Chapter Four: The Role of Manas in Investigation (2)

14. How to Diligently Practice Chan Investigation

When the conscious mind has largely penetrated the theoretical understanding and the power of concentration (samādhi) is nearly sufficient, one begins the practice of Chan investigation and contemplation. Whether sitting in meditation, walking, standing, or lying down, one should harbor doubt within the mind, constantly contemplating, reflecting, and investigating. During the investigation process, the conscious mind first thinks through the logic and approach of the Dharma principles, clarifying the general direction, thoroughly understanding the content of the contemplation, and mastering the necessary fundamental information. Then, it condenses the Dharma principles into a single point and hands it over to manas (the mental faculty). At this point, the mind is devoid of language and words, seeming empty.

Actually, at this time, manas is not empty. Manas suspends the Dharma principles within the mind, constantly pondering and investigating them, maintaining continuous doubt and diligence. This requires considerable power of concentration. If concentration is insufficient, conscious thinking arises, preventing manas from deeply penetrating the Dharma principles, unable to ponder profoundly or exert continuous diligent effort.

Before engaging in Chan investigation, first calm the mind. The power of concentration must be cultivated to a sufficient level. If the mind cannot settle for a day, do not engage in Chan investigation or contemplation. If it cannot settle for a month, even more so, do not engage in Chan investigation or Dharma contemplation. When you investigate with sufficient concentration, the deeper the investigation, the deeper the concentration becomes; the deeper the concentration, the clearer the line of investigation. When concentration becomes very deep, manas has fewer Dharma principles left to investigate and may enter profound meditative absorption (dhyāna). After emerging from absorption, one can resume investigation, and the practice will still be effective. Occasionally entering absorption is also good. First enter absorption, then emerge. With concentration present in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, one can diligently engage in investigation and contemplation. The steps of Chan practice should be taken one by one, pondered bit by bit. This accumulates sufficient experience, enabling swift application in future lives, and others can also benefit by absorbing this experience.

All methods and means for cultivating concentration and gathering the mind are ultimately aimed at enabling manas to realize the Dharma. Of course, the conscious mind must first possess a certain level of wisdom and fully comprehend the Dharma before manas can realize it. Without concentration, if one mistakes the conscious mind's understanding for realized wisdom, it is a grave misunderstanding.

Wisdom unmoistened by the water of concentration is called "dry wisdom." Dry wisdom means the conscious mind understands, but manas does not realize or comprehend it, rendering it ineffective in practice. If problems arise during the practice process, encountering bottlenecks, one should return to seek the theory, correct the principles anew, find the direction, and then resume practice. Studying the Dharma must involve actual realization. Only through actual realization will the life entity's body, mind, and spirit transform, and thoughts and concepts change. When manas comprehends the principles, thoughts and concepts will inevitably change, the world will consequently transform, and all behaviors, methods, and attitudes towards life will also change accordingly. This is the very purpose of practice. Do not assume you already understand the principles and need not practice further. If one does not engage in actual practice based on the conscious mind's understanding of the principles, one remains as before in practical matters, still revolving with greed, hatred, delusion, and afflictions. The result is still falling into the cycle of birth and death, without liberation.

15. What Constitutes Genuine Investigation and Realization

Contemplate and investigate the Dharma principles requiring investigation and realization within meditative absorption. The deeper the concentration, the better. Forget everything around you; the inner mind holds only the Dharma principles devoid of language, words, or sound, only profound doubt, profound pondering, seeming to investigate yet not investigating, seeming to think yet not thinking, neither ceasing nor separating, present yet as if absent, obscure and dim, unable to grasp yet unable to discard. Doing this work diligently, realization is only a matter of time. Avoid mistaking thinking without meditative absorption for contemplation, or taking the shallow results of conscious thought as realization.

16. Genuine Practice is Like Rumination

An old cow stands and walks during the day, eating grass. At night, it quiets down, lies down, and ruminates to digest and absorb nutrients, sustaining the physical body. The rumination at night is the most crucial, satisfying the body's energy needs. Eating grass during the day is merely a convenient activity providing fodder for processing at night. Similarly, the conscious mind absorbs vast amounts of knowledge during the activities of the five aggregates (skandhas). Manas, when quieted down, ponders meticulously to digest and absorb. As a result, both concentration and wisdom increase, and the path of practice advances. Genuine diligent effort should be applied this way. Do not be satisfied with the coarse theoretical knowledge absorbed by the conscious mind, failing to nourish the heart. Knowledge is not equivalent to realization. Actual practice is the right path; only realization yields the measure of realization.

17. The Perfuming of Consciousness and the Pondering of Manas

Question: Are the following two statements somewhat contradictory? First: "How to let manas derive the result and answer itself? Have the conscious mind analyze and think less; let manas ponder and deliberate more itself. This is the most effective. Once the conscious mind knows the answer, it no longer wants to investigate, and manas also has little opportunity to investigate." Second: "Have the conscious mind analyze and think more to perfume manas."

Answer: The two statements are not contradictory. In the initial foundational stage, the conscious mind must diligently perfume itself with theoretical knowledge of the Dharma, thoroughly understanding and clarifying the Dharma principles. Then, focus on enabling manas to also understand the Dharma principles. However, to realize the Dharma principles, the conscious mind must detach from the characteristics of language and words, condensing these principles into a single point constantly suspended within manas's mind. At this stage, the pondering function of manas should exceed that of the conscious mind. The conscious mind should think and analyze less, or even cease thinking and analyzing altogether, leaving it entirely to manas's pondering and investigation.

The conscious mind perfuming the Dharma principles is like an investigator collecting market information; the intelligence must be detailed. After gathering the materials, hand them over to the boss, manas, for review. At this point, there is little left for the subordinate to do. If the boss doesn't understand something, provide an appropriate explanation or supplement. Condensing the Dharma principles into a point suspended in the mind means the boss manas is about to review the materials. At this time, the employee should not disturb the boss excessively. Wait for the boss to review and reach its own conclusion, then the decision is finalized. This is realization.

For example, in worldly law, convicting someone requires completely sufficient evidence. Thus, manas (the judge) raises doubt, requiring consciousness (the prosecutor) to search for evidence. Only when manas is convinced can sentencing and conviction occur.

18. Inference is Not Equivalent to Direct Perception

The Buddha knows and perceives all dharmas through direct perception (pratyakṣa). What is and what is not, He perceives instantly, without needing to rely on inference. Only when direct perception is absent does one resort to inference, indicating insufficient wisdom power in manas and consciousness, necessitating inference to obtain accurate information. The Buddha, however, is the unsurpassed wisdom, perfectly endowed with both merit (puṇya) and wisdom (prajñā). There is no dharma He does not know through direct perception.

Bodhisattvas on the causal ground, as well as all sentient beings, possess incomplete wisdom. There are still dharmas they cannot know or realize through direct perception. Therefore, they sometimes have no choice but to use inference. The more one uses it, the more it indicates a defect in wisdom. Those with sufficient wisdom know instantly, without obstruction. Therefore, during investigation and seeking realization, if one uses the method of inference, it shows this person lacks the wisdom of direct perception and has to resort to a secondary, less rational method to obtain information. Inference resembles guessing and speculation. With insufficient powers of observation and judgment, one can only speculate and guess, unable to make judgments with certainty. The conclusions reached are not direct perception and cannot be entirely correct. Even if entirely correct, it is coincidental or happenstance.

Those with the wisdom of direct perception express views with great certainty. Those with insufficient wisdom use semi-certain expressions. Those without wisdom use interrogative sentences, indicating insufficient confidence. Those who use inference lack confidence. When others raise questions or objections, their minds become hesitant and wavering, lacking firmness. This shows the source of their information is uncertain.

In summary, in the process of Buddhist practice and realization, inference is merely an auxiliary method, used out of necessity. Then, one uses the method of investigation to prove the correctness of the inference. Because inference uses the conscious mind, while genuine investigation and realization use manas. Manas is the sovereign. The conclusions it draws will naturally be resounding, firm, unwavering, and unassailable by anyone. The conclusions drawn by the conscious mind are not like this. It is not the master; it must wait for the master's approval to finalize the decision. Therefore, the mind feels uneasy and unsettled. At the critical juncture of Buddhist practice and realization, it is better, more wonderful, and more ultimate to use the conscious mind little or not at all. This is the action of a great being, not comparable to those of small capacity.

19. A Less Labor-Intensive Method for Thinking About Problems

When the conscious mind is thinking about a problem without finding a clue, and focused thinking feels very tiring, what should one do? Let the conscious mind package and condense this problem, then hand it over to manas. Let manas carry this problem constantly, pondering it. The conscious mind should go about its own business. One can engage in light activities, such as moving the body, tidying clothes, cleaning, etc., trying not to think about other things to avoid excessively diverting manas's attention, preventing it from pondering the main problem due to too much distraction.

During these light activities, although manas is also distracted, it still devotes some energy to considering the problem. If the activities are too many or too intense, manas becomes excessively distracted and cannot consider the main problem. When manas becomes particularly interested in this problem and wants to solve it, it might continue pondering during sleep, perhaps leading to dreams where it pulls the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna) into joint contemplation and investigation while still sleeping. This is the best and least labor-intensive method; the conscious mind does not feel tired.

If the conscious mind is not afraid of tiredness, it should focus intently on thinking about this problem during the day, working together with manas to overcome the difficulty. This is the fastest method. If the conscious mind avoids thinking due to fear of tiredness, even after manas has roughly worked out an idea, the conscious mind still needs to think it through carefully and solve the problem together with manas. However, a fundamental principle is that manas must participate. If manas does not participate, the problem cannot be solved.

20. How to Guide Manas to Ponder and Investigate

Having the conscious mind package and condense a problem, then hand it over to manas – this method operates as follows. The conscious mind transforms the entire meaning of the problem into a single thought, suspending it within manas, that is, deep within the mind. Whatever one does, one must carry this doubtful thought within the heart, deeply and without letting go. If the mind lacks that thought, lacks doubt, lacks pondering, the conscious mind should again throw the problem to manas, reminding it. Simultaneously, the conscious mind itself should not have excessive or complex mental activities to avoid distracting manas's attention. Chan school's practice of investigating the huatou (critical phrase) is investigated this way; the method is the same. The deepest, most subtle thinking is like this. Many people use it in worldly affairs, but they just don't summarize it for use in the Buddha Dharma.

Only when manas can ponder and investigate can realization occur. To get manas to participate in investigating the Dharma principles, one must have meditative concentration (dhyāna). Only then can the Dharma principles penetrate deeply to manas. Without concentration, manas cannot exert its strength. If one forces contemplation without concentration, it is called guessing and emotional intellectual understanding. The results of this are already known to everyone. Therefore, the relationship between concentration and realization, and the relationship between manas and realization, must be clearly understood by everyone before one can begin diligently practicing Chan investigation.

21. The Method of Using Manas for Deep Pondering

Sit cross-legged in meditation. After deep exhalation and inhalation, when the mind is calm and settled, begin deeply contemplating a problem. Initially, it is certainly the conscious mind thinking. Gradually, after focusing on the problem, the conscious mind simply watches the problem without moving, switching to manas for deep pondering and investigation. Although manas moves, it moves extremely slowly, finally seeming motionless. The problem hangs suspended in the vast emptiness of the brain, or in the subtle root (indriya), or what is called the "black box."

With the conscious mind's attention and manas's pondering, information without language or words will flash forth. Manas knows, and the conscious mind also understands, but not necessarily clearly or distinctly. If the concentration is sufficient and does not weaken, the information will subsequently become more and more abundant, clearer and clearer. The mind becomes increasingly clear about what the information is, and the answer to the problem gradually emerges. The mind then feels relieved and open. After emerging from absorption, the conscious mind needs to filter through, recall, and examine the information that appeared in the brain from beginning to end. Finally, it confirms, manas also confirms accordingly, and the result is settled.

The entire process requires very deep and focused concentration. During deep contemplation, concentration may improve, even to the point where the mind enters absorption, feeling relaxed, joyful, and comfortable, though not necessarily involving manas's pondering. After emerging from absorption, or when concentration weakens, one resumes contemplation and investigation. The final result will also appear.

22. The Samādhi State Where Concentration and Wisdom Mutually Arise

This state arises from shallow concentration giving rise to wisdom, wisdom giving rise to deep concentration, deep concentration giving rise to profound wisdom, entering samādhi, thereby opening the great wisdom realm.

After sitting down, cross the legs. Take several deep breaths, letting the qi sink to the dantian (elixir field). After the mind settles, empty the brain, contemplating the emptiness within the empty brain as utterly void. After the mind settles further, raise doubt. This doubt is the question one currently needs to resolve, such as: Why is the aggregate of form (rūpa) empty? Why is the subtle root (indriya) empty? Why are the six dusts (objects of the senses) illusory? Why are the six consciousnesses (vijñāna) unreal? Etc. Each time, only bring forth one simple doubt. When concentration and wisdom are insufficient, do not be greedy for too much or too deep, otherwise concentration will regress and wisdom will not arise.

Carrying this doubt, do not rush to investigate immediately. The conscious mind should not move, should not think, just watch the doubt. Watching like this, concentration becomes deeper and deeper. At a certain point, naturally, a mental movement arises, wanting to understand this problem. This is manas building momentum to act. If there is obvious movement, it is the conscious mind moving; one must stop it. Shallow thinking by the conscious mind is of no benefit. Manas's mental movement is very subtle, hard to observe, deep and profound, but it can solve practical problems and open profound wisdom.

Manas's arising thought has no language, no words, no sound; it is quiet and mysterious. Slowly, it seems a spark of understanding wants to appear, emerging faintly. The brain's screen is about to become bright; the answer to the problem is about to emerge. Then, vaguely, dimly, a little appears, then a little more, until more and more answers are on the verge of emerging, yet still not clear, still hazy, but already possessing light and confidence.

Continue with deep concentration, subtly and secretly investigating. The line of thought becomes increasingly clear, the mind brighter and brighter, clearer and clearer, more and more comprehending. The brain becomes clear and transparent; the inner mind joyful, entering samādhi. Finally, when the answers are fully expressed, the mind is clear, without doubt. Emerge from samādhi, hand the process over to the conscious mind to organize, straighten out the content, and make the logic rigorous. Manas confirms again, and the matter concludes, with concentration and wisdom perfectly fused without obstruction.

With the power of this samādhi, exhaustively investigate all doubts and difficulties, break through all ignorance (avidyā). Becoming a Buddha is within reach, let alone becoming a Bodhisattva or an Arhat. The only fear is that sentient beings lack merit. The less merit one has, the harder it is to generate merit, the harder to generate concentration, the harder to generate wisdom. This is a vicious cycle. How to break through it? Each individual must contemplate.

23. Direct Perception and Non-Verifiable Perception

Close the eyes and sit in meditation. After a period, attachments gradually decrease, and various images appear, not thought out by the conscious mind. When trying to see them clearly with the conscious mind, the images disappear. Sitting quietly again, various images reappear.

During meditation, some images are thought out by the conscious mind; some images are not thought out by the conscious mind but arise directly from the brain, that is, from manas. This is the realm of direct perception, the most real, usable for opening wisdom. When observed with the conscious mind, the concentration has already diminished or faded, and the state disappears. The conscious mind has an interfering effect; it interferes with the arising of manas's wisdom.

What is thought out by the conscious mind is the result of emotional intellectual understanding, sometimes just random thoughts, of little use, mostly the realm of non-verifiable perception. What needs to be proven, what needs to be personally realized, must arise directly from the brain. The conscious mind realizes it afterward, then suddenly understands. Genuine realization is this very situation. Without concentration, do not vainly hope for this fundamental and most direct realization.

24. Question: In the early morning, not yet out of bed, in a state of muddled confusion, half-asleep, half-awake, manas is deeply pondering, the function of consciousness is very weak. This isn't dreaming, is it in concentration?

Answer: In the half-awake state, manas can engage in deep pondering. It can investigate and ponder all night. When about to wake up in the morning, consciousness appears and discovers manas pondering. In the half-awake state, consciousness is weak; manas is certainly in concentration without the interference of the six consciousnesses. When manas investigates and ponders in the middle of the night, without the interference of the six consciousnesses, it can also be said to be in concentration. It's even possible that upon waking in the morning, consciousness immediately knows the result manas was concerned with and pondering. Before falling asleep at night, set a problem that needs thinking about. If manas is very attentive, it will think and ponder this problem all night until waking up. Consciousness ceases, yet manas still works without feeling tired. This saves a lot of practice time, is direct, efficient, and fast. It avoids the detour of the conscious mind perfuming manas again. Therefore, the Consciousness-Only (Vijñaptimātratā) Dharma is the most ultimate.

25. The Scope of Manas

If one can fully and effectively utilize manas's pondering and make it a habit, many high-level, refined, and critical matters can be easily resolved. We practitioners should learn to habitually use manas. Then, all problems in Buddhist practice and realization are not too difficult. All great achievers use manas, but even when using it, they don't know they are using it; it's unconscious use because they don't summarize or conceptualize manas and consciousness.

How good it is for those who frequently use manas! They are deep, meticulous, decisive, resolute, experienced, profound, simple, pure, wise yet appearing simple, commanding with composure, unperturbed in facing situations, calm and composed, far-sighted. Those who can only use consciousness are superficial, restless, agitated. The conscious mind operates on the surface, hence the agitation, also the qi is unsettled, lacking concentration; neither mind nor qi can settle. Petty women, petty men – all that is petty remains stuck at the level of consciousness, unable to go deeper, unable to use manas. Therefore, their vision and scope are small.

The scope of consciousness is far smaller than that of manas because consciousness apprehends few dharmas and remains superficial. Manas apprehends extremely many, broad, and deep dharmas – ten directions, past and present, from birth to death, from internal to external, conceptually grasping all objects, silently encompassing all dharmas. Moreover, it can make sovereign decisions; it is the master of consciousness, well-traveled and knowledgeable. Therefore, if speaking of vision and scope, it lies with manas. Without cultivating to the level of manas, how can one attain great wisdom?

26. Genuine Wisdom is the Wisdom of Manas

From speaking out without thinking, one can observe the operation of manas. The functional role of manas, that is, the mental factors (caittas) of manas. What mental factors does manas have? What mental functions cause one to speak out without thinking?

If someone asks a question and one answers immediately without thinking, it shows one is very familiar and knowledgeable about the problem, having frequently encountered it before, needing no immediate consideration or pondering. This "one" is manas. Those who react quickly have manas with experiential wisdom regarding this matter, requiring no conscious mind to help analyze. Conversely, if manas is unfamiliar or has no experience, when encountering a matter, it needs the conscious mind to help think and analyze. Manas then makes its own decision based on this. This process is slow; one cannot answer or resolve it immediately. There is an intermediate process of conscious thinking. Only after concluding does it show manas lacked wisdom, being previously unaware and uncomprehending.

Therefore, Chan Patriarchs said: "Attained through thinking, attained through deliberation" is "ghostly business." Genuine wisdom is necessarily the wisdom of manas; it doesn't need to be learned on the spot, doesn't need immediate buying and selling. False wisdom is obtained through the conscious mind's immediate pondering and analysis, relying on the conscious mind to gather information; hence, it cannot be called wisdom. Therefore, ancient Chan masters, seeing students using the conscious mind's thinking and pondering, using the conscious mind's methods and language contexts, would hit them with a stick – precisely to prevent them from using the conscious mind, to make them investigate and ponder detached from consciousness.

27. Ghostly Business and the Realization of Mind-Ground Penetration

Chan Patriarchs once said: "Attained through thinking, attained through deliberation" is "ghostly business." Ghosts are yin, not bright, implying secret peeping, not an open and aboveboard attainment. Here, "ghost" metaphorically refers to the conscious mind. The conscious mind delights in inference, guessing, speculation, peeping, emotional intellectual understanding, not the bright realization of the mind-ground, not the penetration from inside out.

Therefore, the Chan master said true realization is not attained through the conscious mind's kind of thinking, nor through the conscious mind's kind of analytical thinking. The thinking activities of the conscious mind cannot attain true realization; it is not open and aboveboard realization. The Chan master tells us that in Chan investigation, do not apply the mind on the level of consciousness. Instead, go deeper, sever emotional thinking, sever guessing and intellectualizing, enter meditative absorption, investigate deeply, carry doubt, diligently and steadfastly practice the path. Only then can one openly and aboveboard realize, enter the path. This is the ladder to the great path, the cloud ladder to pluck the treasure.

28. Only When Conscious Thinking is Meticulous Can Manas Be Perfumed

If a person knows they are wrong, what to do next, how to treat the mistake depends on what? After the conscious mind knows it's wrong, it must also let manas know it's wrong. Once manas knows it's wrong, then it's manageable. The conscious mind must convey its mistake completely and in detail to manas. Manas will then engage its mind to ponder right and wrong.

After the conscious mind simply and roughly knows, it must still contemplate and practice, knowing more meticulously. In this process, manas can engage its own pondering and is easily perfumed. The conscious mind needs to think and know more meticulously; the evidence needs to be more conclusive. Only in concentration can thinking be meticulous and thorough. For manas to ponder clearly and understand, it must be in concentration, undisturbed.

The conscious mind knows it should use itself to perfume manas. Manas at this time may not know that consciousness wants to perfume it or is perfuming it. First, it depends on whether manas has the wisdom to understand the conscious mind's thoughts and ideas. Second, it depends on whether the conscious mind can deeply comprehend the Dharma principles within the heart, whether it can think very clearly. Third, it depends on whether manas usually understands the conscious mind well, whether the communication and coordination between them is good.

When manas discovers the conscious mind wants to perfume and change it, if manas's attachment to self (ātma-grāha) and habits are very strong, and the conscious mind's ideas seriously contradict manas, manas becomes unhappy, feels uncomfortable, and may even want to avoid or resist. If the conscious mind's ideas do not contradict manas too much, manas can accept it. After manas is subdued, the more it understands the principles, the easier it is to accept perfuming and persuasion.

29. Manas "Keeping it Firmly in Mind" is the Best Chan Investigation

Question: Sometimes, if something isn't used for a long time, one forgets where it was placed. Deliberately searching for it always fails. Helplessly, one has to give up the search first, but the mind is very concerned because the thing is important. After a few days, one suddenly remembers where it was placed, and the thing is found. Is this also the merit of manas?

Answer: It is the merit of manas. The conscious mind cannot constantly remember one thing. Things manas pays attention to will be remembered from time to time, and usually the conscious mind doesn't know manas is remembering them. Finding things, solving problems is also like this. Dreaming about school events many years ago or old friends from long ago are actually all the merit of manas. Manas remembering problems is not limited by time.

Manas "keeping it firmly in mind" is the principle of Chan investigation, the method of diligent effort. This is the ladder to heaven, not a celestial secret; it's the fishing rod, not the fish. How to get manas to "keep it firmly in mind" is a very important question. But generally, people's manas mostly remembers worldly matters. Many like to talk about the merits of the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), but it's actually the imagination and inference of the conscious mind. Manas remembers things far and wide but just doesn't remember to think about the eighth consciousness. Manas remembering worldly matters has been for many kalpas; turning it around instantly is impossible, unless one is a once-returner (sakṛdāgāmin) or similar.

30. The Relationship Between Manas, Concentration, and Realization

The pondering of manas is deeper, more subtle, and more ultimate than the thinking of the conscious mind. Therefore, only when manas simultaneously ponders and investigates the Dharma principles can realization possibly occur. To get manas to participate in investigating the Dharma principles, one must have relatively deep meditative concentration. Only then can the Dharma principles penetrate deeply to manas, triggering manas to concentrate on pondering and investigating. Without concentration, manas cannot concentrate and cannot exert its strength on investigation. If one forces contemplation without concentration, it is called guessing and emotional intellectual understanding. The results of this are already known to everyone. Therefore, the relationship between concentration and realization, and the relationship between manas and realization, must be clearly understood by everyone before one can begin diligently practicing Chan investigation.