The Deliberation of the Manas Is More Ultimate Than the Thinking of the Mind Consciousness

Ru Chun: The night before last, before going to sleep, I contemplated: why is the sea of suffering boundless, and turning one's head is the shore? I contemplated while writing, and the process was quite long. My final conclusion was: in worldly dharmas there is no true happiness; in the end it is all suffering, and all kinds of suffering form the sea of suffering, also called the accumulation of suffering. It is all changing and impermanent, and not singular either, so it is not a true dharma. If we cannot see through its falsity and instead greedily cling to and immerse ourselves in it, that is the boundless sea of suffering. Conversely, if we use the false to cultivate the true, turn our minds toward the Path, and return to the source, that is called turning one's head to reach the shore.

In this process of contemplation, the mind consciousness was mostly in the lead, but I could feel that the manas was also participating. Because the writing flowed smoothly and with focus, there was also inspiration; body and mind were joyful, and I did not feel tired. When I finished writing and looked at the time, it was already 2 a.m.; time had passed very quickly. After writing, I went to sleep, feeling as if a thread of mental activity was still suspended, and my sleep became shallow.

During morning sitting meditation, a sentence popped into my head: "Originally there is no shore of the sea of suffering; why need one turn the head toward the shore?" I suppose this must have been the result of the manas continuing its effort last night. Could it be understood this way: what the mind consciousness contemplated earlier was conditioned dharmas, and after falling asleep, the manas's deliberation, building on that foundation, added consideration from the angle of unconditioned dharmas. Could this show that when the mind is calm and obstructions are reduced, the manas has more wisdom than the mind consciousness? Is this kind of contemplation helpful for cultivation? I feel that recently my state during sitting meditation has been unstable: when the state is good, my whole body feels ethereal as if suspended in empty space; when it is poor, my legs are stiff and painful and lack strength. I have made some adjustments, but have not yet been able to identify the key to the problem.

Assessment: Contemplating while writing involves an element of concentration, and includes both the mind consciousness's deliberation and the manas's deliberation (manasikāra). Because writing is relatively slow, it is easy to gather the mind and concentrate, and easy for the content to seep into the manas's mind, giving the manas an opportunity for deliberation. When the two consciousnesses contemplate together, it is wiser than the mind consciousness contemplating alone, and it is easier to contemplate thoroughly. After writing, the mind consciousness rests, but the manas does not rest; it will continue to deliberate on its own. Because there is no interference from the six consciousnesses, the manas's deliberation is relatively focused and effective, and the result is that wisdom arises, contemplating the problem clearly and thoroughly. When the mind consciousness appears again, the mind consciousness comprehends the manas's wise cognition, and the mind consciousness also gives rise to wisdom.

The shallow contemplation during daytime activities is contemplation at the level of the mind consciousness. At night during sitting meditation, one suspends the problem in the mind and quietly deliberates on it, and after meditation one falls asleep carrying the problem — this is the manas's deep contemplation. After rising in the morning, without deliberately trying, the answer to the problem is automatically known — this is the result of the manas's deliberation. Therefore, when investigating (canju), it is always the manas investigating alone, or investigating together with the mind consciousness; the result is that when the manas eradicates the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and attains seeing the mind and seeing its nature, the mind consciousness immediately knows that portion of content and also obtains the same wisdom. All true wisdom and ultimate wisdom are necessarily obtained through the manas's deliberation; the mind consciousness's wisdom is obtained simultaneously or afterward. Therefore, the claim that the mind consciousness realizes the fruits is nonsense.