciousness carefully recalls and analyzes it and realizes that things were not as they appeared on the surface. The more the mind consciousness thinks about it, the angrier it becomes—this is because the manas knows it and also becomes angry. Then one feels discomfort in the heart, one's complexion grows increasingly ugly, or one makes a new decision.

Some say that the feeling of the manas is simply neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā), without painful or pleasant feelings. But if the manas had no painful or pleasant feelings and only neutral feeling, it should, like the eighth consciousness, be able to tolerate all dharmas, being neither interested in nor avoiding or rejecting any dharma; it would not drive body and mind to engage in emotional behaviors such as joy, sorrow, anger, and happiness, nor would there be excessive behaviors and emotions; it should keep body and mind placid, quiet, and steady.

But it is plainly evident that the manas is not like this. Especially those who have not subdued their afflictions and lack cultivation are even more severely emotional, and often the mind consciousness does not even know why. Those melancholy people like Lin Daiyu, or those as irascible as an asura, are the result of the manas having painful feelings that it cannot bear. The habitual tendencies of the manas are too great, and the mind consciousness can hardly control the arising of these emotions. This shows that the manas does not have neutral feeling: because of painful feelings, the manas has corresponding afflictions, and because of pleasant feelings it also has corresponding afflictions.