The Result of the Manas's Selective Deliberation: Meditative Concentration Arises

Based on all the object-aspects (nimittas) transformed by the eighth consciousness, the manas engages in constant and deliberate examination. However, when it deliberates, there are degrees of urgency, emphasis, and priority; it does not deliberate on all dharmas simultaneously. Because the manas can take as objects all the dharmas transformed by the eighth consciousness, only after taking them as objects can He activate His deliberative nature, or engage in selective deliberation. The object-aspects transformed by the eighth consciousness can be quite extensive, and the scope of the manas' deliberation is likewise quite extensive, making it difficult to fix on one point or a limited number of points. This makes it difficult for Him to concentrate and difficult to have meditative concentration (samādhi), unless through special training the manas directs its attention and deliberation only to a few dharmas, or unless the manas eradicates its attachment and clinging to certain dharmas and no longer clings excessively. Only then can there be samādhi, and only then can wisdom increase.

For example, those who cultivate the four dhyānas, the eight samādhis, and preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) certainly have samādhi in their manas; those who have various meditative absorptions (samādhis) also certainly have samādhi in the manas. Even those who cultivate non-Buddhist practices—such as qigong, yoga, and various other techniques—as well as researchers and scientists in various fields, all have dhyāna-samādhi in the manas. Of course, the one whose samādhi is the best and deepest is the Buddha's manas. That is the profound and unsurpassed meditative concentration (samādhi) that the manas possesses after it has completely and ultimately transformed consciousness into wisdom. For bodhisattvas at and above the first bhūmi, the manas begins to transform consciousness into wisdom, possessing one part or several parts of the wisdom of the selflessness of dharmas. They have already severed attachment to the self of persons, and have also severed one part or several parts of attachment to the self of dharmas; their clinging nature is greatly reduced, so the samādhi of the manas is certainly not shallow. Up to the eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva and the stage of buddhahood, the various samādhis are inexhaustible and unfathomably transformative; the samādhi of the manas is then immeasurably deep and vast. Because the manas' power of samādhi is good, its deliberation on dharmas is relatively concentrated and focused, and wisdom becomes deep and vast.