How to Ensure the Direct Realization of Manas

When severing the view of self, consciousness must first provide manas with all evidence and data. Then, consciousness should engage in less thinking and exertion, cooperating with the psychological activities of manas, allowing manas to deliberate and consider on its own, enabling it to verify certain facts independently. If manas feels the facts are insufficient, the evidence inadequate, or the data incomplete, then consciousness must again engage in contemplative thinking, collect more data, and present it to manas. Manas then deeply deliberates and considers once more. In this way, as consciousness continuously supplements additional data and materials from the side, manas can continually process and refine its thinking, ultimately arriving at a solid, well-evidenced conclusion—thus realizing the fruit [of enlightenment].

If many matters require handling and consciousness must withdraw from meditative concentration to perceive the six dusts [objects of sense], manas can still work diligently in the background. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, it remains engaged in investigation—even during sleep, whether dreaming or dreamless, it can continue its work. When manas genuinely perceives a matter as significant, it may decide to forgo sleep and food, neglecting rest and meals entirely. For when manas becomes diligent, these activities of eating and drinking interfere with its focused contemplation; they distract it with mundane trivialities. Thus, it decides to reduce other activities of the five aggregates to ensure it remains undistracted. During sleep, without consciousness assisting from the side, manas lacks sufficient data and materials to proceed with investigation. Therefore, manas decides not to sleep, preventing consciousness from ceasing.

In the investigation of all dharmas, initially, manas cooperates with the analytical thinking of consciousness, assisting consciousness in gathering various data and materials. Once consciousness has collected sufficient data for manas to utilize, consciousness must then cooperate with the deep deliberation of manas, support manas in its processing and integration work, and aid manas in its examination and filtering tasks. Thus, manas expends more mental effort while consciousness becomes less active, enabling the investigative work to be completed swiftly.

To make consciousness engage less in active thinking and manas deliberate more, one must cultivate meditative concentration. Only within concentration can the focused investigation of manas be ensured. Although it cannot be completely fixed on a single point, it suffices if it can settle on a very few dharmas. Apart from the dharma principles requiring dedicated investigation, others need only be slightly perceived without interfering with its own inquiry. Therefore, contemplation and practice must occur within concentration. Consciousness must not indulge in emotional or intellectual understanding but should instead utilize the deliberative nature of manas more, fully and effectively activating manas’s faculty of deliberation to personally realize the selflessness of the five aggregates. This is the profound secret of contemplation, practice, and Chan meditation.

Thus, if manas does not realize the dharma, it is impossible to illuminate the mind and attain enlightenment, and equally impossible to sever the view of self. When engaging in Chan meditation and contemplation within concentration, one must use conscious thinking less and employ the deliberative nature of manas more. This is the profound secret of Chan meditation and contemplation.

Even without the cooperation and assistance of consciousness, manas can still investigate and deliberate on the meaning of the dharma, though it may require a longer time—it’s uncertain when it will be accomplished. However, the prerequisite is that consciousness must deliver the content and data of its thinking to manas. Only then can manas deliberate with something to follow, comprehend through deliberation, and ultimately attain realization. For example, one might ponder a problem in the evening without resolving it and then fall asleep. After a night’s sleep, upon just opening the eyes the next morning, inspiration arises, and suddenly the unresolved problem becomes clear. This shows that throughout the night, manas was working and deliberating. By leaving a question with manas before sleep, one awakens to find the answer in the morning—many people have had similar experiences.

Another example: sometimes, after pondering a problem, one may not find the answer immediately and then turns to other tasks. Superficially, it seems the matter is forgotten; consciousness no longer considers it. Then, unexpectedly, at some point, the answer suddenly appears in the mind. This is manas silently deliberating in the background all along, finally producing the result through its contemplation. Cultivation is precisely about employing manas more. The cultivation of manas is true cultivation; only through it can one realize all dharmas and attain all wisdom.