In meditative concentration, one does not necessarily focus on only a single dharma

When the mind consciousness is in samādhi, is it really focused on a single dharma? For example, while recollecting the Buddha, can the mind consciousness focus solely on the Buddha's name, unaware of anything else? If so, the person would be unable to work, would not know whether it was dark or light, and would not know east, west, south, or north. Even when entering samādhi during sitting meditation, it is impossible to have only one thought: besides recollecting the Buddha, one still knows that one is sitting in meditation, and still knows whether it is day or night—so this is not a single thought, yet it is still called entering samādhi.

Therefore, the manas also has samādhi. When the manas is in samādhi, it does not necessarily have to feel, perceive, and volitionally act upon all the dharmas it contacts; rather, it selectively feels, perceives, and volitionally acts upon only a small portion of them—this is samādhi. If the manas had to feel, perceive, and volitionally act upon all dharmas, then the mind consciousness would have to arise and discern all dharmas. In that case, not only would the mind consciousness lose its samādhi and collapse, but the manas would also be unable to endure it.

For example, suppose there are a hundred people in front of you; the manas can contact them all. But if the manas had to simultaneously feel, perceive, and volitionally act upon all one hundred people, whose manas has such enormous energy? The mind consciousness would be even more overwhelmed. If someone truly had such ability, then you could hand him a hundred tasks to complete all at once, and the workload of one person would equal that of a hundred people—such a person would be a genius. In reality, this is impossible.