Consciousness and Manas: Who Is the Commander?

A person wants to take a bus to place A. Walking to the bus stop, he finds that there is a No. 1 bus and a No. 2 bus. He looks at the stop names of the two buses, and his mind consciousness knows that he should take the No. 2 bus, so he decides to take the No. 2 bus. After boarding, he arrives at his destination.

Question: Does the manas know the content that the mind consciousness knows? Was the decision to take the No. 2 bus made by the mind consciousness or by the manas? And when boarding the bus, was it the mind consciousness directing or the manas directing?

Answer: The manas makes use of the six consciousnesses to discern the dharmas it wants to discern. The manas contacts the sense objects and gives rise to the mind consciousness; as for the dharmas discerned by the mind consciousness, the manas is also continually engaged in contact, attention (manaskāra), feeling, perception, and volition. If the manas no longer contacts a dharma, the mind consciousness disappears with respect to that dharma. Therefore, the dharmas that the mind consciousness knows are simultaneously known by the manas as well; the difference lies in whether what the two consciousnesses know is consistent.

When the manas cannot discern fine details, the mind consciousness discerns them on its behalf; when the manas is unable to analyze, reason, and judge, the mind consciousness analyzes, reasons, and judges on its behalf. After the manas knows, it then deliberates on its own; if it agrees with the mind consciousness's viewpoint, it consents to the mind consciousness's judgment and decision; if not, it lets the mind consciousness think it over again, and then the manas deliberates once more. This continual scrutiny and deliberation of the manas arises at all times: it must vet every dharma before letting it pass, making its own final choice.

Question: When the mind consciousness knows that only the No. 2 bus can reach the destination, must the manas also realize this principle? If the manas cannot deliberate and realize this principle, can it reach the destination?

Answer: For the manas to know the content discerned by the mind consciousness, it must deliberate on it personally; it is not the case that whatever the mind consciousness says goes. The manas's continual scrutiny and deliberation serves precisely this function, so the manas has its own thoughts and wisdom—it is not a blockhead.

When the mind consciousness knows that only the No. 2 bus can reach the destination, the manas does not necessarily know this principle; if the manas cannot deliberate and realize this principle, it cannot reach the destination. This involves the question of the manas's wisdom, and also the question of the mind consciousness's capacity for thought and analysis, as well as whether there are afflictive obstructions—and here there is also the matter of meditative concentration (samādhi).

Many dharmas that the mind consciousness understands and knows are not understood by the manas, and so the manas delays making a decision and never takes action. For example, with the matter of generosity (dāna): the mind consciousness feels it should be done, but the manas does not understand it and is unwilling to do it. By the same reasoning, when the mind consciousness contemplates and analyzes that the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) are suffering, empty, impermanent, and not-self, if the mind consciousness just skims the surface without carefully contemplating and practicing contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), then because the manas's capacity for analysis and understanding is poor, it will not comprehend this principle. It may also fear that there will truly be no self, not knowing what benefit there is in no-self, and so it will not allow the mind consciousness to contemplate this matter any further.

Therefore, for some people, although the mind consciousness understands a little that the five aggregates are not-self, the manas does not necessarily understand; what the mind consciousness realizes, the manas does not necessarily realize. If the manas cannot realize that the five aggregates are not-self, then the three fetters cannot be eliminated, all bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot be changed, and the problem of birth and death cannot be solved.

Even taking the bus is decided by the manas—could it be that the great matter of birth and death need not be decided by the manas, but by the mind consciousness instead? The first mouthful of rice, the second mouthful of vegetables—all are decided by the manas. The mind consciousness need only act as an advisor; as for what to eat or not eat, and how much, it is still the manas, the master, that makes the call.

In studying Buddhism to end birth and death, one cannot bury one's head in the sand like an ostrich and think everything is fine. One must face the problem and solve it; one cannot evade it. The great matter of birth and death cannot be evaded—it must be faced and resolved before one can be at peace.