What Are the Mental Activities Involved in Silent Recitation and Mindful Awareness?

Whether reciting aloud or silently, it is the isolated consciousness that recites. The mental faculty of manas (意根) engages in contemplation without language or words. The awareness that knows silent recitation is the introspective power of consciousness; this introspective power is the self-verifying awareness (证自证分), which is the isolated consciousness discerning and introspecting upon itself. Of course, if the recitation becomes very familiar, manas may also engage in recitation and awareness. When consciousness recites silently, manas possesses awareness; when consciousness introspects, manas also possesses awareness. This awareness is profound, subtle, difficult to perceive, and difficult to discern. Manas regards the introspective function of the isolated consciousness and the function of silently reciting the mantra as its own functional activities, believing that it is itself that is reciting and knowing.

If one's meditative concentration (禅定) is relatively good, manas can also participate in reciting the mantra, and consciousness can observe this. However, it becomes difficult to distinguish the functional boundaries between consciousness and manas, leading to easy confusion. When meditative concentration is present: Firstly, body and mind can separate distinctly; the connection is not so intimate. The sixth (consciousness) and seventh (manas) consciousnesses can also be separated from each other, distanced by a certain interval, thus appearing clear and distinct, generating an illusory feeling towards each dhamma (phenomenon). Without meditative concentration, all dharmas are tangled together, inseparable and unclear; they then feel very real and concrete, leading to strong attachment and consequently heavy afflictions. The benefits of meditative concentration are beyond exhaustive description. Without meditative concentration, one should not claim to have any cultivation.