The Unique Deliberation (Manana) of the Manas (II)

As for the part that the mind consciousness has already discerned, there is no need to think about it further; it requires the manas to quietly deliberate on it by itself. The way the manas deliberates is very special, different from the thinking of the mind consciousness. What is meant by "special" is that the deliberative nature and mode of deliberation of the manas are extremely difficult for the mind consciousness to observe, so many people simply deny that the manas has any thinking or pondering activity, denying that the manas has any mental activity at all. These people are far too reckless and hasty, and overly confident in themselves.

When there is silence in the mind without words, the mind consciousness is no longer thinking, yet the manas is working, never having stopped. The mind consciousness can frequently cease its thinking activity and enter states of rest and sleep, but the manas never rests; it can continuously and unceasingly ponder and deliberate on all kinds of issues, in a very hidden manner. When the manas is thinking, it is very deep and difficult to observe; it can consume the brain's energy and cause neural fluctuations of brainwaves.

Therefore, when a person is not speaking or analyzing, we must never assume that this person has no thoughts, no views, no ideas, that their mental activity has stopped and all is quiet. It is not so. Their manas is rapidly turning and operating, deliberating, weighing, and examining, very deeply and very covertly. Afterwards, their mind will have a settled rule, an idea, a position, a decision—but it need not necessarily be spoken out, need not necessarily be expressed, need not necessarily be made known to others. Yet the mind has indeed gained strength, the attitude becomes resolute, even unshakable.

Whereas when the mind consciousness, through thinking, analysis, and pondering, arrives at a result and a decision, the mind is still not very firm; it remains hesitant and undecided, unable to make up its mind, because the manas does not know or understand, and where there is doubt in the mind, one naturally cannot make up one's mind.