宗鏡錄 52.52

52.52

Answer: If there were no seventh, there would be no ordinary being to be reviled and no noble one to be sought; ordinary beings and noble ones would not be established, and both defilement and purity would be lost. The śāstra states: 'Therefore, there must definitely be this manas separately.' Furthermore, a sutra states: 'In non-conceptual sentient beings, throughout one lifetime, mind and mental factors are extinguished. If this consciousness did not exist, they should be without defilement'—meaning that they are without the six evolving consciousnesses for a long time; if this manas did not exist, the grasping of self would be absent—'and so forth; therefore, there must separately be a defiled manas that constantly gives rise to the grasping of self in the Non-conceptual Heaven. On this account, the worthy and noble together revile and detest it.' Furthermore, a sutra states: 'When ordinary beings have wholesome, defiled, or indeterminate minds, they constantly carry the grasping of self. If this consciousness did not exist, that should not be'—meaning that among the class of ordinary beings, when their minds are of the three natures, although they externally give rise to karmic actions, internally they constantly grasp a self; because they internally grasp a self, this causes the giving and so forth arising within the six consciousnesses to be unable to forget characteristics. Therefore, the Yogācārabhūmi says: 'The defiled manas is the support for consciousness. When it has not yet ceased, one cannot be liberated from the bond of characteristics and discerning. When manas has ceased, one is liberated from the bond of characteristics.' The 'bond of characteristics' refers to being unable to comprehend that objective characteristics are like illusory phenomena and so forth; because of this, the darśanabhāga is constrained by the nimittabhāga and cannot attain sovereignty; hence it is called the 'bond of characteristics'. In accordance with this meaning, a gāthā states: / 'Such a defiled manas / Is the support of consciousness. / While this manas has not ceased, / Consciousness is never freed from bondage.' / The commentary explains: Regarding 'Constantly gives rise to the grasping of self in the Non-conceptual Heaven; on this account, the worthy and noble together revile and detest it'—it is because the seventh consciousness gives rise to the grasping of self there and they are ordinary beings, so after emerging from meditative absorption, they sink back into saṃsāra and give rise to various kleśas; thus the noble and worthy revile them. If there were no seventh, they should not revile them, as there would be no faulty result. Regarding 'Because they grasp a self, this causes the giving and so forth arising within the six consciousnesses to be unable to forget characteristics'—this self conditions externally, and its activity is coarse and agitated, not arising from the seventh; yet it is due to the seventh that the sixth gives rise to this, produced entirely through the seventh, spoken of in terms of reinforcement. In the sixth consciousness, the substance of the grasping of self is intermittent, extending through minds of the three natures, because it arises interspersed; and this is because the seventh does not arise conditioning external objects. The above is an abridged record of the seventh manas, which all teachings equally explain and all the worthy together expound. For those newly entering the Path, this manas must be understood. It is the cause from which ordinary beings and noble ones arise, so one should thoroughly explore its substance and nature; it establishes the basis of liberation and delusion, so one may investigate its roots and origins. Deluded about it, one falls into the foolishness of grasping persons and dharmas; awakened to it, one accomplishes the wisdom of equality (samatājñāna). Among all the consciousnesses, it alone obtains the name of 'manas'. Within the contaminated, it serves as the master of avidyā. Never pausing and never broken, it is treated by the non-conceptual absorption yet not dispelled; constantly cogitating and ever persistent, it is avoided in the four formless heavens yet arises again. Although obscured, it is indeterminate; it does not grasp externally, but conditions internally. Ever producing active manifestation, it can obscure the true and obstruct the Path. It is solely termed 'unshared', merely establishing defilement and moistening rebirth. Therefore, if one wishes to penetrate worldly dust and toil, one must know the essential path; about to apply the wondrous medicine, one must first observe the origin of the disease. If one investigates with a subtle mind and contemplates profoundly with an unified heart, then what dust will not be escaped, and what disease will not be dispelled? In the gateway of severing delusion, this is indeed the essential.