What is Uninterrupted Mental Application?

"Interval" refers to a gap or interruption, while "uninterrupted" means continuous, without gaps or breaks. "Attention" (manaskāra) is the mental factor that directs the mind towards a dharmā (phenomenon), causing the mind to incline towards and focus on that dharmā. Attention is one of the five universally functioning mental factors of the mind-consciousness. All eight consciousnesses possess attention; each can incline towards and focus on specific dharmās.

Is the attention of the eighth consciousness uninterrupted or interrupted? We know that all dharmās are produced and sustained by the eighth consciousness. If the eighth consciousness ceases to attend to a particular dharmā, it stops functioning upon that dharmā, ceases to produce seeds related to it, and consequently, that dharmā must vanish and perish. Therefore, the existence of any dharmā necessarily implies the uninterrupted operation of the eighth consciousness's attention. However, the existence of all dharmās arises in two ways: first, through the eighth consciousness spontaneously producing them based on ripened karmic seeds; second, through the attention and grasping (prāpti) of the manas (the seventh consciousness). Thus, sometimes the attention of the eighth consciousness is triggered by the attention of the manas. Once the manas ceases to attend, the eighth consciousness no longer produces or sustains certain dharmās, and those dharmās inevitably disappear. Therefore, for certain dharmās to exist, the mental factor of attention within the manas must also be operating. As long as a dharmā continues to exist without interruption, the mental factor of attention within the manas must be functioning continuously and uninterruptedly; otherwise, those dharmās would necessarily vanish.

Consequently, it is said that the attention of the eighth consciousness can be uninterrupted, and the attention of the manas can also be uninterrupted. Can the attention of the sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna, mental consciousness) be uninterrupted? We know that the sixth consciousness is interrupted many times throughout the day; it invariably ceases involuntarily. Even if the sixth consciousness has uninterrupted attention, it only lasts for a period; it cannot achieve uninterrupted operation twenty-four hours a day. When the sixth consciousness maintains uninterrupted attention for a period, this is entirely due to the uninterrupted attention of the manas. Once the manas ceases to attend, the eighth consciousness ceases to output the seeds of the sixth consciousness, and the sixth consciousness must disappear with respect to that dharmā.

Therefore, only when the manas attends uninterruptedly can the sixth consciousness maintain uninterrupted attention for a period. In reality, most of the time, after attending for a period, the sixth consciousness becomes fatigued, scatters, and ceases; it cannot attend for very long durations. The attention of the five sense consciousnesses (vijñānas) is even more so like this. Without the attention of the manas and without the attention of the eighth consciousness, the six consciousnesses (the five senses plus the mental consciousness) could not even have attention for an instant. All six consciousnesses depend on the eighth consciousness and the manas to manifest and function; they cannot operate independently or autonomously.

Once the manas forms uninterrupted attention towards a specific dharmā, it means it has already been successfully permeated (熏染 xūn rǎn) by the sixth consciousness. It will then automatically and consciously direct the six consciousnesses to act according to the principles it has realized, inevitably altering mental activities (心行) and consequently changing physical, verbal, and mental actions (身口意行). There is no further need for the sixth consciousness to supervise or remind. Only when the manas has not yet been successfully permeated is it necessary for the sixth consciousness to constantly supervise, remind, and regulate it. This is because the manas lacks conscious awareness; it has not been permeated and has not realized the Dharma.