Process and Principles of Consciousness Activation

The process of mental activity initiation in humans actually involves "stirring thoughts" through measurement, which then generates thoughts.

Stirring thoughts must begin with the mental faculty (manas) stirring first; only then does the thought of consciousness arise. Without the mental faculty's stirring, there is no stirring of consciousness. In the practice of investigating the hua-tou (critical phrase), the ultimate goal is to anchor the mental faculty firmly on the hua-tou, maintaining unwavering focus and yearning for it day and night, until a breakthrough in meditation is achieved.

Thoughts with specific content belong to the realm of consciousness. Before the thought of consciousness emerges—when it lacks specific content—it exists entirely as the stirring of the mental faculty. Even when consciousness is engaged in thought, the mental faculty's functions of attention, contact, sensation, perception, and volition are simultaneously present, along with its stirring. Without this, consciousness would immediately vanish; it cannot possess thoughts independently. When sense faculties and their objects contact each other, consciousness manifests. The moment this contact ceases, consciousness instantly disappears.