The Neutral Feeling of Manas

Neutral feeling is a sensation devoid of either pleasure or pain. It is partially reasonable to say that the manas (mind root) experiences neutral feeling; regarding bodily contact, the manas has neutral feeling and does not directly perceive the objects of the six sense fields. No matter how severe the physical pain, the manas does not feel the pain; it is the body consciousness and mental consciousness that perceive the pain. When body consciousness and mental consciousness are absent, the physical body does not experience pain. For example, during surgery, if body consciousness and mental consciousness are present, the person remains conscious and will inevitably experience intense pain. To eliminate the sensation of pain, anesthesia is administered to first extinguish body consciousness, then mental consciousness, so that the physical body feels no pain during the operation.

When experiencing a toothache, after falling asleep, the six consciousnesses cease, and the pain is no longer felt. However, the inflammation in the tooth persists, and the pain resumes upon waking; sometimes, it can even awaken one in the middle of the night. Why does the pain awaken one at midnight? During unconsciousness, although the body may be in a severe state, pain is not felt; upon regaining consciousness, the pain becomes unbearable. When undergoing retribution in hell, one only ceases to feel pain upon fainting from its intensity. However, karmic forces prevent the sinner from remaining unconscious; when the karmic wind blows, the sinner revives and continues to endure retribution. During meditative absorption, the sensation of pain also diminishes or disappears because the six consciousnesses either vanish or become extremely subtle.

Therefore, the sensation of pain is an experience jointly perceived by body consciousness and mental consciousness. The manas does not possess such sensations; even if it did, mental consciousness would not know it and could not observe it. Sentient beings universally regard the perceptions of the six consciousnesses as their own sensations. When the six consciousnesses cease or become subtle, regardless of what sensations or mental states the manas may have, mental consciousness remains unaware. Being unaware, it assumes the manas has no sensations, no mental activities, or that the manas is very simple and possesses shallow wisdom.

When the functions of the manas become potent enough to replace the six consciousnesses, all sensations belong to the manas. However, at this stage, the meditative and wisdom attainments of the manas are already supremely transcendent, characterized almost entirely by neutral feeling, with virtually no emotional fluctuations. For ordinary sentient beings, the manas still experiences feelings of pleasure and pain, not merely neutral feeling. It possesses psychological sensations similar to those of mental consciousness—feelings of grievance, oppression, frustration, resentment, joy, happiness, excitement—resulting in significant emotional fluctuations. This is why states like burning with rage, dancing for joy, and beaming with happiness manifest.