How the Mental Faculty Ceases

The manas no longer clings to the three realms, ceases to engage in mental attention, refrains from discerning the Dharma through perception, lacks the desire to perceive the Dharma, and holds no intention for volitional formations. When the five universal mental factors cease to manifest, the manas inevitably ceases to exist. Therefore, when the manas does not engage in contact, sensation, perception, or cognition, the Tathagatagarbha does not cooperate in producing phenomena. When the manas possesses neither desire nor thought toward the three realms, it necessarily refrains from engaging in contact, sensation, perception, or cognition. Consequently, the conscious mind can no longer function, the functions of the five aggregates cease to operate, and thus the manas ceases to exist.