Consciousness Thinking and Manas Deliberation

Answer: 1+1=2—if you can be very confident about it, with sound reasoning and evidence, and know the underlying principle, then it is a conclusion reached by the manas. If you can arrive at 1+1=2 but do not know what the underlying principle is, and cannot explain it clearly—you just know it is the conclusion—then it is a conclusion the mind consciousness has drawn based on learned theories, much like rote memorization. Otherwise, why would scientists still need to research deeply into why 1+1 equals 2?

Of all the knowledge we have learned from elementary school through university, how much of it has actually been verified through personal realization? Although we have passed every exam, perhaps even scoring a hundred points each time, what exams test is the understanding and memorization of knowledge, the amount of knowledge one has mastered; very little of it tests personal realization. Only the content of laboratory work involves verification. Only after entering society does verification come into play, which is why many top students often fail to adapt well once they enter society, unable to keep up with its pace and unable to apply what they have learned. 

What is worked out through the mind consciousness's solitary thinking and analysis cannot eliminate doubt; when conditions arise, doubts will multiply, and one will no longer trust one's former conclusions. Therefore, conclusions drawn through the mind consciousness's thinking and analysis are not firm. When the master has doubts, the master makes the decisions; when the master has his own position, at critical moments he will reject and discard the assistant's conclusions. This is precisely why many people who have attained fruition and awakened to the true mind through the mind consciousness keep regressing. The mind consciousness's thinking and analysis can proceed without the support of meditative concentration (samādhi), and can occur in a state of scattered mind; but the more meditative concentration there is, the more refined, accurate, precise, and accordant with principle the mind consciousness's thinking becomes. Yet no matter how refined, accurate, and accordant with principle it is, it is still not a conclusion the manas has reached by itself, and therefore it is not called personal realization; it lacks the virtue of severing, brings no real benefit, and cannot withstand birth and death.

The mind consciousness's thinking can usually be perceived and observed by the mind consciousness itself, and can be discovered by it; compared with the manas's deliberation, it is relatively shallow and coarse. The manas's deliberation is deeper and more hidden, not easily discovered, yet it can continue thought after thought without interruption. Only when the doubt is extremely deep will the manas engage in deliberation in order to resolve it. This involves meditative concentration: when deliberation continues thought after thought without interruption, there is meditative concentration. Being able to remain settled on the investigation of the doubt is samādhi. No matter when, no matter what one is doing, whether awake or asleep, the question remains in the mind; if one cannot figure it out, one may even become agitated, unable to eat or sleep well, as if one had lost one's soul. When the mind consciousness is coarse, it has no awareness or perception of the manas's deliberation and cannot detect it; it cannot discover what is going on in one's own mind, does not know what one truly wants or what one intends to do, and cannot grasp one's own thoughts. This is why so many people cannot discover the manas, do not understand the manas, cannot grasp the manas, and cannot observe the manas. Deliberation by the manas requires meditative concentration, and the deeper the concentration, the better. It is best to be able to eliminate the interference of other miscellaneous affairs; ideally, the six consciousnesses should not disturb the manas either, but should simply cooperate with it, gently and subtly cognizing, without provoking the manas's scattered thoughts.