What Does the Mind of Thought-Free Luminous Awareness Refer to?

The mind of numinous awareness free of thought, apart from referring to the state in which the mind consciousness discerns the six sense objects when it is without thought, also points to another mind that has no verbal or surface-level thinking and analysis, yet can know the realms of the six sense objects as well as dharmas beyond the six sense objects—one that is more nimble, more hidden, more profound, more deliberative, with greater power of deliberation (manasikāra) and stronger ability to solve problems—and that is the manas.

The manas cannot think about and analyze the realms of the six sense objects the way the mind consciousness does, but the manas has its own unique mode of deliberation, and its deliberative nature is extremely strong. Sentient beings rely mainly on the manas's deliberative nature to make decisions and exercise mastery. If the mind consciousness lacks sufficient wisdom and is unable to observe and know the manas's unique and hidden deliberative nature, then the manner of His deliberation and His pulse remain unknown to others, and even unknown to one's own mind consciousness; therefore many people misunderstand Him and rack their brains over Him.

There are also many times when the manas deliberates on its own. For example, suppose you fall asleep at night with a problem unsolved; the next morning, the moment you open your eyes, the mind consciousness knows how the matter stands—the problem has been solved. There are many problems that the mind consciousness cannot think through clearly and leaves unresolved, turning to other things instead; then at some unknown moment, suddenly there is a flash of inspiration and a slap on the forehead: "Right, that's how it is!" It has been figured out, and the solution is known. This is the deliberative function of the manas: He deliberates quietly and silently, without the mind consciousness knowing.

Although the mind consciousness has temporarily given up and no longer thinks and analyzes, the manas has not given up; He has been keeping it in mind, dwelling on it, deliberating on it, and pondering it all along. The mental factors (caittas) of the manas have been operating continuously. He does not have the obvious thinking-and-analyzing function that the mind consciousness has; there are some differences from the mind consciousness's thinking and analyzing function. But exactly what those differences are, even a bodhisattva who has attained the patience with non-arising (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti) cannot know—this content is far, far too deep.

Whether the manas's deliberation is obvious or not is said in relation to the wisdom of the mind consciousness. The manas simply operates as He does, without deliberately concealing anything; it depends on whether the mind consciousness has the wisdom to observe and discover Him. The mental activities and operations of the eighth consciousness are also very obvious—as obvious as the operations of the five consciousnesses and the mind consciousness. He does not deliberately hide Himself; it only depends on whether the mind consciousness has very strong observational wisdom. If the mind consciousness's power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) is not strong, it cannot even observe its own mental activities, let alone the mental activities of the manas and the eighth consciousness.

In fact, the dharmas the manas deliberates on are very, very many, and the scope is very, very broad; what the mind consciousness knows is only a very small part. When the mind consciousness lacks wisdom, it understands nothing at all of the manas's deliberative nature. Whether or not the mind consciousness understands, the manas still has His own deliberative functions and His own mode of deliberation. For example, when the manas resolves the matter of one's bones left over from a past life, the mind consciousness can never know of such a thing, yet the manas can deliberate on his own about how to resolve it. Another example: when the manas enters another person's dream, either to expound the Dharma to them or to ask them for something, these are all operations carried out by the manas alone, and within them there is the manas's deliberative nature, of which the mind consciousness is unaware.

As for the dharmas the manas deliberates on within the six sense objects, He may let the mind consciousness know, or may not let it know—this is not a matter of letting or not letting; it depends on whether the mind consciousness has wisdom. There are many dharmas that even a person with wisdom has no way of knowing what the manas is deliberating on. As for the results of the manas's deliberation, sometimes the mind consciousness can know them and sometimes it cannot; in fact, most of the time the mind consciousness does not know, due to insufficient wisdom.

When the manas deliberates out a result and reaches a conclusion—"This matter is important!"—an important matter must be handed over to the six consciousnesses to carry out and resolve, so He must find a way to let the six consciousnesses know. If the matter is not important, and the manas can resolve it on His own, He will not deliberately find a way to alert the mind consciousness to know. When the mind consciousness is rather dull and has little awareness, it does not know the dharmas the manas has deliberated out or the conclusions He has reached. Even if the mind consciousness does not know, the manas still directs the six consciousnesses to carry them out as usual.

When not a single thought arises, the mind consciousness indeed gives rise to no thoughts, but the manas is not so—His thoughts generally never cease. When not a single thought arises, and the mind consciousness suddenly thinks of a matter and immediately gets up and goes out to attend to it, this is the result of the manas's thoughts turning while the mind consciousness gives rise to no thoughts.