The Reasoning and Inference of Consciousness Are Not Contemplative Practice and Investigation

When cultivating meditative concentration by observing the breath, the mind consciousness should only observe the breathing process—knowing the breath coming in and going out, knowing whether the breath is long or short—without adding an extra thought asking what the source of that knowing is. Whatever the final result of that knowing may be, that is a matter for later; since the result has not yet emerged, do not speculate. The mind consciousness's reasoning is merely its wishful thinking, and wishful thinking can never solve problems. Only when the mind consciousness and the manas are both willing can things click together and be resolved perfectly, and only then will the final result appear as it truly is—that is what is called realization.

The mind consciousness's reasoning is not bad in itself, but it is merely a signpost. Whether one actually walks and how one walks still depend on the manas's decision. If the manas does not make the decision, no matter how the mind consciousness points the way, it is useless. Sometimes, when the mind consciousness does not reason, problems can still be solved smoothly; reasoning actually delays matters. If the direction is correct, not reasoning may allow one to walk faster and more steadily. Using the mind consciousness too much is not a good thing: the more the mind consciousness is used, the more incompetent the manas becomes; and when the manas is incompetent, it means you as a whole person are incompetent. If the operating and command system has problems, how can anything be operated at all?

Cultivation is something a fool does; if one is too clever, one will not do things in a simple, honest, and steady manner. Let the mind consciousness point out the general direction, then just close its eyes and rest, quietly supervising—do not meddle too much. Once the manas, relying on its own ability, walks out and reaches the destination, its capability is incredibly powerful. If it has to be dragged along by the mind consciousness, the manas becomes feeble-minded and incompetent, and no great thing can be accomplished. 

The mind consciousness's reasoning is, in essence, deluded thinking. Deluded thinking means not having seen; once one has seen, it is no longer called deluded thinking. Some people use the mind consciousness to imagine an eighth consciousness performing some function in some place, and then define this as seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment—no need to eradicate afflictions, no need to cultivate meditative concentration; at most, it is enough if the mind can settle down for a few minutes or a dozen or so minutes. What the consequences of doing this are, everyone should be able to know. If this also counts as enlightenment, then dreaming about it would count too: if one dreams of mountains of gold and silver, one should get rich upon waking. After all, a dream is not reality, not fact—how can the solitary consciousness's (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) speculations and various other activities be taken seriously? If you want great wisdom and genuine wisdom, then honestly cultivate meditative concentration, contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), and investigation. Do not let the mind consciousness nimbly and flexibly deduce results; if the manas does not accept that result, everything the mind consciousness does is wasted effort.