The Cetasikas of Manas from the Perspective of the Twelve Nidānas

The three links in the Twelve Nidanas—ignorance conditioning volitional formations, volitional formations conditioning consciousness, and consciousness conditioning name-and-form—clearly reveal that the suffering of birth, aging, illness, and death in sentient beings is all caused by the ignorance of the mental faculty (manas). Due to this ignorance, sentient beings create wholesome and unwholesome karma and undergo rebirth in the six realms. Thus, the ignorance of the mental faculty encompasses all afflictions and possesses all afflictive mental factors (caitta). Sentient beings experience partite death (death within a single lifetime) and transformative death (death across lifetimes) precisely because they harbor all afflictions. Once the ignorance of the mental faculty is completely eradicated, sentient beings attain Buddhahood. At this point, the mental faculty becomes endowed with all wholesome mental factors, which constantly accompany its functioning. Previously, this constancy was absent, especially during the stage of ordinary beings, where wholesome mental factors rarely accompanied the mental faculty.

In summary, the mental faculty possesses all mental factors, no fewer than the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna). If the mental faculty did not possess all afflictive mental factors, the mind would not be severely defiled, would create less karma leading to birth and death, and would experience less suffering. However, sentient beings have endured all the suffering of birth and death throughout immeasurable eons and have created all karma leading to birth and death. This demonstrates that the mental faculty possesses all afflictive mental factors. If the mental faculty did not possess all wholesome mental factors, the mind would not be completely and utterly pure, and thus one could not attain Buddhahood. Yet, all sentient beings will ultimately attain Buddhahood, so the mental faculty must possess all wholesome mental factors. However, these wholesome and unwholesome mental factors do not constantly accompany the functioning of the mental faculty. For ordinary sentient beings, only the four fundamental afflictions—the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), self-conceit (asmimāna), self-attachment (ātma-grāha), and afflicted ignorance (ātma-moha)—constantly and unceasingly accompany the mental faculty, never separating from it even for a moment. Thus, these four fundamental afflictions are the root cause of karma leading to birth and death and the suffering of birth and death. From these four fundamental afflictions, other afflictions arise intermittently, manifesting sometimes overtly and sometimes latently.

If the affliction of the view of self is severed, the other three fundamental afflictions will gradually be eradicated as well. Once the four fundamental afflictions are severed, all other afflictions will be completely eradicated, and partite death ceases. Therefore, after sentient beings sever the view of self, the affliction of the view of self can neither constantly nor intermittently accompany the mental faculty. Even after the afflictions of self-attachment and self-conceit are completely eradicated, they can neither constantly nor intermittently accompany the mental faculty but instead cease to accompany it forever. The same applies to afflicted ignorance: once it is completely eradicated, the manifest afflictions of the mental faculty are exhausted, and upon death, one can transcend the three realms and enter Nirvana without residue (nirupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa).

The wholesome mental factors of the mental faculty in ordinary sentient beings are incomplete and do not constantly accompany its functioning. Instead, they are intermittent—sometimes present, sometimes absent; sometimes manifest, sometimes latent. Once the afflictive mental factors of the mental faculty are eradicated, the wholesome mental factors gradually become complete and will constantly accompany the mental faculty’s functioning. This is the mental activity of a sage, not that of an ordinary being. In summary, for ordinary sentient beings, only the four fundamental afflictions constantly accompany the mental faculty’s functioning, while other afflictions are intermittent—sometimes present, sometimes absent; sometimes manifest, sometimes latent. The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra discusses this precisely in this way. The wholesome mental factors of the mental faculty in ordinary sentient beings are also intermittent—sometimes present, sometimes absent; sometimes manifest, sometimes latent. After eradicating afflictions and becoming a sage, the wholesome mental factors will frequently accompany the mental faculty’s functioning, eventually becoming constant companions.

In recent decades, many people have profoundly misunderstood the mental factors of the mental faculty. The reason lies in a severe deficiency in meditative concentration (śamatha) and wisdom (prajñā), rendering them unable to observe the mental activity of the mental faculty directly. Their comprehension is also insufficient, leading them to misinterpret the expositions of the Bodhisattvas. This misunderstanding persists to this day. Because the levels of meditative concentration and wisdom among the great Bodhisattvas vary considerably—some high, some low—contradictions inevitably appear in their expositions. When such contradictions arise, one should prioritize the expositions of Bodhisattva Maitreya, who possesses the deepest wisdom. If there are sutras that corroborate a point, the sutras should take precedence. If no sutras are available for corroboration, one should rely on genuine experiential realization as the standard and base judgments on facts, for facts ultimately speak louder than arguments.