Manifestations of Mental Stabilization

Stillness (ding) means non-movement, reduced movement, slow movement, or cessation. Movement refers to the arising and functioning of bodily, verbal, and mental actions; non-movement is the non-functioning of these actions; reduced movement means diminished functioning; slow movement indicates that bodily, verbal, and mental actions occur slowly and feebly; cessation signifies the stopping and disappearance of bodily, verbal, and mental actions.

Who commands and determines these states of movement, non-movement, reduced movement, slow movement, and cessation? None other than the mind faculty (manas). The sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna) lacks this function, and the five sense consciousnesses certainly lack it. The eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) follows the directives of the mind faculty, absolutely never stirring up trouble or seeking out activity without cause.

When the sixth consciousness subdues the mind faculty, the mind faculty becomes tranquil, its clinging nature diminishes, the objects it clings to gradually decrease, leading to a state where, in mental activity, it prefers having less to do rather than more. It reduces fabrication, extinguishes certain mental activities and fabrications, and ceases to wield the baton—simultaneously directing the eighth consciousness while commanding the first six consciousnesses—in a state of busy confusion.

Thus, bodily actions and fabrications decrease, slow down, and lessen: the eyes do not look, the ears do not listen, the nose does not smell, the tongue does not taste, the body does not touch, the limbs do not move, the head does not move. Ultimately, all external bodily actions cease, and the five sense consciousnesses vanish. Upon cultivating to the Fourth Dhyāna, the mind faculty no longer wishes to control the material body, no longer clings to it, and thus does not want the material body to move anymore. Consequently, breathing stops, the heartbeat stops, the pulse stops—like a dead person. However, because the mind faculty still does not wish to extinguish cognitive awareness, still wishes to know, the sixth consciousness does not vanish and retains cognitive awareness, though this awareness becomes extremely feeble, moving very slowly and gently.

In verbal actions, sound becomes increasingly faint, slow, deep, and weak, finally disappearing into silence. Producing even the slightest sound becomes undesirable to the mind faculty, and the sixth consciousness feels utterly exhausted. The mind faculty decides to cease producing sound.

In mental actions, from the initial state of wildly scattered thoughts, thoughts gradually reduce and become focused, finally weakening and disappearing, leaving only a single awareness. Reflective observation vanishes, and ultimately even this awareness and reflective observation disappear, entering the state of non-perception (asaṃjñā-samāpatti). After the state of non-perception, the mind faculty also no longer wishes to receive or be aware of objects. It then extinguishes two mental factors and enters the state of cessation (nirodha-samāpatti). Therefore, it is evident that stillness primarily means stilling the mind faculty. Merely stilling the six consciousnesses is useless. Whatever the mind faculty wishes the six consciousnesses to do, they must do; whatever it wishes them to perceive, they must perceive; however much it wishes them to perceive, they must perceive that much; to whatever degree it wishes them to perceive, they must perceive to that degree. How can the six consciousnesses have any autonomy? If the six consciousnesses wish to be still but the mind faculty does not, the six consciousnesses must fabricate. If the mind faculty does not wish to sleep, the six consciousnesses must work—utterly unable to escape the baton of the mind faculty. Without subduing the mind faculty, how can one attain stillness? By what means? Cultivating stillness has only this one path; there is no other. Stillness is the stillness of the mind faculty!