The Relationship Between Thought-Free Numinous Awareness and the Manas

"Ling" (spirit) means keen sensitivity and nimble responsiveness; "leaving thought" means temporarily departing from thoughts and mental notions. Such knowing can belong to the mind consciousness, or to the manas. For the mind consciousness to leave thought is relatively easy to achieve, whereas for the manas to leave thought is comparatively difficult—though not impossible. Why can the mind consciousness leave thought? First, the manas has no desires or ideas, does not grasp at sense objects, and has no coarse thoughts or notions; second, the mind consciousness itself has no desire to discern objects, and there is nothing it dwells upon—only then will it not mobilize the mind consciousness to deliberate, to think, to ponder, or to fabricate. As for those especially subtle thoughts and notions of the manas, they manifest as bodily, verbal, and mental actions without the participation of the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness is also incapable of detecting or participating in them.

At this time the manas is in a somewhat tranquil state—that is, a state of meditative concentration, a state without desire or seeking. Therefore, when the mind consciousness is in a state free of thought, it must be that the manas is tranquil and abiding in meditative concentration, no matter how deep that concentration or how long it lasts. In fact, even then there are still subtle thoughts; without thought, how could there be knowing? It is merely that when one is extremely familiar with an object, one can know it without effortful discrimination—at this point mental activity is extremely slight, and this is called "the numinous knowing free of thought." The term "numinous knowing free of thought" does not come from the Buddhist sūtras; the sūtras contain no specific description of it. It is a concept later people proposed according to their own ideas, and it is not very accurate. To observe and discern this requires very profound cultivation in Yogācāra and keen powers of observation.