What is the state between the moment when the previous thought has ceased and the next thought has not yet arisen?

When the preceding thought has ceased and the next thought has not yet arisen, this does not mean that the seven consciousnesses have ceased to exist or that the seven consciousnesses have not arisen; on the contrary, all seven consciousnesses are present and all are functioning. Among them, the seventh consciousness can only be extinguished when a fourth-fruit arhat enters nirvāṇa without remainder; no one else is able to extinguish it. Ordinary beings lack the ability to extinguish it, and although bodhisattvas on the bhūmis and all Buddhas do have the ability to extinguish it, none of them is willing to do so; therefore the seventh consciousness is not extinguished. When we occasionally have no thoughts, or in the interval between the arising of thoughts, the mind consciousness or the five sense consciousnesses have not ceased to exist—they are still present and functioning. At this time there is still a knowing present, a knowing that one temporarily has no thoughts at this moment. This knowing is the arising-and-ceasing deluded mind with the mind consciousness as its main component. If one takes this mind to be the eighth consciousness, then one has awakened erroneously.

In this state, the eye consciousness can still see forms, the ear consciousness can still hear sounds, the nose consciousness can still smell scents, the tongue consciousness can still discern the tastes in the mouth, the body consciousness can still feel whether the body is comfortable, and the mind consciousness can still know whether or not one has thoughts. At this time all six consciousnesses are present, the manas is also present, and the eighth consciousness necessarily exists as well. Thus it is clear that when there is no thought, all eight consciousnesses are present. Then, when the preceding thought has ceased and the next thought has not yet arisen, what exactly is there in between? It is a temporary samādhi in which the mind consciousness does not engage with the mental sense-objects; there is still the presence of the mind consciousness within it—it is not the eighth consciousness alone. Therefore, if one awakens at this moment, it is not necessarily an awakening to the eighth consciousness. If the mind consciousness is without thought and does not know or recognize the eighth consciousness, then awakening is even more impossible.

When there are no thoughts, or at least when the sixth, seventh, and eighth consciousnesses are all present—these three consciousnesses all being present—it is possible to awaken to the eighth consciousness.

However, most people lack the ability to awaken to the eighth consciousness, because they do not meet the conditions for enlightenment. The mental nature of ordinary beings and worldlings (pṛthagjana) is far from being subdued, and they do not yet have the qualification to be definitive-meaning bodhisattvas; therefore they cannot, in this state, discern the eighth consciousness and thereby attain realization. As a result, they often take the mind consciousness in the state of no-thought to be the true mind, the eighth consciousness, and this becomes erroneous awakening—a mistaken misunderstanding.

The true mind and the deluded mind exist simultaneously. Finding the deluded mind is easy, but finding the true mind is very difficult; it requires certain causal conditions. If the causal conditions are not complete, the true mind, the eighth consciousness, cannot be realized. Without realizing the eighth consciousness, one cannot begin cultivation from the eighth consciousness; only after finding the eighth consciousness can one cultivate after enlightenment. The thought-free mind consciousness is especially easy to confuse with the eighth consciousness. Many people think that a mind consciousness without thought is the eighth consciousness. In fact, whether you have thoughts or not, He—the eighth consciousness—has always been present; He did not come into existence only later through cultivation.

When the ancient patriarchs investigated Chan and attained enlightenment, some awakened upon seeing forms, some upon hearing sounds, some when struck or shouted at, and some when squeezed by a door—the ways of awakening were varied and highly flexible. It is not necessary to awaken only when there are no thoughts; in fact, trying to awaken when there are no thoughts is extremely difficult. Therefore the patriarchs did not permit their disciples to cultivate thought-free samādhi; even if such samādhi is accomplished, it cannot lead to awakening.

By reading many Chan kōans one can see that most patriarchs' awakenings were true awakenings, and thus they were all people who had attained the Way. People of the modern age lack sufficient wholesome roots and merit; the Dharma is often transmitted incorrectly, causing sentient beings to take detours in their practice. Our powers of discernment are still insufficient, and we cannot distinguish right from wrong. If the state of no-thought were the eighth consciousness, then when thoughts reappear a moment later, would the eighth consciousness have vanished? Would that not make the eighth consciousness something that arises and ceases? "Limpidly clear and distinct"—"limpid" means knowing, and "clear and distinct" means understanding, which is also knowing. As long as there is knowing, it is the deluded mind. The true mind does not know; it is not limpidly clear and distinct.

The mind that is limpidly clear and distinct can know all kinds of states; it is not that it does not know. Whatever can know the six sense-objects is not the true mind. The true mind does not know the six sense-objects—what state one is currently in, the true mind does not know. This is precisely what the mind consciousness is capable of knowing and discerning, and this is the very key to direct realization! The mind consciousness is sometimes free of thought—a numinous knowing—but this is still knowing. A mind that can know the six sense-objects is not the true mind. Everyone should compare this more against the teachings of the ancient Chan school, to see how the patriarchs awakened, at what moments they awakened, and what the content of their awakening was.

When the Sixth Patriarch awakened, he came to know the five "how unforeseen is self-nature (svabhāva)." If one awakened to a thought-free numinous knowing mind, there would be no way whatsoever to know those five "how unforeseen is self-nature." Compare this with the Heart Sutra: the true mind is unborn and undying, forever unchanging, whereas this numinous knowing mind is subject to arising and ceasing, shifting and changing, unable to remain forever unchanged. Whether the numinous knowing mind is the true mind or the deluded mind should by now be perfectly clear in one's mind. This issue is too crucial—one must be careful. The great matter of birth and death brooks no vagueness. In studying the Dharma one must be cautious and prudent, seeking verification from many sources. If one happens to learn wrongly, that is not a matter of just one lifetime!