What Does Manas Contemplate?

The manas engages in constant and deliberate contemplation based on all the phenomenal aspects manifested by the eighth consciousness. However, the intensity and focus of this contemplation vary, with certain priorities and distinctions; it does not contemplate all dharmas simultaneously. This is because the manas can cognize all dharmas manifested by the eighth consciousness, and only after cognizing them can it exercise its contemplative function, or engage in selective contemplation. The phenomenal aspects manifested by the eighth consciousness are exceedingly vast, and the scope of the manas's contemplation is similarly extensive, making it difficult for the manas to remain fixed on one place or a limited number of places. Consequently, it struggles to maintain concentration and stability (samādhi), unless it undergoes specific training. Only when the manas directs its attention and contemplation to a small number of dharmas, or when it eradicates its clinging and propensity for attachment (adherence and attachment) towards certain dharmas, ceasing excessive grasping, can it attain stability (samādhi). Only then can wisdom increase.

For example, individuals who have cultivated the four dhyānas, the eight samādhis, and the samādhi prior to the first dhyāna (ānantarya-samādhi) certainly possess stability in their manas. Those who possess various samādhis (absorptions) also certainly have stability in their manas. Even practitioners of non-Buddhist paths, such as those practicing qigong or various other techniques, as well as scientific researchers and scientists in various fields, possess meditative concentration (dhyāna) in their manas. Of course, the deepest and most supreme stability belongs to the Buddha's manas, which is the profound and unsurpassed samādhi attained after the manas has completely transformed consciousness into wisdom (jñāna). From the first Bodhisattva ground (bhūmi) onwards, the manas begins to transform consciousness into wisdom, possessing a portion or portions of the wisdom of non-self in dharmas (dharmanairātmya-jñāna). Having severed the view of a self in persons (pudgala-ātmagrāha) and a portion or portions of the view of a self in dharmas (dharma-ātmagrāha), their propensity for attachment is greatly reduced, and the stability of their manas is certainly not shallow. Up to the eighth Bodhisattva ground and the Buddha ground, the various samādhis become infinite and unpredictable, and the stability of the manas becomes immeasurably deep and vast. Due to the manas possessing good concentration power (samādhi), its contemplation of dharmas becomes focused and concentrated, resulting in profound and vast wisdom.