Manas - Verse Twenty

Manas goes with the five universals,
and mati of the five particulars,
and with the four major and eight secondary afflictions.
All are indeterminate and obscured.

There are fifty-one mental formations - five universal, five particular, eleven wholesome, twenty-six unwholesome and four indeterminate. All the eight consciousnesses are endowed with the five universal mental formations - contact, feeling, attention, perception and volition.

The five particular mental formations are - zeal, determination, mindfulness, concentration and understanding. Mati is understanding. In manas' case it is a mati that has gone astray. Instead of perfect understanding, there is delusion.

The four major afflictions are self-ignorance, self-view, self-pride and self-love. Self-ignorance is a belief that what is not our body, feelings, perceptions etc. are not us. Self-view is the wrong view that self is independent and eternal. Self-pride is our belief that we are better than others, more important than others. Self-love is our excessive love for ourselves.

The eight secondary afflictions referred to in this verse are anger, enmity, hypocrisy, affliction, selfishness, deceit and dishonesty.

The eight secondary afflictions arise due to the presence of the four major afflictions. Driven by self-love we want the best material pleasures for ourselves and we may act deceitfully or dishonestly to fulfill such objectives. These four major afflictions arise and are strengthened through an incorrect understanding of reality which is experienced through contact. Due to the presence of incorrect understanding, the feelings arising from contact give rise to wrong perceptions.

When we see how we are not isolated from others, we make better decisions and perform actions that are wholesome. Even when someone seeks our help and we are not able to help, it is still an opportunity to practice mindful communication. We have the wrong perception that we can only help others if we are rich. However, that is not true. Sometimes we can help others by just listening to them. We can practice generosity by offering tea to our guests. A few generations ago, in India, people viewed a guest as an opportunity to practice generosity. They would be very happy to receive guests.

Today a guest may not be very welcome. This is because driven by self-love we have desired so much for ourselves that we are deep in debt. The banks and corporations run our lives. When we become a part of an economy that exploits people, money becomes most important. We spend most of our time in pursuit of material wealth. We too begin to exploit others.

Wrong perceptions develop because we do not dwell in the realm of things-in-themselves. So our actions are driven by wrong intentions and end up watering seeds of suffering. We can avoid this by practicing the five mindfulness trainings which are a result of the understanding of interbeing.

(Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh.)

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