Types and Forms of Independent Consciousness

The mental activities conducted solely by the conscious mind, without the involvement of the five senses, constitute the manovijñāna (isolated mental consciousness). For example, when we contemplate a Buddhist teaching or a principle, engage in meditation, recall past events, indulge in reverie, or ponder personal matters, all such mental activities represent the dispersed manovijñāna. Similarly, during meditative concentration (samadhi), when one becomes aware of various meditative states arising within the mind, discerns what these states are, their significance, and their underlying meaning, various feelings arise within the mind, accompanied by diverse thought activities. This is the manovijñāna within samadhi—a discerning activity separate from the five senses. There is also the manovijñāna in dreams; our activities within dreams, where we discern various dreamscapes, are all solitary activities of the conscious mind. These activities require the fulfillment of numerous conditions to manifest; if a single condition is lacking, the manovijñāna cannot arise. When the manovijñāna does not arise, we cannot engage in these activities: thinking, discerning, analyzing, planning, contemplative practice—all such activities cease entirely.