The Neutral Feeling of the Mental Faculty

Neutral feeling is a sensation devoid of either suffering or pleasure. It is partially reasonable to say that the manas experiences neutral feeling; the manas maintains a neutral feeling toward bodily contact. Regardless of how severe the physical pain is, the manas does not perceive it. It is the body consciousness and the mental consciousness that perceive the pain. When body consciousness and mental consciousness are absent, the physical body does not experience pain. For instance, during surgery, if body consciousness and mental consciousness are present, the person remains conscious and will inevitably experience intense pain. To eliminate the sensation of pain, anesthesia is administered to first cause the cessation of body consciousness, followed by the cessation of mental consciousness. This way, when the body is operated on, it does not feel pain.

When experiencing a toothache, the pain ceases upon falling asleep because the six consciousnesses cease, but the inflammation in the tooth persists. Upon waking, the pain resumes, sometimes even waking the person up in the middle of the night. Why does one wake up from pain at night? While unconscious, even if the body is in a dire state, no pain is felt, but upon regaining consciousness, the pain becomes unbearable. When undergoing retribution in hell, the pain causes one to faint, ceasing the sensation of pain. However, karmic forces prevent the sinner from remaining unconscious; a karmic wind will blow, causing the sinner to regain consciousness and continue suffering retribution. During meditative absorption, the sensation of pain also diminishes or disappears because the six consciousnesses either cease or become extremely faint.

Therefore, the sensation of pain is an experience jointly perceived by body consciousness and mental consciousness. The manas does not have such sensations. Even if it did, the mental consciousness would not know it and could not observe it. Sentient beings regard the sensations of the six consciousnesses as their own sensations. When the six consciousnesses cease or become faint, regardless of what sensations or mental states the manas may have, the mental consciousness remains unaware. Being unaware, it assumes the manas has no feelings, no mental activities, or that the manas is very simple and possesses shallow wisdom.

When the functions and roles of the manas become powerful enough to replace the six consciousnesses, all sensations belong to the manas. However, at this stage, the meditative and wisdom attainments of the manas are already highly transcendent, almost entirely characterized by neutral feeling, with no emotional fluctuations. For ordinary sentient beings, the manas still experiences feelings of suffering and pleasure, not merely neutral feeling. It has psychological sensations similar to those of mental consciousness—feelings of grievance, suppression, irritation, resentment, joy, happiness, excitement—and experiences significant emotional fluctuations. This is why overwhelming anger, dancing for joy, and visible elation manifest.