The Supreme State of Applying Manas

I have a disciple who has learned to use the manas. Whenever encountering a problem, wisdom gushes forth, and solutions emerge in endless succession. As these solutions arise, he feels compelled to immediately implement them, tackling each plan one by one. This leads to working day and night without rest, causing his body to suffer. Once wisdom emerges, if the thoughts in his mind are not acted upon, he may later be unable to recall those ideas, which is a great pity. After solving one problem, his mind expands, and another idea appears, compelling him to implement this new thought to solve yet another problem. Consequently, he is forced to work continuously, becoming a workaholic. Although his work efficiency increases several times over, his body cannot endure it.

So I advised him: "In the future, whenever sparks of wisdom and ideas gush forth, immediately record them using your phone. Just jot them down in concise language, or even use keywords. Since these ideas arise from your own mind (the mind of manas), when you revisit the notes later, your consciousness will browse them and recall the general content. The train of thought will reappear, ensuring this wisdom resource isn’t wasted."

Another disciple, after learning the Dharma from me several years ago, went abroad for study and work. In just fifteen months, he completed nearly five years’ worth of study and work tasks and secured a ten-year contract. This was all due to his application of manas, which led to a rapid increase in wisdom for problem-solving, enabling him to exceed his work and study goals. This shows the immense potential of manas. The only fear is that consciousness and physical stamina cannot keep up, causing the body to suffer.

When I teach the Dharma, I adopt this method. For a single Dharma principle, as long as the mind settles and immerses itself, various thoughts and ideas continuously emerge. Sometimes, when the body is fatigued and consciousness cannot keep pace, it becomes impossible to form all these thoughts into written records. Transforming mental conceptions into words also depletes vital energy, which is a precious resource for me—I must use it sparingly. Thus, I have no choice but to record only fragments or keywords. When I revisit them later, the train of thought reappears. However, due to the accumulation of too many fragments over the years, I simply lack the time to organize them, while new thoughts and ideas keep emerging. The old records remain piled up, untouched due to lack of energy. Consequently, I cannot address each disciple’s questions anymore; otherwise, it would be endless, and no Dharma teaching could ever be formed into written text for publication.

Knowing how to use manas truly brings inexhaustible wisdom. Manas itself never rests, but the energy of consciousness falls far behind. The expression through words and language cannot keep up with the thoughts of manas, and wisdom fails to take written form—this too feels regrettable. Such is the nature of mental brilliance: self-benefit is unimpeded, but when seeking to benefit others, obstacles arise. Still, this is far better than having a brilliant consciousness but unwise manas. When consciousness is sharp, one may speak eloquently and extravagantly, but in reality, it may not align with the truth.

Thus, it is evident that consciousness and manas are not necessarily coordinated or consistent. There are things we can sometimes do but cannot summarize or articulate. Forming them into language for expression becomes extremely difficult, or we lack the time and energy to do so. For example, the great Arhat Cūḍapanthaka possessed very high realization and virtue in his manas, yet he could not express these in words to benefit sentient beings—this is a flaw in the wisdom of consciousness. Manas accomplishes it, but consciousness cannot explain it clearly or express it—able to do but unable to say. Others are the opposite: consciousness speaks extravagantly, but manas remains stagnant—able to say but unable to do. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, through long-term liberation of sentient beings, can both do and explain. Manas and consciousness work in harmony; they master both essence and doctrine. Essence is the wisdom of manas; doctrine is the wisdom of consciousness—both types of wisdom are profound.

Judging from the wisdom states derived from manas, once the wisdom of manas is opened and fully activated, it is not inferior or weak. On the contrary, it is very potent. The wisdom of consciousness appears somewhat weaker, unable to keep up with the rhythm of manas. Words and language cannot describe the samādhi states of manas, and often cannot even comprehend them. Moreover, as cultivation deepens, the wisdom of manas grows ever more profound, eventually reaching a depth where it completely replaces the functions of the other six consciousnesses, extinguishing their use and replacing them with itself alone—substituting one for seven. How immensely powerful must such functional wisdom be? So powerful that consciousness cannot even be called "weak" anymore. Throughout history, those who claim manas has inferior wisdom—what thoughts arise upon seeing such facts? Do they remain deluded, stubbornly clinging to flawed theories conceived by fragmented consciousness? Later, we will use the actualized states of sages to shatter these delusional, incomplete notions.