The Prajñā of Manas Is the Most Crucial

All eight consciousnesses possess the wisdom mental factor. Setting aside the wisdom mental factor of the eighth consciousness for now, among the wisdom mental factors of the first seven consciousnesses, that of the seventh consciousness, manas (the mental faculty), is the most crucial and pivotal in cultivation and realization. It represents the fundamental level of wisdom of a sentient being. Because manas determines the arising and functioning of the six consciousnesses, governs all physical, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses, and also determines, to a certain extent, the wisdom of the six consciousnesses, the first six consciousnesses are subject to manas. Thus, the wisdom of manas plays a decisive role, concerning the life and death, survival or extinction of sentient beings, as well as whether they attain liberation or remain bound in the cycle of rebirth.

If manas lacks wisdom, no amount of wisdom in the six consciousnesses is of any avail. The karmic actions created by the six consciousnesses are governed by manas. What kind of karmic seeds are formed is determined by the mental activities of manas; what kind of karmic retribution will be experienced in future lives is determined by the mental activities of manas; whether future existences entail the cycle of rebirth or liberation and Buddhahood is determined by the mental activities of manas. Therefore, the wisdom to sever the view of self, the wisdom of realization, and all samādhi wisdom are all attained through manas. Without the wisdom of manas, cultivation cannot bear fruit, including the fruit of stream-entry (srotāpanna) and the stage approaching stream-entry, as well as all the transformations occurring during the stage of an ordinary being.