The Foundation of the Mind Unsettled, Utterly Unreasonable

Question: Is the nirodha-samāpatti (cessation of perception and feeling) the samādhi (meditative concentration) of the manas (mental faculty)? In the four dhyānas (meditative absorptions) and the four ārūpyas (formless attainments), consciousness (vijñāna) is still present, so it can be said that consciousness possesses samādhi. In nirodha-samāpatti, consciousness has ceased; only the manas and the tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) remain. If it is said that the manas has no samādhi, then nirodha-samāpatti could not be called samādhi.

Answer: That is correct. It is illogical to say that the manas has no samādhi. Even the samādhi of consciousness, the samādhi of the six consciousnesses, is the result of the samādhi of the manas; otherwise, the six consciousnesses absolutely could not attain samādhi.