The expression of Mental Faculty toward Object Perception

Ru Chun: Last night after finishing meditation, I was preparing to sleep when it started raining. The rain struck the glass, producing crisp sounds. I listened while drifting off to sleep. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I felt as if the rain was hitting my skull. Soon, it seemed to smash half my skull away, leaving a dark, empty void with only half the skull remaining. I was aware of this in my mind but not particularly alarmed, and then I fell asleep. May I ask, Master, was this because the concentration from meditation had not yet dissipated, or was it an illusion?

Comment: This occurred because your mind was extremely tranquil upon concluding the meditation session, with consciousness free of discursive thoughts. Especially before sleep, when consciousness remains still, the manas (mental faculty) directly perceives the sound of rain. Due to this subtle perception, every slight sound becomes magnified, making it seem exceptionally loud. The mind feels intensely shaken by this. When the shaking becomes severe, it exaggerates the experience, using the imagery of half the head being smashed away to express this state. Manas is quite intriguing. The perceptions of manas differ from those of consciousness, sometimes significantly. Therefore, the dharmas (phenomena) we ordinarily perceive are entirely different from the same dharmas perceived upon realizing the ultimate truth. Only then do we realize that all our previous views and understandings were entirely mistaken, leading to profound regret—so deep that one might slap one's thigh.

Why is it that after cultivating contemplative practice, even when perceiving the same breath, bodily activities, or the appearances of the six dusts (objects of the senses), the understanding of the same dharma feels drastically different before and after seeing the truth? Why is it that drinking water, bathing, seeing forms, hearing sounds, smelling scents, tasting flavors, feeling tactile sensations, and knowing mental objects—all these experiences feel entirely different before and at the moment of seeing the truth? Before seeing the truth, one is utterly certain: form is form, sound is sound, scent is scent, flavor is flavor, touch is touch, dharma is dharma, and "I" is "I." After seeing the truth, everything is negated: form is not form, sound is not sound, scent is not scent, flavor is not flavor, touch is not touch, dharma is not dharma, and "I" is not "I." Why such a vast difference?

The more deluded sentient beings are, the more confident they become. Confident in what? Confident in their delusion. Before seeing the truth, consciousness is agitated with random thoughts and various opinions, elaborating extensively and feeling immensely self-satisfied. After seeing the truth, consciousness finally settles down, and everything is overturned. To be precise, it is manas that finally settles down, forcing consciousness to settle as well. Whoever loves to talk the most, whoever holds the most views, whoever is the most stubborn, whoever is the most blindly confident—that one is the most inverted.

Ru Chun: Indeed, at that moment, it felt as if the rain was smashing against the glass—exceptionally loud. Are you suggesting that the image of half the skull missing is manas expressing itself through exaggeration? I didn’t specifically mention the loudness of the rain earlier. How did you know? How were you able, through the image of the smashed half-skull, to discern a detail even the experiencer overlooked? Is this also a function of manas?

Comment: This is a correct and factual judgment regarding the perceptual realm created by manas. Within the imagery, half the head is smashed away—how could the sound possibly be small? This speaks through the facts themselves, not through verbal explanation, thus enabling a reasonable inference. Manas used the image of half the skull being smashed to signify that the sound of the raindrops was immensely loud.

Ru Chun: Contemplative practice means stilling the discursive thoughts of consciousness, allowing manas alone to directly perceive all dharmas, thereby realizing the true nature of the dharmadhatu (realm of reality)—that is, seeing the truth.

Comment: It is manas that perceives directly, though not necessarily alone. Often, it perceives together with the six consciousnesses. Even if consciousness refrains from discursive thought, it still conveys the perceived perceptual realm to manas. Manas relies on the discernment of consciousness and the five sensory consciousnesses to perceive and experience the realm, thereby making reasoned judgments and generating wisdom. At this stage, consciousness merely discerns without analyzing, interpreting, or speculating, refraining from imposing its own views to interfere with manas’ unique process of deliberation. Only then can the conclusion be genuine and reliable. Using consciousness alone introduces distortion.