Recitation and memorization are mental activities primarily based on the mind consciousness

Some Buddhist practitioners are very familiar with the sūtras and can recite them at will, appearing to understand their meaning, but in fact they have not truly understood. Because the sūtras are so familiar to them, it is not easy for them to think further about their true meaning, and they stop at an understanding of the surface meaning. Reading and reciting sūtras is an activity of the mind consciousness; it is relatively effortless, requiring no deep contemplation, tiring neither the brain nor the mind. Deep contemplation, however, requires engaging the manas, activating the brain's nerve cells and consuming the brain's energy; the body must continuously supply the brain with qi, blood, and resources, and the mind feels tired. Thus sentient beings choose to do what is relatively easy—merely reading and reciting sūtras. Add to this insufficient power of meditative concentration and insufficient power of wisdom (prajñā-bala), and they are unable to engage in deep contemplation.

Reading sūtras and reciting mantras are activities of consciousness and mind dominated by the mind consciousness, with the mind consciousness playing a prominent role. Memorizing sūtras and the Śūraṅgama Mantra is likewise dominated by the mind consciousness, with its role prominent. Once memorized, the mind consciousness can recite rapidly and fluently, like flowing clouds and water, very smoothly, without needing to think. If the recitation is somewhat slower, the role of the mind consciousness diminishes somewhat, and the role of the manas becomes a bit more prominent; if slower still, the activity of the mind consciousness weakens and the role of the manas strengthens—the slower it is, the more the manas's role stands out. The result is that the less the mind consciousness is active, the less fluent the recitation becomes, until finally one cannot recall the content to be recited.

Because the manas cannot recall and cannot recite sūtras—recollection is a function of the mind consciousness—when the mind consciousness's activity weakens, its functions are exerted less, and recitation becomes difficult. In a waking state, the less the mind consciousness is active, the deeper the meditative concentration; and the deeper the concentration, the less the mind consciousness manifests in activity. When the mind consciousness's activity diminishes to a certain degree, one simply cannot recite sūtras at all: the mouth cannot move, not a single word can be uttered, and even the mental thought process is about to cease—one can no longer recite silently in the mind.

Therefore, to cultivate meditative concentration well so as to be able to investigate Chan, the bodily, verbal, and mental actions must all be slow, slow—reducing the mind consciousness's activity so that the manas's function is strengthened and its intuitive role becomes prominent. When the manas's intuitive role reaches a certain degree, one can directly perceive the mechanical nature of the physical body while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, and thereby be able to eliminate the view of the body (ātma-dṛṣṭi), or eliminate the self-view, or awaken to the true mind—none of this can be said for certain. This is the kind of role that meditative concentration plays.

Without meditative concentration, or when the concentration is shallow, the mind consciousness's discerning function is very active, and it then performs the functions of reading, reciting, and memorizing, and of acquiring knowledge. Although the mind consciousness's thinking is very active, very clever and quick-witted, what is learned is rather shallow, belonging to the realm of understanding and the level of knowledge; deep within, one has not yet deeply understood its meaning, because the manas has not realized it. What the mind consciousness learns are the thoughts and views of others—perhaps all spoken by the Buddha and realized by the Buddha—but one has not actually realized them oneself; they all belong to the level of knowledge. Such knowledge acquired through learning must not be claimed to others as one's own realization, as something one has personally verified to be correct; because one has, after all, not yet personally verified it, nor found the evidence. Only after the manas cooperates with the mind consciousness in deep deliberation (manana), and one truly realizes it, do one's thoughts and reflections become one's own views and perspectives—one's own insight—and only then may one say to others: "This is what I believe," and so on. Otherwise, one must not say "I believe" or "I feel." If one insists on saying "I believe" or "I feel," that is merely the mind consciousness's believing and feeling, having nothing to do with the manas, and is not yet genuine insight.