The Manas Has No Samādhi: Utterly Unreasonable

Question: Is the cessation attainment (nirodha-samāpatti) the meditative concentration of the manas? In the four dhyānas and the four formless absorptions, the mind consciousness still exists, so they can be said to be the concentration of the mind consciousness. In the cessation attainment, the mind consciousness has already ceased, leaving only the manas and the tathāgatagarbha. If it is said that the manas has no concentration, then the cessation attainment could not be called a concentration at all.

Answer: That is right—saying that the manas has no concentration makes no sense at all. Even the concentration of the mind consciousness, the concentration of the six consciousnesses, is the result of the manas being in concentration; otherwise, the six consciousnesses could absolutely never attain concentration.